Right, this thing....

Keno's been doing pretty well. We went to a dressage show and did wonderfully in the warm up arena. The first test, Intro B, we got a 45%. He was really nervous and hollow and did NOT like the bleachers. We managed to school in the show arena before our Training test and pulled a slightly more respectable 49%. We would have done much better if the following things had happened:
a) I'd remembered the test and picked up the canter between H and C instead of C and M
b) Keno hadn't tried to take off bucking around the right lead canter circle, and
c) I'd remembered we wanted to trot the last quarter of the circle, leading us to fight a bit

But, we got around the whole thing without any major incidents. Keno was very worried while we were hanging out and left him in his stall. Lots of whinnying and kicking. Oh well, I was pretty pleased that he only reverted to his Keno-ness once while we were riding, and no spooks.

After that we started doing mostly bareback riding because I decided my seat was terrible. He'd been bucking right lead canter for a while, but I'm pretty sure it was because the farrier had had to miss a cycle. They normally get trimmed every 6 weeks, but this rotation it ended up being 9. The day after the trim he threw in a buck or two, and then quit it entirely.

His canter balance is getting better. We got some nice walk-canter transitions from a slight outside leg and a kiss, but he ends up getting hyped up. He also decides, after we canter, that trotting is for losers and keeps trying to pop up into the canter. It's pretty cute, I'm not gonna lie, and he's definitely using his back end to transition so I don't want to hinder that, per se, but it's not a good habit for us so I can't encourage it.

Recently he's decided to be a jerk about mounting. The only logic I can provide for this, is that he's used to being a jerk about the girth, and since there hasn't been any girth, he has to be a jerk about SOMETHING. It doesn't show any signs of being a pain issue, since he's pretty perfect when you're on him, so we need to get the idea through his skull that this is the wrong thing to do.

I'm hoping to start doing little jumps with him. I'll be thrilled if we can canter a course of any jumps, and ecstatic if we can do up to about 2' without any drama.

BUT, I don't know much else to teach Keno. I can ask for lateral movements, and kind-hearted horses who are well schooled will do them decently. But I don't know how to teach them, and I'm not precise enough in my aids to feel comfortable trying. So that's 25% of why I want to teach Keno jumping, the other 75% is because I really miss jumping.

Gillian is pushing me to take Star on next. I probably should, especially since she's not getting out much lately.

I turned out Star yesterday in the arena and watched her run around reasonably unlike an idiot for a while. Then I decided I wanted to sit on her. So, of course, I caught her (she walked up to me), clipped the lead line to the ring under her chin, flipped the line over her neck and ran the end through the clasp of the line. It stuck well enough that if Star was responsive to rein aids she'd turn fine, but I couldn't actually pull or I'd be screwed. Meh, I said to myself, and hopped on. No helmet, of course, seeing as I was just turning a horse out in the arena.

The first few seconds of being on Star are always terrifying for me, because she feels so unbalanced. Keno's a solid citizen, not to mention much wider, and can handle the weight. Star's more erratic and just plain hot. When Keno walks off I sigh and stop him because it's the thing to do, not because I feel unbalanced or uncertain. With Star, because I'm used to Keno, I feel like she's about to either fall over or take off.

That said, nothing really happened. She didn't turn well, unsurprisingly, but she was fine with it all. I'd tell her to whoa and she'd stop pretty promptly. Gillian, holding Colonel outside the arena, told me I was smart. I shrugged. We walked around a little more and then I hopped off and we went back to the barn.

So that went well enough that I could probably handle riding her more frequently, maybe even going outside. I just need to figure out exactly how to get her head down and her back muscles engaged. It's an entirely different problem than with Keno. Keno had the head down conformation and training from his Western days- the whole problem revolved around acceptance of the bit and dropping his shoulder.

For that, the solution was lots of open reining and circles, though the big difference came when I started using inside leg and outside rein. Which, yes, is how you're supposed to do it, but I'd never had a sufficiently schooled horse who knew that was the way it was done. I guess there's a reason for why things are done that way- maybe because they work.

I guess I'll start off with that- lots of circles, but I'll have to keep higher hands to do the straight line from the bit to the elbow. Add in trot poles until she'd rather jump than do another trot pole. Long-lining until I'd rather jump her than put a surcingle on her again. If I don't see anything by, say, a month after starting, I'll re-evaluate.

I'll have to ask Claire while I'm home, what she would do. I'll listen to the parts that don't involve draw reins, because I feel really uncomfortable using them. On some level I understand I'm a decent rider, but anything anyone says needs an experienced rider I instantly believe I don't have the abilities.

Here's a picture from the warm-up arena at the show. Look how not-broken-at-the-3rd-vertebrae we are! Please don't look at how low my hands are. Thanks.