A Difference of Degrees

Well on top of all the virus fun and event cancellations, I found out my trainer was leaving. Though we have had our rocky moments, she has still moved Mom and I forward in our riding. So I signed up for two lessons the weekend my camp would have happened.
The way Sprieser is set up, I could pay online and we could go straight to the indoor limiting exposure. Rosemary was up to doing the lesson and Roscoe was hot to work. We ended up riding the whole hour and a half and taking turns. This allowed Rosemary enough breaks to catch her breath.

Lauren had both of us start over poles set in the corners and two in the middle. Roscoe decided the poles were going to eat him. He did eventually find his working brain. We slowed him down and put him into a longer Training level frame. When he consistently stretched over the poles, we put him together and picked him up. Man the quality of trot was amazing. He was coming through.
After a break for mom to work, we played with canter. Lauren wanted canter half halts. Last time we did this, I ran out of steam. This time we actually were able to work it. She had us do a working canter, which was bigger than I normally get at home, and then engage my core to help a half halt. Typical for Roscoe, right was better than left. His overall response was better. At times I could feel him sit and lift. He can't do it long, but what a difference.
Then the fun began, leg yields. You all know I have battled these for awhile. Lauren finally seemed to hit on my problem. I keep Roscoe too straight. She had me let his shoulder lead by five degrees. This immediately unlocked his movement. So we tried three degrees, but with less fluidity. Four degrees was the best of both. We finally could move forward and sideways. Hard to believe it was only a difference of degrees preventing our success. And I was able to get the same results at home.
It really stinks to make progress and have to pause lessons. But mom and I have taken advantage of our time to move Ember forward. He will get his own post. Stay well everyone!

Looking forward 

Last Ride on Comrade

Not forever, just until I come back from Florida.

Saturday we had lovely 50F temperatures. I started Comrade out in the arena and had to work hard to gain his attention since he was more interested in what Peggy was doing. Leg yield, straight, turn on the forehand, straight, circle, counter bend, and some bell curve. Finally I had a thinking pony.
From there I started using the little jumps to get him using his lazy pushing apparatus, aka his butt. Comrade proved again how little respect he has for PVC poles as he tripped over. I asked for more with a canter approach. He did much better picking his feet up. Next up, a connected line at the canter. He took off at the right spot for the X and the baby vertical, but missed over the last vertical. Ah, it is a start.
I ended by taking him out on trail and putting him over the solid log jumps and the barrel jump. Funny boy actually remembered how to pick his feet up, to the point of over jumping. With him I will take it.
Today was much colder and I only had a short time to ride. Thank you bareback pad. After a walk warm up, I surprised Comrade by taking him onto the side road. Nothing better than a straight road for working lateral.  An added bonus was that Comrade was not thrilled with the harder surface and slowed down. Since mister man likes to rush lateral movements to avoid doing them correctly, this road was perfect. He stayed straight as we leg yielded left, then right. Shoulder in then corner to head back up the road. Not surprising, Comrade did not want to work haunches out. Too much work. I was able to get only a few steps at a time. The good part, he was not looking at the woods or the other horses running around. A few trips up and down the road gave him a nice floppy neck and a big walk. I told him not to get too fat while I am gone. These Cobs live on air, and he has some fine, fat spring air coming.

While we are on the subject of spring, where the heck is it? As I reread our care instructions for the horses last year at the same time, I laughed to see that Dottie and Winston were already in muzzles. We still have heated buckets, blankets and are giving hay outside. And right at this moment we have snow on the ground. Seriously, this winter needs to end. The horses are shedding, the daffodils are blooming and it is still light outside at 7pm. That means spring. Mother nature needs to get with the program.

The grey boys wonder where the green grass is suppose to be

The dogs don't mind the snow. The deck is their favorite spot to play.

Cold Cob Day

Our temps with wind chill were about 30 degrees. I went to Peggy's house first since Gretchen was doing Rosemary's morning dose. Unfortunately, Kayla decided to throw up her breakfast in my car and Peggy was getting sawdust delivered making my ride a bit later than expected. At least Comrade was not covered in mud. I was riding bareback to stay warm and I put on toasty toes. Nothing worse than cold feet.
Comrade was full of it. He tried to run through my aids when I asked for lateral movements. I increased the weight of my half halt and maintained my insistence. Soon I was able to get him listening to the left, but he was inverting when I went right. To loosen him up, I did some figure 8's at the canter. He did both leads, no bucking, really well. Then I went back to the lateral. Shoulder in, straight, haunches in, straight, leg yield, straight. Comrade grunted, but listened. A couple times I went over the low jumps to get his attention. Finally, he relaxed going to the right. His crest got that nice floppy motion. Good time to finish. Peggy and I warmed up with hot chocolate while watching a video of a Sec. C mare that is for sale.
The video put in the mood to ride Rosemary. I bundled up and dressed Rosemary in a quarter sheet and the bareback pad. Then we went to brave the cold. I was pleasantly surprised by her work, since it has been a long time. She was stretching and reaching into the bridle nicely at the walk. At the trot, she tried to stretch though she could not maintain the contact. All considering she was a star. Rosemary felt happy to be back to work. I played with corners asking her to "come about" a term we use when asking her to turn in harness. It seemed to help her figure out what I was asking her to do. These Cobs are so smart.
Snow was starting to fall while I rode, which meant I needed to be done. My cold cob rides were both worth braving the weather.

My girl all ready to work :)

Product Review: Spursuader

Over the weekend I rode Comrade twice and DaVinci and Rosemary once with these spurs. None of them had a negative reaction and they responded really well.
For me the spurs seemed so big compared to the micro spurs I have used previously, but they actually were easy to engage. The nice rounded edges and wide surface made a gentle but firm contact with the horse.
With Comrade, who you all know is not shy about bucking, it was amazing. He did not take offense when I used the spurs and actually had a bend through his rib cage. That bend released the tension in his neck creating the nice floppy top line. I was also able to work on his lazy right hind leg when asked to step under and push. He likes to shuffle sideways instead of crossing. With help from the spurs he did achieve the cross over, though it still needs work.
With Rosemary, my drama queen, I got a little swishy tail action, but that is normal whenever you tell her what to do. I did get a much better bend through her body, which we have been working on.  I can't wait to see Mom use the spurs while working her.
With DaVinci, I had fun. He is our lateral king, but I am not so good. With the spurs, my timing was working and DaVinci gave me some awesome half passes. Then I turned my foot out so the flat side contacted his side, not something I would normally do, but he was fine with the pressure. And by keeping the correct bend our lateral work was much better than I normally achieve.

So overall, I have been persuaded. I know that was bad.
Three different horses at different levels of training and all had positive reactions and better work. They sell for about $55. I do not know what other spurs go for, but these are worth the price. And for those of you who ride western, they have a western version.

Whacked

Hmm, how time flies. It was a crazy, if short weekend. On Saturday, I had to get some weed whacking done. We have about 8 acres and a lot of fence line. Mom and I are both vertically challenged and traditional gas powered weed whackers are difficult for us to use. So my wonderful Dad got us a push weed whacker. It is great and does not need an oil/gas mix.
So, I plugged in my Ipod and went to work as I listened to an audible book by Patricia Cornwell. I also enjoyed a lovely show of movement from Roscoe and Rosemary. They love any excuse to run around. I love seeing how both are maturing.
After almost four hours of weed whacking, I got most of the fence lines done. I figured I deserved a ride. Although I really wanted to ride Rosemary, but I had to stay on DaVinci's good side so I rode him. I figured I would do a quick stroll with him, then ride the pony girl. DaVinci had other ideas.
He gave me a great ride. I rode bareback, which is how I ride him most of the time, and we did some leg yields, change to half passes. He loves to do lateral work and riding bareback I can feel is he is cheating at all. On our last half pass to the right and the change of bend once we reached the edge, he picked up canter in the smoothest transition ever. Like letting out a breathe. That is the magic of partnership and connection.
Well DaVinci drew me in for a longer ride and I did not get to ride Rosemary. I settled my guys and headed out to ride Comrade.
This Saturday is the Spring Fling VA Welsh show. Rosemary, Roscoe, Comrade and Addie (Peggy's Cob mare) will all be showing in hand. Comrade and I will be doing my first Ridden Welsh class at this show. This is a pattern and conformation class that is suppose to show the true Welsh movement. Stallions really show what this class is all about, but it is open to horses five and older.
I decided to practice for the class during my ride. Well Comrade decided that in the early dusk, the dogs were ghosts coming to eat him. So I started doing shoulder ins and haunches in or out to get his attention on me. Those movements are great to set up for canter transitions and boy did he give me great transitions. I looked on the plus side. If I can ride through this tension, I should be able to ride at the show. We shall see. I was able to end the ride on a longer rein completing the pattern.
The count down begins. I worked on Sunday in order to take off Friday. Four horses to bathe should be interesting. For this show Roscoe's breeder will be there to help handle the horses. During a long talk on Sunday she realized that we will need three handlers, since there is a chance all three will make it to the Cob Grand Champion class. It will be a very long day, but we will be in good company.
And the weather looks like it will be clear. After the last show that in itself will make the day better. If you are in Northern VA, come to the 4-H center in Front Royal on Saturday and Sunday and see the wonderful Welsh ponies and cobs.

Circle, Diamond, Square

Although icy conditions grounded me this past weekend, I did get a good ride in on Comrade earlier in the week. Comrade's barn is about a half an hour away from mine, so a lot of times I will go to my barn early, then go to Comrade and then back to mine for dinner feeding. The day of this ride I was running behind causing me to try and beat nightfall. For times sake I put on the bareback pad and off we went.
Comrade tends to be lazy, so I have to remind him to activate his hind end. Transitions and lateral work both help achieve the activation. With the light going I also needed to keep his attention on me and not the bogey monsters. I dug into the bag of tricks and decided on the Circle, Diamond, Square exercise. This is a great exercise my old instructor taught me that is highly adaptable for any horse.
For this exercise you can start on a 20m circle, then you can move to a diamond by making corners at the points of the circle, then you can square the circle. With in each of this shapes you can ask for transitions, or lateral movements while maintaining even pace. Comrade and I started with finding the working pace on the circle. Then I halted at each point of the circle and asked for a partial turn on the haunches, creating the diamond, and trot in between. This allowed him to step under and push with his hind end. Riding bareback allowed me to feel his back come up under me. From the diamond I could move to the square and work corners. The best part of this exercise is that you can constantly change and adapt it while your riding depending on your horse. By the end of the ride I was able to do transitions with in the trot gait while Comrade was coming through his back and maintaining a soft neck. Quality and response, nothing better than that.
I have always gotten good work when riding this exercise even in its simplest form. Now if only it would dry up so I can ride my other ponies.

Transitions

Transitions are something every horse/rider combination have to practice. A small step that connects so many parts. The power of transitions is greatly underestimated. Many riders focus only on gait and miss the nuance of a transition. As I have grown as a rider, I have learned how a transition can help a horse balance and connect the rear to the front. Correct transitions improve the quality of the gaits. There is a reason why in dressage there is a score for the transition alone.
Yesterday I worked three horses of varying levels and all of them benefited from simple transitions. I started with DaVinci. Nearly four months ago, DaVinci suffered an injury that caused an infection in his knee joint. He was put on stall rest for two months and then had to take two more weeks before beginning to work. Since he is 23 yrs young, the time off caused some muscle loss along his top line. I did not plan on anything beyond a stroll around the property, but he wanted to work. So we did walk trot transitions while working long and low. For DaVinci  the transitions gently exercised and softened his back muscles allowing him to round nicely beneath me. He was even able to maintain the softness during the transitions. In his case the transitions are more theraputic and will aid in regaining his fitness.
Next I worked the greenie, Rosemary. We joke that Rosemary could not walk a straight line if she wanted. Her education was delayed due to pregancy and nursing. Transitions help Rosemary figure out that she has a front end and a back end and that they are connected. This ride we did transitions on a slight hill on a loose rein. Rosemary had to learn to use her hind end effectively without me holding he head. Since driving is in her future this is an important lesson. She still needs some work trotting down hill, but the transitions helped package her and balance her on the flat.
Finally, I worked Comrade. His owner has cleared some nice trails on her property and using the trees cut down has made some jumps. Comrade enjoys jumping but he tends to be a little lazy over the fences and will get on his forehand. So he got to do a combination of walk, trot, halt transitions on the trail around the jumps. Also I included transitions following lateral movements such turn on the haunches or shoulder ins. His responses were quick and correct connecting the back to the front. Following some trot transitions on a hill, I aimed him at two jumps on the same hill. Proof that he was working well, a really good couple of jumps. No laziness. His canter work was much better because he was using his hind end. Another aspect is that transitions keep a horses attention on you. It is hard for Comrade to spook when he is waiting for me to tell him what to do.
So in the end I had three great rides with the help of transitions. The devil is in the details and transitions are details that should not be overlooked.

Renovation, Riding and Ring Bone

Random, not quite.
We have been at our current barn for almost 10yrs. Over the years we have added a tackroom, adjusted stall sizes and put cabinetry and counters in the feed room. As with any barn we have our project list. Today my parents worked on renovating the feed room. The walls were a bit airy so they put new panels over the old walls giving it a bit of a face lift. End of day one has cabinets in the spare stall and feed in the tackroom. It is going to look great once it is all done.
While work on the feed room was being done, I was getting all our barefoot ponies trimmed. I also trim two appy's that live on the property. Those two are a challenge on the best of day. One of them has ring bone in both his front fetlocks. Drugs help but he still lives up to his name, Rebel. Last weekend was their scheduled trim, but just before they got loose and ran up to our barn. Normally, this would not be a problem but Rebel gets very sore when he is on hard surfaces such as the driveway. So even with drugs we could not get him to pick up his right front. We have learned that it is counter productive to fight him and in the end he went off with one long foot. Today we tempted fate and worked on him with only bute in him. Thank god he cooperated. One done, four to go. With dad banging away in the feed room, Rosemary, DaVinci and Winston each stood in the cross ties and let me get their feet trimmed. I love my ponies. Then it was Roscoe's turn. Well the banging combined with Rosemary running around outside was way to stimulating for a 7month old. So I issued a stop work on Dad and closed the barn door on Rosemary. Then I was able to give him his first complete trim. No more long toes, at least for a month or so.
And finally I had to enjoy the rare 60 degree January day by going for a ride on Comrade. After a year of riding him, he comes right into his stall ready to work. For time's sake I just threw the bareback pad on and headed to the arena. We warmed up with some walk lateral work to loosen up his parts. Comrade likes to cheat, but my mom ratted him out last week. When we moved onto trot work, he was really soft through his back. I was pleasantly surprised when even with a long rein he picked up the contact. Then we did a canter both ways. A short but effective ride. Comrade always goes to his owner for confirmation of his excellence, which she readily gives. I can't wait to see how he is tomorrow.
And that is how Renovation, Riding and Ring Bone fit into one  post.