Moderately awesome day yesterday. We got to the barn and it was snowing. Huge, fat flakes that were sticking to the ground. I pulled Tillie out and we walked around a little bit. She realllly wanted to go see the Shires.
Still snowing, so I thought I'd take Niki out for a walk. I blanketed her with some minor drama and we headed out. There was a big flock of geese in the middle, and we chased them! She was pretty startled when the first ones took off, but then she realized that, oh hey, they were flying off because of HER. She thought that was pretty cool, and started looking for geese to prance towards. We went through a ton of water and over the bridge. We went up and down the bank too. She was fine going up it but when she went down the bank she did a little hoppity rear thing a lot. We'll work on that.
Watched Gillian ride Colonel for a bit then ate some food, then grabbed Kenopony. He was a little uppity in the ring but not terrible. He's started head-bobbing as a prelude to slipping into the canter. It worried me at first because he'd been off a week ago, but I'd give him a half halt and he'd quit it. I don't think he was bridle lame.
As soon as I finished Keno I pulled out Niki so her owner could see how she was doing. She humped her back when I got on, but it was my fault. The block was too far from her withers so I'd had to scoot forward. We walked a circle with Robert and he cut her loose. She didn't want to listen to me when I asked her to walk so Robert walked next to her and past to get her started. After that she was fine stopping and starting. She got a little prancy so I decided to go with it and we trotted a little bit. She's pretty well balanced and so it was easy to stay on. She was a little nervous about trotting but very good overall. Chuck was completely amazed. I'm happy with her. She's apparently pretty well bred in the POA-world, her dam produced several World Champions, her sire has a bunch of offspring doing well, and her full brother has a long list of accomplishments. I also found baby pictures of her, which were awkward and cute.
Turned Luca out to show him off to some people, which is always fun. After feeding, I hopped on him for ten/fifteen minutes. He was the best kind of disobedient: laaaaaaaazy. We cantered a couple times both directions. Left rein he does a weird thing where he bends to the outside. Apparently my girth still isn't tight enough so when he does that and I use leg to try and correct, my saddle twists a horrible and uncomfortable degree. On the MAJOR plus side, he didn't do anything bad because of it (he has in the past). I need to get a dressage whip and play move it or bruise it with him, because I KNOW he knows what I want. It'll get better just through riding him, since I haven't done that since June, but he's not as green as he's pretending to be.
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3 comments:
Hi Alyssa,
Congratulations on being certified to ride Luca! I think he will enjoy the work (with a saddle that does not pinch his shoulders.)
The last time I rode him (must have been 2006?) he was doing the exact thing you describe at the left lead canter. I had just started cantering under saddle. I had some ideas about fixing it but Robert didn't want me to ride him anymore, said he was worried about the riding interfering with his driving training and he wanted to focus in that. Anyway, what I would have done is bending exercises. Make sure he is bending correctly around your inside leg at the walk before asking for the bend at the trot. Make sure he is bending well at the trot before asking at the canter.
To ask for the bend: At the walk press with your inside calf as you seat comes down; then ask to bend with the inside rein as your leg comes off. So you are alternating inside leg/inside hand in rhythm with his stride. You may need to lightly tap with the whip when you use the inside leg to get him to pay attention to the leg.
If you don't get a good bend around the inside leg with this technique, try overbending to the inside (draw his head around to your leg, while pushing him off the inside leg.) So he is doing a turn on the forehand while bent to the inside. Once he finally "gives" with his head, try working in him a small (say 10 meter) circle while continually asking for a correct bend. You may need to exagerate the bend at first.
Another good warmup is, when you get on, just have him stand there and flex his head all the way to your boot--when he gives on one side, immediately flex him to the other side. Stallions tend to be stiff in their necks anyway due to all the extra muscle so they may need a little more loosening up.
This type of issue is not uncommon when retraining driving horses to ride--and Luca is at this point, a driving horse. The important thing is, make sure you have the correct ben at one gait before moving up to the next. Let him know that going along with an incorrect bend is not acceptable. If he bends incorrectly, stop and try again rather than letting him continue the mistake.
Hope this helps.
Ken
Thanks, Ken!
I've been thinking that some of Luca's misbehaviors were definitely due to boredom. While we're working on more subtle aids, I'm trying to keep his interest. That involves a lot of circles, serpentines, etc., but just going forward definitely keeps him involved, which is why I've been cantering him.
A dressage whip and possibly tiny spurs (I don't know why I'm even thinking about them, it's not like my heels will ever reach his barrel even if I point them up) are on the list for our next ride. He has fun purposely ignoring my leg, and I think it's time to stop it. I don't mind pissing him off as long as he learns something out of it.
He does fairly nice turns on the forehand, because I've started doing that whenever we're standing and he wants to move again. He'll also flex his neck pretty well because apparently I've taught him that I'll move his neck with the reins but move his body with my legs. It's interesting because I really have to ride him. With Keno, Reno, and Star, if you point them a certain way with the bit, they go there. It doesn't make sense to me because if anyone should respond solely to reins, it's a driving horse. But as I've been his last rider, and we worked him pretty consistently for several months, maybe he's just caught on to what I'm going to enforce.
I'm going to be testing this theory with Niki, as I'm the one breaking her- see how fast she picks up leg pressure, and how she turns. I really do wonder if it's all my doing.
Hi Alyssa,
I agree with you on the boredom thing. Luca has a really strong play drive and he wants to play games. The key is you not playing his game, but (a) first recognizing the game is is playing; and (b) offering him the chance to play your "game." Yeah, I would never go long around the arena, or in a 20mcircle over and over with him. Definitely keep mixing it up--serpentines, change through the center of the circle, inward turns and change (you can NEVER do enough of those and they REALLY get a horse on the aids), reverses, figure eights, etc etc. And throw in some ground poles, cross rails, etc too. He used to me real good with me out in the back 40 . . . with or without other horses along . . . intersperse arena rides with trail rides.
I would never ride him (at this point in his training) without a dressage whip. He needs to be sensitized to the leg. Keep you legs aids light, and rather than upping the leg pressure or kicking him when he ignores the leg (a bad habit to get into), give him a smack with the whip. (Try a light fast "snap" at first, and only up the force if you need to.) Leg always light; whip as hard as it needs to be. Spurs . . . maybe . . . but I would really try reinforcing with the whip first and asking him to be as light and attentive to your leg as possible.
Last but not least . . . I was thinking more about bending, and I also remember the fact that correct longitudinal bend will really help you get the correct lateral bend. Keep steady pressure with the outside rein while asking him to drop his head with the inside rein, using a slight vibration. Make sure he yields at the poll through all his transitions. If he starts pulling on you, you can pull and release quite firmly on the inside rein, but never yank. Make the pull and release gradual (imagine the pounds of pressure on the reins like a bell curve rather than a spike). Once he yields, release. See if he can go a few steps with almost no pressure on the inside rein. You have to ride this horse every step, but I guarantee it will be worth it!
And try to always do something that is fun and relaxing for th ehorse, as well as something that is hard work. Work is work, so be really strict in your schooling sessions. He must listen to your leg, he must bend correctly, he must yield to the bit. In your "fun" sessions, try going for a long trot or canter outdoors. Just let him move! The "fun" sessions will not interfere with the "work" sessions and will probably help a lot!
Ken
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