Video Lesson #11

As I mentioned in the lesson before this, we have a new format!!  D is going to give me a list of exercises to do in the lesson and all lessons are to be done in the ring. There is a very good reason for me not riding in the ring and it is the horses that are pastured in that area.  They are all assholes (mine is in this pasture too, but he can't be an asshole this time).  They are all super curious and my worst fear came true.  The camera got knocked over by the giant draft.  At least he didn't walk on it.  Back to the point at hand (watch the last 30s of the video and you can see/hear him) the list....*insert dramatic music here* (PS the videos are getting super long so I am breaking things up, but my OCD self still wants the whole video at the beginning.)


The List: 25 Minutes total
3 One loop serpentines both directions in the trot (i.e. KXH)
1 Leg yield from the quarter line to the rail each way
1 Trot lengthen
1 whole arena with 20 m circles at A and C both directions in the canter


The Result:
25 Minutes total
3 One loop serpentines both directions in the trot (i.e. KXH)
1 Leg yield from the quarter line to the rail each way
1 Trot lengthen
1 whole arena with 20 m circles at A and C both directions in the canter (to the left not so much)

My Initial Thoughts:Despite my whining, I think I got all the goodies. The end is cut off, but all that was in there was me getting him relaxed again. Also please ignore the clip job S is going to clean up the lines for me when she gets a chance (I have a post about his clip job that is waiting for pictures). I was actually really pleased with this ride. I had flops in it, but overall it felt like he was really stepping up to the plate for me. I am also riding him in S's dressage saddle (county fusion narrow tree 17.5 seat).Thoughts on the 1 loops: We kept getting stuck, so I started adding in circles at X (I also wasn't getting all the way to X like I thought I was) and I do think that helped.

Thoughts on the leg yields: I need to get his haunches in line. They are swinging right all the time and this is especially apparent in the leg yield to the left. 5:45 leg yield left=fail. He kept getting me dumped off the left side. I need to be sure to keep my weight to the right. After that he decided cantering and being a saddlebred was easier than work.

Thoughts on the lengthens: I am not entirely sure if we actually lengthened the stride or just sped up. They did feel ok at the time. One was across the diagonal at 13:20ish. The other was down the long side at 15:5ish.

Thoughts on the canter:I think our right lead looked pretty good. We had some bobbles in places and the down transition took way too long, but overall I thought it was good. He was the one that offered the canter and I just rolled with it.
Left lead canter= UGH... Our first attempt at 17:50 he picked up the correct lead behind and incorrect in the front (I think). It felt like a hot mess. The next time I tried to take his head right and put that shoulder in like you suggested. 19:30 we had some form of trot/canter. I think he was correct, but it felt like he was cantering trotting cantering in the back. I don't know if in this moment I just need to push him forward or bring him back. Everything felt very messy and in the moment I couldn't tell what was correct and what wasn't. At 23:20 I tried just to ride through it, but there was a lot of breaking and this that and I can't tell what is and isn't happening in the moment. All I know is it feels like a whole lot of crazy. 26:15 I am not sure what was going on I think he flipped things on me but I don't know. Even with the video...Teresa fail. I tried again at 26:50.

Then pain in the butt draft knocked over the camera. I don't think I tried any more transitions. Mostly I just wanted to get him back to where he started in the beginning. We did trot circles both ways, another leg yield, some three loop serpentines. And I think that covers everything.D's Thoughts:It is never a bad thing to go back and make him relax, so doing that at the end is good. Overall, you need better leg to communicate with his hind leg. Meaning you need to make these two separate body parts act like one. This is most apparent in your leg yields. It is also evident in the rest of the video, but it will be easier for you to make yourself aware in the leg yields.

Your first fix in this is to bring that leg farther back at all times, and even farther back in the leg yields. It is sometimes better in S's saddle, but still not where it should be. You were less braced in your knee, but mostly your leg was by his shoulder. Especially in your two point, which is the dead opposite of the effect you want. You should have your leg more towards his bum.

The tempo of the trot was much better through out the whole video so good for you on that. You actually did well with the left lead canter. What you felt was his wanting to change but he couldn't because you had all the right doors closed. He was hopping around, but not changing so that is a good job on your part.

1:25 I know we talked about bend in the same direction, but here he is too locked left, so in this case I would circle right or bend right.
1:49 Kick haunches left
2:00 Beautiful give in the neck here.
2:37 Push his should right more on the last quarter of the circle.
2:56 Another good give.
3:07 Bend left and push off the left leg. He is locked in the left shoulder which is why his haunches are right on the long side after you change directions.
4:40 Push him off the inside leg so you have a more loud outside rein to whoa with. This will help the transition come faster. It is a good downward into a nice trot.
5:07 Keep that leg under and push his haunches. You leg needs to control this.
5:49 Stronger outside half halt and more right leg back. Again back to the fact his right leg needs to be a part of your body and right leg. That way when you give an aid, his leg does what you want.
6:25 Work the neck down.
6:36 Outside half halt more consistently.
6:45 This is the leg thing in two point I mentioned earlier.
9:21 Tell him no saddlebred neck and take it away.
9:38 Your braced leg is causing the tension
13:03 The best one loop serpentine.
13:34 Decent lengthen! Good girl!
14:24 Really nice through his body here.
15:18 Take that nose left
15:29 As you go make that turn right, take both hands right to guide those shoulders first.
16:58 Command more leg under and sideways in the leg yield
17:21 Best leg yield. Yet notice how his hind end looks here vs the other ones.

Overall, I liked how my outline worked for you guys and he looked more secure doing things in the sandbox.

My Thoughts:

I have been really impressed with him the last few rides.  He has really been focused on me and we have stayed relaxed and responsive.  I am doing a better job of using my leg, now I just need to get it back where it needs to be.  But at least it is on, and that is an improvement.  I feel like we have had a huge jump lately.  He is happy to walk at the beginning (not so much in the middle but that is improving).  I am really starting to identify holes, but that means we are making enough progress to have holes.

Today S rode him and I watched.  There was another girl who hasn't seen him in quite awhile there too and she was super impressed with how much he has changed.  I was also so proud of him.  He cantered to the left and managed to do a whole circle.  He broke a couple times in the beginning and there was some hopping, but I think that has to do with strength/a strong preference for the right lead.

Video Lesson #10

My Initial Thoughts:

Disclaimer:  The more I thought about this ride, the more frustrated/unhappy I was with it.  Bottom line is it isn't one of our better rides.

We got too quick at the beginning and I still don't have my leg or butt under me.  (This is my dressage saddle and I am really thinking it needs to go.)  I do think I kept my leg on more so that is an improvement.  I really thought I had made progress with having my leg under me and while it wasn't the worst, it still was pretty bad.

I do like that you can see the upper muscles in his neck instead of just the bulging under neck.  I really felt like I was struggling with getting give in the left shoulder, but upon watching the video I realized I am actually just losing the haunches.  (Seen at 2:17 and 11:45)  I felt like I was struggling with this shoulder through out the ride.

Upper Muscles

Bulging under neck...

When we cantered right, I let him take a lap because I felt like he just needed to go somewhere.  He swapped the front when I was bringing him back to trot and I did not feel it.  My original plan was to do some smaller circles on the right lead, but the horses were getting fed and I did not know how long I could keep his focus.

I think I should have done the left first, because we struggled more with that.  The left was a mess, so I left it for the day and tried to end with some give.

Overall, it was an ok ride and I do think I handed things fairly well.  I was pleased he didn't lose his marbles when the horses were let in.  It wasn't our best but wasn't our worst either.

Cantering is fun (at least to the right)

D's Thoughts:

1:06 When I say leg under it doesn't mean grab on harder with your knee.  You must pull back from your back leg muscles and from your hip joint.  Galant effort however.  (May I just say nail on head)
3:18  That was a nice transition before Pongo came to help. (Pongo decided I was cheating on him and needed to check things out.)
4:12  Sometime I see him get choppy now and it is because it is too small of a trot.  Let go of his face a bit.  That doesn't mean he can saddlebred his neck, but give him room up front to move into.  I am sure this will be no problem for him and will require you to remember to take air in!
5:06  Let his canter out.  (Since then we have discussed letting him canter if he decides to do it nicely and balanced vs insisting he continue to trot.)
8:42  I would have just gone with that canter because it was a nice offering (He gave a very lovely but unasked for canter transition)
11:38  Same thing
12:04  Outside half halt (Story of my life)
12:49  Get that neck to give before you ask for canter again
13:00  You can small circle to get the canter but once he picks it up get on a bigger shape or go straight.  He doesn't have the strength to load and canter and turn that much yet.
14:08  More active inside leg and outside leg further back to knock him back inside.  He threw his butt out because he had a wide open outside of his body.
14:54  More outside leg
15:22 Canter moment
15:31 Canter moment

If his baby horse canter has this much jump what will big boy canter look like???

Once you got past the initial explosion that one canter set to the right was actually nice.  Yes, eventually we will work the neck down, but I am glad we got a canter session!  That is really kind of his working canter.  You can shorten it eventually but you need to ride just that before I can let you make it smaller.

Your other homework is to ride him in a bigger trot at all times.  Your little trot is now only for if he really needs to regroup otherwise out you go.  Also, work on using those legs more textbook like for the canter.  Don't let him overwhelm you into just babying the transition.  Remember if he throws himself out to the right for the left lead take his nose right and make him move left then ask for the canter.

No this isn't a rear...look at the sit!

My Rebutal/Progress:

As I mentioned before the more I look/think about this ride the less I like it.  I feel that I was very infective as a rider.  Once we got things together, we did look pretty nice in the right canter.  But there were so many gaping holes.  One, I am letting him do whatever he wants with his hind.  Mainly because if I slide my leg back we shoot forwards...duh you need to fix this not ignore it and pretend you are an ostrich with your head in the sand.  Two, my position sucks.  My ass is stuck out behind me and my legs are shoved out in front of me.  I need to fix this.  When my butt is out his can get left behind and when my legs are shoved out front I am not balanced and can not fix anything.

One good thing that came out of this is I was doing the opposite of what I needed to do with the left lead.  I thought that the problem was his left shoulder, but it actually is his entire right side.  The canter to the left will be a work in progress for awhile, but hopefully we will get there.

Here is a sequence of pictures that hopefully explain the left shoulder not giving impression when the haunches are actually swinging...

 Please note left front is crossing

 And haunches go wide

Followed by hind legs crossing

To Do List:

D is changing the format for my lessons, so this is going by the wayside and I am saving the new format for the next video.  There are several reasons for this.  One we are getting more consistent, so we can start working on more specific exercises.  Two, she said we need to start doing movements in the ring so we can start prepping for tests (OMG tests are on the horizon...very far horizon but that is progress).  Three, I have been a little aimless and the new format will help me with my focus.

But I do need to work on letting go of his face so he has room to make his trot bigger, getting my legs under me, and continue with the canter (take him right to get the left lead).

My Horse Likes Expensive Shit

I rode Stinker in S's dressage saddle (County Fusion) today. He was excellent. Sure we had some tension and quick tempo, but he was much less tense than normal. And he actually lifted his back. I must say that makes a huge difference in the way he feels. I haven't felt it enough to really be able to describe it (nor do I have video) but everything is just better. He reaches under himself, reaches for the contact, and feels much lighter for lack of a better term. All in all it is an amazing feeling and gives me hope for our progress and our future.

So pretty so expensive...

The down side is that it is a $5000 saddle and there isn't one on the demo list (read $1000-2000) cheaper. I scanned online and found very few for sale and nothing that would fit either of us. Darn horse and his expensive taste. In addition to that, I actually liked how it feels. I wasn't struggling to keep my leg under me. I'm going to hold off my opinion on it for me until I can get video. I think I'm going to get video of us in S's saddle for me and D and also video of us in a demo saddle.

The rep will be back next week and I am going to try a wide 18" vs. a narrow 17.5" (I think). This will also answer a burning question I have. Everything I have read/heard about saddle fitting Saddlebreds is that they are deceptively wide. D thought he was a narrow, but I sent pictures to a saddle fitter she recommended and that lady said medium to medium wide. So I got a medium Albion. Which he liked until I brought him back into work from the EPM.

Not fitting...

I was struggling to find someone who would come to our area for saddle fitting, so I sent pictures to a second saddle fitter (she was recommended by the dressage judge I clinic with). She said the problem was my Albion was too narrow. So, I decided to try this County lady, because I was desperate. This lady put him and S's mare in a narrow. I ordered my jump saddle (she did agree to a cheaper price if I need to swap out the tree within a year). So I was left wondering who was right... D and the County lady said narrow. Two well recommended saddle fitters said wider (from pictures) plus all my reading was on their side. I honestly don't even know what to think. But now I'm going to get to try a wide and maybe that will shed some light on the narrow vs wide situation.

Right now my bottom line is my dressage saddle is causing tension and puffiness, so something needs to change. If D says I ride much better in S's saddle I might be biting the bullet and getting a new dressage saddle. I just want to make sure I get the correct one, so I am not having a repeat of this in another 6-12 months. But I have been informed that what I have is not working and he prefers things that cost $$$$. All I have to say is thank God I'm single and I don't have to justify my spending to anyone besides me.

He is lucky he is cute...expensive but cute

Updates All Around

I have been procrastinating posting because I don't have internet at home and blogger on my phone hates pictures. I'm too chicken to put the pictures on my work computer and use it. If this post has pictures I manned up or called about my internet otherwise I am sorry for the lack of photos.

In pony news (let's face it that is all people care about) I haven't ridden Pongo since the clinic because he pulled his shoe. But yesterday the girl rode him for a dressage lesson and she said he was really good. Her standards are lower than mine, but that still made me happy. He hasn't been ridden in 1.5 weeks so at least he is consistent enough that he wasn't an asshole.

In Stinker news, I have been so proud of him. We have started cantering again and it is a mess. He locks his neck and legs go everywhere. S and I agree it is a strength thing, so lots of hills to really build up that bum. He likes to flip his leads on me (especially going left), sometimes it is both, just the hind, or just the front. He also likes to canter in the front and trot behind. So my main goal is to canter a few strides and bring him back before things get messy. Unfortunately this requires me to be very very organized, which I am not.

I have been very proud of him, because he has been keeping his marbles together. We have not had a total meltdown where I haven't been able to get him back in awhile. Sure we have moments where he loses it and goes to Stinker land, but he will now come back to me.

In addition to that I have been wanting to get S back to riding him, because I want her to be the one that starts jumping him. I don't trust myself not to accidentally create a problem since I am so green and he is easily frazzled. Rather than throw her to the wolves, I am having her ride him for one of my lessons. This way I get to see him under saddle (yay!) and I can also help her through sticky spots. With one ride down I was so proud of him. He has had anyone else on him since D hopped on him several months ago. But while he was a little anxious, he went to work for her. Their sticky spots are in the same places I have trouble. Yay it isn't my riding. But I got him through it.

Some people may be wondering why I am working with a trainer that I need to show how to ride my horse, considering that I am paying them. For me it is a no brainer. One S is a lovely patient light rider. Stinker does not respond well to force, it causes him to shut down. So I am very careful who I let on him. So far it has been D, S, and M (gives beginner lessons at the barn part time). They are all very patient and kind riders.

Technically I let one of the teenage boys on him, but that was just to scare the boy. He thought he wanted to ride Stinker and I thought it would be a good demo of why you don't want to get on just any horse. I made him get a helmet and got him on. I led them in a 20 m circle and that was enough for the kid. Sticker was a ball of tension and was prancing/scooting the entire time. But now the kid has full respect for Stinker and doesn't want to get on him again. I never turned him loose and Stinker has excellent ground manners, so I wasn't worried that the kid would fall off. He would just get to feel what a ball of tension feels like.

Anyway back to the actual point, S is fully capable of riding Stinker and riding him well. She just hasn't ever been around a horse that is like him. I'm totally ok with giving her the tools to ride a horse like him, so then in the future maybe she can help other horses. It would be very easy to create a monster that would get passed around and eventually end up in a kill pen. So why not let Stinker be a bit of a guinea pig if it could help other horses be productive? I am not worried about her creating problems. It is just about showing her the tools that D has given me.

Finally, I trust S completely. I know she won't get frustrated and do something drastic. Plus when I travel for work I want someone to be able to ride him. He does the best with constancy and I feel that I should do my best to provide him with situations that he will thrive in. 

So a long rambling post later, Stinker has been doing well and I am super proud of him. Hopefully we can continue to make progress. I have a new goal for us. I want to be solid at walk trot canter and have leg yields for the end of December. We have a four day dressage boot camp and I really want to be able to start working on first level stuff. I think it is doable but it will require some hard work and maybe a bit of luck. The walk will just take time which I am ok with. There is no reason for us to rush. The canter will take strength and that also takes time. Also I really need to get him working more over his top. We are getting better but he is still inverted 95% of the time. I need those percentages to switch.

Balancing

Pardon me while I whine for a moment.  Winter sucks for pony time, because all the daylight disappears.  I typically work 50 or so hours every week, which means I have to carefully balance my time to get everything done in a day.  During the summer this balance isn't too bad.  I can get up early ride and go to work.  Or I can get up early go to work and then ride after work.  I suck at getting out of work at my planned time, so the extra sunlight is very useful.

Friday I had an extra long day (~13 hours) and I went to work in the dark and left in the dark.  No pony time for me.  Today, I didn't go to work in the dark, but it was close to dark when I left.  I lunged him in the mostly dark.  I am trying to figure out how to balance everything.  One, I have to keep working the same so I don't get fired (Half the people that have worked for my bosses have been fired.  For good reasons, but it is a little disconcerting considering it is uncommon for high turnover like that in my field.)  Two, I am not comfortable riding Stinker in the dark or when no one is around.  The dressage ring with the lights is in his pasture, so I am not sure anyone would notice if something major happened.  There are only so many nights I can text S and say hey I am getting on if you don't hear from me by X come check.  I do want her to have a bit of a break from the barn.

So, how the hell do I manage this? I don't have a clue. Especially when you toss Pongo into the mix. Oh and the fact that it keeps raining every weekend. In the last week we have gotten almost 6 inches of rain. I guess that is better than the equivalent amount of moisture in snow form. Gotta love the south. Ok bitch fest over I'll suck it up and figure something out. But if you have any good suggestions please let me know. In the meantime I might be in the corner whining.

Video Lesson #9

My Initial Thoughts:

We started off to the left fairly nicely.  When we switched to the right, he got a little sassy, but I think I handled it fairly well.  In these moments I really need get my butt tucked under me.

Our first canter to the right is a little wild (4:00).  I do like how quickly he came back to me after we went back to the trot.  The second canter (5:00) is better, even if we had some lead issues.  I feel like in the third (6:00), I had a bit more control.

When I picked him back up to the left he was anticipating (7:50).  He launched into the canter the first time (8:14).  The kissing you hear at 8:30ish is NOT me for the record.  I need to post slower (9:20) and get my ass under me.  When we try the left again it is very bolty.

Is this how a canter depart is supposed to look??  It is uphill...

Overall, I liked how willing he was to let me get the trot back, even when the canter was wild.  We did end on a relaxed note with some "stretching" I use the term loosely, but for Gatsby it was stretching.

D's Thoughts:

OK so this week's big theme is your legs. They are pushed way out in front of you most of the time which isn't giving you any base for your seat to tuck under you. This needs to happen in your two point. That's also why he can run out to the outside on you all the time because you have no outside leg guarding that body. This was even more evident in the canter when he picked up the wrong lead. Your reins also need to be shorter in your two point. 

We always say lazy horses your leg needs to be come off and hot horses they need to always be on. Yours are always or mostly off

2:57 You needed an outside half halt sooner you got to it later.

3:21 Really nice posting rhythm. 

3:24 His neck is nice here. It could be longer but for the arc it has he is working correctly through it.

Now you have to make sure nose doesn't tuck with it. Think push just his nose out. Picture like if you were lifting his nose after giving him paste. This feeling is different than when you want to lengthen his whole neck which requires you to extend your arms.

This is where I need to get his nose out a bit more to open everything up.

Engage those outside aids more now. You are missing those a lot which as of this ride is what he needed. I know we've been working on him not falling in but his balance was nice today and therefore he needed those outside aids to shrink the outside of his body. 

Trust him in the canter a bit more and go back to basics a bit and use the outside leg in order to ask for the canter this is more for you to remember that you have that aid than for him.

Still be proactive on that left bend being exaggerated when you turn left and he stays there when on the left. He was a little too straight on the left usually just when you were in the cantering mode. If you were just trotting you had a better hold on it.

You were also shrinking your leg up a lot. Your knee looked high and your heels were even with his belly. Your legs are too long to be even with his belly. Only when you need a big aid if he is leaving can your heel be up that high.

I'm seeing him being confident with the canter and him getting worried after because you are. I think you can trust him a bit more and just follow.

You've gotten him much more organized we get to go back to picking on you!

My Rebuttal/Progress:

I agree completely about the legs. I realized today I am only using my thigh and no lower leg. When I do put my lower leg on he gets very frazzled so I need to work on altering that reaction.  Also, I need to up the yoga and get my hip flexors stretched so I can keep my legs under me.  And by up the yoga, I mean get my A** in gear, because I have been slacking.

Legs are about a foot in front of my hip, but Stinker is actually tracking up.

I was not sure I understood the paste part when D was talking about where his nose was. Basically she wants me to wiggle my fingers to *hopefully* get him to start reaching for the bit.  This will help open up his neck at the throat latch and stretching to the contact.

I am definitely getting a bit discombobulated in the canter. Everything starts to feel more like a bolt than an actual canter and I start to worry and forget to ride.  I realized when I rode today, that I also need to add in flexing him in the canter.  He gets very locked in the neck, and I think when I can start unlocking that, it will help me feel more in control.

Basically we are in the same situation I started with at the trot. He is a little tense and quick, so I start getting tense and then we fall apart. He assumes he is doing something wrong and gets a little frantic. I assume I'm doing something wrong and stop riding because I'm thinking.

Still terrible position on my part, but we were in a nice rhythm.

To Do List:

Canter!!!
Legs Under ME!
Leg yields
Transitions

As a side note, I finally got my act together and used my video system that tracks me without having a technology fail.  YAY!!

Video Lesson #8

We played with poles again.  I did a slightly better job with my pole circle still not great.  I need to take notes from setting up the circle jump grid.  I only had a short line of poles that was straight.  I was short on time, and leading Stinker every where when I was setting up poles.  He didn't think much of that, especially when I was trying to drag two.

My Initial Thoughts:

We had some scooting left problems starting at about 2:40.  From 3:00-4:15 we were scooting left (did I mention we had some scooting problems?).  I tried sending him back right and he blew through all of my aids.  I took his head away to the left first, then to the right and there was no change.  We finally stopped scooting when he just about put us in the fence.  That was the only thing that broke the cycle.  When I tried to make him step back to the right (he had no more room to go left), he started vibrating.

At that point, I decided since I didn't know what was causing the problem I didn't want to accidentally do something that put us into the fence.  So, I let him circle to the left and then brought him back around to the camera.  The same thing happened at 4:30.  He got very up and down so I tried to send him forward and it resulted in running out through the left again.  You can tell in the video that he is ready to launch.  At 5:03 we leave the camera frame yet again.

When I brought him back around, you can see he is very unhappy about circling right.  I managed to use the poles and keep us on camera.  Mostly I was just trying to get some sort of a circle and stick with him.  Around 6:00 I seem to get his brain back.  I still can't figure out what happened.  He lost his marbles and I don't know what triggered it or what to do to fix it.

I do think that I did a decent job of keeping his head lower.  Also, I think we had some nice moments in there, aside from the fact that I suck at setting circles and I haven't quite figured out the distance to set the poles.  The last time through the poles, I managed to half halt him effectively, so he didn't just start launching himself over the poles.

D's Thoughts:

I don't have a ton of comments, which is a good thing.  I like what I am seeing in the trot and I feel like you two handled the poles much better this week.  I am really liking how you are dealing with the tough moments.  Not that it always goes your direction, but I see you staying with it and I see him stopping the chaos.  Also, I don't hear you verbally calming yourself.  I think it is time to start tackling that canter.

On the note of the dragging you away the first time, it is really hard to say even seeing it.  Probably would have been something I would have needed to feel.  But if he hasn't repeated the behavior then I would say it was a baby horse day and for get it.

I feel like some of the prancing/leaping reaction that goes on around 4:55 looks like he is trying to avoid life.  May it may have been a hey let's take a run day?  Then maybe work on the trot, then gallop again.  The important thing is he would leap and you were not over correcting, then he would stop.  The dialog going on between you two was something you were both still hearing through the chaos.

My Progress:

I think D hit the nail on the head about it being a baby day and him just needing to get out and run.  I thought about that, but I wasn't feeling very secure and really wanted to get the video.  In the future I won't pass on the letting him take a lap around the pasture.  Since then I have ridden him in S's jump saddle (she has it on demo and its the same one I ordered).  He was so good.  It was during the clinic so there was a lot going on, but he stayed with me and actually walked.  I really need to do something about the saddle fit.  I think that is one of our major problems right now, but I am going to try him in the jump saddle a couple more times and see if the relaxed Stinker is still there or if it was a fluke.

Pony be like "you want me to do what???"

To Do List:

Canter
Leg Yields
Poles
Transitions

He can stand and drop his head AND stretch his neck!