We did it!

We survived, and it was awesome.

So Miss Joy was a pain about getting in to the trailer, in hindsight I should of practiced a bit with her since it was her first time off the property in 2 years! We got to the barn a little late so my friend helped me tack up and we rode straight away. Joy was spooky and looky at first but settled down to work and we had a very productive lesson.

Sandi was great, taking time to ask questions about Joy and we talked a lot about the challenges and positives of  doing dressage with Arabians and Saddlebreds. We did fairly simple stuff (circles, spiral circles, turn on forehand and haunches and looooooots of transitions) but focusing on Miss Joy using her body correctly.


Okay, things I learned.

1- Keep my reins the length they should be, so when she relaxes her neck and picks up contact they are the correct length. Fairly simple concept,  instead of messing around with the reins just keep them "correct" (even if it feels awkward when she is doing a giraffe impression) and when she relaxes it is more comfortable for both of us.

2- Leg on! Joy is a hot horse, I generally ride with a relaxed leg and I like not having to motivate her constantly like you do with some really mellow horses. But in order to get her hind end under her correctly I need to be active with my legs.

3- Because she is so compact (seriously compact) circles are my friend, In a circle she has to focus a little to balance herself and I have the opportunity to get her working correctly. Getting her to reach under herself with her hind legs and stretch a little.

There is more of course but those points were the most helpful right now.

Now pictures, first lesson in 2 years! so no laughing.

Start of lesson, OMG IM A PONY RUN AROUND NOW

start of lesson WHEEEE IM RUNNING AROUND

starting to relax

My fav picture, I don't look awesome but she is so soft and willing here.

Mid lesson, she has  a neck!

working on bending

Oh Hai!

Overall I'm super pleased and am definitely going to work on making this a monthly thing. Joy was awesome and happy to be working.

There is a baby in there!

The baby has a heartbeat, which is pretty cool. Dr appointment went okay, got to have lots of poking around in my girly bits and so far everything is normal. Nurse midwives were nice but I felt slightly guilty about forgetting to use deodorant, I showered yesterday (and we have hot water again, yay!) but I rode yesterday afternoon and forgot to use deodorant this morning when I was rushing out the door, so I stank. Ultrasound in November, which I'm hoping Joe can come to,that would be sweet.

There are guys Joe knows from hockey picking up wood from the horse paddock, they really pissed me off when they first got here and while I am glad they are picking up wood, I wish they would go away. He gave me attitude when I pulled up and was told they were here for the wood and I said he would have to wait until I got the horses sorted out.

I really dislike riding gaited horses, does that make me weird? I took HiT out on the two mile loop yesterday, she was excellent. She is so out of shape though and really can't handle much, I would say she a good 100 pounds overweight, All cresty and bulgy. Other then a couple spooks and not standing still for mounting she did fine for her first time out in ages. She doesn't look like a Tennessee Walker,she looks like a Morgan or Quarter cross but her gait is comfy I guess. Gaited horses are weird, everyone like them since they are smooth but give me a regular horse any day, I know how to post. With a gaited horse I feel like the back and front halves are totally disjointed and crooked and like there is a hinge right at the girth, I also feel behind the motion in a weird chair seat.

I am going to head out again with her this afternoon,  Since her owner primarily trail rides I want to make sure she is really confident. I think I will take Joy out after as she needs to be fitted up a bit, I finally got the Chambon so I am excited to try it on her and see if it makes a difference with her neck position. Gonna have to punch holes in it though first, she is so teensy.

Gosh, I need to do pilates and take a bath, my back is tight. ok horses first.

Getting excited

We have ride times for Cobblestone! I think they will be really good for us, dressage late morning and cross country in the early afternoon with stadium the next day in the early afternoon. It sucks to drive out twice but is so much cheaper then getting a stall. Plus Joy can relax at home afterwards and that will be better for her anyway.

I have to get the truck registered today, really should have gotten on that first thing this morning. But I was super sleepy and slept in. I also need to get new tires put on the beast, maybe tomorrow, Hoping to get a schooling session in with my friend's trainer in on Thursday but that hinges on if we got everything done early, it will be ready for Saturday..

I went on a trail ride yesterday with eventer friends, we went swimming in the river and then to Dairy Queen. The weather was perfect, great company and we all had lots of fun. There were tons of people at the launch point with canoes and floaty thingys so walking the horses to the river was good desensitizing. The horses were all really good and Joe built a chicken fence while we were gone :)

Joy has been getting a wet mouth when we ride now, recently started and it's surprising because she never used to. She is also connecting through the back and yielding to the bit way more then she used to. I rode her a couple days ago and was wondering why she felt on the forehand and then realized she was just stretching into contact like a good girl.

I also am borrowing a saddle that might work for jumping, it is a Wintec and still slides up a bit but she seemed to like it and it is way better then my Collegiate all purpose that pinches her shoulders.

I had better get to it, I have a list of errands a mile long.

idonotneedaprojecthorse

I found a cute mare online today, Arab/Saddlebred cross, registered half arab, 15hh and three years old. I like her :)

I have been thinking about adding another horse to the herd, primairly to have another riding horse so I could go on trail rides with people (since Dancer is still a bit off from that!) A friend of mine is talking to me about taking her arab/quarter mare on a lease, which would be great since I have worked with the mare and really enjoy her.

But getting a project horse right now might be a good move, I have time ot work with one and it would be excellent to have a nice horse to sell in the spring (as long as I sell and don't just keep everyone because I love them) Plus I am really good at retraining and starting horses.

I think I will crunch the numbers and figure out basic costs before I commit, plus I should wait until Joe gets home or he will never leave me alone again.

Red Mare


Cute!



Cranky red mare.



In praise of difficult horses.
It is funny I own two Arabs since when I was a younger I said they were too hot, and too smart and I didn't want one of my own. The only Arabs I was working with were all in retraining and had major trust and behavioral issues due to past owner and training, they were like the other horses in for retraining except 1000 times more reactive, easily offended and neurotic, I eventually found I really like working with sensitive horses and have a real knack for it.

There are two main types of sensitive horses, the ones who are smart and the ones who are dumb and over reactive as a result. With the smart ones you have to set out each thing so they really understand and have some exercises to fall back on when they get reactive or overwhelmed, basically you do the same thing for the dumb ones but it is less fun(hah). In a perfect world I would have my own training facilities and get paid to put miles on greenies and retrain horses with issues, I enjoy many other aspects of horses but that is really where my heart is.

Riding a sensitive horse is a little different since everything you do matters and you have to manage them a bit more, really set them up to succeed. It makes you more of a compassionate and aware rider. Honestly riding sensitive greenies has been great practice for training any horse because they take the normal young horseness and multiply it. I also love riding green horses, I think it is a lot of fun, it is also a lot of work. You can be an excellent rider and not be good with greenies, since it is not just about equitation. I think some of the keys to being good with a green horse are you have to be very very very confident, willing to explain the same thing over and over until they get it and willing to work with the horse you have that day (and not what the can become) It takes time to develop the trust and understanding. Any horse can be trained to respond to light and subtle cues, but a sensitive horse can get there faster just by their nature.I love how light and balanced Joy and I can be,she is also a big tattletale since if my position is off she reflects that immediately, 

I bought Joy based on her athletic ability not her breed, when I saw what a nice balanced mover she is I was sold. I now have a desire to show people what a nice Arab can do, not just in the breed shows but competing in a real discipline with all different types of horse. In my opinion it is far more impressive to correctly train an average horse and bring it through the levels then buying some flashy thing that will look nice at shows and some judges will place high. In dressage(and training, since dressage means training) at the end of the day isn't it supposed to be about bettering the horse? .

I just got done riding and I wanted to write this before I forget.

We had a fairly productive ride but with a major battle. She seems to like her new saddle and was excellent for tacking up (generally she wiggles a lot and acts girthy) so that was a big win. We went up the road on a long rein and went to the left and up the big hill, it is a dirt road without much traffic, we did a big canter up the hill and stretchy walk down the other side. On the way back up the long side of the hill I asked for a little leg yield to the left and she just shut down, first bracing off my leg and the when I pushed her she started doing the really annoying spinning, almost rearing, backing thing she does when she is pissy. I don't know if she is sore on the side or it is just harder for her. After a couple tries I ended up getting off and asking from the ground, mounted up and she did a really nice one to the right but was still being pissy to the left, I got a couple good steps and called it good.

I rode her in the field a bit and she was being really wound up and hot, did a lot of circles at the trot and asked her to soften to the inside and stretch and got some nicer ones. Then we went in to the arena and schooled over the cavalettis which I had tricked out into scary looking jumps (blankets over them, buckets in front, ect.) to my surprise she was excellent even though she was keyed up. We jumped them a couple times then we walked up the road the other way to cool out, did a little leg yielding and she was better, less resistant. I am not going to try and"fix" anything, because that doesn't work for her, what works is improving her obedience, submission to the bit and continuing to ask her in non confrontational way, forcing or dwelling on it won't help. But I will note it as a weak spot and continue improving on it. In most ways I am glad she is my horse, sometimes she is a pain though.

Joy is not an easy horse, she may look sweet and she is very affectionate for a mare but she has a stubborn streak a mile long, generally she is really good but when I engage that stubbornness watch out! The key is not to engage it, sometimes it is really annoying when she decides she has forgotten completely how to back (has happened twice) and we have to have an argument over it, she is getting better and more relaxed so I think there is hope.

Joy's Coggins came today! and the ride times should be posted tomorrow. So we should be moving forward. Now I am just worried she will hurt herself or come up lame or something, she rarely gets injured but it always seems to happen right before an event. So I submit this prayer.

Dear Horse Gods,
Please keep Joy healthy, happy and sound for our eventing clinic.
Thank you,
love Ruth

Since today is a terribly rainy day I am so very pleased I went riding yesterday.

Snow is not off yet but we have been having slightly warmer weather resulting in some bare ground and much less snow (wheeeeeeeeeeee!)

Joy did well yesterday, She is shedding so had some nice brushing first with a curry comb, which made her very happy, I wish I had the camera with me as the faces she made when I hit the itchy spots were too funny! We went on the two mile loop, I let her stretch out and wander at first then hit some good jumps, cantered a few hills and when she got hot we worked on transitions. She has come a long way, I don't think she will ever be a calm beginner type horse but she is much more self disciplined now. I have been thinking a lot about the process of training a young horse, I really enjoy starting horses and if I could figure out how to have a real career doing that I would be very happy. So many people rush the horse and leave huge gaps in training, then the horse can never be a true partner because they simply don't understand their job.

So yesterday there was a fallen tree I have been wanting to jump but haven't because I wasn't sure if it was safe, the snow was off and it was good so I put her in a large canter circle and she popped over it happily. There are so many advantages to letting a horse mature and gain confidence rather then pushing them to fast, she feels confident jumping and I have built that confidence by putting her in good situations where she can be safe and have fun, now she trusts me and herself.

On the way home she got hot, I let her gallop up some hills and she had a great time and got herself worked up, Joy is not the type of horse where you can run them to burn of steam. When she was younger and I would free lunge her sometimes she would get her "canter button" stuck and would run around and around till I managed to get the lunge on her and force her to walk and trot. What works well for relaxing her is walking, leg yields and transitions. When she is over sensitive she spooks at everything so slow relaxing work is the way to go. I am wondering how she will do at cross country this summer but I guess we will figure it out when we get to that.

I really think horses are intelligent and the best way to train is to put them in situations where they see the benefit in doing what you ask. Joy is never going to be an easy horse, she is smart and independent, which is a blessing and a curse. I don't think most horses are trying to be bad I think they don't understand whats being asked and many "bad" horses have a low frustration point. They would get more confidence from trail riding and from being ridden as one rides a green horse, with patience, kindness and understanding.
Please set them up to succeed.