This is how I kill time....cute though!

Merry Christmas!

It's cold again and the barn has been quiet the past couple days because of the holidays. I rode on Thursday though when there was snow falling and blowing all around the arenas.

Today Deuce and I had a good ride. It didn't take too long for him to relax. We worked on straightness and also on keeping him active to my leg. I need to make sure that I stay right in the middle of my seatbones unless I mean to shift my weight. I think this is contributing to his crookedness...though not totally. Most horses are naturally more flexible to the left than to the right - so same with Deuce. I also have gotten him much better at the walk by making him march forward at the walk and really swing his back.

Tommorow I guess we will work on shoulder in and some counter canter. I'll keep it light though. Maybe go over some cavaletti in the jumper arena. :) Should be a fun week of riding ahead too since I don't have to work!

Great day!

I worked with tons of horses at the barn today! I get there this morning and worked with Van Gogh on the lunge. He's building more muscle gradually and I think after just 4 days of me working with him he's looking a lot better. I also trimmed his mane and he looked like a different horse. :)

After working with Van Gogh I rode Silver for A. Silver is a phenomenal horse - he's a big beautiful grey off the track thoroughbred who just needs to be ridden correctly to get stronger and better at using his body. He also has trouble striking off on the left lead but we think this is just phsychological. Once he gets the left lead canter it is relaxed and easy. He's just a little weak on that side. He was a good boy and we got the left lead canter easier than yesterday. Sometimes I get anxious and look down as I ask for the canter - this never works. I need to make sure i sit up, keep him on my aids and straight. If I keep this throughout the canter transition, he will pick up the left lead when asked. I think a few more rides like this and the left lead canter will soon be no big deal!

After Silver came Captain. This is my first time riding Captain and he is really fun. He gets really tight though and it takes a while to work out his stiffness. S. got on him first and did some leg yields, shoulder in, haunches in etc.He seemed to be a little heavy in the bridle when S was warming him up, but once I got on he was better. I just did more loosening exercises and circles and a little bit of canter. He's really fun and apparently a pretty good jumper. We'll have to try it soon!

Next I got on Picasso just to give him a workout before his owner got on.It was funny getting on him after riding Silver and Captain because he has a really short neck and he's kind of small to begin with. It looked like there was nothing underneath me! He's a young horse too (about 3 or 4 not really sure) so I just tried to get him to relax and get his rythymn. I did lengthening down the long side and shortening on the short side. He also tried to resist picking up the left lead but I got it after a few tries. I just held him on my outside aides so he couldn't pop his shoulder.

Finally i got to ride my baby. I took a lesson with C. to see what it was like. It went okay but Deuce and I were both off because of all the different things going on. I was riding in a jumping saddle, and Deuce was unsure of what to do when he couldn't feel me sitting on his back ( I was riding in half seat and in 2 point. I think I need to do more canter in half seat or 2 point to get him used to his own rythymn and balance at the canter. I was tense and I think Deuce really feeds off my behavior. He did a few jumps really nicely but then he ran out on one of them. We let him stop and think, then lowered the fence tried it again and he was fine. After that though he just got even more flustered and decided that he would rather just stop instead of going anywhere near the jump. Again, I was tense too and this really affected him. I had to really push him to get him to trot and canter around the arena and show him it is really not a big deal. We ended the lesson just cantering and trotting around the arena and randomly going over poles and cavalettis. I think the lesson ended nicely and we got over our tension, but i feel bad that he got so worried. poor guy. Will try to have a nice easy ride tommorow and just let him have fun! He's such a great horse and I love him SOOO much. Mwah!

Oh if I had a trailer!

It would be so fun to just take Deuce places and not worry about how to get there. I could easily take him to lessons and clinics or out on a trail ride somewhere. I've been looking into Brenderups...you can pull them with your car...but I just want to make sure that whatever I buy is completely safe. Plus, buying a trailer is wishful thinking unless 8000 dollars materializes from somewhere...haha. If I decide against a Brenderup I'd have to get a truck too so that's even more money. It's fun to dream though...

So brave

I just had an easy ride today. We did some poles and cavaletti work. I was finished riding and had turned Deuce outside when P got to the barn and asked if I could go out on the trails. I couldn't resist and we just planned on walking on the trail so I saddled Deuce up again and went with P and Jake on the trails. The two were not such a good pair because they were afraid of the same things. We had trouble getting accross the bridge and under the overpass, but after that it was a nice ride. I even trotted Deuce over a little log. He didn't want to jump it at first but once he did it felt really good!

He was really brave. I love doing fun stuff like that with him to break the monotony of the arena and circles.

Tommorow is his day off, then we have some gymnastic jumping and a dressage lesson planned this week. :)

Winter Break

I've just been trying to ride Deuce lightly this week. I need to keep track of how much time I walk him in the beginning and then how long I work him for. I think I'd like to make sure all his workouts are no longer than 45 minutes (including warm up and cool down). I also need to make sure I give him walk breaks periodically. He's such a fast learner that I always forget to go slow.

Tried riding with no spurs and no whip today. Deuce went forward decently but was a little bit of a struggle. Wondering if it's possible to make him more forward without spurs or whip - I don't want to be dependent on them.

Tommorow we'll work on some lateral excercises, bending, and cavaletti at the trot.

Lastly, here's a sweet pictures. SUCH a cute baby!

I cried watching this

Slow and Steady

I think the message for me this weekend is that I need to go slow and steady with Deuce. This is hard to do because he is such a fast learner and so willing to learn new things. I really would love to be at a barn where I could go on trail rides easily and could walk in the field instead of in the arena to warm him up. I can also go back and make sure he has the most basic stuff like:

- voice commands during lungeing (so it can be used while riding)
- staying still at the mounting block while I get on

I need to remember that he is 4 and I can't push him too hard - I just need to teach him new things playfully.

The other thing I learned this weekend is that I need to make sure my body stays relaxed. I tense my arms for some reason at the canter and also when I do lateral movements. Deuce can feel this and gets tense himself.

Working Equitation

is awesome!

www.maryrosedressage.com

There is a clinic at the barn this weekend with Mary Rose. I had never heard of her before last week, but I thought it was awesome that she trained with Nuno Oliveira. She has been so many places and has trained internationally - you can tell she has LOTS of experience!

I took the first clinic lesson this evening and I really learned a lot. The first thing she told me was how I can slightly change my leg position to be more effective. I had no idea that I was putting weight in the stirrup on the outside of my foot. She said that I need to put weight on the inside of my foot and spread my toes in my boots. This will direct my knees forward and open my seat more. I could really feel the difference too...it's amazing how just a slight change can make so much difference.

Mary Rose also told me how to improve my balance at the rising trot. She helped me see that Deuce is sometimes unbalanced in the trot because my body gets behind his center of gravity when I post. She had me post up, up down, up, up, down for a while to help me feel how to keep in balance with the horse and help him have a steady rythym. It was great to see how much more relaxed and balanced Deuce's strides were once I corrected my position in the rising trot. I just had to be careful to keep my knees and ankles relaxed so I didn't grip him.

After these two position corrections, we did some counter shoulder in at the walk and trot to get his hind leg to step under. At the shoulder in, I have to work on making sure that my hips are aligned with Deuce's hips.

The last excercise we worked on was a figure eight. We did a large trot circle to the right, then followed by a small walk circle to the left. This really helped me pay attention to the direction of his bend and the quality of the walk-trot and trot-walk transitions.

Can't wait to see what we'll learn tommorow. Mary Rose also said i should be able to go to the top levels with Deuce. Grand Prix!? how exciting. :) Just can't move him too fast or make him sour to the work. What a good baby!

Leaps and Bounds

Rode Deuce today and had a lot of fun. Canter departs are a peice of cake, so I worked on lengthening/shortening strides in the trot and canter. By the end I felt like Deuce's canter was floating. I feel like this is the first time I've really felt him reach under and step into the contact at the canter. It was a really good feeling!

Did a little shoulder in. I guess the seat aid in the should in is to put more weight on the outside seatbone? Still confused but I do know that Deuce will naturally move towards the heavier weighted seat bone to get back in balance.

Did some trot/halts today and made sure they were from the seat. He did okay at them but not at first. I need to do these first thing before he gets tired. Will hopefully get a little jumping in tommorow. Just for fun. :)

Now what?

So now that Deuce canters from my seat I've really been questioning my aids for all the other movements to make sure they are still consistent. I realized that I've never fully understood how to use my seat aids correctly. I've read that the basic concept is that when you put your weight towards one side, the horse will step underneath your weight to regain balance. I guess when I drop my hip at the trot, it makes him want to regain balance by stepping under with his hindleg. This makes a canter depart easy to accomplish for him. I still have questions about the seat though because now might want to canter when I just want a leg yield or shoulder-in, bend in the corner or later do half pass. I need to figure out the exact aids that I should be using for each movement.

Questions i have:
- Half pass and canter depart seem to have the same aids. How does the horse distinguish between them?
- I started just having even seat bones in the corner and bend the horse with my leg. Is this correct?
- What are the aids for shoulder-in? I've done shoulder in but now I'm realizing that it involves the inside seat bone. How can I help Deuce figure out whether I want shoulder in or canter?

I also need to work on getting Deuce to relax during the sitting trot. I think he resists my aids by being tense in the sitting trot. I'm sure this stems from when I used to ask for the canter from the sitting trot and then get tense when he didn't strike off right away.

Was Deuce's day off today. Will ride tommorow and hope for the best! I want to practice lengthenings and mediums so we will see how Deuce feels.

Cantering from the seat - woah!

Today it was really cold outside so Deuce was very stiff at first. I did circles, leg yield and stretching to get him to loosen up his muscles. It was so cold today that I put a quarter sheet on him while we were working. During warm up, I happened to look back at him butt and was pleased to see that the center stitch of the quarter sheet shows evidence that Deuce bends on the circle. As a rode a circle, you could see a gentle curve in the center seam of the quarter sheet! It's proof that he bends his whole body -- not just his neck. :)

After he was loose, we worked on canter departs and I decided to try asking for the canter from my seat. I pushed my inside seat bone forward and wanted him to canter off of that aide. After a few attempts, he did it so beautifully to the left. I was doing the sitting trot later on and i was pleasantly surprised that if I dropped my inside hip through the corner (by accident) that he would start cantering right away. This made me very aware of my seatbones and I made sure to put weight in my outside stirrup and seat around corners and circles. It's crazy how much this taught me about my position and how sensitive Deuce is. For being 4, he is so trainable and obedient.

Cantering from the seat was not as easy going to the right. This is not his favorite direction. We eventually got it and did lots of trot canter trot transitions to reinforce. I had to still use a little leg going this direction and sometimes he would strike off on the left lead instead of the right, but i tried not to make a big deal of it. He was forward, and he cantered, so I think the wrong lead is just maybe his weak side getting tired and him being young.

I think I might have ridden him for too long because he got very tired and drank LOTS of water when he got back to his stall. I will have to be sure and do something fun, easy and relaxed tommorow. Hopefully it will warm up a bit!

All about the shoulders

Today we had a great ride. I started out by lunging Deuce because it was cool and pouring down rain so I figured he would be a little frisky. After warm up we worked on counter canter and shoulder in. I really need to focus on making sure I have correct position during both of these excercises.

Deuce tried so hard to do counter canter. Good boy! We went across the diagonal to change direction and I kept the bend to the outside. We then did a half circle around the arena and the returned to the true canter again accross the diagonal. While I am making sure to keep the correct bend, I think I keep tension in my body and forget to sit straight on my seatbones. Nice time we practice counter canter I'll have to remember to relax my position more.

After counter canter we practiced shoulder-in. Deuce seemed to pick up on this pretty easily last time, but I think he now realizes it is hard and is not so eager. He did a nice easy shoulder in going track right, but track left was much more difficult. I would establish a few steps, then he would lose it so I would circle 10 m and start again. I would do this 2 or 3 times down the long side. I only got about 3 steps in a row going track left but I thought that was sufficient given it was only his second time and he seemed to be trying hard by the end. I think the shoulder in going to the right could have also used more impulsion, so maybe that's why it seemed easier for him.

The purpose of the shoulder in is to ask the horse to carry more weight on the inside hind, and to encourage a more uphill balance. When ridden correctly, the inside hind is really the only leg that propels the horse forward. To help Deuce do a correct shoulder in, my shoulders should be square with his shoulders and my head should look straight between his ears. My inside leg should ask for bend at the girth and my outside leg should act slight behind the girth to passively keep his hind end in position on the rail (or track). I don't think I was great about keeping my shoulders square and looking up today. Will have to do better next time and pay more attention to my position and aids.

By the end of the ride I could tell Deuce had worked his muscles because when I asked him to stretch forwards and down at the trot he did so easily. I could tell it felt good for him to stretch. I have to remember that for a horse even to carry a rider is pretty unnatural. Horses already carry 57% of their weight in their torso with only their back muscles to hold up that weight. Then, a rider sits on the horse's back and adds even more weight to an already loaded area. I like to allow Deuce to stretch so he can relax some of the muscles that are under such stress when he is being ridden. Praise God, I have a great horse! :)

Won't have time to ride tommorow, but next time we will work on getting more canter circles, maybe some baby shoulder fore at the canter. Then we'll work on lengthening strides at the canter, particularly the transitions down from lengthening to working canter. These are difficult for both of us.

Sunday Funday

I just wanted a nice fun ride today so after we warmed up I decided to jump over a cross rail. I think it was only about 18 inches high but I had Deuce canter over it for the first time. We did it in both directions and practiced getting the correct lead off the jump. It was a lot of fun!

It makes me want to do some hunter jumper stuff so I may take a few lessons with the hunter jumper trainer at my barn. I think Deuce likes to jump and it would be a shame not to do some fun jump courses with him!

He'll get Monday and probably Tuesday off and then we will work on collecting his canter and really pushing him into a soft, round frame. I will also try shoulder in again to see how he does. Should be fun! :)

The shoe fits...

Deuce got a new shoe today. I kept looking all week for his thrown shoe but could not find it. My farrier came and made a new shoe and nailed in on for free though! The funny thing was that as soon as my farrier left, the barn manager came to my stall and gave me a shoe they found in the arena. Of course it was his....haha.

Anyway, after he had his shoe back, we went for a ride and he was really good! He was very responsive to my leg and light in my hands. I made sure in my warm up that I did a lot of serpentines, leg yields, circles and lengthenings. Very few straight lines. I did walk trot canter both directions then I worked on counter canter in both directions. Deuce picked up counter canter pretty easily - I just had to encourage him to keep the correct bend.

After he did counter canter we practiced some shoulder-in for the first time. I have trouble feeling if the shoulder-in is at the right angle and bend but I think he was doing some good shoulder-in steps. I just did it playfully and wasn't trying to force him because he had already done counter canter so nicely.

Tommorow I'm going to maybe do some cavaletti and jump over some stuff. Maybe I'll do the two circles and flying changes like J had me do last weekend. Should be fun. :) One thing I should be mindful of is that he was still sucking back a little before the canter depart. L told me this is just him saying no to my leg so I need to get after him for that. He's strong enough to do nice canter transition but I think he is just reluctant to do them.

Work hard Play hard

I let Deuce out in the arena on Monday. He was feeling good and playing alot and he threw a shoe! Have to wait until Friday for the farrier to put it back on. Just hopped on him bareback today and did some leg yield and circles at the walk.

I'm waiting for my shipment of Platinum Performance. I'm going to start giving it to Deuce as a supplement everyday. I'm anxious to see if it helps him gain some muscle and bulk up a bit. He still looks kind of like a baby and I want him to look like a real horse. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The show part 2

I showed Deuce First Level Test 1 and First Level Test 2 this afternoon. I was warming up and he started sucking back and evading my aids once i wanted to canter. L was helping me and told me to just push him forward almost to a gallop -- she said he is worried about my leg instead of being worried about going forward forward forward. I didn't realize until now that the sucking back was from him saying no to me, I thought he was just unsure of what to do due to him being young.

The first test went really well....we got a 67%! To be honest, i think the judge was very generous. :)

The second test was kind of a flop. I went off course, and Deuce was also kind of t'ed off....he was tired after the long weekend. We still got a 62.5, but again i think the judge was generous. I was so tired by the time my second test came around and having mental focus is really difficult for me when I'm exhausted. I was trying, but my aids were a little sluggish and sloppy.

In sum, here's what i was reminded of this weekend:

more forward will solve lots of problems
make him say yes to my leg
it's okay to let him be playful (ie. when doing changes he started cross cantering and J said I should just make him buck so he would change to a true canter.)
I need to definately practice the full test before I do it at the show
I need to remember to push Deuce to learn new things - challenge him
Stay soft, even when I'm pushing him to do something difficult

These are things I already knew, obviously, but it's easy to forget to apply them when everyone at the barn always says how wonderful he looks! I am going to give Deuce Monday off...and maybe Teusday. Next time I ride I will work on getting him forward and in front of my leg at all times. Sucking back will not be tolerated. Once I have him forward, I'll try counter canter in both directions. Looking forward to the fun!

The Show Part 1

Had a really fun weekend at the show. I worked in the morning on Saturday and got a free lesson in the afternoon. The lesson was really good because it challenged us both. I think when I am riding at the barn it's easy just to be happy with what I have and not push Deuce to do more. When I first got on for my lesson, Deuce was super hyper because of another horse that was going nuts in the round pen. He started hopping up and down so I decided to get off and lunge him for a while. After he raced around the round pen kicking and bucking for a while, I got on and had my regular horse back. When things like that happen I always have to remind myself that he is only 4!

After I got on the second time I started the lesson. J said to do my normal warm up but after I was trotting around for a while she was like...what are you doing? I guess I need to make sure in his warm up that I do lots of bending, lateral work, and lengthening/shortening of his stride. Once I warmed up the trot, we did leg yield at the canter from the quarter line to the wall. This exercise helps give the canter an uphill balance and teaches Deuce to push from behind. After that, I rode first level test 1 for practice.

The last thing J had me do I was pretty intimidated by at first. She put a cavalletti along the centerline of the arena and told me to do two connecting 20 meter circles and jump over the cavalletti in the middle. I did it at the trot first which was totally fine, but then she told me to do it at the canter. I had never cantered Deuce over any fence and she still wanted me to do change his bend over the cavalletti. I realized halfway through that we were really teaching him to do flying changes -- she could have told me that before we started!

Deuce landed a few times on the wrong lead or cross cantering, but eventually he got a clean flying change over the fence in both directions. He's a good baby!

Out for the weekend

I took Deuce over to another barn tonight where the schooling show will be going on on Sunday. He was great in the trailer, just walked right in with no problems at all - even in the dark! I rode him before we went over there and he did pretty well. He seemed pretty tired so I will try to ride him pretty easy tommorow - I am going to work for the day to get a free lesson in the afternoon.

The past few days I've been working on test movements like leg yield into canter and 10 m trot circles. Deuce is doing very well...he just needs to build muscle and get more consistent. I will have to review my tests tomorrow so i don't embarrass myself on Sunday by going off course -- I actually think I will have a little cheering squad! Also hoping to get some good pictures or videos to put up here....we'll see. My goal is to have an nice relaxinng lesson tommorow to prepare for the show and just keep him relaxed during the tests. I'm not sure how my scores will turn out, but I'm hoping for the best.

I was looking at Deuce today and noticed two things: I think i need to up his feed and he is definitely building some muscle in his haunches. It's slight but enough to tell. This is encouraging since it means I am riding him through his back. If we can keep improving, we'll be doing fun stuff in no time. Looking at the show calender for next year, I think we can easily qualify for regionals at first level pretty easily and maybe show some second level tests later in the year next year. :)

Getting close!

Getting so excited for the show this weekend. Deuce has been going very well and it will be so fun to actually ride a test. I pretty much know first level test 1 but i'll have to study test 2 somemore. Today i just rode him forward on the bit doing walk trot and canter and did some leg yield and circles. Tomorrow i think i will ride some test movements and just make sure he is forward and through his back. Deuce is such a cutie! Can't wait until he builds up his muscles and is ready for the fun stuff - it'll be easy for him.

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300 donated! Ya'll rock!

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260 donated - 340 to go!

Lesson Learned

Today would have been great, but I think I screwed it up by riding Deuce for too long. He was very forward and connected after the warm up and was doing nice 10 meter circles. Then I cantered him and was very satisfied with the ride. I decided that he was pretty much done but that I would do leg yield at the walk while I cooled him out. This turned into a bit of a fight and then Deuce started baccking off the leg and not being forward and into the bridle. We somewhat recovered, but I feel badly that I didn't just stop the ride on a much better note. I guess I'll just do an easy, relaxed ride tommorow and won't ask much of him. I feel badly that the ride turned out this way. Can't wait for another ride tomorrow and am very thankful that Deuce is so forgiving. I have a great horse and I hope I never forget that.

Field Trip funding update

200 dollars donated - 400 more to go

Thank you to all donors...you inspire me!

Getting Ready

Had a pretty good ride today. My friend and I set up the dressage letters in the arena and I just rode a training level test to see how Deuce would do. My friend also wanted to see a test ridden so she could understand the patterns better. Deuce did very well, especially since he is not used to being ridden in precise figures. His canter transitions are getting much better - he did a million of them today.

Yesterday I did some jumping which he liked. I can always feel when he jumps well because he gets so free and relaxed after the fence.

I'm getting so excited for the show in 2 weeks. I decided to enter at First Level Test 1 and First Level Test 2. This is a little above what I think Deuce is ready for show-wise, but it's a schooling show so why not? I am going to work on preparing transitions and movements so that I can ride precise figures.

Lots to do!

Had a great lesson today. Was our first lesson with s. and I really enjoyed it. We think alike when it comes to training, but she also gave me new ideas that I would not get on my own. She loves Deuce too, which is always a plus. :) Some things I need to work on...

Not being to loose with my abs, I follow his movement but I can't collapse my body
keeping my hands even with eachother
leg yielding and lateral movement in the correct position
letting Deuce have fun and always trying to vary his work to prevent boredom

What can I say...my pony is awesome and I love him.

Back to business

Deuce is almost over his antics. He has been backing off the bit and not responding to the leg, but today he started getting a lot better. We had a beautiful, uphill canter transition today, best one ever. :) i'm taking a lesson this thursday with s. I want to get some input on jumping exercises and just a different perspective on training. It will be good to because i think deuce is getting bored with plain arena work. He will hopefully get to go out today too...poor things been couped up for days aside from being ridden.

Beautiful day to ride bareback :)

Today i let deuce free in the arena and just walked/trotted bareback after that. Sunday isn't normally his day off, but he has been kind of sluggish to my leg and less willing lately so i thought a nice easy break would be good. When i rode him yesterday he tried to curl up behind the bit again instead of holding himself up. I kept pushing him forward but he still kept trying to hang on me. I think he may have started this since i've recently started working him more on the bit. Maybe i need to do shorter intervals of collection and then let him on a longer rein more often. We'll see how tomorrow goes - i'm hoping to get a ride in before class at 6:30.

New tricks

Today we worked on canter transitions and bending again. Deuce did good but he was a bit lazy. Maybe his muscles were a little too loose after the massage yesterday. He got the best transitions ever since his injury so that's good news. I did ask him to come more on the bit though and he tried to get away by curling up. I had to keep pushing him forward so that he wouldn't be behind the bit. Hopefully he learned that I won't hold him up and he really does need to carry himself more.
I'm going to just do some east cavaletti and crossrails tommorow - he has worked pretty hard the past few days.

Alright...

Had an okay ride today. We practiced bending into the corners. Deuce did pretty well but he was so wired today due to the cooler weather and not being ridden yesterday. He's getting much better about going into the bridle, but he's not so good about it when he's fresh and excited. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend of riding.

After we rode, deuce got a massage! He's so spoiled.

Is bending so hard?

Today Deuce and I worked on bending into the corners and on circles. I could definately see how much he had to use his body for bending in the corners so I understand that it's difficult at first. By the end he got much better and did not did as strong aids to stay bent in the corners. I also asked him to go more on the bit and carry himself. He was very obedient. I didn't do this for a long period of time, though, because i didn't want him to lose his impulsion. I just kept alternating between a little longer frame and a more collected one. I'm happy with our progress today, and I'm so excited for the show coming up! We'll probably just do training level 3 and 4, but it'll be so fun to get Deuce out and show him off. :)

Below is a video of our warm up. W/t/c in both directions. He's not "in a frame" but he is using his back and is very engaged and forward. It's not the greatest, but enjoy!

I also noticed from this video that my left arm is always bent more than my right. I'm not sure why this is, because Deuce is pretty light in both reins. I'll have to make a conscious effort to fix it.

Licking honey off my ball!

The long and short of it...

Today we had a quick ride, but it was amazing! After we warm up, I've started asking Deuce to use his hind end and carry himself a little more. Today I did this by lengthening and shortening his stride at the trot. We lengthen on the long side, and shorten on the short side. He is pretty good at this now because he ends up taking about 14 strides on the short side and only about 16 strides on the long side. He only broke into the canter one time and I think it was my fault for not keeping the rythmn with my seat.

The last thing we did was we jumped over a little crossrail again. :) Last time we jumped he was clumsily making it over the jump. Today he was very forward-going and jumped beautifully! I could tell he had much more scope because I was having trouble staying in jumping position. I'm not a jumper, but Deuce is. :)

I also asked J to take a video of us riding, but the file was too big to email. I will hopefully have a video up here as soon as we get the file off of the camera phone. Happy riding!

Back to work...

Deuce had Monday off and got do run free in the paddock. I had every intention of giving him the day off on Tuesday as well, but some others from the barn suggested taking horses out near the trails and I couldn't resist. We did some light riding in the field behind the barn and walked out near the trails for the first time. Deuce was pretty nervous about the whole thing, but I'm not sure if it was the new surroundings or the huge amount of mosquitos that were everywhere. I'm looking forward to going to a show in November where we can hack out in a nicer field with less bugs and more open spaces.

Today we did lots of circle and figure eights in the arena. One reason is that Deuce took a long while to relax, but second because there was a mess of lessons going on in the arena. After he finally relaxed, we worked on canter transitions from the trot. He goes beautifully to the left, but the right is still difficult for him. There was no kicking out at all today though, just a little reluctance to strike off into the right lead. I may also sit a little crooked going that direction too....which doesn't help. Over all a good ride though, no complaints. He's still has a lot to learn...which makes it fun. :)

I'm wondering if he was a little high strung today because of the protein supplements I gave him yesterday. I do want him to bulk up and gain more muscle, but I'm not sure yet if I want to use the protein supplement regularly.

Time for a break

I just rode Deuce in the arena today. He didn't relax as much as I would like today, but he did do some nice leg yields. I'm realizing that I should keep him on his toes by doing circles, leg yields or loops periodically. This really helps keep him attentive. I also worked on canter transitions to get him more responsive to the leg. He was great going to left, but to the right he had a little trouble engaging his hind end. He kicked out a little when I asked him to canter to the right but the canter itself was pretty relaxed. Maybe his back is a little sore after being ridden all week?

Deuce will get Monday and Tuesday off and then light riding on Wednesday. Next week we'll work on canter transition again, then maybe some jumping work?

Jumping around

I started off my ride today by having Deuce trot over two cavaletti. He was nervous at first and kept lifting his legs and almost prancing through the cavalettis. He really relaxed after a few tries though and I think it really helping his rythmn in the trot. :) Today was pretty exciting because we jumped over a crossrail a few times. Deuce needs to go more forward through the jumps but he was very good for his first real jumping lesson. I also tried to take him out in the field for a little bit, but there was so many people at the ranch next door that he was too worked up. I didn't want to push my luck and find myself on the ground. I guess I need to remember that Deuce did only just turn 4. He's so good and I often forget how young he is. I really want him to get used to the trail though...

Tommorow I'm going to do some light riding to let his legs and muscles recover. After his days off (Monday and Tuesday this week) I will start teaching him to go more on the bit. We will also work on trot canter transitions to make his hind end stronger. Lastly, I will pay more attention to my own leg, seat and rein aids as they must be exactly correct if I want deuce to go well on the bit.

Deuce's blog is back!

So much has happened in the year and a half that I have not written on this blog. There have been a lot of changes in my personal life since I last wrote and at one point I even thought of selling my horse. We are here now though and I'm excited to start up Deuce's training blog again. Thanks to my dad, I was able to send Deuce to Roger for 3 months. The training really did wonders for him and made him much more confident and balanced under saddle. Now with me, Deuce is starting dressage training in earnest and I have been very happy with his progress. Below is a picture of us from last June. I love how much he is reaching under with his hind leg. :) He doesn't look so much like a baby anymore...he looks like a real dressage horse! I will hopefully get video up here soon and be able to show you how much we have progressed.




Here is an update on our training:


Deuce is recovering from a splint bone fracture (sounds really serious but thankfully it healed up 100%.) The picture was taken just before the fracture happened. For the past month I've been trying to keep to light riding until he builds back up his muscles. We are just now starting back up cantering regularly and working on the bit. He gets so tired because he lacks fitness after 2 and a half months of no riding or turnout.



Right now I'm also concentrating on getting him more forward and responsive to my leg. I made a mistake in his early training of not making him as forward as he needs to be so I am retraining it now. He's slowly getting it but the subtle pressure from my leg doesn't always register. Once I get him forward and relaxed though, he is so wonderful to ride!


We are planning for a little schooling show in November at a nearby barn. I think we will do Training Level Test 3 and 4. Before the show I need to work on riding precise figures and on getting good canter transitions. He also needs to be better at bending and suppling. Once he gets stronger in the canter I am sure the transitions will be much easier.