All The Kings' Horses

 I took Gia to CDP today for a lesson.  She got on the trailer perfectly fine, both at home and at CDP!  She also stood a bit quieter in the cross ties this morning while waiting to be loaded on the trailer.  She typically paws and dances in the cross ties on Tuesday mornings, but I've been pulling the trailer out for the last few days while she works, hoping it would help her to be more relaxed on Tuesdays.  It may be working ... Charlie had us start with a bit of haunches-in at the walk and trot today - primarily focusing on outside leg and outside rein to help stabilize her and support her.  He also had me use small circles (10 meters at the trot and 15 meters at the canter) to help collect her without having to pull on her - allowing the size of the circle to keep her in check.  She responded really well to that!   Her first canter transition was a little shaky, but she didn't buck.  After that, she seemed more confident, and even offered the canter several times in each di

 I worked with Gia on her flat work in the arena today.  We started with bending and softening at the walk and trot.  She was very responsive and obedient, so we moved on to some canter work.  She was a bit uncoordinated at first, and did throw in a small buck at the first canter.  I kept pushing her through, and she finally responded to my cues to go forward.  After that, her canter work was very good!  She was eager to canter, and sometimes picked it up before I asked, but she never bucked, so I let it go.  I worked on collecting it a little today.  That was difficult, and she kept falling out of it, but when she gets stronger, it will be easier. After our ride, I hopped off, untacked her, and prepared to put her on the trailer for a little practice before we have to get on for real tomorrow.  I used a pan of grain, and led her on the trailer the first time.  She went right on with no hesitation.  The second, third and fourth time, I stayed outside the trailer and sent her on ahead o

 I opted to free lunge Gia today in the round pen.  I only had a brief amount of time, and I wanted to work a little on her submission and obedience on the ground (to hopefully help with trailer loading).  She did fairly well.  At first, she was pissy about being told to go forward.  She did it, but seemed grouchy, with her ears back and tossing her head.  However, as we went along, her demeanor changed, and she became more submissive - lowering her head, licking and chewing, and relaxing her expression.  By the end, she was much more obedient and relaxed. 

 Gia and I had a lesson today at CDP.  However, we were quite late to it, because she decided that she did not want to get on the trailer this morning.  It was a bit windy, and it's possible that the wind caught the front door and startled her.  It's a bit of a stretch, but it's the only thing I can come up with.  She did get on the trailer, almost completely, at first, but before I could get the butt bar up, she flew back off. I proceeded to work with her on loading.  When she consistently refused to go forward, I took her to the round pen and lunged her until she seemed much more submissive.  However, when I attempted to put her on the trailer again, she again planted her feet and would not go.  I took a different tactic, and every time she refused to go forward, I lunged her right at the back of the trailer for a few rounds, and then attempted again.  The idea being that if she wouldn't get on then she would have to work, and if she did get on she would get to rest. 

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  We actually mainly focused on me, rather than Gia.  Suzin had me riding one handed, and working on using my legs primarily, and hardly using my hands at all.  At the walk and trot I had to close my leg, appropriately, until I felt Gia soften and bend.  Gia stayed very relaxed the entire time - no dramatics, and very obedient.  She was starting to respond quicker and easier by the end.

 I worked with Gia on her jumping in the arena today.  After warming up with the usual - circles, bending, and leg yields at the walk and trot, I also warmed up with a little canter work, using the neck strap.  She was quite good.  Not a hint of naughtiness.  I was also able to work a little on bringing her canter back as well as pushing it forward with no resistance.   When we started jumping, she was very obedient and relaxed.  She took the large crossrails and 2' verticals very nicely, but always landed on her left lead.  So, I worked on helping her land on her right lead.  When she tried to, she would get discombobulated, so I would bring her back to the walk, organize and try again.  Eventually, she learned to organize herself, and the jumps were better, and she was able to land on the right lead.

 I took Gia to the Carolina Horse Park this weekend for the second combined training competition of the year.  She lunged very well - fairly relaxed, right from the start, very little hollering and yearning for her friends, very focused. She was a bit more tense in warm up, and it took a lot of walking in circles with bending and leg yields before I felt like she was ready to trot.  Once we did trot, it was ok.  A little tense, but no dramatics.  I used her neck strap to make sure I stayed out of her face, allowing her to move forward, without feeling like I was out of control if she went too forward too fast.  For the test, I had to remove the neck strap, but it felt the most relaxed so far!  We ended up scoring a 29.06%, and received an "8" for our trot circle to the left! When I brought her out for the jumping phase, she seemed even more relaxed.  I used the neck strap to warm up, and she walk, trotted, cantered and jumped with no dramatics.  I let her relax for a bit, the

 I started Gia today with the same warm up - bending, leg yields, circles, changes of direction at the walk and trot.  When she was ready, I worked a bit on the canter.  She got a little spooked by some chairs blowing in the wind, and threw in a very minor buck at the first canter transition.  I put her to work on a small circle, and she quickly relaxed.  After that, she didn't give me any trouble at all with anything!  At the canter, I worked on collecting it a little, and helping her balance.  She was able to keep the canter a little better today.   With the jumping, I jumped several jumps in the ring, up to about 2'.  When she landed, I worked on putting her back together, and getting her ready for the next jump.  By the end, she was coming together much more quickly!

 I worked with Gia on her flatwork at home today.  We started with the usual - bending, leg yields, circles, changes of direction.  Throughout everything, I focused on keeping a connection, but not pulling or tightening, and making sure I softened when she gave me what I asked for.  I did the same at the trot, then worked on the canter.  There were no problems at all with our canter transitions today!  The main thing I focused on at the canter, itself, was collecting it a bit so it wasn't so strung out.  Gia ended up breaking to the trot a lot because collecting the canter is hard, but she did give me one good moment in each direction!

For some time now, Gia has been having small tantrums in the cross ties on Tuesday mornings while she waits to be loaded on the trailer to go to CDP - pawing, moving around, excessive pooping.  For some reason, it only happens on Tuesday mornings, not on show mornings.  I've tried a couple different tactics to get her to relax, but nothing seems to be working.  Today, I put her up in the round pen, instead of having her stand in the crossties, while I got stuff together.  She was pretty anxious right away - lots of pacing and running around, and a bit of hollering.  When I was ready to get her to load, I went in and started sending her around on the rail, changing direction often, and not letting her have a break until she showed some signs of submission and relaxation - head down, licking and chewing, etc.  It took a bit longer than I expected, but once she was quieter, I let her rest, and she came in to me very nicely and quietly.  I held her while Danielle put her shipping boots

 Gia has had a few days off due to a mild colic.  She recovered quickly, but I wanted to keep a close eye on her just to be sure, so no work for her last week. Today, I kept it very easy and just lunged her over a few jumps on a circle in the arena.  She worked on getting her foot work correct, especially to the right.  She had a hard time landing on the correct lead to the right, and that made it hard for her to get the striding correct between the jumps.  She did figure it out by the end though.

 Gia and I had drill team practice tonight.  This year, Gia is on two drill teams.  One is a pas de deux, where she will have to canter, among other things, (hopefully, we will have that figured out by the end of the year).  The other is a quadrille where she just has to walk and trot.  At tonight's practice, all we did was run through each test at the walk, so not too taxing on her.  Despite the very cold temperatures, she was actually pretty good.  She has no problems walking beside other horses, or having them walk in front of, or behind her.  There was a small break in between tests, while I was waiting for others to mount, so I worked a little with her at the trot, and a tiny bit of canter.  She was a little resistant to pick up the trot at first, but she wasn't naughty.  Same for the canter, and we only had time to do a tiny bit tracking left.  I focused on staying loose, but also asking for some bend and leg yield.  Overall, she did very well!

 It was super cold and windy today, and the horses were behaving accordingly - galloping and playing around.  So, I decided I was not going to ride Gia, but rather lunge her over jumps again.   I put her through the same exercise on the circle that I had done the other day.  This time, I was able to get her up to two 2' verticals on opposite sides of the circle.  She definitely understood the exercise much better, and was eager to get to the jumps correctly.  She found it easier to land on her right lead today, and was able to get her striding more correct, more quickly.

 I worked with Gia on lunging over jumps on a circle today.  I started with just 4 poles in each quadrant of a roughly 20 meter circle.  She quickly figured out the correct way to move her feet and the correct striding to make everything smooth.  She was also pretty eager to go over the poles, not trying to dodge out of the way of them.  When those were good, I bumped one of the poles up to a 2' vertical.  Tracking left, she quickly figured out how to negotiate everything, and was landing on the correct lead after the jump as well.  Tracking right was a bit harder.  She had a hard time landing on the correct lead, and also a hard time figuring out the best striding to make everything work.  She was able to get it by the end though.