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. :)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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.
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, November 29, 2009
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! :)
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! :)
Friday, November 27, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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!
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!
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