Well Apple and I headed to the arena last night. I hopped on bareback and rode while I helped 2 of the girls with their horses.
I will have to say, all these trail rides have done WONDERS for his forward walk. We were booking it across the arena and it was GREAT. We did tons and tons of lateral work and lots and lots of walking.
I did put some trotting spurts in there and he acted sore the first few steps but once I asked him to get soft and really step, he seemed better. The arena footing isn't that great at all so I'm reluctant to really work him in there. I think we are heading back to our working trail rides. Tonight I don't have lessons so Apple and I will be heading out early for a good long ride. The edge of the fields has much better footing anyway.
The good news is that I think Apple will be fit enough to handle the clinic in September. He will be tacked up a lot for 2 days but as far as the work goes, it will mostly be demonstration moves and very little real work. Lesley also has GREAT footing in her arena so I won't have to worry about anything there.
I might have a new horse to blog about soon. It looks like I am getting a mare that is going to be put through the process of being Apple's back-up and my 2nd working/clinic horse. Wish her luck that she makes it through the program!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Dare and Mandros, we ARE still alive!
I wasnt able to post when I rode Wednesday, and I didnt ride this weekend because of an out-of-town wedding. So my post will be of Wednesdays ride and todays ride.
Wednesday
He was really good. Very soft and supple. I worked alot on flying changes and they went pretty well. He LOVES doing them, so most of the 'work' we did, was trying to stay at a steady pace, and not changing before I ask. If we work on the changes, and go across the diagonal, sometimes he will change when I havent asked yet.
The half passes are getting better and better. They are more difficult to do at night because only 3/4 of the ring is well lit, so I try and stay out of the darker part. This makes it harder to start down the centerline, do the halfpass, and be done before the dark part of the arena. On the upside, this has forced me to learn to be ready to do them right as I hit centerline with little time for error.
Today
He wasnt as good today. The other girl that rides him doesnt ride him very hard, so when Im out of town, and she rides him, he doesnt get worked as much. He wanted to rush through everything, and poke his nose out. Even when his nose was in, he wasnt soft and supple.
After the tests, we worked on halt to canter, canter to halt. We did a 20 meter circle and I cantered half the circle, and halted on centerline, and repeated. The transitions became alot better. To the left he doesnt pick it up as fast, so we worked that way.
The last ten mintues of the ride he finally gave up and stopped rushing/poking his nose out, etc. What a great ten mintues we had too. The half passes were really good. Probably the best so far! There we alot of distractions too (hammering inside the barn, several teens talking and laughing beside the ring). We ended on that note and I cooled him out, sponged him down, gave him his treats, and put him to bed.
Wednesday
He was really good. Very soft and supple. I worked alot on flying changes and they went pretty well. He LOVES doing them, so most of the 'work' we did, was trying to stay at a steady pace, and not changing before I ask. If we work on the changes, and go across the diagonal, sometimes he will change when I havent asked yet.
The half passes are getting better and better. They are more difficult to do at night because only 3/4 of the ring is well lit, so I try and stay out of the darker part. This makes it harder to start down the centerline, do the halfpass, and be done before the dark part of the arena. On the upside, this has forced me to learn to be ready to do them right as I hit centerline with little time for error.
Today
He wasnt as good today. The other girl that rides him doesnt ride him very hard, so when Im out of town, and she rides him, he doesnt get worked as much. He wanted to rush through everything, and poke his nose out. Even when his nose was in, he wasnt soft and supple.
After the tests, we worked on halt to canter, canter to halt. We did a 20 meter circle and I cantered half the circle, and halted on centerline, and repeated. The transitions became alot better. To the left he doesnt pick it up as fast, so we worked that way.
The last ten mintues of the ride he finally gave up and stopped rushing/poking his nose out, etc. What a great ten mintues we had too. The half passes were really good. Probably the best so far! There we alot of distractions too (hammering inside the barn, several teens talking and laughing beside the ring). We ended on that note and I cooled him out, sponged him down, gave him his treats, and put him to bed.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Guess what?!?
I might have a new pony! Yep, I bought the little horse last weekend...pending a VERY thorough vet check, of course. I paid more than I wanted to, but I keep telling myself its nothing in comparison to what I'll pay over time!
So...here's my newest buddy:
So...here's my newest buddy:
He's a little small for me (15.3)...and has a lot to learn about getting off his forehand and really using himself, but I think he's going to be lots of fun. He's super laid-back and easy going and has done quite a lot in his 7 years. He's even toted a non-horsey husband first-flight w/ the hounds! So, hopefully all goes well with the vet-check next week and I'll be blogging about my new adventures with _____. I've got to come up with a new name. His name is Skater Boy now...but that's a little prepubescent for me ; ) So far, I've come up with Mellow Mood, Copperline, and Chances Are. I'm leaning towards Chances Are, Chance for a barn name. I'm sorta getting ahead of myself, since we've still got to go through the vet check, but I can't help it! Anyhoo...Hobbes is still with me, too. I can't bring myself to take him back to VA. I hacked him bareback on Friday and had such a blast cantering him around...I don't know how I'm going to be able to let him go. I think the bills for two horses should force the issue, unfortunately.
Alright...lets here some updates from ya'll. We're all getting a little slack with the blogging!
Kate & Pro (8/17)
No ride for me today...I caught a cold in DC this weekend that sort of mutated into a stomach virus this afternoon, so I was definitely not up for any riding!!
Yesterday I got back in time to lunge him, which went really well. Less fussing by the bench area, and he settled right into to a pretty rhythmic trot. I worked more on using the outside side rein as my outside rein, and getting him to accept the lunge as my inside rein. I could pull it toward me (flexing his nose a bit) and then release it and he'd drop his headset slightly, relaxing. If he dropped it too much (diving), I'd push him forward with the end of the lunge line and he went back to what was correct. I played with the circle size as well, getting him to move in and out and engage his inside hind leg as the circle got smaller. His canter work was also pretty good.
Just for fun, I let Erik lunge him for a few minutes when I was done. :) Pro instantly thought, "Sweet - let me chug along at the slowest jog I can manage" but Erik figured out how to send him forward. It was cute watching them, since Pro is such a gentleman with voice commands on the lunge. He even got him to canter around quietly!
Hopefully tomorrow I feel better so I can ride. Wednesday's my lesson...
Yesterday I got back in time to lunge him, which went really well. Less fussing by the bench area, and he settled right into to a pretty rhythmic trot. I worked more on using the outside side rein as my outside rein, and getting him to accept the lunge as my inside rein. I could pull it toward me (flexing his nose a bit) and then release it and he'd drop his headset slightly, relaxing. If he dropped it too much (diving), I'd push him forward with the end of the lunge line and he went back to what was correct. I played with the circle size as well, getting him to move in and out and engage his inside hind leg as the circle got smaller. His canter work was also pretty good.
Just for fun, I let Erik lunge him for a few minutes when I was done. :) Pro instantly thought, "Sweet - let me chug along at the slowest jog I can manage" but Erik figured out how to send him forward. It was cute watching them, since Pro is such a gentleman with voice commands on the lunge. He even got him to canter around quietly!
Hopefully tomorrow I feel better so I can ride. Wednesday's my lesson...
Saturday, August 16, 2008
2 Lessons for Surf...and Huey's trotting now!
I'm behind updating again...but my defense is the 92 hours on my timesheet between last sunday and midnight tonight :-P I'm on call again today...but snuck in an early ride again! So, this is a combination of a Huey update and Surf's 2 lessons this week!
Huey trotted for the first time under saddle yesterday...he's been trying to sneak in a few steps of trot when I'm not paying attention, but yesterday was our first intentional trotting :) The old man was so cute...I asked for the trot and his ears perked up as if he was thinking "Really? I can trot? Hooray!" We're going to add in the trot work slowly, starting with 1 minute of trotting out of every 10 minutes of work. The old man feels a bit stiff behind, but it's been a year since he had his hocks done...and being out of work for several months isn't good for the creaky old joints!
Surf has had a busy week in some regards...but more days off than his usual schedule. Surf, like Huey get's pretty creaky and stiff if he doesn't stay in consistent work, so he get's ridden 5 out of every 6 days (I'm on call every 6th day, so that's his day off). This week was jumper show saturday, sunday off, monday dressage lesson, tuesday flatwork, wednesday off, thursday jumping lesson, friday conditioning, saturday off -- and tomorrow will be a long ride, hopefully with a combination of a nice long hack and practicing some of our homework from this week's dressage lesson.
Tuesday's Dressage lesson started with a treat -- Julia (trainer/Surf & Huey owner) asked if I wanted her to get on Surf so she could see what I'd been talking to her about in terms of his stiffness since his time off for the swollen leg. I love watching Julia ride, as she's very elegant and effective -- and she's great about narrating while riding about what she's doing and why. I also love to have the opportunity to stand on the ground and watch my horse go -- to really see what I'm feeling from the saddle looks like from the ground. Watching Surf, it always amazes me how LONG he is -- long legs, long neck, and VERY long back -- which contributes to how hard he is to put together. We spent a lot of the lesson working on getting Surf to be more attentive and responsive to my aids and directions. I have a real tendency to give up my outside rein and to lose his outside shoulder, which then lets him be the giant counter-bend wiggle-worm that he's so very good at being when left to his own devices. I also have a problem keeping him straight and properly bent through the corners...without him leaning on my inside leg. We worked on trotting 10m circles in each corner, then 10m circles at each letter, then coming down centerline alternating 10m circles to the left and right off centerline -- followed by a discussion of how a 10m circle sets you up to come down centerline straight, so to think of coming out of the final turn before centerline as riding that 10m circle. We did some canter work too, but the 10m circle concept was the big take-home point...so Tuesday was spent practicing our 10m circles, because Julia is going to ask us to show her our progress at our next flat lesson.
Thursday was a great jumping lesson...although it was interrupted in the middle by a thunderstorm/hailstorm which sent us scrambling into the nearest pasture and hanging out in the run-in with the other horses until it passed. Granted, we didn't run for cover until the hail started...as I quickly learned with Julia, rain is no excuse to cancel a lesson, as long as the footing is good (her motto is: If I can stand out in it and teach you, you can get out here and ride in it...). Surf was very well behaved standing around in his tack in the shed :) My difficulty with keeping Surf's shoulder from popping out while keeping him from leaning on my leg affects our jumping as well as our dressage ( I know I know, jumping is just dressage with speed bumps!) -- and I tend to lose his engine coming around turns, which leaves us with not enough canter coming to the fences at times...which translates into geting in tight and taking a shorter spot...which I hate and makes me want to throw my upper body at the fence and lean lean lean :P I also have an issue with wide fences...as in oxers with spread, not as in skinnies (I love skinny fences!). So what does our lesson consist of? Jumping spread fences off turns (Julia is Evil, but oh-so-good at targeting our weaknesses!). She set up all kinds of spread fences - oxers, oxers with brick walls under them, not 1 but 2 swedish oxers with liverpools, and a triple bar/fan. Surf was a superstar, and I'm slowly but surely making progress in SITTING UP coming to the fence, giving more with my hands in the last stride (but not giving with my upper body...giving some rein does not equal leaning forward!), and making my self sit up and put my leg on when he gets in close. Julia has told me a hundred times if she's told me once that Surf is honest and athletic enough to get himself over the fence from a tight spot...I just need to let him be able to do it by relaxing, supporting with my leg, and giving him the rein he needs to use his head and neck over the fence -- and darn if he doesn't jump like an A/O hunter when I do all that :P This lesson was probably the best/most consistent I've been with Surf, so it was a very positive experience. We usually end our lessons with a little course, and this was the one from this week:
Pick up a left-lead canter to an oxer/brick wall combo, land going left (and around another fence) hang out on the turn to a vertical with no ground line, then 4 strides to a swedish over a liverpool, roll back to another swedish over a liver pool, go right around another fence to a tall x one stride to some planks, turn left (crossing your line...so we'd never do this in a real course, but there was no other way to get back to our next fence) back to swedish with liverpool #2, keep going right to a triple combination of vertical - 1 stride - oxer - long 2 strides - rolltop/oxer, then done :)
Friday we went out and did trot/canter sets out in the fields and some hill work...mentally relaxing but physically taxing :)
What I've taken away from this week is that in dressage, I need to think for Surf and myself, and Surf has to be willing to listen to me and accept what I'm asking in a disagreement. However, when jumping, I need to be willing to be there for Surf and listen to him (while sitting up, supporting with my leg, and giving with my reins!) when we disagree -- especially about finding our spot to a jump. Surf has much more experience with this whole eventing thing than I do...and he was trained in the "old school" way of creating a horse that could think for himself and get himself and his rider out of a jam...so when it comes to arguing about a spot, go with his decision. If he thinks he needs to get in close, just be there, be supportive, and go with him.
I guess that's why this whole riding thing is a partnership, eh?!?!
Huey trotted for the first time under saddle yesterday...he's been trying to sneak in a few steps of trot when I'm not paying attention, but yesterday was our first intentional trotting :) The old man was so cute...I asked for the trot and his ears perked up as if he was thinking "Really? I can trot? Hooray!" We're going to add in the trot work slowly, starting with 1 minute of trotting out of every 10 minutes of work. The old man feels a bit stiff behind, but it's been a year since he had his hocks done...and being out of work for several months isn't good for the creaky old joints!
Surf has had a busy week in some regards...but more days off than his usual schedule. Surf, like Huey get's pretty creaky and stiff if he doesn't stay in consistent work, so he get's ridden 5 out of every 6 days (I'm on call every 6th day, so that's his day off). This week was jumper show saturday, sunday off, monday dressage lesson, tuesday flatwork, wednesday off, thursday jumping lesson, friday conditioning, saturday off -- and tomorrow will be a long ride, hopefully with a combination of a nice long hack and practicing some of our homework from this week's dressage lesson.
Tuesday's Dressage lesson started with a treat -- Julia (trainer/Surf & Huey owner) asked if I wanted her to get on Surf so she could see what I'd been talking to her about in terms of his stiffness since his time off for the swollen leg. I love watching Julia ride, as she's very elegant and effective -- and she's great about narrating while riding about what she's doing and why. I also love to have the opportunity to stand on the ground and watch my horse go -- to really see what I'm feeling from the saddle looks like from the ground. Watching Surf, it always amazes me how LONG he is -- long legs, long neck, and VERY long back -- which contributes to how hard he is to put together. We spent a lot of the lesson working on getting Surf to be more attentive and responsive to my aids and directions. I have a real tendency to give up my outside rein and to lose his outside shoulder, which then lets him be the giant counter-bend wiggle-worm that he's so very good at being when left to his own devices. I also have a problem keeping him straight and properly bent through the corners...without him leaning on my inside leg. We worked on trotting 10m circles in each corner, then 10m circles at each letter, then coming down centerline alternating 10m circles to the left and right off centerline -- followed by a discussion of how a 10m circle sets you up to come down centerline straight, so to think of coming out of the final turn before centerline as riding that 10m circle. We did some canter work too, but the 10m circle concept was the big take-home point...so Tuesday was spent practicing our 10m circles, because Julia is going to ask us to show her our progress at our next flat lesson.
Thursday was a great jumping lesson...although it was interrupted in the middle by a thunderstorm/hailstorm which sent us scrambling into the nearest pasture and hanging out in the run-in with the other horses until it passed. Granted, we didn't run for cover until the hail started...as I quickly learned with Julia, rain is no excuse to cancel a lesson, as long as the footing is good (her motto is: If I can stand out in it and teach you, you can get out here and ride in it...). Surf was very well behaved standing around in his tack in the shed :) My difficulty with keeping Surf's shoulder from popping out while keeping him from leaning on my leg affects our jumping as well as our dressage ( I know I know, jumping is just dressage with speed bumps!) -- and I tend to lose his engine coming around turns, which leaves us with not enough canter coming to the fences at times...which translates into geting in tight and taking a shorter spot...which I hate and makes me want to throw my upper body at the fence and lean lean lean :P I also have an issue with wide fences...as in oxers with spread, not as in skinnies (I love skinny fences!). So what does our lesson consist of? Jumping spread fences off turns (Julia is Evil, but oh-so-good at targeting our weaknesses!). She set up all kinds of spread fences - oxers, oxers with brick walls under them, not 1 but 2 swedish oxers with liverpools, and a triple bar/fan. Surf was a superstar, and I'm slowly but surely making progress in SITTING UP coming to the fence, giving more with my hands in the last stride (but not giving with my upper body...giving some rein does not equal leaning forward!), and making my self sit up and put my leg on when he gets in close. Julia has told me a hundred times if she's told me once that Surf is honest and athletic enough to get himself over the fence from a tight spot...I just need to let him be able to do it by relaxing, supporting with my leg, and giving him the rein he needs to use his head and neck over the fence -- and darn if he doesn't jump like an A/O hunter when I do all that :P This lesson was probably the best/most consistent I've been with Surf, so it was a very positive experience. We usually end our lessons with a little course, and this was the one from this week:
Pick up a left-lead canter to an oxer/brick wall combo, land going left (and around another fence) hang out on the turn to a vertical with no ground line, then 4 strides to a swedish over a liverpool, roll back to another swedish over a liver pool, go right around another fence to a tall x one stride to some planks, turn left (crossing your line...so we'd never do this in a real course, but there was no other way to get back to our next fence) back to swedish with liverpool #2, keep going right to a triple combination of vertical - 1 stride - oxer - long 2 strides - rolltop/oxer, then done :)
Friday we went out and did trot/canter sets out in the fields and some hill work...mentally relaxing but physically taxing :)
What I've taken away from this week is that in dressage, I need to think for Surf and myself, and Surf has to be willing to listen to me and accept what I'm asking in a disagreement. However, when jumping, I need to be willing to be there for Surf and listen to him (while sitting up, supporting with my leg, and giving with my reins!) when we disagree -- especially about finding our spot to a jump. Surf has much more experience with this whole eventing thing than I do...and he was trained in the "old school" way of creating a horse that could think for himself and get himself and his rider out of a jam...so when it comes to arguing about a spot, go with his decision. If he thinks he needs to get in close, just be there, be supportive, and go with him.
I guess that's why this whole riding thing is a partnership, eh?!?!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Andrea and Pro (8/14) - No profanities!
Well, it's late, so I won't torture everyone with the full story, but Pro was much better tonight. Since the weather was so beautiful I skipped out of work a little early so I'd have more time to spend with him. I tacked him up in his bridle and stole the barn manager's side-reins and surcingle and took him out. I ran the lunge rein through the bit to be my inside rein and put the outside side-rein on and lunged him in front of the bench. Pro gave it some serious looks, but finally settled down somewhat. I got some really nice trot work out of him. Tightened up the outside side rein a bit and that seemed to help. It actually made it click in my head that he LIKES a firm hold on the outside rein so I shouldn't worry about taking one. Same by the bunny tree, but he seemed antsier over there. So my solution was he got to canter until he was willing to trot as he went past the bunny tree. Hah! (Mary, this was my Pepsi-inspired solution).
So, now my evil plan is downward transitions only in front of the bench or bunny tree and those are also dismount spots. So, after making that plan, I dragged him back into the barn and shocked him by putting his saddle and reins on. Back out we went. He was MUCH better under saddle than he's been. There was no flinging sideways, there was only a little head tossing and all of it was easily controllable by giving the inside rein, giving 'polite' bumps with my inside leg, and opening the inside rein just a smidge to help funnel him into the outside rein. I was hoping to just walk/trot for a few minutes, but he'd be good for a few circles and then test me on if I was going to let him slide away, so we kept going. I was very happy though when at the end we could trot around the ring (off the circle!) and not look at the bench or bunny tree.
Kate and I are both out of town for the weekend, so we'll see how his new improved attitude weathers the break in work.
So, now my evil plan is downward transitions only in front of the bench or bunny tree and those are also dismount spots. So, after making that plan, I dragged him back into the barn and shocked him by putting his saddle and reins on. Back out we went. He was MUCH better under saddle than he's been. There was no flinging sideways, there was only a little head tossing and all of it was easily controllable by giving the inside rein, giving 'polite' bumps with my inside leg, and opening the inside rein just a smidge to help funnel him into the outside rein. I was hoping to just walk/trot for a few minutes, but he'd be good for a few circles and then test me on if I was going to let him slide away, so we kept going. I was very happy though when at the end we could trot around the ring (off the circle!) and not look at the bench or bunny tree.
Kate and I are both out of town for the weekend, so we'll see how his new improved attitude weathers the break in work.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Gabby's Update...
I decided fourth level and above were just not for me...I want to stick with lower level dinky stuff. Kick me off the blog if you want!! Seriously, I'm sorry to dissapoint every one, but I decided not to buy the fabulous RPSI gelding. I might regret it later, but I had a feeling I had a bigger chance of regretting it if I DID buy him. I think he is just TOO big and powerful for me....I need more of an old plug : ) So, if anyone is looking for a really really nice dressage horse, I know where one is.
So...still looking. Going to see a cute little pony for the second time this weekend. He is a saintly 7 yr old TB/QH that has done a little bit of everything and does it all with a smile. He's not fancy, but he is really cute...tiny little ears and the sweetest face.
He'll pack my grandmother around a 3' hunter course. I know almost all of his history as this is another horse that was found through friends. I rode him last weekend and as soon as I sat on him I breathed a sigh of relief...he is just so simple. So, we'll see how the trail ride goes this weekend....
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bragging on a student....
I got to work Apple again tonight but again, no pictures.
I thought I would brag on one of my students. Her name is Taylor and she is 12yrs old. She owns a VERY difficult horse, Jojo. He has one of the STRONGEST ewe necks I have ever seen. Before they asked me for help he had gotten to the point where at ANY point in time he would take off running sideways and sometimes through/over things. He went through 2 fences before they called me.
We have been working VERY hard the past 2 weeks having 2 lessons a week. This week she was given homework to work on when I am not there and we had another lesson tonight.
Please excuse the training fork......he is VERY VERY strong and scares her a lot.
Nice big trot:
Some of his old habit showing up.....somebody dropped her shoulders. haha At least she can safely stop him now.....before they hit any fences.
A little re-adjusting and getting organized:
Some off the for work.
A very happy girl with her horse that actually LISTENS now!
I spend a LOT of the lesson saying "Shoulder, Shoulder, Abs, Heels!!" I have threatened to write it on signs around the arena. LOL
I thought I would brag on one of my students. Her name is Taylor and she is 12yrs old. She owns a VERY difficult horse, Jojo. He has one of the STRONGEST ewe necks I have ever seen. Before they asked me for help he had gotten to the point where at ANY point in time he would take off running sideways and sometimes through/over things. He went through 2 fences before they called me.
We have been working VERY hard the past 2 weeks having 2 lessons a week. This week she was given homework to work on when I am not there and we had another lesson tonight.
Please excuse the training fork......he is VERY VERY strong and scares her a lot.
Nice big trot:
Some of his old habit showing up.....somebody dropped her shoulders. haha At least she can safely stop him now.....before they hit any fences.
A little re-adjusting and getting organized:
Some off the for work.
A very happy girl with her horse that actually LISTENS now!
I spend a LOT of the lesson saying "Shoulder, Shoulder, Abs, Heels!!" I have threatened to write it on signs around the arena. LOL
Dare and Mandros, Aug 11th
My ride was very interesting on Monday. I rode for about 20 mins and when I started my sitting trot, another girl in the ring asked me to stop so she could see something.
She told me that she has been watching me the past couple rides and noticed that the saddle has been putting me in more of a chair seat. I have noticed this in some of the pictures, but thought it was my problem. The saddle has a somewhat forward flap, instead of going straight down. I got on her horse (and in her saddle) and after shortening the stirups 7 (!!!) holes I started to ride. Her horse is very different from Mandros. Very forward and uphill. It was a nice change.
Anyway, she thought my position looked alot better in her saddle. So, when I got off, we put it on Mandros. I definatly felt a difference with it. She gave me a mini lesson and it went really well. We practiced on getting him in a first level frame. Ive been riding him in a more elevated frame and I cant ride him like that if Im going to show 1st level.
Im bringing my saddle out tomorrow to see if it will fit him if we put some shims in a half pad. Hopefully my saddle will help my position too.
She told me that she has been watching me the past couple rides and noticed that the saddle has been putting me in more of a chair seat. I have noticed this in some of the pictures, but thought it was my problem. The saddle has a somewhat forward flap, instead of going straight down. I got on her horse (and in her saddle) and after shortening the stirups 7 (!!!) holes I started to ride. Her horse is very different from Mandros. Very forward and uphill. It was a nice change.
Anyway, she thought my position looked alot better in her saddle. So, when I got off, we put it on Mandros. I definatly felt a difference with it. She gave me a mini lesson and it went really well. We practiced on getting him in a first level frame. Ive been riding him in a more elevated frame and I cant ride him like that if Im going to show 1st level.
Im bringing my saddle out tomorrow to see if it will fit him if we put some shims in a half pad. Hopefully my saddle will help my position too.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Kate & Pro - catching up
Okay so after Andrea's difficult ride on Sunday, we decided to double up on Pro yesterday. I started off the ride, with spurs, with Andrea looking on.
The best way I can describe it is that he was MAD. Very, very pissed off. He did not want to have anything to do with focusing. All he wanted to do was crank his face in every direction and gawk at stuff. Gawk at the bench, at the poles, at the fence, at Andrea, at a tiny divot in the sand. And when I say CRANK I mean damn...he's developed some serious neck muscles. It was 100% attitude-angry too, not "I'm hurt" angry. Pure "I don't feel like doing anything you say" angry.
I kept spur-bumping him until he quieted a bit, but he threw some pretty fussy tantrums by the bench and even kicked it a bit once. He would fling himself sideways and crank his neck around. I finally got him decent at the walk and trot, and Andrea got on. He was a bit fussy for her too, but finally realized that with the two of us there, he wasn't going to win. She worked on really getting him to go forward by giving the inside rein and booting with the inside leg and I could tell from his face that for awhile it was "I know what you want, but I'm not doing it" to finally "Alright fine, I'll do it". She even cantered him by the bench and got him looking great.
Tonight was a whole different story. I started off with spurs but could tell after a few circles at the walk that I was going to have to take them off. He still had that "I hate you" attitude and started to kick out when I bumped him with the inside spur. I took them off, tossed them aside, and just went to booting with my inside leg. For some reason he was still strongly attached to the severe neck cranking (for gawking purposes) that he'd had yesterday and when inside rein giving and booting didn't work, I started to use the inside rein and then the tantrums came. He'd FLING himself sideways at 90mph and brace his entire neck against me. Halt, inside rein forward, BOOT forward. He just had a MAJOR issue with something (imagined) by the bench. I moved over to the poles area and he squiggled/squirmed/pranced/scooted by there but I was doing a pretty good job keeping him at least with his head down and going forward. We kept a 10m circle by the poles just to go by (focus on keeping it all soothing and patient) and when he started to balk, he got my inside leg and apparently that just sent him over the edge. He leapt forward into a back-cracking buck that threw me off balance and I bent my fingernail backwards on his neck (insert profanity here).
At that point...I'd completely had it. Went back to the barn, got the lunge line and side reins. Back to the arena, by the bench. Sent him FORWARD at the trot and he scooted by the bench but after a few circles he was more relaxed and rhythmic. Then I focused on not letting him dive down, but keeping his neck where I wanted (watching those topline muscles and mid-neck muscles). It was neat - I let the outside side rein be steady for me, and I used the inside to ask him to give, to reward for correctness, etc. We did a lot of trot-canter-trot transitions as well. Repeated the other direction (still scooty/dumb to start out, but then relaxed) and got him to bend more and flex. By the time we were done, he actually had some nice foam going. So...I guess that was the positive aspect of the ride.
When stuff gets really difficult and we have this "regressing", Gayle reminds me that he will ALWAYS test me. For every ride he's ever had where he got away with stuff, I need to ride him one time. To get rid of his badness completely, I have to ride all of those rides...plus one. Since I started retraining him with Gayle when he was 15...he'll be about 31 before I erase all that. %#*@(!! But what helped today (there were moments of goodness interspersed between his angry tantrums) was keeping "YOU WILL NOT CHANGE MY POSITION" at the forefront of my mind. Per Gayle's suggestion.
Andrea's lesson is tomorrow morning. I'll be there with a camera!!! Wish her luck...
The best way I can describe it is that he was MAD. Very, very pissed off. He did not want to have anything to do with focusing. All he wanted to do was crank his face in every direction and gawk at stuff. Gawk at the bench, at the poles, at the fence, at Andrea, at a tiny divot in the sand. And when I say CRANK I mean damn...he's developed some serious neck muscles. It was 100% attitude-angry too, not "I'm hurt" angry. Pure "I don't feel like doing anything you say" angry.
I kept spur-bumping him until he quieted a bit, but he threw some pretty fussy tantrums by the bench and even kicked it a bit once. He would fling himself sideways and crank his neck around. I finally got him decent at the walk and trot, and Andrea got on. He was a bit fussy for her too, but finally realized that with the two of us there, he wasn't going to win. She worked on really getting him to go forward by giving the inside rein and booting with the inside leg and I could tell from his face that for awhile it was "I know what you want, but I'm not doing it" to finally "Alright fine, I'll do it". She even cantered him by the bench and got him looking great.
Tonight was a whole different story. I started off with spurs but could tell after a few circles at the walk that I was going to have to take them off. He still had that "I hate you" attitude and started to kick out when I bumped him with the inside spur. I took them off, tossed them aside, and just went to booting with my inside leg. For some reason he was still strongly attached to the severe neck cranking (for gawking purposes) that he'd had yesterday and when inside rein giving and booting didn't work, I started to use the inside rein and then the tantrums came. He'd FLING himself sideways at 90mph and brace his entire neck against me. Halt, inside rein forward, BOOT forward. He just had a MAJOR issue with something (imagined) by the bench. I moved over to the poles area and he squiggled/squirmed/pranced/scooted by there but I was doing a pretty good job keeping him at least with his head down and going forward. We kept a 10m circle by the poles just to go by (focus on keeping it all soothing and patient) and when he started to balk, he got my inside leg and apparently that just sent him over the edge. He leapt forward into a back-cracking buck that threw me off balance and I bent my fingernail backwards on his neck (insert profanity here).
At that point...I'd completely had it. Went back to the barn, got the lunge line and side reins. Back to the arena, by the bench. Sent him FORWARD at the trot and he scooted by the bench but after a few circles he was more relaxed and rhythmic. Then I focused on not letting him dive down, but keeping his neck where I wanted (watching those topline muscles and mid-neck muscles). It was neat - I let the outside side rein be steady for me, and I used the inside to ask him to give, to reward for correctness, etc. We did a lot of trot-canter-trot transitions as well. Repeated the other direction (still scooty/dumb to start out, but then relaxed) and got him to bend more and flex. By the time we were done, he actually had some nice foam going. So...I guess that was the positive aspect of the ride.
When stuff gets really difficult and we have this "regressing", Gayle reminds me that he will ALWAYS test me. For every ride he's ever had where he got away with stuff, I need to ride him one time. To get rid of his badness completely, I have to ride all of those rides...plus one. Since I started retraining him with Gayle when he was 15...he'll be about 31 before I erase all that. %#*@(!! But what helped today (there were moments of goodness interspersed between his angry tantrums) was keeping "YOU WILL NOT CHANGE MY POSITION" at the forefront of my mind. Per Gayle's suggestion.
Andrea's lesson is tomorrow morning. I'll be there with a camera!!! Wish her luck...
Morgan and Mister 8/12
Well, today wasn't as good as yesterday :D. Mister and I had a bit of trouble. Tacking up was fine, and we headed down to the bigger ring today. I'm not sure if I mentioned but yesterday I was in a VERY small ring just to get the feel of cantering. My trainer also helped me get him moving yesterday because she had a dressage whip with her on the ground. Today, in the bigger ring was a slight problem. He was feeling extra lazy and getting him to move was a real hassle. He was also being really spooky today. He kept stopping and throwing his head up. Luckily, he's not the type that will run away with you or anything. However, his spooking made me nervous. We worked on leg yielding today (trying to get him to stay on the rail instead of following my instructor like he likes to do) and giving the correct and firm aids to get him to trot when I ask for it the first time, instead of having to battle him for it. We worked in the ring but my trainer saw my nervousness and also figured that I was getting frustrated trying to get him to trot only to have him stop because he's lazy and/or sees something. So, to relax, we headed into the field and walked around like a mini trail ride. That was nice and easy, and I think my trainer definitely understands me and doesn't push me to keep doing something that makes me nervous. After walking around in the field some (with my trainer having a hand on him because the thing spooking him was somewhere in the woods of the field), we both calmed down. I rode around on my own a bit. This was all at a walk. After that, we headed into the ring and I got to ride him bareback! That was awesome. Of course, only at a walk. I haven't ridden bareback since I was a youngin. We did a few steps of posting trot, which I didn't find difficult because to me it just feels the same as posting without stirrups. After that, I got off and cooled him down on my own while my trainer went to teach her next lesson. She thinks I'm independent and is confident in my tacking/untacking abilities so she's comfortable with letting me do my own thing, which I consider an honor. Anyways, not that productive of a lesson, but not counterproductive either. I didn't have to push myself to keep doing something when I was scared, and I really liked that.
You asked for it - Tons of Pictures
Trail Riding Tour 
Through a construction site. They have TONS of great hills that we work on.
Behind the field we go through a neighborhood:
Then we cross the busy street, loop through the business park and come up behind Fast Phil's gat station.
Around another good trotting field and through another neighborhood.
Have to say HI to Apple's Fan Club!
Then through a few front yards, a soccer field, and back to the barn.
All in all it is a great loop. We had a GREAT ride last night. It was about 85 with a warm sun and a nice cool breeze. He is really starting to feel better. Hopefully we will be doing a lot more trotting soon. The vet is coming back in 2-3 weeks to re-evaluate and see if we need stifle injections too.
Since I don't have anyone at the barn to take pictures of me and Apple when I am heading out I took my camera on the ride last night to show off some of what we ride through.
Starting up the driveway:
Through a construction site. They have TONS of great hills that we work on.Around some fields where we get lots of good trotting in:
Behind the field we go through a neighborhood:We stop and see Miss. Kiesha. This is the sweetest cat in the world! She comes running out to see us when we ride by.
Then we cross the busy street, loop through the business park and come up behind Fast Phil's gat station.Around another good trotting field and through another neighborhood.Have to say HI to Apple's Fan Club!Then through a few front yards, a soccer field, and back to the barn.All in all it is a great loop. We had a GREAT ride last night. It was about 85 with a warm sun and a nice cool breeze. He is really starting to feel better. Hopefully we will be doing a lot more trotting soon. The vet is coming back in 2-3 weeks to re-evaluate and see if we need stifle injections too.Monday, August 11, 2008
Pepsi's Continuing Torment- Part 5? : Mane Pulling Time!
My crazy human came out today and made me stand on incredibly tempting grass (but wouldn't let me eat any!) while she pulled my mane. She was sooooo mean- if I even moved a foot once, she made me move it right back where it was! And I kept lowering my head to eat the grass (did I mention how TEMPTING it was??) but she wouldn't let me do that either!
Anyway, after about an hour of standing still she FINALLY let me eat some grass, so I was happy.
PS- stupid blogger hasn't been letting me log in for the past week or so, which is why I haven't been on here! I can VIEW all the blogs, but I haven't been able to make comments or post! Arrrg!
But way to go everyone! More Pepsi progress reports soon...
Anyway, after about an hour of standing still she FINALLY let me eat some grass, so I was happy.
PS- stupid blogger hasn't been letting me log in for the past week or so, which is why I haven't been on here! I can VIEW all the blogs, but I haven't been able to make comments or post! Arrrg!
But way to go everyone! More Pepsi progress reports soon...
Morgan and Mister 8/11
Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't been around lately! I've missed my last few lessons for various reasons so I haven't needed to post. As many of you may remember I was having confidence issues because of a bad jumping experience. Well, today I didn't jump but I did get a lot of my riding confidence back. I had a new instructor today, as her schedule works better with me than my other trianer for the lease. She will be teaching my private lessons from now on, and my other teacher will be teaching my group lesson. In any case, we went in the small arena today (and by small I mean SMALL), and we worked on cantering. I was so excited because I recieved several compliments about my riding and relationship with Mister. She said I had a good lower leg position, good seat, good hands, and that he listens to me. She also said I have a dressagey seat. Well, first we warmed up as usual. Today I practiced getting my stirrups back (at the walk) without looking down or stopping. Then, I practiced 2 point with and without stirrups. We did a bit of trot work, then moved on to cantering. We had a few issues with him paying attention; Mister saw a person in the distance and started to get nervous, but everything turned out alright. When I got nervous, she made my lesson into a game. I had trouble keeping the canter, so I started out keeping it for 5 strides. Then she introduced the game. I had to try to beat myself and canter more and more each time. Ultimately I got up to 10 which is a great improvement for me. She also helped me by telling me to count the strides out loud (forcing me to breathe). After going both directions for a while, I cooled him down by walking figure 8s then practicing my walk/halt transitions. Overall I had a great lesson, and the game idea helped me greatly. I think Mister trusts me; my mom hurt my feelings a little by strictly telling me how I "need to be the boss" but I think to her being the boss is by being very assertive and at times harsh. He wouldn't move (on the ground when I was leading him to the water bucket), so I asked her to pop him in the butt. When she shouted his name and popped him again I got frustrated and told her to quit it, which is when she told me to be the boss. When he refused to move again I tried a different approach; circling him to get him moving then continuing to where I wanted him to go. I have a trust relationship with him and I'm proud of it because he likes me better than most people. I feel like the circling thing made him respect me more yet did not have the harsh approach of slapping him again and again.
Sorry I haven't been around lately! I've missed my last few lessons for various reasons so I haven't needed to post. As many of you may remember I was having confidence issues because of a bad jumping experience. Well, today I didn't jump but I did get a lot of my riding confidence back. I had a new instructor today, as her schedule works better with me than my other trianer for the lease. She will be teaching my private lessons from now on, and my other teacher will be teaching my group lesson. In any case, we went in the small arena today (and by small I mean SMALL), and we worked on cantering. I was so excited because I recieved several compliments about my riding and relationship with Mister. She said I had a good lower leg position, good seat, good hands, and that he listens to me. She also said I have a dressagey seat. Well, first we warmed up as usual. Today I practiced getting my stirrups back (at the walk) without looking down or stopping. Then, I practiced 2 point with and without stirrups. We did a bit of trot work, then moved on to cantering. We had a few issues with him paying attention; Mister saw a person in the distance and started to get nervous, but everything turned out alright. When I got nervous, she made my lesson into a game. I had trouble keeping the canter, so I started out keeping it for 5 strides. Then she introduced the game. I had to try to beat myself and canter more and more each time. Ultimately I got up to 10 which is a great improvement for me. She also helped me by telling me to count the strides out loud (forcing me to breathe). After going both directions for a while, I cooled him down by walking figure 8s then practicing my walk/halt transitions. Overall I had a great lesson, and the game idea helped me greatly. I think Mister trusts me; my mom hurt my feelings a little by strictly telling me how I "need to be the boss" but I think to her being the boss is by being very assertive and at times harsh. He wouldn't move (on the ground when I was leading him to the water bucket), so I asked her to pop him in the butt. When she shouted his name and popped him again I got frustrated and told her to quit it, which is when she told me to be the boss. When he refused to move again I tried a different approach; circling him to get him moving then continuing to where I wanted him to go. I have a trust relationship with him and I'm proud of it because he likes me better than most people. I feel like the circling thing made him respect me more yet did not have the harsh approach of slapping him again and again.
Dare and Mandros, Aug 10th
I had my lesson today and it wasnt very good. There were ALOT of distractions. There were several horses being ridden in the arena, it was pouring rain, it was supper time, the gator/4-wheeler was going through the ring, etc.
The lesson itself wasnt that productive. We walked, trotted, cantered, nothing new really. He wasnt as good as he normally is, which makes me mad b/c we are doing better in practice, and his owner sees us not doing as well.
His canter was good in the lesson, but when I tried to slow it down, he kept trying to break stride. When I rode him Thursday, he was doing pretty well with it. Just an off day I guess, he was probably tired by then.
He didnt take very long to work through his stiffness today. Last time it took about half the ride to get him working normally, and today it took about 20 mins. I stretched his front leg since that the one that seems to be bothering him. So now Im stretching all but one leg. The left hind b/c thats the one he had surgery on, the right hind because he has been putting more weight on it to get off the left one. And now the left front. Im riding again tomorrow, so I hope he is even better assuming he doesnt hurt himself in the rain/mud.
My husband got a couple pics b4 my camera died, they arent that great, but Ill post anyway.
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