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.