Training Lola

Well today my favorite filly of the GY 193 foals, Lola, turned 2 years old. I've always had a soft spot for little Lola and was impressed at how easily the hands taught her her ground manners. She was a sweet filly with a very good temperament and today on her 2nd birthday I was delighted to see what a pretty and correct filly she was becoming as she was starting to fill out and build muscle.

I had some time away from the clinic at lunch and I decided to work with her myself so I could give the new training system a go. As my only 2 year old (until next month) I could use all of my sessions (10 total) on Lola as needed. My plan was as follows:

Exercise as a warm up for 10 minutes (lunge or hotwalker depending on the day)
Work on walking under saddle for 50 minutes
Groom for 20 minutes after cool down

It took about 10 days before I was getting her to walk out with confidence. On the 11th day we started working on turning left for 10 minutes, then right for 10 minutes, for the total 50 minute time. You could definitely tell when Lola was having her off days. Some days we would get the total 50 minutes of saddle work, some days only 30. It really depended on her mood and it didn't seem to matter which warm-up exercise I chose. By the end of the 30 days, Lola was starting to get the hand of right and left, taking a few steps here and there. What surprised me the most though was how strong she had become! We started the month with only fair strength and ended with what I would consider to be very good. I'm very thrilled with Lola's progress!

Next month, if I have the time to train her again, I plan on continuing my training schedule, alternating right and left until she's proficient and then working in a little discipline training at the walk.

It's been a fun experiment and I can't wait to see how Lola trains up. Next month some of the other foals will also be turning 2, so it will be interesting to see how I can divide my sessions with the group.