Goals and progress, October and November

[Ryeissa]

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[Chisamba]

Dresseur, you and Miro look great as always!

Here's the video from yesterday. Lots of warts but I'm sharing (unedited) anyway. I am happy with some of it. I think he's showing better self carriage, more honest connection at times, and more power. Of course I'm all over the place lol. Let me know what you guys think!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=you ... uUgID3-f9s

Like how his canter improved the trot. You look pretty good, youll be fit in no time.

[khall]

Flight, yes I have ABs DVDs and love them. She most closely aligns with what I have learned from Mark over the years. No wonder, Mark learned directly from NO and she studied with de Olivera who rode with NO.

Been trying some in hand trot work (SI, HI) it is hard with the big guy. Gets his blood up and I have a big horse flinging around, sigh. If he could control himself and pay attention all goes well. Good news is I am working my older mare Anna in hand at trot too, she is a breeze! Despite not working for 2 yrs. Taking it slow with her for sure, but asking for a few steps at trot since I have been working her in hand for about a month now. Riding big moose thankfully is still going well. Heading to schooling show for fun, I too am aiming for 1st level since it has been 2 yrs since we have seen a show ring. I thought about 2nd, but chickened out. Been such a long time for me showing anything above training level. Rip's dam Gallie was last one I showed 2nd and that was before he was born I believe. Not been a priority.

Dresseur have fun next month ! I am sure your guy will be good. Did you do a high trace clip on your guy? That is what I usually do too since mine go out a good bit over the winter.

Mountaineer, we are still sweating here! Mid to high 80's this whole week, yuck. We need to cool off some.

Yeah Rye for good SI!

Rosie you look good for just having a baby! You will be back in the swing of things before you know it. Glad Bliss was a good boy, I understand about no balance after being pregnant.

Good riding all!

[Sue B]

I managed to get a ride in in-between rain storms on Saturday but had to go hunting with dh and ds on Sunday and it was pouring by the time we got back so no Sunday ride. (No worries, we watched a lot of deer, even several young bucks, but dh didn't shoot anything.) Anyways, I took Rudy out in the hay field and did a fair amount of canter work, using the joy of being out of the arena and the lovely gentle hill to fluff up his canter. Transitions in and out of canter and within the canter, it was a whole lot of fun. I probably could've worked on flying changes too, but he was working so well that I decided to leave that for another day. Then we went back to the arena and added in lateral work, with me once again, focusing on keeping hands forward and quiet so that seat and legs could communicate more effectively. My arena is sand and rubber so the rain drains right through with no slick spots or puddles most of the time.

Tio, having watched Rudy work, decided he should just be allowed to coast. Actually, he lunged fairly well and even did the bounce grid, with cavelletti set at 6", very nicely. I knew, however, he was going to be a bit of a pill, because he kept bucking and bolting when the dead grape leaves rattled in the wind. Started out pretty good under saddle, and even put out a quite nicely forward trot bending on the circle etc as we transitioned from warmup to work. I also managed to get a little canter work going in-between "spooks" at the scary leaves and such. But then he got a wee tired and announced work time to be over! When he threatened to rear and ran sideways through my right leg, I finally got off and "worked him over" from the ground. He absolutely, steadfastly refused to yield his poll to the right, trying to twist and/or shove his shoulder at me in response to requests. It was quite the 10-15min battle, with moments of loveliness mixed with moments of ugliness, but in the end, he conceded and I had my sweet boy back in hand. Gotta love those teenagers. Next time I ride, he'll be great I am sure.

Rosie, congrats on getting back on Bliss. You and he look very happy in your video.
Love the pictures dresseur, I hope your show goes well.
I too like Anya Behrens stuff khall, I'm happy to hear you are finding your way now. So hard to do without Mark.
Moutaineer, keep the snow at your place until next week please. Oh, and get better soon!

[Dresseur]

Khall, yes, I did a high trace on him, although you can barely tell already. He's one shaggy beast!
He spends A LOT of time outside, so I don't feel as though I can give him a full clip, I'm not into over blanketing or keeping them in, so I like to leave as much hair as possible.

[piedmontfields]

Great to read how well everyone is doing.

A quick check in, as I am buried at work and have been traveling a lot. I'm still getting in rides on Emi, although I get help keeping her working when I am out of town. Regular work helps keep her PSSM symptoms in check. In general, I'm focused on very boring things like maintaining bend through transitions, forward-going transitions, and quieter aids and sharper responses.

To follow on khall's enjoyment of Anja Beran, I'll note that I recently watched the 2010 New England Dressage Association symposium with Bettina Drummond online through a subscription. I felt like there were again many alignments between her POV and Beran's (from reading her books). I found it incredibly helpful for sorting out how to make my aids quieter and more effective. I also got to see Boudicea's horse Sol in that video, I think! He is a star and total ham.

Have a great autumn everyone.

[Dresseur]

Since I usually post stills, here's two very short snippets of my flu-y self trying to ride
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v1etNYBIJmc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LSIvue_rtjY

[kande50]

Been trying some in hand trot work (SI, HI) it is hard with the big guy. Gets his blood up and I have a big horse flinging around, sigh.

I skipped a lot of the in-hand work I might have otherwise done for the same reason, along with the problems I had with poor eyesight (now fixed) that made it hard for me to see what he was doing.

I also find it much easier to handle the reins from the saddle than from the ground, so in effect did the ground work from the saddle basically the same way I would have done it from the ground.

I think the advantage to a big horse is that the rider's weight has less impact on their balance, so my horse appeared to have no trouble carrying me vs having me work beside him. And for some reason, having me in the saddle slowed him down, while working beside him fired him up--which was probably the result of what I rewarded from the saddle vs on the ground.

[demi]

I am loving everyone's progress no matter how great or how small. Fast or slow, is really just a relative thing and it's the journey itself that's interesting. So, once again, thanks for letting us in.

In the last three weeks I've ridden Emma 5,4, and 4 times/week respectively. I am still working on myself and staying mostly at walk and trot. I still like the ridden Mandala exercise because it works so well for this mare. Very steady, consistent work, trying to get her to trust me implicitly.

When I got her, both seller and trainer said don't even bother trying to carry a whip because she just got way too tense. That was an understatement! However, I had been playing with the whip on the ground for the last several months, and she now is comfortable for me to use a longeing whip. Also, the last few times I rode her I carried a regular dressage whip and while she became very alert, she wasn't nervous. I am thinking I will start carrying it intermittently

[demi]

More on Emma:

The reason I started with the whip is that she was not going forward and at this point, booting her just seemed too crude. (plus it's a lot of effort to boot her enough to get a response, and it's hard to do without loosing my position and seat quit a bit.) So just carrying the whip made her much more responsive. She responded to the tiniest requests without even touching her with the whip.

[khall]

kande I stuck with it with my big guy, he has been doing in hand work at the walk and some trotting (mostly T, H, RB, T) mostly off left side since that is where I am most comfortable handling him, since he was 3. He was a holy terror with in hand work initially. I worked him off the caveson rather than bit and bridle for self preservation and when Mark was here would gladly hand him over for Mark to work!! But, having kept at it, Rip now with our normal work is very good for me to handle (probably would not be for most AAs, he would take advantage of you if he could). We have SI, HI, HP, renvere, HI draw, HP draw, TOH, counter SI, renvere on bending line all at the walk, then T, H, RB, T on left side right is harder for me so I have not done it as much. Revisiting it now! It is just upping the requests gets him amped up, but I know it will get better! I firmly believe in not avoiding difficult training situations as long as I am firm but fair in my requests. It makes a difference in his handling by challenging the status quo and being able to get on the other side successfully.

Demi glad you are having success! One horse that I worked with over the years was afraid of dressage whips but the in hand work showed him how to be ok with them. He learned in his 20s to be able to ride with a whip no trouble. (did not really need them younger he was a forward horse to ride then)

[Ponichiwa]

Mid/late October checkup for Kiwi and me:

- Ride 5x/week: I'm going to get in 4 this week, but that's better than 3. Small steps.
- Hit the gym 2x when traveling: Uh. I did once last week when I was on the road. Again, better than 0.
- Choose more salads. This one I've been doing well. I'm afraid to weigh myself but at least my boots are zipping without issue.

Since I've adopted the "take Kiwi for walks around the arena before getting on" strategy, I've had nothing but good rides. Embarrassing that it took me this long to figure it out, but hey. The theme of "some progress is better than none" continues.

[Chisamba]

So , the fall leaf changes and unusually pleasant weather has had me shelf my training goals and use hill work and trail riding to condition and balance and supple the horses before winter drives us indoors. I scared some of my pupils by having everyone do the steep hills, not just the moderate hills. i think it was good for both balance and confidence because when we came back to the arena to work do a little finishing work everyone was riding better.

I took both of my girls up and around, Deneb, and Kimba. Kimba wanted to rush , but Deneb was really very good at maintaining balance, and understanding that focus was needed to keep her footing, and looking around for things to get scared of was not a good idea.

[quinta]

Like Chisamba, I've been spending more time on the trail with the lovely weather and fall colors. Trying to be really conscious about straightness, even while 'just' trail riding. I'll try and get some NC fall photos tomorrow.

[StraightForward]

Miss Pickle is making progress with her trainer. She actually had him off on Sunday, though in his defense the saddle slipped, but she was bucking more than I think I could have stuck to. So, she's in a bit of boot camp right now, with her fourth day in a row today, and she was a star. The two worst days were when he attempted to start working directly in the big arena instead of starting in the roundpen. Hopefully she'll be able to manage that by the end of the week. Yesterday she showed a few steps of a very fancy canter. It's exciting to see the glimpses here and there, even though she's going round in a 50# western saddle right now. Internal things seem to worry her; today she took a long time to settle back down after taking the wrong lead to the right. On the other hand, she was unphased when the UPS truck rolled up, and then someone when flying by on a dirt bike with a little girl behind them waving.

Last weekend I had two lessons on Susan's mare. There is video evidence of the second day, but I need to do some editing before thinking about posting it. In general, I didn't hate myself, though I wasn't sitting up as much as I could, and realized that I tend to drop my left shoulder, so things to work on. My instructor had us working on W/C and C/W transitions, as well as counter canter and a bit of half pass. In general, she told me I need to up the ante a bit on roundness, in front of the leg, etc. It was gratifying to hear that I need to be working on second level stuff when I've really been focusing more on Training/First. I'll hopefully be able to lesson again next month and show her some significant improvement.

[Moutaineer]

Mid/late October checkup for Kiwi and me:

Since I've adopted the "take Kiwi for walks around the arena before getting on" strategy, I've had nothing but good rides. Embarrassing that it took me this long to figure it out, but hey. The theme of "some progress is better than none" continues.

I do this with Laddie--at least twice round the ring at a brisk walk in each direction. It seems to have multiple benefits--tunes him in to what's going on in and around the ring, tunes him in to me (I have the sugar, after all...) and me into him, and gets me loosened up a bit before I get on.

[Kyra's Mom]

I have been able to ride a couple times a week and have been very pleased with Kyra's progress. It helps that Straightforward is also riding her a couple times a week. I am diving back into some of Karen Rohlf's material and finding gold. I like how she breaks things down and have lately, been working on some flexibility exercises to get her looser in the poll and a little more accepting of the contact. Out indoor is a little deeper than I would like and it has been wet outside so we have had to stick to the rail so have been working lots of transitions...lots. She is definitely developing more thrust.

I also got to watch Straightforward's lessons' which gave me more homework.

Susan

[StraightForward]

https://youtu.be/49xX5MADAFI

Sorry about the background talkers.

Pickle graduated to cantering in the arena today. Trainer is paid until end of the month, so I need to decide whether to take over or have him continue while the weather holds. She was fantastic focusing on cantering in the round pen while the tractor went back and forth right outside loading manure and the neighbor kids chased sheep around the pasture.

[Moutaineer]

Nice. Straightforward.

As opposed to my idiot who took off across the ring bucking with his tail on fire because someone started an air compressor 2 fields away.

This nonsense has to stop. We have been doing the "ignore and go back to what we were doing," thing and if anything, this behavior has escalated. I think he thinks he's got my number. Well he royally PO'd me today so there will be no more Mrs. Nice Gal. I'm debating between "Ok if you want to gallop, then frickin' gallop," and "here, let me re-adjust your dental work..."

I will be calm and rational in the morning, don't worry. I'm not about to abuse my horse. However much of a moron he is being.

I'm not so worried about falling off as I am about him flailing around and falling over with me still attached.

On another note, I've just been invited to ride with Jeremy Steinberg in a couple of weeks. Hmmm...

[Chisamba]

https://youtu.be/49xX5MADAFI

Sorry about the background talkers.

Pickle graduated to cantering in the arena today. Trainer is paid until end of the month, so I need to decide whether to take over or have him continue while the weather holds. She was fantastic focusing on cantering in the round pen while the tractor went back and forth right outside loading manure and the neighbor kids chased sheep around the pasture.

d
Not sure if you were looking for opinions, from the video she took about three circles before she was no longer thinking of running out on the circle and bolting away, then she hit a good rhythm and settled nicely. The thought has not gone yet, the rider coped with the thought in a good way. If you can still cope with the thought, in a good way, take over yourself, but if you would rather have the thought in her brain less conspicuous at the start, go on for another month.

( just my opinion from what i observed about her accelerating into the circle off the rail, and being allowed to go a bit more forward, but kept on the circle.the third circle she was in the right place with her brain, on the fourth circle she settled and was in a good rhythm, and then as soon as she settled she did one good circle then she was over it and broke. )

[Chisamba]

Nice. Straightforward.

As opposed to my idiot who took off across the ring bucking with his tail on fire because someone started an air compressor 2 fields away.

This nonsense has to stop. We have been doing the "ignore and go back to what we were doing," thing and if anything, this behavior has escalated. I think he thinks he's got my number. Well he royally PO'd me today so there will be no more Mrs. Nice Gal. I'm debating between "Ok if you want to gallop, then frickin' gallop," and "here, let me re-adjust your dental work..."

I will be calm and rational in the morning, don't worry. I'm not about to abuse my horse. However much of a moron he is being.

I'm not so worried about falling off as I am about him flailing around and falling over with me still attached.

On another note, I've just been invited to ride with Jeremy Steinberg in a couple of weeks. Hmmm...

I tell my riders that if a horse is repeating a behavior, you have some how given them a lollipop for the wrong thing. ( i tell the story about how if a teacher gave a lollipop to a kid ever time he jumped up and yelled out, would the kid learn to sit and do his work) first time is an accident, second time a habit, third time a learned behavior)

[piedmontfields]

I was going to post on the quirky horse thread, but maybe Mountaineer's last ride reminds me that it goes here.

I have a mare who is very willing to go inside and stay inside "the dressage bubble" of my aids/attention. In fact, when she is there, all kinds of weirdness can happen (and it has over the years--with a wide variety of mammals, birds, machinery, falling trees, etc.) and she will snort, perhaps have a slight pause in stride and recover. However, I know this is not the magic of my seat at work She really feels supported when she has the aids around her (although too strong of aids can make her panic). That support gives her confidence not just in me but also in herself. When I forgot to establish a bubble, she is a normal, hot horse who looks for weird things that could be worth freaking out about

(unless she is babysitting a newbie rider, and then she pretends to have a bubble around her and the rider while she asks me if she is doing it right!)

I tend to choose horses who are more fearful than belligerent or aggressive in their personality, as I find it easier and more pleasant to "build the bubble of trust" than to convince a horse who wants to push boundaries that they need to get with the program. Other people do better with the more aggressive characters who have a lot of confidence but need boundaries.

Mountaineer, I share this in case it is helpful for you and Laddie.

[StraightForward]

https://youtu.be/49xX5MADAFI

Sorry about the background talkers.

Pickle graduated to cantering in the arena today. Trainer is paid until end of the month, so I need to decide whether to take over or have him continue while the weather holds. She was fantastic focusing on cantering in the round pen while the tractor went back and forth right outside loading manure and the neighbor kids chased sheep around the pasture.

d
Not sure if you were looking for opinions, from the video she took about three circles before she was no longer thinking of running out on the circle and bolting away, then she hit a good rhythm and settled nicely. The thought has not gone yet, the rider coped with the thought in a good way. If you can still cope with the thought, in a good way, take over yourself, but if you would rather have the thought in her brain less conspicuous at the start, go on for another month.

( just my opinion from what i observed about her accelerating into the circle off the rail, and being allowed to go a bit more forward, but kept on the circle.the third circle she was in the right place with her brain, on the fourth circle she settled and was in a good rhythm, and then as soon as she settled she did one good circle then she was over it and broke. )

Thanks, good observation. I will probably have him continue to come out, because there's often no one at the barn to peel me off the ground and she's not that safe enough for me to be riding alone yet. I might start riding her in another week or two though. The senior trainer is coming out Monday; it will be interesting to hear what she thinks.

[Moutaineer]

Chisamba, you are right. Now to work out how to unlearn it in short order!

[Chisamba]

Mountaineet: i was younger and trained horses without the advantages of a round pen or closed arena and before i did dressage i had the nose to my knee response to bolting. I would drop my right stirrup and.put the horses nose to my left knee. They either stopped or fell over . Lol. 99 percent of the time they stopped. Did not work with Deneb, mostly because in an indoor the horse might run into the wall. I still do it. Probably not because i should but because it stopped a run away so many times in my past.

I will admit that i teach the horse to stop on the ground when over bent, before i ever get on so i suppose its a technique i teach because i do not have the desire to deal with bolting/ bucking horses.

So what do i do. I take the horse into an open area use the inside rein and bend the horses nose toward its rib cage. Usually they spin around me a bit but as soon as the stop and yield to the bit i drop the rein and pet them. I do it a couple more times until the horse stops and softens and had learned what i mean.

I do it both ways. Its my version of carrot stretches with mo carrot. Lol.

When i mount a green horse, if they hump their back rush off..i will do the bend stop release. I find it useful at trails, strange place scarey occasions. One my friend and i were trail riding and three bears came galloping down the hill behind us. They crashing through bush and making an appalling racket. One grumpy male bear was chasing off two smaller bears .

Anyway, both horses bolted. I was able to stop my horse within 20m. This with her companion galloping away and bears crossing the path behind us. We then danced along another 20 to 30 m to get some distance from the bears, were by now.out of sight. And stopped again. After two.more prancing jigging then stopping, we walked on on a loose rein. About a mile further along we found my friend.

May, or may not be something you want to try.
Its not dressagy at all. And i am sure people have better opinions and other options.

[kande50]

I tell my riders that if a horse is repeating a behavior, you have some how given them a lollipop for the wrong thing. ( i tell the story about how if a teacher gave a lollipop to a kid ever time he jumped up and yelled out, would the kid learn to sit and do his work) first time is an accident, second time a habit, third time a learned behavior)

Or, a behavior can be self reinforcing, which I think may be what's going on with a lot of the behaviors that seem to persist despite our best efforts to squelch them, and I think safety is often the reinforcer.

So the horse bolts, and while he may get punished by the aids (the rider's attempts to control him) he also escapes something that he finds more punishing, or potentially more punishing than the aids.

One of the problems is that I'm not sure it's very often clear to the horse whether he escaped the scary thing because of the way he reacted, or because it wasn't actually a danger. So he may think the only reason he's still alive is because he reacted quickly enough and was able to blow through the aids and escape?

[Moutaineer]

Chisamba, I'm not sure it matters that it's not dressagey when it's a matter of preservation of life and limb!

Butter would not have melted in his mouth today... we had some lovely, very focused work. Trainer is working on me, my posture, my overactive arms, and it does, of course make so much difference.

I'm wiped out. I think one of the reasons he got away from me so completely yesterday is that I'm still completely pathetic after the flu and two weeks or so out of the saddle, and my reins were too long. But that's another story.

[Flight]

I learned a fair bit when I started the big horse and he was frightened of everything, with the reining trainer guy and one of the things was bending to a stop (similar to yours Chisamba) and you teach it from the ground until they actually learn to relax from it.
Well, I hadn't used it for ages and he got a bit uptight on a ride a little while ago and I remembered it and yep still worked!
Horses can just react and move so fast, so if you were still under the weather from being unwell, I know how it happens. Glad he was good the next ride.

I had some pics taken yesterday, and yes there's always room for improvement. However, I think my position is improving because I didn't immediately hate and delete ALL the pics - just most . Getting the consistency in my position so there are more pics to look at without cringing.
My horse is changing shape too. Some of it with the spring grass that's starting to grow (he's getting a gut!) but he's looking rounder and more together.







Still having some troubles with the changes!

[Dresseur]

Flight, I can see the improvement!! Good job, and I love the posture that your horse is taking- looks light and up in a good way.

And with the bucking changes, I'm sure others will have advice as well, but when I was working through Willie's bucking changes, I found a lot of success in doing a Demi volte (with haunches in, so basically large working piri-) to half pass, then change. And I rode the haunches down- meaning that I realized that I was lightening my seat before the change in an effort to protect my back, so I made sure to sit down and "heavy". That and the above exercise helped because it really loaded the haunches and made him much less apt to kick up and out.

[Brydie]

I think Red is trying to tell me he wants to go back to eventing! First cross country in 6-7 years at a local derby day and came 2nd!

There was supposed to be a photographer there (though didn't notice one) no pics yet

[Flight]

Dresseur thanks I will certainly try that! I'm really starting to think he has learned that he needs to do that to change on this side and I'm a bit lost on how to fix it. The other side is really good.

Hope you get some pics Brydie Eventing is pretty fun (when the horse likes it too).

[Chisamba]

I think Red is trying to tell me he wants to go back to eventing! First cross country in 6-7 years at a local derby day and came 2nd!

There was supposed to be a photographer there (though didn't notice one) no pics yet

Yay. Had fun?

[Ryeissa]

.

[Brydie]

Yay. Had fun?

SO much fun! Now I just have to figure out where I can find out about the smaller events, only events I can find are the one's on the Equestrian Australia calendar :\

[Dresseur]

Today is a year to the day that I bought Miro. I'm still so smitten with him. I've learned more about him in the past 2 weeks since I've cut the longing out of riding than I have in the past several months, he's graduating to being a riding horse (still taking it easy, very short sessions, lots of hacking).

His first show is about 2 weeks away, and I got some incredible news from my coach!! She informed me that I'm riding her horse in 3:1, 3:2 and 4:1 I had resigned myself to waiting to earn my bronze until Miro hit 3rd level - years and years from now... but I'm getting the chance to earn it on her horse and start on my silver. I'm still in shock! I've always wanted to earn my medals on self-trained horses, but she informed me that I can earn them all over again on M and to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

So, I'm an incredibly nervous competitor, and now I'm faced with the prospect of riding 5 tests in one day... I can barely remember 1! And, I've got to keep my guy in the ring (hopefully!) and not embarrass ourselves (hopefully!), and figure out how to ride a tank with the clutch of a ferrari in 2 weeks!

[piedmontfields]

Dresseur. that is a super opportunity and I hope you see it as a very fun one, too. You know we are all rooting for you.

[khall]

How fun dreseur!! Yes it is a great experience to get out there on a BTDT already shown those levels. I had the opportunity years ago to show PSG on an FEI horse and boy was it fun! Medals, eh, just the experience was a great one. That horse had the most awesome passage to ride, I will always measure other passages to his.

I aslo understand about keeping the youngster in the arena!! First 2 shows with my big guy not so easy! Steering became optional at times:)

I am heading out Friday for a schooling show. It is supposed to be 87 on Saturday so I went ahead and trace clipped my guy. Thought about a blanket clip, but did not go there. My big thing with my horse will be keeping him going in the canter. He is not the most motivated of horses for canter and while his engagement is really good, holding it for any length can be problematic especially in the heat. We will see! The other issue is with the heat the footing (I have been told by DVM) can be sticky and he has seen more than his fair share of tendon issues from working horses in the footing. Some European type not meant for GA heat. So if I feel it is a problem I will pull my big guy, at 1400 lbs he is no lightweight. Really wishing fall would get here and stay here!

[Ryeissa]

So, I'm an incredibly nervous competitor, and now I'm faced with the prospect of riding 5 tests in one day... I can barely remember 1! And, I've got to keep my guy in the ring (hopefully!) and not embarrass ourselves (hopefully!), and figure out how to ride a tank with the clutch of a ferrari in 2 weeks!

you can get a reader for third, right? just not 4th?

WE NEED PICS! you hear me???

[Dresseur]

I'm not allowed to have a reader.... whaaaaaa....
Actually, when I have a reader, I stop riding for some reason - I concentrate only on what the reader is saying, so, it's better for me to try to remember and make an error rather than ride an accurate test that is shit because I turn into a lump.

Supposedly there will be plenty of people to take pics, so - fingers crossed for decent ones!

[Brydie]

I'm so excited for you Dresseur! Cannot wait to hear how it goes!

[Chisamba]

Kimba and I did another hunter pace. Eight miles, twenty or so jumps. it was very very windy and we went through some swamp grass where the wind was making it whistle very loudly, we also saw a bear and three different foxes. The bridle paths were covered in leaves and crunchy. I was will pleased with how well she went. We accompanied my friend on Faramir ( a draft cross gelding she bought from me) and they were a good team. They loaded, traveled and unloaded very politely.

Deneb thinks the wind is satans plaything, so she is a little more tense now that the cooler season is upon us. She has not bolted though, nor has she bucked of late, i am working on lateral work with her now, asking just a little bit more of her than rhythm and relaxation.

In other news i am taking over the running of the barn on November first. disagreements about quality of hay, amount of shavings, and forgetting to fill water troughs, among other things has made me decide to take on the responsibility again. It will be more work, but i will have the confidence of knowing it has been done in the way i prefer. ( this was the looming change i was stressing about, )

wish me luck

[piedmontfields]

Chiasamba, it sounds like a positive change and I hope it is sustainable or another solution emerges in time.

And what a good mare Kimba has become---impressive! Good luck managing the goblins.

I have been quite sick (with crappy autoimmune stuff) lately. Am still riding, but I have a desire to just hack and walk. But after 30 minutes of walking up and down hills on the trails, Emi feels *great* fantastic loose!! She starts to snort happily and begins to offer all kinds of things in hopes that I will cave and we will WORK. So we do about 10-12 minutes of real work and it is quite nice. Pirouette canter is happening, changes are happening, rubber band trot back and forth is there. Then I'm dying and we need to go back to walk!

I'm going away on travel again soon, but will have help from my barn keeping her active, happy and loved.

[Ponichiwa]

Kiwi is back to superstar status. Just check out her cute little face:



Additionally yesterday had minimal drama, despite the geese honking next door. Highlights included walk pirouettes, a less scopey but more correct in the contact trot, and an adjustable canter.

October is turning itself right around.

[Chisamba]

Mid/late October checkup for Kiwi and me:

Since I've adopted the "take Kiwi for walks around the arena before getting on" strategy, I've had nothing but good rides. Embarrassing that it took me this long to figure it out, but hey. The theme of "some progress is better than none" continues.

I do this with Laddie--at least twice round the ring at a brisk walk in each direction. It seems to have multiple benefits--tunes him in to what's going on in and around the ring, tunes him in to me (I have the sugar, after all...) and me into him, and gets me loosened up a bit before I get on.

Something i regularly do, and require my students to do. I think its great.

[Sue B]

Yay, I finally got another ride in! I'll be in the mountains all weekend again, and so I don't know when the next ride will be but I made the most of last night. Now it's once again pouring and blowing.

Tio was again, a snotty teenager instead of his usual angelic self, but he did not argue as vehemently as he did last time I rode. On the other hand, he is getting more adventurous in his bucking under saddle so I may wind up having to send him off to someone willing to ride him through it. I, once again, opted to dismount and do some in-hand work instead. This time he was being a bully with his massive shoulders, but as I said, he acquiesced more quickly than last time and managed to control his desire to strike (I could see it in his eyes, lol). When he was listening in both directions, I hopped back on and trotted a few circles both ways with very little drama and some nice bend. Uggh, I hate this stage.

Rudy, who was also fired up and wanted to go play instead of work, was sooo much fun. Focused only on the basics of forward and straight, no fussy hands, pretend reins are sticks, "make" him reach for the contact, etc. etc. I got some of the nicest, most cadenced collected trot I've gotten to date, and from that, some really. really nice collected canter both directions. It was tempting to do more, like hp or fc's, but with the lack of regular work and therefore, fitness on his part, I opted for a quick hack out instead. Lovely way to end the day.

I know some day, I will be giving glowing reports about Tio again as well.

[demi]

I am behind on my own updates here, but am keeping up with others. WOW, Dresseur! Go for it. That is so exciting. What an honor to be trusted to show your trainer's horse.
Kiwi looks happy and ready to shine.
Brydie, it sounds like Red is doing well. Have fun jumping and be careful.
And Flight, that was an impressive flying change picture! Not quite what you wanted but you can feel good that you can ride those shenanigans.
Sorry you've been sick Piedmont. Are you working too hard?
There are a lot on this thread. All those that I didn't mention, I am still following and rooting for you. I need to get out and ride my own horse because DH and I have a busy weekend ahead.

[demi]

Today's ride: just 20 minutes walking but it felt really nice. I have been carrying the whip intermittently and I carried it today. She was alert but not too much. I SO wish I had the soloshot3 because I need to see what she is looking like. I'm not sure if I have her too collected.

I was slightly tempted to trot, but more and more I think she is just afraid I am going to ask her to do something that she is afraid to do, something that has scared her in the past. So i just walked. Lots of change of direction. 20 and 10 m circles. LY and TOH. By the time I got to the TOH she was getting a little tense (I never even touched her with the whip) and balked a little. No big deal, she let me talk her into relaxing. All the time I had been giving her neck scratches and "gooood girls" for her effort. Also she got a peppermint when she gave me a really nice TOH.

This is so slow with her and I have changed my tactics several times now. Well, three fairly major tactic changes. I worry about consistency and hesitate to change tactics, but when one way is clearly not working, I don't want to just keep doing the wrong thing over and over. I experiment a little each time to see if I just need to adjust my tactic, or if I really need a complete change.

I really like the series by George Williams in the USDF magazine. He has four installments out now about refining your riding. I started with the "kindergarten exercises" last week but since it requires trotting, I haven't been able to do it on days when I carry the whip. Anyway, I am looking forward to really going through that whole program with Emma. Anyone else reading those articles?

[Flight]

Dresseur that will be a full on comp! But it should be awesome!

Ponichiwa - yes, Kiwi is a cutie
Demi, I think it's right changing tactics, or even going back a few steps to work out what is going to make something work better. I assume this is what trainers do with horses as they aren't all the same (horses, and trainers I guess!)

My instructor said time to start with a full bridle! Exciting! So, I have to go double bridle shopping

[Ryeissa]

I think I hit on why my rides have been declining a bit this month--- low and behold, my horse outgrew his saddle-- have to go up a width. thank god I have an adjustable tree saddle. Two saddles actually sine my jump saddle also needs to be wider.

I guess things must be working! Sort of snuck up on me in the sense nothing really changed in workload-- sort of progressive over time.

[exvet]

It was a great morning!

Worked on transitions and staying through them all.of.the.time.nothing.less.was.acceptable....stinker pony became softer and more supple and we ended with some really nice canter pirouettes.

It was Junior's debut with ground driving. He was so good and so quick to pick things up which on the one hand was terrific and then I realized this one is going to be SMART I will have my work cut out for me if I have any hope of surviving. He's not evil in any way but keeping one step ahead of him is going to be a challenge and mentally exhausting.

Then I got on ? Still haven't figured out a name for him, but for lack of a name my daughter approves of yet, I'll just refer to him as Mr. Stang, who did very well this morning. We rode while my daughter was riding the, ahem, other, stallion in the arena. Both were gentlemen. Can't wait for Mr. Stang to put on some weight. We didn't do much because none of my saddles really fit him. We got the bridle/bit part taken care of with no issues but even my western saddle had to have all sorts of padding added. Looking forward to doing more once he gets some muscling over his topline. Being a Navajo mustang he does ride bareback very obediently; but....... ....not a viable option either without some more muscling LOL