January Week 2 Review and Week 3 Outline

1/5/09
The arena was in use so I longed her on the line instead of letting her run loose. She was good - the dragon peeked its head out a few times when she wanted to dig in and run, but she certainly didn't go bonkers. Had her hop over some cavaletti a few times. Smooth and easy, though I did have to convince her that yes, she really did have to go over them (they weren't exactly set up for longeing so it took some careful aiming).
I want winter to be over so my ponies can get some turnout!!

1/6/09
Had a decent ride tonight. One of those sessions where I can tell we're still doing constructive work, and we're slowly but surely working towards our goal...there were just no 'lightbulb' moments. Still, it was a solid ride, and we're making progress.

1/7/09
Lesson night. Pandora did pretty well. Lots of transitions to help keep her up off the forehand. When she had us do a lot of trot-canter transitions in a row, Pandora got really anxious - it was too much for her to handle at that time, and was making her more upset than it was worth. After I called a stop to that and we did some quiet work, she came back to me mentally. However, I really see the value of transition work in keeping her moving forward from her hind end, so I'll experiment with this.
We then spent awhile over trot poles, low X-rails, and a cavaletto. Pandora was fine, wanted to rush through the trot poles a little. Picks up her leads beautifully over the cavaletto, no matter which way we come in or turn out. When I wait for her and keep my shoulders up and back, she's great.

1/8/09
Chiro visit. Last time she was lots of 3s and 4s all over - most of that was gone this time, yay! A 3 in her right pelvis - there'd been some rotation but it released pretty quickly. 2's everywhere else - a little shift in the jaw, a little compensation in her neck, hip, and poll. Her only major issue (and it was pretty major - a 4 on his scale) was in her right shoulder. Something was locked up really deep in there, and it took him ages to get her to work it out. He speculated that since it was so deep and hard to release, it was probably a long-term issue that was present at the first visit, just masked by all the other issues.
In any case, she'd held her adjustment very well. The pelvis, shoulder, and slight shift in the jaw were the only returning issues - everything else was minor compensation for those. He was impressed with her condition and noted that her topline looks way better than last time he saw her.

1/9/09
Night off. I'd planned to ride, but I knew I'd ride hard in the clinic on Saturday, so I just let them run in the arena.

1/10/09
AWESOME CLINIC. Full report here.

1/11/09
Day off again - let them run in the arena. Getting tired of no turnout, but you get what you get in the Willamette Valley. Sigh.


This next week it's time for me to apply what I've learned. I've taken so many lessons in the past couple weeks that I'm looking forward to doing some work on my own.

Monday 1/12/09
Day off - I switched to feeding Monday nights.

Tuesday 1/13/09
Ride. Flatwork - work on my position and walk/trot transitions.

Wednesday 1/14/09
Ride. Same as Tuesday - position, transitions, spend some time cantering.

Thursday 1/15/09
Ride. Do some Thursday Torture - spend time in two point, stirrupless riding, and so on.

Friday through Sunday I will be at a Pony Club retreat in Corvallis. They're going over advanced horse management topics for upper-level PCers plus older members. I'm really looking forward to it, but there will be no riding over this time.