the DARK (left) Side

The rain on Friday left arenas to wet on Saturday and since Patty and Ashley went to Stillwater for the equine Special Olympics, we didn't get to Party. But first thing Sunday morning, the TEXT came in - C was free until 11, so I dashed to Springs Cheval to ride Sister in the wet SANDY arena.

Mallory's place holds up to rain pretty well and although wet, both round pen and arena were ride-able by Sunday. So, we started some lounging work on a walk circle. Sister was sniffing as she went so I asked for trot. One and a half circles trot circles and she dropped like a rock to roll - not even breaking the trot until she hit the ground. Dressed in my trusty Isabelle! I yelled and she scrambled into a canter. We worked canter both directions before we tried trot again. Whew.. after a bit of ground tie, I mounted and we moved on.

Sitting trot and circles left and right on a fairly loose rein - things were pretty good. We were getting left bend! Mostly. I tried to focus on body position (shoulders LEVEL?), even weight in both stirrups, deeper seat, even seat-bones, quiet hands, elbows in, etc ... ... HARD work for me!

So, we worked leg yields left and right and then haunches in left and right. Legs yields were not bad. Haunches in? Not for more than a stride or two. Then a bit of "extension" along straight lines (extension is relative here since it wasn't much). We finished on a good note after just an hour of work since the footing was heavy.

The bad news is that this work has clearly identified my weak side (left you think?). Well, we have something (things) to work on. YaYa!

PS - my brave YaYa sista's are headed to Flint Creek next weekend for a hunter pace - I will stay home and work Sister and/or Splash.


PPS - sand art by Roxanne, Ivy, and Alaina.

A Good Ride and Other Events

It was Carol on Jetter and Splash and I for the Party lesson on Saturday morning. Alaina and Ivy rode at 10 since bad weather was expected in the afternoon. Light rain came and went early and then the sun came out around lunch. By the time we got back from Subway, a big storm was blowing up just to the south. We scurried around loading horses and headed to the house. Pounding rain started before we got to 88. Then – HAIL on Flint Road. Pea to marble sized pellets covered the road and riled the horses in the trailer. For about 5 minutes, we waited for the hail to stop and by the time it did, the road was white. Whew, enough excitement for me. Now, back to my horse story.

Carol and I had a great lesson, her back has been bothering her, but she did a good job with Jetter. Splash was a good boy too with only a few head tug objections toward the end of the lesson. We started off with stretching and warm up - arm circles, leg stretches, bicycle legs, and (ooowW) side leg lifts. Then trot work on a large circle at the “c” end of the arena. Splash was moving out nicely and we were fairly consistent. Then we worked on trot/walk transitions with a little leg yielding into corners. Not bad. On to canter, we worked on the large circle and Splash got correct leads both directions with only one break of gait during left lead canter. After years of trying to move both hands with canter movement, I tried to steady the inside hand and let the outside hand go with the movement – helped along by placing my hand on my thigh. We finished the lesson with leg yields at walk and then trot from quarter line and center line – using ‘steps’ so that Slash wouldn’t ‘fall’ out to the rail, i.e., a controlled leg yield. Good place to stop and it was time for lunch any way. Do I have to tell if I was using the German Neck Stretcher? OK, yes. But…. You may need to have an intervention – the neck stretcher is my FAVORITE! Now, about Friday….

I had Friday off and had scheduled Sister, Splash, and Pico for a 10am visit to Dr. S. for teeth floating, sheath cleaning (Splash/Pico), exam (Sister), and skin evaluation (Splash). All three had sharp hooks but none had any wolf teeth to remove. So, after loading Splash and Pico, we went off to Inola to retrieve Sister and I left all three at the vet barn for the appointments. No wolf teeth but Splash has sarcoids so we will try the XXTerra treatment – kind of pricy, but less than surgical removal.
Alaina had a Friday evening lesson with Dawn D and Sunny was very good – Alaina is working to slow him down by stopping and backing every time he speeds up. She and he are getting better. We will do an extra lesson with Patty next Thursday in prep for the District horse show next week.

Sunday was a lovely day and the girls and I cleaned out the trailer (an all day job when you take breaks to go to Attwood’s and wash winter blankets and dressage pads). The arena should be dry enough to ride tomorrow, so the girls can get some more practice in this week.
On the yaya front, Rita had an exciting week with the birth o Silka’s baby (Gallant Prince) and taking Jurgen to the show in Guthrie – we will want updates on both fronts.

Sister learns to leg yield - sometimes

Spring flowers are coming up everywhere but it still feels a bit chilly today.  We have 6 or 8 kinds of daffodils as well as grape hyacinths, lily-of-the-valley, forsythia and a plum tree in bloom.  A week ago we were under snow.

Sat. morning the girls and I took Pico, Sunny, and Splash to Patty's for the party lesson (me/Splash, Kathy/Call, and Christina/Jetter), lunch, and the girls' lesson.  The wind was howling with 40ish mph gusts so the covered arena was rather musical.  Splash and Jetter handled the noise fairly well as did Call after a pretty energetic lounging session.  After the usual warm-up exercises, we worked on leg yields to weave the cones.  Believe it or not, Splash was moving out fairly well (perhaps all the wind noise bothered him a little).  During canter work, we focused on changing the bend from outside to inside without loosing the canter.   Not to bad and we had fun without falling off.

After lunch, the girls started their lesson in the outdoor arena (Pico is not good with arena/wind noise).  Alaina and Sunny were fairly successful with "slow" but not so much with give to the bit. Ivy and Pico had some lovely movement and transitions but, also, not so much give to the bit.  Hmmmmm.

While the girls were riding, I brushed and saddled Sister, then, lounged her with the German neck stretcher and a stretchy lounge line attached through the bit to the girth. This configuration really helped Sister work on inside bend while lounging and she worked fairly well in both directions.

Sister thinks that her sides are a no-touch zone.  So, Patty has been working on leg yield, leg yield, let yield.  Sister is getting the picture.  And, Patty says she has not followed through with her threats to cow-kick or buck.  So...

Gathering courage in both hands, I decided to try and ride Sister a bit.  I used my dressage saddle and a western snaffle bit.  I was worrying about to much leg (with the dressage saddle rather than a western saddle) and about bit pressure. 

After removing the lounging gear, I mounted uneventfully.  Then moved off at a walk.  We walked around without any problem and then I tried a little trot.  Sister MOVED OUT!  I panicked and stopped.  Patty and I discussed the seat/leg pressure needed when riding a horse that MOVES versus a horse who's mission to STAND STILL.  We tried again, and little by little, I relaxed and Sister responded better.  We joined Ivy and Alaina and did a little arena work.  I leg yeilded into corners and circled when we went to fast.  We finished with a bit of backing.

I didn't FALL OFF.  YAYA!

The St. Jude Trail ride schedule for Sunday afternoon was postponed because trailer parking was to muddy.  But, it was cold and cloudy most of the day and the wind was out of the north.  Late afternoon the sun came out and the girls played in the arena with Pico and Diez.  Poor Pico has a little rain-rot on his front pastern and he broke it open on a little jump - we will keep an eye and medicine on it and try to keep him de-mudded enough to clear it up.

Rumor has it that the YaYa's will ride again at Rita's on Thursday afternoon.  I will try to escape work and join in.  I can hardly wait!

YaYa!  Yeah!