Schooling success

We made a trip to Water Farm on Monday evening after work to do some schooling, with Sarah and Franks. It was a thank you for us helping out at the second dressage clinic last weekend. Can't ask for better payment than free use of a lovely indoor arena! It was made all the more interesting when Nancy joined us. This is Nancy:

She is very opinionated, and was not interested in the slightest in leaving us to it. Luckily Rio wasn't too worried about her, although he did avoid her for a couple of rounds. We did some lovely demi-volts along the opposite side of the school, and then set back to it, and he was fine. 

We had some fab movement and work in the trot, and he's really starting to work better from behind now - which followed through into tonight's session at the yard! I was a little disappointed with the canter work (or lack thereof!) at Water Farm, after we hacked out twice at the weekend and did none at all. I thought he'd be itching to get going. 

Tonight I was very pleased with everything he did, on the ground and in the saddle. He stretched down and forward beautifully by the end of the session, and we managed our longest canter in our grass arena yet - and he didn't drop out of it on his own, I asked him forward to trot! As a little bonus my friend was having her horse schooled by a mutual friend who teaches, and as we were trotting around at the end, he gave me some pointers on getting Rio working more effectively from behind and pushing down and forward. I was absolutely beaming by the end, but shattered! 

Absolutely brilliant discovery - take feet out of stirrups, and let them drop down, and Rio stops dead in a perfect square halt. 

Not so good when I eventually come to wanting to work without stirrups, but interesting nonetheless. I ride quite short, so it must feel very odd to him when my legs stretch down! 

After Franks had a bit of a meltdown on our casual walk out on Saturday, courtesy of the two practising trial bikes I inadvertently took us past, I decided to take Rio out for a casual walk up the road on Sunday morning. I was determined to clock up another solo ride, and this one was a bit of a challenge that I ended up being proud of. 

We crossed the road, where he took offence to something (still no idea what!) and promptly spun to the right, and took off up the 3 foot grass bank. Onto the farmer's field. Not good! I used my recently learned trick of lifting my right rein to bend him and disengage his hind, and brought him back quickly, before too much damage could be done to the crop... I whisked him straight back off at the corner of the field, where he still put up an argument about proceeding up the road. After a moment of discussion, with a couple looking on from their car across the road, he eventually got on with it, and we marched on our way. 

The ride was made up of little victories; sitting the spook, not turning back and making him listen to me, not turning around at the top of the road because my nerves were shot, and having a great trot across the two fields. The trip back down the hill was relatively uneventful, which was lovely. 

Our first go at dressage!

As promised, here is the video footage of our first ever dressage test.

Even though it was amongst friends, and intended as a bit of fun, I was still SO nervous beforehand! Those four little letters are just terrifying - t.e.s.t ...

You will notice that my reins are a bit loopy - this was intentional, and intended to assist me keep them a consistent length. I have a habit of playing with my reins, letting them slip through my fingers, collecting them, and the circle continues. We weren't after collection here, just relaxation and a nice rhythm. I hope you'll agree that the rhythm side turned out pretty well. 

Comments on our sheet were as follows:

1. Nicely on centre line

2. Lovely fluid and free flowing trot

4. Good trot

7. Needs to show more stretch (he was supposed to walk out on free rein on the half 20m circle left rein, and I was quite surprised when he didn't stretch down as he's usually very good at it!)

9. Energetic transition (yep... we nearly took the judges out with us going into canter on that bottom corner haha)

10. A little forward (I was pleased he went up into the canter and maintained it, so I didn't try and tweak anything this time - that's something we will work on)

14. Broke early (didn't quite make the whole of the second shape, but again I was super pleased with his effort and he did drop into a lovely trot, so I decided to stick with it)

15. Good centre line

16. Lovely square halt

General comments:

Delightful youngster! Good paces, very forward. This could be controlled better going forward by better rein contact. Quietly ridden. When you both have more experience this looks promising!

63.2%

Happy mummy. Happy Rio - look at his little face, he's adorable!

Positively Spring

The pole clinic went well! This is our first time over the new poles at Wendy's. Having done coloured poles before, it never struck me to take him over them before we started working with them. His beautiful bascule was from a trot, as he tried to keep us both safe from the blue and black pole monster! (Hubby says the poles are white and gold...!) When I took him back around to walk over it, he didn't want to go anywhere near it, but after 5 or 6 small figures of eight over the poles, we were all good. 

I definitely need to take Rio out off the yard for a hack this weekend, as we schooled on Monday night and this morning before the farrier visited. He worked very well both times, and has started to settle more in our outdoor arena. Or maybe that's me. We are working more consistently together, and I have been trying to work more on my breathing to enhance my communication with him. Bringing him down from trot to walk with a sigh along with my aids has proved to work well, but walk to halt still takes a little more. 

Today we did some canter work, and although the left rein was a little touch and go, his balance on the right rein was much better. We had a lovely rhythmic 3 beat canter from A, doing a 20m circle, and back up the long side, where I asked him back to trot before the corner. It was the first time I've felt able to ask him to collect a little, as opposed to getting him into the canter and letting him settle into the pace he wants to keep him in the canter! He is also responding much better to my carrying a schooling whip. It is only there for when he pushes through his shoulder, as he's lovely and forward anyway. He's really getting the hang of it now, and as soon as I touch it to his shoulder, he instantly straightens up and moves over. We even managed a bit of leg yield on both reins today (and once in trot too!)

Last night (much to Rio's dismay) was bath time as the temperatures had shot up. He was a bit of a fidget bum, but once he realised that the hose stayed on him no matter where he moved to, he eventually gave in. Well, for a couple of minutes anyway. Then he had to test it again. I did feel a bit bad, as by the end he was shivering as the temperature did seem to dip off all of a sudden. 10 minutes with his waffle rug did the trick to warm him back up again though, and he's lovely and soft today! 

I now have a copy of our dressage test, which I will be editing and uploading soon - super excited, you can see our super speedy dressage cantering antics!

Turbulence!

Life has it's UPS and downs.

You will never fully appreciate the ups

unless you have some downs

It has been a turbulent few weeks since my last post, packed full of riding, not riding, and plenty of peaks and troughs. 

Peak

The dressage clinic. Wonderful. Rio behaved impeccably, despite being absolutely shattered by the end of the lesson in the morning and refusing to go up into canter. He redeemed himself immensely when performing the test in the afternoon - 63.2% in our first test ever! Even though he dropped out a little early from the canter on the second rein. His trot was fab, he's got a lovely rhythmical trot which suits dressage very nicely it would seem. The day wasn't without it's drama however, as a friend's horse slipped whilst cantering a 20m circle, and went over, smashing her big toe. Luckily no broken ankle or leg, but it was horrifying to watch unfold (seemingly in slow-mo!)

I think he was pretty pleased with it.

Trough

Clipping was not such a fun experience. Despite having had a nice relaxed leg stretch after the fun at the clinic, and him practically falling asleep on the spot when we got back, those clippers still instil the fear in him. I may have to resort to him needing mild sedation to get this done moving forward, and save us all some stress. He is back to his handsome ways now though, and has undergone a full clip this time!

Peak

After a few days off, we had a lovely ride out in the countryside with a couple of friends. My gosh was it windy, but all four boys were very well behaved - even on the big hills where things might have gotten messy. Last Friday, after a few more days of doing nothing, Rio came in and we did some schooling. We are focussing not so much on a full contact, I am looking more for him to seek the bit out for himself, and working a little longer and a little lower. We will be working up and in from there. He did very well, and was wonderfully relaxed. As a treat, he had his whole field for the night, so he could enjoy some proper green grass!

Trough

Too much proper green grass!

The fun returned on Saturday morning, including (but not limited to) 

spooking at anything and everything possible

freaking out when I turned him around outside the gate to close it

running back into the field

twice

being on his toes walking up - cue him being sent out around me in a circle for a few minutes

fidgeting every time I went to pick up a foot

standing on my foot

being a spooky sweetheart on the way back down to the field, with freshly picked feet, and his rug changed

When we walked back down, I imposed some in hand schooling to keep him busy. We stopped, started, walked, jogged, stepped back, and he did it all foot perfect. He's so lucky I love him to pieces! 

Peak

Last night, with carrot stick in hand, I made my way to the field to retrieve the boy - "I'm taking no prisoners tonight" was my text to Sarah! Of course, he didn't bat an eyelid at the gate, didn't dance about, and barely fidgeted whilst I got him ready and tacked up. Just another day... He got lots of cuddles and strokes. We went for a windy wander with Sarah and Franks around the field next door, and after a silly spook from Rio in the corner, where I sat tight - I took us off around the village for a proper leg stretch. It was trying to drizzle, but it wasn't too bad, and I felt much better for having taken him out.

Even better - we are having a pole clinic with a friend on Easter Monday, and I'm really looking forward to it. Watch this space! 

Foto Friday!

Redressing the balance

Sorry for the silence from the Eastern front here, it's been a busy couple of weeks, and a bit of a tough time last week also. No fear, things are most certainly looking up, and don't worry - Rio is fine! I've just had to make some changes to my own routine, as it appears that the yard was slightly taking over my life. 

There has finally been a little bit of riding going on, in amongst all of this though! We had the farrier out last week, and he's said that if we are going to be doing more road work than we already are, that Rio will need to have back shoes on. I'm not so keen on that, so fingers crossed now that the nights are drawing out and the weather has been drier, we will be able to do some schooling and cut down on the roads! Although the school is also quite hard at the moment, with the sudden stop in rain. We just can't win haha.

We had a fab ride out the weekend before last, we found a new trail which involved everlasting rolling hills. The boys loved it. No sooner had we hit the bottom of the first hill, Rio threw in an all-four-feet-off-the-ground jump because he was so excited! Luckily it seems my seat has developed since the last time he did this, and with a few strides of walk, we were off again. I'm not a fan of going down hills, but a few more goes on this route, and I'm sure that fear will soon be gone. What was even better, was that he wasn't too hot and sweaty when we got back, and despite his sweaty face and eyebrows, his chest and shoulders barely broke a sheen. (With all those hills, it's no wonder! It was all push, push, push!)

He had 9-10 days off after that weekend, as it was hubster's birthday last Sunday, so he was left to chill out in his field. Sarah brought him up for me on Wednesday evening, as I need to do some schooling with him before the dressage clinic next weekend. If he can take the attitude he had on Wednesday to the clinic, I will be ecstatic. He was going off the leg beautifully, was responsive to my weight aids (however clumsy they are currently...) and we had a couple of nice canters. He still drops out of the canter, but they're gradually getting longer. This may be a bit of an issue on Sunday however, as the test we are riding is prelim 12, which involves cantering the long side, circling in the middle, and cantering around to change the rein across the diagonal. Hm. He even was coming into a lovely natural outline for a few strides at a time in walk. Needless to say, I felt much better after that session. Especially when he spooked 90 degrees off the track, and my bum stayed right where it was! Haha. 

After a long day

There's nothing more relaxing than a peaceful groom down at the yard. I've been having a bit of a "low" day today, and wasn't sure how Rio would be as it's been a while since I've felt like this. I needn't have worried, the wind kindly calmed for an hour or so, and although he did have his usual protest at coming out of the field, and a small argument once we were out, he was an absolute star.

He stood perfectly whilst I picked his feet, rubbed him down with the rubber curry comb, then sprayed up his mane and tail before vigorously attacking his mane and trying to tame it over to the right side. I was amazed at how relaxed he seemed, it was a pleasant change. As you can see, he was more than happy to pose for his photo to be taken! I'm sure he had a nice roll a few minutes after I left, but he looked lovely for a while, so it's all good. Tomorrow the feathers come off! He's going to look such a smart young man. I may have to get my friend to attack his beard at the same time... 

Ride / play safe x

Stubble's up!

The stubble is out in full force! Not only are the fields across the road open for action, but the one next door to the yard has now been cut too.

So over the weekend I had Sarah school Rio on Saturday as I managed to pop my hip out on Friday afternoon in the office (don't ask!) so I was a bit uncomfortable. He was a very good boy, and the improvement on him taking up the contact was a joy to see. At least I must be doing something right. Anyway, here are a couple of videos I took:

He took up a contact on both reins, in walk and trot (I've not quite got him in trot just yet, only a few strides), popped a small cross pole in trot and then canter after doing some very nice trot pole work, and then did some leg yield with inside bend. What a clever boy. We went out for a hack around the village on Sunday with Sarah, and went out across the river field where he had his silly 5 minutes last week. I was a bit nervous, but made sure I took deep breaths and we just trotted on the outside track. It all went pretty well, albeit Rio and myself were both a little tense at times, but he didn't run off or do anything daft, so it's a foundation to build on.

Yesterday was my first time out on a stubble field with Rio. Sarah came out with us, as I was a bit unsure of what he would do. I'm not sure if he has been on a stubble field before so I didn't want a repeat of last week... I'm quite sure that a fall on to stubble is going to hurt much more than on to soft long grass. I needn't have worried, he walked quite calmly through it, and we had a little trot behind Sarah with no excitability. I was pleased with that, and will be trying to avoid cantering on any stubble fields just yet - I want him to be happy walking and trotting first and not just to associate it with going flat out!

Last night was a bit of a strange one in any case, all of the horses were playing up in one way or another, and they were all a bit on their toes! Even the usually best behaved ponies proved that there is no such thing as a bombproof horse. Must have been something in the air I guess. I'm hoping to try and school tonight, so fingers crossed it has passed.

Ride/play safe x

(No more) Soft Touch

After such a pleasing day yesterday, I was a little hesitant to hope that today would live up to expectations. After breakfast with hubby and my father in law, I headed up to watch some of the stressage at Stratford Hills. It all looks very scary to me, there were 6 arenas on the go when I arrived, and lots of horses in the warm-up area. Lots going on! Anyway, it spurred me on to join Sarah schooling when we got back, and give riding with a contact a go. Rio has offered it up to me once whilst out hacking, but I didn't really ask him, so we're starting from square one.

I have an issue with loopy reins, so first things first was to get to grips with keeping him on a shorter, tighter connection so that I could feel him properly on the end of them. He gives a bit of a fight for it, and this is where I need to toughen up. Once the fight has been had, he is quite a natural at carrying his head in the right place, THEN you can soften up with him. I need to have that bit of a battle, and because I know he's not a kicker or a total idiot, I can more or less trust that if I can arrange myself, he will eventually follow. I was still struggling a bit, so Sarah and I swapped horses and I got to try riding a Franks! It's the first time I've ridden him, and I was a little nervous! 

Franks is pretty special, he's done all sorts with Sarah over the years, and no sooner had I picked up the reins, did he take up a contact. It was great being able to feel what I'm looking for from Rio, and Franks' trot is amazing to sit to - I don't have that luxury with Rio as he's a bouncy little dude! The saddle is also a nice squishy armchair of a dressage saddle, which was wonderful. I took comfort in the fact that I was able to keep my hands steady and maintain the contact with Franks' - good news as it means it's not my hands waving around that's causing the issue. I need to learn with Rio to hold my hands up a little and ensure that I keep a slightly tighter outside rein to maintain the contact, whilst playing a little with the inside rein until he drops down. My problem is recognising when he drops his head and relaxing (but keeping!) the contact in that second. 

Once Sarah had got Rio going nicely, I hopped back on, and worked on the same. We did manage a few good steps in outline, but boy was it hard work. It's certainly something we can work on now that I know what I'm looking for! I was also really pleased as Sarah got a full circuit and a half of canter out of Rio on his right (good) rein. Even she found it hard work though, and it took a bit of verbal encouragement (read: noise) to keep him going around the top bend of the school. Something else to work on. In the meantime, we have trot poles laid out to intersperse the serious stuff. Rio loves them! Please ignore my heels in this photo, I was just trying to keep him in a nice active trot (something else I'm working on... heels into the ground!) It won't be long before we try a little cross pole hopefully, especially if we continue at this rate. 

Ride / play safe x