Working off the Line

On Wednesday I tacked Milo all up to work, but since I hadnt ridden in a few days, I thought I would longe him first. I had the bridle on while I longed, and nearly as soon as he made his first walk lap I noticed his mouth was really salivating. Globs were falling out and when I opened his mouth there was a lot more saliva in there then normal. Milo does get a wet mouth when we ride, but not normally of his amount nor as quickly into a workout as he did. So I decided to take the bridle off in case something was going on, but still wanted to work him.

So on the ground I practiced our leading sans bridle/halter. This isnt totally new to Milo, we had worked on this kind of stuff in the past, but it had at least been two years since. He was great; lead well, trotted, turned both directions, and even did well on the off side. Then I thought, well, lets test how well I'm riding with my seat and legs and see what we can do under saddle without the bridle. So with it still off and on the saddle horn, reins sort of looped around his neck, I stepped into the stirrup.

I walked him around the arena a few times, but thats easy to follow a wall. So I worked on a few circles, he had a hard time changing directions from one circle to the next, instead when I asked for the change in bend in his body he kept the bend the other direction and yielded his hip. Something to work on in that simple change of direction is not coming totally from my seat. I trotted him a little bit but that was a little tricky. He did do quite well at turarounds:

I'm eager to continue work without the bridle and see how far we can go. Im not sure Im going to be doing much showing this summer so at least this is something new to work on and keep us both a littler more fresh.