Bringing Up Baby!
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
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.
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!
packed my gun, rode great with it. but saw no one, so yay
good hack. ground was like concrete so dan wanted to be on the edges. wiggly and annoying me ont he way out. did some trot and some canter but he preferred the left lead. did bolt with me (fun bolt) once, but it was fun. while trotting, stopped short at the dementors in the woods. literally spooked himself and tried to spin and bolt for real. was legit creepy... looked like foggy sheets in the trees lurking around... was smoke from the controlled burns. but legit creepy. got him past that and then he relaxed again. good time.
photos: Solo CE ride
nice hack with marvin
warmed up in arena. good boy. better bend and got lovely in the canter but couldn't hold it
photos: hack with marvin and goodnight sun
Slept in, didn't have liz lessons
worked lyric then got Dan and did a little bit of postural work with him.
then put bareback pad on and halter and ponied lyric. was going well, even going over groundpoles. jean had set up grids, so put them all down to poles on the ground for ponying. then dan got squeezed in between post and lyric and she kicked out and nailed in him in the left stifle. Not too bad because she was so close but hard enough that there was a cracky noise again and he stopped and held it up. I immediately jumped off and smacked her twice. then looked at dan. tiny lump and drop of blood but... nothing glaringly obvious. He just stood there. I just..... lost it.. i just walked away and cried. left them both standing there and just walked off aways and cried. for real???? like.. come on!! I'm finally accepting the no eventing... the no dressage... and finally excited about our new chapter, and now... now this again?
luckily I think he's fine... it was more of a flash back grieving than anything else I think. well, and hormones. but good gravy. I let him stand there because I figured if he wanted to move, he could. I lunged lyric some more and then turned her back out. by then dan had wandered back over and looked fine. I jogged him and he looked sound. so then we backed up... still fine. So then i took him out and got on and was going to just ride him to the barn so that I could make sure I didn't feel anything and I wanted to. to be blunt. he kept stopping though. so i finally gave up and got off and untacked him and carried my stuff down the barn. he was happily grazing.
later christy came for bodywork. he was awful. fidgety and wouldn't let her do much. she got some things done in spurts and i manhandled him as much as i could but man he was driving me crazy! did some magnawave which he finally settled down and zenned out for. he did look better and finally stopped bracing in his front end.
superficial spiral line on the right...
Poor Danimal... he's getting segwayed (how the heck do you spell that word?) into Uncledom. And he's not necessarily thrilled about it. Or cooperative. Ha! It's hard to think of him like I think of Fleck. He's not really "old".... but he's the oldest and most mature and most .... ha.. I was going to write dependable, but.. is he though? Maybe yeah...
Anyways... I miss Fleck. A lot. But... we carry on. I've been wanting to do some more long trotting with Lyric but I am way too out of shape and I hate to keep lunging her in circles. So I thought... let's go back to ponying. Except, we can't go to Ashland now because then Funny is home alone. So... I decided to try it today at home. I didn't have a ton of time because of my neuro appt, so... I got home at 5ish and grabbed two halters, the bareback pad, and my helmet! I was at least smart enough to grab my helmet!
I did a little bit of bodywork and groundwith with Lyric first and then I tied her to the fence and grabbed Dan. I put the bareback pad and the sidepull halter on him. I found it while I was cleaning my trailer for the show and was like "oh yeah.. this is easier than the halter". Then I grabbed Lyric and took them both outside of the arena and climbed on Dan. We walked off and all was well. I asked for a trot and it started okay but rapidly escalated!! I suppose I should have known better... Dan in a halter... ponying Lyric... on a cold and windy day (not as bad as yesterday but still not a great day for this).... Lyric having had a week off.. and Funny loose in the pasture. Not to mention Jean's two yearlings were already semi-feral in her pasture. We tried to trot a few times but Funny came galloping up, Dan tried to put his head down and buck, Lyric reared straight up and tried to bolt off.... I managed to stay on (almost didn't once!) and get Dan back under control and got Lyric under control all but once (let go but caught her again without having to get off) and get us all back to a walk in our multiple attempts to trot. I finally realized the effort was futile and gave up. I got off and walked them to the arena. I was tempted to just ride Dan or just work Lyric but then I thought... nope, we'll just do boring laps in the arena instead.
So that's what we did. We went in the arena and everyone was civilized then. Well, mostly. There was some chomp attempts but in general, nothing worse than faces. We trotted laps about 6 times each way and did some crossing the diagonal a few times. We did a few walk breaks. And Lyric was a bit up at times but she was forward and marching. And she got quite soft in the neck a few times too. As did Dan! Yay! Dan felt pretty energetic also, which was nice. No western pleasure jog today. But he wasn't so quick and on the forehand that I coudn't sit it either. Yay! Interstingly, I felt short on him next to Lyric! Like.. he felt small! I'm not sure if she's grown.. or if it's just that her head is so big compared to his... or she carries her head higher than him.. but she felt huge next to him! hee hee.
So, I think it helped Lyric and I think it was nice for Dan to do a little bit of work without me focusing on his frame. And he was in the halter which made him happy. And he did good! He was a good pony horse.
