Posts Tagged ‘Riding’

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Day at the barn

February 21st, 2009, posted in Horses

There was an informal natural horsemanship session at my barn today. One of the ladies started a three year old filly under saddle. The filly is a buckskin, Quarter Horse/Arabian cross. She is a rescue case and has not been handled much. She knew how to lead and not much else.

It was amazing watching how the filly responded and learned what was being asked. She is a smart little girl. She picked up what she was being asked to do quickly. She learned left, right, whoa, and was exposed to the saddle in about two hours.

It was amazing. She had her first exposure to the saddle and blanket and was fine with it being flapped all over her. She was perfectly content to have the saddle placed on her back and cinched. She could have cared less when the rider sat on her back.

Really amazing to watch. What an excellent filly and an exceptional, non-stressful experience for her first time under saddle.

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Sunday with the kids

January 18th, 2009, posted in Horses

isis_head.jpgSunday morning was the weekly riding lesson. My last riding lesson was last Sunday and it went well. Unfortunately, my back hurt so much the morning after I had to stay home from work.

Last night, I went to the company holiday party. Three hours of walking around in heels plus moving boxes out of my storage unit meant my back was a mess this morning. I took 400 mg of ibuprofen and rubbed my back down with sports cream before going out to the barn.

I warned my instructor that I might not be up to much riding before my lesson. We decided to focus just on walking and getting Isis to whoa.

Well, Isis had other ideas. I don’t know if it was the drop in temperature, because she is coming into heat, or what. I walked Isis once around the dressage arena and Isis immediately started her bouncy I-wanna-go-fast trot. I corrected her a few times by circling. Unfortunately, Isis was not calming down. I couldn’t ride like that today because of my back.

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Amazing Lesson Last Saturday

November 26th, 2008, posted in Horses

Last Saturday, Horsemasters sponsored a clinic at Rivendell Farm for rating for a Bronze or Silver Mounted and Unmounted tests (specific to Pony Club). Isis and I went to the clinic with Max (horse) and Ro (owner).

Isis loaded beautifully. She walked on without any trouble and stood next to Max in the trailer quietly. Isis and Max got along well. Isis even let Max eat out of her hay bag (first time that has happened!).

The lesson turned out to be just Ro and I so we did just flat work. Our instructored help get me to relax — which of course helped Isis relax. We worked on gathering the reins and then letting the horse stretch out and relax.

Isis didn’t trip once. She was relaxed and easy going the entire time. I was also able to get her attention more and keep her focused. I learned that when Isis drops her shoulder on the inside, if I sit up and pull my inside shoulder back, then Isis shifts her balance and weight. Simple solution.

Ro and Max did figure eights at the canter. His canter departs were exquisite. Ro was thrilled. He did so well.

While Ro was working on cantering, I took Isis to the opposite end of the ring. Ro and I were a little concerned that Isis and Max might be herd bound (and therefore a challenge) like Isis and Sierra were at Fossils Over Fences. We got lucky: Isis and Max turned out to be real buddies. Max knickered a little when Isis went to the opposite end of the ring, but nothing major. Isis didn’t even seem to notice.

Isis and I trotted figure eights (we’re going to tackle a canter in a private lesson) and worked on keeping her attention and focus on me. We succeeded at a walk and then moved up to a trot. She was excellent. Nice little bouncy trot, with her neck arched, and collected. gorgeous. And then Tish said let’s add some impulsion without adding speed. So I squeezed with my calves — and Isis did it! Her trot became rolling and rounded. Instead of feeling her push off so much I could feel her push *up*.

My instructor was amazed at how much better Isis and Max were doing.

You know what else we did? We rode the cross country course at a walk and went over a few of the obstacles. Isis was calm and happy, so was Max. I almost didn’t want to go down to the cross country course because of how difficult it was last time. I went any way and it was fine.

And then you know what she did to make the day absolutely perfect? Isis loaded on the trailer by herself!! That’s a huge improvement

When Isis and I were in the lesson with Max and Ro, Ro told me that Isis and I seem to work really well together and have a good relatinship. That’s my kid. =)

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Isis and Sierra

November 6th, 2008, posted in Horses

I got out of work later than I wanted and went to the barn. First time I was able to ride this week. (First week after daylight savings time.) Something about working hard to leave at 4:30 and then getting out and realizing it’s actually 6:00 pm… and I only had 30 minutes to tack up and ride before it was dark.

The ride started off pretty well. Until Isis’ barn buddy came out to be grazed. Isis could see Sierra and wanted to go be with the buddy instead of paying attention. Every time we came around the word area, Isis would speed up towards her buddy and would strain her neck to look at Sierra.

This was a (not fun) opportunity to see if the things we’d been working on in lessons would work. I focused on getting Isis to pay attention by riding in circles and pressing my inner leg to ask her to bend around my leg. Gradually she paid more attention. Susan, Sierra’s mommy, suggested doing transitions to help Isis focus on me a little more. Probably is, when Isis is like that it is difficult to slow her down. You let her go faster and she’ll keep getting faster.

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Riding in the Courbette Magic

November 3rd, 2008, posted in Horses

DSCN0868.JPGI rode twice over the weekend in the Courbette Magic dressage saddle. Both times, Isis and I had really good, productive rides. She is more responsive to my leg (longer stirrups, legs in right place… yup).

The more I ride in it, the more I like it. One of the ladies at the barn mentioned that she thought the saddle looked a little high in the withers. It doesn’t feel that way when I sit in it, though.

I feel secure in the saddle. The treated leather is a little grippy against my legs, so it provides extra support and stability. Isis also moves out well — much better than she does in her Zaldi all purpose saddle.

I took pictures of how the saddle fits on Isis’ back and of the pad’s sweat marks after an 1.5 hour ride.

I called Trumbell Mountain Tack Shop back. They were great: very knowledgeable about saddle fitting. The sales staff looked at the pictures I posted. Overall, they like the fit of the saddle. I should take another series of pictures with me sitting in the saddle. I’ve been given an extended saddle trial period, too. Awesome.

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Courbette Magic Dressage Saddle

October 23rd, 2008, posted in Horses

During my riding lesson on Tuesday, I did an experiment: I dropped my stirrup and rode as if I was in a dressage saddle. Big different on how Isis responded.

When you ride dressage, your seat is different then when you ride hunt seat. In dressage, you ride in a “balanced” seat: you sit back farther so that your upper body is up and down instead of leaning forward. Your stirrup length is also typically 2-3 holes longer.

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Riding lesson

October 21st, 2008, posted in Horses

Isis and I had a riding lesson this afternoon/evening. I hadn’t been able to ride on Monday. I had to make up time from Friday when I left early to take Stella to the vet’s.

My instructor asked me what I would like to work on. This was the perfect opportunity to work on problems pointed out by the show:

  • How do you correct a horse who isn’t listening and is more interested watching everyone else instead of paying attention?
  • How do you encourage a horse to accept the bit and bend when they start fighting you?
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Horse Show Report

October 19th, 2008, posted in Horses

Back from the show and man was I tired! I had been worried the show would be cancelled because of the rain we’ve had (plus the forecast). The show was on, luckily. I felt really good about our preparation for the dressage portion of the test. I was very nervous about the cross country part. We had only ridden on a cross country course once during the practise clinic a few weeks back. That was the first and only time we had been on a course.

The next morning I was up and at the barn early. (Early for me means before 11:00 AM on a Saturday.) Luckily the rain had stopped and Isis had not rolled when she had been outside. Susan and I groomed the horses and pretty soon we were on the way to the Fossils over Fences show.

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Riding Lesson: Share the enthusiasm!

October 16th, 2008, posted in Horses

Isis was *great*. I mean GREAT. We were relaxed and rode the dressage test twice. She did very well. She’s learned where to stop and could probably ride the pattern by herself (even though we have only ridden it like five times). She stopped square and stood quietly. Only pulled on me once. Big improvement.

The second part of the lesson focused on jumping. Isis gets excited and tends to rush when we jump. I told my instructor when we first started jumping. First time over, Isis was okay, second time we approached she really started pushing to go-go-go. Tish had me trot Isis up to 20 feet from the jump, walk for a few feet, and then trot again. Solved Isis’ rushing problem. Yay!

A few times over jumps, Isis landed on the right lead after both the first and second jumps. After the second jump, we turned to the left. She switched her front lead to the left but her rear kept on the right lead. Feels really funny when she does that. Tish had me go over the jumps again to watch what Isis would do. The second time, Isis picked up the right lead over the first jump and then the left lead after the second jump in anticipation turning to the left. Smart horse.

She said Isis looked great over the jumps. She saw absolutely no problem with us over fences. (Excellent news!) My instructor gets this glint in her eye when we talk about what Isis might be able to do. It’s exciting when your instructor gets as excited about your horse as you are.

I’m going out tonight to ride again. What fun! I’m actually looking forward to riding on Saturday. I have a good feeling about the show. I’m so glad I took two lessons this week.

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Riding lesson

October 15th, 2008, posted in Horses

I had a riding lesson today with Isis that went surprisingly well. We rode her first dressage test today (Introductory Test B, a simple walk-trot test). Last time I had ridden something like that was in college (been a looong time). We rode the test three times. The first time was just trying to get through the different movements. She tripped four times during the first run-through. She also pulled against me a lot. Frustrating.

The second time we rode the test, I was more focused and relaxed: we were going to “ride” instead of meander. Her tripping lessened. We still didn’t get the test down, but at least we could maintain the same speed for the trot and (mostly) keep the 20 meter circles round instead of square.

The third time we rode the test she was much better. Whenenver we went from the straight side of the ring into a corner, my instructor pointed out that I should bend Isis into the corners. What a difference that made! Down the last straight side towards the centerline, I pushed her into the corner. As we rounded the corner, she reached underneath herself at the trot as we moved. Amazing to feel her reaching underneath herself.

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