Goals for Winter 2012-13

So everyone knows that wintertime is pretty much training time, unless you live in a super-horsey area where they have fun shows all through the winter.  And we don't live in such a place.  Well there is one barn that keeps saying they're going to have a winter schooling show series, but so far they've canceled it two months in a row.  That doesn't make us happy.  But...anyway. 

Wintertime is schooling time.  Therefore I am coming up with some goals for this winter's schooling, for myself and for the ponies.  Everybody says good goals are SMART--Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-centered--well I don't know as all of these are SMART, but for me to set any goals is pretty exciting!

For Mwah:

• School verticals to 2' or higher
• Work on oxers
• Strengthen my position and leg
• Transitioning in and out of two-point on the flat
• More stirrupless and bareback work, especially at trot and with just one stirrup

Fringe (mostly mounted work):

• Work bareback all three gaits
• Do trail rides at least a couple times a month
• Jump crossrails and verticals to 18" at trot and canter
• Work on getting her slightly quicker off the leg
• Desensitizing to crop

Rhapsody:
Groundwork:

• Get a breakaway catch halter on her  done!
• Catching work--catch, treats/petting/grooming, release
• Learn all 7 Parelli games
• Further desensitization

Mounted work:

• Walk/trot patterns
• Loose-rein work
• One-rein stop at walk
• Half-halts at walk/trot/canter
• Canter work on the rail

Brandi:
Groundwork:

• Learn all 7 Parelli games
• Stand nicely for mounting, both from block and from ground
• Cross-tie well and calmly
• Thorough desensitization program

Mounted work:

• Walk/trot patterns
• Loose-rein work
• One-rein stop at halt and walk
• Sustained canter on the rail

Should keep me busy enough I think.  Plus exercising my favorite Miss Lass whenever requested. :)  Does anybody else have goals for this winter's schooling?...or summer's schooling if you live in the southern half of the world?

Goal #1 for Christmas Break...

DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rhapsody has a catch halter on!

And I just about froze to death walking around in the mud in 30-40 degree weather and spitting rainy sleet for an hour and a half.  Lol.  Nevertheless I don't care.  Neither do I care that both instructors (Coach and D) were less-than-bouncing-off-the-walls when I told them.  I think both of them think this was a somewhat minor affair. 

No.  As you all know by now, no.  Ha!

I do care that my awesomest grandma came and helped--she used to have horses before she married my grandpa and usually likes to come out to the barn with me even on uber-boring days like today--and got me an awesome T-shirt afterwards that I shall have to get a picture of.  :)  And sympathized with me that Rhapsody is very hard to catch, and helped chase off and distract Surge, and gave me lots of moral support that helped me keep going for said hour and a half of frigidity.  Thanks mucho Grandma!!

Oh I am so happy.  Words don't describe how happy I am.  This is quite literally an answer to prayer!  Now if people will just leave it on.  I think it will be okay because Coach and I are really the only ones who work with her much.  I'm just not going to think about that right now!  For now, the goal is accomplished, life is good! :)

Wishing you all much success with all your training and riding goals! :)

Another Project :)

Just can't get enough of them I guess...but at least this one's catchable!

Coach asked me to work Brandy (?? think that's her name??), a little mare just back from the track.  Well, back from training anyway--apparently she did poorly enough in training that they flunked her before she even hit the track proper.  Lol.  Checked with the other instructor, D, just to make sure (since Brandy's officially the project horse of the barn's "junior instructor," J), and she was all for it too.  So it appears that since J is in college and has no time, while I'm in college and create time whether I have it or no, I have myself another of J's project ponies. (Rhapsody was also hers before I came along.)  :)  Here's a picture of Brandy from last time I went out to the mares' pasture...

She's pretty cute, her forelock is all fuzzy like an afro.  Lol.  Also she has brakes like nothing else.  It's crazy.  I close my knees and bam she's stopped.  That took a bit of getting used to, and she's also a bit slow off my leg.  Also I had a terrible time getting her to sustain a canter.  She'd pick it up but break within two or three strides.  Plus she basically doesn't move off pressure (a pet peeve of mine and probably doesn't help the canter issue), she doesn't understand anything about staying on the rail of the arena, she doesn't move off the leg or bend to the rein, and she will not stand still for mounting--I had to kind of jump on midair as she was walking off, since nobody was around to hold her.  Sooo we have plenty to work on.  :)  I rode her a bit on Friday before going and working with Rhapsody.

I'm getting a catch halter on Rhapsody.  Generally I try not to spend money on my project horses, since they aren't mine anyway, but I will buy a catch halter for that horse if I'm to do anything with her!  I'm at the point now where I will do whatever it takes, talk to whoever I have to talk to, get all my friends out to the back field to hold her in a corner while I get her, but she is getting a halter on.  Ha.  I'm tired of playing games; I've got her coming to me and I've got her trusting me fairly well.  She's just spooky of the rope, but I can't desensitize her unless I can keep her in reach.  So that is Major Project #2 for Christmas break.  :)  If I can start second semester with two catchable project horses, I will be a very happy chica.  Lol. 

Oh! and finals are DONE!! YAY!!  I can have a sort of life for the next couple weeks! :D

Finals Be Coming

This is dead week.  Woo hoo.  Not.  :-/

Going to still try and ride this week and next, however I'm not planning time to blog!  So things will be a little quiet till we get to Christmas break!

Self-Torture & Random Pictures :)

First I found the cat in a hay rack...

So having discovered that I have never really had a proper stirrup-less lesson at all three gaits, I decided to invent one for myself.  I headed out to the barn today with the goal of working with Rhapsody a bit and making myself sore. 

And I succeeded!  I also got a whole bunch of random pictures for your entertainment!

Played a different "game" with Rhapsody today, one I pretty much pulled out of the air, though it has some resemblance to the Parelli Catch-Me game and some resemblance to clicker training.  Pretty much I would walk away from her (not very far, 5-10 steps maybe) and if she would follow or come up to me afterwards, then she'd get a treat.  We couldn't have done this before, but after her coming up to me when I went to get Lass for my lesson on Monday, I thought maybe it would work.

It actually kind of did work, I think.

Rhapsody looking grouchy

Okay, you have treats.  Maybe you aren't so bad after all.

Pretty eye

Looking not so sure

We had our moments where she just walked off, when I would follow a little and usually get this face...

Yes, I have decided.  You are evil.  Go away.

 But at the end she seemed to catch on and was following me quite devotedly albeit sometimes with a grouchy face (don't ask me why).  She always put on her nice face to ask for her treats, so I gave them to her.

Then she followed me all the way to the gate without my asking her to at all, and stood there watching me leave.  Everybody say it---AWWWW!

Okay thank you.  That's what I said anyway. 

For as long as I could see her...

It was really kind of sweet though I have no idea what caused it.  Perhaps she likes treats more than I thought she did.  Or maybe, once-in-a-blue-moon maybe, she actually enjoyed our time together.

Then I found le cat again, in another impossible place!

So then I went and caught the Fringe and gave myself my promised no-stirrups ride.  I did start with stirrups just till I figured out what sort of a mood she was going to be in, but dropped them for most of it.  It's good for her training as a kids' horse, anyway; and she was very un-phased by the whole thing.  Proud of her.  :)  Rode walk, posting and sitting trot, and canter with the stirrups crossed over the saddle, and it popped my legs right back to where they were supposed to be and effectively eliminated my bracing on the stirrups.  I think I'm going to ride all my lesson warm-ups without stirrups for a while, till I get my position strengthened up a bit.  I'm quite sure Coach won't mind. 

Sore now.  But happy for it.  Sore is good.  :)

Fun with Lass

Oh my goodness I love this horse!  :)

We're back jumping together again!  I've been waiting for this day for ages! 

Now it means no more Lass free rides, which is sad; I'm currently going through a bit of withdrawals as I'm not going to be riding till Friday.  Haha.  But it's worth it!

Sunday I went out and rode her a bit over jumps, and dragged the Brother along as my spotter/photographer.  Lovely ride and she was obviously just as happy to be back as I was.  :)

Forgive my position, I don't know what happened to it here! :P

Then we had lesson on Monday.  Gymnastic again.  I am bored silly of the gymnastic.  Lol.  Usually Coach doesn't have us do the same thing three lessons in a row, but we were riding with a different group and they hadn't done it yet.  So Lass and I demonstrated and it was fun.  Didn't go much above 12-18" as one of the girls had a pretty good fall when her horse bucked going through it, and Lass is after all still coming back into work.  We had just one "moment" where I took a bit too much of a hold on her mouth between jumps, after which she was a bit grumpy.  But overall a great lesson and a great way to come back!  Also I got to ride in Coach's saddle, which has officially spoiled me for life.  Especially compared to the rock-hard, awkward saddle I usually ride in.  ;)

Happy.  :)  I love this horse.  Have I said I love this horse?!  And I'm insanely glad that she's back!  And Rhapsody came up to me in the pasture when I went out to get Lass, too, and let me scratch her face!  I suppose this is why horses are addictive. ;)

Step Backward

So I followed Rhapsody around the pasture for a good hour on Friday and though we got close to a catch several times, she got progressively more angry with me and with the rope and I ended up just leaving her to her own devices.  Sigh.  Normally I don't say that a horse is "angry" with me but the look on her face was so close to it!  Ha!  It was just her "Leave me alone, I am happy out here, don't touch me" look.  I also am pretty sure she's in heat so that doesn't help much.  Especially since a couple of the geldings in the next pasture are being rather flirtatious with the girls.  I gave them the whole "Give it up, you can't do anything anyway" lecture but of course it did no good.  ;)  Too bad they can't understand what we say!

Rhapsody did let me scratch her with my hand quite a lot though, and let me approach her much more rapidly than before, so I suppose that is good.  Also there were a couple times where she followed me for several steps when I retreated!  Woo!  We'll get to the Catching game yet!

Then rode Lass with a couple friends and she was sound and happy still.  :)  I'm hoping to coerce the Brother out with me to take pictures this afternoon.  I'm supposed to ride her over some baby crossrails and since my general principle is not to jump without a spotter, I'd like someone around if possible.  Besides it's always nice to have pictures. :)