Adult Pony Camp: Day 3

Cavaletti Day:

Day 3: Felt great and pooped 3 times overnight and ate all of his soaked hay. Had a lesson in the am after watching the beautiful sunrise together. Did poles on the ground. Which Beth warned me was hard for him. And me. But it was awesome. We worked through a lot of things in my brain. Discussed that I want his shoulders to be straight but it would likely feel shoulders out to me as I had been riding shoulders in for so long. Couldn’t give up the outside rein tracking left, and needed to be slightly soft tracking right. Must keep contact on the inside rein and need to shorten it up a good bit. When it’s long I feel the lack of connection and panic and end up overbending his neck. Interestingly, if my inside rein is shorter, I don’t end up overbending him. The goal is to get his shoulders straight and thus he neck straight with the proper bend/flexion. Don’t get too carried away and block the barrel with my outside leg either. I can block IF it comes my way, but don’t grip in anticipation. Also lift my inside hand, especially right lead canter. It’s not as high as I think. And wow. When I got it.. he went from being a bit heavy and braced to carrying his own head and getting that chandelier feel!!! Yay!!! His back came up too. It got really nice 😊 😊 And through the poles… stay collected a bit so it’s easy for him but leg to support and engage. I let him get too long. So yes.. many epiphanies in the epiphany (Yep.. I rode in the demo saddle again since I could). Oh, another epiphany. By asking him to leg yield out a hair, and more importantly step into my outside stirrup, I consistently got the canter lead and easily.

Turned him out a good chunk of the day since there was such a nice breeze so he could graze. Opted to nap instead of take him swimming as I was afraid he’d get bit by a water moccasin given the week we were having. Took a nap (kind of) and then helped Beth set poles for the afternoon lessons. And… was carrying a heavy one through the gate (moved to a different pasture) and managed to run the pole into the gate, which swung the pole into my face. Split my lip. Good grief!! So… yeah. Had a nice afternoon watching them ride and then walked stadium courses and relearned how to walk 3 feet strides and practiced it. Then learned that a one stride gets counted different… not land, one, take off… Just count how many steps… most 1 strides are 21 feet, which is a comfortable one stride. A 24 foot one stride will ride a bit long. (maybe not for us)

Then turned Dan out a bit again and got a beautiful sunset too. And no rain storm.

Adult Pony Camp: Day 2

XC Day: Technical stuff

Day 2: Gave banamine in am though he looked pretty awesome… tracking up evenly. Went on XC to do “technical” stuff. Felt great and we warmed up nicely. Then started with the ditch. We managed to not fall into it this day. 😊 Then added a small small fence before and after, then one on a bend. The trick was balancing and rating. Then moved to the bank. Holy moly , we ended up doing a cavaletti, bounce, down the bank, bounce, vertical combo that was so much fun. And Dan was super. Then added a cabin on a bent line. Then moved to the water and did barrel into and out of the water. Need to allow him to move out. He felt like he was running away with me but he wasn’t. Alternating half halt. Keep him “on the bit” (the XC version). But must be collected through the water. Quit with that, which was a lot. He drank in the water complex, had a big long sip once back at the stall and then got hosed off and iced for 20 minutes. Ate alfalfa. Then laid down for a big long nap. Which turned into a really long nap.. .and then I started to worry. He woke up… I turned him out. He rolled, and then…. Laid down. Got up, laid down, etc. Definitely not feeling good. Ended up hauling him to Aiken Equine Vet. By the time we got there he had pooped in the trailer (which was a slant step up and he loaded right up!). He got off, went into the stall, drank, peed, and acted like normal. 😊 Ended up getting tubed with lytes, water and mineral oil just in case and we came home. Acting normal once home.

Love my tiny home!! Massive thunderstorm with lightning too. Awesome to sit in my trailer, after showering and cooking dinner.. and listen to the rain and watch the lightning. And check on dan too. Literally outside his stall door.

Adult Pony Camp: Day 1

Lesson with Cindy: Use leg yield in the canter to get him pushing off the hind end evenly. It really helps which then gives my butt a place to sit rather than having to get popped out of the tack.

Beth Pony Camp:

Lead up: back from beth boot camp, fleck tried to kill dan, dan pulled a shoe… wouldn’t eat… Freddie got the shoe on and we got packed and loaded and headed out for our lesson with Cindy and then to go to Full Gallop.

Day 1: Hitchcock woods: All was well until the tractor came and we turned and got clustered and Dan got nailed in the left hind femur medially. Thought he had broken it… thank God he didn’t… was sound after a bit. Came back and cold hosed and turned out. A bit off so gave banamine hoping he’d feel better.

Back From Camp!!!!

Thursday: Picking Dan up from Beth Boot camp. Beth told me that he needs structure and structure makes him happy. Once he had some ground work and rules on the ground he was a gentleman under saddle and went right to work. Rules: Assume the position in cross ties. Ties must be loose and he must be behind them (not pushed up against them, straining them). He must be square and centered and he cannot move or chew on the ties. When leading… he must stay behind me or at my shoulder and not get ahead. He’s not allowed to graze, sniff poop, or fraternize with other horses. If he does, backing him up and rapidly works best. No chewing, no grazing under saddle, no snaking his head at me or other horse. He can pin his ears (AS LONG as he’s within the rest of the rules) but no snaking of the head or coming at whoever he’s pinning his ears at. Beth also said that he’s a really nice horse… like she knew he was nice, but now she knows he’s *REALLY* nice. And he needs to behave so he doesn’t hurt himself or others. So then she rode him since I was feeling icky. He looked good! Much more connected back to front and underneath himself. Yay! Then I got on. And wow!! His walk was better from the get go. I didn’t have to nag. He was forward. The trot was pretty nice too and the canter was amazing!!! So basically she said that I needed to ride him a bit shoulders out (not fore, out) to get him aligned up. It will be straight but to me it will feel like he’s shoulders out as I’ve tended to let him collapse on the inside shoulder in an effort to keep him from flinging his shoulders to the outside and escaping. He needs to be straighter though his body. She said that she couldn’t tell from watching but riding him, he was so wiggly in the contact and really wouldn’t go into the right rein. Yes!! Thank you!! I agree. So I didn’t do much but worked on those things and we had a nice ride.

Then I got home and Fleck tried to kill Dan… dan pulled a shoe… wouldn’t eat….

Sending My Baby Boy off to Camp!

So.... I am heading to the beach for CE and beach time. And Danny is heading to Camp with Beth. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it, but... I decided it was great timing and the price was affordable and I just needed to do it. But man, it's hard. I had to tell myself that he was going to Camp and would meet new friends and have a blast! And that if he was left at home he would just be bored and would pester Fleck. So... we went for our lesson with Cindy and then I dropped him off at Beths. It wasn't a great lesson with Cindy. I think maybe because of my mind set. I was tired trying to get everything done and working and getting everyone fit in before I left for out of town. I was nervous and worried about Dan. And.. yeah, it wasn't a bad lesson. Just not a great lesson. So.. I dropped him off with Beth and left all his stuff and his food and.... tried to give him a hug goodbye and he was such a grump. I called Peri on my way home and told her that I was tearing up but not crying... but that was really only because he was being such a crab that it wasn't that hard to leave him. I mean, it's not like he was whinnying after me. Sigh... So... Hopefully he won't hurt himself... tear up the barn or destroy anything... or buck Beth off. Fingers crossed!