All The Kings' Horses

 I worked Gia with the standing wrap around her hind end today.  We didn't have a lot of time for our ride today, so I mainly focused on shoulder-in in both directions at the walk and trot to help her get straighter.  She gave me at least one good moment in each direction at each gait.  When I took the video today, the plan was to show you all what she's like when she has been "naughty" at the trot work lately.  Of course, she was perfectly behaved today ... 

 I started Gia out on the hills today.  She was much stretchier, and felt like she was using her back much better today! When I picked up the trot, she was more responsive, although still not quite as prompt as I would like.  She was also much softer in the bridle, and much more symmetrical.  She did get a little fussy, not quite sure why, and kicked out a few times, and did a few tiny bucks.  I just kept consistently asking her to straighten and go forward, and she eventually quit.   We also did a couple of the small jumps, once she felt straighter and more obedient.  I focused on her staying straight and quiet on approach, which was pretty good, and then staying straight afterwards.  I had to halt after a few jumps, partly to help her get straighter, and partly because she got a little excited.  She did canter after one of them, fairly nicely, for a few steps.

 Today was a flatwork day for Gia.  I used a standing wrap around her hind end while riding to help her become more engage behind.  I opted not to lunge her first today, since she had been mostly fine with it the other day.  She didn't seem bothered by it at all. We kept it simple today and mainly worked on staying straight, on the long sides, as well as through the turns.  She tends to over bend her body through the turns, and then comes down the long sides crooked.  I used a lot of leg yields, and a little shoulder-in and turn on the haunches to get her shoulder in the correct place, allowing her hind end to follow.  We also did a lot of transitions, concentrating on moving forward into the down transition, rather than just pulling back.  She did give me some pretty nice moments at times! She was a little fussy and bucky after one walk break.  I think she may have thought I was asking for the canter, and was pissy about that, although we were only still working on the straightnes

 Gia and I had a lesson with Charlie today.  We started out with some flatwork, focusing on keeping her nose out in front of her more, especially on transitions (lots more lower leg was needed). Over fences, I really focused on keeping her rhythm more steady (counting), and keeping her straight, with her nose out in front of her.  For some reason, she stopped at the very first jump.  Not exactly sure why, but she probably saw something she wasn't sure about.  I kept my leg on until she stepped over the first ground pole, and then relaxed and let her look at the jump.  When we came around to it the second time, she took it like there was never any problem.  The rest of the jumps went just as easily.  She even landed on her right lead several times without being asked!  When she did land at the canter, I worked on keeping her poll and neck up so she wouldn't get heavy on the forehand and buck or lose the canter.  She gave me a lot of nice moments today!

 I started Gia out on the hills today at the walk.  She was a little distracted, but gave me a decent stretch eventually. Back in the arena, I really worked on keeping her body straighter, especially through turns, at the walk and trot.  I used a lot of leg yield, and a modified turn on the haunches to help mobilize her shoulders so they traveled in front of her hips.  Her tempo and energy were much better today than they were for the majority of last week.  At times, I even had a little too much energy!  I also focused a lot on being more precise and prompt in her transitions, both up and down.

 I had a limited amount of time to work with Gia yesterday, so I decided to try something that Cameron and I had talked about when he saw her last.  One store brand version is called  Equiband , and the purpose is to help the horse engage their hindquarters better.  However, rather than spend $220, I just used a standing wrap, and attached it to the girth.  A standing wrap has enough elastic, without being too tight, so it is a good substitute.   I started with it on Gia on the lunge line so she could get used to it.  As I suspected, she was a little nervous when I was first bringing it around her hind end to attach it to the other side.  She stood mostly still, but she was wide-eyed and blew her nostrils a little.  Once I got her moving on the lunge line, she was only worried about it for a step or two, then she settled into it.  After a few minutes in each direction, she was even stretching over her topline a little better! I decided to give it a go under saddle.  She was very good! 

 I started with Gia up and down the hills today at the walk.  She was softer almost immediately today, and stretching a lot better. I continued to work with her in the field, once we were done with the hillwork.  I mainly focused on her flat work, but I did add a few jumps at the end.  I mainly asked her to bend, and change bend, and change direction.  And I also threw in a lot of transitions.  She did have a few moments of resistance (including one big rolling buck), but overall, she was MUCH better than last week in the field.   I tried to keep the same feel to the jumps, and I also focused on keeping her straighter afterwards.  She halfheartedly picked up the canter, but I didn't push it, since I was more concerned with keeping her straight.  She did have pretty nice take off spots to the jumps, even with no ground lines.

 Suzin started out on Gia today.  She mainly focused on getting Gia to be softer in her hands, but also equal in both reins.  She also worked on getting her more supple, with lots of changes of bend and direction. When I hopped on, I pretty much tried to do the same thing.  I was having difficulty, at times, getting her more forward.  My biggest challenge right now, is that I want to hold the reins in one hand and use my whip with my other hand (to back up my leg when Gia doesn't respond).  Although I can use my thumb and first two fingers on my right hand, it doesn't give me enough use of my hand that I can use the whip or hold both reins.  Suzin lent me her whip, which is a bit more flexible than mine, and that helped a lot.  I'm not able to use it on my right side, which is where I really feel I need it, but it's better than nothing.  I just have to remind myself that this is only temporary!

 I took Gia to Charlie's today for a lesson.  By the way, I forgot to mention that on Sunday she loaded on the trailer without any drama about her shipping boots.  She did the same today.  Perhaps she is finally getting over it! At CDP, we started out working on leg yielding and bending at the walk and trot.  Over fences, we started with a crossrail and no ground line.  She did a really good job finding her take-off spot without the ground line! Then we added another vertical and a small oxer.  She was a bit resistant to pick up the canter at all today, especially to the right.  She did give me one right lead canter though.  She did much better about finding a more correct tempo to the jumps, and she was a little quick (and slightly naughty) after the jumps, but not too bad.

 I took Gia to the Sharon Oaks hunter show to school today. I had a busy day, with 5 riders to coach and 2 other young horses to school besides Gia, so I didn't get to her until the very end.  Meanwhile, since she really only fits in the back of the trailer, she had to come off and on the trailer several times for other horses to get off and on.  She was quite pissy about it by the end, but it was finally her turn! I lunged her near the trailer for a few minutes.  She was a little quick at first, but settled down fairly well. After we tacked her up, I walked her up to the schooling ring to lunge again.  She tried to walk very quickly on our way there, so I had to stop and back her up a lot along the way.  I had brought a little pouch of treats with me today, to reward her for being away from the trailer.  So, as soon as I got her up to the schooling ring, and she was quieter, I gave her a treat.  I gave her a few more throughout our session, as she earned them after relaxing. She w

 Gia was much better behaved today! I started her out in the field going up and down the hills.  She was resistant at first, but quickly softened and moved better. I took her back in the ring for the rest of our ride.  We warmed up at the trot, working on staying soft in my hands while also moving forward.  She was a little resistant at first, but MUCH less so than yesterday! Then I put her over a few jumps.  I did a lot more sitting trot to get a better feel and to get her in front of my leg better.  That really helped her figure out where to take off for the jumps better.  I also focused more on the flatwork in between the jumps.  So, I would take a jump, and then get the flatwork more organized, even if it took a while, before taking the next jump.   We didn't get to do much today because my time was tight, but the quality was much better today!

 I started Gia out in the field walking and trotting up and down the hills.  She did fairly well with that.  She struggled with staying off my hands and staying straight at first, but she got better by the end. Next, my plan was to warm up a bit by trotting throughout the field, and then take some jumps.  However, things did not go to plan. Gia was VERY resistant to go forward, especially at a trot, while I was asking her to be soft at the same time.  I really had to use a lot of leg, especially right leg, and whip, but she got a bit naughty, trying small bucks and hops. So, I ended up hopping off and working with her in-hand.  I was able to keep her together with one hand, while I used my "bad" hand to make her go forward with the whip.  She was pretty resistant to that at first too, but on the ground I was in a better position to work through it.  She got quite naughty at one point, especially when I pushed on her right shoulder because she kept falling towards me.  However

 Suzin hopped on Gia today,  and it was super educational for both of us!  Suzin really focused on getting her to be softer in her hands, and more equal in her contact.  She did most of her work at the walk and trot, but there were a lot of transitions and changes of bend as well.  When Suzin would get a good moment, I could really see Gia stretching into her hands better, and then lengthen her stride more.  There were moments when Gia would have offered canter, trot lengthenings, and maybe even piaffe, if Suzin had asked for it!  She wants her to be much more supple, obedient and responsive before moving on to the fun stuff though.  Although, she did say that Gia was "bloody yummy to ride!" I hopped on afterwards, and I could really feel what I was watching Suzin do just a few minutes earlier.  Sometimes it is very helpful to watch what needs to be done, and get a visual in your head.  Then, when you try it, you can get a better feel of whatever it is you are trying to accom

 I am able to still ride with my broken hand, however, I thought this would be a good opportunity for Charlie to sit on Gia anyway. He started out with some stretching and leg yielding at the walk.  There was a lot of noise from mowers across the street, so he worked on getting her to pay attention and relax.   At the trot, he started with the same work.  Then he bumped up the intensity of the lateral work, and had her do haunches-in, shoulder-in, and a lot of leg yield.  He commented that she was nicely responsive and very smooth, and that she didn't feel like a "big" horse. After her workout with Charlie, she had a much needed session with Cameron.  She was a little sore in her sacro-iliac region, and her poll.  Otherwise, he said she looked pretty good.  He said she traveled much more symmetrically, so we can stop the Theraband pad for now.  He also gave us a new stretch to do with her to help strengthen her hind end.  Ill include a video in the comments.

 I took Gia to the show this weekend at the Carolina Horse Park. Unfortunately, I ended up breaking my hand the day before, so I was unable to compete on Butch. However, I still had to go to coach a student, so I still brought Gia along to hang out and get some exposure. (By the way, Chris is nice enough to type up the blog for me today, since my typing is painstakingly slow. :) ) On both days, Gia got to spend time tied to the trailer. I did forget to use the special tie rings the first time, and she ended up pulling back and almost pulling the trailer tie off the trailer. Needless to say, I remembered the special tie rings after that! Also on both days, I had a couple of big gaps in my schedule, so I made use of that time by taking Gia for long hand walks all over the show grounds. We would hang out in one spot until she relaxed enough to eat some grass, and then we would move on to another spot. We worked our way around the warm-up arena, near the dressage arenas, near both jump are

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  We started out stretching down at the walk, and we included poles in our warm up.  Every time Gia went over a pole, she wanted to bring her head up, so I had to work a little more to encourage her to reach down over the poles. Then we did a little work on our walk to trot transitions, until she could do them without coming against my hand.  Once her trot was better, I included the poles at the trot as well, doing the same thing I had done at the trot.  As we warmed up, we included some halt transitions, as well as rein-back.  She was a bit resistant to both, especially the rein back.  I was really trying to do less correcting with my hands, and more with my leg, so it was a little harder for her as well. Next we worked on trot to canter transitions.  She was much more prompt to the cue today!  However, she was quite unbalanced, rushing, and "careening" around the circle.  I ended up dropping my stirrups, to more effectively use my lo

 I had a lesson with Gia today at CDP.  I started out with leg yields and circles at the walk and trot.  She felt a little tense, but more because I was using my leg rather than something she was afraid or nervous about. Charlie had us jump several small jumps in the arena.  We mainly focused on coming in to the jumps with a little slower pace.  I also asked her for haunches right whenever we were tracking right, to help her get the right lead.  I added a slight opening right rein over the jumps, whenever we were supposed to land tracking right as well.  She got several correct leads today!  She also cantered a lot after her jumps, and we worked on staying straight, balanced, and keeping her neck long and out in front of her better, rather than letting it get too tight. I hauled Gia in my big trailer, but I had removed the last divider to give her more room in the back.  I think she traveled fairly well.  It's hard to say, but she might have had a little too much room, making it ha

 I started Gia with some hill work today at the walk.  She was a little nervous near the pond (after a giant frog jumped in the water right next to her), and a little resistant at first, but she softened and relaxed by the end. In the arena, we mainly worked on transitions and figures.  I tried to ride the majority of the time with both reins in one hand to provided a steadier connection to Gia.  Whenever I felt her get too quick or unbalanced, I asked for a down transition, and I took the opportunity to really fine tune my cue to her.  I made a point of always starting to ask for the transition by bringing my shoulders down and back, then tightening my abs, then tightening my thigh, then applying my hand, if necessary.  Towards the end, I was able to get down transitions and half halts with mostly just my shoulders and abs, and a little thigh. Whenever she felt unbalanced and leaning on my hands, I circled, or put her on another type of figure.  As soon as she felt straighter and more

 I typically don't jump two days in a row, but I didn't feel like Friday's ride went very well, so I wanted a do-over on Saturday. Gia started out a bit more relaxed on Saturday vs. Friday.  I warmed her up with some stretching at the walk and trot, as well as transitions.  She was a little resistant to transitions at first, but seemed to soften a little quicker than Friday. I made sure to set ground poles in front of most of the jumps on Saturday, since I think she still needs the help figuring things out.  That seemed to help her relax about the jumping a bit more.  She still got a little tense at times, but I made sure to go back and get her relaxed (with transitions or stretching or leg yield) before jumping again.  She still had a bit of trouble with her leads, and she still wanted to rush a bit after the jumps. I do think it was a little better than how she did on Friday though.

 Despite the rainy forecast, I was able to get a good ride in on Gia today.  We warmed up with some stretching and bending at the walk.  Her first transition to trot was not so good, very resistant, so I worked on getting her to soften during the up transitions.  I also focused a lot today on using more leg than hand in all my cues. When I started jumping, she was a little all over the place.  I had several jumps set up around the ring to play over, nothing higher than 2'.  She wasn't very straight, and her tempo was inconsistent.  Her attitude also became quite grumpy when we started jumping. I mainly focused on the flatwork between the jumps - getting her straighter, steadying her tempo, encouraging her not to rush on approach to the jumps.  I also did a little haunches-right to help her with her right lead.  She did get it once, but not the rest of the time.  When she would land too quick and unbalanced, I used a small circle, with my hands up, to help her figure out how to