Circling Back, Rodney Returns to Full Circle Horse Park

Training Journal

Back to Full Circle Horse Park last Sunday. First trip, a week earlier [Looking Around, and Around, and Around, Rodney at Full Circle Horse Park].

Would Rodney be better? Worse? The same?

I was banking on better. How much better? A little? It took him over half-a-dozen trips to settle in at Stepping Stone Farm. A lot better? Heavens would part, Rodney would give a sassy hoof snap and be all ‘I got this,’ and we would trot and canter our fool hearts out.

Phase one – Touring the grounds at at walk.
Much better. Still looking about and stopping to stare at this and that, but without the ear hysteria.

Phase two – Warm-up on long lines.
Alas, Rodney took a few funny steps on the lunge line. Lame? Not lame? Right hind? Left front? Working out of it? Imagined it? He’d had a kerfuffle on the long lines the day before and ran around the field that morning. Could have been an artifact of either one, or neither. Meh. Better safe than sorry. Went home without riding. Pffft.

Never got to see if his calmer attitude in hand would translate to under saddle work. I’m betting it would have. Progress. Maybe even Galápagos tortoise steps, i.e. large turtle (tortoise) steps.