It Doesn't Always Start Well...

I had a lesson yesterday with Ryan Yap. I usually try to get on early and at least start my warm-up before he gets there, but I wasn't able to. I began the warm-up and was getting frustrated because Fire has started with "thing" where he warms up with his head up in the air like a pig. I can't force him into any sort of frame because then our entire ride is just crap. So I asked Ryan if this "cow frame" was acceptable for warm up, and he said that it was, that it might be a phase and that some horses just warm up like that. So, I accepted it and moved on.

After that bump in the road we went on to have a good ride. I relaxed and so did Fire. We worked on shortening and lengthening his stride to get him to really sit down into his transitions. In the past, Fire has gotten very upset while doing things like this, but took it like a star and didn't act up at all. The exercise was to ride in a circle and ride one 1/2 on a long strided posting trot, and then the other 1/2 was a short strided sitting trot, keeping the same rhythm. Many times Fire came above the bit when shortening his stride, but as long as he did not curl, this was okay and I just kept him in the short stride until he gave in the neck to then let him out in the longer stride. This really helped to engage his hind end in the trot and made him very active.

The canter work was next, where we worked on picking up the canter from the walk. The first transition was generally crap because Fire wasn't necessarily paying attention. I find it helpful to speak to the horse and tell him "canter" before the transition at this point so he is ready for what I want and has an upward and correct transition during this training period. Once we began working that way, they improved greatly and were followed by a lot of praise.

We quickly moved into asking for a counter canter, which admittedly, we were not ready for. If you're not ready for something, then don't do it! We did an extra circle and came back around to try again for the shallow serpentine that we had been asked to execute. At this point we had better balance and it was performed without hesitation and with good jump and balance. So then we moved to a harder counter canter: across the short diagonal and then around the short side and across the short diagonal again back to correct lead again. Since we had been practicing three loop serpentines going from correct lead to counter canter, this was not difficult for Fire to do, and he stayed very well balanced and did not try to run or break. I could tell that Ryan was pleasantly surprised, and moved onto the next move, mini half passes.I do have to admit, that one surprised me! I didn't think that Fire was ready for me to ask him to move in the way a mini half pass would have him move in the canter, but he surprised me and seemed to move very well, and all the way from the wall to the centerline. What a champ he is sometimes!

After the lesson Fire was very tired and earned his vetroline bath and time out eating in the pasture. My butt and stomach are super sore today from all the work my muscles got in yesterday, and I can't wait to see what is is store for us next time. I can really see good marked improvements. And it was nice to hear Ryan say that he was very impressed with our progress since we're alone and I don't have him to help me often. A very nice thing to say I think.

There Must Be Something In The Air

Hell, I know that it has cooled off since earlier this week, but MAN did the horses all have something up their big round asses today!

I first got the the barn and let a few of the girls outside to get some exercise, and Meme tried to run me over. Alright, granted she hadn't been out yet and it was brisk and they were taking down (ie: the corn was being farmed) the field right next to the farm, so it was sort of expected and not the end of the world. I then got on Fire and decided that I'd like to go ride him out in the field that he usually gets turned out in and not ride in the ring. Though I've never done this before, I didn't think anything of it because it's the same place he's been turned out since he was a little boy. No big deal right? BAWHAHA! He threw a complete temper tantrum. Upon reading his behavior, which included sucking back in the bridle, pawing at the ground, chomping the bit and flicking his skin, I knew he was not confident and he was actually scared. Fire doesn't like to be alone, and though I was on him, I felt like he was feeling alone during this whole thing. I tried to console him and sit heavy to show him that I was confident (but light enough so if he did take off or shoot into the air like a rocket I wasn't going to fall to the ground like an idiot rock).

I didn't fall off, nor did I get off. I sat confident and patted him and talked to him and pushed him around the property (stupid horse... he's lived here his whole life), but I realize that we've got to do A LOT more work on being alone. We've probably got to do some work with being turned out alone (he usually gets turned out with two other horses and they are very much so the three amigos). He needs confidence, and I'm there to help him with it. But man oh man, is it scary to think you're on top of a 1400lb animal that does not have confidence and is thinking that the smart thing to do right that moment is to suck back and then rear. Gotta work on that one before a show...

What gets the Blue Ribbons?

Though my career in riding and in life I've won many blue ribbons for different things. I've won them for artwork, for speech competitions, for moot court competitions, for dog training endevors, for poetry writing, and for horse shows of course. To this day I believe I still have giant Nostrums boxes under my childhood bed packed tight with ribbons from every event I've ever done.

Not everyone shows though, or understand how it works and I have been asked how one person gets the blue ribbon over the other horses in the competition, and what are the different components that are looked at, that come into play when being rewarded. And how the HECK, as a rider, do you get yourself to line up with what the judge wants that moment to get that ten cent rosette and three drop ribbon that will be placed with the rest in do time.

Well, there are many different ways that one can come about a blue ribbon while at a dressage show, and those would be (in no particular order)...


By default. Sometimes I have been the one who stayed in the arena. Sometimes not. If you're the lucky one that can keep your "cat in the bag" while the others all lose their minds, you win. Great job!

By having the nicest horse. Shameful feeling, to school the babies and take ribbons from newbies and kids. Note to self: remember to show unjudged next time under those circumstances. This happanes a lot when you have a young really nice mount and want to show a low level to get this horse use to the grounds/getting out/showing and you're up against "the back yard gang" of the local weekend warrior kid's riding club. Whoops. But you still win.... score one for BLUE!

By surprise. Sometimes you don't know your horse is a rockstar until it happens. This is a nice surprise. You look at the line up for the day and think you'll find yourself as a good mid-pack contender... only to see that you've blown them all out of the water. Nice. Savor that one because it's real and it has to do with training.

By determination. That you will beat the woman whom has been running down your home-bred Warmblood, or your Throughbred all season. She has an excuse afterwards but you have a 69% and it's the last show to qualify at. Sorry to say, it felt great. Take that snooty dressage queen!!

By luck. The judge looked down during the airborne canter depart. Or you have Burton as a judge and he most likely fell asleep for a portion and then asked the scribe or gave you the benefit of the doubt.

By accident. Pigeons fly up and your horse gives you an extension he never had before and never will again. As long as you stay on and don't scream out... you're golden. Go pick up your ribbon.

By hard work and consistency. I wish this one seemed to have more to do with it all but looking back, it really does appear to be somewhat random. But without this you're not even getting your horse on the trailer. Have to get at least to point A (and enter collected canter...)

Setting Goals

As the weather starts to change and the summer hair begins to shed off, I started to think about prepping for the upcoming cold months. Personally, I hate winter up here in the freezing north and I despise going to the barn at 5pm and already having it be pitch black out and below freezing. This is also the time of year when my trainer heads south for the Florida circuit so I'm left completely high and dry, unless there is a clinic set up or something (not that I can afford/take that many lessons in the first place, but its more than zero.)

So, I was thinking about setting some goals for myself and for Fire to try to get to by the end of the winter. This might help me to stay motivated and to actually keep creeping toward things, even when I'm stuck in the indoor and I feel like I'm not going anywhere all winter.

I find having short term goals to be very beneficial. Obviously the long term goal is to get up back into the FEI ring, but when that is your goal you can sometimes feel like you'll never get there and become discouraged, or feel like you're moving at a snails pace and lose your footing.

I also think its good to realize it's not the end of the world if you don't reach your goals by your set time too. I think that goals should be lofty and out there so if you were to reach them it would be a big feat. So, once you do get to that time.... say... early March, you reevaluate what you set up for goals at the time and then you see where you actually are at, what portions of those goals you did meet, which you did not and then figure out why you fell short and reassess things. This at least keeps you moving forward on your training continuum and keeps you motivated and you can actually see your process.

Though I wish I had a fun little app for my smartphone to *click*click* on and keep track of goals and things, I do find that this blog itself is a rolling "goal check" for me. I write and try to keep a very realistic outlook and open mind to things.

Genius Moment

This photo doesn't show the moment I'm speaking about, I just loved the power it shows. Look at that tail flip! Woosh!!! Anyway...

I wasn't able to ride for a few days in a row because I was out of town. Because of this, I thought I would come back to a horse who was stiff and just needed some good long, low and super stretchy work. This isn't uncommon and how we usually have to work many of our "first day back" days. I think this is a good frame of mind and body to have for restarting work when you've had time off (for both horse and rider). So we stared our ride and I thought it was going to be the usual first ride because he was fighting the bit some and was way above the bit. I began our work with a few large figure eights with hands wide asking for a low frame and he gave in right away, telling me that he was more ready and willing that I first thought. He actually then came up and moved into the bridle very nicely and with some very even back movement. I thought "okkkk", and just went with it.

Since my own back wasn't in a good place to be doing some "tough" work for the day, and Fire seemed to be in a really good upward place in his bridle, I thought we could work on some mediums and lengthenings in the trot. He did the mediums quite nicely but needed some more sit down for his lengthenings to really be engaged properly. This is where the genius moment began because I thought I'd ask him for some 1/4 turn on the haunches. If you've read before, you know that Fire can get a little nervous with the "slower" movements of collection, so in the past when I've tried to even think about this movement it's just been a disaster. IE... I think last time I tried he kicked a hole in the indoor wall and he tried to toss me out the open door in the side of the arena. No joke.

We began by walking to the left against the wall in a collected walk with the whip to the outside near the shoulder. I put both reins in my inside hand and brought my outside leg very far forward near his shoulder to let him know that I really wanted him to move his shoulders away from the wall in this movement. I spoke to him this entire time to keep him quiet and in a forward motion. It is very important to keep the motion forward while turning and keep the horse into the bridle without sucking back, and without "spinning" around. And low and behold... Fire did it like a champ. It wasn't the tiny pivot, but I'd say it was very very very close to it, like he barely came off of the wall and he did not get nervous and he stayed forward and into the bridle and he then did not get nervous when I asked him to do it again, which is wonderful.

I think this shows that he is beginning to grow up some. He is accepting work in his life and that things that were once hard are not always difficult and can be overcome without a fuss. Which makes my life just that much easier. This ride was one of those rides for the books. One of those rides that you want to keep in your head to recall when you want to crumple up in a ball. It was a great day of clear communication where I didn't have on any spurs, where we "spoke" mostly through the saddle and accomplished a lot.

Gymnastics

Today we had a great ride that was mostly compromised of gymnastics. Fire started our ride not wanting to connect and be through today. Granted, I hadn't been out there for a while and he had a good 4 days off with no instruction. So, when you're given a lemony horse, one has to be able to make something of it, right? Right.

So to get him connected and thinking in the correct frame of body, and frame of mind we began with some big 3 loop serpentines, and then worked into some good leg yields from the center line. Once I started asking him for the leg yields, it was like he knew what I wanted from him and began working correctly from back to front and into my hands. We were then ready to work into the gymnastic part of the ride. Since Fire had started so evasive, I wanted him to understand that the reins go all over the place, but the constant is that I need him to keep searching out for the contact without getting upset (he tends to get frustrated with this concept). So we began in the trot because this is what is easier for him and what he is most familiar with. I'd ask him to come up into the frame for one 20m circle, and then ask him to stretch down and out for a BIG 20-25m circle and then back up into the collected frame. Once in the collected frame we would go straight down the 1/2 of the long side, then around the short side, and then I'd ask him for a medium trot down the long side. After that I would ask him to collect up while going back into our 20m circle, and once he collected from the medium, I would begin again into the bigger 20-25m stretchy trot. I noticed that with this gymnastic movement up, down, up, and out he began to carry himself very surely and correctly.

After the trot work I actually did some canter work. Fire really HATES walk work, so I decided to do it last. In the canter we worked a similar up, down and out. In this he is not very good at bringing himself out and just wants to go down. He's not on the forehand, but likes to keep his head down when he runs, even while in turn out. I'm sure in further training I'll just find a way to reward him when he does bring his nose out here or there.

The final work was done at the walk. What use to happen, and if you read through this blog you'll see, that Fire likes to rear and gets very upset while doing walk work. So, I knew there would be some tension while I was trying to work him in this gait. So, I slowly was asking him to walk forward and marching, while having a loose rein and then having short spurts where we did collection. He did not throw a "Fire" tantrum, so that was progress. I increased the amount of time I kept him in the collected frame and by the end of the ride could get him about 1/2 around the ring before letting him back down into a looser rein walk. The only protest he showed was grinding his teeth on the bit. Though nasty, that's much better than what I've run into in the past.

I think this was a good ride that showed how far he's come in his ability to shorten and lengthen his body properly when I ask. It's a very important step in the training process and sometimes can get lost while one is thinking "collection collection collection". I'm sure while we continue to keep work like this strong, our lengthening trots will come very easy when I eventually ask for them in full force. Fire has an extremely free shoulder (see: "Fire likes to Spanish walk when he's pissed) so I'm sure he'll have magnificent movement in the extensions.

Bonus: another fellow boarder mentioned how Fire looks to be losing weight! Finally he's starting to lose his giant white belly some! Maybe he noticed that I was losing some, so he thought he'd try to as well.

bob-omb!

Today it was a bit cooler out than it has been for the past few weeks. I had gotten use to walking up to the stall to a lackadaisical young man that didn't care whether he worked that day or just had an apple and went back to bed. I knew today was going to be different when I walked into the barn to him screaming and could see black and white spots bucking and rearing around the end stall. I thought that he might paw through the stall mat before I opened his door, I knew I was in for some sort of interesting ride.

He stood nice for getting tacked up, which was great because the biting flies were out and not showing much mercy. I though that maybe his mini "hi Mom" tantrum was a fluke and it was just him showing how excited he was to see me.

No dice.

I started him inside just in case he pulled something quick and fast right off the bat. Did he? Not yet. We had a great start inside, riding around with another horse in the ring. He seemed to be listening well and moving off of my leg correctly, so I thought I'd go outside. I mean, we hadn't been able to ride out there with the weather for some time now, so it was a great excuse to get out there. Once he was on his own and not by anyone else, it was game on. Now... we've ridden outside countless times with cars and semis blowing by, tractors pulling up, tarps blowing in the wind... everything. Today there was nothing special going on, but Fire saw ALL NEW THINGS. All of a sudden it felt like I was riding a real-life bob-omb. You know, those bombs from Mario brothers that walk around minding their own business, until just the slightest thing sets them off, and BOOM! Shit everywhere.

So we're going along and I'm trying to get him out of bob-omb mode. At this time we're trotting along and I'm trying to get him to listen, so I'm doing some easy things but things that will try to get his head back in the game. I start just doing figure eights, except that every time we switch directions and I put my new inside leg on, it was like it was hitting airspace. He would just totally curl his body around my leg and toss himself out to the new outside. ARG! I haven't been so aware of where my feet where in the stirrups for a VERY long time, but today I was because I felt like I was riding on a nonexistent horse for a while there... a nonexistent horse that at the drop of a leaf was going to explode. It was so strange, everything that moved he was super sensitive to and had a "oh LOOK" face on with his head up in the air. I pushed through a majority of it and decided to not tempt to Gods and went back to the inside arena to walk him out.

Once in the indoor he no longer felt like a scared bob-omb, but like a pissed off child who just wanted to be done. I tried to walk him and he started pawing at the ground. This is a telltale "Fire is throwing a fit now" sign. So... we went back to work. Except this time the work consisted of a bunch of transitions... transitions that were each met with a twist or a buck or attempted rear for about... five attempts. After the five attempts we had two very clean walk canter departs without him throwing a hissy fit, and then we stopped and just stood for a while in one place.

Its nice to know that that last tantrum only took about five attempts by the Fi man. I feel like even though this post may look negative, that there is a silver lining. Every horse has a rough time here or there, but its good to know that Fire is seemingly growing up some and isn't protesting for the entire ride.

A Great Lesson

I had a lesson yesterday with Ryan Yap at 1pm. Other than lightly perspiring (who am I kidding, it was gross and sweat was dripping down my back and off of my face), the lesson was a total success. I'd be lying if I said I had 100% confidence when I went into it. Since the last one was so bad, I was scared that Fire was going to have a repeat performance again this time.

I recently changed Fire's bit from a hollow broken snaffle, to a copper solid snaffle. I think the added weight and different type of metal in his mouth has been very helpful in our training. I find that he is wanting to hold the bit more consistently and since he now has more "respect" for it the connection is easier to find and his ability to just disregard the bit and toss it in his mouth is a lot less.

In the lesson we worked hard on our downward transactions and stretching. Since Fire hadn't properly been sitting with his bit for some time, he had learned a few bad habits. He likes to pull through the rein and pull me off of my center of balance when I ask for a downward transition, mostly from the tort to the walk. Ryan had me doing 10m circles and asking for the transitions within the circle, so that Fire had to push out and hang onto the outside rein. It really started to work with him, but we stopped before getting a "breakthrough" with it because of Fire's previous history with getting upset at the walk and rearing.

Once the lesson was over Ryan said that he could tell a big difference in the horse and he was stronger than the last time that he came out. He said that our next aim should be to start working shallow serpentines at the canter and counter canter to try to gain more strength. We should be able to set oen up again for this next Wed... so as long as the weather cooperates (can we say 105 degrees with the humidity?!?!) I should be able to work him through some more things and go even further for our next lesson. I'm sure I won't be so stressed this next time.

The Basics Can Set You Straight

Today I decided that I would go to the barn and do a total overhaul of things. The ride itself wasn't necessarily an overhaul I guess, but I did try to work on the core of things. We worked a lot today working over his topline and to stretch down and out. Fire has a tendency to like to curl under and suck the bit up. So, in really moving him up and out today, I attempted to reestablish his foundation some more. On top of working on trying to get him to properly work over his back correctly throughout the ride, we also worked hard to get some more "schwing" established. To work on this bit of foundation, we worked great even circles and three and four loop serpentines. I tired very hard to make this a very forward thinking and happy work day for Fire, but one that really got the foam built up.

Our ride went well and the pair of us stayed happy and balanced. Since I had been studying for the IL bar for so long, I felt like I had been riding very sloppy, of halfheartedly in the past few weeks. It was really nice to get back on today and push the fundamentals and feel like I had a really good partner on a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

Beyond that, of course, Fire did get a megga scrub down and polish. Since he is such a dirty horse all of the time, having an entire week off just made him dull looking and grungy by nature. So I curried, and got a giant bucket of some brightly colored purple shampoo that turns his whole body purple, and went to work. I scrubbed every inch of the dirt ball, even the extra dirty parts. After I cleaned up an inch from his life, I braided his mane in hopes that one day it will finally fall to one side (a girl can hope). And I also cleaned and oiled all of my tack really well.

I think I did all of this because my world has felt so turned upside-down for the pest three months. The barn has always been my safe haven, and it was over the three months, but because of studies, I wasn't able to put in the time and effort that I would like to into things. not into Fire, and not into my pension for keeping things nice and neat and clean. So though I'm sure Fire will be dirty when I show up tomorrow (he had already tried to rub out the braids before I got a chance to leave the barn tonight), and my tack will get dusty once I ride outside in the sand tomorrow... my world feels just a little but more right after this major overhaul today. Sometimes I think its just getting back to the fundamentals, the basics and getting them all checked off to set things back in correct motion.

What to do in the heat?

So it's no hidden fact that it's hotter than hell out this time of year and that many horses don't want to do much. Hell, not many riders want to do very much either. So, even if you don't want to do a traditional training ride on these hot days because you can't get out to the barn at 4am to beat the heat (I know I'm not getting my ass out of bed that early!) then there are other options out there:

1. You can clean tack. I know, its not the most glamorous thing to do, but it needs to be done. And I bet your beeswax conditioner is nice and soft in the heat too. Just be sure to get all of the sweat and crud off of your tack first! I personally use the Passier Creamsoap and then the Passier Lederbalsam. The Lederbalsam is great and has beeswax in it but doesn't have oil so it doesn't over saturate the pores of your leather. Everyone has their own methods, and these are the things that are in my usual arsenal of tack cleaning. That, a good sponge, a clean rag and a tooth brush for those tough places.

2. You can scrub your horse, pony club style. I myself was never a pony clubber, but I've heard that if one was ever to follow all of the rules in the handbook that you would never have time to actually get on the horse. If you're deathly curious as to how a pony clubber meticulously grooms their pony to gleaming brightness, you can click here for the instructions and try yourself. I'm sure it will take up an afternoon for sure.

3. You can bond with your steed by doing some confidence building ground work. Set up a mini obstacle course and convince your horse to follow you through the areas either having your horse have to do tight turns, or have to go by or over scary things like big blue tarps or stacked up plastic chairs. This can help for future showing situations, and since your horse is hot and tired already hopefully he'll be less willing to spook.

4. Since it is so gross and smelly out, you could strip your horse's stall down to nothing and scrub it, but I would be VERY impressed if anyone did this in this heat. If you do, send me a photo and I'll post it here! That might help with some of the uber icky smell that can come along with the summer though...

5. Or you can just go to the barn and get some beer and sit around with your barn friends and shoot the shit. I personally vote for this one. Hose the horses off to cool them off a little and then set up shop under a tree with some of your gal friends and chat about whatever gossip is going on in your local dressage world, or your work, or just have a good laugh.

The Good, the Bad, and The Rearing

Alright... so I guess I should have quit while I was ahead yesterday. The ride was going great! First, it was a beautiful day out, you couldn't have asked for a better day to ride a horse; it was about 75 degrees outside with a slight breeze and not a lot of humidity, it was just wonderful. I was at the barn at the same time as another rider, but she opted to ride in the indoor, which gave me sole access to the outdoor arena while the sun was setting. So serene and a wonderful time to work on training. So we began and things started out alright. He didn't want to carry himself and was slamming up against the bridle, which is common with him trying to figure out how to correctly come into the bridle through his back and then down his neck and pole, so I just waited. We did some easy bending exercises where I tried to push him alternatively into the right and left reigns, just some easy 3 and 4 loop serpentines. He became supple and began to work very nicely. I began pushing him through while doing a walk exercise that I created. We would, for example, go to the right at the walk, and once we got the the long side, leg yield off the wall toward the 1/4 line until about the 1/4 line, and then I would push him into the opposite left reign, as for almost a turn on the forehand movement, but on a larger circle, until he became parallel again to the opposite long-side, and then leg yielded back to the wall. Once we got back to the wall I would ask for a canter transition, then asking for him to walk again about 5 strides later when we were nearing the end of the short side to prepare to do the exercise again. In doing this he became very balanced and I decided to take the chance to do some work with canter walk simple changes that we had been working on.

So we began the work on the canter-walk-canter changes across the diagonal, changing lead at X. He was a star. He did them and was balanced and really picked up the transition very well. There was a lot of "hop" in him and I was very happy with the movement. I then got it in my head to see what would happen if we went across the diagonal, and after doing a bunch of these in a row, didn't ask him to walk, but just really changed my aids and his bend. And you know what? It happened. A clean clear as day flying change. TADA. Now, no more of that... because we have do to counter-canter before we can start with those things. But that was fun, good boy.

And that's where I'm thinking I should have just stopped. I should have been happy to end there and just done a free reign walk and been done with it. But no, it was beautiful out, we hadn't worked that hard, and everything had been going so darn well!!! So what did I ask for then? Something so simple... connection at the walk. OH MY GOD. He lost his marbles. Mind you I had been trying to stay away from his face really at the walk to not impede his walk stride, but come on now, he's 5 and he can actually have connection and do some work. Fire disagrees. Walking if for relaxing to Fire, not for working. So he preceded to show me the tops of the trees by rearing and leaping in the air. WONDERFUL. I so wanted to be done and to do some easy walk work. SO then it was a bit of a.... discussion. You've all had them before. I wouldn't call it a "fight" because I wasn't going to fight a 1700lb horse that was rearing into the sky with me, not a good time to pick a fight. That's a good way to get a horse on top of you. But I did make rearing quite uncomfortable. We did work through it. It was icky and involved some odd leg yielding cow herding looking movements mixed with caprioles, and head flicking, but we got through it. Eventually I talked him down off of the baby tantrum ledge and we could finally walk with some look like a normal horse with our head in a semi okay position with actual connection (but not enough for my liking... baby steps.)

But I guess we need to take the good with the bad. Some rides, like one I talked about earlier in these posts, began like shit and ended up brilliant. This one just happened to be the opposite.

Attack Plan

Today's plan: get some really solid connection into the bridle and go forward FORWARD FORWARD (as Ryan would put it, because things tend to come in threes with him.)

I'm sure this is going to be a barrel of monkeys for me, so I'll be taking something for my back so I can really sit on Fire correctly to help him along. His issue seems to be an incredibly lazy inside leg in the trot once we really get going... so maybe today we can work on that.

I'll report back. Hopefully it'll be good and not all gobbly gook crap.

What a Difference a Year Makes

It has been a little over one year since I first broke Fire and started riding him. I looked back on things and it looks like I broke in in late March of last year. Though he is still Mr. Rollie Pollie in the middle I can see a marked difference in his ability to move. He is carrying himself much better and is listening to my aids with an understanding that I didn't think we would have when we first started out. I've taken two recent lessons with Ryan and I think they have helped a lot too. I wish I could afford them all the time because I can see a drastic improvement in my riding and in the communication between Fire and myself in just a very short amount of time. Below are some photos... some "then and now comparison.

First, then, last year about this time:



Then, some from yesterday. It was about a million degrees out, so excuse the tank top!!

What a difference a year makes!

take two

Today was a better ride, thank horse. I didn't have time to do much today, and frankly shouldn't have been out at the barn at all because of all the backed up work I'm going to have from having to miss class tomorrow to go work at the States Attorney's office, but I did because I was so urked at how things were left yesterday and the fact that I didn't finish on a good note.

We rode outside today and no one was there. There is something utterly sublime about having an entire barn to yourself as the sun sets. We worked through some of the issues that we were having yesterday, had much better connection to the left, not so much to the right... but the Trojan horse wasn't built in a day. We did have a slight snag when I tried to ask for connection at the walk, Fire has determined that lifting me up into the heavens via rear is a viable option. I bopped him on the head the first time and then the time after that they got smaller and smaller until he stopped his new "trick", but I don't think it's the last I've seen of the rearing. Something tells me that once we start working more collected moves later in life it may come back to haunt us.

I pushed decently hard for the amount of time I had, worked through the six cavalettis that Suzette and I had set up in the outdoor a week or so back. They really have been helping to get Fire to think about where he is placing his feet, and I do notice a marked improvement in his stride afterwords, if only for a minute or so for now.

I think today was a good "take two", a good second go at a work day. We both ended up pretty sweaty and gross at the end, and I'm sure Fire was happy to trot away after his shower up the hill with his friends to graze his night away (fatty.)

Fire is FIVE (but acts TWO)

Today is Fire's fifth birthday. I was determined to make it a point to have a talk with him. When I got to the barn, and before my lesson I went into his stall and gave him some of his special made birthday treats and told him it was time to grow up. Now, I told him that it was okay if he still wanted to get dirty, because even older boys like to get dirty. But that he had to now learn to suck it up and be able to handle more training. He needed to get a tougher skin and learn to push through the difficult things without throwing fits, because big boys don't throw fits.

So then, he promptly threw a fit.

Well, I guess it wasn't that "promptly," I did brush him and get his boots on and tack him up and warm him up... then he lost his five year old marbles. I was having a hard time getting him to come under himself and carry himself correctly. I was glad that I had a lesson that day, because Ryan had some great ideas. He had me really trying to push him out with the haunches and keep his forehand in, in about a 5 meter circle... kind of like a turn on the forehand but larger. It reminded me of a flower. An ugly flower because Fire didn't want to come under himself and up into my outside rein, so this exercise was helpful when it was done correctly but half the time it was a stiff train wreck. We tried other things too. We tried doing some reverse shoulder-in at toward the wall and then back to a natural bend. This worked, but Fire tends to get freaked out having his face shoved into the wall. So I started to get a little frustrated at the 30 minute mark and then Ryan took over.

And then the circus started.

Ryan was just asking for something simple to start, just walk/halt transitions to get him connected. Well, after 11 of these, Fire had had enough. He wanted to go backwards, which Ryan would not let happen. So they walked forward, but marching. But Fire did not want to march. So what does a young warmblood do when it doesn't want to give you a marching walk? They SPANISH WALK of course. Now, as an aside, we have never done any trick work, nor does he have any secret Andalusian blood in him. He was just being a brat and this was how he wanted to show his displeasure for Ryan making him go forward. Ryan then decided to give him a tap when he would detest and give his special walk, well then, Fire REALLY didn't like that. So then, he started rearing. First, the rears we just little hops. Just little hops that could be sat into and pushed forward... but when Ryan wouldn't stop tapping him for tossing in the Spanish walk, well- then the rears were full on hi-ho silver rears. Oh I laughed, because if I didn't I might have cried.

After 30 minutes of Spanish walk and rearing and tantrums had by all (even a swear by Ryan), Fi finally came through correctly with connection and listened. I foresee a few more fights like this in our future, but maybe now that Ryan did this one for us, the next one will only be 29 minutes long.

I guess he'll grow up when he wants to grow up. Today was not that day though.

good thing I had on my good breeches today

Though I didn't get launched into oblivion, it felt like I was going to today. I decided that I was going to ride Fire outside today... after not riding since Sunday and him not going out all week. So, we were off to a good start already. I thought he would just be a little spirited at first and then be able to get down to business. That's if there weren't two horses turned out about 20 yards away tearing ass around in circles in the turnout.

Oh it was ON.

We snorted and farted (okay... he farted) and squeeked and most importantly LAUNCHED in many different directions. I stayed on, thanks to my great Pikeur leather fullseats and 20 years of previous training. I was able to get him back on track every time and get him to push through the areas where he was deciding to spook and go back into whatever exercise and gait we were attempting before the mini explosions, but MAN was that a workout for my core muscles! At one point the barn owner so us go by so fast outside she thought she just saw Fire, sans me and came running. Oh I was there... I was just a blur in the wind sticking like glue to the horse's back. Yeeehhhh haw (?)

All in all I think it was a good experience. He was alone and there were other horses doing other things that he couldn't participate in... which is just too bad. I just can't imagine what wonders await us at our first show. Maybe I should get myself a football helmet and some more insurance... or maybe just some more great breeches and a prayer.

Ryan Yap Lesson #1

So I had my "first" in a long time Ryan Yap lesson on Fire on Friday. It went better than I would have expected for an over weight Oreo of a horse being pushed for an entire hour with no break.

To begin with, Ryan had me identify to him our big weak points, which currently are the all encompassing fact that Fire wants to be lazy and not correctly engage his hind end which makes him not then correctly come through the back and to the bridle. This of course, messes up the universe as we know it. There were other little things that I mentioned to Ryan, but we both knew that everything stems from the fact that fattie pants horse doesn't want to activate his HUGE rump and get movin'.

So, we begun our work. Ryan worked my brain by asking me to do quick trot walk transistors into 10m circles in renveres. The first time I did it I took a bit to think about the bend and what had to be compromised of all those cues to ask for all of those things because they seemed so counter intuitive. To ask for a ten meter circle right, and a walk transition, and then at the same time begin renvere left which causes the body to bend left on that right circle is just well... hard. I was so proud of my black and white little cow though, he didn't break down or even stiffen up! He took my cues and went with the flow of the training like a little dressage trooper. We moved through other training exercises, like leg yields on and off the wall in zip zags which I also thought would blow the little man's mind (and didn't.)

I guess all in all I was super proud of the performance that Fire gave, aside from the one mini tantrum that happened at minute 45 that lasted a short 1/2 circle burst before settling down again. I think I learned a lot from Ryan in the lesson about correct riding and how to move things forward in our training, but I also learned that Fire is growing up and that he can handle a lot more and that I don't need to baby him as much as I have been. I've seen so many horses get pushed thorugh training so quickly and watched them hate it and break down that I would hate myself if I did that to a horse that I would rather go too slow than too fast, but I don't want to bore Fire or make things mundane. Obviously he's strong enough and ready for the next few steps in his training. And I've got a great trainer that will help us get there.

Just when you think it's all going to hell...

Have you ever had a ride where you get on thinking you're going to "just do XY & Z and then be done" only to get into a royal mess of a situation? That was how my day started today. I didn't even put boots on him today because I thought to myself "oh, I'm not working any lateral work today, it's going to be an easy 1,2,3 kind of day today!" Ha. Then I got on.

We started with the classic locked jaw head in the air. This didn't phase me much because this is a new thing that is becoming a bit common that I've found I can work through... on a normal day. I tried my normal things and I got a bit of give, not what I would have wanted, but for a 4 year old, it was enough and I was happy. Then I began working our trot trying to just work him straight, since he has been really swinging his rear to the inside track. This is where all hell broke lose. Just the idea here of a mini- renvere almost sent us through the wall of the arena. Just me asking sent us into a fun little "fit" of bucking and rearing (thanks to Julie for the suggestion, it was obviously met with great contention!!!) and he continued to take out the wall for a good 15 minutes and tried everything to suck back, canter get free and away... anything but slightly bring his shoulders off of the track, not bend his neck and trot forward and correctly with his hind end. OOHHHH did I get the middle hoof on this one!! Not what I had planned for the day.

I had an ah-ha moment though, kind of on accident. It really was in thought to save myself from ending up a permanent fixture of the arena wall. To save my leg and life I decided to ask for the movement off the wall on the second track so he then physically couldn't kick the wall and couldn't push me into the boards. Then, like magic... he began to bend to the direction I wanted his body to bend, giving me his shoulder like I wanted and straightening out like I had asked. It was like this amazing break through. After that little moment the rest of the ride was a breeze. We had great 1/4 line shoulder-ins without locking or diving or drifting, our canter departs were straight and not leaning and he was really listening to where I wanted his shoulders or his haunches and was no longer feeling frustrated in my hands and tight in his back. We ended with an amazing four set of simple changes through the walk with 20m circles. They were absolutely "it" to ride. You know the "it" I'm talking about. They were up and under and right when I asked and perfect and straight and just everything they should have been and more. Its those moments, those moments that last a whole two minutes of wonderful bliss that make the previous 45 minutes of hell worth it.

Don't ride your Horse too Young:

The first thing to note is that as a two and a half year-old, Ranger is a "teenager". He's not mature physically, nor will he be until he's at least six. Despite a nice development of chest and a fine long neck, there is that unmistakable lack of length and muscular fullness to the hindquarters and the little weakness or lack of arch at the base of the neck that smacks of the gawkiness of sub-adulthood. The withers are not as high as they will someday be, either. Right now though I want to return to the issue of maturity and deal with that concept thoroughly.

Ranger is not mature, as I said, as a 2 1/2 year old. This is NOT because Ranger is a "slow-maturing" individual or because he comes from a "slow maturing" breed. There is no such thing. Let me repeat that: no horse on earth, of any breed, at any time, is or has ever been mature before the age of six (plus or minus six months). This information comes, I know, as a shock to many people who think starting their colt or filly under saddle at age two is what they ought to be doing.

This begs discussion of (1) what I mean by "mature" and (2) what I mean by "starting".

Just about everybody has heard of the horse's "growth plates", and commonly when I ask 'em, people tell me that the "growth plates" are somewhere around, or in, the horse's knees (actually they're located at the bottom of the radius-ulna bone just above the knee). This is what gives rise to the saying that, before riding the horse, it's best to wait "until his knees close" (i.e., until the growth plates fuse to the bone shaft and cease to be separated from it by a layer of slippery, crushable cartilage). What people often don't realize is that there is a "growth plate" on either end of EVERY bone behind the skull, and in the case of some bones (like the pelvis, which has many "corners") there are multiple growth plates. So do you then have to wait until ALL these growth plates fuse? No. But the longer you wait, the safer you'll be.
Owners and trainers need to realize there's a definite, easy -to- remember schedule of fusion - and then make their decision as to when to ride the horse based on that rather than on the external appearance of the horse. For there are some breeds of horse - the Quarter Horse is the premier among these - which have been bred in such a manner as to LOOK mature long before they actually ARE mature. This puts these horses in jeopardy from people who are either ignorant of the closure schedule, or more interested in their own schedule (for futurities or other competitions) than they are in the welfare of the animal. The process of fusion goes from the bottom up. In other words, the lower down toward the hoofs you look, the earlier the growth plates will have fused; and the higher up toward the animal's back you look, the later. The growth plate at the top of the coffin bone (the most distal bone of the limb) is fused at birth. What this means is that the coffin bones get no TALLER after birth (they get much larger around, though, by another mechanism). That's the first one. In order after that: Short pastern - top & bottom between birth and 6 mos. 3. Long pastern - top & bottom between 6 mos. And 1 yr. 4. Cannon bone - top & bottom between 8 mos. And 1.5 yrs. 5. Small bones of knee - top & bottom on each, between 1.5 and 2.5 yrs. 6. Bottom of radius-ulna - between 2 and 2.5 yrs. 7. Weight-bearing portion of glenoid notch at top of radius - between 2.5 and 3 yrs. 8. Humerus - top & bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs. 9. Scapula - glenoid or bottom (weight-bearing) portion - between 3.5 and 4 yrs. 10. Hindlimb - lower portions same as forelimb 11. Hock - this joint is "late" for as low down as it is; growth plates on the tibial & fibular tarsals don't fuse until the animal is four (so the hocks are a known "weak point" - even the 18th-century literature warns against driving young horses in plow or other deep or sticky footing, or jumping them up into a heavy load, for danger of spraining their hocks) 12. Tibia - top & bottom, between 2.5 and 3 yrs. 13. Femur - bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.; neck, between 3.5 and 4 yrs.; major and 3rd trochanters, between 3 and 3.5 yrs. 14. Pelvis - growth plates on the points of hip, peak of croup (tubera sacrale), and points of buttock (tuber ischii), between 3 and 4 yrs. ...and what do you think is last? The vertebral column, of course. A normal horse has 32 vertebrae between the back of the skull and the root of the dock, and there are several growth plates on each one, the most important of which is the one capping the centrum. These do not fuse until the horse is at least 5 1/2 years old (and this figure applies to a small-sized, scrubby, range-raised mare. The taller your horse and the longer its neck, the later full fusion will occur. And for a male - is this a surprise? -- you add six months. So, for example, a 17-hand TB or Saddlebred or WB gelding may not be fully mature until his 8th year - something that owners of such individuals have often told me that they "suspected"). The lateness of vertebral "closure" is most significant for two reasons. One: in no limb are there 32 growth plates! Two: The growth plates in the limbs are (more or less) oriented perpendicular to the stress of the load passing through them, while those of the vertebral chain are oriented parallel to weight placed upon the horse's back. Bottom line: you can sprain a horse's back (i.e., displace the vertebral growth plates) a lot more easily than you can sprain those located in the limbs. And here's another little fact: within the chain of vertebrae, the last to fully "close" are those at the base of the animal's neck (that's why the long-necked individual may go past 6 yrs. to achieve full maturity). So you also have to be careful - very careful - not to yank the neck around on your young horse, or get him in any situation where he strains his neck (i.e., better learn how to get a horse broke to tie before you ever tie him up, so that there will be no likelihood of him ever pulling back hard. And readers, if you don't know how to do this, then please somebody write in and ask!). Now, the other "maturity" question I always get is this: "so how come if my colt is not skeletally mature at age 2 he can be used at stud and sire a foal?" My answer to that is this: sure, sweetie, if that's how you want to define maturity, then every 14 year old boy is mature. In other words, the ability to achieve an erection, penetrate a mare, and ejaculate some semen containing live sperm cells occurs before skeletal maturity, both in our species and in the horse. However, even if you only looked at sperm counts or other standard measures of sexual maturity that are used for livestock, you would know that considering a 2 year old a "stallion" is foolish. Male horses do not achieve the testicular width or weight, quality or quantity of total ejaculate, or high sperm counts until they're six. Period. And people used to know this; that's why it's incorrect to refer to any male horse younger than 4 as a "stallion", whether he's in service or not. Peoples' confusion on this question is also why we have such things as the Stallion Rehabilitation Program at Colorado State University or the behaviour-modification clinic at Cornell - because a two year old colt is no more able to "take command" on a mental or psychological level of the whole process of mating - which involves everything from "properly" being able to ask the mare's permission, to actually knowing which end of her to jump on, to being able to do this while some excited and usually frightened humans are banging him on the nose with a chain - than is a 14 year old boy.

Now, let's turn to the second discussion, which is what I mean by "starting" and the whole history of that. Many people today - at least in our privileged country -- do not realize how hard you can actually work a horse - which is very, very hard. But before you can do that without significantly damaging the animal, you have to wait for him to mature, which means - waiting until he is four to six years old before asking him to carry you on his back. What bad will happen if you put him to work as a riding horse before that? Two important things - and probably not what you're thinking of. What is very UNlikely to happen is that you'll damage the growth plates in his legs. At the worst, there may be some crushing of the cartilages, but the number of cases of deformed limbs due to early use is tiny. The cutting-horse futurity people, who are big into riding horses as young as a year and a half, will tell you this and they are quite correct. Want to damage legs? There's a much better way - just overfeed your young-stock (see Forum postings on this. You ought to be able to see the animal's ribs - not skeletal, but see 'em - until he's two). More likely is that you'll cause structural damage to his back. There are some bloodlines (in Standardbreds, Arabians, and American Saddlebreds) known to inherit weak deep intervertebral ligament sheathing; these animals are especially prone to the early, sudden onset of "saddle back". However, individuals belonging to these bloodlines are by no means the only ones who may have their back "slip" and that's because, as mentioned above, the stress of weight-bearing on the back passes parallel to the growth plates as well as the intervertebral joints. However, I want to add that the frequency of slipped backs in horses under 6 years old is also very low. So, what's to worry about? Well...did you ever wish your horse would "round up" a little better? Collect a little better? Respond to your leg by raising his back, coiling his loins, and getting his hindquarter up underneath him a little better? The young horse knows, by feel and by "instinct" that having a weight on his back puts him in physical jeopardy. I'm sure that all of you start your young-stock in the most humane and considerate way that you know how, and just because of that, I assure you that after a little while, your horse knows exactly what that saddle is and what that situation where you go to mount him means. And he loves you, and he is wiser than you are, so he allows this. But he does not allow it foolishly, against his deepest nature, which amounts to a command from the Creator that he must survive; so when your foot goes in that stirrup, he takes measures to protect himself. The measures he takes are the same ones YOU would take in anticipation of a load coming onto your back: he stiffens or braces the muscles of his topline, and to help himself do that he may also brace his legs and hold his breath ("brace" his diaphragm). The earlier you choose to ride your horse, the more the animal will do this, and the more often you ride him young, the more you reinforce in his mind the necessity of responding to you in this way. So please - don't come crying to me when your 6 year old (that was started under saddle as a two year old) proves difficult to round up! (Not that I'm not gonna help you but GEEZ). If he does not know how to move with his back muscles in release, he CANNOT round up!! So - bottom line - if you are one of those who equate "starting" with "riding", then I guess you better not start your horse until he's four. That would be the old, traditional, worldwide view: introduce the horse to equipment (all kinds of equipment and situations) when he's two, crawl on and off of him at three, saddle him to begin riding him and teaching him to guide at four, start teaching him manoeuvres or the basics of whatever job he's going to do - cavalletti or stops or something beyond trailing cattle - at five, and he's on the payroll at 6. The old Spanish way of bitting reflected this also, because the horse's teeth aren't mature (i.e., the tushes haven't come in and all the permanent teeth) until he's six either. This is what I'd do if it were my own horse. Now I'm at liberty to do that because I'm not on anybody else's schedule except my horse's own schedule. I'm not a participant in futurities or planning to be. Are you? If you are, well, that's your business. But most horse owners aren't. Please ask yourself: "is there any reason that you have to be riding that particular horse before he's four?"

-Dr Deb Bennett

Sing Louder than Your Horse

I was recently forwarded a correspondence between two people by another fellow rider and found it interesting. The first was asking the second about the changed in dressage and how one uses the aide to effectively communicate with the horse. Now, I do think that the original writer was stretching things a bit far in what she has seen now, as opposed to 30 years ago, but I do think that the essence of what she was saying does right true of the change. Here is an exert of her question/comment:

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In my mind dressage is inextricably associated with the qualities I was taught to value: Softness and rhythm and a horse with a relaxed way of going and a soft mouth and a soft eye. The horses I see at this barn, including the one I lease, aren't anything like that. Some of them have huge gaits, I can see that for myself, but they move like pile-drivers, there is some rhythm but no softness and I see no relaxation. Also there is certainly no softness in their eyes, they are either rolling and you can see the whites, or they just look dead as if the horse's soul had left its body. And their mouths are certainly "dead" at least by the old standards, the riders brace against the horses and the horses brace against the riders; instead of communication through the reins I see a brutal pulling contest. I realize that is a melodramatic statement but that is what I see. In the "old days" we did use whips and spurs but more as reminders and "precision aids" and we were - at least at the barn where I boarded my horse and took lessons for twelve years - taught that bits and spurs were only ever to be used to communicate with the horse and never to be used to punish it, and that there were no exceptions to that rule.
Now I am being told that none of that was correct and that it's important that a horse have complete respect for the bit, and that the rider teaches that respect by showing the horse that it must always obey and behave or the bit and spurs will punish it immediately. This is apparently the new definition of submission - can that possibly be accurate?

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I find her comments very thoughtful of what she was seeing, and though I either believe that her trainer was off base at being able to describe things, or that she is being a bit indulgent in her description. Never the less, I do agree with the writer in saying that things have changed. People seem to be harsher these days, doing more forcing and less asking of the horse. Riders are now taught to be in a frame of mind that the horse needs to submit now, or face a consequence, instead of thinking that there will be long periods of waiting, and when the horse comes to terms and begins to go in whatever correct manner you are asking (not forcing) that there will be reward.

The person who responded said something along the lines of what I just did, but also included a good adage that was remembered from Betty Howett:
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On one memorable occasion, it was clear that the rider in the ring had one idea about what she wanted to do whilst her horse had an entirely different idea of what HE wanted to do. The conflict was quiet, but the tension was palpable, and it mounted until some of us began to feel a bit uncomfortable. At that point, Betty stepped in with a brilliant analogy. "Do you sing?" she asked. "Do you know that singing game that children play when they're riding the bus to school or to summer camp? The children on one side of the bus sing THIS song; the children on the other side of the bus sing THAT song, and the winner is the side that sings SO LOUDLY that the other side gives up and begins to sing that song too. Right now you're having a problem with your horse, but force isn't going to provide a good solution. You've got to get him to WANT to come with you and do what you want to do - YOU HAVE TO SING LOUDER THAN YOUR HORSE."

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I think this is good to remember as well: that we cannot just let a horse "run us over" while riding, but need to know when to "sing louder than your horse" and buckle down. I believe that this takes a skilled rider, and an even more skilled trainer to execute, and that it can be easily lost in the chase for the better stronger faster learning horse that gets you to Grand Prix or gets sold.

Its not about the final destination, but the journey getting there.