Keep Calm and Canter On: May and June Goals and Progress

[StraightForward]

Seemed like an appropriate title for this time.

Annabelle:

We are having our first lesson in over 18 months tomorrow! My instructor will be back two more times this month, and I'm hoping more frequently afterwards since she won't be busy showing for a while.
Keep the sessions more short and focused so she can build her back without getting too sore.
Focus on throughness and straightness.
Reintroduce trot lateral work in a more real way.

Tesla:

Ride that beast and stay on the top side!

Me:

Run 10 miles a week.
Complete all the Feldenkrais videos that are waiting for me.
Ride my house horse a few hours each work day.
Gym 1x per week if it re-opens. Otherwise kettlebells once the heavy yard work is finished up.

[exvet]

Definitely an appropriate title! We started to test the waters of the flying change in my lesson on Friday. Junior is doing very well with developing the right balance, power and amount of collection at all three gaits. His medium trot is showing a wee bit more than just some 'real promise'. He is definitely coming through all the way into the bridle. I have found that, as my coach keeps drilling into me, if I give him a target as to where to land his hind feet in my hands I have a horse that is reaching over this back and all ...the....way....into...the...bridle.

Another thing I determined during our lesson because my coach said that we're definitely ready to start flying changes is that Junior needs to be more prompt.....not reactive....to my canter aids. We worked hard over the last several months on diffusing his tendency to get tense and ball up whenever I asked for the canter. He would 'shrink' and not come through as we would make the transition but not any more. Fortunately or now Unfortunately as the case may be.. now as long as I am keeping him very straight and well balanced when I move my leg back to give the canter aids he flicks his ears and then in a stride or two make the transition smoothly all the while coming through over his back BUT when I would give the aid to see if he would just give me the change from one lead to the other he would just keep flicking his ears wondering why I was not riding quietly.....oh well......

So in breaking it all down I've decided that I've been taking too long to prepare him for the canter.....well.....what I've been doing has been working to get really nice transitions but now I need to up the ante and just ask and expect it to be there. each. and. every. time. <period> I think a couple to a few weeks of demanding correct simple changes whenever and wherever I decide to do it without soooo much preparation.....and really mixing it up during my rides is where we need to be before really asking for the flying changes. What he gave me on Friday was reasonable and not overly reactive or late or discombobulated - all good; and, more importantly I think I see a clear path on how to get them without belaboring the issue.

So over the next two months with Junior -
1. Introduce the flying changes
2. Improve the walk pirouettes - they're correct but we need to make them smaller
3. Continue to work on the lateral movements including half pass at all three gaits so that he's consistently coming through and maintaining the forward power for each stride.

This will get us into the really disgusting hot weather to a point where doing more work in hand, especially piaffe will be coming at the perfect time.

As for Ace - just keep trail riding and enjoying the beauty of the desert.

As for Stinker pony - well he's starting to get itchy but no hair loss yet. Only time will tell if we are able to get through another allergy season without becoming bald.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I'm new around here, but have been reading these threads. I really enjoy hearing about everyone's goals and progress. Everyone seems pretty supportive of each other (even with some difference of opinion.) I like to hear about other challenges and how you all are working with your horse's through them. It's definitely a process!

I bought a young TB this fall. He's super smart, sensible and sometimes a little opinionated! Of course that goes with being 4 years old lol!! We've had a few road bumps. He needed to be treated for ulcers and to get his feet fixed. He's had a few months off while we dealt with that, plus he was getting a bit butt high anyways.

I'm happy to see that after not seeing him much for a month (COVID19) that he's filled out more and evened out more. I think I can slowly start bringing him back to work. We've started ground work again. I think the next few weeks will focus on leading up and down hills, light lunging (might start using some side reins occasionally), long lining and maybe some walk under saddle. He definitely needs some strength behind imo.

Straightforward, I hope you can get as many lessons in as you can! Sounds like a great plan.

Exvet, Junior seems like a really cool little horse! It's been fun to follow your journey with him. You are such a great rider, he's lucky to have you! It'll be cool to see how you guys are going in a few months. You'll be even fancier!

[blob]

These months are a bit harder than normal to make goals for since my foot is still fractured and needs another 3-5 weeks for healing. I've been riding a VERY tolerant MM with my medical boot and no stirrups, so I can make reasonable goals with her even if we're not working at the level we were when I had a fully functional leg. But I'm definitely not getting on RP with the medical boot or with pain still lingering. I'm hoping that once I can wear my riding boot, I might be able to ride him some--though I'll have to stay without stirrups until that full healing time, since the break is right where my stirrup should sit and I'm not sure how RP will feel about stirrups bouncing at his belly or on his shoulders, or how I will feel about not having the security of my stirrups.

MM:
*Continuing working on our canter pirouettes
*Introduce multiple changes in a line (long side or diagonal, no counting yet, just 2-3 on a line): I might try introducing this while out doing hill work in the pasture where she tends to have a bit more get up and go
*Continue working on trailer loading, including a test field trip to trails near by
*Keep playing with poles/gymnastics/etc for strength + fun (especially while I'm in my boot)
*Spend some more time working on canter HP (just keeps falling to a lower priority)
*Start riding more start to finish tests to practice my test riding

RP:
*Continue lunging work including poles and introducing small jumps and lots of t-h-t and t-c-t transitions
*Continue body work + stretching on ground
**If/when I can ride RP:
*lateral work in walk to loosen up
*SI & LY at trot
*maintaining tempo in trot while changing frame--stretch to working frame
*smoother t-c-t transitions without excitement
*trot poles
*hill work?

Myself:
*stay sane
*eat well
*don't make stupid decisions about my foot

[Aleuronx]

Hmm, well things are still so uncertain due to Covid-19. No updates from the barn on loosening the restrictions or allowing more visits for boarders/leasers. Certainly I'd imagine the kid lesson program to be the last thing to fire back up. I'm not exactly sure what to do about goals for Kora as we are in this holding pattern. I guess more of the same and if I am able to get more visits, and therefore back to riding I will amend from there.

This weekend we have officially mastered the polite, calm self-load, wait and self-unload when touched on the rump with my hand but I think I will still practice this going forward. Just to solidify, but I was super proud of her today. She got so many baby carrots.

Lunging is fine, and boring, and fine. Have I mentioned I hate lunging?? Cause I do. In more exciting news the half-steps/piaffe training is going well. I can touch both hind legs and she will lift them nicely (instead of blasting out a kick, mares). Today I got 6 back and forth lift steps so that's cool.

Throughout the whole winter the power company had been doing some line repair/construction on the feed lines. The hay fields connect out to the strip and there is a class 5?6? road out to it that they absolutely destroyed with their big equipment and trucks driving over in bad conditions. Anyway, they finished up and fixed the road which happens to feed out to our trail system. It's lovely now!

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Goals:
Continue half-steps/piaffe work, maybe get to the point of some rhythm steps
Lunge (bleck)
Solidify good trailer loading, maybe short drive around the block and back?
Hand-walk trails

[Flight]

Ok, I'll make a goal this time of keep working on Norsey's piaffe steps. He finds it hard and he's the type that absolutely cracks it if he doesn't understand something, so I find myself avoiding the hard stuff.
He's got the idea, they are tiny tiny steps but hey gotta start somewhere and hopefully can only improve.

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[Moutaineer]

Tentative goal, world situation permitting, is to get Laddie back to full work and fitness and back at least to the quality of work that we had before everything went to hell in a handbasket. He was fabulous, sound, flexible and fluent and kind to ride this afternoon, bless him. I'm going to be much more aware of the correlation between wild behavior and sore hocks in future.

And we'll chip away at getting Walker fitter and stronger--he appears to be thoroughly enjoying his pampered life at the moment, and is adding to his extensive fan club on a daily basis. He's got a nice young woman who is stranded between jobs in Antarctica and Montana (some people's lives are way more complicated than mine) who has lots of time to fuss over him while he does his schoolmaster thing for her.

[mari]

Our yard is still closed because of lockdown. Haven't seen my horse in 6 weeks. So I will live vicariously through those of you who can ride. Don't spare the details...

[Ponichiwa]

I third the appropriate title comments-- especially given that I've already committed to canter cultivation with Queso. We've got a decent and reliable working canter but it's time to start adding grades of collection and extension to it. We had a lot of success yesterday with a "rubber band" canter on a circle (bounce it together 4 strides, bounce it bigger 4 strides) and with a halfpass/LY zig zag from quarterline to wall and back again. Feels like just weeks ago we were having issues hitting the correct lead every time I asked and now here we are playing with some real sandbox stuff. So happy with my little guy.

Here's where we're headed over the next ~8 weeks:

Queso:
- Continue working on halfpass in trot and canter. He's got the mechanics, but has bobbles in the balance (as to be expected). Plan to touch on half pass 2-3x/week and focus on maintaining or improving the gait quality within it.
- Continue working on canter/walk/canter. As above, understanding is there but he's not quite strong enough to keep the balance and throughness all the time. Introduce alternating leads (left canter to walk to right canter etc.).
- Counter canter-- I've introduced cantering on bended lines but we've not yet gone full counter-canter. This may dovetail with the above.
- Flying changes? We'll see

Me:
- Walk or stationary bike 5x/week
- Journal progress with the Quesonator
- Mind the alcohol intake... (damn you, quarantine)

[Dresseur]

I'm def back to riding again - carefully still... and I'm trying not to get incredibly frustrated at the lack of strength and dexterity. I still feel slightly out of place in the saddle because I can't yet use my leg/core the way I could before. But, I'm riding!

For Miro - the goals are simple, but not easy. We are continuing to chip away at the changes - he gets it now, and he can do 3's and 4's just not on any one's timing reliably. But, he still likes to freeze his back and blast off on the L to R change from time to time so it's a matter of figuring out how much to push the canter, how much to dial it back etc. His baby passage is coming and with that, increased adjustability in the trot. But basically, we're in the time of, it just takes the time that it takes.

For Vera - I'm hoping to see her under saddle at the end of these two months. I did all the longing with her and she's strong and ready. Over the last two weeks we backed her. I had been stirrup stepping and hanging over her side, patting her everywhere for about two months since she can be a bit of a twit. Last week saw me finally putting my leg over her, and then sitting on her. This week, we started with some very basic in hand work to get the point across that Whoa means Whoa - since she is reactive, we needed a bit of an insurance policy that she would not over react if we had to grab rein quickly. Then, I hung off her side while Andrea lead her a step to see her reaction. We did that twice and yesterday we did the same thing, I hung off her side while Andrea lead her several steps, and then I sat in the saddle while Andrea lead her one lap around the round pen. It was uneventful despite some serious antics in the neighboring paddocks.

[Sue B]

First off...Welcome Lipsmacker, as a fellow B rider, I look forward to your posts!

The Turkey Palace is constructed and in use now, the kid is pretty much doing his online schooling without badgering and most of the grass is mowed so...I am riding more again. (well, except for yesterday when a massive windstorm showed up and rendered me a migraine cripple, lol)

Tio is mostly sound now, his leg has remained cold and tight now for 10 days so whatever happened seems to be behind us now. When I say mostly, he is still reluctant to fully use his RH (stifle injury) but gentle lateral work is helping a ton. It also helps that he lives on a hilly pasture so stifle gets passive strengthening as a part of daily life. Anyways, I rode him Friday and Saturday. Friday was walk only as he felt NQR in the trot, but Saturday was walk and pony trot with no NQR. I did not allow him to power up, however, and focused instead on him being straight and even behind. He is doing nice ly in the walk, shallow ly in the trot and shoulder-fore so I'm happy with where he's at right now given all his injuries this spring. I am also hand-walking him down the road and in a fallow field which he thoroughly enjoys.

Rudy was fired up again this week but is also working really well. I do have to do road work prior to arena work in order to get that back up and swinging and his mind in the game, but once he's ready, his work is wonderful. Friday was fc day and Saturday was passage day. So now I can get the fc when I actually ASK for it but we're still at singles and I discovered (actually, already knew) I have to be very still and pretty much whisper my request so he doesn't overthink it. Oh, and now that passage is starting to develop, mediums are getting much easier too--as in the kind of medium where he sucks you into the pommel of the saddle and lifts his whole front end like a speed boat

so goals:
fc, fc, fc
develop more power in mediums
play with piaffe/half steps at least once a week
go somewhere, anywhere
restart canter work for Tio
hop over low jumps and small gymnastics

[Kelo]

Lipsmacker, welcome! I also have a 4YO so we can have a bit of a "teenager horse" support group, as it were

Depending on how this COVID deal goes, if the shows start back up in June, I'm hoping to show the Cowpony at GP, knock on wood. Meanwhile, we're schooling to improve the quality of the work, biggest focus right now being the pi/pa transitions and trying to reschool me (me, not him) on proper application of the flying changes aids to help him get more correct.

My baby horse has pretty simple goals. I'm working on switching her to riding one handed in the snaffle...basically that means on a loose rein she'll stay on whatever path I put her on without ducking in, out or whatever and without me having to supervise it. She's currently quite good at a walk/trot but not yet solid at the canter. We're also working on lateral work and change prep, just trying to get those secure. And hopefully we can finally get out trail riding.

[Kelo]

Ok, I'll make a goal this time of keep working on Norsey's piaffe steps. He finds it hard and he's the type that absolutely cracks it if he doesn't understand something, so I find myself avoiding the hard stuff.

Flight, Norsey looks so good!

Could you help me with what "crack it" means? Does that mean he gets upset or acts up?

I recently went through a phase with the Cowpony getting real upset in the piaffe. It turns out I was letting his motor sputter, then when I asked him to soften the connection, he'd feel trapped and go off like a rocket.

We finally worked through it...funny enough by working on a draped rein. Not the most technically correct method, I know, but boy did it help the Cowpony understand that he needed to listen to my seat aids. Taking the reins away completely made him go "oooooh" and now his connection has improved significantly, and he's very relaxed.

Did a lot of "GO FORWARD" exercises too trying to help ME with the motor sputtering issue, and combined that with the draped rein to help him.

The most helpful exercise was 20m circle, forward stretchy trot on a draped rein, then I'd cue piaffe. Only rein aids given were if he needed help staying loose and relaxed over his back. When the lightbulb went off, we could stretchy trot, then cue to piaffe off my seat, he stayed really soft mentally because the info was clear to him. It's made a world of difference the past 2 weeks.

[Kyra's Mom]

My goal continues to be to get to the barn and interact with my horse. Pretty simple. This has been my happy place during the pandemic and all the resultant changes.

I have been pretty good at getting out every other day. I do elder care on the other days. I usually ride but sometimes do in-hand work or a quick liberty session.

I need to continue working on my fitness off the horse. A #1 priority as it is my weight and fitness that is holding up progress.

Also continue with fitness for the horse as she is coming off several years of intermittent or no work...through no fault of hers. Luckily she is out 24/7 and has a fair base of fitness just being able to move all the time.

What I have been doing with her is lots of walk. Today we had a really nice ride over on the trotting track. I think this is the first time she stayed calm and wasn't calling to whoever would listen to her (usually no equine responds to her ). For lateral work I did LY zigzags and changed to volte to half-pass, rinse and repeat on the other rein. The track is about 10-12 feet wide so it keeps the exercises short and do-able. We actually got some trotting done without her brain exploding and getting all tense and silly. I went back to the arena for our canter work. All in all with some slight corrections, she had very good self carriage for working gaits and the stage of fitness she is in. If this continues, I will start asking her more balance questions to prepare for collection.

Just for kicks and giggles I decided to try and teach her Spanish Walk. We are making progress. I can get pretty reliable leg raises with tapping her leg.
She has quit doing so much stomping. I do need to watch her rear end and make sure it comes with the front end even though we are just working on raising the leg right now. She can leave the hind end way back there (parked out) if I don't watch it. I am still a bit flummoxed as to how this will turn into a jambette then Spanish Walk but we will keep trudging along. I have only been working on it for about 3 weeks now. One of my in-hand books says a year to establish a credible SW...and that is from someone that knows what they are doing . I know it will be good for her as she tends to be tight in the shoulders. I have been requesting some 1/2 steps in-hand also. She has had some really nice efforts and is really starting to load the hind end when she has her act together.

Happy riding...and I hope that those of you that haven't been able to will soon.

Susan

[Flight]

Could you help me with what "crack it" means? Does that mean he gets upset or acts up?

Yes, he gets upset and Norsey tends to stomp his feet or swing his head down when he cracks the shits and it's usually when I've asked too quickly or too much at once. I was interested reading your post about what you have found helpful with your cowpony, as I think that might help my little black horse.

Kyra's mum - The little horse can get very camped out behind too with SW. But the big horse doesn't seem to do it. I just try getting it on one side at a time reliably with him stepping forward, then add the alternate leg in. Food reward made a bit difference to mine. Just dont stand in front of them with a snack when you first start!

[khall]

No clinics scheduled at this time. My 83 yr old mother lives here on the farm with us (in her own apartment) so we are extra careful here. I had one scheduled in March with Cedar and try to host her 3-4 times a year, have Jillian scheduled in December but at this point who the hell knows.

I'm still working horses here in between some serious rain events. This last rain last week was torrential, washing out roads in some cases and just making a mess. Otherwise in between the rain we are having some wonderful weather. Riding and working horses as much as I can, knee is still bothering me, get the MRI results tomorrow so will see if I have to be scoped. It does not bothering riding so much but the push off to mount and especially the dismount hurts. Can't go without the brace for long and daily ibuprofen.

Rip is going well, though our last ride was eh. Nothing horrid just not as good as I had hoped. Getting back on Gaila and she is just fun and easy ride. Need to get back on Joplin as well, she is more than ready now.

As for goals, just ride all 3 more I hope.

Happy riding all and welcome lipsmacker

[heddylamar]

No goals other than ride ... and stay in the saddle

One of my barn mates (okay, one of 3, including the barn owner) was out riding at the same time as I was yesterday. The comments: "Maia looks good!" "Great job staying in the tack!" "I'm surprised you're riding today." Yeah ... it was super windy, and, as I alluded in the fitness forum, I messed up my hip recovery so it's all sorts of painful right now.

[Moutaineer]

A more detailed ride today on Laddie, rather than just testing "sound or not sound."

Certainly sound, but he's apparently lost any ability or desire to bend to the left in the last six weeks of enforced idleness.

So that's my project for the next little while. Stretch out that right side and get him even again.

It's not like we have anything to rush things for, is it? So let's view this a great opportunity to take the time to do things right.

I'm just grateful to be riding again.

[piedmontfields]

After an easier winter, my mare is finally getting pretty fit and my standards are rising again. My main focus is to take that improved fitness into higher demands of work. During this stressful time, I'm very grateful to have simple tasks like "improve throughness" to fixate on.

Although it has rained an enormous amount in our area, too, it is still quite cool and pleasant---a real treat as springs in prior years have been very hot.

[demi]

We’ve had lots of rain, too. Great for the pastures, but I have spent a lot of time on the tractor, shredding and mowing.

I checked my “goals” from the last thread and things are pretty much the same for this one. I had started with Emma again but after the covid I decided not to keep working her because there is a chance I could get bucked off. At least I kept ahead of the flies and her fly allergy is under very good control.

Rocky is still working on keeping an uphill balanced canter, combined with shorter reins. She is doing well with the shorter reins and I think it’s because of the program we were/are on (on the bit from the moment I mount, billions of gentle half-halts, lots of praise, verbal and cookies). The right lead canter balance is improving, too, but of course, not as fast as I’d like. From watching her videos, I think she still isn’t comfortable stretching her left side enough to get the canter carriage that I’m trying for to the right. I am able to get nice moments but she can’t sustain it.

In the meantime, I am working on myself as I ride. I am improving on recognizing where and when I am making mistakes. My thinking needs to be a step ahead of her body all the time. Otherwise, I’m not where I need to be at the moment I need to be there. And she is quick to take advantage of it. When I ride I am trying to be ever conscious of correct posture. If I have to first make a posture correction before I can give a strong half halt because she has gotten heavy in the bridle, it’s too late. I have spent a lot of time doing casual, relaxed trail riding and I need to retrain myself.

My trainer has re-opened her barn. DH thinks I should wait a while to see what is going to happen as the world starts opening again. It’s probably better to wait even from a riding/training perspective. I think I can use a little more time with this program that I am on at home to see it it bears fruit.

Nice to have you here, Lipsmacker!

Love all y’alls reports.

[Sue B]

Great ride on both boys yesterday but woke up to THIS. Poor Rudy is not happy.

Rudy Hives May 2020.jpg (68.6 KiB) Viewed 31854 times

(In case it's not readily apparent, he is one giant hive even including eyes and nose! Nope, don't know what happened.)

[piedmontfields]

Poor Rudy!!!! He looks miserable.

[heddylamar]

Poor dude! Does he handle Benadryl okay? That's what my vet has me give Anzia when she turns into one giant hive.

[ironbessflint]

Jumping in!

Anna:
She's just been building up SO much strength lately and it really feels like pieces are coming together. Our current struggle/target issues are the canter/walk transition and canter half pass. Canter walk IS coming along. First I was working on REALLY collecting that canter up before asking, to keep her more on the hind end. That helped a bit, but also got her really fussy and reactive, and then we kind of lost the canter altogether. I think I was going for TOO collected for TOO long? Last night I was working more on trying to keep the canter thinking FORWARD, and that REALLY seemed to help. We'd ride a 20 meter circle in a BIG canter, then when I touched the rail I'd collect it up a bit for just half a 10m circle, do the walk transition on the centerline, and then canter the new lead half a 10 meter back out the rail and then back to BIG canter on the 20m. Rinse, repeat. I think there was just enough big canter to keep her thinking canter, just enough collected so she could do the transition, but not TOO much collected where she'd get really balled up and stuck. We had a couple trot steps on a couple of the down transitions, but generally they were quite good, we had a clear walk in the middle (rather than the jiggy/prance she resorts to when she's getting tense about the work), and we had calm/collected AWESOME transitions up to the new lead (without the kicky/crow-hop she ALSO resorts to when getting tense about the work). We'll see if the same game plan works twice! Solid goal for these two months is to be able to consistently get the canter/walk anywhere in the arena. Stretch goal is to push the canter/walk/new canter lead and direction sequence into canter/walk/counter canter

The canter half pass struggle seems to be the same sort of issue and I think I just have to keep playing with it. *I* tend to focus on the sideways too much and then she breaks. So I've been trying to find and ride the right mix of forward thinking in the canter while still able to get *some* sideways, even if really shallow. Her trot half passes sure are getting lovely though!



And while we're all in a bit of a standstill for a while, trainer suggested now might be a good time to introduce her to the double and get us both used to it. We've been alternating rides in it, at trainer's suggestion based on pony's positive response. Pony is a rock star and I'm all WHY ARE THERE SO MANY REINS?!?!?! I let her stretch down in the trot the other day, and then had to transition to free walk because I could NOT manage to shorten the reins (independent of each other) on the fly. Oh man, I know we'll get there and I'll get used to it, but I haven't felt quite so discombobulated while riding in a WHILE. I'm also apparently struggling to keep my hands properly closed on the reins too, because they just magically creep longer and longer on me. Apparently my thumb doesn't work right on two reins? Goodness.... Have I mentioned the pony is a saint? She's also adorable



Enzo:
Came home from six months with the trainer on January 1, and we've been getting to know eachother and adjusting. I haven't regularly ridden any horse BESIDES Anna since...oh....2006? And going from Anna to Enzo is definitely like going from a Mack truck to the Ferrari he's named after, so that's been different too. We had a nice little honeymoon period, then a couple months of horrendous spooking, and now we've reached a new zen and we're in a good spot. I hope it sticks around! We've started calling him "New Enzo" because he really does seem like a different horse. He knocked over manure fork the other day and Old Enzo would have gone flying backward from the crash for sure....New Enzo calmly watched it fall and then kept playing with it. My goal right now is really just to keep riding riding riding him, and working on getting around the WHOLE ring (scary doors and corners you know!), and add in more work on the rail and off of safe circles. We both need miles, and we need miles together As far as actual progress goes, the quality of work goal right now is to improve his balance tracking right. He likes to overbend that way, so it's lots of outside aids or he'll just follow his left shoulder right out the door, into the wall, across the ring....wherever I can generally keep him together enough in the trot, but in the canter he REALLY struggles to turn in the open side of the arena.

And finally, Enzo turned 7 on Sunday and for the first time in his life he was both trained and healthy enough to go for a birthday ride (and New Enzo even coped with my embarrassing him with a birthday hat )

[StraightForward]

IronBess: Glad you are joining. Both your Haffies are adorable! The simple change with the half voltes sounds like a good exercise to keep in mind.

SueB: Wow, those are some hives! Rosette broke out like that and feeding spirulina powder seemed to help a lot. Tesla gets hives, and Annabelle gets itchy this time of year too, so I buy bulk spirulina from nuts.com now and feed it to both of them. Hope he deflates to normal soon!

I had a great ride this morning. Last night I did some Masterson work on Annabelle, then put her Back on Track sheet on for the night. This morning was cool and a little breezy, which was exciting, along with having a few other horses in the arena. Applying the increased focus on bending and transitions from my lesson last weekend, I *almost* felt like I have my horse back. She is still blocking a little here and there, and gets sticky about the first T/C transition, but a huge improvement over just a week ago. It was the first time I felt like I could sit the trot and she would step under and get some cadence without constant nagging. Looking forward to another lesson this Sunday.

[Flight]

Poor Rudy, wonder what he reacted to? He doesn't look happy!

Ironbessflint - nice Halflingers! They are so pretty. I've been holding the curb rein, where it leaves your hand, between my first and second finger to try and help stop it sliding through.

Here's an example of Norsey cracking the sh%ts! I just asked that little bit too long. That'll teach me

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[Kelo]

SueB - I hope Rudy is feeling better now! Yowch!

Ironbessflint - Your Haffies are lovely! Wow!

Flight - That is cracking the sh!%s for sure Yeehaw. At least he still looks elegant while doing it!

[Dresseur]

Poor Rudy!! And I absolutely love Anna and Enzo, what kind looking souls. Flight... just. lol. What a dude.

Miro is starting to give some true passage steps and he's really understanding the change mechanic. My hip still objects to extensions and anything that I have to put some outside leg back, but overall, I was able to start in on some brief no stirrup work moments to finally get some length back into my leg so that I feel a bit more stable which is really helping.

For Vera, this week saw her first ever trot under saddle. I could feel her responding to my weight and she started to hump her back a bit, but we brought her down, calmed her and went off. The next day, we did another trot under saddle and you could really feel her start to gain some confidence. Really, really cool. I probably should be more freaked out than I am, but with Andrea at ground control, I feel that she can give me a few seconds to bail if I really need it.

[ironbessflint]

Aw, thanks for the kind words everyone! Our ponies are fun

I've been holding the curb rein, where it leaves your hand, between my first and second finger to try and help stop it sliding through

Oooh thanks, I'll try that!!

[Sue B]

Rudy is feeling much better now. I bit the bullet and gave him iv dexamethasone that morning (like mid-morning by the time I got to and from the clinic) which I really, really hated to do, but turned out to clearly be the right call. By noonish his hives had started to recede a bit but he was now breathing rapidly with flared nostrils. Mildly panicked about anaphylaxis until I examined him more closely and determined that it was his sinuses that were massively inflamed. Another couple hours later he was breathing better and by that night the hives had mostly resolved. I found multiple wasp stings on his left upper and lower lips--mystery solved. Now if only I could find the darn hive so I can kill those evil things. it has taken another two days to get the swelling in his lips and nostrils resolved and his muzzle is still pretty painful but he is back to his cheeky self. Scared this ol' vet pretty bad I must say.

Riding only Tio right now and things are going well. He was very well behaved riding down the road, felt like his old self again. In the arena we are still working the pony trot, much to his frustration. He would prefer to either jog or tear around on the forehand, and not actually engage his hind end in the trot. Walk right now is fantastic, so once the trot is more settled I will allow him to canter again. No point cantering now, it would just be unbalanced and he would be tight in his back. So, in trot, we are doing a ton of transitions, ly, and shoulder fore on a 20m circle and down the long side. No smaller circles in the trot because he's not strong enough back there to carry himself yet. He is progressing rapidly though so it shouldn't be too long before he can do more. This weekend I'll get ds to move the cavelletti and jumps back into the arena--that will make the kid happier.

Rudy is red-shirted until he's fully recovered.

[exvet]

Sue B, I always keep a bottle of dexamethasone at home for the stinker pony's occasional anaphylactic reactions. It really makes me cringe when I have to go to use it but the results have always justified the risks involved, at least so far. As he gets older, though the episodes have been few and far between, I know that one of these days I/he may not be so lucky; but, there really are so few options. Glad to read that Rudy is doing better.

I just got back from a fantastic lesson. We continued to chip away at Junior's ability to pressurize himself the right way and become really clear and consistent in the contact. The demand for perfect transitions both into and out of the gaits as well as within the gaits is paying off. We had some really nice medium trot and canter. We got a clean flying change and consistent over stride in the walk which has been a long time in coming. I think we're coming very close to 'unlocking' his back and getting him to realize how to use his back. He's been very willing and has allowed me to guide and set him up so that he comes through it; but, today was the first time that he just offered it and struck off each time reaching into the bridle and producing the right undulation in his top line instead of shrinking or tightening through his top line when things get tough or confusing. His muscling and build is really developing and last night while watching all the horses after dinner playing in their turnout, I was struck at just how much Junior has 'blossomed'. He's one stout welsh cob LOL..........funny how you don't see what's right in front of you until one day it slaps you in the face........though this time it was a nice wake up call

[Moutaineer]

Ironbessflint! Nice to "see" you and your gorgeous blondes!

Glad Rudy is doing better. That's a scary thing. Seems to take ages to all go down, too.

So we had left bend back today, but he was a total powder keg to sit on. Yikes. Time to get back into lessons and get both out heads into the game before someone gets hurt.

[Kyra's Mom]

SueB...I hope Rudy is recovering well. I have had 2 in my lifetime that were allergic to stinging insects.

The first one had a ground hornet nest right next to his pen. That had to be dealt with pronto. He too was a giant hive from his legs to the tips of his ears. The second one got swarmed and stung multiple times on her front legs and chest. Her legs swelled up significantly and she started oozing serum from around her chestnuts and her coronet bands. The vet was quite alarmed and was sure she was going to slough her hooves. To the point she would not give her steroids. We were able to get things under control with hosing and antihistamines and thankfully, her hooves stayed attached and in alignment.

Ironbessflint...nice to see you back with your gorgeous blonds.

Kyra has had an easy week. Mom care got shuffled around a bit this week and the trimmer was there yesterday so she had an easy week thus far. Back to work tomorrow.

Susan

[Chisamba]

I have not participated yet, but i think putting down some goals might be helpful, sometimes i state my goals and when i do not get them achieved i feel down on myself. but i need a kick in the arse sometimes so here we go

Kimba: try to introduce more innovative exercises to include improving in the canter but give her brain something new to try. I joined a group on facebook about usuing poles ( someone posted a link here) I tried some of the exercises without the poles, it gave Kimba a fresh perspective and we had a good ride. Her single flying change is clean now, but she will often give it unasked when i am working on the counter canter. So, teach her to wait for me to ask, and continue to progress into a more "FEI" carriage.

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Saiph, She is now in full work, I would like to have her third level ready if the show season opens, but we are still getting used to each other. I am doing a bit of cross training with her, hill work, poles, mostly to get to know each other well enough that if we leave the property she will trust the aids photos

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So those are my goals, i took a few pictures because we had a nice day and my son wanted to experiment with the backgrounds, so i am going to include some gratuitous ]

[demi]

So many updates!

Glad Rudy came out of the hive situation ok. I’ve never had a horse do that but one of my Boston Terriers did. Thankfully I was able to rush him to the vet.

Norsey looks so athletic when he’s “cracking the $hits” and Flight looks like a Spanish Riding School rider!

Glad to see IronBessFllint posting and love the pictures!

Glad Laddie is back. I know Mountaineer will progress him in a way that will be good for him. When the showing starts up again you will be in a good position to get your scores for the medals.

Thanks for posting the lovely pictures, Chisamba! You’re lookin’ good! So is Kimba!

Well, I have my soloshot charged up and will try to get video today. Rocky had her hooves trimmed on Thursday and sometime she’s a little careful after a trim and all I do is walk when she’s like that.

[Ryeissa]

welcome Iron bess! Nice to see your lovely golden ponies again

[Dresseur]

We finally was able to get some shots of Miro this weekend as he works through the development of the passage. This was introduced maybe a month ago, and we were worried that he’d get stuck behind since his tendency is to sit too much and then dwell. In other words, he’s rather terre-a-terre than keep his hind legs marching. This is also why the decision was made to start with passage as opposed to piaffe/half steps. In any case, at this point, he’s got a good grasp of what he’s supposed to do. He will still lose rhythm, but you can really feel the cadenced steps he’s taking and there is an actual transition into and out of it. When he gets further along, I’d like the neck more open, but at this point, we can’t make those corrections in the 3-4 steps he’s doing this for.

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[blob]

So good to see everyone's updates and photos.

Hope Rudy is doing better!
Flight--would be interested to hear what you're doing with Norsey to teach him piaffe.

Chisambe and Dressuer--your horses look great!

I've been riding MM with my medical boot and after several great rides, I had a two not so great ones this weekend, which is always frustrating. But hopefully just a small hiccup.

I decided I needed to get on RP at least to walk so he remembers he's not just a lunging horse. So both Sat and Sun, I got on after lunging to walk around without stirrups. And gosh, he was leaning on my legs so badly. It's interesting because he has lunging with SRs really well, but clearly there are some holes that are being hidden. So, i think i will continue doing some walk lateral work before or after lunging to make sure he's not leaning around

[demi]

Dresseur, thanks for the pictures! You and Miro look fabulous! I like the way his tail swings. Looking at the pics I can almost see the really nice rhythm, as the bottom curls up to the left when the left foot is up and to the right when the right foot is up. Like a pendulum. Or metronome. Nice!

[Dresseur]

Thanks Demi and Blob. And yes, when he locks in, it feels great, and there's no balancé or swinging. But, we're talking only a few steps at a time here. He's got a long way to go. What's really nice is how it affects the front - he actually picks his knees up.

I forgot to mention in terms of training, if anyone is interested, that because of his tendency to stick, he's doing a few steps of this baby passage and then extension to keep him honest. Then we do the passage to trot transitions once we know he's firing.

An interesting tidbit - his rein back... it sucks. He wants to get really impure with it. Going carefully, one step at a time makes it worse - if you keep reining him back, it cleans up. But it's an interesting conundrum because we can't quite tell where he's blocking to interrupt the rein back's purity so much.

[Sue B]

A couple of gratuitous pictures of my boys. Rudy is gradually feeling better; he even managed a nice amble down the roads for a couple miles yesterday. Not up for anything more vigorous than that though. (I should probably say that it was he who insisted on going for a ride--apparently I am NOT allowed to ride Tio without riding him too!)

Tio is doing well too. Down to just the stifle being a touch sore, evidenced by his stepping about an inch shorter with that hind leg if allowed to work without input. So we are still doing mostly pony trot with lots of transitions and shallow lateral work. Yesterday he insisted on a larger trot and was able to hold it together for several minutes before flattening out and falling on the forehand. I don't think I'll have time to ride today, but I did manage 4 days in a row last week on him.

[demi]

Yay! More pictures. Tio looks good! Getting some muscles. How tall is he? Glad Rudy is better.

[piedmontfields]

I do love the photos and updates. Such a good looking group of horses!!

Also, I appreciate the specificity of description around the work (ex. dresseur, but there are many others!). I feel like after a lazy for us winter, Emi is coming back to strength. As a result, I am more exposed than ever as a rider-trainer. My left leg has never been like my right, nor my left hip. Time to deal with that! lol Maybe for a new thread.

[Flight]

Dresseur - wow nice! Always look so uphill with great collection. I can't manage that with my horses. I always wonder if it's something you have to feel first, so you know what you are aiming for?

Love seeing pics!
Chisamba, the weather and trees etc.. all look beautiful. Starting to get cold here with some frosts so the warmth looks nice. Great that you've got Kimba's flying change going well too. I hope I never have to try and train another horse for those!
SueB, your two are looking good too

I've been working also on Norsey staying out to the contact better and he's developing a better looking topline, it was easy to have that dip in front of his wither and his gullet closed. Still always a work in progress, but improving.

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[demi]

Norsey is flying! All 4 feet off the ground. I love the pic.

My progress is modest but I’m happy with it, especially when I consider her conformation. Rocky has accepted the shorter rein and I’ve been able to relax my legs a little and flatten my back. I’ve been videoing a lot and am finding it a great help. I usually watch the vid right after the ride and when I see it I think things like I should just give up dressage and go back to trail riding! Then, I watch it again and see ways I can improve. It’s always me. The more I can keep a good position, the better Rocky goes ( I know, duh). I’ve been taking tons of screen shots and making comparisons from day to day.

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I can get her head a little higher and have “the bow strung a little tighter” (as in the pic I posted toward the end of the last goals thread) but we both have to work really hard for that. For now, this picture shows the way she is quite happy going. I try to keep this frame for most of the ride. I’m not even cantering much. Today she volunteered the right lead, her difficult side, and I was so surprised I had to look down to see if it was actually the right lead. It was the most balance right lead I’ve ever felt on her. I just want to give her time to get comfortable in this frame before I ask for much more.

I think my trainer will be happy with this improvement but I also think she won’t let us stay in this comfort zone long.

[Moutaineer]

Interesting ride today. I had my sweet horse back.

I had a bit of a revelation the other day--I read something that triggered a thought in me and I checked his (relatively new) joint supplement and realized it was loaded with MSM, which I've had problems with in the past with other horses (not all of them, some seem to tolerate it really well. Others, not so much--wild-eyed, spooky, twitching basket cases.)

Well, I stopped it, and this afternoon I walked into the barn to find my soft-eyed, relaxed horse again.

Yee haw.

[blob]

great to see everyone's pictures and so glad so much riding is going on!

I graduated the last few days out of my medical boot and trying to ride in my riding boots. It's still challenging to use my right leg effectively (the side with the broken foot) and i'm probably still several weeks away from using stirrups--the fracture is right where the stirrup would sit.

MM has been a really good sport about the whole thing, but I hate feeling uneven in my effectiveness and I'll be the first to admit that i no longer have the no stirrups fitness I used to have (it's been AGES since I've done a lot of work without stirrups) so a lot of the riding isn't very pretty right now. To keep things interesting, i've been doing lots of pole and hill work that way I am still doing something useful from a strength perspective even if i'm not riding at my best.

One thing that I've realized, much to my frustration is that I don't think I've accurately taught MM a nuanced/clear aid for our changes. This is fully my fault for being sloppy and desperate. I think for her it has become situational. Meaning--if she's going across a diagonal or if she's counter cantering and her rider starts flailing around, that means change. But if i ask her to go from true lead to CC or do more than one change on a diagonal, she truly does not seem to understand what I want. I know I need to focus on precision of my change aid. But I also recognize that broken foot and ineffective right leg is probably not the time to do that, so I am putting a pause on schooling any changes until I can focus on a precise aid, otherwise we'll never move past a single change across the diagonal.

Riding boot on my foot has also meant I've been getting on RP some. I'm not doing much more than walking and little bits of trot. I'm just not secure enough without stirrups to do too much on a horse that is narrow and wiggly and prone to antics. But it's been really useful, I think even just to have long walk rides. He's been lunging well, but getting on him and doing changes of bend and baby lateral work has exposed that he's actually quite stuck/locked up particularly on his right side. So, after doing some lunge work, i've been getting on him at the walk to walk work with lots of changes of frame, changes of bend, big swooping LYs, shoulder-in, and hanches in. And of course trying to stay relaxed through all of that. And doing little bits of trot to break things up. but with him, I'm really ready for my right leg to be useful again. His right side is his weaker side.

[StraightForward]

Demi - You and Rocky both look great there.

Blob - I hope your foot heals up soon so you can get back to full training with your two.

Keep calm and canter on is pretty much my mantra right now. Annabelle had bodywork and laser on Monday, then had Tuesday off, and wore her Back on Track sheet all night, so I was expecting her to come out great tonight. Not so much. She starts bracing when she feels me begin to prepare her for canter departs. The bracing was worse today than the last couple rides. The bodyworker did a fairly big adjustment in her lumbars (I heard the little pop) that she thought had been stuck for a long time. Once we got through the bracing and got cantering, she suddenly found a new gear and had some power. It took some KC/CO on my part to just sit and use my outside aids and let'er rip. After some big canter, we did manage what I think was some better 20m circles both directions, so it all ended well. Hopefully this new go button will be more reliable and accessible by the time we have another lesson in ~10 days.

Tesla - I thought I might pop on her today, but it's the first week of irrigation, which means no turnout. I could immediately tell she was snarky when I tied her up in her stall. After she got a roll and a little buck and fart, she wasn't so bad and I've got her pretty happy to sit on her sideways as long as I'm scratching her withers. Soon enough the stars will align. Since she loves her neighbor, who is a nice mellow draft cross, I will try to enlist someone to ride that horse so we can follow once basic steering and brakes are installed with a few round pen rides.

[ironbessflint]

In keeping with the theme of "keep calm and canter on" - Enzo is reminding me on a daily basis that forward really does fix everything. Some days I get on and he feels like a grown up horse. I can put some inside leg on and I feel him step into my outside rein, and all is lovely and stretchy and wonderful. Other days (*cough*lastnight*cough*) he still feels like the green-bean he is. On those nights I end up calling him Pretzel Pony, because I'm pretty sure his hind legs, front legs, and neck are all in completely different counties. Tracking right is getting better....he's accepting my outside aids as the same security blanket that the wall provides, and now that he's figured that out he's staying pretty consistently relaxed that direction. But now that he can go around clockwise, tracking left (and my same darn left leg) is blowing his mind

So, as his hind legs swing out to the right and we fall on our left shoulder, and the neck decides to twist COMPLETELY sideways in an attempt to stay balanced while doing those gymnastics....I fight the urge to crawl into the fetal position and stop I'm slowly getting better at FORCING myself to push my hands forward, give him more rein than really feels safe, and SEND HIM FORWARD. And then forward some more. And somehow, like MAGIC, over the course of three or so circles, this:



Turns into this:



So I'd like to whine once again about how it's SO much easier to ride well when they're going well. Here's to the day I put left leg on, he bends left, and we just "carry on" without all the drama first.....

[Rosie B]

I finally got some good news yesterday about my broken foot. In short:
* It's healing well
* I did everything right post injury
* There was nothing they could have done for it had I come into the hospital at the time of the injury instead of waiting 6 weeks like I did...
* I can start wearing regular supportive shoes again instead of the walking cast I've been wearing for the last 8 weeks

I think riding boots qualify as "supportive shoes"... what do you guys think?

Ironbess - your guy is so cute even when he is being a stinker.