1/19/09
I meant to school today, but it was so nice outside that I wanted to ride out around the roads -- so, we compromised. After convincing Pandora to at least do a little arena work,we hit the trails, if by trails you mean roads (and I do). The arena work was okay. Nothing spectacular, she was feeling really forward and didn't want to slow down much, but we got some nice shoulder-fore done.
She did not want to do shoulder-fore to the right. Need to make sure she's bending okay that direction since it is her stiffer way.
Riding outside was lovely, though it got super cold before long and my hands were totally numb by the end of the hour-long ride. It's a nice big loop, the roads are well-paved but pretty quiet (without many blind curves, which is nice!), and it's a fantastic mental exercise for the horses. Walking past unfamiliar houses, dogs, people, flapping flags, etc was certainly a mental workout for Pandora. She behaved herself well - several in-place spooks (you know, where all of a sudden the saddle drops two inches but nothing else changes). We spent a lot of time riding next to the road where there's nice grassy areas, and got a lot of practice going over ditches that way. She tends to want to leap, I'm sure she'll be great on XC!
1/20/09
Our arena schooling session tonight definitely made up for our lack of one last night. I rode for almost an hour. We practiced lots of shoulder-fore (less stiff to the right tonight, but still a little more resistant to bend this way), and I got some really nice work for her. I'd like to have my mom take some video from directly in front and behind so I can get a visual on what we're doing.
Canter work was a little rough. For whatever reason, I have a super hard time finding a good seat in that dressage saddle - I really need to try a little riser pad in the back, I think it's just a little bit off.
But still, we got some very nice work done. Lots of nice walk/trot transitions. She is really getting good at those.
1/21/09
I almost rode tonight, despite it being a day off...but then I didn't. ;-) They were outside today, so I don't feel too guilty.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
January Week 3 Review and Week 4 Outline
1/12/09
Day off!
1/13/09
I had an okay ride. I've been working hard on getting her to transition down off of my seat and legs more than my hands, since she tends to get anxious and tuck when I get in her face. Still, it wasn't the most productive overall. Towards the end, she wanted to rush and was just getting anxious, and I was a bit distracted. A solid workout but nothing spectacular.
1/14/09
Tonight was fun! There were seven people in the arena. It seems crowded sometimes when there's four! So we had a nice and relaxed ride, just walking, trotting, and cantering around with the other horses. Pandora was nice and mellow, and we got some good canter work in.
1/15/09
Tonight was a really, really good ride. I decided to try switching her back to the metal eggbutt lozenge bit I'd had her in at first. She was definitely quieter in it - going to keep it for awhile. She still slobbers some (which is nice!) and gets a nice "lipstick" foam going on, but she's not drooling all over the place from so much mouthing on the bit.
I just worked on a lot of transitions. She's REALLY understanding downward transitions off my seat and legs now - I just sit up, close my thighs and calves, stop my back, and close my fingers, and she transitions nicely. We're still working on remaining off the forehand when we do this, but it's definitely coming along.
She's also settled quite a bit about her canter transitions. In the lesson on the 7th, she got very anxious about all the canter departs. This time, I made sure to sit up (NOT duck forward), and just quietly ask. She was slow to transition the first several times, wanting to move into a rushing trot before picking it up, but before long she was prompt and compliant with the transitions. She remained calm the whole time.
We definitely have some work to do on our canter-trot transitions! I have to be so careful to keep her going at the canter (if I relax too much she instantly breaks) that when I ask her to transition down, she just THROWS herself forward into the trot and onto the forehand. This will improve with time, but it's definitely a weak spot.
16 - 18, I was at a PC retreat and I learned so much. I got some great ideas for exercises to do with her, too. I'll write a post about it over on my other blog soon.
Okay! The week didn't start off that spectacularly, but I got a really good ride in on Thursday and was very pleased with the progress we've made. The mares have been able to go out several times this week, which makes me utterly pleased and less stressed that she just got three days off. My mom did longe her for me, though.
In any case, this week should be a good one. I'm going to be working hard over the next couple months to prepare for the PC Show Jumping Rally in March. After jumping 2'9 in the clinic last week (!!!), I'm excited to see what the future brings!
Monday 1/19/09
Ride. I'm going to try an exercise we learned at the ABC retreat this weekend to help straighten your horse. You ride (assuming tracking right) shoulder-fore right for 1/4 the arena, shoulder-fore left for 1/4, then repeat. Shoulder-fore is like a pintsize shoulder-in (which is traveling on three tracks, shoulders set to the inside - the three tracks are inside fore, then outside fore/inside hind line up, then outside hind). You just shift the shoulders ever so slightly to the inside, and then the outside, and so on. This helps get control of the shoulders laterally so you can straighten, since most horses travel naturally with their haunches to the inside.
Tuesday 1/20/09
Ride again! Work on my position this time, using another exercise we learned (it is apparently from Sally Swift's Centered Riding, which I plan to get soon). At the trot you sit for 8, post for 8, 2-point for 8, post for 8, sit for 8, etc. When done properly, the horse should not change at all when you change your position. Once you master 8, you go to 4, then 2, then 1! This goes for all 3 gaits; you simply use a half-seat instead of posting for walk and canter.
Wednesday 1/21/09
Day off. Free longe the horses around the arena.
Thursday 1/22/09
Longe and ride. I will set up some cavaletti to longe over, probably just trot poles, and then leave them up while I ride. Spend lots of time switching between 2-point and sitting today, work on transitions.
Friday 1/23/09
Ride. I think I will go to a PC lesson this week. The Pony Club show is next week, so it might be a good idea to get some instruction. Since this will be the first Christy lesson since I discovered at the clinic that the mare can actually jump (and oh goodness she tucked her knees up and rounded her back!), I'm curious to see what she'll have us do. It will be nice to find out how well Pandora goes around a course, you know? She seems to know her leads well - I have not been asking her for them over fences, but then again I've only just started going over things that aren't X-rails. I don't feel she's balanced enough for flying changes, but simple changes should be fine.
Saturday 1/24/09
Light ride. Chew over what I learned at the lesson, stretch out the muscles we worked yesterday, switch ourselves from H/J to a dressage frame of mind (which means transitions, transitions, transitions, and probably more shoulder-fore work).
Sunday 1/25/09
Dressage lesson with Melinda. The lesson with her was I think the first lesson I took Pandora to. It was before we'd made some good progress, so I'm eager to find out what she thinks of the changes we've made. I am sure she will have plenty more for us to work on! I feel that I'm a lot more focused now - I've really established my goals and am consciously finding exercises to help me get to them. I've got a much clearer picture in my head of what I want and what I'm doing to get there.
Day off!
1/13/09
I had an okay ride. I've been working hard on getting her to transition down off of my seat and legs more than my hands, since she tends to get anxious and tuck when I get in her face. Still, it wasn't the most productive overall. Towards the end, she wanted to rush and was just getting anxious, and I was a bit distracted. A solid workout but nothing spectacular.
1/14/09
Tonight was fun! There were seven people in the arena. It seems crowded sometimes when there's four! So we had a nice and relaxed ride, just walking, trotting, and cantering around with the other horses. Pandora was nice and mellow, and we got some good canter work in.
1/15/09
Tonight was a really, really good ride. I decided to try switching her back to the metal eggbutt lozenge bit I'd had her in at first. She was definitely quieter in it - going to keep it for awhile. She still slobbers some (which is nice!) and gets a nice "lipstick" foam going on, but she's not drooling all over the place from so much mouthing on the bit.
I just worked on a lot of transitions. She's REALLY understanding downward transitions off my seat and legs now - I just sit up, close my thighs and calves, stop my back, and close my fingers, and she transitions nicely. We're still working on remaining off the forehand when we do this, but it's definitely coming along.
She's also settled quite a bit about her canter transitions. In the lesson on the 7th, she got very anxious about all the canter departs. This time, I made sure to sit up (NOT duck forward), and just quietly ask. She was slow to transition the first several times, wanting to move into a rushing trot before picking it up, but before long she was prompt and compliant with the transitions. She remained calm the whole time.
We definitely have some work to do on our canter-trot transitions! I have to be so careful to keep her going at the canter (if I relax too much she instantly breaks) that when I ask her to transition down, she just THROWS herself forward into the trot and onto the forehand. This will improve with time, but it's definitely a weak spot.
16 - 18, I was at a PC retreat and I learned so much. I got some great ideas for exercises to do with her, too. I'll write a post about it over on my other blog soon.
Okay! The week didn't start off that spectacularly, but I got a really good ride in on Thursday and was very pleased with the progress we've made. The mares have been able to go out several times this week, which makes me utterly pleased and less stressed that she just got three days off. My mom did longe her for me, though.
In any case, this week should be a good one. I'm going to be working hard over the next couple months to prepare for the PC Show Jumping Rally in March. After jumping 2'9 in the clinic last week (!!!), I'm excited to see what the future brings!
Monday 1/19/09
Ride. I'm going to try an exercise we learned at the ABC retreat this weekend to help straighten your horse. You ride (assuming tracking right) shoulder-fore right for 1/4 the arena, shoulder-fore left for 1/4, then repeat. Shoulder-fore is like a pintsize shoulder-in (which is traveling on three tracks, shoulders set to the inside - the three tracks are inside fore, then outside fore/inside hind line up, then outside hind). You just shift the shoulders ever so slightly to the inside, and then the outside, and so on. This helps get control of the shoulders laterally so you can straighten, since most horses travel naturally with their haunches to the inside.
Tuesday 1/20/09
Ride again! Work on my position this time, using another exercise we learned (it is apparently from Sally Swift's Centered Riding, which I plan to get soon). At the trot you sit for 8, post for 8, 2-point for 8, post for 8, sit for 8, etc. When done properly, the horse should not change at all when you change your position. Once you master 8, you go to 4, then 2, then 1! This goes for all 3 gaits; you simply use a half-seat instead of posting for walk and canter.
Wednesday 1/21/09
Day off. Free longe the horses around the arena.
Thursday 1/22/09
Longe and ride. I will set up some cavaletti to longe over, probably just trot poles, and then leave them up while I ride. Spend lots of time switching between 2-point and sitting today, work on transitions.
Friday 1/23/09
Ride. I think I will go to a PC lesson this week. The Pony Club show is next week, so it might be a good idea to get some instruction. Since this will be the first Christy lesson since I discovered at the clinic that the mare can actually jump (and oh goodness she tucked her knees up and rounded her back!), I'm curious to see what she'll have us do. It will be nice to find out how well Pandora goes around a course, you know? She seems to know her leads well - I have not been asking her for them over fences, but then again I've only just started going over things that aren't X-rails. I don't feel she's balanced enough for flying changes, but simple changes should be fine.
Saturday 1/24/09
Light ride. Chew over what I learned at the lesson, stretch out the muscles we worked yesterday, switch ourselves from H/J to a dressage frame of mind (which means transitions, transitions, transitions, and probably more shoulder-fore work).
Sunday 1/25/09
Dressage lesson with Melinda. The lesson with her was I think the first lesson I took Pandora to. It was before we'd made some good progress, so I'm eager to find out what she thinks of the changes we've made. I am sure she will have plenty more for us to work on! I feel that I'm a lot more focused now - I've really established my goals and am consciously finding exercises to help me get to them. I've got a much clearer picture in my head of what I want and what I'm doing to get there.
Monday, January 5, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
January Week 1 Review and Week 2 Outline
12/31/08(!)
Rode for 30 minutes. Focused on what I learned in the dressage lesson - keep the outside rein firm, sit up, keep the forward but lose the on-the-forehand. In all it went very well, got some really nice trot work and the canter is getting better. Some clumsy steps behind, but she's due for a farrier appointment tomorrow so that may be part of it. 30 minutes riding time total, each of us broke a nice sweat. Good ride.
1/1/09(!!!)
If everything in 2009 goes the way this ride did, things will be swell! We clicked really well tonight. I think she knows more than I've assumed (the whole time I've treated her as a mostly green horse), and now that I'm asking her for it, she's delivering. Much less leaning-on-the-forehand tonight, and here and there we got some steps where she was really pushing from behind. She gave me one beautiful canter depart, which is a Pretty Big Deal since previously her canter departs have been pretty rough. A much smoother canter today too, easier to ride, probably cause she's not pounding around on her forehand as badly. Again 30 minutes, nice light sweat, just a good solid ride. She felt really "together" tonight - we were just in sync. Moved off my legs nicely too. I'm excited for the lesson tomorrow!
1/2/09
Good lesson! We had an unmounted session beforehand focusing on conformation and how it affects movement. Quite enlightening, especially since we did some switch riding to find out how other horses moved and if our conformational predictions were correct. Interesting note - horses with training or condition issues didn't always move true to their conformation, i.e., Pandora tends to travel very heavily on her forehand even though her conformation doesn't necessarily predispose her to it, because she wants to snatch at the bit. The horses who have been consistently trained under the same rider and are in good condition tend to move exactly like their conformation suggests - interesting.
Pandora did quite well. A little anxious during the switch ride, but she still behaved, and gave her some nice lateral work. Take-home message: since she knows leg-yield and shoulder-in very well, use them to help her stay off the forehand. Need to half-halt with the seat more and the hands less to help her balance and stay. off. the. forehand.
Hopped around a small course of X's twice. She's calm and steady, locks on to the fences and doesn't hesitate. She'll be very fun to jump. I'm trying to get used to the feel of her still, and it was hard to keep her off her forehand, so there was some diving involved on the back side of the jump. Prescription: canter cavaletti/bounces and fences with landing poles.
Overall a great lesson, I was pleased with her and came home with some new ideas.
1/3/09
Lesson again, flat. I'll give you one guess as to what we worked on....staying off the forehand! We really got into it and I have a much better understanding of what to do now. She had me slow down Pandora's trot - get Pandora balanced and carrying herself first, then add some leg. A few times I was able to get some strides of light, springy trot after adding leg to a balanced trot, so I know we're getting there.
Stop worrying about contact/on the bit - don't let her tuck behind the vertical or dive down, but other than that, focus on self-carriage. LOTS of half-halts with the seat to ask her to not lean on the bit, then relax and allow her to push forward once we're there. Sort of like riding a teeter totter: slow with the half-halt till we're balanced, then move forward, then rebalance, then add leg...
She wanted to ignore my half halts and hands toward the end of the lesson, but it was an hour-long lesson and she'd been ridden four days in a row, so I think she was ready for a mental break! We made some good progress though, and I know what to work on. Ellen says that if we work on those half-halts and balance for a week or so, we should get to where we can add some leg and keep the balance in a bigger trot.
1/4/09
Finally, a break for the ponies. They got to go out in the round pen for about an hour while we mucked. Sadly, this is the extent of turnout lately - don't get me started. I hate winter. I love that she can behave while cooped up in a stall all the time, yes...but now that she's proven it, can we have turnout? Just a little?
Unfortunately the fields would be utter chaos if that were to happen while it's this wet. We just have to survive a couple more months, then they'll get to start going out again.
She'll get tomorrow off too, just some light longeing - Mondays are a long school day for me, and classes start again tomorrow. Woe.
This week will be much of the same: work on staying off the forehand, get a couple lessons, keep on truckin'.
Monday 1/5/09
Day off again. Free longe the ponies, let them spend as much time loose in the arena as possible.
Tuesday 1/6/09
Ride. Work on half-halts with the seat, staying in balance, neither tucking nor diving. Figure-8s are helpful!
Wednesday 1/7/09
Robin comes to give a group lesson at the barn. Not sure what she'll have us work on - probably lots of flatwork with a little jumping. I'll let her know what we're working on and hopefully we can just get some guided insight to more of the same.
Thursday 1/8/09
Longe and ride. I'll probably do some longeing over canter ground poles to help her with rocking back and forth, as was suggested to me in the Friday lesson. Then I'll ride doing much of the same: off the forehand, relax, off the forehand, balance, add leg, don't dive, don't tuck behind the vertical, balance....
Friday 1/9/09
Light flat ride, since I have a clinic the next day. Same thing.
Saturday 1/10/09
Clinic. It's an all-day affair: flatwork, a long lunch break, and then over fences work. I'm a little concerned about over-facing her, since she's not *super* fit, but I think if I let the clinician know what we're working on, she won't push harder than is fair.
Sunday 1/11/09
Day off. Free longe/turnout as much as possible, maybe some clicker work if I'm feeling creative.
This week will be a true test of my riding schedule. Can I keep up with this and school at the same time? We'll see!
Rode for 30 minutes. Focused on what I learned in the dressage lesson - keep the outside rein firm, sit up, keep the forward but lose the on-the-forehand. In all it went very well, got some really nice trot work and the canter is getting better. Some clumsy steps behind, but she's due for a farrier appointment tomorrow so that may be part of it. 30 minutes riding time total, each of us broke a nice sweat. Good ride.
1/1/09(!!!)
If everything in 2009 goes the way this ride did, things will be swell! We clicked really well tonight. I think she knows more than I've assumed (the whole time I've treated her as a mostly green horse), and now that I'm asking her for it, she's delivering. Much less leaning-on-the-forehand tonight, and here and there we got some steps where she was really pushing from behind. She gave me one beautiful canter depart, which is a Pretty Big Deal since previously her canter departs have been pretty rough. A much smoother canter today too, easier to ride, probably cause she's not pounding around on her forehand as badly. Again 30 minutes, nice light sweat, just a good solid ride. She felt really "together" tonight - we were just in sync. Moved off my legs nicely too. I'm excited for the lesson tomorrow!
1/2/09
Good lesson! We had an unmounted session beforehand focusing on conformation and how it affects movement. Quite enlightening, especially since we did some switch riding to find out how other horses moved and if our conformational predictions were correct. Interesting note - horses with training or condition issues didn't always move true to their conformation, i.e., Pandora tends to travel very heavily on her forehand even though her conformation doesn't necessarily predispose her to it, because she wants to snatch at the bit. The horses who have been consistently trained under the same rider and are in good condition tend to move exactly like their conformation suggests - interesting.
Pandora did quite well. A little anxious during the switch ride, but she still behaved, and gave her some nice lateral work. Take-home message: since she knows leg-yield and shoulder-in very well, use them to help her stay off the forehand. Need to half-halt with the seat more and the hands less to help her balance and stay. off. the. forehand.
Hopped around a small course of X's twice. She's calm and steady, locks on to the fences and doesn't hesitate. She'll be very fun to jump. I'm trying to get used to the feel of her still, and it was hard to keep her off her forehand, so there was some diving involved on the back side of the jump. Prescription: canter cavaletti/bounces and fences with landing poles.
Overall a great lesson, I was pleased with her and came home with some new ideas.
1/3/09
Lesson again, flat. I'll give you one guess as to what we worked on....staying off the forehand! We really got into it and I have a much better understanding of what to do now. She had me slow down Pandora's trot - get Pandora balanced and carrying herself first, then add some leg. A few times I was able to get some strides of light, springy trot after adding leg to a balanced trot, so I know we're getting there.
Stop worrying about contact/on the bit - don't let her tuck behind the vertical or dive down, but other than that, focus on self-carriage. LOTS of half-halts with the seat to ask her to not lean on the bit, then relax and allow her to push forward once we're there. Sort of like riding a teeter totter: slow with the half-halt till we're balanced, then move forward, then rebalance, then add leg...
She wanted to ignore my half halts and hands toward the end of the lesson, but it was an hour-long lesson and she'd been ridden four days in a row, so I think she was ready for a mental break! We made some good progress though, and I know what to work on. Ellen says that if we work on those half-halts and balance for a week or so, we should get to where we can add some leg and keep the balance in a bigger trot.
1/4/09
Finally, a break for the ponies. They got to go out in the round pen for about an hour while we mucked. Sadly, this is the extent of turnout lately - don't get me started. I hate winter. I love that she can behave while cooped up in a stall all the time, yes...but now that she's proven it, can we have turnout? Just a little?
Unfortunately the fields would be utter chaos if that were to happen while it's this wet. We just have to survive a couple more months, then they'll get to start going out again.
She'll get tomorrow off too, just some light longeing - Mondays are a long school day for me, and classes start again tomorrow. Woe.
This week will be much of the same: work on staying off the forehand, get a couple lessons, keep on truckin'.
Monday 1/5/09
Day off again. Free longe the ponies, let them spend as much time loose in the arena as possible.
Tuesday 1/6/09
Ride. Work on half-halts with the seat, staying in balance, neither tucking nor diving. Figure-8s are helpful!
Wednesday 1/7/09
Robin comes to give a group lesson at the barn. Not sure what she'll have us work on - probably lots of flatwork with a little jumping. I'll let her know what we're working on and hopefully we can just get some guided insight to more of the same.
Thursday 1/8/09
Longe and ride. I'll probably do some longeing over canter ground poles to help her with rocking back and forth, as was suggested to me in the Friday lesson. Then I'll ride doing much of the same: off the forehand, relax, off the forehand, balance, add leg, don't dive, don't tuck behind the vertical, balance....
Friday 1/9/09
Light flat ride, since I have a clinic the next day. Same thing.
Saturday 1/10/09
Clinic. It's an all-day affair: flatwork, a long lunch break, and then over fences work. I'm a little concerned about over-facing her, since she's not *super* fit, but I think if I let the clinician know what we're working on, she won't push harder than is fair.
Sunday 1/11/09
Day off. Free longe/turnout as much as possible, maybe some clicker work if I'm feeling creative.
This week will be a true test of my riding schedule. Can I keep up with this and school at the same time? We'll see!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
January: Outline, and Week 1
Did a little more clicker work last night. The light bulb's flickering, but it's not on yet. I think I will go back to target work with her in her stall, which is open across most of the top half. That way she can reach over easily to target and receive treats, but she can't get distracted or crowd me. When I tried it the other day it seemed to work very well to keep her focused. Lack of light bulb aside, she's still intrigued by the concept.
Here's my outline for January: as I mentioned, this is Dressage month.
January goal: Develop a steady and relaxed w/t/c with some degree of push from behind. Also establish and maintain smooth bend, shoulder-in, and correct leg yields.
I've mapped out the month and designated riding days and so on, to hopefully keep me on track (I am awful about actually getting my butt in the saddle in the winter). So here's Week 1:
Today 12/30
Free longe. I've a friend coming over, so not much time for riding.
Wednesday 12/31
Ride. Keep her off the forehand by keeping my upper body back and legs beneath me, and be firm with the outside rein. Don't rely too much on inside rein. INSIDE LEG TO OUTSIDE REIN. INSIDE LEG TO OUTSIDE REIN. Alternate between carrying and stretching, do plenty of circles.
Thursday 1/1
Clicker work (10 - 15 mins of target work in stall), then ride. Much of the same: stay off the forehand. Lots of circles and serpentines.
Friday 1/2
PC lesson. She'll focus mostly on flatwork with some light jumping at the end, which is perfect. AVOID THE CHAIR SEAT. Keep shoulders up and back.
Saturday 1/3
Ellen lesson! This will be flatwork at our own barn. Get more evaluation and assessment to figure out what to work on, though it will probably be much of the same: relax, stay off the forehand.
Sunday 1/4
Either a light, short ride or just a longeing session. Probably the latter, since I'll have to be preparing for school to start the next day - boo.
So there we have it! I'll check in with a lesson report later, then report back at the end of the week for a review and an outline of Week 2.
Here's my outline for January: as I mentioned, this is Dressage month.
January goal: Develop a steady and relaxed w/t/c with some degree of push from behind. Also establish and maintain smooth bend, shoulder-in, and correct leg yields.
I've mapped out the month and designated riding days and so on, to hopefully keep me on track (I am awful about actually getting my butt in the saddle in the winter). So here's Week 1:
Today 12/30
Free longe. I've a friend coming over, so not much time for riding.
Wednesday 12/31
Ride. Keep her off the forehand by keeping my upper body back and legs beneath me, and be firm with the outside rein. Don't rely too much on inside rein. INSIDE LEG TO OUTSIDE REIN. INSIDE LEG TO OUTSIDE REIN. Alternate between carrying and stretching, do plenty of circles.
Thursday 1/1
Clicker work (10 - 15 mins of target work in stall), then ride. Much of the same: stay off the forehand. Lots of circles and serpentines.
Friday 1/2
PC lesson. She'll focus mostly on flatwork with some light jumping at the end, which is perfect. AVOID THE CHAIR SEAT. Keep shoulders up and back.
Saturday 1/3
Ellen lesson! This will be flatwork at our own barn. Get more evaluation and assessment to figure out what to work on, though it will probably be much of the same: relax, stay off the forehand.
Sunday 1/4
Either a light, short ride or just a longeing session. Probably the latter, since I'll have to be preparing for school to start the next day - boo.
So there we have it! I'll check in with a lesson report later, then report back at the end of the week for a review and an outline of Week 2.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
2009 Goals
Time to plan some things out for 2009. I do things best by working backwards -- deciding where I want to be at the end of my time with Pandora and then figuring out what I need to do to get there. So I just mapped out a basic calendar for 2009 with a couple key eventing stops along the way, though it'll get filled in more as I find out when shows and things are.
January
Dressage to the max! January will be the month of flatwork, flatwork, flatwork. Time to get the girl up off her forehand and really working from behind.
This will be a month of working intensively on things at home. I'll haul out for a couple lessons, but the focus will be on making lots of progress in our own arena. I also plan to spend a lot of time exploring clicker work and seeing how I can use it to resolve issues we come up against.
However, the main focus will always be dressage this month.
There's a Pony Club show on the 31st that we will attend.
February
The month to ramp up our jumping skills. I have several books that are full of grids, patterns, and exercises, so it's time to start using them. We'll do some free-jumping, do lots of gridwork, and practice smooth courses.
I plan to take her to one or two PC jumping lessons. I would like to haul her somewhere to practice some jumping schooling on my own, but there are several PC clinics this month, so that may not be feasible.
There is also another PC dressage lesson which we'll go to, just to make sure our flatwork is still up to par.
March
A return to flatwork! There's a PC dressage lesson on the 1st and another PC show midmonth, which will be a good place to check progress. This month I will be focusing on flatwork as it specifically applies to jumping: smooth balanced turns, rating at all three gaits, obedience to the leg. In general, I want to spend this month truly sharpening her response to the aids -- clicker work may come in very handy here.
There's also a Showjumping Rally late in the month - definitely a possibility, but we'll see how things are going.
April
Time to start thinking about XC, as soon as the weather turns and courses are open for schooling. This will be the month for putting miles on Pandora: lots and lots of riding down quiet roads in the area, trailering to places for real trail rides, and just getting out of the arena.
Since May is when things start heating up, we might relax a little more this month, too. This would be a good time to really shore up weak areas in Pandora's training and behavior if she has any, especially with clicker work. April would be a good month for playing with obstacle courses and similar things, as well.
May
I plan to ride in a Combined Test at Inavale. Things should be going smoothly by this point. This month will probably have an emphasis on lessons -- I'll take advantage of the weekly PC jumping lessons offered. Can't forget the flatwork, of course.
It's a bit hard to know exactly what I'll do this month since it's so far out! Since June is such a big month, we'll probably just work on whatever it is that needs an extra boost.
June
June is competition month! Inavale will have Eventing Derbies on the 6th and 7th, though I may not make it to them because this is right around the end of school and I remember being very busy around this time last year.
However, Inavale's annual Horse Trials is the 26th through the 28th. This is my major focus point for the year. It's most likely that we'll run Beginner Novice, but if we blaze through the year and I manage to put a ton of riding time in, it's possible that we could go Novice.
According to my Pony Club's website, there's an Eventing camp from the 17th through the 20th. Dunno anything about it, but if it's local and not too expensive, that would be an excellent way to prepare for the Recognized HT.
So basically, June will be focused around these things!
July
It's likely that sometime in June it will be time to start preparing to sell Pandora. Therefore, I'm pretty unsure what July will hold. Taking her to a show or two, if I can find them. Advertising, advertising, advertising. It really all depends on how the rest of the year goes.
August
Ideally, Pandora will be happy and competing in a new home by this time!
The later it gets in this calendar, the less sure I am of things, of course. These are more like guidelines -- and they're pretty ambitious guidelines -- but it gives me something to work off of.
To finish, here's a few non-time-specific goals for the year:
January
Dressage to the max! January will be the month of flatwork, flatwork, flatwork. Time to get the girl up off her forehand and really working from behind.
This will be a month of working intensively on things at home. I'll haul out for a couple lessons, but the focus will be on making lots of progress in our own arena. I also plan to spend a lot of time exploring clicker work and seeing how I can use it to resolve issues we come up against.
However, the main focus will always be dressage this month.
There's a Pony Club show on the 31st that we will attend.
February
The month to ramp up our jumping skills. I have several books that are full of grids, patterns, and exercises, so it's time to start using them. We'll do some free-jumping, do lots of gridwork, and practice smooth courses.
I plan to take her to one or two PC jumping lessons. I would like to haul her somewhere to practice some jumping schooling on my own, but there are several PC clinics this month, so that may not be feasible.
There is also another PC dressage lesson which we'll go to, just to make sure our flatwork is still up to par.
March
A return to flatwork! There's a PC dressage lesson on the 1st and another PC show midmonth, which will be a good place to check progress. This month I will be focusing on flatwork as it specifically applies to jumping: smooth balanced turns, rating at all three gaits, obedience to the leg. In general, I want to spend this month truly sharpening her response to the aids -- clicker work may come in very handy here.
There's also a Showjumping Rally late in the month - definitely a possibility, but we'll see how things are going.
April
Time to start thinking about XC, as soon as the weather turns and courses are open for schooling. This will be the month for putting miles on Pandora: lots and lots of riding down quiet roads in the area, trailering to places for real trail rides, and just getting out of the arena.
Since May is when things start heating up, we might relax a little more this month, too. This would be a good time to really shore up weak areas in Pandora's training and behavior if she has any, especially with clicker work. April would be a good month for playing with obstacle courses and similar things, as well.
May
I plan to ride in a Combined Test at Inavale. Things should be going smoothly by this point. This month will probably have an emphasis on lessons -- I'll take advantage of the weekly PC jumping lessons offered. Can't forget the flatwork, of course.
It's a bit hard to know exactly what I'll do this month since it's so far out! Since June is such a big month, we'll probably just work on whatever it is that needs an extra boost.
June
June is competition month! Inavale will have Eventing Derbies on the 6th and 7th, though I may not make it to them because this is right around the end of school and I remember being very busy around this time last year.
However, Inavale's annual Horse Trials is the 26th through the 28th. This is my major focus point for the year. It's most likely that we'll run Beginner Novice, but if we blaze through the year and I manage to put a ton of riding time in, it's possible that we could go Novice.
According to my Pony Club's website, there's an Eventing camp from the 17th through the 20th. Dunno anything about it, but if it's local and not too expensive, that would be an excellent way to prepare for the Recognized HT.
So basically, June will be focused around these things!
July
It's likely that sometime in June it will be time to start preparing to sell Pandora. Therefore, I'm pretty unsure what July will hold. Taking her to a show or two, if I can find them. Advertising, advertising, advertising. It really all depends on how the rest of the year goes.
August
Ideally, Pandora will be happy and competing in a new home by this time!
The later it gets in this calendar, the less sure I am of things, of course. These are more like guidelines -- and they're pretty ambitious guidelines -- but it gives me something to work off of.
To finish, here's a few non-time-specific goals for the year:
- Get Pandora accustomed to many different riders, so that after a brief adjustment period she is comfortable under a strange rider. This should be pretty easy to accomplish in Pony Club, since catch riding is an important part of things anyway.
- Use clicker work to establish a wicked solid "come" command. I mean, really. Who doesn't want a horse that gallops up and stops politely in front of you from a whistle??
- Develop an "old hat" personality about shows -- I think that without too much work, Pandora can easily become a "been there, done that" relaxed type of horse.
Dressage Lesson 12/28
Took Pandora to a PC dressage lesson today. She was anxious at first but settled down pretty well, no major spooks or anything. The lesson gave me some very solid ideas of areas to work on with her -- so far I've just been kind of puttering around, trying to figure her out and help her figure me out.
The trainer wants me to work on getting her off her forehand. Since she tucked behind the vertical so much when I first got her, I'd been encouraging leaning forward into my hands. Which helped get rid of her anxious tucking....but led to leaning and running on the forehand!
So we worked a lot on bringing my upper body back so I don't add my weight to her forehand. I also need to stop letting her take the reins and lean on them; she told me to really be steady and solid with my outside rein to keep her from leaning on the forehand, then ask her to bend with my inside rein but then relax so she doesn't curl her nose, all while using my inside leg to support.
It certainly made her anxious and a little frustrated -- she's a bit of a perfectionist and tends to get nervous when she's not sure what we're doing -- but we made some progress and I could feel her starting to understand what I was asking.
I liked that the trainer had plenty of balance between asking for her to come up off her forehand and allowing her to stretch in a free walk or trot. As she pointed out, it's the "carry, relax, carry, relax" that will help Pandora to become supple and strong.
I felt like it was a very constructive lesson.
Pandora's been having a little loose stool lately - not every pile is loose, but some are. I think it's because she accidentally got some alfalfa yesterday, so I'll keep an eye on her, but she seems to be feeling fine.
Haven't had a chance to play with the clicker again yet. I'm going to go make a new and improved target now (we have a dog ball-throwing stick that got pretty beat up, so I'm going to duct tape a dead tennis ball to the end) and do another 20-minute session with her tomorrow. She responded so well the first time that I think we'll be able to take this pretty far.
The trainer wants me to work on getting her off her forehand. Since she tucked behind the vertical so much when I first got her, I'd been encouraging leaning forward into my hands. Which helped get rid of her anxious tucking....but led to leaning and running on the forehand!
So we worked a lot on bringing my upper body back so I don't add my weight to her forehand. I also need to stop letting her take the reins and lean on them; she told me to really be steady and solid with my outside rein to keep her from leaning on the forehand, then ask her to bend with my inside rein but then relax so she doesn't curl her nose, all while using my inside leg to support.
It certainly made her anxious and a little frustrated -- she's a bit of a perfectionist and tends to get nervous when she's not sure what we're doing -- but we made some progress and I could feel her starting to understand what I was asking.
I liked that the trainer had plenty of balance between asking for her to come up off her forehand and allowing her to stretch in a free walk or trot. As she pointed out, it's the "carry, relax, carry, relax" that will help Pandora to become supple and strong.
I felt like it was a very constructive lesson.
Pandora's been having a little loose stool lately - not every pile is loose, but some are. I think it's because she accidentally got some alfalfa yesterday, so I'll keep an eye on her, but she seems to be feeling fine.
Haven't had a chance to play with the clicker again yet. I'm going to go make a new and improved target now (we have a dog ball-throwing stick that got pretty beat up, so I'm going to duct tape a dead tennis ball to the end) and do another 20-minute session with her tomorrow. She responded so well the first time that I think we'll be able to take this pretty far.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Plans
Started doing some clicker work today -- I've been meaning to do it forever.
I'm interested to see how this goes, because I feel like she's the perfect horse to do this work with. Very intelligent, eager to please, but sometimes gets a bit anxious about doing the right thing. I really feel that the positive reinforcement and mental engagement will work well with her.
I started with targeting, as is pretty typical for doing this with horses. Worked for maybe 20 minutes total, split up into 3 or 4 sessions. For lack of a more convenient object I used an orange traffic cone, but I've got plans for a less unwieldy target next time.
By the end of the whole session she knew exactly what she was doing and would stretch high or low to touch the cone for her reward. I left her hungry for more! Next time we'll spend more time targeting and start increasing the time she must touch it before getting a click/treat.
No pictures with the cone, unfortunately, but I'll get some tomorrow.
I'm going to take this as far as she tells me she wants to go. She really enjoyed it today (she got loads of treats for touching a big orange cone, who wouldn't enjoy it?!) and I think clicker work will provide a fun break from schooling under saddle.
Brief outline of the main areas I want to address with the clicker as we go along.
The first one is to help her develop a solid understanding of what it is that we're doing by picking easy and relaxed behaviors to reinforce.
Understanding/Relaxation
Ground Work
Spooky Things
These are more like ideas I've set down for myself -- just areas of interest to explore with her. To me, clicker training is just another tool to have in the toolbox, and I want to try it on Pandora.
I'm taking Pandora to a Pony Club dressage lesson on Sunday, which should be fun. It's at the same place as the very first schooling show we went to, so I'm not worried about spookiness at all. She's much more fit these days, thanks partly to frequent free-longing in the arena (not much turnout lately, sigh) so we should be able to get a lot out of the lesson.
I'm interested to see how this goes, because I feel like she's the perfect horse to do this work with. Very intelligent, eager to please, but sometimes gets a bit anxious about doing the right thing. I really feel that the positive reinforcement and mental engagement will work well with her.
I started with targeting, as is pretty typical for doing this with horses. Worked for maybe 20 minutes total, split up into 3 or 4 sessions. For lack of a more convenient object I used an orange traffic cone, but I've got plans for a less unwieldy target next time.
By the end of the whole session she knew exactly what she was doing and would stretch high or low to touch the cone for her reward. I left her hungry for more! Next time we'll spend more time targeting and start increasing the time she must touch it before getting a click/treat.
No pictures with the cone, unfortunately, but I'll get some tomorrow.
I'm going to take this as far as she tells me she wants to go. She really enjoyed it today (she got loads of treats for touching a big orange cone, who wouldn't enjoy it?!) and I think clicker work will provide a fun break from schooling under saddle.
Brief outline of the main areas I want to address with the clicker as we go along.
The first one is to help her develop a solid understanding of what it is that we're doing by picking easy and relaxed behaviors to reinforce.
Understanding/Relaxation
- Targeting
- Relaxing while hooves are handled (she's still a little tense about the hind legs)
- Head Down
- Carrot stretches
Ground Work
- Leading on the off side (she leads, but not confidently)
- Turn on the forehand (already does pretty well)
- Turn on the haunches (knows, but not well)
- Sidepass
- Backing (she is slow and slightly resistant to backing up)
Spooky Things
- Tarps
- Plastic bags, plus cans inside later
- Balloons
- Costume (I have my Batman horse/rider costume still!)
- Ropes/restraint (staying calm about ropes around legs, etc)
These are more like ideas I've set down for myself -- just areas of interest to explore with her. To me, clicker training is just another tool to have in the toolbox, and I want to try it on Pandora.
I'm taking Pandora to a Pony Club dressage lesson on Sunday, which should be fun. It's at the same place as the very first schooling show we went to, so I'm not worried about spookiness at all. She's much more fit these days, thanks partly to frequent free-longing in the arena (not much turnout lately, sigh) so we should be able to get a lot out of the lesson.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Update 12/16
I know, I know - it's been ages. College does that to a girl.
Talked about the chiro work over on my main blog.
It really worked wonders for her. She's smoother, more relaxed, doesn't clamp her tail whenever you touch her hind end. Her canter has improved massively as well. It's actually about time to have him out again, I'm starting to see a little stiffness in her hind end again -- she's just not reaching under herself as far as she has been. Doesn't concern me much, as she still had so many issues last time that I figured it would take another session or two until she's 100% on track.
Her weight is excellent. She's getting six [big] flakes of hay per day (I really need to weigh one to get an idea of how much they weigh), Ultium, vitamins, and a little beet pulp. She's shiny, soft, and happy.
Awhile back I bought a 5" D-ring Happy Mouth Mullen Mouth bit. (Say that five times fast.) She really seems to prefer it over the double-jointed french link I used earlier. Her head fussing has faded a lot with me, to where she gives me a lovely contact most of the time. She fusses when she gets nervous, but it's far less pronounced, and to be fair I've only ridden her maybe ten or twelve times in the past couple months. When my mom got on her the other day, the mouthing was more pronounced, which tells me that I need to get more riders on her so she's comfortable with more than just me.
Weather permitting, I should be taking a lesson on her tomorrow evening. I feel like she's fit enough that a lesson won't be asking too much, and I feel like she's ready to try a little low-level jumping just so we can see what we have to work with.
In short, all is going well. Weight is excellent, temperament is mind-bogglingly good considering she's been stuck inside for more than a week, under-saddle work is improving. Hooves are great, stiffness fades as I work her more consistently but I think I'll aim for a chiro visit sometime next month. She's been a pleasure to work with, and I'm really impressed that she's stayed so calm while being cooped up. You can tell she wants so badly to get out and run (and she does, when we let them loose in the arena) but she is never pushy. Definite plus.
I'm going to try some clicker work with her tonight, probably on backing up since she dislikes backing. I'm curious to see her reaction when she catches on.
Talked about the chiro work over on my main blog.
It really worked wonders for her. She's smoother, more relaxed, doesn't clamp her tail whenever you touch her hind end. Her canter has improved massively as well. It's actually about time to have him out again, I'm starting to see a little stiffness in her hind end again -- she's just not reaching under herself as far as she has been. Doesn't concern me much, as she still had so many issues last time that I figured it would take another session or two until she's 100% on track.
Her weight is excellent. She's getting six [big] flakes of hay per day (I really need to weigh one to get an idea of how much they weigh), Ultium, vitamins, and a little beet pulp. She's shiny, soft, and happy.
Awhile back I bought a 5" D-ring Happy Mouth Mullen Mouth bit. (Say that five times fast.) She really seems to prefer it over the double-jointed french link I used earlier. Her head fussing has faded a lot with me, to where she gives me a lovely contact most of the time. She fusses when she gets nervous, but it's far less pronounced, and to be fair I've only ridden her maybe ten or twelve times in the past couple months. When my mom got on her the other day, the mouthing was more pronounced, which tells me that I need to get more riders on her so she's comfortable with more than just me.
Weather permitting, I should be taking a lesson on her tomorrow evening. I feel like she's fit enough that a lesson won't be asking too much, and I feel like she's ready to try a little low-level jumping just so we can see what we have to work with.
In short, all is going well. Weight is excellent, temperament is mind-bogglingly good considering she's been stuck inside for more than a week, under-saddle work is improving. Hooves are great, stiffness fades as I work her more consistently but I think I'll aim for a chiro visit sometime next month. She's been a pleasure to work with, and I'm really impressed that she's stayed so calm while being cooped up. You can tell she wants so badly to get out and run (and she does, when we let them loose in the arena) but she is never pushy. Definite plus.
I'm going to try some clicker work with her tonight, probably on backing up since she dislikes backing. I'm curious to see her reaction when she catches on.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Updates 10/26
Here's an update copied from my main blog:
"Pandora is still doing very well. Her weight-gain has kind of stalled a bit -- grr -- but I think it's because the barn owner ran out of orchard grass and switched to (not the nicest) grass hay. It's a constant battle - that horse could probably put down 3x as much hay as she's getting, and she's getting like 8 flakes a day. I realize the barn owner can't afford to feed her as much as she can eat, which would probably amount to a bale of hay per day. So we added some beet pulp to get some more fiber into her.
At this point I'm considering just buying some of our own hay. Unfortunately that would add up really fast. But if I have to do it, I have to do it. What would be nice is if we could arrange for her and McKinna to be in a paddock (there's a big one out front that's got jumps in it now) with round bales that we pay for, but unfortunately McKinna would probably become a big fatty on that much hay. Not to mention that I think most of the paddocked horses come in during the winter anyway.
Sigh.
I know we can put more weight on by adding more concentrates like grain, or adding alfalfa or oil. But it's very very hard for me to do that when I know that she needs more hay and would put more weight on if she had as much as she could eat.
I should figure out if it would be more cost-effective to feed her lots of beet pulp, or to just buy hay. Is beet pulp comparable to hay in terms of fiber benefits? I know a lot of people feed it as main fiber source to older horses without much in the way of teeth. I could go to hay cubes, but I imagine that would be more expensive than hay itself.
Argh. Okay, maybe I will just talk to the barn owner. I know she will suggest adding more beet pulp, but Pandora finishes her hay within a couple hours of feeding time, and that's just not good enough for me. When she was getting 3 flakes of orchard grass, they were BIG flakes and they took her a long time to work through. Plus it was super nice green stuff."
That's basically all I've been up to with her. I haven't been riding much because I want the chiropractor to come out first -- he's going to be out on Tuesday, so it's not that much longer to wait. In the interim we've been round-penning her quite a lot, which has been very good for her. This way we can do a lot of canter work, which she needs. As she warms up she really moves out nicely, and it seems like she can canter forever without getting sweaty. Typical TB blood, I suppose.
After she's adjusted, I'm going to start riding her fairly intensively -- we need to get a lot of training and schooling done over the winter so we can hit spring and summer shows with a bang. Once she's built up a little more fitness I'll start taking her to the Friday lessons for Pony Club. She's just not fit enough for a 2-hour lesson right now, but once she's adjusted I will feel comfortable asking her to work harder and longer to improve her fitness.
She's still as polite and sweet-natured as ever. Pokes her head out her stall window whenever you walk by, always happy to come out of her stall or out of the pasture or wherever you want to go. I've noticed that she doesn't take a sore step on gravel at all anymore, so her trim seems to be holding up super well. She's still a little tender riding over gravel but judging by her improvement in walking over it, I think that may go away with time.
Overall things are going well, if a little slowly. But we have all winter to work hard, so another few days won't hurt anything.
"Pandora is still doing very well. Her weight-gain has kind of stalled a bit -- grr -- but I think it's because the barn owner ran out of orchard grass and switched to (not the nicest) grass hay. It's a constant battle - that horse could probably put down 3x as much hay as she's getting, and she's getting like 8 flakes a day. I realize the barn owner can't afford to feed her as much as she can eat, which would probably amount to a bale of hay per day. So we added some beet pulp to get some more fiber into her.
At this point I'm considering just buying some of our own hay. Unfortunately that would add up really fast. But if I have to do it, I have to do it. What would be nice is if we could arrange for her and McKinna to be in a paddock (there's a big one out front that's got jumps in it now) with round bales that we pay for, but unfortunately McKinna would probably become a big fatty on that much hay. Not to mention that I think most of the paddocked horses come in during the winter anyway.
Sigh.
I know we can put more weight on by adding more concentrates like grain, or adding alfalfa or oil. But it's very very hard for me to do that when I know that she needs more hay and would put more weight on if she had as much as she could eat.
I should figure out if it would be more cost-effective to feed her lots of beet pulp, or to just buy hay. Is beet pulp comparable to hay in terms of fiber benefits? I know a lot of people feed it as main fiber source to older horses without much in the way of teeth. I could go to hay cubes, but I imagine that would be more expensive than hay itself.
Argh. Okay, maybe I will just talk to the barn owner. I know she will suggest adding more beet pulp, but Pandora finishes her hay within a couple hours of feeding time, and that's just not good enough for me. When she was getting 3 flakes of orchard grass, they were BIG flakes and they took her a long time to work through. Plus it was super nice green stuff."
That's basically all I've been up to with her. I haven't been riding much because I want the chiropractor to come out first -- he's going to be out on Tuesday, so it's not that much longer to wait. In the interim we've been round-penning her quite a lot, which has been very good for her. This way we can do a lot of canter work, which she needs. As she warms up she really moves out nicely, and it seems like she can canter forever without getting sweaty. Typical TB blood, I suppose.
After she's adjusted, I'm going to start riding her fairly intensively -- we need to get a lot of training and schooling done over the winter so we can hit spring and summer shows with a bang. Once she's built up a little more fitness I'll start taking her to the Friday lessons for Pony Club. She's just not fit enough for a 2-hour lesson right now, but once she's adjusted I will feel comfortable asking her to work harder and longer to improve her fitness.
She's still as polite and sweet-natured as ever. Pokes her head out her stall window whenever you walk by, always happy to come out of her stall or out of the pasture or wherever you want to go. I've noticed that she doesn't take a sore step on gravel at all anymore, so her trim seems to be holding up super well. She's still a little tender riding over gravel but judging by her improvement in walking over it, I think that may go away with time.
Overall things are going well, if a little slowly. But we have all winter to work hard, so another few days won't hurt anything.
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