Friday, April 19, 2013
Snow Days
Louie's vacation continues.... due to some unusual weather conditions in the area this "spring." As far as I can tell, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Usually the snow is melting and gone in April, but I think we've had record snowfalls this month, and it seems to always happen on my days that I have the ability to go to the barn and ride. So, until Mother Nature cooperates, Louie will enjoy uninterrupted frolicking.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Should it Stay or Should it Go Now?
Well vacation time is winding down a bit for Louie. I've ridden him 3 times in the past month and he's done really well! He seems like he's picking up where we left off, I just have to get myself remembering all the things I'm supposed to do. It took two rides for me to remember how to get a half halt with my stomach muscles (oh I still have those?). His canter seems wonderful still, and he seems to want to stretch down some too (as long as he's not by the monsters at A, and C... and B...).
In his time off, he grew a pretty wild mane! Half of it has been rubbed off on the hay feeder, but his forelock and bridlepath grew quite a bit! I haven't seen him with a forelock since he was a 2-year-old at his breeder's. I can't decide if I should let it grow out or shave it off again... But since it's gone this far, I think I might see what happens. Of course I think he looks so pretty and regal without it, but some Saddlebreds look really nice with forelocks too, as long as they're not just a few wispy hairs. Right now he has that Icelandic/foal look going on.
Louie says, "Well, what do you think? Do you like it?"
"Does this haircut make me look like a little baby? Do you think my buddies will pick on me?"
"Ah, what the hay, I'm a tough guy, I'll go with it for now!"
In his time off, he grew a pretty wild mane! Half of it has been rubbed off on the hay feeder, but his forelock and bridlepath grew quite a bit! I haven't seen him with a forelock since he was a 2-year-old at his breeder's. I can't decide if I should let it grow out or shave it off again... But since it's gone this far, I think I might see what happens. Of course I think he looks so pretty and regal without it, but some Saddlebreds look really nice with forelocks too, as long as they're not just a few wispy hairs. Right now he has that Icelandic/foal look going on.
Louie says, "Well, what do you think? Do you like it?"
"Does this haircut make me look like a little baby? Do you think my buddies will pick on me?"
"Ah, what the hay, I'm a tough guy, I'll go with it for now!"
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Vacation Time
Sorry I have neglected Louie's blog for a while. . . we've been a little busy. Our new addition arrived on January 16th and Louie got to meet her when she was 2 weeks old. Baby Elsa pretty much slept through the encounter but that's okay. We'll get her riding soon enough and Louie will be perfect for her!
I haven't seen Louie much lately, but he's given a couple of lessons to some of the more advanced riders at Sunborn, and mostly has been enjoying some vacation time. At least I went out to say hi and brush him a bit last week, but won't be able to do much more for a few more weeks. So for now, he's just enjoying eating and rough housing with his pasture buddies.
I haven't seen Louie much lately, but he's given a couple of lessons to some of the more advanced riders at Sunborn, and mostly has been enjoying some vacation time. At least I went out to say hi and brush him a bit last week, but won't be able to do much more for a few more weeks. So for now, he's just enjoying eating and rough housing with his pasture buddies.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Ribbons
It has been about 3 weeks since I've ridden, and I miss it a lot, though I must admit it's giving me more time to get stuff done around the house! I've at least been out to visit, lunge, and groom Louie at least once a week since I stopped riding. He's also been used for one lesson, which went well from the sounds of it.
In the mean time, I'm trying to clean out some old stuff from the house, and came across a giant box filled with ribbons and trophies from every horse show I've ever been to in my life. . . Okay, the box weighs about 40 pounds, and most of these ribbons are from horses I leased in the past or used to own (or currently own, but don't regularly show- ie. Cash and Jackson, our Tennessee Walking Horses).
In the mean time, I'm trying to clean out some old stuff from the house, and came across a giant box filled with ribbons and trophies from every horse show I've ever been to in my life. . . Okay, the box weighs about 40 pounds, and most of these ribbons are from horses I leased in the past or used to own (or currently own, but don't regularly show- ie. Cash and Jackson, our Tennessee Walking Horses).
So, what to do with a giant box of ribbons? Oh the memories. . . Well, most of them are sadly going to be thrown away, but I saved a few of the pretty ones and high point ribbons and made them into this beautiful wreath (cost me about $9 at Michael's craft shop). I just have to decide if I'm going to trim the streamers off of all of them or leave them on these last two (as seen in the photo) attached.
Then, I kept all of Louie's ribbons from "official" shows- basically Saddlebred shows or rated dressage shows, and got rid of any WSCA or schooling show ribbons. Since there weren't terribly many of them (compared to the amount in the giant box), I put them in a glass cylinder/vase, in which I can display them compactly, somewhere in our house.
Sorry about the pictures, for some reason Blogger won't display them in their upright position as I had saved them. Anyhow, now I just have to find a couple of places to put my new creations!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Last Lesson For A While. . .
Tonight was my last lesson for a little while. . . being 6.5 months pregnant it's probably time to cut back on my riding. And not so much because I'm scared of falling or that I'm having any pain, it's more that I'm not as effective as a rider anymore. . .that, and my family worries about me riding.
So, it was a great lesson tonight, a great note to end on. We worked on a lot of lateral work- a lot of shoulder in and haunches in, with a little bit of renvers. We worked on some shoulder in down the center line, working on keeping Louie tracking where I wanted him to, haunches on the center line and travelling straight- it's a lot harder without a wall! We found I had to use more outside leg back to hold the haunches, and use my inside leg fairly strongly and intermittently to really get him to hold his withers up and bend through his body (not just his neck). When we got it right, it felt like we were really moving sideways with some thrust, not just dragging along. We would then switch to renvers part way through the straight away, just for a few strides, then turn back to shoulder in and round the corner. Julie thought our renvers tonight was really rather good. We worked this at the sitting trot.
We learned a couple of little tricks here- we tried to get Louie to stretch his neck down throughout the exercise, and when he came above the bit, I would use my hands lightly high and wide, with a lot of leg and even add some whip, just long enough for him to fill up the bridle, then I'd release and let him lower his neck. It worked almost every time, but I have to focus on staying tucked through my pelvis while I do that. And, timing is everything- if I didn't release in time, he wouldn't seek the bit and follow it down.
Then we worked some haunches in on a small circle (thinking of bringing both hands toward the outside a bit to get the bend, which is the most important part), transitioning to shoulder in, and then to canter. We had some nice canter work this way, and actually got him to carry himself, then lower his neck by doing the same principle that we did in the trot work- raise the inside rein up (and use some pressure on it) while using a fair amount of leg, then give the rein and he would seek the bit and stretch down in the canter. All the while, I need to focus on keeping my body quite still.
Overall this was a really fun lesson and Louie was really quite good (though I had to lunge him for about 15 minutes before I got on because we had a cold front and the first snow of the year come through today). It was one of my more effective rides in the past month (as my belly has grown bigger my abs and ability to tuck my pelvis have really suffered, as well as my endurance toting around the extra weight). I will really look forward to picking up somewhere near where we left off next spring (hopefully sometime around March).
In the mean time, Louie's future is still a bit up in the air. He might get a few months "off" just to sit in the pasture and be a pet. Or, we've also toyed with the idea of having Julie use him for a few lessons with appropriate riders, so that he can at least maintain his condition. My biggest fear with the idea of using him for lessons is that he will either learn bad habits or get hurt. But then again, Julie keeps a very tight wrap on her lesson students and wouldn't let them do anything that would cause him harm. That, and she gets on to ride a fair bit during lessons, and helps to troubleshoot issues regularly. If I have any concerns about regression, I can always have her put a few rides on him before I come back. But I think it would be quite beneficial for him to stay in some regular work, as this past year of dressage lessons has been probably his soundest year of his life (knock on wood).
So, we shall see! Soon Louie will have a new little rider to tote around!
So, it was a great lesson tonight, a great note to end on. We worked on a lot of lateral work- a lot of shoulder in and haunches in, with a little bit of renvers. We worked on some shoulder in down the center line, working on keeping Louie tracking where I wanted him to, haunches on the center line and travelling straight- it's a lot harder without a wall! We found I had to use more outside leg back to hold the haunches, and use my inside leg fairly strongly and intermittently to really get him to hold his withers up and bend through his body (not just his neck). When we got it right, it felt like we were really moving sideways with some thrust, not just dragging along. We would then switch to renvers part way through the straight away, just for a few strides, then turn back to shoulder in and round the corner. Julie thought our renvers tonight was really rather good. We worked this at the sitting trot.
We learned a couple of little tricks here- we tried to get Louie to stretch his neck down throughout the exercise, and when he came above the bit, I would use my hands lightly high and wide, with a lot of leg and even add some whip, just long enough for him to fill up the bridle, then I'd release and let him lower his neck. It worked almost every time, but I have to focus on staying tucked through my pelvis while I do that. And, timing is everything- if I didn't release in time, he wouldn't seek the bit and follow it down.
Then we worked some haunches in on a small circle (thinking of bringing both hands toward the outside a bit to get the bend, which is the most important part), transitioning to shoulder in, and then to canter. We had some nice canter work this way, and actually got him to carry himself, then lower his neck by doing the same principle that we did in the trot work- raise the inside rein up (and use some pressure on it) while using a fair amount of leg, then give the rein and he would seek the bit and stretch down in the canter. All the while, I need to focus on keeping my body quite still.
Overall this was a really fun lesson and Louie was really quite good (though I had to lunge him for about 15 minutes before I got on because we had a cold front and the first snow of the year come through today). It was one of my more effective rides in the past month (as my belly has grown bigger my abs and ability to tuck my pelvis have really suffered, as well as my endurance toting around the extra weight). I will really look forward to picking up somewhere near where we left off next spring (hopefully sometime around March).
In the mean time, Louie's future is still a bit up in the air. He might get a few months "off" just to sit in the pasture and be a pet. Or, we've also toyed with the idea of having Julie use him for a few lessons with appropriate riders, so that he can at least maintain his condition. My biggest fear with the idea of using him for lessons is that he will either learn bad habits or get hurt. But then again, Julie keeps a very tight wrap on her lesson students and wouldn't let them do anything that would cause him harm. That, and she gets on to ride a fair bit during lessons, and helps to troubleshoot issues regularly. If I have any concerns about regression, I can always have her put a few rides on him before I come back. But I think it would be quite beneficial for him to stay in some regular work, as this past year of dressage lessons has been probably his soundest year of his life (knock on wood).
So, we shall see! Soon Louie will have a new little rider to tote around!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Progress Video
My friend came out to video tape my ride this weekend. Of course, knowing that something was up, Louie had to act like a spaz, afraid of the "A" end of the arena even more than usual. . . so, after about an hour of warm-up. . . . we were able to shoot some video. He still wasn't seeking contact with as long a neck as what he has been doing lately, and he wasn't lifting his back as nicely either. But, we still got some decent moments. We had some nice half halts, cantering, and lateral work. I think this video shows great progress (both with my riding and Louie's abilities) in the past 10 months since we started riding with Julie. Enjoy!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Lesson: Half Halts and Release
Today we had a challenging lesson.
When Julie first got there, I had just started warming up at the trot and she was surprised at how good we looked. She asked what we had done to make such an improvement and how I was riding differently than normal. Well, I didn't think I was really riding differently than normal, he was just somehow being really good- reaching down for contact and a nice controlled, cadenced trot.
Well I think she was satisfied with our posting trot, so we moved on to a new exercise of very frequent half halts- every stride in the sitting trot. So, I had to apply inside leg and stomach every time the inside front leg went forward. That was a big challenge- for me! Contracting my muscles and releasing them with every stride is a lot of work! The half halts weren't huge, but just enough to get Louie thinking and his hind legs moving more than anything.
We worked on this for a little bit, and then added an element of allowing forward motion after several half halts. So we would do 3 consecutive strides with half halts, then release forward and "tap tap tap" my leg lightly with each step and almost allow the energy forward through my stomach.
Sometimes, we would do a 10 meter circle working on this, then proceed into shoulder in down the long side of the arena. I need to remember to stay really tucked, and if Louie ignores my aids and runs through me, get really tucked under with my seat, raise and widen my hands, but keep my fingers light, and use whip if he won't listen to my leg to move sideways.
We then worked on this exercise, but instead of allowing a little more trot, we asked for the canter. I need to really focus on keeping my feet light in the canter and riding each stride, being prepared to downward transition after 3 strides, or after 3 circles. . . All of our canter work is being done on about 10-15 meter circles at this point. We had some very nice left lead cantering. Our right lead canter is still a bit rushed, higher headed, and not as connected as the left lead. I think this is just due to Louie's mild chronic left hind leg lameness.
I need to remember not only to keep my feet and legs light in the canter, but also to think towards the stretch just like we do in the other gaits (with inside bend via inside leg and rein, and some half halt and release).
I think we've made really great progress in the past month or two. I'm hoping to get a schooling video soon to share Louie's "new canter" as well as hopefully catch his nicer connected trot and stretching skills.
When Julie first got there, I had just started warming up at the trot and she was surprised at how good we looked. She asked what we had done to make such an improvement and how I was riding differently than normal. Well, I didn't think I was really riding differently than normal, he was just somehow being really good- reaching down for contact and a nice controlled, cadenced trot.
Well I think she was satisfied with our posting trot, so we moved on to a new exercise of very frequent half halts- every stride in the sitting trot. So, I had to apply inside leg and stomach every time the inside front leg went forward. That was a big challenge- for me! Contracting my muscles and releasing them with every stride is a lot of work! The half halts weren't huge, but just enough to get Louie thinking and his hind legs moving more than anything.
We worked on this for a little bit, and then added an element of allowing forward motion after several half halts. So we would do 3 consecutive strides with half halts, then release forward and "tap tap tap" my leg lightly with each step and almost allow the energy forward through my stomach.
Sometimes, we would do a 10 meter circle working on this, then proceed into shoulder in down the long side of the arena. I need to remember to stay really tucked, and if Louie ignores my aids and runs through me, get really tucked under with my seat, raise and widen my hands, but keep my fingers light, and use whip if he won't listen to my leg to move sideways.
We then worked on this exercise, but instead of allowing a little more trot, we asked for the canter. I need to really focus on keeping my feet light in the canter and riding each stride, being prepared to downward transition after 3 strides, or after 3 circles. . . All of our canter work is being done on about 10-15 meter circles at this point. We had some very nice left lead cantering. Our right lead canter is still a bit rushed, higher headed, and not as connected as the left lead. I think this is just due to Louie's mild chronic left hind leg lameness.
I need to remember not only to keep my feet and legs light in the canter, but also to think towards the stretch just like we do in the other gaits (with inside bend via inside leg and rein, and some half halt and release).
I think we've made really great progress in the past month or two. I'm hoping to get a schooling video soon to share Louie's "new canter" as well as hopefully catch his nicer connected trot and stretching skills.
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