All The Kings' Horses

 Monday October 26th - Gia and I started on a loose rein at a walk in the arena today.  I did not ask her for anything in particular, I just allowed her to wander around while I focused on my own position and relaxation.  When I thought she was ready, I asked for the trot on a long rein.  She felt a bit sticky, not wanting to go forward.  I am working on listening to her small, polite requests, so she doesn't have to resort to "yelling", aka bucking.  This is her way of saying, something isn't right.  Now it's my job to figure out what.  That's the hard part.  It's not always obvious. In fact, it's not usually obvious, or I would have probably already done it.  TBH, I can't remember at this time what actually worked, but she did eventually go forward at the trot.  After a warm up on a loose rein, I started to add rhythm and then straightness.  When I was adding straightness, she again started to feel "sticky".  It took me ...

 Monday October 19th - I started out asking Gia to flex her jaw left and right in hand.  It seemed much easier for her today.  I got on her about the same time Danielle was getting on Belle.  Gia notoriously does not like to share the arena, so she immediately made it known (with ears back) that this space was all hers).  However, we don't share that sentiment, so I decided we would spend the entire ride next to Belle, much to Gia's disappointment.  We started at the walk, and a very safe distance away, but still close enough for Gia to feel slightly uncomfortable.  Belle could have cared less.  Gia likes to try a swift move of swinging her haunches at her opponent to kick them, so I decided today would be a good day to work on lots of haunches-in.  (Gia was positioned on the inside and Belle on the outside).  I used my outside leg to softly ask for the haunches to move slightly to the inside.  When she didn't respond, I tapped rhyt...

 Monday October 12th - I worked with Gia today on all the same things as last week, except when it came to the straightness of her path and her body, I used the outline of the outside  of her body rather than the inside of her body, as I discovered last Friday.  There was only one instance where she only thought about bucking, and it was at our first transition into trot.  Possibly because my hips stopped moving or my thighs gripped tightly, momentarily.  After that, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the ride!  I did find that she was in need of some flexion on the right side of her jaw, so we finished with a bit of that work as we were cooling out.  I will most likely start with that on the ground tomorrow. Tuesday October 13th - Before I rode Gia today, I started with her in-hand on flexing a little left and right in the bridle.  It was very easy for her to the left, but much more difficult for her to the right.  I was eventually able t...

 Monday October 5th - I worked with Gia today on much the same as the previous week - my position, her relaxation, rhythm, and straightness of her path.  I worked a bit more on asking her for straightness in her own body.  When we are on a circle, she is very counter bent, so I applied more inside leg to encourage bend.  I focused on keeping the outside rein more consistent in the contact (although light) than the inside rein, I applied my inside leg at a "one" (on an intensity scale of 1-10).  There was practically no response with that aid, so I kept my leg at that intensity on her side and added a rhythmic tapping of the whip right behind my leg (which would intensify if she did not respond), as I carefully kept the outside rein at a consistent contact, and guided with inside rein only as necessary.  Whenever she gave me even the tiniest amount, I released all of that and told her "good girl!".  We started that at the walk, and then progressed to th...

 Monday September 28th - I worked with Gia today on her relaxation and rhythm at the walk to start with.  I also focused on my own position and relaxation.  She was a bit distracted today, so we spent more time at the walk.  When the rhythm was there, I had Gia focus on staying straight on a certain path I had in mind.  Basically, I wanted her to stay just inside the track that typically runs around the outside of the arena.  It can be harder than it sounds, because a lot of horses (and riders) find it easier to just stay on the well-trodden path that falls right up against the rail.  But, in order to stay just off the track, you have to use your outside leg to somewhat "block" the horse from "falling" onto that path, which helps to keep them more balanced, and can also help to keep them more focused.  From there, I added circles and changes across the diagonal, on very precise lines.  Along with keeping up with the rhythm, she had a lot to k...

 Monday 9/21/26 - It was a busy day today with fall vet check ups going on, but I managed to get a decent ride in on Gia.  I allowed her to wander around the arena while I focused on my position - symmetrical feeling in my feet, pulling my thighs out and back, and relaxing my seat and legs.  Once that was feeling easier, I noticed that Gia was nicely relaxed, moving freely, and reaching her neck nice and long.  We started to work on the trot, but she immediately got frustrated and fussy - tossing her head, swishing her tail and swinging her back end.  I was working on keeping myself symmetrical, which in turn would help her to stay straighter.  However, I think that when I was getting things correct, I was relaxing my left leg too  much, and then she was falling apart again.  I tried just keeping my left leg as a constant on her side, but not too hard, just a steady, light contact.  She was much better behaved for the rest of the ride after t...