Friday and Saturday's rides

I didn't get a chance to ride on Thursday, I had a family obligation, but I was able to take care of some things at the farm and turn Werther out in the indoor for a little bit, so he got a chance to roll, run, and buck. The weather was amazing on Friday, in the seventies so I rode outside. It was my first time riding outside when I was at the barn by myself. I was a little worried about being able to get on outside, the mounting block is smaller and lighter, making it a little more precarious. Also, there is not as a effective place to position Werther, in the indoor, I make him stand next to the viewing area, so he can't turn when I mount him. In the outdoor, it is hard to create that kind of chute. Werther was excellent, we had a lot to deal with, including dumb people honking at us from the road and someone shooting their gun in the distance. He was a little looky at the walk when he didn't have enough to do but other than that he was very good. I ran through the first intro test again and the trot work was better. One thing I noticed in the outdoor, we have definitely come to rely on the walls of the indoor for support with the bend. When I make a big circle in the outdoor, Werther is much more difficult to bend when we are away from the rail. This is something I really need to work on. 

Saturday's Lesson

I've been working on getting all my equipment organized for showing, and I think I finally have all of my tack sorted. I got my metal stirrup pads screwed in place, a grab strap for my saddle, show pads, a new browband, and a pretty new KK ultra snaffle, Werther needed a size bigger than what we had been riding in. The new stirrup pads were really helpful, it gave me just enough "stick" with my weak left leg, I was able to keep my stirrup the whole time. I got a new fleck whip, 120 cm, slightly longer and more flexible than the whip I have been using. It was so helpful, it was much easier the reach behind my leg, and I didn't have to use it as much because the flexibility made it much more effective. Our trot work was really good and I was able to get some really nice leg yields. We were back in the indoor because it was really windy out, so I'm sure that was a factor as well. We spent some time on the walk trot transitions, one thing Sarah said that was really helpful with the downward transition, is to think about making the trot steps smaller before you ask for the walk, it made a lot of sense. The canter transitions are still not 100% but getting better. When I asked for the canter the first time each direction the first time, he didn't respond to my leg, so I gave him a firm tap with my whip and he bucked, but afterwards was very good for the subsequent transitions. We also worked on the halt, he gets a little impatient, I need to practice it more. 

Showing question

I tried to buy some plain white show shirts for Ariat, but I was swimming in them so I am sending them back for a smaller size, or possibly a different brand. Any advice on good show shirts? Coolmax a must, and I don't like the zipper look or short sleeves, I think it looks too casual. My hunt shirts were usually by Essex, and I like the white with blue or pink lining inside the collar and cuff, but would they be OK with the collar unbuttoned for waived coats. 

Saddle

Edit: sorry for random post, I was testing emailing photos via bloggers email post feature. 

Pictures!

I took some pictures out at the barn today, hope you enjoy!

kind of funny angle on this one, I was holding Wesley and I was trying to keep him from eating my phone while I took the picture. Left to right the horses are: Beckham, bay, 3 years old by Accord III; Curly, grey, almost a year, by Cassini II. Orvis, chestnut, 2 years old, by Orleandro.

Again, trying to take a pic and keep phone from being eaten, accounting for the wonky angle. 

The boys getting bored and going back to playing. 

Werther, wearing his Dressage bridle Karen gave me. Now Werther's dressage makeover is complete! 

Thursday and Friday

Playing catch up once again. My ride out to the farm cancelled on me on Tuesday so I did not have a ride to the barn, so Sarah rode Werther. She said it was nice to get two ride back to back on him. She worked on the canter a lot, transitions to the canter, getting his collected canter more foreword and making him use his hind end, and tempi changes. Thursday and Friday I rode Werther for a long time, I spent half the time on him working on his frame and getting to stay forward and spent the rest of time working on me, mainly sitting trot and canter transitions. I can get a few minutes of a good sitting trot, but i'm still trying to get consistent. Canter transitions are getting better, he is not really rooting too much now, but it takes me a few tries to get the canter, Werther would prefer to go into a really foreword almost extended trot. He is looking really good, I took some pictures: 
New dark coat coming in, old coat on legs from trace clip.

Werther, starting to look every inch of a respectable dressage horse.

Friday and Saturday's rides

The guys pulled Werther's mane for me and clipped his ears and nose. He doesn't look quite so much like a backyard horse now!

I think I must have hit bottom on my lesson on Tuesday because things seem to be improving now.  He was still a little difficult on Friday, but I was able to get him to walk around  the ring once both directions with his neck exactly where I wanted it. I rewarded him by letting him canter nice and forward and did a few lead changes, which he was very pleased about. The biggest issue I am having right now, is that Werther likes to think he cannot go forward and in a frame at the same time, and I have to convince him otherwise. Today he was just excellent, I was able to get him quickly in a frame and stay there without a whole lot of matinence.  Sarah kept telling me was to let him fill up the outside rein. The main thing is pushing him away from my inside leg, because he want to be lazy and fall in rather than stay straight where he needs to be straight and bend where he needs to bend. We did some lateral work a few leg yields and shoulder in. The shoulder in was much better, I think I have a better idea of getting my hands in the right place so I can get the bend thorough the shoulder and not overbend in the neck. We worked on the sitting trot for a little bit, that was really challenging to me, because years on huntseat riding to me I need to be tight in my leg and hold myself into position. Now, with dressage I am being told to be loose though my leg and that looseness will allow me to stay with the motion of the horse, that is a hard thing for me to trust. We worked on my seat at the canter too, I'm used to wanting to get automatically up in half seat, but I am slowly reschooling myself. I talked to Sarah about doing some shows this summer, she said they do about 2 a month in the summer and tend to stay local, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa which would suit me really well.

Quick Post Before Bed

Going to Thermal this weekend was fabulous, I loved watching the world cup qualifying class and seeing Stoli in his new life as "hunter boy" for my Mom in the A/Os. My stuff from Aunt Karen was at the barn when I got there today. I did not have a lesson because Sarah was not feeling well. She rode Werther on Sunday and Monday and said he felt really good, he even got up enough ambition to throw in some playful bucks. She worked a lot with him on transitions. I was not in the mood to deal with any hijinx after a few days off so I turned Werther out in the indoor before I rode him, he had a good time rolling and galloped around and got a few bucks out. I just did a light hack in Karen's saddle, it is amazing. It is a high profile Albion SLK. I don't know if it is clear from the picture, but the pommel is higher and more cut back than a regular dressage saddle, which I think alleviated the problem of shoulder tightness we were getting with the other saddles I tried. Even up to the last hole the stirrups were still very much too long for me, but I felt really secure in the saddle's seat. This thing has some of the biggest knee rolls I have even seen, I'm not sure how that will affect my position. The cantle is also very high, I had trouble swinging my leg over to get out! Karen sent a couple different pads, I tried the EA Mattes pad with sheepskin lining that sits on the horse's back where the saddle goes and that seemed to work well. 

couple more pictures

Hard getting good shots with the cell phone but here are a few more from today.

Andre getting ready to hack Violet, I love her bling brow band!

Tryst getting ready to hack, not showing this week as he was a little sick last week.

A Few Horse Show Pictures

Spike and Hootie playing across the aisle.
Side profile of Stoli's tail braided for the A/O Hunters will try and get a better pic tomorrow.
Me and Stoli waiting for him to jog.

Thursday and Friday

I decided I need to add some more pictures to this blog so I took this one while I was cooling Werther out today.  I think it looks kinda cool, it would look better if I had something nicer than a cell phone camera. Werther was a little bit difficult on Thursday, he actually "ran away" at a very controlled canter. I was working on the canter transition and he was anticipating and started cantering in the corner after I changed direction. I could not get him back because I had the rein aids in and it was too spongy when I tried to pull back. I just ended up dropping my reins and circling and he got the idea. Today he was pretty good. He only rooted once at the canter, and I was able to get him in about 75% of frame I wanted. I had some really nice moments now I just need to maintain it. I can keep a nice frame throughout a whole lesson now once I get him connected, I just need to be able to do it by myself. I got some awesome leg yields today though which made me really happy because it felt like I was at least making some progress.

Lesson

I tried a dressage saddle today:

It is a used Canterbury Equation, which has been collecting dust for one of Sarah's clients who has moved on to another saddle. I've never heard of this brand, anyone have experience with it? My legs are so short we had to wrap the stirrup leathers, but it seemed to fit Werther and myself. It also did not seem like too dramatic a transition from my huntseat saddle which was nice. Today in my lesson we worked a lot on me and less on Werther. I spent some time doing our usual warm up getting used to the new saddle and I also rode with a dressage whip for the first time, so I had to get used to that. We worked on my sitting trot and my seat at the canter. When I sat the way I was supposed to, Werther got really nice and round with a really steady contact, Sarah said that the way the dressage saddle is built encourages that roundness. We also worked on giving with my elbows so the horse feels comfortable maintaining the contact, I'm still not entirely sure if I have the motion right. He did not have any issue stumbling today, he must have just been really lazy yesterday. Sarah let me keep the saddle to try for a few days and she knows of a couple more for sale she is going to let me try so I can have a better understanding of what works for me in a dressage saddle. Also, I had a hard time switching hands with the dressage whip, I bought it home to practice and I think I am getting better at it, but any tips or ticks would be helpful.

Pic spam!

Bad cell phone pictures of Wesley and Werther playing in the indoor. It was -20 F without windchill and the horses have only been turned out in shifts in the indoor for the last 3 days.

Snow Pads!

I got a picture of Werther's new snow pads, he was too fidgety for me to get his newly naked hind feet. The shoe has a borium coating and borium studs. I had my lesson with Sarah this morning, we did not try out the Dressage whip, maybe on Tuesday, I am curious to try it. We did walk trot warm up focusing on getting Werther moving forward and on the bit. We moved on to canter transitions, which were pretty good, he did not root today, but he was a little slow to pick up the canter. We did trot canter transitions and worked on maintianing the impulsion I got from the downward transition from the canter to the the trot. Next we worked on the shoulder-in at the walk and canter. I have not done a shoulder-in in a long time but Werther was really good. The biggest struggle was maintaining his impulsion after going straight after the shoulder-in. Sarah told me to imagine getting Werther to use his energy to bounce up instead of taking a longer stride. We took a break a did a few more trot cater transitions and I got my best trot out of him yet. I was able to let my reins go really long and Werther still stayed on the bit in a beautiful frame and he was really round in his back. Sarah also taught me how to do shoulders-fore which will help me when he locks his jaw on the long side at the trot. We gave him a really long break and did a few more sholder-in at the trot. Sarah wanted to see how he would behave after a long break, he did need quite a bit of encouragement to wake up but he was very good. This lesson went much better than Tuesday, I hope we continue with this kind of progress.

Thursday and Friday

I'm doing a quick paraphase of the call Sarah left me about her ride on Werther yesterday:

"Werther was really good yesterday. I worked a little bit on canter departs at the walk and the trot. I carried my long dressage whip and I think he responded a little better to that [than my huntseat crop], I may bring it and have you try it on Saturday. I worked with Werther on some strengthening exercises at the trot to build up his hind end, a little bit of shoulders in, haunches in, and half pass. I also played with transitions from working trot to collected trot. I think the stronger I can get his hind end, the less likely it is he will root with you. Then I played with the collected and working transitions and the canter and finished working on flying changes, trying to get him morse sensitive to the leg, which is going to help you with the canter transition."

Ellie back in: This all sounds like good training practices to me, if any  Dressage person has an opinion, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Today's ride: Today was my first day riding at the barn totally by myself, no others riders or groom. I called my Mom to let her know I got there and was going to ride. Werther was good tacking up and stood quietly when I got on, thank goodness. He was a little tense going down to the far end of the ring, it is slightly darker, and the heater makes noises, but he didn't act on his nervousness. I practiced an active walk and taking a feel, he was pretty good about the bit at the trot but fought me and locked his jaw especially on the long sides at the trot. However when we did our leg yield circles at the trot he was much better about the bit. Werther was most excellent at the canter, he picked up his leads right away, had a ton of impulsion, was really moving off his hind end and was very accepting of my hand. It was a little bit nerve wracking to feel (and be in control of) so much power underneath me. I let him walk on a loose rein, and we finished without incident. 

Shoes: Scott came and did Werther, we decided to pull his hind shoes for the winter, Mom thinks if his feet hold up alright, he will have an easier time in the snow. In front, we did shoes with boreum and full snow pads. I'll post pictures tomorrow, I did not have enough battery to do it today.

Orvis pics:

Orvis is not even two yet, next to our 15 hand something three year old. 

Orvis's knee that got kicked before he left for Minnesota.

Last thing: I'm still nervous about riding by myself, any advice from anyone who rides alone on a regular basis would be greatly appreciated. 

Comings and Goings

Stopped by the barn today to say hi to the horses and for Mom to drop off stuff to go in the trailer for Thermal. I said goodbye to Jingle Belle, my Welsh Pony broodmare pictured here:
Due to the current economic situation, my Mom has decided to stop breeding in addition to letting the boarders go last spring and privatizing the barn. Jingle Belle is going to Grand Central Ponies, which is run by my stepdad's cousin Robin Greenwood. Her farm is the Ritz Carlton of pony barns and was even featured in an article in the Chronicle of the Horse recently, so I know Jingle Belle will have a good home. My Mom's Holstiner broodmare Callie is going back to her previous home at Crooked Willow Farms in Colorado. Callie is pictured here:
We also have a new horse coming, my Mom got a new two year old Holstiner colt in on trade for Callie from Crooked Willow. My Mom didn't like his barn name that he had, I think his new name is going to be Orvis but it is yet to be decided. He is pictured as a baby here:

Dressage ride

We changed Werther's bit today per Sarah's suggestion. We changed from the traditional french link snaffle on the bottom to the cooper loose ring french link with a ball center. Sarah came out and rode Werther today. I liked the way she rode him, she had him nicely framed up, but she didn't have a death grip on the reins and he wasn't over flexed so his head was at his chest like you see some dressage riders do. Werther was really good for her, Sarah said he was one of the nicest horses she has even ridden, which made me feel like a proud mother indeed. Sarah even had tempi changes, and she did not spurs on. She thinks somebody must have put in a lot of dressage training on him in the past because she had Werther doing movements up fourth level. She loved how soft he was in the mouth, but did say he could be a little more responsive off the leg. I'm really excited to take some dressage lessons now, it's really nice to have a horse that knows all of these things, so I can really work on becoming a stronger rider.

Busy Barn Day

I met with the dressage trainer today, Sarah (not to be confused with Dr. Sarah, our vet). She is a year older than me and is in her second year of full time training. I was putting on Werther's bridle when we she got there and I she went out the indoor with me to watch me ride. As I got on Werther, he knocked over one of the heavy post caps as he was going to crib on the viewing area railing which made a large thud on the floor. Werther was good and didn't flinch response was "well, I guess he's not spooky" which was pretty funny. My Mom was hacking Spike, and I think Werther was excited to have another horse in the ring because he was a little fresher than usual (aka a normal horse quiet). Sarah works mainly out of Brightonwood Farm which is not too far from us. The object of having Sarah coming out today was to have her observe me and Werther and how we work together and to discuss my goals. I pretty much did a routine hack, but I threw in a couple extra simple and flying changes since I have been struggling with the canter transition. She was very complimentary of Werther, she said he looked like he was very elastic (especially for 15!) that he had a very nice canter and good flying lead changes. She had the suggestion of his getting his hocks done to help with his rooting, but he had them done on November 4th. We also talked about bits and Sarah recommended changing to a french link snaffle with a ball instead of a flat center piece Werther currently has. I talked to her about my goals, which is to basically up my game on the flat and get stronger. If everything works out, Sarah is going to ride Werther once a week and give me lessons twice a week. The only thing I am concerned about is that she seemed a little bit timid about my disability, but I think after a few lessons and developing a relationship with her I can convince her she does not have to treat me like I am made of glass. I've run into that problem with trainers in the past, they get afraid to push me even though I tell them I like to be challenged and I perfectly capable of telling them when something is too much and I need to step down or change something. After Sarah left Mom and I went to Anoka to pick up Wesley after he had his tumor vaccine shot. I learned that they actually inject the vaccine into the lymph node, which is really interesting. Mom drove the trailer into the indoor so she and Andre could practice loading with Violet and Beckham, two of our young horses. Violet was a pill but Beckham was great. Dr. Sarah is coming tomorrow to give horses shots so they are leaving the trailer in the indoor and having those two practice loading and unloading a couple of times for the next three days.

Wesley with Mom waiting to show the young'uns how it is done:

Violet, checking out the scary horse eating ramp:

Beckham with Chloe in foreground:

Hair Cut

Werther was getting too hairy so the guys clipped him last night. The poor guy looks kinda dorky, we left his legs and neck hairy so the parts of him not covered up by his blankets would not get too cold when he goes outside.

I turned Werther out in the indoor first to see if this new state of undress would inspire any freshness, which it did not. Dr. Sarah was at the barn this morning doing hock injections for the horses going to Thermal and she drew blood to check Werther's iron and magnesium, which were low when we did the blood-work on the pre-purchase exam. He has been on red cell and a magnesium supplement, so hopefully that will have improved. After all that I did not have much time to ride and we just had a very quick hack. Werther was good picking up the canter initially, and I did a flying lead change each direction which is easy for him, but good for me to practice.

Hack

My Mom and I picked up Wesley from getting his tumor vaccine injection at Anoka equine before going to the barn to ride. I got a picture of him on my phone of the camera we have in the pick up truck to watch the horses in the trailer. It made the hour long drive entertaining.

My ride was OK. Werther was fresh and lazy at the same time if that makes any sense. He had a ton of impulsion at the trot but I still had trouble getting him to pick up the canter. I tried something new today, I knoted my reins at my Mom's suggestion, (not super tight) to keeep him in a little bit of a frame during those first couple canter strides so he would not root. It worked pretty well, but I got a little nervous because he had a ton of impulsion at the canter, and with the reins knotted he was framing up very nicely and went into his dressage horse mode and did a lovely extended canter. I was just nervous because I could feel all the power underneath me and I could really tell that he wanted to let loose and gallop but was being too polite to bolt forward. Mom left the ring with Stoli when I started to walk and Werther got really wound up being alone in the ring, all his muscles were tense and his head was up in the air like a giraffe. I'm really struggling right now, becuase my trainer Andre just is not helping me. She is good at riding the horses but she is not a good teacher. I tried to get advice from my Mom, but she is an amateur and while she was a professional and taught at one point, is busy with her own horses. I'm trying to arrange a Dressage trainer for when Mom and Andre are at HITS and the Oaks so I can work on my flat work. I'm just frusterated with my situation right now, I miss college where I had three compentant trainers to choose from who were all more than willing to help me and they had the experince teaching lessons so I always felt confident.

New Shoes

Werther got his new shoes on today.


Our farrier, Scott was happy with his feet. He was able to bump Werther up to size three, when he first came to us they were a two. After Werther got his feet done my Mom and I chased Werther in the indoor which he definitely needed. After a small intial prompting, he galloped around like a mad man, tail up in the air and lots of stallion snorts. Needless to say, Werther was very tired for our ride and I did not do too much with him. After Werther was done, Mom and I switched Werther and Wesley's stalls. Werther cribs on the automatic waterer so we put him in a stall closer to the hose and we put low hanging buckets of water in his stall. My Mom turned off the automatic waterer, ducktaped the bowl to the top and sprayed it with pepper spray to discourage his cribbing.

Naked!

Werther got body clipped on Tuesday night so when I went out on Wednesday he looked like a totally different horse:

I'm really proud of his overall body condition, he looks so much better than when we first bought him. I tried to get a conformation shot in here, and I am terrible at conformation critique but if you feel up to it feel free to comment. It was really warm yesterday so I was able to ride outside, we were by ourselves in the ring, but Jingle Belle and Fiona were on one side, and one paddock over from the ring on the other side Wesley and Vinny were turned out. He could care less about Vinny and Wesley, but he gets very distracted by Fiona. He does not do anything bad per say, but when he goes by, he slows down and bulges out so he can watch her. Fiona is not much help, when Werther trots by, she trots along the fence with him, when Werther canters, she gallops along the fence like his little shadow. He was excellent at the canter, he picked up both leads the first time he was asked with a minimal amount of fuss. The right lead was more difficult, I will have to start with that one today. After cantering I decided to do some no stirrup work at the walk and sitting trot. When I do a new stirrups sitting trot he goes into total dressage horse mode, beautiful collected trot with lots of forward impulsion and very round and on the bit. Werther actually likes having a lot of contact, he is relaxed and his ears are forward the whole time. This is a new experince for me, most of the horses I have ridden in the past were very much know it all packers who hated being told what to do. Werther likes direction, which is something I have to get used to giving.