I decided to really work on Luke's flatwork, and try riding in my dressage saddle to see if I'm more comfortable cantering. I don't know why I don't ride in that saddle more often...I'm definitely going to now!
Molly & I decided to work on the Intro & Beginner Novice dressage tests, which I got laminated the other day. Yay! :)
We started with a warmup, and Luke felt better right from the start. Maybe this saddle puts me in a more effective and correct position. Hmm. He was accepting contact well at the walk and trot, and was doing some great shoulder out. He's starting to understand shoulder in a little bit more as well.
Then we rode Intro A & Intro B. Luke decided that he was going to be prissy and NOT walk or trot through the puddles from the dripping rain in the indoor. Ugh...circles were not very good, since the puddle was right in our way. Intro B was a little better, but not much. The rail work and diagonals weren't too bad though.
I did a few canter transitions, and I felt much more relaxed. It was great to see him slow down and accept contact....amazing what a difference it makes when I'm not cranking on his mouth from being tense and scared! He picked up the correct lead both times in each direction, and then it was onto Beginner Novice Test A. It was the first canter dressage test I've ever ridden! It wasn't perfect, probably couldn't even be considered good, but it was decent, especially for our first try. We still had the circling problem cuz of the puddles, and he did two flying lead changes during the right canter circle. I didn't steer well enough, and he thought that I was asking for a figure 8. But once he was back on the circle, he switched onto the correct lead. Good boy!
After the test, I asked for a right lead canter transition, just so we could do a circle on the right lead without swapping leads. Once he did that, we cooled out and were done. It was a really successful ride I think!
The barn is having a schooling show on the 2nd of May, I'm so excited! I'm going to half dress up - Breeches, Tall Boots, and a polo with my show helmet. I'll braid Luke (I think, anyway...I'll try!). I'm going to try to get Beginner Novice A well enough to ride it, and I'm going to ride Intro A & B. I'm also going to do the Intro jumping class - up to 18". I'm trying to decide if I want to try a walk/trot equitation class...it will depend on how many other people are in it...Why press our luck. Maybe I'll show Jodi just for fun..there's an idea!!
I'm excited :) There's even going to be someone there with a really nice camera to take pictures that they'll sell as a 4-H fundraiser...I'll probably end up buying all mine!
I have a lesson tonight...hopefully it will go as well as my last ride did!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Frustrating...
It's so frustrating to feel like I'm not getting any better as a rider.
Luke is coming along so well....he's willing, he's smart, he's sweet, with a great personality...I couldn't ask for more. But he is a horse, not a human, or a mind reader.
I ended up putting his running martingale back on last week. I don't think it's really doing anything, because he doesn't put his head up much. But my trainer calls it my "placebo". I guess I feel more secure with it on, and am more relaxed, I'm not sure why. So the goal is to use it for a month, and then take it off.
His walk and trot are really really nice. Reaching into the bridle, staying fairly rhythmic. He can do shoulder out, and shoulder in is a work in progress. His halts are starting to become square, and we are starting to work on circles a lot. A lot a lot! They have much room for improvement. I'd be embarrassed to ride a dressage test right now, even an intro one!
We've jumped a couple of times, and it's going great. I don't have huge position flaws anymore...I think my leg slips back a tad sometimes, but I keep my heels down and don't catch him in the mouth. I don't think my equitation is the prettiest, but it's effective, and safe. We've been doing baby stuff mostly, and Luke is smart. He also has a limit...if he feels we've jumped too much (In fairness to him, last Saturday was kind of excessive...my sister was trying to get pictures, and I jumped quite a bit), he'll run out. Only if we jump the same thing multiple times though...he seems okay when it's a variety. On Monday, Molly and I jumped a crossrail...we broke out real standards and wood poles this time, and it was fun. He was really good, and we were feeling brave and moved it up to a "huge" vertical. We measured later and it was only like 2' or 2'3"...so much for that, haha. Luke looked a little hesitant and slammed on the brakes halfheartedly. Kind of a run-out, kind of a stop. He did this twice, and slammed his knee on the standard the second time. After that, he popped over it very smartly. We ended on a good note, and got lots of treats.
Cantering is rough right now. I'm not scared to canter out in the open and I do okay cantering to jumps..but cantering in the indoor has become a huge deal to me, I hate it. I forget to breathe, and tense up, and it's not good. We need lots of work on it.
But he is coming along, and I'm happy with him...he amazes me every day, usually in a good way! :)
Luke is coming along so well....he's willing, he's smart, he's sweet, with a great personality...I couldn't ask for more. But he is a horse, not a human, or a mind reader.
I ended up putting his running martingale back on last week. I don't think it's really doing anything, because he doesn't put his head up much. But my trainer calls it my "placebo". I guess I feel more secure with it on, and am more relaxed, I'm not sure why. So the goal is to use it for a month, and then take it off.
His walk and trot are really really nice. Reaching into the bridle, staying fairly rhythmic. He can do shoulder out, and shoulder in is a work in progress. His halts are starting to become square, and we are starting to work on circles a lot. A lot a lot! They have much room for improvement. I'd be embarrassed to ride a dressage test right now, even an intro one!
We've jumped a couple of times, and it's going great. I don't have huge position flaws anymore...I think my leg slips back a tad sometimes, but I keep my heels down and don't catch him in the mouth. I don't think my equitation is the prettiest, but it's effective, and safe. We've been doing baby stuff mostly, and Luke is smart. He also has a limit...if he feels we've jumped too much (In fairness to him, last Saturday was kind of excessive...my sister was trying to get pictures, and I jumped quite a bit), he'll run out. Only if we jump the same thing multiple times though...he seems okay when it's a variety. On Monday, Molly and I jumped a crossrail...we broke out real standards and wood poles this time, and it was fun. He was really good, and we were feeling brave and moved it up to a "huge" vertical. We measured later and it was only like 2' or 2'3"...so much for that, haha. Luke looked a little hesitant and slammed on the brakes halfheartedly. Kind of a run-out, kind of a stop. He did this twice, and slammed his knee on the standard the second time. After that, he popped over it very smartly. We ended on a good note, and got lots of treats.
Cantering is rough right now. I'm not scared to canter out in the open and I do okay cantering to jumps..but cantering in the indoor has become a huge deal to me, I hate it. I forget to breathe, and tense up, and it's not good. We need lots of work on it.
But he is coming along, and I'm happy with him...he amazes me every day, usually in a good way! :)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Updates!
Oh man...I have so much stuff, I don't even know where to start. So it'll probably be a long, boring entry!
Let's see...last Sunday we went on a trail ride, which is becoming a weekly Sunday occurence. I was supposed to be the responsible adult and say that we should stay inside because it was gonna rain on and off all day, but when Molly said "Look Kim! No clouds!", I couldn't resist...so across the street we went. We meandered over to the trails, and about twenty minutes in, the skies opened up. Sprinkles at first, but it didn't take long before it was flat out pouring. So off we went back home at a good clip. Both the boys were excited to get back to the barn, and were looking at us like "My human is an idiot". So we threw coolers on them, put them in their stalls, ran to Speedway for hot chocolate, and then turned the heat in the lounge way up until we were [mostly] dry. Man it was fun doing chores in wet jeans...not!
Then Monday, he got his teeth done. I feel awful. I knew that they needed done, but they were reallly bad...he actually had cuts on both sides of his mouth. :( Poor baby! So he got a couple days off, and then back to work we went, with much improvement. I had a lesson this past week, and he was wonderful. Lots of trotting and cantering on the bit, and he gave me correct leads, and *sort of* had collected transitions. Progress takes time, I keep telling myself. I should probably not let him gallop around so much on trails...he tends to forget what a slow canter is, and gets heavy on the forehand.
On Friday, I rode for a while before I did chores. Molly and I put up a little crossrail, which we flipped to a vertical later. Luke has figured out that the PVC poles don't really hurt, and that he doesn't have to put forth any effort on little fences. So he halfheartedly trotted/hopped over them, taking them down with us several times. Next time I'm breaking out the wood poles, and leaving his splint boots off, I think. He is actually a really cute jumper when we canter to the jumps, or when they are wood poles. Otherwise, he thinks it isn't worth his time. Molly and I traded and I got to ride Atticus for a little bit...I hope Luke grows up to be like him! He's so even and doesn't speed up like Luke does.
On Saturday, Jodi's old mom came out to visit. It was super fun for her to see him, and it made me feel really good that she kept saying how good he looked. We gave her son a pony ride, and then took a bunch of pictures. I had to do a double take when I logged onto facebook and saw Jodi as her profile picture. He's famous! :) He's such a good soul...even when he's a jerk about stuff. But he'll be 25 on the 30th, so basically, he gets to do whatever he wants :)
Yesterday, we rode in the outdoor, and had fun. Both of the boys were WOUND though...maybe it was the weather? They both pretended that they didn't know how to canter on the correct lead, and were both pulling so hard that it was next to impossible to sit down and canter. I finally gave up, gave him his head, and let him blow off some steam. Once we got that out of the way, it was a good time. I'm so glad I'm riding more, and seeing the boys more.
I was told last night that I need to get some new pictures of Luke, so I'll try to do that in the next week. I took a cute picture on my phone last night of Luke with his head over the stall door, standing by his new stall sign. I'll try to upload it.
Whew! That was loooong!
Let's see...last Sunday we went on a trail ride, which is becoming a weekly Sunday occurence. I was supposed to be the responsible adult and say that we should stay inside because it was gonna rain on and off all day, but when Molly said "Look Kim! No clouds!", I couldn't resist...so across the street we went. We meandered over to the trails, and about twenty minutes in, the skies opened up. Sprinkles at first, but it didn't take long before it was flat out pouring. So off we went back home at a good clip. Both the boys were excited to get back to the barn, and were looking at us like "My human is an idiot". So we threw coolers on them, put them in their stalls, ran to Speedway for hot chocolate, and then turned the heat in the lounge way up until we were [mostly] dry. Man it was fun doing chores in wet jeans...not!
Then Monday, he got his teeth done. I feel awful. I knew that they needed done, but they were reallly bad...he actually had cuts on both sides of his mouth. :( Poor baby! So he got a couple days off, and then back to work we went, with much improvement. I had a lesson this past week, and he was wonderful. Lots of trotting and cantering on the bit, and he gave me correct leads, and *sort of* had collected transitions. Progress takes time, I keep telling myself. I should probably not let him gallop around so much on trails...he tends to forget what a slow canter is, and gets heavy on the forehand.
On Friday, I rode for a while before I did chores. Molly and I put up a little crossrail, which we flipped to a vertical later. Luke has figured out that the PVC poles don't really hurt, and that he doesn't have to put forth any effort on little fences. So he halfheartedly trotted/hopped over them, taking them down with us several times. Next time I'm breaking out the wood poles, and leaving his splint boots off, I think. He is actually a really cute jumper when we canter to the jumps, or when they are wood poles. Otherwise, he thinks it isn't worth his time. Molly and I traded and I got to ride Atticus for a little bit...I hope Luke grows up to be like him! He's so even and doesn't speed up like Luke does.
On Saturday, Jodi's old mom came out to visit. It was super fun for her to see him, and it made me feel really good that she kept saying how good he looked. We gave her son a pony ride, and then took a bunch of pictures. I had to do a double take when I logged onto facebook and saw Jodi as her profile picture. He's famous! :) He's such a good soul...even when he's a jerk about stuff. But he'll be 25 on the 30th, so basically, he gets to do whatever he wants :)
Yesterday, we rode in the outdoor, and had fun. Both of the boys were WOUND though...maybe it was the weather? They both pretended that they didn't know how to canter on the correct lead, and were both pulling so hard that it was next to impossible to sit down and canter. I finally gave up, gave him his head, and let him blow off some steam. Once we got that out of the way, it was a good time. I'm so glad I'm riding more, and seeing the boys more.
I was told last night that I need to get some new pictures of Luke, so I'll try to do that in the next week. I took a cute picture on my phone last night of Luke with his head over the stall door, standing by his new stall sign. I'll try to upload it.
Whew! That was loooong!
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