Spring is almost here and although it is still quite cold I think the winter will not last too long now.
Juliano is very positive lately. I think he is a bit bored after winter and wants to play and learn. Yesterday I walked into the paddock with my bareback pad, carrot stick and string. Juliano knows exactly what that means - time to ride. I was sure he would start playing the catching game with me but to my surprise he walked straight to me. He stood besides me while I dusted him off and placed the pad on his back.
Our ride was very playful and I could feel Juliano was having fun. One thing I have noticed lately is that our downward transitions are much better than upward. Hmmm, how interesting. Juliano was a horse very hard to stop and now canter-walk no problem. Walk-canter however is now officially broken. Who would have thought that one day I will have to motivate Juliano to go. The good news is we are very close to having go and whoa equal. This was my dream, for Juliano to have impulsion but not to be impulsive and we are almost there. Another thing we are working on is sideways in trot which is coming together quite nicely.
Juliano is acting like a partner and I couldn't be more happy with him. I think this spring will bring us great things, a lot of fun and yet another breakthrough. I also know I will have to ask more of him in order to be provocative and interesting.
Today, our ride with Juliano was prefect. The sun was shining, J was very willing and positive, I was calm and didn't expect much. Maybe that's why our sideways in trot started working out today. No pressure, everything on "Valium" and suddenly it all came together as a rhythmic side pass. We also managed to work on our canter departures. They used to be very sudden. Canter was hard to control and I wouldn't trust Juliano, I would hold on to the string just in case. Today even this changed :) Juliano was simply brilliant. 
