Riding has been at a minimum thanks to a combination of weather and schedule. The nights it is over 10 degrees, it seems like I have to give a lesson or something else pressing comes up. The weekends have been so ridiculously busy that they haven't had much riding either. Stupid winter.
I rode Mia bareback around the pasture last weekend and was very impressed. There was no crap fit and she plodded along like it was no biggie. It probably helped that K was riding with TWH, I will need to try to go out alone to see how she acts. Unfortunately Mia has become pretty damn herdbound over the winter. I can take her out alone but she does not like being left alone at all anymore. I have been turning her out in the am by herself while the boys finish breakfast and she is no longer galloping in the pasture so I guess that is a start in the right direction, gotta keep at it though.
Everyone was ridden last night, RB4 came over and rode App while K rode TWH and I rode Mia. It was nice having everyone out and getting a little exercise. K is now learning dressage so both RB4 and I focused a lot of our ride on K and trying to undo some of the H/J training she has had. Getting her to relax her hips so her body follows the horse, getting her to keep her back straight instead of hollowing her lower back, riding WITH consistent contact, pointing her toes foward/in instead of out, etc. It is certainly a learning process for her but she is getting it.
Mia was pretty good as well, the only real issues were her counterflexing to the left overall and being super stiff and fast to the right in the canter. She was so strung out in the canter that I dropped my stirrups and rode in more of a dressage seat and then did canter figure 8's and that really settled her back down so that we could end on a good note. Each attempt to get her to bend, relax and carry herself was short circuiting her brain so I am glad that the figure 8's help her so much.
For myself? Geez I have no two point anymore. Two Pointober was the last time I did two point and man does it show! I started with a lot of stretching in my calf and could pretty easily hold two point in the walk but the trot was rusty. I could hold position but I would teeter-totter in balance, smack my crotch in the pommel of the saddle, slip my lower leg back, not to mention I couldn't hold it for more than a few laps at a time. Loser I am! On the plus side, I am not sore today which I actually expected to be so that is a plus.
In a disappointing bit of news, my new instructor M's daughter B is in town this week and can give lessons Weds through Sat before she goes back to Ocala. The bad part? I can't go! I am volunteering with a (car) race with SO and we are leaving on Wednesday and won't be back until Sunday night, the same time frame B will be here giving lessons. Grrr! I asked if she would let me know when they come back up to MI for lessons as I want to take one, talk about bad timing. I guess if I can't do even 2 mins of two point it is probably best that I don't take a jumping lesson, but still. Frustrating.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Vacation! (Long post)
Well yes, I did go on vacation. I don't normally share much about the non-horse aspects of life but I had a really great vacation and want to share. Minus, of course, the ebodeathswineflu that had me coughing for a solid 1.5 weeks before I can finally now call myself healthy again. Sheesh. And the chaos that happened when we came home. Cause things aren't easy. So here is the quick vacation recap!
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On Thursday, Christmas day because we always end up at the cinema since neither of us has real family here, we flew down to Vegas. Want to avoid crowds and heavy lines at security? Fly out at noon on Christmas day. Easy peasy!!! It too us MAYBE 5 mins to get through security?? The flight was long but had free "wifi" which allowed us to watch pre-selected TV episodes which entertained us on the way down and back. Plus the old coughing guy who gave me the eboldeathswineflu who sat next to me for over 4 hours.
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We got in around 5p local time but we were on Eastern time and were super tired and hungry. Almost no restaurants were open so we ate at the Rio hotel, where we stayed, and paid close to $20 for a super crappy hamburger. Each. Never again.
Friday morning we awoke bright and early and made the over 4 hour trip to the Grand Canyon. It was really pretty. We had several hundred dollars in miscellaneous gift card/prepaid debit cards so we splurged big time and went on a 4 hour guided sunset canyon tour. Did we go anywhere anyone else can't go? No. It was all pavement and pubic access areas of the park however we got a lot of background information and our guide knew exactly where to place us to get the best pictures at these access areas. And he did not let us dilly dally!
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He took as many pictures of everyone as we asked for, talked about the spots we stopped at, talked about the canyon and then got us back in the Jeep to move us to a new spot because he wanted us to see as much as possible. We spent maybe 10 minutes at each stop except for the last 2. The next to last stop was the Watchtower which was really cool. You can go all the way up (very steep, narrow stairs) and there are fantastic views. The higher you go, the less people there are and it made for a really awesome experience. We finished at Moran Point for the sunset which was truly spectacular. Then there was the 4 hour drive back to Vegas :)
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One of the cool things about Vegas is the hotels on the strip. They are just awesome. As someone that doesn't gamble (lost all $21 we brought lol), I LOVED seeing the casinos. On Saturday we got up early and walked up and down the entire strip (except for the Luxor/Mandalay Bay). From Bally's to Circus Circus to Luxor and back. That is 5 mile walk people! What did I see, I saw as much as I could! I saw the gondola rides at the Venetian, I tried to go on them but there was apparently a very long wait of at least a couple of hours and I didn't have that kind of time.
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It was cool to look at anyway. We saw a circus act at Circus Circus. We saw the Showgirls statue at the Riviera. The butts are VERY polished with all of the handling while the rest of the statue is pretty unpolished haha!
We saw the ship at Treasure Island. We saw the Eiffel Tower at Paris.
We saw the Statue of Liberty at New York, New York.
We saw the Bellagio.
To finish the night, we went and saw the Penn and Teller show at the Rio. Really cool show. Really, really cool show. Absolutely no idea how the tricks are done, it is mindblowing. I know they have a full team to pull everything off but it is amazing. Penn is as vocal about rights and doing the right thing as he sounds like in interviews. We had a private meet and greet afterwards which was awesome!! They even practiced a card trick on/for us that they were doing on the Late Late Show on CBS on 1/9. I watched the trick in front of me. I watched the trick on tv. NO IDEA, MIND BLOWN. Teller is really fun to chat with (yes, he does talk) and Penn is very engaging.
Sunday we went to California and visited Death Valley. Really cool place.
We visited Badwater Basin which is 287 below seat level and then Dante's Peak which almost 5500 feet above sea leavel.
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It was during this time that I suspected I was sick and started chugging Robitussin. :( Monday I was awoken to being having my butt kicked by being sick but I absolutely refused to stop. SO tried to get me to go to urgent care (I really should have went) but I refused. We finished up the strip tour and saw the Luxor pyramid (COOL!)
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We visited the shark reef at Mandalay Bay.
We tried to see the flamingos at the Flamingo but they weren't on exhibit. We also tried to see the worlds largest golden nugget at Golden Nugget but we couldn't find free parking and it was a mess with construction so we gave up and saw a little of Fremont Street. We took a ride on the High Roller, the world's tallest observation wheel. You stand in a pod and you can't really even feel it move as it stops/starts and rotates.
We didn't get to do everything I wanted but that was my fault, I was running at about 40% and was not doing well. We drove well off of the strip and toured 2 local casinos and ate at one of them. The atmosphere was TOTALLY different. Totally different kind of people, totally different kind of atmosphere, total lack of crowds. It was actually really cool.
Tuesday we came back to problem after problem. While we were gone, the woodstove started belching smoke and the stovepipe was smoking. Turns out there was some sort of something that had collected on the cage of the chimney cap blocking air from flowing through. That took 2.5 hours to fix. The horses had drug our snow blade from the corner of the arena into the front third of the arena. Somehow. It is over 300 pounds and there wasn't a single scratch on anyone and the blade wasn't tipped over. The horses had broken a tie ring that I use to tie hay nets. Somehow. There were no broken nets, no broken clips, no stretched halters, no idea how it was broken. The horses had decided to drink almost 100 gallons in 3 days despite going through that much in 6 days the rest of the year so the house sitter and to wrestle with filling the tank when there is no spigot close to the tank. The chickens got out. Twice. What a mess. It took all of Wednesday to get things back and order and back to fairly normal.
We had such a nice vacation though, except being sick, and really hope that we can do it again sometime. Vacations rock! There isn't anything we wouldn't do again and things we would definitely do again if we went back. Stay at a local casino instead of a strip casino. The old casinos have the amazing food deals you hear about, NOT the new casinos $$$$, anything on the strip is pricey except Denny's. Definitely plan on spending 2-3 days for the Grand Canyon and Death Valley, each. It is worth it to go to a show, do NOT buy tickets before you go unless it may be sold out. You can very easily get tickets at half off or more anywhere, including at the box office. Be ready to just blow people off, people will walk up to you with a sales pitch every few feet, stop worrying about being polite. We were going to go to another show Monday night but I just couldn't make myself go. A lot of the touristy things are quite pricey, our hotel included a free ticket on the High Roller with a coupon for a 2nd ticket so it ended up being $10 a person. Definitely not worth the $25 a person (during the day!) they actually charge. I would definitely go back. Has anyone been to Vegas? Thoughts?
We got in around 5p local time but we were on Eastern time and were super tired and hungry. Almost no restaurants were open so we ate at the Rio hotel, where we stayed, and paid close to $20 for a super crappy hamburger. Each. Never again.
Friday morning we awoke bright and early and made the over 4 hour trip to the Grand Canyon. It was really pretty. We had several hundred dollars in miscellaneous gift card/prepaid debit cards so we splurged big time and went on a 4 hour guided sunset canyon tour. Did we go anywhere anyone else can't go? No. It was all pavement and pubic access areas of the park however we got a lot of background information and our guide knew exactly where to place us to get the best pictures at these access areas. And he did not let us dilly dally!
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| No idea why Blogger won't stop putting this pic on it's side :( |
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| Or this one. Very annoying b/c they are actually vertical |
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| But they didn't have their fountains on :( |
Sunday we went to California and visited Death Valley. Really cool place.
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| The white stuff is actually salt, all of the ground is extremely hard and crunchy from all of the salt! |
We visited the shark reef at Mandalay Bay.
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| Touching the rays and horseshoe crabs |
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| Another on it's side :( SHARK! |
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| 550 feet in the air! |
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| Awesome views in the High Roller. Definitely go during the day though to avoid crowds, it is also cheaper. |
Tuesday we came back to problem after problem. While we were gone, the woodstove started belching smoke and the stovepipe was smoking. Turns out there was some sort of something that had collected on the cage of the chimney cap blocking air from flowing through. That took 2.5 hours to fix. The horses had drug our snow blade from the corner of the arena into the front third of the arena. Somehow. It is over 300 pounds and there wasn't a single scratch on anyone and the blade wasn't tipped over. The horses had broken a tie ring that I use to tie hay nets. Somehow. There were no broken nets, no broken clips, no stretched halters, no idea how it was broken. The horses had decided to drink almost 100 gallons in 3 days despite going through that much in 6 days the rest of the year so the house sitter and to wrestle with filling the tank when there is no spigot close to the tank. The chickens got out. Twice. What a mess. It took all of Wednesday to get things back and order and back to fairly normal.
We had such a nice vacation though, except being sick, and really hope that we can do it again sometime. Vacations rock! There isn't anything we wouldn't do again and things we would definitely do again if we went back. Stay at a local casino instead of a strip casino. The old casinos have the amazing food deals you hear about, NOT the new casinos $$$$, anything on the strip is pricey except Denny's. Definitely plan on spending 2-3 days for the Grand Canyon and Death Valley, each. It is worth it to go to a show, do NOT buy tickets before you go unless it may be sold out. You can very easily get tickets at half off or more anywhere, including at the box office. Be ready to just blow people off, people will walk up to you with a sales pitch every few feet, stop worrying about being polite. We were going to go to another show Monday night but I just couldn't make myself go. A lot of the touristy things are quite pricey, our hotel included a free ticket on the High Roller with a coupon for a 2nd ticket so it ended up being $10 a person. Definitely not worth the $25 a person (during the day!) they actually charge. I would definitely go back. Has anyone been to Vegas? Thoughts?
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
New Year, New Goals, New Updates
What a vacation. SO and I went to Vegas for Christmas and had a wonderful time. We went to the Grand Canyon, Death Valley and had a private meet and greet with Penn and Teller. I caught some ebolswinedeath flucough thanks to some guy on the way down to Vegas and spent the last 2 days in Vegas in misery but refused to slow down or go to a doc because, come on, VEGAS! I don't have time to be sick in Vegas! It has been over a week and a half since this nagging, painful cough showed up and it is JUST NOW going away. I finally stopped chugging Robatussin on Sunday and I can breathe now at least.
When I got back from vacation last Tuesday, I had a lesson scheduled for Friday. It was to be the last one before M went to Ocala for the winter (Jealous!!!!!!) so my lessons are to be put on hold for a few months. I rested on Wednesday because, come on, my body gave me no other option. I finally rode Thursday night and just could not do it. Anytime I picked up a trot, and even at a walk, and took in a semi-deep breath I would double over coughing terribly. It was horrible and I cut our ride down to about 15 mins at mostly a walk. I called M and told her the news and offered to have her give Mia a training ride instead of my lesson. She was actually happy to cancel because things were getting crazy in her preparation to go to Ocala and not giving a lesson would free up her time considerably. As such, I had no last lesson :(
Saturday I rode around the block with K and it confirmed that I made the right choice in cancelling the lesson. By Sunday I could take normal breaths without coughing my lungs up. Progress! I rode last night and it was the last ride until at least Sunday as my basic requirement for riding isn't being met. That requirement? It needs to be at least 10 degrees outside. The HIGH for the next 2 days? A whopping 9 degrees. Then 14 degrees. Yeah, basic requirements are not being met. Sunday is looking promising though, it should get all the way up to 21! *le sigh* winter problems. The horses are all snug in blankets and are parked in front of hay nets in the arena, they seem warm enough anyway.
Riding Mia is becoming more and more interesting since I started these lessons. I am working really hard at taking the information I learned from my three lessons and applying them to my riding instead of falling back into old habits. Things I have learned?
1. Stop blocking with my right hand.
2. Stop staying behind the motion in the trot
3. Stretch myself down and also up as we prep and then go through a turn
4. Stop pulling/riding backwards
5. Allow Mia to stretch down and forward in all gaits as long as she stays consistent and soft
6. Stop blocking with my right (everything)
7. Stop pulling with my right hand
8. Longer stirrups are a must
9. Work on the trot and eventually the canter will come
10. Stop blocking with my right (everything)!!!
My right everything is too blocked. Apparently I pull backwards with my right hand, block with my right arm, am too stiff in my right hip/leg and even look too much to the right. Damn being a strong right kind of person. My last 2 rides have been really good though, despite face hurting cold, in that Mia is starting to almost immediately stretch forward and down into the contact. When, of course, I don't grab her and pull backwards. Her walk has already improved, typically she has to warm up before she relaxes her walk and now she has a nice swinging walk almost immediately. Yay! At this rate, I would expect her to start giving it to me right away if I keep this up because apparently it was me and not her. Go figure lol
We have plenty of homework to work on while M enjoys the weather of FL, she is supposed to come back up in a month or so to give a couple of lessons so she said she would let me know and I could trailer to her place. So that is good. Hopefully she will see changes by the next visit.
My goals for this year? Fix my problems with my right side so I can ride better. Get Mia finally consistent in the bridle once and for all. Get Mia over lots of stadium jumps, preferably over some small courses either at home, away or both. Get Mia ready to go *gasp* Novice level, I don't think she needs to stay at Beginner Novice this year since she drags me to the XC jumps and it is the stadium jumps she has issues with. I am going to refer to M (or her daughter B who is also a very accomplished eventer) but she seemed to agree when I talked to her about it. I want K to successfully show TWH in the starter level and I will give her lessons to help get her there. Ideally, I want App to get back into full time work which shouldn't be too hard since I now have a full time rider for TWH. Will I achieve my goals? I think so, I hope so. Here is to 2015, let's make it better than 2013 lol! Maybe even better than 2014!!
When I got back from vacation last Tuesday, I had a lesson scheduled for Friday. It was to be the last one before M went to Ocala for the winter (Jealous!!!!!!) so my lessons are to be put on hold for a few months. I rested on Wednesday because, come on, my body gave me no other option. I finally rode Thursday night and just could not do it. Anytime I picked up a trot, and even at a walk, and took in a semi-deep breath I would double over coughing terribly. It was horrible and I cut our ride down to about 15 mins at mostly a walk. I called M and told her the news and offered to have her give Mia a training ride instead of my lesson. She was actually happy to cancel because things were getting crazy in her preparation to go to Ocala and not giving a lesson would free up her time considerably. As such, I had no last lesson :(
Saturday I rode around the block with K and it confirmed that I made the right choice in cancelling the lesson. By Sunday I could take normal breaths without coughing my lungs up. Progress! I rode last night and it was the last ride until at least Sunday as my basic requirement for riding isn't being met. That requirement? It needs to be at least 10 degrees outside. The HIGH for the next 2 days? A whopping 9 degrees. Then 14 degrees. Yeah, basic requirements are not being met. Sunday is looking promising though, it should get all the way up to 21! *le sigh* winter problems. The horses are all snug in blankets and are parked in front of hay nets in the arena, they seem warm enough anyway.
Riding Mia is becoming more and more interesting since I started these lessons. I am working really hard at taking the information I learned from my three lessons and applying them to my riding instead of falling back into old habits. Things I have learned?
1. Stop blocking with my right hand.
2. Stop staying behind the motion in the trot
3. Stretch myself down and also up as we prep and then go through a turn
4. Stop pulling/riding backwards
5. Allow Mia to stretch down and forward in all gaits as long as she stays consistent and soft
6. Stop blocking with my right (everything)
7. Stop pulling with my right hand
8. Longer stirrups are a must
9. Work on the trot and eventually the canter will come
10. Stop blocking with my right (everything)!!!
My right everything is too blocked. Apparently I pull backwards with my right hand, block with my right arm, am too stiff in my right hip/leg and even look too much to the right. Damn being a strong right kind of person. My last 2 rides have been really good though, despite face hurting cold, in that Mia is starting to almost immediately stretch forward and down into the contact. When, of course, I don't grab her and pull backwards. Her walk has already improved, typically she has to warm up before she relaxes her walk and now she has a nice swinging walk almost immediately. Yay! At this rate, I would expect her to start giving it to me right away if I keep this up because apparently it was me and not her. Go figure lol
We have plenty of homework to work on while M enjoys the weather of FL, she is supposed to come back up in a month or so to give a couple of lessons so she said she would let me know and I could trailer to her place. So that is good. Hopefully she will see changes by the next visit.
My goals for this year? Fix my problems with my right side so I can ride better. Get Mia finally consistent in the bridle once and for all. Get Mia over lots of stadium jumps, preferably over some small courses either at home, away or both. Get Mia ready to go *gasp* Novice level, I don't think she needs to stay at Beginner Novice this year since she drags me to the XC jumps and it is the stadium jumps she has issues with. I am going to refer to M (or her daughter B who is also a very accomplished eventer) but she seemed to agree when I talked to her about it. I want K to successfully show TWH in the starter level and I will give her lessons to help get her there. Ideally, I want App to get back into full time work which shouldn't be too hard since I now have a full time rider for TWH. Will I achieve my goals? I think so, I hope so. Here is to 2015, let's make it better than 2013 lol! Maybe even better than 2014!!
Friday, December 19, 2014
Getting our dressage on - a partial update
The last time I took a real dressage lesson, from a real dressage instructor, was back around August. August of 2010. The two instructors since have not been true dressage instructors and while they were okay, they weren't super great. Neither was hard on my equitation and I didn't feel more dressage-ey at the end of the lesson. at the pushing of RB4, I set up a lesson with the dressage instructor from our spring clinic.
Last Saturday was our first lesson and wow it was a good one. We started the lesson as expected, with some background. The instructor, M, said that she remembered us after she saw Mia and again said how much she liked my mare. Mia was nicely put together and moves very well. M immediately had me lower my stirrups which made her happier and though didn't necessarily feel better, I am paying for her opinion so I sure in hell am going to try it out! She really liked my basic position. My leg was nice, my hands were nice, my back was nice and straight. But then she started to nit pick. I need to close my hip angle, apparently I am slightly behind her motion right now which is fine for a more upper level horse but not for my green bean. I FEEL like I am leaning way forward but she says I look perfect so I am working on it. She also had me stop looking where I am going and, if anything, counter bed a little because I am turned too much to the inside.
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Okay, so that was the write up I started 2 weeks ago and still haven't had time to finish. Still. So that is it for now, I have a lesson tomorrow again and I SHOULD have time to make a post about it because I am actually off of work until January starting tomorrow. YAY!!! Sorry for being such a bad blogger, I guess some update is better than none? I have been practicing my new positions and they are coming along very well, hopefully M will see continued progress and I will be awesome come spring.
Last Saturday was our first lesson and wow it was a good one. We started the lesson as expected, with some background. The instructor, M, said that she remembered us after she saw Mia and again said how much she liked my mare. Mia was nicely put together and moves very well. M immediately had me lower my stirrups which made her happier and though didn't necessarily feel better, I am paying for her opinion so I sure in hell am going to try it out! She really liked my basic position. My leg was nice, my hands were nice, my back was nice and straight. But then she started to nit pick. I need to close my hip angle, apparently I am slightly behind her motion right now which is fine for a more upper level horse but not for my green bean. I FEEL like I am leaning way forward but she says I look perfect so I am working on it. She also had me stop looking where I am going and, if anything, counter bed a little because I am turned too much to the inside.
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Okay, so that was the write up I started 2 weeks ago and still haven't had time to finish. Still. So that is it for now, I have a lesson tomorrow again and I SHOULD have time to make a post about it because I am actually off of work until January starting tomorrow. YAY!!! Sorry for being such a bad blogger, I guess some update is better than none? I have been practicing my new positions and they are coming along very well, hopefully M will see continued progress and I will be awesome come spring.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Equestrian Journey Blog Hops 1 and 2
Oh geez, I really don't have time to post, I haven't even written about my last lesson(!!), and yet here I am going to try to do a dang blog hop. Well, hopefully it goes okay enough.
First - What Will You Not Do?
Achieve1dream asks “We all like to share on our blogs what we do with our horses and what we would like to do, but I want to know what you will NOT do.”
Well, I won't do things that are not in the interest of the horse. I will not overwork them, I will not be unreasonable in my expectation. I will not use gimmicks to train my horses. I will not teach them dangerous tricks like rearing or striking. I will not allow my horses to be free of consequences of their actions :)
Not super fun answers, I know. I guess I don't have a list of things I won't do other than the obvious. I won't neglect my horses. I won't abuse my horses (even harsh correction is not always abuse!). I won't ignore my horses. I won't live without my horses :D
Second - Winter Tips Blog Hop
Achieve1dream asks "Do you have any winter tips to share?"
I have tips, not sure how helpful they can be.
I strongly recommend slow feed hay nets for feeding hay. Why? It eliminates 95% any and all waste that is attempted by Appy. He has no reservations about peeing and pooping on the hay and then being hungry and threatening to lose weight. The slow feed hay nets eliminated all of that.
For pelleted bedding, fill a 2.5 or 5 gallon water jug that you find in water coolers (avail for under $10 at Walmart) with hot water. Open a bag of pellets in a wheelbarrow by cutting 3 sides of the bag so that it becomes a sheet of plastic. Dump 2-2.5 gallons of hot water over the pellets. Cover the pellets with the bag/sheet of plastic and leave for 5 mins. It will steam the pellets and within 5 mins you will have fluffy bedding and no pellets.
If you don't have a water heater, surround your tank with foam insulation (or any kind of insulation). Then take an aquarium bubbler/air pump, attach an aquarium air hose to the bubbler and the other end to a rock or other piece of semi-heavy thing and place in the bucket. The foam will reduce the time the ice forms on the side of the tank/bucket and the bubbler will keep the top from freezing over. Note, bigger tank needs bigger bubbler.
Scoop as much frozen poo as possible, especially if it is on gravel. What you may think is deep muck can very likely be 2-5 inches (or more) of poo slop and the gravel will still be hard packed and dry underneath. The more poo you scoop, the less mud you will encounter.
Hope this helps someone, those are the best winter tips I have! Let's see how long I can keep up the blog hops :)
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Better efforts, better rides
Achieve1dream asked a question of my last post, since I love comments and don't want to discourage them, let me answer!
Weird! Has she ever cantered nicely bareback? Or has it always been hard? How did you use draw reins bareback anyway?? So confused lol. I hope your next ride goes better!!
We have only cantered bareback once before and it was not nearly as hard as she made it this time. I think it was a combination of weather, attitude and not having the saddle so I could fix the problem right then. How did I use draw reins? I was partially cheating, I was riding in my comfy bareback pad.
I had bought it when it was advertised as a Thinline bareback pad and it turned out to not be but it IS still extremely comfy so I kept it. I clipped the ends of the reins to the buckles on the girth and went with it.
Anyway, I rode Mia again on Friday with a saddle and she was MUCH better. She started out fighting at the canter but I went back to the positive reinforcement training we did when I was breaking her out, as soon as she did what I wanted I would make a noise and give her a treat. This gal is SO food motivated, it took only 4 times before she was cantering with her head below her chest. HA! Silly horse. Definitely shows it wasn't a pain or training issue, dang baby horses. The ride went fabulously so I kept it really short. We did some shoulder in, haunches in, some baby half passes, lots of transitions and then called it a night.
On Sunday RB4 came out and I jumped Mia on a small grid and man that girl can jump. I had 3 trot poles to a 2' placement jump and started by making the oxer wide. We got the oxer to 2'6" high and almost 5' wide before we narrowed it and raised it up. When we went to 2'6" to 2'9" I couldn't even tell there was a height change! She is drifting to the right a lot, I am not sure if it is my leg (or lack there of) or her though. I rode with a crop for most of the ride and only had to smack her a couple of times the entire ride to get more impulsion, one smack at a time is all she needs to wake up and go! When we put it up to a 3' oxer I swear she was jumping a 2' jump, it felt SO easy and relaxed without any of the knocking down issues we were having this summer. Mia only knocked the fence down a single time when she drifted to the right so far that she knocked the standard down with her front hoof, from there on I carried the whip in my right hand and used more leg and kept her semi-straight. Go Mia!
Tuesday I rode the App for the first time in a while, he is just SO damn good when he wants to be. I was showing K some of the training he actually has, she has heard me talk about some of the stuff we used to do and while I don't think she doubted me, I think she just couldn't imagine him actually doing anything fancy since he is such an out of shape old man. BUT we were able to do full half passes, travers, renvers, 5 meter circles in the trot, half passes in the canter and he was even able to really sit down and do an almost 5 meter circle at the canter! Awww Appy <3 We did 3 stride tempi changes, walk/canter/walk transitions and even halt/canter/walk transitions. I really opened him up in the canter when K asked if he always cantered that slow (uhhhh, NO!) and was able to bring him back without too much of a fight. It was obvious that App doesn't have the muscle anymore and I didn't make him do any one movement for more than a 30 seconds at a time. It was so nice to ride him :D K offered to ride him for extra exercise and I am gladly taking her up on it, maybe I can get his muscling back up and he will look like a young teenager again. He certainly doesn't look like a 21 year old horse but he is certainly showing his age with his lack of muscling.
Finally, I have an update. A fairly cool update. Actually 2 of them! First, I scheduled my first dressage lesson since last winter! I am using someone else, not H, and she is 35% more expensive than H (YOWSERS!) but I rode with her in a clinic that I had brought Mia to in the spring and we had a really good ride so I am hoping I will get some serious progress. This lady, M, is a dressage trainer that has a bunch of USDF certifications, I am hoping she can get my equitation fixed once and for all and Mia and I can move forward with a plan because I am currently stuck in a dressage rut. My lesson is Saturday, wish me luck! Secondly, my NEW TRUCK is going to be here the week before Christmas!! EEEEEE I am SO excited!
Weird! Has she ever cantered nicely bareback? Or has it always been hard? How did you use draw reins bareback anyway?? So confused lol. I hope your next ride goes better!!
We have only cantered bareback once before and it was not nearly as hard as she made it this time. I think it was a combination of weather, attitude and not having the saddle so I could fix the problem right then. How did I use draw reins? I was partially cheating, I was riding in my comfy bareback pad.
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| Borrowed pic, not my pad or horse. |
Anyway, I rode Mia again on Friday with a saddle and she was MUCH better. She started out fighting at the canter but I went back to the positive reinforcement training we did when I was breaking her out, as soon as she did what I wanted I would make a noise and give her a treat. This gal is SO food motivated, it took only 4 times before she was cantering with her head below her chest. HA! Silly horse. Definitely shows it wasn't a pain or training issue, dang baby horses. The ride went fabulously so I kept it really short. We did some shoulder in, haunches in, some baby half passes, lots of transitions and then called it a night.
On Sunday RB4 came out and I jumped Mia on a small grid and man that girl can jump. I had 3 trot poles to a 2' placement jump and started by making the oxer wide. We got the oxer to 2'6" high and almost 5' wide before we narrowed it and raised it up. When we went to 2'6" to 2'9" I couldn't even tell there was a height change! She is drifting to the right a lot, I am not sure if it is my leg (or lack there of) or her though. I rode with a crop for most of the ride and only had to smack her a couple of times the entire ride to get more impulsion, one smack at a time is all she needs to wake up and go! When we put it up to a 3' oxer I swear she was jumping a 2' jump, it felt SO easy and relaxed without any of the knocking down issues we were having this summer. Mia only knocked the fence down a single time when she drifted to the right so far that she knocked the standard down with her front hoof, from there on I carried the whip in my right hand and used more leg and kept her semi-straight. Go Mia!
Tuesday I rode the App for the first time in a while, he is just SO damn good when he wants to be. I was showing K some of the training he actually has, she has heard me talk about some of the stuff we used to do and while I don't think she doubted me, I think she just couldn't imagine him actually doing anything fancy since he is such an out of shape old man. BUT we were able to do full half passes, travers, renvers, 5 meter circles in the trot, half passes in the canter and he was even able to really sit down and do an almost 5 meter circle at the canter! Awww Appy <3 We did 3 stride tempi changes, walk/canter/walk transitions and even halt/canter/walk transitions. I really opened him up in the canter when K asked if he always cantered that slow (uhhhh, NO!) and was able to bring him back without too much of a fight. It was obvious that App doesn't have the muscle anymore and I didn't make him do any one movement for more than a 30 seconds at a time. It was so nice to ride him :D K offered to ride him for extra exercise and I am gladly taking her up on it, maybe I can get his muscling back up and he will look like a young teenager again. He certainly doesn't look like a 21 year old horse but he is certainly showing his age with his lack of muscling.
Finally, I have an update. A fairly cool update. Actually 2 of them! First, I scheduled my first dressage lesson since last winter! I am using someone else, not H, and she is 35% more expensive than H (YOWSERS!) but I rode with her in a clinic that I had brought Mia to in the spring and we had a really good ride so I am hoping I will get some serious progress. This lady, M, is a dressage trainer that has a bunch of USDF certifications, I am hoping she can get my equitation fixed once and for all and Mia and I can move forward with a plan because I am currently stuck in a dressage rut. My lesson is Saturday, wish me luck! Secondly, my NEW TRUCK is going to be here the week before Christmas!! EEEEEE I am SO excited!
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Not every ride is a good ride when you are training
Having a young horse that I am training myself can be often very boring as we are establishing and reestablishing basics and principles. Other times, however, it can be difficult and frustrating as we fight to obtain or remember a principle or practice and one party doesn't seem to get it. Or decides she wants her sass to shine through. Mia is pretty smart and has picked stuff up pretty quickly and without much issue but she is young and she is feisty when she wants to be. When RB4 was here, she was great. Tonight, however, she was feisty.
I rode bareback and that I think contributed to the issue. Mia was actually being very good until the very end. We had some nice w/t work and I was going to do a quick canter and call it a night. Unfortunately, Mia decided that it was not in fact a night to canter nicely and thus a fight ensued. It started with a simple canter transition to the right, Mia gave it to me but instead of holding herself she put her head way up and refused to bend. I asked for her to put her head down and she refused. I asked to slow down and she refused. I asked for at trot transition and asked for the canter again. Again she refused to put her head down or bend and now she was speeding up. Great.
I tried making her just go forward while asking for her to soften and she would go faster but refused to drop her head or stop inverting her back. At this point I should clarify this isn't a head up situation, this is a head in my lap situation. We changed directions and she held her head slightly high but she was using her back to the left. I switched directions again and Mia still refused to do as I asked and started jumping into the canter, almost rearing as she picked up her transition. Getting fairly annoyed as we had been working on this simple transition for over 5 minutes now, I grabbed the draw reins and put them on. If nothing else it might give me the leverage to help me get the head down or at least have her back not so hollow so we could end on a good note.
We picked up a trot and Mia held herself quite nicely without much tension but as soon as I picked up the canter she tried to have her head sky high and refused to give to the inside rein, bend or even sit on her butt. Grrr! We have been doing so well with this over the past 3-4 months, why are we reverting? The more I fought the issue the more "up" Mia was getting in her canter transitions and not in a good way. Twice I thought she was going to rear instead of go into a canter and she had zero desire to keep her head down out of my face. She was pulling on the draw rein so hard she was wheezing. Flashbacks to Jan-April! I tried switching directions and cantering to the left but by this point Mia was quite pissy, hot and not at all interested in compromise. While she was a bit fast and her head was out of my face (without activating the draw reins), you could tell she was not happy and just looking to fight. Grrrr.
After I was able to get a lap to the left on a loose inside rein with Mia's head fairly down, I did several laps of trot and didn't stop until Mia stretched down and relaxed a little. I tried doing some trot/canter/trot transitions where we canter only a stride or two before trotting again and that certainly didn't fix anything but she was also getting pretty tired and quite sweaty. I picked up the right lead canter and while she didn't put her head where it should be (out of my face!) and was still pissy, she wasn't pulling on the draw rein (too much) and she kept her lead low enough for me to call it a night. I had her trot around a couple of laps on a long rein before going back to the barn and parking her under a cooler.
I am very annoyed that this habit popped back up, especially that it came back this badly. This is how she was cantering when we started and I thought we were over this. Especially since we had just cantered with RB4 on Monday and it went so well! I was, however, very impressed with my seat. I rode a very hard ride with bad transitions, unsteady gaits, some spinning, some almost rearing and sudden stops and not once did I think I might fall and I was unsteady in my balance only a couple of times that were all quickly recovered. Yay No Stirrup November! My next ride, however, will definitely be in a saddle so I can have enough leverage to win the battle if she chooses to pick it. But watch, next time she isn't going to fight me because that is how my luck goes. If that is what she chooses, I will take it!
I rode bareback and that I think contributed to the issue. Mia was actually being very good until the very end. We had some nice w/t work and I was going to do a quick canter and call it a night. Unfortunately, Mia decided that it was not in fact a night to canter nicely and thus a fight ensued. It started with a simple canter transition to the right, Mia gave it to me but instead of holding herself she put her head way up and refused to bend. I asked for her to put her head down and she refused. I asked to slow down and she refused. I asked for at trot transition and asked for the canter again. Again she refused to put her head down or bend and now she was speeding up. Great.
I tried making her just go forward while asking for her to soften and she would go faster but refused to drop her head or stop inverting her back. At this point I should clarify this isn't a head up situation, this is a head in my lap situation. We changed directions and she held her head slightly high but she was using her back to the left. I switched directions again and Mia still refused to do as I asked and started jumping into the canter, almost rearing as she picked up her transition. Getting fairly annoyed as we had been working on this simple transition for over 5 minutes now, I grabbed the draw reins and put them on. If nothing else it might give me the leverage to help me get the head down or at least have her back not so hollow so we could end on a good note.
We picked up a trot and Mia held herself quite nicely without much tension but as soon as I picked up the canter she tried to have her head sky high and refused to give to the inside rein, bend or even sit on her butt. Grrr! We have been doing so well with this over the past 3-4 months, why are we reverting? The more I fought the issue the more "up" Mia was getting in her canter transitions and not in a good way. Twice I thought she was going to rear instead of go into a canter and she had zero desire to keep her head down out of my face. She was pulling on the draw rein so hard she was wheezing. Flashbacks to Jan-April! I tried switching directions and cantering to the left but by this point Mia was quite pissy, hot and not at all interested in compromise. While she was a bit fast and her head was out of my face (without activating the draw reins), you could tell she was not happy and just looking to fight. Grrrr.
After I was able to get a lap to the left on a loose inside rein with Mia's head fairly down, I did several laps of trot and didn't stop until Mia stretched down and relaxed a little. I tried doing some trot/canter/trot transitions where we canter only a stride or two before trotting again and that certainly didn't fix anything but she was also getting pretty tired and quite sweaty. I picked up the right lead canter and while she didn't put her head where it should be (out of my face!) and was still pissy, she wasn't pulling on the draw rein (too much) and she kept her lead low enough for me to call it a night. I had her trot around a couple of laps on a long rein before going back to the barn and parking her under a cooler.
I am very annoyed that this habit popped back up, especially that it came back this badly. This is how she was cantering when we started and I thought we were over this. Especially since we had just cantered with RB4 on Monday and it went so well! I was, however, very impressed with my seat. I rode a very hard ride with bad transitions, unsteady gaits, some spinning, some almost rearing and sudden stops and not once did I think I might fall and I was unsteady in my balance only a couple of times that were all quickly recovered. Yay No Stirrup November! My next ride, however, will definitely be in a saddle so I can have enough leverage to win the battle if she chooses to pick it. But watch, next time she isn't going to fight me because that is how my luck goes. If that is what she chooses, I will take it!
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