I had to wait a few days to ride after his pre-purchase as he badly needed new shoes. I finally got to ride last night. First, the good stuff - his personality/temperament is too cute. He's not really bothered by anything, which is great. Some bicyclists went flying by, twice, and he didn't even bat an eye. Even Hobbes would have stopped and gawked. The cats were darting around everywhere and he didn't even notice. Can't beat that!
I lunged him for a few minutes to check his soundness after new shoes and to try to get him more responsive and balanced without me interfering. He sucks at the trot to canter transition, but I think most of it is that he needs to get in better shape and lacks the strength to lift into the canter...he sorta runs into it. Now for the bad stuff- he hates contact. I know he's used to being a hunter, but surely they didn't ride him on a loose rein all the time!?! If I pick up a light contact he immediately begins trying to find a way to avoid..invert, overflex, whatever. As soon as I drop the contact and ride on the buckle, he relaxes and his head goes down. His teeth have been checked. I asked his past owner about bits and she said he goes in anything, and I have him in a french link.
So...I have a lesson coming up, but I'll be honest, I'm not really trying to fit him into a box he doesn't like. If he hates contact, maybe I should just go back to the hunters. Maybe I should just trail ride. I'll try the dressage thing for a while, see if he gets it, but if not I have no interest in fighting! So, I'm a little discouraged by this discovery and annoyed by how the hell I missed this? Yes, I'm having some buyers remorse, but I'm hoping it will go away once we get used to each other.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Dare and Mandros- Catching up
Ive ridden Mandros the past 3 days. Ive been on another computer, so I havent posted. I do have some pictures that I will upload soon.
We tried my saddle on Mandros on Saturday and with some padding and use of shims in a borrowed half pad, it fits. His back isnt symmetrical so we have to add a little more on one side. So now I get to ride in MY saddle. Oh, how Ive missed my saddle. The trot is much easier to sit now that the saddle fits me.
He has been really good the last 3 rides. The half passes have gotten better and better and so has the canter. He hasnt tried to do random flying changes in a while. I really think my saddle is helping me give him clearer signals.
Ive been practicing the first level tests and Im pretty happy with how they are going. The first show is in two weeks so we'll see if Im ready. Hopefully I can learn the second test because I cant find anyone to call it for me. Mandros' owner said she would, but she isnt very good at it. She gets destracted by watching and forgets to call the next movement. haha
We tried my saddle on Mandros on Saturday and with some padding and use of shims in a borrowed half pad, it fits. His back isnt symmetrical so we have to add a little more on one side. So now I get to ride in MY saddle. Oh, how Ive missed my saddle. The trot is much easier to sit now that the saddle fits me.
He has been really good the last 3 rides. The half passes have gotten better and better and so has the canter. He hasnt tried to do random flying changes in a while. I really think my saddle is helping me give him clearer signals.
Ive been practicing the first level tests and Im pretty happy with how they are going. The first show is in two weeks so we'll see if Im ready. Hopefully I can learn the second test because I cant find anyone to call it for me. Mandros' owner said she would, but she isnt very good at it. She gets destracted by watching and forgets to call the next movement. haha
Monday, August 25, 2008
Gabby's got a new pony!
Well, I will have a new one once I get the money wired to his last owner....
But anyway, I got a Skater-pony!
But anyway, I got a Skater-pony!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Skate AND Hobbes - Phew
Drove all day yesterday to pick up Skate and bring him back. I managed to convince Matt to go with me, so I didn't have to drive all by myself. We did have a few good arguments about which way to go : )
So, Skate is safe and sound at my barn in the stall beside Hobbes. He loaded, hauled, and arrived like a champ. Other than a little snorting and snuffling, he's handled everything really well. He is quite the vocal little guy...and is very social, too. He calls (a bit obnoxiously) when you walk away from his stall. If he's in the cross ties being messed with, he's super relaxed and napping.
I rode them both today...don't know how trainers ride multiple horses, its exhausting. While I had Skate in the aisle getting ready, Hobbes kept staring sadly at me like I was cheating on him. I'm pretty sure it was just a clever ploy to get me to keep shoving treats at him to make myself feel better. As for the ride, Skate was super...not at all concerned about being in a new place. He's a very different ride from Hobbes, much smaller and more forward. He's pretty unbalanced and has no idea how to give to the bit. If you take more than a huntery contact, he inverts. That's annoying. He's also not used to the rider sitting the canter...the hunter perch is preferred. He doesn't do anything, but he seems confused by it all. When I did some sitting trot, he seemed to think I was going to ask for a canter. We need to get used to each other, I suppose. His canter is surprisingly big and suspended for such a little guy. That's nice.
I just putzed around on Hobbes and took him for a canter through the fields...he seemed to enjoy that. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear when i realized I much preferred to ride Hobbes over Skate. Is it that I'm used to him and am so comfortable on him? Or am I really have buyers remorse? Yikes...who knows.
Anyhoo...I'll let you all know how the vet check goes tomorrow.
So, Skate is safe and sound at my barn in the stall beside Hobbes. He loaded, hauled, and arrived like a champ. Other than a little snorting and snuffling, he's handled everything really well. He is quite the vocal little guy...and is very social, too. He calls (a bit obnoxiously) when you walk away from his stall. If he's in the cross ties being messed with, he's super relaxed and napping.
I rode them both today...don't know how trainers ride multiple horses, its exhausting. While I had Skate in the aisle getting ready, Hobbes kept staring sadly at me like I was cheating on him. I'm pretty sure it was just a clever ploy to get me to keep shoving treats at him to make myself feel better. As for the ride, Skate was super...not at all concerned about being in a new place. He's a very different ride from Hobbes, much smaller and more forward. He's pretty unbalanced and has no idea how to give to the bit. If you take more than a huntery contact, he inverts. That's annoying. He's also not used to the rider sitting the canter...the hunter perch is preferred. He doesn't do anything, but he seems confused by it all. When I did some sitting trot, he seemed to think I was going to ask for a canter. We need to get used to each other, I suppose. His canter is surprisingly big and suspended for such a little guy. That's nice.
I just putzed around on Hobbes and took him for a canter through the fields...he seemed to enjoy that. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear when i realized I much preferred to ride Hobbes over Skate. Is it that I'm used to him and am so comfortable on him? Or am I really have buyers remorse? Yikes...who knows.
Anyhoo...I'll let you all know how the vet check goes tomorrow.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Kate & Pro - 8/22
We're back! I hadn't ridden in eight days...yikes. But apparently the week-long vacation (with the exception of some lunging) was really good for Pro's brain. He was quiet as a lamb yesterday. Even a tad lazy. I didn't go play by the bunny bush/pole area, but he was calm about the bench. Yeah he looked at it a few times and didn't want to 100% behave, but it was all mild and there was no anger behind it. Even picked up the canter quietly and was listening. :) He seemed fine with me keeping my hands up in their proper position, so I focused a lot on giving him reward pats with my inside hand while NOT letting my outside hand drop as I did it. We worked on transitioning from sitting to posting trot and back, and a few trot-halt transitions without losing energy.
It was nice to have a good ride again. :)
It was nice to have a good ride again. :)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Andrea and Pro (8/21)
Pro's crew is still alive as well. He got almost a week off on accident (we were out of town, Kate was sick, etc). I think he appreciated it, perhaps even needed it. I don't normally worry too much about giving horses a summer vacation, but perhaps Pro is one of those horses who needs it.
At any rate, he was much better than he had been tonight. Still not perfect and still tested my by the bench and bunny tree, but was willing to give up and work, so that's a lot of progress for him. He wasn't too sure about going round and on the bit after his break, but I kept a firm hold on the outside rein and did the inside leg bumps. I don't have much luck doing big thumps, I seem to just piss him off, so I was doing more frequent, smaller bumps and that seemed to work ok. A couple times I had to tap him with the whip but he didn't even buck when I did it. I finished up working on leg yields. Since I tend to get mentally 'stuck' doing them I tried to make them more interesting for him. So we'd do a 10m circle then three or four steps of leg yield and then let that flow into another 10m circle farther down the rail. It actually really seemed to help a lot with his tendency to counter-bend because of the outside rein contact. He held the bend a lot better when we were doing the circles. Then finished up with rail-quarter line-back to rail leg yields at walk, trot, and canter. Pretty pleased with him, though he obviously needs some more tuning up.
At any rate, he was much better than he had been tonight. Still not perfect and still tested my by the bench and bunny tree, but was willing to give up and work, so that's a lot of progress for him. He wasn't too sure about going round and on the bit after his break, but I kept a firm hold on the outside rein and did the inside leg bumps. I don't have much luck doing big thumps, I seem to just piss him off, so I was doing more frequent, smaller bumps and that seemed to work ok. A couple times I had to tap him with the whip but he didn't even buck when I did it. I finished up working on leg yields. Since I tend to get mentally 'stuck' doing them I tried to make them more interesting for him. So we'd do a 10m circle then three or four steps of leg yield and then let that flow into another 10m circle farther down the rail. It actually really seemed to help a lot with his tendency to counter-bend because of the outside rein contact. He held the bend a lot better when we were doing the circles. Then finished up with rail-quarter line-back to rail leg yields at walk, trot, and canter. Pretty pleased with him, though he obviously needs some more tuning up.
Dare and Mandros, Aug 20th, lesson
I had a lesson today and it went pretty well. We worked on several parts of the first level tests Ill be doing at the upcoming shows.
The owner/my instructor said the leg yeilds were great! And so did the other people watching. I was pretty excited about that. We worked on the lenghtening in the canter and the trot. It was kinda hard to do because we didnt have the whole ring, but we managed and the owner said they both looked good.
When we were about to start the lenghtening in the canter, the other girl in the ring popped her lunge whip, and Mandros spooked really badly. I held on and all was fine, but he was kinda jumpy after that. One of the girls brought her great dane out and he was rustling in the leaves at the same time the whip popped, so after that he kept eyeing the dog. It was dark over where the dog was, so I forgive him.
All in all it was a good lesson. The owner said that I was doing fantasic on him!!! And she is very picky about who rides him and how they ride him, so that means ALOT.
The owner/my instructor said the leg yeilds were great! And so did the other people watching. I was pretty excited about that. We worked on the lenghtening in the canter and the trot. It was kinda hard to do because we didnt have the whole ring, but we managed and the owner said they both looked good.
When we were about to start the lenghtening in the canter, the other girl in the ring popped her lunge whip, and Mandros spooked really badly. I held on and all was fine, but he was kinda jumpy after that. One of the girls brought her great dane out and he was rustling in the leaves at the same time the whip popped, so after that he kept eyeing the dog. It was dark over where the dog was, so I forgive him.
All in all it was a good lesson. The owner said that I was doing fantasic on him!!! And she is very picky about who rides him and how they ride him, so that means ALOT.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
First Arena Ride
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!
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!
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
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