All The Kings' Horses

 Today was Gia's first day back at CDP since she has come home.  She was a little extra this morning while she was waiting to get on the trailer, and again, while she loaded.  I had a feeling today's ride might be a little extra as well .... ... It actually wasn't too bad!   I let her relax and walk around the ring once I got on.  Then I put her to work with some mild bending and leg yielding at the walk  When I asked for the trot, I felt a bit of tension and tail wringing, but I pushed her into a leg yield and she quickly got to work.  Within minutes, she was more focused on what I was asking her to do, rather than being naughty.  We worked all over the ring at the trot - bending, leg yielding, going forward and coming back.  She was very obedient! When I asked for the canter, there was no naughtiness at all!  I did a little bit of the same work at the canter, in both directions.  I let her end after just that, since it had all been pretty positive!

 I worked with Gia on her flatwork today.  We started with a relaxing walk around the arena on a loose rein, then we picked up the trot and did the same.  I included a little bit of speeding up and slowing down the trot, without using my hands.  She was quite responsive!  Once she was a bit warmed up, I picked up the reins and worked on a little bit of bending and leg yields.  Finally, I asked for the canter.  Just once in each direction, but she was very obedient and fairly quiet.  She did not do anything naughty, but she was a little tense and quick.  She settled down fairly quickly, and I even asked for some bending and leg yields at the canter as well.

 The ground was too frozen to ride this morning, so I finally got to finish pulling Gia's mane.  After that, I took her to hang out with the pigs, who were out in the yard munching acorns.  She is fairly comfortable and relaxed around them, however, when she encounters them in her field, she can be a bit aggressive.  I want her to learn how to interact with them without having a negative reaction.  Every time she touches them or approaches them in a nice, polite way, I tell her "good girl", and give her a treat.  Every time she approaches them with ears pinned, or any other negative body language, I give her a yank on her halter and tell her "no" until she backs off.  She was about 50/50 with her behaviors today.

 I rode Gia today for the first time since she has been home from "Camp".  I let her start out with a walk around the ring on a loose rein. She was very interested in looking around at everything at first, but she quickly relaxed into a nice rhythm.  As soon as I asked her to pick up a trot, also on a loose rein, I felt her lift her hind end up a little too high.  I immediately put her on a small circle, at the same time, pushing her into a leg yield with my inside leg.  After a few revolutions, she settled down, so I let her out of the circle and back to the trot.  She tried that stunt about 2 or 3 more times, and each time I put her on the circle, and then went back to a loose rein when she relaxed.  Eventually, she decided it wasn't worth the effort. After some nice trot work, where I asked her to speed up and slow down just by using my seat, I started to ask her for the canter.  I got a few naughty steps right away, so back to the circle we went.  After a few episodes

 Hayley rode Gia first today, at Camp CDP.  She was very well-behaved and obedient.  Whenever Hayley asked her to go forward or come back, she did it with a loose rein, and Gia was very compliant.  I hopped on afterwards and put Gia through the same tests.  She nicely went forward and came back with very light cues and no naughtiness.  I have to make sure I stay focused on a soft rein and upper body when I first get started with her, then I can start to put her together a little at a time.  Hopefully, she will remember all the lessons she learned while at camp!

At the beginning of 2022, I had registered Gia with the North Carolina Dressage and Combined Training Association (NCDCTA).  Whenever we go to shows, anytime we place in our division, we earn points towards year end awards.  When I registered her at the beginning of 2022, I had no idea how our show year would go.  And, if you've been reading my blog, you know we had a lot of ups and downs.  However, when all was said and done, Gia actually ended up doing quite well, and racked up some nice awards!  The NCDCTA year end awards banquet was held this weekend, and I was there to receive her prizes!  She finished as Reserve Champion overall for the entire year in the Green as Grass Open division!  Along with a lovely ribbon, we were awarded a beautiful whip, stamped with "NCDCTA"! In addition, she was also named the overall Champion of the War Horse series, in the Green as Grass Division, among NCDCTA members!  Along with that beautiful ribbon, we were also awarded a lovely NCD

 I rode Gia today at "Camp CDP".  Hayley did not ride first, so I was able to work through any problems myself.  She actually started out fairly relaxed and obedient.  I was able to walk, trot and canter, going forward and coming back, with no problems.  Then I popped her over a few jumps.  The jumps were ok, and she even cantered after a few, and that was OK.  But then, she bumped into a jump, got a little pissed, and started a bucking fest.  I focused very hard on staying as relaxed as possible the whole time.  Every time she was naughty, I put her on a small circle and pushed her haunches around.  As soon as she was better, I let her out of the circle and asked for canter again.  As soon as she was naughty again, back to the circle we went.  This went on for a few minutes before she decided it would be much easier to just canter and behave.  Once I was able to canter nicely in each direction, I let her end on that.  She still has a tendency to be naughty, but I think I am

 I took Gia to the Carolina Horse Park for the Pipe Opener Combined Training yesterday.  I entered her in the Green as Grass division, since we are still working on the canter at home, and definitely not ready to compete at the canter yet.  I started out lunging her, as usual.  She seemed fairly quiet, about the same as the last few shows.  Once she was saddled, I hopped on and headed up to the ring.  We'd had to pick her up at CDP, since she is still at camp, and we happened to have her very best friend, Annie, in the trailer and at the show.  And, Annie happened to have her warm up at the same time as Gia.  All of that led to Gia being quite obnoxious in the warm up, at first.  She really wanted to be with Annie, and kept trying to go to her in warm up, and kept calling for her.  Hayley was there to help coach me, so she had me put her on a small circle every time Gia tried anything she wasn't supposed to.  As soon as I felt her give, even for a second, I had to completely re

 I rode Gia today at "Camp CDP".  She started out a little naughty and full of herself.  Nothing too bad, but Hayley was riding her, so she put her right to work on a small circle to make things hard for her when she was misbehaving.  After a few minutes of "attitude checking circles", Gia was more obedient and willing.  Hayley put her through some leg yields, bending, and all at the walk, trot and canter.  Then I got on and did more of the same.  I really focused on completely relaxing when she gave me the right answer.  It was much easier to let go today!

 I drove out to CDP today to have a lesson on Gia.  They said she has been doing fairly well.  She did give Hayley a bit of a fit on Saturday, but she has been good otherwise.  Today was no exception to the (new) rule.  Hayley rode her first at all gaits, and had her moving forward and stretching into her hand.  She cantered very willingly, with no naughty behavior.  I rode her after she was warmed up.  She moved nicely forward off my leg whenever I asked.  I focused on relaxing my upper body whenever I asked her to go forward, and again, whenever she moved off my leg to the side.  She missed her right lead the first few times, but after I helped her set up for it better, she picked it up much better.  

 It's only been a couple of days since Gia has been at Camp CDP, but I went down to ride her today.  Charlie said he did ground work and lunging with her yesterday, and she was perfect!  That definitely made me proud! Today, Hayley hopped on first, and took her through her paces.  Her main focus was on getting Gia to go froward, and then leaving her alone to figure things out.  Gia was a little looky at first, but then settled in to her job much quicker than she had on Tuesday.   I got on next, and did the same thing.  She easily moved off my leg, even into the canter (no dramatics!).  I had a difficult time (mentally) trying to let go and let her figure things out.  I feel safer if I am in control, with a short rein and lots of half halts, but then Gia feels trapped, and things spiral.  It may sound silly, but what really helped me was holding on to the neck strap, while keeping a slight loop in my reins.  The neck strap helped to give me the security I thought I needed, in case s

 I took Gia to CDP today for her lesson.  Due to the holidays, and a few other things, it's been several weeks since we had been there.  Hayley rode her first, since she was a little fresh, and considering her bucking issues of late.  She was a bit jittery with Hayley at first, but Hayley focused on keeping her forward, moving her off her leg, and staying soft in her hands.  After just a few minutes, Gia started to relax, and became more obedient.  Afterwards, I hopped on and put her through the same exercise, focusing on moving her off my inside leg, and moving her forward.  She was a little anxious at first, but quickly relaxed with me as well.   After some discussion, it was decided to leave Gia at CDP for about a week so that they can sort through her bucking issue.  Hopefully, this will really help seal the deal, and we can move on!

 I worked with Gia lightly on her flatwork today.  After a little bit of stretching at the walk, I worked on bringing her up to medium walk, and back down to free walk.  Then I started asking for walk to trot transitions.  As usual, she was a bit resistant and against my hand.  I went back and forth with her doing lots of transitions, focusing on staying soft, until she was more consistent.  Then I added trot to halt to trot transitions as well. In addition, we worked all over the ring, with lots of changes of bend and direction.