Picking the reins back up
A consequence of having Iris in my life for the last few weeks is that in having a green but fundamentally uncomplicated horse to ride I have really recovered so much of my horsemanship mojo. I didn't stop teaching, but I had only really kept working with Anne, who I have been working with for a couple of years now. After coming back from Australia I went over and visited with ellie_equus and her pony Chester ( who both did great ) and in the last few weeks I have picked up another regular student with someone else having got in touch the other day. I haven't really been pushing my services, so it's interesting that this should happen now.
Anne's new horse had started throwing in this weird hopping thing when she was ridden a few months back and I immediately said she needed to be checked out physically. I wasn't at all happy that there wasn't a physical problem there. Anne was also working with another trainer who said the mare just needed some more foundation training, so I didn't do much work with her for a while. After she had stayed with him for a while he conceded that the mare had a physical problem and also needed way more foundational training. I'm not sure how impressed Anne was with this but since coming back she has made sure that her mare has had great treatment and after working with them last weekend I felt the horse could come back into work a little. Anne rode her and I lead her and although we had a few of the weird hops, they only happened when we asked her to go somewhere she didn't want to go. This week I got on and found that they seemed to be an over-reaction to the leg cue- I could move her by starting her with a turn and letting her step out, but if I started to do anything with my leg she would begin to gather herself up for a hop. With really careful, quiet, riding I was able to get her moving more consistently and then just to bring my leg back incredibly gently so she could accept it. Once we were working a little better I swapped places with Anne, who did just fine. I'm sure that there was a physical problem but I think it is pretty much past and we just need to work the mare through the expectation of pain. It felt pretty good to be able to give my friend her riding horse back after months of being unable to ride her.
This morning I went off to visit my new student, who has a rather sweet little pony called Cody. He spent a year before she got him being spoiled in a field and learning to push people around and generally cause trouble, then she got him and has been working hard to help him become a good citizen and start him under saddle. She has worked hard to find the trainers whose ideas she likes and done a lot of reading so her head was in the right place, but she really needed someone with a bit more direct experience to lend a hand, which is exactly what I can do. Cody is a funny guy- really inquisitive and playful as regards picking things up and moving them around, but not very peopley and quite determined to hide in his shell and ignore the world if possible. He actually reminds me a little of Zorro in that he can be very sensitive but you have to really up the energy to get through to him so that he thinks it is worth paying attention at all.
Working him on the ground, under a particularly dooming sky.
The interesting thing about him is that although he has been sat on a few times, he really hasn't been ridden much so he has developed a clear and unambiguous picture of what riding entails- he stands with a saddle on and a human sits on his back. Easy.
What he doesn't do is move. It is like he is rooted to the ground. He's not especially anxious, although he is a bit concerned for sure, he just thinks it is really important that he doesn't move. With most young horses, like with Anne's mare, you can just use a bit of steering to change their balance and they'll step off. Cody is very well balanced, thank you very much. He thinks that picking up the rein is asking him to bring his head around and bite your leg and he is very happy to oblige.
I spent a while figuring out what it would take to ask him to take a step. In the end flicking the reins until they actually tapped on his shoulders seemed to do the trick. The leg aid is, as yet, largely meaningless to him. He'll figure it out, both he and his owner are making really good progress and I think he'll be a great horse given time.
Iris and I are getting a lot more comfortable together- I'm still working hard to help her bend more correctly, which isn't too easy in the halter, but she is starting to understand that I might want her to follow the feel on the rein and not pull back. We're also starting to get a bit of correct back-up rather than just stepping backwards and resisting the rein. She is really beginning to feel like my horse now.
Today we had our first canter together- not particularly impressive or well balanced, but nice to do.
She is a beautiful and charming horse. Also I have noticed that in pictures of riding her I am mostly happy with my leg position which is unusual as I am super critical of myself in photos and video usually. Although I haven't been able to ride my own horses I have been having regular lessons for the last year and I think that is showing in how I sit.
Also herecirm had a bit of a ride on her too. Interestingly, Iris was a lot more antsy with her, I guess she's got quite accustomed to my way of riding and wasn't so sure what to expect. They did fine, but it was quite different to the way she responds to me.
Anne's new horse had started throwing in this weird hopping thing when she was ridden a few months back and I immediately said she needed to be checked out physically. I wasn't at all happy that there wasn't a physical problem there. Anne was also working with another trainer who said the mare just needed some more foundation training, so I didn't do much work with her for a while. After she had stayed with him for a while he conceded that the mare had a physical problem and also needed way more foundational training. I'm not sure how impressed Anne was with this but since coming back she has made sure that her mare has had great treatment and after working with them last weekend I felt the horse could come back into work a little. Anne rode her and I lead her and although we had a few of the weird hops, they only happened when we asked her to go somewhere she didn't want to go. This week I got on and found that they seemed to be an over-reaction to the leg cue- I could move her by starting her with a turn and letting her step out, but if I started to do anything with my leg she would begin to gather herself up for a hop. With really careful, quiet, riding I was able to get her moving more consistently and then just to bring my leg back incredibly gently so she could accept it. Once we were working a little better I swapped places with Anne, who did just fine. I'm sure that there was a physical problem but I think it is pretty much past and we just need to work the mare through the expectation of pain. It felt pretty good to be able to give my friend her riding horse back after months of being unable to ride her.
This morning I went off to visit my new student, who has a rather sweet little pony called Cody. He spent a year before she got him being spoiled in a field and learning to push people around and generally cause trouble, then she got him and has been working hard to help him become a good citizen and start him under saddle. She has worked hard to find the trainers whose ideas she likes and done a lot of reading so her head was in the right place, but she really needed someone with a bit more direct experience to lend a hand, which is exactly what I can do. Cody is a funny guy- really inquisitive and playful as regards picking things up and moving them around, but not very peopley and quite determined to hide in his shell and ignore the world if possible. He actually reminds me a little of Zorro in that he can be very sensitive but you have to really up the energy to get through to him so that he thinks it is worth paying attention at all.
Working him on the ground, under a particularly dooming sky.
The interesting thing about him is that although he has been sat on a few times, he really hasn't been ridden much so he has developed a clear and unambiguous picture of what riding entails- he stands with a saddle on and a human sits on his back. Easy.
What he doesn't do is move. It is like he is rooted to the ground. He's not especially anxious, although he is a bit concerned for sure, he just thinks it is really important that he doesn't move. With most young horses, like with Anne's mare, you can just use a bit of steering to change their balance and they'll step off. Cody is very well balanced, thank you very much. He thinks that picking up the rein is asking him to bring his head around and bite your leg and he is very happy to oblige.
I spent a while figuring out what it would take to ask him to take a step. In the end flicking the reins until they actually tapped on his shoulders seemed to do the trick. The leg aid is, as yet, largely meaningless to him. He'll figure it out, both he and his owner are making really good progress and I think he'll be a great horse given time.
Iris and I are getting a lot more comfortable together- I'm still working hard to help her bend more correctly, which isn't too easy in the halter, but she is starting to understand that I might want her to follow the feel on the rein and not pull back. We're also starting to get a bit of correct back-up rather than just stepping backwards and resisting the rein. She is really beginning to feel like my horse now.
Today we had our first canter together- not particularly impressive or well balanced, but nice to do.
She is a beautiful and charming horse. Also I have noticed that in pictures of riding her I am mostly happy with my leg position which is unusual as I am super critical of myself in photos and video usually. Although I haven't been able to ride my own horses I have been having regular lessons for the last year and I think that is showing in how I sit.
Also herecirm had a bit of a ride on her too. Interestingly, Iris was a lot more antsy with her, I guess she's got quite accustomed to my way of riding and wasn't so sure what to expect. They did fine, but it was quite different to the way she responds to me.