After the ride with Lendon Gray, finals and life consumed me and Gali got an impromptu week off. I was only able to get out to groom him and let him stretch a bit with some lunging and legging up around the farm. When I did finally get the time to ride, on my way home from my last exam, he was perfect and up for some shenanigans. I've ridden him twice since and haven't blogged, so here it goes.
12/23 - I met Bekka out at the farm on a fairly cold day, and after trying to come up with any excuse to not ride our horses, I tacked Gali up and she rode Katie in from the field and threw just a bridle on her. Gali warmed up with me just as I'd like him to after a week mostly off - long, low and supple. I trotted him around the ring on the buckle, worked some figure eights in uberstreichen, worked some canter in half seat, and only really put him to work for about twenty minutes on the bit. He seemed to remember what we learned with Lendon, and was surprisingly willing to work forward and into contact. By the time I thought he'd had enough work, a little girl was following Bekka around, begging to ride Katie without a saddle. I offered Gali to Bekka and said I'd walk the girl around, and Bekka untacked Gali and hopped on for some quality bonding time. They had fun and Bekka showed the little girl how it was possible to post to the walk and trot bareback, ride side-saddle, and take a 'nap' on the horse by kicking your legs up onto their haunches, and Gali showed the girl that it isn't that hard to stay on a bolting Percheron, even if you're wearing Uggs and have no idea where your reins are.
12/25 - Gali got some fun things for Christmas, including a day off. Jason and I brought him a mash and treats.
12/26 - We worked on our circle shapes - going to the left we're pretty accurate, but to the right, he falls in and I overcorrect, and things get kind of shitty. His rhythm was pretty much spot on, which is rare for him, so I really took the time to ask him to lift up his feet and stretch down into contact, and he finally did not rush. To the right, his canter was off. I'm not sure if it was a stiff/lame sort of off, or because he tripped early in our warmup and was just being dumb about that lead because of the stumble, but I did not want to work too much canter and instead ended by practicing some sort of Intro test thing. Our shapes were a lot better than usual, but still had some falling in problems and our halt was atrocious.
12/27 - One of my best friends, Alexis, was finally home from school and came out to ride. She is one of the few people that I completely trust on Gali, but she hasn't ridden him in a few months. We grew up riding together - her as a terribly misguided hunter, and me as an uptight dressage queen. Now I've relaxed a lot, and she completely re-started her riding career at the age of 20 when she transferred to Centenary. Her horse is very much a jumper, and she has trouble practicing dressage principles with him because they are both rather dressage-green, so she had been pining to ride Gali for a while. It began to rain when I pulled him from the field, so we tacked up quickly, checked the footing, and I hopped on to warm him up. When I cantered my big dumb pony past her, with one hand on the reins and one hand waving to her hiding in the run in shed, I think she realized how much he has changed since moving to BTF. She got on and I saw him start messing with her by running away with her at the trot, and over the steady rainfall I gave her directions to get him focusing on her. She wasn't riding as aggressively as she usually does, and Gali was pretending to spook at both ends of the ring, so just going around on the rail wasn't helping them at all. When I asked her to do a serpentine, Gali and I both nearly fell over because she completed all three loops in the space of about 1.5 circles. I explained the exercise a little better, and the next time through she did three nice, large, would-be-20meter-circles-loops, and after a strong half-halt in the last corner, I had her let him extend. He stretched exactly the way I would have asked him to, and it made me proud to see her really working through the concepts I was teaching her and making them work. They did a handful of serpentines in each direction at the trot, then cantered long and low around the whole ring. I took her stirrups away and she had some "OH MY GOD HE IS SO MUCH MORE COMFY THAN MY THOROUGHBRED" moments at the trot and canter, and then all three of us said "fuck the rain!" and cooled Gali out in the empty barn.
I'm glad he was so good and so responsive when she put him to work - he can be a great horse to learn on, but he can also be a total douche if he thinks he can get away with it when someone is trying to learn from him. I'm also extremely happy to say that after riding in the moderately-chilly rain for 45 minutes and working pretty hard, he cooled out and dried off very quickly and evenly, and it actually surprised me - it really showed me how fit and healthy he is back to being.
I really wanted to do some trot sets today with another friend, but with the torrential rain last night and the Wizard-of-Oz winds we got today, I opted to stay in bed and do nothing productive at all. I think I'll save the trot sets for Friday.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Lendon Gray Clinic - 12/16
I know it's been a few days, but my hectic Finals schedule and Jason's health issues have kept me from blogging about my ride... until now!
As I've mentioned, on Saturday I had the opportunity to ride in a clinic with Lendon Gray. I found out that I would be riding with her four days before the clinic, and in those four days Gali was an absolute demon in the ring, and an angel on the trails. I had no idea what to expect, other than for my eyes to be opened and to learn as much as I possibly could.
A friend from the barn offered to trailer me for less than an arm and a leg, and I absolutely jumped at the offer. Gali was a bit reluctant to get in the box, because he's used to step ups and wasn't really sure what to do with the ramp. When he loaded, he placed himself sideways as if he were slant-loading, and when the person helping me load pushed him over, he decided he wasn't happy. He flew backwards out of the trailer (thank god she has an extra tall one!), broke the trailer ties (my fault for tying before the butt bar was up) and stopped mid-bolt to graze. The second time up, he loaded happily and we were on our way.
Gali unloaded easily and I took him down the driveway to the barn, where I was told to put him in a stall so I could unload my tack. My horse is notorious for not settling down anywhere, so imagine my surprise when Mr. I Don't Like Horses made friends with the horse in the stall behind him and settled right down to eating his stalls' shavings. He tacked up easily and I brought him out to the warmup ring just in time. He was very antsy about things going on in the bushes, and I was ansty about having no walls should he decided to leave, so I ended up dismounting and walking him around the scary items in hand. Good thing, because he bolted around me twice when we were walking, and had he not been in hand, I think he may have gone for a nice run.
He was a dick for mounting in the indoor, and acted like he'd never been near people before in his entire life. We warmed up while Lendon was talking to the rider before me, complete with bolts and ducks and inverted circles because, oh my god, things.
I'll post a video of my ride, (and a highlights video of my ride, once finals are over) soon, so anyone interested can see exactly how 'fun' my ride was. At two different times, Gali grabbed the bit and ran me to the left, switching directions on the circle. Lendon yelled "Stop. Stop. STOP HIM!" each time, and when I finally was able to, she helped me work through not letting him do that. It seems really stupid of me, but when he does that I either a) run him into the wall, and he ducks out because he's a horse and bigger than me and knows it or b) chicken out while running at the wall, and he ducks out because I let him. My correction to this has always been an open inside rein and hard outside leg, but again that whole "he's a horse" thing. She noticed that when I open that rein, I pull and hang and linger and he blows me off. For the rest of the ride, when he'd try to run me to the opposite direction, I'd give bumps with my inside rein to be a bit sharper to him. It worked. Duh.
Another issue I've been having appeared - being "run off" with at the trot. She noticed it right away (which was a relief, because it isn't very obvious from the ground how strong he gets), and she would tell me to walk every time he'd start to get strong. Then she called me back over to her and said "Isn't it funny, you can always make him walk, but not make him slow down. There's a disconnect there." and it was so true. I *can* always make him walk, so I *should* be able to always slow him down. We worked on "walk, nevermind, trot!" a bit, and actually ended up working him too slow so that it would be possible to go back to a working trot without the running bit.
She helped me stop him from falling in when we bend by leg yielding on the circle, which helped get his hind end over. I usually think "haunches out", which just irritates Gali, so the leg yielding exercises did help straighten his bend.
She did get on me about my accuracy and straightness along the rail, which she said is most likely a product of not having a measured arena at home, and told me that before I even think about entering a show ring, I should make sure I can work on my corners and circle sizes.
And, the last point she really drilled home, which I think is going to help Gali and I get along so much better, was that I should focus on asking him to do something, instead of always asking him not to do something. For instance, if we're having a moment and he's trying to take off, I shouldn't ask him to not speed up, instead of I should ask him to slow down. That's a bad example... I'll have to rewatch the video to come up with better ones. Also, when I was standing trying to talk to her and he was fussing and fighting my halt, she told me to ask him to walk a 10 meter circle instead of asking him to not keep walking off when I told him to halt. She said the best thing for a brain like his is to give it something to do and something to focus on, because then he'll be less likely to notice external stimuli and more likely to pay attention to me.
These things are all so obvious now, but I really wasn't able to understand them until working with her. It was an incredible experience to ride with someone of her caliber, and it was even more amazing for her to tell me that my position was generally good, and that when Gali got going, he moved very nicely. She also loved his lateral work, and thinks that with more experience and education, he'll be a lovely horse.
Okay, I've got some finals to study for, but I'm sure I'll be adding more to this later.
As I've mentioned, on Saturday I had the opportunity to ride in a clinic with Lendon Gray. I found out that I would be riding with her four days before the clinic, and in those four days Gali was an absolute demon in the ring, and an angel on the trails. I had no idea what to expect, other than for my eyes to be opened and to learn as much as I possibly could.
A friend from the barn offered to trailer me for less than an arm and a leg, and I absolutely jumped at the offer. Gali was a bit reluctant to get in the box, because he's used to step ups and wasn't really sure what to do with the ramp. When he loaded, he placed himself sideways as if he were slant-loading, and when the person helping me load pushed him over, he decided he wasn't happy. He flew backwards out of the trailer (thank god she has an extra tall one!), broke the trailer ties (my fault for tying before the butt bar was up) and stopped mid-bolt to graze. The second time up, he loaded happily and we were on our way.
Gali unloaded easily and I took him down the driveway to the barn, where I was told to put him in a stall so I could unload my tack. My horse is notorious for not settling down anywhere, so imagine my surprise when Mr. I Don't Like Horses made friends with the horse in the stall behind him and settled right down to eating his stalls' shavings. He tacked up easily and I brought him out to the warmup ring just in time. He was very antsy about things going on in the bushes, and I was ansty about having no walls should he decided to leave, so I ended up dismounting and walking him around the scary items in hand. Good thing, because he bolted around me twice when we were walking, and had he not been in hand, I think he may have gone for a nice run.
He was a dick for mounting in the indoor, and acted like he'd never been near people before in his entire life. We warmed up while Lendon was talking to the rider before me, complete with bolts and ducks and inverted circles because, oh my god, things.
I'll post a video of my ride, (and a highlights video of my ride, once finals are over) soon, so anyone interested can see exactly how 'fun' my ride was. At two different times, Gali grabbed the bit and ran me to the left, switching directions on the circle. Lendon yelled "Stop. Stop. STOP HIM!" each time, and when I finally was able to, she helped me work through not letting him do that. It seems really stupid of me, but when he does that I either a) run him into the wall, and he ducks out because he's a horse and bigger than me and knows it or b) chicken out while running at the wall, and he ducks out because I let him. My correction to this has always been an open inside rein and hard outside leg, but again that whole "he's a horse" thing. She noticed that when I open that rein, I pull and hang and linger and he blows me off. For the rest of the ride, when he'd try to run me to the opposite direction, I'd give bumps with my inside rein to be a bit sharper to him. It worked. Duh.
Another issue I've been having appeared - being "run off" with at the trot. She noticed it right away (which was a relief, because it isn't very obvious from the ground how strong he gets), and she would tell me to walk every time he'd start to get strong. Then she called me back over to her and said "Isn't it funny, you can always make him walk, but not make him slow down. There's a disconnect there." and it was so true. I *can* always make him walk, so I *should* be able to always slow him down. We worked on "walk, nevermind, trot!" a bit, and actually ended up working him too slow so that it would be possible to go back to a working trot without the running bit.
She helped me stop him from falling in when we bend by leg yielding on the circle, which helped get his hind end over. I usually think "haunches out", which just irritates Gali, so the leg yielding exercises did help straighten his bend.
She did get on me about my accuracy and straightness along the rail, which she said is most likely a product of not having a measured arena at home, and told me that before I even think about entering a show ring, I should make sure I can work on my corners and circle sizes.
And, the last point she really drilled home, which I think is going to help Gali and I get along so much better, was that I should focus on asking him to do something, instead of always asking him not to do something. For instance, if we're having a moment and he's trying to take off, I shouldn't ask him to not speed up, instead of I should ask him to slow down. That's a bad example... I'll have to rewatch the video to come up with better ones. Also, when I was standing trying to talk to her and he was fussing and fighting my halt, she told me to ask him to walk a 10 meter circle instead of asking him to not keep walking off when I told him to halt. She said the best thing for a brain like his is to give it something to do and something to focus on, because then he'll be less likely to notice external stimuli and more likely to pay attention to me.
These things are all so obvious now, but I really wasn't able to understand them until working with her. It was an incredible experience to ride with someone of her caliber, and it was even more amazing for her to tell me that my position was generally good, and that when Gali got going, he moved very nicely. She also loved his lateral work, and thinks that with more experience and education, he'll be a lovely horse.
Okay, I've got some finals to study for, but I'm sure I'll be adding more to this later.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Goals Schmoals.
My goal for today was to have a super Dressage! ride in prep for Saturday's clinic. Of course, we did nothing of the sort. A friend of mine, JM, just got back from boot camp, and when we were tossing possible riding days around, Thursday stuck. He came out to ride Max. We brought both the boys into the ring and I warmed up w/t/c in both directions. Gali was soft and lazy... very attentive, and working from behind right away. JM and I quickly tired of ring work and decided to take the boys around the track and down to the lake. It began to rain as we were on the backstretch, and Gali's little brain couldn't handle the sound of water on leaves and puddles, but we made it through with only a little bit of "I'm bolting NOW mom!".
Jason went back into the hospital tonight, and so I'm spending most of tomorrow with him. I have to work 4:30-9 at Rutgers tomorrow evening, and my original plan of riding in the morning then heading up to clean tack in my apartment may be altered - I'm thinking heavy duty grooming session and day off for Gali, or maybe an in-hand trail walk to get him stretched out. I have a LOT of tack to clean, and with part of my morning now going to be spent at Cooper Hospital, I really have a lot to cram in.
Jason went back into the hospital tonight, and so I'm spending most of tomorrow with him. I have to work 4:30-9 at Rutgers tomorrow evening, and my original plan of riding in the morning then heading up to clean tack in my apartment may be altered - I'm thinking heavy duty grooming session and day off for Gali, or maybe an in-hand trail walk to get him stretched out. I have a LOT of tack to clean, and with part of my morning now going to be spent at Cooper Hospital, I really have a lot to cram in.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
That'll do horse, that'll do.
After the biggest showdown between Gali and I in months earlier this week, I was a bit hesitant to accept when Bekka called me and said that our riding plans for today absolutely had to include a trail ride. I haven't taken my horse on a "real" trail ride... ever. We've played around on the track and I've walked him around the property extensively, but we've never left the property - other than walking to the lake directly across the dirt road that leads to the farm. I know, I know - but I'm a chicken and my horse can be a jerk... and we've only had access to trails since moving to this new farm.
Now, Gali's been out on trails. My old trainer took him on his first trail ride (with me as his owner) in June of 2009, and his old half boarder walked him down the street from that farm to a set of trails, but I never had the confidence to take him out next to the road. But he and I together? Nope.
Bekka's fiance, Myk, took our friend's gelding and Gali's best pony friend, Max. Bekka brought her own mare, and even though I warmed up Gali in the ring, I was almost certain I'd switch with her and take Kate if Gali were being anything like he was earlier this week. The warm-up actually went great, and other than a little cold weather stiffness that he worked out of, he was moving nicely and pretending dressage was an okay thing after all. I stepped up to the bravery plate and decided to take Gali out. We walked way farther back than I've ever been before (I've gone on foot and with other horses), past scary abandoned tires, piles of dirt, bridges, rusty tin pipes, houses, playgrounds, and extremely threatening sticks, and other than walking sideways for a good portion of it, Gali was great. I asked about fifteen times to go back or switch horses, but Bekka ad Myk both pushed me past every single "breaking" point.
At one point, Max began to get spooky and the woods got a bit rustly, so Gali was on hyper alert. I knew I wasn't helping, and even though we were doing really well, the trail got a bit more challenging and scary and I did not want him to think all trails were scary just because I was spooking at everything. Bekka relented and we switched horses, and she took Gali back past scary things, through big puddles, and trotting up and back away from the pack to check his manners. She said he was definitely afraid of a lot and not very confident, but having a lot of fun at the same time. I think it was good for him to have some trail time with a confident rider, because I think it will help him get over his own uncertainty. He must have sensed her bravery, too, because the second she hopped on he decided he was going to be a mountain! horse and take her up the steep and two feet high banks that lined the trail at every opportunity. She let him step over logs and trot up and down hills off of the trail path that I would be hesitant to explore, and I'm glad, because he had a blast.
Pictures behind the cut!
Now, Gali's been out on trails. My old trainer took him on his first trail ride (with me as his owner) in June of 2009, and his old half boarder walked him down the street from that farm to a set of trails, but I never had the confidence to take him out next to the road. But he and I together? Nope.
Bekka's fiance, Myk, took our friend's gelding and Gali's best pony friend, Max. Bekka brought her own mare, and even though I warmed up Gali in the ring, I was almost certain I'd switch with her and take Kate if Gali were being anything like he was earlier this week. The warm-up actually went great, and other than a little cold weather stiffness that he worked out of, he was moving nicely and pretending dressage was an okay thing after all. I stepped up to the bravery plate and decided to take Gali out. We walked way farther back than I've ever been before (I've gone on foot and with other horses), past scary abandoned tires, piles of dirt, bridges, rusty tin pipes, houses, playgrounds, and extremely threatening sticks, and other than walking sideways for a good portion of it, Gali was great. I asked about fifteen times to go back or switch horses, but Bekka ad Myk both pushed me past every single "breaking" point.
At one point, Max began to get spooky and the woods got a bit rustly, so Gali was on hyper alert. I knew I wasn't helping, and even though we were doing really well, the trail got a bit more challenging and scary and I did not want him to think all trails were scary just because I was spooking at everything. Bekka relented and we switched horses, and she took Gali back past scary things, through big puddles, and trotting up and back away from the pack to check his manners. She said he was definitely afraid of a lot and not very confident, but having a lot of fun at the same time. I think it was good for him to have some trail time with a confident rider, because I think it will help him get over his own uncertainty. He must have sensed her bravery, too, because the second she hopped on he decided he was going to be a mountain! horse and take her up the steep and two feet high banks that lined the trail at every opportunity. She let him step over logs and trot up and down hills off of the trail path that I would be hesitant to explore, and I'm glad, because he had a blast.
Pictures behind the cut!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Gaaaaali, you're breakin' my heart, you're shakin' my confidence daily.
Awful ride this afternoon. I don't even feel right calling it a ride. I went to the farm to bring Gali's feed out, and despite having a ton of work to do for my final exams this week, I decided I should take advantage of the mild weather and ride. Mistake.
Our warm up at the walk was okay - he wasn't very attentive, but he seemed to have forgotten about the scary monster at the back of the ring from yesterday, so I expected good things. Mistake #2.
When I asked him to pick up a trot, he grabbed the bit and dragged me to the end of the ring. I brought him back and took a second to think, and realized I may have been absent in my outside aids. So, we tried again. I applied my outside aids. He blew me off and dragged me. I lost round three as well. I brought him back for a walk break so I could think it through and figure out if it was me that was causing his behavior, and attempted to trot again, this time paying close attention to every single movement my body made. We accomplished a little bit in terms of GET OFF MY OUTSIDE LEG, HORSE, for about fifteen minutes, before the dragging began again, to the opposite side of the ring. I got in two point, bridged my reins, and decided to let him fight himself for a little while, and of course he softened and stopped leaning so much - until I sat back and gathered my reins again, then it was drag drag drag, bolt bolt bolt. I was beyond frustrated at that point, and out of ideas, so I grabbed a lunge line and lunge whip and decided to approach this from the ground.
The first flick of the whip and "trot, trot" got a capriole-esque leap into the canter. I brought him back and asked a little quietly, which just got a regular launch into the canter. We went through the transition four or five times before I got the trot, and then it was only about six working circles before Gali took off across the ring, forcing me to drop my whip, let the line out, and dig in so he could not get loose. We had two more dragging bolts (and the post-bolt... discussions) before I finally finished on a few circles of stretchy trot in each direction, and a few nice up/down transitions between walk, trot, and canter.
When I got in to the barn and untacked, I burst into tears. I was so frustrated and had felt so helpless - no matter what I tried, I could not fix him today. I'm sure I wasn't helping under saddle, but I have no idea why he was such an asshole while lunging - he has only ever pulled shit while lunging TWICE in the three years I owned him - once, on the first day I had him, and another time when he was just miserable at a farm and did not like the person lunging him at all. He's normally so good on the line.
Of course, this would happen four days before we ride in front of Lendon Gray.
Our warm up at the walk was okay - he wasn't very attentive, but he seemed to have forgotten about the scary monster at the back of the ring from yesterday, so I expected good things. Mistake #2.
When I asked him to pick up a trot, he grabbed the bit and dragged me to the end of the ring. I brought him back and took a second to think, and realized I may have been absent in my outside aids. So, we tried again. I applied my outside aids. He blew me off and dragged me. I lost round three as well. I brought him back for a walk break so I could think it through and figure out if it was me that was causing his behavior, and attempted to trot again, this time paying close attention to every single movement my body made. We accomplished a little bit in terms of GET OFF MY OUTSIDE LEG, HORSE, for about fifteen minutes, before the dragging began again, to the opposite side of the ring. I got in two point, bridged my reins, and decided to let him fight himself for a little while, and of course he softened and stopped leaning so much - until I sat back and gathered my reins again, then it was drag drag drag, bolt bolt bolt. I was beyond frustrated at that point, and out of ideas, so I grabbed a lunge line and lunge whip and decided to approach this from the ground.
The first flick of the whip and "trot, trot" got a capriole-esque leap into the canter. I brought him back and asked a little quietly, which just got a regular launch into the canter. We went through the transition four or five times before I got the trot, and then it was only about six working circles before Gali took off across the ring, forcing me to drop my whip, let the line out, and dig in so he could not get loose. We had two more dragging bolts (and the post-bolt... discussions) before I finally finished on a few circles of stretchy trot in each direction, and a few nice up/down transitions between walk, trot, and canter.
When I got in to the barn and untacked, I burst into tears. I was so frustrated and had felt so helpless - no matter what I tried, I could not fix him today. I'm sure I wasn't helping under saddle, but I have no idea why he was such an asshole while lunging - he has only ever pulled shit while lunging TWICE in the three years I owned him - once, on the first day I had him, and another time when he was just miserable at a farm and did not like the person lunging him at all. He's normally so good on the line.
Of course, this would happen four days before we ride in front of Lendon Gray.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
SURPRISE LENDON GRAY.
My default e-mail hasn't been forwarding to my main inbox since Oct 17th.
I assumed not hearing back from the clinic organizer was because the clinic was full.
Just found out about that e-mail thing.
I have a ride time on Saturday.
FREAKING THE EFF OUT.
I assumed not hearing back from the clinic organizer was because the clinic was full.
Just found out about that e-mail thing.
I have a ride time on Saturday.
FREAKING THE EFF OUT.
Man plans, God laughs.
My favorite author has a series of books about a crime-solving jewish sports agent named Myron Bolitar. Myron frequently quotes a yiddish proverb, "Man plans, and God laughs." Now, I'm not religious in any way, but I believe that some times, there's something out there making things go right and making things go wrong. Today was the "making things go wrong" sort of day.
Went out to ride Gali today, planning to get a little more work out of him than on Friday, because it was nice out and he had yesterday off unexpectedly. He was great for grooming and tacking up, hardly fussing at all even when I tightened his girth.
I brought him out to the side ring, where I can work without having to steer around jumps or share a fence with his pasturemates, and hopped on. He started out fresh and full of energy, but I liked it, and he was nicely responding in the warm up. Just as I was getting ready to ask him for some effort, he spotted a man in the house behind the ring (their backyard ends at the arena fence) digging through an old half-collapsed shed, and his poor little thoroughbred brain could not handle it. He spun out from underneath me and threw his head in the air, snorting like a dragon. I got on his case about it for a few circles before I realized he was genuinely terrified, and not just making excuses. When I realized I had the choice between picking a fight with him over it, or letting it go and re-planning my ride, I decided to re-plan. I made him walk over within a few yards of the Scary Man, and felt his heart pounding through the saddle, and recognized that this wasn't a battle I was going to win. At the first sign of his relaxing in the back of the ring, I turned him around and decided to head out to the track.
On the track, he relaxed immediately, and we had a nice stroll. I know he definitely did NOT need a break from real work today, but sometimes shit just happens.
Went out to ride Gali today, planning to get a little more work out of him than on Friday, because it was nice out and he had yesterday off unexpectedly. He was great for grooming and tacking up, hardly fussing at all even when I tightened his girth.
I brought him out to the side ring, where I can work without having to steer around jumps or share a fence with his pasturemates, and hopped on. He started out fresh and full of energy, but I liked it, and he was nicely responding in the warm up. Just as I was getting ready to ask him for some effort, he spotted a man in the house behind the ring (their backyard ends at the arena fence) digging through an old half-collapsed shed, and his poor little thoroughbred brain could not handle it. He spun out from underneath me and threw his head in the air, snorting like a dragon. I got on his case about it for a few circles before I realized he was genuinely terrified, and not just making excuses. When I realized I had the choice between picking a fight with him over it, or letting it go and re-planning my ride, I decided to re-plan. I made him walk over within a few yards of the Scary Man, and felt his heart pounding through the saddle, and recognized that this wasn't a battle I was going to win. At the first sign of his relaxing in the back of the ring, I turned him around and decided to head out to the track.
On the track, he relaxed immediately, and we had a nice stroll. I know he definitely did NOT need a break from real work today, but sometimes shit just happens.
Starting off, nothing was too off, but pretty quickly it turned to:
Friday, December 9, 2011
What a Good Pony - 12/9
After Gali's streak of 11 ride-free days, I fully expected a fresh terror today. When I woke up and it was a chilly 36 degrees, I was convinced the universe had conspired against me, and that my ride was going to be full of ups and downs - him mostly up, me mostly down.
Luckily, by the time I got done work and out to the farm, it was a calm, warm afternoon. I still expected some hijinx, but for the most part, Gali was good. He was unusually stiff on his left side, so going to the right became more of a fight than I wanted to have. It was nowhere near his usual spin and bolt, though, so I really can't complain too much. He softened up in that direction after a few square circles and some lateral work, but I didn't push it because I will be riding Saturday and Sunday, as well. He was very willing to stretch down and out in his stretchy trot circles, and we even touched on some lateral work for the first time in a while. He stayed straight and kept an even tempo throughout the leg yields, but came considerably above the bit. I need to keep reminding myself that will come in time, when I get the rest of him sorted out.
We finished by running through an old intro level test, and surprisingly (to me, at least) his circles were round and even. The biggest challenge was the halt, actually, which isn't something I've ever had to work on with him, and I guess now is the time.
A friend of mine came out to play with the ponies, and despite only being on a horse once before (and I made her canter! We had the perfect school horse... I miss Baxter a lot) she was brave enough to get on the moose and walk around. Gali was happy to be done work early, and he followed me around the whole arena without taking his nose out of my back pocket, even though Lynn was cantering his best friend, Max, in circles around us the whole time. What a good boy!
Luckily, by the time I got done work and out to the farm, it was a calm, warm afternoon. I still expected some hijinx, but for the most part, Gali was good. He was unusually stiff on his left side, so going to the right became more of a fight than I wanted to have. It was nowhere near his usual spin and bolt, though, so I really can't complain too much. He softened up in that direction after a few square circles and some lateral work, but I didn't push it because I will be riding Saturday and Sunday, as well. He was very willing to stretch down and out in his stretchy trot circles, and we even touched on some lateral work for the first time in a while. He stayed straight and kept an even tempo throughout the leg yields, but came considerably above the bit. I need to keep reminding myself that will come in time, when I get the rest of him sorted out.
We finished by running through an old intro level test, and surprisingly (to me, at least) his circles were round and even. The biggest challenge was the halt, actually, which isn't something I've ever had to work on with him, and I guess now is the time.
A friend of mine came out to play with the ponies, and despite only being on a horse once before (and I made her canter! We had the perfect school horse... I miss Baxter a lot) she was brave enough to get on the moose and walk around. Gali was happy to be done work early, and he followed me around the whole arena without taking his nose out of my back pocket, even though Lynn was cantering his best friend, Max, in circles around us the whole time. What a good boy!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Devilofanargument - Racetrack Sunday
Excuse the lack of blogging lately, the boyfriend was in the hospital with some head trauma from passing out over our Thanksgiving break. I'll step on the soapbox for a second just to say wear a goddamn helmet, guys. I don't care how uncomfortable they are, or how good of a rider you are, head trauma is a real possibility in even the most seemingly harmless falls. It just isn't worth not wearing one - ever.
Anyway, hospital Wi-Fi sucked, and I didn't spend any time at the barn anyway, so no updates for you!
Jason is doing well now, and I have some time between studying for finals and writing end-of-term papers to write about this past Sunday.
Bekka has been exercising a three year old filly on the farm, and Sunday the filly was entered to run in a 7f claiming race. Her name is Devilofanargument - she's a Closing Argument baby, out of a Devil His Due mare who never did much.
We drove up to Philly Park to meet up with her trainer, who signed for us to get back behind the stable gate. We caught a few morning workouts before heading back to hang out with The Devil in the barn. She was very tense - the normally sweet filly was very quick to pin her ears and bear her teeth in a mock bite, and her lower lip was quivering. We chalked it up to race day excitement and tried our best to distract her with face kisses and hay.
She was in the 4th race of the day, so Bekka and I walked down the track to catch the first two races. The opener was nothing special, but I really liked one grey filly in the second race. She broke quick and was held up by her jockey, and they fought for the first two and a half furlongs of the 5f race. By the time the rider let her out, she came up strongly to place. I think she could've gotten up to win it if they would have just let her run. We spoke to her trainer when we were walking back to the barn, and she seemed like a real person, saying how she was proud of the filly for putting in a strong run.
Devil was a spaz in the paddock, whirling out of her stall kicking at her trainer and her grooms, and jigging the entire walk around. It was very unlike her - she's normally a very mellow filly, but the paddock at Philly freaked her out. It was her first time there, and it's a very enclosed space compared to the open-air paddock at Monmouth, so she may have just been reacting to the echos and confinement. She jigged her way to the gate, and hardly ran any sort of race to come in 4th out of a seven horse field.
The mood was dim after that, and both her trainer and owner believe she needs a break. I haven't had a chance to get out to the farm to see her yet, but I'll check up on her tomorrow. Her owner and the trainer went to some sale on Monday and hopefully picked up a few more horses, because currently Devil is their only horse on the track. They have a handsome colt working his way back from a layup, and a retired filly waiting for a new job.
Anyway, on to the pictures from the day :)
Anyway, hospital Wi-Fi sucked, and I didn't spend any time at the barn anyway, so no updates for you!
Jason is doing well now, and I have some time between studying for finals and writing end-of-term papers to write about this past Sunday.
Bekka has been exercising a three year old filly on the farm, and Sunday the filly was entered to run in a 7f claiming race. Her name is Devilofanargument - she's a Closing Argument baby, out of a Devil His Due mare who never did much.
We drove up to Philly Park to meet up with her trainer, who signed for us to get back behind the stable gate. We caught a few morning workouts before heading back to hang out with The Devil in the barn. She was very tense - the normally sweet filly was very quick to pin her ears and bear her teeth in a mock bite, and her lower lip was quivering. We chalked it up to race day excitement and tried our best to distract her with face kisses and hay.
She was in the 4th race of the day, so Bekka and I walked down the track to catch the first two races. The opener was nothing special, but I really liked one grey filly in the second race. She broke quick and was held up by her jockey, and they fought for the first two and a half furlongs of the 5f race. By the time the rider let her out, she came up strongly to place. I think she could've gotten up to win it if they would have just let her run. We spoke to her trainer when we were walking back to the barn, and she seemed like a real person, saying how she was proud of the filly for putting in a strong run.
Devil was a spaz in the paddock, whirling out of her stall kicking at her trainer and her grooms, and jigging the entire walk around. It was very unlike her - she's normally a very mellow filly, but the paddock at Philly freaked her out. It was her first time there, and it's a very enclosed space compared to the open-air paddock at Monmouth, so she may have just been reacting to the echos and confinement. She jigged her way to the gate, and hardly ran any sort of race to come in 4th out of a seven horse field.
The mood was dim after that, and both her trainer and owner believe she needs a break. I haven't had a chance to get out to the farm to see her yet, but I'll check up on her tomorrow. Her owner and the trainer went to some sale on Monday and hopefully picked up a few more horses, because currently Devil is their only horse on the track. They have a handsome colt working his way back from a layup, and a retired filly waiting for a new job.
Anyway, on to the pictures from the day :)
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