11 February 2012
Today was supposed to be cold. -20 degrees Celsius with the wind chill... Brrrr. So I dressed up warm with heat packs in my toes and hands. By the time I got to Arty I'd already ridden my mare and Miss L, the reining mare. I figured both the pony and I needed an escape from the arena, so I popped on his trail gear and we tagged along with two others for a short (1 hour) trail ride through one of the local conservation areas.
Arty hacks in a hackamore (the type with a shank & curb chain) due to his poor trail training, his love of running and leading, and his immense pony strength. Through the 10 minute walk down the road to get to the trails, he was bent right and drifting left. Correcting this in a hackamore is more challenging, but I opened my right rein, asked for some left bend, and pushed HARD with my left leg. It sort of worked, but was better than anything else I tried. He seemed to have lost all his arena training the moment we started down the road... not a good thing.
The ride itself was fun. We walked a bit, did a tiny bit of trot work, a fairly long hand gallop (one of the horses [naturally the retired one] threw a bucking fit and took off) some more walking, and then some trotting & cantering through snow in fields. It was gorgeous... perhaps more running and less trotting than I would have done but I was just along for the ride. (being a self-invited tag along and all)
I put my mare's old cooler (which I'd brought out for da pony) on arty when we got back as he had some sweat underneath his saddle area. A 75' cooler on a pony who wears a 68 looks pretty damn cute. I wished I had a camera for that one :)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Day 10
10 February 2011
It was late when I got home from riding the mare, and I was cold. But the weather man said tomorrow was going to be worse, so headed out to the barn to ride the pony decked out in 6 sweaters and coats, a few pairs of long johns, and heat packs for my hands and feet.
The pony stood gamely in the cross ties while I groomed him and attempted to detangle his mane. Every time I do this, he rolls and knots it back up again. Oh pony... We flipped on the arena lights and made our way out into the cold. There was about 2 inches of snow, maybe 3, when we entered the arena. The top layer of footing broke up and mixed in with the snow quite nicely around the rail to create near perfect conditions, but only a small area of the center of the ring was ridable. So, we spent most of our time trotting around like a lesson pony. Arty wasn't quite as supple as he was the other night, nor was he quite as straight. With some work though, we attained an acceptable level of straightness in the walk and the trot.
We did a few laps of canter for muscle building, and it was the same- great left (more supple and bendable) and a challenge to the right. Time to kick our canter buts into gear and get the muscle/balance exercises out!
It was late when I got home from riding the mare, and I was cold. But the weather man said tomorrow was going to be worse, so headed out to the barn to ride the pony decked out in 6 sweaters and coats, a few pairs of long johns, and heat packs for my hands and feet.
The pony stood gamely in the cross ties while I groomed him and attempted to detangle his mane. Every time I do this, he rolls and knots it back up again. Oh pony... We flipped on the arena lights and made our way out into the cold. There was about 2 inches of snow, maybe 3, when we entered the arena. The top layer of footing broke up and mixed in with the snow quite nicely around the rail to create near perfect conditions, but only a small area of the center of the ring was ridable. So, we spent most of our time trotting around like a lesson pony. Arty wasn't quite as supple as he was the other night, nor was he quite as straight. With some work though, we attained an acceptable level of straightness in the walk and the trot.
We did a few laps of canter for muscle building, and it was the same- great left (more supple and bendable) and a challenge to the right. Time to kick our canter buts into gear and get the muscle/balance exercises out!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Day 8
8 February 2012
Today we were back at it. I rode the pony while the mare I was riding next had her farrier appointment. I love it when timings just work out like that. I realized I'd gone about my previous ride in a bit of the wrong direction. Arty didn't fully understand the bend and release in the walk, so it would be ridiculous to expect him to get it in the trot. He had the general idea in the walk, but not quite enough for it to translate into the trot. Today I set about perfecting the bend & release in the walk, then moved to the trot. He was still a little resistant, but that's definitely to be expected. Overall, it felt like wonderful progress. He's come a long, long way in just a week.
The footing was awful, so I only had a really small area that met my footing requirements. Issues with riding outside in the middle of winter. I did however manage to fit in a wee bit of canter, and his left was good but the right was weak. I plan on free lunging him to do a quick examination of how he picks up and carries each lead at liberty.
Our next week will be centered on muscle building, responsiveness, and maintaining our bend/straightness work.
Oh, and there was a little cavaletti left in the ring, so I hopped him over it just out of curiosity. It was... awkward. He stuttered, came in deep, and popped it. Lucky it barely made 18"! He's always required a fair bit of setting up to get his spots right, so mehaps if I can pop some muscle on him, allowing him to find his spots without my help will be another thing to work on.
Today we were back at it. I rode the pony while the mare I was riding next had her farrier appointment. I love it when timings just work out like that. I realized I'd gone about my previous ride in a bit of the wrong direction. Arty didn't fully understand the bend and release in the walk, so it would be ridiculous to expect him to get it in the trot. He had the general idea in the walk, but not quite enough for it to translate into the trot. Today I set about perfecting the bend & release in the walk, then moved to the trot. He was still a little resistant, but that's definitely to be expected. Overall, it felt like wonderful progress. He's come a long, long way in just a week.
The footing was awful, so I only had a really small area that met my footing requirements. Issues with riding outside in the middle of winter. I did however manage to fit in a wee bit of canter, and his left was good but the right was weak. I plan on free lunging him to do a quick examination of how he picks up and carries each lead at liberty.
Our next week will be centered on muscle building, responsiveness, and maintaining our bend/straightness work.
Oh, and there was a little cavaletti left in the ring, so I hopped him over it just out of curiosity. It was... awkward. He stuttered, came in deep, and popped it. Lucky it barely made 18"! He's always required a fair bit of setting up to get his spots right, so mehaps if I can pop some muscle on him, allowing him to find his spots without my help will be another thing to work on.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Day 7
Arty had his day off today, as did my mare, which was wonderful because I spent the day sick & in bed. I had to reschedule another mare I was supposed to be riding, and a lesson. At least school wasn't busy which left me with a day to sleep away my fever & not worry about catching up on missed work.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Day 6
6 February 2012
Today was a challenge. While the pony's awesome, he can do a great impression of a bulldog when he wants to. He bears down, and charges through anything in his way. I know this from personal experience- that's his favourite trick out on the trails when he wants to run. After a few rides he quit doing that with me, but apparently it makes an appearance every now and again with others.
This bulldozer technique made an appearance again when I asked him to halt in front of the mounting block. He halted, then walked a few steps forward. I corrected him and asked him to back up and yield to my reins.
We eventually moved a step back, then he charged again dragging me halfway across the ring. I naturally corrected him, but I felt awful as his eyes were rolling & his nostrils were flared like he feared for his life. I tried to reassure him, then we walked back to the mounting block and hopped on without incident.
I'm not a fan of controlling horses through fear, power, and aggression. Just like when you control people that way, eventually you'll get an uprising. This does NOT mean that you should never correct a horse; when a horse does something wrong they need to know that its wrong. It's all in how you communicate the message.
With Arty, his past experiences make it difficult. He always fears pain. To this day, he shies if you lift a saddle pad too high, if you wave things, etc. So how do you correct a horse who is running right through you without frightening him? If anyone knows the answer, I'd love to hear it because I sure don't.
Anyhow, the rest of our ride didn't improve much. We had decent bending going on in the walk, though the left bend still requires a fair bit of inside leg to prevent him from falling through that shoulder. His straightness was good too, and we could walk straight down the long side of the arena with only a few corrections. The trot however, was a bit of a disaster.
It started out alright- we trotted around and managed to not fall in through the corners left and right. He was rushy, but not awful. From there I popped him into a left lead canter... which was passable, then took a quick break. When I popped him back into the trot, calm was no longer a part of our vocabulary. First I tried to attains some softness in his jaw with the hopes that from there, rhythm would come. No such luck. Then I tried to slow his trot (which was semi-successful) and worked on bending from there.
My main goal was to get him to give and soften. I'm never fussed about frame as I don't really see the point in having your horse's neck all tucked up just for the sake of making the horse look pretty. If a horse is bends, is soft, and is balanced all without ever tucking their nose then wonderful- let it hold its head however it likes. The fact is, most horses do come into a frame and carry themselves like that when their neck, jaw, and body is soft and yielding. So my sole goal for the pony was to get some give. I couldn't tell you how long we spent just trotting with me asking him to yield to my inside rein and leg. Instead he threw his head, tried to rush, threw his head some more, impersonated a giraffe, and tried to walk. I had to drop my stirrups to gain full control of my leg and seat, so I could use them effectively and give some really strong half-halts.
I have a half halt strong enough to stop a 17hh percheron cross in his tracks, but it is rarely used. Arty did get some pretty good strength half-halts though... anything less and he just rushed through it. Eventually, he gave. We switched directions, and he was much easier to the left. I think the fight had just gone out of him. We cooled out, did some carrott stretches, and I showered him in treats. Hopefully next time will be easier.
Today was a challenge. While the pony's awesome, he can do a great impression of a bulldog when he wants to. He bears down, and charges through anything in his way. I know this from personal experience- that's his favourite trick out on the trails when he wants to run. After a few rides he quit doing that with me, but apparently it makes an appearance every now and again with others.
This bulldozer technique made an appearance again when I asked him to halt in front of the mounting block. He halted, then walked a few steps forward. I corrected him and asked him to back up and yield to my reins.
We eventually moved a step back, then he charged again dragging me halfway across the ring. I naturally corrected him, but I felt awful as his eyes were rolling & his nostrils were flared like he feared for his life. I tried to reassure him, then we walked back to the mounting block and hopped on without incident.
I'm not a fan of controlling horses through fear, power, and aggression. Just like when you control people that way, eventually you'll get an uprising. This does NOT mean that you should never correct a horse; when a horse does something wrong they need to know that its wrong. It's all in how you communicate the message.
With Arty, his past experiences make it difficult. He always fears pain. To this day, he shies if you lift a saddle pad too high, if you wave things, etc. So how do you correct a horse who is running right through you without frightening him? If anyone knows the answer, I'd love to hear it because I sure don't.
Anyhow, the rest of our ride didn't improve much. We had decent bending going on in the walk, though the left bend still requires a fair bit of inside leg to prevent him from falling through that shoulder. His straightness was good too, and we could walk straight down the long side of the arena with only a few corrections. The trot however, was a bit of a disaster.
It started out alright- we trotted around and managed to not fall in through the corners left and right. He was rushy, but not awful. From there I popped him into a left lead canter... which was passable, then took a quick break. When I popped him back into the trot, calm was no longer a part of our vocabulary. First I tried to attains some softness in his jaw with the hopes that from there, rhythm would come. No such luck. Then I tried to slow his trot (which was semi-successful) and worked on bending from there.
My main goal was to get him to give and soften. I'm never fussed about frame as I don't really see the point in having your horse's neck all tucked up just for the sake of making the horse look pretty. If a horse is bends, is soft, and is balanced all without ever tucking their nose then wonderful- let it hold its head however it likes. The fact is, most horses do come into a frame and carry themselves like that when their neck, jaw, and body is soft and yielding. So my sole goal for the pony was to get some give. I couldn't tell you how long we spent just trotting with me asking him to yield to my inside rein and leg. Instead he threw his head, tried to rush, threw his head some more, impersonated a giraffe, and tried to walk. I had to drop my stirrups to gain full control of my leg and seat, so I could use them effectively and give some really strong half-halts.
I have a half halt strong enough to stop a 17hh percheron cross in his tracks, but it is rarely used. Arty did get some pretty good strength half-halts though... anything less and he just rushed through it. Eventually, he gave. We switched directions, and he was much easier to the left. I think the fight had just gone out of him. We cooled out, did some carrott stretches, and I showered him in treats. Hopefully next time will be easier.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Day 5
5 February 2012
Arty's straightness was much better today. We managed to make it down the wall without falling in at any point in time. It was gorgeous and sunny out, and the kind of weather that just makes you happy, and I think the pony was feeling it. He was relaxed and content to just follow along with whatever plan I had. I tried out his canter, and it was better to the left (his bad direction) than it was to the right. Stiff and unyielding, but more balanceable to the left than the right. Transitions were awful- did some work on them but not much. Once he's not requiring so much leg to stay straight we'll buckle down on the transitions.
It was so muddy out that Arty didn't want to move his feet at all when I went out to get him. The mud was probably a solid 4-6 inches deep at least- deeper in some spots. Thus, I decided to leave him in his stall after I rode. It was mid- afternoon and they would all be coming in for the night in an hour or two. I had to muck out his 'already mucked' stall though. Thankfully some new shavings had been added, and you could only smell the ammonia when you bent down versus smelling it the second you set foot in the stall. A horse's stall should not smell worse than my chicken coop... even if my chicken coop doesn't stink.
Arty's straightness was much better today. We managed to make it down the wall without falling in at any point in time. It was gorgeous and sunny out, and the kind of weather that just makes you happy, and I think the pony was feeling it. He was relaxed and content to just follow along with whatever plan I had. I tried out his canter, and it was better to the left (his bad direction) than it was to the right. Stiff and unyielding, but more balanceable to the left than the right. Transitions were awful- did some work on them but not much. Once he's not requiring so much leg to stay straight we'll buckle down on the transitions.
It was so muddy out that Arty didn't want to move his feet at all when I went out to get him. The mud was probably a solid 4-6 inches deep at least- deeper in some spots. Thus, I decided to leave him in his stall after I rode. It was mid- afternoon and they would all be coming in for the night in an hour or two. I had to muck out his 'already mucked' stall though. Thankfully some new shavings had been added, and you could only smell the ammonia when you bent down versus smelling it the second you set foot in the stall. A horse's stall should not smell worse than my chicken coop... even if my chicken coop doesn't stink.
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