Saturday
I just can't figure out why Harry is acting the way he is. He is lazy and doesn't want to gait anymore. I tried everything I could think of today trying to get him to gait. He'll gait in a circle, but then when we get on the wall, he goes into pacing. He even paced over the board. Does he need a rest? Or does he need more work? I can't help him if he's bored with the arena, as it's going to get very cold this week and I'm guessing it will stay that way until the end of winter, and we won't be going outside as often. Any suggestions?
Sunday
My mom worked with Harry today. She put the draw reins on him and while it made him set his head, she said that he was still fighting and wanting to take off and not wanting to gait. She said he would gait for a little while and then go into pacing. I don't know what his deal is. He didn't pace over the board today, so that was good. Maybe we should put the bell boots back on him.
I rode Brie today and she was absolutely magnificent. It's rides like today that make me think she still has it in her to compete. She was totally responsive, had beautiful boards, and had perfect speeds at the largo and the corto. We even WALKED once we were done working, and for quite some time too, I might add, without stirrups and reins being loose. If she started to drift off of the wall I just needed to nudge her with my calf and she floated right back over. She was beyond good today, I'm so happy with her.
Meanwhile, Harry bit me! That snot! He bit my finger as I was petting his face. I was in too much shock to do anything, but I flicked him on the nose after I realized that he actually bit me! It wasn't very hard, thank God, but it still hurt! He even tore a little skin! He has got to learn manners and respect. Maybe that will fix him up in the arena as well.
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Days 230 & 231
Saturday
I started off with Brie again and was determined to have as nice of a ride this week as I did last week. It was nice enough out, so I went into the outdoor arena. They did some renovations to the outdoor last weekend. In the outdoor, we only had a sound board going along the length of one of the walls before. Now, we have a pole in the middle of the board, along with a pad of cement shaped in a circle with a diameter of about 20 feet. This is supposed to be used to longe horses. Don't even get me started on it. There are also two poles off to the side for figure 8s and three long wooden mini-fences in another spot. These mini-fences are supposed to be used for serpentines. I saw them as a double-use for cavaletti. So I started Brie off in the outdoor and after I had her longe, I wanted to see if she would go over the cavaletti. She was a little hesitant, but she made it over them. She was walking over with the front feet and then hopping over with both of her back feet. I wanted her to just walk over with her back feet, so I had her continue.
Now maybe this was stupid on my part, but these makeshift cavaletti have a trough in them, like for a flower planter. I didn't think that it would pose any problem. But anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and as Brie was finally going to walk over the fence with her back legs, one of them tripped in the trough. It's not a very wide trough, but still. Her eyes widened and she knew that she had gotten a little stuck, but thankfully, as I was going over to pick her foot up and out, she lifted it up calmly and stepped over. Then she snorted and wanted to back up over it and got a little stuck with her front hooves as she tried to stand on it going backwards, but she backed off just fine. After much snorting, I didn't want her to think that it was scary (even though I'm not going to send her over those again until they're filled or fixed), so I had her go over them one last time and she was okay.
Once that was done, I got on to ride and start out with some wide figure 8s, but she was feeling very stiff, so I decided to let that go and let her loosen up on the rail before I asked her to bend. Usually she likes to charge the outdoor arena, but she was content with a corto before she slowed down to a walk. I only had to check her at the corners to make sure she didn't start into a canter.
I went in because she was getting pretty hot and find my mom having trouble with Harry. After a couple of laps walking around the arena (a miracle!) on Brie, my mom asks if I would see why he's not cooperating. So I get on, do all my pre-ride checks with him like flexing and wide circles, and go out on the wall asking for a walk (since he was fighting my mom about it). She and I noticed immediately the problem -- he was limping. He was favoring his front right leg and even though I got off and stretched him and checked his hooves for any rocks, he continued to limp, so after a walk around, I got off and bathed him and put on some liniment. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow! Poor Harry.
Sunday
Starting off with Brie again in the indoor today. She is doing super well. She's responding so nicely to my legs and my seat and I have to wonder if it's a change in her or a change in me that has caused this nice behavior! I know that I certainly have changed in my riding style since the beginning of this journey and gone from wanting to make the horse do what I want no matter what to really trying to build partnerships and find a middle ground when I can't convince the horse that I'm right for a reason. Because of how great she's been the past couple of weeks, I'm seriously thinking of bringing her to the State Fair this year if we can find a space for her in a trailer. I feel like now that I've changed my attitude about riding, I know more how to approach a competition situation in order to ensure that Brie stays calm. Thinking back on how I warmed her up in the past, I know that everything I did (forcing her to walk, letting her gallop to "get it out of her system", making her longe for an hour, attempting to give her Calmex that didn't end up working...) was insanely wrong and I would like to try again and make the experience a great one for both of us, even if we don't win any ribbons. My goal is to make her comfortable in the show environment and even if we end up scratching the class because she isn't calming down, I would rather do it at State Fair because the classes are cheap enough to scratch!
Harry was doing much better today. No signs of limping! He was acting a bit wonky because he didn't want to ride on the rail. I think that his gait was great today and his demeanor was nice too while I was riding. It's hard to judge how he's doing sometimes when I ride him after my mom because by the second rider, he's usually tired or annoyed. Even so, it's good that he's getting two riders again because it's almost the same as going through multiple classes at show, which he definitely needs to do.
I've also gotten another horse ward. Jane is feeling pretty discouraged about Taco's abilities and he's been a downright brat the past month for her. He does this thing where he sticks his head really far down or flexes it back behind the stirrup and runs to the middle of the arena and stops. So I asked Jane if I could show him at the State Fair. She said yes and that I could ride him whenever I wanted. Today was the first day of preparation. Jane was having a horrible time because Taco was doing his usual tricks. I try to longe him before I ride to see how he's acting and he is absolutely terrible. He's just about as bad as Harry was when we first got him! He has no respect for the human he's working with. I was going to use the carrot stick to help longe him, but I didn't know if he'd be scared of it, so I decided against it. Since trying to longe him was a joke, I did a quick round of the Porcupine Game to try and establish my authority and he was okay with that.
Then I got on him. I wasn't on for two seconds and he pulls me into the middle. My leg is useless against him, he's so strong. I try to get around the arena a couple of times to no avail, so I decide to go out into the round pen. In the round pen, he's just as bad, but has less space to act up in. My mom brings me over a second rein for the barbada and almost immediately he stops trying to pull his head in and spin into the middle of the pen. It takes a long time before he starts listening to me, but when he finally settles down, he walks really nicely. He has a hard time staying in gait because he likes to go into a canter and canters in place. That would be nice for a Trote y Galope class in Puerto Rico or Colombia, but not in the Paso Fino shows in the United States. I have to break him of this habit. I have to check him a lot in order to keep him in gait and it takes a lot of stopping and starting over when he breaks into a canter, but the last couple of laps around the pen are beautiful. He's listening and not breaking and not trying to pull me anymore. I determine because of the stunts he pulled during his ride, he doesn't respect the bit, so I would like to try and change his bit. I'm thinking of the straight bar that Nina had a couple of years ago that made her head set too high up. I think that this might be a good solution to his tendency to always be pulling his head down in an effort to get away from the bit.
Taco is a highly trained horse, once a National champion, so I definitely think he has seen it all. This is also why I think that getting a bigger bit is the wrong answer to his problems because he is very soft in the mouth. I also think that a harsher noseband is the wrong answer because his nose has been so scarred by different bosals that he won't even care that it's there. I think that possible a braided rawhide barbada might be a good answer, but we can only use the bit rein in shows, so we need to start with the bit. I'm not entirely sure if I'll make it to State Fair with him. It depends on how well he responds to the bar bit and how calm I can get him. It would be nice to go to the show and prove that this old coot can make a comeback, but I would rather have him safe and happy for Jane to ride for her own enjoyment.
I started off with Brie again and was determined to have as nice of a ride this week as I did last week. It was nice enough out, so I went into the outdoor arena. They did some renovations to the outdoor last weekend. In the outdoor, we only had a sound board going along the length of one of the walls before. Now, we have a pole in the middle of the board, along with a pad of cement shaped in a circle with a diameter of about 20 feet. This is supposed to be used to longe horses. Don't even get me started on it. There are also two poles off to the side for figure 8s and three long wooden mini-fences in another spot. These mini-fences are supposed to be used for serpentines. I saw them as a double-use for cavaletti. So I started Brie off in the outdoor and after I had her longe, I wanted to see if she would go over the cavaletti. She was a little hesitant, but she made it over them. She was walking over with the front feet and then hopping over with both of her back feet. I wanted her to just walk over with her back feet, so I had her continue.
Now maybe this was stupid on my part, but these makeshift cavaletti have a trough in them, like for a flower planter. I didn't think that it would pose any problem. But anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and as Brie was finally going to walk over the fence with her back legs, one of them tripped in the trough. It's not a very wide trough, but still. Her eyes widened and she knew that she had gotten a little stuck, but thankfully, as I was going over to pick her foot up and out, she lifted it up calmly and stepped over. Then she snorted and wanted to back up over it and got a little stuck with her front hooves as she tried to stand on it going backwards, but she backed off just fine. After much snorting, I didn't want her to think that it was scary (even though I'm not going to send her over those again until they're filled or fixed), so I had her go over them one last time and she was okay.
Once that was done, I got on to ride and start out with some wide figure 8s, but she was feeling very stiff, so I decided to let that go and let her loosen up on the rail before I asked her to bend. Usually she likes to charge the outdoor arena, but she was content with a corto before she slowed down to a walk. I only had to check her at the corners to make sure she didn't start into a canter.
I went in because she was getting pretty hot and find my mom having trouble with Harry. After a couple of laps walking around the arena (a miracle!) on Brie, my mom asks if I would see why he's not cooperating. So I get on, do all my pre-ride checks with him like flexing and wide circles, and go out on the wall asking for a walk (since he was fighting my mom about it). She and I noticed immediately the problem -- he was limping. He was favoring his front right leg and even though I got off and stretched him and checked his hooves for any rocks, he continued to limp, so after a walk around, I got off and bathed him and put on some liniment. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow! Poor Harry.
Sunday
Starting off with Brie again in the indoor today. She is doing super well. She's responding so nicely to my legs and my seat and I have to wonder if it's a change in her or a change in me that has caused this nice behavior! I know that I certainly have changed in my riding style since the beginning of this journey and gone from wanting to make the horse do what I want no matter what to really trying to build partnerships and find a middle ground when I can't convince the horse that I'm right for a reason. Because of how great she's been the past couple of weeks, I'm seriously thinking of bringing her to the State Fair this year if we can find a space for her in a trailer. I feel like now that I've changed my attitude about riding, I know more how to approach a competition situation in order to ensure that Brie stays calm. Thinking back on how I warmed her up in the past, I know that everything I did (forcing her to walk, letting her gallop to "get it out of her system", making her longe for an hour, attempting to give her Calmex that didn't end up working...) was insanely wrong and I would like to try again and make the experience a great one for both of us, even if we don't win any ribbons. My goal is to make her comfortable in the show environment and even if we end up scratching the class because she isn't calming down, I would rather do it at State Fair because the classes are cheap enough to scratch!
Harry was doing much better today. No signs of limping! He was acting a bit wonky because he didn't want to ride on the rail. I think that his gait was great today and his demeanor was nice too while I was riding. It's hard to judge how he's doing sometimes when I ride him after my mom because by the second rider, he's usually tired or annoyed. Even so, it's good that he's getting two riders again because it's almost the same as going through multiple classes at show, which he definitely needs to do.
I've also gotten another horse ward. Jane is feeling pretty discouraged about Taco's abilities and he's been a downright brat the past month for her. He does this thing where he sticks his head really far down or flexes it back behind the stirrup and runs to the middle of the arena and stops. So I asked Jane if I could show him at the State Fair. She said yes and that I could ride him whenever I wanted. Today was the first day of preparation. Jane was having a horrible time because Taco was doing his usual tricks. I try to longe him before I ride to see how he's acting and he is absolutely terrible. He's just about as bad as Harry was when we first got him! He has no respect for the human he's working with. I was going to use the carrot stick to help longe him, but I didn't know if he'd be scared of it, so I decided against it. Since trying to longe him was a joke, I did a quick round of the Porcupine Game to try and establish my authority and he was okay with that.
Then I got on him. I wasn't on for two seconds and he pulls me into the middle. My leg is useless against him, he's so strong. I try to get around the arena a couple of times to no avail, so I decide to go out into the round pen. In the round pen, he's just as bad, but has less space to act up in. My mom brings me over a second rein for the barbada and almost immediately he stops trying to pull his head in and spin into the middle of the pen. It takes a long time before he starts listening to me, but when he finally settles down, he walks really nicely. He has a hard time staying in gait because he likes to go into a canter and canters in place. That would be nice for a Trote y Galope class in Puerto Rico or Colombia, but not in the Paso Fino shows in the United States. I have to break him of this habit. I have to check him a lot in order to keep him in gait and it takes a lot of stopping and starting over when he breaks into a canter, but the last couple of laps around the pen are beautiful. He's listening and not breaking and not trying to pull me anymore. I determine because of the stunts he pulled during his ride, he doesn't respect the bit, so I would like to try and change his bit. I'm thinking of the straight bar that Nina had a couple of years ago that made her head set too high up. I think that this might be a good solution to his tendency to always be pulling his head down in an effort to get away from the bit.
Taco is a highly trained horse, once a National champion, so I definitely think he has seen it all. This is also why I think that getting a bigger bit is the wrong answer to his problems because he is very soft in the mouth. I also think that a harsher noseband is the wrong answer because his nose has been so scarred by different bosals that he won't even care that it's there. I think that possible a braided rawhide barbada might be a good answer, but we can only use the bit rein in shows, so we need to start with the bit. I'm not entirely sure if I'll make it to State Fair with him. It depends on how well he responds to the bar bit and how calm I can get him. It would be nice to go to the show and prove that this old coot can make a comeback, but I would rather have him safe and happy for Jane to ride for her own enjoyment.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Day 219
Today was the first day that I've ever driven out to the barn on my own. I drove out with my brother in the rain. My mom had her surgery on Thursday and everything went well, but she's really bummed that she won't be able to ride for a while. My dad stayed home with her today and my brother and I went out because we needed to deworm the horses. I don't know if we'll get to Midwest Classic this year because I don't know if my mom will be able to sit in the car for that long...it's in two weeks. I hope that she feels better, regardless of whether we can go or not.
We got out there and started playing with them first. Harry let me swing the rope by his neck today, so that's progress. He was trying to bite it a lot, but eventually relaxed. We had to take turns playing and handling Brie because, since there were only two of us, Brie was the odd ball out today. I'm sure she didn't mind. I brushed her up first and my brother did Harry and Nina because he's super speedy. Afterwards, I put Brie back in her stall and tacked up Harry to ride.
I'm kind of nervous about how we'll do at the show if we go...he wasn't very collected today or last weekend. He also felt kind of pace-y today too...I have to figure out how to get him back to how he was, and quick!
Nina's nose is all stitched up. The vet came out this past Monday and her stitches need to be taken out next weekend, I think. That's pretty convenient, as the vet is coming back out for spring shots and to float teeth, plus the farrier is supposed to be out. It's good to get it all done in one day!
Once I was satisfied with Harry, I took out Brie just to walk. By then everyone was done riding so Brie had the arena all to herself and she loved it. She's so good by herself or when it's just Harry and Nina. It's when other people come that she gets upset and I don't know what to do about that.
After a little bit of walking just to get her stretching, we put everyone back to deworm them. Brie got to enjoy a banana while Harry and Nina got carrots. Wednesday is Nina's birthday! She'll be 6 years old. We have to get her something extra fancy!
We got out there and started playing with them first. Harry let me swing the rope by his neck today, so that's progress. He was trying to bite it a lot, but eventually relaxed. We had to take turns playing and handling Brie because, since there were only two of us, Brie was the odd ball out today. I'm sure she didn't mind. I brushed her up first and my brother did Harry and Nina because he's super speedy. Afterwards, I put Brie back in her stall and tacked up Harry to ride.
I'm kind of nervous about how we'll do at the show if we go...he wasn't very collected today or last weekend. He also felt kind of pace-y today too...I have to figure out how to get him back to how he was, and quick!
Nina's nose is all stitched up. The vet came out this past Monday and her stitches need to be taken out next weekend, I think. That's pretty convenient, as the vet is coming back out for spring shots and to float teeth, plus the farrier is supposed to be out. It's good to get it all done in one day!
Once I was satisfied with Harry, I took out Brie just to walk. By then everyone was done riding so Brie had the arena all to herself and she loved it. She's so good by herself or when it's just Harry and Nina. It's when other people come that she gets upset and I don't know what to do about that.
After a little bit of walking just to get her stretching, we put everyone back to deworm them. Brie got to enjoy a banana while Harry and Nina got carrots. Wednesday is Nina's birthday! She'll be 6 years old. We have to get her something extra fancy!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Day 149
I have some good news and some bad news.
Good news is that Harry and I had a very successful ride today. We worked for about 2 hours! I never get him to myself for that long. I was super happy with his behavior at the start -- he walked! He's usually like a little freight train and just goes goes goes, but he was very relaxed at the start. We walked around and flexed for a while in the indoor then ventured to the outdoor where his attention started to get away from me, but was still pretty good. We kept our walking.
Then we traversed through the inside of the indoor and went out back in the huge pasture. That's where he lost his attention to me, instead too freaked out about everything going on outside. He got a little spooky and started spinning and trying to run back to the barn at one point, but we stopped, stood for a while and then headed towards the big hill and went up it, looked around, then went back into the barn.
Then we started to really work. The entire time I was focusing on keeping my hands quiet and properly positioned...I have a really bad habit of having piano hands, because, surprise, I play the piano. It's just natural. But I really focused on that and sitting deep and back today and rather than relaxing he seemed to want to go more and more until I started sitting more forward. Once I was a bit more forward he definitely settled into his gait better. After working on his gait, we started doing a little bit of transition work on the wall where it wasn't too successful, so we did in a circle. When he got transitions down in a circle, I started walking him to cool him down. I dropped my stirrups because my ankles were killing me today for some reason, probably from sickle-ing, and we walked pretty calmly. He was still super hot when I got off so I hand walked him for a good chunk of time before I gave him a nice bath, after which he was still hot, so I walked him some more until he was completely cool before I put him in his stall.
Now for the not so good news. The vet came out for Brie today. If you don't remember, she's been having some lameness in her back right leg for a while now. It kept going and coming, but even though we had her on stall rest for a while, she was still kind of limping when I rode her last week. Now, the vet came out and looked at her lunge (she was limping), gave her a full exam, noted a bit of warmth in her leg, and took lots of X-Rays. He said that seemingly at best she has arthritis and we can manage that with steroids. It's either in her hock or her stifle, and he kind of said that if it's in the stifle, it's not too good.
He basically told us that her show career is over. Depending on what's actually wrong with her, we'll know whether we can still ride her or not. If this is all from kicking her stall, I'm going to be so mad! I just hope she's okay. At first I was sad because I have to stop trying to do dressage and jumping with her now, and then I was sad because I wouldn't be able to really fulfill the goal of this blog: to blog until I won a 1st place in a class of at least 10.
But then, I realized that all of that has lost its value. As long as she's okay and healthy, even if she can't be ridden very much, it won't change how much I love her. She means the world to me, she's taught me everything I know about handling horses. She's given me a tough skin for the show ring. She's taught me patience and responsibility. Even if she can't be ridden, it doesn't mean I'll stop showering her with love.
And if she can be ridden, then I'll just have to work out being a great trail horse and I might still have costume classes to look forward to. Who knows -- maybe she'll win Nationals for costume. She's always been a looker =]
Good news is that Harry and I had a very successful ride today. We worked for about 2 hours! I never get him to myself for that long. I was super happy with his behavior at the start -- he walked! He's usually like a little freight train and just goes goes goes, but he was very relaxed at the start. We walked around and flexed for a while in the indoor then ventured to the outdoor where his attention started to get away from me, but was still pretty good. We kept our walking.
Then we traversed through the inside of the indoor and went out back in the huge pasture. That's where he lost his attention to me, instead too freaked out about everything going on outside. He got a little spooky and started spinning and trying to run back to the barn at one point, but we stopped, stood for a while and then headed towards the big hill and went up it, looked around, then went back into the barn.
Then we started to really work. The entire time I was focusing on keeping my hands quiet and properly positioned...I have a really bad habit of having piano hands, because, surprise, I play the piano. It's just natural. But I really focused on that and sitting deep and back today and rather than relaxing he seemed to want to go more and more until I started sitting more forward. Once I was a bit more forward he definitely settled into his gait better. After working on his gait, we started doing a little bit of transition work on the wall where it wasn't too successful, so we did in a circle. When he got transitions down in a circle, I started walking him to cool him down. I dropped my stirrups because my ankles were killing me today for some reason, probably from sickle-ing, and we walked pretty calmly. He was still super hot when I got off so I hand walked him for a good chunk of time before I gave him a nice bath, after which he was still hot, so I walked him some more until he was completely cool before I put him in his stall.
Now for the not so good news. The vet came out for Brie today. If you don't remember, she's been having some lameness in her back right leg for a while now. It kept going and coming, but even though we had her on stall rest for a while, she was still kind of limping when I rode her last week. Now, the vet came out and looked at her lunge (she was limping), gave her a full exam, noted a bit of warmth in her leg, and took lots of X-Rays. He said that seemingly at best she has arthritis and we can manage that with steroids. It's either in her hock or her stifle, and he kind of said that if it's in the stifle, it's not too good.
He basically told us that her show career is over. Depending on what's actually wrong with her, we'll know whether we can still ride her or not. If this is all from kicking her stall, I'm going to be so mad! I just hope she's okay. At first I was sad because I have to stop trying to do dressage and jumping with her now, and then I was sad because I wouldn't be able to really fulfill the goal of this blog: to blog until I won a 1st place in a class of at least 10.
But then, I realized that all of that has lost its value. As long as she's okay and healthy, even if she can't be ridden very much, it won't change how much I love her. She means the world to me, she's taught me everything I know about handling horses. She's given me a tough skin for the show ring. She's taught me patience and responsibility. Even if she can't be ridden, it doesn't mean I'll stop showering her with love.
And if she can be ridden, then I'll just have to work out being a great trail horse and I might still have costume classes to look forward to. Who knows -- maybe she'll win Nationals for costume. She's always been a looker =]
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Day 145
Brie was still limping today, so we let her rest. We put them all out in the paddocks and she didn't want to do much, so we put her in the round pend and asked her to lunge and her limp wasn't noticeable at a walk, but when she started trotting/gaiting, you could see her limping. So we decided that another week of rest would be good, and if she's still limping next weekend, we'll call the vet out.
We also found out that the baby across the aisle from us was weaned yesterday. How horrible, of course Ray had to do that for Mother's Day. Jerk. I mean, horses don't know the difference, but still. It was sad =[ He was watching us and kept crying when we took all of them outside or in the arena to ride.
My mom warmed up Harry and then I got on. He gaited super fantastic until Ray came in the arena with his horse, then he tensed up really badly until Ray left. He's got to get used to distractions! Personally, I think it's just something he has against Ray. Luckily, Ray doesn't have any geldings to ride in show =] After we gaited some more when Ray left, we worked on WALKING! The hardest thing in the world! I worked with him for about a half hour trying to make him walk. Every time he started to pull me forward, I made him stop and he was getting very antsy about me on his mouth almost constantly because of that, but as soon as he realized I'd lay off the pressure when he slowed down, he was a doll. And he went in the trailer like an angel today too! We didn't even need to nose chain lead to walk him in! Now watch, he'll magically forget everything when we're trying to come home from Springfield, right? Isn't that how luck goes?
Next weekend the farrier is supposed to be out, and then it's off to Springfield the week after! I'm so excited, but I only get to be entered in one class now that I'm no longer a Youth competitor, so I'm just going to be in Amateur Owner's class. We better get a ribbon!
We also found out that the baby across the aisle from us was weaned yesterday. How horrible, of course Ray had to do that for Mother's Day. Jerk. I mean, horses don't know the difference, but still. It was sad =[ He was watching us and kept crying when we took all of them outside or in the arena to ride.
My mom warmed up Harry and then I got on. He gaited super fantastic until Ray came in the arena with his horse, then he tensed up really badly until Ray left. He's got to get used to distractions! Personally, I think it's just something he has against Ray. Luckily, Ray doesn't have any geldings to ride in show =] After we gaited some more when Ray left, we worked on WALKING! The hardest thing in the world! I worked with him for about a half hour trying to make him walk. Every time he started to pull me forward, I made him stop and he was getting very antsy about me on his mouth almost constantly because of that, but as soon as he realized I'd lay off the pressure when he slowed down, he was a doll. And he went in the trailer like an angel today too! We didn't even need to nose chain lead to walk him in! Now watch, he'll magically forget everything when we're trying to come home from Springfield, right? Isn't that how luck goes?
Next weekend the farrier is supposed to be out, and then it's off to Springfield the week after! I'm so excited, but I only get to be entered in one class now that I'm no longer a Youth competitor, so I'm just going to be in Amateur Owner's class. We better get a ribbon!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Day 143
I can't believe I forgot to do this yesterday.
I'll just write this from a "sunday" approach.
So today, Harry got in the trailer for me on the 2nd attempt! He was such a good boy, I'm so proud of him. We'll be on the road in no time flat =]
While it looked like a beautiful day, the ground was very soggy, so no outside romping for us =[ My mom wanted to start Harry today, so I worked with Brie. She's super furry after the winter and sheds a ton whenever I brush her. I come home covered in horsehair. Lovely.
We worked on just walking since her leg looked a little swollen and we hadn't worked yesterday because of the vet. Nice and relaxed walking was the goal, so whenever she started to rush me forward I just gently pulled back into a halt then started right back up. We took this to the outdoor arena where she did this wonderfully! I was so impressed, she usually kicks the dirt right up when she gets out there because for Brie, outside = TIME TO RUN! So after I got a nice relaxed walk outside, we went back inside and worked on a little bit of corto. Her corto is turning into a half-canter looking thing, so I just checked her side to side to get her to change her step until she was in gait. I love how much she's come along...I just hope she's like that when we take her to the show!
I rode Harry afterward. He was a little stiff in the neck from the shot yesterday, poor thing, he was probably sore around the injection site because when I hugged him he got really antsy and tried to spin me off of his neck. So for being stiff, he worked quite well! You could tell he wanted to work, so we let him work. After being a little disappointed with his board, my mom reminded me about his neck, so I was actually pretty pleased. I can only imagine what he would've been like if he wasn't sore.
Two more weeks until the Springfield Show! I'm kind of nervous -- I hope that I do well with Harry.
I'll just write this from a "sunday" approach.
So today, Harry got in the trailer for me on the 2nd attempt! He was such a good boy, I'm so proud of him. We'll be on the road in no time flat =]
While it looked like a beautiful day, the ground was very soggy, so no outside romping for us =[ My mom wanted to start Harry today, so I worked with Brie. She's super furry after the winter and sheds a ton whenever I brush her. I come home covered in horsehair. Lovely.
We worked on just walking since her leg looked a little swollen and we hadn't worked yesterday because of the vet. Nice and relaxed walking was the goal, so whenever she started to rush me forward I just gently pulled back into a halt then started right back up. We took this to the outdoor arena where she did this wonderfully! I was so impressed, she usually kicks the dirt right up when she gets out there because for Brie, outside = TIME TO RUN! So after I got a nice relaxed walk outside, we went back inside and worked on a little bit of corto. Her corto is turning into a half-canter looking thing, so I just checked her side to side to get her to change her step until she was in gait. I love how much she's come along...I just hope she's like that when we take her to the show!
I rode Harry afterward. He was a little stiff in the neck from the shot yesterday, poor thing, he was probably sore around the injection site because when I hugged him he got really antsy and tried to spin me off of his neck. So for being stiff, he worked quite well! You could tell he wanted to work, so we let him work. After being a little disappointed with his board, my mom reminded me about his neck, so I was actually pretty pleased. I can only imagine what he would've been like if he wasn't sore.
Two more weeks until the Springfield Show! I'm kind of nervous -- I hope that I do well with Harry.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Day 128
I didn't go out yesterday because I went to the dog show! Yayyyy doggies!!
Today. Was. FABULOUS.
Mainly because Colin came out today and Ray wasn't there. We chatted and he showed us three new stallions that he brought up from Florida. The poor things are so skinny! We're determined to get some weight and muscles on them. He promised to let me ride one, Cache, once he's settled in and has a bit more weight on. I'm super excited, Cache looks like a train coming down a track. So much power! I know I can be bad about getting pictures and videos up, but I promise I'll get a video of me riding Cache up as soon as I do!
So we rode all together and when he was done riding Cache, Colin came back in the arena to watch my brother and I ride. He immediately took to my brother and pretty much gave him an hour long lesson on Nina, giving him tips and tricks on how to ride her better so that she's more relaxed, more balanced, and gaits tighter. Unfortunately I didn't hear any of those comments because I was working on warming up Brie. I got around the arena a couple of times before my mom demanded a switch with me so that I would ride Harry.
What a handful. I know that I should be light on his mouth, but it's just so hard when he pulls and tries to take off! So, like a bad owner, Colin saw me struggling with Harry today. As soon as he was done working with my brother, he asked if he could ride Harry, and I obliged. First thing he pointed out was that Harry has a really unnecessary fear of the wall and we're going at it the wrong way. We use our inside leg to apply pressure and the outside rein to try to get him over to the wall, while Colin said that we should just not fight with him like that, just make him go straight, and instead of reversing into the arena, we should reverse onto the wall. Another pointer that he had regarding my fighting with Harry was instead of pulling on his bit constantly trying to get him to slow down is to just turn him into a wall or a corner and he'll have no choice but to stop.
Colin set a few goals for us with Harry:
1. Extinguish the fear of the wall.
2. Get him to relax while not wanting to take off.
3. Make him STOP when we want him to stop.
I think I've mentioned before that Harry has a tendency to tap-dance when he gets nervous. We've been told lots of different things to stop this and none of them have really worked. Colin suggested just keeping pressure on him at all sides when he starts tapping until he stops and then immediately release pressure and he'll start to get the message. It's worth a try.
He also mentioned that trotting is a good thing for the horses. We're all so concerned with gaiting all the time that they never get the chance to relax, and he said that giving them an opportunity to lapse into a natural trot is relaxing for them, and that when we ask them to gait from a trot, they'll have relaxed and then be ready to work really well in a gait. We can give that a try too, though I'm a bit skeptical about that. All we can do is wait and see.
But now Colin will be around more often, or so he says. I really am looking forward to having him around. It's nice to get some new pointers and tricks every once in a while, because thinking of ways to deal with issues gets a little exhausting on your own!
Today. Was. FABULOUS.
Mainly because Colin came out today and Ray wasn't there. We chatted and he showed us three new stallions that he brought up from Florida. The poor things are so skinny! We're determined to get some weight and muscles on them. He promised to let me ride one, Cache, once he's settled in and has a bit more weight on. I'm super excited, Cache looks like a train coming down a track. So much power! I know I can be bad about getting pictures and videos up, but I promise I'll get a video of me riding Cache up as soon as I do!
So we rode all together and when he was done riding Cache, Colin came back in the arena to watch my brother and I ride. He immediately took to my brother and pretty much gave him an hour long lesson on Nina, giving him tips and tricks on how to ride her better so that she's more relaxed, more balanced, and gaits tighter. Unfortunately I didn't hear any of those comments because I was working on warming up Brie. I got around the arena a couple of times before my mom demanded a switch with me so that I would ride Harry.
What a handful. I know that I should be light on his mouth, but it's just so hard when he pulls and tries to take off! So, like a bad owner, Colin saw me struggling with Harry today. As soon as he was done working with my brother, he asked if he could ride Harry, and I obliged. First thing he pointed out was that Harry has a really unnecessary fear of the wall and we're going at it the wrong way. We use our inside leg to apply pressure and the outside rein to try to get him over to the wall, while Colin said that we should just not fight with him like that, just make him go straight, and instead of reversing into the arena, we should reverse onto the wall. Another pointer that he had regarding my fighting with Harry was instead of pulling on his bit constantly trying to get him to slow down is to just turn him into a wall or a corner and he'll have no choice but to stop.
Colin set a few goals for us with Harry:
1. Extinguish the fear of the wall.
2. Get him to relax while not wanting to take off.
3. Make him STOP when we want him to stop.
I think I've mentioned before that Harry has a tendency to tap-dance when he gets nervous. We've been told lots of different things to stop this and none of them have really worked. Colin suggested just keeping pressure on him at all sides when he starts tapping until he stops and then immediately release pressure and he'll start to get the message. It's worth a try.
He also mentioned that trotting is a good thing for the horses. We're all so concerned with gaiting all the time that they never get the chance to relax, and he said that giving them an opportunity to lapse into a natural trot is relaxing for them, and that when we ask them to gait from a trot, they'll have relaxed and then be ready to work really well in a gait. We can give that a try too, though I'm a bit skeptical about that. All we can do is wait and see.
But now Colin will be around more often, or so he says. I really am looking forward to having him around. It's nice to get some new pointers and tricks every once in a while, because thinking of ways to deal with issues gets a little exhausting on your own!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Day 127
Worked a lot with Brie today. She's like a pro over that white pole now. But I forgot my camera! =[ So I can't show you her trick. I worked on transitions for a while today between walking and cantering. We're getting better at it....there were a couple of tries where she didn't want to just bolt where she seemed like she was paying attention. I was wary of it today though because there was a puddle in one of the corners of the arena, so I had to keep avoiding it.
Afterward.... I RODE HARRY! Who is behaving marvelously, if I do say so myself. All that we need to work on is going straight down the soundboard and WALKING. Lots of walking. He's so full of energy and so eager to work that he has a hard time listening to when I ask him to slow down. So we shall start working on that from now on.
At the end of the day, my brother and I took Nina and Harry over the scary white pole while they were cooling. We walked them on foot, or tried to walk them, over the pole. It took a while for them to not be so scared of it and go around it. Nina actually pushed it quite a ways with her nose! Harry took a big leap over it like it was a huge jump, it was pretty adorable. They'll get used to it. They have to learn how to trust us when facing new and scary things (because there will be SO many white poles out on trail), otherwise we put both of us in danger.
Afterward.... I RODE HARRY! Who is behaving marvelously, if I do say so myself. All that we need to work on is going straight down the soundboard and WALKING. Lots of walking. He's so full of energy and so eager to work that he has a hard time listening to when I ask him to slow down. So we shall start working on that from now on.
At the end of the day, my brother and I took Nina and Harry over the scary white pole while they were cooling. We walked them on foot, or tried to walk them, over the pole. It took a while for them to not be so scared of it and go around it. Nina actually pushed it quite a ways with her nose! Harry took a big leap over it like it was a huge jump, it was pretty adorable. They'll get used to it. They have to learn how to trust us when facing new and scary things (because there will be SO many white poles out on trail), otherwise we put both of us in danger.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Day 78
Didn't ride Brie or Nina.
I got really frustrated with Harry, so much to the point that I actually gave up and let Paco ride him for me. Let me start from the beginning.
I lunged him, it was good. He lunged very calmly and only ran out a couple of times. With the bit changed, I got on him and rode in the indoor. He was pretty uptight about it so I was easy on the bit rein and focused more on the jaquima rein. It worked pretty well. He was decent on the board and overall pretty good.
Then they wanted me to go outside. Not outside running around, but the arena. I'm still not exactly comfortable with that whole idea yet because I don't trust him and he's really skiddish sometimes, but I went out anyways.
He. Would. Not. Walk.
All I want in my life is a horse that will walk calmly. I have one, Nina, but my brother hogs her.
Harry would not walk if I gave him all the carrots in the world. He kept charging forward and I kept holding him back. I kept trying to make him stop and he'd kind of stop and then tap dance, a sign that I learned from Brie that means he wants to rear, so naturally I got really freaked out a little unnerved. After a bunny hop and a spin cycle, I was done. I couldn't handle that emotionally today, so I asked Paco if he could work Harry a little bit for me. I assumed it was just the bit that he was trying to get used to or even didn't like.
So I watched Paco work Harry for almost an hour. Harry had a good few tries at trying to dump Paco, but Paco is just as stubborn as Harry (which is more stubborn than me in recent years, I've become too tame). Back and forth and back and forth they went. Every time Harry went over the sounding board he tried to dump Paco so Paco kept at him until he went straight.
At the end of the day, Paco told me that I need to work him longer. Lunge for at least a half hour, train for at least an hour, and then ride for another hour. I don't know where I'm going to get all of this time and still be able to ride Brie.
Paco insisted that I get back on Harry, despite the emotional changes I was going through, and so I did. I completely blanked out on all of those equitation rules that have been being drilled into my head every Thursday for the past 5 months and just rode. It was beautiful. I'm sure I was the poster of a disastrous equitation student, but I don't care. It was a good ride. With a great deal of help and work from Paco, I also decided that training is not the place for worrying about how fancy and put together I look, because trainers will look like crap most of the time. Instead of focusing so much on how far I'm keeping my heels down, I need to be focusing on what I need to do to stay on for that ride.
So I now need to wake up even earlier on barn days than I do when I work. Fantastic. As much as I'd love to use my weekend to sleep, I know that this will pay off in the end. Now I just need to work on controlling my emotions.
I got really frustrated with Harry, so much to the point that I actually gave up and let Paco ride him for me. Let me start from the beginning.
I lunged him, it was good. He lunged very calmly and only ran out a couple of times. With the bit changed, I got on him and rode in the indoor. He was pretty uptight about it so I was easy on the bit rein and focused more on the jaquima rein. It worked pretty well. He was decent on the board and overall pretty good.
Then they wanted me to go outside. Not outside running around, but the arena. I'm still not exactly comfortable with that whole idea yet because I don't trust him and he's really skiddish sometimes, but I went out anyways.
He. Would. Not. Walk.
All I want in my life is a horse that will walk calmly. I have one, Nina, but my brother hogs her.
Harry would not walk if I gave him all the carrots in the world. He kept charging forward and I kept holding him back. I kept trying to make him stop and he'd kind of stop and then tap dance, a sign that I learned from Brie that means he wants to rear, so naturally I got
So I watched Paco work Harry for almost an hour. Harry had a good few tries at trying to dump Paco, but Paco is just as stubborn as Harry (which is more stubborn than me in recent years, I've become too tame). Back and forth and back and forth they went. Every time Harry went over the sounding board he tried to dump Paco so Paco kept at him until he went straight.
At the end of the day, Paco told me that I need to work him longer. Lunge for at least a half hour, train for at least an hour, and then ride for another hour. I don't know where I'm going to get all of this time and still be able to ride Brie.
Paco insisted that I get back on Harry, despite the emotional changes I was going through, and so I did. I completely blanked out on all of those equitation rules that have been being drilled into my head every Thursday for the past 5 months and just rode. It was beautiful. I'm sure I was the poster of a disastrous equitation student, but I don't care. It was a good ride. With a great deal of help and work from Paco, I also decided that training is not the place for worrying about how fancy and put together I look, because trainers will look like crap most of the time. Instead of focusing so much on how far I'm keeping my heels down, I need to be focusing on what I need to do to stay on for that ride.
So I now need to wake up even earlier on barn days than I do when I work. Fantastic. As much as I'd love to use my weekend to sleep, I know that this will pay off in the end. Now I just need to work on controlling my emotions.
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