Gwen cantered under saddle for the first time yesterday- and I'm here to talk about it!
We were trotting uphill in the field across from the pasture when she spooked a little at a bird in a tree. Instead of flying sideways she just picked up a canter. I let her go for a few strides before I brought her down from a trot. Let me tell you, it was lovely. She was smooth and round and everything that I knew she'd be.
I did not ask her for it so I didn't reward her. I'm not ready for her to think that cantering is great and she needs to do it all the time. But when we're ready- she's going to be brilliant.
Also, she's learning lateral movement.
We're making progress!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Your arms belong to the horse
Sorry I've been MIA for a while, it's been a rough few weeks for me here. Don't worry, the Quarters are fine- I just had to work through some stuff.
Two weeks ago the Quarters and I got a long, intense visit from classical dressage trainer extraordinaire, Katie. I asked her to come out and help me find a way to get Coriander to stop bracing so hard against the bit (among other things).
Two weeks ago the Quarters and I got a long, intense visit from classical dressage trainer extraordinaire, Katie. I asked her to come out and help me find a way to get Coriander to stop bracing so hard against the bit (among other things).
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| Who? Me? |
The first thing we did was find him a new bit. Due to her amazing Jedi powers the very first bit Katie put in his mouth made him pretty happy. So this is his new bit, a Herm Sprenger aurigan something-or-other bradoon. I had no idea a thick, singled jointed snaffle would make him happy but he's the expert on his own mouth so there you go.
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| His new bit |
We then worked on flexions, jaw (mouthing the bit) and lateral (getting the neck to bend side to side with the poll high and the head vertical). These are great and I've incorporated them into our pre-ride routine. BUT the biggest breakthrough for us happened after I was mounted.
Have you ever heard that when you ride your arms belong to the horse? In case you haven't heard this- it refers to the fact that in gaits where the horse needs to move their neck to balance, like the walk and canter, your arms need to follow that movement. I thought I had following hands but I really didn't, especially when we were turning or bending. As soon as I asked for either of those my arms stopped moving, and Coriander immediately braced against them.
Katie spent quite a bit of time bringing my attention to that and helping me fix it. At one point we were walking in a circle, I wiggled my fingers to ask him to flex- which he did- and then I very obviously followed his head with my hands. Coriander immediately relaxed and telescoped his neck.
Eureka!
So that is the secret! I've been really working on this for the past few weeks, because he's green his head is all over the place but I've been concentrating on following him wherever he goes, exaggerating my movements trying to keep a constant, smooth contact where the rein never slacks and then snaps him in the mouth. We're making progress, slowly but surely.
Following hands, folks. Following hands.
Have you ever heard that when you ride your arms belong to the horse? In case you haven't heard this- it refers to the fact that in gaits where the horse needs to move their neck to balance, like the walk and canter, your arms need to follow that movement. I thought I had following hands but I really didn't, especially when we were turning or bending. As soon as I asked for either of those my arms stopped moving, and Coriander immediately braced against them.
Katie spent quite a bit of time bringing my attention to that and helping me fix it. At one point we were walking in a circle, I wiggled my fingers to ask him to flex- which he did- and then I very obviously followed his head with my hands. Coriander immediately relaxed and telescoped his neck.
Eureka!
So that is the secret! I've been really working on this for the past few weeks, because he's green his head is all over the place but I've been concentrating on following him wherever he goes, exaggerating my movements trying to keep a constant, smooth contact where the rein never slacks and then snaps him in the mouth. We're making progress, slowly but surely.
Following hands, folks. Following hands.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
A video from my mentors
One of my mentors from the Oregon School of Natural Hoof Care, Nancy Ash, recently put together this little video (sorry, I can't get it to embed). The man doing the trimming, Dave Fitton, spent many hours with me going over exactly how to trim the bars. His knowledge and guidance were invaluable, so I'm very excited that I can share this with you:
"I've posted a new video. It will be one in a series of four taken with my Android telephone camera at the Klamath Falls Packing Clinic, where Oregon School of Natural Hoof Care had a booth. We go every year: Cheryl gives demonstrations and we invite people to bring their horses for a free consultation. This year April, one of our students who now trims professionally, trimmed a previously foundered pony, part of the pony ride string. We also helped the owner understand how trimming would help her little guys and comped her a book so that she can keep her 25 ponies in good shape.
"Dave Fitton helped a Klamath Falls roper whose beautiful paint gelding has been off and on lame for several years. He was advised to nerve the animal to relieve some of the pain created by his diagnosed "navicular syndrome." The roper trims his horses himself and was following the advice of his vet to keep the heels higher than we advise. The next step was nerving, which the owner was reluctant to do. He'd read up on barefoot trimming and decided to give it a try after talking to Dave.
"This video, the first of the series of four, gives a clear view of how to hold your knife when trimming bar and bar off sole. The entire series shows what we mean by the "whole horse trim" we teach at the school. Dave doesn't limit his advice to the hooves as he explains how the impacted bars are affecting the entire horse and how to proceed with getting the horse back to soundness and into mild competition after the trim.
"The video doesn't have the best lighting, as we were in direct sunlight with an audience and were more concerned with letting the owner see than in taking the video. But you get a good idea of what we teach and how we treat our horse and human clients at the school."
Happy viewing: http://youtu.
The second video is here: http://youtu.be/flBq0XXjOeY.
"I've posted a new video. It will be one in a series of four taken with my Android telephone camera at the Klamath Falls Packing Clinic, where Oregon School of Natural Hoof Care had a booth. We go every year: Cheryl gives demonstrations and we invite people to bring their horses for a free consultation. This year April, one of our students who now trims professionally, trimmed a previously foundered pony, part of the pony ride string. We also helped the owner understand how trimming would help her little guys and comped her a book so that she can keep her 25 ponies in good shape.
"Dave Fitton helped a Klamath Falls roper whose beautiful paint gelding has been off and on lame for several years. He was advised to nerve the animal to relieve some of the pain created by his diagnosed "navicular syndrome." The roper trims his horses himself and was following the advice of his vet to keep the heels higher than we advise. The next step was nerving, which the owner was reluctant to do. He'd read up on barefoot trimming and decided to give it a try after talking to Dave.
"This video, the first of the series of four, gives a clear view of how to hold your knife when trimming bar and bar off sole. The entire series shows what we mean by the "whole horse trim" we teach at the school. Dave doesn't limit his advice to the hooves as he explains how the impacted bars are affecting the entire horse and how to proceed with getting the horse back to soundness and into mild competition after the trim.
"The video doesn't have the best lighting, as we were in direct sunlight with an audience and were more concerned with letting the owner see than in taking the video. But you get a good idea of what we teach and how we treat our horse and human clients at the school."
Happy viewing: http://youtu.
The second video is here: http://youtu.be/flBq0XXjOeY.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tough love
When I got Gwen almost three years ago, she was wilder than a march hare. It took 10 minutes to get a halter on her, and once I did leading her was like flying a kite or trying to reel in a marlin. She'd spook at everything and then try to bolt, constantly, and the only thing on her mind was getting next to her brother at all costs. Because of that, I adapted a certain way of handling her (including clicker training) to help her learn she could be comfortable with me, that she could be safe with me.
The thing is, she's not that horse anymore- but I've been treating her like she is. I've been letting her get away with what seemed to me like little things that added up to something big. Like walking off without my direction and swinging her hindquarters around instead of halting square. It took an outsider looking at the situation to say to me, "you've got a submission problem."
Whoa.
That totally blew my mind.
But she was absolutely right. I have not stepped up expectations with Gwen's progress, I've still been walking on eggshells around her for fear that if I ruffle her feathers she'll blow up like that wild thing she used to be. The thing is, by NOT laying down the line I've been making it more likely that's what she'll do.
It was pointed out to me that since she's a flighty, nervous animal who is incredibly insecure, she needs me to be in charge to feel safe. But because she's a mare, she'll test me. If she steps over the line and I don't step up, she'll get nervous, and then she'll get scared, and then she'll be gone.
Of course laying down the law doesn't mean I have to get nasty or aggressive with her, I just need to correct her when she makes a decision without me. If she takes a step I don't ask for, I need to put her back. If I'm riding and she tries to fixate on something, I need to move her body so she can't. I need to ask her for more, lots more, to keep her busy and to keep her mind from wandering. A Gwen that has her mind on me is not a Gwen that's spooking and bolting across the countryside. That's the Gwen I want.
It's time for me to help my baby girl grow up.
The thing is, she's not that horse anymore- but I've been treating her like she is. I've been letting her get away with what seemed to me like little things that added up to something big. Like walking off without my direction and swinging her hindquarters around instead of halting square. It took an outsider looking at the situation to say to me, "you've got a submission problem."
Whoa.
That totally blew my mind.
But she was absolutely right. I have not stepped up expectations with Gwen's progress, I've still been walking on eggshells around her for fear that if I ruffle her feathers she'll blow up like that wild thing she used to be. The thing is, by NOT laying down the line I've been making it more likely that's what she'll do.
It was pointed out to me that since she's a flighty, nervous animal who is incredibly insecure, she needs me to be in charge to feel safe. But because she's a mare, she'll test me. If she steps over the line and I don't step up, she'll get nervous, and then she'll get scared, and then she'll be gone.
Of course laying down the law doesn't mean I have to get nasty or aggressive with her, I just need to correct her when she makes a decision without me. If she takes a step I don't ask for, I need to put her back. If I'm riding and she tries to fixate on something, I need to move her body so she can't. I need to ask her for more, lots more, to keep her busy and to keep her mind from wandering. A Gwen that has her mind on me is not a Gwen that's spooking and bolting across the countryside. That's the Gwen I want.
It's time for me to help my baby girl grow up.
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| I've been too busy to take any photos of the Quarters lately, so enjoy this dandelion instead. |
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Horses are knights that look towards heaven
Last weekend I traveled East to attend a Colonel Christian Carde clinic. Colonel Carde was part of the Cadre Noir, a world championship competitor, coached the French national team, and he's an FEI judge. He is a world class representative of French classical dressage. He is also a true gentleman who clearly loves horses.
I really want to tell you about this clinic without saying negative things about the riders, but unfortunately I cannot. It was clear that the riders all regularly practice German style, LDR (low, deep, round), riding, which is completely the opposite of French classical dressage in many ways. Colonel Carde couldn't quite hide that he felt frustrated and sad about that. He spent quite a bit of time getting the riders to lift their horses' heads and rebalance over the hindquarters, and when he told the riders to let the horses stretch it was extremely difficult to get them to loosen their death grip on the reins so the horses could do so.
BUT- there was an upside to this. Because the horses all started out overbent and dragging around on their forehands you could see an immense difference in the way the horses moved once they'd lifted their head and shoulders and rebalanced over their hindquarters. All of a sudden they had elevation! and suspension! It was beautiful to see.
Clinic Themes
I really want to tell you about this clinic without saying negative things about the riders, but unfortunately I cannot. It was clear that the riders all regularly practice German style, LDR (low, deep, round), riding, which is completely the opposite of French classical dressage in many ways. Colonel Carde couldn't quite hide that he felt frustrated and sad about that. He spent quite a bit of time getting the riders to lift their horses' heads and rebalance over the hindquarters, and when he told the riders to let the horses stretch it was extremely difficult to get them to loosen their death grip on the reins so the horses could do so.
BUT- there was an upside to this. Because the horses all started out overbent and dragging around on their forehands you could see an immense difference in the way the horses moved once they'd lifted their head and shoulders and rebalanced over their hindquarters. All of a sudden they had elevation! and suspension! It was beautiful to see.
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| Lift the shoulders |
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| Balance the horse |
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| and STRETCH down |
Clinic Themes
- riders should have soft, elastic, permanent contact
- you should ride several different exercises with the horse in different frames, don't obsess over a single exercise and frame or the horse will get bored and stiff
- activity + balance = submission
- without lateral flexion, the horse cannot bend
- to balance, maintain the flexion with the inside rein and raise the outside rein to move the shoulders
- the more we collect the more we stretch
- stretch, Stretch, STRETCH
*Let me know if you'd like me to expand on any of these themes*
I'll end this post with a story: At one point the horse and rider in my pictures were standing at the halt while listening to Carde. The horse was standing with his forehead pointing straight down to the ground with his chin practically on his chest. Carde walked over to the horse and gently lifted his head. "Head up," he said, "is a knight going to heaven."
"Head down is a slave going to hell."
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Need a saddle with ventilation?
Well then I have the tack for you!
Check out these saddles by Wise Equestrian, with built-in air flow to keep your horse cool.
Do they work? I have no idea. And yet I'm oddly intrigued... (I want to write so much here but can't think of a way to keep it appropriate- airflow in the nether regions, comparison to men's bicycle seats, latrines, etc.)
If you're interested, these saddles run from $2000 to $3800 with personalization and they come with an exchangeable gullet system.
Oops- I should mention I first saw these saddles on Dappled Grey.
Check out these saddles by Wise Equestrian, with built-in air flow to keep your horse cool.
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| The cross country model |
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| The show jumping model |
If you're interested, these saddles run from $2000 to $3800 with personalization and they come with an exchangeable gullet system.
Oops- I should mention I first saw these saddles on Dappled Grey.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Equine Affaire: Mark Rashid
Finally, the reason I hauled out to Ohio- to be a Mark Rashid groupie.
The first demo he had was on effortless transitions. There were three horses there, an English rider on a bay horse that had a problem holding the canter and couldn't pick it up from the walk, a quarter horse mare that was "lazy" in her canter transitions, and a little cob, excuse me- Gypsy Vanner, that had only a handful of rides under saddle.
It was obvious from the outset that the cob was having some issues, Mark worked with her on the ground before the rider even got on.
She didn't feel much better after the owner mounted so he worked with her on her hands and then sent her to work with his wife one-on-one while he worked with the others. I wish I could write more in depth about what he told her but a lot of it went right over my head. Here's the gist: Don't release on a brace and soften your feel.
Here's what he said about getting effortless transitions: Think of the rhythm you want in your mind and feel it in your body before you give the aid. If your horse is walking you should think/feel the 4-beat rhythm, before you ask the horse to trot think of the 2-beat rhythm and get your body ready for it. If you and the horse are thinking together you won't even need the aid, the horse will just make the transition picking up on your intention. For the canter focus on the 3-beat.
He said that the problem many people fall into is thinking of the words for the gaits like "walk," "trot," and "canter." But horses don't think in words, if you focus on the rhythm and the feel of the gait it will make more sense to them.
He had the riders move around him in a circle and told them that at point A they were to start thinking of the new rhythm and where they wanted to go, at point B they were to make the transition. If they got to B and the horse hadn't changed the beat then they were to apply the aid. It didn't take long at all before they didn't need to apply the aid, the horses had already transitioned by point B.
The English rider, whose horse couldn't transition to the canter from the walk previously, stepped into canter almost immediately during this exercise. You should have seen the smile on her face, I think the people sitting way up in the back of the stands could see it. The little quarter horse mare was also making super smooth transitions between walk and trot. Unfortunately she was lame, and got lamer during the course of the demo so Mark had her quit early (Sadly I saw this horse and rider do a couple other clinics through the weekend. She must have been buted up to her eyeballs. Sad that the owner had so little consideration for her horse.).
Here's another thing Mark said that really stuck with me about how to ride with the rhythm. The rider's seat follows the hind legs of the horse in a 2-beat rhythm. So when the horse walks your seat slides forward with the hind legs, right slides forward with the right hind, left slides forward with the left hind. For the trot it's the same, right seat with right leg, left seat with left leg. He said that it's easier for us to sit the walk because the horse's stride matches our own, so it's comfortable. But when they trot they extend their stride much bigger than ours, so if you can extend your "stride" to go with the horse, sitting the trot becomes effortless. The same applies to the canter, yes the canter is 3-beat, but you're following the hinds which are still on a 2-beat. Interesting, eh?
This explained to me the problem I'd been having with the sitting trot. I'd already been following the hind legs with my seat, which was fine at a slower trot, but because I hadn't quite understood the concept of making my "stride" bigger I'd get left behind at a larger trot. It's going to be interesting to play with this on the friesian.
The second demo was on low-stress round penning for horses that were difficult to catch. The lame little quarter horse mare was brought back out and let loose in the pen (buted up, obviously). He started by standing at an angle to her hindquarters, kissed and sent her gently forward, then he stopped and waited for her to face him. If she turned towards him he backed off, if she didn't he sent her forward again. In about 10 minutes that mare was turning to face him every time he stood next to her hindquarters and gave the cue. She'd probably walked about 20 steps for the whole exercise.
He then brought out another horse, a draft pony, who was incredibly pushy on the ground. Mark started out immediately by establishing his personal bubble, every time the pony got inside of it he got pushed back out. Then he'd lead him around and stop, ask the pony to back and stand, then do it all over again. Occasionally he'd stand and talk to the crowd, but whenever the pony moved a foot he put him back. It took about 15 minutes until that pony didn't move unless Mark told him to.
At one point Mark stopped and told us that he was teaching the pony something very specific. He was teaching him that when the handler stopped, the pony shouldn't bring his foot in the air past his foot that was already on the ground. He was telling the horse what TO do instead of what NOT to do. He stressed that this wasn't a "bad" pony, he was just doing what he'd been taught to do, no one knew how to show him any better.
Sadly the pony reverted back to his original behavior almost as soon as the owner had the lead rope back in her hands. She really had poor rope handling skills, once you watched her you could see that the pony had no choice but to barge all over her. She held the rope very short, at the snap, and literally pulled him onto her every time she moved. That's why you should keep a float in the rope folks. I wish Mark would have had more time to work with the owner and show her how to handle the rope better, but there's only so much you can do in an hour and a half.
I'm going to quit for now before this post turns into a novel. For those of you intrigued by Mark Rashid, I encourage you to read Kate's clinic posts over at A Year With Horses, she does a really great job of explaining his methodology and training practices.
The first demo he had was on effortless transitions. There were three horses there, an English rider on a bay horse that had a problem holding the canter and couldn't pick it up from the walk, a quarter horse mare that was "lazy" in her canter transitions, and a little cob, excuse me- Gypsy Vanner, that had only a handful of rides under saddle.
It was obvious from the outset that the cob was having some issues, Mark worked with her on the ground before the rider even got on.
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| Oodles of hair... |
Here's what he said about getting effortless transitions: Think of the rhythm you want in your mind and feel it in your body before you give the aid. If your horse is walking you should think/feel the 4-beat rhythm, before you ask the horse to trot think of the 2-beat rhythm and get your body ready for it. If you and the horse are thinking together you won't even need the aid, the horse will just make the transition picking up on your intention. For the canter focus on the 3-beat.
He said that the problem many people fall into is thinking of the words for the gaits like "walk," "trot," and "canter." But horses don't think in words, if you focus on the rhythm and the feel of the gait it will make more sense to them.
He had the riders move around him in a circle and told them that at point A they were to start thinking of the new rhythm and where they wanted to go, at point B they were to make the transition. If they got to B and the horse hadn't changed the beat then they were to apply the aid. It didn't take long at all before they didn't need to apply the aid, the horses had already transitioned by point B.
The English rider, whose horse couldn't transition to the canter from the walk previously, stepped into canter almost immediately during this exercise. You should have seen the smile on her face, I think the people sitting way up in the back of the stands could see it. The little quarter horse mare was also making super smooth transitions between walk and trot. Unfortunately she was lame, and got lamer during the course of the demo so Mark had her quit early (Sadly I saw this horse and rider do a couple other clinics through the weekend. She must have been buted up to her eyeballs. Sad that the owner had so little consideration for her horse.).
Here's another thing Mark said that really stuck with me about how to ride with the rhythm. The rider's seat follows the hind legs of the horse in a 2-beat rhythm. So when the horse walks your seat slides forward with the hind legs, right slides forward with the right hind, left slides forward with the left hind. For the trot it's the same, right seat with right leg, left seat with left leg. He said that it's easier for us to sit the walk because the horse's stride matches our own, so it's comfortable. But when they trot they extend their stride much bigger than ours, so if you can extend your "stride" to go with the horse, sitting the trot becomes effortless. The same applies to the canter, yes the canter is 3-beat, but you're following the hinds which are still on a 2-beat. Interesting, eh?
This explained to me the problem I'd been having with the sitting trot. I'd already been following the hind legs with my seat, which was fine at a slower trot, but because I hadn't quite understood the concept of making my "stride" bigger I'd get left behind at a larger trot. It's going to be interesting to play with this on the friesian.
The second demo was on low-stress round penning for horses that were difficult to catch. The lame little quarter horse mare was brought back out and let loose in the pen (buted up, obviously). He started by standing at an angle to her hindquarters, kissed and sent her gently forward, then he stopped and waited for her to face him. If she turned towards him he backed off, if she didn't he sent her forward again. In about 10 minutes that mare was turning to face him every time he stood next to her hindquarters and gave the cue. She'd probably walked about 20 steps for the whole exercise.
He then brought out another horse, a draft pony, who was incredibly pushy on the ground. Mark started out immediately by establishing his personal bubble, every time the pony got inside of it he got pushed back out. Then he'd lead him around and stop, ask the pony to back and stand, then do it all over again. Occasionally he'd stand and talk to the crowd, but whenever the pony moved a foot he put him back. It took about 15 minutes until that pony didn't move unless Mark told him to.
I'm going to quit for now before this post turns into a novel. For those of you intrigued by Mark Rashid, I encourage you to read Kate's clinic posts over at A Year With Horses, she does a really great job of explaining his methodology and training practices.
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