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Only 3 more days left of my spring sale:

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Just finished a beautiful piece for a fellow blogger and have another in the works!

Quintus. Adore.

So much to update!

2nd solo hack from his field.

Saturday I worked a 12 hour freelance job and was pretty wiped out come Sunday morning but I really wanted to ride. Again, I had to drive around to Riley, tack him up at his field and ride him the mile back to the barn to meet up with my friend to school in the big field. He was a champ. I can now successfully mount him from a bucket without too much trouble (standing for mounting is not a strong suit of his, but I won't tolerate goofiness when I am half-on). The farm owners had just moved the cows to the field directly across from Riley's so he was a bit looky. As you will recall, the last time I fell off him was because OMGCOWARETHESCARIEST. But we marched down the road past lots and lots of cows and calves and then he stopped and tried to back up and spin. You see in the corner of the adjacent field the grass was so high that all you could see were these dark shapes moving around making noises. I let him stand quietly to figure it out and then his pasture mates whinnied for him. Great, I'm screwed. But after a minute or two of talking to him and having him stand politely, I urged him forward and he obliged. He kept on ear on the scary cows and the other ear on me, so I'd call that a small win. Luckily there were no balloons or scary pinto donkeys to deal with on the way back to the barn. We met up with my friend and practiced his hard bound issues. Riding with them, away from them, back to them etc. Sometimes completely out of sight, sometimes in sight, all over the field. He was really very, very good, until the mares started galloping around screaming. He screamed back and got stuck wayyy behind my leg. I pushed him forward and made him work. If was going to act like a butt head, we'd trot up and down hills, we'd serpentine, we'd work on the bit and he would get in front of my leg if it killed me. He threw a few little tantrums, but nothing I couldn't handle. I think he's finally starting to realize that I won't back down. It was a short ride as I wanted to give him a good bath so I could take conformation photos the next morning before going xc schooling.

Lucy in tow for a big adventures Monday

Just really quick

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Yep that's our ring being upgraded! The ground finally firmed up enough to allow the trucks in to put down the layers for footing! Woo hoo!

The story of my Big Girl Pants and how Riley thought he could outsmart me. **Picture heavy

Saturday I spent the day in the city the pups walking around a really cool arts festival. I had to feed that evening and I had been offered the chance to go ride at a nearby indoor (but not until 7pm or so), but I didn't want to make it a late night. I opted instead to see what kind of information Riley had retained from his lunging session the day before. Again, I generally don't lunge that much, but I also want to know that it wasn't a fluke that he was so well behaved. It also wasn't nearly as muggy as the day before and he's plenty fit, so off we went.

Wait, where are they taking my bff?

We started off well enough. Relaxed and forward. But while we were working his best bud was leaving to go to a new home so he was taken from the paddock next to us, and his herd mates started galloping around like a couple of butt heads. Still he stayed focused on my verbal cues and was attentive. We changed directions and I could feel the tension beginning. There was a time where any time I tried to lunge him tracking right we'd have a major blow up. He'd get frazzled, I'd get frustrated and it never really ended well. Since then, I've been able to learn some really valuable tools (while watching him pull the same shit with my trainer), so I'm well able to deal with whatever he throws at me.

Lunging -- revisited.

Yesterday I had a horrible dental appointment in the afternoon which meant taking a half a day off work... the only silver lining being that I could get to the barn early as my dentist is just a few miles from the barn. Riley is being kept toward the back of the property right now, which means that when I want to work with him I have to pack up my car and bring everything out to him, groom him outside his field and then get on and hack to wherever I want to ride. He's pretty good about it, though his pasture mates like to mess with him while I trying to do this. Henry literally unbridled Riley one day while we were getting ready. Cheeky!

Oh, but first. I arrived to the Riley's pasture only to find a new born lamb stuck in the electric fence. Poor little dude was being shocked over and over again, so I unhooked the electric and held him until the sheep guy came over from the barn...

He was fine, just a little worn out and hungry. The fence doesn't hold a typical charge:)

I was all numbed up from my crown procedure so I opted not to ride but to lunge (you know, in case I accidentally bit my tongue off or something). This was partially an experiment as 1.) we haven't lunged in weeks and he's MUCH fitter and 2.) I would be forced to lunge him right next to his buddies with lots of distractions and in an unfamiliar area. So a good test for both of us. Plus we had to walk away from his buddies on this out of the way path to get to where we could lunge. He was UP but attentive to me, even while his friends did everything to distract him. I do love that fact that I can tie him just about anywhere and he stays put, when he feels tension on the line he stops moving around and he was quite patient as I grabbed everything out of my car and slapped it on him. Not to worry, I gave him a quick curry, brushing and picked his feet.

We had the best lunging session to date. The spring grass has been really good to him. His winter coat (what was left of it is nearly gone) and he really feeling full of himself. I need to get a new conformation shot of him while he starts regular work so I can compare in the fall. He was forward, happy and focused despite the peanut gallery watching from the next pasture.

Warm up trot, actually focused on me.

We mainly worked on transitions. I want to make sure he really understand WHOA. We also worked a lot on walk-trot-walk and canter-trot-canter with plenty of walk breaks as it was a million % humidity. His upward transitions are really coming along and I barely had to fuss at him to keep tempo (something we've always struggled with). He even looked great tracking right which is his stiff side and although picking up his right lead was a challenge, I was able to force him to do TWO flying changes on the line to fix it. Laziness is not tolerated on the lunge line! After a successful canter depart right without the need of a change we called it a day, he was sweaty, I was sweaty and he got plenty of praise throughout to reinforce the RIGHT THING. Sometimes I forget just how important this is with the young ones!

Some highlights, tracking left:

He looooves to stretch. This is the easiest setting for the Pessoa. Once we've warmed up, I like to set it so his head is a few inches ahead of the vertical when he is relaxed. He's capable of carrying himself and keeping mostly steady contact now.

Warm up canter left. Zoom! You can see the Pessoa is at rest here giving him full freedom.

Carrying himself nicely, love his back leg here.

Tracking right:

Warm up trot, tracking right. Hunter pony in the making -- too bad I banged his tail:)

A little resistance, but he was brilliant tracking right yesterday, he never stopped or fought me and was always in front of my leg (so to speak)

This is where we ended up. What a fancy dude. His neck is looking great and his muscles are starting to really come in. I just love how relaxed he looks really striding out here and just slightly in front of the vertical.

I've been riding him in a Dr. Bristol full cheek and he really seems to like it. I think the Happy Mouth was just getting a little too light for him, plus it made him fussier in the contact.

So much slobber.

I know a lot of people don't care for lunging and I keep my sessions short (usually 5 minutes warm up in either direction and 5-10 both ways doing "work'), but I do think it's a beneficial tool for a variety of reasons:

*Sometimes there's no one around and you don't want to ride alone (safety first)
*It allows them to work on straightness and balance without the weight (or imbalance) of a rider
*Certain tools (like the Pessoa) can teach them to push from behind, unlocking their backs and helping them understand carrying themselves correctly
*Verbal transitions are always helpful
*It's a good bonding experience between horse and rider
*You never know when you might NEED to lunge your horse (ie, at a show and what happens if he doesn't know how to without scaring everyone)
*It mixes up your routine

**When I lunge I don't always stay on level ground nor to I stick to a 20 meter circle. I like to walk around a bit to make the circle more of an oval and to not allow them to lean on the shape (if that makes sense)

What are your thoughts about lunging?

Test ride -- Unbridled Lad

Yesterday I headed out to the farm to meet my fate. As I mentioned, my friend offered her semi-retired schoolmaster to play around with while Riley gets the kinks worked out with my trainer. Lad is a wonderful, kind gentleman of a horse with plenty of spunk. He always greets you with a happy face and wants to be picked from the field first. In fact, he hates being left out and will gallop around whinnying if he gets left by himself! His owner has even made a facebook page for him that you can see here.

At the Thoroughbred Celebration Show in 2012/13?

I've known Lad almost as long as I've known Riley as he was at our old barn too. What I knew about him was that he LOVED to jump, would tell on you if you rode poorly, and he squeals when he's happy.

At Plantation with his owner in 2011

We loaded up and headed to a nearby indoor to school with another horse and he got off, looked around and took a deep breath. Been there, done that. His owner walked him once around the indoor which was set with jumps from the Jimmy Wofford clinic that happened earlier that day and I got on. It's so neat riding a horse that knows that it's doing! When you ride a green horse all the time, one, you kind of forget how to ride gracefully and two, you forget that horses can do things on their own with little coaxing. We walk-trot-cantered in each direction... and holy crap! Best. Canter. Ever. I was grinning like a fool. Since he's kind of out of shape (and so am I) we started off with a single fence to jump and then added more and we both got to know each other.

The dude LOVES to jump! With that note, his owner warned me to to keep my leg on, stay in my thigh, and GRAB MANE.

Warming up, both of us looking like we know what we're doing (ahem, he does)

First little X. Boiiiiing!

Really Lad? I'm just hanging on here.

Good boy through the combination.

Weeeee! At least I am looking up and I'm not climbing up his neck.

Now I'm sure he probably looks green through all of these, but if you see above, he's just an exuberant jumper. Regardless of the jump height, we were jumping much higher! I not used to a horse taking me to the fences and I definitely struggled with just sitting back and letting him do his job. In the end I think we struck a good balance and he never got frustrated with me. I couldn't get over just how comfortable he was to ride (he's wider, like Riley) and his squealing into the canter was the cutest thing ever. He was so happy to take me to all of the fences and the only one he even considered looking at was a liverpool that I was terrified of and probably made him back off of. We would up jumping it a bunch of times, including as a part of a 3 jump line (I think a 3-4 stride to a 2-3 stride. It also probably looks like I have a death grip on his mouth, but I promise you I was riding with a neck strap and had my hands buried in his thick mane.

I can't wait to ride him again. I feel like he has so much to teach me and I think one of the biggest takeaways was that I cannot stiffen up when I ride him or he becomes unbearably uncomfortable and you just bounce all over him. He forced my hip angle to stay soft and open and to keep my leg long and my core tight. Boy am I feeling it today! Walking up stairs was a real challenge!

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get Riley out hacking to work on what my trainer has been practicing with him.

Radio silence.

Where did I go?

Not to worry, I'm still here. Work has been busy, life has been hectic. Riley has had a little time off after his Come to Jesus meeting with my friend. Since then he's had two trainer rides with Emily which were very successful and we've come up with a plan of action.

Oh, there's another reason for the silence... I bet you won't believe what it is?

Weather.

Roughly the halfway point between my house and the barn

Yikes

Yep, it rained for 2 days straight and EVERYTHING flooded. Luckily both my house and the farm were spared, but getting around anywhere was tough. The tack room did flood due to a backed up drain, but nothing we couldn't handle. The roads around the farm were completely flooded, so even hacking was out of the question.

Riley was moved to a new field, which was apparently very exciting for him and his Bad Boy Club, and he's been enjoying every minute of his unintentional vacation.

Muddy Mud Skipper, looking feral.

Emily did take him on a 2 hour hack earlier this week to address some of his nappy behavior. He pulled plenty of shenanigans with her, but she stayed the course and insisted (gently this time) that he do what she asked. He's definitely getting a little big for his britches and thinking that he has better ideas than his rider. She also said that remarkably even when they were miles away from the barn he STILL knew which was to spin to return home. She practiced cantering and galloping him in one of our big fields to check for brakes (still there, thanks new bit) and rode him away from his hacking buddy over and over again until he got the idea that forward is the only answer he needs to provide. Certainly his cheeky/green behavior is not going to be fixed in just a couple of rides, so we came up with a plan moving forward.

Trainer rides will continue (she will hack him out either alone or in company)... I can ride and/or lunge him on the property (140 acres) to practice what I've learned recently with him, but follow through has to be 100% on my end. In the meantime, one of the other women in the co-op has graciously offered her 14 year old school master horse to ride to get my jumping sea legs back. He's a gorgeous dark bay OTTB (Unbridled Lad) who incredibly talented. While he will pack an 8 year old around, he's not an easy ride by any means and will have plenty to teach me. I'm excited to get to know him better and to have another horse to ride in addition to Riley. I'll likely enter Riley in another HT in a few weeks and Emily will ride him there to get some confidence under his belt. Lad and I may even go to a couple of little jumper schooling shows once he's fit.

It's all very exciting and I'm happy with the pace of our progress. I know that if our ring was already finished we'd be much further along in our training, but we'll get there. Patience.

EDIT: I'm going to test ride Lad tonight in a nearby indoor!