Riding and Things.
i've had several very interesting rides on my pony recently. i mainly wanted to update about tonight's ride tho.
i got some good advice from Carly about making 'riding out' part of our regular schooling routine. this is to work on beej's anxiousness away from home & so he realises that he still has to work & to basically get him used to riding out as much as possible.
so on Monday night i rode him down the drive, to the end of the street, then around the block (thru the pines) and in the back gate. lots of half halting (thanks jaana for reminding me!) and pausing & waiting for relaxation then moving on & practicing keeping his head DOWN instead of giraffing it the second he moves forward from a halt or to go into halt.
anyways. after we rode around the block i jumped off to open the gate, then led him to the arena, jumped back on & schooled for 10-15mins (just walk). he was awesome.
Tonight i went out to see him (don't usually go on thursday's but i had a course in the city). picked poo, groomed, saddled up. it was almost dark by this point (5.55pm). rode down the driveway, then did little movements up and down the street. there's a big slope down the verge too, so we went up & down that.
then we *schooled* up and down the driveway. halting, leg yielding, moving PAST the LALA's (beej was like, "OMFG IT'S DARK & SCARY, I CAN'T WALK OMFG I'M GONNA DIE..." several times). it was *amazing*.
i actually got a sore butt! idk why, maybe from clenching too much (tmi!) or something, not sure. but it felt GOOD.
things to remember:
- firm outside rein & bring hand FORWARD for inside (not loose)
- keep head low. maintain it thru walk/halt transitions.
- bend around inside leg - get a REAL leg yield & not a false one (i have trouble with this & i think it's in how i'm asking - i tend to stick my leg just on his girth & this gets flexion, but not a shift over - gotta bring my leg BACK baby... and you know, this didn't even occur to me until i was driving home. twit!)
- Ride thru lala's. keep him FORWARD. he would occassionally have a tanty & think about dancing backwards & if i urged him forwards from that it *felt* like a potential rear so i resorted to shoving him SIDEWAYS. any tips on that???? should i send him sideways if he is insisting on going backwards. he likes to go backwards if he's at all challenged (ie; we're out of his comfort zone). i remember the backwards thing from when i FIRST EVER rode him out alone in the pines.
-along these lines, i'd ask him to move away from my leg (turns on forehand - Almost...) but he would just start to WORRY about it, so the smallest sideways movement was rewarded. he's quite responsive & will happily turn all over the place when in the comfy arena, but "OMFGLALALAGONNADIE" when we're out of that space.
- Half halts. these are my FRIEND. if he's mid tanty & worried about things other than me, i just chuck half halt after half halt at him & get him FLEXED & FINALLY he stops worrying about things. MUST REMEMBER these. & vary them. my right side is stronger & i tend to have that as my 'outside' when riding in straight lines.
we rode up and down the driveway SEVERAL times. also around the trees & windfall near the stables. it was AWESOME. he definitely feels much happier coming home & on like the 3rd trip home i actually felt ....
IMPULSION
and he gave me this BEEEYOOTIFUL swinging, suspended walk for about 15m until some bird twittered 100miles away. half halt, outside rein, push forward, rinse repeat about 7 times and again, a nice forward walk. not the impulsion & swing of the first time, but not too shabby. haha.
i have to say, it was such a pleasant night. sure, he was silly when out of his comfort zone, but i was firm & relaxed & definitely by the end of it he was WALKING in a circle at the end of the drive (this is the start of the OMFGI'MGONNADIE zone - everywhere that's not in the arena or outside my tackshed, haha) & not motoring into a turn with his head in the air. we were able to HALT & keep head lowered & not HANG off my hands. it was good.
i think this is how his warm up needs to be because by the end (about 40 mins of just walking up the drive) he actually felt focused on me. still anxious at times & worried if something moved, but just significantly relaxed compared to the first trip up the drive.
i think tomorrow i'll do a couple of trips up the drive & then just school in the arena. idk.
and there's something so awesome about this time of night. it's a wonderful time of year & with the moist, heavy air from the Lemon Scented gums just filling your nostrils. it's absolutely DIVINE. and feels extremely australian.
oh. we went on quite the trail ride on sunday. it was DEFINITELY a huge challenge for him, but he survived to live another day & i think that's a great sign. we rode right to the lake. OMFG! and we even.... CANTERED. OMFG. it's beautiful scenery out there - very aussie "bush". i'll have to take some pics for you guys. just gorgeous.
he got VERY anxious, but the good thing was that it felt like Thoroughbred shenanigans and not a visit to beejyland. i did have to bring out the big boys & one rein stop him a couple of times. i actually grabbed hold of his nose because he was tuning out. so weird, after i grabbed his nose you could SEE his eyes soften & change. anyways.
can't believe how fucking insanely busy i'm going to be this month. thank CHRIST my birthday is at the end of it (twenty-fucking-nine, how bout that???!) along with a beeyootiful long weekend. NOICE.
i got some good advice from Carly about making 'riding out' part of our regular schooling routine. this is to work on beej's anxiousness away from home & so he realises that he still has to work & to basically get him used to riding out as much as possible.
so on Monday night i rode him down the drive, to the end of the street, then around the block (thru the pines) and in the back gate. lots of half halting (thanks jaana for reminding me!) and pausing & waiting for relaxation then moving on & practicing keeping his head DOWN instead of giraffing it the second he moves forward from a halt or to go into halt.
anyways. after we rode around the block i jumped off to open the gate, then led him to the arena, jumped back on & schooled for 10-15mins (just walk). he was awesome.
Tonight i went out to see him (don't usually go on thursday's but i had a course in the city). picked poo, groomed, saddled up. it was almost dark by this point (5.55pm). rode down the driveway, then did little movements up and down the street. there's a big slope down the verge too, so we went up & down that.
then we *schooled* up and down the driveway. halting, leg yielding, moving PAST the LALA's (beej was like, "OMFG IT'S DARK & SCARY, I CAN'T WALK OMFG I'M GONNA DIE..." several times). it was *amazing*.
i actually got a sore butt! idk why, maybe from clenching too much (tmi!) or something, not sure. but it felt GOOD.
things to remember:
- firm outside rein & bring hand FORWARD for inside (not loose)
- keep head low. maintain it thru walk/halt transitions.
- bend around inside leg - get a REAL leg yield & not a false one (i have trouble with this & i think it's in how i'm asking - i tend to stick my leg just on his girth & this gets flexion, but not a shift over - gotta bring my leg BACK baby... and you know, this didn't even occur to me until i was driving home. twit!)
- Ride thru lala's. keep him FORWARD. he would occassionally have a tanty & think about dancing backwards & if i urged him forwards from that it *felt* like a potential rear so i resorted to shoving him SIDEWAYS. any tips on that???? should i send him sideways if he is insisting on going backwards. he likes to go backwards if he's at all challenged (ie; we're out of his comfort zone). i remember the backwards thing from when i FIRST EVER rode him out alone in the pines.
-along these lines, i'd ask him to move away from my leg (turns on forehand - Almost...) but he would just start to WORRY about it, so the smallest sideways movement was rewarded. he's quite responsive & will happily turn all over the place when in the comfy arena, but "OMFGLALALAGONNADIE" when we're out of that space.
- Half halts. these are my FRIEND. if he's mid tanty & worried about things other than me, i just chuck half halt after half halt at him & get him FLEXED & FINALLY he stops worrying about things. MUST REMEMBER these. & vary them. my right side is stronger & i tend to have that as my 'outside' when riding in straight lines.
we rode up and down the driveway SEVERAL times. also around the trees & windfall near the stables. it was AWESOME. he definitely feels much happier coming home & on like the 3rd trip home i actually felt ....
IMPULSION
and he gave me this BEEEYOOTIFUL swinging, suspended walk for about 15m until some bird twittered 100miles away. half halt, outside rein, push forward, rinse repeat about 7 times and again, a nice forward walk. not the impulsion & swing of the first time, but not too shabby. haha.
i have to say, it was such a pleasant night. sure, he was silly when out of his comfort zone, but i was firm & relaxed & definitely by the end of it he was WALKING in a circle at the end of the drive (this is the start of the OMFGI'MGONNADIE zone - everywhere that's not in the arena or outside my tackshed, haha) & not motoring into a turn with his head in the air. we were able to HALT & keep head lowered & not HANG off my hands. it was good.
i think this is how his warm up needs to be because by the end (about 40 mins of just walking up the drive) he actually felt focused on me. still anxious at times & worried if something moved, but just significantly relaxed compared to the first trip up the drive.
i think tomorrow i'll do a couple of trips up the drive & then just school in the arena. idk.
and there's something so awesome about this time of night. it's a wonderful time of year & with the moist, heavy air from the Lemon Scented gums just filling your nostrils. it's absolutely DIVINE. and feels extremely australian.
oh. we went on quite the trail ride on sunday. it was DEFINITELY a huge challenge for him, but he survived to live another day & i think that's a great sign. we rode right to the lake. OMFG! and we even.... CANTERED. OMFG. it's beautiful scenery out there - very aussie "bush". i'll have to take some pics for you guys. just gorgeous.
he got VERY anxious, but the good thing was that it felt like Thoroughbred shenanigans and not a visit to beejyland. i did have to bring out the big boys & one rein stop him a couple of times. i actually grabbed hold of his nose because he was tuning out. so weird, after i grabbed his nose you could SEE his eyes soften & change. anyways.
can't believe how fucking insanely busy i'm going to be this month. thank CHRIST my birthday is at the end of it (twenty-fucking-nine, how bout that???!) along with a beeyootiful long weekend. NOICE.