"It was a perfect day to ride! We were out there in the quiet forest, where fall has shed her cloak in tatters on the ground, she lifts her bare arms skyward, reaching for her winter cloak." ~E.G.
We haven't really done much since the LD ride. A little longing, some ground games for respect, fiddling around with the Wintec saddle. One trail ride (that one was a doozy) so I thought this morning that we would be retraining since she's had a little hiatus. Not so! She was super good out there today. We had two instances that we were able to get that little four beat running walk thing going and she motors along nicely doing that. I just can't figure out how to make it happen myself! The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The upper 50's, light breeze now and then, trail nice and soft, but not wet, just right! Doug rode with me today, well---sort of. Phebes out walks Big Cree and I don't want to teach her to walk slow, so we do our thing and stop every now and then until we see them, then move out again. It was nice riding without an agenda. So very nice...
EG, what a nice ride you had! Great! That is nice about the special walking gait Phebes does. Here is a suggestion about how to cue for it (though from a total novice): I might think in advance of the ride of three specific cues to use, try one, see if it gets the walk, try it for a couple of minutes before giving up on it, if not just go back to no cues for a few minutes, then try the next possible cue, etc. There has to be a cue that she will associate or could come to associate with the four-beat walk. Hope that helps.
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