I owe more, but..
Rode Mo a time or three, Still fun. Still reliable. Just out of shape. Longed him up & over the box. Trot JUMP trot. I often wonder, maybe Romeo is a jumper after all. I probably didn't start him correctly, but I bet it could be fixed.
Harley got his jump saddle adjusted. A bit of stuffing was all we needed. Also had a neat dressage lesson with Ms. A. one of the fitters. Take home? Squeeze him forward, then kick, then SMACK with the whip. whip. Shorter reins, and insist on forward.
We had a few rides before and after the fitting. Trott and over an X. A bit of canter over ground poles (5 a few times, 3 others ) , and a few pole, X, pole. All canter on the circle.
After the fit lesson, Harley and I had some good dressage moments. He still fights in the warm up, but things are improving.
Ready for our lesson on Saturday. Anxious to get back in the swing, and get back on the gymnastics. We are ready to let Ms. N. set the pace, and get our confidence back.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
No, Tell me What you Really Think...
I follow and read a LOT of blogs. More than I've linked. Here's what I've come to learn:
Some people blog as a "Here's what I do, what I think is the best way to do things, and you should learn from me". Others blog as a, "Here's how it went for this ride, what I did well, what I was terrible at, and what I'll do differently."
Then, there's a mix of the two. Usually someone who touts themselves as an "expert" in whatever field they ride in. They're either pleasure princesses, dressage divas, reining-roping-racing runners, trail or endurance trotting, something. These folks will blog about their adventures, or the lack thereof, and then delve into all the details so the 'rest of us underlings' might learn something from them.
My favorite has to be the blame-blogs. You know .. "I had ___ happen in my ride/play session/groundwork stick training, and it's all ___ fault." There's no possible way they could admit they can't ride, can't read a horse's mind, the horse is too much for them, or my favorite, *gasp* they need riding lessons from one consistent ride until your damn legs fall off and come back in two weeks for another round instructor.
Here's my two cents, because those 28 few of you that follow me here, read what I post, sometimes comment, sometimes send me messages through email or facebook, or in person. Feel free to share this post, comment here, email me, facebook message me, toilet paper the old oak tree in my front yard (if you can find it)..
If you have a terrible day riding, it's your own dang fault. Fix it at home before you go anywhere and search for blame somewhere else. (For the record, I had to censor that first sentence... that's how aggrevated I am.) Quit looking for some karma-riding batshitcrazygoofball to blame your bad day on. The horse knows what you want, 98% of the time. They either choose not to listen because your cues suck, or you're distracted. If you can't ride it out in your back yard, there's not much a chance the show ring, or competition field, or the trainer barn can repair it. 30, 60, 90 days with a professional will only fine tune the horse's skills, and if you can't handle the ride now, your horse will definitely over-react when the cues are less sensitive.
Each of our disciplines have the good, the bad, the ugly, and the "holysh!t I can't believe they haven't banned that person for life". Quit pretending you have the perfect sport and only *that other riding event over there* has the crappy trainers. Quit stereotyping breeds of horses, or styles of riders. Not all dressage riders practice rollkur, not all event cross-country horses are goofy and injured, not all barrel racers spur their horses bloody, and not all trail riding is benign. That being said, not all western pleasure horses are forced to go slow, some horses LOVE to jump (pulling their riders to a jump if the rider isn't paying attention), some barrel horses live to run, and some trail riding is outright dangerous.
If you're a quiet reader that isn't a follower, doesn't comment, and thinks I'm evil for picking on your or your best friend, that's your problem. I've been blogging for quite a while, I comment here & there , and I'm reading enough every single day to see the trends. I should say here, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or offended you", but I can't muster it today. Maybe a few months from now, but not today.
Here at work, we have a phrase with one of our instruments (a gas chromatograph), to "check the nut behind the septum". It means, "Check the user before you blame the instrument." So, I say here, "check the nut".
When I fall, I blame me. I gave Harley more of a jump challenge than I could sit. I hadn't sensitized him to gunfire. I'm not as secure in my seat as I wish I was. I tried riding him or Mo bareback and mentally wasn't in the game for it. Other events lead up to my accidents, but it's not the events fault. It's mine for not having enough years in the tack to stick it. I'm getting there. Thank you for reading while I win ribbons, tolerating the days I ramble on more than I post details, and for not asking too many "training technique" questions. I'm no trainer, just a student that keeps on learning, and doesn't intend to stop.
I'm riding this evening... who's with me?
Some people blog as a "Here's what I do, what I think is the best way to do things, and you should learn from me". Others blog as a, "Here's how it went for this ride, what I did well, what I was terrible at, and what I'll do differently."
Then, there's a mix of the two. Usually someone who touts themselves as an "expert" in whatever field they ride in. They're either pleasure princesses, dressage divas, reining-roping-racing runners, trail or endurance trotting, something. These folks will blog about their adventures, or the lack thereof, and then delve into all the details so the 'rest of us underlings' might learn something from them.
My favorite has to be the blame-blogs. You know .. "I had ___ happen in my ride/play session/groundwork stick training, and it's all ___ fault." There's no possible way they could admit they can't ride, can't read a horse's mind, the horse is too much for them, or my favorite, *gasp* they need riding lessons from one consistent ride until your damn legs fall off and come back in two weeks for another round instructor.
Here's my two cents, because those 28 few of you that follow me here, read what I post, sometimes comment, sometimes send me messages through email or facebook, or in person. Feel free to share this post, comment here, email me, facebook message me, toilet paper the old oak tree in my front yard (if you can find it)..
If you have a terrible day riding, it's your own dang fault. Fix it at home before you go anywhere and search for blame somewhere else. (For the record, I had to censor that first sentence... that's how aggrevated I am.) Quit looking for some karma-riding batshitcrazygoofball to blame your bad day on. The horse knows what you want, 98% of the time. They either choose not to listen because your cues suck, or you're distracted. If you can't ride it out in your back yard, there's not much a chance the show ring, or competition field, or the trainer barn can repair it. 30, 60, 90 days with a professional will only fine tune the horse's skills, and if you can't handle the ride now, your horse will definitely over-react when the cues are less sensitive.
Each of our disciplines have the good, the bad, the ugly, and the "holysh!t I can't believe they haven't banned that person for life". Quit pretending you have the perfect sport and only *that other riding event over there* has the crappy trainers. Quit stereotyping breeds of horses, or styles of riders. Not all dressage riders practice rollkur, not all event cross-country horses are goofy and injured, not all barrel racers spur their horses bloody, and not all trail riding is benign. That being said, not all western pleasure horses are forced to go slow, some horses LOVE to jump (pulling their riders to a jump if the rider isn't paying attention), some barrel horses live to run, and some trail riding is outright dangerous.
If you're a quiet reader that isn't a follower, doesn't comment, and thinks I'm evil for picking on your or your best friend, that's your problem. I've been blogging for quite a while, I comment here & there , and I'm reading enough every single day to see the trends. I should say here, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or offended you", but I can't muster it today. Maybe a few months from now, but not today.
Here at work, we have a phrase with one of our instruments (a gas chromatograph), to "check the nut behind the septum". It means, "Check the user before you blame the instrument." So, I say here, "check the nut".
When I fall, I blame me. I gave Harley more of a jump challenge than I could sit. I hadn't sensitized him to gunfire. I'm not as secure in my seat as I wish I was. I tried riding him or Mo bareback and mentally wasn't in the game for it. Other events lead up to my accidents, but it's not the events fault. It's mine for not having enough years in the tack to stick it. I'm getting there. Thank you for reading while I win ribbons, tolerating the days I ramble on more than I post details, and for not asking too many "training technique" questions. I'm no trainer, just a student that keeps on learning, and doesn't intend to stop.
I'm riding this evening... who's with me?
A Couple of Good Rides
Last Friday & Saturday, Harley and I had some good times. I got lots of really pretty bending work from him, which kind of shocked me.
Then, we had some nice canter over three consecutive ground poles on the circle Saturday. It was amazing how smooth he did it. Over the pole, X, pole, again, step overs. One decently nice jump.
Not this coming weekend, but next, I think it's time for another lesson to see what's ahead for us. I need to figure out how to get over this "barely stepping up over" lazyness without pushing him so hard that he panics again.
Which leads me to the next entry posting ... Well, sort of.
Then, we had some nice canter over three consecutive ground poles on the circle Saturday. It was amazing how smooth he did it. Over the pole, X, pole, again, step overs. One decently nice jump.
Not this coming weekend, but next, I think it's time for another lesson to see what's ahead for us. I need to figure out how to get over this "barely stepping up over" lazyness without pushing him so hard that he panics again.
Which leads me to the next entry posting ... Well, sort of.
Friday, March 7, 2014
!#@%
Well that settles that.
On the way home from work last night, I was eager to ride. I was going to hop on Harley dressage, and we were going to get. to. work. It was going to be amazing. And then, half way home, my belly/gut/nether regions I'm hating right now, said, "Uhm.. No. You're not riding."
With that, I parked it on the couch, cancelled my plans, and scratched the show. I'm deflated today. I had already backed off the test plans, but cancelling? Bah Humbug.
I'll get some good riding in this weekend, but competing just isn't in the cards for us tomorrow.
On the way home from work last night, I was eager to ride. I was going to hop on Harley dressage, and we were going to get. to. work. It was going to be amazing. And then, half way home, my belly/gut/nether regions I'm hating right now, said, "Uhm.. No. You're not riding."
With that, I parked it on the couch, cancelled my plans, and scratched the show. I'm deflated today. I had already backed off the test plans, but cancelling? Bah Humbug.
I'll get some good riding in this weekend, but competing just isn't in the cards for us tomorrow.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
The Weather and Mud
Monday - cold, and raining.
Tuesday - coldER and raining HardER
Wednesday - MUD
Today? I hope to actually ride. Nothing says "bring on the rain" at my house like a paid show registration. As a result, prix caprilli 2 was changed to 1, and I'm going to hope for the best. With trot-to jumps (of tiny size), I can nearly count on comments like, "Horse needs to jump".
Ah well. We can set our sights on future lessons to work on things in a more orderly fashion, and perhaps prevent a train wreck.
Tuesday - coldER and raining HardER
Wednesday - MUD
Today? I hope to actually ride. Nothing says "bring on the rain" at my house like a paid show registration. As a result, prix caprilli 2 was changed to 1, and I'm going to hope for the best. With trot-to jumps (of tiny size), I can nearly count on comments like, "Horse needs to jump".
Ah well. We can set our sights on future lessons to work on things in a more orderly fashion, and perhaps prevent a train wreck.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
3.2.14
Things are looking up.
Harley, dressage saddle. Longed him warmup, and included over-three ground poles at canter distance. Lazy. Just lazy. It wasn't until I popped the whip with force and growled at him that he finally even tried to canter over them.
Under saddle - rode the three ground poles at canter. Then three poles on the straight away (trot then canter). Things were good. A bit lazy, and sometimes rather than reach hard, he'd break to trot. I did feel a few "little canter strides" before the poles, which seemed like a good thing.
Trotted over two different X's, one a bit shorter than the other. Barely stepping over them. And I mean barely. It was near painful to feel like I was winding him up for a ... step ... boo hiss.
Sent him to it at canter right-lead. The more difficult to jump from, at least over the ground poles it's more difficult. He broke once, then cantered the ground pole, X, pole. Another break in gait, and another pretty canter. The last one, in fact, was gorgeous - he set his strides up perfectly for it, and while I felt like I was leaning too far forward, I had a handful of mane over the line, and things went well. He cantered a stride or two away from it, then settled to trot.
Went back to it from the left. Trotted over once, he knocked one of the X rails over. Pathetic. I hopped off and set it back up. I stood there a minute. I "played the good canter over in my head", and decided no matter what we got, trot or otherwise, if he at least tried, he'd get praise. Courage is being scared, but saddling up and doing it anyways, I remembered. Let's get this party started.
First canter depart, he broke to trot as soon as I turned him down the line to see the jump. I turned him away on a circle. Next time, he had a huge trip a ways in front of the jump. Back on the circle again. Finally, I was determined. A tap of the whip and a harsh growl, "Come ON already!", and Harley was ready for action.
He cantered right up to the ground pole, stepped over the jump, the following pole, then went back to canter, licking & chewing. I took that as an "I'm sorry, let me try again." So right back to it we went.
Cantered over it most beautifully. After the pole, Jump, pole, a stride or two, then back to trot. I gave him a good verbal praise and a huge pat... Asked him on the short side corner before the line to canter again, and sent him to it again. More of the same. A really nice canter over the X.
It was the bigger of the two X's I had set up, so I didn't even bother with the smaller one. It's time to pick that bigger X back up to where it used to be - fourth hole up on the standard. Send him to it at the trot, then again at the canter.
I think we're slowly working past it. I'm probably mentally hesitating in front of the jump, my little subconscious sees the huge over-jump he had. Harley feels it, and probably sees the same fear again, then breaks gait. It's okay - baby steps. I'm getting a little more courageous, and so is he.
Harley, dressage saddle. Longed him warmup, and included over-three ground poles at canter distance. Lazy. Just lazy. It wasn't until I popped the whip with force and growled at him that he finally even tried to canter over them.
Under saddle - rode the three ground poles at canter. Then three poles on the straight away (trot then canter). Things were good. A bit lazy, and sometimes rather than reach hard, he'd break to trot. I did feel a few "little canter strides" before the poles, which seemed like a good thing.
Trotted over two different X's, one a bit shorter than the other. Barely stepping over them. And I mean barely. It was near painful to feel like I was winding him up for a ... step ... boo hiss.
Sent him to it at canter right-lead. The more difficult to jump from, at least over the ground poles it's more difficult. He broke once, then cantered the ground pole, X, pole. Another break in gait, and another pretty canter. The last one, in fact, was gorgeous - he set his strides up perfectly for it, and while I felt like I was leaning too far forward, I had a handful of mane over the line, and things went well. He cantered a stride or two away from it, then settled to trot.
Went back to it from the left. Trotted over once, he knocked one of the X rails over. Pathetic. I hopped off and set it back up. I stood there a minute. I "played the good canter over in my head", and decided no matter what we got, trot or otherwise, if he at least tried, he'd get praise. Courage is being scared, but saddling up and doing it anyways, I remembered. Let's get this party started.
First canter depart, he broke to trot as soon as I turned him down the line to see the jump. I turned him away on a circle. Next time, he had a huge trip a ways in front of the jump. Back on the circle again. Finally, I was determined. A tap of the whip and a harsh growl, "Come ON already!", and Harley was ready for action.
He cantered right up to the ground pole, stepped over the jump, the following pole, then went back to canter, licking & chewing. I took that as an "I'm sorry, let me try again." So right back to it we went.
Cantered over it most beautifully. After the pole, Jump, pole, a stride or two, then back to trot. I gave him a good verbal praise and a huge pat... Asked him on the short side corner before the line to canter again, and sent him to it again. More of the same. A really nice canter over the X.
It was the bigger of the two X's I had set up, so I didn't even bother with the smaller one. It's time to pick that bigger X back up to where it used to be - fourth hole up on the standard. Send him to it at the trot, then again at the canter.
I think we're slowly working past it. I'm probably mentally hesitating in front of the jump, my little subconscious sees the huge over-jump he had. Harley feels it, and probably sees the same fear again, then breaks gait. It's okay - baby steps. I'm getting a little more courageous, and so is he.
3.1.2014
Hunter saddle, Harley warmed up nice on the flat. The wind was howling (20mph with 35+gusts), so it was nice to have him paying attention.
Trotted to the pole, X, pole. He was barely moving. Crawling. One time, he had a beautiful canter over the pole, jumped, pole, and quietly went back to trot. Lots of verbal praise from me, Jen, and a good hearty pat. Next time? Back to that lazy trot. Both directions, just stepping over.
Cantered over ground poles a while, and he started to find his stride.
Today? I'm going back to the dressage saddle, and we're going to at a minimum canter over three poles in a row, on the circle, and on the straight.
I'm entirely 100% not sure if Harley's hesitant, nervous, or just being flat-out lazy over the X at trot. He isn't really jumping, and that's NOT the horse I had before. Though, I do remember once we did canter the little X, he started only stepping over the X at trot. Hmmm..
Things to ponder while I plan for the sunrise. Weather's supposed to turn yuck late tonight, and be yuck the next three days. Cooler tomorrow, slight chance of rain. Then more cold and rain Tuesday. Certainly not the best timing, given the show Saturday. At least for the dry days, I need to "suck it up and ride".
Trotted to the pole, X, pole. He was barely moving. Crawling. One time, he had a beautiful canter over the pole, jumped, pole, and quietly went back to trot. Lots of verbal praise from me, Jen, and a good hearty pat. Next time? Back to that lazy trot. Both directions, just stepping over.
Cantered over ground poles a while, and he started to find his stride.
Today? I'm going back to the dressage saddle, and we're going to at a minimum canter over three poles in a row, on the circle, and on the straight.
I'm entirely 100% not sure if Harley's hesitant, nervous, or just being flat-out lazy over the X at trot. He isn't really jumping, and that's NOT the horse I had before. Though, I do remember once we did canter the little X, he started only stepping over the X at trot. Hmmm..
Things to ponder while I plan for the sunrise. Weather's supposed to turn yuck late tonight, and be yuck the next three days. Cooler tomorrow, slight chance of rain. Then more cold and rain Tuesday. Certainly not the best timing, given the show Saturday. At least for the dry days, I need to "suck it up and ride".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)