Sure, it's been awhile

but look what we've been up to!

Fourth Jumping School

Another good jumping school- Drifter and I jumped a great course. We had a little mishap on the second time around... I let her get wide on a jump with a tighter turn and at the last minute she attempted to run out, but ended up jumping (and knocking down) the standard. I almost came off and this scared her too- which meant she bolted with me with almost no stirrups and minimal control. I gave a "heads up" holler and careened her back into control. She went back around and jumped nicely- actually very nicely. Here are our new pics.

Improving jumping

Slip.fall

This time of year is best for sitting back and looking at the spring/summer show schedules! It is great thinking of clinics and nicer weather. Riding in the indoor area is great (I know many of you do not have an indoor), but sometimes you want to get out.

Yesterday was one of those days. It was a heat wave of 40 degrees. Drifter and I went out to the dressage ring; which is covered in snow. I planned to lunge - just to allow her to move and stretch her back. She is turned out 24/7 but the horses don't move at speed much and have been gingerly picking their way around the paddock. Drifter was very cute, realizing that she was able to move a bit on the lunge. She did a few small prop and bucks, but nothing too naughty. She picked up a great little canter and cantered around a few times. THEN we found out there was ice under the snow. WHOOPS. Her hind end slid out from under her and she fell and slid about 6-8 feet. She didn't fall hard or struggle and was calm overall. I did have her lunge in the other direction (cautiously) just to end on a good note.

We went to the indoor and it was EMPTY. That is very rare this time of year. So she was able to move on the lunge and was very happy about it. She cantered nicely on both leads and just seemed happy to work. I got on her to cool her out. Her ride was her easy part today. I love my horsey!

Jump School

Drifter did so much better at jump school this year. We attended our first jump school this past Friday and she was great. She was more forward and straight then last year. The only thing I wished was that she put in more effort over the cross rails we were working on. When we moved it up to a vertical she actually jumped over it, but only as much as needed. She wasn't expending any more effort then necessary. It's great that she doesn't get worked up or overly anxious about jumping, but sometimes I little effort would be nice too. Jump school was really fun and hopefully we will have pictures or video soon.

Barrel Jumpin'

Yesterday we had a great little ride. I had been doing some suppling work with Drifter and a few sessions working on lateral work. She was very easy going when I introduced the dressage whip to help cue her to move her haunches over more in the leg-yield.

We hadn't jumped in awhile, but the jumps were pretty low in the outdoor arena and she warmed up real nice- so why not? We jumped over the simple cross rail first and then over a few small verticals. She was barely trotting them and totally relaxed. We did a line of three fences- small cross rail to large cross rail to one stride vertical which she did very nicely. The next time around we aimed for the two barrel jump and she went right over. I supported her nicely with my leg, but she didn't even waiver like she used to at each fence. I trotted her down over a panel fence and she did fine, but when coming back over it she plowed into it. This panel fence is pretty heavy and she must of felt it because after hopping off and re-setting it she snapped her back and jumped way over it. This is one reason I still feel that schooling cross country will help her be more tidy with her legs. It was a really fun ride and I was very happy with her!

Hooray for autumn

Things have been going well with Drifter and she has been so much fun to ride. Even when she has a week off of work- she comes right back and tries hard. She is such a great horse. Can't wait to keep moving her forward.

Unstuck and moving forward

Sorry for the long delay... we're unstuck and things are going well for Drifter and I.

Her cantering is better- we now have a galloping track at our barn and it's been a lot of fun.

I was at WEG yesterday! I will have cross country pictures to post soon.

All is well.

Stuck

Do you ever feel stuck?

I feel like Drifter and I are stuck- we're working on the same things and not getting anywhere. I don't know if it's just the level of training that she is at where no big discoveries are going to happen, but a lot of fine tuning instead. I just feel like I am getting frustrated working on the same basic concepts and if I miss a day or week then we're even further behind.

She seems pretty stiff and tight right now and I don't think I am riding enough to rebuild that flexibility, so therefore we can't progress. We're still having issues picking up the right lead (unless we're jumping) and therefore we can't progress.

I hate feeling stuck.

Almost a month

It's been almost a month since I have posted an update. Mostly because it's been very hot and I have been very busy and hadn't ridden in two weeks. Yes, Drifter got a two week vacation in the middle of summer and show season. I am hoping to get her back to the Thursday Evening show this week.

After having two weeks off I figured it would be better to start back a few steps and establish our working relationship again. On Thursday, she came right out to see me and I lunged her for 20-30 minutes. She was very forward at first, but amazingly cantered on her right lead for several times around without breaking. I was wondering if I had gotten the correct horse from the field or if I was having trouble telling my left from my right.

Friday was a second lunge day with improvised vienna side reins. This was also good, although she had some more trouble with the right lead this time. She was forward and mostly responsive to voice commands. It was very hot and she got a bit of a hose off at the end.

Saturday was our first ride day and she was super good. No issues during the first few minutes after mounting. She was certainly stiff when asked to bend and a little more above the bit. We got both leads correct the first time and cantered about half way around the arena. She was very good and I kept it a short ride.

I expect to ride again on Tuesday and pack for the show on Thursday.

Jumped a course

Sorry for the delays in posting- it's been a tough and busy month!

I lunged Drifter on Sunday- it was really hot and she still had some issues getting the right lead. I have to find/buy a nice pair of side reins again. She got a quick bath after lunging so the flies didn't try to eat her sweaty butt. Here are some pictures of her from Sunday.



Tonight I got a ride in before it was supposed to rain. She was a little nappy when I first got on, not sure if she didn't want to leave the barn, was sore from lunging or had a horse fly. She kicked/bucked on the way out to the outdoor and I was wondering what kind of ride we were going to have. Once in the outdoor ring, I dismounted to check for flies (I forgot to spray her) or other obvious issues. None seen, so I remounted (working hard to have her stand quietly beside the block) and went on with our ride. I took a few trot laps, popped over a few of the little jumps and then needed a breather break. While resting I created a jumping course out of the smaller jumps available. It was a downhill vertical to a left turn over the white jumping blocks jump to a left curve over the palm tree jump to a broken line over the red jump with a tight turn back to a blue cross rain with a sweeping turn between two other jumps to a straight line of flower boxes. The last jump we hadn't jumped today and was the largest. She trotted and cantered the little course and went around really nicely. It was a great ride and a great highlight to my week.

Horse personality

Drifter is a ... SLAF - The Wall Flower

Wrap these sweet, kind, gentle horses up and keep them safe. They are not very brave and tend to internalize their worries. They want to please and will try very hard for you, but they can be pushed too fast very easily. They make few demands of you and are quite content to perform the same tasks repeatedly as long as you are pleased with them and the jobs are not to strenuous. Quiet enough for the beginner once they understand what is expected of them. Find out about your horse at: http://www.horsepersonality.com/quiz.html

69.5% a huge success

Now I just need help figuring out how to keep her white... suggestions?

She loaded up pretty well, but when I arrived she was dripping sweat- not sure if all the windows in the trailer should have been open (might have helped) or it was just nerves. She unloaded pretty well and stood to have her soaked shipping boots removed. She was alert, but calm.

I walked her around the grounds and she was looking around, but quiet and well behaved. We came back to the trailer and I tied her up with her hay net. I didn't have a lot of time, so I started to tack her up. I also sprayed her with Skin So Soft- mistake! It kept off the flies and green heads- but we looked SO DIRTY by the time we got to the ring! I am showing alone- so no one to wipe down or brush off my horse for me.

She was great going into the new ring and trotting by the judges booth. She was so good for the test. She was calm, straight and forward. The judge commented that she needs more impulsion in her medium and free walk. Our lowest score- a 6- was on one of our medium walks.

After the test we hung out, she grazed, I watched a few other people from our barn ride. She trailered home like a dream without sweating too- I opened a few more windows. I am so proud of her!

Horse Show

Hopefully tomorrow will be our first horse show. I had to give her a bath on Tuesday and hope that it held out pretty well for tomorrow. It is a dressage show and if I can get an evening time slot we'll be doing the walk-trot test.

No riding!

What?

No riding... I have been sick since last weekend and haven't been out to the barn to ride. I can't wait until Friday.

Remember this from last year?
Oh, how far we've come!

Lunging did the trick

I lunged on Sunday. I was perfect for Drifter to break up the riding boredom. It was great to work on cantering on the right lead on the lunge. Having to canter over a pole helped her to change to an keep her right lead. It was very successful break in our normal routine.

I skipped riding today, due to the heavy rain- we do have an indoor, but Drifter is outside and in her fly sheet and probably very wet today. I am aiming for Friday.

Almost back

to where we were two weeks ago.

We had a shorter ride today. Worked on getting both leads, cantered over a small jump and went on a trail ride. Great day.

Trail ride and a few steps back

A week ago Drifter and I had a good, but really intense ride. We worked on walk/canter transitions and simple change of lead. She still has trouble with her right lead, but I wanted to get in several good canter departs. The first right lead depart was probably her best ever. I thought about quitting with that perfect depart, but I didn't. I pushed. She did several nice left and right departs. She began to fatigue and began stopping in the middle of the ring. We finished with one more good one to the left and called it a day.

On Friday she had her feet trimmed before our ride. I started with a new saddle pad and new footing in the arena. As soon as a got on Drifter she stopped and planted her feet. I got off and trotted her in hand and she looked sound. I changed her saddle pad. I got back on and as soon as she felt my leg aids she stopped and balked- no backwards, but no forward either. It took the "pony club kick" to get her to walk and she stopped several times in the first 10 minutes. We finally got some forward at walk and trot to the left. When ever I changed to the right bend she would stop. Wash, rinse, repeat until she will trot a circle to the right. I wonder if she is body sore from the cantering on Tuesday or if it really just overwhelmed her. We trotted in the outdoor ring and the dressage ring to reinstall forward in all three riding areas. To end I figured we would walk out to the field/trail and back. She was totally relaxed and forward when walking out to the trail, so we just kept walking. We did our first trail ride, alone, around the field/trail that's closest to the barn. She was so brave and good. She did one little spook in place, but then moved right along. I didn't know whether to focus on the ring issues or the trail success.

Today we just continued to focus on trotting forward in both directions. I started her on the lunge line and she was unable to pick up the right canter lead on the lunge, but I didn't drill her about it. I got on and rode and only one or two little hesitations at the trot when I put my leg on.

I learned an important lesson about how hard/far I can push her.

Drifter turned 9

Drifter turned nine the day of her "field trip". I was excited to be allowed to bring her to my work for a group "mock lesson". It's a place that I feel confident and would be able to pass that along to her. She wore "big girl" shipping boots and a sheet for the 1hr drive. She was a little nervous in the trailer, evidenced by the runny poops when we got there. She loaded nicely and snacked on her breakfast before we took off. On arrival she waited for me to back her out of the trailer and was alert, but well behaved at the farm. I walked her into the barn and around the indoor before undressing her and putting her in an empty stall for a little while. She was happily eating hay and the rest of her breakfast within 20 minutes. After a few hours we tacked up for our "lesson". I walked her (on the ground) up to the outdoor ring because it was along a field and tree line following two new horses. She was really good on the way out and that helped my confidence before mounting. She didn't stand so well for mounting, but was calm once I was aboard. She was very distracted by the horses turned out in the field by the outdoor arena, but was able to be redirected to focus on leg yields and bending. It probably took her 20 minutes to begin to really focus on me. We even cantered!

She was great for untacking and then went back into the stall for the afternoon while I worked. She was less happy about that and managed to nick her fetlock and cause some minor bleeding. She whinnied each time she saw me, as if asking "can we go home now?" Finally, I put her on the cross ties, dressed her up again and cleaned out her stall. While cleaning her stall she managed to pull the velcro cross ties loose and started to walk away, but was brought back and made to stand while I finished cleaning the stall. She loaded nicely back into the trailer and rode quietly back to her farm. She was a very good girl for her birthday.

The trip must have tired her out because the barn staff said she has spent most of the day laying down and sleeping. She was still sleeping when I arrived at the barn this afternoon.

She clips

Drifter allowed me to clip her today. I just did a little bit on her face, bridle path and feet. She stood very quietly for all of it and just moved her head a little bit during the bridle path clipping.

Riding went really well. Walk, trot and canter in the outdoor ring. I got stung in the eye while beginning my ride and remembered how important teaching voice commands are. She was a very good girl today.

Thursday she goes on her first fieldtrip....