The Fun Stuff

 Last Friday I was happy to see a few fences set up in ring for my lesson. My brain was still fried from our dressage heavy lessons and jumping felt so much easier. Our warm-up was pretty short and sweet, focusing on getting Cinder forward with minimal effort on my part. We did some shortening and lengthening of her stride to check adjustability before we started to jump. 

Cin's nickname in the barn is Hotdog, so when I saw the Mane Jane hotdog spur straps, I had to get them. Now I'm on the hunt for a hotdog charm to clip into her braids. 

We started over fences with a cross rail on a diagonal going back and forth, stopping on a straight line. We then moved on to two brush boxes that were set up on the center line with no standards. I was slightly worried because Cin can sometimes get wiggly to jumps without standards and has run out before, but she was totally fine with these. 

There were two outside verticals set and we did those in a big circle. A wanted me to make the circle big enough that it wasn't a jumper turn to them, but not so big that I was cantering in space forever. The first time through them Cin was a bit behind my leg and I had to move her up a bit to both. They weren't bad jumps, but not super great ones either. During our second pass I thought I had her in front of my leg, but when I went to steady to both fences she broke to the trot. But third time was the charm. We did a circle before starting and I made sure to rev her up a bit and both fences flowed really well. We quit on that good note. 

The barn hosted a Muddy Princess mud run over the weekend and they parked in Cin's pasture and she was concerned about it

For my lesson on Monday, A asked if I wanted to jump or flat. The same few fences were set up, along with a mini jump chute. To both of our surprise, I said flat. The jump configuration was a little boring and why waste time and effort on them again. In the trot work we did some small circles, focusing on bringing the outside shoulder around and getting Cinder to really sit on her butt. A said she wanted to play around with baby walk pirouettes, something Cin's never done. It took me a few tries to understand how much I had to whoa with my hand, but go with my leg. 

After a few attempts each way, as I was coming out of a pirouette, A told me to canter and both Cinder and I were like WTF? I asked and she kinda scrambled into it. Poor Cin felt overwhelmed but she stayed with me and kept trying. A would have us canter a few circles, back to the walk, walk pirouette a time or two, then back to canter out of the pirouette. Our attempts were very rough and much more huntery than real dressagey, but I was proud of both of us for toughing it out.  Cinder said it was very hard work and that she was very tired. I told A that it was really fun and that I like this type of dressage. 

My Brain's Broken

 Cinder got her shoe put back on last week and we jumped right back into the hard stuff. Trainer A has started focusing on the flying changes with Cin, and in both my lesson last Saturday and Monday we worked on them. And it broke my brain. 

Trainer A's Sea Lion filly was born a week and a half ago with mom giving absolutely no signs of foaling so everyone was super excited for SURPRISE BABY!! And don't worry, her legs have straightened out, she was like 12hrs old in this pic

To set up the flying changes, A has us schooling canter leg yields. The leg yields themselves aren't super great yet, and the spurs definitely help with them. Cinder is still in the " want to go forward fast" vs "go sideways" stage with asking for the leg yields and I tend to get a bit discombobulated trying to package her and keep her from squirting out in front of me. 

All ready figured out that she loves butt scratches

What really broke my brain was when A told me while tracking right to keep Cinder's haunches towards the right, but then push her over to the left. I legit couldn't figure out how to work my legs to make that happen. I had to stop and told A "I don't know how to do that." She walked me through what she wanted me to do, then as I picked the canter back up told me again where to place each of my legs, and how much pressure she wanted me to use. And what do you know, it worked really well. 

I'm not sure why this broke my brain so much but I think when I've done canter leg yields before they've been the kinda half assed h/j version while A is making me to the much more correct actual dressage version. Dressage is hard. 

Back and Better than Before

 Since my last post was almost a month ago, whoops, Cinder has come back, and better than ever. Her grooming aversion is gone, she hasn't tried to kill anyone while getting blanketed/unblanketed, she's put some weight back on, and her flat work is improving by leaps and bounds. She's still grouchy when getting girthed up, but it's getting better and for only being three weeks into her ulcer treatment, I'm not too concerned that it hasn't gone away yet. I did buy a Mattes sheepskin girth from Hufglocken during Black Friday that's supposed to be better contoured for her body shape, so maybe that will help. 

every ride lately has been lovely, but I have no media of said rides

We've really been focusing on moving different parts of her body around, and asking her to take the connection and self carriage to the next level. As Trainer A said in one of my recent lessons, "The buttons are installed, now we're finessing and refining the buttons." In our trot work we go back and forth between shoulder in and haunches in, both down the long sides and on circles, and we've started shortening and lengthening her stride. I'm to focus on shortening her stride with my body, not my hands. The first time we worked on this I was nearly dead by the end of the lesson, but it's gotten easier for both of us and it seems like every ride I have to do less and less to get her to do more. 

she whacked the bottom of her fetlock and it was just swollen enough for me to put wraps on overnight. she was not amused

The biggest improvement has been in the right lead canter. That's always been our trouble direction, and it still is, but we've gotten moments where everything comes together and it's absolutely lovely. A has had me think shoulder fore in the canter, and to be really on Cin about giving to the bit. There were a couple rides where we had some pretty ugly canter before she gave in, but once she does I can soften and just half halt every second or third stride to keep her there. And again, each ride it's getting easier and easier to get her there and she's capable of keeping that canter for longer and longer. I told A in my last lesson that the canter is getting so much fun to ride, even the bad moments because I know we can get this dream canter out of it. I'm pretty sure I look ridiculous riding around with the world's biggest grin of my face. 

Plotting chaos

In the past couple of months, Cinder's turnout group had been frequently rotated, and her stall neighbor had been on stall rest for kicking himself in the leg. He had been getting very bored, and very angry, and kicking the walls a lot which I think caused Cin a lot of stress. But he's back on turnout, and can start under saddle work next week, and Cin's turnout group has stabilized. I think this, in combo with the ulcer meds has really helped. She's out with two other mares, and the three of them have become a giant chaos unit. The three of them are frequently huddled together, and two weeks ago Cinder and Jazzy were in flaming heat and taunting the boys across the fence. There's been two ripped blankets, three pulled bell boots, and one lost shoe in the month they've been out together. But the girls are devoted to each other and I'm happy that Cinder has her BFFs. 

This and That

Little bit of this and that from the last couple of weeks.

My last few lessons have been flat rides, mainly staying on a 20m circle. Cinder kinda lost the ability to canter nicely on the right lead for both A and I. She really wanted to go around with her head in the air and was convinced she couldn't canter on the bit. A has had me really focus on getting her deep and low in the trot, imagining I had draw reins on as my visual. Once Cin was steady in the deeper trot, then I was to ask for the canter knowing she'd come up a bit, but since she was almost too deep she'd come up to where we wanted her. I definitely struggled a bit, but at one point A told me to two point the canter and I lost it completely, but we've gotten some really nice canter work out of it. 

 

When I got to the barn for my lesson on Friday, A was tacking up Metro for a quick trail ride before my lesson. I mentioned a trail ride sounded nice and A told me to tack up early and we'd do a trail instead of an arena lesson. The BO had a mini excavator clearing out the stream and an old bridge at the bottom of the first part of the trail and Cinder was not too sure about it. We could hear it, but not really see it through the trees and I started to get nervous, so obviously Cinder got more nervous. And then Altivo, A's doberman, came running up behind us and spooked Cinder more. Cin is totally used to the dogs running around during trail rides, but she can be a little spooky if they come up fast behind her. She jumped forward into Metro, but being the saint that he is, he didn't care. Once we were in the woods I started to relax and so did Cin. We ended up having a great ride and I'm glad I kept going even when I was sure Cinder was going to loose her mind. 

 

After the trail ride, I watched A school a client horse, while the client was riding her other horse. A got off and had the owner get on so she could explain a few things and asked me to hold Brownie. He is the sweetest, cuddliest horse ever, so I spent a very fun 15 minutes getting loved on. The owner's other horse is a little bit of a local celebrity, and I've admired him for years, doing the junior jumpers before a certain former Olympic trainer in the area took over the ride and did the 1.50m on him. G, the owner, does the 1.10m with him now and I told her if she wasn't careful I'd steal both of her horses. I also really enjoyed being a bit of a barn rat, hanging out watching other lessons/rides and then shooting the shit with people in the tack room.

It was stupid hot for the end of summer over the weekend, hitting 91 on Sunday. I wasn't going to ride, just lunge, but when I pulled Cinder out of the pasture she resembled the Peanuts cartoon character Pig-Pen. The dust coming off of her was disgusting, so she got a fully soapy bath with a deep tail conditioning. She was not amused.

Breathe like a Dressage Rider

 We had a bit of a breakthrough in our canter transitions in my lesson on Friday. While we've had slow by steady progress on them, the first one or two each ride are still a bit rough. And while Trainer A has managed to do walk-canters, I've had a lot of trouble managing them. 

Mya, the other chestnut mare, is a very, very expensive International Hunter Derby hopeful and I told Cinder to soak up all of her knowledge when they were in the cross ties together

 

It didn't help that on Friday Cinder was very not feeling it. It was hot and oddly humid, and there was no breeze moving the air around. When I went to get Cin she was in the middle of her afternoon nap and reluctantly got up when I opened her stall door. She was behind my leg the whole lesson, even when we started jumping. While maybe not the lesson I had been hoping for, I did learn a lot on how to ride "behind-the-leg-Cinder."

Will work for cookies

During our flat warm-up, I was struggling more than usual with the canter transitions when A stopped me and apologized. She asked if she had told me about the double breath inhale. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and she explained that since you can't use your voice in dressage, a lot of dressage riders use breath cues with their horses. A does a quick double breath inhale, like two quick sniffs, as she's asking for the upward canter transition. She then sent us back out on our circle to try it, and what do you know, it worked wonders. Our transitions were much more prompt, and we even managed a decent walk-canter. 

Very happy with how she's looking right now

 As I said above, the jump portion of the lesson was a bit of train wreck. I kept seeing the long spot,  while Cinder, who has finally learned to wait and add the stride, kept seeing the short one. We had a couple spectacular chips, before I got after her and made her take the long ones. We ended with an outside line that was a long 5 or short 6 and since the jumps were 2' and Cinder was not inclined to go forward, A told me to do the 6. I came in thinking wait for the six, but we ended up waiting for the 7. Oops. The next time through I let her flow more, and even then on stride 4 I realized it was going to be long and I was determined we would not chip, so I sat down, dug my heels in and clucked like hell. We got the six and then did the line one last time to smooth things out. I still had to leg her down the line, but not nearly as much as the time before and we quit with that.  

Cinder Progress Report: Good Baby Brain

 I've had two lesson in the last two days, on two different horses with two different trainers. I'm exhausted.  

 

Her neck feels so long

Tuesday I had my second lesson on Cinder. It was a great lesson, especially because of the circumstances. It's been really, really windy and dry here; so windy I couldn't hear Trainer A unless I was within 10ft of her. And the footing in the indoor at Cinder's barn was pulled out last weekend and they're working on the base before putting in new footing. So we had to ride outside in the wind.  Thankfully Cinder didn't seem bothered by the wind at all, or the dressage letters and standards that had blown over. 

 

We started off walking and chatting with A for bit, then got down to work. We mostly stayed at one end of the ring so I could hear A. We worked on spiraling in and out on our circle, and not letting her get fast, or rushy. I want to push Cinder past her balance at this point, so A had me think about having more a western jog than a working trot for right now. Instead of adding more leg, I was to think about adding more half halts and balance. 

Her canter is freaking amazing

We also did our first canter together! A had me pick it up out of a trot, which threw me because I usually pick up the canter out of a walk. Hunters vs dressage I guess. It took me a minute to organize myself, and for Cinder to figure out what the heck I was asking her to do, but we got it. And holy crap, her canter is so, so nice. She's got a great natural rhythm, it felt pretty dang balanced, and it was so easy and comfortable to ride. The way it feels just screams HUNTER. We did a couple circles before A had me go down the rail and I was so in awe of Cinder that I kinda forgot to steer and we almost left the arena, and then did a little drunken weave down the second long side. Oops. I have to remember that the power steering isn't installed yet. 

Baby's first big spook

We took a walk break then tried cantering the other direction. And then the guy working on the indoor decided it was a good time to fire up the tractor and dump some rock. As you can see from the pic above, Cinder had some feelings about it. She spooked twice, but other than a stride or two of flailing, they weren't that bad. I was able to stay on, and bring her back down to the walk both times within a circle. We did get a little more cantering in between the first and second spooks, but both A and I could tell her baby brain was thisclose to being fried so we ended by walking some circle and figure 8s at the far end of the arena.

I was so impressed with how well Cinder handled everything. When I had ridden Peebs the day before in the wind, he was good but obviously not happy about it. And since tractors are his biggest fear, I know he would have noped out the situation as fast as he could, and his brain would have been fried long before Cinder's was. I told A I was more worried about the tractor due to Peebs' trauma than Cinder was and kept anticipating her to be worse. She has such a good brain on her!

It's a March Miracle

For the past month or so cantering on the right lead has been pretty damn awful.  Turning to go up the long side of the arena by the barn is especially bad.  I know part of the problem is I tense and anticipate, which causes Peebs to tense, but that's only a small part of it.  I knew getting his teeth done would help, and when the vet suggested I call the chiropractor I did.  TS came out last week and Peebs was a mess.  Dropped right in his poll (why it feels like he tilts his nose left), locked in the neck, and dropped right in the hip.  I once again felt like an awful pony mom.  From now on whenever we have major issues going right the chiro will be my first call.

I did an easy ride the day after the chiro appointment then was gone for the weekend. When I got back I was slammed with work and didn't get to ride till Wednesday.  We were stuck in the indoor since it was raining but Peebs felt pretty damn good.  So good that I had to drop my whip. I was trying to focus on what my trainer had said in our last lesson, getting up in front of my leg and lots of changes of bend and direction.

Miracle of miracles we can canter up the long side without being an asshole!! #🦄 #norunningaway #noheadtossing #nocounterbend

A post shared by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Mar 30, 2017 at 5:47pm PDT

Yesterday I rode outside and OMG Peebs was amazing.  Absolutely the best canter right in a long time.  He was forward, but listening, didn't get counter bent or twisted, and didn't try to bolt up the long side.  I had on the teens video us, figuring it would jinx us, but nope, he was still great.  Our canter left felt great too; it was so soft and easy.  I can't wait to jump him today and see how he feels. 

Alternative Circle of Death

I had a lesson last week and all we did was trot poles.  And it kicked my ass.  But it was a really good lesson and gave me something to focus and work on.

I've been feeling a little lost lately.  Our right lead canter is shit, but I can't figure out how to fix it. Obviously Peeb's teeth played a part in that, and he's getting looked at by the chiropractor tonight, but there's more to it.  I'm not super imaginative when it comes to exercises or ways to work through a problem when riding on my own, especially if its been a while between lessons. If only I could have my trainer at the ring every time I ride....

We were riding in the indoor, since it was rainy and I wanted to focus on flat work. Trainer set up 3/4 of the circle of death with poles at noon, three, and nine. She had the two outside poles along the rail, but the noon pole was sitting about ten feet in from the rail. I was a bit concerned because our canter right is no where near ready to attempt even part of the circle of death.

Glory at my paint job! Obviously not the indoor, but what I set up outside on Sunday

She had a trot the outside pole, bending to the noon pole then turning towards the wall before looping back over it then bending to the other outside pole.  So if we were tracking right it would be right bend to the middle pole, left turn around it, then right turn to the outside pole.  The goal was to get Peebs and me bending and thinking quicker. He tends to want to dump on his inside shoulder instead of moving up and around it.  This way we switch the bend up, and with not a lot of space in the indoor, I had to plan and be ready with my half halts and leg in order to set him up.  I also got called out on not having enough feel on my outside rein, and being late switching to the new outside rein in the turns. Which obviously doesn't help Peebs at all.  By the end of the lesson we were going pretty well and he was much more supple and willing to move up and around my inside leg.  While we didn't canter at all, trainer said the work we did (and the work I should continue to do) will help with our right canter issue.  If I can be more consistent with my outside rein, and he's more willing to move up and around my inside leg, a lot of our problems might be solved.

Achievement mostly unlocked: #cirlceofdeath #onlytrackingleft #trackingrightisashitshow #notanambiturner

A post shared by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Mar 19, 2017 at 12:31pm PDT

Sunday I set the full circle of death up outside to play with.  I did the exercise from our lesson to warm up, but since I had more room in the outdoor (or maybe because I didn't have a trainer telling what to do) it didn't work quite as well. We did a little canter each way, picking up a pole here and there, before another boarder talked me into doing the circle. Going left was fine but I only managed to put two poles together going right before Peebs lost his brain.  Its going from the six o'clock to the nine pole that he wants to brace against me and rush, but the rest of the time he's fine.  Obviously we still have more work to do.

Two Forward, One Back

I had a lesson last Friday where we were able to show off our new found skill of putting together canter fences to the left, as well as our glaring lack of that same ability to the right. Peebs warmed up well and we were able to do a few warm up fences before attempting a little course.

We started with the outside line to a single diagonal off the left.  The line rode perfect but turning to the diagonal was a bit hairy.  Peebs loves to over bend and drift way past our line in our left turns.  A couple circles with lot of outside aids, and thinking about having a touch of counter bend fixed 95% of our problem.  I just have to remember to do that every time and we'll be 100%! My trainer said that I'll know when I've forgotten because I won't be able to see a distance, but when I remember the distance is right there.  And she was right.

Highlights from last nights lesson #stillcantcanterfencestotheright #sohard #frieshislittlebrain #poorpeebers

A post shared by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Feb 18, 2017 at 6:20am PST

We then tried to add a single diagonal off the right with a roll back to another single off the left on a short approach. This is where the wheels fell off.  While our cantering to the right in general has gotten a lot better, we still have a lot of problems cantering fences to the right. Peebs just couldn't that night, and every attempt to turn right led to a run out.  So we went back to the trot, which was no big deal. I tried to canter the pink plank, and it was ok the first few times, till Peebs got tired.  Then we went back to trotting that till he realized we were landing right and decided to have a mini bolt up the rail.  That freaked me out and we had a little walk break while I decided if I wanted to continue or not.  Trainer took the pole down so it was just the baby plank and we trotted it again and stopped him by turning his head into the side of the barn. It wasn't fun or pretty, but after a few times he got it and stopped before the barn.

And the #fails from Friday's lesson #turingrightishard #notanambiturner

A post shared by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Feb 19, 2017 at 6:54pm PST

I was happy that I kept going and didn't let his bolt scare me off. I know the only way to get both of us over his issues going right is to just do it, but I'm half tempted to give my trainer the ride. Part of our issue is the both of us combined; me anticipating him being bad so I tense up, he's already tense then feels me get tense go he gets worse.....it's an awful cycle but I know we can break it.

Trainer Ride #1

Peebs had his first trainer ride Monday. I had told trainer that my biggest issue lately is his canter; it feels unbalanced and scrambly, not something I want to ride going up to a fence. She said he doesn't look that bad from the ground, and I think she was somewhat humoring me when she got on.

The first thing she said when she got on was to exclaim on how heavy he is in your hands. She really tried to push him forward in both the walk and trot, doing lots of changes of direction and circles. She said we need to work on getting him to carry himself more and become more flexible. 

Peebs expressing his opinions

Peebs was pretty sure he was being tortured and was quite expressive his his head. He's not a fan of lots of inside leg and someone having a strong feel of his mouth, which at the moment is what he needs. At the canter trainer really discovered just how big a hole Perbs has in his training. He absolutely doesn't want to be straight and alternates between going fast when leg is added and falling apart when you half halt. It's a delicate balance, and trainer was surprised at how hard he is to manage.  She told me I do a very good job of making him look better than he is and that she doesn't blame me for not wanting to canter fences on him.  She doesn't either! From my perspective on the ground, he doesn't look at as bad as she feels, so I understand what she was saying. 

I don't wanna be a good pony

Luckily, trainer doesn't think it will take much to get Peebs back in shape.  Just consistent riding, lots of transitions and changes of bend, and lots of walk breaks so he can process and relax.  He's a horse that needs a few minutes of walk on a loose rein to think about and calm down after something hard.  The more you push him, the tenser he becomes and right now we need a soft, relaxed Peebers. Once he softens, he can go on a super soft rein with just a few half halts and it feels amazing. It's just getting there that's the problem.

I did get on for ten minutes or so at the end, to feel the difference in him.  We did some trot-canter-trot work, focusing on having a soft feel in my hands (but to be prepared to hold and pick him up as needed) and getting him up and around my inside leg.  It was miles better than he normally is.  For now trainer wants to do trot-canter transitions with him since he tends to stay softer than walk-canters. We're supposed to do another trainer ride tomorrow, but its forcasted to be 100 so we'll see.

Hot Hot Hot

Both the temperature and the Peebs have been hot lately.  It's been at or above 90 for almost a week now, and is expected to get to 105 this weekend.  Luckily I'll be in San Diego where its supposed to be cooler (seriously, WTF Oregon?!?).  Because of the heat, the plan was not to do a whole lot with Peebs.  But apparently the pony had other plans. 

Peebs no like draw reins.  Peebs no like having to use body correctly.

 He's been super wound up and somewhat explosive in the canter.  I rode with draw reins and the snaffle on Friday.  He was actually very good, if pissed.  We had probably some of our best canter work (minus one little buck) and I think all of our rides since then have been payback.  Saturday I was planning on jumping but he didn't want to settle and the couple fences we trotted were a battle.  He kept wanting to canter and was throwing his haunches way to the right.  Once we got a semi-decent trot fence I quit.

Sunday I was going on a field ride with my BO and a couple other boarders. I lunged Peebs before we left, but I think I could have lunged him twice as long as I did.  He was bucking and playing, completely full of energy.  He kept it together for most of the ride.  There was one moment where he saw something he didn't like and started going sideways.  Once we got a couple horses between him and the imaginary monster he was fine.  But it felt like if I put any leg on or asked anything of him he'd loose his mind.  Once we got back to the barn I did a little trot and canter to see if I could put his brain back.  That was a big fat NOPE.  He got more and more wound up before launching a big buck and going sideways.  I sat it but then got off and turned him out in the indoor.  He did run and play a bit more.

He got Monday off, and yesterday he wasn't too bad.  Still wants to get high in our canter work, but we stayed on a circle and my mantra was to sit down and keep my inside leg on to keep him straight. A big part of our problem right now is he wants to get crooked and weak, then scrambles and gets worried and I want to ride in a half seat with no leg.  I need to support him more, and he needs to get over my leg being on all the time. He hasn't yet figured out the difference between "go forward leg" and "hold yourself up leg", at least at the canter. Hopefully next week we can start getting some trainer rides for him and more lessons for me!

WW: We Can Canter Fences Now

The whole weekly lesson/trainer ride thing has been good for us.  We've started cantering fences now!  Apologies in advance for cell phone camera videos.

New Year's Rides

I had to work on New Year's Day, but manged to get out early and go for a ride on Buddy.  He's been lazy on the flat, not wanting to engage, ignoring me, and just plodding around.  I switched him to the pelham for a little wake up, and while it was great for our flat work it was too much brakes over fences.  He was listening to me and moving out well during warm up, felt really nice.  But once we started jumping any time I held even the tiniest bit he would back way off and get pissy.  I guess we'll jump in the slow twist and flat in the pelham.  Isn't it usually the other way around; jump in the bigger bit and flat in the milder one?  Once again Buddy proves he's an odd one.









What is with my eq??!!

We worked on having a rhythm and going to the fences, trying to have soft, soft, soft hands and impulsion.  He got tired which I was expecting since he hasn't jumped this much in a month or so.  We did manage to do the 3ft fence a few times and I was pretty happy with our ride.

I finally got back on Miss McKenna after 2 weeks, oops.  I've been lunging the snot out of her and we had a low key ride on Thursday.  She was understandably up and excited, so we did lots of circling and transitions.  Friday she was much better and we had moments of soft, round trotting.  Cantering is still a bit wild, she has a hard time balancing and swings her head up and down.  She's getting it and at times I felt like I could soften and relax instead of trying to hold her together.

She did try to take off with me once (we have stalls that back up to the indoor and a horse kicked the wall as we went past) and using the reins to stop in those situations only makes it worse with her.  Head shoots straight up, hind end drops, and she leaps forward.  But a strong "Whoa!" and she'll halt completely.  I know it's not the normal H/J thing, but I really do love the horses with a western background that stop like that off voice commands.  Pretty sure all my ponies from here on out will learn this.

Proving Me Wrong

For the past couple of weeks McKenna and I have had problems cantering.  She either gets hoppy in the trot and tries to canter when I don't want her to, or won't go when I ask.  When I can get her into it, especially to the left, she braces against my inside aids and twists her head to the outside.

Yesterday our ride was one of our worst yet.  I had lunged her for a while, then set out some trot poles.  When I got on she was distracted and antsy.  We started with some walk trot transitions and every time I would ask for the trot she'd flip her head up and jump forward.  So we did many, many transitions.  Once she would go forward nicely we went back to the 10 posting 10 sitting exercise we did in our last lesson. When I went to sit, she'd get hoppy and try to jump into the canter.  I also did lots of circles and changes of direction to keep her guessing but she never really settled.

We took a walk break and as we came around a corner she took off across the diagonal bucking.  She's given me some mini bucks before, but this was way different.  I thought I was coming off, but managed to yank her head up and get her stopped.  I immediately asked her to back and I could tell that she knew she was in trouble.  I walked her forward until she kind of relaxed then got off and lunged her.  She ran, and bucked, and ran some more.  Once she finally was dragging her head I got back on her.  We finished with more trot transitions and some sitting trot.

I sent a somewhat desperate text to my trainer last night asking for a lesson this week as well as making a chiropractic appointment for both McKenna and Buddy for Tuesday.   I want to make sure that she's not acting out because she's in pain.

Today when I rode, after a lot of lunging, I had no expectations.  There was a horse being lunged at one end of the ring and another being ridden.  A lot of activity for the baby horse to deal with, but I figured we would just do some walk trot and keep it low key.  McKenna was a rock star. Almost no fussing in our sitting trot, coming on the bit, bending well, and best of all, not caring about the other horses.  Once the one horse was done lunging I even braved the canter.  She picked it up well, and was almost balanced.  She still wants to brace against me but not nearly as bad as before.  We were even able to canter while the other horse being ridden was cantering!  I think my new plan for our rides is to not have any expectations and assume the worst.

Expect the Unexpected

It's been cold, cold, cold but sunny for the past few days so on Friday when I finally had time to ride McKenna I had to take advantage.  We lunged in the indoor then tacked up with the western saddle and headed outside.  She was pretty good walking around the upper half of the outdoor, a little up, but I figured it had been 5 days since she'd been ridden so it was expected.  When I decided to open up our circles and move towards the lower half of the arena all hell brook loose.  Apparently there is something incredibly scary in the bushes along the fence and we had some fun rearing/spinning/jumping backwards moments.  I got her calmed down and moved back to the other half when she started it again. 

I decided to not take any chances and went back inside and lunged again.  She really didn't run around a lot so I got back on.  She was still up, but settled into trot work nicely.  Unfortunately right when I wanted to start some canter work a bunch of people showed up, making a ton of noise, and that fried baby's brain.  She forgot how to canter to the left and was hoppy and cranky going right.  We worked through it but it was definitely not our best work.

Saturday I got to the barn right before a lesson was going to start and asked if it was ok if I took McKenna out during their ride.  I was hoping having another horse show her the outdoor wasn't scary would calm her down.  Nope, not even close.  Back to the rearing/spinning fun. I got off of her and ended up just hand walking her around the scary half of the arena during the whole lesson. Luckily the lesson horse, Tia, didn't care at all and barely glanced at McKenna freaking out.

I mentioned to Jen during the lesson that I was planning on jumping Buddy that day, the first time I've jumped him in a month and she asked if I wanted a lesson.  So I hurriedly put McKenna away and got Buddy ready.  I had put Bud's BoT sheet on when I had gotten to the barn and I think that helped as he was pretty loose and forward during our flat work. Usually when it's in the 30-40s he's slow and cranky to get going. 

We worked on getting Bud in front of my leg, while still packaging him and not letting him get fast and flat.  We did a line that was a forward three or a waiting four going back and forth between the two strides. He wanted the three and every time we had to wait he would fling his head and try to snatch the reins from me.  I think his leasers have let him get away with a lot, so we had a little discussion about it.  He gave in, but I could feel that he was pissed.

We then did a twisty, turny jumper course with some tight rollbacks and angled fences.  Again the point was to having him moving forward but packaged.  He was awesome and listening really well.  We were able to do all the inside turns and fit through a couple tight holes between fences.  He even got every lead over the fence or gave me a clean lead change.  I was so happy when we were done!

Better and Better

Miss McKenna keeps getting better and better.  On Monday we had a great ride, able to canter a few circles each direction without bucking and she felt fairly well balanced.  I was even able to sit and put leg on when she wanted to break to the trot and she was great about it.  I've been riding her western, but decided to put her back in the English saddle on Tuesday.  I tried my standing martingale on her, but even adjusted all the way it's still too big for her.  One of the lesson horses has a cob sized martingale that I'm going to try on her.

I wasn't able to turn her out before I rode, and was only able to lunge her on the line.  She tends to be better if I can let her run around vs just lunging her. It was raining and everyone wanted to use the indoor so it was a bit busy. When we went to ride there were two other horses in the ring, the most we've ridden with. McKenna started out ok, but got a little nervous and uppity when we tried to trot. We went to the middle of the ring and parked ourselves while the others rode. When they took a break we went back out and managed to have a decent trot.  At one point one of the other horses passed us, with plenty of room to spare, and McKenna pinned her ears flat back and snaked her head with teeth bared at him.  She's never done anything like that before, and hopefully wont again!

Baby was tired afterwards.

Wednesday I was able to let her run and put her back in the jump saddle.  Again, we rode with the same two horses as the night before but she was much calmer and didn't seem to care about Cheyenne being close to her. I put her back in the running martingale and I think, for now, I like it better.  She was good and relaxed so I asked for a canter.  She picked it right up and was balanced enough for our first time cantering outside of a circle and down the long side.  We didn't do too much more and I got a phone call I had to take, but she was content to walk around for 20 minutes while I talked.  She's now getting a few days off while I escape to San Diego and Mexico for a weekend with my parents and friends.

We Have a Canter

I finally got brave enough to canter McKenna yesterday. On the lunge line she tends to be a bit expressive in the canter, and it's also where she gets the most nervous so I've been hesitant to canter under saddle. I had worked her for  three days in a row, and when I lunged before my ride she was perfect. 

She was pretty good for our trot work and didn't feel too up, so after a little walk break I asked for the canter. We started left since that's her better direction, and while the transition wasn't pretty she picked it up well. She felt really unbalanced at first but figured herself out without too much input from me. She has a nice rocking horse canter and it's going to awesome when she's fit and balanced.  

We stayed in a circle doing a couple laps before I asked her for the walk. I was afraid she'd get hot and uppity after the canter but she walked away perfectly fine. We did some lateral work at the walk before I asked again. The second canter was a bit more forward, and she threw in a tiny buck, but I was able to sit it.

Again I did more walking lateral work before we attempted to canter to the right. The upward transition was pretty ugly, and she was only able to canter half a circle before falling apart going right. We'll just have to work more at it both under saddle and on the line. 

My farrier should be out tomorrow to take a look at her feet for the first time. I think she's got pretty decent feet so it will be interesting to see what he says. 

Better and Better

Buddy's dressagy, lateral work just keep getting better and better. Our ride yesterday was great.  He was fairly forward and willing to work which is always a plus!  We schooled leg yield, and for the first time I felt him really step and cross over and move off of my left leg. It felt great, like a really dressage horse! He wasn't quite as good moving off my right leg, but now I know he can do it so its only a matter of time.

We also schooled counter canter again, and its slowly getting better.  He also gave me lead changes from the correct lead to counter canter in both directions.  He gets grumpy going left to right, but did it.  It's so much fun!

Good ponies get kisses!!

Love my boys

After our walk on the western side Friday night, I originally wanted to do an easy flat school with Bud on Saturday.  The low wide oxer I set up earlier in the week was still up, and someone had added a cross rail.  The two jumps were sent on opposite diagonal lines, so you could school a figure 8.  They were calling my name, so we ended up jumping instead. 

Buddy was surprisingly good.  He marched forward right away and was not nearly as pissy about my left rein.  We didn't do a lot of flat work, as I could tell he was tired.  We did a couple warm up trot fences over the x, then I hopped off and raised it to a big X, about 2'6" in the middle.  I made sure to have a nice forward pace and tried to leave Buddy alone as much as I could.  He was great!  We ended up doing the two fences only about 3 times each before he got really tired, but they were 6 very nice fences.  And the best thing was we nailed our leads over the fences every time!  Since he has been so the past couple days he got today off.

Since Anna doesn't ride on Sunday, and I had given Bud the day off I hopped on Phoenix today.  He felt great!  We've stopped giving him bute and started him on turmeric root powder.  It's an anti-inflammatory and is supposed to work well on bony arthritis.  Considering it hasn't gotten warmer than 40* in the past two weeks, I was expecting Phoenix to feel pretty stiff. But nope, he was moving great.  We schooled leg yields and transitions.  Anna's been having some problems with them; nothing major just Phoenix needing a reminder. 

At the canter I did a little bit of lengthening and shortening as this is usually where he gets stuck.  It's harder for him to move out in the canter when he's sore.  Since he felt so good I threw in a couple lead changes.  He got them no problem!  I was expecting a buck or two, but got nice quiet changes.  We walked for a bit then I decided to pop him over the cavalletti.  Again, he trotted it calmly and gave the change if he landed on the wrong lead.  I only did the jump a couple times each way since he was being so good.  I'm so happy he's feeling back good and I think I'll try to school him over fences a couple times a month.

Love love love them!!

Good Ponies

Both Anna and I had lessons tonight.  Anna went first, and I talked with Jen about what I've been working on with her.  They started doing circles at the trot and canter and Anna was able to get Phoenix round and soft.  He looks so much more fluid and sound when he's round, and it makes me feel better about letting her jump him.  Jen had Anna start with some trot poles then moved her to a little line of x-rails.  Phoenix was happy to just trot along and not jump the fence, but  Jen had Anna give him a little squeeze and cluck at the base.  He finally jumped the fence and Anna was able to canter down a line for the first time.  They did a couple times and called it good.

For my lesson, we started with the draw reins on Buddy and worked on the flat on a circle.  While he's defiantly improved, I was still having a bit of trouble getting him soft and round going left.  He was a lot less combative and I felt like I didn't have to work quite as hard. 

We took the draw reins off, and Jen set the fences up.  We really haven't jumped much in the past couple weeks, mostly focusing on our flat work so the jumps were around 2'3".  After a couple warm up trot fences, we started down the line trying to have a nice rhythm and maintain the softness we had during the flat work. Once I figured out the distance to the first fence, the line flowed really well.  We then added a couple other diagonal fences fora little course. 

The right to left diagonal fence was our hard spot for the night.  It was on a slight downhill, and Bud really wanted to fall on his front end and pick up speed.  Jen had me half halt with a lot of thigh, while being fairly soft with my hand.  It worked and he backed off, but then he was too behind my leg.  We finally figured it out, and were able to have a couple decent jumps.  By that time Buddy was pretty tired so we ended with that. 

I'm glad that I can see the progress we're making and hopefully it can continue!