Training Log: schooling day

I hadn't ridden Jackson in almost two weeks between the rain and Thanksgiving so I wasn't sure how it would go today.  We did our 10 minute warm up on a loose rein on the bridle path and then another 10 minutes in the arena at walk.  He was better than I expected after the time off.  He accepted the contact, bent around my leg, and lifted his back.  We didn't have to spend any extra time before moving onto trot work.  He had his usual temper tantrum after a couple 20m circles.  He figures he is bending and lifting and its time to canter.  So, he forgets about the contact and gets stiff and resistant.  We had a couple episodes of leg yielding across the arena until he got his brain back.  He doesn't do submissive all that well.  He's a lot like me.  The canter work was decent.  He's getting better at picking up the correct lead.  He still needs a strong right rein or he gets unbalanced but all in all we were pretty much in the same place as last time I rode.  We finished up with some  transition work: halt walk trot walk halt.  Repeat.  I'm trying to get to halt trot halt.

After we worked, I washed his tail and put him in his stall with ice boots.  They just came in the mail and were recommended by Horse Journal (which I love) for good fit on the hocks.  He had a fit.  But he had a fit the first time I put wraps on his legs and the first time he wore shipping boots too.  He stood in his stall and tried to kick the ice boots off.  He got them to slide down a bit and so I readjusted them.  Then he backed up against the side of the stall and started kicking the wall.  Great.  Re-injure your hock why don't you ding dong.  I ended up putting on his halter so I could correct him when he kicked.  The last five minutes were relatively peaceful.  I took off the boots and turned him out with Flash.  He didn't seem any worse for the temper tantrum.