This week I was unable to ride as much as I had planned due to an unexpected change in plans. When I was able to ride, I had Merlin trot a lot of laps and small circles in the arena to really engage the muscles in his hindquarters and topline. I also made sure to walk him up and down the large hill to get to the pasture a few times each ride to help strengthen the muscles in his lower legs as well as the thighs of his hind legs. His stamina this seemed to be consistent with that of last week’s, and if you look closely, you can see that his croup (the muscles along the top the hindquarters) appears to be slightly more rounded. The appearance of a more rounded croup alludes to the fact that those muscles may be strengthening as we progress.

Assuming that the amount of rain that we receive from Hurricane Michael doesn’t affect riding conditions too much this upcoming week, I plan to continue trotting Merlin in lots of circles as well as walking up and down hills to help further develop his muscles and to help him be more consistent.