Adventures in Horse-dom

"Like" Gentle Giants!

2012-02-01T09:19:00.003-05:00

I'll have stuff to talk about regarding Mr. Kieran soon too, I'm sure. I have another saddle to try out on him after all, anyway, but it isn't here yet.

But in the mean time!

SHOW US THE LOVE! This February launches our first annual Valentine's Day Challenge! Show us your "love" by sharing Gentle Giants with some friends, and help us get to 5,000 "LIKES" by February 14th! One random "LIKE" will be chosen and will be awarded a great prize! AND... the friend who referred that person gets a great prize, too! So tell everyone you know who might "LOVE" us! The more you share, the better your chances of winning! More details to follow.....

Click here to check out the Gentle Giants facebook page and go "like" them!

Let's March!

2012-01-15T16:40:00.002-05:00

Got back out on the trails today for the first time since we had to stop for hunting season. It was nice to get off the farm and I think Kieran must've thought so too because he sure did do a lot of marching everywhere, LOL. We got in some nice little trots and one stretch of cantering too (so I got to practice my two point).

All in all, just a nice ride. :)

Getting some Air

2012-01-10T20:18:00.002-05:00

I don't have anything I can make a free-jumping chute with here and the arena is too big (and grassy) to just free lunge him around like I used to do at my old barn (they had a smaller indoor ring), he'd just trot off to the other end and start grazing probably, LOL. Hence the lunge line in the picture.

CHECK OUT ALL THE PROGRESS (videospam)

2012-01-07T17:34:00.002-05:00

So I guess...for comparison...this is us riding in a schooling show in May 2010:

Here's some videos from today:

Don't worry, the very first video is only actually about 2 minutes long for the meat of it, hah. And the last four are all really short.

Anyway, I see today some nice transitions; a relaxed, listening horse, and I think I'm a lot more still in the saddle too.

And here's some screencaps:

THIS TROT, OMG

There was a time I never would have imagined getting that out of him, LOL.

Hard work!

I'm so proud of him, I can't wait for our lesson tomorrow. :D

New Year's Day? Lesson! :)

2012-01-01T14:21:00.002-05:00

Just a couple of short clips from today. The whole lesson was really a lot of hard work. We started by doing figure 8's in each half of the ring (so figure 8's on the top half, then figure 8's on the bottom half) at a trot. Which was harder than I thought, to really get the circles round and not make one small and the other big (i wanted to do a long diagonal between them instead of making them circles that happen to touch). After that, Jessica had use the whole ring to do canter figure 8s (with a few trot strides in the middle, we don't do flying changes yet!) and that was even harder because I really had to plan how I was going to make my canter turns and when to trot in the middle and ask for the other lead canter. That's our homework for the week.

Then she had us canter over some canter poles, down to the fence, come back to a (forward) trot and around over a crossrail with the idea that the canter poles would remind Kieran to pay attention to his feet (we don't keep cantering because she doesn't want us cantering into fences yet). That crossrail he doesn't really like though because it's pretty airy and bare (balanced on a couple of traffic cones, I can't wait until my jump blocks get here!) so he never puts in much effort over it. The other crossrail where we use barrels laying on the ground as "standards" he tends to actually jump (instead of trotting over and hanging his feet) because it looks more solid.

So then we had to canter around down to the barrel crossrail and all I was supposed to focus on was encouraging him forward (she stresses "allowing" and not pushing, because we can't make him think this is a fun thing to do) and just staying straight and getting out of his way when we go over.

That was one of the first times over the barrel jump. Then we had a couple of awkward tries and then we ended on this note:

Ignore Jessica's screaming, LOL.

Riding with Tracey

2011-12-31T18:25:00.004-05:00

One of the other boarders and I both rode today. She was trying out an English saddle she'd just gotten (she's ridden Western for years) and I was just toodling around with Kieran. :)

I think my position has improved light years from what it used to be.

I didn't expect him to actually jump this but I think I managed to get properly out of his way.

Good pony!

Yes, we briefly switched horses :)

Canter departure

Hopping over the crossrail. Ignore us dorking out about it afterward, LOL.

Longer video, just riding around. There's a nice canter departure at about 2:33

It's like he's a different horse!

2011-12-18T13:59:00.002-05:00

It's just that...in the past couple of lessons....Kieran's been really forward and happy about working. He's always been fairly agreeable, but sometimes it could be grudging. He'd trudge around and I'd coax a nice trot or canter out of him but lately it's just been... I mount up and we walk off from the mounting block with a nice forward walk and even later in the lesson when we have walk breaks he doesn't drop back into the trudge mode. I ask for trots and canters and he gives me nice transitions and moves out and I don't have to spend the whole time pushing forward. Sometimes I even have to ask him to come back a little. It's exciting! :)

Anyway, that's been the big goal we've been working on. Give Kieran A Work Ethic. And now he's actually interested in what we're doing and ready to really learn so we can start doing fun stuff.

Not only that, but I feel like I'm more "with" him than I ever used to be. Like we're on the same wavelength now more times than not, instead of slightly out of sync. And I actually feel like that whole "independent seat" thing is developing and like I can really follow with my body and not feel like I have to hold on for dear life with my hands because my body can't do it.

I'm just really excited about where we're going and I'm glad I found Jessica to help us get there. :)

Foward, Straight, don't stop!

2011-12-11T20:11:00.002-05:00

So today we pretty much worked on keeping Kieran moving forward and in a straight line, without letting him get bored. Once he decides something is boring, he stops paying attention and we get him just stumbling over trot poles or tripping over himself or drifting around the ring. Mostly that means I have to not zone out because when I do, he does.

Anyway, we started the lesson and Kieran was ready to go. I asked him to trot, he wanted to canter, when I finally let him canter, he gave a happy "whee!" kick. I guess it was the drop in the temperature but it was like riding a different horse! LOL.

That said, even when he was frisky, I felt like I was right there with him the whole time, instead of slightly out of sync like I used to feel sometimes.

Today, Jessica had set up a set of four trot poles at E and two crossrails (one over by B, one at X). One of the crossrails was really open and inviting, the other was set up on two barrels laying on the ground so it was a bit more "solid" looking. We started with the open crossrail and she just wanted us to get a forward trot going and for me to point Kieran at the fence and allow him to go forward. She was like, "I don't care what your position over this looks like, you can follow him well enough over a fence this small that you can just grab mane and go, what we want is for him to just come straight at the fence with a steady, forward rhythm, and not to stop after the fence." So we just worked on that and then about the third or fourth time instead of just trotting over, he kind of hopped over and cantered away nicely. He got lots of praise and pats and a long walk break for that.

Then we went and did the more "solid-looking" crossrail. And after the long walk break, she had us start by cantering around the ring to get him forward again, then when we came around the turn to the fence, to come back to a trot with the idea that he'd stay forward.

Well...he didn't, really. I think that confused him, "slow down, wait, keep moving out? Why'd I slow down, then?" So we went back to just trotting and pushing him forward and that one we got him to hop over it and canter out a stride so that was really good too.

A lot of my lessons lately have been about working on me, this lesson was pretty much all about teaching Kieran something. :)

Bah

2011-12-03T16:54:00.002-05:00

New saddle is definitely too wide. Like, when I sat in it it plopped right down onto his withers with no clearance too wide.

That said, it felt really nice when I sat in it and a bit like keeping my leg under me would be effortless. It just fell into the right spot. So I need this saddle but narrower!

Saddle on left is the one I'm trying out, saddle on right is my current saddle.

Look at that leg!

Riding today

2011-11-26T17:45:00.001-05:00

Just riding around with some cavaletti and poles. :)

No, not with the new saddle, it hasn't gotten here yet.

New Saddle

2011-11-23T22:30:00.001-05:00

That is on its way to me. :)

(Duett Presto)

Pictures from Friday!

2011-11-13T20:33:00.007-05:00

Jessica's mom was there and took a few of our lesson. :) Click on them to make 'em bigger.

He's so amazing

2011-11-11T11:54:00.003-05:00

Got in a lesson with Jessica this morning. Had plenty of time to warm up before she got there. Started by putting him on the longe line for a quick trot around each direction to see what sort of mood he was in. Despite the fact that the other horses were getting breakfast, he actually was listening very well so I went ahead and got on and we started walking around.

Just did a lot of changes of of direction and a bit of trotting, threw in some cantering each way and thinking about not using rein but trying to use more seat and leg and to keep my shoulders back and my calf on and not pinch with my knee. Did a bit of dropping the reins and letting him walk around while I closed my eyes, too.

So anyway, by the time Jessica got there, we jumped right into the lesson and started with just trotting around with the idea that I should take up the reins and work on pushing him into the bridle and see if he'd do that instead of raising his head and trying to evade.

See, this was our first lesson back off the longe line in the past couple weeks with the idea being that the longe helped me "reset" myself and rely less on the reins and to "reset" him so he'd learn that he could trust the bit. Anyway, she ended up making me drop my stirrups and sit the trot and when I did that, once I relaxed into it (she had to keep telling me, "you did this on the longe line! This is just a bigger circle!!) and sat deep with my seat, he relaxed into it too and put his head down.

So we did that for a bit, working on getting a nice forward trot (a "woodchuck" trot) with me posting and then she'd tell me to sit and drop my stirrups and go with him. I won't say it was perfect, because it wasn't, and it definitely took several repetitions until something clicked in me and went, "oh yeah, you have done this and you can do it. So just do it."

After that, she had us do some cantering wherein we'd really push forward (hand gallop, pretty much) on the long sides and then ask for him to come back down on the short sides. My task was to use my seat and legs to ask for most of this and not to use the reins (or my "exhale heavy" trick he's learned when I want him to stop). Anyway, we started out going to the left and it was pretty darn good. He did break to a trot a couple times when I just wanted him to give me a slower canter but he went right back in the canter when I asked (I didn't have to beat him to get him to go forward, hah) and I never felt like I needed to grab hold of anything to stay with him.

Before we switched directions, Jessica let us take a walk break (that was hard work!) and we talked about half-halting. Now, Kieran and I both have some idea of what a half halt is but for cantering, I'd never heard it explained this way so I'm recording it for posterity. Of course, she talked about how with a full halt, it's like you're holding your body against the motion to get the horse to halt but with a half halt, you're doing it for a moment, then pushing the horse forward so he doesn't actually stop. In the canter, she said, the halt part of the half halt that you do with your body you should do as the horse comes up and its feet are in the air and then as you come back down again is when you push him forward. Because, of course, the transition down has to start in the back end too so if you're asking 'halt' when the horse is in the air, he gets that "okay, we're going to halt" but then you come down and you ask "forward" and you get the half halt whereas I guess if you asked halt when coming down, you'd be more likely to get a real stop or at least a down transition. I don't think I'm explaining it as well as she did, but that's the general idea.

So with that in mind, we went and started cantering to the right and ohmylord. The first one was so lovely, he really opened up on the long side and it was beautiful but then I asked him down the short side to come back to me and collect up a bit and he was right there and then we'd hit the long side and I'd squeeze my legs and push with my seat and we'd push forward again and just. Gah. I love my pony.

Oh yeah, and his downward transitions from the canter were pretty lovely too. Usually he kind of pile-drives through them but this time he really settled into them nicely.

After that, we didn't do any more canter work because that was so freaking beautiful but instead Jessica set up some trot poles at X for us to go over and get Kieran's mind working since so far in this lesson and for the past couple we'd been focusing more on me than him.

First she set the poles (four of them) up for really short trot strides but she had us come in at a working trot and told me not to do anything but follow what he did and keep him straight. The idea being that he'd have to figure out on his own how to adjust.

The first time through he hit and or stepped on every single pole. *facepalm* So we did it again a couple times until he was going through nicely. Then she changed it so the poles were about twice as wide apart as they had been (long trot strides) and we had to go through again. The first time he was like, "wait...weren't these closer together? WTF?" but then he figured it out. :)

So to make it more interesting she put them in an M shape, zig-zagging one right next to the other. The end result was that if we went down the center, he really didn't have to change his stride at all.

So we did that twice and he did it perfectly each time. So then she asked us to go through it but for me to ask him to stay a step or so over to the right side of the poles so he had a short trot stride a looong trot stride, and then a short again.

Another "wtf??" from Kieran the first time through. The second time he shifted just a bit over so he didn't have to go over them at all, and Jessica was like, "hah, he's trying to do the smart thing and avoid the weirdness, but he needs to learn if you're asking him to go straight at a certain point...that's what he does."

So we went back around and did it again a time or two and by the time we finished he was doing the striding just right on the front end but he hadn't quite figured out how to get the back feet to follow along so he knocked a couple of poles. We ended there, though, because he was getting tired and also...getting the point of the exercise, probably when we go do it next time he won't have a problem at all.

Anyway, all in all it was a really good, really productive lesson. He stayed focused and with me the whole time and just generally in "happy pony" mode with only maybe once trying to stick his nose to the outside and evade but I just shortened the inside rein a bit, opened the outside rein and kept my inside leg on and we pushed through it.

Jessica said she could see that the longe lessons had definitely helped as I wasn't falling forward on his neck in downward transitions (except I've got a terrible habit of after a really hard workout when we come down to the walk of letting myself go forward and rest my hands on his neck but that's different since I'm consciously meaning to do it and I need to break the habit) and I was keeping my back straight and my shoulders back where they need to be. My leg she still had to remind me to not pinch with my knee and keep my calf on but I think it was way better than it was previously.

So...happy me and happy pony and next week Jessica said we'd probably (along with some of the other transitions-within-gait thing) add in some low jumps to send him over. See, there's a farm over in Aiken that's doing a schooling show in a few weeks. We decided we probably wouldn't enter in the show because I'm not sure he's ready (it's a combined test with jumping and dressage) but it's possible we can just pay a fee to bring him out there and let him school without being judged so he can go to a new environment and we can see how he reacts there. Plus they have "puddle jumper" sized jumps on their cross country course so the idea would be to take him out there and see how he does with that because, even though he's done some of the show things before, we've never done anything quite like that. I'm excited. :)

Just discovered this...

2011-11-10T18:51:00.001-05:00

...and I'm having too much fun making gifs out of Kieran:

and

Still lunging

2011-11-05T15:46:00.004-04:00

Gratuitous picture of Kieran out in the field after he rolled after I turned him out again. Doesn't he look good? (and fuzzy!)

Got to keep my stirrups but still had no reins and we did a lot of trotting where I had to keep my eyes closed. Discovered it was a bit easier to do that posting than trying to sit (even though I got to hold on to the pommel of the saddle if I sat).

We talked a lot about how my "default" position is slightly hunched forward so I can use my hands to catch myself on his neck (which since I tend to keep the reins in one spot is also a part of that) so now that I don't have reins I have to re-learn how to use my core to actually hold myself up and sit back.

Anyway, here's video of our last canter of the day. Note I don't touch him with my hands. :)

No reins. No stirrups. No eyes.

2011-10-29T14:17:00.001-04:00

So today my lesson was done entirely on the lunge line. No reins at all though I was allowed to grab mane if I felt the need. We alternated between stirrups and no stirrups though Jessica said the difference in my position between when I took up my stirrups and when I dropped them was pretty drastic. (better without) We did that walking and trotting. Then she had me close my eyes (here's where hanging on to something came in handy because if I didn't, I felt a bit of vertigo like I was about to fall off without anything to look at. Jessica says I'm relying too much on what my eyes tell me instead of what my body's telling me).

Then she let me take my stirrups back and open my eyes and we did some cantering. Then she let me still hold mane with one hand but with the other I had to raise it straight up above my head which had the effect of making me sit up straight instead of hunching forward like I want to. Apparently also my heels come down and once again, my position improves dramatically. Apparently it was so good Jessica was like, "WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING YOUR CAMERA TODAY?" Alas, I'd forgotten it at home.

Anyway, then she had me doing all that, and then I had to drop my stirrups while cantering. It was terrifying. Something in my brain said, "you're going to fall off if you do that" but of course, I didn't.

So we talked a lot about the need for me to develop a seat independent of my hands and for me to build up the muscle memory of what to do without having to "see" it and then take action. My homework for the week is to spend time riding without reins (and stirrups, if I can stand it) and do the raise an arm above my head thing.

Fairy Pony!

2011-10-15T16:15:00.003-04:00

Our barn had a fun show today...somehow we came in as grand champion. :D

There was also a costume contest...I have been DYING to do one of these for like...ever. So here we are!

Clips from Saturday

2011-10-06T11:38:00.002-04:00

We started the lesson by trotting figure eights around two barrels (you can't see the other one, alas) to get Kieran's brains focused. When you hear Jessica near the end be like "there we go!" or whatever, he's really started relaxing into it and paying attention.

Then we moved on to trotting single turns over poles. This was to get me to really use my seat and leg to get him to turn, not so much with the reins. Plus I had to really think about creating a "wall" with the outside rein and leg to keep him from bulging out of the turn and instead keep it kind of crisp.

And then she added in some more poles so we had to make two turns in different directions (so like and S shape), building off the previous exercise except now I had to think ahead even more about what I was doing and not wait till the last minute to start asking for a turn.

Alas, this was the main stuff the video got before it shut itself off so you don't get to see the circle of ground poles we did or the simple changes around the barrels we did at the end of the lesson.

Tonight

2011-10-04T23:22:00.004-04:00

Things we discussed in the lesson:

1. I am, apparently, crooked. I find it easier to use my right leg and seatbone than my left leg and seatbone. I also sit skewed (I've noticed, now that I've been thinking about it, that I do it when sitting in chairs too). This likely helps explain some of the issues I've had with Kieran. Like cantering to the right is easier because I can use my right leg to keep him from drifting inward but going the other way is more trouble. Or how when we attempt sidepassing or turns on the forehand, it's easier when I ask him to go left because I'm using my right leg to do it, and vice versa.

2. We can actually trot (and canter!) around on a loooooose rein and not have him drift all the way inward. It just takes a lot of leg and me opening the outside rein (maybe a lot, now but still) instead of pulling back on it. And, for now, maybe tapping his inside shoulder (seriously, I was just tapping lightly, not smacking) with the whip to back up my leg. When I pull back with the rein (which is what I want to do because it's become habit even though I know it's wrong), he just sticks his nose to the outside, bulges his shoulder in, and keeps going wherever he wants. You know this, I know this. I've talked about it dozens of times, it seems. But tonight we were actually able to consistently go around at all gaits more or less straight and without too much cutting into the center (was it perfect? Nah, but it was a far sight better than before).

3. Really, basically everything we're doing is about getting me to better control my body and, in extension, better control Kieran's body so I'm not just trying to haul him around with the reins. If Jessica had her way, by the end of this, we won't need reins at all. ;) That'd be pretty cool.

Annd....no pictures from tonight, but here's a couple from our previous lesson on Saturday (was a makeup) that I didn't write about but should have while it was still fresh in my mind:

Look how he's crossing over on that turn!

We started out the lesson trotting figure eights around two barrels to get his brain on working since it'd been over a week since he'd last worked. We ended the lesson cantering in up the rail coming around between the barrels, going down to a trot, starting to turn around the other barrel (half a figure eight?) and cantering off on the other lead. :)

There was also a nice bit of trail riding that happened this weekend. Got to expose Kieran to all sorts of things: small children running up to pet the pretty ponies (*sigh*), small children on bicycles, a wildly barking herd of seven dogs (behind a fence), surveyor's tape blowin' in the wind, large (unmoving, turned off) construction equipment...all sorts of stuff. We even discovered a trail that has a bit of a slope and that we can probably use even during hunting season so we can get some work on not-flat-ground in. :)

LESSON VIDEO

2011-09-20T22:29:00.002-04:00

So I set up my camera tonight to capture some of my lesson. Obviously you only see us when we passed in front of the camera but hey...a lot of the work happened in the middle of the ring. :)

Lots of circles still and work on turning well and getting Kieran to move more off my leg and me to rely less on the reins.

Longing over Crossrails

2011-09-19T20:05:00.004-04:00

Started out the day with a quick warmup on the longe, then asked Kieran to trot over a cross rail. He trotted right up to it, hopped over, cantered out. I was so pleased! So we went a few times to the left, then a few more times to the right (had to go a couple extra times because he went around the crossrail instead of over). All in all he did a good job. He mostly set himself up nicely and hopped over and didn't just barrel through.

And when he cantered around on the longe, he gave me a pretty nice, rhythmic canter clocking around whereas when I've asked him to just canter on the longe in the past, he tends to want to pull away and go reeeeeeaaaally wiiiiide. But not so much tonight! I think he liked that I was asking him to do something different.

Then I hopped on bareback and we did some walking around while he cooled out and did some more turns and circles.

So, what you're really interested in are the pictures, right?

First time to the crossrail:

Annnnd cantering out

After cantering in the second time around

Going the other way

Bonus...me making like I can mount him bareback from the ground (hah!). And yes, I photoshopped my rear to save your eyeballs.

Better bonus...the videos of him going over the crossrail:

Pictures from tonight

2011-09-17T22:21:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine came out to watch us ride and kindly manned my camera, so here's a few pictures. :)

Just let go

2011-09-13T22:46:00.003-04:00

Tonight was fabulous.

Jessica was running late so we spent a while warming up walking. Just doing lots of turns and walk-halt-walk transitions. When she got there, we were going to do trot poles but then Kieran, as we were moving off, put his head down. And not in the "I want grass!" sort of way, but in the "hmm, I might stretch my neck out and reach for the bit" kind of way. And Jessica was like OMG HE'S DOING IT.

Thus went a several-minute segue into why that was amazing and there needs to be more of it and somehow that got us onto sidepassing (so we used the poles instead as markers for me to sidepass from the middle of one to the middle of the other, looked like this:

==========

==========

That was a slightly frustrating exercise so we broke it down to doing a turn on the forehand a step at a time so I could feel him move his hindquarters (since we're focusing on my leaving the front end alone and pushing his butt around where it needs to be). Still was a bit difficult and after a bunch of repetitions, we could tell Kieran was getting bored and no longer really even trying to pay attention so we moved on to other things.

Thus we went back to last week's exercise of trotting around the triangle, but this time Jessica wanted me to put my reins pretty much on the buckle and use mostly my leg and seat for the turns (I could lift the inside rein to encourage him to turn, but I was supposed to more or less stay off his face).

Something magic happened and Kieran's movement became freer, his head went down, and he really relaxed. Whereas, when I'd take up contact, he'd tense a bit, his movement wasn't as nice, and his nose would poke up and out a bit. Looks like I've got some work to do on how to hold rein contact, eh? Of course first I have to get it back, I suppose, since Jessica wants me to ride most of the time now with as little contact as I can get away with.

For instance, he was fine just sort of trotting around (relaxed, nice rhythm) on a loose rein, but when we started the "extend, shorten" exercise we did last wee, I had to take up more rein because pushing him to extend without it just leads to a very wiggly horse going all over the place and not sure what to do. He actually did better with the shortening bit with me using more seat than hand (probably because he knows "stop" so well and so asking him to shorten is an excuse in his mind to stop).

After we got some decent within-gait transitions going either direction (plus he was doing very well trotting around the turns, yay), Jessica had us canter. Again, more on the rail (but not completely) and same idea, canter around, and at a certain point, push him forward (which mean push with seat, push with legs, and even lower my hands and push them forward a bit), then ask him to come back and around the next turn, easy easy easy\ to get a smaller canter.

We decided he likes doing the bigger cantering, LOL. He was totally down with that. And of course, after he was all, "yay!" we went back to more trotting. Same exercise as before and this time it was much better because he was so perky all of a sudden. And then we asked for that one final "shorten trot, plz" and he gave me (and I totally get what people mean by when they say their horse gives them something because he really did tonight) this lovely little jog that was still forward and just...perfect. On a loose rein, relaxed. There was half a moment where he thought about stopping and I just pushed a little and instead of how he usually jolts forward then, he just kept the same little jog gait. :) Such a nice note to end the lesson on!

Actually, I didn't push him forward so much as do something magical with my body that I can't even verbalize or figure out yet that told him to stay right there. I wish I could because it totally worked and was amazing!

So takeaways:

Just let go of the reins. We really do have to spend a lot of time just going around letting him put his head down to his knees if he wants. Not only is it helping him relax, it should help him build his topline more too.

We'll probably start doing warmups where we do a bit of walking and circles, a couple of trot circles, then do the cantering/handgallpy bit to get him keyed up, then go into the work. Since that's something he finds fun, we'll give him a bit of fun at the beginning of the lesson so he's not having to slog through all the stuff he finds boring to get to the good stuff. Especially since he tends to go so much better after. Jessica also said in general we looked better. Not just him, but me too, and how we were communicating with each other.

I can't explain how it works that way, but it does. I guess we just both relax a bit more after having a fun canter around the ring. :)

So yeah. I'm supposed to work on turns on the forehand, that trotting exercise, and cantering/handgalloping him. Woo. And keeping my reins as loose as I can let them go.

SO MANY CIRCLES

2011-09-08T21:58:00.003-04:00

Had my lesson tonight, we were already warmed up by the time she got there so Jessica had us start with showing her some walking circles since I said I'd worked on them since last lesson. They still weren't pretty (and one day I will get someone to video!), but they did at least feel better than last week. Mostly because Kieran just felt a bit more forward so it wasn't like he was just dragging himself around. Jessica said it looked like he was using his back end properly one stride in three (so...room for improvement, hah)

Once we'd done a bunch of circles in both directions, she had us do the same thing but at a trot (remembering to keep a steady rhythm). The rhythm part was actually much easier this week. Kieran was definitely "with it".

Then we added a new element. We had three barrels set up in a big triangle. So Jessica had us start trotting around them (so, not on the rail, but not inside the "barrel territory") and when we rounded a particular barrel (still remembering the circles! even though this was technically just part of a circle) I was to start pushing him forward with my seat and legs on every down beat of my post...not to get him to go faster, but to get him to move into a more extended trot. Took a couple of repetitions and then she was like, "YES THAT!" and I was like, "what? He didn't move any faster?" but it was bigger which was the point and when we did it again, I felt that.

So, by that point, he was starting to think about anticipating the barrel we'd ask for him to extend at so she has us go around again, but this time she said when I went around that barrel, to think about half halting with my outside seatbone and outside rein and think "easy easy easy, wait wait wait" and then on that side of the triangle, ask for a smaller trot, almost a jog.

The first time, he thought "eeeasy" meant "brakes!". The thing he's good at is stopping...and he's actually pretty good about doing it from his hind end instead of falling all over his front end when he stops. But I managed to push him forward before the brakes fully went on so suddenly he was pushing off from his hind end and we got a really nice little trot out of him. :)

Then we had to do it all going the other direction. (and remember those circles when you go around turns!)

We rounded out the lesson with a bit of cantering and here Jessica said if we needed, I could go more on the rail instead of just staying around the barrels). But the idea was the same...get a nice forward trot going, then sit and ask for the canter. The first time, we just cantered once around both directions (and no snarky kicking out this time when I asked for a left lead canter!).

Then we went back to the right lead canter and Jessica said, "now when you come around the turn heading toward the gate, I want you to sit back a bit more and push with your seat and legs and get him to really move out". We found another gear! Pretty exhilarating, actually.

Back to the left lead and going that way, I asked him for the extra gear going away from the gate, but still got it! He was fairly tired by that point (so was I!) even with several walk breaks but he still was willing to give it to me.

I did have some issues with my feet sliding through the stirrups while cantering (they'd end up shoved "home" instead of on the balls of my feet) but Jessica said I was keeping my hands where they were supposed to be and my butt was where it was supposed to be and my legs weren't flailing around so she didn't stop me. I just...I guess I tense up or something, but I have a really hard time with my leg sort of drawing upward when we canter and then the stirrup goes wherever the heck it wants.

We also talked about me having to remember keeping my calf on and weight in my heels (in general, not just at the canter) which is something I know, but it's good to be reminded of. I like that she reminds me of the things I need to fix with me, but we're focusing a lot on getting Kieran to use himself better and be fitter. And he definitely seemed more interested this week than last week (whether that's the improved weather or he likes that we're doing something instead of random moseying, I'm not sure, but I'll take it!).

So, good lesson! Kieran got peppermints afterward. :)

When did Fall happen?

2011-09-06T21:58:00.003-04:00

So today it was unseasonably cool. If this is a preview of what Fall will be like, all I can say is, "moar plzkthx". I half-expected Kieran to be full of beans today and snorty but actually he was really mellow and willing to listen. I put him on the lunge line first, just to gauge how responsive he'd be and he was really good so I hopped on and we worked more on the homework from our last lesson.

We were supposed to have a lesson tonight, actually, but Jessica got held up and wasn't able to make it so we've rescheduled for Thursday evening. Too bad, because it probably would have been amazing but oh well, we got a good ride in. Lots and lots of circles (both on the rail and off, big and small) and working on that rhythm at the trot and getting him to pay attention to how I change my posting rhythm.

We do need to have some remedial "stand at the mounting block" class though as he likes to stand stock still until I start to get on the block, then swing his butt away or take a few steps. Today instead of just sighing, getting down, and repositioning the block, I growled at him and gave him a smack. Only took two repetitions before he stood for mounting.

Of course, I got off to open the arena gate and went to get back on so we could do our cool down walking around the farm and he got shitty about standing again so we repeated and when he stood, I just stood on the block for a minute and patted him and told him good boy, that's what I want. We'll see if it sticks. I anticipate a few rides where what we do mostly is me getting on, riding around, getting off, getting on, riding around, getting off, getting on...

:)

But other than that, nice ride. He seemed more engaged today so that was nice, too. Maybe it was just the cool weather. I know I feel more interested in work outside when the weather's nice than when it's all hot and icky.

First Lesson in GA!

2011-08-30T20:55:00.002-04:00

Had my first lesson in Georgia tonight. Gosh, it's been since, like...the end of May/very beginning of June since I had a lesson. I totally needed it. As I told Jessica (new instructor), at the end of the lesson: we've been riding, but...I do just sort of get on and ride around for a while and then we're done. It's nice to have someone there with a plan in mind of what she wants to see (and explain how to do it) and to tell me, "no, you can push him to do more than that!" :)

Anyway, today's lesson was a sort of "getting to know you" deal and ran a bit long (expected to). First, she had us start off simply by walking and warming up, then she asked me to do a couple of circles, any size I wanted, and watched what we did and asked me to explain what I was doing to ask for the circle and why. Basically, I was wiggling my inside rein (don't really have to pull, wiggling my ring finger usually works) and nudging with my inside leg. Apparently it wasn't that pretty, LOL.

So she talked about how circles are actually really difficult to do well and you really have to ride them actively and also once you've got a horse that really understands leg and seat aids, the reins can be pretty superfluous. She talked about how I needed to be a more active rider in general but that a good circle you really have to ride actively (not like...moving a lot just... being engaged? Directing the horse? Uh, I'll keep explaining what she said, I wish I had recorded it!). Like, inside shoulder back, inside leg and inside seatbone really on and pushing to encourage that inside hind leg to cross over and that I should use my outside leg back a little to control speed and shape of the circle. Still figuring that one out but I sort of get it. Hands, she said, just really control where the shoulders go but legs control everything behind the girth and everything starts back there with the horse pushing from behind and that's what we need to work on, more leg, less hand.

After that, she had us start trotting and she said she wanted me to sing aloud, "how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood" in the same rhythm that I was posting. The idea being that my posting should dictate Kieran's trot rhythm and not the other way around and the "wood chuck" thing helps keep me focused on the rhythm I want. It was a bit rough at first, because he did want to sort of go slooooow, speed up!, go sloooww....and not really keep a consistent rhythm but we did get some nice trotting done in there. And once we got something consistent, then she had me ask for a turn, remembering the stuff we'd talked about with the circles at the walk and still, you know, keeping rhythm. And there it all fell apart. Hah. So we did it again a couple times until we got it and then started over the other direction.

Oh yeah, she also said for now when trotting, not to really worry what he was doing with his head or directing him too much with the reins, just to focus on getting the rhythm I want with my posting and getting it to be consistent.

We also talked about figuring out what gets him interested because right now she says he looks like he's just kind of going along and not really paying a lot of attention to me or caring about what we're doing. Not sour, just not interested. Also that his issues with picking up his feet properly may stem more from that boredom than anything else, since when we get him engaged and active....a lot of that magically disappears.

Then she had us get back into a nice working trot and told me to pick a spot to ask for the canter. First time was going to the right and he gave me a really great transition and a lovely, uphill sort of canter. It actually felt slow but Jessica said he's got a big stride and was really eating up the ground (didn't feel that way though! Maybe I'm just used to a more rushy canter). Anyway, I was all, "wow! That was great!" and we talked about the difference between that and when he canters more on the forehand and kind of dragging himself along. The difference this time, she said, was that I did have him in a nice forward trot and really pushing with his hind end and ready to go so that when I asked for the canter, she could see him really using his back end and pushing off into a nice canter.

So then she asked if I wanted to end on that note or try cantering the other way. I wanted to go the other way too. Hah.

The left has always been a little more difficult to get a good canter out of him. So this time the first one wasn't that great and I don't remember much about it because I remember the second try more. That one, he kicked out right after the transition (rather like the video down below somewhere) and Jessica growled at him for me, I just pushed him to keep cantering. She said for a minute she wasn't sure I actually felt it since I stayed right in the saddle, hah but that I should have really got after him so he knew it wasn't acceptable, instead of just sitting up there and being like, "it's okay, just keep going".

Anyway, we did it one final time and then we got a decent transition (it was late and I did have to get after him there to Just Canter, dammit! with a smack with the crop) but then a good canter most of the way around the ring and when he started faltering, I was able to just push with my seat and squeeze with my legs and he kept moving till I asked him to stop. He wasn't tired (he wasn't even breathing hard, there were a lot of walk breaks in between stuff since we spent time talking about what we were doing and why and what we'd done before), just lazy, I think.

So, all in all, it was a good, productive lesson. I'm happy with it and we've got some homework: active circles and rhythm (oh yeah, she sang "row row row your boat" for the canter). Next week, Jessica says she'll set up patterns with the ground poles for us (and we'll see if that gets Kieran more interested in what's happening, hah).

Couple more things that were mentioned in the lesson:

Jessica says cantering's easy, once you get a really good walk and trot.

I talked about him really trotting out on the trail on Sunday and how he felt like he was ready to canter if I just asked and she said that's what a really good working trot ought to feel like, with them moving out and ready to do whatever you ask. That's not a feeling I've gotten out of him often. ;) His "working trot" has typically been rather more sedate.

Talked about turning my leg out a bit more so I'm not holding my knees so close to the saddle. (Maybe not really "turning out" since it was more about opening at my hip and getting my calf on but my toes weren't really turned out or anything. Ugh. I think that will require video so I can see what I'm doing.)

Here's hoping I can work in some real riding time between now and next week. I pretty much have either Wednesday or Thursday and that's it. And one of those days I have to clean house since I have a friend flying in late Thursday night and staying until Tuesday afternoon. Doubt she'll want to go out to the farm with me every day and sit around in the sun and watch me ride, LOL.

No lethal butterflies today

2011-08-28T22:01:00.002-04:00

But he did decide the stirrups were going to eat him again. So far he's done this twice, both times in the arena when I'm about to take him over to the mounting block to get on. I suspect it's more of a "get out of working in the arena" thing because he didn't flick an ear when I did the stirrups yesterday by the hitching post and he doesn't care when I run them back up.

That said, he didn't seem otherwise wiggy so we went back out to the woods. He was a bit wired again and when we were trotting I could feel him going, "you want to canter? I could totally canter. Can't we canter?" but I convinced him he should just trot. I do notice that his issue with striking his front feet with his hind feet seems to disappear entirely when he's actually moving out instead of just sort of dragging himself along.

Annnnnd....that's really it.

Butterflies are TERRIFYING

2011-08-27T20:46:00.002-04:00

Hee.

Decided to take Kieran out to the woods today for a short jaunt on the trails (got going late so didn't have a whole lot of light left). Just did some nice walking and trotting about. Kieran was a bit wired to be out alone so he was marching more than moseying but hey...no big deal.

And then he spooked at a butterfly.

Yes, a butterfly.

Fluttered right out of a bush and in front of his face. He did the spook in place "freeze till it goes away" thing. I laughed at him and told him to keep moving. Hah. :) Silly pony.

Kieran has a ball [AND we're finally starting lessons up again soon!]

2011-08-24T21:43:00.002-04:00

I've been suspecting lately that Kieran's been getting bored in the arena so I've tried to change things up a bit. One of the things that was fun in the past was to chase a horse soccer ball around. The one we used to use stayed back at Gentle Giants but I found one for a reasonable price on Valley Vet the other day and it arrived in the mail this afternoon!

It was great right up until he trampled it and the little plastic plug that holds the air in popped out. Still haven't found it...hope I can before they mow the arena! :lol:

Anyway, we had a good ride. Much better than our ride the other day (where I got off and lunged him in the middle because he just felt weird and antsy and I was actually kind of scared on him...which...I'm never scared on him, so it was weird. Looking at the video, he looks fine so I don't know what I was feeling, but nobody was around and I didn't want to push things just in case something wacky happened. Anyway, got off and lunged him a bit, made sure he'd started listening and burned off some of that energy, then got back on and rode for a few more minutes, just w/t.

So today...lunged him for a few minutes before I got on, just to see how he was feeling, and he settled in pretty quickly so I hopped on and he was very good.

ALSO, have finally hooked up with an instructor who'll come out and lesson us at the farm. First lesson is on this Tuesday night! I can't wait, I've been feeling kind of in a rut and actually not overly motivated, I think I need a second pair of eyes! :)

And now, finally, the screencaps and video. (as usual, just set the video on a post and let it run, so we move in and out of frame. The most interesting bit is the part at the beginning with the ball.)

Yes, I can definitely tell I'm in dire need of instruction.

Getting on and going

My elbows, MY ELBOWS

BALL

Go, Kieran, go!

Cute horse

I actually don't think I look terrible here

Or here

Next three pics are me asking for a canter and getting a fast trot but I'm obviously not helping matters myself. These pictures make me cringe. I'm only including them because his tail is pretty.

Eye update

2011-08-18T07:49:00.001-04:00

The BO texted me this morning and said Kieran's eye looks fine. So that's good, at least. :)

It never ends, does it?

2011-08-18T00:25:00.003-04:00

So, I went to see Kieran today and when I took off his flymask, this face greeted me:

Here's a closeup:

So I'm like, "OMG WHAT DID HE DO TO HIS EYEBALL?" Remember, he had a flymask on, so it makes it unlikely he got something in there. BO suspects it's allergies, actually, since he's so itchy already too so he's going to be put on antihist. In the meantime, we also put some eye goop in his eye in case it is a scratch to stave off infection. She said if it didn't look substantially better in the morning, she'd call the vet.

I will say, I think he was more squinting not because it hurt but because whatever it is made him light sensitive. As the sun went down, he opened his eye more.

Anyway, needless to say, we didn't ride. So I just played dressup with him instead (I was waiting for the BO to get there with the eye goop as she volunteered to stop by TSC for it on the way home from work which was faster than me leaving the farm and driving up to TSC and back to get it).

Yes, those are blue hair extension thingies. There may be more on the way. Ebay is an amazing thing.

And that's the State of the Kieran.

Laterality

2011-08-14T22:36:00.004-04:00

Had two good rides on Kieran this weekend. Yesterday was about a half an hour of walking and trotting around the ring, doing lots of up and down transitions and trotting over poles. I switched back to his old full cheek bit and he seemed to be more responsive to it so we may stick with that for a while. It could all be in my head, LOL.

I'm noticing a lot more too (and I think I've mentioned it before) that a lot of times, if I stop trying to micromanage where he's going, he tends to go straighter than if I'm trying to make him go straight, so I've been trying to just "think" straight but kind of leave him alone.

Also, yesterday, after the ride we did some various ground exercises. Carrot stretches, that sort of thing, but also work on understanding the cue for moving laterally since I've had so much trouble getting him to understand it from the saddle. (he goes backward, he kind of shuffles over, he tries going forward...he doesn't get "sideways") So I hooked the lead rope to his halter on the side away from me and ran it over his neck so I could use it like I would one of the reins and then poked him in the side at the same time as I applied pressure on the halter. When he moved over (crossing his legs over), I'd stop and give him a bit of carrot. Rinse, repeat on the other side.

So I noticed tonight when riding that if he started drifting, it didn't take quite so much effort to nudge him with my inside leg and keep him on the rail.

And then...well, our ride was mostly over, and it was getting dark, and I figured we could just kind of ride around outside of the ring to cool out. But I didn't want to get off and unchain the gate, I wanted to unchain it from his back. He knows about walking right up to the gate, but actually maneuvering him so I could get him properly alongside it has always been kind of dodgy. Not tonight! We walked up to it, I asked him to move so he was parallel to the gate, and he stepped right over. No fuss, no muss.

Now, getting him to stand still long enough for me to undo the chain was a different story, but each time I could get him right back where I wanted him (and finally I figured out how to use combination of reins, just two hands, crop [I see why foxhunters use a stick!], and chain to get the darn thing undone). I was so happy!

That and we cantered for the first time since the kicking out incident a couple weeks ago. Got a pretty decent canter both ways, all the way around the ring. No kicking out, no grumping just..."canter? Okay!".

My pony is so awesome. (and yes, I know I say that like every other post but it's TRUE)

Kieran says hiiiiii

2011-08-06T21:16:00.000-04:00

Vet came out

2011-08-01T20:20:00.001-04:00

And said, basically...it was likely he pulled something a bit and was sore but he looks fine now and walking and trotting ought to be okay and work back up to cantering and see how he responds.

Talked to the vet

2011-07-31T12:38:00.002-04:00

She suspects he sprained something and doesn't think it requires an emergency visit (neither did, I to be honest). She just said to cold hose it today and maybe put some liniment on and we scheduled for her to come out and look him over tomorrow.

Figure I'll ask her opinion of the skin tag warty thing he's got then too.

Hocks! :(

2011-07-30T23:41:00.005-04:00

So...was riding Kieran tonight and things were going well. He was actually being really good. Until I asked him to canter to the left.

The first part is us going to the right, then we turned and went the other way.

I was like, "wtf horse? What is your problem! DO IT!" Yeah. Then he did it a couple more times when I'd ask him to canter that way.

Then I thought, "maybe he's not just being a jerk. Being jerkish is really unlike him, anyway."

So I checked him over and his left hock definitely has some puffiness going on. Not sure what's caused it as he doesn't appear to have been kicked and it wasn't warm or anything like that but anyway, calling the vet tomorrow.

Ugh. Keep your fingers crossed its something minor, please.

Here's a happy picture, at least?

Kieran schnoz

2011-07-17T23:27:00.000-04:00

Why yes, he is sleeping while tied to the hitching post and resting his nose on it.

Barebackness

2011-07-11T21:10:00.002-04:00

Picture has nothing to do with the post. :)

Decided to take up riding bareback for a while, though we didn't do much in the way of work tonight. I'm so much less secure-feeling bareback! Makes it pretty obvious how much work I have to do on my seat and my legs (I watched this amazing video last night where the rider's lower body like...didn't budge at all and I was thoroughly impressed). Kieran won't mind, I think, since we're going to have to be doing pretty low intensity stuff for a while until I can sit on him without bouncing too badly (or bouncing myself right off his side).

Trail rides, I'll still go in a saddle. :)

Exciting ride today!

2011-07-10T21:22:00.002-04:00

So...I went for a trail ride on Kieran now that we've been shown the trails. The BO had texted me earlier in the week and mentioned they'd done some trail clearing, and I thought that she had just meant that they'd cleared out the one tree that was pretty much totally blocking one path (you had to bushwack to get around it). Alas, they also moved the two logs lying over the trail in two places that were perfect to hop over. *sigh*

Oh well!

Anyway, Kieran was a champ. Sometimes he can get a bit insecure riding out alone be he was just fine and ready to explore with me.

The exciting part, you ask? Well, we'd started trotting down this one section of trail when all of a sudden, pretty much out of nowhere, we trotted up on these three guys who were apparently out shooting shotguns for the hell of it. (Myra says if it had been her on her horse, she would have been left in the dust...but Kieran was really good after the initial "oh crap where did THOSE guys come from?" reaction) I had no idea they were going to be back there and they had no idea I was going to be back there. It was...awkward. But they were polite enough and we moved on. I could hear them shooting from time to time but we managed to avoid each other the rest of the time (well, except for near the end of the ride when I took a wrong turn and almost ended up in someone's backyard and had to backtrack. They were headed that way to go out when I turned around to get back on the trail I needed to take).

Other than that, Kieran and I got in some good trotting and cantering (a lot more trotting than cantering) and I was able to do a lot of the trotting in two point with little issue! Not sure why it's so much harder in the ring, LOL.

Kieran seemed to really enjoy himself once I finally let him open up a little and not just mosey along, hah!

And it turns out the dudes I ran into are related to the guy who owns the land I was riding on so at least they were some random strangers. Well, from my perspective, I guess they were...but you know what I mean!

Also, anybody have any sweet itch remedies? I think that's what Kieran is developing on his neck and I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a big problem. Currently I've just slathered the area in SWAT, but there's got to be something more I can do. Here's a pic!

Raaaain

2011-07-09T19:19:00.003-04:00

Wasn't able to make it back out to the farm all week.

Today? I was like, "yes! I'm going to go! Early in the afternoon! To miss the rain that's supposed to come later!"

Yeah, I get halfway there and the bottom falls out of the sky so I decide, "screw it, I'll go and cuddle my pony and we'll do some sort of ground work in the rain, whatever."

So that's what we did. I went and cuddled him and gave him treats then we went and did some ground work. Mr. Kieran was enjoying the freedom of the big ring too much though so we ended up going to the round pen and having a reminder session that he's supposed to be listening to me. My fault, I should have been prepared to actually work in the big ring but of course...I wasn't. Next time I'll bring a lunge line and get myself a proper whip instead of trying to free lunge him in there (it worked okay at the old farm because their ring was smaller and not grassy but here it's just too easy for him to get out of reach and then start grazing until I catch up to him, ugh).

Anyway, after that I took him back to his field just stuck around scritching his ears and talking to him a bit. I noticed he looks like he's been scratching the front of his neck on things (and a couple of not-so-straight-anymore fence posts) and I'm concerned bugs are bothering him or maybe he's got an allergy to something in GA. :( Will have to figure out what it is before he gets too itchy.

Of course, about the time I wrapped everything up and was on my way out (just talking a bit with the BO first)...of course the rain stopped. You know, after I was soaked, LOL.

Keep your fingers crossed it doesn't do that to me again tomorrow.

Trail ride!

2011-07-03T19:20:00.002-04:00

Went out on the trails today. They're about 300 acres on lumber tree farm. The trails are all pretty flat and wide and are basically the fire breaks between sections of trees. It's definitely different from riding in the state parks up in MD! Still, it was nice to get out of the ring and into some different scenery and I think Kieran had a good time too. Plus, Myra's (the barn owner's) horse walks out, man! Kieran was marching to keep up with her, I swear it was the fastest walk I've ever ridden on him, hah!

We even managed to get in some nice canter stretches, though the one section they do that on mainly needs someone on a tall horse (uh, me) to come through with some clippers to take down a few of the low hanging branches that tried to smack me in the face. I don't believe anybody's been riding out there regularly in a while so a bit of cleanup needs to happen but it's not too big of a deal.

Annnnd, that's about it. :)

Screencaps from Friday's ride

2011-07-02T10:02:00.002-04:00

Smile for the camera!

Look at that extension!

Cantering around a turn

More cantering

I moved the camera

Y halo thar

Kieran was AMAZING tonight

2011-06-30T22:03:00.003-04:00

And I wish I'd gotten video of it. I set the camera up but must have accidentally hit the record button again (thus, turning OFF recording) when I set it down on the post. So no video, alas!

Anyway, I set up a few trot poles in one corner so he had to trot over them around a turn, then one cavaletti with ground lines on each side (so we could jump it from either direction) on the quarterline, and another one set up the same way more or less on the M->K diagonal.

We warmed up and first just did a lot of trotting around, not doing endless riding on the rail but changing up directions and weaving around the cavaletti and going over the trot poles. I was pleasantly surprised to see how forward he was today (especially considering how extra-relaxed he was beforehand! That usually means he's going to be kind of lazy).

Then we started trotting over the cavaletti from either direction and instead of just trotting down the line and stopping, we'd trot over one, go down, turn and go up the diagonal for the other one (or go down the diagonal, turn, and go up the quarterline). He picked that up pretty quickly so then we threw in cantering.

First, I just asked him to canter over one, then canter around the ring on the rail. He started out kind of rushy, but once he got into the groove, it was better. Then we were able to canter down the quarterline and make the turn for the diagonal and go over both cavaletti (like a very tiny jump course, LOL) and vice versa. So we were able to do those from either direction a few times and he was doing really well at actually hopping over instead of just doing a big canter stride over them so once we did that, I called it quits and cooled him out.

I'm so very pleased with him today, you've got no idea.

I do really need to find an instructor down here to come out and teach us, though. I don't want to add anything too much more complicated without some help and I know I'm still getting in his way more than I should (I really get the sense of, "mom, if you'd just get out of the way...I've GOT this, okay?" from him). So if you're reading this and now any good instructors in the Augusta area who'll come out to where you are to teach, let me know who to contact! :)

Also got to meet one of the other boarders today as they pulled in as I was getting done riding. Unfortunately, she'd had to take her horse over to UGA to get surgery done on his eyes (something about cancerous cells?) so...not really a happy occasion but it was still nice to meet more people at the barn since I'm usually out there alone.

Oh! And there will likely be trail riding this weekend! So. Excited! :)

Just a nice evening ride

2011-06-27T22:52:00.001-04:00

Went out to ride tonight. Getting there later in the day is definitely a better idea, even if I'm leaving as it gets dark. It's such a better temperature! And Kieran seemed to deal with it better too. Though he was covered in dirt and sweat (so mud, basically) when I went to get him from his field today:

[i]That[/i] was fun to clean up (I cheated and gave him a foamy bath).

Here's some screencaps from the ride...actual videos are below:

HOW CUTE IS HE? :)

My elbows, they suck.

Muscles!

Didn't do too many of these, just put them in to give him something interesting to do. It's two ground poles leading in to the cavaletti, spaced about twelve of my (size 9) feet apart.

Videos aren't terribly exciting because I didn't have anyone there to help me out so I just set the camera on a post and let it record while I rode.

After we warmed up. This part of the ride I did in spurs (don't usually use them), to see if how he went with them. Ended up taking them off because I was worried too much about jabbing him in the sides.

Asked him for a simple change. Haven't done too much of this with him.

Then the cavaletti. First time through we trotted, second time through we cantered.

After we were done, the BO was out there with her daughter (the girl who thinks Kieran is amazing. She also thinks he's a Gypsy Vanner and I haven't had the heart to correct her) and a friend. She asked if Kieran could give the daughter a pony ride...which he did, about fifty feet. :) Girl was like, "I rode a Gypsy Vanner!" *sigh* ;)

Oh yeah, and here's the sunset:

Why yes, my horse does fart rainbows actually...

2011-06-22T20:07:00.003-04:00

In other news, we did no riding in the arena today, just up and down and around and back and forth in the lanes between the fields. We're practicing just going in straight lines. :) It's easy in the lane between the farm and the neighbor's property because it's only wide enough for two horses abreast, maybe three if they're cozy. The main lane between the pastures, though, is big enough for a whole herd and it takes more work to keep him moving straight and not drifting from one side to the other. Still, it was nice to just do something outside of the ring.

The big lane:

Better ride today!

2011-06-19T18:42:00.004-04:00

Brought a friend of mine out to the farm to meet Kieran. I offered to let her ride him but she wasn't prepared (mostly she didn't want to get pooped riding out in the heat and not have anything left for her own lesson tonight!). Anyway, she did kindly take a few pictures and videos of us so I figured I'd share them.

Kieran was a lot calmer today than he was yesterday. I think he's fully settled in and figured out this is "home" now. We didn't have a bad ride yesterday, but today's ride was simply...better.

I felt weird riding in just jeans though...my half chaps are in a box on a truck somewhere between here and Maryland!

We didn't ride very long today either (about 25 minutes?). Mostly walking, some cantering, and a few times trotting over a couple of poles. Kieran was very good. :)

I figure as time goes on, I can slowly up the amount of time we ride, but right now I think he's still getting acclimated to the heat. It's definitely taking longer to cool him out now than it did in Maryland.

Otherwise, he seems pretty happy with his new situation, so I'm glad of that.

Storytime!

2011-06-18T17:38:00.003-04:00

It occurred to me I wasn't sure if I'd actually posted here about what the last few posts were about, hah.

Basically:

After lots of waiting, I finally got my job to move me from Maryland down to Georgia. Of course...that meant my pony had to come with me! So, last month (among other things), I came down to Georgia to find a new boarding barn (which is sort of a new experience since Kieran was boarded at Gentle Giants before and it's really not your typical boarding situation).

Anyway, I got that squared away and went back to Maryland. Where lots more waiting happened until I was finally given the official move date and was able to move on coordinating with Athena at Horse Jitney to get Kieran on her schedule.

I moved a little over a week ago. Kieran got picked up on Thursday and arrived yesterday, looking fabulous, as usual.

For the next several days, he's going to be kept separate from the other horses in the arena just to make sure he didn't pick anything up while shipping, but then he'll get moved in with his pasture buddy.

Today I went up there and pulled him out of his "field" and got him groomed and tacked up.

He did keep whinnying periodically, like, "hey, I'm too far from the other horses...wtf!" and he kept wanting to swing around to the other side of the tie rail (which was weird because then he'd be facing AWAY from the barn and fields. *shrugs*)

Still, he was otherwise okay.

We had a fairly short ride (about a half hour, mostly walking), since it was hot. Tell me why I thought it was a good idea to go ride my horse early in the afternoon in Georgia? Not to mention the new farm doesn't have a covered riding ring so we were out in the sun the whole time. I'm going to have to keep that in mind and shift my "it's time to go to the farm!" mentality and either go really early in the morning (unlikely, hah!) or later in the day...like around 6. (or even later, they have lights!) Our saving grace was that there was a cool breeze.

Anyway, we did a lot of walking, some trotting, and a canter once each way around the ring (and wow, in a ring of decent size, it was really easy to get a nice canter out of him!). Going straight was a challenge we're going to have to work on, but he did give me a couple of nice circles while we trotted.

Anyway, after that, we rode out of the arena (and I managed to unchain the gate without having to dismount!) and around the farm since there's a nice lane that goes up between the pastures, around one end, and back up the other side. They'd be nice to do just long straightaways of trotting (maybe cantering? I don't know...might stir up the other horses too much).

There are also trails that lead off the property but we left those for another day. Ideally, I'd like to meet someone there who also trail rides and wouldn't mind showing us the ropes before we go out on our own.

Anyway, after that was a long cool down and then I hosed Kieran off. I had wanted to foamy bathe him but I couldn't get the nozzle off the hose so just sprayed him with water. He wasn't really dirty anyway.

So...a really good day.

Oh! Also, look what the folks at Gentle Giants did for me as a going away present!

I bought the trunk back in January and it looked like this:

So they put on new hardware, stained it darker, and got a nice plaque for the top. Isn't it lovely? It's only flaw is...it doesn't fit in the tackroom at the new barn so it'll just have to adorn my living room instead. :)

He's here! He's here!

2011-06-17T22:07:00.003-04:00

Pulling in the driveway

Getting off the trailer

Turned out on the new farm

Rolling in the new field. :)

Anyway, the shipper LOVED him and kept telling me how amazing she thought he was. Apparently he made for a calming influence for the squirrely OTTB (just a few weeks off the track) he was trailering with for most of the way. Something like, the TB was wigging out because of the storm they had last night but Kieran kept not caring and finally the TB was like.."well...if he's not worried, maybe I shouldn't be." :)

Kieran, of course, could not care less about things like that when he's got hay in front of him. ;)

Anyway, they made really good time and the shipper got here right about when she said she would and he showed up in great condition. I'm so happy to have my pony here, you just have no idea. :D

If you're looking for a good horse shipper, you should definitely check into Horse Jitney. Kieran gives them a hoof stamp of approval.

On his way to me

2011-06-16T20:31:00.002-04:00

He should be here tomorrow! I can't wait!

What we did today

2011-06-05T20:53:00.000-04:00

Running around like an idiot

2011-06-04T18:22:00.001-04:00

Awesome lesson!!

2011-06-02T23:32:00.003-04:00

Tonight Christina said, "it's only for a half hour, but I'm going to make it FEEL like an hour!"

And then she told me to drop my stirrups and trot around the ring. Then back to a walk. Now do a walk to canter transition and canter twice around the ring. Now do it the other direction.

Only after all of that did she set up a teeny crossrail with a placing pole. I got the choice of going over it without stirrups or without reins. I chose reins, hah. I don't think my stirrupless two point is nearly up to par.

Anyway, the first time around, we went over it with reins (just in case the spacing was wrong), the next time around, as we got to the placing pole, she had me drop my reins. Then after, pick them up, go around again, go over without reins and remember to put your arms out to the sides.

Then we did it from the other direction.

Then she made it a tiny vertical.

Kieran was really good and the last time through, even though you could tell he was starting to get tired from all the cantering, he went over the jump really well nor did he try to stop right after like he sometimes wants to. One time through, I went around the whole ring with no reins and we more or less stayed on the rail, hah.

My biggest problem tonight was that my feet kept sliding "home" into the stirrups. I don't know why as this isn't a usual problem for me. We think it's just that all the time off from riding and I'm still gaining back what fitness I had and thus tensing my legs upward at the canter again. It's always something. :)

Oh yeah, and he gave me a bunch of nice walk to canter transitions. Now if we can just learn canter to walk....

Trails!

2011-05-30T09:40:00.003-04:00

Went on a nice two hour trail ride with Christina yesterday in the Patapsco State Park. I am so going to miss that place when we move, LOL. We got to wade in the river (on horseback) which Kieran gets a kick out of (he loves stomping in the water). And we had two of our longest-ever trots on the trail. We also popped over a couple of logs. Mostly, we just enjoyed the day, it was nice. There's something to be said for big group rides, sure, but I have to say I've had the most fun trail rides when it's only a couple of people. Kieran seems more relaxed, too.

The ride was also a really good length. Any longer probably would have been too much for him since we're still working on getting him back into shape (and definitely would have been too much for Vegas who has a harder time in the heat and isn't quite as fit as Kieran is currently).

Guess if we do any riding today, I'll have to go easy on him. :)

We need some work

2011-05-26T21:47:00.002-04:00

Had my lesson tonight and it feels a bit like we backslid. Mostly because it's been so long since we had a proper ride and Kieran was only ridden a few times while I was gone. He's rarely really off his forehand, I'll admit, but tonight it felt like he was dragging himself around by his front legs when we cantered. That and he was getting pretty pooped about two thirds of the way through the lesson.

So we've got some work to do to work up fitness and stamina. But that's okay. :)

Videos (some jumping and a bored pony)

2011-05-23T22:28:00.004-04:00

No riding tonight mostly because Kieran had apparently lain in the mud all day and it was still wet and stuck to his coat and there was no way I was going to put a saddle and girth on on top of that and if I'd bathed him I wouldn't have wanted to tack him up wet so we did this stuff instead:

And then he told me how boring it all was:

I LOVE MY PONY

2011-05-22T22:11:00.002-04:00

Seriously. I went out and spent all day at the farm today and when I finally got to hop on Kieran (right after he gave a lesson [not that he'd worked hard] so he was already warmed up) and we just did some trotting around over the poles that were already set up and a few times around at a canter before we walked outside up and down the driveway to cool out.

I could. not. stop. smiling!

I missed him so much, I would have been happy just to sit on him. He's so amazing.

After that, he got a quick foamy bath which...normally he kind of dances at the wash rack a bit but today he was pretty content to stand there and let me spray him. I imagine it felt good since it was pretty warm today.

Of course, he didn't get fully dry before it was time to turn everybody out so he ended up ruining the bath but hey....at least he's only got surface dirt on now. :)

Sorry, no pics...I had my camera with me but didn't take one picture. Maybe tomorrow after I go up after work. :)

I miss my pony!

2011-05-08T13:08:00.002-04:00

Work's sent me out of town. The weather here was fabulous all this past week and I spent it fantasizing about all the amazing trail riding Kieran and I could be doing.

Then last night, I dreamed about him (I don't usually dream about animals or people who actually exist so it's always interesting when I do). In dreamland, apparently horses are transported in very well padded, unlit, totally closed boxes with lots of hay, straw, and water. Long story.

Anyway!

Somebody on facebook went to the farm and took a picture of him for me:

But I still really miss my pony. :(

Sunrise update

2011-04-18T09:11:00.001-04:00

Sunrise is recovering extremely well and is becoming quite the pocket pony. I can't wait until she and the other girls get to be turned out with the other horses, but for now...here's some pictures I took of her and Penny playing in the arena.

We've got the Ick

2011-04-11T10:33:00.003-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...I've done next to no riding!

First, Kieran was a little off so I gave him a few days...and then he caught the flu.

No, seriously...there's an influenza virus sweeping the farm right now and he's all snotty and a bit cough-y. So his only job right now is to eat and relax and put up with me when I come to groom him and wipe out his nose.

So...we've got the Ick. (I've been sick too...woke up Saturday all achey and sore and a bit feverish. Spent most of the weekend sleeping and downing fluids and DayQuil)

Sunrise update

2011-03-29T20:43:00.001-04:00

Here's a picture of one of the x-rays:

For as horrible as it looks, the nail does not penetrate bone. (It was in the digital cushion)

And a picture of the vet doing the regional limb perfusion this morning:

Blah

2011-03-28T22:59:00.003-04:00

Went to work with Kieran (was going to do some lunging, mostly, with side reins. Maybe over poles if I felt like dragging them around). But just got him trotting and...

...he looked off. Called Christine over, had him trot for her. "Yes, she says, he's off on the left front". I'd already picked out his feet so knew there wasn't anything in there (and hadn't noticed anything unusual when I did) so we suspect a bruise/abscess is brewing. When we were riding around the farm yesterday, we did go on some rock we hadn't before so he could've done it there. Either way, he got the night off. I did take a few pictures of him beforehand, though:

And, update on the Clydes...

The yearling with the nail out of her hoof is running a fever (was 105something without banamine, 102something after banamine). Leg is swollen and hot and she's not a fan of being kept in a stall. She's learning about being scritched by humans, though! (we took a while tonight to just scritch her wherever she liked best so she wouldn't associate humans with unpleasant things like getting her temperature taken and getting shots...)

The others seem to be okay. The three year old is in the stall adjoining the yearling and seems totally content to be there. The other two mares are outside in a smallish pen where they can see but not get to other horses (quarantine precaution).

Here's the three year old enjoying her stall:

Sunrise, the yearling:

The roan mare is the three year old's damn

And the other mare

Gentle Giants rescues 4 CLYDESDALES, 1 with a NAIL stuck in its hoof!

2011-03-27T18:41:00.002-04:00

So there was this guy who had been a Clyde breeder who's rather old and had had a stroke and had been needing to downsize his herd. He ended up having to send 7 of his horses to an auction up in Athens, PA (practically in New York state) and, unfortunately, GG only heard about it after the horses had already been consigned to the sale. Here's what Christine says about it:

The owner of these horses suffered a stroke and has struggled for several months to sell the horses privately. I had the pleasure of speaking to him on the phone. He is very hopeful that the auctions efforts to promote the horses will draw good homes. We talked at length about what could happen if they sold to a kill buyer, and while he doesn't want that to happen, he is truly in dire straights. He lamented that had he met Gentle Giants beforehand he would have happily sold them to us for a low price, but they are already consigned and he hired a shipper to haul them to the sale. He's an old time gentleman, and won't revoke the consignment, he feels that would be wrong of him. That's why we are going.

Anyway, so GG drove up there yesterday (not me, I was busy buying a car!). Three of the horses sold for well over meat price (two of them actually sold for the most the auction had EVER sold a horse for, $1800 and $2250, respectively). Those three were two pregnant mares and a stallion. The four Gentle Giants got are two 6 or 7 year old mares, one 3 year old filly, and a yearling filly who went through the ring lame. Supposedly, she'd been kicked by one of the other mares and "would be fine in a few days"....

Here's some pics they took of the mares at the sale:

I believe the one in the middle is the one we ended up with and the other two on the sides are the pregnant mares.

The other three.

So they loaded up the horses at around 8PM last night and started making the long drive home (5 hours!). Unfortunately, they had a blowout (one of the inner tires on the dually) somewhere around Scranton and couldn't find ANY roadside assistance that would come out and change the tire on a dually and double wouldn't come out for one hooked up to a loaded horse trailer. After calling God only knows how many folks, Christine finally got a referral to someone who does tows for semi trucks and had some kind of lift that could do the job. Once that was done, they were back on the road, and finally got in around 6:30am today.

Not believing the filly would get better "in a few days", the vet was called out for an emergency visit. What did she find, you ask?

A four inch framing NAIL stuck up near the heel bulb. Before pulling it out, the vet took some x-rays so we could find out what the nail actually penetrated but in the mean time, the filly (named Sunrise) is being treated with IV Antibiotics once daily, oral Antibiotics twice daily, twice daily antibiotic flushes of the wound, oral vasodilator (to help get more medication flowing to area) and regional limb perfusion with antibiotics every 48 hours. Prognosis is extremely guarded.

Here's video of the nail coming out:

If you could, please keep this filly in your thoughts!

Exciting day!

2011-03-20T23:26:00.002-04:00

You might remember the "seriously explosive" pic from last week. Here's pics from this week's practice. :)

Caught Kieran napping outside this morning. Guess he knew he had to rest up. ;)

Milling around

Pole bending

This lady just picked up riding again after not riding for like...40 years.

They had to reset one of the barrels... :)

Turn and burn!

Racing

Already turned for home and Twister's still trying to make it around the barrel. ;)

Coming home! I think this was at the end of a barrel racing pattern.

Today's Lesson Report

2011-03-17T22:13:00.002-04:00

Lesson tonight. Spent most of it riding over poles and a good chunk of that doing so without reins at both a trot and a canter. Also did some jumping and got video of the last couple times through. We did not end on the second jump you see in the video below but went back through and did it once more where he didn't knock the jump before we ended. Anyway, stuff I noticed watching myself: my elbow angle doesn't change at the canter so I'm not really following his mouth (hence there's points where I have contact and points where there's slack in the rein). Also, my legs are way in front of me and I can't seem to properly get my heels down (okay, these are things I've known, but they're annoying. I always feel like I'm keeping my heels down and then I watch myself and no...not down).

And some screencaps:

Kieran is pretty! I...am not. Everything I hate about my position. Feet too far forward and pretty level. Shoulders kind of hunched. Ugh.

And the first jump from the vid:

Seriously explosive :)

2011-03-14T22:39:00.001-04:00

Yesterday a bunch of folks got together to practice for some fun gaming shows coming up. Barrels, pole bending, plug race, figure eight, that sort of thing. At a trot. (blistering speed, let me tell you!)

Anyway, someone got this picture of me and Kieran waiting around. I put her caption below the picture.

"Blair & Tyler paying close attention....Blair really has her hands full here with her pony!! Not sure how she can contain this explosive beast!!!"

Doesn't he look like a ball of fire, or what?

Pictures from Saturday

2011-03-07T19:36:00.003-05:00

Just did a short ride on Saturday and someone snapped some photos of us. Don't have enough brain right now for a full write-up, but here are the pics!

I have no idea why I'm leaning so far back. From the position of hand and reins, I suspect it was a walk break but I still don't know what I was doing there.

Just trotting over.

Poooooooooles

2011-03-03T21:33:00.003-05:00

Okay, so tonight, the ring looked something like this.

Low crossrail at B (ignore the dashed line, I made a mistake), cavaletti and exceedingly low vertical (cavaletti height) at X, trot poles at E with the two I-beam shaped ones up on little blocks. Later, the middle pole was removed to make them canter poles.

So first, we trotted over everything. Post around the outside, two point down the diagonals, that sort of thing. Then I have to trot over everything a couple times with no stirrups while posting (which was actually a little easier, my ankles sucked tonight).

Then the three trot poles became two canter poles and we did some cantering over everything. Got some nice transitions up out of Kieran though he kept wanting to break into a trot at the poles by E for some reason but managed to get a good canter over them at least once or twice. Then Christina put two of the poles up on the little blocks next to each other like || and the third pole on the ground in front of them so: |||. And we cantered over that (and the crossrail on the other side). Once, Christina wanted us to try cantering up to the left from A to E around to C then turn across the diagonal at F (would have begun trotting before he had to turn at H). The idea being that we had to really go deep into the corner at K to really make the turn. But...yeah...that didn't happen though technically Mr. Kieran is capable of it. He broke into a trot and I just kept him moving. Everything else he did well, though and we ended on a good note.

Kieran likes when we end because he usually gets ear scritches from Christina before we go untack. ;) He also got some mints and a bit more turnout before it was time for the horses to come in for the night.

All in all, not an exciting ride, but a good one. :)

'Round the world we go!

2011-02-27T21:40:00.004-05:00

Today was just a pretty basic lesson. Warmup was that while Kieran was walking on the rail and doing 10 meter circles in the corners, I had to sit three beats, go into half seat for three beats, sit 3, half seat 3, sit 3...

Then, Christina had set up the ring to look like so:

Two trot poles up by A, then a caveletti and a low crossrail (on blocks, very very tiny) catty corner to each other at X.

Basically, I could trot on the rail over the poles, then turn and go down the diagonal over the things in the middle as I changed direction, that sort of thing. Lots of doing it in two point. Then she had me go around posting with only one (the outside) stirrup in each direction. Which is totally harder than doing it with no stirrups. And then I had to go up into two point, then slowly lower my chest toward Kieran's neck (without collapsing in on myself or pinching with my knee or letting my leg swing!), then raise back up into regular two point, then lower, then raise...all while he's trotting along. I've done that exercise while halted before but today was the first time we did it at a trot.

Then (and here's where the post title comes in) she wanted me to try to do "around the world" while Kieran walked in a circle around her.

Talk about terrifying. I was sure I'd fall off.

I did manage to get my left leg over his neck so I was sitting with both legs on his right side but then I just couldn't get up the nerve to swing my right leg over his hindquarters (I was sure I'd fall off backward and land on my head or something). So I chickened out and slid off. Of course, Christina made me get back up and do a real around the world (at the halt!) which I did. Wasn't pretty, but I did it.

Then I did the thing where I swung both of my legs over to one side of Kieran, but one hand on his neck, the other on the cantle (so, if my legs are on his left side, my right hand would be on the cantle, and my left on his neck) so I could then twist myself around to, essentially, have my belly against the saddle. Then I have to get back up into the saddle properly.

I think if I were doing it properly properly, my weight when I twist around would always pretty much stay on my hands/arms, and I wouldn't have taken that moment to lean my body against the saddle. =P

Then, just for the fun of it because the next rider wasn't quite ready yet, we did some quick canters a few times around the ring (and a couple times starting from a walk/trot out of F, heading toward H, we'd start cantering after F across the diagonal and over the cavaletti. Kieran thought I was nuts. ;)

Games

2011-02-20T20:50:00.003-05:00

Still waiting on the pics from yesterday.

In the meantime...had a good lesson today. Spent the first half on me (lots of trotting and cantering in two point. It was easier today than on Thursday, for which I'm grateful). Second half, we did "games". Christina had set up a few things for us to play with. One was just the tarp, laid on the ground between two poles and we walked and trotted over it (Kieran didn't even look at it twice, since he's already been introduced to it). Then she'd put a small bucket on top of one of the barrels and wrapped the handle with silk flowers and had me walk up to it and pick it up as we walked by, go around, then set it back down again. Easier said than done since I had to time shifting my reins to one hand until just a split second before I reached the bucket (since Kieran doesn't neck rein) and if he wasn't in just the right position and I didn't lean down the right amount...I wouldn't be able to scoop the darn thing up.

Once we were doing it reliably from either side, she had us do it at a trot.

She also had the pool noodles (I picked a bunch up from the dollar store last year so we could do goofy things with them with the horses) stuck in one of the other barrels and had me do the same thing. Walk by, pick one up, walk around with it (and this time, pass it over Kieran's neck and around my back), then stick it back in the barrel. Then we did it at a trot. Then she had me trot to it, pick it up, pick up a canter, and canter back to the barrel to put the noodle in. Finally, she held one of the noodles up a little higher so I could reach it more easily and had me canter to her, take it from her, canter back around, and give it back. ;)

Fun times and it made the lesson really interesting for both me and Kieran. I mean, I still had to work on using my legs and core to stay on the saddle, even when leaning over the side, plus Kieran had to listen more to legs and seat than reins about where to go.

All in all, a much improved lesson experience over the last one, LOL.

Going back to farm tomorrow (yay, holidays!). Unsure if I'll ride or do something else. May not decide until I get up there.

Some kinda wind!

2011-02-19T21:16:00.004-05:00

Too bad today wasn't like yesterday.

I mean, yeah, it was sunny. And the ambient temperature wasn't so bad (if you were in the sun).

But the wind! Yeesh. That wasn't any fun at all.

That said, I did manage to take Kieran for a spin around the big field, though we didn't do any long trot sets (Lynn came out with us on Tyr and that was like...his second time out in the big field so we kept it simple). Did do a bit of trotting and cantering over the logs in the field (can't really call it jumping, hah) and Christine got some pretty ridiculous pictures of us that I'll have to post later when she uploads them.

Then I did take him inside and we did some riding around in the ring. Nothing too exciting, though I did do some "canter a few strides, come back a walk, walk a bit, canter a few strides..." sort of transitions because his downward transitions from a canter are pretty sloppy.

My ankle felt much better today, for the record and I cooled him out standing in two point most of the way.

Other than that, he got a massage a week ago Friday and I've been emailing back and forth with the massage lady about it. Mostly I just wanted her to check him out and see if he did have back pain that needed dealing with (before it becomes an issue). Here's what she told me about what she found:

Basically, Kieran had moderate tension in the bilateral lumbar region, right stifle and right hamstrings. I also found tension at the base of his neck on the left. These are actually pretty common areas of tension and don’t necessarily mean anything is wrong. I’m actually seeing a lot of horses that have a lot of tension in the hind end lately, and I think a lot of it has to do with the ice. The tension in the lumbars is a common finding – it could be from him jumping, as this is where the horse will flex to bring his hind end under himself, as well as the area that is stressed during jumping. Some muscle tension is normal and to be expected when a horse is learning to use himself differently.

So all in all, she didn't find anything of major concern or suggest that she'd need to come out again which is, I think, a good thing. ;)

I was totally off my game

2011-02-18T10:02:00.002-05:00

Last night was a lesson night. Christina and I both decided no jumping, just flatwork. Oh, and since we've started doing shorter lessons (I'm doing a half hour twice a week instead of an hour once a week), she's turned up the intensity in how much effort she's asking out of us.

Which is okay, and something we need, but ugh, last night really sucked.

Before I got on, I hiked my stirrups up a hole to see if they'd help with my two point. Then we did a quick warmup of walking serpentines (in two point) and yes...it was easier to get up and find "my spot" where I need to be to stay up. Christina commented that my position was like...100x better.

That's the good news.

Then my right ankle started yelling at me (which is weird because it's the left I sprained).

I kept trying (she had me doing 20 meter circles in two point at the trot by this point) and I'd get three quarters of the way around the circle and just collapse because of the dang ankle.

So she had me drop my stirrups and do posting without stirrups part of the way around the ring, then sit, then "two point". That was hellacious too and not because of the ankle but because of my thighs (and that, at least, is simply a fitness issue).

So she wanted to do more two point stuff and we dropped my stirrups back to where they normally are. Except then I couldn't get my position to work and was wobbly and when I did it at the canter, my ankle felt like it was just about to give out (at least Kieran gave me some very nice trot to canter transitions!).

All in all, a very frustrating night but at least it brings home that I've got a couple things I really need to work on to improve my riding:

1. Figure out the ankle issue. Whether I just need to do strength/flexibility exercises for them or get better stirrups (though I'm already riding in jointed ones) or both. Or maybe try riding with some sort of brace on for a while, if I can, to provide support.

2. Work on stamina and general fitness. Even if I'm only doing half hour lessons, we should be doing longer rides when not lessoning. And I should make myself really work at it and push through.

Any other suggestions? I'm open to them!

Kieran Torture

2011-02-15T23:03:00.004-05:00

Proof of what a terrible horse owner I am:

Yes, those are blue sparkly fairy wings (I love the dollar store!). Yes, Kieran is wondering why someone won't rescue him. ;)

In other news, I free jumped him a bit tonight. Set up the chute with first a low crossrail, the cavaletti, and then the jump at the same height we had on Sunday. Ran him through a few times and gosh, he was being lazy! So I changed the crossrail to a vertical and did it again and he did better. Then I added a single barrel to the middle of the last element, and changed it so the crossrail was the second element and just put a ground pole as the first element (since I was adding in the barrel, I wanted to make the other things simpler, and use the crossrail to kind of funnel him to the middle of the chute).

So he comes through and totally puts on the brakes at the barrel. Like, "wtf, mom, don't you remember that thing might eat me?" So he tries to go around, but there's a wall on one side and a rope on the other and me over there telling him to "go over, okay!"...so he did, from a standstill. Heck, I would have taken him just bulling through it like he's done other things. So then he figured out he was capable of jumping over the one barrel and we did it a couple more times, but I noticed he was trying to jump to the far left of the jump (next to the rope, where there was no barrel).

So I added a second barrel, and at that point the jump was set up the same way as it was on Sunday (except that Christina only had it as a single jump, and I still had my chute set up).

Hah, he ran right on through for me, but when he got to that last jump, he totally cleared it with a few extra feet than he needed to. So I sent him through a couple more times until he did it more reasonably and ended there with lots of praise and a cookie. Now, at least, he knows he can do it. I'll probably do it again with him at least once more before we try tackling it under saddle (and when we do again, I'll probably ask Christina if we can't set up a similar grid since I think it helps him find his spot).

Oh yeah, I also had finally remembered to bring a tarp up because I just wanted to get Kieran to walk over it at some point (one of the obstacles at a judged trail ride some of the barn folks went on had a tarp that the horses had to cross). Well, as soon as I shook the thing out and just laid it on the ground, Kieran came over to inspect it. One hoof on the edge and a snort. Then he looks at me. He paws at it. Snorts. Paws. Looks at me. And I coax him toward me from across the tarp (I had been planning on leading him but since he was so willing to come over on his own...) with a treat. He streeeeeeeeeetched his neck as far as it would go but didn't move his feet. So I just put a little pressure on his halter and he came right on over. Then I led him over again (no hesitation that time). Good pony!

I feel it was a pretty productive horsey day.

Ouch, my pride

2011-02-13T16:31:00.004-05:00

Jumping lesson today. Christina set it up so there was the caveletti on one side of the ring (at B) and then on the other wall (at E) was an actual jump (started with a crossrail, then made a vertical. Jump cups were set at 2'6") and in the middle on the F->H diagonal there was a "crossrail" with very ghetto plastic chair standards (the other set of proper standards is still frozen in a pool of ice. I threw some road salt around them today in hopes they'll unfreeze at some point this week. Problem is that they're sitting in a spot that stays shady most of the day).

Anyway, warmed up, then trotted over everything a few times from different directions. Then Christina asked if we wanted to canter and I was willing to give it a shot. (for this, we just stuck to the stuff on the rail and didn't cross the diagonal. He doesn't do flying lead changes yet and those would be some pretty sharp turns) I noticed it was easier to jump when Kieran was cantering, but looking at the few videos we got? I was still jumping ahead and coming back down too soon and just generally not looking good. Kieran was his normal saintly self.

Then Christina decides to add barrels in front of the jump with the comment that it wasn't actually any taller than what we were just jumping. Which, it wasn't.

So I steeled myself.

And we went.

And I stared at those barrels like they were going to eat me if I took my eyes off 'em!

And Kieran was, quite naturally, convinced they'd eat him too!

So he whipped out of the way at the last second and remember how I said I was jumping ahead? I was already halfway out of the tack when it happened and so...

...off I came! And landed right in front of Kieran's path somehow (I had a fleeting vision of his huge hooves trampling my poor, mangled body). Saintly, again, he stopped as soon as I hit the ground and so...I did not get trampled.

Nothing hurt, in fact, but my pride. Dusted myself off, got back on, Christina removed the barrels, but left the jump up and we went and did it again. Got jumped out of the tack this time (he jumped higher than I was expecting. Those invisible barrels might eat him!) and the Christina turned it back into a crossrail and had us trot through/over a few times just to give Kieran something easy to end on that we know he does well. By that point, the lesson was over.

I told Christina I could make a jump out of the barrels to free jump him over to give him a chance to learn how to do it without me on his back messing him up and then we could give it another shot.

And here's one of the videos. Not of the fall (we didn't get it on camera, alas) but hey, there you go.

EDIT: Video didn't look like it was working, here is a link: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150380374455062&comments

Lazy day (for me! Not so much Kieran)

2011-02-12T18:00:00.003-05:00

Today I wasn't feeling overly motivated to ride but I felt I should do something with Kieran, so we did free jumping again, this time going a different direction than usual. I also set up the chute so hopefully it'd work as a series of bounces (at about 9 feet between each). By the time I had help so I could video and not chase him so much myself (leave that to the kid), he was starting to get tired, so he's not really cantering through here. That said, I think he still makes it through pretty well.

Afterward, I hooked a long lead rope to his halter and hopped on bareback to walk him around and wait for him to cool out. He went pretty well in the halter, turning and stopping easily so now I'm considering trying him in a hackamore.

So I ended up riding today a bit after all. ;)

Lesson tomorrow!

Bunny

2011-02-11T09:25:00.002-05:00

Bunny, here, is an AQHA mare being used for lessons at GG. After someone else's lesson last night, they let me hop on. This is the first horse other than Kieran I've ridden in months and probably the first non-draft/draft cross that I've ridden in. Uh. Well over a year.

She felt so tiny! Like I could hook my feet together under her belly. And she moves so different from Kieran, I had a hard time going with her.

Obviously, I should go back to riding more than just my horse. ;)

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-02-09T15:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Rebecca for this award! I've never received an award for blogging. :) Sorry it's taken so long, but here it is!

There are rules that go along with this award:
1.Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3.Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4.Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

7 Things About Me:

1. I would totally wear my paddock boots to work if I weren't worried my coworkers would complain about the aroma wafting off of them. ;)

2. I much prefer riding outside than in the indoor ring (and I imagine Kieran does, too).

3. I really want some cow-print-patterned stuff to wear in a show some day. I mean, you've seen my horse, right? How awesome would we look if I wore a hat like this in a Western class at some local show?

4. I got my cat at a horse auction. Go figure.

5. I could pretty much live off cold cereal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner? Doesn't matter to me, bring it on!

6. I'm not a fan of cooking, but I do like to bake so the folks at the local renaissance festival call me "the girl with the cookies" because I bring them to share so often.

7. I like Maryland, but I really really really want to move. Some internal meter is saying, "hey! You've been here too long! Time to move!"

And for recently (and not-so-recently) discovered blogs...

o1. A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse - a blog by/about/for Plus-sized riders
o2. Saddle Fitting - The Inside Journey - Saddle Making Process by Nikki Newcombe of Black Country Saddles
o3. Honey Rock Dawn - not a horse blog, but an interesting one
o4. Damsel in this Dress - also not a horse blog, but one of my favorite ladies to buy garb from!
o5. Tacky Tack of the Day - Just what it sounds like. ;)
o6. The Daily Coyote - A new coyote picture every day of Charlie, the only housebroken coyote I know of ;)
o7. Mugwump Chronicles - one of my very favorite horse training related blogs
o8. Fugly Horse of the Day - love her or hate her, Fugs is still the one responsible for getting me into both horse blogging and discovering Gentle Giants. So, thanks Fugs!
o9. Riding Aside - reading this blog makes me want to learn to ride sidesaddle something fierce!
1o. The Waardenburg Rider - a new friend who I have great respect for.
11. Cake Wrecks - another non-horsey blog but responsible for a daily giggle. :)
12. The Jumping Percheron - if Kieran and I can be only half as amazing as this, we would have accomplished something great.
13. Ev 'n' Hosses - Ev writes lovely prose and I < 3 Solomon.
14. Jump on and Ride - She hasn't updated in a while, but I love hearing about the adventures of Fred, Mandy, and Bree.
15. Eventing-A-Gogo! - I've linked more than a few people to her comments on keeping an eventing horse barefoot.

Poles, poles, poles!

2011-02-08T22:43:00.006-05:00

No jumping tonight, just lots of exercise with poles.

Not to scale, obviously, but the diagram gives the idea. The "o's" are barrels for us to weave through at the trot, set far enough away from the wall that we have a track to ride straight along it. The "/s" are ground poles set at a trotting distance and the one with "x's" on either side is a caveletti, set at half-height. The "____s" on the right side are poles spaced for cantering.

So basically, we warmed up walking over, around, and through everything (wove around the barrels, wove around the trot poles, etc) then moved to trotting, then did some cantering on the rail. Discovered that when going to the right, Kieran wanted to cut off that bottom barrel (it was a tight turn to go around the barrel properly, but not quite a tight as it looks in my diagram) and then go on the inside track and skip the canter poles. Going the other way was no problem for him. I did manage to get a couple of nice rides going right and called it quits on that particular exercise.

We also did a lot of transitions, walk to trot, walk to canter, trot to halt, canter to trot, canter to walk...

And the nice thing about the ring set up that way was that I had a lot of options for things to do and could keep Kieran guessing. ;)

He gets the day off tomorrow (four days in a row of doing stuff is a lot for him!) and then we're doing a lesson on Thursday.

Free-jumping, redux!

2011-02-07T23:43:00.002-05:00

Okay, here we go again...

:)

First, his new $10 horseloverz bridle with fancy schmancy Nunn-Finer reins that I couldn't resist. I actually felt bad putting such nice reins on such a cheap bridle.

Screencaps of one run, the one rail was already down before he came through but since it wasn't really in the way, I didn't stop him from going:

Better? I had the little "fence" set back at about 11 feet. (I wanted to use real jump standards, but the other set is outside, currently stuck in ice and wasn't budging)

Actual video of one of the jumps:

And here's one of his last runs through. I put down a ground pole, a very low "vertical", and then the jump. Each are still about 11 feet apart (I brought a tape measure!)

And before we did this, I spent some time just letting him stand next to the block, getting praised if he stood still. Then I'd step up to the middle step. Praise if he stood still. Then I'd go up to the top step and stand over him. Praise and treat if he stood still. If he didn't, I'd just get down, follow with the block, and wait until he stood still again. Didn't actually get on because I hadn't come prepared to ride and I figure it can't hurt for him to learn that sometimes, I just stand next to him and give him treats and sometimes...I get on and we ride, but he has to stand still either way.

Mounting and other tales

2011-02-06T18:43:00.002-05:00

So I posted a while back that I was going to try sending Kieran off when he refused to stand for the mounting block and then let him stand beside it and relax while I got on.

Yeah, he's decided he's supposed to run off when I get up on the block (it also did not help that it seemed like every time I went to put my foot in the stirrup, a big sheet of ice would slide off the roof so he had extra incentive to be all, "running awwaaaay!"). I think he thinks it's some kind of game, now because after a few tries, he finally will stand stock still for me to get up, get situated, and go.

So anyway, I won't be using that technique anymore to make him stand. Even though he's very food motivated, I don't really want to do the treat technique because he'll come to expect them. And he knows when I've got 'em and when I don't.

Though I suppose I could combine that with the clicker I have somewhere and clicker train him. I bet he'd pick it up quick. :)

Anyway, lesson was no cantering (don't ride for two weeks and any riding stamina I have goes to crap) but did lots of trotting over ground poles, then cavaletti and a low vertical (not enough to get him to jump, really...I think he did once sorta) and lots of work for me on waiting to go up into two point until I feel him actually pick up his front feet to go over the rail.

Also lots of ice sliding off the roof giving Kieran an excuse to spook and Christina to yell at me, "don't let him stop! Send him forward!" since my reaction is to tighten up and hold on instead of...sending him forward.

Anyway, it turned out to be a fairly productive lesson. I told Christina I think I might switch to doing two half hour lessons a week instead of one full hour as I think those would be a better fit for us and enable me to do more consistent work with Kieran. Plus, if I go a bit early and have him warmed up ahead of time, we can jump right into working for the lesson and I think we'll get just as much bang for the buck, so to speak.

And I don't have any pictures of Kieran today, but here's one of Kate:

She's a very itchy mare and someone outside the frame is itching her belly. ;)

She's also available for adoption from Gentle Giants.

Free Jumping Kieran

2011-02-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

Here's some screenshots I pulled from two of the vids:

Figured it might help Kieran to figure out what to do when presented with a fence if he did it some without having to worry about a rider, too. He seemed to enjoy the challenge!

So, what do you think?

Kieran is an LOLcat

2011-02-01T00:35:00.003-05:00

And says YHALOTHAR

(not taken by me, but by one of the other girls at the farm)

EDIT: Oh yeah, talked to BM today and she says Kieran doesn't look at all gimpy without his mom there to watch him. ;)

Poor, Lame Pony

2011-01-31T09:52:00.003-05:00

So I show up to the farm on Saturday and as I'm going to get Kieran to bring him in for breakfast (along with all the other horses!), I look at him and frown. "Please let that be mud," I say, "not blood." Nevermind that their field is covered in snow right now and there's not much in the way of mud.

No, I get closer and indeed, his back right leg from partway up the cannon bone on down is all red with blood. Luckily, I note, it's all dryblood and not still-gushing blood...but still!

Anyway, get him inside, warm up some water and clean up his leg to find all the blood originated from one, slightly crescent-shaped spot (though the picture doesn't look it, as it's mostly covered by hair). Presumably, he got kicked there. Put ointment on and gave him some bute, but he was obviously feeling ouchy about it (though we suspect some of that is drama-queen since he walks noticeably better out in his field than he does inside the barn where people are looking at him and might give him treats to make him feel better). Still, there went any ideas I had of working him this weekend.

Mortal wound, am I right? Or at least, Kieran would like me to think so. ;)

Oh! And I got an award in the previous post, I have not forgotten you! Just haven't had time to sit down and write up the requisite post regarding it.

Learning to jump

2011-01-23T17:04:00.001-05:00

Can I get that canter again, please?

2011-01-20T22:37:00.003-05:00

Got my saddle back today so went to try it out and it seemed to be working well. Kieran was certainly cooperative, though we still had some of the "swing the butt away from the mounting block" thing. So, he got one "grace" step away, and the next time he moved as I settled the mounting block back into place? I smacked him on the butt with my crop and sent him off at a trot then asked him to whoa when he came back around to the block. He did it one more time, I sent him off again, and this time when he whoa'd, he actually stood there the whole time for me to climb up the block, get in the saddle, and get situated.

So here's hoping next time I won't have to do it at all. Cross your fingers!

Anyway, for our ride, we did some warmup walking and trotting and I kept to doing a lot of the work closer in to the middle of the ring and letting him walk/rest on the rail. Once he was warmed up, we did quite a bit of cantering and he gave me a lot of really nice transitions and one really really nice, forward, but a bit more collected and balanced than usual, canter. Now if I could just figure out how to ask him to do it that way more often! ;)

After that, we dialed it back a bit and I got off and rolled out the soccer ball. He stood to let me back on (lest I chase him around again!) but I could tell he was like, "but you got off! that means you're done!" which was part of why I got off to do something, then got back on. ;)

Anyway, we chased the ball around a bit and he's getting really good at trotting after it and he's figuring out I want him to push it away from the wall when it gets stuck.

Once we were done with that, I hopped off and pulled off his tack so he could walk around (and roll if he wanted to) while I cleaned up the arena.

All in all, he was a really really good boy. And oh! Here's part of the email I got from Christina yesterday regarding him:

Just wanted to let you know that [Student] rode Kieran in her lesson tonight. [...] He really was a good boy and helped her confidence increase ten fold.

I just wanted to say thank you for letting your awesome horse give lessons! He has helped [Student]'s self esteem more than you realize :)

What a nice warm fuzzy. :D

Woo, trails!

2011-01-17T18:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, so it was grey.

And cold.

And there's still some white stuff sticking to the ground.

But who cares? We went on a trail ride!

Well, we being me and Kieran. And the trail being the woods at the back of the farm. Hah. First, though, we had to work on mounting.

And I don't know if it's all the work we've been doing with stretching or the fact that I was using a different saddle today (and yesterday) that meant that Kieran didn't even look sideways at me today when girthing. Good sign? I certainly hope so.

Anyway, we got all tacked up and I took him into the ring, my pockets full of treats. My idea was to stand him next to the mounting block and if he stood for more than a second, he got a treat. If he tried to move off, I sent him off at a brisk trot (reins tied up and secured so he couldn't get caught up in them) then asked him to whoa near the block and started the whole process over.

Had to send him off once before he'd stand quietly at the block (without me standing on it). Then had to do it a couple more times before he stood quietly with me standing on the block and then I finally was able to get in the saddle. He proceeded to continue standing nicely while I fiddled with stirrups and suchlike. Here's hoping the lesson sticks in his little horsey head (but if not, we'll just do it again).

Basically, it's too much effort for me to fight with him about standing and continually following him with the mounting block until I manage to get him to hold still just long enough so I can throw myself into the saddle (and I'm sure that last thing isn't helping his attitude about the block). It's simpler to send him off and then let him relax by the block and like yesterday's lesson shows, he understands that sort of arrangement.

Anyway, once I was in the saddle and settled, we left the arena and went walking up the driveway one direction, then came back up the other way at a trot and continued on up into the woods. In there, we made a few loops that allowed us to canter up this one hill that has a (small) log partway up. He hopped over it pretty well the first time. The last time I think he actually landed a foot on it and continued going (*sigh*).

We also just wandered the woods and I made sure to go check out one section of trail where I knew a washout had happened and try to see if there was an easy way to avoid that so we could just re-route the trail. Didn't seem to be, so now there's this ditch in the middle of the trail. (there was always a bit of one, but last year it got really deep and it's not step-overable any more). Possibly, if the trail had been clear of snow, I'd have asked Kieran to go over it, but as it was, it was pretty visually deceptive about how firm the footing was (there were sticks in the ditch, and with snow over them, it looked relatively solid, but I knew it wasn't). So we just turned around.

No big deal, plenty more places to ride. I even let him paw in the stream some.

After riding around and doing lots of trail-trotting (and a nice hop over another log that I didn't anticipate, hah! I thought he'd just trot over) in the spots I knew were relatively clear/even/smooth and a couple more short uphill canters, we went and rode in the ring.

He was noticeably better today about riding on the rail and we also did some work trotting over the poles (several were still out in approximately the same place as yesterday) and some more cantering and short canter transitions (turning at a corner and asking him to canter across the diagonal before coming back down to a trot).

To cool out, we did some walking on a loose rein and then I hopped off and gave the borrowed saddle over so someone else could ride and I led him around the outside of the barn and riding ring before coming back into the arena and doing some more walking in there.

When he was cool and not breathing hard (but still damp, bleh), I took him in and gave him a good grooming and some quality time with his new toy: a handheld massage thingy that vibrates (I got it actually to get him to associate the buzzing sound and the vibrations with something good so that when we go back to working with clippers, maybe they won't wig him out so much).

All in all, a good horsey day.

Exercises in the round

2011-01-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

Today ended up focusing mostly on "reprogramming" Kieran to not think that he can come into the middle of the ring and not work.

Okay, lemme back up.

My saddle is currently with the saddle fitter lady getting the billets fiddled with. So I started the lesson in a borrowed treeless (English style) saddle. I'd ridden in it before (not long after I got Kieran actually) and thought it would do okay, but...it kept slipping over to the right. We tried having me ride in it with stirrups, without stirrups, checked the girth...wasn't working. I even know [i]I[/i] was sitting straight because my butt wasn't following the saddle over to the right.

So we switched out for a treed saddle (Thornhill Pro-Am) and got back to work. It felt rather weird after being used to riding in my Duett all this time!

Anyway, what we ended up doing, I don't think was what Christina had started the lesson intending having me do but [i]someone[/i] was not riding nicely on the rail. I know I've talked about having issues with this before but today it was like...I was doing everything right (inside leg, not pulling too much with outside rein, etc etc) and he was still just steadily going inward. So we talked about it and decided that today, he'd have to work on the inside track and he'd only get to rest on the rail.

Christina set up a big circle of things for Kieran to trot over in the middleish area of the ring. So like, a pole at 12o'clock, another one at 1:30. A low pole set up on blocks at 3. Another ground pole at 4:30. A low vertical (barely deserving of the name...became a crossrail later, but the middle was the same height as the vertical had been) at 6. Another pole at 7:30, a medium-height cavalletti at 9, and another pole at 10:30.

So she had me walk him on the rail, then bring him to the inside track and start trotting over all the poles and things. Then, when she wanted to adjust something (like when he knocked the rail on the jump or whatever), we'd go walk on the rail. Then we'd come back in and trot over stuff again. At one point, he figured out it was a bit easier to actually jump over the jump at 6 and we got a little hop out of him which was funny (I hadn't been expecting it, since we'd been just trotting over it previously). Christina had me mostly do it all posting, but we went around a couple times with me in two point (and I commented that it's easier to do in a saddle intended for that) or posting, then going up into two point over the "jumps" and a couple times around with no stirrups (but still posting!).

By the end of the lesson, Kieran was walking pretty nicely on a loose rein straight on the rail without too much encouragement from me. He's a smart horse. ;)

Had the Saddle Fitter Out Today

2011-01-14T22:47:00.001-05:00

In general, she said, she liked the way it fit Kieran. She suggested that I might want to put some flocking up front to lift it up but that the half pad would do for now (she was concerned that with the advent of spring, Kieran would grow, so to speak, and then it would be too tight if she added flocking).

Her big beef with my saddle was the way the billet straps are rigged.

They're not like normal saddles, not even like regular dressage saddles, I imagine. There's only two straps and they're rigged so the front one comes straight off the point of the tree, basically, and the back one is a "Y" shape so that one end of the "Y" comes off the back of the saddle and the other comes from somewhere in the middle of the saddle. Theoretically, you might think it'd make for more stability...but with the way the "pocket" for Kieran's girth is (right behind his elbow, basically), that "Y" has the net effect of tugging the saddle forward (we've talked about that here before, I think).

So after she checked out the saddle, she put it on him with no padding and girthed it up like normal (on the "grumpy pants" note, he made a couple of sideways looks and sort of laid his ears back but that was it. More on this later.) and then we went into the ring and she watched me riding away from her and around turns at a walk and a trot. Even after just those couple of minutes, the saddle shifted way forward so my knees were on his shoulders, basically.

So I got off, and she changed it so that just the back billet strap was doing the actual job of holding the saddle on (the fronts were buckled but not so tightly they were really doing much). I got back on. Same thing, walking and trotting again. This time, I was weirdly thrown forward. It was strange for me just how different the saddle could feel from such a (relatively) minor change.

So, get off and this time she has the front strap holding the saddle on and the back just buckled. Now it's still a little weird for me, but obviously much better for him and the saddle's staying in place better. She has us do w/t/c in a big circle around her both directions.

One more time, she goes and gets a standing wrap pad thing and folds it up and places it under the front of the saddle. Same girth situation as previous. W/T/C again around her and...it's just about perfect. It was weird because for once I felt like the saddle was actually staying off his shoulders and were it belonged.

Anyway, she's going to fix the back billet strap so it's still "Y" shaped but instead of the strap being sewn in, it will be on a D-ring and will settle into place where it ought to be for the saddle to work best for him. Or at least, that's the idea.

It was definitely an interesting experience.

Oh, and on the girthiness thing. It's funny, he makes the faces when he's standing in the aisle first getting tacked up. Tightening the girth before I get on in the ring? All that taking the saddle on, redoing up the girth we were doing in there? Nothing. I was hardly even holding on to the reins to make him stand there. That's making me lean toward it being less likely to be a physical cause.

Found a picture of similar rigging on another of Duett's saddles:

But see how that one has something that allows the back billet to kind of slide? Mine is sewn in place. And my front strap is actually popping out pretty much over where the knee block would go instead of behind it like this one. (I took my knee blocks off).

Picture Musings

2011-01-11T18:24:00.003-05:00

A friend gave me this neat frame for Christmas, basically, it's four different shapes of frames arranged together in a sort of square shape, like this:

Except the pictures in the lower left and upper right are square and there's a bit of space in the middle and the frames sort of overlap each other. But you get the idea!

Anyway, they put a picture of me riding Kieran outdoors last winter in one frame, him playing with the horse soccer ball in another, us at the Howard county show in hand in the third, and him making a funny face for the camera in the fourth. It's really cute. I had it at home, but it was in a sort of out of the way spot, so I brought it to work. I don't even have to turn my head much to look at it and there's Kieran!

It's funny, but just looking at pictures of my horse makes me feel irrationally happy. :)

Videos from today's lesson

2011-01-09T15:14:00.003-05:00

Cantering in two point (sort of) in the first two, with wide space (around 12 feet) between the poles. Third video I'm sitting and I think it's still wide. Last two are sitting and with shorter space (like 9 and a half feet) and the last one was where we ended.

Ride Today

2011-01-08T20:35:00.003-05:00

Spent a long time before tacking up today just grooming and doing various stretches with Kieran. Leg stretches, back stretches, carrot stretches, all sorts of stretches. ;) No ears back while I girthed him up (he still looked sidelong at me, but was noticeably not as irritated as last week so I'm willing to chalk it up to a momentary thing but I'm still going to have him and his saddle checked out, just in case).

He has gotten suddenly bad about standing at the block. I'd had him for a while where he'd stand pretty well at home (but away from home was a different story) but today he was just not having it. Did a lot of walking in circles around me on the block till I finally got him to stand long enough for me to get on. And then he tried to walk off (so we have to back up and argue about standing by the block until I say it's okay for him to walk off). Ugh.

Once we got going, however, he was good. We did a long warmup of walking random patterns in the ring and some slow trotting. There was also someone else riding at the same time we were so that also helped keep things interesting. :)

For a bit there, we were really booking along at the trot and I let myself drop into a habit of clucking every time I posted which I forget I also do to make him trot faster on the lunge. It wasn't really running into it in a disorganized sense, but we did get going so much he just went up to a canter (nice transition, actually!) and I was like, "oops...lets go back to a trot". No big deal.

Also did a lot of transitions in general. I'd ask him to trot, then halt, then trot, then walk, then halt, then back up, then walk, then trot...just...whatever came to my mind about, "we'll do this next!".

And Christina had told me that when someone was riding him recently and another person was on a horse in the middle of the ring that he'd thrown a little crowhop when asked to canter while the other horse waited. I decided (since I had someone riding with me) recreate that situation and see what happened. And indeed, I asked him to canter just past the other horse and he threw a little crowhop (the first time he's done that to me. There were a couple times months ago when he would throw his head down going into a canter like he was thinking about it, but I think that was more a fitness issue then. This was just a toddler tantrum thing), we kept moving, I asked again, he gave me a nice canter. We went around a few times, I brought him back down, went the other direction, asked for a canter, got it. No big deal. :)

Then both me and the other person went back to riding and we did some more trotting. Lots and lots of just trotting without stopping to do anything else (we don't actually "just" trot for a long space and I think we should, I just hate to be too "boring" since it's winter and we have to ride inside so much) and then I let him canter a couple of times just down a long side before trotting again (so we didn't run up onto the other horse).

After that, we walked out of the ring and up the driveway (carefully, because it was a bit slicker than I realized) just to get some air and then...we were done. :)

Mr. Grumpy-pants

2011-01-02T22:26:00.002-05:00

So Kieran has been a touch girthy for a while now. He had girth galls this past summer that took forever to heal up (and when I did think they would, they'd turn all pink again) and it started around the same time so I figured it was related to that. Never anything very bad, just sort of a sidelong look and a bit of stepping around while I tighten the girth (and note: I never just crank it up in one go. I usually start on the lowest hole, inch it up a few, go to the other side, inch it up...you get the idea).

Anyway, tonight he didn't just look at me sidelong, but really put his ears back (which he's not wont to do) and looked annoyed (remember: most level-headed horse ever). I mean...okay, it wasn't hugely demonstrative, he didn't try to take a chunk out of me or anything, but something obviously made him uncomfortable (it's possible he was just grumpy and didn't want to work because I was tacking him up at the same time all the other horses were getting turned out).

As near as I can tell, he's not back sore (Christina and I both poked and prodded his back) and the saddle ought to fit him. There wasn't anything poky-like on the saddle pad (Or the girth, which is covered in a fleecy thing because the neoprene bothered him [think it contributed to the girth galls]). And no galls. He wasn't off when I rode (we just did a half-hour lesson and it was mostly focused on me. My riding endurance goes to crap if I don't ride for a couple of weeks!) but he did wring his tail some when made to work (see: trot) and he just seemed a bit...out of sorts.

Like I said, he's not very demonstrative most of the time. This could be nothing. But I have a niggling feeling there's a problem brewing I want to nip in the bud before it turns into something ugly.

Anyway, Christina knows a good saddle fitter she's going to recommend to me so I'll at least get the saddle double checked. It's probably also time for the vet to check his teeth (again, because his are crazy). After that, not sure. I mean, he gets tons of turnout (like, he's out more than he's in), has a pretty relaxed lifestyle, and isn't on any high sugar/carb feed (worried about EPSM, he's on a high fat diet), and gets all the hay he can stuff himself with (alfalfa mix inside, and whatever's in the round bales outside, currently drawing a blank).

Thoughts? Anyone who wants to tell me I'm overreacting and it's nothing and he just had a grumpy pony day?

Eclipse Ride

2010-12-21T10:40:00.002-05:00

I did, indeed, go up to the farm last night/this morning and did, indeed, ride Kieran at around 1am. Could have ridden out in the pasture (moon was still bright) but I was going bareback and with frozen ground outside...didn't feel like risking the landing should I slide off, half asleep. ;) So just rode in the ring with lots of walk-halt transitions, circles and turns, a bit of trotting, and a short canter in each direction.

It was nice, though I'm sure the poor pony was confused, "why are you riding me THIS late????". But he got treats and a quick roll in the arena (AFTER the ride and I took off his bridle) so I'm sure it didn't bother him all that much. :)

Now...off to work!

Nearly bought it

2010-12-20T12:26:00.004-05:00

Hey, my previous post was my 100th post! Go me! :)

In other news:

Yesterday was lesson day.

Since the ring was being used before my lesson, I took Kieran out onto the driveway and we walked up and down it for part of our warmup. Also gave me an opportunity to work on him standing for mounting outside (as opposed to in the ring) and at something weird (a plastic chair, since the block was...in the ring). Once the ring cleared out, we went in and did some more warm up, lots of random turns and circles.

Christina had us start the lesson with lots of transitions. First just walk->halt, stand->walk (halting at every other letter). Someone didn't much feel like standing but he got over it. ;) Then some walk->trot transitions (trot 10 strides, walk 10 strides). Also had us do the spiral in->spiral out thing at a trot and had me do two-point trotting around the ring, then sit a while, then two point, then sit a while, then two point, etc.

Also did some cantering, mostly working on transitioning within the canter. So we'd get going, then I'd half halt to slow his canter down along one side of the ring, then use seat and legs to speed him up going down the other side of the ring. I will be honest and admit most of the time I didn't feel a very dramatic difference, but Christina says it was pretty obvious from the ground. I also nearly bought it doing this exercise. Somewhere in there, I lost a stirrup (no big deal, keep going!) and Christina said something like, "you don't need stirrups!" and I was like, "she's right!" so I dropped the other one instead of retrieving the dropped stirrup. This was fine till, going around a turn, I got a bit off balance and started sliding to the outside. Then Kieran went to trotting (bounce bounce bounce bounce trot) and I kept sliding. (it did not help my saddle felt extra slipper yesterday! Plus blue jeans over my full-seats cause it was coooold) Managed to grab mane and stay on but Christina said she was sure at one point that I was going over and it would've been a sloooooow motion fall. ;) Would've been my first fall in a while (knock wood!) but I guess I'm not due yet.

Did some more cantering after that and probably other stuff I'm now drawing a blank on but then went into doing turns on the forehand. Christina dragged out a couple of ground poles so they looked like this:

___
|
|

And had us go up to the corner on the outside (so standing to the left of the vertical pole) with Kieran's shoulder just ahead of the horizontal pole. Then ask for the turn on the forehand so he'd be facing to the right and we'd continue along the new pole.

Going to the right was crap. Part of it, we surmise (after repeating doing turns from both directions) is that he's just stiffer going that way. Part of it seems that when I'd encounter resistance turning him that way, I'd use more of my right hand but I was also using more of my left hand (which I shouldn't have been doing) thus giving more of a "back!" cue than a "turn!" cue. For some reason, this didn't occur so much going to the left as he gave me several nice turns going that direction. We ended this exercise when we got a decent turn to the right.

Then Christina rolled the ball out and had us chase it around, basically, "roll it around the ring one way, then roll it back around the other way" so it had us work on steering. Also, when it would get caught up against the wall, I'd have to maneuver Kieran alongside the wall so we could push it back out. This tended to involve the turn on the forehand (and you could see him going, "oh! this thing has a purpose!").

After that, we just cooled out (but he wasn't very warm by that point since the last part of the lesson had been pretty low-key, physical-work-wise) and I turned him out.

Tonight, the gals at the farm want us all to show up really late so we can watch the lunar eclipse. I'm planning on going (though it's going to totally screw up my sleep...oh well!) and I figure this is a good excuse too to get up to the farm really late and ride Kieran at like..midnight (the "party" doesn't start till 1:30am). He's going to be so confused! :)

And now pics from Saturday!

2010-12-13T18:17:00.001-05:00

Amanda riding David

Good thing Kieran, at least, looks cute! ;) I put the hat on him when he wasn't cooperating by putting his ears up.

Because it started out on my head!

I have no idea at all what I was doing here, but I figure I'll share my embarrassing moments too.

Christy riding Warlock, a former park police horse (not a GG horse, though. But still a draft!)

Christina on Tax, her 18 yo OTTB.

Huh, they did get some pics of us riding!

These must've been in the warmup before I did intro B.

Video from Saturday

2010-12-13T08:19:00.000-05:00

So I'd thought Christine was taking pictures of our test when she was actually taking video! LOL. Anyway, here you go, this is our second test (she wasn't up by the ring to get our first one). You can see lots of shoulder-bulging on that first circle (Though looking at it now, I realize he does it to the outside on the side of the circle closer to the door and toward the inside on the side closer to the judge. I'm actually not sure you can even call it a circle, maybe it's more of an elliptoid. ) and his aborted escape attempt by the door (that's where we got the "broke on short side" comment, I believe).I know she got some cute pics of us afterward with Kieran wearing a santa hat and our ribbons, will have to hit her up for those.

Even more dressage!

2010-12-12T15:35:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was the last dressage show of the year at Pleasant Ridge (same place we went a few weeks ago). This time, we brought a whole passel of people from the farm and were scheduled to ride after lunch (was nice). There were a few crazy moments (someone got bucked off her horse, someone else's horse spooked [later], a horse got loose and went on a tour of the farm) but all in all, I think most everyone had an okay day (even the girl who got bucked off ended up with a ribbon "for bravery" because she got back on [a different horse] and rode again later).

I had a few issues with Kieran. Mostly because most everyone in our group rode in the class before mine so they all left and he was left alone (except the two ponies, but they were tied on the other side of the trailer and so didn't count as far as he was concerned). He made with a lot of swinging his butt around and dancing and calling for horses who didn't respond to him. ;) (the swinging the butt around thing is going to require a Come to Jesus moment, I think, as it's indicative of other pushy behavior that's been surfacing and I want to nip in the bud)

Anyway, by the time I got tacked up and got him up there, it was partway (I guess?) through our warmup time. And then he was a jerk about standing for mounting (this is really only something that can be fixed when we go places and I'm dependent on other folks for trailering) so by the time we got to warming up, we didn't have much time. I ended up being the first one in the class to go and did the 2007 Intro A test (could've done the new tests but wanted to do the old ones so I could compare with my scores from last time).

Here's how we did:

1. (5 points) Fairly straight entry. Maintain halt, some crooked steps after X.
2. (5 points) Counter bent
3. (6 points) Active trot steps, tight in back
4. (5 points) Good energy, bent outside
5. (6 points) Obedient transition. Clean rhythm.
6. (5 points) Head bent left. Needs more march and straightness (I think that's what she meant by "str")
7. (5 points) Prompt, but looking right
8. (5 points) Circle too large, but good energy.
9. (6 points) Overshot center line. Fairly square halt.

Remarks:

Willing, kind horse. Good tempo. Keep working on steering. Great potential.

Score: 54.5% (2 points higher than last time!)

So this time we had absolutely no problem being forward (and I attribute that a lot more to him being so antsy and "up"). And yeah, bending around corners and in the circles just plain sucked. He wanted so badly to get out back where his friends were, he wasn't really listening to me (and I would not be surprised if I was bracing with the outside rein exactly like I'm not supposed to do though I tried not to do that). Pretty sure I could've used more leg on him as well (inside leg, that is).

One thing the judge mentioned to me after the test was that when he did that, to not just use my leg the "normal" way but maybe try turning it inward so I'm sort of poking him with my knee/toe . I imagine she meant more as a way to fix it and not something I should do all the time but it sounds weird to me. Anybody else do anything like that?

After that, had to sit around a while waiting for next test, so we did some walking in circles in the driveway area and then he was finally willing to stand quietly, so we did that.

Then, another warmup, and this time I got to ride the entire warmup but it felt like he was only really getting loose and listening to me right at the end of it. Then it was time to clear out and I was like...third or fourth. I should've kept him moving outside, but since he was willing to stand quietly (and I was glad for that, as opposed to the dancing around we'd been doing earlier) I let him do that.

So this test was 2007 Intro B:

1. (7 points) Fairly straight and balanced halt.
2. (6 points) Help horse bend in corner.
3. (5 points) Circle not accurate, horse looking out.
4. (6 points) Broke on short side, fairly straight.
5. (5 points) Looking out but obedient.
6. (5 points) Allow horse to stretch. Better second half. (she told me after the test she really wanted to see us riding completely on the buckle but I was still keeping a bit of contact with his mouth because I was worried he'd try to duck out the door)
7. (6 points) Fairly fluid but looking out. Better than last test. Help horse bend in corner.
8. (6 points) Steady, straight, back more relaxed, but help in corner.
9. (8 points!) Straight and balanced halt.

Remarks.

Better! Keep working on correct bend and allow horse to stretch in free walk. :)

Score: 58.5% (12.5% higher than when I did this test three weeks ago!)

Again, we got about midway through and things seemed like they were settling into place. Christina and I suspect that he just needs a lot of time to warm up so he's not so stiff at the beginning (today in our lesson, we did just that and I think it helped).

Anyway, I ended up with a 2nd place ribbon for the first class and a 3rd for the second class. :) Kieran got a couple very large carrots.

There are pictures, but they were taken on someone else's camera so I have to wait until she sends them to me.

Today was lesson day and we did the long warm up like I said. (walking serpentines then trotting this pattern of teardrop shapes in the corners and 10 meter circles at E (or B, depending on which side we do it).

Basically, trot down toward H, then turn in a teardrop shape that has you hitting the wall again at E, then start a ten meter circle and then continue to K where you do another teardrop shape that brings you back to E and do a 10 meter circle and then continue on to H...

Basically gets him thinking about bending and listening to me. He does it much better on the HEK side than he does it on the MBF side (and since you end up doing it through both directions, I don't think it's a directional thing). Even Christina commented that we were staying on the wall better on the HEK side (and it's always like that).

We also did the barrel thing again to get him stretching his back legs under him.

Then we worked on cantering and lots of transitions. First we did cantering all the way around the ring, then twenty meter circles at A and C. Then she had us go back on the rail again and walk ten strides, canter ten strides, walk ten, canter ten (with the eventual idea that we'll shorten it even further) to get him really listening and jumping when I said to go. He did better at transitioning up than back down (kept wanting to trot on the way down).

Then Christina set up a cavaletti at X and had us do some trotting over it (probably just for the change of pace) and we did that from both directions and worked on getting Kieran really forward to it (so he'd pick up his dang feet!).

Then she had me do a short bit of cantering with no stirrups, then trot around the ring once with no stirrups (posting!), then we were done and it was time to cool out. I ended up taking off all his tack and letting him follow me around while I cleaned up the ring. He also took the opportunity to roll. And we played a bit with his ball (he's hilarious when he rubs his face on the ball and then yawns at me). After that, the day was pretty much done because everybody else that normally lessons is sick (and I'm on my way there, ugh).

Online Silent Auction to Benefit Gentle Giants!

2010-12-06T21:20:00.001-05:00

Forward!

2010-12-06T18:13:00.002-05:00

So, on Saturday I went up to the farm and said. "Today we're going to work on forward. Basically, if he doesn't respond to my leg immediately, I'm going to bring the wrath of God." Maybe that sounded a bit overdramatic but hey!

From the moment I get on, whip in hand (and I often ride with one so it's not just that I was carrying one when I usually don't), Kieran's ready to go. His walk is energetic. When I ask him to trot, it takes one squeeze of my legs and a quick swat of the whip before he goes. Still energetic! When I sit and ask for the canter, he goes straight into it (instead of continuing trotting for several strides and needing me to keep after him)!

I'm all like, "well crap, he's on his game today!"

We ended up not riding for too long in the arena, but went outside instead and practiced riding up and down the slope of the driveway (cantering up, trotting down, that sort of thing) because I know he enjoys doing stuff more outside than in the ring.

After that, we went back in the ring and got in a good twenty meter canter circle and showed the intro test A to Christine (who plans on doing it at a local show this weekend). By that point, he was pretty sweaty so (and it was cold!) so we spent a while just walking around before I got off and took off his tack and pulled out the big blue ball and got him to walk after me, pushing it with his feet. He's really figuring out that I want him to interact with it (he also rubbed his head on it and licked it, hah).

Kieran may have also taken the opportunity to roll in the arena when I left him for a minute to go get a camera (he was making funny yawny faces at the ball and I wanted to capture them! Alas, he wouldn't humor me when there was a camera).

Anyway, it made for a good horsey day. :) I figure him being so ready to work can be chalked up to either the weather (it only just got really cold) or him sensing that I wasn't going to play games. Or, you know, both.

On Sunday, we had a lesson and mostly we worked a lot on circles and bending. Though it's not as bad as it has been, I was still having issue circling him (mostly to the right) and getting him to both point his nose a little inward, but also listen to my leg pushing him over toward the wall so our circles would actually be the size they needed to be. It got better as the lesson went on and I got more relaxed and Kieran warmed up and Christina reminded me not to brace with my outside rein. Later, she commented that I seemed to be holding my outside hand a little further back than my inside hand (though not actually pulling with it) and that may also be exacerbating the problem so I have to remember to keep my hands even (which, after I started making myself conscious of really keeping my elbows at parallel points on my sides, it got better).

Another funny thing was near the end when she wanted me to just go in 20 meter circles around X and work on things like, "post eight strides, two point eight strides" then do 4 and 4, then 2 and 2, then do 4 posting without stirrups, 4 sitting without stirrups....I stopped focusing so much on "fixing" Kieran and focusing on myself and doing the exercise and...lo and behold? Our circles were a lot rounder! And it wasn't that he was pretending to lunge around Christina (Kieran will, if she's standing in the middle of the ring) as she made a point of going to stand by the wall. So again, we come back to our problems being mostly manufactured by me. ;)

We also did an interesting exercise that I think helped Kieran warm up. Christina says it doesn't really teach the horse or the rider to do anything, but it does work well for helping the horse to warm up/stretch. Anyway, she put a barrel out and had us first just walk in a small circle around it then I was to slowly work toward getting his nose pointed more toward the barrel and his butt out away from it. Sort of like sidepassing in a circle, but not really. Basically the object was to get him to really stretch his hind legs underneath of himself. Later, I got her to show it to me from the ground and it's neat to see. :)

Hope to ride at least once or twice this week before the next dressage schooling show on Saturday.

Hover Poneh!

2010-11-21T14:48:00.001-05:00

Our very first dressage show!

2010-11-20T17:49:00.001-05:00

Okay, so...got up this morning and went to get the pony ready (more grooming, yay!). Thinned his mane some more. Loaded everything up, and went off to the horse show. Turned out to be a nice facility (which...I expected) tucked back off the road a ways. We were one of the first people there though we didn't ride for a while (because we wanted to ensure we got there with plenty of time). Everyone we spoke to was really nice and pleasant and there was no snootiness about our non-fancy horses and tack. (I only point this out because Christina commented on just how nice everyone was. Like...you expect people to be nice but these folks were exceptional about it. On top of the "reputation" of dressage folks for being snooty. ) I also pointed out the tack thing because I was kicking myself. I have a nice, black Mattes pad I wanted to ride with. I thought about it last night, "don't forget the pad" (because I've kept it put away so it'd stay nice), and this morning, "don't forget the pad". I got halfway to the farm and realized I'd forgotten the pad! So I ended up borrowing a black pad from the barn to put under my half pad but it was faded and dusty and I was grumpy about it.

For intro A, we were the last two riders in our class. Christina went, and then it was my turn. Kieran did get a bit antsy at being left but was overall okay about it (one thing we need to work on is him standing for mounting when away from home. At home? He's great. At shows? He often refuses to stand still, either swinging away from the block or walking in circles around it. Of course, we really need to work on doing stuff away from home (but "working", not just moseying down a trail) period.)

Then it was my turn and hey...we weren't bad! I remembered the test (something I was SO WORRIED I'd get to X, salute, and then think "now what???") and Kieran was generally good. He whinnied (because he was "alone") a couple times, and he did want very badly to go out the open door by A (they didn't have a gate up) but he listened to me about staying in the ring. Anyway, here's what the judge commented for us:

1. (6 points) Energetic, some loss of balance. Haunches left at halt, not quite straight centerline.
2. (5 points) Not to track.
3. (5 points) Accurate transition. Needs more energy.
4. (5 points) Circle not quite round. Losing energy.
5. (6 points) Some drifting from long side.
6. (5 points) needs to go all to long side, loss of line, needs more energy
7. (5 points) obed. haunches to inside.
8. (6 points) Circle not quite round. better energy.
9. (6 points) Fairly straight, needs more energy. Fairly square.

Remarks:

Nice effort! Horse needs more energy in order to keep straight and bended lines.

Score: 52.5%

So.....anyone think we need to work more on being forward? Ahem.

After that was a long wait until the dressage equitation class (which I should not have signed up for, but hey...it was interesting). I'm so used to other shows where you kinda have to wait near the ring till it's your turn and finally someone was like, "you know that class isn't scheduled until 12:26, right?" so then I was like, "oh? That's like a half hour! Okay....going back to the trailer for a snack then." When it it came time for the class, there were four of us in there, and during the warm-up bit right before, I knew right away, "okay, those two will be 1st and 2nd...that girl's probably going to be 3rd, and I will be 4th." Which wasn't a big deal to me, just something I noticed. Everyone else in the class (I think) was there doing tests at a higher level than me and Kieran and were just...better schooled than us. So they started at a free walk, then asked for a posting trot, then had us change directions (which they said to change directions on the short diagonal which I'd never heard before...does that just mean cross the ring diagonally [but not a really long diagonal] because that's all everybody seemed to do...). Then the brought me and one girl into the center of the ring and had the other two canter, then trot across the ring and pick up a canter going the other way. Then we switched and they had us do sitting trot before asking for the canter and Kieran (who had been a slug the whole class and dumb me had thought I wouldn't need a whip because he's usually fairly perky in shows) wouldn't pick up a canter quickly and I was just like...."forget it, I don't want to hold up the class and look like an idiot kicking away at my horse," so I just chose to go back to the center of the ring and let the other girl finish. It occurs to me, later, that part of that problem is that while he normally doesn't require so much kicking (anymore) to canter...I usually smooch to him. *face.desk.* So he likely was going, "but the canter aid has a smooch!" Plus being a slug.

After that, I was the first one in the intro B class and this time, I borrowed a dressage whip from the barn. (though that turned out to not be very helpful either, mostly because it's longer than my dressage whip and I just didn't know what to do with the damn thing) Our scores did not improve from the first test and even with a whip in my hand (which is usually enough to get him to perk up a bit) he was still a slug so it was a lot of work to keep him moving. Anyway, here is the results from that test.

1. (5 points) Straight, square halt. Fairly active, some fading from center line.
2. (5 points) needs more energy
3. (4 points) head bent to outside, needs more forward thinking, broke
4. (5 points) nose to outside
5. (4 points) transition early (I think I was thinking the transition was right at C, between C and M)
6. (5 points) needs more stretch and energy
7. (4 points) transition late (because A was by the door and he wanted to go out, not trot forward), drifting from rail, nose to outside, circle large
8. (5 points) fairly active, not quite to K
9. (6 points) very square halt

Further remarks:

Great effort! Work on getting him more forward thinking.

Score: 46%

So...at least we have square halts?

We did, also...pretty much fulfill what I set out to do. For me not to forget the test in the middle (either of them). And for Kieran to get over having to ride away from his buddy and alone in a strange ring and still (more or less) do what I ask. Generally, we had a really good time. I think I like this style of show a lot. It's nice to know what time you're supposed to ride (and they were very good about keeping things on schedule), nor did we have to rush this morning to get ready (though I imagine if we come back with a bigger group, that will change). Oh, and there was free food! Which we found out about late in the day. But it was still tasty!

Everybody really liked the horses (I got a lot of comments about how nice Kieran looks). And it looks like we're planning on going back for the next show in three weeks, I want to improve my test scores. A couple other people from the barn want to go too (we were the guinea pigs).

And finally, here are some pictures:

Waiting

David

This is from intro A (only time we had a photo-person). And my first halt, with "haunches left".

I think this is actually when we were leaving the ring.

He's not wearing a noseband because when I put it on, I couldn't for the life of me get it to sit right (way too close to the bit and just...awkward, I need to punch holes in it).