An update

A little update on Trouble...he did the TopLine Spring Schooling show yesterday and was just great! We did some Eq. classes with harder turns, as well as some Hunter classes with plain lines, and he handled everything really well. There were a lot of people around, and the jumps were brick walls, boxes, panels, gates, etc which he looked at but still felt relaxed and listening. He also jumped the barrels in our lesson and he has been getting better and better about his canter balance. I have been riding him on the flat in a Sprenger Duo D-ring bit, which is a flexible rubber mullen mouth with a space for his tongue to fit underneath. The roof of his mouth is quite low so there isn't a lot of room for a bit in there. For jumping we've been using a Myler dee with hooks, and just attaching the cheekpieces and not the reins to the hooks. He fussed a little at first but now seems to like it. It gives a little leverage but not very much and the mouthpiece is a thinner curved snaffle so it's comfortable for him. We still need some work on slowing down after jumps, but he is very adjustable before the fence now. I'd love to work on his flying changes this week because the simple changes are pretty ugly at times between trying to slow down enough to trot and get the new lead in time to go to the next fence. Granted we've only jumped in the indoor so far, but it's a goal I'd like to accomplish nonetheless. His flatwork has been very steady and he is comfortable staying in a nice frame now. Even when he loses his balance and gets on the forehand in the canter, he stays round and doesn't flip his head! I would like to work on getting a little more bend and getting his balance better in the downward transitions. We have the Wayne Eventing Derby this weekend, so it will be a great schooling experience to get him out and let him see his first dressage arena and XC jumps!! More soon!