All The Kings' Horses

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  We worked a lot on fine tuning the transitions between walk, trot, collecting and lengthening.  We also worked a bit on fine tuning some bending and counterbending.  She was a bit resistant in the up transitions, especially, so Suzin had me ride without stirrups to work on keeping my leg on her more consistently.  I could feel Gia give me a MUCH better trot, and much better transitions as a result!  We will definitely be doing more no-stirrup work!

 I warmed Gia up with some walk and trot in the fields today.  She was VERY relaxed, so I worked on teaching her to keep her own balance, making sure that I did not let her lean on my hands, and making down transitions when she got too quick. When we started jumping, we practiced over most of the small jumps in both fields, including the banks and ditch.  She did really good with pretty much everything until the last one.  It was a vertical stadium jump, and we were taking it down a slight hill and towards the barn.  She jumped it very big and wanted to get too quick afterwards (probably a combination of the downhill and heading towards the barn).  We took it several times until she was less inclined to speed up before or after it.

 It's been very dry and dusty here, so I decided to try Gia in my grass dressage arena, where there is much less dust, and even a little shade!  It means leaving the comfort and safety of the main arena, and it's in one of the fields that Gia has never ridden in before, so I wasn't sure how she would handle it. She was SUPER! I mounted in the main ring (because it has the biggest mounting block), and then opened the main gate to exit, walked across the driveway (slightly scary), and opened the gate into the dressage arena field to enter the arena.  She was a little nervous leaving the main ring, and a little tense when we started walking the perimeter of the dressage arena, but she quickly relaxed and got to work. The terrain is a little uneven out there, and a lot of horses lose their balance as they go around and down the slight hill.  I worked with Gia on keeping her balance at the walk and trot, as well as maintaining straightness in her body.  We did a lot of transitio

 One of the horses that we typically ride in our drill team is out of commission for a while, so I decided to try Gia out.  I had to get a dressage ride in on her yesterday anyway, and thought it would kill two birds with one stone.  In drill team, the horses have to ride very close to each other, both side by side and front to back.  Some horses can't handle being that close to others, so that was the real test for her. She did FANTASTIC! Our practice was only about 20 minutes, and all we did was walk and trot.  I mainly started out just making sure she wasn't going to be naughty with any of the other horses.  She was every so slightly tense at first, but quickly relaxed, and was absolutely perfect the second time through our test.  Then I was able to focus on keeping her straight between my aids, as well as not too slow or fast.  Tempo can be a challenge for horses and riders in drill team because you have to match each other, and, of course, not all horses have the same natu

 I warmed Gia up in the field at the walk and trot, basically just moving all over the field, working on staying straight and at the correct tempo.  She was very focused and relaxed out there today. Then I added in a few jumps as we trotted around the field.  All the jumps were very good, even the banks and ditch.  Most of the time, she landed and either trotted or cantered away nicely.  Whenever she cantered away, I worked on her balance and straightness at the canter.  It was a little harder for her in the field, with all the undulating terrain, as compared to cantering in the arena, so she couldn't keep it quite as long. For some reason, she got a bit bothered after one particular jump.  She's jumped it before, so I'm not quite sure why, maybe because it was heading towards home.  She would approach it and jump it fine, but then she would land at the canter and take off much faster.  A couple of times, she thought about bucking, but I was able to stop her before it got t

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  We started with a bit of work in-hand.  I had to focus on staying lighter in my contact while asking Gia to stay on the rail and bend to the inside.  It was much easier for both of us today! I carried the same idea of lightness into the under saddle work.  We mainly stayed at the walk and trot, with some transitions, including halt and rein back.  The rein back was pretty good!  She only needed a little help from the ground, and only once.  She was also much better in her up transitions.  We finished with a little bit of stretchy trot, which Gia did very well!  She had a good stretch, and she didn't lose her balance or speed up!

 I took Gia out in the field today for a ride.  I opted not to lunge her since she had done well the last time.  I was not disappointed. ☺ We walked all over both of the main jump fields.  I worked on keeping her straight and focused, but she was very responsive and obedient.  We repeated the same thing at the trot, and she only got quick when she was going downhill and losing her balance.  Each time that happened, I brought her back to a walk to regain her balance, and we trotted again. I put her over most of the smaller jumps in both fields.  She was super quiet and super willing, even with the banks and ditch!  Anytime she cantered away from a jump, I would work on the canter as well.  It was fairly relaxed, although a little unbalanced.  My fields are so much easier now, as compared to the Horse Park!  I introduced her to a new jump that we have.  We walked around it in both directions a few times, to get a good look at it.  Then I approached at a trot.  She hesitated, then thought

 I took Gia back to the Carolina Horse Park on Sunday to school in between our show rounds.  She was still a bit naughty about her left hind boot.  I did find that if I left the front ramp of the trailer open, while we were parked at the show, when she went to kick, she would often kick the metal bar that divided the front two stalls, and, upon hitting it, she would quickly stop the action.  She still tried it throughout the day, but she didn't keep at it for long.  She was otherwise fairly quiet on the trailer. I pulled her off to lunge once in the morning.  Working on what Charlie and I had discussed the day before, she was much quieter on the lunge.  She could have also been a bit tired from the day before. The second time I pulled her off to lunge, she was good enough that I saddled up and went up to the warm up arena to school.  On the way up to the ring, Danielle went ahead of her whenever she didn't want to move forward because she saw something that made her nervous - s

 I took Gia to the Carolina Horse Park today to school, along with several other horses and students.  I gave her the Total Calm and Focus calming paste before we left the barn this morning.  She was about the same with her hind shipping boots, and about the same when I loaded her on the trailer.  During the day, at the show grounds, she was a little unruly on the trailer, especially when other horses would come and go.  She wasn't as naughty today as she was at the last Sharon Oaks show though ... When I had time, I pulled her off the trailer to lunge her.   I was able to fit in two lunging sessions - one, first thing in the morning, and another about mid-day.  She was about the same for both.  It took about 20 minutes for her to start relaxing on the lunge line.  In the beginning, she was calling out alot, and VERY distracted.  Every time she got distracted I would get her attention back on me, and then be still when I had her attention. For her last session, I pulled her off the

 Today was a jumping day for Gia, and the field was dry enough, so I decided to head out there.  I hadn't tried riding in the field without lunging since she has had her Altrenogist injections, so I wanted to try it today and see how it would go. She was fantastic! We started with some walk and trot in both of the main jump fields.  She was a little tense, but not nearly as much as she has been in the past.  When she really settled, I started her over the small jumps.  She was a little quick and tense over the first couple, and then she relaxed, and the rest was EASY!  We jumped all the small jumps, and even the up and down banks and the ditch with NO PROBLEMS AT ALL!!! I was really surprised at how easy everything was.  Tomorrow we head to the Carolina Horse Park to school.  Fingers crossed it goes easier there too!

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  We started with some in-hand work, where Suzin helped Gia give a bit more on the right side.   Under saddle, we started with some changes of bend and direction, which felt very easy and light today.  Then we worked on halt-to-rein-back-to-trot transitions.  Her halts were quite good, square up front, and almost square behind.  Her rein-back was a little sticky at first, but then she started to get the hang of it and started to anticipate.  Anytime she started to rein-back before I asked, I would send her forward again, then come back to halt and try again until she waited for me to ask for the rein-back.  Her trot away from the rein-back was pretty good today. Next, we played with the walk to canter transitions.  She still wasn't quite getting the promptness of the transition at the beginning.  She kept wanting to trot a few steps before cantering. Each time, I brought her back and tried again.  Eventually, the repetition helped, and she s

 Gia was still a bit naughty with her hind boots this morning trying to kick them off.  She was a tiny bit quieter once I loaded her on the trailer.  She still piaffed, but she didn't kick out, and quieted down a little quicker. When it was her turn at CDP, I lunged her in the rope halter.  She was fairly quiet, even a little lazy, although slightly distracted by the goings on across the road. Under saddle, she was the best she has ever been off the property!  She settled immediately into her work - circles, changes of bend and direction, leg yields, at the walk and trot.  There were even some new jumps that she could have cared less about!  Over the jumps she was a little quick and unbalanced, but not too bad.  She often landed on her left lead when she should have taken her right lead, so we worked on moving her haunches to the right more.  When she cantered after the jumps, I worked on keeping her up and out, and that was fairly easy for her today. She just got her second Altren

 I started Gia's session with some in-hand work again today.  We worked on the same thing - getting her to flex to the inside while walking along the rail.  She was really struggling with it to the right today, so I brought her to a halt to see if I could help her a little better.  When I tried it at the halt before, she was too fidgety, but today she was a bit quieter with her feet.  She was able to give me several acceptable moments at the halt to the right today. Under saddle, I worked on changes of bend and direction to loosen her up.  Then we worked on a serpentine, across the width of the arena, with several loops.  When she felt better in both hands, I added a lengthening down the long side, and then back to the serpentine.  I liked the serpentine exercise today because it helped to get her a little softer in both hands, and then equal in both hands.  She wasn't as responsive and explosive to the lengthenings today as she was when I warmed up with trot to halt transition

 Gia and I did a little flatwork yesterday.  We started with a bit of work in hand.  I kept her at a walk, along the rail, and asked for flexion to the inside.  It was fairly easy tracking left, but much harder tracking right.  I was able to get a few moments in each direction twice. Under saddle, we worked on halt to trot to halt transitions.  I also asked for her to soften after the down transition.  She was much more responsive to that today, and her up transitions were better, as a result. Then we worked a little on her walk to canter to walk transitions.  Those were still a bit difficult, fairly equally in both directions.  She struggled with responding promptly and correctly to my cue to canter.  Most of the time she would try a few steps of trot first, but I brought her back each time until she moved right into the canter from the walk.  She did not struggle with her leads this time, but she did struggle with staying soft.  I think we got a moment or two of softness in each dire

 The weather was a bit crappy today, so I decided to work with Gia on clipping.  Typically, I have a set of cordless clippers that I use for the young horses especially.  It's much easier to stay with them if they decide they want to move away from the clippers.  However, those clippers are being repaired, so all I have is my corded clippers.  She was pretty good for the cordless clippers last time, so I decided we could give the corded ones a shot. As expected, she was a bit anxious about the long, thin, black "snake" that accompanied the already nerve-racking, buzzing clippers.  After a few minutes, she relaxed enough and was fairly good to have her legs clipped, and fairly good for most of her face.  She got a bit more nervous when I had to move the cord above her head to trim her bridle path, but after a little coaxing she relaxed a bit.  She also allowed me to clip her ears.  And she let me do it all without any grain to keep her occupied!  She wasn't perfect, bu

I started Gia with a bit of in-hand work at the beginning of our lesson with Suzin today.  I was mainly asking for her to bend to the inside, and then halt and rein-back.  She did it quite well to the left, but it was much harder to the right.  She wasn't very accepting of the outside rein, tracking right.  I was able to get her to bend if I put her on a small circle, but getting her to bend while walking along the rail was a different story.  We did get a nice moment by the end though. Under saddle, we went right into the working trot, and circles and changes of direction and bend.  We also did a little bit of shoulder-in, and started to play with half pass .  We came down the long side, did a 10m circle in the corner, then right into shoulder-in down the long side, then a half 10m circle at B, then a few steps of half pass back towards the rail.  She got a couple of steps when we were tracking right, but struggled with it tracking left.  She kept wanting to swing her haunches out

 Gia was pretty naughty again this morning before loading her on the big trailer.  She rode in the trailer fine once we got moving, unloaded fine at CDP, and loaded up just fine when we left.  Hopefully, it won't take too many trips before she starts out her morning on a better note. The jumps were cleared from the main arena at CDP today, so we ventured out into the field, with a horse buddy, Carter. Gia was very nervous to walk down the road, but relaxed a little when we got to the field.  I think it probably felt like her field at home.  She was a little nervous trotting around some of the jumps there though, especially the big logs.  We trotted back and forth with Carter leading the way, and that helped her to relax a little.  Later, while we were waiting our turn, I had her hang out near the logs and barrels, that were scary, to get a little more comfortable with them. Her first few jumps were a bit awkward.  But, once she realized that they weren't much different from her

 I took Gia out in the field to work today.  We started on the lunge line.  She was a bit sluggish, and did not seem very interested in working.  Possibly because it was a bit hotter and muggier today.  After a bit of trot work, I had her jump over a couple of fences, including the bank and ditch.  She did pretty good with all that. Under saddle, I started out with a bit of trot to warm up.  She was fairly responsive, maybe a little lazy.  We worked on changes of direction and a bit of leg yield, then I started a little jumping.   The first few jumps were fairly good, nothing dramatic.  Then, I put her over a very tiny log jump, and she decided to crow hop and think about bucking a little.  When I went back over the jump in the opposite direction, slightly downhill, she wanted to take off a little too fast and turn sharp.  I schooled her back and forth over that jump until she was jumping quieter and straighter.  We did a lot of stopping in a straight line and some circles, when I didn

 Now that Gia is five, I want to try to fit in an additional workout for her each week (1 workout for each year the horse is old).  So, I added a workout in on Saturday this week after I finished teaching all my lessons. Since we jumped on Friday, I made Saturday's workout a flat ride.  We started out with a bit of stretching and then moved into the working trot work.  After warming up, I focused on transitions.  We worked on down transitions to the halt along the rail, as well as in the middle of the ring as we traveled in a serpentine across the width of the arena.  She struggled with staying straight, so using the rail helped with that.  Each time we halted, I would ask her to flex to the inside before asking for the up transition.  I felt she needed to alternate her flexions, so working across the width of the arena, on a serpentine, helped with that.  I asked for the flexion for the direction we were changing to.  Once we had halted and softened, I asked for a prompt up transi