Try has come up with a fun new game for me. One thing about Try is he is very smart, too smart for his own good sometimes. He likes to spice things up a bit and develop new, not so fun habits to keep me on my toes. About a month ago his new fun habit was swinging himself towards the wall not leaving me much space on the left side (coincidentally the tacking side) and refusing to move over when instructed. I sought council from the all knowing R who suggested just poking him in the sensitive belly area with one finger, rather then trying to push him over, which only caused him to push back. After a day or two this was successful and he never tried it again.
We have been new habit free since then until last week. His latest fun new habit is trying to attack me when walking to / standing at the mounting block. He has always been an occasional nipper, but this was much more then that. When I walk him into the ring, we walk a small circle to un-bloat him and stop a few feet from the mounting block to tighten the girth. Then I walk him to the block, line him up, put the reins over his head, and mount. His new thing was he would try a nip or two in the beginning then from the time I tightened the girth to the time I mounted he would continuously try to come at me with his teeth, in much harsher manner than the occasional nip he has done in the past. His owner and I discussed the fact that we must put an end to this immediately so of course I went to R.
R's suggestion was to treat it like an in hand class and be very consistent. She said that every time he tried to bite me I should immediately back him up 3 or 4 steps. This was an option his owner and I had discussed, but he used to be bad about standing at the mounting block and if he scooted around too much at the block we would go and back him up, try again, etc. This was why I was not sure if I should do this for the biting at the block because I did not want to cause him any confusion. Once R confirmed this was a good plan I put it to work.
The first time I did it, I started immediately from the first little nip, so by the time we got to the block he got the picture and I would say showed definite progress. I did it again on my last ride yesterday and he did not try to go after me at the block at all, so hopefully we have put this new game to rest.
As far as riding, he has been a dream. No matter what stupid stunts he pulls on the ground, he has been consistently great under saddle. We have been doing a lot of work on his collected canter, with his head down and on the bit and he has been doing it beautifully! We have also been practicing his slow jog with his head nice and low, which is also one of his best things. I have also been doing a lot of circle work at the jog and lope, as well as, a lot of pattern work. Since he is so smart, I have to change it up and do different and challenging things to keep him entertained, so pattern work is great for him. We have also been doing some work on his turns on the haunches and to the right he is perfect, but to the left needs a little work.
Showing posts with label Try. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Try. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Updates: Try
We can't forget about Try. As I've mentioned in previous posts Try belongs to a friend of mine and was living at my trainer's farm, in full training with her. My friend approached me over the winter about riding him when he returned home, as she has a back problem that keeps her from doing much riding. I, of course, agreed and began riding him weekly at R's farm to prepare for the time when I would ride him on my own.
Well that time came in the beginning of July when he returned home. The last few weeks he was at R's I went from a weekly lesson to twice weekly supervised rides. Supervised meaning R and I rode together, her on her husband's QH, Taz and me on Try. We would both do our own thing in the beginning to warm up then we would work on something together like pattern work or pairs exercises. This made me feel fully confident in my ability when he returned home. It was weird and a bit lonely riding on my own, but Try and I have settled in to our new routine quite nicely.
We have hit a few bumps in the road, such as some extra nippyness and not being totally cooperative on cross ties in the wash stall at first and later during tack up, which is not his favorite thing to begin with. But, with R's advice we nipped those problems in the bud rather quickly and luckily he has been consistently great while riding.
R came out one day last week to watch our session and give us some guidance. She had one or two tips, but was very happy with my work with him. She got on and rode him a little too, so it was nice.
This photo was taken by Try's owner C during one of our sessions at R's farm.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Last Weeks Lessons
Last Tuesday I had another lesson on Try outside. It went well for the most part. We did more work on getting him to put his down and round up his back which he did nicely. We also did more work on transitions which are coming along nicely as well.
It was pretty hot out that day, probably around 80 degrees. Well Try decided he was hot and tired near the end of our lesson and ended it early by laying down (yes, I did say laying down). We were jogging along the rail working on our slow jog with a low head set and he broke to the walk but kept his head head very low. I tried to bump him back up into the jog, but next thing I knew were on the ground. He did not give any of the typical signs of laying down, like pawing, etc. We were jogging then we were walking and then we were on the ground. Luckily he did so slowly and easily not just plopping and even more luckily he did not roll. I jumped off of him as soon as he did it and got him up. R thinks part of the reason he didn't roll right off was because it was a bit up hill on one side where he laid down. She thinks he just got tired and overheated. His owner was there and she said he had done that before as a baby. We untacked him and hosed him off and he was fine.
Satin was wonderful in her lesson and kept all 4 feet on the ground. We were in the indoor unfortunately because it rained all day. We did some intense pattern work. She set up 3 poles in one corner of the arena and we trotted and cantered them, which was fine. She set up 3 more poles opposite them in almost a circle, so going through them in a circle was a bit of a challenge. For my pattern I started in the middle cantering to the left went on the rail over the poles doing the full circle which would switch me to right lead. I went half way around on the right lead then had to turn and do a flying lead change over a pole set up on one end. So, this put me on left lead and I had to go over the circle of poles the opposite way, which was a bit awkward because you had to switch leads as you got over the first set so you would be on right lead for the following set. Then I cantered out of that to the middle, halted and backed up. The pattern was a bit tricky in spots, but she did it very well and all in the hackamore.
It was pretty hot out that day, probably around 80 degrees. Well Try decided he was hot and tired near the end of our lesson and ended it early by laying down (yes, I did say laying down). We were jogging along the rail working on our slow jog with a low head set and he broke to the walk but kept his head head very low. I tried to bump him back up into the jog, but next thing I knew were on the ground. He did not give any of the typical signs of laying down, like pawing, etc. We were jogging then we were walking and then we were on the ground. Luckily he did so slowly and easily not just plopping and even more luckily he did not roll. I jumped off of him as soon as he did it and got him up. R thinks part of the reason he didn't roll right off was because it was a bit up hill on one side where he laid down. She thinks he just got tired and overheated. His owner was there and she said he had done that before as a baby. We untacked him and hosed him off and he was fine.
Satin was wonderful in her lesson and kept all 4 feet on the ground. We were in the indoor unfortunately because it rained all day. We did some intense pattern work. She set up 3 poles in one corner of the arena and we trotted and cantered them, which was fine. She set up 3 more poles opposite them in almost a circle, so going through them in a circle was a bit of a challenge. For my pattern I started in the middle cantering to the left went on the rail over the poles doing the full circle which would switch me to right lead. I went half way around on the right lead then had to turn and do a flying lead change over a pole set up on one end. So, this put me on left lead and I had to go over the circle of poles the opposite way, which was a bit awkward because you had to switch leads as you got over the first set so you would be on right lead for the following set. Then I cantered out of that to the middle, halted and backed up. The pattern was a bit tricky in spots, but she did it very well and all in the hackamore.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Two More Great Lessons!
I had two more great back to back lessons this week. First on Tuesday I had my weekly lesson on Try. We rode outside for the first time since I started riding him, as when I first started it was still cold and then it happened to be bad weather lesson days once spring hit. He was very excited at this prospect, as well as, the fact we were sharing our lesson with R's boarder M and her horse Lance. We did more transition work and he is getting much better especially on his upward transitions to the canter. He is also able to hold his canter much longer. We did some more work on getting him round and on the bit.
We finished with pattern work. We did two figure eights, the first at the jog, the second at the lope with simple changes and finishing with a halt and back. His jog figure eights were perfect. He was a little slow on his transitions into the canter for the second figure eight, but once he picked it up did it well. The last few attempts were a little harder as he started getting lazy, plus I think had to poop but just wouldnt of course. It was hot and he hadn't been out in the sand for a while so I can't blame him for tiring out. So it was a bit of struggle getting the canter transitions at that point, but we finished up with a decent one.
His owner plans for him to go home in the end of May, so our lesson time is almost up. While I am feeling much more confident about riding him after much guidance from R, it will be strange doing it on my own. His owner said if I felt I needed more time that was fine by her. I told her we can discuss it with R as she would know best if we were good to go or not.
The second lesson was not my usual Wednesday lesson on my lovely mare, but a first ever western lesson for my handsome BF, aka JB. After the last horseshow H suggested bringing him down to R so she could give me some help. As usual R worked her magic and he was awesome, a total rockstar! She had me do transition work going into 3 steps jog then walk then 2 steps jog again to help slow him down. We started in a small circle then serpentined across the ring, then did a small square, before worked the entire ring trying to keep the jog. She showed me the best place to put my hands and way to ask him to drop his head and slow. Of course it worked fabulously. By the end he was jogging slower then even I thought he could and with his head nice and low! I was so proud! We did a little work on backing up which helped and turns on the haunches. We also practiced the horsemanship pattern from the last show, since the judge this Sunday is a freak about perfect patterns.
After the lesson I am feeling much more confident for the upcoming show this Sunday. I am going to ride him again later today to remind him. Hopefully over the summer we can get in another lesson or two with R to help move him along even more. She liked him and thought he definitely had the ability for it.
I will of course also be showing the princess pony, aka Satin, in speed on Sunday. She has been loving th hackamore and I think it will be just what we need to step up our game for Sunday. I will let you guys know how it goes!
We finished with pattern work. We did two figure eights, the first at the jog, the second at the lope with simple changes and finishing with a halt and back. His jog figure eights were perfect. He was a little slow on his transitions into the canter for the second figure eight, but once he picked it up did it well. The last few attempts were a little harder as he started getting lazy, plus I think had to poop but just wouldnt of course. It was hot and he hadn't been out in the sand for a while so I can't blame him for tiring out. So it was a bit of struggle getting the canter transitions at that point, but we finished up with a decent one.
His owner plans for him to go home in the end of May, so our lesson time is almost up. While I am feeling much more confident about riding him after much guidance from R, it will be strange doing it on my own. His owner said if I felt I needed more time that was fine by her. I told her we can discuss it with R as she would know best if we were good to go or not.
The second lesson was not my usual Wednesday lesson on my lovely mare, but a first ever western lesson for my handsome BF, aka JB. After the last horseshow H suggested bringing him down to R so she could give me some help. As usual R worked her magic and he was awesome, a total rockstar! She had me do transition work going into 3 steps jog then walk then 2 steps jog again to help slow him down. We started in a small circle then serpentined across the ring, then did a small square, before worked the entire ring trying to keep the jog. She showed me the best place to put my hands and way to ask him to drop his head and slow. Of course it worked fabulously. By the end he was jogging slower then even I thought he could and with his head nice and low! I was so proud! We did a little work on backing up which helped and turns on the haunches. We also practiced the horsemanship pattern from the last show, since the judge this Sunday is a freak about perfect patterns.
After the lesson I am feeling much more confident for the upcoming show this Sunday. I am going to ride him again later today to remind him. Hopefully over the summer we can get in another lesson or two with R to help move him along even more. She liked him and thought he definitely had the ability for it.
I will of course also be showing the princess pony, aka Satin, in speed on Sunday. She has been loving th hackamore and I think it will be just what we need to step up our game for Sunday. I will let you guys know how it goes!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
2 Great Lessons!
I had two back to back and very good lessons this week. As you all know by now I absolutely love my trainer, the fabulous R. She has taught me so much and every time I am at her farm I learn so much. She knows about basically everything horse related, its amazing.
Anyway, so on Tuesday I had a lesson on Try. We are pretty used to each other now, so each lesson we get better and better. On Tuesday we did a lot of work with transitions going from trot to canter, canter to trot, trot to jog, jog to trot, to walk, etc. We also worked on trot / canter with his head down, framed up, using his back. He did very well. Then at the end we did some work on roll backs. It went along with our transition work: cantering down stopping, turning on the haunches, canter again, repeat. It was basically a slow version of a rollback as he is still green and working up to it. At the end we did some faster ones with him hand galloping, doing an almost sliding stop, and roll back. He was awesome! I told R I want him to be a reining horse. LOL
Yesterday, I had my bi-weekly lesson on Satin, along with our friend L and her mare Lexie, our lesson partners. Now I have to give the back story to what we worked on in this particular lesson. When running in speed events I have been using the regular tom thumb I use for everything else. I have noticed when looking at show pictures whenever I ask her to turn or slow down she open her mouth in a way that looks like I am really pulling on her which I am definitely not. R figured it had to do with the way the bit breaks, and that it might be pushing into the top of her mouth. This made sense to me, so I did a little further investigation. I talked to some barrel people I know and found none of them use this bit for speed. One of them even told me its one of the worst bit options for a speed horse. I asked around and got several suggestions then went back to R. She dug through her supplies and found two western bits she thought were worth trying. One had a similar mouth piece to the tom thumb but a different shank and the other was not a broken bit it was one piece, but jointed with a roller. Then I mentioned that my friend J who gave me the wonderful Satin used to ride her in a hackamore, which is what I used when I first got her. R's response was "Well then let's try that too". A little more digging produced a hackamore, the perfect size for my little mare. R instructed me to go home and do a little speed work with these at home and let her know what I thought worked best.
Well that was late Saturday and Sunday I went on a beach ride (which I will write about later) so Monday Satin got off, which left me Tuesday for bit trial. So I had R's 2 bits, plus my friend K's barrel bit, and the hackamore to try. I warmed up and did a barrel dash and keyhole run in the hackamore with my friend K observing. Then I went through each of the other three bits doing the same. Keyhole, on the rollback, is where she does it the mouth opening the most, so it was my best tell. Out of all the options the hackamore was the best. No mouth opening at all.
So yesterday I went to the lesson with the hackamore to learn the best way to use it. Satin loves it! She was awesome! She was nice and forward and raring to go. We did a lot of transition work especially canter to halt to canter and jog to halt to jog. R was trying to help us get used to the hackamore and figure out the best way to use it. Afterwards we did some pattern work involving serpentines, a roll back, and backing up. She was so hyper so the beginning was a bit sloppy. BUT, I intended to just to simple changes through the halt and after we did the pattern once she was do flying changes at each spot where I planned to simple and doing them perfectly. She was even doing them on a straight line without being asked just cnatering down the ring to do a rollback. We both have to get a little more used to the hackamore, but it is definitely our new favorite toy. R thinks she will be quite speedy wearing that at the next show. I am looking forward to it!
Anyway, so on Tuesday I had a lesson on Try. We are pretty used to each other now, so each lesson we get better and better. On Tuesday we did a lot of work with transitions going from trot to canter, canter to trot, trot to jog, jog to trot, to walk, etc. We also worked on trot / canter with his head down, framed up, using his back. He did very well. Then at the end we did some work on roll backs. It went along with our transition work: cantering down stopping, turning on the haunches, canter again, repeat. It was basically a slow version of a rollback as he is still green and working up to it. At the end we did some faster ones with him hand galloping, doing an almost sliding stop, and roll back. He was awesome! I told R I want him to be a reining horse. LOL
Yesterday, I had my bi-weekly lesson on Satin, along with our friend L and her mare Lexie, our lesson partners. Now I have to give the back story to what we worked on in this particular lesson. When running in speed events I have been using the regular tom thumb I use for everything else. I have noticed when looking at show pictures whenever I ask her to turn or slow down she open her mouth in a way that looks like I am really pulling on her which I am definitely not. R figured it had to do with the way the bit breaks, and that it might be pushing into the top of her mouth. This made sense to me, so I did a little further investigation. I talked to some barrel people I know and found none of them use this bit for speed. One of them even told me its one of the worst bit options for a speed horse. I asked around and got several suggestions then went back to R. She dug through her supplies and found two western bits she thought were worth trying. One had a similar mouth piece to the tom thumb but a different shank and the other was not a broken bit it was one piece, but jointed with a roller. Then I mentioned that my friend J who gave me the wonderful Satin used to ride her in a hackamore, which is what I used when I first got her. R's response was "Well then let's try that too". A little more digging produced a hackamore, the perfect size for my little mare. R instructed me to go home and do a little speed work with these at home and let her know what I thought worked best.
Well that was late Saturday and Sunday I went on a beach ride (which I will write about later) so Monday Satin got off, which left me Tuesday for bit trial. So I had R's 2 bits, plus my friend K's barrel bit, and the hackamore to try. I warmed up and did a barrel dash and keyhole run in the hackamore with my friend K observing. Then I went through each of the other three bits doing the same. Keyhole, on the rollback, is where she does it the mouth opening the most, so it was my best tell. Out of all the options the hackamore was the best. No mouth opening at all.
So yesterday I went to the lesson with the hackamore to learn the best way to use it. Satin loves it! She was awesome! She was nice and forward and raring to go. We did a lot of transition work especially canter to halt to canter and jog to halt to jog. R was trying to help us get used to the hackamore and figure out the best way to use it. Afterwards we did some pattern work involving serpentines, a roll back, and backing up. She was so hyper so the beginning was a bit sloppy. BUT, I intended to just to simple changes through the halt and after we did the pattern once she was do flying changes at each spot where I planned to simple and doing them perfectly. She was even doing them on a straight line without being asked just cnatering down the ring to do a rollback. We both have to get a little more used to the hackamore, but it is definitely our new favorite toy. R thinks she will be quite speedy wearing that at the next show. I am looking forward to it!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Show Season 2011 = T - 2 days
Show season is just two days away! As you can all probably tell by the fact that I went from hardly posting to posting twice in the same week LOL I am excited but also have time to write because I am sitting in my internship with nothing to do right now.
Anyway, so Satin and I had a lesson on Wednesday. We tested out out new western spurs which went well and did help. It started a little rough and we had some rough spots on our lead changes, but had some beautiful ones as well. We went inside at the end to try and fix the problem with the one change and I asked if I could some practice pole bending first. My trainer had 4 standards set up like poles from my last lesson on Try. We did and she was perfect, especially for not having done them in months and for them not really set up for real pole bending. My trainer was equally impressed asking How I could get every change flawlessly and do what she was trying to explain to me to do in the poles and not in the figure eight. My reply was because when I am doing poles I am not thinking about getting lead changes. The crazy mare seems raring to go for Sunday!
I also rode JB yesterday and we practiced some trail obstacles. We did the shoot which he did perfectly and knocked down the pole. Then we went for the bridge which he did not like last time he encountered it. It took a team of people and carrots but we convinced him and by the end had him doing it on his own with just be aboard. He looks like a million bucks so I have no worries for in hand. I am looking forward to the beginner western too. It will be fun.
I had a great lesson on Try last week too. We did more work on transitions and simple lead changes and did some pole work. R is basically teaching me how to train as she said, since he is a young, green horse and basically everything you do is a training opportunity, as well as, excercise. This is awesome because who better to get training tips and methods from then the best trainer I know.
Anyway, so Satin and I had a lesson on Wednesday. We tested out out new western spurs which went well and did help. It started a little rough and we had some rough spots on our lead changes, but had some beautiful ones as well. We went inside at the end to try and fix the problem with the one change and I asked if I could some practice pole bending first. My trainer had 4 standards set up like poles from my last lesson on Try. We did and she was perfect, especially for not having done them in months and for them not really set up for real pole bending. My trainer was equally impressed asking How I could get every change flawlessly and do what she was trying to explain to me to do in the poles and not in the figure eight. My reply was because when I am doing poles I am not thinking about getting lead changes. The crazy mare seems raring to go for Sunday!
I also rode JB yesterday and we practiced some trail obstacles. We did the shoot which he did perfectly and knocked down the pole. Then we went for the bridge which he did not like last time he encountered it. It took a team of people and carrots but we convinced him and by the end had him doing it on his own with just be aboard. He looks like a million bucks so I have no worries for in hand. I am looking forward to the beginner western too. It will be fun.
I had a great lesson on Try last week too. We did more work on transitions and simple lead changes and did some pole work. R is basically teaching me how to train as she said, since he is a young, green horse and basically everything you do is a training opportunity, as well as, excercise. This is awesome because who better to get training tips and methods from then the best trainer I know.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Show Season Has Arrived!
Show Season is officially here! We are exactly 6 days from the first show of the season! This season Satin and I will once again be showing in the speed division. She has been geared up and ready to go all week. She has been very hyper, which is a good thing for speed. Also, our flawless lead changes are back! It seems our chiropractic worked because our last lesson went great! Satin was a rockstar! We have another lesson this week so looking forward to that and some show prep. We need to work on our rollbacks again. We practiced the other day, and she did well. We just hadn't done them all winter before that.
So back to show season. Anyway, I am also showing my friend's horse I refer to as boyfriend in model (which he is already a rockstar in) and beginner western. It will be his western debut and I am pretty excited about it.
My last two lessons on Try went good as well, especially the last one. We did some work on patterns (figure eights, pole bending, etc) and simple lead changes. We are both getting better and better each time. His owner got him a new saddle so I am trying to get the hang of that. All horse people know breaking in new leather, especially tack, stinks. We have our next lesson tomorrow so looking forward to that.
Here is hoping to good weather on show day!
So back to show season. Anyway, I am also showing my friend's horse I refer to as boyfriend in model (which he is already a rockstar in) and beginner western. It will be his western debut and I am pretty excited about it.
My last two lessons on Try went good as well, especially the last one. We did some work on patterns (figure eights, pole bending, etc) and simple lead changes. We are both getting better and better each time. His owner got him a new saddle so I am trying to get the hang of that. All horse people know breaking in new leather, especially tack, stinks. We have our next lesson tomorrow so looking forward to that.
Here is hoping to good weather on show day!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Spring is Finally Here .... Supposedly
Last week it was evident that was spring was on it's ways with many days in the 60s and even 70s. Sunday was the first official day of spring and the weather has gone down hill from there. They are talking about possible snow tomorrow, though hopefully it will really be all rain.
My last lesson on Satin went well though she did have a hard time with her lead change in the one direction. I had one a gift certificate for chiropractic which happened to be with my regular vet so he came out last week. It was quite interesting as I had never seen anything like it before. He did say though that all her problems were on her right side, which I expected because when I bend her on the ground she has a harder time in that direction. When I told R this she said that could be the reason for her lead change issues. I have my next lesson tomorrow so we will see if things have improved.
My last lesson on Try was great. The lesson before we had a few stopping/stubborness issues but R helped me work through it and I finally figured him out on that stuff at least. So, my last lesson went much better. We had none of that stopping stuff. He did think about it once or twice but he was able to stop it before it started. R had us canter with the reins hooked over the horn which was interesting. She wanted me to trust him more and not go to use my hands so much, but rather to rely more on seat and legs. Since I have only ridden the horse about 5 times it was hard for me to resist picking up the reins to fix him as I do not know him well enough for that kind of trust yet, but he is a good boy and has no where to go in that indoor.
Anyway only had time for a quick update. I have to get back to interning so I can get to the barn soon.
My last lesson on Satin went well though she did have a hard time with her lead change in the one direction. I had one a gift certificate for chiropractic which happened to be with my regular vet so he came out last week. It was quite interesting as I had never seen anything like it before. He did say though that all her problems were on her right side, which I expected because when I bend her on the ground she has a harder time in that direction. When I told R this she said that could be the reason for her lead change issues. I have my next lesson tomorrow so we will see if things have improved.
My last lesson on Try was great. The lesson before we had a few stopping/stubborness issues but R helped me work through it and I finally figured him out on that stuff at least. So, my last lesson went much better. We had none of that stopping stuff. He did think about it once or twice but he was able to stop it before it started. R had us canter with the reins hooked over the horn which was interesting. She wanted me to trust him more and not go to use my hands so much, but rather to rely more on seat and legs. Since I have only ridden the horse about 5 times it was hard for me to resist picking up the reins to fix him as I do not know him well enough for that kind of trust yet, but he is a good boy and has no where to go in that indoor.
Anyway only had time for a quick update. I have to get back to interning so I can get to the barn soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
