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.