Freedom Run Thoroughbreds: Lesson with Molly

I had my first eventing lesson with Molly Bull at Plain Dealing Farm a couple weeks ago. It was really great. She was very helpful in giving us some insight into Lego's left lead issue. It had been going on for so long I was starting to wonder if there was an orthopedic issue which I was just dreading. I had pretty much exhausted my repertoire of drills and techniques so it was great to have someone else watch us and see if she could pick up on anything. She hopped on him too, and couldn't get a different result either so we thought maybe we should get someone to watch him trot off to see about any hind end lameness. We definitely couldn't see any so we decided to get some spurs on to help with the clarity of my asking, and to give him a little forward inspiration. We went from the dressage ring to the show jump ring and popped over a crossrail a few times asking for the left lead as we took a direct left hand turn over the fence. It worked the 2nd or 3rd time so we worked on that a few more times and then gradually lowered the fence to just a collection of poles, then just one pole, then no poles and asking for the left lead each time. It was successful and he was surprisingly just as well balanced as on his right lead. Im so glad we were successful and I am thankful to Molly for helping us with our plan of attack. She was very determined to help us get that left lead and attacked that problem systematically. I really appreciate that in a trainer for sure. We then cooled out, loaded up, and returned back to our farm. When we got home, the other horses all came galloping over to greet Lego, which was a bit surprising. He was missed!!! He did such a great job at Plain Dealing, he handled it all beautifully.

Our Firsts for that day!

1. First time ever having to trailer out to a lesson.
2. First time Lego was tied while in the trailer (his previous trainer who had him since he was a 2 year old said he always hauled him in a box, untied...so when we brought him up from Raleigh we had to leave him untied and didn't like that at all).
3. First time riding in a ring!! (Weird, but I ride in our nice pastures which helps to build trust, balance, and mindfulness of where we are riding and what we are doing!)