All The Kings' Horses

 I lunged Gia over jumps in the round pen today.  I started her with three ground poles, spaced about 9-10' apart.  I had her trot and canter through them, until she was steady and rhythmic.  Gradually, I raised all three poles, until they were about 2' high at their highest end.  She was doing very well with all that, so I added a towel draped across, and then the towel on the ground under the jump.  There was very little hesitation, and she went right over both obstacles in each direction!  Finally, I added another obstacle.  She did stop at it once, but it's possible that she just didn't have a good approach, because she came back and did it very well in both directions.  Apparently, she has recently decided that these are not scary jumps.  News to me ...

 I took Gia for a hack on the trail today.  She was very quickly startled by one of my pieces of tractor equipment that was covered by a tarp.  It took her a lot of time working on relaxing, then taking a step or two forward, then relaxing again, and repeating all that several times, before she touched it. I clicked each time she relaxed, and was planning to click and treat once she touched it, but she did a touch-and-bolt, so I had to re-approach.  We got there a little quicker the second time, then she touched it all over, with lots of clicks, and treats. We proceeded into the woods, where she seemed fairly relaxed.  When we came back out, I had wanted to hop off on the tailgate of the truck that was in the middle of the driveway where someone was unloading gravel.  I've slightly strained my ankle, so I've been trying to dismount (especially from great heights) onto some sort of stool or landing.  Gia would absolutely NOT get the side of her body clo...

 I worked on some dressage stuff with Gia today.  She started out quite nicely with a good stretch at the walk.  When I first picked up the trot, she was very resistant and fussy, so I worked on softening her with lateral work, while riding her very forward.  We did a lot of shoulder-in, leg yield and haunches-in at the walk and trot, and a lot of transitions.  She was becoming less resistant as we went on.  I was also able to get a good canter transition in each direction.  I could feel her wanting to bunch up and buck, but I kept her moving forward, and she wasn't able to.  Her canter to the left was the hardest.  She kept losing her haunches to the right, and thus, losing the canter.  When I was able to keep her haunches in, she was able to keep the canter.

 I worked with Gia lunging over jumps in the round pen today.  I set out three poles, about 9 feet apart each, and asked Gia to trot, and canter through them.  As she progressed, I raised them all up, and eventually added a towel over the middle one.  There were times when she did things very correctly, and there were times when she was much too fast and wild.  Towards the end, she wouldn't slow down at all, so I turned it into a "natural horsemanship" session with jumps.  Each time she sped up, I made her change direction, and kept her moving until she showed signs of submission.  By the end, she was much better.

 Gia and I had a lesson with Suzin today.  I had hoped we were turning over a new leaf, but things did not start out that way.  She started out with a fairly nice stretch at the walk, but when I picked her up and asked to trot, she shook her head, pinned her ears, and swished her tail.  Suzin had me immediately start to ride her very low, very deep, and very forward.  I did a lot of changes of direction, as well as transitions, looking for her to start behaving better.  She was better, but still wanted to be a little naughty when asked for an up transition.  Eventually, we moved into more lateral work, including shoulder-in, renvers, leg yield, etc.  She was mostly doing well with that.  At one point, she got fairly resistant, and broke, haughtily, into a canter, while I was trying to get her to do shoulder-in.  So, we did shoulder-in at the canter.  I didn't ask for any canter on purpose today.  By the end, she was more obedie...

 Gia and I had a lesson at CDP today.  Danielle was not feeling well, so I was on my own for the day.  I tried to get out to the barn a little early, but, inevitably, I was running a little behind.  Gia seemed to be in a good mood when I put her boots on and walked her to the trailer.  Then she stopped ... and refused to get on the trailer ... again ... and again ... and again.  Not a great start to an already crazy busy day.  Danielle heard all the ruckus, and eventually came out to rescue (one or both of us), and between the two of us, we eventually got Gia on.  No idea what bee is in her bonnet lately, but I sure hope it buzzes off soon! I left 15 minutes later than I planned, but I actually ended up getting there with plenty of time to be ready for my lesson right on time.  I filled Charlie in on Gia's antics of the past week, and asked him to lunge her before I rode today, hoping for a "reset".  Except for backing up perfectly, at f...

 I took Gia for a hack on the trail today.  It was quite windy here, and she was a little jumpy at everything blowing around.  She paused for a few minutes before heading into the trail.  Once on the trail she seemed more comfortable.  Until we came to the new creek on the trail.  We got 4 inches of rain last night, so the "muddy area" on the trail was quite flooded, and was actually more like a creek.  She stopped there for a long time.  I let her relax, and then urged her forward. She would go about one step forward, then try to back up a bunch.  Backing up is not allowed, so I kicked her or smacked her with the reins (I had not brought a whip) until she went forward.  We went through that dance several times.  I was finally able to get her to put one foot in the water, so I hopped off and led her the rest of the way through.  As she got through each wet section, I gave her a treat.  Hopefully, she will be more willing n...