Pingo Pongo

I am so proud of Pongo lately.  He is getting much steadier in the connection and I lunged him the other day and he was really stretching down and working over his back.  This is a huge difference from when I first started riding him.  I lunged him one day and he was completely braced with his nose stuck out as far as he possibly could get it.  Major improvement.  He will make a cute little horse for someone.

He got bitten last Monday, so my lesson got moved to Friday.  I gave him a couple more days off from riding since it was right where the saddle sat (of course).  We played in the sandbox on Thursday and jumped on Friday.  I really need to school down transitions.  Our up transitions are very good.  He stays steady and will bounce right up into the trot or pop up into the canter.  Some times the pop is a little larger than necessary, but I prefer that to trying to run into it.  Sadly our downs are terrible.  They are sluggish and braced when going from the trot to the walk.  Even when he is tired.  The canter to trot issues are mostly due to him losing balance and me not being fast enough correcting it.

Overall, I am very proud of the little pony.  I am slowly getting Stinker back into work, but I play to keep riding Pongo through the fall.  I really want to get him more confirmed and steady.  One of the girls that might end up with him is a super sweet 12 year old.  She is an awesome little rider and I want him to be a good pony for her.  Plus she tolerates my stupid nicknames for him.  I can't help but give animals silly names.  My dog got called chunky monkey more often than his actual name.  Then there is poor Stinker pony.  Back to the point, I have hopes of riding in a clinic this fall with a 4* rider.  That is all still in the works, so I will update as things progress along with a Stinker update.