My First Day Trotting Zeppelin Under Saddle

Zeppelin has been trotting on the lunge line with other riders as I handle him on the ground. We also do his piaffe in-hand work with the rider on his back. The rider’s job is to just stay in balance while holding the saddle and using no aids. Today we made the transition to me being in the saddle and Carolyn managing the lunge line. At this point the rider needs to start introducing the correct aids to the horse. He was ready for me to use my voice for transitions up and down and also to hold a whip in my hand. He took everything in stride and I found him to be very comfortable and  relaxed in his back. He has no negative training or bad memories to overcome so Zeppelin finds it easy to follow his training. Carolyn also introduced him to leg-yielding along the rail with the long-lines. He really listened and was able to get some very nice steps. She only asked him to leg-yield a couple times up and down the rail so he wouldn’t get frustrated on the first day.

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