DefinitelyDressage.com

Ponichiwa

I'm not all that surprised, to be honest. "Lame or stiff" encompasses a lot of area. I know I've had several horses with low-grade arthritis stiffness that they warmed up out of. Would be interesting to see what other horse populations average using similar methodology. Are pasture pets or...

Ponichiwa

Down here in TX, we're also having unseasonably chilly temperatures. Kiwi is wrapped up in 2 blankets and looks like Ralph from A Christmas Story. She is not a fan. Needless to say, my riding this year hasn't been terribly consistent. I went for a ride on new years day, enjoyed the (brief) sunshine,...

Ponichiwa

Sounds like everyone made it through the holidays happy and mostly healthy. Here's the final check-in for me and Kiwi: What I said I'd do: These 8 weeks, I'll work on: - Riding 4x/week - Playing with changes in bend/stride length/direction in the canter to expand the no-change zone, as it were. - To...

Ponichiwa

On the topic of seat aids: My goal for my horses is for them to choose to go freely forwards unless I ask for something different-- which means my seat is passive unless I'm asking to increase collection or, in some cases, reinforce or regulate tempo. But the horses generally don't start at that poi...

Ponichiwa

Back when I was a low-level no-name trainer in the Pittsburgh area, I had one of these horses as a lesson student that I put occasional rides on. Really neat brain-- that mare had a really amateur-friendly temperament but could take a good bit of pressure in training situations. Tried very hard. How...

Ponichiwa

My strategy for the changes (when I rode this test several years ago) was to space the changes very evenly and center them in the arena-- quarterline, centerline, quarterline. As Dresseur says, it shows control of the changes and gives you some points for polish if executed well.

Ponichiwa

Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge Moutaineer for the proper spelling of duct tape. It's one of those things that gives me the warm-and-fuzzy feels: you're one of my people! Moving on to the main event. We're nearly 3 weeks in and the initial scorecard for me and Kiwi is a solid B. On target with the ...

Ponichiwa

Vault off?!? Sorry, but I'm going to have to request that your Sr. thread membership be revoked :lol: I dismount like a proper Sr. by leaning forward so I can slide my right leg over till I am laying across the horse, and then carefully and slowly let myself slide down. :lol: :D But do you drag you...

Ponichiwa

My November started on just the right note (except that Kiwi and friends went cavorting through their 10acre pasture when I was trying to catch her for a ride). Really pleasant trail ride after I finally caught her. We turfed up a quail and tackled some rougher brush like a seasoned trailhorse. Thes...

Ponichiwa

Congrats, everyone, we made it to the end of October! Glad to see rehab/lameness progress from many of you, and love the photos. Here's what I said I'd do: Man. Am I ever glad July and August are over. It's been a heck of a stress the last 8 weeks. Dresseur and Tsavo, sorry to hear about the lamenes...

Ponichiwa

I haven't posted in a while. I've been in a funk for quite some time with regards to balancing riding against the nonstop demands of work, working out/dieting, family... none of this is unique to me. You all get it, I'm sure. I'm at the point in my career where the decisions I make now have massive ...

Ponichiwa

I get that guns don't fire themselves. Additionally, that it is unlikely that any law/prohibition/etc. will stop 100% of malfeasance. However, this is a board of horse people. Make the wrong answer hard and the right answer easy. It should not be easy to kill 58 people and wound another ~500 in the ...

Ponichiwa

No, that modification to the gun is very very illegal! There are many kind of gun owners, so please do not lump everyone into the same category (ie- all support the same thing, all conservative, etc etc) Remember that there also many ways to "own guns"- hunting, collecting historical guns...

Ponichiwa

Congrats to the both of you! What a great accomplishment.

Ponichiwa

Do you think Charlotte DuJardin looks at Carl Hester or Nuno Oliveria or Klimke and thinks she is right up there with them or does she "aspire" also? She may. Maybe she is? Not everyone thinks Hester, Oliveria, and Klimke are the best there is. FWIW, I didn't read MC's reply as snarky. My...

Ponichiwa

I think there have been some part DHH at elite levels over the years though I am hard-pressed to recall any names. DHH are more suited to dressage, old or new sport, than Friesians in my opinion. Verdades would be one. Gelderlander on the dam's side, which is a Dutch driving horse. The Amish have i...

Ponichiwa

Already some good advice above. Remember that when you ask for things to get harder-- and in this case, true bend means that the hind leg will have to take more weight and carry-- the horse's natural reaction will be to change the gait quality to make the movement easier. Whether that's by reducing ...

Ponichiwa

I've spent several years installing a "forward" button (as in, move off my leg in whatever direction I ask you to) on Kiwi as she's definitely got whoastorm tendencies. When she was younger, these would sometimes have threats of going upwards. But it took a recent schooling show to make m...

Ponichiwa

I've spent several years installing a "forward" button (as in, move off my leg in whatever direction I ask you to) on Kiwi as she's definitely got whoastorm tendencies. When she was younger, these would sometimes have threats of going upwards. But it took a recent schooling show to make me...

Ponichiwa

I have a Fitbit Alta wristband. I'm not much of a fashionista and wear the black bands that it came with, but there are many accessory band options and it's fairly narrow and inobtrusive as compared to some other fitness watch options. Its battery life is fairly good-- lasts the better part of a wee...

Ponichiwa

George Washington was a traitor-- to Great Britain. Similarly, Benedict Arnold was a patriot. Again, to Great Britain's cause. The loss of the war did not immediately grant all black Americans equality, despite the 13th-15th amendments. As early as the Reconstruction era, the governments of the erst...

Ponichiwa

Lee was considered by many in his time to be a traitor. Obviously, not Confederate supporters or the majority of Virginians shared this view. If you were a parent from Pennsylvania and Lee's army had just killed your son in Gettysburg, you might have a different view. Simply put, though, the Constit...

Ponichiwa

Man. Am I ever glad July and August are over. It's been a heck of a stress the last 8 weeks. Dresseur and Tsavo, sorry to hear about the lameness struggles. Best of luck with their resolution! My goals are different than they would have been had we not been hit with a hurricane. Kiwi and I have lost...

Ponichiwa

We are incredibly lucky. I got 40ish inches (rain gauge errored out at 30" on Saturday night, and we had a ton of rain on Sunday) but we got a 12+ hour break in the rain and now it looks like nothing ever happened. My garage has some damage due to high water, including massive erosion around th...

Ponichiwa

A big mainly dressage barn about 10 miles south of me had to evacuate their 80-someodd horses by boat yesterday. Basically, my worst nightmare. I hear that all horses and staff got out safely but what a stressor that must have been. I saw some blue sky today, so it looks like my side of Houston is s...

Ponichiwa

Demi, thank your DH for me as well. Yes, I'm about 40 mi west of Houston. We got absolutely hammered with rain yesterday-- something like 18" over the course of 12 hrs yesterday. Rainfall totals are near 30" at my house. There's a (normally dry) creek that's about 1000' away from my house ...

Ponichiwa

9 pony refugees from south of us pulled into our barn today. Cutest refugees ever. Water levels are still rising. My house has already gotten nearly 24" of rain but is due for another 24 over the course of the next 2 days. The creek that is normally empty and 1000' from my house is over its ban...

Ponichiwa

We're going to get so much rain. Fingers crossed, everyone. Stay safe, Demi!

Ponichiwa

demi, you're not kidding about the TX heat. Kiwi and I are melting even when we ride at 7:30 or later. It doesn't help that both of us are too fat for the weather, but we'll ignore that. Current progress: - 45s side planks are becoming easy(ish). 15s to go to hit my stated goal. - Flying changes are...

Ponichiwa

Horses can suffer for lack of training. I've seen enough real nice, cute young horses become unhappy/jaded 8-14yo horses after a couple years of the wrong type of ride to believe that. We do have a responsibility to our horses to keep them healthy and well-adjusted to norms of modern horsekeeping (i...

Ponichiwa

What a kind offer, MC!

Ponichiwa

I'm not in a regular program now, and haven't been for at least 6 years. I've had some decent success despite that streak-- some competitive rides at the local and regional level, although definitely not national-quality, and have consistently moved my horses up the levels. When I was living in the ...

Ponichiwa

Hurray, Mountaineer and Chisamba! Re: jumping in dressage saddles-- the point billets on dressage saddles can interfere with some of the jumping motion if you're jumping big(ish?) jumps. If you don't have point billets, ignore this line. I've got a Tale of Two Cities situation here. My new bits arri...

Ponichiwa

It's unlikely the USDF Connection articles are peer-reviewed. However, Clayton has a significant body of work in gait mechanics/force plate studies/etc. that have been published in various journals and peer reviewed.

Ponichiwa

Wonder if it varies horse to horse as well as rider to rider. I'm a sample size of one with a horse sample size of two (with the changes to ones, but only one that did 15 in a row), so essentially am presenting the worst research data ever. However, once I got the 4s, the 3s came pretty easy. Once t...

Ponichiwa

I always thought the 1s were the hardest. You get 0 time to fix the underlying canter at all, so things can go sideways (sometimes literally) pretty quickly. Additionally, make sure you install a good "off" button. Otherwise there will be 1-tempis everywhere. Ask me how I know. Cool front ...

Ponichiwa

My GP horse was both easier and harder to ride than greener horses. Easier, because he and I had so much history together that he knew what I meant when I asked for things, even if I wasn't spot-on accurate with my aids. I did train him myself but ultimately it felt like he took some initiative to d...

Ponichiwa

Snork and Canyon-- agreed. I was ready to buy another bridle from them only to realize they'd closed their doors 4 weeks previously. Bereft.

Ponichiwa

Lots of commonalities here. Here, too, it's been hotter than blazes. And I've got a pony who may be described as dumpy and round. I ground-drove her yesterday and had to drop her surcingle to the bottom hole on both sides in order to get it wrapped around her pony girth. Not a proud moment for Kiwi....

Ponichiwa

My parents have been incredibly supportive of any endeavors I had/have/will ever have. I'll just start there. My sister and started off in the horse world taking group lessons from a local woman who roped, barrel raced, and pole bended. So I got a crash course in staying more or less in the middle a...

Ponichiwa

I could maybe buy into that if Prudent herself wasn't part of the system that encouraged that behavior. Her barn was the model of the behavior she's now decrying. Selling those very same "fearful, talentless amateurs" the $$$$ horses. Full-service grooming/training required to board. Not t...

Ponichiwa

I'm with your approach, Dresseur. The risk with the bit that makes her light in the contact is that it won't address the reason for the heaviness, and may as a result cause her to compensate in other ways that may actually make it harder to get her to be honest in the connection. Things like curling...

Ponichiwa

That whole "fearful, talentless amateur" thing was rough. It hurts 0 people and horses to have 2'6" classes in shows. The lower levels keep the upper levels financially viable, same as in dressage. Doesn't hurt me at all that there's an Intro level now in recognized shows. Really, it ...

Ponichiwa

I love white padding! Only downside is that it highlights poor tack cleaning, but other than that it looks super on horses that have minimal white on their faces. I know from experience from having made the wrong bridle padding choices in the past.

Don't judge me.

Ponichiwa

Just a update here re sweltering weather: at 10 am this morning combined air temp (F) and humidity was 159, with dew point of 76. We sweat but cannot cool off because the air is saturated. I can deal with heat, it is the humidity that kills me. No way I can ask horses to work in this weather just t...

Ponichiwa

Jeez. Getting hot outside and inside, I guess. I do agree with MC on this one. Dressage to me isn't fun. It's a lot of things-- challenging, rewarding, interesting, invigorating-- but it's not a stress-free laugh and a half, which is how I interpret fun. Add on that the fact that my ride times are l...

Ponichiwa

My bridle showed up yesterday! So I took Kiwi on a nice long trail ride for her debut double bridle day. I think it looks pretty cute on her (left): https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19959144_10155554266210990_6021806572512303079_n.jpg?oh=e0d97a3b9be58a9b2abeb4b24620a43b&oe=5A0C910F

Ponichiwa

Chisamba-- Hope Deneb heals quickly. I hate the two steps forward/one step back training/health tango. Hope all resolves soon. Yesterday was the holiest of all holy days. That's right-- it was Introduce the Double Bridle Day. Initially, Kiwi was not enthused: https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...

Ponichiwa

Good eyes, Canyon! Last time I looked at DressageExtensions, the (now-discounted) Royal Oak weymouth was still $300+, so I wasn't willing to compromise on the padding and French caveson options. Now a) there's an option I know fits Kiwi, and b) that it's SO CHEAP-- well, dressage-standards-wise; thi...

Ponichiwa

Any feedback on Bobby's leather quality? How about Delfina? http://www.delfinasaddlery.com/Bridles-Reins-Parts-Accessories/Dressage-Bridles/Delfina-CUSTOM-BROWN-Padded-Dressage-Bridle-p228.html Never having felt one, I'm a bit hesitant to order. Additionally, I'm spoiled by my current bridle. Has ev...

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