Spring Awakening: March/April Goals and Progress

[exvet]

SF, I agree that the jumping with the gymnstacizing as the focus will pay off with your canter on the flat. Cavallettis and poles do help Junior. Unfortunately he really hates to jump but I still get benefit with the rest. As one who's been dealing with canter issues on one horse for years and this is a horse (pony) who has a decent canter, taking time to establish the basics is key to being able to move up. For Junior now that I have a saddle that 'will do for now' the focus must be on developing his thoracic sling properly. If I can get that piece through then I think I may still be able to hit my goals with him.

I'm going to put it out there if ANYONE comes across a 16.5 inch dressage saddle for sale that's cut back at the front and built on pony panels please let me know. I'm still going to try to find a true solution because just finding him some wither and shoulder relief has given me back the pony I had.

The other reality check I had and I so appreciate people who know where I've been and what I've done and where I want to go.......... is that as I have for decades........I have a '6' mover. As I was told by a judge the other day, when you go in on a pony you are already at a 6 or 60. It's up to you to prove you deserve more and get those positive modifiers added to your score as opposed to leaving points on the table and you can make NO MISTAKES. That alone will get you into the low 60s which is a place I'm comfy being. I don't need high 60s or 70s to know that my work is correct. The 59.8 I got last Saturday was so close and if we hadn't been stuck on the one pirouette I would have had the 60+................that's a correction I can accomplish.

Lunging Troy today showed me that my challenges with him will be more like the ones I faced with Junior's sire. Fortunately for me those are in my wheel house. If I can learn it and train it on Junior, Troy will be where I can polish things up..................

[blob]

Blob, what do you think is at the root of RP's HI struggles? Does he have the same struggle in HP? No ideas, just curious.

I think it stems from him struggling to lift his lumbar and tilt his pelvis forward and under. The HP is noticeably better and I think that's because he can open up in the front end, which makes more room for him behind as opposed to really having to condense his body together.

I am most successful with the correct position when I go SI to renverse for a few strides, but doing true HI even with circles to set up is really hard.

[Moutaineer]

SF, I think you are wise. She sounds like a horse whose mind would blow if you introduced the changes before she's completely begging for them.

Potters, on the other hand, is going through a phase of being absolutely sure he's right about where the changes should be, and I'm completely wrong. So we had a bit or back and forth about that today which resulted in what I can only describe as a bit of a tempi-tantrum... "You want changes lady? I'll show you changes!"

I guess we will be counter-cantering a lot this week until he learns again that he needs to wait until I ask. At least he's not lacking in self-confidence at the moment!

Apart from that, we had a lovely solid ride this afternoon. So nice to have sunshine, warmth, and the big outdoor arena to play in!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

SF, sounds like a good plan with T.
Exvet, glad you are feeling positive and have a path forward with Junior. What was Trot doing during his lunge?
Blob- that's very interesting. What happens in the HI?
Mountaineer- sounds like a good problem to have! Go Potters!

Lynx looked much better in the canter transition on the lunge yesterday. So fingers crossed that the Prostride is helping. We also had a good ride. It was apparently a desensitization day... There was a giant tractor moving large things into a jumbo construction dumpster in one corner of the property. And then a helicopter was flying over the property (This has happened before) And they get so low it's kind of scary, so loud! Then there was some kids sliding down their slide since the farm backs up to a neighborhood. And then somebody had their dog running around the farm. In the icing on the cake was the barn owner's son driving the 4-wheeler around. Lol it was a lot! Lynx only had one very fair and reasonable spook (and the other horses in the arena did too.) Otherwise he was pretty focused and relaxed.

I have him off alfalfa right now and I will say he seems less reactive. He does seem less energetic though which is a catch 22 for riding. I'm going to give it a few weeks then want to play with that thought. Anybody has any ideas I'm all ears? My ideas right now are either just adding a little alfalfa pellets as a snack (But it will be much less than the barn would have fed, and getting them regulate the amount seems impossible.) Or upping his ration balancer half a pound. Or adding more senior feed (he gets like a handful for taste.)

[Moutaineer]

LSP, he's probably not very fit at the moment, so I'd just try to get him into a consistent work program and be a bit insistent about him being in front of your leg. Watch his weight and make sure he's getting enough to allow him to build muscle, but you don't want "fizzy" energy at the moment. That would be counterproductive. You might want to consider adding some fat, like rice bran, once you've got him going and fitter.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Mountaineer, yeah he's kind of a pingball with the energy sometimes. But I was starting to suspect the alfalfa was causing problems... Sometimes he felt like he was just jumping out of skin! Then we had a week where they were really low on alfalfa at the barn and he hardly got any. Instant personality change.


Adding fat might not be a bad idea if I can keep him from blowing up. He's a fairly easy keeper but taking away alfalfa might change things for sure!

Editing to add but I do want to be clear that he's been inconsistent work for about a month and half/2 months. I'm the one who hasn't been super consistent due to illness (hopefully spring ends all that )but thank goodness my trainer is around. He's not been a hard work though. And he definitely needs to get more fit. But he's worked a minimum of four days a week. But we are always slowly upping that work. Very slowly to avoid injury.

[goldhorse]

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This was my yesterday. Luckily it missed any important structures. Someone was smiling on us. He's walking sound and wearing a soaking boot to try to keep an abscess forming. Best we can figure is that it's a T-post clip that was in his hay (this fencing isn't used on the property).

[StraightForward]

Oh Dang! Glad he is generally OK. Fingers crossed for no abscesses or other complications!

Chiro was out for the first time since maybe December. She said T is generally in good shape, with a few ideas for things we can do for her hind end. She was a little stuck in C3 and a couple other places that tracked with her struggle to really bend and stretch through to the left. In the back end, she tends to rotate her right hip forward and tilt in a little with the left, so some, so I'll be doing the Masterson down/back release on her back legs, as well and stretching the RH forward to encourage the hip to come back. But she thought she was better in the back and gave me a high five on the new saddle. Tomorrow I'll tape her lumbars, and maybe neck (neck never stays on very long). Glad I got that done before the clinic, and it will be interesting to see how she goes on Friday.

[Moutaineer]

Holy Carp, Goldhorse! Fingers crossed for no complications!

Not a riding day for me today. Yesterday was good though. We got the FC placement back under control, and worked on the 3 changes on the diagonal. We also worked on the trot HP, which seems to be slowly improving. We will see if we can replicate tomorrow.

I've just got in from my weekly HIIT class. It was hard this evening. It's interesting that as a regular rider, my legs and core are in pretty good shape, but the arm and upper body workouts really make me work. I'm pretty conservative about the weights I lift, but I can sure feel it by the end of the hour. I wonder if that's why so many of us riders have shoulder issues. We just don't lift our arms above shoulder level very much, and hopefully, don't use our upper body strength to much of a degree while we are riding.

[blob]

eek, GoldHorse--hope things heal well.

We've had beautiful spring weather this week, but I've had less riding than I would have liked (and I'm full grumpy about it). I am leaning yes to signing up for the show. I will wait until entry close date because you never know with horses. But even though we don't have the HI, the medium trot will be lackluster, and anything else is likely to fall apart too because such is the nature of shows, I think i need to start getting out there at 2nd level to keep myself motivated and on track.

[exvet]

GoldHorse, jingles for quick and uncomplicated healing. That is one of my worse nightmares, street nail type of injuries.

Blob, I'm right there with you. It's the reason why I keep putting myself out there with Junior. To be honest and maybe it's also age, though my shows in general have been lack luster, just getting ready, showing up and getting out there gives me so much opportunity to really enjoy my horse/pony. We may not be impressing anyone in terms of dressage but he's all aces in terms of being safe and so many ways that matter, EASY. I also feel that it's the only way to improve our ring craft which is getting out there. We each have our own reasons for our selection (or not) for those we ride and I feely lucky that I truly wouldn't trade anyone out who's in my barn today.

[heddylamar]

Ouch! Fingers crossed that's as uncomplicated as my oldster's roofing nail experience was @Goldhorse!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Jingles, Goldhorse!!

Blob, I hope you go for the show!!

Mountaineer, my shoulders feel like baby arms when I go to lift things in a certain manner, definitely a weak area for me.


Last night I just walked Lynx in the equiband while my daughter did a quick bareback ride. Today, I had a wonderful lesson though. Lynx was very focused and happy but still had gas in his tank which was fun. We did some light pole work and played around more with Shoulder In to Renver. We decided to keep any haunches in work extremely minimal since that's he's natural go to. So instead, staying with renvers to get the same benefits of the HI. He's really easy to change the bend from shoulder in to renver, but the trick is keeping my position and keeping him on the track. We only have a few good steps each way but he really enjoys it. We just are doing this at the walk for now which is more than enough for my mind and body right lol!

[goldhorse]

So far, so good. No fever. No swelling. No lameness. He objects to the betadine solution going into the soaking boot so I take that as a sign that the hole has opened up and the betadine is getting in there. Tomorrow we switch to a dry wrap. Oh how I hate wrapping hooves. If no abscess has developed by mid next week, he will get shoes with pads and back to work. I think he's going a little stir crazy. It's hard going from lots of work to idleness. Tomorrow I plan to start some hand walking. I think I have some boots that will fit over the wrap somewhere in my junk room aka my trailer tackroom. This all sucks. I don't check in much since I'm a chronic lurker but I have made some leaps and bounds at the canter. 3 years ago I wouldn't even canter out of fear. Now it's how do I collect it from my seat. Oh well, it's never a dull moment with horses and I'm glad that I live in a vet and vet hospital rich part of the country. By the way, Piggy turned 22 on Monday.

[Moutaineer]

Such a lovely day today. It feels so nice to actually ride outside and break a sweat!

A productive but hard work ride today. It was half pass day. The left is pretty decent, but Potters was a bit recalcitrant about doing the hard stuff to the right, and we had some snarky spooks. (He'd rather do the things he finds easy like changes and pirouettes.)

I find myself turning into a pretzel trying to make it happen, whereas if I "simply" sit up straight, weight the right seat bone (something I find incredibly difficult to do on him, it's like he's just not there under me,) and just lift my hands to the right, over he goes. Sort of.

We achieved something passable in both trot and canter by the end of the lesson. We will have to see if we can recreate them tomorrow, then do some fun stuff.

And we had the first bath of the season today. That one where you see the grey scum floating away from all the product you've applied over the course of the winter! He had a glorious roll in shavings afterwards, but at least he's clean underneath!

[StraightForward]

Half pass positioning to the left is the devil for me, Moutaineer! I find if I weight the inside seat bone it blocks us, but when I lift that seat bone, my inside leg comes off. Once I get the position right, I lose the swing and she just powers down and all the impulsion goes. Oh well, we won't be showing third for a while yet.

[mari]

A productive but hard work ride today. It was half pass day. The left is pretty decent, but Potters was a bit recalcitrant about doing the hard stuff to the right, and we had some snarky spooks. (He'd rather do the things he finds easy like changes and pirouettes.)

I find myself turning into a pretzel trying to make it happen, whereas if I "simply" sit up straight, weight the right seat bone (something I find incredibly difficult to do on him, it's like he's just not there under me,) and just lift my hands to the right, over he goes. Sort of.

We achieved something passable in both trot and canter by the end of the lesson. We will have to see if we can recreate them tomorrow, then do some fun stuff.

I'm also a pretzel in HP to the right Especially in trot. Odin is not very good at sideways, never has been. Canter is easier than trot, because there is more airtime.

We've been working a TON on travers, and trying to get some variation in bend and forward/back. And that definitely helps our HP. It's still not good though, but improving.

[Moutaineer]

Well, we got it today, trot and canter. I'm delighted. Now if I can just retain that muscle memory to Monday and beyond... I'll be riding them in my sleep.

It was over 80 degrees today when I rode, and windy enough to send a mini twister through the ring while I was riding, flinging chairs in it's wake. Potters just stood there and waggled his ears, and then went back to work, bless his heart.

It's been a really excellent week of horsedom. I'm exhausted and happy for both of us to have the weekend off. A cooler week next week, and then a Mette weekend! How lucky am I!

[StraightForward]

Glad it is clicking for you M!

We had a great ride tonight too. I pulled T's hind shoes last night since my welds on the tabs were failing. I couldn't get it together to prep a new pair of shoes, so I stuck some Sole Guard in and she got a little back massage, red light and stretching while the stuff cured. She still warmed up a little slowly, but once she got moving, I was really pleased with her. We also got ourselves together pretty well with the HP, and I got her cantering into the contact the way I think she really needs to. As it got towards dusk, she got a little silly and distracted by a horse and rider in the arena across the street. It gave her a little more energy too though, so we played with some half steps, and then I let her bomb around in her big stretchy trot. I got off at just the right time, because the neighbor's alpacas, which I haven't seen in many months, suddenly showed up, and she went into full snorting giraffe mode. Tomorrow I'll jump after hopefully selling a bunch of stuff at the tack sale. She worked so well tonight that I'm thinking I might just leave her with the Sole Guard for another week or two since her front shoes are still fine.

I'm off work next week, which I'm really looking forward to. Unfortunately I don't think I'll get my SoloShot in time for the clinic, but who knows.

[exvet]

Wow, SF, I have to admit just from the description of your latest ride on here, you had me grinning from ear to ear. It's fun to read and feel others' enjoyment of their horse(s).

I've been taking extra shifts at work lately so much less ride time but I managed a couple of rides in Sat and Sun in absolutely beautiful weather. I don't know if Junior is just a fair weather kind of horse because he will go out in any weather but we had easier forward responses to my requests and acceptance of the contact, seemingly a happier pony for the most part. Of course I'm doing most of my riding out of the arena which I think keeps him more engaged mentally too.

Today I saddled up Troy, lunged for a bit (with saddle and stirrups down) and then sat on him. He's being taught to accept mounting from both sides and all was going so well I almost listened to that inner voice not to push the envelope but I just couldn't stand it. I had to see if he would notice me up there on him. Like any true to breed Welsh Cob he just kept accepting his treats and didn't bat an eye. I need to get him more used to steering, halting and acceptance of the bridle before I mount and move him forward but all in due time. He's actually lunging in (obviously not all that short) side reins quite well.

Hope everyone is able to enjoy their weekend.

[StraightForward]

Exvet, exciting that you are sitting on Troy! I'm sure he'll be riding around with you in no time!

T is a lot of fun for me even though she wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. Even though she can be a pill, she is a pretty safe pill and doesn't fly off the handle and do anything too crazy.

We had a good dressage session yesterday since it was too cold and blustery for jumping to be a good idea. I was kicking myself a bit that I didn't sign up to ride a couple tests at the show where the tack sale was held. Probably for the best though. I think we're kind of in the taking everything apart and messing with the pieces stage. Shows are on the horizon though, so it is probably about time to start putting our tests together.

[Moutaineer]

Bright and chilly start to the day, still a bite in the air by noon when I rode today, so a bright and chilly horse!

Actually, he was very good and we had a productive ride. More HP, of course, and quite a bit of canter work, with an interesting exercise on a 20m circle: Canter in a renvers, transition to trot in the renvers, move to haunches in, and then transition to canter, move back into the renvers. It really sorts out your inside and outside aids and trainer thinks it's a good exercise to start thinking about zig-zags.

So good fun was had by all.

Much shedding going on here. I feel like I have little orange hairs wherever I turn.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Today after my lesson, someone stopped me and was like, "Wow, your horse really lifts himself up through the withers and carries himself well! He looks like he has Spanish blood but he's a QH?!"
Ha, I actually get that a lot but it always brightens my day a little. We are working hard and it's nice to have it be recognized.

[Aleuronx]

Goldhorse I audibly gasped at that x-ray. Please do update us on how the patient is doing.

Exvet, huzzah on at baby milestone on Troy. Such a rewarding stage.

Moutaineer, thanks for sharing the exercise sounds like doozy. I’ll have to give it a crack later this week. Kora struggles in the transitions in bend from left to right, very curious to pick it apart that way.

Gosh LSP your post made me smile. So glad you have him up and running and going so well. Very deserved with that golden lad.

We’ve been pre-kicking our own butts with more uphill contact and frame in trot work whereas I would happily canter all ride. First lesson back with trainer sometime this week, don’t want to be completely gassed.

Today was show entry madness. Wake at midnight to enter first recognized show that fills fast but has quality prizes. Wasn’t the only one as electronic entry site was definitely getting crashed by us all and popping errors. Got in and secretary posted that the Saturday show filled in 40 minutes and the Sunday at about 4am. Second show more leisurely entered later today. We’ll ride 4-1 in May and then again in June along with 3rd freestyle again to get more big ring exposure for PSG in the future.

Couple of schooling shows starting off next weekend and the other at a new venue in May to scout out for upcoming rec show as well. It’s kicking off so we’re kicking on!

[blob]

LSP, what a lovely compliment!

I got some video over the weekend to try to help me make a decision about showing. Well, I HATED the videos, but signed up for the show anyway, ha! So let's see. I've signed up for 2-3 twice each day. I'm not sure I will ride all 4 tests, but depending on how he goes, I might! Historically RP gets better over the course of the show. However, last show it was obvious on the second day he was stiff/not feeling his best. So, let's see. I can always scratch a test, much harder to add it.

I was planning to also do a show end of May, but now the clinician is coming back the weekend after. Technically I could do both, but that feels like it will be hectic and a lot for both of us. So, I will see what makes more sense based on the show.

Re: our terrible HI: Some recent things that have given me more insight to our struggles. Our renverse and our HP are substantially better than our HI, which tells me that something is going on with either how I set it up or how he understands it. I also discovered that LYing with the head to the rail (same position as HI, but withotu bend) is ALSO very difficult for us. All this data gives me more hope in the long term, but the same 'ugh' in the short term, ha!

MM still doing well -- we are frolicking about and trying to get fit fit fit for the tougher summer season ahead. I am just so happy to have her and every ride I have on her.

In other fun news the BO has asked me to pick the next baby daddy for one of their broodmares! A fun side project. She is due in early May with her current baby, so I have a couple weeks to make some decisions. They want a purpose bred eventer, so stretching me out of my expertise area, but still a fun project! If anyone has thoughts, would love to hear them. Priorities are good brain, refining blood (the mare is THICK), and something more compact/uphill (she is long with a slightly lower than ideal neck connection).

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Thank you guys! It really is nice to get a compliment after things have been a bit of an uphill battle between his soundness issues and my own body struggles (Elhers- Danlos Syndrome and of course healing from that car accident that damaged my left calf.) It definitely is giving me a boost to keep on the path

Another fellow boarder might be trying Lynx in a lesson next week because her horse has a fracture in his knee and is on a high line for 8 weeks. She is a single mom and had a leaser to help with the board, so that's gone and now she has vet bills. Things are pretty financially tight for me right now but I figured I could let her ride Lynx for no cost for her sanity through all this. It could be a good fit... I know her horse is also a little bit of a looky lou.. although he's much fancier than Lynx (He's a warm blood and trained or shown their fourth level I think?) but he's all I can offer! She's also petite which honestly is kind of a requirement for Lynx and the kissing spine.

So hopefully they get along okay. Really hoping her horse recovers. It sounds pretty scary.. She is just so smitten with her horse... It's heartbreaking.

Alueronx- good luck with the upcoming shows! It all sounds like a very exciting summer coming up for you guys!

Blob, I always have to wait at least a day before watching any videos of me riding. Or I hate it. If I can give myself a day I tend to be a little less critical (And that goes for both myself and of my horse.) I hope the show goes well for you!! Funny enough I also struggle so much with leg yields with head to the rail too ... I'm also not sure why something is off there in my brain or body.

[StraightForward]

LSP, it's generous of you to share your horse. Jingles for your friend's horse healing up! And of course congratulations on the nice compliment.

Adding some notes from this morning's clinic ride before I forget things. First, T loaded nicely, which was a relief, because she was a royal pain about it when it was time to go home from our last overnight trip. I think I'm just going to have to rig up the lunge line through a ring at the front of the trailer to give her a little forward encouragement for awhile. I taught her to self load, but she has gotten pretty committed to loading and then backing out, which is highly annoying.

But anyway - she was a bit on her toes when we got there, but nothing crazy. It did translate into less of a struggle to get forward movement in the warmup. However, the clinician felt that she was too on the forehand and I was letting her go too long and low. Since she was tense, I was just trying to get her to relax and get her head down. She had me take up the reins and do some LY across the diagonal focusing on keeping her outside shoulder on the line of travel, and getting good crossing of the hind legs. We did that in the walk, and then moved it into a fairly slow trot with a lower, rounder frame. After that, she was happier with how she was traveling, and we did lots of work on renvers to SI to straight into the contact on both reins, making sure to keep the trot slow enough that she had to put weight into each leg. After that, we moved into canter, and did several leg yields to center line, really trying to put the leading shoulder out, and then straightening and riding the half circle back to the rail. Eventually she had me LY to CL, then canter a 10m circle, though we needed more like 1.5 circles to really develop the bend. Throughout, she wanted me to make sure the canter was not rushed, so she had time to get onto her hind legs more. That was a good exercise for me since I have gotten so in the habit of chasing her forward after all these years. T handled it all pretty well, and I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. It was good warming up through the tension, so I have a strategy if that's the horse I have to warmup at a show.

[Moutaineer]

SF, I agree, it's so helpful to develop the tools to be able to ride through difficult situations. It's a good reason to go ride in clinics in strange places with trainers we trust!

LSP, that sounds like it could be a win-win for everyone. Good for you.

Exvet, Great that you are actually getting on Troy! Let the fun begin!


OK, so today, we took out the trot part of the canter exercise I talked about and replaced it with a flying change--canter zigzags on a circle, so to speak. That was hard, but a very effective exercise. My core is telling me all about it this evening. Yoga should be fun later...

And then we rode through the trot work in the PSG, which went quite well, even the HP.

I'm contemplating the prospect of calling it good where we are on 3rd level and just starting the show season at 4.1. I was feeling that I "should" get some better scores at 3.3 before I moved on, but I think that at this point it might just be proving what we know is in there after a solid winter of work. And I'm kind of sick of it, to be honest. And Potters is much easier to ride when he's being kept busy and mentally stretched more.

The clock is ticking and neither of us are getting any younger, and if we want to have a bash at that silver medal we just might need to get on with it. Potters is fit and well and entirely capable of it all at the moment. I just need to be able to step up to the plate consistently. We will see. I will have the trainer conversation later in the week and see what she thinks.

[goldhorse]

Goldhorse I audibly gasped at that x-ray. Please do update us on how the patient is doing.

Well it's really a boring update. He got himself out of his wrap sometime Sunday night/Monday morning and filled his hoof with poop. So I stopped the wrapping. He's yet to take an unsound step. I'm now just waiting for my farrier to put on hind shoes but I have a call into the vet to find out if we can just skip them. Since he's been so good, I got on him today for 30 minutes of walk work doing lots of suppling. Today was 7 days from the injury and 4 days since I stopped the betadine soaks.

[exvet]

Goldhorse the 'boring' progress sounds pretty darn good. While I can't say with certainty since I haven't seen it in person, based on the rads you shared I think there's a very good chance you guys are out of the woods just so long as nothing else traumatizes the area.

On the topic of sharing horses, Ace has been demonstrating chronic intermittent colic for close to 3 months now. He seems to have a bout every 3 weeks. My gut, no pun intended, tells me that an enterolith is high on the list of culprits based on his early years and how I ended up with him but we do have him on the schedule to get endoscopy in a couple of weeks (the earliest I could get someone to come here). So far he has always responded to a single dose of banamine and seems to be on an every 10 day click for an episode. If it's not ulcers (already have him started on meds for that) I've decided we will NOT pursue surgery but manage him as best as we can until he gets to a point where he's refluxing and then I will elect humane euthanasia. If that happens then Junior will become my SO's primary trail horse. Now that doesn't mean Junior will be hanging up his dressage shoes but the sharing part will likely test every ounce of patience I can possibly muster. To be honest my SO has ridden Junior more than a handful of times without incident. It's so hard to find a horse like Ace who adores, bonds with and takes care of his rider like he does; but, I know that Junior has proven how safe he is over and over. Not easy to find such horses but I've been very lucky to have had more than one come through my barn. While I don't like the whole situation with Ace, I know we've given him the safe landing he deserved and I have no desire to start kissing toads if we have to make that terrible decision so sharing it may have to be.

[goldhorse]

Another boring update. Don't get me wrong. I fully understand how in this case, boring is good. He got hind shoes and pads on today. I never heard back from the vet and the farrier showed up so we went ahead with the shoes. Then we did a short ride with W/T/C and everything was good. Someone was smiling on us. This could have been so much worse. Carry on!

[StraightForward]

Hurray for boring, Goldhorse. I hope it continues that way!

Exvet, jingles for Ace. He sounds like such a good boy, I hope his colic problems are solveable.

Second day of the Carrie Harden clinic went well. When I got there they said they were running 15 minutes behind, but that turned into 45 minutes, so we had a very long warmup. That worked out well though, since I was able to implement the warmup she gave me yesterday, and also gave T enough time to get out of adrenaline mode and chill a bit. She was much happier with what she saw as a starting point. We worked on similar exercises. My left side is my main issue. I see my left leg curling up when I put it back, and she wanted me giving more with my left rein. T is hollow on the left, so I am taking that rein to try to establish contact. Well guess what? It is not working, lol. She again had us do a lot of LY pushing the shoulder out to centerline. Left lead canter was fine. Right lead was the part that was not for social media, but probably more interesting for this group. She had us cantering for several minutes, doing the HI, then LY and really bending all over, and then collecting and extending to eventually get a pretty decent canter. T clearly found it challenging, but never threw tantrum like she used to, which is nice. I still expect it, and need to learn to sit and expect her to carry more, rather than wondering when she's about to give me the Hard NO.

https://youtu.be/YbodE3aH0YU
https://youtu.be/BRnmCWtWlcc
https://youtu.be/SZ-HXUnMgA0

After the clinic we headed to the vet for spring shots, dental and general checkup. The vet did flexions and said she was doing great, which was fantastic news since her last hock injections were a year ago, and the initial ones only "lasted" 8 months. All else was in good order, and fingers crossed she won't have any vax reactions. She'll get Thursday/Friday off, and then we'll do a jump and a nice stretchy ride this weekend before our lesson with my regular instructor on Monday.

SoloShot gets delivered tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to regular video again!

[mari]

Lovely videos StraightForward, thanks for posting them! And your colour-matching game is ON POINT, love it.

[Tanga]

Mountaineer and straightforward Half pass does the same thing to me. I lost it for years and couldn't get it back. Chelsey helped me with that one. If you shift your weight to the inside seatbone, it tends to block the horse from lifting up that front leg and block your hand. It helps me to think of lifting the inside hand in rhythm up to lift the shoulder and think of sweeping my seat from the outside hind under towards the inside fore in rhythm with the work. And I still have to work on it not feeling awkward every day. For me, going to the left is so much harder, as evidenced by my creating the problem in both horses.

Doing OK here. First show of the year (so weird for me to say) is end of the month. Besides both being in season, and thus you never know if we're going to be over or under reacting, they're pretty good to go. If Quinn doesn't get tense and I stay relaxed and focused, she can do all of the GP work pretty well. I just need to not over ride. Quilla is getting used to doing the easy PSG and I-1, as long as she doesn't wind herself up thinking she's going to do do something exciting and basically bounces up and down like a ball.

I'm glad I made the decision to drop Quilla down. She can do the GP, but there is definitely something going on in her hind end where she doesn't always want to weight the, particularly left, hind and I can see a slight shortness there when I pony her down a hill, and sometimes she rests it, or the other hind, when just standing, and when I ask her to move, it's like her leg fell asleep and it takes a few steps to get moving. I don't know what it is, not going to spend a fortune trying to figure it out, and will continue to condition, stretch, and massage as always. It might have been an injury/pulling at some point, which might explain why when I started GP she did the ones fine, and then at some point not. And it explains why if she's going to stop, it's always on a left pirouette, and turning left across a diagonal set her off the most.

[Tanga]

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[Lipsmackerpony88]

SF, lovely videos! It seems like haunches in really did help T loosen up in the canter. You rode very well and you both look wonderful.

Tanga, glad you are well. I hope the show goes great! It's nice that you know your horse's SO well. Your comments about Quilla and her left hind are very relatable to me. Lynx keeps improving but the left hind still seems a bit sticky to me. But we are seeing improvements all the time so trying to use dressage as physical therapy for now.

I had an okay ride. Not sure why but I just had one of those days where I felt like I barely had it together physically lol. Lynx was very well behaved though.

[Moutaineer]

Yay for more boring, Goldhorse.

SF, I'm obviously going to have to up my matchy game for this weekend's clinic!

Good to hear a happy update from you Tanga.

Dreadful weather here today. Driving to and from the barn was like driving through a carwash. I was going to take the trailer down this morning but looked out the window and decided I'd wait until tomorrow. When it will be snowing.

So an indoor ride today, which went well. (The only spook we had was the very second after trainer said "He's being such a good boy! so nice to see him go willingly into every corner!" Boom! He was listening, apparently. Stinker...)

It's interesting to be in the indoor and watch the HPs in the mirrors. They are better, but I'm going to beg for Mette's help at the weekend!

[Moutaineer]

Oh, well. So much for that. The clinic this weekend just got canceled. Difficult circumstances beyond anyone's control, but boo. I was really looking forward to it!

[Aleuronx]

SF- Really nice work and love the coloring with T’s bright new copper coming in. You can really see how the traver in the right lead makes her front end slow down while allowing (eventually when she believes you) the hind legs to stretch forward and under more. That’s your ticket there to getting her best canter.

Goldhorse- Happy days for a boring report, shoes on and back to work. Phew!

Tanga- Good luck at the upcoming show! Love that you are so in tune with your girls to understand where their limits are. That’s where the good horseman are imo.

Mountaineer- Boo on the clinic cancellation. Sounds like you’ll have to do some self-implemented butt kicking. I did try that renver circle exercise and holy crap was the mare stealing changes, really made her have to slow and listen to the aids. Thanks for that!

First lesson back with trainer and we are deemed “improved and not feral”. I did tell her not to look too close as she is dirty as sin, yet to have a full post-winter bath. Worked on the straightness and not flinging neck in the changes. Ride canter to diagonal then start leg yielding to A as if down the wall w/centerline as imaginary wall then hold her up through the corner. Stage 2 was same then riding out of leg yielding straight somewhere between A and the corner, counter canter round short side, long side leg yield in two strides then change to true canter. Got the most incredible, uphill balanced MATCHING changes each direction with these exercises . Hard work and she was sweaty even though a windy cold day of only 50 degrees.

Back on Saturday for another lesson. Maybe we’ll trot, lol. It will be the first 70 degree day so will be availing ourselves to her nice controlled heated water in the wash stall for a mega spring clean scrub session.