Magic and I rode a little in the arena, around the Oak pasture and up on Shirey Mountain. I really enjoy riding him with his new attitude. So much energy and no inclination to vent it in the wrong direction. If we are going along the trail and come to a fork and I direct him to go the undesirable fork, (the fork that leads back to the barn is usually a horse’s first choice) Magic never complains. He is very willing. I do not know how horses and people ride in an arena all the time. My experience is that horses enjoy variety. If I ride in the arena all the time, I reach a plateau rather quickly and it does not improve from there. It may be that I lack the skill but I do not make improvement by doing it again and again. This is obvious to me right now because Magic is doing so good on our rides but today in the arena he still had the wrong bend on the right rein. I commented in this post that he seems to be so willing to do the right thing on the trails. That said, my lack of communication skills must cause the incorrect bend, not Magic’s unwillingness. As much fun as we are having, we can keep on working on it. It was a good ride.
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