Ring in 2021 in the dressage ring: January-February Goals and Progress

[Kyra's Mom]

Oh Kelo...how handsome. Palomino with chrome...Ooohwee. I am green with envy .

Khall, I am glad that Joplin has gotten herself right.

I continue to do really short concentrated work with Kyra but she is working like a champ. I have been doing some in-hand work with about 10 minutes of lunging. The in-hand work I have been doing is haunches in on a square. She has been fine on the left rein but on the right rein, she has had a devil of a time keeping the left hind leg stepping under on the corner. She would just stall out and step out. Today she did it wonderfully on both reins. I was happy and she was proud of herself. Lunging, I have kept really short. I do a short warm up to get her moving and stretching over the top line then I have been asking for lots of transitions with half halts. She is starting to get more sit in the canter. I half halt and ask for 3-4 strides of shorter canter then canter on. Today, I asked for canter from halt and she was spot on. Of course, we throw in our SW work. She is getting to be quite a star at it. Her leg lifts were a bit anemic to start but I kept working with her and she finally got some pride going on and put a bit more effort into it. We have a lot of aerobic fitness work to do once the weather settles down this spring but at least with all the transitions and lateral work, she will have been doing her squats regularly .

Since I am doing the cleaning now, I am afraid I am going to have to blanket her if I want to ride. I don't get out every day so usually have 2-3 days of poop to pick up which takes puny me a little while (depends on the ground and the mud). The other day, I was too pooped after cleaning to spend 30 minutes getting all the mud off the pony, let alone saddle and ride her. A blanket would cut down on the grooming. It sounds like the monsoons will start again by Wednesday so if I want to ride, we will have to change management a bit. On the plus side...she is starting to shed at a pretty good rate .

Susan

[StraightForward]

On the plus side...she is starting to shed at a pretty good rate .

Susan

LOL, I was just noticing this week that Annabelle has decided to grow a teeny bit of fur. No shedding here yet!

[Moutaineer]

Laddie had his shoes back on yesterday, I'm sitting on my hands until tomorrow before I test out his soundness. Fingers crossed, please!!!

And come on, you lot--back to work! I need some inspirational progress posts!

[demi]

Things are going well for me and Rocky. Just working quietly at home to try to do an improved T3 test for judging on virtualsporthorse.com. I am happy with the way we are working together but not quite ready to do the test again. Close but not there yet.

Rocky has a really hard trot to sit and that's part of the problem. When I was trying to "make things happen" I got stiff and she responded by getting even stiffer. I've been working on being able to slow the trot down for a few strides and then bringing it back up. Today was the best yet and of course the cloud cover was too much for my soloshot to get a satellite signal. The vids I am posting are from last week. or maybe early this week. Anyway, this first shows our working trot with a couple of shorter steps after the corner. the second vid shows the shortened, sitting trot. It's a WIP, of course.


https://youtu.be/lq2MkLos2vA

The best part of the above trot is that she is not braced agaisnt my hands nor is she curling or tilting her head.

[demi]

Here's the shortened, sitting trot.

https://youtu.be/QhrK2Ephnes

I am going to label the above trot in my head as "beginning of collected trot".

Comments welcome

I could have posted this in the sitting trot thread, but it fits here, too, I guess.

[Ponichiwa]

Mid-goals/progress check-in: have been on quarantine for the last week due to a COVID exposure in the household. I am slowly losing my mind.

[khall]

Demi I like both trot videos very much! Rocky is showing good activity in a nice frame. Getting more cadence in her trot from working correctly. Nicely done!

[demi]

Yay! Thank you, Khall! I haven’t been taking lessons for a couple of months and needed to hear that I haven’t gone off the track working on my own. The problem with my lessons currently is that I try too hard during lessons and get tense. Rocky is a tight little horse naturally and my added tension makes her worse. I needed a little break to become more confident in my own ability so when I go back to lessons I’ll be more relaxed.

[StraightForward]

Yay! Thank you, Khall! I haven’t been taking lessons for a couple of months and needed to hear that I haven’t gone off the track working on my own. The problem with my lessons currently is that I try too hard during lessons and get tense. Rocky is a tight little horse naturally and my added tension makes her worse. I needed a little break to become more confident in my own ability so when I go back to lessons I’ll be more relaxed.

Once again, I am right there with you! I think we were pushing the training with A a little too much, and she just needs time to settle and adjust at the new level of engagement. My instructor will be here towards the end of February, and then Carrie will have a clinic in March, but I'm contemplating skipping one or both. Of course it won't hurt to save a few lesson fees when I'm preparing to pay for a new saddle. Yesterday I hauled her to the rehab facility that one of my bodyworkers runs. A stayed with the PEMF machine way longer than usual. Seems to have lots of stuff going on up around her shoulder girdle, which I think might be a combo of learning to use her thoracic sling and also getting her high/low front feet into better order. Another argument for keeping things a little easier and not trying to up the ante in her work for a while.

I liked your videos as well, especially the trot steps in the second one right before the walk transition. One thing you might play with is starting to jog down towards a walk, and then trot off again, rinse, repeat. I've been doing that most rides with A recently, making sure that she maintains bend through the little within trot and T/W/T transitions. Then she gets nicely engaged and can transition into canter in a less haphazard way.

Tesla continues to be Tesla. She actually double-lunged better than ever last night, and is getting more responsive to the whip, as in going forward instead of kicking out. I just had to ignore the rather impressive airs above ground. She gets a 9 for artistic expression. As weather allows I'm planning to start riding her more regularly again; she'll be five in April, so it's time to start being a little more grown! Of course, in terms of outgrowing her blankets and girths, she is definitely growing just fine.

[Sue B]

Wow Demi! I hope you are looking back at old videos so you can see just how much progress you two have made in just this last year!

Btw, Tio has another abscess although this one is resolving much more quickly. Naturally he was perfectly sound last weekend, 3-legged lame Monday at 5pm...grrrr. Hoping I can get shoer out soon.

[demi]

Thanks for the encouragement and commiseration SueB and SF. We have our ups and downs on this training forum, but it’s a comfortable place to get away from the real crazy world we are living in.

I am not surprised that A has a lot of stuff going on around the shoulder girdle. I’ve been thinking a lot about Rocky’s thoracic sling and how hard she has to work it to compensate for her downhill build. She tries hard and has made nice improvement but sometimes, like today, I feel like I’m trying to “bash a square peg into a round hole” (to borrow a phrase from Mountaineer). I am pondering the idea of slowing down even more with Rocky. For the last 4 months I’ve gotten in 5 rides a week with the exception of just a couple of weeks when I rode 4 times. Not really hard work as when I ride in lessons, but still enough to stretch her limits. She can do 10 minutes of a working walk warmup and then another 20-25 minutes trot and canter with a couple of short walk breaks. Then she tells me she’s done and I listen to her. We always end where she’s just on the edge of starting to get cranky.

I’m thinking of going back to at least 2 trail rides a week. Not just strolling along, but neither the kind of work we do in the arena where I am constantly trying to develop uphill carriage. I want the trails to just give her a break. I don’t know. It may slow the already slow progress even more. But OTOH, maybe it will let me work her a little longer/harder on the days we do work in the arena.

Hang in there everyone with injuries. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another!

[khall]

SF I will have to video ( have yet to get the pivo going due to everything that is going on weather recovery etc) Rip’s antics and we can compare their airs:). I swear Rip will never grow up. It’s bad when the 6 yr old is better behaved than the 14 year old!

I just lunged today and wih. Rip looks great when he’s not flinging himself about. I’m continuing to put the pressure on him. He comes around he just has to express himself a bit first

Joplin’s canter is really looking good! Her boo boo on the girth area is healing well but no saddle until Monday week

Stay warm and gosh I wished we could have some dry days. Rain and more rain

[Moutaineer]

Laddie was sound on the lunge today, so tomorrow, weather permitting, I will attempt to get back on!

I had a weird little growth taken of Walker's girthline 18 months ago, Khall. A somewhat bloody experience as it seemed to have been quite deeply rooted and vascular. Evidently it had been causing him more discomfort than I realized, as he has been a much happier since it's removal.

Talking of Walker, apparently the silly old fool spooked and slipped on the concrete aisle and went down yesterday. Hoping for no major ill effects--he was a bit stiff today, but it's cold and damp, as well, so we are giving bute and trying not to be paranoid. Apparently my vet still has a kid for me to put through college.

[Chisamba]

I looked back at old photos, too look at " off breeds" of which I had many because I never really threw my hat in the ring of purpose bred for dressage.

I have recently been the mid-level trainer supporting average income riders. occasionally I regretted not going for it, but I think I do what keeps me happy, so this, it turns out, is my happy place.

In my youth my whole goal was to represent South Africa in the Olympics. I took SA citizenship despite hating apartheid, and of course almost immediately the international sport ban started and never stopped til long after I left there and have up my citizenship . I took daily lessons from a GP rider and judge getting up at 4 am riding at 5 am before my job started at 7. My progress at that time was meteoric. I started out riding the old toped out school master and progressed to riding all of Peter's horses. He imported clinicians. anyone who would come. we were regional winners and long listed for the Olympic team. We were able to attend the SANEF sponsored olympic development clinics.
I came to the USA fully intending to get a job as a Research Microbioligist at CU, and buying a dressage horse. instead

My first job in the USA was at Van Vleet Arabians in Colorado, then on to Ansata Arabians and then on to Hatchie Hill. It was only when my husband's job brought him to New Jersey that I started training anything that was not a registered Arab or half Arab.

So, FEI level horses, Sunstorm, GP, Anglo Arab. ( never got a passport because of politics and SA.)

Rose, Arab x Russian Warmblood. PsG

Karoo, Arab x NSH 4th level schooling PsG , broke a leg

Kea RID as in Irish Draught, showed 4th level, schooling PsG. , burned

those are my list of horses I consider upper level that I actually showed and owned.

I did show a few others that were upper level that I did not own, all pure Arabians to represent their various stud farms that I worked for at the time.

I only have two students now who have ambition but one is them had already showed at a level above her highest expectations. the other is growing up and going through a tough stage at the moment so I'm not sure if horses will remain their priority.

I kicked a few out of the nest, and one of my students is regularly riding FEI level in Florida and has surpassed me , which is super.

I make excuses like I didn't have the ambition to give up my ethics for wins, but maybe I'm just average and didn't have the ambition to go for it. there you go, that the introspection you get from me after working the barn days and my job nights and at the trail end of 24 hours without sleep.

which leads me back to favorite breed for dressage. I love the work, sensitivity and ability of the Arab. but I look to big on them, so I have shown Half Arabs. I like the extra physical strength the other half brings. now for the first time I do not have a single Arabian in my barn. its a little sad

[Chisamba]

I am sorry, I really thought I had put this in the " off breed" thread. have no idea how it got here

[StraightForward]

Chisamba, your life has been so fascinating! I think the level of teaching you're providing is much needed, and competition is certainly not the be-all and end all.

I am not surprised that A has a lot of stuff going on around the shoulder girdle. I’ve been thinking a lot about Rocky’s thoracic sling and how hard she has to work it to compensate for her downhill build. She tries hard and has made nice improvement but sometimes, like today, I feel like I’m trying to “bash a square peg into a round hole” (to borrow a phrase from Mountaineer).

It is hard for them, but when I watch Annabelle move freely, or on the lunge, and she is in better posture and freer in her front end than when I got her as a green 4 yo, I feel that it's still the right thing for her. The other option, save not working, would be to ride down into the ground and wear out her front legs. Last night we did a short ride and she was feeling just about ready to go back to more normal schooling. Naturally we got a bunch (by Boise standards) of rain yesterday and the outdoor arena will be muck again for a bit. Bodyworker says she holds her left scapula in flat to her body, which makes sense since I always say that she uses her left leg like a kickstand. So I'm going to incorporate more exercises and stretching to try to address that shoulder and see if there's improvement by the time BW comes back from Scottsdale the last week of February. I'm doing Jillian Kreinbring's functional anatomy class on Zoom right now too, so this is helping me think through how I can continue to improve her way of going and hopefully make the work a little easier for her.

I think the month of Feldenkrais has helped me with sensing my own straightness, and it's translating into fixing some of my nagging position problems. Last night I caught myself a few times sort of falling into the hollow A creates on the left when she takes all her weight onto her right shoulder, especially cantering left. Naturally she straightened out when I corrected myself, but I could tell it was a lot harder for her to travel that way, so this will be something to focus on as we spend the next couple months solidifying our current standard of work.

[exvet]

Demi, I too am impressed with your progress. I have a bit of a different issue which I've known about and of course Pivo has made this glaring shortcoming in my position something I'm not sure how to address. I mean it seems so simple but when you have loss of strength in one side of your upper body it's so frustrating as to how 'unaware' your body is........ or really, it's not that I'm unaware but with loss of strength can also be accompanied by a decrease in feel (paresis) and I'm struggling to figure out what to do to fix it. I seem to do reasonably well compensating and making sure that I have Junior equal into both reins at the walk and trot. It's the canter which is really becoming the issue despite being his best gait. I seem to pull his head to the left, cannot get him solid into the right rein which isn't 'there enough from my end' and thus is just adding and not fixing his tendency to roll over the right shoulder and avoid stepping under with his left hind. I know if I can master this one task a lot of our riding and tests would improve immensely. I have a strong seat so I've been able to 'fake' it through or muscle him through but I want it fixed. Common sense would seem to say, just let go of the left rein and develop a throughness on the right .....whatever the level of weight is in the hand.....but it's not going to 'solve' the problem. Even if I lunge him in side reins to encourage him to use his body properly cantering to the left it's the issue of when I step into the stirrups. I need some visuals and specific cues, for lack of a better way to put it, for myself and my body in order to compensate for a lack of feel and strength in my right hand/arm/shoulder. I work out with weights and do a lot of off the horse exercises to make sure I can still perform my duties at work and be able to do the farm work; but, Pivo has revealed to me just how bad it really is when I'm on the horse. I think of keeping my shoulder blades flat on my back and using my lats which helps a little. Thinking of my elbows and their position has never worked. Trying to focus on inside leg to outside hand just accentuates 'the curl' and not getting Junior honestly into the right rein....so I counter-flex to re-establish the contact in the right rein and almost immediately lose it. I'm not one for gadgets of any kind and feel if I simply could determine what on the right side of my body (which is not affected by the damage I incurred while working in shelter medicine) I could use/focus on/gauge to know that I am riding properly/correct position I could gradually improve the situation......after all I have 3 horses to practice on to better develop my position. I've thought about maybe turning or rotating my torso to the right in order to let up on the left rein and doing my best to keep my right thigh in the program in order to insure that my seat continues sending him through to the right rein.........but then there's that thing called bend..........hopefully if I experiment more I can come up with something that works .....but am open to suggestions if anyone has ever dealt with something similar. We work so hard our entire riding career to develop feel and timing only for age and injury to throw a curve ball............I have another show next weekend and not sure I have enough time given the rain we've actually been having to get it all sorted out.......

[khall]

Exvet have you tried riding one handed? When I’m getting weird in my seat and connection I find that helps me. A little disconcerting at the canter. If I’m worried then I sometimes bridge the reins so that my hands are a fist width apart. So similar feeling to riding one handed

[Chisamba]

It was under 10F and " feels like" 0 this morning so of course as soon as I got off work, I checked and found I had a brand new lamb. As in rushed around getting mom and lamb under a heat lamp, my phone text notifications kept sounding. people canceling their lessons. so I had the unusual Saturday opportunity to ride Kimba, Caliburn and Saiph, all 3 in a row. I am doing ok considering the.lamb kept me from my hour of catnapping between jobs.

I had a friend watch me ride Kimba and she was complimentary on how active she is behind while staying relaxed in the connection. it felt.like a victory.

Caliburn had a few very up/ prance/ snort minutes with all his 17.1 bouncing around but he did settled and work well.

Saiph was quite distracted, not uncommon, so I admit I mostly hacked around having expended most if my daily ambition.

[exvet]

Exvet have you tried riding one handed? When I’m getting weird in my seat and connection I find that helps me. A little disconcerting at the canter. If I’m worried then I sometimes bridge the reins so that my hands are a fist width apart. So similar feeling to riding one handed

No I haven't tried that yet; but, will. Thank you for the suggestions.

[Aleuronx]

I've been quiet because I've been so hoping to be giving good news. Feeling quite frustrated that we aren't to a better place with Kora. The trial of Robaxin didn't correlate to her being comfortable under saddle, neither did the sulfracrate prior to riding test rides I did. She has finished her 30 days minocycline and vet will be in on Monday to pull blood to retest on the lyme titer and see where we're at and if more antibiotics are in the cards.

I've been talking out things with other horse peeps and saddle fitter is my next box to tick. I've reached out to a respected fitter and she's due to be out on Feb. 11th. I feel like I'm in the worst headspace to be saddle fitting as I'll throw any money at a saddle at this point if it gets us back riding. I've been getting on here and there for just a light walk but nothing more than that as she just explodes, so not like her at all.

I don't regret checking her out medically because there were things to address for sure but I'd love for it to be a saddle issue at this point and be done with this mess. Even if it means dropping 4 figures on a new saddle... I'm a saddle fitters dream

[demi]

...

I am not surprised that A has a lot of stuff going on around the shoulder girdle. I’ve been thinking a lot about Rocky’s thoracic sling and how hard she has to work it to compensate for her downhill build. She tries hard and has made nice improvement but sometimes, like today, I feel like I’m trying to “bash a square peg into a round hole” (to borrow a phrase from Mountaineer).

It is hard for them, but when I watch Annabelle move freely, or on the lunge, and she is in better posture and freer in her front end than when I got her as a green 4 yo, I feel that it's still the right thing for her. The other option, save not working, would be to ride down into the ground and wear out her front legs....

I couldn’t agree more! I’ve seen the change in Annabelle and Rocky, too. Sometimes I just get frustrated because I know what I want to feel, and can get a little bit of that feeling, but just can’t keep it. I know I should just be happy I have a sound, sane horse!!

[demi]

Exvet, have you tried slo-mo for parts of your videos yet? I just tried it tonight but I couldn’t get it to work. I’ll have to google how to do slo-mo on Windows 10. Anyway, I took a small clip of my right lead from today where I knew the feeling I was getting but couldn’t put it into words. Even watching the clip several times I am unable to see exactly where things are falling apart. I am hoping the slo-mo might give me a better visual clue.

[blob]

Exvet, I very much feel your post. I struggle with a long long long seeded bad habit of riding with my left hand and shoulder further back than my right. Even when I THINK I am straight, I see video and realize I'm not.

One thing that has helped us using the resistance band while riding. I have a 10 inch band that I use once a week or so. With it, I can't let my hands get uneven and still keep the tension. It forces my shoulders to be even too and even after a few minutes my right shoulder will BURN because I'm using it in a way it's not used to being used

For awhile I was using it consistently and my position was much improved. Then I got away from using it and got video of myself yesterday and was horrified. Time to bring the bands back out. There is a thread on using them on this forum that includes a video

[demi]

I got the slo mo working and it’s pretty interesting. Besides driving myself nuts by trying to figure out what’s going on in the canter, I am seeing some things that I didn’t notice at the regular speed. I haven’t figured out exactly what it all means, but I have some ideas to work from.

I signed up for a schooling show Feb 13. T3 of course. It’ll be fun (I hope!) I may get a new colored pad and matching polos but not sure what color would go good with her medium reddish bay. I will try to French braid her mane, too. Her bridle is the same one I got when she was 3, so over 10 years old and the noseband and browband are from an even older bridle. Hmmm. Maybe we need a new bridle too. Yes...this will be fun!

I am going to try my idea of working her a bit harder than usual 3 days a week and on the other two days just light trail rides. I’ll try it through February and then reassess.

[exvet]

So I had a lesson yesterday with my friend (the L grad and long time student of the judge I try to ride with as often as possible). She really dug deep into some of our issues and gave me not only some good exercises but opened up my eyes/feel to what's been going on and what has been missing. I have a long way to go but in terms of peeling that onion I think I took of some skin that had been stuck on for a long, long time, lol. Our lesson started with simple turn on the four hand in a large square all to get Junior to step under with his left hind. He really did not want to to do it. She made sure that at no time did I compromise position and that he not only did what I asked but did so promptly. Once we got that concept through she then had me spiraling in and out on the circle in trot both directions bringing the shoulders into her first on the way in and pushing his hip over and under on the way out. All very basic but a real key to getting him to engage. We then as in previous lessons worked on keeping him straight in the canter off the rail. We also worked on turn on the haunches and the simple changes getting much better results than in the past. I felt we accomplished a lot and shall see if there's improvement by the show the coming Sunday. In the meantime I will continue to work on my own crookedness using some of the suggestions given.

As an aside but a discussion that isn't that off track to some of what is being discussed in the 'guess the score' thread as well as the horse shopping and off-breed threads which is why I bring it up here (applies to so many), my friend had a very interesting comment and view of competitive dressage, judging and proper training versus gaits. You see she came to the show last weekend as a spectator and watched the grand prix and intermediate tests after she'd watched mine. She was stating how horses trained very well but without the fancy gaits were scored, of course, lower than those that were displaying their talents but piloted less skillfully and how it's her belief that dressage has come to a point where the off-breed and/or '6' movers should be given a handicap like in golf when it comes to scoring on the basis of gaits. We've accepted for so long that it's primarily the [high quality] gaits that make the harmony, flow and beauty of the tests to the degree that training, even done correctly and improving a horse of what God gave them, continues to take too much of a back seat in the final results. She feels strongly that by giving a handicap to a '6' mover while scoring an 8 mover as the tests are currently judged would level out the playing field. While I don't think her view or suggestion will ever meet reality I found it to be a very interesting concept. She was very frank in stating that my 'cute as a button pony' will never be anything more than a 65% pony. She stated that despite my 'habit' of receiving 7s and 7.5s for rider score I will never ever break the 70% ceiling limit that the judging gods have declared to be SO no matter what I do. Of course to her that 'cheapens' in a sense the whole training process. I laughed and told her I found her idea interesting, her assessment as always accurate (of me and mine), but that it still, for me, comes down to riding what you love and loving what you ride. If I ever make it to Grand Prix with Junior, I'll gladly take my 65% beaming from ear-to-ear without any need for a 'public handicap added to my score'. LOL......

[blob]

The handicap idea is interesting. but I think perhaps better would be to stop basing the movement score on the gait score and instead on how well that movement was executed for that horse. And then there would still be a gait score that would be an extra 'boost' for those fancy movers. It mean that if a 6 mover and an 8 mover both had a perfect test, the 8 mover would win. But that the 8 mover would be penalized exactly the same for mistakes.

[Rosie B]

Some real progress to report. Bliss and I can now do 4x changes! He's going super well for my trainer and it's great to be in a position where I can get on and enjoy where he is now.

Some pics and video... (please note.. trainer rides him much better than I do... she has him reaching more honestly into the bridle than I am able to get at this point)
https://youtu.be/hlyzJqzhINI

[Josette]

Rosie - Bliss is Gorgeous! You have made amazing progress with your training because the majority of the credit goes to you. Also, I really like that you are working in a snaffle - just something I like to see. Huge congratulations for your hard work and a beautiful horse.

[demi]

Bravo Rosie!!! And Bliss! I had a big smile on my face by the time I got to the end of the video, and am still smiling! Thanks for sharing.

[Ryeissa]

great work!

[StraightForward]

Really nice work Rosie!

[Moutaineer]

He is looking really nice, RosieB!

[piedmontfields]

Exvet, that sounds like a great lesson. I am always amazed at the power of attending to each detail in the throughness of the corridor of the aids/true acceptance of the aids and how it pays off in more complicated work.

Bliss looks wonderful! I will have to watch the video.

Emi is two months out from injury (front suspensory branch) and is on the verge of starting baby trot work. She continues to be a sane and dutyful PT patient.

Fingers crossed for you and Kora, Al.x.

All - I appreciate your updates and cheers to those of us riding through the wind, rain, snow and c o l d of winter!

[Moutaineer]

I really hate this time of year, especially trying to get a big, over-reactive horse back into work after time off.

On my own at the barn this afternoon and I'd seen a few sheets of snow left teetering on the edge of the roof, so discretion was the better part of valor and I lunged this afternoon. We were having an uneventful session and I was being cross with myself about not getting on, when a gigantic sheet of snow crashed off the high roof onto the lower metal roof, and Laddie took off, yanking me off my feet, and I ended up wakeboarding on my face across the arena with him with the line through his legs, until I let go.

Once he stopped galloping around the place and I'd dusted myself off, we went back to work, but it wasn't terribly productive. Yet more roofalanches, and yet more hysteria.

He wasn't lame, anyway. I however have rather a sore neck and yet another bruise on my knee. Ugh. I'm going to have to ride this out now, which I really am not going to enjoy.

We will be cutting his grain.

[heddylamar]

Bad, bad, Laddie!! I hope you're not too bashed up.

[khall]

Yeah Rosie!! Well done you and Bliss!

Ouch. Double ouch mountaineer! Joplin did the same to me not that long ago. Something crashing in the woods not snow off the roof. Very unusual for her. Hope you feel ok soon. And Laddie minds his manners when you get back on

Not much going on here. Rain and more rain and now high winds. Not conducive to working horses. I was blessed they all behaved going out in the slick mudd. Supposed to be very windy again tomorrow bleh. At least it might dry it out for a couple of days before it rains again Friday. Sigh

On a fun note Cedar made her CDI 3* debut this past weekend

https://www.eurodressage.com/2021/01/28 ... wellington

She met her goals of not being last and getting over 60% to make it into the kur. So happy for Cedar! Some deep competition in Florida as usual. I had wanted to go down to watch but they are not allowing spectators plus the firm’s plane is mothballed right now. No one is flying for work with the pandemic. My DH is a private pilot and flies their Cirrus all over the SE usually for work and we were going to fly down to watch.

[Moutaineer]

Khall, I'd have loved to go to Wellington this year, too... Mette and the Arroyo del Mar crowd are all there and it would have been really fun. Oh well.

Ibuprofen nightcap tonight, but I'll live.

[Flight]

Demi, I think you are doing great. Like me, using video to try and progress. It's not easy but it does work if you keep at it.
Chisamba, so cool to read your history, especially to hear how you were long listed for the Olympics. Not many can say that. How tragic to lose those horses too, by the way.
Aleuronx, sorry to hear that you still have troubles with Kora. I hate not riding!
Yay Bliss video! Looking so good, love seeing your progress. He is a very nice horse.
Mountaineer - ouch! The worst I have is the neighbours sheep, can't imagine what snow falling off the roof would be like! Good that he was sound though..??
Khall, is Cedar on vdeo there? I can find some of the livestreams, I'll see if I can find it.

Ding's been off for a while with intermittent lameness. I had him xrayed and it showed bits of stuff but nothing huge but the most likely impacts were he likely had laminitis in spring (which I thought he might have had, we had so much grass after such drought) and consequently has thin soles. He had a persistent toe crack but thankfully the xray showed nothing behind it, no gas pocket etc. So the plan is front shoes for few cycles, and cut out the toe crack properly to get it to heal.

Now Ding has never had shoes in his 12 years of life, and to be honest I was a bit sad/apprehensive that we were going to shoes but since I've ridden him a few times, to me he is noticeably more confident in how he moves. Is it the shoes or the time off?
Previously In his sequence changes, I was struggling with him coming through with his hindlegs, but he's a lot more willing now.
I'll add some vid, he's even more willing for 1 x changes. In fact, it's me that can't keep up. Watching the video, I need to keep my backside in the saddle and trust him a bit more, but please, anyone with experience with 1x changes that might have some tips let me know! I'm making this shit up by myself

Norsey's going well. I'm doing a competition with him on the weekend and doing advanced ( 4th level maybe??). I had to find something that has the least sitting trot! The last time we competed he did novice (1st level) so I'm predicting we will do poorly, but it's been great for me to try and figure out how to sit to his trot and practice the moves. He was also a demo horse last weekend for our working equitation club. He was sooo good, he managed to do most of the obstacles (except the bull, but I'm very uncoordinated at that!) in canter with flying changes and he was very accomodating and never came close to flipping out or getting the shits. He's turned out to be such a nice boy.

Ding's vid:
https://youtu.be/-KzNGyg84Wg

[Kelo1]

So I got a new Pivo and set it up this weekend. It was an exercise in frustration, to be sure, trying to get it set up. All the starting and stopping and getting off to try to readjust it, sometimes it was pointed up to the sky or down toward the ground, several times I thought it was recording and it was either taking photos or NOT recording at all....you know, all the usual tech issues.

I did finally, after about an hour, get it to work. Once I did get it to operate, it seemed to work well, and I think I'm really going to like it once I get used to how to operate it. Here's one of the very few clips I managed to get. It's not our best effort, to be sure, we were both reverting to bad habits with all the start and stop of videoing. I have a lesson today, fingers crossed it happens, we've had to delay/cancel several lessons in the past few weeks for various reasons and I'm really looking forward to getting help again. https://youtu.be/2fow7evEsJY

The baby horse will now let me halter him and pet him on both sides, from forehead to rump and down to the knees. While he is still suspicious of the new situation he's found himself in, he really likes cookies and being scratched at the one spot on his chest, so we're negotiating the possibility of him becoming civilized. It is funny, my little mare, a few years ago she was in the same spot he's in now, I had just gotten her unhandled off a ranch, except she was even wilder and more reactive than he is. It took me WEEKS to even get ahold of her, and now she's gentle as a dog, follows me around, I can handle her without a halter if I wanted to. Here's a pic and some video of him moving around: https://youtu.be/dEmdIkqk9-A

[khall]

Flight Ding looks awesome! From the first step into the canter he looked much more solid in his work. Keep the shoes on! Is he shod behind too?

I found the kur of the CDI

https://gdf.coth.com/article/live-strea ... -8-a-m-est

Cedar starts at 7:39. Orion is a PRE. I’m very happy for her. I know she had to have some nerves in that big atmosphere. She’s only been showing about 4 years FEI.

Kelo he’s adorable! Glad he’s becoming civilized. Sounds like the pivo will be a good tool for you as well. I’m hoping mine will be too when I can get back to riding

[MsM]

More stops than starts for me recently. First bitterly cold days and now snow! This is a little of my boy after being inside for just one day... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4OXM8FVz5M

[Kyra's Mom]

MsM...that jumping effort just brought it all to the surface. They get so goofy . Kyra tried to turn herself inside out when I turned her out today. Of course I left my phone in the car so did not get it documented.

It has been wicked windy here. Warm though. I hope everyone back east has been able to keep up with the snow...yikes. Kyra is NOT a wind horse. I have been meaning to get one of those noise canceling bonnets but then I get thrifty and decide to forego it. Something tells me she would not be thrilled with the ear puffs. I suppose it would be cheaper to try those. I don't know if either would help in the wind but I think the wind messes with her hearing and she is just more tense and on guard. I actually rode on Sunday (:D first time in about a month) but we had to keep mostly to a walk. Trot just increased the tension and no way in **ll I was going to try canter. Most of her consternation was regarding a large tumbleweed that had lodged against the arena fence. With the brisk wind it was wiggling around some and once we trotted, OMG, it was ALIVE...even though she had already gone by it oh 10-15 times at the walk . I survived the ride and lived to ride another day.

Windy again today although after she blew off some steam in the turnout, she wasn't as concerned while working although I didn't have time to ride, we did our 15 minute quickie session of in-hand and lunging.

I have been trying to sign up my Mom and myself for COVID vaccines. Lordy, that is time consuming. You have to check all the providers almost continually. Both the main hospitals opened their sites up yesterday morning and all appointments were gone in minutes. We had signed up for last Saturday and got called the night before the appointments that they ran out of vaccine and what they were expecting hadn't shown up. Never heard another peep from them about Monday so of course, I missed any chance completely. Another friend started at 8:02am and missed. My BFF called today and said Fred Meyer Pharmacy was doing appointments so now we are signed up for them. The local news said that the local pharmacies would be starting next week so that is confusing. Mom is signed up for this Thursday so we will see. Fun, Fun.

Mountaineer...glad you survived your wild ride (or drag, I guess). That damned snow is so unpredictable as to when it is going to crash off the roof.

Everyone that is riding looks great. I will have to investigate and invest in a Pivo...I have to get a compatible phone first. Definitely time for an upgrade of my ancient iPhone 6S.

Susan

[Chisamba]

flight, I love barefoot horses too, but have found, as I mentioned to Blob, that my horses are more comfortable and confident in shoes at a certain point. mostly once changes are being worked on more routinely.

Kelo1, I love teaching the wild wooly babies . I have not had any to work with in a while. he looks lovely.

we've had an unusually high snowfall which made everything complicated, from opening barn doors, to digging out gates, to feeding etc. we had a huge snow drift so none of the tractors could get to the hill yet, so I jumped on a horse to go up and down the hill a few times, to feed and check waters. I hope we manage to break through the drift tomorrow, but hey horses can still go where tractors fail.

[Rosie B]

Hi guys,

Thank-you all for your comments. I am pretty thrilled with how he's feeling. PSG does not seem very far away at this point.

Kelo - your new guy is very cute!

Flight - Ding looks so fun! He looks very rideable. You've done an incredible job with him over the years.

Mountaineer - sorry you got dragged. That is certainly hard on the body.

Hope everyone is coping ok with the big dump of snow we got in the north east!

[blob]

great to see everyone's updates!

Flight--Ding looks great, fun to see how much he continues to progress, I'm always so impressed with your work with him.
Rosie--Bliss looks fabulous as always, love seeing you together. He's so elegant.

Between work and some bad weather I have not ridden much, so enjoying hearing from everyone and living vicariously through those that are riding.

[khall]

Flight re keeping your bum in the saddle in the tempis go look at the video from Wellington Jan Ebeling. His kur he shows tempis coming towards the camera. His shoulders stay back but his hip comes up as part of the aid. In your aids your shoulders come forward so your hip can come up. To keep your bum in the saddle your shoulders have to stay back and just your hip come up.

I don’t know if this will help you maybe try the one times on foot?

https://fb.watch/3qTzY0Pg_H/

[demi]

I’m beginning to think that Rocky’s difficulty in carrying herself with her withers up is as much related to her not understanding what I want as it is to her downhill conformation. So I’ve changed my approach a little by focusing on “teaching” her vs just asking with lots of half halts. I’m still doing lots of half halts, but I also talk to her about it. Of course, I realize that she doesn’t understand English, but she picks up a lot of words especially when I use consistent, simple language.

Yesterday her trot had some significantly improved moments. I have started putting her in the uphill position with half halts and then tell her “yes” when it’s good. I also tell her “wait” as soon as I feel her starting to drop down on the forehand. She knows both of those words from a lot of other things we do mounted and unmourned, like when she learned to stand at the mounting block I’d say “Yes!” When she was squared up perfectly, and “Wait” when she tried to move off before I was ready. Also, reinforced with cookies. So anyway, yesterday I think she connected the dots and she stayed in a really nice uphill trot much longer, much more easily than usual. I’m pretty sure she recognized my approval in the tone and quality of my “yes” because she became more animated. She seemed quite proud of herself. It was a very fun trot to ride!

I had signed up for a schooling show the 13th but yesterday I backed out. We are scheduled to get our covid vaccines March 16 and I thought best not to push our luck by going to a horse show. I’m old and DH is ancient so we need to be extra careful.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Flight, you and Ding look great! I am not qualified to give advice but you guys are lovely pair to watch!

Kelo1, having a Pivo will be so beneficial! Love the videos of both boys! So handsome!

Demi, Rocky sounds super smart. Your approach sounds interesting and can't hurt to try it!

[khall]

Woo hoo! Got two flying changes with Rip today! While I’ve not been riding him I’ve been pushing him pretty hard on line and in hand and it shows in his canter. So I got on him and his canter had really good sit to it and I decided to give it a try. First was from CC on the circle second was tear drop straighten and change on the diagonal. That was the best one. Big and round but not bucking. We stopped and he got the rest of the cookies.

Happy snoopy dance!!