Gia - session 205 - schooling at the Carolina Horse Park!

 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 friends), and slacks off in the other.  With the rope halter, I was able to tug on her when she pulled on me to get closer to the trailer.  Because of the strategically placed knots in the rope halter, it becomes uncomfortable for her to keep doing that, as opposed to lunging her in a regular halter where the pressure is nice and flat and evenly distributed.  After just a few times around, she was making a nice, consistent circle, almost like she does at home.  She was also pretty lazy, however, the last time I lunged her at a show, she was lazy on the lunge and VERY tense under saddle.

Still, she seemed to be doing well, so I put her bridle on and mounted.  The beginning was tense.  She was trying to get back to the trailer (Pippa wasn't helping with all her hollering), she was nervous about a couple of neighboring ponies that were walking around, she was VERY nervous about trucks and trailers moving around.  I worked on the same things I had been doing in my lesson with Suzin to get her to stretch down.  And gradually, she started to relax and stretch at both the walk and trot!  This was the most relaxed she has felt at a show, and I definitely think the Total Calm and Focus had a lot to do with that!  By the end of our ride, she was even feeling confident, and almost cocky ☺.  I was tempted to get greedy and try to take her up to the dressage warm-up to play around, but I decided to quit while I was ahead and save that for next time.

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