We are having lovely weather right now. It's about 60 f in the mornings, with clear skies and a slight breeze. It warms up to mid eighties during the afternoon.
This is absolutely unheard of here. This is October weather, not August weather.
Whatever. It just makes a good ride better.
I think that Izzy is finally "greenbroke" in my opinion. I realize that this is a highly subjective term and not really all that important since I'm doing all my training myself, but it's a nice way to say that she's finally able to walk, trot, and canter both ways, goes over trot poles, lunges with no trouble, moves off my leg a tiny bit and is starting to learn to give to the bit. Her ground manners are good in a plain halter (not rope), and she stands to be groomed, clipped, or have her feet trimmed.
We have a long ways to go. She still doesn't think the whole "bath" thing is a good idea and I haven't pushed her much in that area. I just sponge her off on hot days and she fusses less about that than she used to. She needs to learn to reach for contact with the bit. She needs to move off my leg more effectively. She needs to learn to back calmly. We haven't really tried that in favor of just getting her to go forward. We need to work towards the ideals of the training scale. And of course, I want to jump.
That said, I'm ok with where we are. She's finally fun to ride, in my opinion. She's smart, brave, and usually willing. She has oodles of personality. She's not terribly spooky. She has almost no white, so she's easy to keep clean.
What more could a girl want?
(Ok, so I really, really want to go to the upcoming H/J show, but we're not ready, so I'll just go watch. Next year.)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Show Results
Unlike our neck ribbon show, we didn't win an award. I didn't mind at all, though. We were just there for the experience.
Due to a dumb gelding (um, I prefer mares. A lot.) running through a fence and putting himself out, Michelle and I got started about a half hour later than we wanted to. We ended up missing the warm up, and as we drove up, we found out that we would be competing inside.
Izzy has never been inside. Or in a show arena by herself.
All things considered, it went really well. She was nervous, but that just adds animation to her already pretty movement. I think we refused one trot pole because she was looking at the sunbeams coming through the window. I was thrilled, needless to say. She didn't offer any major disobediences. She even stood quietly outside the arena for a while, something her mother can't do to this day.
My only complaint was that the pony club kids in our division (admittedly the least advanced) had absolutely no sense about being around horses. They'd just ride their little ponies straight up to my mare, who would pin her ears and try to lunge at them. Like her mother, she doesn't want to be crowded. I'm contemplating sending the show secretary a letter, thanking her for the nice, well run show and recommending that they teach kids in pony club to not ride up behind strange horses. I don't know. Maybe that's a bad idea.
I gave Miss Izzy today off. She may get tomorrow off too, since Cathy will be home and I could have my first day off in like 8 days.
Due to a dumb gelding (um, I prefer mares. A lot.) running through a fence and putting himself out, Michelle and I got started about a half hour later than we wanted to. We ended up missing the warm up, and as we drove up, we found out that we would be competing inside.
Izzy has never been inside. Or in a show arena by herself.
All things considered, it went really well. She was nervous, but that just adds animation to her already pretty movement. I think we refused one trot pole because she was looking at the sunbeams coming through the window. I was thrilled, needless to say. She didn't offer any major disobediences. She even stood quietly outside the arena for a while, something her mother can't do to this day.
My only complaint was that the pony club kids in our division (admittedly the least advanced) had absolutely no sense about being around horses. They'd just ride their little ponies straight up to my mare, who would pin her ears and try to lunge at them. Like her mother, she doesn't want to be crowded. I'm contemplating sending the show secretary a letter, thanking her for the nice, well run show and recommending that they teach kids in pony club to not ride up behind strange horses. I don't know. Maybe that's a bad idea.
I gave Miss Izzy today off. She may get tomorrow off too, since Cathy will be home and I could have my first day off in like 8 days.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I Hate the Internet
Specifically, I hate it when the tech guys come work on my computer and all of sudden things that worked perfectly don't anymore. Especially when that's coupled with nothing else working any better. Seriously. If I pretended to be a horse trainer, took your horse in the middle of summer (aka the most annoying time of day when you're trying to get stuff done), and brought it back to you with new vices and everything else the same, you'd be pretty annoyed.
So again, I'm sorry I'm not commenting. I really try. I type everything out, hit post, and it asks me what profile I have. I select google, and yeah. Nothing. Doesn't say I need to log in, just eats my post and does nothing.
Grrr.
Anyways, today I borrowed a friend's old saddle. She used to show in it when she was younger, but it doesn't really fit her horses, as she's kinda gotten in to the draft horse thing. At least it's very wide. It sort of fits Izzy. It's too wide for her, so I put a thicker pad on, but of course that's only a temporary fix. It does clear her spine all the way through and it's definitely wide enough. I lunged her for 20 minutes and probably rode another 20, mostly at the walk. It didn't move around and it's comfortable to sit in, so we're borrowing it for a little while. She has no interest in selling, which is great, because it definitely doesn't fit well enough for me to want to buy it.
I'm still waiting for Friday to see the other saddle and wondering what to do. Maybe Miss Izzy will have an introduction to bareback, as that seems less painful than a non-fitting saddle. Or we can do lots of lunging. Or borrow a treeless saddle. I don't know.
So again, I'm sorry I'm not commenting. I really try. I type everything out, hit post, and it asks me what profile I have. I select google, and yeah. Nothing. Doesn't say I need to log in, just eats my post and does nothing.
Grrr.
Anyways, today I borrowed a friend's old saddle. She used to show in it when she was younger, but it doesn't really fit her horses, as she's kinda gotten in to the draft horse thing. At least it's very wide. It sort of fits Izzy. It's too wide for her, so I put a thicker pad on, but of course that's only a temporary fix. It does clear her spine all the way through and it's definitely wide enough. I lunged her for 20 minutes and probably rode another 20, mostly at the walk. It didn't move around and it's comfortable to sit in, so we're borrowing it for a little while. She has no interest in selling, which is great, because it definitely doesn't fit well enough for me to want to buy it.
I'm still waiting for Friday to see the other saddle and wondering what to do. Maybe Miss Izzy will have an introduction to bareback, as that seems less painful than a non-fitting saddle. Or we can do lots of lunging. Or borrow a treeless saddle. I don't know.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Houston, We Have a Problem
Sooooo...
The chiropractor came out yesterday and I had him look at Izzy's saddle in relation to her back. The good news is that we have a problem which can be fixed. The bad news is that school is about to start ($$$) and I have a saddle that "doesn't really fit well"($$$).
Sigh.
At least I decided to go through with having him look at her, rather than leave her uncomfortable.
Anyways. I've checked the saddle numerous times, and it seems to fit. It clears her spine with a perfect three fingers all the way through. The panels make steady, even contact with her back. The only trouble was that after I got done riding, there was a slightly odd sweatmark kind of under the stirrup bar. Nothing to unusual, just not quite kosher. Cathy commented on it as well.
According to the chiro, the problem occurs because the saddle's tree goes like this: | | while her withers go kinda like this: ) ( . Because of that, her saddle bridges a little bit and puts pressure theoretically on her withers and back, though I've just noticed it on her withers. Either way, the saddle is too narrow for her shoulders. I'm inclined to think that this is the result of working her. When we started (and when I got this saddle), she had never really been worked. Now that her muscles are developing, things don't fit how they used to.
It's sad, really. I love my saddle.
I have already tried every non-dressage saddle in the tackroom on her. They don't fit. Wintecs, particularly, I don't like. (Which sucks, because that's what my other saddle is.) The wintec profile is just too curved for her, so the saddle is effectually a rocking chair. That's no good. I posted an ad on craigslist to see if anyone had a 17.5" close contact saddle with a wide tree to sell me, and I've had one response from a lady who has just the thing: a Barnsby Skleton. After looking it up online, I've come to two conclusions: 1) It looks like a fabulous saddle 2) Used ones are well beyond my budget.
Here's hoping the lady has no idea what her saddles are worth.
Speaking of budget, I'm thinking that if this (or another saddle) works, I could sell my current two saddles to make money/room for it. Izzy's not going to get narrower, so the close contact one is done and I never really liked the wintec. It was a nice first saddle, but now that I've had leather, I don't want to go back.
So if you were selling a saddle, would you do consignment through a tack store, craigslist, or another online listing? Or what?
The chiropractor came out yesterday and I had him look at Izzy's saddle in relation to her back. The good news is that we have a problem which can be fixed. The bad news is that school is about to start ($$$) and I have a saddle that "doesn't really fit well"($$$).
Sigh.
At least I decided to go through with having him look at her, rather than leave her uncomfortable.
Anyways. I've checked the saddle numerous times, and it seems to fit. It clears her spine with a perfect three fingers all the way through. The panels make steady, even contact with her back. The only trouble was that after I got done riding, there was a slightly odd sweatmark kind of under the stirrup bar. Nothing to unusual, just not quite kosher. Cathy commented on it as well.
According to the chiro, the problem occurs because the saddle's tree goes like this: | | while her withers go kinda like this: ) ( . Because of that, her saddle bridges a little bit and puts pressure theoretically on her withers and back, though I've just noticed it on her withers. Either way, the saddle is too narrow for her shoulders. I'm inclined to think that this is the result of working her. When we started (and when I got this saddle), she had never really been worked. Now that her muscles are developing, things don't fit how they used to.
It's sad, really. I love my saddle.
I have already tried every non-dressage saddle in the tackroom on her. They don't fit. Wintecs, particularly, I don't like. (Which sucks, because that's what my other saddle is.) The wintec profile is just too curved for her, so the saddle is effectually a rocking chair. That's no good. I posted an ad on craigslist to see if anyone had a 17.5" close contact saddle with a wide tree to sell me, and I've had one response from a lady who has just the thing: a Barnsby Skleton. After looking it up online, I've come to two conclusions: 1) It looks like a fabulous saddle 2) Used ones are well beyond my budget.
Here's hoping the lady has no idea what her saddles are worth.
Speaking of budget, I'm thinking that if this (or another saddle) works, I could sell my current two saddles to make money/room for it. Izzy's not going to get narrower, so the close contact one is done and I never really liked the wintec. It was a nice first saddle, but now that I've had leather, I don't want to go back.
So if you were selling a saddle, would you do consignment through a tack store, craigslist, or another online listing? Or what?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Brave Pony
***Added later: I'm really sorry if my comments are not showing up on your blogs. The idiot tech guy did something to my work computer so google thinks I'm a bot and blogger keeps randomly signing me out. So frustrating.****
I'm feeding in the mornings all week because Cathy's out of town. How fun! She's very glad I could help, and said she owes me several lessons to make up for it. Hooray! Usually, we just skimp along on one or two lessons a month, but Izzy's getting to the point where she can do more.
That said, she was a very brave girl this morning. One end of the arena is right next two about a half acre or so of dense cottonwood trees that most of the horses find terrifying. That's what Izzy spooked at when she hit me in the head last week. While I was lunging her today (not by the trees), there was something back there. I know the horses usually pretend there are monsters there, but this time I think there really were. Lots of crashing and heavy breathing, and then just silence. It rattled me a little, what with my hyperactive imagination.
Izzy just stopped and looked very alertly at the trees for about 30 seconds. Then we proceeded with our workout.
As for the workout itself, I'm trying to get her ready for the show. Sunday we started working over multiple trot poles in a row. Tomorrow I'll set a mini course of trot poles and we'll work on going from one to the next. I'm easing her in to it, though. First I lead her through the poles, then I lunge her through at the walk, then I ask her to trot through. She actually seems to enjoy it.
The best part of the morning, though, was when I was tacking her up. She was acting like a twit, so I turned her out in the arena. She galloped and bucked and ran like a maniac. She ever put herself through the chute that Cathy built to take videos of the sale babies. Good news: She's a nice jumper. Bad news: she's not the most careful. I'll see if I can't get some pictures or video this week while the chute is still up.
I'm feeding in the mornings all week because Cathy's out of town. How fun! She's very glad I could help, and said she owes me several lessons to make up for it. Hooray! Usually, we just skimp along on one or two lessons a month, but Izzy's getting to the point where she can do more.
That said, she was a very brave girl this morning. One end of the arena is right next two about a half acre or so of dense cottonwood trees that most of the horses find terrifying. That's what Izzy spooked at when she hit me in the head last week. While I was lunging her today (not by the trees), there was something back there. I know the horses usually pretend there are monsters there, but this time I think there really were. Lots of crashing and heavy breathing, and then just silence. It rattled me a little, what with my hyperactive imagination.
Izzy just stopped and looked very alertly at the trees for about 30 seconds. Then we proceeded with our workout.
As for the workout itself, I'm trying to get her ready for the show. Sunday we started working over multiple trot poles in a row. Tomorrow I'll set a mini course of trot poles and we'll work on going from one to the next. I'm easing her in to it, though. First I lead her through the poles, then I lunge her through at the walk, then I ask her to trot through. She actually seems to enjoy it.
The best part of the morning, though, was when I was tacking her up. She was acting like a twit, so I turned her out in the arena. She galloped and bucked and ran like a maniac. She ever put herself through the chute that Cathy built to take videos of the sale babies. Good news: She's a nice jumper. Bad news: she's not the most careful. I'll see if I can't get some pictures or video this week while the chute is still up.
Monday, August 10, 2009
It's away!
My entry form for our first ever show together is in the mail. Izzy's show name is officially (in my mind) Wishful Thinking.
We're going to a local pony club jumper show to do the trot poles classes. Mostly, we're just going to get her out in an arena to see other stuff. Every once in a while, I tell myself we could actualyl win a ribbon, but the truth is, there will probably be scads of little pony clubbers there riding trained horses who will actually go around the course and thereby leave us out of the ribbons.
How exciting! I dunno, I'm excited. Izzy doesn't seem too worried, but she has no idea.
In other news, I made my first ever sales video today. I only did it because my instructor was running out of time and she leaves town tomorrow morning, so I messed with it for a while. Check it out and let me know what you think. I don't know if I'll ever need to make another, but I like feedback. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xexx0P8-gkU
Also, the horse in the video is Izzy's half brother. Same mommy, different daddies.
We're going to a local pony club jumper show to do the trot poles classes. Mostly, we're just going to get her out in an arena to see other stuff. Every once in a while, I tell myself we could actualyl win a ribbon, but the truth is, there will probably be scads of little pony clubbers there riding trained horses who will actually go around the course and thereby leave us out of the ribbons.
How exciting! I dunno, I'm excited. Izzy doesn't seem too worried, but she has no idea.
In other news, I made my first ever sales video today. I only did it because my instructor was running out of time and she leaves town tomorrow morning, so I messed with it for a while. Check it out and let me know what you think. I don't know if I'll ever need to make another, but I like feedback. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xexx0P8-gkU
Also, the horse in the video is Izzy's half brother. Same mommy, different daddies.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Rainy Day!?
It's August. I live in Southwest Idaho. It is very hot here in the summer, and not very cold in the winter.
Today, it dumped rain. Not a little Idaho rain, which most people from states with water refer to as "mist" or "non-existent". No, it was a real, hard, respectable rain.
It didn't start that way. It was dripping a little bit when I started tacking Izzy up, but there was light on the horizon, meaning that it would clear up in 20 minutes or so. I monkeyed around with the martingale, making sure everything was fitted right. I got it for $10 on craigslist, so I'm actually thrilled that it fit. It's actually a hunting breastplate with a standing martingale attachment, so there were lots of straps to play with. I made sure the breastplate was properly adjusted, then put the martingale on the loosest setting. Again, all I want it to do is keep her head away from my head. She's not at a point in her training where I even care how she carries her head.
Anyways. She lunged pretty well in it, and we started our lesson. Cathy had me work on getting a true forward walk out of her, rather than letting her mosey along. When she's more forward, she'll have to work harder to get behind my leg. She barely got stuck at all, even in the sticky spot. After trotting both ways, we took a walk break before we tried canter. Then it thundered, loudly, directly overhead. We decided to call it a day.
I took Izzy back to the hitching post and started untacking her. Bear in mind, it was my first time trying to take a hunting breastplate off of a horse. I left her bridle on as I unhooked everything carefully. As soon as the last strap was done (the martingale from the noseband), rain started pouring down hard on the tin roof above us.
Let me just take a moment to say that while Izzy used to live in a covered run, she has lived out in the pasture with her friend for months now.
She panicked. She almost reared, ran back wards, shot forwards, almost reared again, and ran forward. Pretty much immediately, I reconciled myself to the fact that my saddle was going to take a hard fall into the mud and I began to plan to get her away from it when it did so she couldn't step on it and break the tree.
Fortunately, that went as planned. After the saddle came off, I managed to steer her into the arena and close the gate, then get the bridle and martingale off before she panicked again.
That went pretty well, all things considered. Neither she nor I was hurt. The tack was dirty, but not damaged. I left her in the arena to run around and be silly while I picked up my muddy tack. After it was all put away, I got my halter and caught my now-sheepish and soaked pony.
Silly girl.
PS TACK SALE TOMORROW! I don't know if I need anything, but I'm going because I'm a nerd and I love tack... seriously. I can't touch leather products at stores, or I want them.
Today, it dumped rain. Not a little Idaho rain, which most people from states with water refer to as "mist" or "non-existent". No, it was a real, hard, respectable rain.
It didn't start that way. It was dripping a little bit when I started tacking Izzy up, but there was light on the horizon, meaning that it would clear up in 20 minutes or so. I monkeyed around with the martingale, making sure everything was fitted right. I got it for $10 on craigslist, so I'm actually thrilled that it fit. It's actually a hunting breastplate with a standing martingale attachment, so there were lots of straps to play with. I made sure the breastplate was properly adjusted, then put the martingale on the loosest setting. Again, all I want it to do is keep her head away from my head. She's not at a point in her training where I even care how she carries her head.
Anyways. She lunged pretty well in it, and we started our lesson. Cathy had me work on getting a true forward walk out of her, rather than letting her mosey along. When she's more forward, she'll have to work harder to get behind my leg. She barely got stuck at all, even in the sticky spot. After trotting both ways, we took a walk break before we tried canter. Then it thundered, loudly, directly overhead. We decided to call it a day.
I took Izzy back to the hitching post and started untacking her. Bear in mind, it was my first time trying to take a hunting breastplate off of a horse. I left her bridle on as I unhooked everything carefully. As soon as the last strap was done (the martingale from the noseband), rain started pouring down hard on the tin roof above us.
Let me just take a moment to say that while Izzy used to live in a covered run, she has lived out in the pasture with her friend for months now.
She panicked. She almost reared, ran back wards, shot forwards, almost reared again, and ran forward. Pretty much immediately, I reconciled myself to the fact that my saddle was going to take a hard fall into the mud and I began to plan to get her away from it when it did so she couldn't step on it and break the tree.
Fortunately, that went as planned. After the saddle came off, I managed to steer her into the arena and close the gate, then get the bridle and martingale off before she panicked again.
That went pretty well, all things considered. Neither she nor I was hurt. The tack was dirty, but not damaged. I left her in the arena to run around and be silly while I picked up my muddy tack. After it was all put away, I got my halter and caught my now-sheepish and soaked pony.
Silly girl.
PS TACK SALE TOMORROW! I don't know if I need anything, but I'm going because I'm a nerd and I love tack... seriously. I can't touch leather products at stores, or I want them.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Going the Right Direction
I lunged Izzy in the "sticky" end of the arena today and she went by with no problems. We mounted without rearing, and then I did lots of walking with her. She tends to shorten up and slow down and slow down and just barely move along, so I worked on getting her to move forward. She does have lovely gaits when she chooses to use them. I also worked on articulating my aids--I've noticed that my body saying whoa and me getting behind the motion to close the back door are eerily similar. Obviously, this was confusing to Izzy.
We still had to deal with the sticky spot while mounted, but it was small today, only about 15 feet instead of the 30 from yesterday. She only got really stuck a few times, and we worked through it, just like yesterday. She got over it admirably well, and we even cantered a few strides on her easy side.
I'm still leery of asking her for much because I still have the most awful headache. I got a standing martingale yesterday off of craigslist. It's the complete breast collar with an attachment. Unfortunately, the attachment was broken and I didn't notice it until I got home. Fortunately, she was good today and I stopped at the tack store on the way home. I got a consignment standing martingale attachment for $5 and figured out how to put it on myself.
Now we're all set for our lesson tomorrow.
We still had to deal with the sticky spot while mounted, but it was small today, only about 15 feet instead of the 30 from yesterday. She only got really stuck a few times, and we worked through it, just like yesterday. She got over it admirably well, and we even cantered a few strides on her easy side.
I'm still leery of asking her for much because I still have the most awful headache. I got a standing martingale yesterday off of craigslist. It's the complete breast collar with an attachment. Unfortunately, the attachment was broken and I didn't notice it until I got home. Fortunately, she was good today and I stopped at the tack store on the way home. I got a consignment standing martingale attachment for $5 and figured out how to put it on myself.
Now we're all set for our lesson tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Teenage Day
Izzy's at that stage where she's starting to figure out what to do, but she isn't sure she really wants to do it. I know that pretty much all horses go through this, so I'm not worried, but it is kind of frustrating. Ten days ago, we could walk, trot, and canter both directions. We were starting baby leg yields, and had turn on the forehand down pretty well. She got a little stuck once in a while, but nothing to be concerned about.
Then came the rearing incident, the ensuing rest and saddle checks, and then the major head-throwing /spook incident.
So now with all that behind us, I went out today. I knew that we wouldn't get much canter work in, because I'm still building up confidence again. I did a lot of work with Izzy on the lunge, doing transitions up and down. She's getting pretty responsive, and only picked up the incorrect lead once. I don't get after her for that. Right now it's more important that she canters when I ask her to than that she always has the lead I want. When I felt that she was relaxed and listening to me, we stopped. I adjusted her saddle a little bit to make sure it didn't slide forward. Then, as usual, we walked all around the arena to look at scary stuff. She wasn't particularly worried about anything, which was nice.
She stood quietly to be mounted. I've been careful to give her a loose rein when I mount; I'd rather she walk forward and make me circle her back than that she feels trapped and thinks rearing is a way out. Not that she was trapped last time she tried that. I don't know. Anyways, we did quite well doing our walk/halt/walk transitions, then walk/trot/walk. She was still fairly responsive and listening. Rather than having her ears locked on outside stimuli, she held them with one forward, one back. I was thrilled.
Then I took her down to the non-scary end of the arena to see if we could do one canter before we quit. Here's where the problem cropped up. She decided not to go forward. Her biggest evasion is to get behind my leg and back out of things. I'm not as quick at catching this as I should be and she's determined enough in doing it that we have to do a lot of work in this area. So, instead of cantering, we worked on walking. I tried to be mindful of why she was backing out. It wasn't related to bending a certain way (which could be related to saddle problems) or going at a certain gait. There was just one 30 foot stretch that she decided not to walk forward in.
Because the problem was locational, I did the same thing we did with trot poles a few days ago. I let it be ok for her to walk through that area. I didn't try to force her to trot. We just walked and walked and walked. When she tried to stop, I would squeeze with my legs, keep my weight behind the motion, and not let her back out. If we stood, that was ok, but we couldn't go backwards. After about five minutes of this, she could walk through there. Then I would trot her up to the point where she seemed to get sticky, walk through that, and trot again. When she seemed comfortable, we tried trotting through. It worked the first time, and I got off and took her saddle off once we where out of the sticky spot.
She's just one of those horses that doesn't respond well to being pushed. She needs to figure it out on her own.
In other news, I still hurt a lot from Sunday, but it's mostly muscle soreness from rafting, I think. I've self-diagnosed the head hit as a concussion of a minor degree. I read the Mayo clinic website about it, and I don't need to see a doctor unless something gets worse. That's reassuring, because I really loathe going to the doctor.
Then came the rearing incident, the ensuing rest and saddle checks, and then the major head-throwing /spook incident.
So now with all that behind us, I went out today. I knew that we wouldn't get much canter work in, because I'm still building up confidence again. I did a lot of work with Izzy on the lunge, doing transitions up and down. She's getting pretty responsive, and only picked up the incorrect lead once. I don't get after her for that. Right now it's more important that she canters when I ask her to than that she always has the lead I want. When I felt that she was relaxed and listening to me, we stopped. I adjusted her saddle a little bit to make sure it didn't slide forward. Then, as usual, we walked all around the arena to look at scary stuff. She wasn't particularly worried about anything, which was nice.
She stood quietly to be mounted. I've been careful to give her a loose rein when I mount; I'd rather she walk forward and make me circle her back than that she feels trapped and thinks rearing is a way out. Not that she was trapped last time she tried that. I don't know. Anyways, we did quite well doing our walk/halt/walk transitions, then walk/trot/walk. She was still fairly responsive and listening. Rather than having her ears locked on outside stimuli, she held them with one forward, one back. I was thrilled.
Then I took her down to the non-scary end of the arena to see if we could do one canter before we quit. Here's where the problem cropped up. She decided not to go forward. Her biggest evasion is to get behind my leg and back out of things. I'm not as quick at catching this as I should be and she's determined enough in doing it that we have to do a lot of work in this area. So, instead of cantering, we worked on walking. I tried to be mindful of why she was backing out. It wasn't related to bending a certain way (which could be related to saddle problems) or going at a certain gait. There was just one 30 foot stretch that she decided not to walk forward in.
Because the problem was locational, I did the same thing we did with trot poles a few days ago. I let it be ok for her to walk through that area. I didn't try to force her to trot. We just walked and walked and walked. When she tried to stop, I would squeeze with my legs, keep my weight behind the motion, and not let her back out. If we stood, that was ok, but we couldn't go backwards. After about five minutes of this, she could walk through there. Then I would trot her up to the point where she seemed to get sticky, walk through that, and trot again. When she seemed comfortable, we tried trotting through. It worked the first time, and I got off and took her saddle off once we where out of the sticky spot.
She's just one of those horses that doesn't respond well to being pushed. She needs to figure it out on her own.
In other news, I still hurt a lot from Sunday, but it's mostly muscle soreness from rafting, I think. I've self-diagnosed the head hit as a concussion of a minor degree. I read the Mayo clinic website about it, and I don't need to see a doctor unless something gets worse. That's reassuring, because I really loathe going to the doctor.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Ouch
This is my final round-up of show pictures. Here's Izzy trotting past her friends on the rail. Please ignore my form...
And here we are, walking up to a halt.I rode Izzy Sunday morning. She did very well til she spooked at something and threw her head up in the air, making contact with my chest and face.
I hurt a lot right now. Also, I kinda saw stars. That wasn't fun.
We just had a nice, low stress ride this morning. I'm pretty nervous; between the rearing and the face-whack, it really wasn't that fun of a week. I could put a standing martingale on her to curtail another head toss, but that could potentially unbalance her in a dangerous way if she tried to rear again. A running martingale might be safer, but I really don't like that the action is on the bit... I'm trying not to fuss with her mouth too much.
Any ideas?
I'll try to take a lesson this week. That usually does good things for my confidence and focus.
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