More dressage, more side rein warmup. The humidity was quite oppressive, combined with some warmer temperatures than yesterday. 100% my fault for sleeping late and therefore starting late.
About 40 minutes. LOTS of walk/halt/walk, and trot/walk/trot transitions. The halt/trot/halt made him bouncy yesterday, and the new transitions definitely got him lighter on my leg and lighter on the bit. Canter sets were nice - more bend. To start, I stayed OFF the circle, sent him down lines, and he stayed in it fairly well. Circles to the end of the ride to work on his bend, and get his face in while still pushing from behind. After canters, his trot was a little bigger, and definitely rounder.
The good fortune of some light rain overnight left a smooth arena surface - which meant I got to see hoofprints as we rode by. Some nice tracking up trot, definite tracked up plus in canter (which is cool to see). I would've like a bit closer prints in trot, but considering he was not fighting the bit nearly like he has been, I'm satisfied with what I had.
After Harley's 50 minutes in the arena, the sun began peeking out through the leftover clouds. With the grass wet, and the trees still dripping from the storms overnight, the air became incredibly humid very very quickly. I apologized to Mo, and watered the flowers instead. :)
Sunday, June 30, 2013
6-29-13 Harley N Mo
Harley got a little side rein longe before the ride Saturday. Not so much to "get boogers off", but to get his muscles loose and working. When I sat down to ride, he was less fussy than he's been.
Rode quite a while. A total of about 45 minutes riding, 10-15 longing. He was pretty awesome. A little lazy heading canter-left, but nothing some spur and seat driving didn't fix up. His bend on circles was NOT good to start, but he started to relax, and stop fighting so much.
Nice halt/trot/halt transitions, along with a few walk/canter/trot sets. I don't see any reason to ask him for walk/canter/walk, not at this level. But walk/canter gives him some impulsion that seriously improves the canter/trot.
Romeo glared at me when I caught him. I settled for a little light work on the bareback pad, walk/trot only. No neck rope, only his snaffle bit, and loose rein. One set of trot I asked for a short rein and some push, and he cooperated, mostly. About 20 minutes, maybe 25. By the time I got to Mo, it was starting to be hot & yucky outside. No reason to push it...
Rode quite a while. A total of about 45 minutes riding, 10-15 longing. He was pretty awesome. A little lazy heading canter-left, but nothing some spur and seat driving didn't fix up. His bend on circles was NOT good to start, but he started to relax, and stop fighting so much.
Nice halt/trot/halt transitions, along with a few walk/canter/trot sets. I don't see any reason to ask him for walk/canter/walk, not at this level. But walk/canter gives him some impulsion that seriously improves the canter/trot.
Romeo glared at me when I caught him. I settled for a little light work on the bareback pad, walk/trot only. No neck rope, only his snaffle bit, and loose rein. One set of trot I asked for a short rein and some push, and he cooperated, mostly. About 20 minutes, maybe 25. By the time I got to Mo, it was starting to be hot & yucky outside. No reason to push it...
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Just thought you needed to know
I have MoJo Mondays pre-scheduled up through August 12, 2013.
Your comments and messages and laughter inspire me to keep sticking MoJo in weird places.
He's got a few more beams and trucks to play with.
In August, MoJo celebrates my birthday. :) We get into all kinds of fun there.
And, you can't have the MoJo, without a little tequila, right?
If you're of the mind, dare MoJo to get into something. Got someplace you can't imagine a little stuffed Monkey might go? Post it! Let's see if YOU the readers can fill up September and October with MoJo adventures.
6/25/13 Nice try, Sneaky
Caught Harley and dressed him. Checked the weather one more time before walking to the arena. Heat Index was about 96F. UGH. But not as bad as it could've been. A decent breeze lingered over the property.
I didn't bother longing him. Screw it, I'm just riding. Make the most out of this awful weather rather than stand on a circle a while. I sent him straightaway at the walk and began bending in shapes, circles, figure8s, and some tight serpentines. He loosened up nicely. Off to trotting some figure8s and a few lines, and a little circles of canter.
Heading left canter, he tried to duck away. Was there a spook there? Heck no. Was there a good reason? Nah, just ignoring. He'd just tried to break gait, and I sent him on forward with a kick and a smooch. He definitely just didn't want to canter. He broke to trot as he went off sideways. I stuck it, and he paused, probably confused. I sent him right back at long trot, pushed hard, and quickly asked for that canter again. One heavy sigh, and he cantered off.
After the warmup, I shortened my reins, and asked for a big trot collected. WOW. Yeah, go supplement Go! Harley was moving, covering some ground. Lines, circles, all were pretty good. His shoulders weren't steerable to start, but he relaxed more as time went on. After a little collected canter on circles, and a walk break, I did some canter starting on a circle, then riding a longer line to another circle. Good results. Great in fact. He stayed in gait (though more energy required at left than right), and his transitions got better each time. In and out of big trot to a nice strided canter, and back to the nice trot. No muss no fuss. No head tossing, no fighting. He's picked up what he thinks is a way out of canter-left nicely - twisting his face away from the contact. He's been sticking his nose OUT at the canter-left some. He gave me a bit of this at trot left, so I made him ride an entire trot circle counter-flexed. OOOOH what a hissy fit. His tail let me know he was ticked. It even felt like he hopped up in front in protest. Once he got the counter bend, and was attentive, I asked him to bend inside the circle. Oh well, much better Harley, as he started a nice bend left on the circle. A big improvement.
Wednesday? It didn't cool to heat indeces under 100 until 745pm. Too close to sunset since I don't have lights. Tonight? Not much better. Different weather reports have a heat index lingering between 97 & 100. That's a little too close to my personal limit to ask the boys to work.
We are slowly approaching "too hot to ride after work" time of the year. This will slow my rides to maybe one work night walk, and the weekends (short or long) riding early in the am, then nothing but light work on week nights, if at all. What's your limit? When do you "call it"? I know some folks add temperature & humidity, and call that sum of 140 or 150 too much. Me? In the mornings, even if it is stuffy humid, I go by feel. Am I miserable? Is the sun baking us early? I try to get out just at daylight to dress the horse, then ride the harder ride first. Usually that means Harley goes first. Then Mo comes out, but he doesn't work as hard, or as long.
So share .. What's "too hot to ride" where you are? :)
I didn't bother longing him. Screw it, I'm just riding. Make the most out of this awful weather rather than stand on a circle a while. I sent him straightaway at the walk and began bending in shapes, circles, figure8s, and some tight serpentines. He loosened up nicely. Off to trotting some figure8s and a few lines, and a little circles of canter.
Heading left canter, he tried to duck away. Was there a spook there? Heck no. Was there a good reason? Nah, just ignoring. He'd just tried to break gait, and I sent him on forward with a kick and a smooch. He definitely just didn't want to canter. He broke to trot as he went off sideways. I stuck it, and he paused, probably confused. I sent him right back at long trot, pushed hard, and quickly asked for that canter again. One heavy sigh, and he cantered off.
After the warmup, I shortened my reins, and asked for a big trot collected. WOW. Yeah, go supplement Go! Harley was moving, covering some ground. Lines, circles, all were pretty good. His shoulders weren't steerable to start, but he relaxed more as time went on. After a little collected canter on circles, and a walk break, I did some canter starting on a circle, then riding a longer line to another circle. Good results. Great in fact. He stayed in gait (though more energy required at left than right), and his transitions got better each time. In and out of big trot to a nice strided canter, and back to the nice trot. No muss no fuss. No head tossing, no fighting. He's picked up what he thinks is a way out of canter-left nicely - twisting his face away from the contact. He's been sticking his nose OUT at the canter-left some. He gave me a bit of this at trot left, so I made him ride an entire trot circle counter-flexed. OOOOH what a hissy fit. His tail let me know he was ticked. It even felt like he hopped up in front in protest. Once he got the counter bend, and was attentive, I asked him to bend inside the circle. Oh well, much better Harley, as he started a nice bend left on the circle. A big improvement.
Wednesday? It didn't cool to heat indeces under 100 until 745pm. Too close to sunset since I don't have lights. Tonight? Not much better. Different weather reports have a heat index lingering between 97 & 100. That's a little too close to my personal limit to ask the boys to work.
We are slowly approaching "too hot to ride after work" time of the year. This will slow my rides to maybe one work night walk, and the weekends (short or long) riding early in the am, then nothing but light work on week nights, if at all. What's your limit? When do you "call it"? I know some folks add temperature & humidity, and call that sum of 140 or 150 too much. Me? In the mornings, even if it is stuffy humid, I go by feel. Am I miserable? Is the sun baking us early? I try to get out just at daylight to dress the horse, then ride the harder ride first. Usually that means Harley goes first. Then Mo comes out, but he doesn't work as hard, or as long.
So share .. What's "too hot to ride" where you are? :)
Monday, June 24, 2013
Monkey Mondays 6/24/2013
MoJo asked me, "Please don't leave me here in traffic. The bugs look horrible!"
Sunday, June 23, 2013
6/23/13 Harley
Skipped the longe, as he was quiet catching & saddling. Warmed up on light contact w.t.c., figuring that was less work than the side reins he's done before. Nice & quiet. Warmed up riding squares instead of circles, followed by a tiny bit of leg yield. In no time, less than 5 minutes, he was focused on the job.
Got down to business, and found him a little lazy in the first set of 3-circle canters heading left. He broke, twice. DRAT. Maybe the supplement isn't doing the trick after all. I got some decent canter-left, though his neck was low, his face was twisted to the outside. I flexed him left & right at the halt, listening for his neck to pop. No-go. Hmm.. time for a change in plans.
Canter-right, nice 3-circles. Worked on some more trot left and right, flexing in and out of the circles. Sent him straight down a quarterline, and he was paying complete attention to me. Nice and forward and light.
Testing him out again, I sent him canter-left and instead of 3-circles, I went straight ahead. Once he quit fussing and straightened his head out, his canter was incredible. Powerhouse straight ahead, and while not 100% collected, he wasn't twisted in his face, and he wasn't breaking gait. More repeated canter-right, same results.
A tiny set of leg yields at trot, followed up by a touch more canter. I glanced at my watch, making sure I wasn't pushing too hard in the heat. 40 minutes. All riding, all awesome. Cooled him down with some stretch trot circles, and some good free walk.
The energy supplement is helping. Once warmed up (and this seems to take longer than I figured at his age), Harley's got forward and bend, with more in the tank.
If schedules work, I think it's about time for our next lesson soon. :) I'm anxious to keep testing his new warm-up work, and see just what it's going to take to get that boost of energy after a trailer ride.
Got down to business, and found him a little lazy in the first set of 3-circle canters heading left. He broke, twice. DRAT. Maybe the supplement isn't doing the trick after all. I got some decent canter-left, though his neck was low, his face was twisted to the outside. I flexed him left & right at the halt, listening for his neck to pop. No-go. Hmm.. time for a change in plans.
Canter-right, nice 3-circles. Worked on some more trot left and right, flexing in and out of the circles. Sent him straight down a quarterline, and he was paying complete attention to me. Nice and forward and light.
Testing him out again, I sent him canter-left and instead of 3-circles, I went straight ahead. Once he quit fussing and straightened his head out, his canter was incredible. Powerhouse straight ahead, and while not 100% collected, he wasn't twisted in his face, and he wasn't breaking gait. More repeated canter-right, same results.
A tiny set of leg yields at trot, followed up by a touch more canter. I glanced at my watch, making sure I wasn't pushing too hard in the heat. 40 minutes. All riding, all awesome. Cooled him down with some stretch trot circles, and some good free walk.
The energy supplement is helping. Once warmed up (and this seems to take longer than I figured at his age), Harley's got forward and bend, with more in the tank.
If schedules work, I think it's about time for our next lesson soon. :) I'm anxious to keep testing his new warm-up work, and see just what it's going to take to get that boost of energy after a trailer ride.
Friday, June 21, 2013
6/20 pm & 6/21 am
I really wanted to ride last night. After waiting until 7pm to even go outside, I realized it was just too humid. Harley and I settled for a hand walk down the road, and hose-down. Romeo got some loving and hose-down. Both horses said "thank you" by rolling in the sand. *ugh*
This morning, I caught Harley first. A brief loose longe to test his mood - terrific. I hopped on (oops.. hunt saddle). He walked out nice & awake. A few circles & serpentines to get him bending, which began a fight but settled.
The ride? Fantastic! He was forward in trot, and developed nicely in the canter. Heading right, he was amazing. He broke a couple times going left, but finally warmed his legs up enough to stay steady in it. Over the tall crossrail, he was amazing. I was able to lift to 2point quite a ways before the fence, and he was definitely doing more than just stepping up & over. It wasn't a "plant n jump", but it wasn't nearly knocking it over lazy, either. I trotted some 2point down the long sides, and he stayed in it without a lot of extra pressure. I was ready to walk him out, and when I shortened my reins and squeezed without thinking about it, Harley popped up to trot. Wow. We'd been at it for a full half hour plus of hard work. Awesome. So I rode some more trot, then asked for canter. Cantered a stride sitting, then up to 2point. Heading left first. Fabulous --- he finally stayed IN the canter with me up off his back, rode 3/4 of the arena long sides & all. Turned right, and got more of the same.
SmartEnergy is the ticket for this horse. We had whitetail deer & fawns running across the field behind the arena, and he noticed them, yet didn't over-react. It was really nice to have a full ride, and not feel like we fought the whole time.
I am anxious to see how the rest of our weekend goes.
Romeo enjoyed about 40minutes of w.t.c. endurance saddle in his snaffle bit. He was ready to go as well, but easily controllable. He barely broke a sweat, so I guess we didn't work hard enough.
Another roasting HOT day outside, so my activities will keep me indoors in the A/C until again tomorrow evening. working tomorrow driving ... gotta pay the vet bills.
This morning, I caught Harley first. A brief loose longe to test his mood - terrific. I hopped on (oops.. hunt saddle). He walked out nice & awake. A few circles & serpentines to get him bending, which began a fight but settled.
The ride? Fantastic! He was forward in trot, and developed nicely in the canter. Heading right, he was amazing. He broke a couple times going left, but finally warmed his legs up enough to stay steady in it. Over the tall crossrail, he was amazing. I was able to lift to 2point quite a ways before the fence, and he was definitely doing more than just stepping up & over. It wasn't a "plant n jump", but it wasn't nearly knocking it over lazy, either. I trotted some 2point down the long sides, and he stayed in it without a lot of extra pressure. I was ready to walk him out, and when I shortened my reins and squeezed without thinking about it, Harley popped up to trot. Wow. We'd been at it for a full half hour plus of hard work. Awesome. So I rode some more trot, then asked for canter. Cantered a stride sitting, then up to 2point. Heading left first. Fabulous --- he finally stayed IN the canter with me up off his back, rode 3/4 of the arena long sides & all. Turned right, and got more of the same.
SmartEnergy is the ticket for this horse. We had whitetail deer & fawns running across the field behind the arena, and he noticed them, yet didn't over-react. It was really nice to have a full ride, and not feel like we fought the whole time.
I am anxious to see how the rest of our weekend goes.
Romeo enjoyed about 40minutes of w.t.c. endurance saddle in his snaffle bit. He was ready to go as well, but easily controllable. He barely broke a sweat, so I guess we didn't work hard enough.
Another roasting HOT day outside, so my activities will keep me indoors in the A/C until again tomorrow evening. working tomorrow driving ... gotta pay the vet bills.
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