Settling In...

Sophie is settling in great. She hates being alone in the barn though, so I'm trying SmartCalm on her to see how she does on it. I spent quite a bit of time currying her today and got a lot of winter hair off. I also discovered that she has dandruff all over her body, so I got some Listerine to mix with water to try to take care of that, and will also be starting her on Omega Horseshine to see if that helps with her coat at all.

After the brushing we worked on showmanship for a little while, she's super smart and was really picking up pivoting fast. I also led her to and from the barn to make sure that she minded her manners and didn't bump me while busy looking at something else.

Finally, I tried my saddle and her new bridle on her. I'm really not sure about the saddle, her back is shaped so oddly I don't know if *I* would be able to tell the saddle fits. Her new cob sized bridle from Bobby's fits great. The cavesson almost isn't big enough, but it fits fairly loosely on the last hole, so we'll go with it. The cheek pieces fit great and I'll have to double check the browband again, since I was too shocked by the bit to notice it. I tried Jessie's snaffle on her and it was way too small!

That's right, it was way too small. She has a much smaller head than Jessie, but her mouth is wider. I was so shocked. I'm going to stop by the feed store on my way to the barn tomorrow and see if I can get her a larger snaffle. I still can't believe how wide her mouth was! Maybe I'll ride tomorrow...maybe not. We'll see, lol.

Home Sweet Home...

Sophie is finally home! It's been weird, "having" a new horse, but only having seen her 5 times. Craig and I were running way behind schedule when we finally arrived at Linda's to pick up Sophie, so understandably, she had had to leave. Sophie was waiting in her stall though, and a little anxious about being alone since all of the other horses were in the fields. We got the trailer opened up and ready for Sophie and I gave Sophie a few treats while snapping the leadrope on her halter. I took her out to the trailer, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to get her loaded since I didn't know her style. I walked her up to the trailer and she lowered her head, sniffed the ramp, and then she walked right up and into the trailer. Craig got the back closed up while I snapped Sophie in and off we went. She travelled well and we arrived back at the farm around 5 pm.

I unloaded Sophie and other than whinnying once on the trailer she was an angel (not that whinnying once was a bad thing). She was a little unsteady backing off the trailer, but walked around calmly and showed little interest in meeting the geldings in the first paddock (including Jake).


The boys, waiting to meet Sophie (Jake is the one w/o a halter).

Jake and Sophie meeting.






Stretching her legs...














Two times she busted out this spectacular extended trot. Most of the time she was very springy, but not more so than Jessie.


It was after she did it again, I realized that she is indeed a terrific mover with a lot of potential for dressage. It was the first time I saw her trot like that, and it just about took my breath away.








The boys, checking her out.


Fuzzy, but I call it her ode to the Black Stallion.








Still enthralled...



And a quiet moment with her, giving her treats to help her recognize that I am someone to look forward to seeing. It was really sweet, she would follow me around after I gave her some treats.

Anticipation...

The day of moving Sophie is quickly approaching, and I am just getting more and more nervous. Lots of worrying about did I make the right choice for one. It's hard to buy a new horse, especially when the last horse you bought was 14 years ago...when you were only 13 years old, and you've pretty much been riding *that* horse ever since then. Then I worry about how my riding instructor (who will be returning from Florida next week) will like her. I never even told her I was looking for a horse, since I figured I needed to find one that I like because I'm the one that is going to have to ride it. I worry about how Sophie is going to settle in. Who will she be turned out with? How spooky is she going to be in her new surroundings?

And then there's the saddle issue. Should I buy a new saddle to take on trial for Sophie's first week home? It works out to go look tomorrow, on my way to my parents house, but how often will I even ride Sophie in the first week, as she settles in? I really don't think I'll ride her more than a couple of times, if that much between tomorrow and next Friday. So I think I'll hold off, even though I'm anxious to get going with this. But, I think I will buy a cob sized bridle, so stopping at the tack store won't be a complete waste.

Finally, on a less fretful note, I have been planning my return to riding. I've been reading Lessons for Lendon and plan on working on one or two of the lessons for each of our rides. She starts out working on some things that are important for Sophie and I, and I think it will help a lot. It's a great book, and if you've been thinking about buying it, I would. I got mine from Amazon, they were having a sale which made it cheaper than buying at Equine Affaire. The sale seems to be over now, but here's the link...http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Lendon-Progressive-Competition-Practical/dp/1929164165/ref=pd_sim_b_title_30

Indecisiveness rules again...

Well, the plan has changed for the third (fourth?) time. It looks like it's going to thunderstorm on Friday, and we don't want to be picking Sophie up during thunderstorms, so that's a no go. It's also supposed to rain next Wednesday. Aargh! So the current plan is to pick her up on Sunday, when it should be in the low 70s and sunny. Then we will certainly have daylight to load/unload in and she may get to go straight from trailer to a paddock, where we can watch her settle in with some new friends (and take pictures!).

Finally, pictures from Friday...

I don't have any pictures of my lesson because Craig couldn't make it, and the pictures I do have are pretty lousy due to not having my Nikon D50 available (I was a good wife and let my husband take it to Cleveland for a karate black belt test). But I didn't want to come away from the trip empty handed, so I took Craig's old camera, it seems to be a Samsung Digimax or something like that.


I'm going to caption these pictures with what I hope she's saying and what she's most likely really saying (in parentheses).



Mommy! (Oh, it's you)



I'm not just thinking about coming over there, I can't *wait* to come over there! (Hmm, do I really think it'd be worth my while to leave my corner and come see you?)



I'm coming, I'm coming, I can't wait to see you! (Well, I have decided there is an 85% chance that you have a treat, and for those odds I am willing to walk 50 feet).



I'm so glad you came to see me! (Well?)



Even when I'm not looking at you I'm still paying attention to you. (Losing interest fa-ast...)



Oooh, I knew you loved me and brought me treats! (Gimme treats now!)



I'm so glad my mommy loves me and bought me watermelon treats because my old owner said that they were my favorite. (What the heck did she just feed me?)



Yum! (It's not getting any better).



Yum! (Nope, still not getting any better).



Yum! (I think it's getting worse...)



Yum! (What the heck is wrong with her, does she really think this is food?!?)



Yummy! (Ok, that's it, I really think she's trying to poison me)


These are just a couple pictures of Sophie modeling her new purple turnout halter. She was really much more interested in checking out the grass we were on, but she was a good sport for a few pictures.







I should mention, when I gave her another watermelon treat after grooming her she spit half of it out. Sigh. If her coggins is back in time we're going to move her home on Friday, so that the real bonding can begin. This was my 5th time visiting her if you count all of the times I looked at her too.

And she did look happy to see me. But that's probably because she thought I had treats. Or she's lonely. Linda turned her out with another horse but it was picking on her, so she put her back in her lonely paddock for the remaining two weeks.

Lesson over...

What a day yesterday. Got to the barn on time, barely, and gave Sophie her first watermelon treat out of the batch I bought at Equine Affaire. She seemed to like it ok, though made the usual horse funny faces. Then I got started with brushing her...she was a furry mess. A shedding machine and definitely put her new pink brushes through their paces. After Amanda arrived I gave her another watermelon treat and she bit it in half and spit out the other half! Aack. She's supposed to *love* them. I looked ALL OVER for them! So I picked it up in all of its grossness and gave it to her again. She let it dribble out of her mouth in crumbs, so I left it.

So then we went on to do our lesson and it wasn't good. She had her teeth done on Wednesday so we're thinking that her mouth was sore from having her teeth done (they were in BAD shape). We got nice stretchy circles to the left, but not at all to the right. However, she was a lot stronger in maintaining her bend and staying soft and round and keeping the contact with the bit/hand.

I'll have one more lesson next Friday, weather permitting, and then we'll bring Sophie home a few days after that. I decided to hold off on trying my saddle/bridle on her for next time. I compared the bridle sizes and mine seems to be just a touch smaller than hers, so we'll see.

She looks great in her purple breakaway halter, and I did get some on the ground pictures of her that I'll post after I get the camera out of the car.

I did get some good news on both sides of the breed registry front. First, the AHA send me my membership card/pin number, so I could enroll Sophie and I in the frequent rider program. That's where I log all of our riding time and they send little gifties as you reach certain milestones. And on the ATA side, they found her papers and are getting them processed the rest of the way ASAP. Phew. I was really worried about what I'd do if they didn't find them.

I can't wait to have Sophie here. Especially once I get her shedded out the rest of the way. Then I'll be able to give her a bath and do a photo shoot with the awesome purple Arabian halter that Amanda got me as a horse warming present. It is soooo pretty, and is going to look great on Sophie's petite, Arab head.

Next lesson tomorrow...

My next lesson on Sophie is tomorrow. Today Craig and I picked up her purple nylon breakaway halter from the feedstore today and admired the Weaver halters with what looks like gun metal hardware with a cool shade of pink...I have a feeling Sophie is going to end up with one at some point.

During school today I made a list of everything I need to take tomorrow, that way I can remember it. I figured I'd post it since I have no other news from ATA or otherwise.

1. Bridles (to see if any of mine fit, or if I need to order her a cob bridle)

2. Saddlepad

3. Saddle (to see if it fits)

4. My dressage girths

5. Helmet

6. Boots

7. New pink brushes

8. Watermelon treats (her owner said she loved watermelon treats so I found some at EA)

9. Checkbook (to pay for the coggins/teeth float)

10. Gloves

11. Craig's camera (since I'm letting him take mine to his karate belt test in Cleveland)

12. Ruler (to measure her current bit so I can buy one)

13. New Weaver halter (almost forgot that one, oops)

Yeah, I pretty much listed every single thing, but if I didn't, I would forget it.

And just for fun, a picture of the new Weaver graphite halters...looks like they don't come in breakaway yet...

Funny Coincidences...

Since I bought a horse I decided to clean up "My Favorites" by deleting the horses I'd been considering in my quest for a new partner. Of course I had to look at each and every horse, rather than mindlessly deleting the folder of potential prospects. One of the sites I came to was titled "Juliette, really nice". So I opened the page and scrolled down to see Juliette one last time and realized I recognized the owner's name...it's Sophie's breeder! With an email address. So...I emailed her to see if she has any baby pictures of Sophie. She sounded really nice, now I just hope she has some baby pictures (from 8 years ago!) floating around. It's a long shot, but I thought it was worth a try.

Halter's in...

Craig got the call that Sophie's new purple halter is in. I hope it fits her, otherwise I have two small horse sized Weaver halters (I bought a Navy small and average halter at Equine Affaire...got a free purple and other colors lead out of the deal!) that I can't use. Now I just have to remember to take it on Friday.

Still no luck with the ATA papers though...no one had to sign for them, so now I'm waiting to hear back from ATA on what I should do if they can't find them. They were delivered the 7th though, I hope someone found them today though...or tomorrow.

This page is pretty barren of pictures, so I'll share a couple of our "not used even close to often enough" truck and trailer. The plan was to show and take lessons and trail ride and have lots of fun this year with them, but, that may not happen. At least we'll be able to bring Sophie home though.

The trailer is a 2007 Equispirit, just a regular bumper pull with the small dressing room. I love Equispirit though. Lots of windows so the horses can see everywhere and everything inside the horse section can be taken apart. It's definitely one of the safest trailers out there and you can get pretty much anything customized on it. The truck is a Dodge Ram that we got a great deal on by ordering it while in Korea through AAFES. One perk of being in the military!

Papers problem...

I emailed ATA over the weekend to get an online account for the members only section...only to find out that they haven't received her papers yet. I checked the tracking and they were delivered on the 7th, so I need to call tomorrow and see if someone at the Post Office can tell me who signed for them. But on the upside, I called the AHA and they did receive her papers and printed the new set on the 10th of April. So they should be on their way at least.

Also, I bought lots of Trakehner stuff at Equine Affaire and picked up a show bill for an Arabian dressage show at some point during the summer. It'd be pretty nice to be ready to show there, but we'll see.

Sophie gets her teeth and coggins taken care of on Wednesday and my next lesson is going to be Friday. The weather is calling for 73 degrees and partly couldy, very nice weather for my next lesson. Unfortunately, it's going to rain the rest of the weekend, but that's ok, she'll probably appreciate the break. Plus I know Linda doesn't ride seven days a week anyway. I can't wait to see how well she's doing after nearly 3 weeks of training.

Saturday morning...

Saturday Morning-Exercises to Create a More Responsive Dressage Horse
Horse 1-Haflinger gelding (from yesterday)

Warm Up
-practice transitions within the gaits, should get bigger through just a squeeze
-to shorten-play the bit, bend, use some sideways, don't just pull back

Exercise
medium trot down long side
walk
walk pirouette
medium trot
repeat

Horse 2-not sure on this horse's breed, it was new

Improving the Trot
This horse had a nice, but flat trot, it wasn't very impressive
-horses with a flat trot are often improved through work at the canter
-use haunches in then shoulder in on a circle. Maintain contact with the outside leg to keep the horse on the shoulder in, not haunches out.
-then big canter/small canter; keep inside leg on to keep him from finding the inside rein

Contact
It's up to you to keep the contact, even if the horse loses the contact and bounces the mouth on the bit when refinding it it's still abrasive to him (whether it's his "fault" or yours)--you need to keep the contact steady no matter what.

Shoulder In
Sometimes when schooling you need to start with dishonest bend and try to make it honest (referring to more bend in the neck than is correct).

Other
-the horse's back needs to be warmed up through lateral work prior to using a big kick to ask for more
-"slap" a tight horse with the leg(s) because nudging gives the horse something to brace against
-an exercise she had this rider do was take the leg off and after the horse wasn't anticipating a kick when the leg was removed it suddenly turned bouncy and springy. It was very cool to watch, Courtney told the rider that she could stop and the rider kept going, wanting to enjoy the new trot she'd just found. It was really neat to watch the progression to that point in just a 30 minute lesson.

Saturday Afternoon-Getting the Most Out of Your Dressage Test: Tips to Help You Showcase Your Horse to Your Best Advantage
Horse 1-Danish Gelding from the day before

General
-work on things you *can* improve. For example, Courtney said that Idocus will never get an 8 on extended trot so she focuses more on the things that she can get 9's on than trying to fix something that is already so hard for him.
-pick up the stride *at* that letter, not when the hindquarters are at it; so ask a stride earlier; work it out at home how long it will take

Medium Trots on the Diagonal
Turn like a steamship (with little bend) in the corner when approaching the diagonal so that the horse comes onto the diagonal straight and ready to go, you lose precious time when you have to straighten the horse on the diagonal and then ask for medium trot.

Horse 2-Dutch Mare from the day before

Flying Changes
If the horse changes on its own without you asking for it, stop, pick up the correct lead, volte, and try again.

Miscellaneous
-really perfect going from halt to trot, it's a silly place to lose points in a test
-practice standing in the halt
-make transitions between gaits very clear (medium to collected, etc)

Collected to Medium Canter Tips
-be bold! Make sure the horse respects half halts; when collecting give as you collect so that you have something to take again
-if shoulder fore is lost then you won't have control over the outside rein to respond to a half halt

"It's not going to happen better in the show ring than it does at home"

Horse 3-Oldenburg from the day before

Miscellaneous
Whenever you're in schooling don't be committed to the movement, be committed to doing it right.

Beating Nerves (response to a question from the audience)
When going to a horse show ride to show off your horse; it's not a rider show, so just do your best to show off your horse...don't worry about others judging you and thinking badly of you.

Friday Afternoon

Friday Afternoon-Using Dressage Movements to Improve the Horse Rather than Focusing on the Dressage Movements Themselves
Horse 1-Haflinger Gelding

This horse was the 3rd level horse, he was adorable and very nice, but very tense in the neck and tight across the back (he looked very flat at the beginning of the ride). The rider usually rode with a longer rein than Courtney wanted to see, but improved a lot between the first day and the second day in that aspect.

Warming up the Tight Horse
-stretching out won't help loosen the horse's back; the horse needs to stretch *down* (long and low)
-to warm up, extra bend the horse's neck to the inside, then bend to the outside, and repeat as needed, this is a great loosening exercise
-take the horse in round and deep for a few strides because then stretching out feels good (this was the only horse Courtney suggested this for, and they only did it once or twice the whole weekend, and it wasn't nose to the chest deep--just a bit behind the vertical)
-deep doesn't stretch the back; it can be a temporary fix for getting the horse to stretch (after the few strides of deep)
-volte and haunches in help with a stiff horse
-if the horse is strong when picking up the bit push it sideways
-counterbending is good to make sure the horse is supple (on a circle)

Suppling
-trot around the arena and volte (8-10 m circle) at every letter
-inside rein bobbing is a good sign (off the inner rein)
-can do this exercise with any horse (15 m circles if a young horse)

Haunches In
-continue to play the bit throughout
-if you ride each movement thinking of making the next one better you're going to train the horse; if you ride it thinking about this movement the horse will train you
-you have to set your standards high the first time, the horse will never improve if you keep doing it and don't say "Wait, this is what I don't like"
-it's natural for a non-supple horse to go faster at the haunches in; it's easier to go faster than it is to bend
-when cantering-have extra bend before you stop; if horse rushes then walk, put haunches in at walk; then canter again and try it

Suppling
-big canter then smaller canter, push horse to the outside as you go smaller
-best thing to do when collecting the horse is stay soft and supple
-keep playing the bit, give a little, bend a little, take a little, big half halt, etc--play the whole time

"Mistakes are going to happen, fix them! Don't avoid mistakes, train the horse."

Horse 2-Oldenburg Gelding

Haunches In
-difficult to get more bend once you're already in the Haunches In
-start out with too much bend if anything
-keep inside leg on the horse in order to keep the horse bending
-normally if the rider has to pull the inside rein over across the neck it means the inside leg isn't doing its job

Half Pass
-haunches leading stifles the movement; puts weight on the front legs
-sideways, then straight while doing shoulder fore, then sideways again
-outside rein has to push the shoulders over if horse leads with haunches, seen especially in horses super sensitive to the outside leg and moves the haunches over
-horse's angle should be same whether half passing or shoulder ining-don't push haunches to the outside

Flying Changes
-you learn what you practice, do not practice it wrong
-make each change better, jump through each change
-don't shorten the stride leading to each change

Courtney King Notes...

And now, my notes from the Courtney King clinics I spectated over the weekend at Equine Affaire. There were two clinics each of the two days. I hadn't known much about Courtney King going into the clinics, just that she was a Grand Prix rider.


Friday Morning-Dressage, How to Ride More Precisely
Horse 1-Dutch Mare

Collected Canter-keep the same jump and cadence throughout, always need a sense of forward

• Keep the collection by doing shoulder fore throughout the exercise
• When beginning schooling ask for 3 or 4 strides and then go forward again

Flying Changes-let the canter flow between the changes, there should not be a change in the canter prior to each change, the approach to a change should be the same as the departure from the change

Walking-(especially the free walk to working walk transition)-to loosen the back ask for sideways as you pick the horse back up. Ask for extra bend and a little sideways as transitioning from the free walk to the working walk to prevent the horse from stiffening and to keep you from just pulling back as you do it

• Never rush when picking the horse up at the walk

Miscellaneous-to get the horse more "up" use walk-trot transitions-not shorter reins and more leg.

Humorous Sidenote (this rider had said that she needs help with her half passes, and Courtney had a great sense of humor and was very witty).

Courtney: "Now lets see that horrendous half pass"

Rider half passes

Courtney: "It's not horrendous, but it's boring"

Grand Prix-the horse's understanding...

Leg=collect and sit

Hand=extend

Miscellaneous

In dressage, you should always ride shoulder fore, it encourages the inside hind to track between the front legs; weights the inside hind leg while keeping the haunches from being toward the center of the ring

Half Pass

-go into it with extra bend

-use inside leg to prevent too much sideways

-need to keep the horse from falling onto the shoulder, keep her upright with the inside leg

• will help with rushing the sidepass when walk-trot transitions within it don't

-if your half pass is honest and in self carriage the inside rein will become loose

-if horse leads with its haunches go straight while in shoulder fore and then half pass again

• don't wait until the haunches lead though, shoulder fore *before* the haunches lead, if you do it before there's a problem you might only need to do it for a stride or so, if you wait, it'll take a few strides before you can go back to half pass

Training-do a movement with precision and quality for a few strides and then change when quality deteriorates to improve the movement--then try again

• don't just keep going while doing it badly, horses learn through muscle memory and they'll learn it wrong if you do

Canter Half Pass

-if losing it *push* the horse straight, don't just allow the horse to stop going sideways

-make sure the horse keeps reaching

-do it on the 3/4 line because you'll already have the horse balanced on your outside leg, rather than beginning from the wall

General

-if the horse gets too up play a little with the reins, don't hold it in; up is what allows the horse to be expressive

-after doing canter work make sure you get a good trot before stopping for a break

• make sure the horse is supple and loose in a way that encourages expression because horses are trained on muscle memory, so don't throw the trot away on the way to the walk

-if the horse picks up the wrong gait when you are asking for something correct it right away because otherwise next time the horse will think "I was right, that is what she wanted" and will be more likely to repeat the incorrect reaction

Horse 2-Danish Gelding

Lendon Gray's #1 rule for riding--Learn to do nothing (be part of the horse); until you can do that you have no right to ask the horse to conform to your body

Sidenote

Courtney would give the horses 3 or 4 walk breaks during each 45 minutes session, I found that interesting because quite a few on the internet seem to think that the horse should never be allowed to walk and rest during a schooling session

Light hand is not because you give it; it's your ability to react

• Some horses want a heavier connection, which is ok, as long as it's consistent

"Don't do anything artificial with your hands, let the horse have control"

Shoulder In

-can be corrected when you're not in the shoulder in; do a volte halway through

-start it when the horse is already good

Collected Canter

-move the bit a little

-sit a little deeper

-sometimes just need to relax and stop focusing on being perfect

-the horse has got to pull your arms, you don't push it's mouth

Other

Low hands look nicer, are more elegant and effortless (not to mention that the two riders prone to holding their hands too high had much nicer rides when they lowered their hands so that there was a straight line from elbow to mouth). Another thing I noticed was that the two riders that tended to ride mainly off the curb were the two that held their hands too high. Almost everyone was told shorten the snaffles (those two to lengthen the curbs too) at some point, a couple because the snaffle rein seemed to slip through their fingers; the other two were told to lengthen the curb and shorten the snaffle (sometimes the curb would be taught for them and the snaffle rein loose). Courtney got very tired of telling one person to get off the curb.

Teeth...check. Coggins...check.

Linda emailed and Sophie (notice the ph now, lol) is all set for her coggins and teeth floating, so she should be ready to go by the 30th of April. I spent all day today at Equine Affaire, Courtney King was *awesome*. Buck Davidson...not so much, but Courtney King was fantastic. I learned so much, even though the riders were 3rd level or higher. I took lots of notes and plan on typing them up as soon as I can and then posting them on this blog.

Papers should have arrived now...

Here's hoping I did everything right and Sophie is being transferred into my name as we speak.

New brushes arrived...

Sophie's brushes arrived today! The brush carrier is really neat and there is plenty of room for the couple of brushes that didn't come with the set. I like that each brush has a strap to hold it in place along the side of the case, which will make it easier to use in the future.

I've been debating what size of bridle Sophie might take. I figure I'll get her a cob sized bridle as that should fit her head, and then maybe a new browband if it is too tight. I am really liking this site http://www.equesport.com/, specifically this browband (http://www.equesport.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EL&Product_Code=brow_19) and of course a matching halter. We'll see though.

Papers sent in!

Yesterday we sent in Sofie's papers to get her transferred into my name. I'm very excited. I can't wait to get them back and see my name there. Plus I get memberships to the Americant Trakehner Association (http://www.americantrakehner.com/) and the International Arabian Horse Association (http://www.arabianhorses.org/default2.asp).

I was checking out the news portion of the ATA site and they're going to have a booth at Equine Affaire (http://www.equineaffaire.com/) where they'll be selling merchandise, so I should be able to pick up my first antler themed gear.

Shopping for Sofie...

Yesterday I ordered an Oster grooming kit for Sophie. I went with pink solely because I liked the carrying case better than the one that came with the purple set, otherwise I would have gotten that.


The one I didn't buy.


The one I did buy.

Equine Affaire is next weekend, I'm sure I'll pick up a few things for her there as well. And learn lots of different ways to torture...er...ride her as well.

On another note, we had a mild name crisis last night as I was creating the folder for Sophie on my webpage so that her pictures were no longer in the horse shopping folder. Linda has referred to her as Sofie *and* Sophie, so a decision had to be made and I decided to go with Sophie. That means it's official, Sophie is a member of the family because she has her own folder in the picture section of my website. Plus the check cleared two days ago...yippee!

First lesson was a success...

I had my first lesson on Sophie yesterday. It went really well. There were two instances where I had a moment of panic where reality set in that this was *my* horse and there was no turning back. And a little voice in my head cried out "walk away! walk away!" But I'll get to that.


Stretchy Trot Circle


We drove through Columbus and stopped to pick up Amanda so that she could meet Sophie and watch my lesson. We arrived at Linda's and saw Sofie over in the roundpen, standing in a sea of hay. She didn't want to come see us, even when we offered treats, but she did walk toward me when I entered the round pen to catch her. I took her into the barn and Amanda and I groomed her. She was a mudball, especially since she still has so much of her winter coat. At one point we had to move her to the back of the barn while they took two mares/foals out to the pasture and Sophie got a little upset about them leaving, but she calmed down right away. That was moment number one.




After we groomed her Linda saddled her and we headed out. I rode her from the get go, and had moment number two. We were just walking around and her head was in the air and I couldn't establish a connection at all, and things didn't get much better when we trotted. But then I started riding her more like Jessie and she came round and was moving much nicer. My big problem is that I expect her to trot faster than what her tempo *should* be. So I need to relax and let her trot more slowly. The majority of the lesson was spent developing contact and slowing the tempo. So it pretty much went...half halt, half halt, squeeze inside leg to push her into the outside rein and sponge the inside rein to remind her of where my hand is. She very much seeks steady contact and will stay there when it's provided with a giving hand.




We mainly worked on a 20 meter circle. After establishing a steady trot we worked on stretchy circles, then walk-trot transitions with a few trot-canter transitions. After we worked in both directions we did a stretchy circle to cool down before walking her out. She was great though, looking around a lot (there was a stallion galloping his field just 20 feet away) but when I actually rode and didn't just sit there I was able to keep her attention focused on me.




My biggest challenge when riding her is her canter. She has a lot of jump to her canter, and it feels like she's coiling to buck. So I almost don't *want* to ask her to round and come onto the bit because I know that if her head is up she won't be able to buck very high, if at all. Once she's round it would be much easier for her to let fly. But I got a little better about it by the end of the ride. I also need to ride every step, especially remembering to use my legs to push her forward into the bridle, instead of just being a passenger. I just need to remind myself that she has never offered to buck, either with me or Linda and trust her more and let go. I'm definitely too tense at the canter, and my hands block her because I get a little nervous.





I just finished adding pictures and am really disappointed with how much I let my core collapse. I think I'll break out the Core Secrets videos tomorrow and get to work.