I got a text that the German Riding Master will be back Dec 2-3. Too bad my truck is off our insurance from Dec 1 to Feb 28 to help us save money. Doh. I've already asked the insurance company if they'll put it back on for just a day or a short time frame. The answer was a very angry "No." I told them my old insurance let me do that. They replied, "Then go back to your old insurance."
Annnnddd we're back to begging for a ride. I got a truck and trailer so I didn't have to beg!
Friday, November 14, 2014
Friday Thoughts
I rode last night and had another great ride. I got several clean flying changes and stopped because well, the only place to go from there was down. He wasn't quite as brilliant as he was Wednesday night with the relaxation and half pass work, but I'm sure he was a touch sore behind from that brilliance and well, two days of it sounds rather exhausting. He has today off, he earned it.
I'm not sure why things have gotten so much better, and so quickly.
Is it the softer footing? I've noticed he's a bit better when we're working on nice arena footing rather than our baseball field clay/dirt. Nothing wrong with our field, I like working in it. But I don't know if there's something to working in an arena with a real wall. He respected the dressage chain in our baseball field, but obviously not the way he respects a solid wall.
Is it I'm more relaxed now that I know if something doesn't work out I can come ride the next day, no matter the weather? I pushed myself and Mikey very hard over the summer. We don't have an all weather outdoor, and there's no indoor, so I'm stuck to being able to really work on things when the footing suits. I felt a lot of pressure to accomplish a lot in a short time. Mostly from myself, but still.
Is it that Mikey is now getting regular work? He has a schedule of when I'll be out to ride him? Sat and Sun, then Tues, Wed, Thurs? He always thrived on regular work. He's starting to put back just a hint of muscle and topline that I let slip away at the end of summer when I took our workload down a notch in prep for him to relax in prep for the work he is going to do all winter.
Maybe it's a combination of all of the above. Our home barn is quiet, so is this one, with a little construction mixed in.
His new herd is nice and mellow like his old herd. He even has an old playmate from many years ago. His old friend is blind now and doesn't rip-roar across the field like how they used to play, but they still carry on just fine and can be seen grazing together for most of the day. By the way, with yesterday's temperature drop apparently all of the boys were galloping and playing and Mikey found his inner racehorse. Mikey's blind friend apparently would take off galloping, suddenly stop short cause he remembered he's blind, then start spinning in circles bucking and striking out with his front end. He's adjusted very well to being blind.
Anyway, back to my pondering- for as few horses that see almost daily work (3 of the 5 at the barn), I've ridden alone twice in the two weeks I've been boarding there. Both were Sunday mornings. Now, I've ridden alone in the arena more than that, but there's always been someone in the barn working or grooming or cleaning tack or just doing something. I've ridden 10 times, and 80% of the time, if something had happened to me, there would have been someone there to help me immediately. It's nice to know.
I felt so welcomed when I arrived, and it was great. We joked it would be hard for me to leave. Now I'm debating staying. I'll miss my friends, but I have a truck and trailer so I'd just haul back once a month for a weekend of lessons. I averaged two lessons a month this summer, and my trainer didn't make much money off of me because it was such a low average and I worked majority of them off. I'd still go to her Ride-A-Tests. Those are invaluable tools. But I do pretty well (knock on wood) working on my own for a while and then seeing her when I have a problem or when I'd like a tune up. The last couple lessons I didn't really have anything specific in mind that I wanted to work on because nothing had really gone wrong, I just wanted to check in and make sure we were still on the right path. I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end. She hasn't worked much past 3rd level, and she doesn't need to because the 4* eventing test only covers up to 3rd level. She's planning on continuing up the dressage levels after she does Rolex a couple times to better her own resume. She's done the canter pirouettes and is beginning tempi changes with her 3* horse. I enjoy working with her because she has a great eye and is very knowledgeable about all things horsey and has great intuition, is tough, isn't rattled by horsey nonsense (She jumped my horse down his first bank. He launched off it like there was a 4' fence on top and about 10' wide. When he landed he took off bucking and squealing. She giggled and brought him back around.) and believes in her riders and creates independent, thinking riders. I've never seen a barn with more independent riders. Willing to ride alone, working or trail riding, and even the most timid will try to work through problems. Everyone always does well at shows, schooling and recognized, and most are willing to go by themselves as long as they can get the horse there.
I do well having a lesson, then working on things on my own for a while. I've become very independent. I don't like being constantly supervised, it doesn't allow me to play with what I learned and allow me to solve my own problems and come up with new questions I can't answer.
Next year's plan for where Mikey is at now includes excavating the current sloped grass outdoor so they can put in a 20x60m dressage ring with dressage fence, and then a wide courtesy lap path around the outside with regular fencing outside of that (the whole property is fenced, and the the outdoor will share sides with the property line and turnouts, so it needs real fence too). More stalls will be built, and more of her acreage will be fenced for pasture.
I can't really afford to stay, her board is well out of my ability to pay. But we've worked out me working off board, so I wonder if we could continue that. Just wondering what would be best for me and Mikey. I dread the spring rains that will halt my riding, and the summer thunderstorms that also halt my riding. Pressure is back on to accomplish our goals in a short time frame. I don't know. I've always done what I think is best for the horse and myself. Ever since I woke up one day while I was still boarding at the barn I bought Mikey from and realized I was not an independent rider. I relied on my instructor for all decisions and all confidence in myself. I wasn't thinking for myself.
Just some thoughts. Only time will tell if we go back home, or make a new home for ourselves.
I'm not sure why things have gotten so much better, and so quickly.
Is it the softer footing? I've noticed he's a bit better when we're working on nice arena footing rather than our baseball field clay/dirt. Nothing wrong with our field, I like working in it. But I don't know if there's something to working in an arena with a real wall. He respected the dressage chain in our baseball field, but obviously not the way he respects a solid wall.
Is it I'm more relaxed now that I know if something doesn't work out I can come ride the next day, no matter the weather? I pushed myself and Mikey very hard over the summer. We don't have an all weather outdoor, and there's no indoor, so I'm stuck to being able to really work on things when the footing suits. I felt a lot of pressure to accomplish a lot in a short time. Mostly from myself, but still.
Is it that Mikey is now getting regular work? He has a schedule of when I'll be out to ride him? Sat and Sun, then Tues, Wed, Thurs? He always thrived on regular work. He's starting to put back just a hint of muscle and topline that I let slip away at the end of summer when I took our workload down a notch in prep for him to relax in prep for the work he is going to do all winter.
Maybe it's a combination of all of the above. Our home barn is quiet, so is this one, with a little construction mixed in.
His new herd is nice and mellow like his old herd. He even has an old playmate from many years ago. His old friend is blind now and doesn't rip-roar across the field like how they used to play, but they still carry on just fine and can be seen grazing together for most of the day. By the way, with yesterday's temperature drop apparently all of the boys were galloping and playing and Mikey found his inner racehorse. Mikey's blind friend apparently would take off galloping, suddenly stop short cause he remembered he's blind, then start spinning in circles bucking and striking out with his front end. He's adjusted very well to being blind.
Anyway, back to my pondering- for as few horses that see almost daily work (3 of the 5 at the barn), I've ridden alone twice in the two weeks I've been boarding there. Both were Sunday mornings. Now, I've ridden alone in the arena more than that, but there's always been someone in the barn working or grooming or cleaning tack or just doing something. I've ridden 10 times, and 80% of the time, if something had happened to me, there would have been someone there to help me immediately. It's nice to know.
I felt so welcomed when I arrived, and it was great. We joked it would be hard for me to leave. Now I'm debating staying. I'll miss my friends, but I have a truck and trailer so I'd just haul back once a month for a weekend of lessons. I averaged two lessons a month this summer, and my trainer didn't make much money off of me because it was such a low average and I worked majority of them off. I'd still go to her Ride-A-Tests. Those are invaluable tools. But I do pretty well (knock on wood) working on my own for a while and then seeing her when I have a problem or when I'd like a tune up. The last couple lessons I didn't really have anything specific in mind that I wanted to work on because nothing had really gone wrong, I just wanted to check in and make sure we were still on the right path. I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end. She hasn't worked much past 3rd level, and she doesn't need to because the 4* eventing test only covers up to 3rd level. She's planning on continuing up the dressage levels after she does Rolex a couple times to better her own resume. She's done the canter pirouettes and is beginning tempi changes with her 3* horse. I enjoy working with her because she has a great eye and is very knowledgeable about all things horsey and has great intuition, is tough, isn't rattled by horsey nonsense (She jumped my horse down his first bank. He launched off it like there was a 4' fence on top and about 10' wide. When he landed he took off bucking and squealing. She giggled and brought him back around.) and believes in her riders and creates independent, thinking riders. I've never seen a barn with more independent riders. Willing to ride alone, working or trail riding, and even the most timid will try to work through problems. Everyone always does well at shows, schooling and recognized, and most are willing to go by themselves as long as they can get the horse there.
I do well having a lesson, then working on things on my own for a while. I've become very independent. I don't like being constantly supervised, it doesn't allow me to play with what I learned and allow me to solve my own problems and come up with new questions I can't answer.
Next year's plan for where Mikey is at now includes excavating the current sloped grass outdoor so they can put in a 20x60m dressage ring with dressage fence, and then a wide courtesy lap path around the outside with regular fencing outside of that (the whole property is fenced, and the the outdoor will share sides with the property line and turnouts, so it needs real fence too). More stalls will be built, and more of her acreage will be fenced for pasture.
I can't really afford to stay, her board is well out of my ability to pay. But we've worked out me working off board, so I wonder if we could continue that. Just wondering what would be best for me and Mikey. I dread the spring rains that will halt my riding, and the summer thunderstorms that also halt my riding. Pressure is back on to accomplish our goals in a short time frame. I don't know. I've always done what I think is best for the horse and myself. Ever since I woke up one day while I was still boarding at the barn I bought Mikey from and realized I was not an independent rider. I relied on my instructor for all decisions and all confidence in myself. I wasn't thinking for myself.
Just some thoughts. Only time will tell if we go back home, or make a new home for ourselves.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Best Ride Yet
What a fabulous ride Wednesday night! Best one since our move, for sure.
We started with walking for a while as the cold has started to settle in. I asked for some shoulder in work, which was average, but I got him put together and swinging in his walk. I forced the trot transition to be round and connected, then let him carry a bit of a lower frame in the posting trot for a couple laps. We did some trot-halt-rein back-trot transitions, where I kept asking for the connection and really forcing it to be there when he wanted to disconnect.
By that point he was fairly well tuned in, so I rode a couple trot serpentines and then rode the canter half pass portion of the freestyle I posted earlier in trot... right half pass from A, 10m half circle left to X, 10m half circle right, then half pass right back to centerline and tracking left at C to repeat the exercises the other way. No complaints about his work, it was soft, supple and connected.
I asked for canter and did basic canter half passes from the wall to centerline so I could continue going the same direction and not worrying about changing the lead. His half pass right was incredible, I asked and woosh, off he went. From half pass out of the corner, we got across centerline to the next quarterline in about 50m of forward distance. More than acceptable for our level. And we repeated that same flowy half pass another 3 times.
The left half pass in canter is a bit harder and did not go as well, but I got from the wall to centerline without too much resistance from him and he did it without overreacting or getting angry.
I moved on to the canter serpentine, doing several with simple changes through walk, paying attention to keeping my hands soft and making the transitions happen from my seat. Those went very well, so I started to ask for flying changes. We didn't get to loop it flying change to flying change, I sometimes repeated the center circle before asking for the next change because I didn't have him where I wanted him. I got a bunch of clean left to right, and several late behind right to left. He gave me a clean right to left, so I let him roll forward in the canter, break to a trot and do a stretchy trot for half a lap and quit. He was so super!
Tonight was one of the nights where he softens, I soften, so he softens more, so I relax more and he relaxes more, and so on. Either last night's learning curve paid off, or he was just feeling good tonight. Either way, I'll take it!
Since the weather is making a turn for the worst, Mikey got to snuggle up in his Schneider's Stable blanket with bellyband and hood. My phone's camera was not making it easy to get pictures of him!
We started with walking for a while as the cold has started to settle in. I asked for some shoulder in work, which was average, but I got him put together and swinging in his walk. I forced the trot transition to be round and connected, then let him carry a bit of a lower frame in the posting trot for a couple laps. We did some trot-halt-rein back-trot transitions, where I kept asking for the connection and really forcing it to be there when he wanted to disconnect.
By that point he was fairly well tuned in, so I rode a couple trot serpentines and then rode the canter half pass portion of the freestyle I posted earlier in trot... right half pass from A, 10m half circle left to X, 10m half circle right, then half pass right back to centerline and tracking left at C to repeat the exercises the other way. No complaints about his work, it was soft, supple and connected.
I asked for canter and did basic canter half passes from the wall to centerline so I could continue going the same direction and not worrying about changing the lead. His half pass right was incredible, I asked and woosh, off he went. From half pass out of the corner, we got across centerline to the next quarterline in about 50m of forward distance. More than acceptable for our level. And we repeated that same flowy half pass another 3 times.
The left half pass in canter is a bit harder and did not go as well, but I got from the wall to centerline without too much resistance from him and he did it without overreacting or getting angry.
I moved on to the canter serpentine, doing several with simple changes through walk, paying attention to keeping my hands soft and making the transitions happen from my seat. Those went very well, so I started to ask for flying changes. We didn't get to loop it flying change to flying change, I sometimes repeated the center circle before asking for the next change because I didn't have him where I wanted him. I got a bunch of clean left to right, and several late behind right to left. He gave me a clean right to left, so I let him roll forward in the canter, break to a trot and do a stretchy trot for half a lap and quit. He was so super!
Tonight was one of the nights where he softens, I soften, so he softens more, so I relax more and he relaxes more, and so on. Either last night's learning curve paid off, or he was just feeling good tonight. Either way, I'll take it!
Since the weather is making a turn for the worst, Mikey got to snuggle up in his Schneider's Stable blanket with bellyband and hood. My phone's camera was not making it easy to get pictures of him!
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| "My forehead is itchy. This hay is conveinent!" |
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| "Do I have any hay in my hair?" |
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| Warm horse :-) |
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Lots of Riding
Today's post is broken up by day. I haven't written about my rides lately and I just kept tacking on to this post!
Friday
So Mikey had last Friday off because his butt felt a bit tired. He's been doing much better on connection and there's more footing to slog though than he's used to (our baseball field is clay/dirt footing... so it can be hard and there's no sinking in it), so I'm guessing his butt was feeling over used and tired.
Saturday
I sat on him while I taught my barn owner's lesson on Saturday. I don't normally do that if I'm teaching, but we were going to go for a road walk after her lesson and this way Mikey was already tacked up. I didn't want to work him Saturday, but I did want to take him for a hack so he could see something besides the indoor arena. It was the first road hack my barn owner went on with her horse, who she said can be spooky, so Mikey took the lead. Her horse was quite unhappy with that arrangement! He did all of the behaviors Mikey did before I forced him to learn to be the leader- head tossing, chomping, pulling the reins out of her hand. I made her lead for the second half of our 25 min walk and don't you know it? All the naughtiness disappeared. He was very content to lead at a speed Mikey was happy with (otherwise I'd have the chomping horse), and just looked around and took in the sights.
Sunday
I worked Mikey Sunday after I finished the barn work. Part of my deal with board is I brought my own feed and I do the barn work Saturday and Sunday mornings. I can't afford to board where Mikey's at, but I can if I can work some of it off. Anyway, I wanted to brush Mikey up on his work in his Micklem since we hadn't used it yet at the new place and work his shoulder-in to haunches-in and shoulder-in to haunches-out. My barn owner is having a difficult time with shoulder-in on her horse, partly because she's never truly learned it, and partly because her horse was taught to do it by neck reining him so he wouldn't give her the right response when she got the aids right. Mikey is very good about giving you shoulder-in and all those things as long as you're halfway right (when you are more than halfway, he'll do it round). He's taught a couple other riders how to ask for it (I've been told, "He's like Gumby!"). Plus she wants to learn how to get her horse to connect faster, and he's not rewarding her efforts with that either because a previous owner just stuck him in a double instead of fixing the problem... so he's been cheating the connection for so long that he's not easy to connect. I sat on him, and he gave me quite an ab workout. I want her to try it on Mikey, who will let her know when she's done the right thing by immediately softening. She just has to stick out his jackhammer trot!
Anyway, I worked on the lateral movements, plus halting and backing and moving off promptly into trot. That work came together and then I moved on to canter, paying extra attention to making the changes between extended canter and collected canter with my seat. I then added circles, and decided to add back the simple changes from second level on a round figure 8 and 3 loop serpentine. I immediately felt where I lose him in the flying changes, as soon as I'd ask for the downward and straight, he'd immediately bulge his barrel the new direction. We spent a little time remembering what my outside leg does and getting straight on a circle. Yes, that doesn't make sense. But I think of it as he's bent on his circle, but is available to me and will straighten in a heartbeat.
We didn't get it perfect, but I went ahead and asked for the flying changes on that figure 8 and he gave me them each way a couple times. Not clean, but he's swap the front promptly, and take a few strides to fix the back.
I took him for a 20 min road walk again after we were done, and I wish I had had my phone on me, it was beautiful out and Mikey was shiny in the sun, and the big field I pass when I drive in was so green and lush still. It was quite a pretty picture.
Tuesday
Yesterday was such a beautiful day- I used an early out from work (leave 2 hours early), and got to the barn before the horses were in for dinner. Got Mikey out, tacked up and used his Micklem, grabbed two whips, and off I went. We were having a very poor ride; I couldn't get the connection I wanted. Not sure if I was trying too hard, expecting too much, or if he was just being funny because I disturbed his normal routine- he was much lookier than yesterday.
I started with his shoulder-in to haunches in work. Which was complete crap work. He was so stiff, I spent extra time on shoulder-in, and then when I asked for haunches-in to shoulder-in he blew right through me and off the track. He doesn't do that. It was obviously not his night.
One thing my trainer is always after me about is not letting his shoulders fall left when I transition downwards from canter (more of an issue on the right lead). This is a major hole in my right to left flying change. He's already bulging his shoulder when he knows it's coming so he either hops like crazy and drags me and doesn't change, or I muscle him into circling back. Not pretty.
Enter Serpentine From Hell. Not to be confused with Circle of Death (I'll explain that one if I ever use it again... probably won't have to until the next horse). I started a 3 loop serpentine in trot. I am pretty good at making the 20m loops (I'm awesome at ring geometry), however, the indoor is 160ft by 70ft (standard is 66ft by 198ft), so I had to adjust my bends and it took a couple of rounds. As I was working I noticed Mikey was flinging himself around the bends. I made an effort to be straight across centerline for several strides instead of the neat 20m to 20m bend I would normally ride that has one stride of straight. This seemed to help, but even in trot he was falling to the left.
I'm a bit stumped at the falling to the left. We were having connection issues, so maybe that's why, but I tried less bend when tracking right, I tried counter bend. I paid attention to what my seat bones were saying. I tried more left thigh and leg. Interestingly, he was running into the wall tracking right. Perhaps I need to practice riding him straighter that direction. But he's only got two legs when I see his head on reflection in the mirrors. I'm sure it also has something to do with the hole on that side; I have a tough time getting him to fill up the left side of his neck when tracking right. Part of it is also habit, he does it to my trainer when she first sits on him, she corrects him, and then he's fabulous. But this is why I wanted to carry two whips, so I could pick at his right side for a slow right hind, and his left shoulder for bulging.
Anyway, back to Serpentine From Hell. I tried a number of things, and what worked best was tapping him on the left shoulder with the whip, or raising my left hand to force him to look left and stop bulging. We worked in the trot until it was smooth, and then I moved on to canter with simple changes through walk at center line. I had the same bulge problem, but when I tried riding him straighter through the head and neck, he tensed but didn't bulge. I worked the 3 loop with simple changes until he started to come through and round both directions.
At the end I asked for a handful of flying changes as I changed his bend. The right to left was crapola, he wasn't doing smooth flying, I got one of what felt like a very good trot simple change- that single hitch step and off to the new lead. I got a running walk type change (he does that when he's not relaxed). I wasn't about to pick at them though. I was just happy he wasn't bulging through me. His balance is off that way, it'd be cruel for me to pick at him for not doing the flying, so I settled for whatever his answer was as long as it was the new lead (and he did answer with the new lead each time, even if it wasn't flying). I only did one left to right because he answered it so well- an immediate clean change. Lots of pats, and then off for a road walk. He'd been working for 45 min by that time. He got a Vetrolin bath after because it was still almost 70 out, and he has one of those nice Rambo Whitney Fleece coolers.
Not very thrilled with how his work is going (I am pleased with his left to right changes, they usually work), but I certainly have enough issues to bring to my lessons Thanksgiving week! Today I will do a repeat of yesterday, minus the road walk as it will be dark. I did manage a picture last night though:
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| Complete with orange ear bonnet to make sure cars see us! |
I've Got 99 Problems... and Horse Shows are All of Them
Le sigh.
My barn owner is part of the local dressage association, and she received notification a month or so ago that the venue I go to for recognized dressage shows is closing.
Yarg. It was just over 2 hours away from me, now I'm looking at over 3 hours away being the closest recognized show, and at a higher cost.
Hoping this is not true, but I have a feeling it is.
My barn owner is part of the local dressage association, and she received notification a month or so ago that the venue I go to for recognized dressage shows is closing.
Yarg. It was just over 2 hours away from me, now I'm looking at over 3 hours away being the closest recognized show, and at a higher cost.
Hoping this is not true, but I have a feeling it is.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Musical Freestyles
So I'd like to try to go to the US Dressage Finals next year, which means I need to get better and make some extra money to be able to afford it.
Another thing I'd like to do is a 3rd Level Musical Freestyle. I even began writing one. Then rewrote it. Over and over and over...
What I need to do with what I have is ride the test I wrote in a standard size arena and check the time. I think I've gotten a bit too long- five min is the max time otherwise there's penalties and non scored movements etc.
Does anyone have any programs they particularly like for editing music? Or for creating the tests? Right now I'm working out of Excel! I don't really want to create in Dressage Diagrams, I hate paying for stuff like that when I'm perfectly capable of picturing stuff in my head and writing it down in Excel.
So I'm asking for construction criticism of what I've written. I'm toying with eliminating the walk pirouettes as they aren't required and take up time. I want to leave the extended canters the way they are because the canter work is going to be taxing on my horse and those are good easy movements for him to let down on. I am toying with the idea of going straight from the second flying change into a 3 loop serpentine with 2 additional flying changes, altering the extended trot so it works out I'm walking at C still. I want to lead with the canter work- this is not optional. Mikey relaxes and gets his groove in the canter work, and the flying changes jazz him up and will make his trot work much better. Also, I want the half passes going towards the judge.
Here are the test directives with required movements: Click Here to go to the Test
Thoughts?
I'll be posting riding updates soon.
Another thing I'd like to do is a 3rd Level Musical Freestyle. I even began writing one. Then rewrote it. Over and over and over...
What I need to do with what I have is ride the test I wrote in a standard size arena and check the time. I think I've gotten a bit too long- five min is the max time otherwise there's penalties and non scored movements etc.
Does anyone have any programs they particularly like for editing music? Or for creating the tests? Right now I'm working out of Excel! I don't really want to create in Dressage Diagrams, I hate paying for stuff like that when I'm perfectly capable of picturing stuff in my head and writing it down in Excel.
So I'm asking for construction criticism of what I've written. I'm toying with eliminating the walk pirouettes as they aren't required and take up time. I want to leave the extended canters the way they are because the canter work is going to be taxing on my horse and those are good easy movements for him to let down on. I am toying with the idea of going straight from the second flying change into a 3 loop serpentine with 2 additional flying changes, altering the extended trot so it works out I'm walking at C still. I want to lead with the canter work- this is not optional. Mikey relaxes and gets his groove in the canter work, and the flying changes jazz him up and will make his trot work much better. Also, I want the half passes going towards the judge.
Here are the test directives with required movements: Click Here to go to the Test
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| Please don't steal my test if you like it. You know we'll end up competing at the same show. |
I'll be posting riding updates soon.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Enjoying the Indoor
I am thoroughly enjoying having an indoor to ride in. Get home from work in
the dark, out to the barn and turn on the lights! It rained today? No problem!
My first two rides with Mikey were generic ones where I just wanted him forward and relaxed. I asked for shoulder-in and half pass, just something easy to keep his mind occupied.
He's not so sure about the mirror wall (the entire short side -around 23m- of the back end of the indoor has lovely mirrors)- when I have him alone in there he tends to stare at it. That's ok though, he's letting me take his nerves and send them in a productive direction. Can I just say how incredible his canter work has been? Super through, super connected, and when I ride the short wall I like to watch the muscles on his topline crunch. Plus when he's that connected he loses that awful thoroughbred neck and I can see the proper muscles really working. As someone who has had limited mirrors in the past, no mirrors for over 2 years, an entire wall of pristine mirrors that are tilted slightly down to better show the rider the horse is incredible and will be stared at. So maybe we're both just staring at the mirror wall together.
Back on point, his work has been active, sharp, and attentive. And through. Very through. He's rather impressed by the indoor, and then the construction that is still happening at the barn (building 6 more stalls, an official tack room, and a bathroom). He's made a giant step in maturity- instead of being spooky, I can tell he's looking to me for direction and praise. The old Mikey would have been spooky and ignored me, but the old me would have enabled him. So maybe I'm giving him a super confident ride and praising often. I've been practicing engaging my seat more in the canter to try to get medium canter to collected canter, just from the seat. I've taken that down to the walk and trot too. Maybe he needs that strong ride when he's nervous.
Monday I had planned on keeping things quiet again because he was still nervous, but I put him together and ended up doing a couple flying changes. I made sure to start with an extended canter down the wall, taper it off to a strong working canter, come across the diagonal and then ask. He gave a late change behind on the first right to left, and then a super clean left to right, and then another clean right to left. I quit at that point. He'd been spectacular, attentive, through, and did what I asked. And he did them without a pole for guidance. Time to be done for the night! It was neat watching the changes in the mirrors!
Mikey was off Tuesday because the indoor was having a good bit of sand removed in the evening (the footing was deep in some places) and I ended up having to work late anyway.
I rode again Wednesday, and right from his stall he was more relaxed. Not sure if he's settling or if it's because construction has been halted for the next week. He was better with his half passes in trot than on Monday, and he gave me a clean left to right change the first time I asked for one, but then things kind of fell apart. He was connected, and then became overly bent and I had trouble getting him forward again. He was using my seat against me to half pass into the changes and be crooked and drag me around a little. I spent some time redoing the canter work and then decided on the next acceptable change I would leave his canter work alone and move on to something else. He gave me a rough clean change right to left eventually, so I decided to leave them alone and went back to trot. What a trot! Powerful, easy to manipulate for half pass or shoulder-in or extended trot. I got to watch a good extended trot from him in the mirrors!
He was a sweaty mess when we were done and I still spent an hour brushing him dry. I have to shave off a bit more hair on his hind legs- they were soppy wet where the clip ended and the winter hair began.
I'll be going back out tonight, and I think I'll stick poles out the way German Riding Master showed me for flying changes. Apparently Thursday night is girls night at the barn. Everyone comes out and rides, then when everyone is done they go to dinner at a local spot. I'm looking forward to it!
My first two rides with Mikey were generic ones where I just wanted him forward and relaxed. I asked for shoulder-in and half pass, just something easy to keep his mind occupied.
He's not so sure about the mirror wall (the entire short side -around 23m- of the back end of the indoor has lovely mirrors)- when I have him alone in there he tends to stare at it. That's ok though, he's letting me take his nerves and send them in a productive direction. Can I just say how incredible his canter work has been? Super through, super connected, and when I ride the short wall I like to watch the muscles on his topline crunch. Plus when he's that connected he loses that awful thoroughbred neck and I can see the proper muscles really working. As someone who has had limited mirrors in the past, no mirrors for over 2 years, an entire wall of pristine mirrors that are tilted slightly down to better show the rider the horse is incredible and will be stared at. So maybe we're both just staring at the mirror wall together.
Back on point, his work has been active, sharp, and attentive. And through. Very through. He's rather impressed by the indoor, and then the construction that is still happening at the barn (building 6 more stalls, an official tack room, and a bathroom). He's made a giant step in maturity- instead of being spooky, I can tell he's looking to me for direction and praise. The old Mikey would have been spooky and ignored me, but the old me would have enabled him. So maybe I'm giving him a super confident ride and praising often. I've been practicing engaging my seat more in the canter to try to get medium canter to collected canter, just from the seat. I've taken that down to the walk and trot too. Maybe he needs that strong ride when he's nervous.
Monday I had planned on keeping things quiet again because he was still nervous, but I put him together and ended up doing a couple flying changes. I made sure to start with an extended canter down the wall, taper it off to a strong working canter, come across the diagonal and then ask. He gave a late change behind on the first right to left, and then a super clean left to right, and then another clean right to left. I quit at that point. He'd been spectacular, attentive, through, and did what I asked. And he did them without a pole for guidance. Time to be done for the night! It was neat watching the changes in the mirrors!
Mikey was off Tuesday because the indoor was having a good bit of sand removed in the evening (the footing was deep in some places) and I ended up having to work late anyway.
I rode again Wednesday, and right from his stall he was more relaxed. Not sure if he's settling or if it's because construction has been halted for the next week. He was better with his half passes in trot than on Monday, and he gave me a clean left to right change the first time I asked for one, but then things kind of fell apart. He was connected, and then became overly bent and I had trouble getting him forward again. He was using my seat against me to half pass into the changes and be crooked and drag me around a little. I spent some time redoing the canter work and then decided on the next acceptable change I would leave his canter work alone and move on to something else. He gave me a rough clean change right to left eventually, so I decided to leave them alone and went back to trot. What a trot! Powerful, easy to manipulate for half pass or shoulder-in or extended trot. I got to watch a good extended trot from him in the mirrors!
He was a sweaty mess when we were done and I still spent an hour brushing him dry. I have to shave off a bit more hair on his hind legs- they were soppy wet where the clip ended and the winter hair began.
I'll be going back out tonight, and I think I'll stick poles out the way German Riding Master showed me for flying changes. Apparently Thursday night is girls night at the barn. Everyone comes out and rides, then when everyone is done they go to dinner at a local spot. I'm looking forward to it!
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