Beating the rain... mostly

Yuck!! This weather has been awful. At least it didn't start raining yesterday like they originally predicted, but... sometime today it will. And then who knows when it will stop! They were originally predicting 11ish, so I got up fairly early and decided to go ride before it hit. I opted not to lunge since the round pen was still pretty wet and I didn't know when the rain would hit, and... I sort of thought maybe we'd take it a little easy til our vet visit just in case. BUT.... sigh, I should have lunged. I got up to the arena and Jean was riding and her helper was setting up a grid. But... she said she only had 20 minutes before she had to go do a phone call and she didn't mind, so I walked around the arena and did my walk work. But we ended up chatting and Dan was super distracted, so we didn't accomplish much. And unfortunately for her, she never fully got her grid set up nor did she get to ride it.... and now there's just more jumps in my dressage area. Oh well. After she left Dan and I had a pretty good ride. We worked on some stuff and our trot half passes are getting fairly decent. We did manage a few changes over the cavaletti once I got him to it not on a flyer. We also got some pretty nice canter to walk transitions more often than not. Yay! We worked on backing some too. For some reason that has just become so awful. But we made progress. And of course it starting misting on us as soon as Jean left, so basically the beginning of our ride. Which meant that my Pivo freaked out and recorded the pasture fence literally the entire time. So yeah....  But hey.. we got a ride in! Annoyingly, it didn't rain til about 1 pm, so I could have taken a bit more time getting out there to ride, but oh well. We got it done and I was able to come inside and dry off so yay!

 

 Slept in FINALLY (well, a little bit)

helped mike with his garage, burned some boxes, planted two dogwoods

lunged and rode dan - meh... feels sticky behind starting out... had some decent work once we got moving. Struggled horrendously with the change over the cavaletti but finally got it 4 times in a row, so quit. Practiced the three loop simples... got some good canter to walks.... got a nice lengthen from cantering down centerline.... also practiced the reinback and made progress.

SUNSHINE!

 Today was such a pretty day! It was chilly this morning but the sun came out. The sky was gorgeous with big fluffy clouds! Unfortunately I had to meet a girl to give her some stuff from our storage unit and go get hay. Both in Loganville, but I needed the truck for both things, so it was two trips worth. And the timing got messed up. So... I didn't get to go ride until later afternoon. Which is fine, but the big fluffy pretty clouds were gone. BUT... we did still get some pretty sights regardless!

We started off with a hack around the little lake and then went to do some dressage. We worked on our walk stuff then did our trot work. And he is a little braced again in the neck going right but we aren't really getting the hitch anymore, so yay! We did get some nice trot work. Then we did some canter work. I didn't do any lead change practice because no pole/cavaletti and I didn't want to drill. We did do our downwards and they are getting better slowly. Then we ran through some 2nd level test work. I couldn't remember the test exactly but parts and pieces so we did that. He was pretty super! Our mediums have gone by the wayside though, unless it's down centerline. I've got to figure out how to channel that! But we did the 3 loop with simple changes and they weren't too shabby! We did the short counter canter, which... again, the one way (I think it's left lead counter canter) he is SUPER haunches in, but... oh well. So then we went back to some trot work and tried a trot half pass each way. Holy smokes he's getting it!!! It was so much better today than it has been! Yay! So we quit with that! I was tempted to do a lengthen/medium down centerline but... decided nope.. quit with the awesome half pass attempts!

So then we went for a nice hour long hack. It was pretty. We did a little cantering and trotting but mostly just walked and looked for hills. Ahhhhh..... so much happiness!

Thought Tornadoes.... outta control!!!

 Okay... okay.... I think I've got it! My brain is my worst enemy sometimes. Like I've said... I'm definitely not the best/most skilled/even fairly talented of riders, but dang if I don't give it my all! 

So... we had another lesson today. Luckily before the rain hit! But it was chilly! We warmed up with the mirrors! And Dang!!! Our walk half passes are amazing. :) Hee hee... We did some trotting and basically... I've just got to be more persistent that he stay round and not let him brace with his underneck anymore. We sort of slacked on that a bit. And sure enough, once he lets' go there, he starts getting quite buoyant! Tracking left is the hardest because he wants to tip his nose to the outside. And... I almost have to overbend him to get him straight, but then I feel like he's just breaking at the withers instead of truly bending...which, in part, he is. Because that right side is hard for him to stretch. So.. we just keep at it and I make the effort to get it correct, but also understand that he is trying. So we got some nice work. And I just have to remember that he can up his game and I need to keep him held to that standard. :) 

So then we moved onto the canter. She did say that our transitions, both up and down, had gotten better! They still weren't were they needed to be, but.. better. :) hee hee. Fair enough. She's absolutely right. So we got our canter and then she asked us to go over two cavaletti's she had set one stride apart. So to start off, I picked up the canter on the left lead and couldn't figure out how to get over the cavaletti's. She was like... "um.... go the other direction". Duh!!! So we started on the right lead... cantered across the diagonal and landed on the left lead. Mostly. Yay!! The trick was to have right bend, which created suppleness and a soft back. Then as we crossed the diagonal and started towards the cavaletti's, I changed the bend, and... viola! That side is easy! So we got it most every time and then she moved the caveletti's and we went the other way. This is where the hamster's started flying off the wheel! I can get Dan to supple to the right.... and then supple left. I can get Dan to supple left. But I apparently cannot get Dan to supple left and then supple right in one swoop. He kept bracing and locking and then we kept not getting the change. And sadly, the first few times were way better.. but then I started to TRY to get the change and made it way worse. We tried a few things...  So... first... I have NEVER fully understood the proper aids for canter. I feel like some people tell me to lift my inside hip, some tell me to use my inside leg, some tell me to use my outside leg. And I don't even know what I do anymore. So then the aids to swap are confusing because I don't even know the aids to get the canter. Except I do. Stop... breathe.... shhhhhh.... Pick up the canter. Okay, what did I just do? Oh.... For the left lead, I sat slightly left, closed my left/inside leg, put my outside/right leg slightly back, and lifted my inside/left seat bone. But simultaneously almost and subtly. And we got the left lead (Go us, by the way because that used to be super hard and we'd often get the right lead!). So, okay.. then I canter on the left lead... get inside bend with a soft supple neck and back... come across the diagonal and...  per Rana, then get right bend, close my new outside leg slightly back, and keep my new inside leg at the girth, but keep a steady connection in my new outside rein. So I go from inside leg to outside rein, to outside leg to outside rein. Huh?! I was so confused. And then more hamsters started flying off wheels... left and right. And Dan was confused. And I made things worse. And then I thought... okay, let me just try something... So I leg yielded to the right off my left leg coming into the turn, then immediately bent him right, and tried leg yielding him to the left off my right leg... Nope..that didn't really work either. But wait??? I thought it did in my jump lesson? Ugh... so then I abandoned that thought and went back to trying to swap my leg aids. And then I was jumping up his neck... so ... Rana said... to really sit... keep my core.. keep the canter collected and I MUST keep his neck soft. Every time we failed, he was braced. Ugh. But he's so hard to flip the bend that quick that way. So I tried again, and we got it. But then we lost it. So... we finally got it twice in three tries so we quit with that. But then my brain was overwhelmed so I asked for clarification on the leg yielding thing because I knew I would try ti again at home on my own... and wasn't sure it would be to my benefit if I didn't understand it. So....we talked. And she basically said I had flipped it backwards. So... Start on the left lead... bend him left... push him into the right rein with my left leg. Even leg yield him in the corner if I want. Then as we approach the cavaletti... don't leg yield left... leg yield right still! That takes my right leg and brings it slightly back, which is asking him for the change, but because I've got the bend to the right... it's not a true leg yield... and not really a half pass.. So yes, that puts my new outside/left leg on him, and keeps the new outside rein/left rein, and opens my new inside/right leg, thus asking for the change. And... even now, my brain is thinking... "wait... what?? Is that right?". So maybe my theory is wrong, or I've butchered the thought process behind it (along with everything else I try to explain in life..... sigh), but... it worked. I bent him right and leg yielded him to the right and we got the right lead on landing. :) So we quit with that. Poor Dan. But not really.. he had fun and was all fired up and proud. :) 

So yeah... to recap, so tomorrow when I try again.... 

Right to Left:  Soft back with right bend and soft neck, approach cavaletti and change bend to the left but keeping back soft, staying strong in my core, and at take off, right leg slightly back, left leg at girth, keep contact in right rein and change.  :) 

Left to Right: Soft back with left bend and soft neck, approach cavaletti and change bend to the right, and hopefully keep the back soft and underneck soft, leg yield to the right/put left leg slightly back, contact in the left rein, and change. :) In theory. ; 

So.. yeah... gonna try that tomorrow and then hopefully have a good trail ride. Although to get the cavaletti in the arena, I may have to ride at home. We'll see. Poor Dan. But then he'll have off til Tuesday and maybe we'll jump again then to give him a break. (Although I suppose this maybe counts as jumping?? ;) Ha ha!). 

He's a goober. But I love him!

This is his happy face and then his "get your shit together mom" face. ;) ha ha... Fair enough buddy, fair enough. I was indeed a hot mess today. Good job trying for me. 

That's why you get snackies afterwards :) 

Good ride!

 Today was a good day, despite it not being the day I had originally planned. ;) I was supposed to have a dressage lesson and then go see two patients in the afternoon. Which meant, I got to sleep in a teeny bit. Yay! NOPE! ha ha... Yesterday afternoon the pasture people called and said they could come lime my place in the morning. Oooohhhh yes! Because with the sun and the heavy winds I'm pretty sure my place had finally dried up enough and it's supposed to rain again tonight, so.. yes please! I wasn't sure how long it would take them, so I moved my dressage lesson to Saturday. The lime guy said he would call in the am when he was loading up around 7:30/8 am, so I had to get up early. (Well, not early, but not sleeping in). I got the ponies fed and locked them in their paddocks and went and opened all the gates and the guy came and limed it. His truck is so big with such a big spread that it took him no time at all! And I remembered that Jacel had said she could teach Jean today since she couldn't teach on Tuesday, so I messaged her and she said she could add me in. Yay! So I put some jumps back in the arena and then I met Jacel for a lesson. It was so good! 

We warmed up and then she had us trot a cross rail then leg yield to a pole on the ground that was set off ot the side. This exercise got him to lift and use his ribcage, which allowed his inside hind leg to come up and under and push, which also allowed his shoulders to lift up and be light. So we did that both ways. Then she changed it to two fences and had us canter them, with the leg yields. It's awesome. Dan got soft in his back and then that got him in front of my leg! So instead of pushing, I had my pocket rocket back! Almost too much!! But it's such a nice feeling to have him being that much of an eager beaver! And... despite being an eager beaver and getting a tight distance, he was up in the front end so he could lift his shoulders!! It was awesome! At one point, we didn't leg yield to the right enough, but... because I didn't use my hands, and only used my leg, we got to the cross rail at a slight diagonal approach and awfully close to the standard, but.... he was able to just pop over it easily because he was light on the forehand and had options. So yay me for not panicking and grabbing his face, thus inverting him. So then she had us do both sides in a row, all at the canter. And it was working! He was jumping through and round and lifting his front end even though the fences were tiny. Now, he was getting a little quick at the base of the fence. But not too terrible. And it makes me happy because that means, in my mind, that he's having fun again and wants it! So then she had us do the two outside lines... just straight lines... She wanted me to leg yield a little right and a little left in the middle of the lines. Yep!! It helped a lot but somebody got SUPER quick. So then she had us do the same thing, but circle before the first jump, circle between the line, and then circle after the fence. BUT.... I was supposed to circle without using my hands (within reason) and get him to circle by just asking for a leg yield and using my leg and seat aids. Hard... especially at first, but... oh... OHHHHHH.... By asking him to leg yield, I got a soft rib cage, which led to a soft back and neck, which led to a soft canter, which led to a very soft downward. OHHHH!!! :) And yes... it's basically what I'm doing in my dressage lessons, with the turn on the forehand using the outside rein and inside leg, but... at speed. And my brain felt like I could accomplish a leg yield better than a turn on the forehand from the canter, but quite frankly, it's the exact same thing as Rana was trying to get me to do that I just didn't comprehend. But... it works!!! And Dan suddenly went "wait, what?!?" and then "oh... I soften!". And he would soften and slow his pace/tempo, but not the impulsion and we got a lovely canter and then we jumped. It was super cool. :) We did it both directions with all 4 fences but the right trip was tougher for him. He broke to the trot a few times and even trotted a fence. But see what I just said.. he TROTTED a fence!! Without breaking to the canter. Jacel said it was because he was actually light in the front end and felt like he could do it. Whereas before, he was stuck in the withers/ribcage and didn't feel like he could lift. Makes sense. So we quit with that. We don't want him to get fatigued and hurt himself and he did so well! 

Super exciting!!! So now I can use the leg yield to soften him and slow the run, without fighting and creating tension. I can use the leg yield to get his rib cage moving and soften his back. And Jacel also mentioned that his tail was up and not clamped down, which meant he was using his back. Sounds familiar! It's so nice that my lessons are tying in together so nicely! Yay!!!

Oh, and I pivo'ed my ride, but... in my haste I set the camera up facing the outside of the arena... and then because it was on the rail, I never passed through the range of view, so... it didn't get most of my ride. Towards the end I passed close enough that it snagged me and then did a great job of following me.. but I only got the last two rounds on camera. ha ha. Oh well. At least I got something!

Video of our ride

Ps. Pretty cool I got a lesson in my OWN arena at my OWN farm! :) :) 

Long Windy Ride... with a rescue mission!

 Ha! 

So... I was supposed to have a jump lesson today but Jacel had to cancel because of a sick kiddo, so... we headed to Ashland anyways. The jumps were set super small and there was a fun triple X bounce so... we warmed up and then got to playing. I let him warm up super "huntery" and not on the bit, but he still bit at his shoulder a few times. I just pushed him forward and he seemed okay. So we jumped a bit and worked on me... getting the leg yield in/out of the ride. And it was okay. Nothing spectacular but nothing horrid. So then we were just about done and had a good run through a course. But I wasn't quite happy with quitting with it, so I hopped off and raised up 3 of the jumps. I made one an oxer. Still all under 3', maybe not even 2'9", but at least bigger than the little 1-1.5" we were jumping. And we jumped all 3 of those pretty dang nicely but we had a bad spot to the oxer. So I did it another time or two... then did it once more to work on me, and he was awesome! So I quit with that. 

I grabbed my jacket (thank goodness!) and was about to head out on the trails when I met two new people. They were asking about which trails were wooded so they could stay out of the wind. I offered to take them on a tour but said that I might bail at some point to go gallop. So we set off. Nice people! And we hacked and it was pleasant out of the wind. I was maybe a hair warm in my jacket but I had on a fleecy lined shirt, a fleece, my jacket, my fleecey breeches... so fair enough. We got to the back corner where the bridge is.. where I first cantered Dan and I gave them directions home. Except.. I gave them too many options, so... I'm guessing that was not the way to do it. But it my brain, knowing exactly the paths.. it made sense. Whoops. Anyways... I turned around and went back to twix and tween to do some hills. Then we galloped in the field. And because Dan was sad that his friends left him, he really galloped!!! We had a blast. Then we went to the lake and then to the XC field and I didn't see them. Hmmm... While we were there we popped over 3 cross country fences, the last one being a coop with a log on top. I very slightly chickened out, but then closed my leg and he jumped it so nicely out of stride! Whoo hooo!!! So then we went back to the creek because I started to feel guilty as it sunk in that my directions were awful. So...we tracked back and didn't see them, so... I headed back home. We didn't see them in the XC field and they weren't at the trailers, so then I really felt bad, so Dan and I trekked out again. We didn't go quite as far looking for them this time, because by now.. I was getting super cold! But we did look. I had no idea where they went! We eventually made it back to the trailers and still no sign of them. So I left them a note apologizing and headed home. Hee hee.. 

It was a great day though. Dan and I enjoyed being out on the trails for a long time! We've slacked a little and I can feel it in his stifles. He slipped out a few times today. Oh, and in our ring work.. he totally backed up like a normal horse. ;) 

Blecchhhhh

 

This weekend was frustrating, but probably what I needed. Saturday I got up early to clean the house and sneak in a ride before Mom came to visit. I got on Dan and he just felt meh. We tried to do our walk warm up and get him looser and happier. Oh, and then... there was a hawk in the arena. It kept half flapping off and I thought it was injured. I wasn't trying to chase it, but... we sort of did a bit. Then I went to open the gate so it could hop out and it beat me to it and went out the hole in the fence and then flew up to the tree top. Well.. huh?! Dan didn't spook though. :) So we did a little bit of work and he got a little better but he kept snatching the reins out of my hands and then he started grabbing at his shoulder. Like he had a fly there and wanted to push it off. But.. it was cold! No flies. And he was incessant about it. He's done that before and at the time I thought it was an evasion, but... he became adamant about it Saturday. So I thought maybe he really was sore.. maybe he's got bursitis or his neck was bothering him. So I tried to stretch him out.. let him rest a bit. And then I'd try to pick him back up again and same thing. Sigh. But me, being me, couldn't leave it at that, so I did make him at least do SOMETHING... and that something ended up being a fairly nice walk to R lead canter to walk to L lead canter to walk. Then I called it quits. We also had struggles backing today too. So I was frustrated over the "not really a ride" ride...and worried about if he was sore and if so, what was sore and how was I going to fix it. 

Then Mom showed up and she met Funny and we said hi to the boys. Then we went to lunch.. then we went antiquing to look for art for the house. We found some cool stuff. Then it was late and time to feed. Oh, and I had a headache turned migraine pretty much the entire day too. 

And then Sunday it poured... all morning. Like constant rain. And it was cold and miserable. So Mike and I went and got lunch and bought some frames to hang some art. Then we hung it. And it finally did quit raining but I had another migraine... took a little nap... and by the time we finished the frames and such, it was too late to ride. But... maybe Dan and I both needed a day off. Sigh... Still frustrating though.