All The Kings' Horses

 Gia felt a little sullen when we started out today.  It's possible that she just wasn't feeling well, but it's also possible that it's because she had a different groom today.  Nothing against Vicky at all!  But sometimes, horses get used to a certain person handling them and then have a behavior change when they aren't around.  Gia is definitely a sensitive enough mare that things like that would affect her.  I think it just may be that Gia misses Danielle.  Regardless, we worked on much the same stuff today.  She was not as enthusiastic to move off my leg today at the walk, possibly due to her sullen mood.  At the trot, when we were working on lateral stuff, she didn't even attempt to canter, which is definitely unlike her.  Once I asked for the canter, she did seem more excited, and we worked on staying up and out at the canter.  She only missed her right lead a couple of times, although she needs to get a little twisted in her body right now to make it happ

 I had a lesson with Gia today after riding Butch.  I talked to Charlie about how I handled Gia's canter work yesterday - allowing the canter whenever she offered it, rather than making her wait and then asking her for it later on.  He agreed with me, that I shouldn't make a big deal out of it right now, and to pick my battles.  I think some people find it odd that I still take lessons, but, first of all, I'm not at the Olympics, so I still have a LOT to learn.  And secondly, I love having someone, who knows me and my horses and my riding, to bounce my thoughts off of when I'm training the horses I ride.  I love the reassurance that I am on the right track, as well as the corrections when I'm not. Anyway, we did much of the same as our last lesson.  We basically played around with moving off my leg around the ring, and then jumping jumps, and working on the canter if she offered it.  She took a new jump today with no problem, but stopped at the "globe" jum

 My blog posts might start to get a little boring, but that's kind of what the work is like at this stage in the game.  Gia has learned all the exciting things she can for now, and now we just have to work on the boring exercises that build strength so that she can do more exciting things later.  This is exactly one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place - to show folks the day in and day out stuff that goes in to training a horse. Anyway, we started today's ride with moving off my leg at the walk on a circle, along with leg yielding down the rail, and nose-to-wall.  At the trot, we also did moving off my leg on the circle, as well as leg yielding from quarter line to the rail (check out the video on that). When we worked on the canter today, my main objective was to encourage her to be as straight as possible beforehand, and then to reach out and down during the canter.  In an effort to minimize her grumpiness when she is asked for the canter, I allowed her to c

 Since it was pouring rain today, I decided to take an opportunity to work on some grooming stuff with Gia, specifically, clipping. Since the last time I clipped her, my old, cordless clippers actually died on me, so I had to purchase new ones.  They are MUCH quieter, so I was hoping this would make a difference with Gia today, and it definitely did! I started with her legs and feet, while Danielle held her, and she could have cared less.  When I moved on to her face and muzzle, she was a bit more tense.  I started by just bringing the clippers towards her, and then touching her with the same hand that held the clippers.  She was a little nervous at first, but within minutes, she relaxed and lowered her head.  I was able to slowly clip her entire jawline and muzzle with pretty much no problems.  She jerked once or twice, but quickly relaxed each time. Moving on to her bridle path, she was definitely more nervous about that.  She raised her head up very high as soon as I lifted the clip

 Yesterday I did more of the same jumping stuff with Gia in our ride. We warmed up with lateral work, including nose-to-wall at the walk.  That seemed a little easier for her! Once she felt looser at the trot, we worked over trot poles.  She kept wanting to quicken right after the poles, so I did a small circle each time.  It took several attempts before she would go over the poles without speeding up. Then we moved on to an X with ground poles on either side.  She took most of them quite easily, and even cantered off nicely after some.  She still struggled with the right lead canter, so we did that all by itself at the very end. Before that, however, we did work over a few lines, in each direction.  I had a medium sized X set up, and then a small vertical about 3-4 strides after that.  Both jumps had ground poles on either side.  We ended up taking it in both directions.  Straightness and speed were the biggest issues.  It took several tries, but we did eventually get a good one in ea

 I was running a bit late today for my lesson on Butch with Charlie, so he wasn't able to fit in a lesson with Gia today.  So, I hopped on and rode a little on my own, pretty much working on the same things we had been. I opted to go without my whip today.  She seemed a bit tense, and there was a lot of construction going on as well, so I was a little concerned that it might get in the way.  I ended up wishing I had it with me, so I'll probably take it the next time for sure! I mainly worked on moving her off my leg on circles at the walk and trot.  We worked a little in the jump ring, and then moved to the dressage ring to finish up.  She was a little tense in both rings, but not too bad.  She was very resistant to move off my right leg today though (why I wish I'd had the whip to assist).  I was able to get her a little better to the right, and ended with a fairly good stretch down. She had been extremely agitated in the crossties before I left my barn, but she was VERY q

 I took Gia along to the Sharon Oaks hunter show yesterday.  She was quite obnoxious after I loaded her on the trailer - lots of piaffing.  She did eventually settle down though. When it was her turn at the show, she stood tied to the trailer, very quietly munching her hay, while the kids helped to get her brushed and tacked.  I lunged her in the warm up area, where she was pretty relaxed, and even a little lazy.  Then I rode her in the warm up arena.  She was a little tense, but relaxed fairly quickly into some nice walk, trot, canter work.  We did a little bit of moving off my leg in each direction, just like we do at home.   I wasn't able to get her into the show ring in time for the schooling break, so I decided to just enter her in one of the classes.  It was a walk, trot, canter class, and there were about 10 other horses in the ring.  When we first walked in, they were announcing the placings from the previous class, and everyone was clapping and cheering.  That made her rea

 Gia was a bit tense today, so we started out with a nice, long, stretching walk to help relax and stretch.  That definitely helped!  Once she was relaxed, I was able to ask her to move off my leg on circles at the walk and trot, which were fairly easy.  She was a little tense at the trot, and tried to canter a few times, but nothing terrible. When the trot circles were good, I started approaching one of the crossrails with poles that was set up.  She was a little fidgety and crooked at first, but I kept circling until she was coming in straighter.  I think she really likes the jumping, because once she realized that's what we were going to do, she was pulling me towards the jumps!  We worked on the crossrails several times in each direction.  Sometimes, she had really nice jumps, and sometimes she didn't.  I just focused on presenting her to the jump as correctly as possible, and then staying very still while she figured it out. Since that was going fairly well, I decided to s

 I continued Gia's flatwork today, as usual.  We did lots of moving off my leg on circles at the walk, trot and canter.  She tried to get a little quick with the work at the trot, but she never broke into a canter this time.  I think she only gave me one wrong lead when tracking right at the canter as well. I did a little bit of the nose-to-wall exercise with her again today at the walk.  It's definitely a challenge for her, but I feel her starting to understand what I am asking.

 I was expecting today's ride on Gia to not go so well.  It was a much cooler (and nicer) day than we have had in a long time, and she was very antsy in the crossties before she got on the trailer.  However, it turned out to be one of our best rides at CDP! We warmed up with the usual - moving off my leg at the walk and trot on circles.  She was more responsive and less nervous and spooky today, so pretty quickly we started going over random poles on the ground around the arena. She stepped a little big and unbalanced over the first few, but then settled into a nice trot, so we added the jump with the flower box.  No problem at all today!  We jumped that back and forth a few times.  In the beginning she cantered off of it fairly well on both leads in both directions, so we schooled the canter, working on keeping her neck up and out and not letting her get too round or tight. Then Charlie set up the "globe" jump for us to take.  I'll have to remember to take a picture

 Today's ride was a bit brief since we had the vet coming out for routine fall stuff. I pretty much did the same things with Gia today that I have been working on lately. I started out by asking her to move off my leg on circles at the walk.  That was easy, so we moved on to leg yields at the walk, and that was also easy.  Next, I asked her to do a little exercise often called "nose-to-wall".  Basically, she stays along the rail, but I ask her to move her hind end towards the inside, while keeping her face close to the fence.  This one is a little more difficult, but she did ok.  I had to remind her not to go faster, using a lot of half-halts, since every time I cue her with my outside leg, she wants to speed up rather than move her hind end over.  Once she understands the cue, I won't have to use so many half-halts.  I was able to get three good responses, in each direction, three times. Then we moved on to our usual work at the trot - moving off my leg on the circle

 I started today's ride working on Gia's halt transitions again.  It still took several tries before she responded more promptly. Then we worked on moving off my leg on circles at the walk.  Those were pretty good today, so I added leg yields towards the rail, and away from the rail at the walk.  Those were also pretty good.  She was fairly responsive with very little aids. At the trot, we also worked on moving off my leg on circles.  She still tried to canter several times, rather than move off my leg, but she was definitely not pissy about it like she has been.  Each time she cantered, I would make her do a smaller circle until she came back to a trot.  She primarily does it when we are tracking left.  Once the trot was better - once she was more responsive to my leg aids without trying to canter - then we moved on to a few jumps.  We did our little pole-to-X-to-pole series.  For the most part, she had really good, straight approaches.  Over the jumps, sometimes she was too s

 I started out today's ride on Gia with some work on her halt transitions.  She has been slow to respond to my halt aids lately, so I decided to add a little incentive.  Each time she halted today, I reached down and gave her a tiny treat.  After a few halts, she did feel like she was responding a little more promptly.   I don't like to use treats too often when training, especially with young horses, because it can lead to biting.  So, I will be keeping a close eye on her for that.  When I am riding and want to use treats, I keep them in a small pouch on my waist so they are easily accessible.  I will usually keep one ready in my mouth (I just use life cereal, so it doesn't taste bad), so that I can reward the horse as quickly as possible, and they aren't having to wait for me to fish the treat out of my pouch.  The sooner the reward or release can happen after the desired task is performed, the less time it takes for the horse to make the connection with what you want

 Today was more of the same as last week at CDP Stables. After a smooth 1 1/2 hour trailer ride, Gia hung out in a stall while I rode Butch.  She was a little jumpy about a few small things around their barn that she doesn't see at my barn.  They were so insignificant to me that I can't even remember what they were.  But they were obviously important to her. Makyla told me that she was very good for her grooming today, and once she was saddled, I headed out to the jump ring.  Charlie had said he wanted to do more of the same as last week - flat work with a little jumping. So, we worked on using circles when she got distracted, and learning to move off my leg on the circles.  Charlie added random poles on the ground for us to go over.  She was a little hesitant at first, but then it was easy after that.  Then we added a little leg yield at the walk and trot when changing direction.  She responded to all my aids really well today, and she wasn't as spooky in the ring as she h

 I warmed Gia up with asking her to move off my leg at the walk and trot on circles in both directions.  She was very quiet at the walk, but at the trot, she was still a little fussy and quick to canter.  When she canters off, or speeds up, rather than moving off my leg sideways, I put her on an even smaller circle.  The smaller circle is much harder, so she learns that she has to work harder if she goes incorrectly. Once the walk and trot were better, I started working on our jumping homework from Tuesday.  We set up a pole to an X to another pole to help her with her footwork.  Then I just had to show her how to get there.  As we approached the jump through the turn, if she got too quick or the turn wasn't so good, then we circled and approached again.  If she kept herself together through the turn, then I let her jump.  After the jump, if she got too quick, then we immediately went into a small circle.  She was quite awkward after a lot of the jumps, but the circle taught her to

 My ride on Gia today was a little better than my last flat ride on her.  We mainly worked on getting her to move off my legs on circles in each direction. She was a lot more relaxed about the process today.  A lot of the time, that is how training horses will go.  They may get frustrated when you first introduce something new, but as long as you remain clear, consistent and patient, they will eventually get it and relax about it.  What is different is how each horse expresses their frustration, and with Gia, it seems to be bucking ... 😐. She was pretty good when I asked her to move off my leg at the walk on circles and on leg yields down each long side.  At the trot, she was more responsive and less anxious about it, but she did break into a canter each time I asked her to move off my left leg when tracking left.  It was a very balanced canter, and she wasn't trying to buck, so I just kept her head up (just in case she thought about bucking), and kept asking her to move off that

 I took Gia to CDP Stables today for another lesson.  I tacked up in my jumping saddle ... just in case. ☺ We started out, in the dressage arena, working on getting her to move off my leg, especially when she wanted to spook, at the walk and trot, on circles in each direction.  Then we moved into the jumping arena when the previous rider finished up.  Mostly, we moved into the jump ring because Gia is typically more comfortable there, but one can hope! We continued our work on the same things.  In the dressage arena, Gia was spooking at the gazebo and at the golf cart.  In the jump ring, she was nervous about the dogs, the farrier, the big gazebo, and a couple of the colorful jumps.  Each time she spooked, I pushed her away from my leg and circled.  We repeated the exercise until she could trot quietly past whatever it was.  Then we added some leg yields down the long sides.  She was very responsive to those! We were on a walk break after things had much improved, so I just mentioned t