Ok! Where were we?
Thursday had a not-so-great ride in the indoor at night. Things just felt off. I couldn't get a really forward gait from her, and I felt like I was riding her neck, not her back. She was in a pretty bad heat, so I have that some of the credit for her carousel-like-action. Maybe the saddle was in a weird position, too. We w/t/c, ran through a dressage test once or twice once I got her a little more forward, and called it a night. Ride time about 35 minutes.
Saturday actually had a pretty decent ride. We went in the indoor during the day because when I got there it was POURING out. Much better about forward, and when I used my stick on her shoulder to get her to keep cantering, she swished her tail but kept going. Fair. Worked on some softening stuff, she's really getting it. I think it's helpful that I don't ask her to be soft every ride, the whole ride. I feel like that might create some tension, so instead I've just been working on asking her to be soft, releasing when she does, and then asking for some sort of transition. Kind of like what Mugs talks about trying with her young horse on one of my favorite blogs. Elle's been figuring out on her OWN that it's easy to stay soft through the transition, which is pretty awesome.
Sunday a friend of mine from work, Jessie, agreed to come trail riding with us at the beautiful Goddard Park. This was only Elle's 3rd time ever trail riding, and the first time we had to trailer somewhere to do it. I went and got Pepper, Jessie's mare, first, mostly because I wasn't sure if Elle would kick out if a horse came up behind her in the trailer. I'm almost positive now that she would not. After a brief (3-4 minute) struggle with loading, we were off!
Got to the park after an easy drive and unloaded. She stood tied with no problem for me to saddle her up, even though she wanted to stretch down and eat grass (I tie them tight enough that they can't get their heads down below their knees...less of a chance of getting caught on something/tangling themselves up). I had brought a mounting block because I'm an old wimp, so I hopped on after minimal adjusting. Went into the ring to see if she needed to be warmed up at all, and after about 5-10 minutes at the w/t/c (mostly trot), it was clear that she did NOT need to be warmed up. She didn't care when Pepper went back to the trailer and she couldn't be seen, and only called to another horse once. I asked for some through work in the ring, got it, and decided that I was NOT going to work her hard before the trails. If she needed to be worked after, I was game, but I wanted to set this up to be as fun for her as she would let it be.
And let me tell you, did she let me relax!! I would say that 95% of the ride (3 hours or so) was done on a very loose rein (buckle or almost buckle), and while she spooked twice (no idea what about), once she jumped around she settled right back down. There was none of the nervous energy that I had gotten from the past 2 trail rides, no jigging, and she was completely present the whole time. I will say that I think she likes being in the front better, but I'll have to test that theory some more - Pepper is a little girl with short legs, and she doesn't walk as fast as Elle. When she was in the front, Elle may have really just SEEMED to be up her butt a little bit because she's got a bigger stride. We encountered runners (one of which came up behind us stealthily without announcing himself), kids, bicycles, dogs (both leashed and not, grr), people, cars on the road, water, other horses, everything! And there was nothing she was truly worried about. At the real beach, she didn't love the idea of getting next to the waves - but Michael explained to me a long time ago that some horses have an issue with the water coming up to meet THEM. I didn't force the issue, and we went into water up to about her knees at the boat ramp. We'll work on the ocean thing sometime when there's less people at the beach. The other thing she was nervous about was a guy sitting on his bike letting us pass that decided to throw his hand out to try and pet her as we were going by and he was about girth-area. No spook, just a cocked ear, a sideways glance, and a curve of her body. No thanks, sir, I'd rather you not pet me.
She was ALSO really great about hills and trailblazing. Hills had always kind of been a sticky spot, because she was hesitant about going down them, especially if the footing was questionable. Not on Sunday! She was completely willing to go straight down them instead of a) putting on the brakes or b) serpentining down them. Her balance is getting so much better and I think she's starting to trust me.
There was one hill that we would NOT take the girls down, frankly I don't see how people take their horses down it(if they do). It was really darn steep, long, and had hard footing with roots sticking out the entire hill. So, we ducked through the woods to go a safer way, and even with vines, trees, leaves, and pine needles, Elle picked her way through and was very compliant. Good pony! On an aside, I thought maybe I was being a wimp about not taking her down the bad hill - we came back the same way, and when we got to the hilll, looking up it, we decided to definitely not go UP, either. And I'm not a chicken about going up! So it must have actually been pretty treacherous.
Now that I know how GREAT she's going to be, next time I want to trot/canter more (we only walked and trotted a little bit), AND take my camera so I can get some pictures!!!
Yay Elle!!
9.15.2009
9.10.2009
OK, I'm really past due on an update...
I haven't felt like updating lately, or my computer has been down, or I haven't had internet. I don't know what's been up. So anyway, I figured I'd use my hour or so before I have to leave for school to give the basics of the most memorable rides I've had in the last few weeks.
After the "great canter" ride, Elle got a day or two off where we practiced trailer loading/trailering. The first day, she went right on but wanted to get back off. Rinse, repeat about 20 times. She finally got in there and stood, so we called it a day. The second day, she went on, stood, Matt put the buttbar up, and we went down to Walmart (because it's a close ride and has a big parking lot to turn around in). She seemed fine. She got antsy when I was making her wait to get off, and tried to paw at me! I was not having that. After a sound beating (not really), she stood and looked bored. Unloaded nice and got put away for the night. So, I think that whole thing that I thought was a huge issue, is going to be fine.
The next night, I rode outside under the lights, and she was kind of looky and silly, nothing bad though. I don't really remember anything from this ride!
Wednesday 8/26 I rode and didn't have a great ride. She was kind of...volatile? Just wanted to go, not use her body, and both of our minds were kind of everywhere. I've sense learned that when she comes out like that, cantering some circles really does us both good. Oh well. It was just an icky ride.
Thursday 8/27 was my lesson with Lisa Aylward. It went pretty well. She gave us some good tools, but Elle was not at her best that day, so that wasn't great. Something that I find working really well that she gave us was insisting our downward and upward transitions are soft, and doing them in rapid succession. It seemed to help. Also, small circles to get her off of her forehand before I asked her to lengthen made it feel like she was actually using her butt and back. So, like I said, the lesson was good, but I just didn't feel myself be energized OR tired at the end of the ride. She kept commenting that it was a lot to process and that I must be exhausted, but it just was not anywhere near the intensity that I enjoy in a lesson - maybe because I had BORING, "schooling" lessons for so long. So, I think I might take a few more lessons with Lisa to learn some stuff, but then definitely switch over to Morgan Adair when I can afford it.
The next memorable ride wasn't until Friday 9/4. I came out at night and decided that instead of working on how she is using herself, I'm going to work on a little bit of stamina. Even though we don't have a track or field, which is where this stuff is fun, I knew how long I wanted my intervals to be and I measured it out a little bit. 1 time around the ring at the walk = 90 seconds, trot is 45s, did not count the canter (yes, I was counting, I didn't have a watch on!) After a few walks, I started her up at the trot and wooooowhee she was hot! Spooking, blowing, being silly! So, as I had planned, we did 10 laps at the trot, for about 7 1/2 minutes of trotting. Every 2 laps, I switched direction. Then, 2 laps at the walk. Went to bring her up to the canter, and a big buck! Not a dirty one, a hot-as-heck one. So, I pushed her forward and she got super strong and on her forehand going down the longside. So, we did 6 circles, went down the longside, 6 circles, and went down the other longside. Then, 2 alternating laps of trot, and cantered the other lead, the left. The left is her much harder lead, so since she had cooled her jets a little bit, we did 2 circles, longside, 2 circles, longside, etc. Then, walked 2 laps. Then, went back to trot for 4 more alternating laps, and finished up with 4 canter laps, switching after 2.
It felt good to go out and work. While this is not the HARDEST ride we have ever done, it was the most work I have asked her to do with a small quantity of breaks. The walks were much longer than we normally do. I like this kind of work, and want to use it once or twice a week. I wasn't asking for round, or gorgeous, I just want to get her muscles and heart ready for longer, faster work. The first time I bring her to an event I want her to be able to canter for the five minutes and jump without feeling sore, tired, or out of breath!
Tuesday 9/8 I had a pretty good ride - she was offering to be round all on her own, and I was seeing glimpses of that great canter I had at one point. I thought it would be a nice idea to pop her over some jumps, which was super stupid in retrospect because it was getting dark out and I didn't have the lights on. The first couple were the best jumps we'd ever had together - she actually made a little bit of a bid for the jump, so I knew she was going before the last possible stride, and I didn't get left behind at all. We either landed on our lead or did a simple change, and did our circle. I then went to trot over a big (the poles are big) CROSSRAIL, and she stopped. 3 times. I understand that it was getting dark (stupid, stupid me), but I did make she that she knew it wasn't ok to stop, and we did get over it, then went back and did our easy, nice fence once more. I'll be more careful next time, I know that especially while she's young I need to make jumping feel safe and right for her, and present her in the best possible way. She doesn't need to be clever yet, she needs to have confidence in both me and herself.
After the "great canter" ride, Elle got a day or two off where we practiced trailer loading/trailering. The first day, she went right on but wanted to get back off. Rinse, repeat about 20 times. She finally got in there and stood, so we called it a day. The second day, she went on, stood, Matt put the buttbar up, and we went down to Walmart (because it's a close ride and has a big parking lot to turn around in). She seemed fine. She got antsy when I was making her wait to get off, and tried to paw at me! I was not having that. After a sound beating (not really), she stood and looked bored. Unloaded nice and got put away for the night. So, I think that whole thing that I thought was a huge issue, is going to be fine.
The next night, I rode outside under the lights, and she was kind of looky and silly, nothing bad though. I don't really remember anything from this ride!
Wednesday 8/26 I rode and didn't have a great ride. She was kind of...volatile? Just wanted to go, not use her body, and both of our minds were kind of everywhere. I've sense learned that when she comes out like that, cantering some circles really does us both good. Oh well. It was just an icky ride.
Thursday 8/27 was my lesson with Lisa Aylward. It went pretty well. She gave us some good tools, but Elle was not at her best that day, so that wasn't great. Something that I find working really well that she gave us was insisting our downward and upward transitions are soft, and doing them in rapid succession. It seemed to help. Also, small circles to get her off of her forehand before I asked her to lengthen made it feel like she was actually using her butt and back. So, like I said, the lesson was good, but I just didn't feel myself be energized OR tired at the end of the ride. She kept commenting that it was a lot to process and that I must be exhausted, but it just was not anywhere near the intensity that I enjoy in a lesson - maybe because I had BORING, "schooling" lessons for so long. So, I think I might take a few more lessons with Lisa to learn some stuff, but then definitely switch over to Morgan Adair when I can afford it.
The next memorable ride wasn't until Friday 9/4. I came out at night and decided that instead of working on how she is using herself, I'm going to work on a little bit of stamina. Even though we don't have a track or field, which is where this stuff is fun, I knew how long I wanted my intervals to be and I measured it out a little bit. 1 time around the ring at the walk = 90 seconds, trot is 45s, did not count the canter (yes, I was counting, I didn't have a watch on!) After a few walks, I started her up at the trot and wooooowhee she was hot! Spooking, blowing, being silly! So, as I had planned, we did 10 laps at the trot, for about 7 1/2 minutes of trotting. Every 2 laps, I switched direction. Then, 2 laps at the walk. Went to bring her up to the canter, and a big buck! Not a dirty one, a hot-as-heck one. So, I pushed her forward and she got super strong and on her forehand going down the longside. So, we did 6 circles, went down the longside, 6 circles, and went down the other longside. Then, 2 alternating laps of trot, and cantered the other lead, the left. The left is her much harder lead, so since she had cooled her jets a little bit, we did 2 circles, longside, 2 circles, longside, etc. Then, walked 2 laps. Then, went back to trot for 4 more alternating laps, and finished up with 4 canter laps, switching after 2.
It felt good to go out and work. While this is not the HARDEST ride we have ever done, it was the most work I have asked her to do with a small quantity of breaks. The walks were much longer than we normally do. I like this kind of work, and want to use it once or twice a week. I wasn't asking for round, or gorgeous, I just want to get her muscles and heart ready for longer, faster work. The first time I bring her to an event I want her to be able to canter for the five minutes and jump without feeling sore, tired, or out of breath!
Tuesday 9/8 I had a pretty good ride - she was offering to be round all on her own, and I was seeing glimpses of that great canter I had at one point. I thought it would be a nice idea to pop her over some jumps, which was super stupid in retrospect because it was getting dark out and I didn't have the lights on. The first couple were the best jumps we'd ever had together - she actually made a little bit of a bid for the jump, so I knew she was going before the last possible stride, and I didn't get left behind at all. We either landed on our lead or did a simple change, and did our circle. I then went to trot over a big (the poles are big) CROSSRAIL, and she stopped. 3 times. I understand that it was getting dark (stupid, stupid me), but I did make she that she knew it wasn't ok to stop, and we did get over it, then went back and did our easy, nice fence once more. I'll be more careful next time, I know that especially while she's young I need to make jumping feel safe and right for her, and present her in the best possible way. She doesn't need to be clever yet, she needs to have confidence in both me and herself.
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