Trot Poles!

I splurged and bought the barn some more trot poles (8' landscaping timbers). They were going to make their big debut Tues night, but one of the old horses at the barn was mildly colicing (she's fine now) so I didn't actually end up riding.

Last night I set up 6 in a row on what I was guessing was 4-4 1/2' spacing (so he'd have to lift his legs over a pole each time he stepped forward). My idea was that this would force him to lift his back up so he had space to really step under himself and get over the poles. Pro wasn't too sure about the torture device when I pulled him out of his pasture so I walked/jogged him over them in hand before we went up to tack up.

He was actually good about not being spooky heading into them, but the spacing was clearly still a bit big for him as he was rushing through. That wasn't what I wanted at all so I did a lot of circles before and after going through them. He tends to lock onto the poles and tune his rider out so there was lots of "hey, remember me?" moments. Sometimes he went through them great, others it was sort of scary, but overall I think we both had fun. His impulsion hasn't been as good lately so I was mostly fine with him being very forward. A couple of the circles felt like he had pretty good suspension and was actually lifting his back. I tried pushing the poles closer together and things got worse for both Pro and the other horse who was out with us, so I ended up just making them 2 sets of 3 poles side by side and trotting through those a couple times before calling it quits.

I'm hoping to start incorporating poles in a more casual sort of way (poles at the quarter points of our 20m circle, random poles on the ground to just do whatever on) but does anyone have fun-filled pole exercises? Kate and I are trying to find some method to let us lift the poles off the ground some, but for now we've just got the flat poles.

Pictures! (sort of)

After some cold weather and a head cold :P I am finally back in the saddle. On Monday, Pro and I had a brief, impromptu groundwork lesson when we walked into the barn. Three empty shavings bags were lying across the aisle (the barn manager was busy putting new shavings in the stalls) and of course Pro gawked at them. Well that was no good, so we walked over and I made him investigate further. I'm pleased to say that within 5 minutes, I had him walking back and forth over the plastic bags!! :) He even kicked them around and it didn't phase him. That NEVER would've happened a few years ago.

So on Wednesday when I rode, he was actually pretty good. He had some snorty issues about the bunny tree, but we just kept doing voltes (turning off the outside aids) by the tree until he got over it. I made sure he was stretching down over his back and reaching for the bit the whole time. We didn't end up cantering, but we did do lots of walking, some trotting, and lots of bending through circles and figure eights. Every time I felt him start to get tense, I bumped him forward and made him stretch down more. At the trot I did a lot of "light posting", making sure my lower legs were off his sides, to make sure that he was lifting his back.

Pro was still pretty strong though, so my shoulders were sore by the end of the ride. I am getting better about reminding myself that pulling is a two-person game, but he DOES need those "HEY, come here!" reminders a lot. Ugh.

Here are the pictures I got...not sure if you all can see the muscling that I'm talking about, sort of behind his withers. I couldn't get him to do a back lift at the same time that I held the camera...this was the best I can do. We're trying to get him to develop his full back muscles, and stop bracing by his withers.

He is HERE!!!

I am ashamed to say that I didn't think he was coming yesterday so I didn't have my camera ready. I got the call at 4:30 that he was coming so I rushed over after work to ride him and get him settled in with Apple. These pictures were taken with my phone this morning. I promise better ones tomorrow after I ride tonight.

His registered name is Mr Starlight Opa. I will NOT call him Opa. His breeding is interesting its a mix of working cow/reining horses and performance/WP horses. He is one of the smoothest horses I have ever ridden and I LOVE it.

I have a local guy that wants me to come over and help him during some local cutting shows. My horse and I will keep the cows turned back and penned at the end of the arena.

Ideas for names are very welcome. I have a soft spot for "A" names though.

Crappy Lesson

Had a lesson last night...it sucked. I just couldn't get it together to do anything right. Skate wasn't particularly bad, but I just got the impression that he wasn't getting it (whatever it was I was attempting). So, my instructor hopped on and continued the conversation. She wholly agreed he wasn't getting it. He still seems to have no clue about connection...so I guess its time to change the game plan.

My homework is to get him to understand that his rear end is mine and needs to move when I tell it to. I'm supposed to do a nice long warmup each ride, then the working part needs to focus on quarter turns on the forehand, ie. squares, spiral ins to TOF, etc. Plus, some ground work to reinforce the move over cue.

The thing I'm feeling SUPER frustrated about is that he normally does TOF for me, just fine. Last night - he was friggin clueless. I felt like an idiot, b/c I kept wanting to argue and say - 'but he knows how to do that!!'. Instead I kept my trap shut. Obviously, my game plan hasn't been working b/c he still doesn't want to connect at all...I can get a few steps of something, but he immediately hollows and gets rushy. So, maybe she's right - I think he gets what my leg means, but he doesn't really fully respond. Ugh. So annoying. Still, here's where I can't make the connection: Once he understands he needs to use his rear end and step under w/ the inside hind and connect to my outside rein - how is he magically going to start working on the bit? I'm not seeing how this is going to work...

I'm going to do some internet research and see if I can get a better understanding of this. My engineering mind doesn't do well with the froo froo concepts of dressage. I need physical evidence and actual examples to get it. Sometimes I listen to people speak or write about dressage and feel totally annoyed with the abstractness of the description. I'm one of those people that does NOT ride better after reading Sally Swift. Thinking about myself as a dripping ice cream cone or an oak tree just makes me feel ridiculous.

Oh, and I started watching a video called "The Art of Traditional Dressage" narrated by De Kunffy. I fell asleep about 10 min in. The only entertaining part was when he was tottering around on his heels w/ his toes up trying to show how your heel should be down. Dang, that was funny.

Sailing with Skate

Man, it was windy on Sunday! I went out to have a quick ride and found myself wondering what the heck I was thinking? No horse could possibly stay quiet and focused in those winds!

Surprising, Skate handled it very well. I didn't get a whole lot of really good work in...but he was very quiet. Coming down the long side a few times it was so windy I thought I was going to get blown off! I did some good trotwork and some nice cantering and called it a good ride.

I have switched his bit from a plain mullen mouth to a Sprenger due - which is like a Nathe, but cheaper. I was hoping the rubbery surface would reduce the gnawing...and it has, but just a little. Now I just can't hear him gnawing : ) Unfortunately, I'm already noticing some gnaw marks in the rubber...even though its guaranteed for 3 years! Plus, the brakes in that bit are almost nonexistant. That doesn't really bother me, b/c it just shows me I need to work more on stopping him from my seat, but it might not be a good choice for trails or jumping. Ha.

"Back" to basics...

So I know I've been MIA lately, but I have been out to the barn. I lunged Pro on Thursday and did a lot of transition work. He's still being a good boy about stretching down over his back when I increase pressure on the lunge line and then release it. I'm proud of him for understanding that the lunge line really is the inside rein, just without me on his back. So smart! It was windy but despite a few scoots and a buck, he mainly paid attention to me. We even mixed in walk-trot transitions since he doesn't like to walk on the lunge line.

Gayle was out to trim Pro yesterday...back on a short cycle for his feet since he had some not-great growth for the few months that he was without his Mg (which Gayle said is instrumental in helping him regulate sugar and develop proper hoof growth). He's not insulin-resistant, he just needs the Mg to keep things running smoothly. Thankfully it's quite cheap! So we're dealing with some hoof wall separation in his club foot. Gayle also noticed that he's starting to revert back to some of his "old" muscling in his back. I'll take pictures of it tomorrow so that I can explain it better. Mainly, he's bracing right behind his withers instead of LIFTING behind his withers, so he's getting extra bulk there, and starting to lose muscling further back on his actual back. She made him do some belly lifts with her hoof rasp (and WOW did he lift!!) so that I could feel the difference in muscling. So we need to focus a LOT more on really getting him to lift his back. I guess I'd been so focused on him to relax his neck and stretch that I wasn't paying enough attention to really getting after his back.

...which has probably stemmed from the fact that due to the cold winter weather, we haven't had lessons in a few months. Thankfully Gayle gets to devote March 100% to lessons and clinics, so Andrea and I are booking her up! ;) And then we'll get him back on track and back on a regular lesson schedule. Needless to say, I got pretty frustrated/overwhelmed with the constant learning process that horse ownership is, so Gayle had to slip in some therapy while she trimmed. :) She reminded me that Andrea and I have gotten Pro to overcome a giant chunk of his problem - the psychological/behavioral issue. Now we just need to refocus on 100% correct riding to get him to remuscle properly. Gayle also reminded me that even the professionals always have eyes on the ground, and some regression is to be expected when we take a hiatus from lessons.

So, back to work we go! I'm sure Pro will be shocked when he sees Gayle again and again in March... ;)

Deuce...Opinions?

Deuce has just been hanging out and living the easy life. He feels just fine to run, buck, rear and otherwise play in the pasture. I have to admit that the situation with Deuce has really been weighing on my mind lately. Deuce appears to be doing better, ironically since I got Jay. I wouldn't have found Jay if Deuce hadn't had his problems! Jay is just so much my dream horse that I never thought I would be able to have again. I have not had a vet check Deuce over yet, but I can see improvement.

Realistically, I don't know that I would want to ride Deuce much, at least right now. Deuce and Jay are very different types of horses...imagine that! An OTTB compared to a Paint! Now that I have decided that I definitely want to stick with dressage and probably combined training or eventing as well, I don't think Deuce would ever really excel at that. Also, Deuce is a good boy, but he would not help my confidence issues right now just because he is green. He would have to spend some time with a trainer, which I can't afford. I do feel that Deuce would make an awesome child's horse or husband horse with some training, though. He loves kids and is just a laid back, unflappable, push-ride, steady type of guy. Another option for him may be as a driving horse, too. He was started for driving as a 2yo before I got him.

Another issue is how to proceed from here. Deuce's back does seem better, but I have not had a vet look at him again recently. I have considered whether or not to take him to someone else locally, like Dr. Meeker, for a second opinion, or should I go directly to the vet school? I hate to spend the money for another opinion locally and then still end up at the vet school. My DH does not want me to spend a lot of money just to turn around and sell him...or give him away. Do I pay to work a horse up that I am not going to keep, but on the other hand can I sell or place him with this unknown? Things are tight financially. I have also thought about trying to place Deuce as he is with the agreement that if things didn't work out I would be willing to take him back. What do you guys think? Do any of you know someone looking for a horse like Deuce? He really is a nice, good horse!

Here is a picture of us from last June:

From A to Z

I've been riding Pro for the past 3 days because of a scheduling conflict and what it's taught me is that with Kate and I alternating Pro is in WAY better shape than I am ;).

Sunday was a wasted ride. When I showed up the barn manager's dog had run off so she asked me to keep an eye out while she was driving/walking around looking for her. When we got to the arena Pro was convinced something scary was hiding in the brushy stuff behind the mirror. Since I kept hoping to see a little Jack Russell popping out of it, I was looking where he was and well, you all know how it goes when both horse and rider are looking. I did get 2 good things out of the ride. 1) I decided that my stirrups were still at jumping length and dropped them a hole. That made it much easier for me to sit properly in the saddle. I think I could stand to drop them one more but I want to wait and see how I feel after I get used to this length. 2) I got to practice my effective riding position/seat in the face of snorting, stopping, and squirming. Engaging my core made me feel like I didn't really have to worry about what he was going to do and so provides motivation to do it more often.

Monday we had a very good ride. Big Horse was out with his owner having a lesson so that took up about 2/3 of the ring. I staked a claim to a 20m circle in the good footing at one end though and tried to ignore them. Pro worked pretty well. I ended up doing a lot of transitions with him. Big Horse was working on trot transitions and that motivated me. I personally think Pro did his much better much faster, but I guess he's a lot less horse to collect. Whatever the reason, I was happy with it. Pro kept throwing in gratuitous bucks at canter departs, so he wasn't an angel. I think it was partly him demonstrating his lack of equine social skills as the issue was worse if Big Horse was on our half of his work space.

Yesterday was the "Z" portion of the three rides. I'd had an awful day at work and was tired and stressed when I got to the barn. The horses weren't ready to come in yet so I couldn't do my chores so I opted to just walk around on Pro bareback. In the dark. With a halter and lead rope. Pro thought I was crazy. The barn manager and Big Horse's owner thought I was crazy. But I was really in the mood for one of those meandering rides like I used to have on my QH before I got into TBs. Pro seemed very confused about what the goal of the ride was. I don't suppose his owners before Kate were really the "meander around bareback and just chill" sort. He was very good though and just trucked around at the walk. We did a couple brake checks but mostly did circles and serpentines while I worked on getting a good feel for his walk. Nothing strenuous and we were out for maybe all of 10-15 minutes, but it cheered me up and felt semi-productive, so I was happy with that. It was a very dramatic difference from Sunday, that's for sure.

I love my horse!

Skate was such a good boy last night. I hadn't ridden in 4 days due to the "damn shoe", but when I took him out to the outside arena under the lights you would never have known it. He ignored all the things that scare every other horse in the barn and just worked hard for me.

We worked on all the basics...but added in some new exercises. Although his trotwork was much more relaxed than usual, he was still attempting to pick the tempo on his own. I decided to stop politely asking him to quit the motoring off after my half halts - I demanded it! So we worked within the confines of a 20m circle at the sitting trot and every single time he sped up on his own accord he got another reminder(strong half halt) until he quit that nonsense. This is a bit of an epiphany for me because up until now, I have just sort of allowed him to speed up and tried to slow him with circles and other less demanding requests. All that ended up doing was getting him into this awful, hollow, drama llama pose while trucking around with eensy yet incredibly quick steps. I was just getting tense trying to keep up with that so we spiralled further down in trot quality until we just had to stop and walk. This new plan of half halting loudly until he listens seems to work very well. I think he likes being told what to do b/c he actually chilled out and gave me some very nice sitting trot.

I also needed to get his little butt responding better to my canter cue. He is hyper-sensitive to all aids, but we're having a miscommunication in this one area. I am either cueing too strongly or he associates cantering with something bad. Anyway, whatever it is, we gotta get past it. Those little pinned ears and sucking back at my leg won't work. So we did trot to canter to halt to trot to canter and on and on until I got prompt and FORWARD transitions into the canter. We ended on a lovely rhythmic canter into a square halt and called it a night.

So, on another topic - he has been super well-behaved and quiet the last two weeks. I don't know what it is, but I hope he keeps it up. Three things that may be contributing - I switched him to 2 lbs of Alfalfa pellets/meal instead of the 2.5 lbs of Reliance pellets about 3 weeks ago. He wasn't getting anything out of the pellets except junk calories, so I decided to switch to something a little more holistic (plus it may help buffer his tummy against ulcers, which I sometimes suspect with his fussy behavior). Also, he really likes the AP, and is slurping up his dose of Reisport along with it. Before, he was leaving quite a bit at the bottom of the bucket. It could be the influx of good vits/minerals is doing him right. And third, the new saddle might be making him happier with his work - Yay!

And - an old blurry pic; I know how we like pics!

Desi is Leaving

I am sad to have to say that I have come to the difficult decision that Desi just isn't for me. I hate it but her personality doesn't compliment mine. She is so sweet and could care less about anything. I need something that is a little bit......well more of an ass that is responsive and aware.
Desi will sidepass, move her shoulders, has almost mastered neck reining, is finally getting light to the leg, and has a KILLER stop. I have some friends that are looking for a companion trail horse for their super laid back mare and they are going to come see her next week. I will be able to keep tabs on her and make sure she always has a great home.

I have been watching my new horse for a while now. A friend of mine owns him and hasn't been doing much with him. He is a 5yr old reg qh that has been started on cows. I think my biggest challenge with him is that he was gelded late. He will need to get used to not getting to be with the girls and hopefully Apple will whip him into shape pretty quickly. He is super light to ride and I think will make a better all around/clinic horse. I PROMISE to post pictures as soon as he gets here next week.

Pictures of Tango!

Here's the promised "photo shoot" -- my lovely boyfriend Sean snapped some photos of me hacking around lightly on Tango today. Also, I have good news regarding Tango -- his owner and I are beginning to work out terms of a half-lease, woohoo!!

I know Tango has quite a bit of muscle to build back, and a little chub to lose, hence his general "warthog" appearance. I also know that I need to get my hands out of my lap, ride on the inside of my thigh, and SIT THE #&!! BACK, lol... but these are all works in progress as he and I both get back into shape and I search for a decent used dressage saddle. (As you can tell, the Wintec AP saddle we're currently borrowing tips me forward severely, and the tree is a bit too wide for Tango, hence the Mattes pad.) In the meantime, enjoy the photos, and I hope you all got to enjoy the beautiful riding weather too!

Short Update for a Short Ride

Yesterday I had a short but windy ride. Jay was really good, but the canter got pretty strong a couple of times and I felt my seat getting loose. I guess my confidence didn't just go away overnight, although it feels like it did with the sudden realization that there was an issue, and it won't come back overnight. The wind may have contributed some, but I don't think it was a big issue. I am wondering if the footing (somewhat wet and mushy in places) and the fact that Jay still needs to build more muscle to carry himself and me were also contributing factors. Opinions? Here is a picture of us during some trot work yesterday:


I promise more of an update on Deuce soon! He has been living the easy life, and has been running, bucking, rearing, and otherwise just generally having fun and playing with his brother!

Straight on a Circle

Either Pro has discovered his newest evasion or I've actually started to feel what's going on under me, because I could tell Pro was swinging his haunches in on the circle last night. I decided to simplify things a bit and stay mostly on a circle and not confuse him completely. He started out rushing but I got him listening pretty fast and he didn't really complain about collecting. It was actually sort of fun because rather than just bringing him back to a medium walk I asked him to go ahead and collect up at the walk. I always get a kick out of feeling that very deliberate, hesitating walk. Then we tackled the haunches issue. What I noticed is that he actually seemed to do better if I used more inside leg. I don't know if that just helps him establish the correct bend by giving him something to wrap around or what, but it causes issues b/c Kate and I are supposed to be riding almost leg-free. We're not supposed to use constant pressure or squeezing and are just allowed to 'box' him forward. So how do I keep my inside leg on without using pressure? I'll definitely be playing around with that next week to see how little leg I can use. Perhaps I'm using too much outside leg and forcing his butt over? So the answer may be less outside leg rather than more inside. I've been working on being more aware of keeping my outside leg back, so that could very well be the answer.

I also played around with some leg-yielding and shoulder in both on and off the circle. What I found worked great for him was to do a 20m circle but on the long sides of the arena I'd ask him to take 5-6 strides of leg-yield along the fence so that we ended up making ovals. He stayed very steady through the bridle and moved over very nicely doing this, even at the trot. I'm hoping to remember to make this a normal part of the ride for strengthening purposes and also to keep him thinking about what I'm asking for even if we're just on a boring, old circle.

Damn Shoes

When I pulled Skate out of his stall last night I thought I saw him take a funny step...but wasn't sure. He was super quiet while I tacked him up...almost snoozing in the aisle. I wondered if they ran around all day due to the crazy wind.

I took him out to the outdoor arena and hopped on - he was still ridiculously quiet, despite the strong breeze and dogs howling nearby. I kept getting an odd feeling that he was stepping down heavier on one side, but there was no head bob. I went ahead and warmed up and rode for about 20 min, anyway. I was having trouble getting him to move out and release his back...so I knew something was bothering him, but still couldn't pinpoint what it was. After doing spiral in to TOF tracking left, it revealed itself in the left front. The farrier must have misplaced a nail during his reset that morning.

Anyway, I was supposed to have a lesson Saturday morning, but I may have to cancel that if the farrier can't make it out to reset Skate's shoe or the reset doesn't work. We shall see. Maybe this is a push to take Skate barefoot. I hate dealing with shoes and Skate's feet, although tiny, are pretty solid.

Desert Prince conquers the wind!

I can tell the weather's getting warmer from the sudden influx of posting. :) Now that we've successfully navigated anti-motivation due to cold weather, we'll all be great until the dreaded southern humidity hits us this summer...

I knew I was going to have an interesting ride yesterday when I saw that there was a PM wind advisory for Orange County. Thanks to slightly longer days, I still managed to ride when there was daylight, so we at least had that going for us. Pro was great! He's a superstar about finding the end of the rein at the walk these days, and has really developed this big, reaching power-walk. I wasn't going to let him rush, so we had a nice discussion about who gets to dictate tempo and rhythm, and I thankfully won.

He was still strong yesterday, and my shoulders will still sore from Monday, but at least he wasn't throwing any fits. We had a lot of half-halting (Advil for my shoulders, abs, and thighs!) and reminders about tempo. My main goal was to never let him be content with reaching the end of the rein, but to continually stretch and reach and really get into what Gayle says dressage is all about - physical therapy for horses. She said it should always FEEL good for them. And I do admit that when Pro's being a good boy, he really gets into it. He's quite expressive, so he gets the best facial expressions and really enjoys his work. But like a kid who eats vegetables, you can't tell them that it's good for them or they'll suddenly not like it anymore - so when he gets into a really content and happy mood, I just let him think that it was HIS idea to do this whole dressage thing!

The winds were pretty strong for most of the ride - so intense at one point that I had to walk only because I had to shut my eyes. He was fine!!! Maybe the sand blowing reminded him of the desert? He did get a little tense past sundown (after a great sunset) once the wind picked up more and the trees even started bending and swaying, but by then we were stretching out a long rein and he relaxed. We did have a few VERY exuberant circles at the canter, silly boy. But with the warm weather and the breeze and the sunset, it was just a GREAT night. :)

Keepin' on Truckin'

Evidently the pretty weather has Pro wanting to ride as well as me and Kate. Tuesday night he was a rushing machine. The extra impulsion was nice, but Pro wasn't really interested in doing dressage. We spent some extra time at the walk getting my seat bones plugged in. I probably didn't help his rushing by deciding to go full-arena with him, but it was nice to work on straight lines. I did some leg yielding zig-zags to try and get him to focus (which he handled like a champ) and then we spent most of the rest of the night working on going straight on straight lines. He wanted to go down the long sides like a dog with his hindquarters shifted to the inside. I countered by leg yielding his shoulders over in front of his butt, which worked great for about 4 strides until he got annoyed that I was constantly asking him to leg yield and go straight. Luckily his annoyance came out as more rushing, which gave us 2 things to work on. Straightness and not rushing. After almost an hour I was starting to get sore from all the half-halts so I called it quits. Stupid super-fit Arab was still eager to keep going. His butt was super foamy, though, so I got to try the water up the butt for a butt tuck stretch on him. ;) Even with warm water his butt scoots under very impressively. I'm not sure I can get MY butt muscles that tight!

Good Tango, Bad Libby

The title is misleading -- I actually had a very good ride last night on Tango, but it was one of those days that made my own rusty riding very clear. 6 lessons in the last 3 years = a very rusty Libby. The trouble is that I know exactly what I'm doing wrong, but struggle to fix those bad habits on my own without at least an occasional lesson. It can get very frustrating. I managed to police myself pretty effectively last night, and Tango and I managed to have a really productive ride. But truthfully I'm anxious to know whether I'll be able to half-lease Tango and start taking some lessons with him, or whether he's going to be sold, in which case I need to find another riding situation.

Ok, enough angsting-- on to the ride. We did our usual warm-up of free-walking, and then moved on to a warm-up at the rising trot. He's still fairly stiff after all that time off, so my goal yesterday was to work on straightness. He will often supple too easily to the left (he evades by letting his right shoulder bow out so that he appears flexed) and resist suppling to the right -- and when I ask him to ride a straight line, we do a lot of drifting. To work on this, I ride a lot of figure 8's, circles, serpentines, and leg yields in both directions. We kept at those exercises at the walk and trot for a long time, until I felt like I had him working softly in both directions and not evading or drifting. He did a great job, despite the fact that I was struggling with my hands (my biggest bad habit).

My wonderful boyfriend has agreed to come out on Sunday and take some pictures of Tango and me, so stay tuned!

Christie and Jay

Finally, an update! I am sorry I haven't posted lately and that this one is long as a result. I hope it isn't too long! :) The good news is that I have been taking lessons regularly since the end of December, and have been having some really good rides on Jay.

December 27th I started taking lessons with a friend of mine. We met outside of any horse setting, but she is also a very good horsewoman and instructor. I had ridden with her only once before getting Jay, but we knew each other pretty well and I thought that would be a good thing since I have been having confidence issues, because there was already a level of trust between us. She rode Jay first that day so she would know more about him from a riding standpoint, and she absolutely loved him.

We have been focusing on working on me and my confidence. We only did walk/trot during that first lesson, but she pushed me hard. She also utilized trot poles, and even removed the jumps and had me trot the poles down the grid. She is a hunter/jumper person, and I definitely thought I would never be taking any lessons at a hunter/jumper barn! (Well, except for my PE course while at NCSU!)

I went back for another lesson December 30th. This time, towards the end of the lesson, she put up a little cross rail. When I got Jay, I had already decided that if I ever got to jump again that it would just be icing on the cake. Well, I guess I got the icing, too. Now it was very small, mind you, but it was a jump, and it did make me nervous. Jay is a superstar, though, and is taking good care of me. The first time through, Jay did land in a canter, but came right back to a trot for me. The next time through when he landed in a canter, I asked if I could keep cantering on purpose. I still had some nervousness, but the actual canter depart was worrying me more at that moment, and since we were already cantering it was very nice!

The lesson January 4th we actually started working on picking up the canter. Jay has been absolutely wonderful. I did get nervous a few times when Jay got tense and threw his head up, but he was doing that in response to MY mistake of getting stiff and bracing with my hands. My instructor talked me through the rough spots, and we have been steadily improving. At the end of that lesson we trotted a little flower box.

At my lesson on January 26th we worked again on trot to canter transitions, and at the end she threw in the first stage of building a course. I did a jump at the end of the grid, did a circle at the end of the ring, and then rode around the trot poles back to another small vertical. I am still trotting all of the jumps at this point, and feel very far from the time I was cantering and galloping around BN and N stadium and cross country courses, but at the same time I feel good that I am able to start doing some jumping again. She also mentioned the hunter show at TTC on February 7th, and suggested I go and take Jay just to ride around at the show and start getting out.

My lesson on February 1st had to be scrapped because the power steering went out on my truck as soon as I pulled out from the barn, but the pasture was dry enough for me to ride there. I didn't realize what a significant mental milestone that was going to be, but I did walk/trot/canter in the pasture there. Jay and I are making progress!

Jay and I did go to the show at TTC on February 7th. The dressage show was canceled, but it was such a nice day that there was a good turn out for the hunters. I could tell as soon as I pulled Jay off the trailer that this was going to be no problem for him, but my instructor got on him to ride him around some first anyway. Then I got on and rode him some in the warm up field. He did great, and I even chose to push myself and cantered some. I swear his ears perked up when he saw the cross country jump in the fence line, though!

Before I got Jay I was told that he is uncomfortable riding with other horses, and that he hates crowded warm-ups. During the lunch break I got to experience this for the first time. I was instructed to just walk Jay around the rail both directions. There was one potential class for us that afternoon, the adult hunter walk/trot. That ring was insane with people schooling! Jay did well for me, but was VERY unhappy about the other horses flying at us. At one point another rider came very close to hitting us (we were still on the rail!), and I felt like Jay was going to take off, but he came right back for me. I think my instructor was more alarmed than I was, so my confidence is definitely improving a lot! She then had me trot Jay some around the ring both directions. It was the same in that he was so very good for me while at the same time making faces and making it clear that he was not comfortable with the whole crowded situation. She wanted me to make one change of direction through the ring, and that was a little dicey! We made it, though, and got ourselves out of there!

We entered the adult hunter walk/trot, and were judged along with 6 others. Again Jay did wonderfully, and we had no issues. It was much nicer with everyone going the same direction and speed, and I was able to situate Jay and myself in an uncrowded spot. We came away with a nice yellow third place ribbon for our first outing!


I definitely want to continue doing dressage, and hopefully some combined training/eventing eventually, but this has been a good experience and is helping my confidence a LOT, so I will probably continue to ride with this person, too.

The next day Jay and I went on our first trail ride with a NCHN friend and her mother-in-law. Over all Jay did excellent again, especially since there was some road riding. Traffic, dogs, and families, with children, fishing didn't bother him. He did jig some, even when we were first heading out of the driveway, and that made me pretty nervous because a couple of times I did think he was going to take off. That is what happened in my one fall off of Jay. My riding partners took it slow for us, though, and stopped a couple of times when I got nervous about Jay's jigging. The jigging and prancing occurred sporadically during the ride, and I am not entirely sure what was causing it. There did not seem to be a direct relationship to our distance from the other horses, for example. For most of the ride, though, he was relaxed and even stretching and using himself well. We did do some trotting along the way, and we rode into the edge of Belews Lake, too. Two and a half hours later we were safely back at my friend's house. I know I still have some more work to do, because it was not as enjoyable as it should be. I need to feel more confident that I can handle whatever situation arises while riding out, and not have to count on my riding partners to stop in order to help me out!

Since this is so long, I won't post a lot of pictures here, but I do have more to share! http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u58/ChristieNCritters/Jay/

Extremes

I'm convinced that Pro is one of a very few horses that can be SO good and SO bad, all in the same ride.

He was lunged on Wednesday, but got a break until tonight because Andrea and I both took trips to the mountains. My break was restful, and I'm pretty sure Pro got sufficient rest during HIS break as well...goodness!! He started off very good, we walked the full span of the arena and he immediately reached for the end of the rein and stayed there, unkinking. Wonderful! I then played with crossing the diagonal, 20m circles, etc. and he still stayed reaching at the end of the rein. As he unkinked, his stride stretched out and he felt huge, expensive even!

And then something startled him at the bunny tree and it all went downhill for the next 20min. He wore out my left shoulder from the repeated "come here" and though he was fine on the circle, he kept trying to throw fits by the tree...trying to scoooooot on past it real quick. Every time, I brought him back, turned him in a small volte off my outside aids, and tried again, insisting he must WALK by the tree. After awhile, though we were making progress, I could tell that his stubbornness (and darn it, he's FIT!) was going to outlast my shoulders tonight, so I gradually moved our circle over down the ring and worked on trotting. Back to good again! Still reaching and stretching through the end of the rein after a few "come here" moves with the inside rein. He was so good that I let him canter at the end, just planning on letting him stretch out while I rode in two-point with our usual opening inside "baby" rein. Pro had other ideas - he tried to take off!! Literally trying to haul the reins out of my hands and just run. Thankfully he's a bit too "stupid" to know how to gallop (he just bounds in strong short strides), so I was able to bring him back, regain a good trot, and try again. Then he relaxed into a forward canter, so after letting him stretch, I ended on that note.

Now either Pro and Skate both had Red Bull put in their water troughs ;) or the nice weather just has them ALL feeling good!!! His bad was BAD tonight, but his good was SO good. I tried out some more sitting trot and it just felt wonderful as he reached to the end of the rein and filled up his back underneath me. I guess the good thing is that when he was being really naughty he really sank down on those HQ's - future piaffe awesomeness? ;)

New Toy

This is Hope. She is a nice little pony mare that will hopefully make it in the hunter ring. I have been working her for a few months now and I have 2 advanced riders that are riding her almost daily. She is coming along GREAT!

I have been riding Desi some but it hasn't been consistant. I am going to try to start riding HER at LEAST 3 days a week. Its sad that my personal horses get pushed to the back.

Let me know what you think about Hope. I will have to start advertising her soon......

This past weekend I put a VERY expensive saddle on layaway and will now have to sell my soul to get it paid off. LOL

Blogger and I are NOT getting along. Here is the link to the rest of Hope's pictures.

http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r47/rooloo7/Hope/

Two to Tango

Merlin was shown for sale yesterday morning, so I decided to give him the afternoon off. Instead, I rode my buddy Tango, a cute paint/Hanoverian cross with tons of dressage potential. He's very sensitive to aids (particularly seat aids), which is both a blessing and a challenge for a rider like me. When I'm out of shape we miscommunicate pretty often, but when I'm tuned up and sitting quietly we work really well together, so it's just a matter of getting us both back into shape. I'm hoping to start a half-lease on him in a month or so.

In December, he and I were schooling first level dressage nicely, but we've lost a lot of ground since then. Yesterday he was looky, wound up, and also somewhat stiff. So my goal for the ride was simply to work him out of his looky-lookiness and get both of us re-balanced at the trot. I started off walking on the buckle, letting him stretch his back and get his bearings. I picked up contact and worked on serpentines, circles, spiral-in circles, etc. at the walk until he gave up on looking around and began stretching forward, licking and chewing, contemplating what I would ask him to do next. But it didn't last long... at the first sign of a trot transiton, Tango shot forward, and I promptly responded by tipping forward and grabbing the inside rein. My bad. So we did a few laps of choppy trot with Tango bunched up, nose in the air, while I tried to get organized again. Lots and lots of trot work later, I finally settled down and found my seat, and he rewarded me by stretching forward into a steady, balanced, floating trot.

Good boy Tango! We'll get our act together yet. We've got a week of beautiful riding weather coming up!

Hot Po-Skate-O

What a nice day today, huh? GORGEOUS! I was so excited to get out to the barn to ride in this weather and had a head full of ideas of trailriding. Pfffftt...that went out the barn door when I got Skate in the cross ties and his eyes were bugging out at invisible monsters. He just knew there was something in the indoor arena behind him and he couldn't relax.

After trying not to lose my head and go postal on him for being an idiot in the barn, we finally made it out to the outside ring to re-establish some sense in that little noggin of his. I hopped on after deciding lunging wasn't worth the effort and realized he was going to be like riding a freaking powder keg today. Yay!

Well, the good news is, I was totally able to channel that bad boy energy into an EXCELLENT workout. I worked his little red butt up one end and down the other end of that arena until he begged for a stretching walk on a loose rein. I packed a whole hour full of transitions within gaits, spirals in/out, and serpentines. He started the ride like a total drama llama - as hollow of a horse as I have ever ridden. It was almost ridiculous how I had nothing to sit on. I spent the entire ride focused solely on keeping him so on my aids he that had no chance to carry out his original intentions of acting a fool. I realized I have him super responsive to my leg now - our spirals in have turned into more of a big circle - whoosh - little circle wondering what the heck happened to get us all the way into this tiny circle so quickly! I need to work on moving in/out only a body's width each lap! I remember the day when I couldn't get him connected to my outside rein and would nearly have to get off and push him in to get to a smaller circle. He felt wonderful today...like a much bigger horse and completely taking up my leg b/c he was actually using his back and hind end.

So, although he was quite the hot potato today, I felt really good about our ride and am so ready for this weather to stick around so we can get back to work. Plus, I am really proud of myself for figuring out what to do with all that energy and turning what could have been a horribly frustrating ride into one of my best yet.

I hope everyone else got to ride this weekend and enjoy the weather - Now lets hear about those rides!

Skate and Gabby are Lazy!

Its so freaking cold this week, I have had zero motivation to ride. I was going to work his little butt hard this week, but then I found out the schooling show this weekend was canceled due to low entries. Boo! So, he ended up getting the week off to battle the cold on his own.

So, I finally went out today to try on Skate's new lightweight blankie (61 bucks for a WB Oricon-heck yeah!) and was pleased to find it fit well enough for 61 bucks ; ) I decided I'd do some groundwork to make sure he still knows who's boss and upon discovering he was happy in his place low on the human horse totem pole, decided to hop on bareback. We worked on upping his sensitivity to my seat with transitions and turning. He was fussy, as usual, when I put my leg on, but I kept at the upward transitions until he quit pinning his little ears. Plus, I felt like its probably good to go out to the barn just to putz around - I don't want him to associate me with only work!

Very Brief Update

OK, I am WAY behind on reading posts and on posting myself! In between the wet, the cold, and being sick I have had some really good rides and lessons on Jay, and my confidence is starting to return. I promise to update soon, with some pictures, but in the meantime I am going to start catching up on everyone else's posts, and make insanely late comments!

Brrrrrrrrr....

Sunday's ride was great - I just let Pro mellow out and stretch for most of it. I even made him put on his big boy pants :) and be brave enough to use the whole arena! Typically we get focused on a 20m circle or some figure-eights but he has a tendency to get very distracted when allowed to use the whole ring. Thankfully, he was feeling quite mellow and was content to stay quiet. He did try to fall to the inside and cut corners down near the bench but I did some 10m circles to get him back listening and staying off my inside leg. We even ended the ride with a some canter in two-point, which I think pleased him because he had to celebrate with a little buck to start it off.

Tonight was COLD and I just didn't have it in me to ride, but I did hook up the surcingle and side reins and longe. He was really good, a bit frisky with a few spooks on the circle, but nothing bad. I let him play in the beginning by choosing whatever he wanted to do (trot, canter) and then asked him to do transitions once he settled. All went well, and we ended once my hands began to freeze. :)

Finally!

Last night I finally got back in the saddle again -- woohoo! I hadn't ridden in over a month and a half, and it's sort of a complicated story. For 2 years now I've had the wonderful fortune of working with my friend's horses, but she recently decided to discontinue her riding program and downsize her herd. The upside of this change, from my perspective, is that while she is downsizing I'm still welcome to ride any horse, as often as I'd like -- so I've got unlimited opportunities to get in the saddle, which is great. The downside for me is that for the next few months I will likely always be riding alone -- I know it'll challenge my motivation not to have any kind of riding community. There is also some uncertainty about what my riding situation will be in the long term.

So that's the story... on to the ride! There isn't much to tell. I rode Merlin, a 3 yo paint who is green but quiet, steady, and sensible. He hadn't been worked at all since the last time I rode him, so I took it easy on our out-of-shape selves -- it was only about a 15 or 20 minute ride. We mostly stayed at the walk, working on very simple steering exercises, but with a few trot or halt transitions thrown in. Basic reminder stuff - he was a champ. I'll go back out either Thursday or Saturday to work some more on steering and try to tackle that inconsistent "greenie" trot tempo. It was just so good to be sitting in the saddle again.

Digital Camera & Pics- Coming Soon!!!

Pepsi has been fine, but I've been to tired/sick/busy to work him. Generally I've been going out to the barn to pet him, but that's about it.

BUT the good news is that WE'LL BE GETTING A DIGITAL CAMERA NEXT WEEK!!! Yay!!

So, pics of my pony will soon follow. :D (Since you people keep harassing me about pictures! lol!)

Hope everyone is staying warm...I certainly am in the non-snow that we got here in Raleigh. Ha!