Thursday, January 6, 2011

Hooray Dressage!

Again, I took no pictures. All I can do on my own is pretty much just nose shots. Although I think she's adorable, her nose looks pretty much the same from one day to the next. What to do?

Oh well. You'll survive.

It's cold her. I think it made it up to 30ish yesterday (topical, almost!) but we were both a little stiff. I started off by lunging her, trying to let her warm up and loosen up while we worked on transitions and going freely forward. The transitions were alright, but freely forward was not really in her vocabulary yesterday.

Since we haven't done much concentrated work lately, she was not super balanced. However, since my goals for this month involve focusing on my dressage position, I was prepared. She would get behind my leg and come above the bit--I would drive her forward and hold a steady contact. She would fall and the forehand and dive onto the bit--I would sit deep in the saddle and drive her forward.

I just noticed that both fixes involved forward. Interesting. I suspect that her feet may not be super happy... she's overdue thanks to scheduling issues. I'll have the farrier look at her today and see what we can do. I'd like to keep her barefoot this time and maybe next time too, then go back to shoes for the summer/show/ride the crap out of her season. However, if she needs her wraps again, so be it.

In other news... I'm taking a bunch of stuff to the local tack store today to put on consignment. It's not just that I decided to clean out my stuff--I also bought Izzy a new dressage bridle. I'll take pictures when it gets here. Of course, with the new bridle comes other interesting ideas. I sort of want a new pad, new boots, bell boots, and probably another bit. The bit is because she is so much happier in a thicker bit and I hate changing bits between bridles every day. The rest is purely aesthetic (and on sale!!).

It's not in the cards for now, but the Dover sale goes on through March or April, I think.

6 comments:

  1. Oh man you should have put your stuff up on here first. You never if maybe someone on here would want it and I would love see what items you have.

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  2. That should read " you never know". Sometimes I worry everyone on blogger is going to think I am an uneducated nincumpoop for all of my typos due to typing too fast and failing to proof read.

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  3. Forward is always the right answer! Glad to hear Izzy was pretty good for you.
    Sometimes, if McKinna isn't moving forward much and it's a laziness thing, I make sure to set a tone of purpose from the moment we start: when I lead her, we're marching, because we're GOING somewhere dangit! Same when I mount up - I put her to work immediately and keep her occupied. It can really wake a horse up if they're feeling a bit absent in the focus department.

    You will have to take a picture of Izzy with all her awesome new stuff once you get it ;)

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  4. I know all about those "nose shots." That's all I get most of the time too. *lol*

    Great going with the dressage work. And yes, "forward" is the operative technique. Nicely done.

    It's be nice if Izzy could go without shoes, but as I've found out, sometimes that just doesn't work. Good luck, either way.

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  5. Hey, I have that bit! It's so nice because it's curved and double jointed AND copper -- it's awesome! It's currently hanging on a tack hook in my garage.

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  6. As others said, forward is always the fix! ;)

    I have so many nose shots! Also, ears (as they search my pockets for treats) and rear ends (when they realize I don't have any more treats). Horses are such photogenic creatures. *LOL*

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