All The Kings' Horses

 Gia and I had a dressage lesson with Suzin today.  We started out with a very good stretch down at the walk.   At the trot, I didn't even bother asking for a stretch at first, and I didn't worry about the up transition at first either.  I focused on getting her straight, with a little inside bend, and a little reach into my hands in both directions.  After only a few minutes, Gia was offering a very nice stretch at the trot, probably the best one she's ever given me!   After a little more trot work, we played around with the canter.  She was very relaxed about the canter today, no anticipation or anxiety.  We mainly focused on trying to get the up transition without her inverting.  I had to concentrate on getting her to stretch into my hands, and then get the timing right to ask for the transition at the same time.  It was definitely difficult for both of us, but I think we got a couple of moments that were pretty good.  They weren't perfect, but they were definitely b

 Gia had a jumping lesson with Hayley at CDP today.  I didn't have time to lunge, but she wasn't too bad.  She was very anxious about the gazebo, but no more than usual.  We had to do a lot of circles whenever she wasn't paying attention to me, and especially when she wanted to get too quick.   Her first few jumps were a bit rushed and hectic, and she made a few bucking attempts afterwards.  Once we started adding more circles into the mix, she started jumping MUCH quieter! After our lesson, one of the other ladies at the barn asked if we wanted to take a brief walk around the pond.  It's about the same size as my pond, and about the same distance from the barn, so not a very far walk, but it would be Gia's first time walking outside the arena and outside any fences.  Walking with another, more experienced horse is always a plus because it helps the younger, less experienced horse to relax a little bit and gives them a little confidence.  Gia was quite nervous about

 Today's session with Gia went much like last Monday's session.  She was a little lazy on the lunge, but extremely obedient!  To get her a little more pumped, I lunged her over some jumps.  I will most likely not lunge her on Wednesday, if she comes in quiet again. Under saddle, she stretched really well at the walk, but not as good at the trot.  I did a lot of walk trot transitions to work on getting more stretch.  It was a tiny bit better by the end, but definitely not a huge improvement. Since she was pretty quiet with all the transitions, I asked for a little canter work in each direction.  Once I got her straight, I asked for the canter, and she was very prompt and obedient with the transition, and had no problem at all with her leads in either direction.  Her first canter in each direction was a little excited, but on the second one, she relaxed and I was able to ask her for more straightness and stretch. I finished our ride with a little bit of lengthening work again.  S

 I did not get a chance to lunge Gia before her lesson with Suzin this morning, but she was actually quite relaxed, and maybe a little lazy.  She had quite a good stretch at the walk in the beginning. When we picked up to work on the trot, Suzin had us start to work on baby shoulder-in's and circles.  As soon as Gia would take even the smallest step towards shoulder-in, we would circle to give her a release.  She will gradually start to take on more shoulder-in as she gets stronger. Suzin also had me work on being more still, in general.  It's a LOT harder to do than it sounds!  Once I was more still, I could better feel what Gia "wanted" to do.  Which, today, was to slow down and be a bit lazy.  Then I was able to make better corrections.  After working on getting her more in front of my leg, she had a much nicer, more relaxed and stretchier trot. When we added the canter work, she stayed quite relaxed, and had some of her best transitions!  Both canters felt almost

 I was on my own with Gia today at CDP.  I started out with a little bit of lunging in the dressage arena.  She was actually quite lazy.  She was also a lot more relaxed for our ride.  I have a theory on that.  More at the end. Anyway, after a bit of trotting and cantering on the lunge, I hopped on and right away she started stretching down.  We did a little at the walk, stretching down and leg yielding, staying busy.  Then I asked her for the same at the trot.  We had to do a few transitions before she was prompt to my cue.  She didn't stretch down as well at the trot, but it wasn't bad.   We worked all over the ring, going over poles and small jumps as they came up in our path.  She was quite lazy at first, and didn't really pick her feet up.  I put her over a little bit bigger jump, and then she started picking her feet up and landing at the canter.   Whenever she landed at the canter, we played around with that.  I mainly focused on keeping her straight, but also keepin

 I started Gia's session today with lunging again.  She was super obedient and responsive, and really seems to understand what is expected of her on the lunge line.  Her canter work was even pretty relaxed. Under saddle, I worked on getting her to stretch down at the walk and trot.  She stretched pretty good at the walk, but not as good at the trot.  I also worked on trying to keep her together during the walk/trot transitions.  That went a little better today. She didn't anticipate cantering at all, so I allowed her to do some work on the canter, a little in each direction.  She was a little excited, but no bucking today.  I focused on keeping her head up and keeping her straight.  She gave me a lot of nice moments at the canter today! To finish up our ride, I wanted to go back and do some trot work, after having cantered, and see if she could keep herself together and not try to canter on her own.  She did so well with it that I asked her for a few baby lengthenings.  They we

 I lunged Gia again today before I rode her.  She was VERY obedient on the lunge.  She definitely understands what's going on there! Under saddle, we started with stretching down at the walk, and she was very responsive and relaxed and stretchy. When I moved her into the trot, she did not stretch down as well, and she was a bit tense at first.  I had cantered her on the lunge line, and she was anticipating the canter under saddle.  I had to bring her back a few times, and do several small circles before she relaxed a bit.   Then I worked on getting her to maintain the stretch as I asked her to pick up the trot.  That was a lot harder for her, but we did manage to get one transition that was half way decent.  Finally, to reward all her hard work, I allowed one canter transition in each direction.  She had no problem picking up the correct lead both ways, and they were both lovely transitions to boot!  Possibly the nicest canter transitions she has ever done.  See Gia, they were defi

 Another crappy winter weather day.  So, more clipping work for Gia.  Since she did so well with her face the other day, I decided to see how she would do about her ears.  I don't think I've attempted to even touch the clippers to her ears at all before, and certainly not without a twitch.   I put some grain in a pan for her, let her take a mouthful, and then proceeded to touch the clippers to her ears.  I made sure to hold on to the ear firmly, but not so hard that it hurt or scared her, and then, after touching the clippers to my hand first (to lessen the initial shock of the vibration), I held the clippers to a portion of her ears.  I stayed "attached" to her ear until she had a moment of relaxation, and then immediately released everything and let her go.  After each touch and release, I allowed her to have another bite of grain.   She was, understandably, quite anxious in the beginning, and tried moving away from the clippers.  But once she found that they weren&

 I lunged Gia in the dressage arena at CDP today before I rode her.  She was actually quite relaxed, except when she passed by the gazebo, but after a few times through, she was less worried about it.   My ride today was brief, but she was so much more relaxed than she has been!  During my trot warm up, I worked on leg yielding left and right as we worked around the arena.  She was nervous about a few areas of the ring, but after several passes and several leg yields, she was more relaxed.   Then we worked over several different small jumps and flower boxes.  She was hesitant only to the first one or two.  After that, she went over everything willingly.  Whenever she cantered afterwards, I played around with the canter, mainly working on keeping her head up because she was kicking out a little.  With her head up, she isn't able to get the leverage she needs to really buck.  I think she was kicking out because she was trying to figure out what to do with her legs at the canter (she

 We had some lovely weather this morning.  Not!  I'm game for riding in most kinds of weather, but I definitely draw the line at thunder and lightning.  So, I worked with Gia on clipping again.  It's been a while, but she easily and willingly allowed me to clip her jaw and muzzle with no anxiety or tension.  She even leaned into me at some points.  I allowed her to eat grain while I clipped her bridle path.  She was a little more tense for that, but Danielle pointed out that this was the first time I have been able to clip her bridle path without the use of a twitch.  With that in mind, she did fantastic.  A little tense, but definitely not as bad as it has been!

 I finally remembered to lunge Gia this morning!  She started off fairly quiet, but then something set her off (not sure what), and she exploded.  We worked through the routine we had done at Charlie's, and she eventually settled down.   Then, when she was more receptive, as Danielle was setting up jumps, I decided to play over a few of them with her on the lunge line.  She was a little hesitant at first, but once she understood the task, she was very willing.  She also got a little treat after each jump, so that incentive helped! As soon as I hopped on her I could feel a huge difference.  She was much more relaxed and more able to focus on what I was asking her to do.  We did a little stretching, and then went over the trot poles.  Those were easy and correct the first time through, so I added the X right away.  That also went easy the first time. In fact, all the jumps went easy the first time, so each addition went up pretty quickly until we were going through the trot poles to

Gia started out with a really good stretch down at the walk at the beginning of my lesson with Suzin today.  We made a few attempts to maintain the stretch during the transition, but it didn't really happen for us today.  She did have a good stretch down at the trot though.   At the working trot, Gia was heavier on my right rein, and I struggled to get her off of it today.  Suzin had us work through a variety of exercises, and we did finally find one that helped.  I had to keep a feel of my left rein, no matter how light it got, then bring my right elbow back until Gia let go, and then go forward again with my right hand for the release.  It sounds so simple.  It's anything but!   We also struggled with a bit of tension, and an inconsistency in the tempo at the trot.  I think the tension started because I had to pop her with the whip, in the beginning and several times throughout, when she didn't respond promptly enough to my leg cue to trot.  Looking back, I wish I had foc

 I didn't have as much time to work with Gia today at CDP as I usually do.  So, I decided I would just work on our lunging routine.  She was a bit nervous as I got her groomed and tacked (just in case I had time to ride).  I had parked the trailer in a different spot, and there were new things to be worried about out there, namely the shavings pit with a slightly blowing tarp to cover it. Once we started lunging, that part went really well.  I worked on what Charlie had showed me to do with her last week - send her away, making sure she steps away from me, not towards me, and when I ask her to halt, she has to turn towards me without stepping towards me.  She quickly remembered last week's lesson.  She barely stepped towards me, only a few times, and I could tell that she did it by accident because she quickly corrected herself and stepped back.  She was very quick to turn and face me most of the time, even when she got distracted by other things, namely another horse acting up

 Gia started out stretching down really well at the walk.  When I picked her up to the trot today though, she wasn't as eager to stretch.  Each time I wanted the stretch I would hold her with my leg and make my hands wider.  As soon as she responded correctly, even if it was only a little, I would relax both aids.   She was very inconsistent today, and it wasn't until about 15 minutes in that I had the thought that I probably should have lunged her today.  It's a Monday and I had a lot on my mind this morning, and it's not something that's in my normal routine yet, so I'm chalking it up to that.  However, I have put a reminder on my phone so that, hopefully, I will remember better the next time.   Anyway, we muscled through.  She was getting better with her stretching on the flat, so I decided to travel over some poles as we worked around the ring.  Nothing specific, just any that came up in our path.  Unfortunately, that did not go as well as I had hoped.   Not

 Gia started out fairly relaxed today, so I opted not to lunge her.  We started with stretching down at the walk, and she was reaching really well. and walking on nicely today!  We stretched down a bit at the trot and then started working over the poles.  Each time Gia had a good, quiet, relaxed and consistent trip over the poles, I would reward her with a treat.  I definitely feel like she tried a little harder knowing the treat was coming.   Once we had three good trips over the poles, we added a crossrail.  She was surprised, and thought about stopping the first time through, but I managed to keep her going and we made it to the other side.  Once she got her treat, she was more willing to go over the second time.  We repeated that one until it was smooth and easy three times.  Then we added an oxer bar to the crossrail.  That was a no-brainer for  her.   Next up was another vertical, one stride away.  That also went fairly well the first time, so after a few times through, we made i

 In my lesson with Suzin today, I started by stretching Gia down at the walk and trot.  We also worked a little on making walk/trot transitions while maintaining the stretch.  Everything is, of course, a work in progress, but we are slowly getting there.   Gia was a bit tense at first today because there were a lot of distractions outside the arena.  (It would have been a great day to practice the lunging routine from yesterday, but I was running a bit late as it was).  As we traveled around the arena with circles and changes of direction and leg yields, Gia gradually started to relax and focus more on me than what was going on outside.   After she was warmed up and more relaxed, Suzin had us work on finding, and maintaining, a more correct working frame at the walk, but especially, at the trot.  Gia had a lot of really nice moments!  She is definitely not consistent yet, but that will come with time and practice, and as she learns what my leg and hand cues are asking her to do.  I hav

 Charlie worked with Gia and I today on some ground work that we can incorporate into our routine.  It was basic lunging work on a line with a rope halter (he's big into rope halters to help control and communicate with the horse better).  Two things he had us work on - not allowing her to step towards him/me on the lunge line, and moving off to the right better.   Each time he asked her to whoa, and she stepped towards him, he would correct her quickly with a sharp yank on the line.  Eventually, she learned to whoa and stand still, not stepping in.  When he asked her to move off to the left, she went willingly and correctly.  When he asked her to move off to the right, at first, she resisted going forward, and tried stepping towards him again.  When she did, he kept stepping around to his left, cueing with the whip, until she got the idea.  It didn't take her long before she was performing much more correctly on the lunge line, and was much more relaxed in general.  I practice