Super Ponies, Baths and The Countdown

After Roscoe's super little jump session, I worked Comrade and Rosemary over the same set of poles.

Remind you of a certain Roscoe baby....

Ah, The Sprinkler

Comrade came ready to work and impressed me with some of his moves after time off. The pole work got his hind end working, which allowed him to pull off some great walk to canter transitions. He could not carry the canter long, but that was okay since the transition was correct. I focused on the transition and Comrade came through, literally, both ways. I ended with asking him to pick up canter over the jump. Soon we will get Comrade back into shape.

Post bath Beauty

 With Rosemary, I dropped the jump to a raised trot pole. She is not a jumper, but still could do with raised pole work. We had to work on straight. Little girl had a hard left drift. Once I closed the left aids, she traveled well through the poles. When I asked her to canter, the gait was more together and less strung out. A definite improvement for Rosemary. I really liked her more compact and up position. Poles can help so much.

TREATS PLEASE

"I can lift my foot"

Though Winston decided he would just knock the jump over when I asked him to walk over it. Ah, well he made up for it with an awesome impression of a hunter pony. I let him trot with big strides, on a long rein around the arena going both directions. Before he would break into canter, but not this time. He opened and flowed so smoothly. Then I did ask for canter and it was wonderful. Same long rein, same long strides. Someone was feeling good. We changed direction and he quietly picked up the correct lead. Considering he had a long time off, he acted as if he had worked everyday.

Winston is so handsome

Post bath Grey again :)

Clean Pony!

And to top off my string of great rides, Roscoe and I went out of the arena. Yeah, we have done trail rides before, but this was asking him to work in the front pasture. I did have Peggy come and watch for safety. The front pasture is where everyone, but the Red Boys, have normal turnout. The rare time the Red Boys get to go out there, they run around. So Roscoe thought he would get to play when we walked into that pasture. It took a minute and some walking around for him to get that he was suppose to be working.

Clean Chrome

Then I had my pony back and we trotted around. Roscoe had to figure out how to balance up and down the small hill. To the left, he tried just rushing. Then to the right he sat down so quick it startled me. Eventually he found a smoother answer. Roscoe also discovered that trotting uphill is hard work and decided he would maintain one speed. I need more rides out of the arena with him so we can work towards a show. I can't wait to canter him out there where there is more room. For this ride, I kept it short and positive.
In between all the riding during the super hot weekend, Mom and I gave all six horses baths, pedicures and sheath/udder cleanings. Luckily the wash rack is indoors and has hot water.

Dottie enjoyed her bath

A picture of clean DaVinci lasts longer than the real one :)

Comrade got to go out front while Roscoe dried

Roscoe and Rosemary were the only ones who complained. They both hate water dripping down their bodies. I am so glad to wash away the last of winter.

Lisa and I were comparing belly spots between Roscoe and Mini me. Mini's is bigger, but Roscoe's has more character. His "V" marked him as ours from day one.
And now I begin the countdown, next week we travel to Indiana to see the foals. Finally!!! Most likely we will pick the one who will join his father and granddam while we are there. Decisions, decisions. This way the breeder can list the others for sale. I love seeing the comments about all the foals. Comrade's nephew seems to have a Canadian following and people hoping for a dressage future. A definite possibility for him. The other two Red Colts remind me of Roscoe as a baby, probably because both are line bred. Ugh, the wait is too long. I will have Alanna's cross stitch to work on during drive since my sister finished the pattern, so my hands will be busy.

O' Christmas Tree Pole Exercise

Christmas day dawned, wet and warm. We had dinner plans with Peggy and Larry, but I was determined to ride. Rosemary was elected as she was the least wet and dirty. As I cleaned a stall, I thought about how to change up the straight line 4 poles already set up in the arena. Inspired I came up with the O' Christmas Tree exercise.

This pole exercise will encourage straightness and you can choose to work over one, three or five poles. For Rosemary it encourages her to step through her hind end and push as well. Since she tripped a bit when I worked her over the four pole line, I put splint boots on her. She did figure out what was needed during that ride, so I was interested to see how she did today. Rosemary also sported her new bling. I think she liked showing her welsh pride with her dragon.

I started Rosemary over the single pole to see how she was feeling. Surprisingly she did not try to avoid the poles. She actually traveled straight. A Christmas miracle. That continued even over the three poles. I noticed the distance seemed short for her, but she adapted well. Mom said she was bending all her joints. I moved on to the five poles with the same distance. Again she trotted right through them with no hesitation. No tripping today. Mom stretched the poles out a bit.
Other than feeling more comfortable through the poles, Rosemary was still not working too hard. So Mom again stretched out the poles. Again Rosemary adapted, though she did need a bit more effort. A little tired she tried to get fast and I let her figure out how to make it through the poles and she did by the next pole.

By the end, I could feel her pushing from behind rather than just getting fast. Her trot around the ring improved and smoothed. We both had fun despite the rain. Here is a short video.

I wanted to hop on Comrade too, but the rain picked up and he turned into a mudd ball. Ah well next time. With him I could add a star at the top of the tree, ie turn on the fore or hind or do some voltes along the sides. Poles are such a great training tool.

And now I will leave you with a picture of my Dad's annual equine finance funny shirt he gets from me.

Trot Pole Trials

After a crappy start to a weekend (a load of hay that ended up being wet,moldy) things started to turn around.
Saturday I put the spurs on and made Comrade work on his lateral movements. I got lots of Cob grunts, but he did the task. Without the stress of a new instructor, I was able to find my timing. He eventually needed less of the step to the outside portion of the process. I ended by coming down the center of the ring, leg yielding to the fence and turning to a vertical on the short end. Not only did he jump well to the left, he jumped well to the right and stayed out after the fence too. It goes to show how far eyes on the ground can help.

Sunday I was determined to get Peggy into the saddle. I told her to show me what she learned. The two verticals I had been jumping, were lowered to ground poles for her to use. Right away I noticed her bury her hands, which in Comrade's mind  means she is not ready to work. I told her to carry her hands. Her hands raised and the change in him was amazing. They worked on trotting straight over the poles and not cutting corners. Once she had her lines, she moved into canter for the same exercise. At left lead canter he cut the corner before the pole on the short end causing him to break over the pole. I showed Peggy the 3ft difference between where her trot lines were and her canter ones. The visual aids help her a lot. To the left the dogs decided to act as corner cutting deterers. They laid like jump standards about a stride out of the pole. The first time Peggy made the turn then stopped. I told her to keep going and use the line they provide. The next time she made the pole with a great stride. Something as simple as a single pole can do so much.

Then at my barn I rode DaVinci and Rosemary. DaVinci was protesting being asked to ride and maintain a firmer contact than he has had to in years. Bobby worked with him and Mom eariler in the week. Eventually, grudgingly he remembered that I was not torturing him and went to work. Mom had set up some alternating raised trot poles, so I pointed him at them and said figure it out. Well his answer was to go really fast through them and jump the last one, then take off cantering. He has not done much with poles. A few more exciting times finally led to him breathing and waiting. Yes DaVinci you can survive pole work. Rosemary was in go go mode, but she was also working well surprisingly. I made her keep her canter for a longer period and go through the long grass. Still need to work on picking up the lead I want, but not too bad. I showed her the poles, to which she said "Let's go around." Ah no. Once I got her straight, she was very handy. DaVinci had moved some of the poles causing the distances to differ. She adjusted well and just thought it out. Good Pony.

Monday was really warm. Mom rode DaVinci, my sister rode Dottie and I was on Rosemary. I was pleased with how supple Rosemary felt for the second ride. I did a few serpentine and used the poles to get her stepping out. She handled the poles even better this time. My sister got a kick out of her high stepping. I told her to take Dottie over the poles. As long as Dottie was straight, she would go right through. My sister was a little nervous since she has never done poles before. Her first time she trotted two poles before Dottie walked and messed up the poles. I hopped off and reset the poles. While I did that, she rode over a single pole. Then she lined up Dottie for the multi line, asked for more trot and got into a two point. Bless Dottie she went right through, really reaching nicely. Both enjoyed themselves immensely. On a whim, Mom put DaVinci through. He was so much better, if a bit up. I love seeing the horses meet the challenge of raised trot poles.

DaVinci attempt

Dottie owning it