Anky

Anky is rising 6 , a dutch warmblood around 15.3h. We are in the very early stages of her training.

Okay, so my session with Anky began in the stable with stretching exercises, front legs and neck followed by work in hand with a gentle upward movement on the bit rings to encourage her to relax her jaw, promoting swallowing and acceptance of the bit. She has a tendency to raise her head sharply and hollow, so I'm trying to encourage her to relax over the poll and stretch down. If I massage her neck near the poll she now starts to relax the muscles and will also start to relax in her mouth.
We were hacking out with a friend today, which was very enjoyable and Anky is much more forward with her friend Corky tagging along. When out alone she is a bit of a worrier, stopping and starting and not as forward thinking, but we've only just starting riding out alone so this is early days.
She is a very sharp, but genuine horse, smart and generous and always very aware of her surroundings which can sometimes make her a little difficult which , of course, is interesting and quite a challenge.

Riding out with a friend is great because Anky is much braver and will be very forward, the aim for me is to work with this and to try to create a balance with less tension and more relaxation, retaining the forward movement with a longer, more relaxed stride.

Anyway, enough for now, I wouldn't want to bore anyone. Hee hee, if anyone is actually reading this!!