April came to watch me ride since her stb is just started under saddle. I thought the Danny lesson would be good for her to see, and hopefully she came out of it with something to use with her horse. I hope to see her have a lesson in the near future with Dom so I can see him move and offer encouragement. She's already started her horse Shadow off on the right path, so I know he'll come along great!
I think this was the 4th lesson we had with Danny. First was just steering and stopping. The second was posture, steering, and stopping. The third was bending and getting him off my leg/into the bit which I have that video in prior posts. So yes, I think this is the 4th like I said. It started off with compliments! Danny knew that I'd been working on what we've learned as he could tell Spyder was more manageable, more flexible, and more prone to respond to aids.
We worked on the bit and did some steering, and Danny could see that I kept him in a frame well (last lesson this is basically all we worked on with moving off of leg). We worked up to the trot, and it was inconsistent with speeds as well as sloppy. I remembered the two items I was in control of so when I was asked, direction and speed. When Spyder would speed up, I had to turn him and continue the other direction. The turn started with me being sharp, but Danny let me know I needed to guide him and keep my leg with him to hold his balance. Oops. He was getting a bit off balance which made for a few pacey steps, but Danny told me to change my diagonal to put him back in balance. He said, "who cares what diagonal you're on for this exercise, that's for crap, like showing!"
I had to keep the rhythm and slow him every time that he wanted to speed up. I had to change the pace of my posting and work on squeezing my knees/thighs into Spyder's shoulder to encourage slowing the speed. We did this working in a circle, and when he was listening, I took him around the field to make sure it would stay consistent. It did! Another step that he added was always asking him something at every point of the ride. I would ask him for a transition up to trot, but push him into it moving him off my leg. When in the trot, I'd still ask him to move over with my leg, and then ask him to walk, but use my leg to move him out. This seemed to help Spyder a lot because he's paying attention. Instead of nagging him here and there, you're constantly working and asking. I think he was happy about it!
Now that we have the steering and the stop/go, we can work on the speed and consistency. It must be nice to be blessed with a horse with tempo. My legs, back, arms, and thighs can feel ever bit of the "slow down" steps that we took! I'd say we're getting somewhere... FINALLY! Walking back to the barn, a mini was following us/coming with us because the girl was going over to barn 2 to ride with others. Spyder was fine until we let the mini catch up to us and the moment he stepped in front, he looked at him like it was going to eat him. In his defense, the little girl did have a pink sparkly crop and used it lightly. I'm thinking that maybe Spyder saw that? I have no idea why he was OK with the mini following until it got a bit closer/up to him, but we'll have to work on being around other horses.
When we got back to our barn, I showed April his canter and was curious to know if it looked "normal." She let me know that it looks just like any other horse she's seen which makes me happy because she wasn't a standardbred person before hers (as was I - I had owned one, but never trained him for anything that mattered, I just rode him). It is great to know that someone else is exploring a new breed and trying to make it work. She saw that it could, and we have each other to talk about "horse problems" with!
So Friday was a great ride. It was a bit warm, but we had the perfect breeze. Spyder wasn't in the mood for a ride, but he perked up quickly and was easy to handle. We started with w/t and got balance going. From there, we picked up the canter. It was AMAZINGLY easy to pick it up (to the left, of course). Once we trotted to the right, I was having trouble getting him off my leg. It took a few circles, but FINALLY, he started listening. Since he was moving over, I pushed up into the canter which was also very easy for whatever reason. He can hold it longer because he's finding his balance, and he's starting to get moving off my leg at the canter, as well. Whoo, maybe soon we can do BIGGER circles.
On to the Danny lesson yesterday - OH BOY! We walked over to the indoor very bravely, and he was just a bit perky/excited/nervous. It was100% my fault because I was nervous, but the heat made me realize that he wouldn't be moving anywhere too quickly. It was 95 degrees, and I had a 2:45 lesson. Had I known it would have been so hot, I may have not signed up, but I sucked it up because he doesn't come too often. The indoor was nice because we got out of the sun, and the ceiling fans were going which helped with air flow a bit. I'll have to go over to the indoor on days when it's really hot if I want to ride without the sun. Normally I wouldn't have ridden on such a hot day, but we had things to accomplish.
To start the lesson off, Danny asked me what I would like to work on. I had to think about it, because I'm not sure where we left off with our other two lessons. I remembered - the first was w/t/STOP because stop wasn't working... and the second was w/t/STEER because we worked on my posture, but steering was not an option. I decided to ask to work on rhythm and balance because I let him know we get a running walk or a pace when he's off balance (but it's also a laziness issue). We started off with a quick trot warm up in both directions around the indoor. Danny could see that I've been working with him as the trot was a lot better than prior lessons. It was great to hear I did something right since the last time he saw him move.
We worked on a circle around Danny while moving the shoulder out. I used a dressage whip to push his shoulder out when he wouldn't listen to my leg. At first, he kept speeding up with the whip in which case my outside rein had to dictate the pace. He kept trying to trot off which was frustrating so I had to keep bringing him back down. Danny let me know I let my horse get away with murder... bad habit, I know. Once he got over that the whip didn't mean SPEED UP, it means MOVE OVER, we were looking great. Danny was pleased with his form in the walk so we moved up to trot... failure. We looked like a sloppy mess, and he let me know it. Then I got asked, "why can you do it at the walk and not the trot?" Good question? It's because I was too busy flopping around. So lesson #1: Outside rein to set the pace, inside rein to pull in his nose for the bend. Easier said than done so we worked at the walk again. I had to keep my outside rein and hand at the saddle and close my inside hand until we got the bend.
Keeping my hands steady at the walk was easy, but the trot they were all over the place which was the problem. We then moved back up to trot once I got my hands under control. This time we got it, but Spyder was picking the pace. We worked on slower, slower, slower, and Danny assured me that there is no rhythm issue. Once he is balanced, his rhythm is great. I just had to learn how to keep him there and to keep his shoulder out. Spyder was getting frustrated on the one half of the circle and pulled a little angry/rear/hop up stunt, but I rode through it well (oh no, being asked to get off my leg is SOOO terrible). I am so happy that he pulled the act just once and that I could keep riding him like it never happened. We took a walk break, and I needed it! It was so hot, and I was bright red/feeling like I could pass out. Whew, summer is killing me.
I wanted to switch to the left because that's my stronger leg and the easier direction. So when Danny asked me to grab my reins to start up the same exercise, I said, "Same direction?" He said, "Of course, you think I'd let you do the easy way? I remember that the right is the weaker side!". I thought I could catch a break, but he let me know the once a month or so was not enough time to work on the "easy side". We were doing so well on the "hard side" so I got to switch direction at the trot. I had to keep using my weak right leg which was now the outside leg since he gets it so easily to the left. I knew I'd be sore the next day (but it's not as bad as expected). We kept switching back to the right since the "bad side" was getting to be so easy.
I REALLY enjoy Danny lessons because he's tough, and you get a lot accomplished in just one hour. You're always getting questioned and ideas handed to you that make you think. He's always asking you things over and over again so they stick. The next ride, you know EXACTLY what to do because you repeat what you're doing throughout the lesson out loud. It's a great way to teach because you can't forget unless you are not participating in which case he lets you know it. You might get asked (which I did), "Now what are you doing wrong?"... when you're puzzled because you're doing things right (so you think). The point is, you think, "What am I doing wrong?". Well, nothing. The answers are sometimes complex and usually simple, but you don't think to say, "Umm, I'm doing everything right." It's positive reinforcement to remind you that you know what you're doing while you're doing it.
I had to repeat to Danny (out loud) "this is the hard side" a few times while we went around to the right in a perfect circle to remind myself that we accomplished what we were looking to do. Also, "outside rein sets the pace, inside rein turns his nose" must have been repeated ten times. Then I got asked, "and what else are you doing?" I also had to add "if the inside rein doesn't make him move out his shoulder, then push him out with the inside leg." Saying this over and over again is going to help my next rides immensely. I'm looking forward to the next lesson because we were looking like a dressage team! The trainer/BO took a video of us once we got through the rough spots and changing direction. It's hard to see the difference between either side because he was so good in both directions! :)
Finished my first graduate course which was a relief, but we just got into our new house! Lucky us the man finally decided to give up and move out, but the house is DISGUSTING! We had to rip out all of the carpets because he didn't always get home to his dogs, and they would be left in the house. Right now, we have a 30 yard dumpster in the yard FILLED. Blah!
Unhooking the gate - quietly looking at deer.
On a lighter note, I did get to ride despite the construction/war zone in my new house. Saturday was beautiful, and the deer were in plenty. There were about 15 in the big field when we got out to the ring, but Spyder just looked! Whoo! I knew it was going to be a good ride.
I got off to get the gate, hopped back on, and we went right to work. I did the stopping practice that Danny helped us with until he wanted to listen. He was listening, and responding to every single command within an instant. We cantered both directions, and there was no kicking out!
Looking at the deer running and not caring!
From there, we did the same steering and speed exercise that we learned. I could tell that listening and practicing paid off because we could do it! There was a grid set up, and I used those jumps to run through out serpentines. I was balanced, my posture was better, we kept our pace, and we steered! :)
Listening perfectly!
On the way back to the barn, I decided to do something different. We rode away from the barn up the track and did a mini trail. I didn't want him to be too upset going by himself, and I want to take it slow since I was nervous, so we followed along the perimeter of his paddock where his pasture mates were eating hay. I figured he would be more calm, and we went through the woods and past the cross country jumps quietly. There were deer in the cross country field, and he did stop for a moment, but I let him since it was better than acting up/running away. YAY for us! I feel like I have more confidence now that I know we can steer and stop! :D
I rode with Danny again yesterday. The ride from our barn next door wasn't as bad this time. Spyder was a little spooky, but he knew I was worried. We got to the farm in one piece and even got to ride all the way into the ring. He was much more calm this time which was great.
We worked out in the ring near the jumps to give Spyder something to look at, and he didn't care about anything - not even the other riders jumping or the flower boxes. Danny asked me what I wanted to work on and that was the same items as last time and my posture. I do think that we both need help - him being green and me being a sloppy rider - how do you get anywhere? I was assured that posture would help teach him, as well. I had to work on sitting up and using my lower back muscles which was a workout! I found my seat bone and had to lean forward and backward to get a feel for the different seats. When I was using both left and right seat bones and allowing them to move with Spyder, he was very relaxed and brought his head down which was awesome to see happen. We were working together and not against each other. We walked for a while, and I learned how and where to use the power to get him to stop with posture and legs versus the reins (but needed them because he doesn't get it yet). It's so much to think about!
So, sitting up tall, and bringing my knee forward and my heel down, we worked on stopping. First we did it 25 times at the walk - first think about it (release leg pressure from your calves and tighten up your thighs), then close your fingers for pressure, then pull back a little, pull back a lot, then use leverage. It was so hard to do while figuring out posture! It was nice to see that by the end, we were doing very slow and smooth stops rather than head jerking and forceful movements. We did that exercise at the trot once we got it down at the walk, but the right was a lot worse than the left as always. We worked on first tell him to move over, then tell him your serious, then make him if he doesn't listen. He moved over! Oh, we even did a little funky gait that Danny called the "Puerto Rican Shuffle"... haha.
Listening ears...
Then we went back to what we worked on the following week - listening and turning. Direction and speed - keeping the speed constant, looking forward, and telling Spyder where we are going to go. We did this in a serpentine around 3 jumps which were tight considering the large gait he has, but it was easier than expected... with instruction. Danny helped me to calm down, relax, sit up tall, and move around the jumps quietly. I think it was the most quiet ending to any ride I have ever had with control, and Spyder was waiting for the cue to find out what to do next. We rode back to the other barn with one scene in the driveway and a few spooks, but it was the first time I knew I could handle it. We had to keep moving, and I had to tell him what to do. We made it, and it was great! :)
Today was beautiful! It was hard going back into work with it being 70 at lunch time, but I did force myself to get to the farm. I had planned to go, but I have been exhausted between grad school, planning a wedding, and closing on a new home - more info below. Can you say hectic?
Hectic was my ride today. Spyder was pretty slow, but I had to push him up to get him to work so we could practice our clinic moves. I immediately started with the brakes, and he was stopping wonderfully! From there we did some serpentines to help with steering and to get brain moving and neck stretched. We had some deer to look at, and he was great! We did a little cross rail to throw something else into the mix and to practice the stop right after it. Man he can get his rear end under him when he's tired and whoa comes out!
From there, I decided I was going to work on the canter... without spurs. I forgot my boots at "home" where I left my spurs attached. I was tired/lazy and have been running around like crazy with everything going on, but I didn't let it stop me. We cantered BOTH directions and got a bit of kicking out. What did I do? I fought like a cowgirl and thought of my Danny lesson. You want to kick out? OK, turn, quick, canter the other way! Kick again, circle and GO! I did all of this in the big ring and by myself. Ahh! It wasn't the safest way to test out my new attitude, but it worked out.
I had no idea that one quick lesson/clinic would give me the tools to control the situation like I was. It was just a great night with a great realization.... we can work together and move forward! YAY! Happy Friday!
News:
Closing Tuesday (have been living at my parent's shore house because I sold mine back in March... there is a man in the house we're trying to buy that refuses to leave so it has been delayed - Still TBD if it will actually happen)
Exam/class comes to an end this week (getting my master's and this is the first course - why'd I decide this was a good idea?)
Wedding is in less than 100 days (OMG! I need to think about it some?)
So we had our clinic today. I didn't get there early enough to warm up, but I decided to brave riding over to the other farm. I turned down the driveway, took a breathe, and pushed with my leg. EVERYTHING was scary - the fallen tree, the marshy grass, the stones, but we made it... down the driveway. In the road, I hopped off after Spyder acted like he never saw a car before. Someone was headed to the barn to feed so she stopped and waited for me to pass her before going further since she saw him spool. Thank goodness! We went towards the barn, and OMG, there were horses in their stalls making noise! Spyder spazzed and jumped back a few times, great... this was going to go well! Then I had a sniffle which made him jump... and then we went to the mounting block.
In the ring, we did well. We walked each direction at the other farm while we waited for the instructor to finish his prior lesson. I had no idea I'd be hooking up to a microphone/speaker set to listen to Danny Warrington speak, but this is where the lesson started. I had to drop the reins while Danny held him to put on the headphones under my helmet. Man was I a nervous mess! I was already worried about how he was going to behave, and he wanted to circle and act like whatever was going on wasn't OK. Danny made note of me not trusting him when he was holding my horse with me on board, but I assured him that it was not a trust issue with him - it was with Spyder. I get nervous in situations that we've never experienced before which definitely doesn't help us out... AT ALL! We decided to head to the indoor since it's right by the ring where we started for the control factor, as we discussed that as something I need to work on.
In the indoor, the first question I had to answer was, "What is your job as the rider?" Ummm... telling your horse what to do? I had no idea. It's steering and speed... both we have NO control over, BUT I learned that I do actually have full control over it. It's my job to make sure we're doing what I want to do since Spyder has no clue, and his job is to listen. AWESOME, now what? We played a little red light, green light to prove that control is little to none. I also got asked, "Would you drive a car without brakes on the NJ turnpike doing 90 mph?" OK, I get it. We don't stop well either! Stop, back, trot, halt, trot on... all at "not fast enough" speed. AHH! I thought we knew more, but I was wrong, and we got a GREAT clinic session under our belts. So what was going to help the speed and steering? Well, LOTS of circles, LOTS of pulling back... do what I say now INSTEAD of.. oh, it's OK... you can move forward and do what you want to do. Aww, you don't want to stand? We can walk around. The key to all of this was keep him moving. He DID pull his buck/kicking out thing, and we worked through it. You want to act up, Spyder, you can turn into the wall... then you can CANTER the other way. You want to kick out that way? AWESOME, turn into the wall and canter the OTHER way. Danny kicked our butts. Within 5 minutes Spyder was listening better than he ever had before, and we had a brake. It was so fun because I didn't think I could ride like that!
After our turn, turn turn, stop, trot, stop, back, trot, canter, turn into wall, canter (aka pace), turn into wall again, he was LISTENING. Instead of running off and doing what he wanted to do, he stopped, stood, and his ears were back to listen for the next cue. WHOO! I had no idea he wasn't listening all along, but I am happy I learned how to enforce the "let's do this". We worked on serpentines at the walk to get the soft steering and neck movements which kicked our butt... so then we had to work at the trot, of course. Wow, that was a workout. I was glad that we were able to take a few breathers and leave it on a short but good note. Totally worth the experience and the sweat! I rode my horse like a cowgirl, and I'm happy that 1) I didn't fall off and 2) we did it. We'll have to practice that exercise on our own and see how that confidence changes! On the way back to the other barn, we got a nice spook so I kept with with the turn, turn turn, go, go, go, stop, turn, turn, ... OK, you get it.
This was all still without a nose band, but the cut is starting to look better and the halter is staying off in the field! Our bridle looked a bit western which is why the cowgirl came out I guess! :)
An oldie, but a goodie - June 2012 right before his 5th bday!
I am away this week for work, and next week I'm going to ride in a clinic at the farm. I'm worried about it because this is going to go one of two ways. Not riding for a week doesn't make Spyder crazy, but it makes him either more lazy ("Ehh, you didn't ride me this week. I'm not moving.") or "Yay, you're back. I missed you... Let's do this!"
I'm hoping for the "Yay, youre back" attitude, but you never know. The last day I rode was this past Sunday, and if they weather is good, I MIGHT be able to get back on him Monday. The clinic is on Wednesday, and I travel for work back in NJ Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully Wednesday, I get finished at a reasonable hour to get at the farm and get on him prior to the lesson to get a feel for how my night is going to be. He can be PERFECT or a TEST from day to day so we'll have to wait to see how it goes.
Fear #2 - The gaited thing. The clinic is with an accomplished event rider which may not be into the fact that I have a stb. I hope this isn't the case (because I did hear his name was involved with stb's somewhere in the family), but I'm going to mention that we need to work on "normal" horse things like w/t, moving off leg, and steering. I need to work on my posture so I'm sure I'll be able to bring that into the mix, too. Hopefully we can stick to things that are going to have him cooperate and learn.
Of course I'll follow up with how the clinic went, but until then, I'll worry about it a little. Let's HOPE he is on his best behavior! And if not, let's hope we can learn from it!
Since I got a dose of reality and learned so much about life as a whole, I decided there was no other decision to be made but to move forward. Moving forward meant that I had to pull myself together and realize that there would be many ups and just as many downs. Training a horse isn't easy, but it needs to be fun. Looking at the big picture vs. the small picture is how this blog got started. I wanted to be able to record progress, look back, and smile.
After the clinic, I decided to get back into a routine. I had to ride with goals and intentions of working on a particular problem before I could move on to the next task. With meeting new goals, I had to try new things so we didn't both get bored. I started to work in new areas around the farm, and to try our some jumping on our own. Spyder is so willing to please, you can point him at an obstacle, and he doesn't flinch. He trusts that the rider on his back is pointing him towards something worth a try, and he tries harder than I could have ever imagined. July, after the clinic, August, and most of September was dedicated to progressing and pushing forward. Realizing that going back was OK, and accepting that helped us so much.
Crossing a bridge
Dom came out again at the end of September, and we began working on bending into corners while pushing into the bit. I knew I'd have some homework after feeling my legs burn. In October, I worked with my trainer in the field by the barn and the dressage ring some to work on getting into the bit and bending some more. We really needed some help with steering, and the bending and pushing seemed to be helping quite a bit. I felt like we were getting somewhere, and most definitely when I got to see the pictures Dom took in September. It was more than just teaching my horse how to go and bend and push into the bit. It was me sitting up straight, posting up, and helping out his balance and movement.I had no idea that my position made all the difference!
