Feeling Punchy!!

 Whoo hoo!! My homemade bosal hanger works! And looks pretty darn snazzy if I do say so myself. :) I really wish I hadn't screwed up the more brown leather and had to get more, which was more burgandy. But oh well. Maybe I'll be motivated enough to try again but ... good enough for now!

 

I rode Dan at home since I had run out of time between my eye appt, Jacel lesson and then riding Lyric. But it was fine since I wanted to try out the bosal anyways. I just wish I had put all the groundpoles up because I couldn't really practice my test manuevers. Although to be fair, I have kind of forgotten what the test were anyways.  Ha ha. I need to go back and learn them again! But we played with the pattern pieces anyways. At least as best as I could estimate around the poles. We also did the poles. He was super!! I really do like him in the bosal. Although I'm starting to get paranoid that he won't be able to feel my weight and seat aids and leg aids in the saddle as much as in the bareback pad and then our rides will suck. Ughhh. I need my saddle to get here soon so I can get some practice rides in! 

 

He's still a little sticky bending, especially right, but iti was better today. Especially when I paid attention to my body. And we had some lovely leg yields. And our canters were decent. He didn't fall out of it today and I balanced him better but he struggles bending a bit more there too. We got some nice reinback too! I like Liz's technique... right rein, right leg, release, left rein, left leg, release and repeat. It works nicely! We practiced our serpentines and tried to do our barrel circles but it was hard not having an actual spot to circle around. But we tried. I'll relearn the tests and go practice at Ashland and then set up actual barrels or jump standards at home to practice that part for the obstacles! I'm also hoping to go get a lesson at Linda's farm on Saturday to practice the obstacles there. 

 

He was very good boy and seemed pretty happy in the bosal. And pretty ridable too! Of course most of that is because it makes me ride off my seat and legs. And oh, we got a lovely trot lengthen across the diagonal today too! And played with the stretchy trot. Which wasn't as good as it has been. And definitely not as good as Funny's 10. ;) We'll keep working at it. 

Good pony!

  \

Oh, and while I was grooming him today, I told myself to not be angry at his behavior but show him how to "use his words". So... I was patient and kind and watched. And when he got snarly, I stopped and did some fascial work. And... he appreciate it. And while it seemed like he needed it in lots of spots, it wasn't really that many. And then he got less cranky overall. So... I'll keep trying to listen as long as he quits screaming at me for all the things. :) Deal buddy? 

Group hack in hackamore

 group hack with sharon and jamie. dan's a wierdo. but weston likes him. rode in hackamore with headstall. definitely no control when dan wants to do what dan wants to do. ugh. 

fun though. walk only. good recovery day. (ha.. 6 miles walk though)

good with sailor the dog

hunter perch

 lesson with liz. halter and jump saddle. hunter perch. liz's work is done. 

garocha pole

played with serpentine. DUH... it's a 10 meter circle, change the bend to a 20 meter circle the other way, then change the bend to a 10 meter circle the other way. 

canter work. still weak. but falls out when he's tired and i abandon him, so hold him together at the end and compress to the downward

aaaahhhhh, I love Tuesdays!

 Ahhhh... if only every day could be a Tuesday! 

 

We got up early for the dentist. We went ahead and did Dan even though it's only been 6 months, but this way he's now on the same schedule as the girls. Plus, with the weird tongue thing he did the other day... I wanted to make sure! He was fine. But that's fine because now they can get all the things in March - vaccines, dentals, adequan... although I guess coggins are in August or something. Doh! Oh well.

   

Anyways, I gave him a few hours to recover and then we headed to Ashland. I decided to sign up for the Ashland show and am going to do the WE test for practice but also a western dressage test. I looked at them and figured we might as well try for 1-1. Which, I'm assuming is equating to first level. But it has a fun leg yield and a reinback and some canter. Not a lot of canter, but a circle each way. So yay! So, we got to Ashland and I put the halter on him with my reins instead of the bit. Partly because he had his teeth done but mostly because I feel like he's not happy in the western bit. I broke down and ordered another (cheap) bosal because I still don't have any idea when I'm getting his good one. And I need it in time for the Ashland show and would like to be able to practice before then too! And it's already shipped and should arrive in 1-3 days! YAY! In the meantime, we'll ride in the the halter. 

 

So we got on and took a warm up lap around the little lake. Then we headed to the arena. We warmed up briefly and then just went straight into the test. (Or what I thought was the test... I didn't realize it wasn't a three loop serpentine so much as a three loop quarter line to quarter line serpentine). But he nailed it. My version anyways. He was super and sooooo much happier in the halter. He was softer in his neck and not braced and just more lifted in his back. So yep.. definitely going to stick to this or the bosal. We played around with some other things... did more canter... more leg yields, some shoulder ins, some lengthens, some stretches, and some centerline to halts. And practiced the reinback. And we had fun. He was super good so we didn't stay in the arena too terribly long. 

 

We headed out to cross country and I let him go in the water complex. He wanted to paw but it was so shallow and I didn't want him making holes. So we trotted a circle but it was so shallow it wasn't really worth it. And he kept trying to stop and paw. So I gave up and took him to the lake. On the way there we trotted a log or two and the upbank. On landing of the up bank he put his head down like he was going to buck, but he didn't. Phew! 

 

We headed to the lake and had a lovely splash fest! He quite enjoyed himself. Then we opted to go down racoon loop, cross the bridge and then he picked sideways. Good boy... I was aiming for some hills. We then came back out to the narnia crossing into the XC field and trotted the ditch and then up the hill. Then I wanted one more canter so we trotted back down and then cantered back up. Good pony!

 

 

Such a lovely day!! Now to just hope I can ride as well once I get my tack... the saddle.. the bosal... 

 

 

 

Good cowboy

 photos: good cowboy, I help

Rode at home. good boy. he tried. worked on neck reining, less loud aids, and better bend and connection. have to change my rein length so much. not a fan. not how i want to ride. also worked on backing up and the serpentines. got a nice canter but lost his hind end twice. transitions braced again. especially into canter but also into trot. argh. want my bosal!!!

good boy though

Short Ride and School

 

 After the show with Funny, I got home and wanted to try to take Danny out. Mike had been waiting on the tractor guy all day so he went to go get lunch (poor guy... almost 4 pm) while I waited. Luckily Sharon was good with waiting too, so I managed to get to Ashland just after 5 pm. She had to go pick her husband up from the airport so we had to do a quick ride. We tacked up and headed to the lake. We went around the lake and then headed back. It was a nice ride. Gorgeous day today, despite the winds and it being a hair chillier. 

   

When we got back, I ended up going to the arena for a little more riding since Sharon had to leave. We practiced using less rein aids and more body and seat aids. And we played with the test a little bit. But I forgot it so we just kind of toodled around. I also did some cantering and that seems to be getting better and better each day. We also worked on the reinback and did some of the straight line walk to trot to walks. He was good. We also did some leg yields. 

 

We finished and headed back to the trailer but then I decided to practice neck reining amongst the trees so we zigged and zagged through a bunch of trees. We're both getting the hang of it, although I do have to be more exaggerated. But we'll get there. 

 

 

Good pony!

 

Good lesson with Liz

 So.. my saddle should be here by the end of next week!!!! EEEEEKKKKSS!! Yet... my bosal still hasn't shipped. GRRRRR. Ha ha. Oh well. I did get bigger conchos that match my saddle for his western shank bit bridle, but... I want my bosal!! Oh well. I'm really hoping that we can meet Mr. Mark and his wife at Ashland and after we get our saddles checked and on, we can all go for a trail ride!!

But today, we rode bareback. Again. ;) I did use the western bridle, which... was kind of helpful. It was a good lesson. Liz reminded me that I had to keep my hands closer together and MUCH quieter. Ride him like a fancy hunter... soft, small, subtle aids. And remember... the long shank on the western bit amplifies everything. Granted, it's the softest, kindest, easiert shank bit (supposedly) but it's still got the big curb on it. I was asking too much and not waiting and thus we were sling shotting around. So... soft, small aids and wait. And it worked. And.. use my body too. 

We started at the walk and it was already a much better walk. He was more forward and marching with me just keeping my legs softly on vs kicking and bumping every step. When he got too sluggish, an ask... and if no response, a tap with the whip. (or 6 taps.. if that's what it takes to get a response.. because it is Dan). But he was pretty marchy today. He does tend to want to counterbend tracking to the left, so she had me occasionally ask him to put his haunches out and bring his shoulder in. I definitely turn my head to the inside way more on him, so I have to remember to look to the outside (which is actually straight). And tracking left, I can ask him to bring his shoulders around and his haunches slightly out and also use my shoulders to turn to the inside and push my outside hip forward. But keep my head to the outside so I don't collapse in my body.

We did some spiral in and spiral out at the walk and it was helpful to get my body position correct. And it helped me with my aids. I was too strong. It's more of a rolling of my wrist... turning the key... to ask for a turn. And to help him stay up in the shoulders, I can lift my hand/arm and bring it back a hair on the inside. My inside hand should be higher than my outside, slightly. We trotted and his trot was quite nice today! Bigger than it has been. We joked that I'm having to ride quieter on him, like I do with Funny. He's getting more responsive and I'm remembering to be quieter. Yay! I tried to keep my energy in the present... in the space I was.. not ahead of us. Because I tend to throw my enery ahead of me and then my horses have to rush to catch up. So when I focused on staying upright in my seat and core, and kept my energy balls (ha ha.. I have balls) with me.. not squirting out ahead. We played with some straight lines in walk to trot then back to walk to help him learn to balance himself and be responsible for his own feet. He tripped hard once but then he corrected and started to be a bit more uphill. It was hard because when we went down centerline, he did his "trick" of trying to lengthen. But then we walked... and it threw him off. And I was bouncing because.. he got big! But we played with it and it got better. That'll be a good thing to keep practicing. It's like what Jacel was having us do... trot to walk to trot transitions to help retrain his scapula muscles and get him sitting. And same thing, but on the straight line, he can't cheat. And it'll help him lift himself and be in self carriage. 

So then we went to the canter/lope. We started on the left lead and.. it was quite wonderful!! It was nice and forward and big and not at all tentative. He felt confident in it! We did the shallow trot serpentine to set him up and then asked for the canter. He was quite good in the circle but struggled a bit more on the straight line. But we had a nice canter. Then we went to the right and it wasn't so great. He fell in hard to get into the canter and then was falling out once we were in it. It helped if I sat more upright and thought about lifting him vs sending him. And it helped if I really focused on looking to the outside and sitting to the outside. But he was struggling today. We actually got some REALLY NICE steps to the right. Like a very correct and lovely canter, and once an amazing depart. But he just can't hold it. He cant do a smaller circle or straight lines and he can't hold it for a whole circle, so we didn't push it. But we did get some really nice and correct work for a short part of the circle. So we'll keep building!

 

Good pony! We finished with a bit more trot to walk to trot and worked on straightness and it was much better. I need to keep the reins drapey but have some contact/connection. But small subtle cues. It was fun! He looked and felt quite nice and energized. Liz got some video and there's a few steps where he has the most lovely trot! He really was bred to be a nice hunter. 

Good boy!