All The Kings' Horses

 Since I was away for a week on vacation, Gia also got a bit of a break.  I decided that for our first day back, we would keep it nice and easy.  I also didn't want to hop on a very fresh horse in very cold and windy conditions like we had today.  So, I opted to free lunge her, and make today a bit of a game for her. I started out just asking her to trot 3 laps in each direction of the round pen about three times.  When she had done three laps one way, I would step back, encouraging her to step towards me, to then turn and go the other way.  She was very relaxed, and even a little lazy (maybe I would have been fine in the saddle). Since the trot work was going well, I decided to see how the canter work would be.  She was a tiny bit grumpy when I would ask for the canter, but otherwise she was pretty good.  She kept up the canter, on her own, for about 6-8 strides to the right, and about 20 strides to the left.  When I put her back to the right, I asked her to keep the canter for 20

 I took Gia to the Portofino show this weekend to school.  This is an event she has never been to, so I was curious to see how she would behave.  She was actually pretty good! I started out lunging her near the trailer.  She was a little distracted by some horses running in a nearby field, but otherwise, she was very lazy.   I mounted her near the trailer, then walked through the paddocks and other trailers to get to the warm up area.  She was a little nervous at first, but then seemed to relax when we were about half way there.  In the warm up area, I walked for a bit, until she felt relaxed and stretchy.  It didn't seem to take as much time as it has in the past.  When I picked up the trot, she was not as tense or anxious as she has been at shows previously.  I only had to sit the trot for a few minutes before I felt that she was relaxed enough to post. This warm up area had mirrors, which she has never seen, so I kept her at the end of the ring away from the mirrors at first.  A

 Gia was a bit excitable in the crossties for grooming and tacking today, probably due to the much colder temperatures and windy day.  So, I decided to lunge her first, out in the field.  She was actually quite sluggish, and didn't do anything naughty at all on the lunge line. Under saddle, I warmed her up with a bit of walk and trot throughout the fields.  She was a tiny bit nervous about a plastic bag blowing in the wind, but she didn't really react to it, just looked at it. She felt good enough that I decided to try her over a few jumps.  I did not struggle with getting her to focus and relax today, but rather with getting her to go forward.  She wasn't naughty about not going forward, just lazy.  (Not a bad problem to have☺).  I was able to get some canter out of her, sometimes after the jumps, sometimes before the jumps.  She jumped everything I put in front of her, except the down bank the first time.  (The second time, she dropped down it perfectly!).  She did take a

 At our lesson with Suzin this morning, Gia and I worked on a lot of the same things at first - stretching at the walk, walk/trot transitions, LOTS of changes of bend and direction at the trot, shoulder-in and leg yield. At times, Gia felt like she might want to canter, so I went ahead and asked for it.  At the beginning of each canter, in either direction, there was some kicking out, and "mini bucks".  I worked to push her through it with a lot of flexion, shoulder-in and leg yield.  I also had to really lean back to counter act the mini tantrums.  Once I was able to get her through it, we actually had several moments of REALLY nice canter!  After each canter, the trot felt a lot better too, and we even got a few moments of trot lengthening.  Once she figures this part out, she will be phenomenal!

 I took Gia out in the field for her workout today.  We started with a bit of walking and working on stretching down.  She was a little nervous, and excited at first, but once she relaxed, she really got into the stretching. Although I was expecting her to be a little naughty when I picked up the trot, she was actually pretty good.  Still a little nervous, but fairly well focused on me.  We worked on straightness and attention as we trotted around the fields. After warming up, I put her towards some of the smaller jumps in the field, just to see how she would react.  If I remember correctly, the last time I asked her to jump in the field, she was quite naughty, but today, she was very well behaved!  I think she really enjoyed the jumping, and realized that she would get to keep doing it if she was good. ☺ There was one set of jumps that had a larger one in the middle, surrounded by two smaller ones on either side.  I had her pointed at one of the smaller ones, but she pricked her ears

 I took Gia with me to the last War Horse show at the Carolina Horse Park this weekend.  It was a three day show, so she got a LOT of practice in!   The Good: 1. This was the first time that I have taken her to a show, that she hasn't thrown a temper tantrum in/at the trailer when the other horses have left for their classes.  She did talk a little, but she kept her feet still. 2. She got to spend two nights at a strange farm away from home, and did fairly well - at least, we didn't get kicked out :)  3. She was MUCH quieter on the lunge line the first two days!  She was a little naughtier on the third day, but it was short lived. 4. She was pretty good under saddle in the warm up ring, for the most part.  We also got into the show rings on Friday and Sunday, when no one else was around.  She was awesome in the rings on Sunday, and we even tried a few steps of canter! The Bad: 1. She didn't always eat all of her food.  Nerves were getting the better of her at times, and her

 Gia and I started out with a good stretch at the walk today.  I was mainly focusing on keeping an equal feel in both reins, and softening the heavier one.  Same when I went to medium walk and working trot. We did a lot of work on changing bend and direction, but keeping the equal feel in both reins.  I did a little bit of shoulder-in, as needed to help get her to bend and reach under her body more.  A couple of times, she got "stuck" behind my leg, so I had to kick her forward.  We did get a few canter steps, but it wasn't on purpose.  However, it did feel pretty good.  We even got a few steps of "pirouette", sort of.  It definitely wasn't a true pirouette because the circle was too big, and she was bent in the wrong direction.  But, I did feel her take more weight on her inside hind leg, and even "sit down" a little bit behind!  Unfortunately, it was all over too quickly to get a video.

 I worked with Gia in long lines today.  I mainly focused on getting her to flex more to the inside at all gaits.  She was more resistant to the left than she was to the right.  To help her get the idea, I had to teach her to flex at the halt, which also meant a few reminders not to go backwards when she felt the pressure. Once she got it better at the halt, we worked on it at the walk, then the trot.  At each gait, I had to make sure to keep her moving forward.  There was a bit of tension in the beginning, and even some steps of piaffe when she wasn't getting it.  When she was finally getting it well enough at the trot, I tried a little bit of canter work.  Her canter was actually quite good!  

 I took Gia out in the field again today to work over some of the jumps on the lunge line.  I started out making sure she was obedient and focused on the line.  I asked her to go forward and to halt several times.  She was a little sluggish to go forward, but very prompt to halt and turn towards me.   Then we played over a few of the jumps - small, medium and large.  Each time I thought she was ready to approach a jump, I would let out the line, and cue her to move on a little with a "kissing" sound.  For most of the jumps, she would move into a nice canter, measure her approach, and have a nice jump.  She never got too quick, or tried to bolt away today.  She did lose a little focus approaching one jump, and it surprised her, so she stopped.  She realized her mistake though, and thought about going over it.  I let her stand for a minute, in front of it, taking it all in.  Then I asked her to approach it again.  This time it was no problem at all!

 I didn't have as much time to work with Gia today as I usually do, so I decided to keep it simple today and just long line her.  I took her out into the dressage arena, where we had more space and less stuff in our way.  I really only had time to get her to work on bending on a circle at the trot in each direction one time.  I did several circles with her in one direction, keeping a consistent connection on the outside line, while I asked her to soften and bend with the inside line.  Once I got her a little better in one direction, I did the same thing the other way.  I could really see her trying to understand what I was asking of her, and really working it out in her mouth.  Long lining always gives me an interesting, and different, perspective on what I'm teaching the horse. 

 I decided to play with Gia on the lunge line over some of the jumps in the field today.  I started out just lunging her, in the rope halter, and asking her to be obedient and focused on me. Once she was warmed up, I started pointing her at some of the smaller jumps.  She was very excited to jump today, and really looked like she had figured out what to do with her body to make a good takeoff.  Instead of just launching herself at the jump, she thoughtfully measured the distance on approach, and shortened her stride as needed to take off from a good spot. After the first few jumps, she started to get a little too eager, and tried to bolt towards the jumps.  I had to make her take a step back and work on waiting for me to tell her to go to the jump.  We circled very near the jump, but she didn't get to approach it until she was being patient and waiting for me, rather than bolting and practicing some "airs above the ground". After several of the smaller jumps, I decided to

 Gia and I started out with a good stretch down at the walk in our lesson with Suzin today.  Once I picked up the trot, she was a little stiff, but definitely no naughty moments.  After a few more transitions, she was much softer and more obedient.   We did a LOT of lateral work at the walk and trot today - leg yield, shoulder-in, haunches-in, etc.  I used the lateral work, especially the shoulder-in, whenever she got distracted by the many "new" things going on today.  That really helped her to focus, but it also improved her suppleness.  She was really offering a lot of nice movement today!  At one point, after a really good shoulder-in, she felt like she wanted to lengthen.  So, I let her stretch her legs a little across the diagonal line.  At the end of our ride today, she begged to stretch down at the trot.  So, I went with it, and we worked a little on her balance and tempo while she reached lower.  In everything she did, she seemed a lot happier in her work today!

 I took Gia out on the trail this morning to warm up.  She was quite nervous out there, especially when we came across ... dun, dun, dun ... POOP!  The poop that was left behind by the previous horse made her stop and run backwards a few steps.  It happened not just once, with the first offensive pile we came across, but a second time as well, later down the trail.  She's definitely a work in progress ... Back in the safety of the very clean arena, she was very good when I asked for the trot.  I didn't feel any moments of naughty, and she went right to work with a pretty good attitude.  I did a few transitions to be sure, and then mainly worked on her straightness throughout various figures around the arena. She was feeling really good, and started to hint at the canter herself.  So, I decided to ask, very gently, and see what would happen.  She seemed a little surprised that I asked, but then was willing to go.  I kept the pressure on her very light, and mainly focused on just