I'm back!

Monday BEFORE I left, I never got to write about our ride. A pony came trotting over while I was warming up so I went around  the track and field at walk the the owner. She trailers in to ride, and I had ridden with her and another horse of hers two years prior, but she didn't remember that far back. She also didn't know that stb's came in "colors" because she pointed out Spyder has white on his face and legs. She also never knew "they" could move so good. His trot was lovely and HUGE she said. Oh stereotypes.

The welsh pony Spyder had never seen - at first, he was alarmed.

Tuesday, I did some jumps. Of course this was after we did w/t/c, but he was forward so we worked on jumping. I did forget that we did some trot poles where Spyder really had to think about his feet and REACH to get through all of them. We worked on forwardness through them and then slowing up and getting round after. From there, we'd circle and do the trot poles coming the other way. Since he was picking his feet up, we moved to jumping. I did another new jump because he was feeling our ride. It is what I'd call a brush box?... without brush? haha. It's just an open gate sort of jump that's in other pictures, but I forgot to snap the shot for this post. It'll come back around.

Thursday, I wanted to ride before the flight out, but I didn't want to get hurt or chance any sort of injury/soreness before the trip. That didn't work out for me because I ended up weeding the garden and was sore for a few days from all of the hard labor (sort of). It was nice of a girl at the farm that feeds to instagram a photo of Spyder and tag me in the post with "he misses you" for me to see what I was away. I had her fly spray him when I was gone because I felt guilty not being around to do it (this time of year they always seem to start up like crazy again).

I can post a brief summary of the trip if anyone cares to read it. Switzerland was the most beautiful of all the countries we visited. We got to see quite a few horses there pulling carts and a few on the menu at restaurants.

I wanted to ride 9/9 when we got back, but couldn't fit it in, and I was getting sick (still am) so he had off 2 weeks. Lucky Spyder! Even though my throat was killing me, I went back at it this past Tuesday, the 10th. Fresh air and standing up seems to help my congestion but not breathing. The BO poured cement while I was gone for the tack area/cross ties outside Spyder's stall so I had to walk across it to get my tack, and luckily, it was dry. It was REALLY hot so we did 30 minutes out in the field. There were lots of deer and a coyote, but Spyder just looked and didn't flinch... not bad for having all of that time off! I focused on flat work and making sure he remembered everything we were working on before I left.

Spyder kept moving, but the coyote is right past the fence line. Horrible picture, but it was a big one.

After I rode, I talked to a girl that feeds at the barn and found out about a horse that I got screwed over with a purchase (just before Spyder). It was a good thing I didn't end up getting him because 1) I have Spyder, but 2) he was returned to the people I was going to get him from not just the first time but a second. That story will stick with my mind in knowing that I was let down (and screwed over by people I knew my whole life), but it was totally worth it! I'll leave it at that... everything happens for a reason! :)

I hope to be able to breathe while I ride tonight and then look forward to getting in a day this weekend if all goes as planned.

Off topic...

This isn't 100% off topic, BUT I won't be riding from August 30 - September 9th BECAUSE I'll be going on my honeymoon to Europe... FINALLY!

Stops along the way:
-Amsterdam
-Berlin
-Munich
-Interlaken
-Paris

Anyone have ideas/suggestions/things to see for those cities? I hope to ride a few times before I leave this week, but packing is going to take over my nights. :( I am shooting for 3 rides before a late flight on Thursday.

Jump, Jump!

After working over jumps Wednesday, I decided to get back on and go at it yesterday. Spyder LOVES it, and it's what I grew up doing (and love to do, as well as missed like crazy).  I didn't feel like I had the best control for it, but I decided to tackle the control issue, make him slow down, and make him steer so we can both enjoy the work together. Now that we move off of leg and have a decent halt, we can bring more into the mix. The steering has come along great with the help of all of the bending and shoulder work.

The flies really aggravate him!

I got out to the field to work on a quick w/t, added the canter, then did our bending move along the fence line. Once we get the bend to the left, we go to the right, and once that looks good, we go back left. He's getting A LOT easier to steer and handle which makes taking the next steps a lot better! The canter is more consistent and we can move around the field quite a bit. The cue isn't just in the spot where we learned to pick it up, and it works all over the place.

It was showering when I got on, but that didn't stop me. I stopped to try to get a picture of the partial rainbow which shows the jumps, too. We worked on our "S" again with the jumps - look up, sit back, find the next jump, come back to a trot (then repeat). Oh, and give him his head! It's a lot to think about, but we had so much fun. We did the line both ways and added in a few extra jumps. We did the newly tackled white gate, the same old x-rail, the x-rail with the gap, the x-rail on the far end of the ring that we've done, and the wishing well.

The 2 x-rails, wishing well, and a rainbow

The x-rail with the gap

Around and around and around,  the canter was lovely! :) I tried to keep the trot between each fence, but if he wanted to canter, I wasn't going to stop him. He just gets a bit confused if he is cantering up to a jump as he doesn't know what to do with his feet. Either way the strides are huge so getting to the next fence is a tough squeeze if either of us falls apart. He was so happy and excited to be moving, it was wonderful. I filmed us going back to the barn down the track, and the flies were really getting to him. Even without the flies, he insists that his forelock and mane are biting.

The white gate/fence jump

For those of you that know my horse, you know he's push, push push. His pace back to the barn was the same as it was OUT to the field. I think someone is starting to like his job! Also, you'll notice that he *tries* to sneak some grass. We're working on that, but he'll pull any kind of stunt to get to it. In this case, "Ahh, the flies! Oh, grass!" He'll have an "itch" in which he finds his way to grass, too.

A Little Fun

I thought it would be fun to post a picture of Spyder and then aks people what they thought the breed was. People were guessing a variety of thoughts. Most often guessed was Warmblood and Appendix, and I only listed what people guessed below once (even though there were multiple occurrences). Warmblood was the winner, BUT all Standardbreds look the same, right?

-Cleveland Bay

-QH

-TB

-Appendix

-Warmblood

-Standardbred

-Draft Cross

-Morgan

-Andalusian

-Lusitano

-Mustang'

-TB/Arabain/Standardbred

-QH Cross

-Appendix x Draft

- Morgan/QH

-Standardbred/QH

-Holsteiner/German Warmblood

-Trakehner

-Belgium/Thoroughbred

-Warmblood/Paint

Anyways, yesterday I rode after work. The w/t and moving over are coming along nicely. We also went in straight line at the trot to work on bend so we stayed in one direction and moved bend right, then left, back right, back left.. OK, you get the point. From there, we worked on the canter, and I pushed him off my leg in circle while I opened the outside rein. He went and went and went and never broke the gait. He didn't want to stop! This is the case when working in a circle, and on a straightaway, it falls to pieces. It was a lot of fun to see him happy and peppy so we moved to jumping. I don't get how he was so excited on one of the hottest days of the summer yet, but I'll take it.

We did the white gate/picket fence jump first, and I thought he'd jump 4' since we have yet to take that jump. It's been on the ground for a while, and I was always too lazy to get off to move it. Most of the other jumps were smaller than usual so we got to work with a few. He jumped the gate like he has done it all along, and then we stopped. I did that jump again to the next x-rail then stopped to make sure I had control. I came back to the gate, x-rail, then added a x-rail with a gap. Again, I thought he'd fly over it, but he looked, then jumped it like he'd been doing that forever. I did not even get hesitation for one of them.

We did that line of 3 jumps a few more times so I could work on sitting back in between, getting a half halt, and bringing him back down to a trot for each. He was so good that we ended it there after 30 minutes, and now I can't wait to ride again because I want to do more jumping! The 3 jumps made an "S" so it was nice to get to work on steering, too! They aren't all that far apart for his HUGE gait so it makes having to bring him back together a quicker process which makes me think, as well. I think we were both a lot less bored than usual.

Working on Things is Getting Better

Yesterday I had to work late so I used the morning hours and tacked up early. Spyder was confused as to why he was getting ridden in the morning, but he seemed to be more perky than usual which was a good thing. The flies are crazy so we used a lot of spray after he got groomed and went out to the big ring. I didn't do the usual warm up because of our boredom issue lately. I went all around the perimeter of the ring because Spyder was full of pep for some reason, and I wanted to mix it up. He kept looking at the chair at the end of the dressage ring which he hasn't flinched at for quite some time so I made sure he went by it without a problem.

I worked on trotting and pushing him into the bridal while moving off of leg which went REALLY well. What's up with him listening after not wanting to move last week? We moved on to the canter and worked on getting on the bit for that, too. Not only are we cantering decently, but we have a big of control. Again, this is primarily on a circle for a few times around, but I'm sure we can push for longer periods of time. We moved on to jumps at the trot - a cross rail, ground poles spaced for trotting, and the wishing well. He flew over the wishing well like it was 4' so we had to do it a few times before he calmed down. He will get the height the first time and is much lazier the second time around. Each time after that, even less of an effort.

Again, we worked on stopping and listening, and I must say, he is better at doing things "on demand" (which I tie back to our Danny lessons of making him listen and not letting him get away with things). We went back to barn after just 30 minutes to leave it on a good note, but he was all hyped up because they were spreading manure in his old field with the tractor. He LOVES tractors. Apparently, he's "played" with them while mowing the lawn on the other side of his field. He kept wanting to trot and then would break in to the pace which was annoying. I had to bring him back to trot or push him to canter in which he would fall back to a pace because he was too excited. Oh well. We came back to the canter circles to get things under control, and we ended it there.

Questions and Concerns

Barn 2 is the "adult barn"... it's a place where people have "pets" and not the hobby of horseback riding. OK... that's not true for EVERYONE there, but it is for the most part. It's nice, but I'm not there just to chat all the time. Again, it's not 100% true that all they do is hang out, but they definitely don't ride much. Those that ride are on a different schedule so I never see too many people at the farm.

The few that ride when I do are people that I wouldn't trust on a trail to react in a safe manner in the event something happened. Again, this is not everyone, but a general assumption. There are a few kinds of people: the ones that I wouldn't trail ride out with, the ones that won't trail ride, and the ones that don't even ride. That about sums it up. This really doesn't help with switching up Spyder's routine or getting him used to being in the ring with other horses. He's always been behaved at shows, but he gets bored there just as much as he is getting at the farm.

Now how could he be bored? Well, it's me. I won't go on a trail alone, and I very rarely ride over to the "kid's barn" where the indoor is located. The jumps over there are always smaller, but I've been too lazy or not had enough time to get over there. There is SO much to do all over, though - trails, water, track, rings, dressage, jumps, cross country, etc. Any barn closer (or further for that matter) doesn't have nearly the amount of amenities that we have at our disposal. This price is also hard to beat for less things to do. A huge factor is safety. I'm not going to ride out and get hurt and then hope someone finds me or I am OK. Am I scared or just cautious? Not sure.

The problem? The lack of people to ride with. It gets SO boring riding on your own over and over again. I don't try new things for fear of getting hurt and being alone when it happens, if it happens. Do i get a trailer? If I got one, would I use it enough? Would not having a truck limit me? This is debatable because my dad has an extra, in-laws have an extra, and brother-in-law has one; however, they are all within 25 - 45 minutes away - with another 25 minutes to an hour from each location I borrowed a truck. If I had a trailer, where would I go and who would I go with? Is there even a point to getting one?

There is a farm in my development. Yes, I could walk there, BUT it's $100 more and it's just an outdoor ring and an indoor. The place has heat/air conditioning for the indoor, stalls, and tack area, but you are so limited. It's a huge lesson barn, and where you can ride depends on the schedule. Another fault, they only do 1/2 day turn out. While each horse gets their own stall, they can only be turned out for 12 hours because there is limited field space. I think Spyder would go crazy which in turn, would make me go crazy.

So, there leaves the dilemma, and I need a plan for the big picture and the smaller one. Where should we be? What do I want to be doing with my horse? Can that be done in the current situation? What are my smaller goals and how can I gear training towards them? I feel like we've lost this touch and I don't know what to do. Good think I have a honeymoon to go on. I'll have a lot of time to think about it.

My, oh my: The Attitude Change

Wednesday I moved forward with my disciple (if you read my last post, you read about his stopping ordeal). I gave him benefit of doubt and went out without a crop. I wore the usual spurs which I didn't use, but I thought I should have them for reinforcement when the time came. I didn't use them because I wanted him to think it was his idea to head out to work. We went around a set of trees to try something new for a warm up, and he was great (to the one direction). I circled on the side of the trees where the barn is to turn around, and he stopped. GREAT.

We headed back to the barn where we tack up, and he was so excited to be going where he wanted. Little did he know, it was just for the whip which I left out on the mounting block. I didn't even have to use it, and Spyder was a whole new horse (peppy and ready to go - up for listening, too!). All you have to do is hold it, and he's on point. His ears are back waiting for the next command, and it's a lot less arguing. We worked on the track at w/t/c and the canter was the best we've had yet. It was consistent with speed and had little attitude. I am even getting bend by pushing off of my leg. He is holding it longer, but it is still in a circle. Once we go straight, it falls apart, but I think the bending will help him think he's on his circle.

Thursday, I didn't use the whip, but kept it out just in case. I was hoping it  was enough to threaten Spyder as I'd like to think he saw it and thought twice about acting up. We went out to the field, and I kept him on the buckle. Again, I wanted him to think it was his idea to. We got out there without a fight, and rode with another horse. Ok, they rode in the dressage ring, and we went in the field next to it. He was excited to be in the ring with someone else, and because of that, I didn't need much leg to get him going.

We worked on the usual w/t, but went all around the field and worked on circles, bending, and even steering. When the other horse and rider left, he didn't throw a fit like he usually does, either. He was focused. We did our steering, bending, and moving off of leg in the canter, too. Instead of figure 8, we worked on pushing through a few circles and then switched directions. I brought him back down to trot to work on an S up and down the field to work on direction. He was bad at halting so we worked on that for the last 10 minutes for our cool down. He kept pulling to walk back, but I think he learned his lesson from last time. You listen, then you can go back. Our 30 minute rides turn into 40 minute rides because he can't help himself. Let's hope he learns soon.