Happier Hairless Baby

Finally!! I finally had a chance to get Dan clipped. I swear, he's such a good baby. We worked on clippers as a baby but I don't think we ever really got too much accomplished. Granted, I was working on desensitizing him near his face and ears and didn't really ever work on his body other than an occasional swipe here and there. And while he wasn't great up near his ears, he let me clip his entire racing stripe in one setting. :) :) I gave him a pile of alfalfa hay and started clipping. He picked up a hind leg a few times when I was doing his belly near his groin. But I'm okay with that as he wasn't kicking, just warning or being ticklish, and it was only when the blades were getting warm and in sensitive areas. He was a little bit goofy near his ears and up high on his neck. He really was acting ticklish. But we managed to get it done. And I'm pleased with how it turned out. He didn't turn a weird color. 

And he's SOOOOOO much happier! At least while it's warm now still. :) We'll see how he feels when it gets cold. Because I'm sure it will. Although 70 degree days in November have been really nice.

The next day we had our lesson and Dan was much more forward than usual. I think he likes not being hot and sweaty. It was a good lesson. I need to remember to start riding him like he's 4.5 years old and not 2.5. Which means, more contact and higher expectations. Within reason. :)

I need to focus on keeping a steady connection. STEADY... not a bunch of hold and release. Yes, there needs to be some release, but it's not an abandoning release. I need to maintain a connection and let him find his happy place within that. While cantering I really need to focus on my seat and not hitting the cantle and not getting pushed back. I need to move my seat up and forward to encourage his wither to come up. It's time to start putting his canter together more instead of building it. And that means I need a steady connection and need to almost shorten that outside body arc with a steady connection. 

But we're getting it. We had some really nice canters today and no lead changes. :) 

We had an amazing sunset tonight too!

Fun in the woods

 You know... Not much beats galloping Dan through the woods. It's utterly amazingly fun. We had a nice hack and then we crossed the creek in the back. There is that long stretch of winding path all the way along the creek to the bottom of the 5 uphill paths. I let Dan canter the whole way. Ohhhhh my.... it's such an amazing canter. And I love his little snorts with each stride. He's so supple and limber even through the twists and turns. Of course he picked up the pace and went for a little hand gallop part way through. I let him! But then it starts to get a little scary with all the leaves and twists and turns and his stride getting longer and longer! But it was fun!

Then we went into the arena for some proper canter work. ;) He's really getting to be such a good boy. We had some nice work in the arena. 


Ahh..... he can totally turn my day around!

While we were in the XC field we saw two bucks grazing. Dan was a little apprehensive at first but he watched carefully and then realized we were fine and they weren't spotty eating deer. :)

Gosh... I really am blessed, aren't I?! :)

Jump day

I've been running out of time lately to really ride both. Dang Winter and being dark at 5:30. And life in general being so busy... 
But I managed to hop on Dan and get some jumping in today. :) He was great! The grid was set up and when we raised it for Fleck, it was a 1 to a 1.5 stride. We dropped it for Dan but didn't adjust the distance. I took him through it to see, and for him.. it was perfect. ;)
Like a Boss

Then we did some other fences. He's really doing great! I think he's starting to get it. I can feel him rocking back some and getting a better canter. He's almost wanting to adjust his stride too! YAY! Smart baby horse. :) I'm getting braver to some of the "bigger" fences too. It is funny how the small fences are still scary with him, yet on Fleck the bigger ones aren't. But fair enough. Once Dan gets his distances, the height won't be a problem. :)

Jumping Bean

More Jumping

Upping the Ante

So... no more babying the baby.

I could tell that I was babying Dan and floating the reins to him as soon as I started my ride today. But it's hard because I'm focusing on keeping him in front of my leg. And when I close the connection, he gets lazy. So.... I think at home I can continue to work on "shock and awe" and forward but in public places with lots of other horses, I feel a little obligated to tone it down some. But regardless, he needs to learn to go and stay in front of my leg WITH contact. He's ready for it. I'm not doing him any favors not making him go there. So... BAD HOLLY!!! Time to up the ante and get more connection.

We had some nice work today despite me forgetting connection. But with Cindy reminding me we got some good work. And some nice canters too! We even did a full legit shallow serpentine on both leads. Yay!!

Cindy reminded me though at the end of my lesson that "Shock and Awe" was great but that I should have a second step in the middle. Her thought was that if I asked nicely and he didn't respond.. he needs shock and awe. But she wants me to use my leg next and then go to the whip. She said that he should be electric off my leg not the whip. Aha... makes sense.

So... next ride will be ask gently with my legs, then bam bam bam pony club kick (not kick and hold and squeeze) and then shock and awe with the whip. :)

Good baby horse!! And man... he soooooo needs to be clipped!!! I'm just waiting out this weekend so Mike doesn't have to deal with blankets hopefully. But poor guy was so sweaty.

Fun Hack

Today was a relaxing day... We just went for a hack. :) But I did aim for hills.

Saturday Fun

Today was a good day. (Isn't every day on horseback a good day though?) We went for a hack and then finished in the jump ring. I didn't do too much but we did play a bit.

So... in the ring, I stuck to the baby fences. And he was fine over them. Nothing exciting, nothing terrifying, nothing amazing. But then I got brave and took him to the little mini roll top. :) Eeeks! It's funny how big that looks. But he jumped it great. We trotted it twice and then cantered it. Wheeee!!

Friday quickie

Today was a quick ride as I was running out of time. We went for a nice hack after a quick dressage ride. He was good. We even kept the right lead canter through our shallow serpentine. Yay! So... as a reward, while we were out in the woods...  I opted to take Idlewhile and let him jump the log in the path. :) He did great. He just hopped over it. Of course he did the "look down between my knees" while going over it. Which was extra awkward in a dressage saddle with long stirrups. :) Hee hee. But we survived.