Ride for Tomorow

 Since i passed my level 3 Liberty and Online late last year, the first audition that i wanted jack and i to work towards this year was Freestyle level 3. 
 
i took it slow in our first session last monday, my aim was to be riding with just a carrot stick and a string around jacks neck but initially as a safety net i left his halter on. we hadnt ridden for a couple of months over the winter so it was just incase, but my plan was 'dont pick up the reins'. this plan went really well! :) initially i tested our neutral flexion with just the stick and a couple of tries were all we needed. we then did the simple pattern of follow the rail around the field fence. i wanted jack to become more sensitive to my body so when i wanted jack to stop or slow down i would sink down in my seat first then if he didnt respond put one finger under the string and keep adding fingers until he got the message. he got the message pretty quick! :) 
 
we did the follow the rail pattern for about 3 days and then i decided we were ready to go on to the figure 8, which we had done pretty well at level 2. so i mounted from the fence near the gate with jack siddling up to me of his own accord, did the usually hurry up and do nothing for a little while then headed off across the field. one thing that i feel i should mention is when i first start riding jack after a little time off i dont just head out into the middle of the field because jack usually sees all that space and partly forgets im there and thinks 'run!', but after only 3 days of follow the rail and no touching of the reins i felt comfortable to just head on out. 
 
now jacks field is littered with toys and the cones we use to play figure 8 are at the very end of the field so to get jack paying attension to me we stopped and had a look at all the toys along the way. jack of course had to kick everything, he loves to use his feet when playing with toys. the last toy before the cones is a tree stump that is just big enough for jack to get his two front feet on, i knew he would stand up on it because we had done it before and he just loves to feel like king of the castle! i underestimated, however how much he had missed being king of the castle because we spent about 20 minutes up on that thing! he stood on it a while then decided he wanted to look at the world from another angle so rearranged himself. i was laughing so much that i just sat up there and waited for him to have his fill!
 
we did finally get to the cones and play a little on our figure 8 :) he needed a couple of corrections and redirecting of paths since all he wanted to do was kick the cones! :) but all in all not bad for the first time. 
 
the next day he was a little full of beans and excited which usually happens when we start riding again but i just kept him on the figure 8 pattern since its a continuous pattern i can let him use his energy in a constructive way.
 
now sunday was a super special day because i felt confident enough with jack that i took away our safety net. halter off, all we had was the truth, and it was amazing! to stop i barely needed to touch the string and even if my seat didnt quite do it only a small tug on his mane did! we played figure 8 and i barely needed to correct him at all and we even moved onto the bullseye pattern. since he loved the tree stump so much i used that as my object to go around. it was soooo cool! jack was so in tune with me i just need to think about what i wanted and adjust my body slightly and jack was there! it felt amazing! i wanted to keep going because i was getting a totally buzz from how well we were doing but im a strong believer of pat's message of ride for tomorow. so we ended with jack being king of the castle again and i dismounted by sliding backwards and off his quarters, cool :)