I had high hopes for a ride today but by the time yard chores were done with, the gale force winds brought with them shards of rain. To that end, I gave schooling in the open field a miss!
What I did do was check Quadi's saddle fit. It now fits without the aid of a Prolite riser or a lambskin half pad :) He's looking the best he ever has, muscles (albeit soft!) in all the correct places and just the right shape. For a horse who has not been in any 'proper' work for a couple of months now, this makes me very happy indeed. Obviously I'd prefer to be able to work him a lot more often and I anticipate a quiet winter for us both, but this year has zipped past so quickly, it won't be long before spring again. Very personally, the sort of sporadic work that Quadi is in right now is a pet peeve of mine, but it can't be helped.
Rather than lose all opportunity to work, I opted to do some carrot stretches/target work. It's been months, maybe even over a year, since I did any considered clicker work with Quadi, but he hasn't forgotten anything! Unfortunately asking him to follow the target to do his stretches was too exciting, he was abrupt and jerky rather than moving smoothly as he does for a treat in-hand. But he really enjoyed the target work. I remember the excitement being why I stopped, I didn't (and perhaps still don't) have the desire to learn more about it in order to harness this enthusiasm and channel it more effectively. Once again I noticed a marked difference between stretching down and right, and down and left. The latter being his better bend for this work.
His feet were also trimmed, and are really taking shape too. The whole inner hoof capsule continues to shift back and up under him, and those slipper-like hinds are finally looking like horse feet from all angles.
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