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!

Stop, drop and roll

It's been a perfect weekend. I had a play with this lovely boy yesterday, and a tumble after a trip followed by a flying stirrup leather meant saving my seat was an absolute no-no. You'd be forgiven for thinking this would be a crippling setback in my recent progress. In actual fact, it didn't phase me at all, and I got back on and schooled him a little more afterwards. He was very sweet and spun away from me when I was down, and it was actually one of the most gentle and graceful falls I've had yet. Just stop, drop and roll! Despite the ground seeming hard, I'm pleased to report that the only damage I seem to have sustained is a slight pull in my shoulder where I tried to hang on to his reins. I'm getting good at this falling malarky... It's more a shame that he had just started to relax when he stumbled! 

On Saturday, Rio and I braved the wind all on our own and went for a hack up the lane. We encountered tractors, got blown around a bit, and I still managed to get lots of sense from him. The ground was quite hard in places, and very pitted, so we mainly walked. We managed a trot and canter up the track, and he was beautifully relaxed and listening to me all the way. He got a bit antsy coming back down to cross the road outside the yard, but I turned him in a circle, and he waited better the second time. Such a fidget bum.

We are on countdown to the dressage clinic next Sunday, so I could really do with getting a session or two in between now and then. I'm hoping to get a quick one in tomorrow evening. I've been advised that the test we are riding is prelim 12, which is a little daunting, given that we've never done one before. However, we will take it all as good experience, and not worry if we can't maintain the canter throughout! If he takes the attitude he had on Wednesday with him, then I'll be happy whatever the outcome. If not, we could be in for a challenge! Haha.

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.