Longing over Crossrails

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:

Barebackness

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. :)

Lazy day (for me! Not so much Kieran)

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!

Eclipse Ride

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!

Look, ma, no stirrups!

Though I am riding in the cushy Cashel bareback pad. Considered going without but I didn't want my butt to get all sweaty and dirty so....borrowed this from the barn. :)

Anyway, we've been working on walk to canter transitions. And my big thing here is working on pushing my legs down at the canter as they have a tendency to draw upward. (Hanna said I looked like a jockey)

We also did a lot of walking serpentine and circle shapes and had some practice at standing still when asked to halt. (sometimes he's great [when he thinks we're done] and sometimes he gets fidgety [when he thinks we should still be moving]. So when he fidgeted and danced around, I made him trot out (he was very surprised when I kicked him to go, hah) and then after really pushing him, asked him to halt again. Then he stood.)

Anyway, here, have some video!

General Stuff

Got up to see the pony on Saturday. Was worried he might be a bit sore since the ground finally froze (of course it's since rained so I imagine it's muddy again...until it freezes again). Spent a lot of time just grooming him and getting him looking almost actually clean, even his fetlocks! Then we went into the ring and I hopped on bareback and Mr.Sometimes-I-forget-how-to-stand-for-mounting stood like a statue. It was, actually, the easiest mount bareback I think I've ever done, even the ones when I was a kid and mounting a much smaller horse. Maybe all the balance work I've been doing with Christina is paying off. ;)

Anyway, we mostly walked around with a bit of trotting and lots of breaks just to stand around and look pretty. (The best part about sitting on a horse bareback in winter is how WARM they are!) Then we went for a quick trot up the driveway and walk back down and we were done!

I sent off a quick email to Christine today to see if maybe she'd show me how to ground drive him. I think it'd be good experience for him (and I've never done it) and it certainly can't hurt to teach him and might be a good option for something to do on days when riding just isn't going to work for whatever reason. I'd love to eventually be able to hitch him up to a cart and take him for a sping around the neighborhood, I bet he'd look pretty flashy. ;)

Riding tonight. All bareback, all the time.

Did manage to ride tonight (I was at the barn last night and brought Kieran in and groomed him and all but didn't end up riding.). Didn't feel overly enthused about fully tacking up so I rode bareback (as did Hanna on Rocky). Mounting was a teensy bit interesting. Christina had mentioned they'd been having a bit of trouble with him standing at the mounting block recently on Sundays and indeed he did the same thing to me tonight.

Remember, I'm trying to hop onto his back on my stomach from the mounting blck and then swing my leg over and sit up properly. Twice he stepped forward a few steps while I was still laying on my stomach. A couple times he started moving before I even got that far.

I just got down and backed his ass right back to where he started. After a couple repetitions he figured it out and stood quietly and I finally managed to get on and go. Yay. Not sure what they're doing with him/about it on Sundays. May have to sit in and watch.

It wasn't a terribly exciting ride. We did a lot of walking, a couple of pivots on the forehand, and some trotting. Tonight we just tried to keep trotting at a steady pace all the way around the ring. He likes to speed up as he goes (especially if there's another horse in there for him to "catch up" to). Once we got pretty much all the way around the ring, I called it quits for the evening. Probably we rode for about a half hour.

Lessoning should happen tomorrow and, it being a holiday, I'm planning on spending pretty much the whole day in the barn. Assuming it doesn't rain TOO much, maybe I can get some pictures while I'm there.

So that fall finally happened...

I've been telling people recently that since it's been about a year since I started re-riding, I felt like I was coming up due on an actual fall. I'd really only come off once since I'd started riding again and it totally didn't count because I landed on my feet.

Until last night.

I went up to Gentle Giants to ride with a few other people but I wasn't sure who I wanted to ride. Christina suggested Humphrey, a horse I hadn't ridden before, actually one of the Thoroughbreds that are there (he's both getting re-worked by Christina and being used as a lesson horse). Before she'd started riding him a couple months ago, he'd been basically out to pasture for about two and a half years. I've seen him ridden a few times and I'd thought about doing so myself in the past so I figured....why not?

The first half of my riding I did in a saddle and we were just fine. He's a little looky and a little nervous but it wasn't a big deal. Once we did walk/trot/canter (actually managed to get him to go both ways cantering, but he was obviously more reluctant to go to the right cantering and it took a few tries. Remember: he hasn't been worked a lot up till recently so they're still trying to get him fit) a bit and by that point they needed the saddle I was riding in for someone who was going to take an actual lesson. So I hopped off, took off his saddle, and got back on bareback. I probably wouldn't have done this except his trot had been relatively smooth when we'd been going earlier so I figured we'd be okay. I wasn't planning on cantering him again, after all!

For the next few minutes, trotting with him was pretty iffy. He had cantered and now he was like, "but why can't we go fast again?" and it took some work to bring him back down (I mentioned Thoroughbred, right?). Still, not too bad, and finally we were just walking around. I was thinking of getting off him pretty soon, actually...

When my foot knocked against the arena wall as we went by and it scared him. He spooked, stone dust hit the metal wall too, he spooked further and I, previously very relaxed and loose sitting on his bare (slick!) back slid right off. He went one way, I went the other and landed on my back. Ow.

Then he stood there staring at me from a few feet away like, "OMYGODWHYAREYOUONTHEGROUND?"

Luckily, I didn't injure anything, though I'm sore but I don't think I'll be riding him without a saddle any time soon. I actually think if I'd still been in the saddle, I probably could've saved myself from falling (all the way) off. Though it's possible me hanging on him would've spooked him more so maybe it's a good thing I wasn't.

Either way, I had my fall, now I shouldn't be due for another one for a while.

In other news, next weekend I'm starting private lessons at a new barn. I'd already been planning to ask to work more on no-stirrups and last night is really just more incentive to do so (yeah, I know I'm crazy).

So the next few weeks should have me making updates like, "OWWWWW my legs are sooooore *whine*". Can't wait!

Three Rides....One day!

So this morning, I had my private lesson with Kristy at CHC. She put me on Kinko and I told her I wanted to work on my two-point (or half seat or jumping position or what the heck ever you want to call it). It's always kinda been hit or miss with me. I never really got very far in learning to jump as a kid and then I stopped riding for about ten years.

Then, I started taking lessons this year in February. I was in one class for a while before I switched into Kristy's class. That other class had only just really started going over two-point when I got into Kristy's where they'd already been doing it for a while. So I never really got the basics down, I guess, though I know what I was supposed to look like and, according to Kristy, have sort of been forcing myself into that position ever since. "Muscling" it. And basically, not doing it properly.

So last night, when I was in my lesson and we were working on jumping and I wasn't getting it, it became pretty obvious I needed to work on that. Some days it's fine, but a lot? Not so much.

First, today, she had me just stand up (not straight but...I guess like if I went up to post and just never sat back down) while trotting. Which I couldn't get. At all. My legs were too straight and I couldn't find the right place to balance and just...stand. About then we figured my stirrups were likely a little too long to allow me to clear the saddle and still keep my knees bent, so we shortened them a bit. Back to the exercise, first just at the halt so I could find the right balance point. Then walking, so I could do it while the horse was moving. Only once I got that did I go back to trying it at the trot. Wasn't perfect, but it was better and after I seemed to be getting it, we went back to two point.

There, Kristy had me do it at a halt again so she could correct my position. She was telling me to put my hips back and I was, apparently, trying to push my knees back. Which, obviously, doesn't quite work. She also decided I could stand to bring my stirrups up a hole more.

Once I found the right position again and could feel it (knee relaxes, heel drops, and I remember to look up and keep my chest open, etc), she had me do it again at the walk. Once that was done, she had me do it trotting. Then over trot poles. Then over a crossrail.

Luckily, Kinko's a really good guy who, once I got him trotting, would just sort of keep motoring around till I asked him to do something different so I could really focus on what I was doing with me and less on what he was doing. (Okay, it wasn't luck, that was intentional on Kristy's part).

So anyway, I spent most of the 45 minute lesson either standing in the stirrups or in two-point. By the end of it, when she was telling me "just one more time!" all I could think was "I don't think I can make it one more"....but I did! And anyway, the lesson definitely helped. I just have to keep it up.

Kristy suggested I talk to the manager about working in some practice rides on my own. I still feel kinda weird thinking about riding there without an instructor. I could of course, make sure to work on this stuff at Gentle Giants though some of the horses there are less inclined to just motor around for me than the school horses at CHC ;). And there was an exercise she told me about a while back to work on it too (though obviously, it works better on a horse) is to stand on the edge of a step or something, drop my heels (so I'm balanced on the balls of my feet) and make like I'm going into two point. I can do that too.

So that was the first ride.

After that, I drove up to Gentle Giants. Nobody was there yet, so I killed time by cleaning stalls and taking pictures of horses out in the fields. When Christina (one of the instructors) got there was when it was time to ride. Christina's riding a horse for somebody else there right now (he's still kind of green, I think. Or just skittish. Or both.) and wanted somebody else there while she rode in the arena (he does better if he's not alone). And I, of course, wanted to ride. :)

I had figured on just riding Carley, but as I thought about it I considered riding Treadway again. Bareback, as I figured it would be easier to keep my leg off him and if he got too fast? I could more easily bail. Hah.

So that's what I did and this ride was sooooo much better than the other one. He actually walked almost sedately around the ring for me. And of course, when he trotted, he had a tendancy to get fast (mostly on the long sides of the arena) so instead of hauling on his face, I would circle him, or do zig zag serpentine=y things. He'd slow down, and we'd go straight again.

I think a big part that helped on my end was that I was more relaxed and couldn't brace with my legs on the nonexistent stirrups. :) I also didn't just keep a tight rein on him, but just had light contact on his mouth most of the time and kept reminding myself to actually do the "squeeze release" thing.

I will say he steers off of my seat very well (I barely used rein to ask him to turn) and his trot is wonderfully smooth, even when he's going fast, I never really felt like I was bouncing all over his back.

So yay. :) Now I get why people there say he's a fun ride.

The third ride was Carley, but not for very long as both Christina and I were pretty tired by that time (she'd gone riding this morning too elsewhere). Not much to say on that one, neither Carley or Big Red (who Christina was riding) were overly inclined to do anything that resembled work and neither of them wanted to pass the other. Hah. Still, not a bad ride.

Of course, I did fall off at the beginning of it.

I rode Carley bareback too, but unlike the other day when she stood pretty damn still for me to mount (from a block), today when she felt my hands tense on her back in order to get on, she would try to sidestep. Once, I got partway on (from just a little too far away), she started walking, and I tried to get the rest of the way up. I basically ended up losing it and coming off the other side *facepalm*. Christina said she'd thought I was going to make it up just before I came off. I hit my hip (and a fall from 17hands or so isn't overly fun) but not badly or anything. So I tried again and got on and all was well. I told Christina that was technically my first fall since I'd started riding again (the one where I came off Cameo the other week and landed on my feet totally doesn't count). She was surprised, saying that would be like her first fall this week. But then, she rides a lot of OTTBs (and, in fact, owns one and he's apparently...exciting. Yes. :) ). Whereas I've mostly stuck to school horses and pretty laid back drafts so far. ;)

Anyway, all's well that ends well and I learned a lot.

Oh, and the picture up top was taken at GG today. :)

Hee, bareback

Following on my fabulous ride of the other night, I had a very good ride on Carley today, up at Gentle Giants. She hasn't been ridden in about a week and a half or so since she got kicked by another horse (right in the hoo-ha) so I wasn't sure if she was going to be wiggy or not. That said, I still had it in my mind that today I was going to forego the saddle and opted for bareback.

I haven't ridden a horse bareback since I was about fourteen. Ten years ago. Eesh.

That said, despite her 17-hand-something Belgian height? Carley's a wonderful horse for bareback. She's generally pretty laid back. And she's built like a laz-y-boy couch. I could've set a table for four on her ass. She was also nice and warm and fuzzy (winter coat has grown in).

The last time I rode her, she hadn't been inclined toward anything that resembled work (I was riding her that day without stirrups, actually, but with saddle, and it was a bitch). I thiiiink I've posted about that already. Of course, that time, there was no other horse in there with her.

Today? There were three other horses. So she was pretty good about going (I actually gave away my crop at one point because she was being pretty forward. A few minutes later she figured out I didn't have the crop and started getting lazy again so I eventually had to get a crop again because she wasn't listening to my leg.). We walked and trotted. She has a nice trot to sit to, but I did try to post a tiny bit. Which is a heckuva lot more difficult bareback than just sitting, so mostly I sat. We also walked over some ground poles, just to make things more interesting for her (I know I've mentioned before that Carley's not fond of the ring, she'd much rather be out on the trail).

I even managed to stay on when she shied.

That is, another horse (Gypsy, who was on her last ride at GG today as she's going to her new adopted home tomorrow) apparently decided the closed door at one end of the arena was OMGSCARYANDGOINGTOEATHER or something. So she spooked. All the way at the other end of the ring. Still, Carley apparently has a sympathetic link to Gypsy or something so she jumped to the side too. I didn't even slip.

I mentioned she's easy to sit on, right?

I told somebody I can add that to my list of "things I can sit". Along with "bucking school horse" I can now have "shying draft horse. bareback."

Hee.

All in all, a good day today.

Another lesson tomorrow at Columbia (and not on Cameo, thank goodness. I have Simone. Who, now that I think about it, I've already mentioned. Hah! Forgot I checked that on Friday.). And Tuesday in the morning? Private lesson, hee. Not sure who I'll be riding then. Will have to ask tomorrow. And after that, I'm planning on going back up to GG and will likely ride Carley once more bareback. Hopefully, she'll still be in a good mood. :)