First off he was sound... stiff to start but sound none the less. Rita thinks it might be in his hock and to check to see if when they injected him they did both the top and bottom of the joint. I have a feeling it was only the bottom because the charge was not all you would expect it to be.
We rode the canter much more forward and with his neck down a bit so he gave more in his back. I rode him forward into his changes and they were spectacular. I have to remember to let go in my leg... bump him and then let go and relax from my knee down. That will be a trick!
Then we worked on the walk. That was hard! Rita got on for a bit and she agreed that she was working really hard to get him where she wanted him... stepping under, giving in the neck so his back would come up. His walk got better but he will always be a bit lateral. Rita thinks I can get a solid "5" if I get his back up. So I told her that with a coefficient of "2" that would make his walk a "10". We had a good laugh over that one. She thinks that since all his other gaits are fabulous we should be able to score well. She got off and let me get back on to feel what I needed to get and it was pretty darn amazing. I was not sure I was going to be able to get all that she did -- flex him in the neck to get it to drop down, push with my calfs (not so much in my seat) and tap his legs under with the whip with no running forward. Kind of like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time... I got it though.
She loves Blu. She said he is really well trained and sensitive... the perfect horse for me. She also said my riding had improved tremendously. All good! We will be going to Scituate a couple of days this summer to soak up more of her knowledge. God I loooooovvvveee this horse!!!
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