Let the horse hair fly! March and April Goals and Progress

[Kelo]

Exvet, you and your horses are the ones that TAUGHT me it was possible to get a non-Warmblood to FEI So this is all your fault.

Chisamba, that is such a great point! I appreciate that so much. I had a friend who rode the GP tell me "you need to practice that test 100 times" but your point is so true and something I didn't think about, not only riding it until you know it inside and out, but turning that anticipation to your advantage.

I was worried about the wear/tear effort of riding the test on him, but talked to my vet about it. He kinda laughed and said, if he (my horse) didn't like it, he wouldn't be doing it. And it's true, the only time he protests is when I get my riding wrong, when I get stuff right he's quite content. So I think I just need to get on those 100 practices til it becomes rote for both of us.

Rosie, yikes, heal fast! And good luck with your shelter in place, that can get hair raising.

[demi]

Chisamba, a couple of things in your last post hit home for me, even tho I am working a a low level.

First, riding a test, the whole thing, no adding a circle, and no do over. Period. I personally tend to want every thing perfect and when I make a mistake I get frustrated and have to start over. Needless to say I never finish a test on my own!

Second, it takes self-discipline. I know you were specifically taking about anticipation, but for me, self-discipline in all of dressage is always a work in progress. That’s why taking regular lessons from a very good trainer has made so much difference in my riding. When I am expected to take a lesson every week I feel that I must live up to that expectation. Even if, in my own mind, I am sure I am going to have a crappy lesson, I still go because I’ve made the commitment. Whereas at home, when I am sure I am going to have a crappy ride, I often just go on a trail ride instead of working things out in the arena. True, there are times when we should just go on a trail ride, but in my case, I often use it as an excuse to not work on the harder stuff.

My trainer said she would love to do a virtual lesson. Now I have to practice some self-discipline and get my robot out to video. I have a million excuses not to do this!

[Ponichiwa]

Exvet, you and your horses are the ones that TAUGHT me it was possible to get a non-Warmblood to FEI So this is all your fault.

Chisamba, that is such a great point! I appreciate that so much. I had a friend who rode the GP tell me "you need to practice that test 100 times" but your point is so true and something I didn't think about, not only riding it until you know it inside and out, but turning that anticipation to your advantage.

I was worried about the wear/tear effort of riding the test on him, but talked to my vet about it. He kinda laughed and said, if he (my horse) didn't like it, he wouldn't be doing it. And it's true, the only time he protests is when I get my riding wrong, when I get stuff right he's quite content. So I think I just need to get on those 100 practices til it becomes rote for both of us.

Rosie, yikes, heal fast! And good luck with your shelter in place, that can get hair raising.

Another tip-- in one of the Kyra Kurkland books, she says you have to ride the GP test 1000 times to get good at it. Which left me crestfallen-- there's no way I can afford 1000 test fees much less have horses that last long enough. But she went on to say-- visualizing riding through the test does "count". I ended up walking it on foot probably 10x before every real show; I'd talk through the aids to prepare for movements, things to consider, how I'd actually finish the movement and transition to the next one, etc. Sure, the people stabled next to me at shows thought I was a nutter (they might not be wrong) but it really helped me get the flow of the test pieced together.

Which gets me to my next tip: Ride the ENTIRE movement. Yes, stuff comes up quickly, but make sure you stay present and finish the movement you're in before moving on (even mentally) to the next one. Easy to say, hard to do, but came with a +5% bump in scores when I got good at it. Also applies to the lower levels, too, but it's especially important in the oh-my-gosh-there's-so-many-movements tests.

[Flight]

Kelo congrats! I wish you could share your video .... ?? I'd love to get to GP one day and I love hearing people get there.

I've been riding a fair bit but it's good with no pressure of even thinking of entering any competitions. I've been taking the time to fix little things, like for Ding he gets tight in his neck and contact, so I'm taking the time to work that out. Norsey, playing with his changes to get them straighter now and developing his half steps. I was stuck with those and gave up, but a few of us from a clinic did a zoom meeting and i got some tips which have helped me get through the stuck phase.
Also, with this whole covid thing people have started more online lessons so I'm just waiting for a bit of equipment to arrive and I'll try and set it up. Hoping that it works, because I'll get access to the woman who's clinics I really like!

[demi]

Things are fairly normal for DH and I, but every once in a while I get the feeling that I’m in a SciFi movie. I am afraid we havent seen the worst of the pandemic but I try not to imagine what some of the ramifications might be. Time will tell.

I videoed my ride yesterday. I also tried to upload it to YouTube and it was taking forever so I stopped and will try again when our service is faster. We can’t get any of the really fast ISPs because of our location so we have a little antenna on the roof which gets a signal from a repeater. I had planned to send the link to my trainer and have a virtual lesson. Funny thing, I could see exactly what was going on in my ride yesterday and I know how to fix it. I am still falling for Rocky’s subtle insistence on dictating the rein length! I though I had it fixed a couple of months ago, but with a lack of lessons I fell right back into my old habit. She can trick me when I’m on her back, but when I SEE with my own eyes what’s happening I know that it’s an easy fix. I hope I learn the lesson that I need to video more often.

I didn't ride today because I had other stuff that needed to be done. I’ll watch the vid again tonight and tomorrow LOOK OUT ROCKY the party’s over

I hope I don’t sound harsh because Rocky can really handle a shorter rein and she complies willing when I am consistent. The fault is all my own. She is a good, forgiving mare, fortunately, and she puts up with me!

[Moutaineer]

Well, I actually got to see my horses today, which was a treat. They are both fat and happy and sound, but Laddie has lost some muscle tone which is going to take some effort to regain.

Unfortunately, with moving on Monday, I'm guessing I should self quarantine for 14 days after as I will be exposed to strangers and who knows what. So I'm still a couple of weeks out from actually riding again. Oh well...

[Ryeissa]

One of the changes I wanted to mention that has really helped is FEED!
I added Purina Super Sport and Outlaw flax to my horses' diet in additon to his other stuff

They seems to help him form a better topline, he was "fine" before but this is really helped now that we are asking more in his dressage work. I tend to not get too fancy with the diet, but in this case I'm glad I worked with my vet to add these in.

He is mostly arab and just needed a bit more rounder look. He tends to stay very fit but lacked a bit of that roun-ness we like in dressage.
For being very inexpenive, I have been quite pleased!

[Hot4Spots]

Well, I guess this is a progress report, but more like an on-going saga. As you may recall, my beastie with a long term suspensory injury was up to about 15 minutes of trotting when he tripped and cause himself a minor ligament tweak and fractured the head of the splint. So, we have been back to walk, walk, walk, at first in hand, then under saddle. He's had a few days when I had to ACE him, but mostly he's been well behaved.

I lost my job at the end of February due to my employer's health issues. I went on interviews and quickly got a new job, at a higher salary. I was supposed to start 3/16, but........They are holding the position, but until shelter in place is lifted, I am unemployed.

Anyway, vet saw beastie yesterday, and we are starting to trot again. Yay!!!

I board at a small barn. 12 stallls, 10 boarders at present, three of which are retirees. So, I have been able to go and ride; usually, I am the only one there, or someone arrives as I leave. Social distancing has been easy, and BO has provided soap, sanitizer, paper towels, etc.

Hope you all are well.
.

[blob]

congrats, Kelo!

Glad to hear the updates for those riding. And sending good thoughts to those dealing with injuries or other set backs.

To overcome our spring slump, I've been trying to do poles and gymnastics with MM to break up the dressage work. A quick clip of some baby gymnastics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_JQB28 ... e=youtu.be

The changes are coming along nicely--but they're not really available any time, any where. I can get them on a diagonal line when I ask and I can get them on rail going from CC to true lead when I ask. But If i try to ask for a change on the rail from true lead to CC, MM doesn't seem to understand what it is that I want. This obviously means that while she's doing them on my aid, my aid is not as distinct or clear as it should be, so she's translated it to 'in these situation, when some jumble of leg is given, it means change'. So I need to fix this if i ever want tempi changes. Meanwhile, she's taken to the piri work really nicely. So we may never have tempis, but we will have good piris one day!

I've also been working on poles with RP. When I got him, just seeing jumps in the arena terrified him. And then just being led over a pole terrified him. So, I've been careful to introduce them in ways that are easy and comforting. But I think he's starting to enjoy them some and they give us both a good focal point. he has a tendency to rush the poles, but it's also a good way for us to work on tempo and a steadying half halt.

[demi]

So after videoing Thursday’s ride and seeing that after going without lessons for 5 weeks I had fallen back into riding with too long a rein, I rode again yesterday determined to get and keep my reins short enough. Rocky was a little peeved that I was determining the rein length and not her. My trainer had told me at my last lesson that I needed to be able to start the ride with the shorter rein length and not let her get into the habit of starting out on a longer rein. She said when start to show her (if we ever have shows again )she will want to look around and get spooky. Then if I try to start her right out on a shorter rein (to prevent spookiness from looking around), she’ll get mad because she isn’t used to going right to work. She knows my mare very well.

I tried to rationalize reasons not to video my ride again yesterday but I didn’t let myself off the hook. I took some screen shots of both days. Day one with too long a rein, and day two with shorter reins. Day two was much better as I knew it would be, but Rocky made me work really hard and my position in day two is strained. That’s what I get for not keeping up with the program. I didnt ride today as I wanted to let yesterday sink in by watching the vids several times and thinking through it. I hope tomorrow will be better but at any rate, I will start with, and keep the correct rein length.

In the pics, the difference in rein length is only about 1 1/2 inches. I am surprised that little bit makes so much difference. That may be why it is so easy for me to slip back into the longer rein. Well, that and I have some sort of mental block about short reins. I hope I can get over that before I die

Oops files too large. I’ll have to work on this.

[demi]

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The first shot is day one with my reins too long. I can see that I am hollowing my back in both shots but I do that when I am working on the connection. I feel like the hollowing is a way to soften my seat without releasing the rein contact. The flatter my back, the more my seatbones “plug in” and she sometimes takes that the wrong way.

I appreciate constructive comments and don’t mind thoughtful discussion

[heddylamar]

In the pics, the difference in rein length is only about 1 1/2 inches. I am surprised that little bit makes so much difference.

My old mare did me a giant favor — 1/2 inch rein was the difference between life, and sure death on the cross country course

#NoSlipReins

[StraightForward]

Demi, the pics are kind of small, so it's hard to see detail, but what I notice is that you've hollowed your lower back quite a bit in the second photo, and I think Rocky has a bit as well, allowing your pelvis to get a little out the back. I get the impression that you are giving your midsection forward a bit in exchange for the shorter reins. Instead, I think it might help to "pack" your lower back together a bit, and if needed, give the elbow a little, but make sure you aren't giving her your torso.

Also, a little revelation I read today - a lowered heel and braced ankle tends to go hand in hand with a hollowed back. If the lower leg is back the the toe lightly in the stirrup with a level foot, the lower back will tend to be less hollow. Haven't tried it on the horse yet, but it seems to ring true when I visualize or experiment sitting in a chair.

I will try to get some video in the morning. Annabelle has been a mixed bag - one one hand we got some decent W/C transitions, which I'd just started schooling when she injured herself. On the other hand, her trot was horrendously rushy and strung out, and I just couldn't put it together the other day. Yesterday we started to find some cadence in the trot and I was even able to sit it a bit and ride some voltes. Of course the footing hasn't been wonderful and Miss Tiny Feet sinks right in and loses confidence. She was foot perfect riding with horses running in the pasture, and sharing the arena with lunging and jumping horses all along with a strong wind. So I should be able to kick on now and stop riding defensively. Should.

[Dresseur]

Demi, I really like Rocky's way of going in the second pic, that definitely seems to be your North star for posture. I agree with Straightforward that you are giving in the midsection. So, let's talk about your posture - you are actually a bit more aligned in the first pic - yes, your lower back is hollowed a bit - but what tends to happen (and I went through this myself), is when you try to shorten your rein, the rider will tend to bring the shoulders forward and tip the whole upper body slightly forward, drawing the hands back into the abdomen. This happens usually because when you shorten the reins, the horse will put a bit more weight in the reins, looking for that extra inch or two that it previously had. When the hand is fixed, the body then gives, instead of the hand/arm being supple and the shoulders/back/core of the rider withstanding the pull.

How the rider can fix this natural tendency is to pull the shoulder blades/lats back and down and keep the core firm with a neutral pelvis. You will usually have to increase a bit a thigh pressure to anchor yourself when you feel too much weight. But that then becomes your half halt. You're on the right path! Good luck!

[Sue B]

Rosie, jingles for fast foot healing!

H4Spots, jingles for continued healing of your boy and that he stays out of trouble!

Demi, I do the same thing with my body when I feel pony bracing his body (he never braces in the bit). It's like I hollow in response to his tightness. Anyway, I focus on softening my elbows while keeping them just in front of my hips (still touching), and then lifting the front of my pelvis into the pommel of the saddle. I also make sure that my hips and back of swinging with the gait because I tend to get tight in my hips. I definitely need to video...no excuses as boy is home schooling now due to school shut down and he could help me.

I did ride/work with the horses a few times this week. One evening, ds and I hand-walked them for a couple miles (he won't ride anymore) with the dogs...we all had fun! The wind around here has been pretty bad (gusts to 45mph) and very cold, but they finally settled a bit and I rode BOTH horses yesterday. The whole thing turned into quite an adventure when I decided to work Tio first and he took off for a gallop down the HIGHWAY when I momentarily dropped the reins on the way to the mounting block. He had been quite cheeky leading up to his escapade so wasn't that big of a surprise and folks were really nice about helping me out so that eventually he was making huge laps at a full gallop in the freshly planted field across the way instead of bombing down the side of the highway. Together with ds's help, we finally got him to go back home and stand by Rudy. I swear, that horse is going to drive me to drinkin'! I put him right to work soon as I got hold of him and actually, it was a pretty good session with minimal obnoxiousness. Oh, and he was able to use that right hind leg up under himself so progress of sorts.

Rudy was pretty wound up after the whole Tio incident and so for the first time in at least a year, I lunged him before riding. He appreciated the chance to move out and stretch his muscles a bit--I'd forgotten just how easy that kid is to work on the lunge. Ridden work focused on 1) reaching into the bit in all 3 gaits and then 2) si to hp to si ending with medium trot down the long side. Fun, fun fun.

[demi]

Thanks for the responses SF, Dresseur, and SueB! I truly appreciate them, even more so now since I can’t have my lessons. I didn’t have time to ride today as I was baking bread with my 91 yr old mom In MI and 70 yr old sisterIn Chicago via FaceTime. It was a fun thing to do while we’re sheltering in. BUT, I will ride and video tomorrow. SueB you mentioned get vids and I encourage you to do it. Personally, I really have to psych myself up for it or I just don’t do it.

SF, I had to look again at the pic, but I do think you’re right, Rocky had hollowed her back a little, too. And I think that may play a part in my own hollowing. I like your advice about “packing” my lower back together a bit and giving the elbow. That is going to take some concentration on my part. It really helps me to think this thru a lot.

I noticed that my legs are more forward and that goes right along with what you (SF) wrote about the braced ankle and lowered heel. Again, it will take a lot of concentration for me.

Dresseur, I am pleased (and encouraged!) that you think Rocky’s way of going in the second pic is my “North star for posture”! Even tho I think I can see what SF said about her hollowing a little, I definitely feel we are a lot more balanced in that posture. I can see that I am doing exactly what you describe in what often happens when the rider shortens the reins...shoulders forward, upper body tipping forward and especially hands drawn back to abdomen. SueB mentioned that her horse (Rudy I think) doesn’t get heavy in her hands, but Rocky does. She pulls hard for such a sensitive little horse!

I have more to write but the bread is ready to come out and mom and sis are texting like crazy.

[StraightForward]

Thank you for posting your photos for discussion. It always helps me to know what others are seeing in a photo, and how to be critical of my own videos as I try to improve.

I did get video this morning, but did not have nearly as good of a ride as on Saturday, so I don't feel quite up to posting the video. Annabelle seemed a bit sore (I may have overdone it on Saturday), and was having a little trouble getting her right lead. We did get some decent work towards the end, which is where this screen capture comes from. I also need to work on not tipping forward, especially in the posting trot. A likes to get long and her front feet run away from her back feet, and I'm finding it easier now to put her together in canter most days. Bodyworker is coming tomorrow with her PMF and laser, so hopefully she'll be feeling better after that and keep on the upward trend from the SI injections.

[demi]

So, just thinking this through again before I ride tomorrow. All three of the responses hit on things that I need to think a lot about. I need to think about them so much that the thoughts become automatic. Because if I have to spend too much time thinking about “pull the shoulder blades/lats back and down and keep the core firm with a neutral pelvis...increase a bit a thigh pressure to anchor yourself when you feel too much weight....that then becomes your half halt.” , then I will stop focusing on not letting Rocky get so much as a mm more rein. She now knows that there is a chance that she can get rein out of my hand and I’m going to have to make that my main focus. Once she realizes that I’m not going to let her have more rein, I think she’ll quit trying so hard. Not sure how long that will take.

The thigh pressure as a half halt is really interesting and I think it will be an important key to solving this issue. I am thinking that momentary thigh pressure as an anchor will let me flatten my back without putting my seatbones too strongly into her. But it will be a coordination feat for me, for sure! And again, thats why i have to think about it a lot...mental repetition vs actual repetition. I remember reading something about Belasik having an analogue scale wrapped in a towel to measure thigh strength. I am sure I need more thigh strength, but hopefully I have enough for right now.

SueB mentioned keeping the rider’s back and hips swinging and I have to remember that, too. When all is right I have no problem with that, but I stiffen both when I am trying hard not to let Rocky take more rein.

I’ll video tomorrow but may not show much improvement in my position. I will post pics as soon as I think the progress is visible. I know how to get better screen shots now.

[demi]

Nice pic SF! Both of you look in good form, especially considering that she’s been out of work for so long. Thanks for sharing. You’re alignment is enviable!

[Kyra's Mom]

Pics are great from everyone. They all show lots of improvement.

Well, I am just pretty appalled at myself right now. The 6 weeks of hospice care for Mom's dog (stress eating) and now the stay-at-home with the food right THERE has been bad. I have not been this heavy since Kyra was started. She is a ballerina and built like one...I feel guilty even getting on her. That said, I did get on her today and just stayed in walk. She is still being distracted. Just annoyingly so. It would be nice if she could focus more on our immediate location (and me) and not on what is going on at the neighbor's 1/2 mile away. I ordered 3 lbs of raspberry leaves and I am going to stick her on those and see if it helps. I have used them in the past and felt they did help so am going to try them again and see if that levels her out just a bit.

Today we did a lot of lateral work. I started out with just 'yields' on the ground...both haunches and shoulders. Making sure she was stepping away and not leaning into me. Mounted I did leg yield to the fence then TOH and leg yield back out. Then did LY away from the fence and TOF and LY back to the fence. Also included SI to renver on the long side and tried to get in 2 sets of changes on each side. In between lateral requests, I let her chew the reins out and do lengthened walk on the diagonal. It was really nice. She was nicely forward and felt like she was giving me some nice overstep. We finished with an exercise I really like...I guess because I feel she does it quite well and really works well for me to get a feel for all her legs and being able to influence each one. We start with half-pass then do a 360 degree TOH then continue in half-pass. One could start with a 180 degree turn but she does very well marching right around the full circle and she seldom gets stuck. I will try to get a video with my phone one of these days. It might not look as good as it feels .

I am going to keep her under saddle work pretty light while I make a concerted effort to get the lard off. I think I may start trying to teach her Spanish walk. She is coming 18 and really doesn't need a lot of lunging in circles. I have been doing some long rein work and just 'cause I can and I enjoy it, we do some liberty work too. I am guessing my competition days are over so we are going to do what feels good and keeps her happy and engaged.

Susan

[Dresseur]

Demi, my suggestion is that when you feel Rocky get heavy, you can do a full downward transition, regroup and go back up again. On some horses, I may do 50-60 transitions until they start to realize that I'm not going to tolerate leaning and that they need to balance themselves.

On the thigh pressure... yes, Paul was big on that... as is Andrea. Basically, the leg is draped, but if the horse pulls, you close your thigh to anchor your seat and because the shoulders are back and down, it creates a strong lever out of your back to withstand the pull, without having to resort to using your hands in a backwards fashion. One thing that I found is that as I got very strong, I had a tendency to let that strength mask some issues such as my hands/fingers not keeping up a conversation with the bit/reins. Now, as I have almost no strength in my leg because of the groin injury that I'm still rehabbing, I can't just close my leg and anchor myself, which means that in order to withstand a horse that lands in the bridle for downward transitions, I have to be quicker and lighter with my hands. It's interesting, because now, some things that were issues before, are not - like over riding changes, or putting too much power in the pirouettes - I don't have the thigh strength to clamp on, so I'm not over riding. That was a tangent. But, moral of the story, YES, you need to close your leg a bit to anchor yourself in the saddle if a horse puts weight in the bridle, but don't over use it! Do tons of transitions and incorporate rein back or quick "pause" like transitions if the hind legs get lazy.

[blob]

Demi, building on Dresseur's suggestion on transitions, two things that sometimes help, depending on the horse: 1. sometimes it's helpful to stay in the downward part of the transition just very briefly. So, if you're doing t-w-t, for example. Do just one stride of walk and then go back to trot. This often really gets that half halt back. 2. With some horses, a slight tap on the hindquarters as you're doing a downward transition can be very helpful--it reminds them to sit under and in the downward--this has been really really useful with some horses I've ridden for getting them much, much lighter.

In a totally unexciting update, I took a tumble down my stairs Tuesday night and have done something awful to my foot. I think there's a good chance it's fractured, but I also really don't want to go into a hospital right now for an x-ray. Seems like a waiting room would be one of the worst places to be these days from a health standpoint. I did a video appointment with my doctor, who of course encouraged an xray, but also said based on the location a fracture should be fairly stable and wouldn't be cast. So, the main benefit of going would be to get a protective boot and to know my recovery time. So, right now I am seeing how i do over the next few days before making decisions on whether to go in or not. Either way, this REALLY puts a damper on my riding plans and goals for the time being. Keepng my fingers crossed it's just some bad bruising and that I'll be ok by next week.

[exvet]

Ouch Blob, hope you mend quickly. It's funny you mention the transition exercise emphasizing the 'quickness' with regards to the time spent in the 'slower' gait. We did a lot of that yesterday in my lesson and Junior found some new gears; but, it was mostly going from collected canter to working/medium back to collected. The clarity of the requests with the half-halts and promptness of the gas pedal (with the expected response in a timely fashion) helped us a lot. When we took this to the trot it really showed 'us' just what Junior's real medium trot is/can be. Another thing I focused on was the use of my entire leg and being able to apply my leg with varying pressure in the thigh (half-halt) while using my calf for applying the gas pedal which really got him to sit and raise the withers all the while giving him the right contact to target so I wasn't letting all that 'building' pressure escape through the front. It was a good lesson. My coach took some video which I hope to get from her and be able to post some time in the next couple of days.

Here is a short clip of Junior's trot during our lesson

https://youtu.be/c0AgfDRYNnw

Here is the canter

https://youtu.be/5GigrukZJwU

[Imperini]

Oh no blob I hope it feels better soon. As a side note I know someone who broke her foot and was sent to a specialist but couldn't get in for 6 weeks, you know, long enough for a broken bone to heal. So instead she ordered a boot online and when she finally got to the specialist he told her she'd done a great job healing herself and the only difference if he'd seen her earlier would have been that she would have paid about 4 times as much for the boot. So maybe an option for you if you end up really feeling like you need a boot but also really want to avoid the hospital?

[blob]

Oh no blob I hope it feels better soon. As a side note I know someone who broke her foot and was sent to a specialist but couldn't get in for 6 weeks, you know, long enough for a broken bone to heal. So instead she ordered a boot online and when she finally got to the specialist he told her she'd done a great job healing herself and the only difference if he'd seen her earlier would have been that she would have paid about 4 times as much for the boot. So maybe an option for you if you end up really feeling like you need a boot but also really want to avoid the hospital?

I ordered one online yesterday! And in the mean time, i've wrapped my foot with a standing wrap I had lying around

[demi]

Shorter rein training

Thank for all the good comments/discussion! I am working on the rhythm to the upward/downward/upward transitions. Since applying the advice to do tons of them, I’ve already seen a difference in Rocky getting lighter in my hands even with a short rein. I still feel pretty clumsy at it though. I videoed yesterday and was excited to watch the vid because by the end of the ride I could feel the improvement. Well, my normally perfectly functioning Soloshot, only recorded the first 20 minutes. I think I can get some decent screen shots anyway which I’ll try to post later.

Blob, doing the really short, one stride of downwards, sounds just like what I need. But my reaction time is going to have to improve A LOT to be able to do it effectively. At this point, I can’t even imagine being able to give her a slight tap on the hindquarters as I’m doing the downward...but I will practice

Hope you’re not out too long with the foot. Maybe it will just turn out to be some bad bruising.

Exvet, I liked your description of using your leg. The mechanics of leg use is somethingthat I think about but I need to think about it a lot more to make it very clear and automatic in my head. I hope you get the video of your last lesson. I know I’d find it helpful plus I love watching you and Jr. work.

I want to add, that as a low level, older (and uncoordinated!) rider, I feel privileged to be getting advise from this board. Thanks.

[Rosie B]

Imperini wrote:
Oh no blob I hope it feels better soon. As a side note I know someone who broke her foot and was sent to a specialist but couldn't get in for 6 weeks, you know, long enough for a broken bone to heal. So instead she ordered a boot online and when she finally got to the specialist he told her she'd done a great job healing herself and the only difference if he'd seen her earlier would have been that she would have paid about 4 times as much for the boot. So maybe an option for you if you end up really feeling like you need a boot but also really want to avoid the hospital?

As a fellow member of what now appears to be the broken foot club, I thought I'd chime in too. I am 99% sure I broke my foot on March 19th. There was a very loud snap, it hurt like a SOB, and the bruising was spectacular and is still hasn't completely dissipated. Similarly to blob, I didn't want to go to the hospital. Not just because of the risk of covid to myself, but also because at that time I had a really bad cough and cold and was concerned about spreading it to other people if I did have it. Fortunately we have a very high quality walking cast from an injury my husband had years ago, and I've been wearing that religiously, and will continue to wear it for another two weeks and possibly more. I am (perhaps naively) hoping that my outcome will be just like the one from the post above.

And while I am healing, Bliss continues to flourish under my trainer's attention.

[StraightForward]

Blob and Rosie - sending foot healing jingles!

Demi - I read this blog post before I went to the barn this morning, and I think it really helped my ride. https://www.artisticdressage.com/blog-c ... boundaries

I've applied these concepts before, but it struck a chord and seemed particularly relevant this morning. It might help you as an overall framework, instead of having to try to keep 27 different things in mind.

I was really able to maintain my reins better and ride more from my center thinking about keeping the arms connected to the lower back. Annabelle was a little surprised that her "corridor" had suddenly tightened up, but she got with the program and gave me some pretty decent trot. She is just not quite strong enough to hold a canter without pinging around in different directions just yet. I had SoloShot issues this morning too - for some reason the tag didn't charge overnight, so it tracked me for about two minutes, then recorded one corner of my work space for the next 25 minutes. I could see that my shoulders are looking better, but from the back it looked like I was sitting a little left relative to my cantle. Need to figure out what that's all about and get it sorted.

[Kyra's Mom]

Blob and Rosie...take care of those feet.

I am heading out to the barn soon. We have had one session of Spanish walk work. No problem getting her to pick up her foot but she tends to be a stomper. Boy is the timing of praise critical. I might try a clicker today and see if it is anymore precise than my mouth. It will be interesting to see if I can actually get it...one book I read said about a year to establish it. This ought to be fun .

Susan

[Dresseur]

Exvet, Junior has a really nice canter!
Meanwhile... Velvet is under saddle (w/t/c) and I got to ride her today

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[piedmontfields]

Lots of great updates and inspiration. Thank you for continuing to share! Hope those who have boo boos heal well and thoroughly. I broke my foot a long time ago..it took some time but healed well. I still feel it ache on very cold days, though.

I have been riding some. Our barn has a schedule to keep boarder presence light and spread out, so I've felt okay following cleaning procedures and staying away from people. What I've learned from this is that my mare is really a lot more work when she isn't ridden 5-6 days a week! (she is getting 3 days now). Demi, I've had several high as a kite spring days where I use the "Buddha seat" half halt (to full halt) 50 times in the first 10 minutes of work. Normally, it takes just a few full halt reminders to get Emi accepting of a given shape if I feel her run through me. I do not and cannot accept any running at any gait from Emi (it's not good for her or me and my weak hands). That said, Em feels good and some of the work has been very good. Her neck is also seeming much more comfortable after some incident in February that made her quite sore (rest, chiro, and long and low work for a month helped).

Since I'm out of the saddle more, I'm doing more barre, yoga and cycling at home. As Dresseur has pointed out for herself, I can be someone who is "too strong" in the inner thigh. I usually have to consciously release my thighs when riding---because I always have a really big giant WB sized half halt available from my thighs! My little mare usually (when not high as a spring kite) just needs a light abdominal half half. Our mediums are made possible by releasing the thigh more.

p.s. Velvet is lovely! She looks very petite, as I don't think you are that tall, Dresseur! Is she a full Andalusian?

[exvet]

Exvet, Junior has a really nice canter!

Thank you! It's his best gait. We're still working on improving the walk and trot especially by building his strength. He's definitely going to be one of those beasts that is considered a bit ho-hum until he hits fourth level/PSG. While it wont' knock the socks of anyone even at the FEI levels, I think some won't recognize him from the lower levels. He's definitely filling out this spring that is for sure - if I let him keep his hair (feathers), he'd look more like the 'typical welsh cob' now.

Velvet looks like a fun ride. If you mentioned it already I apologize but how tall and how old is she now?

[piedmontfields]

I agree, exvet. All of the canter work will play to his strength as you go up the levels. His trot continues to evolve nicely, too.

[Dresseur]

Piedmont, I’m 5’8”, but don’t have a particularly long leg. Velvet is truly a pony, and supposedly full Andalusian, but we’re not sure about that
Except, she is 14ish hh, and she’s 4 years old. This is her when I first started working with her in early Oct 2019. I introduced her to tack and longing, and then did all the longing work until she was ready to be backed in mid-February.

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In other fun news, Miro is starting to get the hang on the changes well enough to do several in a line (no counting yet) and I’m doing 80% of the riding on him right now.

And, because my leg is doing well, Andrea is going to walk me through the starting process of the horse she gave me to do the longing work on after I sent Velvet back to her. So, I’m going to get to start a horse

[Kyra's Mom]

I had a lovely ride tonight. 70 degrees and sunshine. Right in my wheelhouse.

I took Kyra to the trotting track. We stuck to the walk but I had her doing all kinds of figures. I rode her across the track at a diagonal then a 1/4 TOF and back to the other side, rinse, repeat. As per usual, her right hind was a little slow so I worked on really getting a prompt reaction. We also did LY from side to side and eventually half-pass side to side. I also worked on haunches in making sure her shoulders stayed parallel to the track and of course maintaining her forward. I thought they were quite nice. Toward the end of our ride there were multiple distractions to mess with her head. The farmer next door was out changing irrigation water (oh, my) and a horse was being worked at a house about 1/4 mile away. It was a sort of win in that her brain didn't explode. She did get tense but was still listening to me.

We went back to the arena and did our Spanish walk training. Today I experimented with touching her legs in different places and did find that quite high on her forearm gives me the best "lift" without so much stomping...at least today. I have noticed after the last two sessions when I take her in to untack her, her posture is quite nice. She stands more squarely and her neck is coming up out of her shoulder--she looks really proud. We are only 3 sessions into our year of SW training

I came home from the barn and jumped on my rowing machine. I can dial up Karen Rohlf's video classroom and my iPad hangs nicely on my lawn mower handle next to the rower so I can kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak. I did 3000 meters tonight. Tonight she was working with a student on balance in the canter. She had a great exercise I am going to try as soon as I get a few thousand more meters rowed and some weight lost. It was walk-->canter...1/2 circle-->trot SI-->walk. That should help Kyra with building some strength with a fairly brief exercise, a short rest then rinse, repeat.

Dresseur...Velvet is cute. She looks Andalusian but she is short. Kyra (1/2 Andalusian) was a 98lb weakling at 4 years old but she turned out OK (15.2). Velvet might gain another 2 or 3 inches. Good work will at least make her look bigger. Happy horse starting.

Susan

[Sue B]

I spent the weekend helping dh and ds build a "Turkey Palace" for ds's 4H turkeys. This also involved driving 90 miles round trip Sunday morning to get MORE supplies. Lol Anyway, I did get a ride in on Rudy (Tio is lame) Friday or Thursday or some such day when the wind wasn't howling and, as usual, had a great time.

This time, after arena work and a pleasant walk down the road in which we watched a fox run across a field, I asked for passage. I always have trouble with him dropping his back when I ask for 1/2 steps, piaffe or passage regardless of where his head/neck might be. In the past, I've tried doing my requests in a shoulder-fore position which helped some but not enough as I tend to want to fiddle with my hands too. So that evening, when I asked, I sat VERY quietly with my elbows firmly but softly planted on the front of my hips, my hands 4" apart just ahead of the withers. That was my focus. At the start, he immediately dropped his back and came above the bit, and then he curled behind the bit with the back still dropped. That's when the light bulb turned on! I gently squeezed with inner thigh into the front blocks (kinda like kneeling a bit) and lightened my seat with my head still up, eyes forward, and then just waited for him. Within a few steps, he raised his back to meet my seat, softly took up the contact and off we went in a beautiful, rhythmic, straight passage! It was so. much. fun!

[heddylamar]

I had the best ride in weeks yesterday afternoon! Maia's been a bit of a crank, which I ignore, but it puts a damper on our rides. Anyway, she was still cranky, but had a ton of energy. So I put it to good use.

I rode everything on a square — square cornered serpentines, etc — which encourages balance and self carriage. I skipped over shoulder in (it's always a battle at first). Instead we trotted shallow Vs on the long side M-X-F, asking for a lengthening M-X, collect for X, lengthen X-F. Maia was all in! Apparently that was FUN. I used the same technique to improve our trot-canter transitions: on the long side, trot lengthen one stride, collect, ask for canter. She was so together we were bounding into the canter. That was easily the most balanced canter work she's given me without really working for it.

[demi]

Nice reports everyone!

I’m interested in Kyra’s Spanish walk. Andalusians look so majestic when they do it. Hope we get some pics.

Velvet is lovely. As an older rider I am very interested in ponies. Not just that the rider is closer to to the ground on one, but it’s easier to influence them with our bodies. Well, in general, anyway. I‘m 5’5” and have my hands full with a 14.2 muscular mare, but I have to say now that her training is advancing a bit, I am having so much fun! Stuff is working!

And on that note, I can feel my thigh half halts working! I am still getting the hang of the timing but I see (feel) light at the end of the tunnel. I can also tell there is a long way to go, but I am enjoying the journey.

I wish Rocky had a dressagy canter. I’ve been told by a three trainers that I have a lot of respect for, that she has a super trot. But one of them also said her canter was just a average. I think he was being kind. She has a very efficient, quarter horse canter. And she likes to do it with her rump high. She has always taken the correct leads easily until I started with the shorter rein. Now she is resisting the right lead. The tips I’ve gotten recently on this board have helped a lot, but I think it’s just going to take time. I should take this over to the thread Piedmont started about understanding the horse you have....

SueB, I wish you could have gotten video of Rudy’s passage! He sounds like such a character that I imagine he has a very expressive one. Glad you enjoyed it.

[piedmontfields]

Demi, that's interesting how you described Rocky. From her build and your work, I believe that her trot is quite good!

I often look at the event-bred horses in my barn and admire their canters (and gallops). They are often longer-backed horses, but they are truly beautiful movers who cover ground at the canter. Their backs look very supple at canter. Often, their trots need a lot of development, from a dressage point of view. Emi has a fairly uphill and balanced canter, but it doesn't cover the ground that these event horses can---so to me it seems kind of a not-so-great gait for her. But people tend to think her canter looks like what you want to ride all day---and I can imagine holding a cup of tea in one hand and cantering her!

[Ryeissa]

Interesting that my arab x has a super excellent canter, but it is not typical of the breed(s). It still takes a lot of work to develop, no one gets a free pass in dressage. However, it was so helpful to start with this as a positive.

[demi]

SF, thanks for the blog link. When I first read it, no bells went off. But then today when I was riding, the “elbow” part came to mind. Something about being attached to the waist. The concept has worked for me in the past but bringing it to mind again helped. There are a lot of different things that he goes into that didnt seem to apply to my situation , or that just seemed really obvious, that I just read it really fast without much thought. I’ll have to read it again to see exactly what he said about the elbows.

Ryeissa, is Riot half paint or pinto? I had a registered paint that had a lot of TB and his canter, like a lot of TB’s was very nice. Canter is maybe my favorite gait, but I don’t have high expectations for Rocky’s because I’ve read so many times that it can’t be improved much. Maybe as Rocky advances you will have some insight to offer in developing it.

Right now I am just cantering full arena and working on keeping my position. I am trying not to let my back hollow and not to tip forward while I still keep her in a short rein. I do my normal warm up of 20M spiral in and out at walk, then at trot. Both ways. Then I go to full arena at trot and do lots of quick walk transitions, not staying more than 2-3 steps at walk. I’m using my thighs for the halfhalt to walk, and we are both getting the hang of it. When the trot feels harmonious, we canter staying full arena, while keeping my position. I keep the right canter short, transitioning to trot before she gets unbalanced. Today was pretty nice.

Another thing I’m doing differently, is instead of walking on a long rein for a break, I just halt and let her stand on a long rein. Just for now, not for ever. I want to instill in her that we work on a short rein, no exceptions. She is very opinionated and she can easily trick me into giving her more rein.

[Ryeissa]

Riot is mostly arab, a smidge of paint. No TB blood at all. His pedigree is really good for what we want in dressage.

[blob]

Managed to hobble over to the barn yesterday. I tried riding MM with my medical boot and no stirrups. But the motion of the trot and canter made my foot hurt, so it ended up just being a walk ride. I probably need to wait a bit longer until I can ride her with any amount of effectiveness.

I lunged RP, including some work over trot poles. It was really interesting to watch him over the poles because he does not go over them like your average horse. I've ridden him over trot poles before and didn't feel the back come up and the neck come forward the way you feel on most horses as they come through trot poles. But I related that mostly to him just being a bit tense over the poles (he used to be scared of them). But yesterday, while lunging I could see that he does not wait for his body to meet the poles. Instead as far back as he can he extends his front legs out to go over the poles, which keeps him from keeping his back over himself and lifting his back to go through them, like I'd want. I'm sure this is a result of him anticipating/being still a bit anxious about poles. But I'm curious to see if this changes over time or not. While my foot is out of commission and I can't ride, this might be something to keep working with him on from the ground to see.

Tomorrow I am giving a friend a 'lesson' on MM, which will be good and fun, I hope. My friend is a very good rider, but relatively new to dressage, so I told her I could help her with position work on or off the lunge. I have some people who have offered to ride RP some as well while I heal. Though, I do worry since he has been known to have antics and I don't want anyone getting hurt on my horse. So for now, I'm going to keep up with the ground work and see.

[demi]

I was disappointed after yesterday’s ride but I shouldn’t have been. Things had been going very nicely since the applying some of the tips on riding with a shorter rein. But yesterday she started right out with a little heaviness on the bit, and decidedly not marching. Tapping her up with the whip got her marching but she was still heavy on the bit. When we started trot, she got even heavier in my hands and she resisted the downward transitions. I had been doing strong (and I should say “strong” by old lady amateur standards) thigh halfhalts to walk for 2-3 steps and quickly back up to trot. Well, yesterday she just wouldn’t cooperate with that anymore. I powered through and by the end of the ride I was sore. Not my quads, or hamstrings, or core, but the area where the upper thigh connects to the hips. Felt like tendons or ligaments or something.

I wasn’t mad at her or anything like that, but I was thinking maybe I was unfairly trying to make her a dressage horse when she wasn’t purpose bred for it. Then later, saw Kelo’s post and after taking it to heart, and mulling it over, I had a very different attitude,and a new plan when I rode her today. And we had a very nice ride!

Today I did my usual warmup, short rein right from the start, and she was too heavy and not marching. Right away I stopped her with a thigh halfhalt, and waited till she lightened on the bit. As soon as she lightened, I relaxed my hands (but didn’t lengthen the reins even by a frog’s hair), and schooched her forward with my seat until she started walking on light bit contact. We had to do this several times, but she got the idea and it was nice.

When we started to trot, she charged forward into the bit and resisted coming back to a walk even with strong thigh halfhalts. So instead of coming back to a few steps of walk, I just did some quick, pulsey thigh half halts, asking for just a softening, not a walk transition. After just a few of these she got very cooperative and the trot became nice and balanced.

I wanted to reward her cooperation so I only did left lead canter (right lead is the hard one).

I think the whole issue was that the corrections I was making for the problems I was having with shorter rein, were just too strong and to much for her. She needed me to anchor myself with my thighs, but she didnt need to come back to a walk, even for just a few steps. The quick, strong thigh halfhalts got her attention but coming back to a walk felt like punishment to her naturally forward inclination. And tapping her up with the whip was somehow insulting because all she needed was a little scootch forward from my seat. She still needs lots and lots of thigh half halts, but she doesn’t need really strong corrections. I was insensitively shouting at her when all I needed to do was ask clearly and help her understand what I wanted. Mea culpa. Of course.

Sorry this is so long, but I needed to write it out for my own review, and clarification.

[Moutaineer]

So, six weeks and a house move later, I got to get back on both my horses today. Laddie has been getting lunged a couple of times a week, and, although s little tubby, he felt pretty good and ready to get back with a program. He will get his feet done Tuesday, and then it's back to real work.

Walker is enjoying the heck out of being a pampered show barn horse. Which is what he will have to stay until thinks settle some more. It was nice to get on the old man and ride him in a nice groomed arena, and he felt sound and we had fun, and, oh, well, it's only money, I guess. Not like we are going to be spending it on shows and clinics any time soon.

[exvet]

So glad you got to enjoy your two boys, Mountaineer. I know I would be in detox if I couldn't ride for more than a couple of weeks. I have to admit I have only worked on 'dressage' in the arena twice this past week. I had plans to do more this weekend in regards to our 'dressage goals' but ended up just going out on our beautiful trails every day I had off and doing a little in hand work (half-steps) each time I got back home.

My son got engaged last week and his fiancee has wanted to go riding. She's been on a horse only a couple of times in the past; so, I took her out on the Ace, the mustang. I continue to pinch myself every time I ask this guy to step up and be the 'trail pony extraordinaire'. We had headed out towards the nearby park/preserve and didn't even make it there before 13 motorcycles/dirt bikes whipped out of a trail we were getting on which didn't exactly startle our horses (thankfully) but it was the woman who was riding where the bikes came from trying to pony her horse that was more the concern. Evidently they spooked her horses (which can be expected the way they were flying) and she lost the one she was leading. So there I was on Junior with my soon-to-be daughter-in-law on Ace (her third time on a horse) looking at a scared loose horse on the trail and the owner desperately scrambling off her mount in order to regain control of the situation. I just told both horses to halt and stand steady while she regrouped her two and neither of mine batted an eye. They didn't call out or make a move. Once everything was settled they just fell in line and continued the ride. As we engaged bikers and other riders on horses while riding in the preserve, Ace just stepped off the trail to let them pass each time, following Junior; so, what could have been a nerve racking ride was actually very relaxing. Amazing that a rack of bones mustang stallion with likely mishmash breeding could turn into a horse of unspeakable value.

[piedmontfields]

Exvet, Ace is priceless! But I'm sure you know that. So awesome to have that kind of horse at hand.

[blob]

Exvet-- so many of the mustangs are so worth their weight in gold. MM is the most bombproof horse I've ever known. She takes everything calmly in-stride and I am so so grateful for that.

[khall]

Some great updates on everyone. I love a good mustang. I've seen some nice ones over the years.

Not sure how to update what we've been up to. Trying to get all 3 of mine worked in one way or another because I'm having weight issues already!! Joplin is on lip ox from platinum to help with her weight and I will probably have to put Gaila on something as well, she looks pregnant! I don't always get everyone worked as much as I want to, we are still having some heavy heavy rains here at least weekly with some nasty storms. Standing water in my lower hay field. But when I can get them all worked I am happy with what I am seeing. Trying some long lining but the biggest fun thing I am working on is passage with Rip. The Valenca's had a good passage training video that they shared over a week ago and it fit the bill for Rip. Since he has SW on him this gives me a way to ask for the expression in the front legs and he is getting it! What I am most impressed is that he is handling the pressure of the training better.

Started with Joplin working some SI in hand, She is starting to pick it up. Better today going from W SI to T SI. A bit easier I found. Want to get back on her soon.

Gaila looks good except for her big belly. I like my mares! They can handle the pressure of the work better than Rip does (though he is so much better!)

Has anyone tried the Pivo? https://trendygadgetreview.com/pivo-int ... otography/

I don't want to spend the money on the other tracking camera systems. Just too pricey but I saw this and thought it might work.

Anyway good riding all. We have some lovely weather in between the storms!

[StraightForward]

Khall - I just looked at their kickstarter site, and it looks like it's used for more close-up applications, but for the price it might be worth a try. There is a video of someone riding a horse in the Community section of their page: https://getpivo.com/

It looks like she has it in the middle of the arena and is riding around it.

I looked at the SoloShot website the other day and the price of those units has gone up! Glad I got mine when I did and have my fingers crossed that it continues to work for a few years. I figure it cost me about the same as 8 lessons, and I am getting plenty of value out of it, so although it was a big investment, it's been worth it. A cheaper option would be nice though.