Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas.

May all your dreams come true in the year to come!

Shiraz, next up and coming jumping star

I have been so sick this week. This morning was a finger-numbing -20 degrees Celsius (-4 F really?). To make it worse, the horse(s) had broken three boards between the pasture dividing Savvy and the other two.

Repairs took forever because I had to scavenge the wood pile covered in snow for boards, walk back to the house for a working drill and then fix the electric wire that pulled out when the boards were broken. I guess Savvy has found new things to kick now that the pony is not in reach? Or maybe it was Shiraz kicking back now that Savvy can't get revenge.

I was really kind of in a funk and feeling so unwell. I considered cancelling my lesson but this one was going to be Shiraz's intro to jumps: I needed to ignore the freezing temps, my funk, and my bronchitis (with a lot of help from Tylenol and Benylin) and just buck up.

Brace yourself for awesomeness ;)

 

The lesson was made even better when a very good friend of mine asked if she could come and watch. These super fun milestones are made better with company who knows how much it all means to you.

Going into this lesson I had not ridden Shiraz for (ugh, I am embarrassed to type it!) two. weeks. Yup. It has just been too cold and busy and all the excuses. No worries, apparently Shiraz is a fucking unicorn. She was a bit looky to start off but went right to work and was an absolute sweetheart. We started off with two trot poles quite far apart and quickly moved up to cantering them in both directions.

Then out came the standards and my friend and I silently squealed like 12-year-old school girls. Hang on to your panties; this lesson just got awesome. Shiraz did not bat an eye (nor lift a leg much) at her first pass through the ground poles to a little cross rail. There was never actually the feeling of 'jumping' per se but I was nonetheless so thrilled with how she was trying to do what ever it was I was asking of her.

After trotting the line many times, C had me work on asking for the canter on the landing. It was completely uneventful and so much fun. I was really happy with the whole lesson because we kept it simple and C did not overface me or my horse. We're in no hurry right now beyond getting Shiraz out and seeing new things, building my relationship with her. I do have my overall grand plan in mind but there is time to take it slow. I have seen plenty of jump in this horse lunging over obstacles at home but I guess I will have to wait until next year to feel it for myself!

Simple Pleasures

Who needs summer weather and xc courses to have fun when you can be inside cantering your baby horse around in circles?

I do. I need the summer. But these simple rides are pretty fun for me right now. Basically once Shiraz steps up to canter my brain shuts off and I have no idea what my coach is saying because, 'weeee!' obviously.

In all seriousness though, we are working on so many things! It is the part of baby horse training that I love the most, getting in there and showing them that their bodies can do things! All the typical green horse issues like showing her there are other options besides falling in, reaching for the bit, using her hind end, et cetera.

At the same time, I am trying to stop bending at the wrist, figure out why I cannot keep my lower leg still, and two-point even though my leg muscles abandoned me on their annual winter vacation.

In most of my previous rides, Shiraz would start off hot to trot so to speak and either offer up a trot upon moving off from the mounting block or a bouncy walk if I held her in. This past ride was a bit different in that she instead baulked at my leg and refused to trot until I gave some taps with the crop. Even then, it took a few circles to convince her. Perhaps she has realised lessons are hard work? I feel her pain on this one but telling me no is not an option.

 

Getting Shiraz in front of my leg is the number one goal at the moment. I tend to fall in the trap of being happy with 'good enough' in my rides on my own.When it feels good and relaxed, I do not ask for that extra effort and therefore end up inadvertently rewarding movement where Shiraz is not using her body correctly. I need to expect more every time so I am not building incorrect muscle memory and delaying basic progress.

Canter work is going really well. She responds nicely to the cue and almost always gets the correct lead. Transitions downward are fuggly AF though, but considering I am not getting her to use her body correctly at the canter yet, there simply is not the balance to transition nicely. 

Even though Shiraz is still so very green, her training is ticking along at a lovely pace. She has work ethic and when she doesn't, it is not too dramatic and easily fixed. I am getting a feel for her now and can read her so much better. After an open book like Savvy, it takes a bit more attention to know how far I can push. Where Savvy would kick out in protest or toss her head in distaste, Shiraz will just sort of tense her jaw, stop licking or hold her breath. She responds nicely to me breathing deeply and will often give a big sigh when I let out a deep breath.

And now, ready or not, we are moving on to jumping at our next lesson. I can't wait!!

How to solve a problem named Savvy

Or alternate title: Stop hurting yourself you stupid cow.

Look who needs to be separated. Surprise, surprise it is none other than Crankenstein.

The transition into winter has been hard on all of us. Short blustery days and dark coming far to early makes finding horse time a bit tricky, especially without an indoor or at least outdoor lighting at home. I have been trailering out with Shiraz once a week to the indoor arena. Besides that, I am able to spend some time in the backyard on my lunch breaks. Unfortunately I have been using that time to do barnyard chores that are easier done with daylight rather than riding much.

Savvy is feeling the neglect. With little to no grazing time due to snow covered paddocks, combined with less time spent occupying her busy brain with people time, she has become, er, less than pleasant to her fellow paddock family.

She has always been adamant that she should be leader and pushes our beastly little pony constantly trying to take her spot as queen 'o the land. And, she always loses.

For the past few weeks though, it has been escalating to the point that every morning I was preparing myself mentally for what new cut she would have that day. The carnage was getting too much for me. And pony? Never a scratch. Savvy probably couldn't kick hard enough to get through pony's buffalo coat.

A new mark for every day of the week.

 I considered putting shipping boots on her back legs at night (as that is when most of her injuries would happen), but that would not solve whatever damage she could give back. In Savvy's frustration with losing to Meyla, she would then take out on Shiraz who she is above in the pecking order.

My only solution at the moment is separating them. I don't like a horse to be on their own, but there are shelters in both paddocks and they can hang out over the fence. It is frustrating to have to separate my little herd. The paddock space the three of them had is huge and there is never a lack of food to fight over.

To make up for showing you gross injury pics, here are my kitties being super cute.

The fact that Savvy has to be so relentless in her pursuit for supremacy over all is problematic, but it also leaves me in awe that she accepts my role as her leader. 

Becoming a Working Pony

Don't you just love it when life keeps popping up road blocks that get in the way of your meticulously devised plans?

Truck is still problematic in its functioning capabilities.

Coaching was unreachable/unavailable at times I was able to ride.

Snow. just. snow.

No problem, I am inextinguishable.

When I finally got out last week with Shiraz and over to the indoor, she showed me that on her second visit here that the overhead door was old news, other horses coming and going were okay and rolling in sand is her most favoritest thing of all things.

I still had no lessons arranged at this point, but miles of any kind are our friend. I started out the same as her first visit since that worked so well to set a relaxed mood for the session. I am hoping to set up an 'outing routine' that helps her feel more like she knows what to expect even when at new places. She is pretty laid back but still very young-minded and occasionally has slow meltdowns. Even though she is showing me she will probably be fine, I would rather take steps at prevention, cause that's how I roll.

So at the arena I walked her around, then saddled up and lunged. The last time I rode at the arena, it was more just to get up in the saddle and see if she would be okay. This time I was able to settle into a bit of work, knowing she was totally fine with the environment. I played around with contact and bend. She has no idea how to use her hind end yet, but as she relaxed into work I was able to encourage a much better step under from behind at the walk and trot. Circling to the right is hard and bending almost nonexistent, although I did manage to get her to soften and move off my inside leg for moments of our circles (usually in the same spots of the circle as she tensed or relaxed based on parts of the arena she was worried about).

We cantered as well which was heavenly. I don't want to compare, but I will! It's just that Savvy's canter is SO much work. First of all, it took so long to get her to that point and even now that she 'knows how', it is the kind of canter that has a great deal of up and down to it and is a real workout to ride. I mean, it is a gasping for air, burning core muscles kind of ride because there is so much movement to follow. And Shiraz just steps into a smooth, gentle rocking horse canter and I could probably have tea time up there and not miss a beat.  
This week I finally made contact with my coach and had our first lesson. We worked over four poles on a circle and got some great bend happening, even on her tougher side after a while as Shiraz started relaxing into the exercises. Her clumsiness improved throughout as well - after a few bad steps on poles she started to realise that paying attention to her feet was a good idea.

A few people in the eventing group locally mentioned breastplates were a good idea on xc. Do we look legit now?

Pony was worked hard and near the end of the lesson I was having a hard time even getting her to trot any more. Poor girl. She's going to need some massage and stretching after this lesson.

After I got home, I realised I had spent the whole time in my lesson listening to my coach, not worrying about spooks or anything. It was such a great feeling to just sink into full concentration of my positioning, her steps and shape, being lost in the work completely.

I am hoping the weather cooperates this weekend to take her for an outing in the park. I have this grand plan in my head of getting hubby to come along and bring our dog so we can have a lovely walk in the park together, but so far we haven't been able to make it happen. Fingers crossed I can make this happen while the snow is not too deep for hiking.

The Big Picture

At the beginning of 2017, I had a fluffy, opinionated pony that mostly could not even canter without telling me where I could stuff that nagging leg of mine. My hope was by the end of this year I would have a more obliging partner who could make it safely over the small sticks in a xc field. The verdict? Well, still so many opinions but sticks have definitely been jumped!

Sometimes horse training can feel like spinning wheels in mud. It is awesome when you can see real progress happen, but sometimes the improvement is too slow to see in real time. I admit to getting occasionally frustrated when I can't see the progress. For me, looking at one big goal compounds that frustration. I have to break things down into steps and I try not to look beyond each smaller goal until it is completed. This way I can enjoy small successes and stay motivated to keep on chugging along.

And so at the beginning of this year I set to work designing a realistic training plan for Savvy and I. Not only did Savvy have much to learn, but I wanted to push myself as well to ride more assertively and build up the courage bank account.

There were so many moments this year I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and loved it!

I was starting out with a pretty awesome little horse and there was a working relationship already in place. Even though Savvy is quite a handful to negotiate with (omg SO many opinions and happy to tell me ALL of them) I still felt safe working with her and approaching work that she was not particularly designed for.

Really when it comes down to it, I would not recommend teaching a horse to do something they are not particularly talented at. But with that said, I am so glad I pursued teaching Savvy to jump and diving into very low-level cross country courses with her. Even though all of the work felt so much harder than it needed to be, at the end Savvy appeared to enjoy it and I had the time of my life!

Even our dressage improved, though I must admit little attention was paid to the importance of flat work...

With all the work I put into making this year happen, I felt it deserved a bit of reflection. So, I decided to piece together a few of the highs and lows of 2017 with Savvy and her training (please forgive my horrible video editing skills!) Enjoy!

A + B = C

If C = a fun 2018 summer at XC events with Shiraz, then A = hard work and B = time...right?

 

Baby Shiraz. Smoochable nose from day one :)

We all know bringing along a baby horse is never as easy as simple algebra, but having a plan and seeing it work with Savvy gives me hope. With phase one of the grand plan accomplished (get Shiraz officially green broke w/t/c), I am moving on to phase two which is to start trailering for arena time and lessons.

Ah, but can you solve this?

Although having this horse in my life since she was just six months old, being on her back and learning who she is as a riding horse is a whole new adventure for us. She's no longer a baby, wandering crookedly trying to figure out why dis human is on her back. Her understanding is still extremely basic, but she now shows a better understanding of this is what humans do and shows a bit more confidence in knowing some of the answers.

Sitting on Shiraz and asking her to horse kind of still feels a bit surreal. She miraculously learnt A LOT in her short stint away at the trainer's and my brain needs to catch up to this new level of ability. I can ask and expect more from her but at the same time I am struggling with not 'knowing' her under saddle. Now that real work is happening I can find out the finer details that just were not showing up in the gradual low-pressure training I had been doing with her this past summer.

Maybe I roll? - Shiraz, many times

Her rides now can be more structured with longer, more focused work. How does she react when she doesn't understand? How far can I push her and what are her go-to behaviours/responses?

I am also just taking note of simple things like what is her easier side? How easy is it to get her straight/bend and what does she tend most towards? And then there are the more subtle things that you feel from a horse like what their back feels like when they are tense versus relaxed.

It is all just so new and I am having quite a bit of fun figuring it all out.

Having a look at jumps we will be using in the somewhat near future!

Now that there is frozen, snowy ground in my backyard, it is time to start trailering out for riding. Our first outing was to the large heated arena. I planned this outing to be a simple introduction to the place and made a plan to proceed as far as felt comfortable. I just took my time with letting her see the place, getting acquainted with the mechanical overhead door opening and closing. I started with leading her around inside and setting a tone for the session. I wanted to show her she can have a brief look at things but her main focus must be on me and rewarded her for staying attentive. I did my best to give her a purpose in all areas of the arena so she could indirectly check out her surroundings without any of it being allowed to be a big deal.

Once I felt like she was settled and ready to work, I saddled her up and began lunging. I wanted the experience to be quiet and relaxed to establish a good first experience for her. I made sure the lunging had plenty of transitions, tons of walk as well as halt and stand quietly for well-earned breaks (and of course stuffed her face with carrots for being such a good girl).

"This place has no 'winter'. I like it." Me too Shiraz, me too.

By the end of lunging she was downright lazy. So really what could I do but hop up and ride?! I kept it all in the centre of the area, away from the automatic door and scary far-off corners, but seriously I was just being over cautious because at this point, everyone had left and I was alone in the arena. I didn't want to push for too much on my first ride in the indoor without eyes on the ground.

I kept it to about a 60-meter circle doing walk/trot and focusing on forward, correct bend and not nagging. I discovered (like with all of my previous horses) she was far less forward in the arena than at home. I also could start to sort out some details about her way of going in working gaits. She felt quite stiff and a bit anxious going right. Going left was fantastic though and it was almost easy to get her shoulders where I wanted and a lovely soft bend off of inside leg to outside rein.

And (*gasp*) riding!

My hour there seemed to fly by. I just wanted to keep going because Shiraz was being so fantastic and it was so much fun to be riding her.

My plan for the next little bit is to trailer over a few more times and ride on my own (if my truck cooperates b/c engine lights are worrisome and putting a sticker over it so I can't see it doesn't seem like a long-term solution) and then start lessons with my coach from last year. I did try to arrange lessons with the girl who worked with Shiraz, but after leaving two messages with the barn manager to get permission to trailer in there, I have still not heard back. I haven't given up on that though and will try to get something arranged, even if it is just for a couple of lessons because the more places I can take Shiraz, the better right?