Spring Fever

It's spring break (obligatory WOOOO) and it's my last spring break EVER. So far, I'm not really living it up. Thursday was our last day of class and it included my last test EVER. Thursday night we celebrated by going to a tap takeover at a local bar, Friday was my bff's birthday so we went out, and last night, Saturday, I sat at home playing video games and watching TV with the boyfriend. This week though, we're heading out for a couple nights on a camping trip. I just got two new camera toys to play with- an extended battery pack and a intervalometer- both of which (plus photoshop) will let me capture star trails! Coolness.

Today I headed out to the barn in the afternoon. Poor TC was left all alone in his pasture (all of his roommates- 2 horses) were out. Because of this, I got a whinny! And he came up to me a bit quicker than normal, which isn't saying much

He was kind of an idiot to tack up. He kept wiggling around the pole and one of the girls at the barn pointed out that I could cross tie him with another rope, so I did. He was pretty surprised, since he's never been crosstied. He tried to walk around the pole and his nose got a tug from the second rope and he turned to stare at the rope and then tried to chew it. He stood much better tied so I think I'll be doing that from now on.

TC in "cross ties," yeah my chambon is all
weird, I didn't feel like undoing his halter

I opted to longe him which was an EXCELLENT idea, this asshole has some spring fever. He took off galloping around, yanking at me and bucking. There was an innocent bystander who got a bit too close once or twice and TC set her horse off by dragging me halfway across the arena. Sorry person! After installing some manners, I let him canter in each direction until he chilled out. I could tell he really wanted a turnout or something, despite living in a large pasture. Rico never needed turnout living in a paddock. I think I'm going to have my hands full with this one.

(by the way, while I was switching sides, I texted boyfriend to say "on Halloween, I'm dressing up as Neil Young and TC can just act like he is today and we'll perform Cortez the Killer," which is a song performed by Neil Young and Crazy Horse) 

After the crazy longeing, we had some really nice moments on the longe with the chambon. He's totally relaxed and happy walking in it with his neck long, and is definitely making more progress at the trot too. I have yet to canter in it, as I don't think that his canter is balanced enough on its own to warrant any sort of contraption.

Undersaddle, he started out better than he has in a long time. Instantly on the bit and steady, with a longer neck than he has been giving me at the ends of our rides, let alone the beginnings. We did some geometry work at first, practicing circles, figure-8s, and riding across the diagonal. Then we started in on the leg yields.

I decided to do them along the rail again, and will be doing them that way for a while, I think. I will eventually go back to centerline to the rail and rail to centerline, but he needs more flexibility. They were MUCH better today than they were on Wednesday. He's really understanding the crossover and I feel like I have more control over the angle.

He was so excited to go out, he needs a trail
ride soon

Back into trot, he was feeling really forward so I decided that I was really truly going to install a damn good halt. He proved to me on Friday that his halt goes away when he's being crazy so I want to make them super super good at home.

I started with trot to walk transitions off the seat, which he was surprisingly good at. I've been using a wither relief pad because he's slightly underweight right now so lost the beefiness over his back to support my saddle. The problem with that pad is that it is SUPER thick and doesn't give me a lot of feel. But he managed to feel my thigh through it and gave me some great transitions.

The halts are still rough but I could tell as I aided that he understood the aid and just needed time to get his hind legs under him before stopping. That I'm fine with. Ignoring my aid isn't okay but extra time to do it right is.

Finally, we ended with him offering me a stretch circle for the first time ever! It wasn't a good one, persay, but it was much stretchier than he has been in the past. I taught him my aid for it and he responded well. Yay! He's basically a first level horse now right? We have a leg yield at the walk and along the rail only, a stretchy circle which is neither stretchy enough nor circle enough, and he loves to lengthen against my wishes, oh and he barely steers and wants to chuck me into the ceilings at the canter. Ahahaha we're sticking with Intro for quite a while.

His neck has filled out quite a bit! He really needs to stop
standing like he's about to fall on his face though. 

Isabella (his half sister) was excellent again today, her owner was there and we discussed the techniques that I am using. I figured I'd break it down since it seems to be working well.

Isabella is a very hot, forward, sensitive mare with an attitude. She isn't nervous or jittery though. She's your typical can't-put-my-leg-on, sitting-on-a-cannon type of ride. Rigid in the bridle or behind the bit with very little in between. Aids have to be slow, steady, and a bit long winded or she gets upset. She's very responsive to, well all aids but especially lateral aids, meaning she moves sideways very well off both legs.

I've finally figured out what works (ugh took a while, she had an argument for everything I did): offsetting her lateral balance.

I always want to be able to put my leg on a horse. Horses are not allowed to take away aids from the rider, since it gives the horse more control and the rider less. So I put her on a circle and push her laterally outward while continuing to turn her. When she slows and softens, I support her on the outside aids and give her more balance. When she flips her head or gets rigid, I let go of the outside aids and she loses balance. If she runs off, she gets turned faster and pushed more sideways.

Essentially, she earns her balance by being good. She's caught on to this very quickly. She likes feeling balanced, so she has been quite soft in the connection, relatively steady, and actually allows me to put my leg on.

Thought it'd be interesting to write that down! I don't think it'd work on too many horses, since a lot of the hot, sensitive types tend to be jittery or nervous. She is neither. I think a more nervous animal might freak if you really threw them off balance. This one is pretty special. And damn I want to jump her!

Such a cutie! And not as furry now... 

Going Places

Today was the day. TC's first time at a new facility where he had to do more than just follow another horse up a hill.

The facility is really cute- three arenas (small covered, jumping, dressage), one main barn and some turnouts, and a little trail that walks around the property. I don't know how big exactly it is, but it's a pretty small, inviting place.

He was really excited to look around

He unloaded pretty well from the trailer, at first refusing to get out because he was busy looking behind him. I had tacked him up at home (where he had to wear boots for the first time in a week or so and was pretty convinced that he couldn't walk in them anymore) so all we did was put on helmets/bridles and we were off.

He was actually surprisingly calm and relaxed, just very interested in everything, so I opted not to longe him. The round pen looked kind of hard, and to be honest, longeing doesn't really calm him down significantly.

After whinnying a few times and standing very very tall, we were told that we should go to the jumping arena (probably because TC was looking like he was going to explode haha) where we'd be by ourselves. Now, TC has never seen a real jump. He's seen logs and poles but never big jump standards with fillers.

And... he didn't give a single shit about them. He expressed no interest in sniffing them and never spooked at them. Meanwhile, Ali's horse was giving them the evil eye every time they passed one. He's 11 and while I wouldn't call him been-there-done-that, he's definitely a LOT more experienced than the baby horse.

We walked around a bit while Ali worked her horse and then started trotting ourselves. I was pretty pleased that TC wasn't any more distracted than I expected in a new arena. He looked at things but never spooked or took off or whatever. We weaved in and out of the fences, riding circles and serpentines, and he slowly started to relax a bit more.

So cute!

His behavior did get worse every time this one horse went by. I don't know what it was about this horse- he was just a big gray gelding, turning white from older age, and was quietly doing laps around the property getting warmed up for a lesson. Every time he was nearby, TC got very distracted, whinnying and wanting to be RIGHT next to him.

It didn't pose a large problem until Ali took her horse over to the dressage court (where the gray ended up riding) and TC was by himself. I don't know TC all that well, so I wasn't sure what to do when he started getting upset. Some horses need to just stand and watch (Rico) to make sure things are okay, other horses get more upset the more they watch so need to be worked to get their mind off of the problem (apparently TC, but I learned this the hard way which is obviously the more fun way).

I let TC stand and watch but he became more and more agitated. So I walked him in circles, asking for leg yield and tighter turns, switching direction and he LEAPT into the air, twisted a big buck and..... yeah I didn't fall off, I just pulled his face to the left and he got scared that HE might fall and he came right back to me. But that's when I decided that trotting would be the answer. He was an idiot at first, but eventually settled and gave me some GORGEOUS trot work. He felt much more engaged than he normally was, and we even got a few compliments from the nice people that we were disrupting.

One of the ladies said "a kid is going to LOVE brushing that tail"

I wasn't about to go disrupt the lesson in the dressage court alone, so Ali came back to get me and we both walked out there. The letters were these big boxes (where, presumably, you could put flowers, but there weren't any) that TC thought might have food in them, so he wasn't afraid at all. He also thought the judges booth was pretty interesting and possibly contained food. Once as he gave both the boxes and the booth a good look, he never looked at them again.

We did some walking and a bit of trot in the dressage court, including a lot of 20 meter circles and riding across the diagonal. He was surprisingly good, considering what an idiot he had been in the jumping arena. BUT I think this was because the gray horse he was obsessed with AND his trailer mate were in the arena with him.

We finished with a turn up centerline and a halt. The turn was excellent, but the halt took a bit since he really didn't want to stop.

After our short ride in the court, we headed over to the covered arena to show TC himself in the mirror. He spooked at first, but then walked right up to himself and sniffed a few times. After that he'd definitely look over at himself when we passed the mirrors, but no spooking.

We headed back to the barn after walking in the arena. I didn't want to make him do any more work there after he was so good in the dressage court.

Mirror pony!

SO after careful evaluation, here are some of my take away points:

The positive:
- Don't really need to longe him for him to be safe
- He's really not that spooky about new things, including scary jumps, the mirror, judges booth, etc
- He didn't jump out of the court
- Our geometry wasn't that bad
- He DID end up going on the bit eventually and gave me some excellent trot work
- No bucking other than that one big buck and only a little head shaking

The negative:
- He needs to get off the property more! (Duh)
- He has an incredible amount of stamina, working more does calm him down a bit, but a walk break brings all the energy back
- He does have some herd bound problems, including toward horses that he doesn't even know
- Lots of whinnying oh my god
- The brakes weren't as tuned as they are at home
- We never got to school by ourselves in a new arena, don't know how he will handle having to go work away from the group
- This was a small facility and the show facility is large so I don't know if that will make a difference

At this time, I'm still thinking about the show. On one hand, it will be fun and I don't care how we do since it's just a schooling show (plus I get to wear my medal while we get a 50% at intro, hilarious!). I might be able to have Ali bring her horse close to the court so that he can still see him. On the other hand, it's cheaper to get him more experience off the property by going to different barns and paying a use fee rather than a show fee (it's maybe 1/3 the cost to go places vs show). Then once as he is quieter (maybe in May), introduce him to the show experience.

I don't think it'd be a bad experience to go to the show. I'd have a nice long warm up, and warn the judge that I might "go off course" with extra circles or walk transitions to get him listening. I can always ride HC and not even take a score. BUT if I think that we won't get through the test because he'll be kind of a spaz, why pay so much to essentially go school at a place with a dressage court? Things to think about. Feel free to give me your thoughts about whether it's worth it.

Using all my medals for the first time would
be really fun!

In other horsey news, TC's half sister who I have been riding about a month FINALLY hit a big breakthrough in our last ride. She's been very agitated about going on the bit- flipping her head, threatening to rear, becoming completely rigid in the bridle, wanting to go faster at all costs- and I've been ridiculously patient, longeing her in side reins and ignoring her antics undersaddle. Ah but the last ride she finally figured out that the connection is better for both of us when she comes round. So she did! And I could put my leg on her! And we even cantered for the first time.

And holy shit guys, this horse needs to jump. I hate jumping (not hate, but I certainly don't go out of my way to ever do it) and all I wanted was a 4' fence in front of me as I was sitting this canter.

Testing the Limits

On Friday, Ali and I took TC and her horse out on the trails again! Please enjoy the random hiking pictures (these are NOT from our trail ride) to break up this post.

Waterfall loop! It wasn't very long but it
was very pretty

Cooper had a blast!

Love the roots

First, TC is getting so much better at that facility, he's easier to bridle (thanks to sugar) and stands still instead of trying to pull me out to the tracks.

We headed out and immediately saw some people in front of us on horses. TC was STOKED. He thinks that everyone wants to meet and hang out with him, so not only does he try to stick his head in the lap of any person hiking or even biking out there, he makes a beeline for any horses he sees. So immediately I had to hold him back (with his head straight up in the air, ugh) from trotting after these people. Luckily they headed down to the right and we headed up to the left so we were on our own. TC was kind of upset, he kept trying to turn around and look back and even called for them. Poor social pony.

He was definitely feeling a bit more fit than he has been. I'm not working on fitness at all, friesians are notorious for not having much in the gas tank (although I did work with one who was VERY forward) and therefore not having much stamina, so I want him better trained before I start pushing the fitness issue. But we did an hour and a half trail ride up and down hills, so he's not totally unfit.

We had a good amount of trotting and a bit of cantering as we headed up the hill and then along the ridge. Then we had to take a walk break and went winding down through some trees. Overall it was a really pleasant trail ride- the only thing he spooked at was some big leafy plants on the side of the road (wtf).

Such pretty flowers!

This picture took so long to get! There
were so many people in front of the
waterfall...

As we rounded the bend to head along the ridge again, he took off trotting and then cantering and I couldn't stop him (stupid soft dressage bit)! He was having a blast as he careened around a turn and cantered downhill. He wasn't going fast and I knew there was a bridge coming up that he'd stop to stare at, so I wasn't worried about it. I did get him stopped before the bridge and he walked over it cautiously.

Knowing he was full of it, I waited until the next uphill part and let him go. He took off cantering and was actually moving quite forward. It was great to see the kind of freedom coming out of his canter that he's currently playing with in the trot in the arena. But then his neck went down and he started shaking it. I expected bucks but what I got was... a lead change? Suddenly we were on the other lead! This is the third time I've gotten a change out of him, once on the longe, and twice now on the trails. I think there's a third level horse hiding under all of that hair!

Pretty waterfalls

Cooper hanging out in the woods

On Sunday, I headed out to the ranch to ride Isabella and TC.

As I mentioned last week, I ordered a chambon for TC. I want to do more longeing work with him so that he's better about it and figured that longeing in a chambon would be really good for him. He tends to retract his neck and raise his poll, so I wanted to put him in something that would encourage him to lower and lengthen his neck. Side reins don't really do that very well, so I figured I'd buy a cheap chambon.

I put him out on the longe and immediately I felt horrible because I always think of him as being lazy, but I sometimes forget that he's sensitive. So he wouldn't go out on the longe and I used body language to tell him to get out (stepping toward him a bit aggressively and pointing the whip at him) and he was so scared! I immediately brought him in and pet him and told him that he was okay. Poor pony!

Near the old dam

I sent him back out and he wasn't quite sure what to do with the chambon, he kept resisting it. Honestly, it probably wasn't tight enough, but he's three years old, I'm not going to push it. He did seem to understand it at the walk and twice during the trot he stuck his nose on the ground. There wasn't much middle ground though.

Then I got on (chambon came off, I know some people ride in them but I don't). He was immediately a little shithead. He wouldn't go on the bit at the walk, and then coming into trot he just charged off. Part way through trotting, he decided to canter, which was fine, I guess. I brought him back to trot and he then spooked and bolted down the longside. Coming around again, he spun away from a thing that he had passed the entire ride.

Then I cracked down on him. He had a good CTJ moment as he was made to go on the bit, respond to half halts, and not dart around like a manic. He responded really well and we ended up having a really nice ride! What a nutcase.

He also wore hind boots to ride on Sunday, so that basically made up for his asshole moments.

Loved it out there

Such a good dog

Blaming this sudden bout of crazy behavior on the windy weather, I was slightly nervous to get Isabella out. She's been okay for me, but not really on board with my program of not going as fast as she can at all times and accepting contact. I tacked her up and we headed to the arena to longe and were met with two crazy kids on crazy horses, a green rider on a nice horse, and someone hand walking. I found a place to longe and she was surprisingly good. I've been installing the half halt on the longe with voice commands so then I can just use the voice commands while riding so that she understands. She's not the sort of horse you can manhandle so this has been helpful.

We did a LOT of transitions on the line while kids were galloping past us screaming, people were riding around us, and a dog decided that the whip was the best toy ever and chased it around behind her. Not once did Isabella flick an ear, not even when the dog ran right in front of her.

So I got on... riding a super hot young horse who I don't know very well in this kind of chaos made me a bit on edge. I quickly calmed my hot seat down as much as I could and we did some walking and then picked up the trot.

Oooo pretty

Mini waterfall!

She was great! The whole time!

First, she dealt with all this crazy shit (dogs, kids, other riders, people walking in and out, etc) very well. No spooking, no flinching, not even when both kids were jumping fences and galloping behind her, screaming.

Second, she's totally now on board with the slow and steady program! In the past, she's been a bit unsteady in the bridle and speedy, Sunday she was balanced, responded to every half halt, and stayed steady in the bridle (although off the bit- but better than head tossing). I introduced turns on the forehand, and leg yield in walk and trot! She loved the lateral work and seemed really interested in it.

Overall, I was sooo pleased with her. I think she's understanding what I want a lot better and is realizing that I'm not going to fight with her, I'll just be persistent. She's a challenge for me but so incredibly talented and sweet, love it!

So funny how the "good one" became the naughty one and the one who I would have expected to be kind of silly in the weather and the crazy became the "good one." Young horses are fun!

Such a pretty river (which is more of a creek now...) 

One of my favorite pictures