Riding around the pasture - FAST!

Touch up trim on Z

Rode Z with Kendall and Rain in the front, then passenger at the trot and canter in the arena. She was full of energy and go today! She wanted to gallop everywhere. :) I can't wait for the endurance races this season.

Kendall did passenger lesson on Rain in the arena, too. She loved it and you could hear her yelling, "This is soooo fun! I could do this forever!" while cantering around. Love to see her have so much fun.

Gotta get Gem trimmed and do some fecal samples.

Kris and Kholo

Today was Kholo's first session with me. We both had to get to know each other a little so I took things slow. My back was sore, so I didn't want to do anything overly strenuous. I also didn't want to throw him into the deep end without an understanding that he's safe.

I bridled him and he took the bit nicely. For horses starting in the bit, I follow the bit with a sweet of some type. Surprisingly, Kholo couldn't figure out how to get this treat past the bit so he fiddled with it in the front of his mouth and then gave up. This tickled me! I picked a piece up and put it behind the bit for him. He'll sort this out in time. It was pretty cute, though.

We went into the arena and I started with lateral flexion. He didn't quite understand so I helped him along. He has a great nature - he tries and doesn't over-try. He's confident and calm and he doesn't get worried while learning. I know it's going to be fairly easy to help him understand what we riders are after. We played with isolation of the ends after he started to get a feel for the bit and what to do with the sensations in his mouth. I played the most with backing from my seat combined with bit pressure. Improving his backup will make the most positive changes in his halt. His backup and slow and tentative, so I'll be working on getting his backing motion more fluid and confident.

Kris and Rio were in the arena with me and I coached them along while I played with Kholo. One of the things I've really wanted to get Rio and Kris playing with is passenger riding. Kris has been challenged by Rio's sensitivity and trust has been hard to attain. Over the past year, we've built on Kris understanding how little it takes with Rio and now she can do soft transitions on a loose rein. Rio, in turn, has become a softer horse. He's much less reactive and takes things more in stride. He's pliable and willing to learn. He's a very nice horse and he fits Kris nicely. He has a lot to teach Kris. So, this evening, I was able to get Kris riding as a passenger for the first time. This means, in my large arena, Kris asks Rio to trot. Rio's job is to maintain the trot. Kris' job is to simply ride. Rio can go wherever he pleases and if he breaks gait into walk or canter, Kris responds by bringing him back to the trot. I could tell by Kris' expression when I asked her to try this that she was unsure. I've been waiting to get her doing this type of riding until I felt they could handle it together. It's perfect for this type of scenario - lack of trust in the horse.

Well, they did it and they were great! Rio covered the entire arena after realizing there was no comfort with me and Kholo. He trotted around and seemed to keep asking Kris what he was supposed to be doing. Kris kept him trotting beautifully and a few minutes in, Rio let out a huge blow of relief. I know I had the biggest smile on my face watching this. I'd like her to start each session this way for 7 sessions. She agreed to do that and she was convinced it was a good thing to do. She and her horse have some great times ahead.

Kholo was with me through all of this - feeling of the bit, learning me and beginning to understand. He's a smart boy and tomorrow will be a nice leap off the foundation we built today.

Kris got Cowboy and Rio trimmed after the lesson.

Kholo and the Herd

I don't like to introduce horses to the herd if they aren't going to live here. The herd is a tight knit family with an established heirarchy. Newcomers don't fare well and I keep them safe by separating them from the herd. Kholo had been in the stall and run for 2 days and I wanted to let him out to explore and move. I put my herd in the middle of the track and gave Kholo the track to himself last night. Well, this morning, when I came out to feed, Kholo was with the herd. I'm guessing he jumped the fence as no fence was down. The track is only electrical ribbon on fiberglass posts, so it wouldn't be terribly difficult to get through if the horse didn't mind the electricity. I guess Kholo decided he'd rather be chastised and pushed around by the herd than be on the track alone. I don't know how long he'd been with them, but they were all (especially Rain, surprisingly) telling him to "piss off"! I haltered him out and put him back in the stall and run. He sustained a couple minor bites, but he was fine. All the bites were on the left side, which I found interesting. He also carries his tail to the left. I'll be watching and studying that.

Herd behavior is so fascinating to me. I could watch the dynamics play out all day.

Tina and Gem

Rode Tina and for the first time, really felt like I needed to start expecting way more from her. She felt like she was getting overly confident (what a total turn-around from 4 months ago). I had to effectively ask her for forward where previously she'd move forward with just a suggestion from my seat. I also felt her getting a little heavy to my leg cues that we've built. So, next session I will be "upping my game" and ask for more. She's getting too comfortable with the way I'm asking and I need to get her lighter as we go.

On the other hand, she's a safer and safer horse all the time! I like that for the job she'll do for her owner. I don't want her dull of course, but I like that her inclination is to be relaxed and less forward. I do want her "whoa" to equal her "go", so we'll keep building.

I also rode Gem tonight and focused on passenger lesson after a good ground warmup session. He did nicely on the ground, so I did 21 minutes of just trot in whatever direction he wanted. He just had to maintain the trot. After about 10 mins, I added transitions between trot and canter, while still not steering him. It allows him to relax and focus on the transition. Passenger lesson is very good for Gem.

I'm feeling great about Gem and his progression. He's coming along nicely and should be just fine for the clinic in 2 weeks.

Pushing the envelope with Kime

Amazing lesson! Really pushing me to take things to the next level. I watched some of Jen's lesson first, then let Miss Z catch me to warm up for our lesson. We ended up going from about 1:30 to nearly 5pm. I was tired!! Some notes:

1) Falling Leaf - Z's shoulders are caving in. I need to move the fore around more and keep the distance between us the same all the time.

2) Modified Rock Slide - moving Z1, then Z4, then Z1 again the other direction. At the end of the 22, I could influence the zones, but Z would not stop moving when I stopped asking. How interesting! I worked on bringing my life down more clearly and quicker.

3) Back-up - we started out just showing transitions on the rail. We got our backup card pulled because it was slow and I was working harder than she was. Sometimes I get our back up good and then other times, it's like moving her through cement. Is it just me? Anyway, Kime helped by adding a ton of commotion in Z1 while I when through the phases. She became our phase 4. That helped, Z got lighter... Now, how long before I add the cement back in? lol

4) Transitions - if I feel the need to use my reins, then use them effectively and drop them again! I was not being clear and not being effective, which forced me to hold the reins more than I needed.

5) I have tight shoulders. Yup, I sure do.

6) Tailbone to the cantle! I love this one. First time I really could visualize what I wanted my body to do and get it done. This really helped me round my lower back and keep it that way.

7) My horses pushes me up in the rising trot and I control my down. I know that. I wasn't doing it though. Also, the sitting trot is a backwards rising trot. This means that I push myself lower and deeper on the diagonals. This is the way to ride the trot bareback. Ohhhh!

8) We used the western saddle at first, then switched to english. I've been gripping with my legs in the english saddle. Turns out my legs are stiff when I ride english. If I swing my legs a little, I find a lot more harmony. How interesting is that?

9) We did ride the rail, transitions, and then a ton of passenger lesson at the canter. I realized the canter PPL in the english saddle was a little harder for me. Neither is very difficult, but I have to keep building my independent seat in the english saddle.

10) 9-step backup! Remember, the horse doesn't move back until step 8! If my horses starts to halt on step 5, keep her forward until step 8. This builds the soft feel on the reins and prepares the horse for contact and finesse riding.

11) LEADS! Detecting the lead, knowing the lead, bringing my lead hip forward, asking for it from the hind and not the front. So much to know and I've got a learning curve to ride still. I was a little chastised because I'm not always asking for a specific lead. Apparently, I'm too advanced to not be that particular. Doh! We rode around at the PPL in the canter and I called out the leads. With Z, I was wrong a lot of the time! If I sit in the lead position, and I'm in the right lead position, it should feel better. I had to do that a while before I started to feel the difference. Wow! I've gotten pretty far w/o this info. Now, I have to rebuild some skills with that knowledge. What a blast! It's like building a house. It's one thing to build the frame, it's another entirely to put the electrical system in. So, I'm now going to be very particular. Lead arm out and moving, lead hip forward, feel the hind lead take off. Time to pay close attention to the feet at the canter. Also, if I could get Z to canter a little more slowly, that would help a ton.

12) Swing my legs at the canter in the english saddle - at least until I get more fluidity. Lean wayyy back and keep my tailbone to the cantle. And at the trot, follow with the shoulders. I do that at the walk, time to follow-up at the higher gaits.

13) Z and I were both cooked when it was over. I was starving, we were both sweaty... Z had given me her all. I'm learning so much with her and she's a great horse for this. She has tons of go and endurance naturally and when I'm a good leader, she'll never quit me. I'm lucky. She's a champ.

Thanks, Kime!

Attempt at finishing Instructor App Video

Steve had committed to helping me get the final video bits done. We have a short list left before I go into full-blown video edit mode. I've still got to capture the freestyle section, 3 patterns on a casual rein, and some bareback riding and online.

We warmed up some, but our on online was definitely a little lack-luster. I made the mistake of using the 45' but then playing in an area too small to support that length. Then, Z was lacking energy and I was trying to bring her life up w/o causing her to get introverted. We got some nice things, but I think we could do better. I always think we can do better - hence the misery of video taping. I rarely think it's good enough. I just recently decided to get the freestyle video in the mail for L3 that I did a month ago. I want perfection. There's no such thing.

I imagine my Freestyle vid will pass level 3. Then, I can focus on L4. The thought of passing L4 is very exciting and motivating! I also need to pick a competition and get out there with my horse to see how we compare to others. Ok, I digress...

So, we did some liberty, too. It was just fun stuff. I'm teaching Z to spin when I spin. Right now, I'm only getting a change of direction when I spin. That's ok - it's a positive response and we'll develop it quickly, I'm sure. Also, I'm working hard on getting her to show exhuberance. She's more playful than ever and I think it's a direct reflection of my horsemanship improving. I'm getting better at having fun and being less serious - probably one of my biggest challenges.

We did some bareback filming, just a little as the ask on the application was to just show a little. Then, we went to do some patterns in the arena - specifically, we must show figure 8, cloverleaf and bullseye. Well, Miss Z had tons of energy to spare and I was having a hard time getting her to trot and not canter. We did PPL at the canter for several minutes, hoping she'd think slowing down would be ok. We finally started to get the trot consistently and I decided to quit there. We'd been at it for hours and she'd found a nice relaxed place to be. I guess I should be surprised since we hadn't ridden in 6 days and the weather was cooler.

I'll post some of the video moments asap. For now, I'm the video editor until I get this application submitted. Maybe we can get the freestyle and patterns done tomorrow.

Helping Chrissy grow...

Helped Chrissy with 7 games and then she mounted up for her first riding lesson. The idea now is to teach her to relax, develop her seat and find being on a horse comfortable. I hopped on Z and we rode around in the arena together. I wanted her to do at least 21 mins, at the walk, riding Cowboy wherever he wanted to go.

At first, Cowboy just followed Z around. Z was defensive and I finally realized I needed to protect her! Duh! I got my savvy string and kept Cowboy far away. Z and I had a good time! Just easy riding, no stress, no developing, just hanging out and supporting Chrissy. Good for us!

Hail hurts!

The day was dedicated to training horses as the family is still out of town and there's not much I'd rather do with my free time.

I started with Gemini. He and I are making such great progress and I'm just super pleased. We worked on the ground some, continuing to build online transtions, more figure 8, change of direction and sideways. We played over the cavalettis some using the squeeze game. His responses are more positive all the time and he's interested in my asks. I've been playing with him on the ground while tacked and his rear cinch response is nearly gone or gone. He hasn't thought to buck in the past 2-3 sessions. He and I did something incredible. I asked him to stand on the teeter totter, then I asked him to rock it back and forth, never moving his feet. A simple weight shift in response to my ask and he was rocking it back and forth. I wish I had that on video!!

Then, we rode in the arena, doing 21 mins of PPL at the trot. He's taking his responsibility on much more nicely and I'm rewarding him with breaks at the far end of the arena. That helped tremendously as his slow jog became an energetic trot after a few reward sessions. What a good boy! I look forward to getting him down the road soon. I'm trusting him more and more and he's finding the right answers are easy to give. He gave the nicest, most forward trot I've ever felt at the end of our 21 minutes and I decided it was the perfect place to hop off and reward him. He stuck to me beautifully across the arena and I tied him to the hitching rail for some soak time.

Then, I wanted to get some time with Cowboy. He's been getting the least amount of my attention, which is just fine for me. He's having a good time being a horse in the all the pastures and he's settled in so nicely in the herd. He's always happy to see me and happy to play and get some human attention. He's got a nice brain and a nice demeanor. I look forward to truly developing him. At first we played the catching game for about 45 seconds. It was interesting, I was 2 feet away and following him closely at a walk in zone 5. I really think he thought I was driving him away. I have to drive him away sometimes because he can be quite the pocket pony. All of a sudden, he turned and faced, as if to say, "Oh! You want to catch me!". We never have to play the catching game, so I'm convinced he was misunderstanding me.

I put him on the 45' and we played some ground games - figure 8, circle game, over obstacles, over the teeter totter. Then, I tacked him up and started with lateral flexion. This is one of Cowboy's toughest areas - he has so much built-in brace that a simple thing like lateral flexion is a big challenge. He lolls his tongue, he works his mouth, he just doesn't find peace or comfort in a bit. He can stand with it in his mouth just fine, but when I try to communicate with him through the bit, he braces and goes introverted. I took my time and stayed patient, asking for lateral flexion and rewarding the slightest tries. He was getting quieter and quieter and I found a place to quit. We have to keep working on that and perhaps for the rest of his life. Humans before me have left their mark on Cowboy's behavior and I'm a little sad about it.

I rode him around a bit, circling the round pen and asking for walk/trot/canter transitions. His canter feels a little rough right now. He's not balanced or using himself well. Some more riding and many more transitions should get him framing up better and using himself in his gaits. We did a lot of serpentines, trying to loosen his brace and get positive responses to my asks for bends. He loosened up quite well and rather quickly. We moved the dogs a little - he enjoys that tremendously! He's a very cowy horse. We also worked on disengaging the hind - which is great because it incorporates lateral flexion with a bend in the body. At first, he wasn't disengaging, he was stiff and rigid. After a few minutes, he gave the nicest, most fluid disengagement with a soft feel and I laughed and hopped off. He knew how happy he made me - he had a proud look about him. He could give the right answer and find harmony with his rider. I think he has very little history of finding harmony with his rider from his younger years.

Z's leg is healing nicely and I was trying to decide if I should/could ride her. I took Rain for a little bareback riding around my house while I decided what to do next. Chrissy was over and ready to try out some new riding attire, so I decided we should get some time on the trail together. The sky was "iffy" and it seems to rain every freakin' day. But, the storm that I thought would produce rain had moved off and out. There were more clouds, but the looked far enough out that we'd be ok. I gave Chrissy some hints on tacking up and getting her horse ready. It can get a little old tacking up multiple horses when the rider is fully capable of doing it themselves - with a little coaching. I'm all for helping her become self-sufficient.

We headed out, Z not especially happy about leaving home - I hadn't ridden her in 8 or 9 days and we didn't do a proper warm-up on the ground. I had the sky in mind, thinking it was now or never with the potential storms all over the sky. I tried hard to not compromise our relationship, allowing her to turn back if needed and then asking her to face the trail again. It was a subtle brace, just her saying, "I'd really rather..." and me saying, "I hear you, but how about my idea." About a 1/4 mile later, she was tuned in and not thinking about home.

I took Chrissy on a more challenging ride, some inclines and declines, crossing roads, trees... We also talked about developing her seat. She asks great questions and she really wants to improve. I'm excited for her to gain confidence with Rain and become a great riding partner for me. We are building to that and maybe one day, we'll even do some trail riding competitions together.

We got to a point on the trail where I could look up to the sky. Uh oh, we are TOAST! The storm that was brewing looked menacing and we weren't going to make it back in time. Zarah was not in a good place for fast speeds. She was impulsive and a little emotional. I also didn't know how fast Chrissy would want to go - most of our riding has been at the walk. Even if we galloped the whole way, we wouldn't have outrun this storm. CRAP!

So, one of my fears... lightening. Lots of animals and people get struck by lightening in Colorado. Being out in the wide open trail on a high hill during a thunderstorm is not my idea of a wise decision. Our Colorado storms typically bring hail and heavy rain and there was no place to hide. First drizzle, then rain, then torrential downpour with wind! We abandoned the idea of making it home and found a tree to hide under. A single pine tree, with less than thick branches and down in a gulley. My expensive saddles were also getting soaked. Arrgghhh!

Chrissy and I tried to take refuge under this slightly pathetic single pine, while the horses did their normal "butt to the wind" stance, waiting for it to let up. We were getting cold! And then, to add insult to injury, the hail began. Geesh - hail hurts!! I had my back to it and luckily we were wearing helmets, but the hail balls hitting my back... OUCH! We just had to laugh. The gulley now had a fast moving river running through it and I hoped it would end soon. The sky was so dark and the thunder was constant. Just a constant rumble and roar - an angry sky.

The sky started to show the slightest signs of getting lighter. The rain started to let up. Luckily, it was going to be a quick storm. It lasted maybe 20-30 minutes and Chrissy and I were drenched - head to toe soaked. It was time to go the last mile and get home. The sun was actually starting to show. We decided to walk home. Our feet were squishy and water bubbles appeared with each step on the top of my shoes. After about 1/2 mile, Chrissy's fiancee appeared at the trail head. Chrissy rode home with him and I rode Rain, ponying Z. The horses were excited and "up" and Rain wanted to get home FAST! She does her best gaiting when she's got druthers and she was moving so beautifully in her 4-beat gait. Z had to canter to keep up next to us.

It was a great day with all the horses, adventures in the rain, trailriding, arena riding, just everything. Loved it!

Passenger Lesson with Gemini

After traveling for my uncle's funeral, a very tiring trip, I finally had the energy to get out with my equines. I'm trying to get Z's leg healed up and in the meantime, I have time to play with the other horses. I decided to halter Gem and do some things. I brushed him, sprayed him to keep the dumb mosquitos out of our way and we started the 7 games. Lots of great things going - great sideways! I used the 12 to help me do things on valium today. We practiced a slowww change of direction, subtle sends on the circle, nice yo-yos and great porupine yielding the ends.

A couple notes... we played the games tacked with a tight rear cinch and he never thought to buck. I asked for all gaits to be sure and nothing - no issues. Hmmm... Also, he didn't want to circle to the right and he kept stop at 12 o'clock when going to the right. I'll pay attention as our games progress.

I felt perfectly comfortable with the idea of riding him and I wanted to do some passenger lesson at the trot. So, I took him to the arena, practiced lateral flexion (OMG - what a huge improvement), moving the fore, back from my seat only and then we walked off. After a minute or two at the walk, we started our trotting lesson. I had my ipod to keep my relaxed and he went off trotting. I want our forward ask to be more soft and his response more positive to my forward cues. I think he just gets lazy in the arena and I need some impulsion to get anything done.

He found any excuse to transition down and needs work with maintaining his gait and understanding that he has a job. We'll keep building that.

We finished up when he took us to the tarp in the middle of the arena. He's doing great and I think it's getting to the time to start asking him to adventure off the property with me.

I got his front feet trimmed after our session. Tomorrow, the hinds. Nice night. Mosquitos are stupid.

Cowboy and Nina Day

I was determined to spend time with Cowboy and Nina today. I have some work to catch up on and with daylight savings kicking in, feels like the day was getting away from me. However, I got out there, did my horsey chorse and got to work with Nina first.

I touched up her hooves, trying to keep her from flaring. Her hooves are very wide and short by nature, so I try to stay ahead of the wall that grows in the quarters and shape the toe to help the toe grow out nicely. She actually has pretty nice feet. She was so calm today and when I went to get her, she was laying down sleeping along with Gemini, Cowboy and Rain. I sat down next to her and just scratched her all over. She was loving it and rested her head on me. We sat there for a solid 5 mins. She can be such a sweet horse.

Once I had her hooves trimmed, i went ahead and tacked her up. Getting the saddle on her has become a non-issue, which is fantastic. She accepts it willingly and doesn't move her feet. Then, I checked on our friendly game, asked her to cross some obstacles, and just generally tried to see where her head was. Again, she was calm and easy - even the wind was ridiculous today. I played with her and the tarp for the first time and she was non-plussed. Part of that is her personality, part of it is that she trusts me and she's confident with me. I took her into the round pen for some squeezing over barrels. She is not confident about going over things. My guess is she feels clumsy (she certainly looks pretty dang clumsy!). She got a little emotional about it, so I spread them apart and just asked her to squeeze through the opening. That was much easier and we moved on. We played with the circle game at different gates, with her following my body. When I trotted, I asked her to trot (like a jog in place), when I canter, she should, too (kind of like a skip). She's really great at that and we started to transition back down and up together. She gets that game! After a time, it felt like a good time to climb on. I asked Steve to hold her while I mounted from both sides repeatedly. Then, he led her around while I bellied her. I would have liked to swing a let over, but it seemed to risky with Steve as my ground person. He's doing everything I ask beautifully, but he's not a "horse person" and it would take a split second for Nina to act out and catch Steve off guard. Both of us could end up hurt in a hurry.

She was very calm and I'm proud of the good start she's getting. A few more weeks and I should be riding her around with ease. I tied her to the hitching rail and asked her to stand there for a while. She's calm about being tied and she cocked a leg and took a nap. She stood tied about an hour. She's a good girl.

Then, I got Cowboy out and tacked him up. I'm watching him very closely to see when he's shows stress so I can address it. I'd like to understand him better since he'll be my next L3 partner, most likely. I brushed him, messed with him, checked him over (he's got lots of bite marks from Gem). Then, I tacked him up and watched to see where he showed displacement behavior. He was ok with the pad, ok with the saddle, but when I started to cinch, he got stressed. Next time, I'll have a treat. He's very LBI and highly motivated by food. I tried to go very slowly and minimize the stress. He seemed to be settling when I took my time and then I mounted up out near the play area. I was completely comfortable hopping on and really felt trusting of him. The more I know him, the more I trust him.

We started out in the arena and I was planning to do a passenger lesson. He kept dropping his head because he was stressed and fiddling with his mouth. I didn't want to stop him, but he wanted to slow down when I allowed it. Hmmm... a dilemma. I wasn't sure where to go with it, so I tried to ask for more action. We cantered around and he seemed fine and confident - more than he was at the trot. Then we'd go back to a trot and he'd go back to displacement behavior. After about 10 mins, I decided to try the front pasture instead. Maybe he's been pushed too hard in arenas?

He did seem better and the displacement behavior stopped, but he was very inclined to be with the herd. So I walked him away and trotted/cantered him back. We did that a few times before I got interrupted by a visitor. Darn it! Once I got back on to get started again, I tried to simply walk him around the property. He was going along ok and trotted without being asked at one point. I realize he will NOT do that in an arena. He seems to go lights out in an arena in no time flat. He is much more interested and alert outside of the arena, in the open.

We trotted and cantered some around the property and found ourselves back at the barn pretty quickly. How interesting! I've always thought of him as the horse that doesn't need the herd. The horse that will willingly leave the herd for a trail ride. Not so at this point. We'll have to build back up to it. That's ok. Typical stuff.

At one point, he stopped and so did I. We just stood there together for probably 5 minutes. We were next to a pine tree and he just relaxed. I'd like to think he was waiting to see what I wanted. I'd also like to think it was relaxing to carry a rider who was happy to do nothing.

I'll keep getting inside his head. I have lots of tricks and tools in mind and I'll try them all until I figure out which one intrigues him. I do know that I've got to start incorporating treats into our sessions. He needs a reason to feel motivated. He's an unmotivated horse and I need him to show some life. Right now, I think he'll be tough with some of the L3 stuff because of his introverted nature and lack of desire to move fast. I'll be learning how to build that with creative play - a good challenge for me.

He's such a great-looking horse and I'm completely interested in developing him. What of Gemini? He'll be with Krissy for a while starting soon and I will watch from afar how he's doing. He could/should be #3 for my levels horses. That's where my head is now, at least.

Side note: Z and I are doing much better. She came up to me multiple times today while I had a lead in my hand. I'd like to think I'm more interesting to her lately and maybe taking different horses out of the pasture for play time makes her feel less like fleeing when I show up with a lead rope. It's good, I'm watching and learning - she's teaching me tons.

Amazing way to end the year!

The weather couldn't have been better. It was warm, the air was calm and I had a license from the hubby for a horse day. I wanted to finish my Online taping and get it to the ISC immediately as the assessment format changes with the new year. We had an online tape made from the other day, but I really thought our sideways could be a little better. And Steve was willing to play cameraman.

First, I agreed to help my boarder show her horse. I've been playing with Nina a little and giving her groundwork manners, teaching her the 7 games and just generally playing with her. The owner decided to sell her recently so I was going to show the prospective buyer what Nina and I have developed. She's an amazing Trakener/Hanoverian with a ton of confidence built in. If I could afford her, she'd be mine. She's about 2 1/2 now and full of energy and play drive. I started showing some things online and then went to the play area and her over the bridges and into the tire. Then, we went for Liberty in the round pen - something we've never done. She was happy to play and show her athleticism! I was quite impressed with her physical ability. She went straight up in the air several times, spun with amazing ability, trotted in to me and stopped with ease before overstepping her bounds. It was all quite cool and I think Loma started to reconsider selling that mare. I hope she does and I hope she'll let me help her if she keeps her. Not sure how I could help, but I'd certainly be willing to try.

Then, I went back out and got Mrs. Z. Time to film. We went through the whole thing - Online tasks 1-9. I feel pretty good about it. She wanted to gallop instead of canter on the obstacle course task, which was interesting. Not sure if she just felt good or if she was emotional. I'm watching the video to read her and see what I think. Otherwise, it was a good representation of where we are at this point.

Then, I took Cowboy out, did a little ground work and then took him into the arena for some passenger lesson. He was great. He cantered on the 12' line in my arena - surprisingly. He stood nicely for mounting, he practiced lateral flexion with me and showed nice improvement and then we did passenger riding at the walk and trot. We did more walk than trot as I'm trying to bring him along slowly and keep his confidence protected. I'm also trying to allow myself time to build up trust with him. I really like Cowboy. My dogs like to hang around while I ride and he is showing extreme cowiness by keeping them out of the arena! I've never ridden a horse that interested in pushing animals around. We'll have to develop cow-working together in the future. He's so cool.

I had 12 more hours of horse time in me, but alas, the day was closing down and I really needed to get ready for the New Years Eve festivities. I love my life.

Feedback from Teri!

I've been really needing this. I haven't seen my regular instructor since last fall. I've been working in a vacuum, basically. So, today the silence was broken and Teri gave me a lesson for about 90 minutes. I am so glad, too. I got some important feedback and one of the big things was regarding my Liberty tape. She send, "Send it in!". I've been holding off thinking it's not perfect, but she said send it in anyway! And so, I will...

We worked on haunches in, stretching her long and low (horizontal flexion), and we re-shimed my Theraflex and talked about how she looks physically. She felt that her look was improved, but that she still wasn't developing good muscle around her withers. Will watch and see if the new shim setup helps. We also need to work more on horizontal flexion and making sure I do some of that on the trail at times. We talked a lot, which I really needed. I've had no guidance for too long and my growth is stifled. She said that we had improved, but not as much as she'd have liked over that many months. Tough to get compliments out of Teri. :-)

When they first showed up she mentioned right away that we had to work on my Finesse. My horse was stubbing her toes on all 4's (instead of just the rears like usual), her shoulder looked rotated forward and the wither development wasn't progressing. So, I immediately thought I was in for a rough lesson. However, once I explained that I had done a 13 mile ride the day before, she thought that might explain it all. She watched me ride and didn't notice me doing anything terribly wrong. She never says anything like, "Wow, that's great!". It's more that she says, "I didn't see anything blatantly gross looking". Maybe she wants to be sure I never get conceited? :-) It's a teaching style that can be brutal and leave you feeling small and I've had to learn to cope with it.

Anyway, I have some great things to go work on and I'm excited. Specifically, I need to work on horizontal flexion at all 3 gaits and do more passenger lessons at the canter.