Next Level...I Hope??

Had lesson today with another girl I haven't ridden with before.  Rode the Mr. Wild through a variation on the same gymnastic we did last week--pole, bounce, vertical, bounce to about a 20-24" vertical in the middle and about two strides to a smaller crossrail at the end, followed by a diagonal one-jump line.  Overall it went well.  We had our moments of everything-going-right and many more moments of everything-going-not-quite-right!  Haha!  Nevertheless Wild is pretty good about telling me when I'm riding really badly, and there were only a few times today where he "hinted" that I might be getting too close to his limits (fortunately his hints consist only of hyper squirrelly-ness, nothing dangerous!) Coach was hinting that we would do "fun" things like riding the gymnastic without reins and/or stirrups, the ideas of which, to be honest, scared me to death!  I was almost glad we didn't ride so well so I didn't have to do that--especially the no-stirrups stuff.  I think I should at least be able to canter stirrup-less before I go jumping without the things!

Yes I have ridden for 7 years and never had a canter session without stirrups.  Don't ask.  I think everybody's assumed someone else already taught me that stuff.  Well...that is my big secret...ha.

I really feel like I have gone downhill in my riding skills but I think it must just be that I've hit the "next level" and therefore have more to think about.  When I look back over the last almost-year of riding (it's been nearly a year with Coach! Can't believe it!), I know I've improved massively.  Now I'm just struggling because I can really only focus on one thing at a time.  If I focus on squeezing my ankles to ask for the jump, I round my back.  If I focus on arching my back, I don't release in time.  If I focus on releasing, I misjudge my distances or round my back or forget to squeeze!  Or all of the above!  Ha.  There's just much more to focus on these days.  So I dearly hope that means I'm at least playing around with a higher level than I've been at.  If not I should have to be sad.  Haha.

Also gave Lass her little workout and she was very nice, sound and forward.  Coach says I can canter her on Wednesday if I can make it out. :)  Definitely planning on it.  Might get some Rhapsody time in while I'm at it, too! 

Two Feet!!

At long last! Still need to strengthen my position a lot.  But the point is we jumped two feet! 

In Which I Act Like an Idiot...

Girls in the field, L-R Lass, Baby, Rhapsody, Dora

I had a brilliant idea for Friday.  Had.  It went as follows:

Rhapsody doesn't like to leave the pasture because she's super herd-bound.
Lass is easy to catch.
I'm supposed to ride Lass walk/trot for 20 minutes to start getting her back into work again after her lameness bout.
Why not catch Rhapsody (provided I can catch Rhapsody), then catch Lass, and take both of them up together?

Marvelous brilliance of me!

Or...something...Halfway down the mares' field with two halters, I thought better of myself.

Rhapsody is spooky.  Lass is spooky (much better than R., but still). 
They're both mares.  They aren't friends any more.
All the other mares will find this fascinating and follow us forever.
Neither leads really really well.  Rhapsody charges forwards/sideways.  Lass just stops and pretends she can't move further. 

Bri, you're an idiot!

Nonetheless, being a real idiot, I decided to try it anyway.  And what do you know but it only took me half an hour to catch Rhapsody!  And only one little trot chase; the rest of it was all walk and while she wasn't happy to have me halter her, she did let me do it.  Woo hoo!! Our trip up to the barn was not too terribly eventful; I only have one rope-burned hand from where both girls suddenly spooked at the ever-evilly-present Invisible Monster while I was trying to fasten the gate behind us.  And I got them both tucked away safely in their stalls without any serious injury to any party.

Now Coach did call as I was halfway to the barn (leading both horses, I might add).  "You're at the barn?"
Say I: "Yeah..."
"Well I'm not going to be there this afternoon."
Me: "Ohhh.........."
"So just--just be careful."
Me: "Right.  Yes.  Absolutely.  YES."
I was very happy to see another couple boarders show up toward the end of my groundwork session with Rhapsody.  I'm not scared of either horse, and perfectly comfortable with Lass, but being all alone at the barn, with only Coach (who is a long ways away) and my family (whose car I have) knowing where I'm at...well it does inspire me to be careful.  Ha! 

Started working with Rhapsody on moving off "air pressure" (Driving game, for any Parelli people), in addition to desensitizing, bending, and direct pressure; and she did beautifully.  Pressure is a bit stressful for her so I do just a little and then rub her for a while, rinse and repeat.  She was much calmer today and I am beginning to teach her to halter/remove halter with her nose bent round toward me so she can't take off quite so frightfully.  It seemed to help as I was letting her out.

Also Lass was going about 98.9% sound even on the footing.  Happiness.  Won't be long before we're jumping her again! :)

Fringe & Rhapsody Work

So I put Fringe over a little jump again last lesson.  She was being supremely lazy which didn't help matters; however I have been having difficulty managing my own energy levels, which doesn't help me much when I need to ride lazy horses!  So we trotted over the baby jump many times and once or twice actually got a jump over it.  Haha.  Coach put her over once or twice and actually managed to get Fringe's feet off the ground both times. 

Ay well I should rather that she be lazy than crazy spooky.  Even got out the crop today and she wasn't much worried by it, at least on the shoulder.  Behind my leg she was a little nervous but got over it quickly.  After half an hour or so of jump practice, we pulled off her tack and I walked and trotted her around the arena bareback.  And she was super good.  She called a lot to the other horses but wasn't worried by the lack of a saddle at all.  Impressive since she's only been ridden bareback once before this (early this past summer).

Then I went off to Rhapsody, who Coach had kept in but hadn't been able to work.  She was a crazy nut having been inside all day, but after a long time of Friendly game in the round pen, she calmed down quite a bit.  Then I worked a bit on moving off direct pressure--she is super sensitive to that; I hope we can make it a good thing--and bending to a stop.  I like to teach all my "babies" to bend to a stop as I'm personally a pretty big fan of the one-rein stop.  No, it's not perfect...but it can sure help!

So we did that a while but then kids started running around climbing trees and horses were going out to the fields and Rhapsody lost focus.  So I went back to Friendly till she calmed a bit, then took her up to the barn, groomed her, and managed to get her out of the barn without killing anyone.  Seriously, I need to come up with some good way to announce to everyone in hearing range that "I'm working with a crazy young horse right now, GET OUT OF MY WAY!"  Ha.  Maybe running over a couple people once or twice would help? Just kidding, I promise...

After that, Rhapsody was entirely un-calm.  So the trip up to the field with Huge Dog (which I've never actually seen but it has a monstrous voice) barking behind the hedge, and the world nearly dark, and hyper pony trying to gallop down the way...was...interesting.  But we didn't die nor did we get hurt.  Then hyper pony decided to run off before I'd finished taking off the halter, which was also...interesting...however I got the sense to let go before she ripped my arms out, and fortunately the (nice) halter fell off of itself.  I have to come up with a way to cure her of that habit!  Any ideas??

Overall happy with the evening though.  And now I shall close this incredibly long epistle and get ready to ride tomorrow!  Hopefully I can catch Rhapsody again and we'll have fewer shenanigans! :)

Almost

Almost we got to a show this weekend!  A very small deal close to home but still.  However the matter of trailering proved our downfall, as neither Coach nor I have a rig and so we stay dependent on the generosity of others.  Poor Coach.  I feel very sorry for her; she tried so hard.  She is trying so hard.  I have the most awesome Coach, in case anybody was wondering whether I still think that. :)

Rode Rusty last lesson as he was my second choice for the ended-up-non-existent show.  And I have more or less remembered how to jump, thank goodness!  We weren't flawless and my back still needs serious help but much better than before.  That's a relief! In the meantime I practice sitting and standing correctly.  Sigh, bad posture strikes again.  Anybody who knows how to fix my rounded back please let me know!

Miss Lass was going sound over the weekend!  Yay!  Especially yay because Coach is trying to get us to a show next Sunday and I should feel much better riding Lass than riding Rusty as I haven't had lessons or free rides on Rusty regularly at all.  

A rainy start to the week, so we wait, and hopefully plan out our show for next Sunday! :)

Rhapsody Goals

Rhapsody doing what she thinks she's best at...

It is being a rainy, cold week and Coach isn't feeling good, so I'm not going to make it out to the barn till Friday.  So then I am stuck inside trying to stay warm and making schemes for Friday instead!  :)

I am definitely going to catch Rhapsody again if I can.  I think if I take enough time to go slowly and follow her as much as I need to, it will work.  And that is what I want; I don't want her to get the idea that if she acts nutty and keeps running away, I will eventually let her alone.  She already has that idea all too firmly fixed in her little mind!

The main things I have in mind right now to work on with her are:

• Just accepting people, period.  Realizing we're not going to eat her up.  She's had very little work with people since she came back from the track and as a result she's very worried.
• Relaxing...see above goal!  She is so worried about everything but she tries so hard to be good. This will involve gentle desensitization and mostly a lot of rhythmic, relaxed attitude on my part.
• Learning to lunge and do basic groundwork.  Theoretically she knows some of this, but she is very tense throughout it all.  Though she leads fairly well, her groundwork is near nonexistent.
• Overcoming claustrophobia.  Loose rein/halter work both on the ground and under saddle, getting her to accept my legs and weight--both "static" and as cues--without freaking out.

I have no clue how long this will take and some of it depends on whether I can get over there frequently.  With winter coming on, I don't know how that will work.  After we've mastered those four goals I don't know what's next, either.  I've put her over poles under saddle before, and she is an absolute klutz; she's too hot for the kids, and so far too spooky for trails...well, hopefully we'll find something she likes and is good at!  Dressage maybe?  She has pretty good movement...

Then for Friday hopefully I can find someone to canter poles with.  Fringe maybe; it would be good for her to get back into some very basic jump work.  I started her on jumps but then the little kids took over and that was the end of that.  We could stand having another jumper around and she is really a natural. 

FINALLY!

I have pictures :D

But! Better than that! 











I at long last CAUGHT this girl! 

In the field!  Okay it took me almost an hour of following her around but still!  I'm pretty sure she hasn't been caught at least since July and maybe longer than that. 

I decided to make things easy and simple so she didn't get the idea she got caught and then got her hiney worked off, so we just did some very simple groundwork...mostly desensitizing (which she needs a great deal of anyway) and moving off pressure.  And I hopped around with my foot in the stirrup as if I were going to mount, and swung half up and then got off.  And then I created a halterish thing out of baling string and put it on her before turning her out.  Now I'm worrying it will hurt her somehow.  But it's baling string for goodness' sake; it will break if she scratches her nose.  I think we'll be okay. 

I also took a few pictures today as I'm writing a children's book and intend to have the ponies star in it. ;)


Lass thinks everyone else is making a big deal out of nothing.  This picture, by the way, hardly does justice to her really; she is much prettier than this but she was a bit obsessed with her grass...as usual. :)  So I didn't get any really good pictures of her.















Rhapsody, Surge, and the baby think they're hiding from me behind the trees.

So a good day.  I am the tiniest, tiniest bit disappointed because I'd been hoping to canter some ground pole courses to get myself back on track for riding real jumps, but Rhapsody took too much time and besides all the jumping horses were either gone or in lesson.  But only a very very VERY tiny bit disappointed.  Mostly very happy. :D

Overthinking

Had lesson on Wednesday this week because it was so terribly cold and windy Monday and Tuesday (leftovers from Hurricane Sandy I believe), and we have only the outdoor arenas, so we cancelled Monday lesson. 

So on Wednesday I went over and rode Mr. Wild again.  We had some great flatwork at first at walk and trot; I pretty much know how to get him on the bit now and after I get him on the bit I can let the rein out gently and he will stretch down nicely.  He even kept himself stretched down a bit from time to time, which is huge for him!  He is a master of the ostrich neck.  Ha.  But there was very nearly no ostrich on Wednesday, even though we were trotting poles and doing circles.  Naturally I was very happy about that! 

Then we went on to do a very simple, very small figure-8 course.  And there is where I lost it.  I do not know what happened to my ability to jump.  It's just gone!  It's immensely frustrating!  I guess I wasn't doing as badly as I used to, because Wild wasn't getting squirrelly and wasn't diving out on jumps, but it felt dreadful nonetheless.  Maybe it feels worse because now I know how it's supposed to feel.  I was behind him, ahead of him, holding him back, releasing too soon, doing everything but riding with him doing what I was supposed to do!  Sheesh poor horse.  He was very patient with me, thank goodness.  And we did have about three good jumps out of the whole time.  Two of them were the last line we did, which was a good note to end on. 

I think I'm overthinking the whole jumping thing.  I'm picking it to pieces and then I have to think about each piece as I'm riding.  Just doesn't work.  I know how to do it, I know how to do it well.  I just have to quit thinking and ride!  Ha.  :)

On a better note, I rode the Bay Boy a little bit and he was good!  No bucking and a very nice, free canter.  Yay!  So apparently I have not lost all my riding ability; that gives me hope that jumping shall return to me when I start just riding.  ;)  And I'm supposed to start riding Paradox and Rhapsody again.  :)  Maybe I will get some pictures.  I keep trying but it keeps not working...haha...