Yay! Riding in a halter and we love it

[Esther.D]

Look!

[Esther.D]

I had been dreading riding in a halter with a single rein...but we both loved it! He was better in the halter than he was in his bridle :rolleyes: After the initial...oh my god I have no control...I relaxed and we had the most relaxed and happy session we have ever had! It was slightly erratic as our steering is not quite right yet (especially as he is wearing Pablo's halter:eek: ).

[Esther.D]

He even forgave me my botched attempts to get the rope over his head:rolleyes: Eventually I managed to master it and we even managed to ride down a set of cones without missing any out.

Look how relaxed he looks, I was amazed!

Forgive my position - it went out of the window rather as I was trying to master the one rein riding :o

[Tor&Warrior]

Look at you two!!! You look absolutley brilliant, you should be so proud! And he looks sooooo relaxed!! I bet your so happy!:D

[Alibi]

Yeah Esther!!! Well done - its great once you've got ovr that initial fear of not having a bit.

Its amazing how well they go in the halter, it really surprised me too, instantly had more brakes and more control. The steering will come very quickly, then you'll be troting with one rein, then cantering, etc, etc.

You'll have that L1 video done in no time at all!

p.s. Our video's got posted on Wednesday, but they say there's a 3 - 4 week wait :( Want to know now!!!

[Miriam]

Well done

[galadriel]

Congratulations!

[dophi_arno]

Congratulations! :D Its the best, isnt it?! He does look very relaxed... well done methinks :)

[Showjumper]

Wahoooooooo! :D:D:D Well done :D:D:D

[SarahB]

You both look really great:D

Can't wait to catch up to you, I'm still practising with the chair in the garden, swinging the rope into my face and missing the savvy string when I lift the carrot stick:rolleyes:
LOL
Well done and what a lovely spot you have there in Northumberland.

Sarah
xxxx

[kyanya]

Well done. He looks super-duper relaxed - fab! :D:D

[Stallion]

Well done that is ausom!!!:D

[RachelEvent]

Looks really good... really relaxed :D I also had trouble throwing the rope over the head to start with.. even harder as Ferdie has a very long neck and pokes his nose out, so it just kept getting caught! I got it worked out eventually though.

It's funny how quickly you get confident with the halter riding - I know that I verge on the daredevil side of riders, but I was out in the fields cantering by the end of the first week (I was riding in it every day though) and by the end of the second week I had jumped cross country and was doing some odd high speed form of flying changes - great fun :D OK so I did perhaps take things a bit faster than is totally sensible, but I think you will surprise yourself with how you improve from now on - halter riding is addictive.


Lovely Photos :)

Rachel xx

[DITZ]

Wow! That looks like it could be the start of something fantastic! Keep us posted!!

[PridesAngel03]

Very Cool!

[pinedellchick]

way too go...i had it easy and i started riding parelli, the only time i did the other stuff was when i was like 4 or 5. i love it. i never rode my horse in a bit, and i am probably not going too. :) but again congrats :) so proud of you !!!!!
Lisa

[Esther.D]

Thanks everyone

Here we are riding in company in the halter for the first time :)

http://groups.msn.com/NRphotos/stephenandesthershorses.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4472

I couldn't believe it, I'm sure I have more control in the halter than I did in a bit - he is so responsive and relaxed!

[Miriam]

Maybe he does not like the feel of the bit and would prefer to ride bitless

[Esther.D]

I don't think he does like the bit particularly, if you look at photos of him with and without a bit there is a visible difference in relaxation. We are aiming to stay bitless if he is happy and controllable that way (so far so good). I would have to think again if I want to drive him, but that is way in the future at the moment :)

[Miriam]

I forgot you were thinking of driving him

[Esther.D]

'thinking' is the right word, I'm seeing how things go, there is no decision yet until I see if his napping resolves itself (its getting less....). He will certainly stay bitless up to a point where I definately decide to drive, then we will have to see :)

[Miriam]

Originally posted by Esther.D
'thinking' is the right word, I'm seeing how things go, there is no decision yet until I see if his napping resolves itself (its getting less....). He will certainly stay bitless up to a point where I definately decide to drive, then we will have to see :)

Keep me in touch with how it goes. Now knowing that I knew himas a baby rather than an older hore like I thought I'll be interested on how he goes