Gia - Session 356 and 357 - Walking around the show grounds

 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 arenas, and on the schooling day, we even got to walk in the smaller jump ring and check everything out there. In many of the areas, she was quite nervous about everything around her. I made sure that she relaxed enough to eat a few mouthfuls of grass before I allowed her to move on to the next area. On our walks back to the trailer, I did have to make her back up several times whenever she would try to get ahead of me in her urgency to get back to the trailer and her friend Pippa. Despite not being able to ride her this weekend, I still think she got a lot of exposure at the show. 

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