In the Arena #53 - Some really good work - you had to be there...

It was super windy but warm and sunny yesterday - yes - the sun actually felt warm. I couldn't bear not to ride. For once I didn't catch my horse napping at midday. We got cleaned up, dressed, and off we went.

Apparently the next door neighbor was hanging around near the woods by our arena (quietly for once). I didn't realize he was there at first, but Val is excellent at detecting lurkers, be they human or animal, so we had to do a little work to move through that part of the arena willingly. Leg on, keep the neck straight. He relaxed immediately once we heard the neighbor get in his car and leave. I intend to plant a thick hedgerow of Russian Olives in the woody area dividing our properties to screen the neighbors + their noise, and to discourage visiting, invited or not. Good fences make good neighbors ;)

My plan for the day was to warm up, get right to the trot, and when we were moving smoothly in both directions, to shoot some video. I had set up the camera on one of the gate posts so that all I had to do was turn it on when we were ready. Wish I had charged the battery though. It ran out right before we did our best trot work to date. Bummer!

We achieved some forwardness - this has gotten better every consecutive ride, and did a number of decent 20m circles, with prompt upward transitions. I focused on the half halt which was fairly successful at re-balancing the trot. Our downward transitions were less than smooth however, and I think the key would be half halts. Since the footing was pretty firm, we were able to do more circle work than usual. I noticed how much it helped Val for me to support him (inside leg to outside rein) on the trot circles. He was reaching, especially during our breaks on the buckle - nose to the ground. A great ride :)

We toasted the day's success with another walking trip down the road for grazing rewards and to get hooves on hard surfaces. As windy as it was, I had some reservations about taking Val out, but there was no need. He was super brave, only acting up when we came back on to the property to find Cowboy screaming his head off. Poor Cowboy - he's going to flip when we go to our next clinic.

My goals for the next few months are forward consistently, half halts and contact. (They're all kind of related come to think of it.) Oh, and to get it together with the camera!

In the Arena #52 - Two firsts + needs improvement

A reprieve on the foul weather until this evening. We got a sunny but very chilly bareback ride in. I arrived at the barn to a sleeping horse, then experimented a bit with shooting video. I repeat experimented. This is my first try. One way you can tell, is by the part where I turn the camera sideways to get a nice closeup of Val's droopy lip... didn't know it's better to keep the camera oriented horizontally. And (who knew) time to update my software - I don't have the capability of rotating the screen. I actually need to update my whole computer. It's nine years old - gotta love a mac - nine years and (knock wood) never had one moments trouble. Except now, when my software is antiquated :)

Despite it being windy and brisk, we had a super calm and fun ride. I captured a couple of minutes of our ride on video as well, but since it's all shot in the vertical mode, I won't tempt you all to get big cricks in your necks. Plus it might take five years to upload.

So.... we finally trotted bareback! (Val might question the use of an exclamation point) Several passes of the long side of the arena. I figured that was enough for him. I felt very stable, so I wasn't even nervous, but not nearly quiet enough in my seat. Hopefully that will come with practice. Love, love, love bareback. Yay!

In the Arena #51 - Getting in a groove

A gorgeous day for riding. Once again the weather forecast is for things to go downhill - snow / sleet / freezing rain later in the week - so I headed up to the barn as soon as possible after work. Looks like there will be time for some tack cleaning coming up.

Confession. A big hole in my equine knowledge is wrapping. Considering our tricky footing these days, it seemed a good idea to pull out the polo wraps and give Val some extra support. My trainer had shown me the basics ages ago, inside to outside - front to back, but I seriously need practice. After today I'm thinking - why would they package the wraps (new) rolled inside out? Is this a stupid question? Shouldn't the velcro sections be in the middle of the roll when you start? Was I supposed to re-roll the wraps before wrapping? This is the kind of task that can send me over the edge, due to the conflict between my perfectionist side and my adhd side. Anyhow, I got him wrapped after a fashion. He had way more patience about the ordeal than I did. (Any tips about wrapping would be welcome!)

We focused on forward today. I recently got a lot of good comments about forward making straight easier. (which my trainer often reminds me) I'm still getting the gumption to trot bareback, so forward needs to happen under saddle for now.

As soon as I had Val's attention, which didn't take long at all, we moved right into our trot work. I practiced adjusting our tempo, both with my posting, and counting out the rhythm I wanted. Also keeping the tempo steady throughout the whole figure, which was sort of ovally today, as the whole back of the arena was flooded out. We achieved good energy quickly, and the transitions were responsive. Some especially nice halts off of my seat. And minimal use of the whip - Val was moving off of my leg almost exclusively.

Posture / position felt good today. I was conscious of how my legs influenced Val's haunches, and attempted to use the aid with more subtlety. As time goes on I realize how much I (formerly) used my reins for steering, and how much more effective my legs are as a steering aid. After an aborted attempt at on-board video, (which proved too big a challenge of my multi-tasking skills), we finished off with some good work on the buckle... round circles and turns on the forehand both ways... we even had a nice foamy mouth. Someone got plenty of cookies ;)