Double Dose of Vitamin D.... so.. double D's?!?!

So... today was another fun day of sunshine. The rings were still too wet to ride in so we just hit the trails. Danny was kinda lazy today after yesterday so we mostly just beebopped around.
 
I did try to do a little bit of work in the field and he was pretty nice with staying away from my inside leg. It's amazing how when I don't have a "rail" to feel compelling to get to... I can actually ride better and not contort myself into craziness, thus allowing Danny to move like a proper horse. :) We also had two canters up the hill where I let him gallop on if he wanted. He didn't really want to. Hee hee... Oh Danny... you're going to have to realize how much fun galloping on XC is! Of course he was tired too. And it was a lazy day. But even still, we did 5.5 miles.

It was a fun day. But I'm going to have
 to figure out how to fix that mane of his! Good grief!

 

And then....because I knew he was tired and wouldn't be a fool, I let him canter up the hill on the XC field and video'ed it with my phone. So yep.. I cantered the not quite yet 4 year old up the hill towards the trailers with only one hand on the reins. And yep.. he was perfect!
Danny canters up the hill

:)

Sweet sunshine!!

 

 Oh glorious of days!!! Hallelujah! I really needed some sunshine. I don't know how people who live in places like Seattle do it. I was really super grumpy and just in a foul mood. But... a few minutes into my ride, and... I no longer wanted to punch everyone in the face. Ahhhh.....sweet relief. 

 

We had a fun day. I decided to do a little fitness work again so we headed off and did some trotting and some cantering. Nothing major really. We did some hill work too. In the far back hay field we were trotting along the edge and I was thinking to myself... "how nice is it that I can take my almost 4 year old out in the field by himself and we can trot and canter happily without any mishaps". And not 2 seconds later Dan spooked at a tree root, dropping his shoulder and bolting sideways, and then went to bucking. Of course! He actually got my out of my stirrups because he surprised me so much. But I was able to get him back together again and we carried on. Doh! That will teach me. ;) 

 

So then as we were in the way back of the field Judy texted so we went back and met up with her in the XC field. Dan and I walked into the water and up and down the banks again. He still won't go down the bank into water without first going up the bank, but at least he didn't really hesitate going down after going up. :) That was also when I noticed the rainbow in the sky. Which persisted for the remainder of the ride. I actually noticed it first in the reflection of the water complex. I almost got Dan's ears in the picture but that was right as Judy showed up so he was looking the other way towards Cash.

So then we carried on for a nice leisurely trail ride with Judy. We got to the open fields and she wanted to trot so we did some trotting. As we were heading to the back hay field I told her about what Danny had done. And no sooner than I finished my story and warned her that we were coming up on the spot, he did it again! There was a tree trunk or something that scared him. Luckily he spooked around Cash instead of into Cash and we managed to continue on our way. Goober. Then Judy and Cash did a little work in the field behind Halfshire. Since Danny was pretty tired at this point, I just let him hang out a bit while Judy played. Cash was being a bit of a pill so at one point she just let him gallop up the hill. He went all out and came careening up. Danny went from grazing to quite perked up! And I happened to be videoing Judy when she did this. I didn't realize she was going to gallop so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Danny was really good though and held his ground. Then went back to eating. Hee hee. He's either really level headed or he was that tired. :)
 
So then we headed back to the XC field and I let Dan graze and mosey around while Judy did some work in the field and jumped a bit. Dan enjoyed grazing and we headed in. Turns out Danny had a good reason to be tired at the end. We ended up doing 7.77 miles! Yep... getting the baby fit.

We're making progress!!! clap clap clap!!

Well, both Rugrat and I are getting it. :) I'm learning how to coordinate my aids and my body so that I can ask him properly. And he is learning how to respond when I ask properly. It's good stuff. 

Today we worked on more of the same. I need to keep my head on straight, my shoulders open (specifically my left inside shoulder needs to stay down and back/open), and my legs forward at the girth. I can't let my outside leg be a vice, clutching and pushing him in. And above all us... we will get BEND!! If he drifts to the inside, I will no longer resort to pulling him back out with the outside rein. I will instead, instinctively react instead by asking him turn to the inside and then leg yield him out. Because it's not his head that is the problem. It's his ribcage. If he's not bending around my inside leg, then that needs to be addressed first and foremost. :) 

I also need to remember to steer! He doesn't know that I want a 20 meter circle without some rein aids. :) Doh! 

We made some good progress though. We even got Cindy and those sitting there clapping a few times. And we found out that Danny likes the cheers. He perks up when he hears clapping! So I must remember that and have people clap when he does great things. And I will remember to praise him so when he is doing it right. :) 

It was a good lesson. Our canter is starting to feel more balanced and less "run-away"ish. He's even allowing me to start to use the outside rein a bit. Which is great, because it means he's starting to go into it!!!! Hallelujah! We had some good downwards too. Actual forward downwards and not just falling into the downward. He worked up a little sweat and so did I. 

Good stuff. Then he was a goofy boy in the wash rack. ;) And oh... on our way out of the arena we passed Tess in the cross ties. She was getting all googly-eyed and straining at the edge of the ties trying to get to him. Hee hee. I just have some of the most handsome boys. Everytime Arwyn sees Fleck she goes into heat. And now it seems that every time Tess sees Dan, she goes into heat. Hee hee. Such studly boys. :)

 

Forward!!! Fitness!!!!

 Another day with no rain and the footing wasn't ridiculous so we took advantage. I was feeling the need for speed. ;) And since Fleck is still healing, Danny had to step up to the plate. And he quite enjoyed it. So did I. I almost didn't go because it was still cold and I had to work the overnight and was debating napping instead. But I'm glad I went. 
Liz and I were chatting and she said that she agreed with Cindy's thoughts and that she regretted shutting down Party's canter. So she said to let Danny develop that big canter! So we did. Plus, I wanted to work on some fitness anyways.

We got to Ashland and it was crowded! Everyone was taking advantage of the nice(ish) weather. I was a little concerned I would run into too many people to get to get our fitness on, but we managed. Despite seeing Debbie and Denise, then four people from Overland, then Amy and Luisgi, then Missy and Marty with her two boys, then Judy and Cash who then met up with Andi and Hank. And we saw another group of three ponies that I couldn't figure out who they were. But we did manage to get some good work in.

Danaroo and I did 6.5 miles in an hour and a half. We started out with a 10 minute walk, which Dan was sad about. He was ready to go! Then we did some trotting and some cantering and I let him go big. :) We had lots of fun. We did lots of walking in between too so I didn't push him too much. We headed up the hill and as we were cantering up I saw the log that had fallen a few days ago was still there. Lucy was slacking! ;) I decided since we were already cantering, we might as well hop over it. And I'm so proud of Dan. He saw it, backed off a hair, then saw that he could move up to it, and did. Then he hopped politely over it in a nice little jump and continued cantering on. Wheeeee!! There was another one at the top of the hill so I made him trot that one. And he just trotted over it without jumping it. 

After that we headed to the cross country field and I made him canter on his right lead. He was really only cantering on the left lead in the woods. And I wanted to work on cantering in the open. He was great and didn't get buck wild or anything, but he did keep swapping back to the left everytime the terrain was slightly uneven. Oh well. We did get quite a few circles in.

Then we headed to the lake and saw Judy so we caught up with her and went on a walk around the halfshire field with Andi and Hank. Danny started a little rowdy but settled down quickly and was good for just walking. Then we headed home.

A good day. 

What's that glowing orb in the sky?

 Yeah... it's been quite the icky winter. Worse for so many people up North, but still icky for us down here. It's been a long.... LONNNNNG month of ick this February. We've had rain and cold and then more rain and then bitter record breaking cold and then more rain. We've had a little bit of ice too. No snow really... not at the farm. But still just nasty weather. 

So we took advantage of the sunshine and enjoyed some good hacking! Despite the fact that it was still bitter cold. We had fun. And it was nice to stretch our legs some after lots of dressage work.

Dressage Lessons: Two in a Row

What a whirlwind of a 24-36 hours! I had a lesson with Cindy in Athens at 11 on Monday, then had to work the overnight in Athens, then had another lesson at 1 on Tuesday. But it worked out well.

On Monday we rode and it got a bit busy in the arena because of the weather (rain and more rain and cold... shocker right?!) but Dan was actually pretty good. We worked on not letting him get behind my leg and getting a forward canter. We worked on soft supple downward transitions. And we worked on me. A LOT! Cindy pointed out that when he gets stiff and won't get off my inside (especially tracking left) leg, that instead of trying to pull him back to the rail, I need to ride proper like and do it right. That means that I need to sit up, lift and bring back (caudally) my inside shoulder and elbow, and put my inside leg into his girth and move him back to the outside rein. If that doesn't work, then I need to leg yield him into the middle a bit (or turn him to the inside) and then leg yield him back out. (Oh hey... like what Julie Z was having me do with Fleck.. yield him out... yield him out). This way I'm teaching him that there's no way around the bend. He must bend and give his ribcage to me. The bend is more important than the geometry of the arena at this point. She also pointed out that I'm tipping my head to the inside and not looking where I need to be. It was amazing how Danny would really follow my eyes. I mean.. he really went to the trail when I looked just outside the rail. And did all the other things like lift and bring my inside shoulder and elbow back, etc. ;) But he gets it! 

On Tuesday we worked on the same stuff but took it a bit farther. When he got stiff in his shoulders, I would just leg yield him in a few steps and then back out. And oh.... he would just get off that shoulder, yield his ribcage and go into the outside rein with a nice supple bend. :) Yay! Of course it doesn't last but a few steps, but it's getting there. I also focused on my head position with much better success. And he was a bit more forward. Of course I also put my spurs back on. I was tired from the day before! ;) We worked on the canter a bit more and Cindy was saying that he's so long legged and long strided and short backed that we needed to allow that lift. To do that we need to let him go big first before we worry about shortening him. And unfortunately my way of riding his canter was to come down just as he was reaching his peak, effectively putting him on his forehand. She wanted me to ride the stride forward and to encourage him to reach just a bit longer with each stride. So my seat had to go forward and up. I'm not sure I was accomplishing it but apparently so. She described his canter as a wave. I was getting just ahead of it and bring it crashing down. Instead, she wanted me to get just behind it and push it forward more. I likened it to riding an actual wave at the beach. If you get ahead of it, you get nowhere. But if you get just behind the motion, you catch the energy and can ride that wave all the way to shore. :) So yep.. like that. But man is his stride long and big. 

It was a productive two lessons. We worked hard but he was still having fun and we made progress from the first to the second lesson. Both of us! I was able to get better about my head position and my evil left side and Dan was more ahead of my leg and listening to my leg yielding cues better. :) 

After the lesson, he had to hang out at the Academy while I adjusted two. He made friends with Santo. :)


It's funny how he's teaching me as much as I'm teaching him. Fleck is great, but he knows all my faults and just... carries on. Dan doesn't know but he also is trying. However, if I am telling him something wrong because my body is wrong, he doesn't know how to correct it and fix it, like Fleck does. Which is great!!! It's helping me become much more aware and hopefully I can fix it quicker because of that. :) 

So yep.. glad I braved the weather and lack of sleep because it was two good rides. :) 

The good one...for a change! ;)

 Dan is a hoot. The weather has been awful so we went for another short hack with Judy and Cash. The trails were miserable wet and smooshy and the weather was frightful. So no pictures. But these were so cute they needed to be shared :)

We did have a fun ride with Judy. Despite the ickyness. We mostly walked but when we got to Twix and Tween we had a little trot. Judy let me go first. Then I asked if she was up for a canter because Danny was a little up and felt like he needed to expel some energy. And the footing there was pretty decent. Judy is normally game but she dropped her stirrups so I wasn't sure if she would be up for it. She was and it started out just fine. Danny started to get a bit bigger so I pulled him back a hair. Right then I heard Judy casually say "so... we're gonna need to stop here in a second". I turned around and Cash was porpoising and ready to buck and bolt! I managed to pull up Dan pretty quick and she got Cash under control. Hee hee. CASH!! That's so unlike him. Judy rode well and all was fine. But goodness! However, I was super proud of how Danny handled it. He was quite calm despite Cash's antics next to him. Maybe he was just surprised that someone else was being a fool! Hee hee. 
So then we got to the big field and Judy wanted a little canter round to prove to Cash that he had to behave. I let Dan graze and I don't think he even noticed or cared that Cash was cantering around. I figured I wouldn't let Dan have a turn because he was already a little up and the footing wasn't great. So we headed back in and there was no more antics. 

Such a good baby horse really!