Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

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Chisamba
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Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Sun Jul 01, 2018 1:52 pm

My goals for the last two months were to ride regulary and to eat healthily. I did okay on both but i need to have more specific goals this month:

Kimba: Add short steps working to ward Piaffe because i think it will really benefit her collection at this time
Accurate canter and counter canter strike off anywhere in the arena
really get the walk pirouettes clean and clear


continue with healthy eating and improve fitness and supplenss in myself
Last edited by Chisamba on Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby StraightForward » Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:03 pm

Yes! Ready or not, it is here!

I am excessively excited about being done with my work travel season and looking forward to buckling down and working Annabelle steadily 6 days a week. I'll be riding early before work to beat the heat during this challenge.

Pickle is moving back to my old barn today and I'm looking for a new situation for her. I'm also going out today to pick up a project horse on trial for a month, so we'll see how that goes. If I end up returning him, I might start riding Susan's horse in August as I'm now much closer to her barn, making it way more feasible to ride two.

Annabelle:

Show next weekend. We were wait-listed for Sunday, so we'll probably just do T1 on Saturday and be happy to get through it without mishaps.
Ride 4x a week and lunge 1-2x a week.
Jump once a week, jump a mean cross-rail course by the end of this period, and maybe some 2' verticals.
Work on trot lengthenings and W/C transitions each ride.
Continue straightening the canter

Me: Get back in the routine of hitting the gym 2x a week. Go for a run on the weekend. Eat cleaner.
Keep calm and canter on.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby DJR » Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:21 pm

My goals are a bit different this month. That's because of a slight change in plans.

Jet, my Third Level boy, has gone for a 1-month driving refresher at the trainer who started Finn, my 4-yr-old, under harness. The reason is that I bought a lovely carriage for Finn and it will work with Jet, too. I used to drive Jet as a team with my now-sold Percheron gelding, and singly on a vintage sleigh. But I haven't driven him in over six years so I will have him re-started this month. It may not improve his Third Level skills, but it'll help his fitness to be out doing road work each day.

My new carriage, modeled by Finn (I also have a new harness for Finn, but it hadn't arrived in time for this photo - it is black with light brown accents that match the carriage seats!):
2018Jun29 FinnLastDayHarnessTrng4sm.jpg
2018Jun29 FinnLastDayHarnessTrng4sm.jpg (210.21 KiB) Viewed 20683 times


Meanwhile, Finn has moved to another trainer to be re-backed. That started yesterday (in the atrocious heat) and the trainer was already able to mount & sit on him at the end of the first groundwork session.

So, back at home I have Panache, who hasn't been ridden much the last three weeks, Finn (my daughter's QH large pony gelding), and Sera (my daughter's aged Welsh pony). And of course Kammie & her baby, Eowyn.

For Pan, I will use the month to get him going regularly again. He has been idly for sale (very idly! mostly word of mouth) for the last few months and there is someone coming to see him on Friday so we'll see where that goes.

For Finn, I had gotten him going nicely after dealing with some bad habits he picked up over the past year with a beginner rider on board. I had shown him with great success and had him entered in two shows last weekend ... then he came up lame in his LH. It took a week, but finally an abscess surfaced in that heel. So now I'm waiting for him to come solidly sound again and will get going with his training. Now that school is out, my daughter will ride him more, too.

For Sera, she has become mildly laminitic and we are suspicious that she has developed Cushing's (she's 20 now). I'm waiting for her blood work to come back. She's too ouchy to ride at the moment, but I have her on Previcox to help her be more comfortable.

Kammie & Eowyn are doing great! Eowyn is a BIG filly, but very feminine and just gorgeous. I've been doing halter work with her and she's coming along nicely. Here are some foal pics just cuz she's so gorgeous!

Eowyn, Lady of Rohan:
2018Jun23 Eowyn1.jpg
2018Jun23 Eowyn1.jpg (79.65 KiB) Viewed 20683 times


Halter training. She grew out of the large foal halter on day 6, so I am using a modified pony halter for now. LOL
2018Jun26 Eowyn1.jpg
2018Jun26 Eowyn1.jpg (97.73 KiB) Viewed 20683 times
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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby exvet » Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:32 pm

I will be on vacation for 2 weeks so the horses get a break; but, when I return Jr and I will be back at it working on all 3 gaits and especially transitions. We are still on target to show this fall. The mustang will continue to be our number one go to for anyone/everyone to ride so he'll continue to get more mileage on the trails and in the arena. I jumped on him bareback last night with nothing but a halter and lead line and rode him at walk, trot, canter after someone made a comment on how 'wild' he was lol.

For Jr I want to focus on crisp transitions and gaits that start to develop some power to them and of course improve the connection and balance so that we can achieve all that. We are also working on leg yields which he finds all too easy; so, I anticipate by the end of August we'll be introducing some lateral work. He's definitely understanding most everything I want and ask now it's fine tuning it.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Tsavo » Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:12 pm

It may be irrationally exuberant but by the end of August, I think I can have my horse close to where he was at the end of last August MINUS the limping when I took him out of work due to the limp. One year of solid nonsense.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby kande50 » Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:17 pm

Chisamba wrote: I have a friend who retired her gelding, and i told her again and again, humans have mental issues and horses do too, but some how i want to think i can solve Denebs.


If you can find the time try some more clicker training with her--not so much as a training method, but as a diagnostic tool. Difficulties with traditional training methods is what has motivated a lot of trainers to try clicker training, and Deneb sounds like she could very well need something different than what works on most horses?

Not that the clicker training itself will be a magical cure, but only that the insights that can be gotten from approaching the problem from a completely different direction can be illuminating.

There is a very steep learning curve, but clicker training is so enjoyable that you may be able to find someone who already knows how to do it who would be interested in doing some "psychoanalysis" on her?
Last edited by kande50 on Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Imperini » Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:24 pm

My next couple of months are going to be a bit crazy I think, lots of things going on, I'll share more once the plans are solidified. Moving barns this afternoon so getting to the barn will be twice the drive as it has been and the reason why I didn't choose to go to my coach's barn in the first place.

I'll be doing all the riding for the month of July so will probably only be 4 days a week considering the distance and hopefully this will include a lesson each week so what I think I need to work on may change based on my coach's input. I would like to polish up our canter transitions so maybe I can get some help with that. I suspect our issues there are actually mostly my issues. Also will continue working on my seat, doing my off horse exercises, and eating better.

In August she'll start with my coach 3 days a week. She's probably going to wish she had the less skilled rider back very quickly :lol: Or maybe she'll appreciate a better rider even though she'll probably have to work harder. In any case I'm excited to see how she'll do. I never get to see her go except in video.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Moutaineer » Sun Jul 01, 2018 5:43 pm

Busy horsey time for me over the next two months. I said we needed to get out more...

3 shows, the first one next Sunday--I'm just going down for the day on my own in an attempt to keep it as low-key as possible. We are pretty solid on the work at home, so it's really down to me not falling apart when he gets "show-strong" or baulks at the judge's stand. It would be nice if we didn't have to cram out entire show season into less than 3 months. It doesn't give you much time to build your skills between shows and makes the summer a bit intense. To say nothing of the fact that showing in the desert in July is a character-building experience.

Another clinic with Mette at the start of August. (Oh, Lord! I really want to lose the other 3lbs before then!)

Continued work with visiting trainer. She got on him again on Thursday, which was lovely to watch. She got him much more up in the withers than I have been able to do, and had me get on after to feel what I'm after. I'm not quite getting it on my own, so I will work with her again this week and get her to be more specific. She also got him very responsive to her half halts, which I realize he has been tending to blow through with me, and she did some work on the changes, which was very encouraging. He's starting to find them much easier.

If we get the damned cows gone, I want to get Walker out and about a bit (I've just seen a cattle trailer head up the road, so I'm hopeful!)

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:28 pm

Love seeing the goals develop over time, and I look forward to everyone's updates.

I just had a really helpful integrating lesson with JJ Tate yesterday, so I am super excited to put some important concepts and seat improvements together (following from discoveries via Susanne von Dietz' teaching). And I've ordered a Soloshot so that I can see what is happening!!! :D :shock: :D

My main goal is to make these seat discoveries (lighter in sitbones, more active in upper leg portion of the seat) our new normal. Em loves these changes, but I have to remember to do in the ring and not just in the field + make sure my hands are responsibly quiet and low (they can get too high when I'm playing with the seat stuff). JJ described quiet hands for a fluttery horse like Em as being like holding a stick very quietly so that a butterfly or a wild bird could land on it. Great image, and a challenge for me.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:42 pm

Nevermind
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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Dresseur » Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:55 pm

The last two months were huge for Miro and I with the work in the canter and the overall quality of all the work improving as he builds strength. I took M to Andrea's for 3 days worth of lessons (Thurs at my barn, then trailer Fri/Sat to her place). She was very happy with the baseline work and after the lesson on Thurs, told me that over the weekend, we'd start looking at what prep work we can start doing for the changes. His canter has been feeling better and better, to the point where I've been feeling like I can start to ask for things in the canter.

In any case, on Friday we touched lightly on the trot work to save horse for the canter and Andrea said that we need to see what he'll respond to in the canter to make his hind legs come a little quicker (increase tempo) and a little closer together than his regular canter. We were both concerned that for the changes, he'll be one to get a bit stuck and dwell on his hind legs a bit too much, making for slow or even late behind changes. So, the first thing she wanted me to try was to take him across the diagonal and ask for a bit of canter on the spot and then tap him behind with the whip. She was very clear- I was NOT to ask for a change. The aim of the exercise was to see what he would do behind. Would he slow down, would he stop, would he blast into the bridle, would he shorten and quicken up behind?

We went left to right first, I wasn't sure what the threshold was, so I was a bit conservative and didn't get much of a response, so Andrea had me up the ante in the right to left. He responded beautifully. I could feel him sit down and quicken the tempo behind, and while he was swinging his butt all over the place, Andrea was incredibly pleased with the response. She warned me to guard with my outside leg to stop the swinging so that we wouldn't create a problem. The next left to right, he sat down beautifully without slowing or dwelling. I had never asked for that level of collection before and it really surprised me. I could feel where he will in the future have a beautiful pirouette, and the baseline canter work had done it's work and he was very correct in the response. The last pass we did the right to left again, and I guarded the haunches and he responded beautifully again.

Saturday, we were most interested in how he would be coming out. Would he have a chip on his shoulder, would we have unlocked a bit of next level work, or would he be very into the bridle or some other unforeseen response. I didn't need to worry, he was golden. Happy in the work, and the extra level of collection we did for those few strides on each pass had actually put him together in a lovely way. He was much steadier in the bridle and very malleable. We didn't want to tip him off that every time we come across the diagonal we will start to mess with him, so Andrea had me do some canter on the spots against the wall, no tapping. Again, he responded incredibly well. On the left canter, he wanted to come up too high in the neck, probably because his haunches were trapped against the wall and he couldn't swing at all. On the right canter, the response was very correct and very true.

So, my homework is to incorporate some more collections. Not go hog-wild. Just when he feels good in the canter. And not go as extreme as we did when we were testing the response. Just make sure that I do them against the wall and work on making sure he doesn't jack his neck up on the left - so lots of requests for him to lengthen his neck as I work. Very exciting times!!
Last edited by Dresseur on Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby musical comedy » Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:04 pm

Chisamba wrote:Nevermind

Believe it or not, I am interested in what you had to say.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Moutaineer » Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:13 pm

The eyelashes on that baby, DJR!

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby DJR » Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:52 pm

Moutaineer wrote:The eyelashes on that baby, DJR!


I know! She still takes my breath away every time I look at her.
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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Hot4Spots » Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:00 pm

Oi. So I FINALLY got ahold of my regular vet to discuss possible shoeing change recommended by new farrier, and taking him to another vet for a second opinion on treatment of his injured leg. I've emailed her a picture of the shoe that new farrier recommended. She said she was happy to recommend someone for a second opinion, but when I mentioned who the farrier recommended she was very negative without being specific (professional courtesy, I assume). Sigh. Now what? UC Davis? The specialist at the clinic my vet is affiliated with? Someone else she recommends? I am just so "up to here," and depressed, but there he stands, bright eyed and cheerful, happy to come out and walk/walk/walk and maybe a little trot. We actually walked all the way down the driveway and part way down the road the other day without a meltdown, even when confronted with a tractor moving debris and a couple of cars passing, so I quit while I was ahead and finished the ride on the property.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Sue B » Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:03 pm

Just got back from "vacationing" in Grand Island, Nebraska for a week--ds was competing in the National 4H Shooting Sports competition. I am very happy to be back in the West out of that muggy heat y'all have back there!

Soon as we got back, I jumped on my two horses to see what I've got. I had my vet assistant ride Tio while we were gone and it looked like he lost like 50 pounds! :D Unfortunately, it also looked like Rudy gained 50 pounds, since he was not ridden. Anyway, the girl only rides western and wanted to learn a little about "english" riding. Apparently Tio was quite the gentleman and she had a lot of fun with him. Perhaps she will continue to ride him during the year and I can finally get him in shape. Tio was a bit of a twit the first day--seemed a little put out that he had to actually do as he was told. :lol: He even started bucking and scooting in the right lead canter until he realized I meant business, then he settled into a pretty nice rhythm. Second day he was very well behaved and I was able to do various ly with him in walk and trot. Rudy was just happy to be ridden. Apparently spending the week watching your buddy get ridden is not that much fun.

Goals Rudy
Clinic in a couple of days
Continue work on keeping a longer neck etc
Start FC

Goals Tio
Find someone to put shoes on fronts
Jump
Go to a derby
Work on the canter.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby musical comedy » Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:19 pm

In Jan - March I missed a lot of riding due to the weather. I just shelved it until the weather broke.
In April I rode all but 9 days.
In May I rode all but 7 days
In June I rode all but 6 days.

I have a lesson 1x a week and plan on increasing that now that trainer is moving closer to me.

I was really on a roll improving. Now, the weather once again has destroyed my riding. It's 96F degrees here with an idex of 107. It's been like that for a couple days and there is no break in sight. I have no place to ride but the indoor and it is sweltering in there. Horses are just standing comatose as they have no interest in going outside.

Things like this make me question why I do this sport. So that's my whine and I'm sticking to it.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Flight » Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:30 pm

I've got a birthday coming up and i realised I said 10 years ago that I should be doing GP easily by now! Ha :lol: :lol:

Guess I'd better keep working on that!

Truly my only goal is chipping away at those pirouette things.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby kande50 » Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:32 pm

musical comedy wrote:It's been like that for a couple days and there is no break in sight.


That sucks. Up here it's supposed to break on Friday, and then highs in the 70's and 80's for at least a week. But more importantly, it should get down into the 50's and 60's at night so it'll be cooler for longer before it warms up again.

That may all change before we get there, but at least it looks good right now.

I'm tired of riding in the ring so have decided to do more trail riding for the next couple of months. Probably not one of my best ideas because the horse and deer flies are most active in July and August, but if I can get going early enough it'll still be cool enough so they won't be as active.

My riding has been cut right in half anyway, because my mother can't stay alone anymore, so I have to stay with her half the time. I'm not complaining though, because it could have been just me and then I would have had to stay with her all the time.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Moutaineer » Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:18 am

DJR, I meant to say, lovely carriage! I look forward to seeing it with the fancy harness.

Flight, I was meant to have my bronze medal 7 years ago... Life intervened.

Kande, best wishes with your mother. Very hard, but good that you are there for her.

I had a scarily sick little pony this evening. When I went out to feed he couldn't walk in a straight line. No temp, bright eyed, but just staggering all over the place. I managed to persuade him to drink quite a lot, and he peed copiously, pooped rather dryly, and now feels all better and hungry and rather hard-done-by... so probably a gas colic. I guess I have to start wetting his hay as well as making is dinner into soup. I probably need to research kidney and bladder stones, too, I think.

Horses, already, I tell ya. Even little tiny ones.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:53 am

musical comedy wrote:
Chisamba wrote:Nevermind

Believe it or not, I am interested in what you had to say.


It was a sarcastic comment about clicker training.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 03, 2018 6:21 am

New project. I recently bought this guy. His job was to carry "fat people" on a hack line at a dude horse trail riding facility. No idea as to breed. Needs calories, feet trimmed etc. It was 100 something degrees, so light longe.

https://youtu.be/DwtaX_7DHZI

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Flight » Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:55 am

Chisamba, he looks quite nice! Look forward to seeing how he looks in a few months time with you.

Dresseur, interesting read too and I wonder if I should be doing similar with Ding.

Mountaineer, hope your pony is ok! My friend had to have one of her horses euthanased due to colic the other week. Was sad.
Here's a frosty pic to help cool you all down :)

horseswinter1s.jpg
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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Josette » Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:35 am

Flight - thank you for the 'cool' picture. Like Chisamba here in NJ suffering from this extreme heat and humidity. This was morning horrible feeding. I have 6 fans going in my small barn - stall doors open to privates and horses will not leave barn. I've lost so much time riding this year due to this crazy weather of either excessive rain or now heat.

Chisamba - very nice project horse - he looks very kind and will progress with you. Enjoy him!

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Tsavo » Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:36 am

Chisamba wrote:New project. I recently bought this guy. His job was to carry "fat people" on a hack line at a dude horse trail riding facility. No idea as to breed. Needs calories, feet trimmed etc. It was 100 something degrees, so light longe.

https://youtu.be/DwtaX_7DHZI


What a good boy! So obedient.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Tsavo » Tue Jul 03, 2018 10:41 am

I ride very early in the morning before work. There is no other choice.

Climate change, specifically global warming caused in no small measure by human activity is operative. There is a consensus on consensus on that by people who know WTF they are talking about. Meanwhile we have "super-geniuses" running US Federal Government Science agencies taking down all the TAX-PAYER funded climate change research, quashing climate science, preventing dissemination of climate science, etc. It is an idiocracy.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby demi » Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:32 pm

My goal for this time is simply get back in the saddle. Hoping for 4 days a week by the end of August.

We have had 11 days in a row of over 100 degrees but that is normal for us. I feed by 6:30 and ride by 8 and with just one horse it works.

Rocky had a very good lesson with the trainer yesterday and her progress was apparent. Very basic work but her carriage and connection was really nice. She is doing nice shoulder-in and haunches-in down the whole long side. Very steady.

I am suspending lessons till September due to the heat. I can ride at home, but trailering out is too much. Trainer has her own horses that need to get ridden early and the earliest she can do my lesson is 10:00am. I got home yesterday by noon and it was just 90. It’s still cooling down to the low 70’s at night that won’t last much longer and I don’t want to cook Rocky in a hot horse trailer.

This looks to be a hot two months for everyone (well, except Flight! Thanks for the wintry pic!).
Piedmont, I’m glad you got the soloshot!!

Kande, it’s nice of you to take care of your mom. I wish I lived close enough to my own mom to help her but DH was born and raised here in TX and his 93 yr old dad is close by so I don’t have much hope of moving closer to mom. At least I have 3 sibs and their spouses who live in the same town as mom and she is in good hands. I try to go home 2X a year and FaceTime every day.

I know I have gone off topic here, but there are lots of reasons many of us non-pros don’t progress faster. I think it is somewhat pertinent to mention those reasons.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:40 pm

Tsavo wrote:
What a good boy! So obedient.

He is a nice boy, tries and offers to co operate. When I started him on the longe he couldn't hold a circle and didn't know commands for different gaits, to his credit he has both learned and listened well to walk, trot, and canter.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby StraightForward » Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:58 pm

Chisamba, he looks like a nice find. Maybe some sort of DHH cross, or a large Standardbred? Looking forward to seeing his progress!

Sue, hope you're able to find a decent farrier soon.

Dresseur, thanks for the update, Miro's progress is always interesting.

DJR, I love that cart. It will look stunning with the matched harness!

piedmontfields wrote:. And I've ordered a Soloshot so that I can see what is happening!!! :D :shock: :D


I think you'll love it. Mine was a little frustrating at first, but I've started setting it up right when I get to the barn, turn recording off on the tag and put it by the mounting block. That gives it about 20 minutes to connect to plenty of satellites while I'm tacking up, so it starts tracking well right away when I mount and start recording. I've found that 30fps is plenty adequate to get a good video for training purposes, and the file sizes are much easier to manage. It's nice to have a card reader and a spare card. I'm constantly forgetting to put the card back in, so having a spare in my camera bag has saved me from getting no footage a few times. Also, put the tag on the base right away when packing up. It's super annoying to charge the base and then find the uncharged tag sitting in the bag. You may be less of a forgetful dolt than me though. :D

The trial/project horse made me work for it, but I got his feet in pretty good order last night. He is spoilt and quite a bit smarter than he lets on at first, but not mean. Just needs to have some leadership and firm discipline. My short crop will be an extension of my arm for the next couple weeks, I think. He's dun with black points and will look quite fetching with some weight and bloom on his coat. He is quite a bold three year old and not much scares him. Going to get him on the lunge this morning now that his feet are looking decent.
Keep calm and canter on.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby piedmontfields » Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:13 pm

StraightForward wrote: I think you'll love it. Mine was a little frustrating at first, but I've started setting it up right when I get to the barn, turn recording off on the tag and put it by the mounting block. That gives it about 20 minutes to connect to plenty of satellites while I'm tacking up, so it starts tracking well right away when I mount and start recording. I've found that 30fps is plenty adequate to get a good video for training purposes, and the file sizes are much easier to manage. It's nice to have a card reader and a spare card. I'm constantly forgetting to put the card back in, so having a spare in my camera bag has saved me from getting no footage a few times. Also, put the tag on the base right away when packing up. It's super annoying to charge the base and then find the uncharged tag sitting in the bag. You may be less of a forgetful dolt than me though. :D


Thank you for all of these great tips!!!! It should arrive this week so my short-term goal is to capture footage by Saturday.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:43 pm

StraightForward wrote:Chisamba, he looks like a nice find. Maybe some sort of DHH cross, or a large Standardbred? Looking forward to seeing his


I think he is too uphill and tall to be a standardbred. He does park out when he stands under saddle, so likely a trotting breed. He kind of head bobs at the walk like a TWH but has clear clear gaits.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Tuddy » Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:54 pm

Schools out for Summer! (well for my 2 legged kid that is).

Now that the horses have been cleared of whatever virus they had, back to work they go. Lunging starts this week and both Tuddy and Yonka are booked into horsemanship/riding clinics in August. Time to prep for that.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Hot4Spots » Tue Jul 03, 2018 6:37 pm

Flight wrote:I've got a birthday coming up and i realised I said 10 years ago that I should be doing GP easily by now! Ha :lol: :lol:

Guess I'd better keep working on that!

Truly my only goal is chipping away at those pirouette things.


My b'day is July 21st. 73. I think the GP ship has sailed....... :lol:

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Ponichiwa » Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:47 pm

I'm finally back on a roll. Yes, it's hot. Yes, it's humid. Yes, walking outside feels like walking into a weirdly sticky inferno. Despite all that, yesterday I got 4- and 3-tempis and today was successful 1/3 pirouette triangles.It feels good. Feels really good.

So, for the next 9ish weeks, here's what we'll be working on:
- Canter: school 1/4 and 1/3 pirouettes 1x/week
- Trot: Halfsteps to trot extensions 2x/month
- Halt-trot-halt transitions every ride (turns out I haven't been riding those nearly enough)

For me:
- 15k steps/day
- Track food intake for 2 months
- Work out before or after work 3x/week

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby kande50 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:36 am

demi wrote:
I know I have gone off topic here, but there are lots of reasons many of us non-pros don’t progress faster. I think it is somewhat pertinent to mention those reasons.


Personally, I'm grateful that I didn't have the time nor money to immerse myself in horsie activities any more than I did, because I now have so much less to look back on and feel guilty about. :(

I know that everyone is on their own path, which is likely the only one they could be on given their circumstances, but how i would love to be able to take what I know now and go back and start all over again.

Not that it's possible to have a mature mind in a young body, and it probably would have been frustrating to have had to ride under the constant supervision of a patient and knowledgeable instructor who insisted upon taking the time it takes. But as with most things, what we put in is what we get out, and I often think how different the whole experience would have been if I'd fallen into the hands of different instructors early on.
Last edited by kande50 on Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby kande50 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:50 am

Hot4Spots wrote:
My b'day is July 21st. 73. I think the GP ship has sailed....... :lol:


Now it's more about The Century Club than GP. ;-)

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby heddylamar » Wed Jul 04, 2018 8:08 pm

It's hot. A friend said it's like the surface of the sun :geek:

Maia and I finally had a lesson with our trainer Monday morning (perks of working from home!) Lots of great takeaways, as usual. Plus a huge compliment (and relief for me) that not only did I not screw up the baby, but we're now leaps and bounds ahead of where we were at the last lesson the day before Thanksgiving.

Goals:
- intro to trails (haha, this is going to be entertaining!)
- intro to jumping under saddle
- focus the great-big-bouncy-all-directions canter into going forward only
- more lessons
- get up by 4/4:30 AM so I can run in the mornings ...

Riding in the heat is no problem, I can't handle running above ~85 degrees this summer. Getting old?

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:03 am

I don't mind riding in the heat. I do some things to assist the horse. I monitor sweating and respiration rate. I do less aerobic work.

Kimba is feeling the effects of improved health and fitness. She is now described in a playful way. Oh someone dropped the cross tie and it banged the wall, let's toss our head and buck and fart. My goal is to use her energy to improve the things we want.

Titan is starting to show improved condition and the longing is helping him relax and be more elastic in his gaits

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Hot4Spots » Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:32 pm

kande50 wrote:
Hot4Spots wrote:
My b'day is July 21st. 73. I think the GP ship has sailed....... :lol:


Now it's more about The Century Club than GP. ;-)



Seriously! My horse is neither sound enough nor old enough for me to do a Century Ride (yet), but BO has a 25 year old Trakhener mare....I've sounded her out about borrowing the mare a year or two down the road - assuming the mare is still with us as am I! :D Another friend has a 25 year old Oldenburg gelding, but he's bad about trailering and can't (shouldn't) canter, and I don't particularly want to do Intro as my Century Ride.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Sue B » Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:18 pm

So Cindy Canace is back, and after a nightmare of a drive July 3 to Twin for our lesson (in which there were 3 bad accidents and I narrowly missed hitting a child), and after Rudy once again, had a complete and utter meltdown over the presence of llamas, we went to work in the indoor. To Rudy's credit, he almost immediately settled down and was able to relax and reach into the contact without dropping or curling in all 3 gaits. So small victory there, I think. After warm-up, however, I told her I still felt a bit of a "hole" under my right seat bone and a bit of "stiffness" in the left rein. Ah ha! My right hip was slightly behind my left hip (so slightly collapsed to the right) and Rudy was not bringing RH all the way up under his body (that part I knew.) Small adjustments made, and BINGO, lovely cadenced trot, flowing ly with huge cross-over, etc, etc. I quit there, because little pea-brain Rudy was so intensely focused that I could literally feel him concentrating and did not want to over-tax him mentally. Rudy tends to over-think everything--it is always a 'win" when he can think and stay physically "relaxed" or "through". I am scheduled to go back today--wish me luck with traffic. ;)

Tio doesn't get to go to the clinic but is continuing to do very well at home, and still not whining about the heat so I am very happy with his progress.

Hope you all in the US had a safe July 4 and thank yo Flight for sharing your winter picture to keep us all cool.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Moutaineer » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:37 pm

Sue B, Cindy Canace is my judge on Sunday.

I've had to scratch one of my two classes. They were scheduled 5 hours apart . I'm not making my horse stand tied to the trailer for 5 hours in the heat, and the facility can't offer me a day stall. I know it's hard to schedule a show, but really, both classes were at the same level, and neither are huge, so it's kind of irritating.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby kande50 » Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:16 am

Hot4Spots wrote:Seriously! My horse is neither sound enough nor old enough for me to do a Century Ride (yet), but BO has a 25 year old Trakhener mare....I've sounded her out about borrowing the mare a year or two down the road - assuming the mare is still with us as am I! :D Another friend has a 25 year old Oldenburg gelding, but he's bad about trailering and can't (shouldn't) canter, and I don't particularly want to do Intro as my Century Ride.


I want to do my century ride on a horse I trained myself, but am fine with doing training level, or even intro.

The biggest part of the challenge for me will be coming up with the motivation to get to the show, and remembering the test. My hope is that my granddaughter will get into showing so will get us to the show and ride a couple tests, and then I'll be able to just get on and ride my test, because that's probably about as much energy as I'll be willing to put into it :-)

A lot can happen (or not happen) in the 9 years between now and when I turn 77 and Mr. Sting turns 23.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby cb06 » Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:25 pm

Haven't posted much at all lately, life has been a bit of a roller coaster this past spring.
My goal was to make progress, if leisurely, towards PSG. I took a few lessons in March/April and was starting to put together some decent lines of changes (our biggest challenge). I even got out to audit a couple VERY good and inspiring clinics.

Then my 10 yr old, very healthy, VERY active, golden retriever died unexpectedly in early May of hemagiosarcoma. :cry:
I was devastated. Emotionally and financially drained.
Work took over my time and I buried myself in it.
But I promised myself I would not wait too long in misery for my next canine companion...enter this guy...
Tucker, just turned 3 month old English golden. :P
Tucker3.jpg
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The other blessing is that Will has been an absolute superstar in spite of my sporadic riding. He needs a little more fitness from consistent riding, but he looks and feels great! He has been as willing and focused as ever, and has clearly missed interacting regularly.
So we scheduled a lesson and will try to pick back up and see where it goes...
Will, enjoying a leisure spring.
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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby heddylamar » Fri Jul 06, 2018 5:51 pm

Oh cb06, I'm so sorry for your loss :(

We started out first goal today by taking post ride cool-down walk down the road. Maia was far less acrobatic than expected, but the 90+ heat helped my cause! (The Mississippi delta foal has decided she can't handle Maryland's steamy, hot summers).

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Flight » Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:24 pm

Sorry for your loss cb06 :( What a cute pic of your new pup though! A new friend is a good distraction in a sad time.

I was hoping to get to PSG by the end of the year, so i'd love to read your updates too. I don't think I'll get there, but no rush.
Mountaineer, I hate those huge gaps between classes too.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:17 pm

I tried to post 3 times and each time it just disappeared. Maybe I should give up. The sad update on Deneb is I decided to retire her. With her increased aggressiveness she is just a danger to ride. Having tried all my options, I think it'll be a happier life for me to just retire her.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Chisamba » Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:20 pm

Mountaineer, those long gaps between. Classes do not help.

CB, sorry for your loss. Hermangiosarcoma is devastating. a
what a cute pup. And lovely green fields all mowed.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Moutaineer » Sat Jul 07, 2018 12:25 am

CB, I'm sorry. New pup is cute as a button, though.

And I have severe green field envy--it's just burning up here--literally and metaphorically. The dry West is a scary place this time of year.

Chisamba. Sorry about Deneb, you've given it your best shot--far more than most people would have done, and at some point you do have to consider your safety and longevity!

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Imperini » Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:51 pm

Sorry for your loss CB. Puppy is super cute, and I just love your horse.

Pal is all moved to the new barn, it's a gorgeous facility but I'm totally over the long drive already! She's settled in nicely which is a relief although she whinnies and trots to the gate when she sees me so I think she's still a little worried, she usually only gives me the last few steps after I've walked most of the way to her :lol: I've only ridden briefly twice since the move because the weather has been too hot and humid but she was good both times. I think we can start slowly working back into our regular routine now.

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Re: Are we ready for the July August goals thread?

Postby Ryeissa » Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:44 pm

.
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