2015: Time to be a real dressage pony

Today was a good day! It was a long cold day, but a good day. I got to Ashland at 11 with both boys to meet Cindy to check saddle fit. Fleck's needing some more wool but were doing well. And the jump one fit Dan well. Then we got to dressage saddles for Dan. Sigh... nothing seemed to be working well. Then on a whim, we put my dressage saddle on him. I thought it would be too narrow for him but Cindy really liked it on him. She said it fit him well enough and we'd just keep an eye on it. YAY for not having to buy a new dressage saddle for him. And Yay that he gets to wear brown too. :) Whoo hooo.

So then I jumped Fleck and Dan hung out in the trailer. Afterwards, I left them both tied to the trailer while I went to watch some of Sarah's lesson. After a bit, I headed back because it was getting so cold! It wasn't too bad riding Fleck but the wind picked up and the temps started dropping and I wasn't working, so it got cold. It was a good thing I headed back because Dan had managed to slip his lead from his halter. He pulled back a few days ago because Fleck was chewing on him and that made him step towards me. I didn't realize Fleck was chewing on him and smacked him forward back into Fleck. We ping ponged back a few times before Danny decided to just back out of the situation. He didn't break the halter but the ring snap ring opened up, so even though I wrenched it shut again, it's loose enough that his lead will slip out. I had forgotten that when I tied them both to the trailer and went with Beth to XC. So it was a good thing I came back when I did because Dan had slipped out and was meandering around, eating grass. He came right to me though. Of course then when I was trying to fix his halter the porta-potty people came and freaked him out. And so I lost him and he went galloping around the parking area. Sigh. He let me catch him easily enough and I put his rope halter on him instead. I tacked him up and decided to lunge him before our lesson. The wind was really whipping and Danny was dancing on the end of the lead rope at first. I honestly was a little worried about getting on him. It was just so windy and really not ideal conditions for a 3.5 year old. :) I lunged him for about 15 to 20 minutes and while he was squirty a few times, he was paying attention and was good. I decided then it was probably fine to get on. So I hopped on and we walked around for about 5 minutes and then Beth was finished with Sarah. She wanted me to come down to the warm up area of the ring so that he was a bit more confined (so he had a 20 meter plus circle rather than a full standard sized arena). As soon as we did that, Dan got to scooting. Every time we hit the one side of the arena, he's drop a shoulder and scoot. Once he almost lost me but that's because we changed directions. So we immediately put him to work on a small circle and within 4 circles he forgot about. Then he was great!!!

We worked on connection and riding him up to the bit. I didn't have a heavy connection but tried to keep a soft feel. I especially had the feel on the outside rein and was sponging the inside rein and working on the connection and inside leg to outside rein. Dan was allowed to wiggle because he was figuring it out. We're changing the rules from black and white to suddenly all sorts of shades of gray. But he was getting the hang of it. As long as he was in general vicinity of "not inverted and not flinging", he got soft quiet hands. If he was inverted or flinging, then I was sponging and gently riding him with my leg into the reins. He was getting the hang of it. At the end we even did smaller circles and he was turning just off my inside leg and outside rein aids. Yay! He showed glimpses of a fancy proper dressage horse. :) whooo hoo.

We quit with that because then Lucy pulled up and I figured I had pushed my luck long enough. Considering the weather (crispy cold and dropping AND gusts of wind), he was a VERY good boy. yay!! And I liked my saddle on him and he seemed quite happy in it. I'll buy the Logic girth from Barbara because that really seemed to help him out. And he got a new bridle for Christmas so... he'll be outfitted well. :)

So proud of the goofball! I love his brain. Sure.. he was a bit sassy, but not naughty and if you work him through it, he settles quite quickly and nicely. :)

Goodbye 2014

 It's the last day of 2014 and we're sending the year out with a trail ride. :) It was a good year. Danny was a pretty good boy and I'm so proud of him and how he's doing. We had two dressage shows and he wasn't too bad. He did an overnight away show and handled that well. In short, he's coming along quite nicely. :)

 

We went for a fun ride with Peri. I think we rode for about an hour and a half. We just walked. Although I did trot Danny over a little log. He's hilarious! The last time I tried to trot him over a little log he came down to the walk and stepped over it one foot at a time. This time, he jumped it well but as he landed with his front feet, he put his head down to the ground. I guess he wanted to buck?! But he almost face planted. Then he bucked. Hee hee. He's so silly! But after that he was walking politely again with Tess. 

 It was a beautiful day! At the end we went to the XC field and Peri played around a little bit on Tess. Danny was good and wasn't bothered that she was doing her own thing. So we played too. We walked in and out of the water and even went up and down the bank into the water. We even did BOTH banks in and out. :) The one he's never done up before. :) He was a bit balky doing down the bank, but really not bad at all. Then we walked over the ditch. And he walked over it too. Excellent. We also walked up and down the regular bank. Then I decided to trot him up the hill for some hill work. Ha! I sort of expected it. He started fine but then worked into a canter which then turned into some bucking. Goofy! I got him sorted out and we kept going. So yep, it'll be awhile before I'm brave enough to let him canter in the open field. He just has too much fun. And don't get me wrong... I would love to let him open up and go. But I have a feeling his exuberant bucks may get to be too much. It's one thing in the woods in the lanes. We're not quite ready for a free for all. :) But considering he was cantering and bucking some as it was, he came back nicely. We did some trotting out in the open and he was well behaved. :)

Fun day! I wish I could ride him tomorrow too to break in the New Year, but I have to work the two overnights. Oh well. At least I ended it well :)

Merry Christmas!!!

 Merry Christmas Danaroo!! You are so handsome!

 Hee hee.. He's such a goodber! He says "PWEZENTS!!! THERE IS PWESENTS!?!?!"

I had the flu so I didn't get to go visit family or ride. But as I went to take a little nap I peeked out at them and saw this. :) Guess it's nap time for us all.

Dressage saddle?

I went for a quick ride on Dan because I had a horrible headache and thought I might puke. But I really really wanted to ride him. I had borrowed a dressage saddle from a friend to see if it would work for him. And it's nice! Really nice. Dan and I had a good ride. But he was so fussy in the bridle. However, I figured out that I was tightening up on the reins a lot because he was being so fussy, which was making him fussy. Sigh. So I lengthened them and he was much more solid. I still tried for a connection, but it was on a longer rein. That seemed to make him happy. :) We didn't do too much and then we just went for a quick little hack after. But it was good to be on him.

Full Gallop Farm: Our second show outing!

Danny boy...oh danny boy. ;) I took both boys to Full Gallop for their schooling show. Dan hauled the 2.5 hours great and I got them settled in their stalls. I decided to go ahead and hop on both boys for a quick hack before dark. Dan did pretty well. He was a little excited but we had a decent ride. Meanwhile though Fleck had torn down his stall - kicked apart one board and pulled two halfway off. Jeesh! So then Dan was a good boy while I rode Fleck. I got them settled for the night and tucked in and then it was off to bed. 

Sunday was a bit of a rushed day with all that was going on. I took them both for a quick walk and even threw them in the paddock for a 10 minute romp. I rode Fleck first so Dan had to stay in his stall all day. And other than calling for Fleck, he seemed to handle it well. Finally it was his turn. I ended up rushing because I watched a friend go instead of getting Dan ready. I didn't quite think I would need as much time as I did. So I got on and headed over to the dressage rings. I didn't even have time to do any in hand work. The dressage rings were across the pastures in the neighbors farm so it was a good distance away. We trotted some of the way and all was going well until we got to the paddocks just before the dressage rings. Then it was a sudden stop, shoulder drop, and turn and bolt. I managed to keep him under wraps and got into the warm up area. He was quite naughty... the ring steward even asked me "are you sure you want to do this?"! hee hee. Not really! But I went ahead and headed out to the rings. There was only three horses out there, including us. They were waiting on test forms so I had a little extra time luckily. He was still being silly... occasionally squirting off towards the barns. But it wasn't anything super bad. The one girl went in and did her test and started to leave. I asked her to stay and she said she had to leave. The other girls friends said she would stay. Bless them!! They were super nice. She had a lovely test and then it was my turn. Dan was still being feisty. We had some good laughs at him and then in we went. I told the judge not to be alarmed, but I was just going to get it done. :) 

Intro B went okay. He cantered in both of our trot circles and our centerlines were quite wiggly and squirmy. He didn't halt very well, although perhaps I didn't prepare him propely. He's quite responsive to my seat and I think I got my handsy than I should have. But you know, we survived. I asked if I was okay to go ahead and do Intro Test C and the judge and my new friend agreed. So we went back in.
 Intro Test B
Intro C was a little better. We got both of our canter leads and we were a little less fussy. He did canter down centerline the second time. Doh! But not too shabby.
 Intro Test C
Point is... we accomplished it. It was a big step for him. Lots of wind, only one horse for company, he spent the night being stalled.... So props to the kid for getting through it. :)

Big boy Trails!

Danny and Fleck and I headed to the mountains for a trail ride adventure! We met up with Lisa at Fausett Farms in Dahlonega. Lisa rode Fleck and I rode Dan. It was a great place to ride. There was water, a wash rack, and great parking. The trails were nice too. Great views and nice wide trails for most of the way. Lots and lots of hills though. Steep hills!! And multiple paths with multiple distances. There was even a spot with a paddock for the horses and picnic tables and a lake. Super cool!! It only took about 2 hours to get there and that was with some construction traffic. 

Dan did great! He behaved himself and was a good sport about the hills. He was breathing hard!! But he did well and got a second wind and tried to throw in the occasional buck. :) Such a trooper!

 

Thank goodness!!! Danaroo feels better!

Great news!! Fleck and I came home from Pine Top to a very sound and VERY Spunky Danny! There was a giant hole in his coronary band where he had blown the abscess out. So phew!! So glad that's all it was. He was very glad that it blew too. 
:)
Danny feels BETTER!!! 
So today he got to go to Ashland for a ride to prep for tomorrow. :) He was a good boy but a little fussy. I think I may have gotten a bit heavy in the rein connection, but I was trying to work on getting a connection. Sigh. I hope I do right by him. We worked on our leg yields and he wasn't too bad even at the trot. We worked on the right lead canter again too and poor guy. He really was trying the other day. It took a few tries but he got it again today. I learned a very important lesson today on him though. He's really bad about bulging out that right rib cage. Especially coming down the long side. I was getting frustrated because when he's bent against me, it makes it very hard to get him to pick up his right lead. Well.... turns out... he's bulding against my right leg because I have NO RIGHT SEAT BONE! Argh... Once I sat down on my right seat bone, he bent around my right leg and was so much better. Yay!!! Poor kid... He's not even really trained and yet here he is, already responding to my seat aids. 

The pressure is on! Now I really need to learn how to ride. 
So then we went for a trail ride because he worked hard. It was such a beautiful day too. I wanted to let him play in the lake. So off we went and he was great. We had to chase the geese away but he got to play in the lake and splashed. Then on the way home I let him canter up the hill on "Four Terraces". And oh my.... that canter!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that canter!!! It took a little bit to get him back down to the trot, but... I wasn't trying too hard. :) He actually comes down to the trot better when I start posting than when I use the reins. 

Love this kid!!! Tomorrow should be a fun day too. I'm hauling both boys to the mountains to trail ride with Lisa. She'll ride Fleck and I'll ride Dan. :)