baxtersmom wrote:
JDK, he looks awesome! The loin and croup muscling look terrific! Let me in on your secret!

Oh, man, THANK YOU! Hooray!

Actually, it's just loooong, sloooooow practice. We started out just walking. For a month. He had to relax and stretch; hell, half the time we never got further than walking on the buckle. Then trotting, but no racing around with his head in the air. When my knee acted up, I longed him over crossrails and in sidereins (never longer than 20 minutes), again, long and slow. Lots of walking, lots of stretching. NO FIGHTING. If he started to hollow out and dance, we went back to walking. Very exciting, I can tell you. Heh.

We still barely canter. Until he's truly relaxed and soft and through at the walk and trot, I see no reason to move to the canter, since he gets too excited, wound up, and hollow (he still tries to canter off with me periodically, if he gets all worked up about something. *grin*).

But I swear, the barn where I board did half the work for me. He's turned out on 8 acres on a hill, with a small herd that runs and plays quite a bit, for 8-10 hours a day. Going up and down those hills has put muscle on his butt and shoulder, and made him carry himself a lot more correctly.

I'd still like to see more muscle on his back, and for him to lose a few extra pounds, and firm up his butt (I like a rounded muscle, not as angled as you see in these pics). But then again, I can say the same thing for myself, so there you go!


Last Edited By: JDKdressage Jul 6 08 7:39 AM. Edited 1 times.