Bareback Round 1

I got up Sunday morning and went out to the barn thinking, "It's 40f and raining. There will be no one else around and we can just ride in the indoor."

Surprise!! There was another boarder out there. This was a nice lady I'd never even seen before. Why do people start riding once the weather turns nasty? No clue. Anyways. Izzy and I hung out in the indoor and got used to the sound of rain on the roof while the lady finished riding. When she came out, I took Izzy in with her halter and chain on. We walked around and look at any potentially scary stuff. She was super good.

Next, I put the bridle on. It's a mechanical hackmore, so I lead her around in it for a while to make sure she was used to the leverage action. I decided to use it because we're both very comfortable with a bit and I tend to grab it instead of really use my body to ride. Izzy isn't wild about the leverage function and I'm not wild about losing the ability to turn her in a circle if things got crazy, but it was the best option I had. I also put a leather neckstrap on her to grab when I got insecure, which was most of the time.

I rode for about half an hour, and we never left the walk. I didn't realize just how much I was doing wrong. I tend to slide off one side or another. With my saddle, I can just brace against the irons to compensate, but bareback is a whole new world. I spent most of my time just trying to stay centered and balanced and moving with the motion. Yikes. I feel like an awful rider.

Last night, I ran down to the store and got myself a sidepull with roping reins to use for our continued bareback experiments. That will removing the leverage that Izzy dislikes and give me the lateral steering (hopefully) that I like to have for those tense moments. I'll take a picture of her today. I'm sure it will look adorable.

ETA: Lunge lessons would be fabulous. Unfortunately, they're out of range for now. Hopefully, if I do this for a while, I can afford to take some later on.

Where I Wish I Could Ride

I've realized that a big part of my problem riding Izzy is that I seem to have lost the ability to really follow her motion and find myself constantly fighting against it. This is wrong on a lot of levels, not the least of which is that it makes me feel insecure and therefore lose confidence.

There. I identified a problem.

I decided that to fix the problem, I need to do something that allows her motion but limits my control. Thus, I decided to ride Izzy bareback in our hackmore in the round pen. She's fine bareback and the round pen will limit her enough that I won't freak out about being run off with. I figured I could just hop on, hang on, and ride till I seemed to get it, then lather and repeat until it works.

So far, so good.

Of course, I couldn't make it out to the barn until almost four this afternoon. Izzy had a glorious galloping bucking time out in turnout and for the first time since I've been at this barn, there was 5 (count 'em) other boarders out there. Also, one horse was loose in the round pen. I turned Izzy out in the small outdoor arena and she ran like a crazy thing. By the time the round pen was available, it was so dark and cold that I decided our new plan could wait until tomorrow.

Besides, then there will be less people around to watch me screw up. ;-)

Where I Actually Ride

When I showed up at the barn yesterday, late afternoon, Izzy was already turned out and had been for a while. Nonetheless, when a tumbleweed blew down the road, she took off bucking and galloping and playing. She's really not scared or tense or anything--she's just so freaking happy it's ridiculous. You'd have to see her face. The weather is just cool enough that her fuzzy coat feels good and she LOVES her turnout time (good, since that's why I pay $$ to be here).

It's fun to watch, but my, um, injury was hurting more yesterday and all I could think was, "Shoot. I'm going to get on and she's going to freak and buck and bolt and dump me and I'll hurt myself worse."

Not the best way to start a training session.

I pulled her out of the turnout and she leaped around on the lead line. I could tell she was just playing since again she didn't hit the end of the lead rope or anything and there's just this look in her eye that says, "how fun is this!" Still, I don't want her thinking that behavior is ok when I hanging on to her, so I backed her up and made her stand. She was quite good after that. I had her all tacked up except her bridle when the BO started feeding in our barn. Izzy was ok with that, not so ok with all her buddies charging around going, "Wheee! Feeding time and we feel gooooood!"

She tried to leap forward in the cross ties, so I unclipped one of them and then held the lead rope while the BO quickly fed everyone to settle them down. Then I just lead Izzy over to the indoor and put her bridle on in there. She had a totally relaxed look in her eye, despite all the antics. I did try lunging her, but as usual, could hardly get her to go. She knows when she needs it and when she doesn't. I climbed on, still wary of falling off in some horrible accident.

She was looky in one end of the arena and it was getting dark and cold quickly, so I only rode walk and trot for about 10 minutes, then jumped off. When I turned her loose to roll, she meandered down to the "scary" end of the arena, and leaned over the fence to see if she could reach the haystack. When she realized she could, she just laid down and rolled.

That mare. I was so worried she'd do something, and she just wanted food. Story of our lives, I guess. ;-)

Day Off

I had to work pretty much all day yesterday, so I sprinted out to the barn between that and my evening commitments. Miss Izzy was very happy to see me--she whinnied at me! Aww. I took her out to one of the turnouts. Before I could even close the gate behind us, she half-reared and ran backwards. She stopped before she hit the end of the rope, though. Silly girl was just letting me know she could hardly contain herself.

As soon as I had the gate firmly closed and her halter off, she took off bucking and galloping up and down the length of the turnout. When she finally settled in, she dove onto the ground to roll, then did her usual frantic grazing before even getting up. Quite funny.

I didn't even groom her. I let her be out for about an hour, and before I could do anything else, I got a call I was waiting for and had to go. She didn't mind; her dinner was waiting in her stall. I AM riding today. Sometime. It's a long day, just with hardly any daylight.

Reflections on Injuries

At our last jumping lesson, 8 days ago, I fell off Izzy. I wasn't really hurt. I got back on and everything was fine. My hip was sore the following couple of days, which made sense, since I landed on it. Still, a day off, followed by easing myself back into some low, slow runs and my hip now feels great.

The only problem is that now my tailbone (I think) hurts. I don't notice it walking, running, or sitting, but any time I bend over, I have to move really slow to avoid pain. Lifting stuff is also difficult. According to my cursory internet search (which is just like going to a doctor, I'm sure), there is really nothing a doctor can do for tailbone injuries other than dispense pain meds.

So... I'm thinking I'll just continue to kind of take it easy and hope things improve. Any second opinions out there? ;-)

Spending Habits

I had a good, solid dressage ride yesterday, then Izzy and I walked down the road by ourselves. She didn't even flinch when big trucks went by pretty fast. Love her!

I thought I would focus on the ongoing dilemma that almost all of us have to worry about (unless you're that fabulous lady who sponsors Steffan Peters. She probably doesn't run up against this too often.)

Money.

Unfortunately, I am not independently wealthy, so I have to make some decisions. Here are my set horsie expenses:

Board: $280/month
Senior feed: $15ish/month
Ulcer meds and supps: $30ish/month

We'll pretend that gas is free and time isn't important. That leaves my constant monthly total at $325/month and I haven't accounted for other essentials like farrier care, dental, chiro, shots, and any injuries that crop up.

It is currently November. I have already spent my set $325 and I have a little money left over to spend (sort of). Here are my exciting options:

Two jumping lessons at $35/each: $70

Two dressage lessons at $35/each: $70

Schooling jumper show (3 classes): $45

Tack of the day dressage boots (mine need upgrade): ~$50 including shipping

Winter jacket that actually zips: $? (got my last one at the Youth Ranch for $4)

All are good options, and I could certainly do some combination thereof, HOWEVER, Izzy's left front heel is low, so my farrier recommended (and we are doing) resins on her front feet this month. Cost: $90. Also, I've been noticing that her hind feet seem to be wearing down more. Cross your fingers that we don't have to do back shoes, too.

So expensive. (And I know, to those of you with real jobs or in expensive areas, these figures are ridiculously low. Just remember, I'm poor and in Idaho.) ;-)

Periodically, my husband talks about getting rid of his rabbits because it costs almost $40/month to feed them. I wish I was into rabbits. (I mean, I have two fuzzy ones that I love, but they're not my big thing.)

Pictures

Here's a picture of some of the fall colors at the barn:

It's been absolutely gorgeous here--cool overnight, but in the 60s or 70s doing the day. Unfortunately, the leaves are finally starting to fall.














Here's the aisleway that Izzy and I walk down to get to the turnouts.


















My fancy new leathers and irons. (And yes, the leathers are now nylon-lined. Yikes.)














Gorgeous bridle and breastcollar:



















And of course, my beloved fuzzies at home:














Aren't they so cute all snuggled together?

Huh. I was going to put some other pictures up, but blogger changed something about the uploading and I'm having trouble figuring it out. The pictures used to be in reverse order, one on top of the other, but now they're all crammed in side by side and if I try to cut and paste, more than one disappears. So weird.

Where the WB Wants to be a TB

AKA "conditioning day". According to the schedule that I more or less try to stick to, we were supposed to do trot and canter sets today. I'm always torn about this. I feel like if we do concentrated dressage for a few days, then we make some real progress. The only problem is that the progress comes at the expense of our jumping. Oh well. That's why we rotate, right?

So. Conditioning. I rode Izzy all over the facility today. We did a little warm up work in the big outdoor, meandered around the indoor, walked by the dressage arena, then crossed the bridge and went to the track. Fortunately, Izzy seems to be over her 'I absolutely cannot pass the barn to cross the bridge' phase. She thought about balking today, but a little extra leg convinced her to keep going.

We did a couple trot sets to the left. I let her walk a lap, then we picked up the canter. This is an excellent way to work on forwardness, right? She got rolling along, I got settled, and then I went up to two point to lighten my seat and work on my balance.

OUCH!

I almost fell off the mare. Apparently, even though my hip is now fine, my rump is still pretty sore from our tumble on Saturday. I thought about sitting down again, but my hip improved most when I went running and pushed through it, so I stayed in two point for three painful laps.

I know how long the track is and my goal is to build our fitness while figuring out how to accurately estimate my meters/minute speed. Unfortunately, I have so much to work on right now that I can hardly keep myself out of Izzy way, much less know what's going on.

Here's a typical set: Ok, we are on a corner going away from the barn. Walk to canter transition with much fuss. Check. Correct lead. Check. Elbows bending to follow motion of her head. Check. (Turn) Allow motion to roll from my hip to my knee, not hip to foot. Check. (turn) My left foot hurts. That means I'm putting too much weight there instead of balancing centrally (turn) Rebalance. Butt hurts. Shoulders too far forward. If she spooks, I'm going over her shoulder. One!!

And repeat.

After a few sets left, we switched to the right. On the second set, I finally seemed to get it more or less together. I felt like a race jockey coming around the corner; eyes up, body balanced, hands still, and oh boy, Izzy felt it to. We GALLOPED down the stretch and around the corner, at which point I freaked. Oh shit!! Is this track even designed for galloping? What if she loses her footing? Ack! No! Whoa! Izzy did a flying lead change, then one back.

Ok, I think that's enough for today...

Back to Dressage

The feedback we got at the jumping clinic was that Izzy needs to accept the bit and be more forward. Since that seems to be a theme for us, today we pulled out the dressage saddle and got to work.

Izzy started out pushy and even a little tense. She's going through a phase where she'll have a decent walk, but when I pick her up and ask for trot, she tries to fling her head up in the air and run on her forehand. I'm not really sure where this is from; it gets better if we work on it, but I haven't gotten it to go away yet.

Another issue I'm working on is getting my hands out of my lap, holding a steady contact, and riding Izzy into it. Conveniently, all these things seem to be tied together. When I hold a steady contact, the pony mare is able to trust it and balance on it, which smooths the transition. Even if she does attempt the head-fling-and-run, by holding the contact and stopping her with my body, I am refusing to play her game and focusing on the issue: the balance.

Finally, when cantering, I have apparently over-packaged and over-rebalanced her stride to the point that she doesn't really come under herself and balance. Instead, she has some sort of weird up-down motion. Whoops. That's what I get for only sort of knowing what I'm doing and sporadically working with trainers. Today, we focused on letting Izzy develop a lovely big canter and really carry herself around. While she did that, I tried to keep a steady contact, maintain my posture, and let her find her own balance.

All in all, I'd call it a good day. We started rough, but she (we) improved as we went along. At the end of the ride, she was pretty comfortable with the contact and was able to maintain a nice balance at all three gaits. Not fancy, but good. Hopefully someday I'll have another dressage lesson. This would all be easier if it was free, right?

The Best and Worst

First off, a picture of the barn dog "helping" feed on a windy day. He didn't want to get off the 4 wheeler.

Izzy and I had another jumping lesson on Saturday. Irie's mom was unable to attend, so the only picture I have is of Izzy waiting patiently at the trailer, even though I forgot to bring a haynet for her. <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="" data-blogger-escaped-her="">

The lesson was great! Izzy warmed up really well. We focused on 'fingertip control' at first, in which I try to get a maximum response to minimal aids. Next, we worked on focusing on where we wanted to go in order to get our horses to move with purpose. An example would be instead of just asking for a trot transition, focus on a place you want to get to and then ask. This gives you a goal and allows your horse to obey promptly.

We also did an exercise in which we lightened one leg at a time in the stirrups, allowing our whole leg to contact the side of the horse instead of just putting our weight in our stirrups. This will be important later.

The first exercise we worked on was just cantering over poles set at a 90 degree angle to one another. It was a long three, a comfortable four, or a short five, and we got to do all three variations. Next, Stephanie set the poles up to 2' verticals and had us canter over those both directions, focusing on getting four comfortable strides, jumping perpendicular to the fence, and staying balanced. It was harder than I thought.

Finally, we incorporated a third element: a 2'3" square oxer (which sounds tiny to those of you who actually jump, but it's good-sized for Izzy and I right now). The pattern was now this: canter in to a 2' vertical, turn left and 90 degrees in 4 strides, jump another 2' vertical, turn right and 90 degrees in five strides, jump a 2'3" oxer.

Whoa. That was hard.

I went first and really struggled with it because I have some major position flaws that this exercise highlights. First off, I tend to move around too much in front of the fence, which makes Izzy shorten because she's confused. Then, my in-air form is bad, so I take back on the reins and totally lose my legs, which makes leg yielding through the turn virtually impossible. We manage to get over the second fence, but not the third.

Finally (probably 3 or 4 tries later), I seem to get it. I shorten up my reins, and grab Izzy's mane about a third of the way up her neck. This forces my hands to stay forward, which keeps me in better balance and allow me to use my leg. We make the second jump on a fairly severe angle (yay Izzy! Already compensating for my dumbness!) We barely made the turn to the third jump (oxer), and I showed it to Izzy too late. BRAKES!

The good news is, I wasn't ahead of her and my position barely even bobbled when she stopped. It was just poor riding by me and greeness by her, so Stephanie had us canter around and do that jump alone. Izzy was brilliant.

Then, we put all three together. We developed a rhythmic canter to the first jump. I put my hands in her mane and kept my leg on. We did a nifty leg yield through the sharp left corner and caught the second jump square in the middle. I didn't worry about her lead and made the right hand turn quickly enough to allow her to see the jump before we were right on top of it. I kept my leg on and my hands still and we positively FLEW over the oxer!!

And then...














Yep, stirrup leather totally busted about a stride after the fence. If only I'd paid more attention to the lesson earlier about distributed my weight through my leg instead of just my stirrup. I went flying (dumping? It wasn't graceful) off Izzy's left side, and my lesson buddy assures me that she let out a mighty buck once I was off.

It was pretty hilarious. I mean, I was done. We nailed the exercise, so there was no reason to do it again. I just sat in the sand for a moment, hurting and processing. Then I got up, pulled the other stirrup off the saddle, and rode Izzy around to cool out while my lesson buddy finished up.

Several thoughts:
1) I have not fallen off Izzy in well over a year, so I was more than due.
2) I cannot imagine a better way to come off--neither of us has any confidence issues due to it.
3) Since I am a consummate tack-whore, it is kind of embarrassing to fall off due to tack failure.
4) That said, due to the aforementioned tack-whoring issue, I actually have a new pair of leathers (nylon-lined) at home. The only reason I wasn't using them was because they didn't fit my current irons and I was suppressing my tack-whoring impulse to go buy new irons. Lesson learned: never repress a tack whore.
5) I consciously decided not to give my tack a once-over the night before the lesson because I thought I was too busy. Ha. Pony club was right. Check your leathers.

This jumping thing is addicting.