All The Kings' Horses

 I pretty much did the same with Gia today that I did yesterday.  We started with a little stretching at the walk.  Then we did a little shoulder-in at the walk.  Moving into the trot, we did several transitions, as well as bending and changes of direction.  I could feel her want to be a little naughty for a few moments, but I used shoulder-in to shut the naughty moments down, and they never escalated.   When she felt pretty good, we went over a few jumps.  I had a variety of things set up in the arena, so I just played over what was there.  There were different heights, and she actually did better when the jumps were around 2', rather than the small crossrails or verticals.  Fine by me! ☺

 Gia started out stretching really nicely at the walk today.  Before trotting, I worked a little on her shoulder-in at the walk, circling whenever she would get stuck.  Then we moved into the trot work and focused on walk trot transitions.  I used the shoulder-in to keep her together when she wanted to be naughty.  She still wanted to be a little naughty (although not as bad), but the reaction was stifled by the shoulder-in work.  Eventually, she relaxed and quit fighting me about the transitions.  She didn't really get fussy the rest of the ride.   We did a little bit of shoulder-in work at the trot, and included changes of bend and direction as well.  Once she felt pretty good with all that, I let her go over a few jumps.  She definitely got excited (in a good way) when I pointed her at the jumps.  Most of them felt a bit awkward today, but she did have a couple of good moments.  She loses her balance and coordination on the way to the jumps right now, but that will get better ev

 Gia and I had a dressage lesson with Suzin today.  Gia was ok at the walk, but once we picked up the trot, she started to get a little too reactive and naughty.  We did several walk trot transitions, working on being obedient and not naughty.  After a few transitions, she was doing much better.  She did throw in a little bit of naughty behavior later, but it was quickly corrected.  Suzin had us work a lot on bending, changing bend, and using shoulder-in to help create a better bend with less resistance.  We also did a little bit of leg yield and shoulder-out, but we primarily focused on the shoulder-in work.  At the end, I stretched her down a little at the trot.   Once we got through the naughty moments, she was really quite good!  Hopefully, those moments will start to come out less often!

 I took Gia out on the trail today to warm up.  She was quite nervous, but it has been a while since I've taken her out there.  Unfortunately, I dropped my glasses while out there, and had to get off, and then figure out how to get back on.  There was a spot with a slight bank that I was able to use, but it definitely was not easy! Back in the arena, I worked on walk/trot transitions and straightness.  She was quite naughty when I asked for the up transitions at first.  Each time she kicked out, I halted and turned her and then asked again.  Eventually, she got the clue that her behavior was unacceptable.  After that, she was pretty good.   She felt quiet enough after our trot warm up, that I put her over a few small jumps.  She started out not getting the distances very well, but by the end was jumping much better!  She even got most of her leads, although she didn't keep the canter for very long in either direction.

 I worked with Gia again at the show yesterday.  I lunged her to start with.  She was a bit naughtier this time.  Possibly because we were closer to the trailer and within earshot of her friends, possibly because she was upset at being at the show for two days.  Whatever the reason doesn't really matter.  I still had to insist that she go when I said go and whoa when I said whoa.  She had a really hard time standing still, but did get it eventually. Under saddle was about the same as the day before.  I was able to get her up to a nice trot in the warm up ring after starting out a bit tense and anxious - trying to get back to the trailer.  Each time I had a good, relaxed moment, whether on the ground or in the saddle, I gave her a small treat.  She didn't get any treats back at the trailer though.  Going back to the trailer is reward enough.

 I took Gia to the Carolina Horse Park again this weekend to school during the horse show.   Charlie started out with her, working on lunging her in the rope halter.  He basically just worked on getting her to halt and stand when he asked, and then allowing her to go when he said she could.  She started out VERY anxious and tense, but eventually settled down. After that, I tacked Gia up and took her back up to the warm up ring.  She was still a bit tense, so I just asked her to bend and leg yield until she finally relaxed and started to focus more on me than on getting back to the trailer.  All we did was walk and trot, but it did get better by the end.  Once she was quieter in the warm up ring, I took her into the open dressage ring and schooled her there a little as well.  She was nervous to walk between the rings and to and from the trailer, but she did fairly well in the rings.

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  Gia was unusually difficult to catch this morning.  She typically will come right up to me or Danielle when we call her, but this morning was different.  She decided to be a little naughty, and when reprimanded, decided to play "keep away".  Her attitude could have been due to the cooler weather, and/or, a change to her pasture situation.  Needless to say, I expected today's ride to be a bit difficult. I started out with a bit of lunging in the rope halter.  She was actually fairly quiet and obedient, so after only a few minutes, I decided she was ok to ride. I was pleasantly surprised by our ride today, and even Suzin said that she looked fantastic and "Yummy!"  I mainly worked on keeping her soft in the bridle during everything I asked her to do - walk/halt transitions, walk/trot transitions, halt/trot transitions, changing bend, etc. I focused a lot on keeping my feet flat in the irons, and pushing my hands down to h

 I took Gia to the Sedgefield hunter show this past weekend to hang out and school.  She was pretty good on and at the trailer this time.  I started her schooling by taking her up to the lunging area, tacked up in her saddle and Pessoa, and proceeded to lunge her.  She was quite dramatic - lots of bucking on the line.  I focused on keeping her going when she wanted to stop, and making sure she halted when I asked.  The rest I just tried to ignore.  It took her a while to settle down, but she did, eventually. Under saddle, she felt a little tense when I first got on, so I just asked for a little bit of bending and leg yielding at the walk, until she felt a little more relaxed.  Then we picked up the trot.  She only felt tense at the trot for a few minutes, and then started to relax.  I did a lot of bending and circles and leg yielding.  She didn't completely relax until the end, but she did get there eventually.  

 I pretty much did the same thing today that I did yesterday.  I started by lunging Gia in the field.  She was actually quite relaxed, so that went quick. Under saddle, I didn't have much time, so I just did some walk halt and walk trot transitions all throughout the field.  She started out a bit tense and reactive to my leg, but by the end, she was relaxed, more focused, and more stretchy.

 I lunged Gia in the arena today to start out.  She was fairly good, just a little distracted by some work going on in the arena. For her under saddle work, I took her out in the field.  There was a new horse in the field adjacent, so she was a little distracted about that.  I started with walk halt transitions until she was obedient to both.  I also worked a little on her straightness at the walk and halt.  Then we moved on to walk trot transitions.  She was a little tense at first, but I just kept doing the transitions and kept asking for the straightness, and eventually I got a really nice, consistent trot.

 I started Gia out with just a little bit of lunging to curb her grumpiness, and hopefully get our ride started on a better note.  It seemed to do the trick.  I just did a little bit of trot and walk transitions each way on the line until she was visibly relaxed, licking and chewing with her head much lower. Under saddle I started out working on some transitions between medium walk, free walk and halt.  She was happy to stretch down, and fairly good about her medium walk.  She was a bit resistant to the halt transition at first.  She wanted to back up a little, so each time she leaned back, I made her move on and we tried again a few steps later.  She was also against my hand (especially my right hand) during the down transition, so I had to work on softening her as well.  Eventually, she was making her transitions much more obediently. Then we worked on walk trot transitions.  She was a bit more obedient about those, and she wasn't as grumpy today (I think the lunging helped).  Sh

For various reasons I haven't been able to take Gia for a lesson at CDP in a while, but we were able to get back there today. Charlie started out with lunging her in the rope halter to make sure she was listening and paying attention.  She actually did pretty well, and didn't really act anxious or upset about anything. When I rode her, we started out with a lot of leg yielding and bending to get her attention and put her to work.  She was a bit distracted by a few things, but nothing too bad.  At the trot, she was not as reactive as she has been, and Charlie had us go over a ground pole as we warmed up on the flat as well. When she felt good, Charlie set up a large X for her to go over.  She was a little awkward over it at times, but nothing naughty.  I worked on keeping her straight in her body and on the path before the jump.  After the jump, she often landed in the canter, so Charlie had me work on keeping her nose up and out so that she would use her hind end better, keep h

 I started out with Gia today working on the same things.  She was a bit more tense and grumpy than she has been the last few rides though.  I worked on getting her to relax, and getting her to be straighter, just picking away at those things a little at a time.  At one point during our warm up, she pulled me towards one of the jumps that was set in the arena.  Of course, I pulled her away from it, but it gave me an idea later.   Once I got her where she was more relaxed, I decided to let her go to a jump and see how she did.  She was very excited (in a good way) about it, and almost immediately seemed to be in a better mood.  So, I let her take several more jumps.  They were pretty small, so some of them she just trotted over.  It's been quite a while since she and I have jumped, and some of her grumpiness could be attributed to boredom over the flatwork, and not getting to have fun over the jumps.  I'm definitely glad to have a horse that enjoys jumping that much!

 I did more laid-back flatwork with Gia today.  I thought she was going to be a bit difficult, since Danielle had said she was grumpy for grooming, but I was pleasantly surprised.  She started out a little quick, but other than that, I didn't really feel any tension.  I stretched her at the walk, and then worked on walk/trot transitions.  She was not as responsive at first, but by the end, she was very prompt, and giving me some nice, lofty steps!  In addition to the transitions, I also did a little work with her on bending.  After just a little warm up, she felt nicely supple.

 I did more of the same flatwork with Gia today, but she was much better!  She started out with a REALLY nice stretch at the walk, and was super relaxed.  However, when I asked for the first few trot transitions, I could feel a tiny bit of resistance.  I just kept a laid-back attitude, and just kept asking for transitions, and after just a few, she started to feel more relaxed.  By the end of the ride, she was a LOT more relaxed, and was even offering some really nice, lofty steps of trot!  It was another warm day, so that could still be what has her in a better mood ...

 I pretty much did the same thing with Gia today that I did on Saturday, but she was much better!  I kept our ride very low key - just working on stretching at the walk, transitions and straightness at the trot.  For some reason, I felt very little tension and anxiety, as well as attitude, from her today.  One possible reason for her mood change could be the weather.  It was much warmer this morning that it was in the mornings last week.  Perhaps she was feeling a little too much energy last week, but wasn't sure what to do with herself?

 Gia and I had a much better ride today!  I started her out with a lot of stretching at the walk.  As soon as I picked her up to trot, she started to feel tense.  I kept everything very low-key and laid back, and just kept making small corrections with her bending and straightness until she finally softened and relaxed.  Then I brought her back to the walk, and transitioned back to trot.  For some reason, the transition to trot is the hard part for her right now.  I'm not sure exactly why, but she is very resistant, and is acting out as a result of the resistance.  The more I did the transitions and found the softness, the better she got.  I also had to keep our session brief today due to some time constraints, but she did feel a little better with the last transition I asked for - a little less resistant, and a little more relaxed.

 I was hoping to get to some jumping with Gia today, but she had other things in mind.  I started out with a good stretch at the walk, as well as some light bending work.  When I picked her up to trot, she felt irritable.  I pretty much spent the rest of the time working on getting her to go forward and bend without being pissy.  When I was able to get some good moments, I would let her have a break, but as soon as I picked her back up to work again, she was grumpy again, and we had to start over.  It did get slightly better by the end.   I decided to finish our session with some work on the lunge line, with her dressed up in the Pessoa.  She was fine at the walk and trot, but when I asked for canter, she would kick out.  As soon as she did, I stopped her and started again.  I started keeping her on a smaller circle at the walk and trot, until she was more relaxed, then I allowed her circle to get bigger.  By the end, she was starting to understand that her tantrums would not be tolera