Axel's back! Dressage Lesson #10

Axel might decide he's lame again just so I don't ride him. I think he liked his 3 weeks of vacation. When I got to the barn Stephanie was just arriving so we went down and grabbed a couple horses. Of course getting all of them in the process but that was fine. Axel was walking well and was willing so there was hope. We poked on his back and didn't get any reaction, nor did I get a reaction to the curry. So I groomed him up and put a saddle on him. When Tricia arrived she poked a bit and did get a small reaction (I guess we didn't poke hard enough) but it was minor compared to how it was before, and it could have just been a reflex even.

We decided to go for it. He was back to his usual self, almost willing but not quite. Which is a nice change from completely motionless. We worked at a walk in a serpentine of sorts to get him moving around a little less like a plow horse. Then just for kicks (and I mean lots of kicks) we worked the same pattern at the trot. A lot less tripping now that he's had his feet done. For 3 weeks off he did pretty well. He really picks up on the pattern and doesn't require a lot of steering. Though he requires a lot of leg to keep moving and I have to keep picking him up so he doesn't fall on his outside shoulder around the bends. But hey, one less job, I'll take it.

We actually worked for quite a while and then moved into the other pasture and tried to work on some extended trotting just to get him using his back end. Went around a few times alright but he kept trying to head back to the barn. We pushed him on and he pushed back, right into a buck. Luckily Axel has very wimpy bucks, they feel more like an unbalanced canter. Tricia just stood there laughing her head off. But we picked up on his cues for when he wants to buck so we were able to distract him the next few times he threatened. A couple more times around until he behaved and then we ended the lesson. Our thought is that he was partially just being ornery and partially the extention might be a bit of a stretch on his back and he might be a bit sore still.

I haven't decided if I'm sticking around this weekend or not. I'd like to go out and ride some more since it's been so long but we'll see. Plus I need to do more ground work with Cody.