All The Kings' Horses

 I warmed Gia up with some stretching down at the walk.  She wasn't as good for that today as she was on Wednesday, but it wasn't too bad.  Then we worked on stretching down at the trot, as well as flexing and staying straight between my hand and leg.   Once we were warmed up, I trotted over several small jumps in each direction.  She was very game to jump today!  She had really good approaches and take-offs to almost all her fences.  When she landed to the left, we spent a little time cantering around, as long as she would keep it.  She didn't keep it as long today as she did last week.  She did have a little trouble landing on the right lead, so I had to work on that a little with her.  We did eventually get one good one though.   Finally, I videoed her working through the pole exercise #1 that I had mentioned in a previous blog post.  The first time, we did it at the walk.  Today, I did it at the trot.  The main focus is the same - the horse has to stay straight and cent

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin again today.  I started out asking Gia to stretch down, and right away she was very obedient about it.  Then Suzin had us work on a lot of transitions into and out of the trot.  When that was good, we also worked on changes of direction.  All of this while Gia had to maintain the stretch and flexion, and lowering of her crest.  That was all going quite well, so she had us work on other figures around the arena - 10 meter circles, half circles, shoulder-fore, shoulder-in, haunches-in, turn-on-the-haunches.  I may have left some out, but Gia put a good effort in to each thing I asked her to do.  Some of it was harder, like the turn-on-the-haunches and shoulder-in, but she definitely tried, and was somewhat successful.  We finished our ride working a little bit on the canter transition.  That was definitely harder for Gia today, but she was able to give me one decent one in each direction.  The main goal was to keep her haunches in while asking for the c

 Gia and I had a lesson with Charlie again today, but we stayed in the dressage arena, rather than the jump ring.  She was very tense, although not nearly as tense as she was on Sunday.   After a little bit of stretching down, Charlie had us start out by just trying to keep her neck straight, and then positioning her to the left and the right, but only slightly.  She really wanted to be crooked today, so it was not an easy task, but she started to straighten up after a little bit of work.   Then he had me work on getting her to put her haunches-in on a circle.  This was to be a predecessor to the canter, but Gia was very fussy about the work and was really working against me today.  The first several times I asked for the canter transition, I got it, but with several good bucking attempts.  Charlie said this was because she was trying to move her haunches back out, and to keep focusing on keeping her haunches in.  As I worked to keep her haunches in, and stopped thinking about the cant

 I took Gia with me today to school at the Sharon Oaks Hunter show that I was taking several students to.  I had her wear a full set of normal shipping boots today for the first time since I started using the wraps.  She did great!  No fussing at all, just a little high stepping in the beginning (which they all do anyway).  When I put her on the big trailer, she even stood perfectly quietly with no "piaffeing" at all!  That's the first time she has ever been quiet on the big trailer! So, I thought the rest of the day would go just as well .... But ... horses ... After I got my students through their classes, I pulled Gia off the trailer to get her ready to school.  She had been standing fairly quietly while the others showed, maybe a little talkative, but nothing noteworthy. However, as soon as I pulled her off, she completely changed.  I did forget to give her the calming paste today, but she was worse than she has been in a long time, way before I ever started using the

 Suzin had Gia and I start right away with more flexing and stretching work at the walk to get Gia even softer and more obedient.  When she was better at the walk, we worked on transitions into and out of the trot, as well as changes of bend and direction.  All the while, Gia had to stay soft, which meant I had to be more disciplined and strict to not allow her to come up or inverted.  Gia was definitely understanding the work and what was being asked of her.  She had a lot of nice moments where she was really reaching into the contact.   I also had to pay attention to where her haunches were going (I'm not sure if Suzin read yesterday's blog, but she immediately observed that Gia's haunches were trailing to the right). ☺.  That was harder for me to notice from the saddle, which is probably why Gia does it so much.  My work today gave me a new awareness for where her haunches were and what it actually should feel like.  Something I am often telling my students is that somet

 After a nice warm up, where Gia did a really good job stretching down at the walk and trot, I started pointing her at the small jumps that Charlie had set up for us today.  There were a couple of familiar ones, but also a couple of new ones.  She was much more forward to most of the jumps today.  I even had to slow her down a few times because she was so eager!  However, there were also a few jumps where she flat out stopped.  One in particular was the one with the red blocks (which she has jumped before).  She stopped at that one a few times.  Each time, I kept my leg on and kept her pointed at the jump until she relaxed.  Then I circled back and tried again.  She went over all but one of the jumps the second time.  On the second trip to the red one, something else startled her and she skidded, kicking sand into the plastic box, and scaring herself.  Silly girl!  She went over that one the third time though.  At this point, I'm not really worried that she sometimes stops at jumps

 I started out asking Gia to stretch down at the walk today.  She wasn't responding as well today as she did last week.  She was not really stretching down, and when she did, it was not very consistent.  Once I finally started getting somewhere with the stretching at the walk, I moved on to the trot.  The trot went about the same as the walk work, and I was only able to get one transition where she (sort of) stayed down in a stretch.  She also felt a bit crooked today, and I was focusing on straightening her as well.   Suzin happened to be out riding as well, and she observed that maybe I needed to ask more strongly, with more of a leading rein.  Once I did, I started getting better results from Gia with the stretch.  Gia is probably at the point in her training where I can start to ask more of her, especially if it's something she has done before.  Sometimes, it's hard to think of using stronger aids, when I've tried to stay soft since she is so young.  In some areas,

 Since it was pouring rain today, and Gia needed her mane cared for anyway, I decided to make it a spa day.  Well, all I really did was shorten her mane, but still.   Her mane has been going all over the place lately, so I decided that instead of pulling it, I would "razor" it.  I usually just save this method for a mane that is really thin.  Pulling usually thins a mane out while shortening it, but if the mane isn't thick enough, then this method will get it shorter while maintaining the thickness.  I've never tried this method for an unruly mane, so we'll see how it ends up.  Normally, I wouldn't pull a horse's mane when it's wet, but for this method, it doesn't matter.   Gia was a little fidgety at first, and a little jumpy at times when the wind was blowing hard, but she did start to relax a little, and by the end, seemed much more relaxed.  Basically, I have a small comb with a razor inserted (it's a specialty item that I'm sure I pick

 Gia and I worked with Suzin again today.  We started out working on getting Gia to stretch down better at the walk.  She started out about as well as she finished the last lesson, and ended up really getting into it and stretching really well! Then we worked on bringing her up into a medium walk frame, but without inverting.  That was a bit harder, but she was getting some nice moments.  We would go back and forth between free walk and medium walk, and I could really feel her starting to understand what I was asking for. Next we worked on stretching down at the trot, then moving up to a working trot, and then going back-and-forth between those two gaits.  That was about as hard as the walk work, but because it's so similar, she was really getting it by the end.  The main focus at the medium walk and working trot was to keep her poll up (I had to keep the crown piece of her bridle in steady view), and to also get a slight flexion at the poll, in which she would release slightly and

 I took Gia to CDP again today for another lesson with Charlie.  We pretty much worked on the same things - stretching down at the walk, ground poles at the walk and trot, then adding in jumps as she felt confident.   The first jump was just a flower box, that she has seen before, but she stopped at it anyway.  I just kept her straight and forward until she went over it - no backward steps.  The next time she went right over it, but kicked some sand into it, which made a slight sound, so we went WAY over it.  Luckily, she stayed under me, and I on top of her! After that, the rest of the jumps went pretty much as they always do.  She trotted some and cantered after some.  Whenever she cantered, we worked on staying up and out and balanced at the canter.  She didn't offer really any canter to the right, so Charlie had me ask her for just a tiny bit of haunches-in to the right.  From that, she offered to canter on her own, without being grumpy, and got it right all but one time!  I le

 I took Gia to the Carolina Horse Park today to school on the flat.  I tried something a little different with her today.  About 2 hours before I was planning to ride (which actually turned into 3 hours), I gave her a dose of a calming supplement called Total Calm and Focus.  I wasn't sure if it would actually help or not, but it was definitely worth a try, and it's completely legal to use at shows, by the way.  She waited on the trailer while we schooled the others we brought down.  When it was her turn, she stood tied to the trailer very patiently while we groomed and tacked her up.  Then I took her out to lunge her.  I also tried something new with her there.  Per Charlie's advice, I used a rope halter when I lunged her.  That seemed to make a huge difference with her lunging!  When I lunge her at home, she typically stays in a nice, consistent (shape and size) circle.  At shows, however, she typically pulls hard in one direction (usually towards the trailer and her frie

I warmed Gia up with work on our homework - lots of stretching down at the walk and trot.  She seemed to get it even better today, although she did seem a bit lazy, and a little stiffer on her left side today. Once the stretching was pretty good, I put her over some trot poles.  The first time, she was way too slow, but then she over-corrected herself, and each time after that, she was much too fast.  We worked over them until she had found the correct speed to get over them smoothly. Then we played over different jumps that were set up in the arena.  She was doing very well over those, although she didn't want to land and canter to the right.  I think I managed to get it once.  There was a small oxer set up in the ring, so we decided to try it.  She went right at it with no problems at all!  Of course, when I tried to get a video of it, she didn't take it quite as well.  Beginner's luck, I guess. ☺ After our ride, I worked on clipping her for the upcoming show this weekend

 I decided to double down with Gia, and talked to Suzin about taking lessons with her once a week, in addition to the lessons I have with Charlie once a week.  Luckily, she said "Yes"!   So, Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  She had me focus a lot on my position, and reminded me about things like keeping my feet flat in my stirrups, keeping my elbows in, keeping my shoulders down and back, feeling my seat bones, and loosening my thighs. With Gia, she had us focus mainly on stretching down.  Our goal was (and is) to get a good downward stretch at the walk, and trot, and during transitions, and as we travel in figures around the arena. Gia was quite relaxed, and even a little slow, but Suzin did not want me to worry about making her quicker right now.  It's better to allow her to be slow, and to relax.  I had to really concentrate on keeping my connection consistent with her as I asked her to stretch down and out.  It took her a while to get it at first, but once sh

 Gia and I had a great lesson with Charlie again today!  She started out VERY relaxed, and very responsive to my leg aids to stay straight at the walk and trot.  While we warmed up, Charlie set out a few ground poles, and our two usual jumps, and then started adding a few more around the ring for us to play over.  As Gia went over the jumps, she didn't stop at ANYTHING, even the new ones!  Even the one with the scary red blocks under it that I was SURE she was going to stop at.  She took most of the jumps correctly - straight, in the right tempo, and with the right rhythm.  She did have a few misteps, but just a few.  When she cantered off, we worked on the balance and straightness at the canter.  She was fairly even in both directions.  I could definitely feel her looking for which jump I was going to ask her to take next, so she is definitely understanding, and enjoying, her job. On another note, I tried some new hind "shipping boots" on her today, and I think they were

 Gia seemed more excited to get to work today.  She was still a little grumpy, in the beginning, when I asked her to go forward into the trot, but that all seemed to fade away by the end of our session. I mainly focused on keeping her straight between my aids today, regardless of what gait she was at.  I did keep her to the walk for the first 10 minutes to warm up though.  Once we picked up the trot, she was very eager to canter.  We did quite a bit of cantering (all offered up by Gia herself), and she got all her leads correct, except, I think, one.  Once she was straight, she gave me some very nice trot and canter moments! I did several halt transitions throughout our ride, on our walk breaks.  Those were about the same today, maybe a little bit more prompt, but still not as prompt as I would like. We finished our ride, by demonstrating one of the exercises that many of my students work on often.  (If you've been an avid follower of my blog, you may remember that Gia worked on th

 Gia was more energetic today, but also a bit grumpy.  I started our ride with work at the walk - leg yield towards and away from the rail, moving off my leg on circles, and nose-to-wall.  At the trot, I just did a little bit of the same, and then started over fences.   I had set up a variety of fences throughout the ring - different sizes of crossrails, as well as verticals, some across the diagonal, and some down the long side.  I decided to just play around and see how things went today. We started with the smallest jump and moved up from there.  The highest jump that Gia tackled today was probably about 2'.  After each successful jump, I would stop and give her a treat - partly to work on her halt transitions, and partly to boost her mood.  She definitely seemed happier when we started jumping! Sometimes she was too slow, or clumsy over the jumps, but there were a lot of jumps where she had the correct speed and moved her feet in an organized fashion.  By the end, she had even