All The Kings' Horses

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin this morning.  We started out in the field working up and down the hills.  Suzin had us trot up the hill, while stretching down.  Gia had a bit of resistance, but we were working through it.  When we went down the hills, we had to trot a little slower and more collected.  About half way down, we halted, rein-backed and then trotted.  That was definitely more difficult for Gia, but she was starting to get it. Back in the arena, we did a lot of work on canter transitions.  We started with trot to canter transitions, and when those were better, we worked on walk to canter transitions.  I worked on keeping both reins in one hand to increase the stability Gia felt from my reins and connection.  Her up transitions were a bit more prompt than last time.  Whenever the canter started to lose balance, I transitioned her back down, also working on the promptness and obedience.  She was a bit abrupt at times, but definitely obedient!

 Gia and I had a lesson with Charlie today.  We started with circles and changes of direction, focusing on bending and leg yielding.  She was a little nervous about a new piece of construction, but after a couple times past it, she was much better.   We popped over a few jumps today as well.  She had a lot of energy (in a good way), so I had to quiet my posting, and concentrate on coming in to the jump with a little less energy.  When I did, she jumped very neatly and quietly over each one!  She cantered off several times, so I worked on keeping her neck up and out and long.  Her canter felt much more balanced today.  She did struggle with landing on her right lead, so I did a lot of haunches right to help her with that, as well as a little bit of leading right rein.  I was able to get her to land correctly once.  Her left lead was really good though!

 I started Gia out on the hills again today.  She settled in to the work a little quicker today. Then we moved into the dressage arena, where we mainly worked on straightness at the trot.  We did do a few transitions as well,  but it took her a while to get straight between my hands and legs, so we didn't do much more than that. We finished up our ride by cooling out on the trail.  She was super for that!  Very relaxed, and more curious than afraid this time!

 Since Gia needs to strengthen her stifles, I decided to start working with her up hills.  So, we warmed up on Saturday out in the field, just hiking up and down one of the hills for about 10 minutes.  She was very relaxed about the whole process. Back in the arena, we worked a little on some straightness and bending work.  She seemed much more cooperative today, and much less grumpy and resistant.  I kept everything pretty simple and easy today.  And once she was going well in the arena, I took her out on the trail for a walk in the woods to cool off.  She was really good out there this time!

 Gia was a bit out of sorts today.  Since she had felt a little spicy the last couple of rides, I decided to start with some lunging, and I incorporated a jump on the lunge line, since jumping was on today's agenda.  She was super quiet for that, and even a little lazy. Once I got on, it was a different story though.  She didn't want to stand still, she didn't want to soften, she was swishing her tail, and hopping around on her feet - not quite bucking, but definitely lacking rhythm and relaxation! I decided to get off and do some in-hand work.  I wanted her to stay on the rail, and flex to the inside.  As she has been in the past, it was very difficult for her tracking right.  She put up quite a fight - pushing against me, trying to back up, trying to go too fast.  I just kept asking her to go forward, and move away from me, and then to flex inside when we got those two things.  Once she settled, and she was more correct in her work, and more obedient, I hopped back on. Un

 Gia and I had a dressage lesson with Suzin today.  After warming up with a little stretching and bending, we mainly worked on transitions - trot to halt to trot, with some rein-back in there too, then walk to canter to walk.  The main goal was obedience to the aids.  If she didn't respond promptly to the up transition, then I had to kick, then add whip, if necessary.  For the down transition, I started with shoulders back, then tightened abs, then tightened thighs, then tightened hands.  As soon as she responded, I released everything, and I only added the aids necessary to get the transition I wanted.  For the canter to walk transition, it still took most of the aids, most of the time.  She was a bit fussy at the canter, at first.  But once she understood the aid better, her response was better, and she was more relaxed.  I also kept her on a smallish (15 meter) circle, so that helped keep her from getting too carried away at the canter.  She was definitely starting to respond mo

 Gia was a little spicy today! I mainly worked with her on transitions today.  We started out with a bit of stretching at the walk to warm up.  Right away, when I asked for the trot, she was against my hand, especially on the right.  I did a lot of figures, really focusing on getting her to move out of my right rein and into my left rein.   When that was better, I started working on a lot of transitions - trot to halt to rein-back to trot.  She was a bit resistant at first, but started to soften more as we went.  Then I added canter work, after she had picked up the trot from the rein-back.  She seemed irritated at the canter.  She was swishing her tail a lot, and almost kicking out behind.  She was also getting very low on her forehand.  I found that putting her on a smaller circle, and spiraling in, helped a lot.   After we were done, I took her out on the small trail I have in the woods to cool out.  She was a little nervous, but not too bad.  I did have to duck under a few low bran

 I borrowed Gia again for our drill team practice last night.  She was feeling a bit frisky when I got on - not wanting to stand still, and ready to go.  That attitude carried on in to the practice as well.  She was very anxious to go, and didn't want to stay in line or stay at the set tempo.  I'm not sure if she was upset about the horses in front or behind her, or if she was just in a mood.  I'm leaning towards the latter, since she did really well last time, and since she started out excited before I even put her in line.  I mainly focused on maintaining my position and my requests for her to stay in line and with the other horses  After a couple times through our test, she had settled down and was doing much better.  By the end, she felt like she did the last time.  The one nice thing about her extra energy was that she was super responsive whenever I asked her to go forward, and I felt that, if I wanted to, I could have had a really amazing extended trot!

 I took Gia out into my fields today for some cross country jumping.  We warmed up with a nice walk and trot around the fields, mainly focusing on stretching, relaxing, and staying straight. When I started jumping, she got a bit quick, unbalanced and sassy.  She also didn't want to land on her right lead when we were turning right.  Before each jump to the right, I worked on keeping her haunches to the right.  That helped a lot!  After each jump, I often had to lift my hands to keep her from getting too far down on her forehand.  I also did a lot of circles after the jumps to help her balance herself.  I tried to keep from using my hands to slow her down whenever possible, so the circling helped to do that in a less invasive way.  I also worked with her up the bank jump. Since there was no down side, that helped her stay more uphill in her balance afterwards.  That made a big difference!

 Gia and I had a dressage lesson with Suzin.  Most of what we did today was review and repetition.  We worked on improving transitions and lateral work at the walk and trot, including shoulder-in, leg yield, haunches-in, etc.  We also worked on improving the trot to canter transitions, using shoulder-in and haunches-in and half halts to prepare for the transitions.  She was a bit sticky at first, so I had to help her respond to the cue better with my whip.  Once she understood, she gave me some really nice moments!

 Gia and I had a lesson with Charlie at CDP today.  I hauled her in the rear of my trailer, and she seemed to do just fine - no kicking and not cramped.  She still kicked out once, when I first started walking her in her shipping boots, but after I yanked on her leadline, she stopped and walked calmly. Under saddle, we warmed up with the usual - circles, changes of direction, bending and leg yields, all at the walk and trot.  She wasn't fussy about any of that today.  Charlie set up a mini course of two verticals and a square oxer for us to play around.  Each jump had poles on either side to help her figure out where to put her feet.  She was a little awkward at first, but was figuring it out by the end.  Charlie even raised each jump a little bit for us today!   Whenever she cantered off, we schooled that a bit.  She was a bit fussy at the canter, but it got better by the end.  She was also a bit on her forehand at the canter, so I had to lift her up and ride her out a bit more. 

 Gia seemed a bit tired and lonely when I checked in on her this morning to give her breakfast.  She did perk up a little when she saw me, but her first time overnight at a show was definitely exhausting for her. I was hoping that meant she would be a little more tired when I worked her ... but, no. I started out lunging her near the barn.  She seemed fine there, and, after just a few minutes, I brought her back to the barn to tack her up. Then we walked up to the (very busy) warm up ring.  Once there, I started lunging her again.  She had woke up by then, and all she really wanted was to get back to the barn, and back to her friends.  I lunged her all along the outside of the warm up ring, for quite a while, until she had calmed down considerably, and started paying more attention to me. I had to walk her through the ring to the mounting block, and she was fairly good for that, so I hopped on.  I repeated the same work we did yesterday under saddle (the same work we do at CDP and at h

I took Gia down to the Carolina Horse Park today, along with a couple of students, to school.  Gia only fussed about her hind shipping boots one time - much better than usual!  I loaded her in the back of the trailer, and she seemed to have enough room, and she didn't fuss at all either!  Maybe I've finally figured out this issue! (fingers crossed). Once we got to the Horse Park, I pulled her off the trailer to lunge her.  She was pretty quiet, so I only worked with her a few minutes.  I decided to put her up in a stall for the weekend, so I got that ready for her and put her in.  She seemed to settle fairly well. After schooling with my students, I came back to check on Gia.  She had gotten herself a bit upset when she saw her friends walk by, so she was pacing in the stall and hollering a lot.  This is pretty typical behavior for a young horse, and they usually figure it out.   I pulled her out for another lunging session, and, as expected, it took a little longer to get her

 Gia and I had a dressage lesson with Suzin today.  We mainly worked on a variety of transitions (including halt, rein-back, canter), along with a variety of figures (including leg yields, shoulder-in, shoulder-out).  She was very responsive and obedient to pretty much everything I asked.  Her rein back was really good!  And her canter transitions were a lot more prompt as well!

 I took Gia down to CDP for a lesson today.  I usually let her ride in a double stall in the trailer to give her more room.  I decided to put the divider back in today, to see if maybe she has too much room, and that's why she is kicking.  Well, she definitely didn't have room to kick, but she didn't have enough room in general.  She showed up to CDP with rubs on her butt, and a couple of scrapes on her forehead. :(   On the way home, I moved her to the very last stall in the trailer (it has a little more room, and I couldn't take the divider out until I got home anyway).  When we got home, she seemed ok, so that option might just work out for her! At CDP, I hopped on without lunging today, and she was pretty good.  I started with some bending and leg yields at the walk and trot to get her softer and obedient and relaxed.  Then Charlie had us go over a few small jumps.  She was a little quick at first, but once I slowed my trot on the approach, that helped a lot.  She g

 I took Gia to the Cool Breeze Hunter show today.  The first chance I had, I pulled her off the trailer to lunge her.  She was definitely nervous about her surroundings, especially since this is a show she has only been to once before.  Once she relaxed, I tied her to the trailer to hang out for a little bit.  She was a little naughty after a while, so I had to put her back on the trailer (where she was still kicking out with her left hind leg). Later, I was able to lunge her again, this time in the show ring during a break. She was nervous about all the new stuff to look at in the arena, but eventually relaxed, and seemed good enough that I took her back to the trailer to tack her up to ride. Under saddle, she was AMAZING!  She started out quite nervous, as I expected.  I put her on circles and figure 8's, bending and leg yielding, just like we do at CDP and at home.  Eventually, she realized it wasn't so bad, and I even felt her pull me towards one of the jumps.  It was set u

 I worked with Gia this morning on a variety of dressage stuff.  We warmed up with work at the walk, including halt transitions along the rail and across the width of the ring.  Along the rail was fairly easy, and she stayed mostly soft.  Across the width was harder because she had to stay straighter. At the trot, we worked on more transitions between gaits, including halt and rein-back.  Her rein-backs were really good today! We also worked on some trot to canter transitions.  She got all her leads today!  Her transitions were fairly prompt, although sometimes she was a bit explosive.  Her canter, itself, was a bit too quick, so I asked for a lot of half halts to help her slow down and balance. On another note, Danielle gifted Gia a set of ShooFly Boots for all four legs!  These boots are great for keeping flies off horses' legs in the summer, but in Gia's case, they will be performing double duty (hopefully).  We are hoping that they help her get over her issue with her shipp

 I started Gia's ride today with halt transitions.  At each halt, if she wasn't already soft, I asked her to soften, and then asked her to walk on.  Several times she tried to rein-back on her own, so I immediately asked her to go forward when she did that.  Once she was standing more patiently, I did ask for a few rein-backs.  Some were pretty good!  She stayed soft and moved her legs in diagonal pairs.  Some were a bit resistant, so I had to work on getting her softer. At the trot, I put her through various figures to improve her suppleness.  Then I put her over a few trot poles that were on a curved line.  She really had to figure out where to put her feet correctly through the curved line, and also figure out how quick or slow she needed to go. Once that was pretty good, I had her move from the poles to a small jump.  Going through the curved line of poles helped her to jump the obstacle straighter and in a better tempo.  She went over the jumps pretty well, but she often l

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  We worked with a variety of dressage figures to help get Gia straighter - circles, reverses, inverted reverses, leg yields, shoulder-ins, etc.  Gia was responding really well, and even had a few brilliant moments! We also did a little work on transitions - walk to trot, trot to halt to trot, trot to halt to rein back to trot, trot to canter.  She gave me the best rein-back yet!  We also did some transitions between collected and lengthened trot.  Gia was super obedient today, and it was just a matter of getting her to stay between my aids.  There were a lot of nice moments when she was right where she was supposed to be!

 Gia and I had a lesson with Charlie at CDP today.  Gia's had a few days off, and Charlie wanted to see how she felt on the lunge line, so he started with her there.  She was a little quick and tense to start, but quickly relaxed and became more obedient and submissive.   Under saddle, she felt fine at the walk, maybe a tiny bit nervous, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I started with bending and leg yielding - keeping it very simple, and working on getting her neck longer in the process.  At the trot she definitely felt more tense.  She was swishing her tail and acting "bucky" whenever I pushed her with my leg to yield.  She's done this before, so it was nothing new.  I just kept asking what I was asking until she relaxed and got to work.  I also asked her to slow her trot down a little, and that helped a lot. Over the small vertical that Charlie set up, Gia was really good!  She landed on the correct lead most of the time, and we worked on her balance at the canter