Blowing Rock

I trailered Hobbes up to Blowing Rock Equestrian Preserve to meet a couple other people for a real trail ride. If ya'll haven't been up there, its really nice. The trails are all wide carriage paths, so no scary eensy trails to traverse. Plus, the terrain is easy peasy...we did go over a wooden bridge and through a tiny creek, though. I knew practicing over that fake bridge and the puddles in the ring would be worth it one day!

Hobbes was awesome, even though I was nervous. We encountered some things that I just KNEW he was going to freak over and he just stood there and called me a fool...a squeaky carriage pulled by two friesans came trotting up right behind us and all he did was give a little hop forward. We stood and watched them pass like it was no big deal. Now, the large quantities of gaited horses did throw him for a loop. I swear he wanted to attempt the gaiting, when they flew past us he started doing a little jig. It was pretty amusing. We stopped for lunch and I tied him to a hitching post...He looked terribly confused, like "where are my crossties?" He just stood there awkwardly until I untied him and held him and he immediately relaxed. Such a show pony.

The sorta bad stuff that happened: I trailered him in by himself, but we met up with other horses. When we got back to the parking lot to untack, I tied him to my trailer out of sight of the other horses. He was ok, as long as I was there to supervise. He had attempted to sit back when I tied him that morning, so I was worried he'd do it again and didn't want to really tie the rope too tight (I saw him starting to pull back and gave him the eeeennnhhh sound and he quit and walked forward!). When I walked out of sight over to the other horses Hobbes decided he was not supposed to stay there alone. He untied himself and proceeded to wander off...thank God he stepped on his lead rope and someone caught him. Silly horse...but stupid me!

I was so proud of him...when it was time to load up, I didn't have to lunge him in his moon boots (shipping boots) for 15 min. to get him on the trailer. He gave me only one balk and then walked right on (he is not the best loader...even though he's been hauled around his whole life). I had figured he wouldn't be remotely interested in getting back on the trailer after that curvy trip up into the mountains. Plus, I did the worst thing ever on the trip up...I was futzing around with the GPS and felt the tires go over the rumble strips on the highway and immediately JERKED the steering wheel. I am so happy my trailer is so stable or we all would have died, I'm certain. I felt like such an idiot and apologized to Hobbes the rest of the day for trying to kill him. Never again will I not pay attention while hauling a horse. UGH. Scared the &%$#@ out of me. He did try to get me back when he proceeded to have a mini-meltdown when the trailer doors closed and he couldn't see out...and almost nailed me when he was kicking out in the trailer and I didn't have the ramp up yet (he's always done that, boots, wraps, or nothing). That'll teach me to stand behind him while I secure the upper doors.

So, there, I did ride my horse! And he was as good as he always is....minus a few incidents. Gotta keep it interesting!

Pro and Andrea (6/29)

Is Pro the only horse getting ridden this summer? ;)

We didn't get to go out to the field because Tara ended up going out to eat right after I got there to ride. So we worked on stuff in the arena. The jump was miraculously still there, so I worked him over the ground pole and over the little tiny cross-rail for awhile as part of our warm up, just walking over them. Then Kathleen showed up and dragged everything back off to her maze so that was the end of that. There were vague threats (promises?) of plastic flamingos showing up, but I've got my fingers crossed that she just brings the extra poles and cavaletti blocks tomorrow.

I think the mentally stimulating warm-up helped though, because he was really good once we went to work for real on the flat. I mostly did serpentines and went from 5 loops to 3 loops to 2 loops up and down the arena just to keep him guessing as to the bend. Then I let the reins out a notch (from the 2nd stop to the 3rd) and we worked at a little bit longer strided trot. His trot and canter were much nicer at the 3rd stop. Then we *gasp* did a few simple and flying lead changes just to test how honestly together he was. I was really proud of him because he didn't get quick or rush through the change of bend during or after the work. Four months ago doing canter figure-8's was a good way to trigger a buck ;).

Dare and Pro, 6/27

Sorry it took so long to post. I rode Pro on Friday and it was fun, it was also great to see Kate again. I enjoyed working over the trot poles with Pro. Everytime we went over, he got better. We worked on his weak side, which is also my weak side, but we finally got him going pretty well over them.

It was nice to have a long ride. Ive been working Mandros only 30-35 mins, and I rode Pro for a long time. His canter is nice, I felt like he was going to go on forever. Oh, and I braided his mane, and it turned out so cute. I dont have another long-maned horse to practice on, so I use Pro when I come out to see him. He was so good about standing still for me to braid.



I took a couple pictures of Kate riding, but they worked on the trot pole alot, and I was afraid to get too close. Then when I was riding, she went over near the trot poles to take pics, so I guess it would have been ok. Sorry Kate. Next time Ill get more pictures. My favorite that I took is the one at the top. It was from far away, so its kinda fuzzy, but it makes it look like a painting. Here is another cool one.

Kate & Pro - 6/28

Still waiting on Dare to post about her ride on Pro yesterday. :)

Today, it was too hot to ride after I did barn chores so I just decided to lunge Pro, but without side reins (just bridle). With poles!!

I had him trot on a circle - he did fine - and then shifted that circle so he would trot over one pole. Yes, one pole. (After he's done a ton of pole work lately, and even yesterday). He balked, all four legs splayed with a lot of snorting, and backed up. Nope, ON! Snort snort, LEAP the one trot pole. Repeat, but better the next time. I like watching him "figure out" the pole - he trots up, ears pricked, looking at it cautiously, drops his head/neck to figure it out, and bounds over it with his legs cranked up way more than necessary, lots of spring. I did that both directions, even had him canter over it, which he sorta did.

Then, a cross-rail. Well OH. MY. GOODNESS. Freak out!! I gathered up the lunge and walked him over it twice, then had him trot and got "behind" him as he trotted up to urge him over. He leapt it awkwardly (gotta love the Arabian jumping style), got LOTS of praise. The next time, he hit his hind leg on the pole, which banged against the jump block and scared him. That's okay! Still praise for going over. After awhile, he was doing it quite successfully.

I raised it up to a small (probably 18", if even) vertical with a ground pole, but he was NOT having that. So, fine. I walked him over. He figured it out. Then I managed to get him trot over it, but he hit it again and scared himself. That's okay, keep working. More walking over. Then I decide to go over first...so I jogged up, jumped it, and he walked behind, trotted one or two steps, and jumped. After awhile, I could jog up and jump it, and he would trot behind and jump it. Still wouldn't officially lunge over it, but that's okay, he was at least going over it willingly. But only when Mommy went over first. ;)

After about 10min I realized that 1) I looked like an idiot and 2) I was getting a pretty intense workout by doing this!!! We finished with a carrot and lots of pats. :) I think he enjoyed the challenge.

Andrea and Pro (6/26)

Pro started off really testing me and I think I scored about an 80%; I passed, but not with any sort of flying colors. He started off trying to rush through my hands to avoid my leg. So I did Gayle's trick of making a funnel out of the reins and booting him forward. He was doing pretty well and then he noticed that the "maze" had grown orange cones and that the dreaded cavelletti blocks had been added. That sent him sideways in a hurry, but I dealt with the looking/spooking the same way: open reins, boot forward, and then ignore it. He looked at the bench once but I think that was because of the lunge whip laying on it. Once he figured out rushing and spooking weren't working, he did his uber-collected walk where each step is about 6". I decided to ignore that other than to push him forward with leg slaps when it got incredibly rediculous. I did some leg yeilding and some haunches-in (gotta keep him evenly responsive!) and even a tiny bit of half-pass, though he didn't have enough impulsion so we went sideways more than I wanted.

So I figure I've got him super collected and responsive, let's try the trot. Well, everything sort of disentigrated. I worked on getting it back and luckily caught onto Pro's trick. He was tricking me into collapsing my upper body. My trunk would pitch forward and my shoulders would release and then suddenly we were totally unconnected. If I sat up, tightened my abs, pulled my shoulders down to hold everything together then the rushing stopped and the neck rounded and everything went great. Of course, 5 min later I had to do it all over again, but at least I think I've solved the rushing problem (same trick worked at the walk, it was just much easier to notice at the walk).

Around then Tara came out and asked if she could give me a trot-pole lesson. The answer was of course "yes" so then we did some work with trot poles and trying to get him to loosen up his shoulder and back and really stretch forward. Tara helped keep an eye on my position and he did really well (again, if I got lazy it went crappy, if I held my position and used my legs, it went great). So then we did two poles about a stride apart at the canter. He did great to the left, less great but still good to the right. The amazing thing about this actually is that Kathleen showed up to move hay into the loft over the barn and Pro never even peeked at the truck moving around and the people over there. He was 100% focused on the job at hand. Tara and I are thinking that maybe his dressage work isn't mentally stimulating enough for him and so if we don't give him something to think about then he finds something to think about. His choice is almost always much less productive. So now the question is... how do you keep semi-basic dressage exercises mentally stimulating enough for an Arab? I'm thinking about buying the 101 Dressage Exercises book to leave at the barn so Kate and I can try never doing the same exercise two rides in a row, but it seems like I should be able to come up with this stuff on my own... Anyone have favorite exercises they want to contribute?

Clinic Description!!

Ok everyone- it's description time! :D

Day 1- we started out with fairly basic things, but not necessarily EASY things. ;) (Believe me, BUNCHES of us can attest to getting tangled up in the rope during these excersises!) Anyway, we practiced moving our horses' shoulders over, driving forward, and changing reins on the 'lunge.' We also lunged/drove in and out of 'gates' (barrels and a fence set up like a gate) and ended up driving in and out of a REAL gate on the round pen! We also changed eyes and practiced one-rein stops on the ground.

For the riding part of Day 1, we did more one-rein stops and played with opening the shoulder up. I'm still not confident on that move, but it is helpful when you know how to do it correctly. We then worked on herd-bound issues in the ring and also did some sidepassing.

Day 2- Obstacles Day!! We started out by reviewing all the groundwork from the day before and then went on to obstacle work. We walked over tarps, dragged tarps behind us and put them on/over the horses, walked across a 'bridge' (a wooden platform set on the ground) and jumped over a tiny vertical!

We reviewed our herd-bound exercises in the afternoon then went out in a field to try them out! Each horse with herdbound problems got to wait while the group left, then walk toward the group and KEEP walking as the group turned and walked past them. All of the horses did really well at this!

When we came back we had a special treat waiting for us: a horse-drawn wagon! Pepsi did NOT like the wagon at all, but tolerated it better than I expected after a few laps around. We also practiced riding over all the obstacles we had done groundwork with that morning- the bridge, the tarps, etc.

It really was a great clinic and we all had a lot of fun that weekend! Next time, all of you should come audit!

Kate & Pro - 6/25

Ohhhhhhhh pony. Overall good ride with some naughty highlights. WHY he insists on being naughty, I don't know. He started off being squeamish with the bench so I made him do 8m voltes next to it, at the walk in both directions, for about 10 minutes. Whenever he started to balk as he passed, he got BOTH of my legs in his ribs. We then moved that to a 20m circle, mixing shoulder-fore, halts, and counterbend. Still pissy to the left with right counterbend.

We had a few GREAT circles at the trot - I even got to focus on making my posting big and correct. He felt super!! Unfortunately, it's mentally draining because I have to be SO focused to keep him honest and forward while not letting him think of things to spook at.

Then some more walking, some sitting trot, some transitions, some trot-almost walk-trot, and then ran into our rushing problem with the canter. It's the new fad in evasion, haven't you heard? Leap like a bat out of hell into the canter, and REFUSE to let me plug in my seatbones.

Today, I learned (again) that it's impossible to tire out an Arabian. I attempted to ease his rushing by just keeping the canter. Twenty circles later, I'm exhausted and he's just warming up. Ughhhhhhhhhh. Maybe Aunt Andrea can work with that some more tomorrow. ;)

I also learned that he's a LOT better at bucking than he used to be. I blame it on his new, strong back muscles. Yikes. He still likes to throw a big buck when he feels that I was too "strong" (really, a light leg aid) for the canter request. Except now he's strong enough in his back to really put some oomph into it. Darn!

Clinic Pics!

Ok everybody- I'm posting the link that Alex sent me with the clinic pics. I'll come back on tonight and give a detailed explanation of what we did in the clinic AND what we're doing in each of the pics!

PS- PLEASE ignore how I look in theses pictures! I didn't realize how badly my cotton shorts *ahem* came up until I saw these pictures! I also forgot my breeches the 2nd day, which is why I'm riding in shorts! :o

http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/Clinicpics2008/June%2021-22%202008/Mary/

Kate & Pro - 6/24

I didn't have time to ride yesterday ...also, I tripped on some brick stairs and now it looks like I ran a cheese grater across my knee...soooooo, didn't ride. :)

BUT, today I did. I also (after my ride) got some pictures of Pro in his pasture, so they'll be inserted throughout this post!

The barn manager rode her mare, Wonder, while we rode. I started off doing our groundwork, which involves HEAD DOWN while he walks beside me. He must "ho" and "walk on" promptly on voice command, without watching my body signals - meaning, he must walk on when I say the command, even if I don't step forward as I say it. This gets his attention focused on my verbal cues, and just paying attention in general. Being a smart pony...well, a quick learner...he knows the drill just fine.

Lots of wide "base" for my reins (hands farther apart) in our walk warmup. Kick KICK on, getting him to move off quickly when I say go. Also some shoulder-fore, counter-bend, halts, etc. I made sure to plug in my seatbones, focus on how they felt (I like Andrea's description of feeling his hind legs move my seatbones individually), and keep them there. He gave a squirrely eye to the bench by the tree, but I'd let him sniff the bench (and he was very calm) before our ride so I KNOW he only bench-spooks to evade work since it's only while I'm riding. Some Pro-spooks are genuine. Some are not. The bench is the latter.

Our trot work was pretty good for awhile - he was content to stretch down and even put a little spring in his step when I added some kick-kick! aids. Gayle has me riding so that my lower leg stays mostly off his sides unless I need them. At which point, they get strongly and briefly applied, then removed. I did some canter work, but he seemed to be really fond of rushing today - using it as an evasion. Rushing along with bracing his neck, trying to make it hard for me to use my inside rein to get him to flex.

I moved on to more trot work (sitting) and to get him to focus on something else besides the bench, I used counterbend. Well, this was something new! He was quite chewey and nice traveling right (counterbending left), but very belligerent in the opposite direction, not sure why! Bending right is usually easy for him.

Anyway, the ride was a lot of good points, mixed in with mini-tantrums. WHY he feels the need to question every demand, I'll never know. I try to reward good behavior and make it SO pleasant - TONS of "good boooooooy!!!!!!!" and pats and releasing the inside rein, etc. But nope, nothing's permanently stuck in his head yet. Guess we'll see.

**Note - He looks dark/wet because he got a bath after his ride...I didn't chase him around and get him sweat-soaked! ;) I know the first one looks ribby but I promise, vet said he was perfect weight, just the way he's bent (who knows WHAT he's doing). And check out the GRAY in his mane!!!

Christie and....Bo?

Deuce has been having some time off while I am trying to figure out what is going on with him. He isn't really in distress or anything, he just isn't right, so I am waiting, watching and checking him over a lot.

In the meantime, I have been wanting to ride! A friend of mine at the barn also wanted to ride, so I was able to borrow a horse from another friend so we could go riding together. Bo is a Paso Fino, definitely a different ride for me, but he was fun! :) We went up to the Sauratown trails, and rode for about two and a half hours. Gosh it was beautiful out there! It is really amazing how fast Bo can move those legs as he does his gaits! What fun! I didn't take a camera with me, but got some shots when we came back to share. Here is Bo!



The second picture shows my friend Dee Dee and her beautiful Paint Apache in the background.

Evening Ride

I went out to ride last night around 8pm. Hobbes wasn't terribly interested in coming in to get worked...which is the first time he's EVER been like that. Normally he is perfectly happy working. I think it was probably just a herd dynamics thing...we were walking in from the back corner of the pasture (I love that he's out in a huge pasture, but I freaking hate that he's always in the back corner when I go out there!) and one of the herd leaders decided to follow us in...so I drove him away with the lead rope. He then stopped and Hobbes figured he'd better stop, too. So I had to drive Hobbes forward with the lead rope. My lead rope got a workout ; )

As for the ride, it was pretty uneventful. Hobbes hadn't been worked since last Wednesday, so he was tuning me out more than usual...but it was cool by then, so he was pretty forward. Nice to work on sitting a forward trot, instead of his usual shuffle, trip, shuffle, stumble...PICK UP YOUR FEET!

We then had a serious beauty shop appointment. Hobbes' got a haircut....now he looks like a show pony again. His mane and tail are growing ridiculously fast now that he's eating BOSS. Love the tail growth, but I'm tired of pulling his mane!

Anyhoo...the owners of Nines keep pushing out the appt for me to come back. Last Thursday they had some 'unexpected company' and last night Nines was footsore from too short of a trim. One more delay and I'm gonna get suspicious.

Dare and Mandros

I rode Mandros today and it was so hot. I tried to get out there early, but I didnt, and I rode at about 12:30, so it was very hot. He was pretty good today, though.

We've been working on straightness and making our circles circular. He likes to go the way he wants, so we've been working on these things. When we go down centerline, he likes to turn early, instead of getting close to the fence. One thing Ive done for this is ride him right to the fence, then halt. He knows we are going to turn one way and he anticipates whats going to happen.

Our circles are getting better, but I really hate working on a really long rein. Ive gotten used to getting him in a higher frame, and it feels like Im throwing away the rein when Im working like this. My reins are almost to the buckle, and he looks fine in the mirror, but its a big change. He has to work this way because the longer the frame, the longer the stride, and the more be stretches his back leg.

His owner gave me the go-ahead to bump his trot work up to 15 mins, and to canter a couple circles. His canter felt a little bit better today. He still had trouble holding the left lead, but I was able to pick it back up and canter a couple more strides. I was able to take a couple pictures today in the mirror. I tried really hard to get some of me moving, but they just didnt turn out. Oh, and the arena is level, the mirror makes it look like its on a hill.

Kate & Pro - Mommy's back!

Well, the storm got me yesterday...no ride...but tonight I was determined to ride. It stormed before I got there (obviously, since I wore my magic make-it-rain-riding-breeches) so I cleaned some stalls, took my time grooming Pro...still light thundering. But it was light outside, so I tacked up - once I put on his bridle, a huge crack of thunder. Nope! I called my mom (she pretty much eats and breathes the weather channel) and she gave me the go-ahead, so I got on.

Man, he's REALLY decided that rushing is the new fad in evasion. Wasn't too keen on flexing, but I kept at it. We ended up spending about 20min at the walk (on a 15-20m circle in the middle of the arena), working on focus. He was determined to spook since the air "felt" like a storm was coming, but we kept at it. Walk, halt, walk on. When he gets looky, I have to let him go a little longer in the reins, but still keep him deeper than normal. Only when he feels secure can I bump him up to nose on the vertical. He seems to need a strong reminder in the beginning of the ride that YES, it is MOM who is still solidly in control, and there is ZERO tolerance for challenging this. Once that gets settled, I can trust him to go on the vertical.

His trot today felt VERY big and lofty, probably because of the wind and feeling of the storm coming in. It was pretty enjoyable!! I couldn't trust him for a second though, since there was a ton of stuff to look at with the trees all blowing. His tail was up and floating out behind him!! I did love the big huge steps he took, his shoulder was really open and free. Fantastic.

I did do a few circles at the canter, where he tried to rush to evade me. I didn't push the issue once I got him to a normal canter. No need to risk getting bucked off in the wet sand! :)

Mary has a new horse!!

Well, I know everyone is going to be shocked when I say this, but I took Pepsi to Alex's clinic this weekend and came back with a new horse!! His name is Fred and I just love him to death! He is sooooooo cute and well-behaved!! I'm afraid I might be confusing poor Fred though, because I keep calling him Pepsi! (Everytime I did that this weekend Alex was like, "His name is NOT Pepsi, it's Fred!")

And just so I don't COMPLETELY freak you all out, Pepsi IS Fred. ;) There was just SUCH a complete turnaround in his behavior that he really does SEEM like a different horse, so Alex wants me to change his name. :D

Anyway, the clinic was INCREDIBLE. Alex is really good at breaking things down so you can understand them easily and telling you WHAT you're doing wrong and HOW to correct it. Groundwork is SOOOOO not my forte, but she helped me grasp some really essential concepts and Pepsi responded really well to them. (Oops, I mean Fred! :p)

We did lots of driving forward, changing eyes and direction, de-spooking, working on herdbound issues, and we even got the chance to chase a cute little Molly and her attached cart! (Horse and wagon despooking! Yay!)

Anyway, I'm exhausted and I STILL have to study, clean the house and go to bed so I can get up early tomorrow. I'm sure Alex will come on and give some more/better details soon!

I cantered!!!

Thats right, I cantered Mandros today. He has been doing well trotting, and the owner wanted me to canter a couple strides to see how he felt/looked. It felt good. He is still having some trouble with the left lead, but he did pick it up for me, but would hold that lead. Im a little concerned and really hope that it gets better. She wants me to start cantering him one 20 meter circle each way, each time I ride.

His wound is looking better. It still looks gross and its draining, but not as much, and its closed up a little more every time I see him.

My husband (a.k.a my photographer) had to work today, so he couldnt take pictures. Maybe I can take my camera and take some shots in the mirrors.

Mary's Revenge on Pepsi!!

Ok, I KNOW the little brat hurt himself to get out of going to the clinic. I may be stupid, but I'm not THAT stupid. Well guess what pookie-head? YOU'RE STILL GOING!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Boot camp, here we come!

Oh, and as for that emergency vet bill....well, let's just say he'll be WORKING that off! (evil grin)

PS- Pepsi still had to do some groundwork today. He's still sore, but he'll get over it. I didn't make him work hard, but he had to LISTEN the ENTIRE time. He's getting there...

Pepsi's Diary-Part 2: My REVENGE!!

I finally got my chance for revenge this week! My stupid human captors had been increasingly annoying over the past few days, especially when they actually expected me to WORK in this heat! My main captor kept putting me in that 'round pen' and wanted me to walk and trot around. And as if THAT wasn't enough, I even heard them talk about taking me to a 'clinic' where I would have to work even more! Well, obviously I just couldn't have THAT!

SO, after much planning and deliberation, I finally figured out a fool-proof way to stay home from the clinic AND not have to work over the next few days! And the best part of all is that my stupid human captors didn't even see it coming!

What did I do, you ask? Why, I punched a giant hole in my leg, that's what! The other horses in my group helped me, though I won't go into detail of exactly HOW since my stupid human captors (hence known as SHC) are still trying to figure out how I did it. They want to find out how I hurt myself so they can remove the offending object from the field so I can't do it again. Ha! Like I'm really going to tell them how! Hahahahaha!!

Oh, and the BEST part is that my main SHC even had to pay for an emergency vet call! The vet gave had to give me a shot of antibiotics, which did hurt a little bit, but it was SOOOO worth it to hear her cussing and moaning about how she didn't have the money to pay for it! Ha! I'll bet next time she'll think twice before trying to take ME anywhere!

PS- all of the human captors are STILL trying to figure out how I hurt myself. But of course I'll never tell...

Epiphany

I rode Hobbes last night, as always he was slow and steady! I didn't bother trying to wake him up at the trot, I just went straight to transitions. Man, that's a good trick. Even though he wasn't exactly in a working trot, he was listening to me and moving.
It hasn't rained here in a while...and the dust is BAD. Hobbes coughed throughout the entire workout, making me feel bad for riding him! I guess I could think of it as helping to clear his lungs. Ha.
As for the epiphany...I realized if I work at rolling my legs in, ie so that my toe is straight forward, I dont grip with my thighs! I engage my outer thigh muscles instead, thus allowing me to engage my seat and I actually had Hobbes transitioning up AND down with only my seat. Quite proud of this b/c he is pretty good at tuning out my seat.

And this made me sad: In the spirit of anthropomorphizing, which I love to do....I have been talking to Hobbes about having to go back to his old home in VA b/c I can't keep him sound. Anyway, I went out to pull him in from the pasture (far back corner as usual) and he actually spied me and WALKED UP TO ME. He never does this. He usually ignores until I'm pretty much standing on his head. I could have cried. Nevermind what really happened was that it finally clicked that I give him a treat every time : )

I am going to bawl like a baby when I drop him off....

First Outing in Two Weeks!

Yesterday, Artie and I didn't just THINK about a workout, we DID a workout! :-) heheheh.

I brushed him down and saddled him up. I decided that I'd do some groundwork exercises and maybe a some lunge line work with him prior to hopping on. As soon as I put Artie on a small circle, Kara started running around the pasture like a crazy lady. She'd stop, whinny, toss her head around, and then bolt off again. Artie thought it'd be fun to "spook" when he heard Kara's thundering hooves. I must admit, it was kinda nice to see a little bit of energy from him. ;-) He went beautifully to the left. He was a bit hesitant going right, but we worked through that.

After 10 min or so of lunge line work and a little groundwork, he was eager to please and relaxed. I bridled him and we went to the front yard to finish out our workout. We did a lot of walking -- circles, serpentines, bending, stretching, shortening, lengthening. We progressed to the trot and did similar execises. He did REALLY well! He did try to rush one side of the "arena" (the side heading back to the barn). So, to combat that, we did a LONG trot on the side going away from the barn and brought it back down to a walk going towards the barn. After a few rounds of this, he was consistent the entire time around.

We finished with more walking exercises -- bending around objects in the yard.

I was SOOOOO happy with him! I was a little worried in the beginning. But he didn't try anything stupid undersaddle and worked beautifully. :-)

I finished up with some pictures of the ham and I.

Busy Ring

In the entire time I've been riding Pro (about 5 months) I've never had to worry about other people riding. Last night not only did Tara ride Elvis while I rode Pro, but Kathleen came out and rode "The Big Horse" (Pronto). So Pro was understandably a bit distracted. Pronto wasn't in the ring at the same time as us, but Elvis made up for that by pinning his ears every time he and Pro had to pass each other.

As a reward for Pro's good behavior on Mon I was going to steal the ground poles back so he could work on something different (trot poles). With Kathleen out that wasn't as much of an option so I tried to mix it up by doing serpentines more than circles. Pro was good, but much less consistent than he was on Mon. I think we can blame a lot of the lack of consistency on me though, 'cause I kept looking around to make sure we weren't in someone's way. Still, he was MUCH more willing to work than he has been lately and when we were both focused the ride went well. Hopefully the good behavior streak will last a full week so Kate can have fun with him on Saturday. :)

Deworming

I have been extremely slack the last few weeks. Mostly because I've been having to give injections twice a day to my Artie and also due to the fac that I'm avoiding a certain someone who lives @ the barn.

Today was deworming day. I was dreading this. The last time I dewormed Artie, it took me 20 minutes and I was so disappointed/frustrated by the end of it that I was boiling. Margie, Kara's mom, came out to help me. We dewormed Kara first -- she did WONDERFULLY; didn't seem to notice. Next, we tackled Artie. I was cringing inside, but, he did WONDERFULLY too; didn't even bat an eyelash.

Lastly, we tackled Jazz. She was a little miffed when I put the deworming tube @ the corner of her mouth. She threw her head up and sat back on her haunches. I approached her again, with my hand this time, and rubbed her face, ears, neck, jawline, put my finger in her mouth, etc. Reintroduced the deworming tube and she jerked a bit. So, again, more touching, showing her the tube, yadda yadda. Then, put the tip in her mouth, squeeze, DONE! :-) I have to say, I was pretty impressed.

All in all, this morning went pretty darn well. All the horses were successfully and for the most part pretty easily dewormed. YES!

It's still hot and humid here. I was literally sweating just standing out there. My goal is to ride tomorrow. I'll keep y'all posted. ;-)

Question about buying a Horse

I am getting panicky about not having a pro w/ me to say yay/nay on the potential horse. How many of ya'll have bought horses on your own? I have actually bought the last 3 on my own, only one of which was a poor choice. I feel like I'm fairly knowledgeable, but still...am I being stupid?

Lesson and Pic of the potential Hobbes Stand-in

I had a lesson last night on Hobbesy...he was extremely lazy and felt more off than usual. I was trotting him around (well, he was jogging and I was pushing like nobodies business) and my trainer told me to stop working so hard. Huh? How the heck am I gonna get this big lug moving?? The wheat thresher roaring next to us kept me from hearing her explanation...when I finally stopped to talk to her she put me back out on the rail and said 'do transitions'. So we did. And guess what? Hobbes magically got moving! I swear, I have been riding for years and I never knew transitions got the horse moving forward...how have I missed this important tidbit? I've been saving transition work for after we're warmed up. Sometimes I am amazed at how little I know.

Anyway, he worked out of his offness and we worked on a nifty new exercise...slightly modified b/c of the jumps all in the way. You circle all the way down the arena, overlapping each circle but moving over so you move from one end to the other. This involves continual rebalancing (half halts!) and if done correctly, a circle to a shoulder fore to a circle and so on. We sucked at it...but it was certainly informative of how much we sucked : )Lastly, we worked on my seat. And then some. Egads...my seat is bad. I ride off my inner thighs, ya'll. How in the hell do you stop this? We did sitting trot w/ no stirrups (fine), and then moved on to attempting to lift one leg away from the saddle while not moving the seat (not possible). I'm not kidding, I can't do it at all. Can anyone? So we then did the extreme chair seat while sitting the trot...ie. legs off the saddle and folded forward in front of you so you're basically perched on your seat alone. I felt like my seat bones were drilling a hole in poor Hobbes' back. I'm pretty sure that's wrong. So there's some homework for me!

And lastly, I've got another appt. to go ride Nines, the grey TB, again. We're going to do a trail ride to ensure his sanity. Unfortunately, no one can go with me. Its sorta nerve-racking to be thinking about spending so much money without someone else's thumbs up. My trainer works full time so she can't go. She did see the short videos and said he looks nice...sort of a Hobbes but younger and without the lameness. Yep, that's exactly what I wanted. Anyway, here's a pic of him...its a year or two old, he's actually almost all white now, and is becoming more of a fleabitten grey. He's so cute!

I trotted!!!

I trotted Mandros today for 5 minutes and his leg looks good. He still isnt back 100% yet, but he is on his way. The wound still looks nasty but it looks like it isnt as deep and its closing up.

I hopped on Mandros' owner's other horse, Lucantos, and walked and trotted him for a couple mintues. This was my first time riding him, so I was pretty excited. His walk and trot are very elevated and I felt like I was jumping on a trampoline when I trotted him. He is a very different horse than Mandros. He is a big, bulky warmblood, and Mandros is a smaller (still 16.1hh), refined warmblood. I really enjoyed riding Lucantos, even if it was for a few minutes. Its been a long time since Ive been able to really ride, so it was great to be able to ride Lucantos.

Pepsi, the Tractor, the Rope Halter, and the Round Pen

Today was a very big day for Pepsi! It was the first time he got worked in the round pen in his brand new pretty purple rope halter!

I didn't get a chance to work him saturday or sunday after turning my recovering ankle over early saturday morning and thinking I was going to possibly die from the pain. (I mean, I went out to play with him late saturday afternoon and had to sit down for 5 minutes just from walking him in the barn! I haven't had to do that for MONTHS!) So, he was a little up from not being messed with for 2 days, but nothing bad...just very energetic!

Then, MR. TRACTOR shows up! We have tobacco fields across the street from the barn, and almost directly across from the round pen. Pepsi was still being good, but he spent so much time looking that I finally let him off the lead and asked him to go. He went tearing around for about 2-3 minutes and then I started asking for changes of direction. Well, he had to pay attention and THINK in order to do those. Still, he wasn't really paying attention to me so after he got more tired back on the lead line we went. Then 2 or 3 sirens came racing down the road in a matter of minutes....THEN 15 minutes after that one of the mares started SCREAMING (and continued to scream for the next hour!) because her herdmate went on a trail ride. All of this was very hard to ignore, so I decided to start asking him for changes of direction on the line. Then for some haunches over, then some shoulders over. THEN I started putting it all together....back up, change directions, turn on the haunches, circle, circle, circle, whoa. Back up, circle, circle, circle, trot, change directions, shoulder in, etc. It took a few minutes but once he got the idea he was REALLY good. He tried to evade in the backing a few times, but quickly learned that wasn't acceptable! The rope halter helped a lot in this- it really gave pressure when he needed it and immediately released when he was being good.

Anyway, we got one REALLY nice 90 degree turn-on-the-haunches and a few nice sidepasses, so after those I quit for the day. He wasn't as soft as I would have liked, and he kept cocking one ear and had an eye on something else, but he was COMPLETELY responsive the moment I asked him for anything, so I figured that was good enough for the day. My ankle was REALLY starting to hurt by this time too, so I figured all in all he had been good and it was time to stop.

We ended up working in the round pen for over an hour, but I got some nice canter transitions, lots of changes of direction, and some nice lateral work. He was really very good and really seems to respect this rope halter. I'm finding that because he responds better to it, it's actually helping me fine-tune my body language because when I ask for something I know I have the power to back it up, unlike before. So Pepsi is starting to listen to me BEFORE I need to use the pressure that I can get with the halter.

Pro's Back!

Yay, evidently the dressage-pony version of Pro was waiting in his stall for me, not the demonic brat who's been stealing Pro's food for the past few days. So evidently the key to a good ride on Pro is one of the following: leaving work in a great mood, taking him away from his dinner, forgetting his fly bonnet, or Kate being out of town with no internet access ;).

Got on and he was being very "looky" but Elvis was turned out by himself right next to the ring and running around being stupid, so for once he had a reason to look. Asked for a couple neck yields and slapped him a couple times with my legs to get him going forward and that was... pretty much the end of the looking? I did avoid the bench problem by working more in the middle of the ring, so that probably helped. Instead of fussing with him as much I fussed at myself. Tried to keep my thigh back further on the saddle so I wasn't sitting in the chair-seat position, my butt clenched but following, abs tight, shoulders pulled down to anchor everything... It's amazing how much better the horse goes when you're actually in the right position. When my thighs started to creep up and I pushed them back down (sort of the same feeling you get when you lock your knees, but without the super-straightness?) his back would shoot up under me and his neck would arch. He was still sort of sticky, instead of his normal run-through-the aids he felt very march-y. Like he couldn't hurry because each foot had to be set down JUST SO. It's progress, it's just funny progress. So we worked on keeping that but also keeping some sort of impulsion, too.

He was good at the trot as well and so then as a 'treat' we moved down by the bench to tackle the spooks to finish out the ride. He looked at it pretty hard the first time, but the second time I opened my hands wide and slapped my legs on him a couple times and he went by better. By the end of the ride we could trot by it without needing to do more than open the reins a little and shift my legs like I was about to kick.

So I give him an 8 for today. :)

Christie and Deuce: Frustration! (LONG)

I am experiencing a bit of a puzzle, and then some frustration, with Deuce. I had a very short ride on him last Thursday, because a friend got kicked on the arm by her horse and needed some help, but I thought our ride was good.

I got on Deuce Friday, and that is when the problems started. Deuce would walk a few steps and then stop and park out like he wanted to pee. So I would get off his back thinking he just needed to pee. I even took him over to one of the spots in his pasture where he usually pees. At this point my husband and a friend who was watching told me that he wasn’t even dropping, and that he was almost going onto his toes behind. I tried once more to get him to really walk forward nicely, but he was still stopping to park out so I dismounted and began trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

I untacked Deuce and palpated his back. Normal reflexes and no pain even with deep, hard pressure. He was not acting colicky at all during this entire time. I had my husband jog him out for me, and there was no apparent lameness. It was getting dark by this time, and I didn’t think I would really be able to see well if I did flexions on him, but I thought putting him on a circle would be helpful and thought I could still see well enough to do that. This is when the other issue started.

Deuce has not been lunged by me except for one other time (and one time briefly each direction checking to see if he was off like I was trying to do this time, and that time he did fine.) The time that I lunged him went okay except for the fact that I wore myself out trying to get him to go forward, which is the primary reason I have not done it again. (Yes, I definitely need to learn more about doing groundwork, and I need to learn to do it correctly! I have lunged horses, though.) Well, Friday night he only wanted to go to the right, not the left. At this point I am frustrated that I can’t get him to go to the left, and I don’t know if the problem is training/behavioral or if it is because of whatever physical issue he is having. He would lunge to the right fine, but going to the left he would go a little bit and then turn and face me, plant his feet, and turn right every time. I was having trouble getting my body into position to turn him back to the left, and he was also snaking his head, bucking some, and even backed up and reared as I tried to get him to turn. So I finally let him go around nicely to the right one last time and called it a night. He was no longer parking out and seemed fine physically at this point, but I did not feel the problem was solved.

There were storms Saturday afternoon so I couldn’t go out and actually work with Deuce, just check on him. So yesterday I went out, and the first thing I did was clean his sheath and check for a bean. The bean was small, and there was nothing else remarkable. So I took Deuce down to where I normally ride him, and got on him bareback to see how he acted. He walked around just fine.

Stubborn person that I am, I decided to put him on the lunge to see if things would be any better. It did not go very well. He would go right again, along with some bucking, pulling, and general silliness at first during which he did pull loose from me a couple of times (and I was wearing gloves.) I attributed most of this to him being green and, I hope, feeling good. He still did not want to go left. I eventually got him to go right very nicely, walk trot and canter. I got him to go left some, and he was not off in any way that I could see, but he would go left for a while and then just stop and turn to face me, plant his feet, and start right again when I could get the feet to move. He would normally do this at the spot where he does not want to go left when I am riding him, too. (When I am riding him, he pops his shoulder and refuses to go forward at this spot, but there is a sticky spot in the pasture each direction where I loose his shoulder like that. It does not happen when I can ride him in a ring.) There is a bank and some pine trees at this spot that I tried to use to my advantage to help turn him left, but he got this panicked, trapped look on his face and chose to blow past me through what space was left between me and the bank rather than turn left! A couple of times I got him into position to do the “changing eyes” type of exercise that Alex has described. Again, he would do it well to the right. To the left, I could drive him forward, he would get a little “stuck” straight ahead, and finally turn around left, but would not continue left, even with me (I thought) in position to keep him moving left. I was having real trouble keeping my body behind his shoulder and driving him forward, especially since he would stop so suddenly and face me. I was finally about so done in that I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk back up the hill, so I got him to go left nicely a couple of circles without stopping and called it a day…but still frustrated.

I would appreciate any ideas, suggestions, etc. I know I am not a trainer, and I REALLY do need to get some help with my groundwork, especially with my greenie. I still do not know if the problem that was causing the parking out is resolved. As for the lunging problems, I am not sure how much is ME, how much is training related (still me!), and how much, if any, is related to a physical problem. Ideas? Suggestions?

Horse Search Update

Veered off our path Friday on the way to West VA to Tennessee to see a lovely 8 yr old TB. He is a CUTIE! A beautiful large-boned grey Argentinian TB (OTTB), was shown hunters for a few years after being imported until he bit his young owner (Ouch!). She then became terrified of him so they donated him to a rescue type place where he's been chillin for about 6 months. They are very honest about his issues and have put some work into getting his manners back and I really can't tell that he's any worse than Hobbes, who can be mouthy, too. They told me he is very picky about his people and if he doesn't like you, he wont work for you. He liked me, apparently, cause we went around the arena no problem and I LOVED him. Such a nice horse. Great for dressage...he is a nice mover and well-trained.

Anyhoo...got a lesson tonight on Hobbes. I'll keep you updated.

Groundhog's Day?

My ride went almost exactly like Kate's did yesterday. He started off sort of like "enh, whatever" when I asked him to listen. I established that no, he really is going to listen to me. He decides to humor me and listens for several 20m circles before "Oh! Look! That bench just tried to eat me!" (He conveniently ignores that the bench has been in that spot since Wed and he's walked past it 10 times at least already this ride without batting an eye at it). So we start doing 10m circles in front of it at the trot. I think he's spooking to get me out of an effective riding position. It's much harder to stay up, flat in front, connected through the butt, hands up and even when he's scooting sideways. He'd go back to being good within like 5 strides but he'd 'spook' in front of that stupid bench every time past it. Worked on it for 15 min or so before doing a serpentine to another part of the ring. Start getting some good work done there (after a brief "OMG! Jump block!" moment) and then the friend (trainer?) of "the big horse" shows up for his lunch-time messing with. There was an entire series of squeals and so Pro of course is delighted to use this as an excuse to re-forget everything. Got him back to where we were pre-squealing and called it a ride. If I had to rank him from 1-10 for beginning/middle/end I think he'd get a 5/2/5.5. At least we made a 5% improvement in 45 min?

Dare and Mandros-still at the walk!

I walked Mandros again today and he was pretty good. Its hard to keep him at a marching walk, he wants to drag his toes and walk like an old man. We did tons on leg yeilds and halfpasses.

We did a fun exercise, Im having fun going from half pass to leg yeild, and then back. So, we started out on the rail and when we came to a dressage letter, we halfpassed to the 1/8 line (Im pretty sure that doesnt actually exist, but its halfway to the 1/4 line. Is 2.5 meters from the rail.). Once we hit the 1/8 line, we leg yeilded to the rail in time to meet the next letter. Then we started over again all the way down the longside. The length between the letters is about 10 meters or so.

His leg still looks yucky, but we are keeping it really clean and he isnt bothered by us touching or stretching that leg. We are supposed to start trotting him for 5 minutes/twice a day this week, so Ill keep you posted.

Kate & Pro - 6/13

Back to my old pony again. :)

He initially rushed around at the walk - I guess that's his newfound manner of trying to evade work. Usually it was to slog around while trying giraffe face, but now he'll release his head down like he's supposed to, and rush around at the walk. Not acceptable, so I played until I had him well under me. Finally I had him behaving at the walk around the arena, so I was hopeful for a good ride. We worked on the usual walk stuff - shoulder-fore, stretching, giving the inside rein, slight spiraling for a brief stride each way, seemed good. Gayle had told Andrea (during her lesson) that often what seems like a head problem, isn't. Sometimes it's a leg problem, manifesting as a head problem. Keeping that in mind, I made sure he moved "yes ma'am"-style off my leg. I also made sure to focus attention on pegging my seatbones into his back (the imagery that Andrea discussed).

Good trot work - he was pleased and happy to go long and low - until he did a quick prop at who-knows-what that showed me he wasn't paying attention. Well now, BACK to work. That went better until we had some good canter work, until he decided to try and switch leads every time we passed by the jump block area. Since he can't hollow his back as easily at the canter to evade work, he tries to switch leads...a passive-aggressive manner of misbehaving. KICK on, and man was he pissed. He tried rushing to get back at me, but I kept at it and made him circle and circle and circle. I can't let myself tolerate head-up as an evasion, and I can't let myself tolerate rushing, either.

So the ride started good, got a bit messy in the middle, and finally was acceptable by the end. Whew!

Bath Time for Deuce & Update About Lease Horses

Well, the open wound on my arm I got when departing from the potential lease horse in Asheville finally healed enough for me to go back to the barn and do something! (It was pretty bad, 2" by 4" and like a burn with pustules and more scrapes around that. I didn't want it to get infected...I'm really not that much of a wimp!)

I felt bad that my "pony" didn't get hosed every day during that awful hot spell we had. So I decided to give him the spa treatment last night!

I gave Deuce a real honest to goodness scrub down BATH! He went to sleep while I was scrubbing him.

The lease horse in Asheville was placed with someone else. I have not heard back about the other horse, but I had been told by the owner I was in her top two. That mare was quite remarkable when I test rode her back in April. She had evented through Training level and had done tons of other stuff. The owner had told me she was going to decide who would get the mare May 31st so she could deliver the horse sometime the first two weeks in June, though, and she has not responded to my email asking about her decision. So I am guessing that I was not chosen. :( That horse would have been awesome to really get me going again. I think things happen for a reason, even though I am really disappointed. I will keep my options open in case I can find another made horse to lease.

For right now I will keep working with Deuce, and I am still looking for a good instructor that isn't too far away. Any good suggestions near Winston-Salem? I am considering sending Deuce for training, too.

I'm not quite sure what we're looking at in this picture, but I think I got almost as wet as Deuce! By the time he was nice and dry, it was too late to get a good picture. I wonder what he will look like when I get there tonight! :)

I rode Mandros today!

After handwalking Mandros for a week, the vet said to get on him and walk him. We did this because he was doing his "old man in slippers" walk. By riding him, we can encourage him to reach under himself and stretch his leg.

He did pretty well. We rode for 20 mins and we did lots of laterals to kept him stretching his leg. As I was about to get off, the owner's other horse, Lucas, started running around like crazy and startled Mandros. Thankfully we were just walking and he spooked in place. He usually takes off and bucks. It was really nice to ride again, even if it was just at the walk.

Mandros' stitches were taken out on Monday and the wound looks gross. Its basically a big hole in his leg that has ooze coming out of it. The vet says that the ooze is normal and everything looks good, so hopefully it will start to heal soon.

Andrea's Lesson on Pro

I was sort of nervous about how this lesson was going to go. Pro had been doing SO amazing about a week ago. Then he had his melt-down with Kate, a confidence building session with me, and he was starting to get back to himself when the heat struck. Neither Kate nor I managed to get much riding done while it was 100+ out, so Pro had gone a few days without work. Add that to an insane morning which left me stressed out before I even got to the barn and well, it seemed like a recipe for disaster.

As soon as I got in the ring Gayle pointed out 2 things she wanted me to not do/do. 1) Do not keep breaking my wrists and pulling Pro's jaw down. I freely admit to this fault and it's a good thing to have someone remind me of. 2) Move my entire thigh back about 6-8" on the saddle so that I can keep the front of my body in line and straight. We went onto a big circle and I tried to keep those two things in mind. Pro, however, decided that he didn't want to show off what an awesome boy he'd been being and was ignoring me, ignoring my legs, and far to interested in his mommy sitting beside the ring. Gayle had me bring my legs off and "slap" him with my legs rather than squeeze to try to get him listening. Pro, ever up to the challenge, ignored that and kept avoiding the aids by hollowing his back and lifting his head. Gayle took my inside rein and managed the rein portion for me while I concentrated on getting Pro to actually acknowledge and get in front of my leg.

Once he wasn't ignoring me quite so much, Gayle had me work on "plugging my seat bones" into the long muscles of Pro's back. She told me to envision that my seat bones were like one of those kid's toys where there are the different shapes and holes and that my seat bone should plug into Pro's back muscles. After a little squirming I felt like I had it. Every time he stepped forward with his left hind I could feel it lifting my seat bone and I could control how far forward his leg went with the tension in my abs and seat. Then we added the right one and it was amazing how fast everything came together. From crazy-arab to dressage pony in about 30 minutes. It was great, because I would sometimes manage to get that same feeling on my rides by myself, but I didn't really understand why that worked. I just knew that if I rode like I imagine dressage riders rode things worked better.

We then carried it up into the trot for a few minutes and worked on getting him to go forward, but not so far forward that I couldn't control the movement with my seat bones and my abs. Gayle made me post while trying to do all this, which was good because I tend to be "lazy" and just sit the trot so I don't have to worry about re-finding that position. We worked a little bit on me trying to roll forward onto my thigh at the trot so that my front stayed flat. That I don't think worked as well, but after the lesson she mentioned that Kate's saddle might not fit me super great. Since I'd already been considering getting a Wintec with a changable gullet at some point, this just provides justification to maybe do it sooner. Gayle went in to trim hooves at that point, but Kate convinced me to do enough canter work for her to get pictures. His canter was so amazing that I'm glad she did. :)

Kate & ...Elvis?!?!?! lesson

YUP, I rode someone new. I actually can't remember the last time I rode another horse. A pretty far stretch from my days before Pro, when I rode different horses my whole life. Mostly the ones no one else wanted to ride, for various reasons. Elvis, at all of his massive 15.3h, felt HUGE. Gayle's been insisting that I ride a different horse, and she adores my barn owner's horse (Elvis), so we convinced Tara to donate Elvis for a lesson. He's an OTTB who was a school horse for awhile.

Anyway, Gayle's a magician. She's never seen this horse go (only stand in the pasture, that's it) and before Elvis had taken two steps into the arena today, she's already describing exactly how he works and how I should ride him. Every word was dead on!! She's truly incredible.

I felt like someone had slipped him a bottle of vodka before I got on. Steering, anyone?! Bending wasn't even the picture. We played "follow the inside rein" by gently opening the inside rein wide, having him follow it with his nose as we walked circles. He's definitely a "lower legs OFF" horse!! If my leg started clamping, he would lean/move into it. I had to keep my lower legs consciously off his side unless I needed them. At which point it was bump-bump! and go forward. Or bump-bump! and off my leg. He was pretty okay with that.

Once we got some sort of directional work mapped out, and he was pretty chill with all that, we started to trot. Hmmmm, some sucking back. Bump-bump! and move on. Follllllow the inside rein, Elvis. He leeeeeaned to the inside and tried to figure out what I wanted. Weight more in my outside seatbone, eyes to the outside of the circle. Which, as absurd as it sounds, rebalanced him. And has done wonders for Pro's balance on circles. You know how everyone always says to look around the circle? Not anymore. I look just outside the circle. Suddenly, the horse stops leaning and lifts up. Works every time!

We switch to the left after a walk break, and then I ask for the trot. He snatches the reins, shakes his head, starts to throw a tantrum. Whoa!! What was that?! Try again, same thing. Back to the right, re-establish the trot. Change direction through the trot. Gayle emphasizes"be ready and anticipate, but DON'T be tense". Fine distinction, but it's so true. He seemed very stressed about something to the left. Gayle said it seemed like he was anticipating being snatched/yanked by the left inside rein. To counteract this, I gave it to him. Ahhh, there we go. He seemed surprised, but pleased.

At the trot, while looking just to the outside and fooollllow the inside rein and weight in my outside seatbone, I had to post in a manner that would bring his back up underneath me. He seemed hesitant, like he was expecting a retaliation from my seat. I "sat down on eggshells" as I posted down and "pulled" his back up underneath my seat as I posted up. He would raise his back for short periods, which relaxed him a lot. We did gradual figure-eights, and he was okay with this. Lots of praise when he softened and lifted his back. Loud grunts when he tried to pull a tantrum. He seemed surprised that his tantrums didn't work.

Overall, it was very...interesting...and very very different from what I'm used to, but fun. :) I think Elvis even had a little fun!!! I also rode Pro after Andrea's lesson and he was really good. Until I let him cool out at the end and he spooked at jump block. Nope, back to work!!! After he finally walked by it decently, THEN we cooled out for real. Arabs...

**Note - I have a short video but can't for the life of me get it to upload to youtube!!!! I'll keep working on it.

Pepsi's Been Good

Since it's been too hot to ride I've been going out to the barn for the last few days just to groom Pepsi and do some ground work with him. And since I was also busy cramming for my test yesterday, I've been too tired to blog about it!

Anyway, Pepsi's been very good with everything that I've been working on with him, and is starting to understand what this whole 'groundwork' thing is. He's not perfect, but I've done a lot of work on trying to get him off his forehand and to move his shoulders over, etc. Since our tying sessions, he's beginning to understand that when I say whoa, I mean WHOA. ;) (On another note, I can't wait for my new pretty purple rope halter to come in so I can use those pressure points!) And yes Alex, you can groan when you see the halter- but I just couldn't in good conscience order black!

Also, Pepsi's still been walking up to me in the pasture to see me which just makes me feel good. And he's gotten a LOT less mouthy. I'm not sure why since I really haven't been working on that- he just sort of quit one day and hasn't done it since. (It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm giving him more to think about AND that I'm becoming the alpha in his eyes, so no need to chew on things.) :D

I gave him a bath 2 days ago and he was VERY good for that. He LOVES playing with the hose so I spent a few minutes just letting him mess with the water. He was all nice and clean and HE DIDN'T EVEN ROLL when I took him back to the pasture! He rolled at some point during the night though since he wasn't exactly sparkling clean when I got him the next day, but he wasn't horribly disgusting either.

While I'm at it- give me your favorite brand of shampoes! I just ran out and am going to have to buy some more. So let me know what kind you all enjoy!

Ok, I'm off to the lab for some more studying for tomorrow's quiz!

Little horse

Hmm..I'm starting to feel like this is a blog about me : ) Ya'll need to get to posting! Or riding, which is it?

Went to see that horse last night. Odd situation, I get home and am about to head out to drive to WS and I decide to get the owner's phone # off the email. I notice an email from her father, asking if we could meet tonight instead, which I can't. So I call em up, and tell them this and he asks if I can drive his daughter home afterwards! How odd...luckily, my friend was riding w/ me, so I felt ok about it. How did this guy know I wasn't a serial killer??

Anyway, back to horses...the horse was adorable. He was good-natured, friendly, decent conformation. But, he had been owned by the teen since he was 3 (he's 7) and had been trained by her; which is great, shows he's easy to deal with. Unfortunately, it also meant he didn't know any more than a green broke 4 yr old, except he could jump, too. I could not get him to pick up his canter until I just gave him a big boot forward (his cue was inside rein, inside leg), he didn't approve of sitting down at the canter (hunter perch only), and he was pretty dead to the leg. Now, I like a push ride, but he was more than that, he was just unaware of what the basic aids were! No attempt to move away from my leg, whatsoever.

I think I could retrain most of these issues...but the other issue is that he seemed tiny! I think riding Hobbes has made me so used to having a big solid horse underneath me that anything else just won't do. Too bad a horse of his size is usually a warmblood, which is not what I want or have the money for. I'm going to look at a tb on Friday that is supposed to be a bigger boned guy like Hobbes. Hopefully he'll fit me better and I wont feel like I'm gonna tip right over his shoulder like I do w/ the little noodley horses.

Oh well, no hurry, Hobbes is mine as long as I want.

Damn Verticals

I rode fabulous, trustworthy Hobbes last night. Since I'm going to try out another pony tonight...I figured I'd best be doing some jumping so I wouldn't have another meltdown at the thought of a 2' vertical (why is it that a crossrail w/ the middle at 2' is fine, but a 2' vertical is terrifying? I am usually off center anyway so we actually jump 3' over the outside!). So I set up a little course of crossrails and eensy verticals and we cantered and trotted over them until I was smiling again.

Thanks, Hobbes, and where were you when I was a kid?

Kate & Pro - darn this heat! laaazy rides

I rode on Sunday, but it was more of a "let's play at the walk". I did a small bit of trotting, and even one canter transition, but that was it. Pro peered at the area where the poles used to be, but really didn't give too much of an effort. Erik really didn't want me riding since he didn't understand how I could "just walk". Silly boy...there's a lot you can do at the walk! Practicing the halt transition, walk-halt-walk, shoulder-fore on a circle, figure-eight smooth changes of direction, etc. Lots to play with.

Erik's niece (just turned two) also came out to visit "Pro pony". She recognizes him in pictures, has a stuffed "Pro pony" doll, and says "petty pony" when she sees his picture. Sure enough, she recognized him when we pulled him out of his stall!! She wasn't quite exactly sure about *riding* Pro pony, so she didn't last too long, but apparently she kept wanting to see the pictures of her riding once she got home later that day. Pro took it like a champ. :)

Stay cool, guys...it's AWFUL out there!

Lesson on Half Halts and Why am I such a pansy?

So...I finally had my lesson Saturday morning. Since I'm going to be returning Hobbes to his owner/school, we are now working solely on me and my problem solving abilities, which is exactly what I need. The lesson went well, with a nice in depth discussion of half halts and why they confuse me. The words "half halt" make it sound like it is so much more than it really is...a rebalancing. So we spent the lesson rebalancing, or 'problem solving', and then my instructor would say, "so, was that a half halt?" To which I replied, "why yes, yes it was." Thus the mystery of the half halt was cleared.

I have been reading article after article on how to perform a half halt...which just kept muddying the waters even more. Something about sitting deep, leg on, hold...blah blah blah. Well, Hobbes is a terrible horse to try to learn what half halts should feel like on...he's forever on his forehand. A half halt in the literal sense, trying to do a stop/go sort of thing, does nothing. But this rebalancing concept actually produces a few strides of, well, a partially balanced horse! Close enough!

And then...on to the dressage mantra of 'inside leg to outside hand.' Will I ever truly get this? Again, Hobbes is not familiar with this concept...therefore having the connection or not having a connection doesn't feel drastic enough for a newbie to dressage to 'get'. Ugh. Anyone have a dressage schoolmaster?

Enough about Hobbes...and on to the horse search. I went to ride a horse this weekend that is well w/in my budget and what I thought I would want. Hmm...packer type, not very fancy, just a good 'ol horse. That apparently is not what I want, cause he didn't remotely 'speak to me'. He felt tiny (16H sorta slab sided) cause Hobbes is 16.3 and huge through the barrel. I felt like I was gonna tip over that tiny shoulder onto my face. And..on top of that, I was terrified to try him over fences. TERRIFIED. He would have packed my grandma over a 2'6" course and I nearly had a heart attack over one 2' vertical. I guess my years of riding a dirty stopper have permanently damaged my confidence in new horses over fences. Now I can ride Hobbes over anything cause I know he's going over it...my nerves w/ him come from being worried I'm gonna do something dumb like catch him in the mouth or something. I'm just frustrated b/c I think my riding ability is much better than my mental ability. I have been riding for a long time...why do I feel so incompetent? So annoying. I think I need more lessons. My instructor keeps telling me I'm capable of more than I think I am...too bad I don't seem to believe her!

Houston, we have sweat !!!

The last 2 years Cowboy has been suffering from anhidrosis (nonsweating). The first year he had a little sweat and I really wasnt riding much so it wasnt too bad, but last year he got really sick and those few weeks of hot hot (umm much like RIGHT NOW) weather I was out hosing him off several times a day and sticking him front of the fan etc. It was very concerning, esp when he got so sick because some horses actually have to be MOVED to a cooler climate ! I had tried several supplements, and I got a little response from one of them called One AC last year. He made a little sweat behind his ears and one spot under his mane. BUT. It made him a crazy horse ! So I had to stop it. Over the winter I continued to search and stumbled upon a herbal supplement called chastetree berry. Apparently folks give this to their Cushing's horses but the mechanism of action of this stuff is much like the One AC so I thought I would give a go. I have gotten more sweat than previous, but not like a HUGE sweat (maybe that means I havent been riding hard enough? LOL) Actually Ive been a little nervous to push him really hard, didnt want to set off a crisis.

SO !! Yesterday I worked then ran errands than went rushing out to the barn to hose him off, I was really scared of what I might find (like other horses sweating and him not, and also him having that hang dog sick look) and... ::drumroll::: I FOUND SWEAT and LOTS of it !! yay ! He had the same amout of sweat as the rest of the horses, but since I was already there, I hosed him off, stuck him in front of the fan and gave him a bunch of horse crack (hay stretcher..Man they LOVE that stuff!). He was a happy boy, esp when I put him back up without riding or exercising him !

The good news (or for him bad news lol) is that now I feel ok about going out and riding in the evenings etc, well maybe after tues :)

Kate & Pro - 6/6 (hot but good)

**Today's image is from a few weeks ago, when Pro re-learned how to be a lesson horse and gave my boyfriend a ride. I used to be scared to let them out of a round pen but now Erik can trot (and post!) a 20m circle all by himself. Such natural talent. And recently I let them CANTER all by themselves!! Erik actually has soft hands, and keeps the reins light, so Pro is happy to get a relaxed frame with him. I think they're adorable, don't you??


Now on to tonight's ride...

Still very hot. It was 8:30 before I rode. I couldn't bear the thought of breeches, so I rode in shorts (I know, I know). It made me wish I could ride like that all the time if it wasn't so pinchy - with the humidity, my legs connected with the saddle and STUCK. There was no sliding, no moving, no nothing. Mostly because I was stuck to the saddle and uh, mostly because it hurt to move my legs. ;) I tried some sitting trot but mainly kept to the walk.

After Andrea's report about the poles, I spent some time in that part of the arena. The poles have been moved (not my doing) so he was okay with that. He was actually pretty well behaved, which only confirms my belief that he endorses different personalities with Andrea and me (ie, spooking at different things with each of us, etc). I think it amuses him. And I think it means he needs a new hobby!!!

It's Andrea's day tomorrow, and then I'm back on duty for Sunday. Even if he delightfully endures the heat, I don't want to push him physically...but I will do my best to keep up the regular workouts and just lighten the exercise so they're more "mental" in nature. :) And so I don't pass out since I'll fatigue WAY before him and his desert heritage!

Pepsi's Diary- My Continuing Torment: Part 1

Today my captors continued my torment.

First they put me in that white round thing they seem to refer to as a 'round pen.' Then that crazy human (who for a while I reffered to as MY person, before she starting acting all weird on me) started beating the fence again! At least she didn't yell at it this time, but I still wasn't going ANYWHERE near her!

After I was hot and tired and pretended I was listening she DID let me eat some grass. It's funny how easily these humans are amused- all you have to do is follow them around the 'round pen' and they pat you and tell you what a good boy you are! I'll never understand how they didn't get eaten by the dinosaurs millions of years ago...they're stupid enough that they really shouldn't have survived this long.

Anyway, after my roundpenning session my human captor escorted me into the barn. That is where the REAL torture for the day began. First, she tied me between two ropes she calls 'crossties' and then made me stand for a professional torturer, often referred to as a 'trimmer.' After clipping my feet until I could no longer walk, my captor then made me stand and watch her PAY the trimmer for her services! Isn't that TERRIBLE? Is there no justice left in the world?! (I did get them back though, because I gave the trimmer a HORRIBLE time. I kept pulling my feet away whenever she was trying to cut them, or whenever she used that other instrument of torture called 'the file.')

Anyway, my guard started to trust me at this point and went to fetch some water for herself. (Not for ME of course!) As soon as she left I went up to another captive to pass along some information about our planned escape. This poor horse was even locked in a BOX! How can these humans be so cruel! (They call it a stall and tell us that it helps keep us cool since it has a fan and all, but I know the truth!) Anyway, I felt so bad for him I tried to create a distraction so he could get out, but he was too tired to move. My captor heard me though and came to catch me. I could tell she was mad that I hadn't stayed where I was supposed to though, and I immediately tried to run away. I made it all the way back to my pasture where my other POW's were, but they hadn't time time to get the fence down and the hotwire off, so I was resigned to my fate and let her catch me. If I can keep her running after me longer for next time, maybe they'll have time to destroy the fence and we can ALL escape!

Anyway, after she caught me she put me back in the round pen for more work. She must have been taking her aggression out on the fence again though because she just kept hitting it! I had to keep changing directions to get away from her! Finally, she stopped htting the fence and I came up to her hoping she would give me water. She took me back in the barn and gave me some water, but she also brought out a long yellow snake that spits water! She called it a 'hose' but I know what a snake looks like!!

After that she started discussing me with the head guard: they call HER the 'instructor'. The head guard said that I needed to be 'taught a lesson.' They both kept talking about patience and how I didn't have any. Of course I have patience! You HAVE to be patient in order to wait for the right time to escape! How dumb do they think I am!?!

Anyway, they led me up to a tree and TIED me to it!!! I tried talking the tree into helping me escape, but it refused. So, I finally untied my leadline so that I could get free. Unfortunately, the humans weren't as stupid as I thought they were because they noticed and tied it even higher where I couldn't reach it. Damn!

So, for the next two hours I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to get myself loose! I tried pawing the tree, I tried chewing the tree, I tried mounting the tree and attacking the tree. I even tried pushing the tree over! All to no avail. I even tried convincing the small humans that they call 'children' to untie me, but I don't think they understood what I wanted. They just kept saying how I cute I was and how funny I was being. (I REALLY don't understand how humans haven't been eaten by larger creatures yet. Perhaps it's because they only allow themselves to be around herbivores? Yet, they keep dogs at the barn to watch us in case we try to escape. Why haven't the dogs eaten them yet? Hmmm....I should think more upon this later- perhaps the dogs and I could work out some sort of agreement.... But I digress.)

Anyway, after 2, almost 3 hours, I was too tired to fight and I finally stood still and wanted to go to sleep. At that point they told me I was a GOOD BOY and led me back to the pasture! My human captor made me move over and back up and do some sidepassing before she would take my halter off, but after I did all those things she let me go!

I will NEVER understand these humans. I will continue my diary tomorrow however- now I need to go find grass!!