Gia - session 35 - more trotting added under saddle

I worked with Gia today after Rebecca, my assistant for the day, got her groomed and saddled.  I warmed her up with some free lunging and natural horsemanship.  Then I added the bumpers at her side and asked for walk, trot and canter.  She was pretty obedient for everything.  Once she was ready, Rebecca came in and held the grain while I got on.  We didn't have anyone to hold the leadline today, but Gia has been so good the last two times, that I figured we would be ok.  Rebecca allowed Gia to eat while I hopped on.  I didn't really prep Gia for mounting, but she was unphazed anyway.  Then we repeated most of what we have done the past two times.  I allowed Gia to follow Rebecca for several steps, enjoying her grain treats while carrying me - no reaction.  Then I took over the reins and started steering Gia away from Rebecca, and then allowing her to come back for a grain treat.  She was a little resistant to leave at first, but once she realized she was coming back to the grain, she went willingly.  Then I added a halt transition when she was facing away from Rebecca.  She was a bit resistant and pulling down at first, but that went away after a few times as well.  Next, I took her out to the edge of the round pen and started asking for trot.  I used voice and leg, and the first few times Rebecca had to help with the lunge whip.  She was a little resistant at first, and a little fussier about having to work than she has been the last couple of times we trotted, but after a few times, she was going quite well.  With each of these steps, I like to get three attempts before moving on to the next step.  Depending on the step, it might be three attempts in each direction.  Up until today, I have been allowing her to stop trotting when she felt like it, but today, everything was going so well, that I decided to change that.  I started with asking her to trot for 5 steps in a row without stopping, and once she had gotten her 5 steps, I asked for the down transition, and she got to take a break and have a bite of grain.  If she stopped before the 5 steps, then I would ask her to trot again, and start the counting over at 1.  Once she achieved 5 steps, I asked her for 6 steps, and then 7, all the way up to 10 steps today.  Most of the time, it took a few tries to get her required steps without stopping on her own.  Sometimes it is important to allow the horse to make the decision, and sometimes it is important for the horse to understand that the person gets to make the decision.  It really all depends on the situation.  For the first two rides, I didn't want to push her, in case it would lead to a blow up.  But now that I am comfortable with her degree of relaxation, I can start to ask more of her.  It is still important to remember that she is only three though, so I won't push for too much!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gia - session 955 - lesson at CDP

 I had a lesson with Hayley today at CDP.  Gia felt great today!  We started with a nice, crisp walk, and then moved right into a forward trot.  We worked all over the ring with changes of direction and in a good, steady tempo, we also worked on lengthening and collecting the trot.  Gia was nicely obedient to everything I asked her to do.  When I first asked for the canter, I forgot to keep my arms soft, so it didn't last more than a few steps.  But the second time, I remembered, and stayed a little off her back as well.  It started awkward, and counterbent, but as I stayed soft and following with my seat and arms, she eventually figured out what to do with her body, and started to come nicely around my inside leg.  We did the same thing in the other direction (which is usually her bad direction), but it went really well!  We decided to quite while we were ahead after that!  Hopefully, this ride will carry into this weekend for the show! 
Read more

Gia - session 956 and 957 - War Horse schooling and show

 I took Gia to the War Horse schooling and show this weekend at the Carolina Horse Park.  When I got on Saturday morning, she started out quite tense - wanting to go up in the front, and up in the back as well, but not really wanting to go forward.  I finally did get her forward, eventually, and slowly, and we made it to the stadium warm up.  After warming up with some trot, and over a few jumps, we schooled the stadium course.  She was a bit nervous, but did OK otherwise.  So, on to cross country schooling.  She felt fairly the same on cross country - a little nervous, but at least by that time, she was moving forward.  She was a bit nervous about a couple of the jumps, and some of the soggy ground.  We "discussed" it, and then she was able to get over/through it.  She felt a lot more confident by the end. On Sunday, she felt fine when I got on for dressage.  I warmed her up in the grass, near the barns, first, where she could stay calmer.  She was fairly responsive and rela
Read more

Gia - session 947 - lesson at CDP

 I took Gia to CDP for a lesson today.  She was very good with her shipping boots this morning - no drama at all!.  She was also pretty good for getting on the trailer, with me on the off side.  She did get her head a little stuck on the wrong side of the divider, but I quickly got it unstuck, and she was good to go. I warmed Gia up deep and low at the walk and trot with lots of changes of bend and direction, all over the ring.  She was a bit spooky and resistant, but we worked through it, and she started to settle down, relax, and stretch her neck out a little.  I added canter transitions, and those went fairly well.   Susan worked with us today.  She had me focus on Gia's rhythm and the timing of her footfalls at all gaits.  She also had me focus on my straightness in the saddle and my alignment with Gia, as well as Gia's straightness on the circle, and through changes of direction.  We worked through transitions between the gaits, and they gradually improved, and I felt Gia
Read more