I'm finding it increasingly irritating that I'm stuck inside due to this weather. It's making my writing material somewhat limited, but at the same time is forcing me to spend more time indoors--perfect for blogging. So today, for your reading pleasure (and since I conveniently left you hanging in my last post) I'd like to give you an in-depth recap of the lesson I had with Kristi Smith two weeks ago, since it was a very neat experience. I've broken the entry into two parts, since I can tell it's going to be long!
Kristi hosted a series of workshops at 7A Ranch, in Oxford IA (about 10 minutes from where she lives) on the weekend of January 10th-11th. Saturday held a set of L1/2 workshops, and Sunday, L3. I reconnected with several old friends, and met some really fantastic people during both days. One of the women in particular, a fantastic gal named Mary Anna, and I hit it off immediately--it was one of those "instant" friendships. I'll give you one guess at to what horsenality SHE was ;) Anyway, she was signed up to participate in all of the workshops, and the communication she had with her GORGEOUS Oldenburg mare was nothing short of amazing. The horse looked at her with the most beautiful expression throughout the weekend, she obviously is someone who has put lots of time and energy into the relationship and Parelli program.
Anyway, I was fascinated with this pair throughout mainly because I couldn't quite peg the mare's horsenality. She looked just so genuinely happy, all the time, always asking questions, playful, wanting to follow her leader always, but wanting to play, too. I guess that's what Parelli is all about, but even so, usually you can pick the information out of the excellence just by reading tendencies. Not the case for me here. Anyway, I digress.
So, come Sunday morning, Mary Anna approached me with the introduction of "I wanna talk to you!"...I still get kind of bracy about that kind of approach from being in high school, but I was pleasantly surprised when she explained to me that she had to leave early to get home, but that she was signed up and paid to ride in the afternoon workshop, and would I be interested in taking her spot with her horse. WOULD I???? And turn down the opportunity to play with such a high-quality horse? I think not! What a compliment!!
I'm not going to lie, I'm always a little geeked out playing with other people's horses that they've so much time on. Not that I don't trust my own ability, but that I feel like the intricacies of the relationship won't carry through. It's pretty irrational, but it happens, and usually I'm a little too light as a result.
The FIRST thing this mare taught me was how to calm down. When I went to her stall, she turned her head and I swear, this wave of just easy, settling energy just washed over me. I was able to relax and halter up, etc. Once in the arena, the goal was just to put the horses through their paces in prep for riding--walk/trot/canter online, over a jump, etc. Five minutes in, and she taught me another important lesson, and that was about true neutral. Neutrality is something I struggle at with home with Prin, my being an extrovert who tend to want, and want it now, and Prin being an introvert who, until recently, didn't uphold her responsibilities very well. At any rate, with this mare, I found that if I didn't totally relax my body, neither would she. And the interesting thing was that even though disharmony with her was NOTHING compared to disharmony with my guys, it was more uncomfortable for me to feel.
I experimented a little with what breathing and neutral in ME felt like to this mare, and discovered that I really, truly had to RELAX my body, breath through my entire core. I figured out that I carry a tendency to inhale and hold a brace my shoulders, as if to say "KEEP GOING!" I really tried to pattern this new feeling into me with this horse once I figured it out, and at home, it's actually changed Prin's entire demeanor at the canter on the circle--I figure "What the absolute worst that's going to happen? She breaks gait?", and she actually really appreciates the attitude shift, and is less prone to break gait. Anyway--I digress again. Lots on my mind, obviously ;)
Anyway, after a little bit of testing the waters, we saddled up, and after a little more moving about, I mounted up.
Cont'd in Pt. II..
Photo by Margaret Chant and edited by Jessica Metropulos
Showing posts with label fluidity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fluidity. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, August 15, 2009
FANTASTIC Lessons
Hey All,
Quick update. My internet has been down, I'm typing on a library computer right now. I'll have more for you probably on Monday when my mother gets home and can wrangle the turkeys at CenturyTel into giving us information as to WHY our computer isn't working. (That's another story)
So, Kristi Smith was here Wednesday evening through Friday early morning. She taught lessons all day Thursday and we had a TON of fun. I shared a 3 hour semi-private with my good friend Anna and her horse Piper. We had a ton of fun, and by the end, I was literally riding a spotted hovercraft with hooves. Prin was SO LIGHT and responsive to everything Kristi had us playing with, it was truly a pleasure. I'm loving the progress that comes with these monthly lessons--be it Kristi or Farrah.
Richard took a lesson on Amigo which was REALLY nice to watch. Richard hasn't done a whole lot of riding recently--injury coupled with lack of time I think has really gotten his motivation levels. Anyway, they played with freestyle, and the patterns that go with it. Amigo went through one HELL of a transformation. Not that he's a difficult horse, but he hasn't really been ridden at all in the past 6 months. He went from cutting corners and neglecting responsibilities to following the rail and doing figure 8's like a L2 pony should. It was just beautiful to watch, and Richard, Kristi, and Amigo were all smiles throughout :)
We finished with my friend Jessica taking a lesson on Prin, which was just AWESOME. Kristi read my mind on subject matter, put a bareback pad on Prin, and proceeded to blow our minds with the most magnificent freestyle/fluidity lesson and transformation I've ever seen, personally. More on that later, I need to compose my thoughts and actually write this out. It might even be a seperate post, it was that amazing. So cool.
Kristi's demo, though slightly less-attended due to the rain, was wonderful. I was particularly pleased and impressed with her long-line driving, they've come so far even since I was in FL this winter. And of course their liberty, Maxi is such a hoot. Kristi did a great job engaging our group for the Q&A too, there were several...skeptics...in the audience, and she definitely got them thinking. To see members of my local saddle club leaving with horsenality charts was priceless. YAY!
Anyway, there's my short update. There will be pictures as soon as my internet is back up. I have pix of everyones' lessons, as well as some of the demo, courtesy of Raven Flores and Richard Knopf (when they arrive).
Savvy on!
Quick update. My internet has been down, I'm typing on a library computer right now. I'll have more for you probably on Monday when my mother gets home and can wrangle the turkeys at CenturyTel into giving us information as to WHY our computer isn't working. (That's another story)
So, Kristi Smith was here Wednesday evening through Friday early morning. She taught lessons all day Thursday and we had a TON of fun. I shared a 3 hour semi-private with my good friend Anna and her horse Piper. We had a ton of fun, and by the end, I was literally riding a spotted hovercraft with hooves. Prin was SO LIGHT and responsive to everything Kristi had us playing with, it was truly a pleasure. I'm loving the progress that comes with these monthly lessons--be it Kristi or Farrah.
Richard took a lesson on Amigo which was REALLY nice to watch. Richard hasn't done a whole lot of riding recently--injury coupled with lack of time I think has really gotten his motivation levels. Anyway, they played with freestyle, and the patterns that go with it. Amigo went through one HELL of a transformation. Not that he's a difficult horse, but he hasn't really been ridden at all in the past 6 months. He went from cutting corners and neglecting responsibilities to following the rail and doing figure 8's like a L2 pony should. It was just beautiful to watch, and Richard, Kristi, and Amigo were all smiles throughout :)
We finished with my friend Jessica taking a lesson on Prin, which was just AWESOME. Kristi read my mind on subject matter, put a bareback pad on Prin, and proceeded to blow our minds with the most magnificent freestyle/fluidity lesson and transformation I've ever seen, personally. More on that later, I need to compose my thoughts and actually write this out. It might even be a seperate post, it was that amazing. So cool.
Kristi's demo, though slightly less-attended due to the rain, was wonderful. I was particularly pleased and impressed with her long-line driving, they've come so far even since I was in FL this winter. And of course their liberty, Maxi is such a hoot. Kristi did a great job engaging our group for the Q&A too, there were several...skeptics...in the audience, and she definitely got them thinking. To see members of my local saddle club leaving with horsenality charts was priceless. YAY!
Anyway, there's my short update. There will be pictures as soon as my internet is back up. I have pix of everyones' lessons, as well as some of the demo, courtesy of Raven Flores and Richard Knopf (when they arrive).
Savvy on!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Focus? Energy? Fluidity? Oh yeah...
Today was an excellent reminder of all those concepts, usually all together, at once. It's amazing how things like that can totally change a session, and believe me, they can.
You know how Linda says "You're not playing for today, you're playing for tomorrow?" She means it. Usually when you leave off great in a previous session, the next session will be even better, and more progressive. Conversely, if you leave off on a bad note, generally the next session will be poor, too. Keep that in mind as we go along here.
I headed out to the farm today with the intent to play with Crest. He and I had had a slightly scary session last week, and I, truth be told, have been making excuses to not play with him since, simply because it was a disturbing flashback to how Crest used to be. I guess you could say I was visiting some sort of denial phase.
Last week's session left off with Crest frothing, me panting, and both of us thoroughly pissed off and scared of each-other. Though I won't go into detail, needless to say, it didn't go well. But one of the things that triggered the session was Crest's "sticky" sideways game. Crest is a pretty bio-mechanically screwed up horse, and so going sideways, particularly to the left, can be very difficult for him. This is all thanks to an accident we had a couple years ago. Anyway, as a result, he's crooked all down his right side, but especially through his ribcage. We've played with it for over a year, and we've corrected a lot of it, but it still causes him some discomfort from time to time. Unfortunately, being as extroverted as he is, Crest expresses his discomfort in a large, animated way that often causes me to lose my confidence and brace, which in turn causes him to get even more animated, and it usually ends up with me getting off and feeling a little dejected.
ANYWAY. What does ALL THIS have to do with today? I decided, based upon last session, that playing with the sideways box pattern might be a smart thing to do. For those who aren't familiar, the sideways box is comprised of 4 markers (barrels, cones,etc) formed in a box shape about 10-20 feet apart. The goal is to side pass from one to the next in a Z pattern.
So, I got Crest out, and warmed him up playing with patterns and sideways on the ground. It was going really really well, he was peppy, but not crazed, focused, but not clingy, it was perfect. So hopped on, and went first to show him the box I had created. I wasn't going to ask for him to go sideways, I just wanted him to see it. He saw it, and immediately perked up in a way I wasn't so sure I liked. So I decided to play with some figure 8 before I even TRIED to get sideways. This is a pattern he's plenty familiar with, we play with it almost every time we ride because it helps calm him when he's on adrenaline. So I send him in, he goes around the first barrel like a gentleman, and comes to the second, goes 1/2 way around it, and then, without warning, SHOOTS sideways. It wasn't a spook. Crest is a bolter in those situations. No, this was totally defiant. He does it when he doesn't get his way, though it's been getting less and less common. I sort of sighed and asked him forward, and completed the 8, and went for another one. We came 1/2 way around the second barrel, and BAM, same thing. He did this twice more. Okay, so now I'm starting to get angry. I'm not proud of it, but there you have it.
It always seems like I have to blow up with Crest before we succeed. This is not something I'm proud of, and honestly, after this session, I have some keys to fixing situations like that before they become explosive. But anyway, what happened next was embarrassing. I'll ask you to try to see the humor in this image, because honestly, that's what gets me by after acting like a complete ass.
I got off (I was losing my confidence) and proceeded to send Crest in a pretty aggressive falling leaf pattern, while growling orders at him, that he clearly doesn't understand. Now as I'm doing this, I'm realizing just how ridiculous I must look at sound. Crest is 3 steps away from leaving the planet with this "What the HELL did I do?!" look on his face, and I'm growling like a maniac, while doing something completely unproductive. And then I had a thought. A thought that stopped me dead in my tracks. Why not try the figure 8 on the ground, Fran? WHAT A NOVEL IDEA!
So that's what we did. And Crest, probably relieved to not have psycho-Fran growling at him, was absolutely tuned in and fantastic on the patterns. He never broke gait on the figure 8, and several times popped a flying change at the canter. I felt really good about that, so after two sets of 7 (I did one regular, and then one where he had to spin to get the correct direction) I hopped back up, and tried again...only to get the same result as when I had tried riding it before. Puzzled, I asked Crest to stop, because I really had to think. I had no idea what was causing this gap between ground and riding...and then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me.
It's me. Of COURSE. He's shooting sideways, and I'm tensing up. I've patterned myself to tense up at that second barrel. But WHY? I asked him again to figure 8, while I examined my behavior. I was indeed tensing up, but also, my focus was NOWHERE, and my body wasn't following either. I was asking him to go around a barrel, sure, but was I going around the barrel? Nope.
For the next 15 minutes, I played with figure 8's with the reins on Crest's neck. HE followed the pattern at a trot, and I didn't even have to pick up my reins. He's an EXTREMELY sensitive horse, and so as long as the components for lightness are there, he'll take it.
So...Focus? Energy? Fluidity? Oh yeah...those...they're handy! Today I'll head out and play again :)
Savvy on,
Fran
You know how Linda says "You're not playing for today, you're playing for tomorrow?" She means it. Usually when you leave off great in a previous session, the next session will be even better, and more progressive. Conversely, if you leave off on a bad note, generally the next session will be poor, too. Keep that in mind as we go along here.
I headed out to the farm today with the intent to play with Crest. He and I had had a slightly scary session last week, and I, truth be told, have been making excuses to not play with him since, simply because it was a disturbing flashback to how Crest used to be. I guess you could say I was visiting some sort of denial phase.
Last week's session left off with Crest frothing, me panting, and both of us thoroughly pissed off and scared of each-other. Though I won't go into detail, needless to say, it didn't go well. But one of the things that triggered the session was Crest's "sticky" sideways game. Crest is a pretty bio-mechanically screwed up horse, and so going sideways, particularly to the left, can be very difficult for him. This is all thanks to an accident we had a couple years ago. Anyway, as a result, he's crooked all down his right side, but especially through his ribcage. We've played with it for over a year, and we've corrected a lot of it, but it still causes him some discomfort from time to time. Unfortunately, being as extroverted as he is, Crest expresses his discomfort in a large, animated way that often causes me to lose my confidence and brace, which in turn causes him to get even more animated, and it usually ends up with me getting off and feeling a little dejected.
ANYWAY. What does ALL THIS have to do with today? I decided, based upon last session, that playing with the sideways box pattern might be a smart thing to do. For those who aren't familiar, the sideways box is comprised of 4 markers (barrels, cones,etc) formed in a box shape about 10-20 feet apart. The goal is to side pass from one to the next in a Z pattern.
So, I got Crest out, and warmed him up playing with patterns and sideways on the ground. It was going really really well, he was peppy, but not crazed, focused, but not clingy, it was perfect. So hopped on, and went first to show him the box I had created. I wasn't going to ask for him to go sideways, I just wanted him to see it. He saw it, and immediately perked up in a way I wasn't so sure I liked. So I decided to play with some figure 8 before I even TRIED to get sideways. This is a pattern he's plenty familiar with, we play with it almost every time we ride because it helps calm him when he's on adrenaline. So I send him in, he goes around the first barrel like a gentleman, and comes to the second, goes 1/2 way around it, and then, without warning, SHOOTS sideways. It wasn't a spook. Crest is a bolter in those situations. No, this was totally defiant. He does it when he doesn't get his way, though it's been getting less and less common. I sort of sighed and asked him forward, and completed the 8, and went for another one. We came 1/2 way around the second barrel, and BAM, same thing. He did this twice more. Okay, so now I'm starting to get angry. I'm not proud of it, but there you have it.
It always seems like I have to blow up with Crest before we succeed. This is not something I'm proud of, and honestly, after this session, I have some keys to fixing situations like that before they become explosive. But anyway, what happened next was embarrassing. I'll ask you to try to see the humor in this image, because honestly, that's what gets me by after acting like a complete ass.
I got off (I was losing my confidence) and proceeded to send Crest in a pretty aggressive falling leaf pattern, while growling orders at him, that he clearly doesn't understand. Now as I'm doing this, I'm realizing just how ridiculous I must look at sound. Crest is 3 steps away from leaving the planet with this "What the HELL did I do?!" look on his face, and I'm growling like a maniac, while doing something completely unproductive. And then I had a thought. A thought that stopped me dead in my tracks. Why not try the figure 8 on the ground, Fran? WHAT A NOVEL IDEA!
So that's what we did. And Crest, probably relieved to not have psycho-Fran growling at him, was absolutely tuned in and fantastic on the patterns. He never broke gait on the figure 8, and several times popped a flying change at the canter. I felt really good about that, so after two sets of 7 (I did one regular, and then one where he had to spin to get the correct direction) I hopped back up, and tried again...only to get the same result as when I had tried riding it before. Puzzled, I asked Crest to stop, because I really had to think. I had no idea what was causing this gap between ground and riding...and then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me.
It's me. Of COURSE. He's shooting sideways, and I'm tensing up. I've patterned myself to tense up at that second barrel. But WHY? I asked him again to figure 8, while I examined my behavior. I was indeed tensing up, but also, my focus was NOWHERE, and my body wasn't following either. I was asking him to go around a barrel, sure, but was I going around the barrel? Nope.
For the next 15 minutes, I played with figure 8's with the reins on Crest's neck. HE followed the pattern at a trot, and I didn't even have to pick up my reins. He's an EXTREMELY sensitive horse, and so as long as the components for lightness are there, he'll take it.
So...Focus? Energy? Fluidity? Oh yeah...those...they're handy! Today I'll head out and play again :)
Savvy on,
Fran
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Updates and Such
BRRRR!!! Sorry I've dropped off the face of the planet, my life got crazy! I've had a really interesting week, and while I'd love to write about all of it, my fingers are freezing, (WHO ORDERED THIS WEATHER?!)so I'm going to try to keep kind of general.
Thursday through Sunday last, I took a road trip across the state. First stop was Green Bay to visit my friend and fellow PNHer, Heidi, then back to Mosinee to teach at Anne's for 3 days.
The visit to Heidi's was a blast, we ate a lovely dinner on Thursday night, then stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching Best of Show. Friday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed and made our way to Algoma to go visit Heidi's horse Charmer. To begin with, Heidi got out Charm and I was partnered with a horse named Dutch, who belonged to the barn owner. He was a bay ball of fun, reminded me a lot of Crest, very playful and devoted to pleasing. We had a good time. Next, we put my fluidity saddle on Charmer, and BOY was there a change! This horse is not one prone to stretching or round/correct self carriage. Check out this video!
Pretty neat huh?
We finished my visit with lunch at a lovely little cafe in Algoma and then I hit the road back to Mosinee.
Saturday was a fun day. It was just warm enough to give the snow a nice crunch, so Anne and I got out the snowmobile and broke some trails around her property both to walk the wiener dogs on (the snow is so deep it swallows them) and also for us to ride on. That was an adventure in itself because this girl here hasn't driven a snowmobile in a couple years, and this one happened to have a sticky throttle. You can imagine where that went... Anyway, we also played with Clearwater, both basic 7 games and also trail riding, some trail riding stuff, and we ended the day on a good note. Sunday, the weather was nasty, but even so, we braved the sleet and went out to play with all things blanket-y. We started with Clear, who couldn't have cared less, then we moved to Blix, who I KNEW would be scary if we just went straight to the blanket. First, I decided we should get him confident with rhythm in general before even TRYING to desensitize him to a big flopping blanket. We played with friendly game with the carrot stick and string, and also discovered that Blixen is a closet LBI...yes. You read correctly. He's a cookie monster. Everything suddenly became easy when we realized this. Anyway, a long story short, carrot stick/string, then saddle blanket, then blanket, with not a single flinch. Very cool stuff.
I got home Sunday night, and have pretty much been home-bound since, it's been a brutal mostly subzero week so far, today was the warmest at 10 above and sunny with little or no windchill. Today I had a nice session with Prin and Nugget though. Prin's been spoiled and not been played with much, so today was an interesting battle of leadership, which I ended up winning by pulling out some exercises from the old Levels. She wasn't quite sure what to think, but it all worked out. Also I played with standing to the trot, an exercise suggested to aid in my apparent inability to properly sit the trot--not caused by a lack of fluidity entirely, but also a lack of properly developed muscle. This has made the person that suggested this exercise public enemy number 1 to my legs, which currently ache so much I can't straighten them entirely. But it definitely aided my sitting trot! I could feel that right away.
Nugget was fantastic, she was very LBE today, her motto was "Look at meeee, I'm WIIIILLLD!!!" We played with some W/G/T/C (G as in GAIT!) stuff, and that little horse just likes to GOOOOOOO. Very fun, she's gonna be a helluva trail horse :)
Anyway, I need to go play with some paperwork, YAY. Course in 19 days :)
Thursday through Sunday last, I took a road trip across the state. First stop was Green Bay to visit my friend and fellow PNHer, Heidi, then back to Mosinee to teach at Anne's for 3 days.
The visit to Heidi's was a blast, we ate a lovely dinner on Thursday night, then stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching Best of Show. Friday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed and made our way to Algoma to go visit Heidi's horse Charmer. To begin with, Heidi got out Charm and I was partnered with a horse named Dutch, who belonged to the barn owner. He was a bay ball of fun, reminded me a lot of Crest, very playful and devoted to pleasing. We had a good time. Next, we put my fluidity saddle on Charmer, and BOY was there a change! This horse is not one prone to stretching or round/correct self carriage. Check out this video!
Pretty neat huh?
We finished my visit with lunch at a lovely little cafe in Algoma and then I hit the road back to Mosinee.
Saturday was a fun day. It was just warm enough to give the snow a nice crunch, so Anne and I got out the snowmobile and broke some trails around her property both to walk the wiener dogs on (the snow is so deep it swallows them) and also for us to ride on. That was an adventure in itself because this girl here hasn't driven a snowmobile in a couple years, and this one happened to have a sticky throttle. You can imagine where that went... Anyway, we also played with Clearwater, both basic 7 games and also trail riding, some trail riding stuff, and we ended the day on a good note. Sunday, the weather was nasty, but even so, we braved the sleet and went out to play with all things blanket-y. We started with Clear, who couldn't have cared less, then we moved to Blix, who I KNEW would be scary if we just went straight to the blanket. First, I decided we should get him confident with rhythm in general before even TRYING to desensitize him to a big flopping blanket. We played with friendly game with the carrot stick and string, and also discovered that Blixen is a closet LBI...yes. You read correctly. He's a cookie monster. Everything suddenly became easy when we realized this. Anyway, a long story short, carrot stick/string, then saddle blanket, then blanket, with not a single flinch. Very cool stuff.
I got home Sunday night, and have pretty much been home-bound since, it's been a brutal mostly subzero week so far, today was the warmest at 10 above and sunny with little or no windchill. Today I had a nice session with Prin and Nugget though. Prin's been spoiled and not been played with much, so today was an interesting battle of leadership, which I ended up winning by pulling out some exercises from the old Levels. She wasn't quite sure what to think, but it all worked out. Also I played with standing to the trot, an exercise suggested to aid in my apparent inability to properly sit the trot--not caused by a lack of fluidity entirely, but also a lack of properly developed muscle. This has made the person that suggested this exercise public enemy number 1 to my legs, which currently ache so much I can't straighten them entirely. But it definitely aided my sitting trot! I could feel that right away.
Nugget was fantastic, she was very LBE today, her motto was "Look at meeee, I'm WIIIILLLD!!!" We played with some W/G/T/C (G as in GAIT!) stuff, and that little horse just likes to GOOOOOOO. Very fun, she's gonna be a helluva trail horse :)
Anyway, I need to go play with some paperwork, YAY. Course in 19 days :)
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Cradle Bridle-Pt 1 of ??
Hello,
So my Cradle bridle arrived today. It's beautiful, the leather is actually much lighter a brown than I have seen previously, and it looks VERY nice against Prin's chestnut hair.
As far as settings go, I'm pleased with the fit. Prin's on the Middle hole of 5, and it fits perfectly there. So glad I got a a Large and not an XLarge headstall. The 5" C3 bit is great too, so all is right with the world. I had to experiment with chin straps and bit rings though, and here's what I noticed:
*Prin is NOT unusually light on the big rings
*Prin does her best finesse on the small rings
*Prin's mouth is quieter overall
*Prin's mouth is QUIETEST and LIGHTEST on the small rings, with the non-stretchy chinstrap. Must have done more finesse than I give myself credit for...
*Riding on the big rings is "typical" Prin, that I've had since November
*Riding small rings is like having power steering. UNBELIEVABLE
*Prin finds the "engaging your HQ" concept easier with the cradle? Odd because that has nothing to do with her head. Maybe its that I'm not having to ask for the bend as much? I really don't know.
*Prin does not drop her shoulder and lean into turns with the bridle on
As much as I know you all will hate me for this, I forgot my camera in all my excited rush. I WILL take photos of Prin in it tomorrow though, since its SO GREAT and all..love how soft and willing she is in it. She actually seems to LIKE IT a lot!
Oh and a side note...I need to reshim...again...YARGGHHHH!!!!
So my Cradle bridle arrived today. It's beautiful, the leather is actually much lighter a brown than I have seen previously, and it looks VERY nice against Prin's chestnut hair.
As far as settings go, I'm pleased with the fit. Prin's on the Middle hole of 5, and it fits perfectly there. So glad I got a a Large and not an XLarge headstall. The 5" C3 bit is great too, so all is right with the world. I had to experiment with chin straps and bit rings though, and here's what I noticed:
*Prin is NOT unusually light on the big rings
*Prin does her best finesse on the small rings
*Prin's mouth is quieter overall
*Prin's mouth is QUIETEST and LIGHTEST on the small rings, with the non-stretchy chinstrap. Must have done more finesse than I give myself credit for...
*Riding on the big rings is "typical" Prin, that I've had since November
*Riding small rings is like having power steering. UNBELIEVABLE
*Prin finds the "engaging your HQ" concept easier with the cradle? Odd because that has nothing to do with her head. Maybe its that I'm not having to ask for the bend as much? I really don't know.
*Prin does not drop her shoulder and lean into turns with the bridle on
As much as I know you all will hate me for this, I forgot my camera in all my excited rush. I WILL take photos of Prin in it tomorrow though, since its SO GREAT and all..love how soft and willing she is in it. She actually seems to LIKE IT a lot!
Oh and a side note...I need to reshim...again...YARGGHHHH!!!!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fear, Frustration, Fluidity issues, and oh, some FUN!
Interesting day today. First let me start out by asking everyone to tell me to GET SOME SLEEP when I complain about being cranky. It's been almost 2 weeks since I've gotten more than 9 hours of sleep, and it's reflecting in my patience and tolerance for silly things.
First of all, my frustration. My theraflex pad has decided that it needs to slip forward when it's being used under my fluidity saddle. Fortunately, as wonderful as the the saddle is, it doesn't follow the pad, but it results in a mess on the back of the saddle when it actually slides OFF. GRR! Here are some of the options I've gone over in my head:
*At first I thought that I might have been driving with my seat without knowing it (I noticed this after playing with the collected canter).
But I ruled that out, because I sat on my thumb, and it came out in one piece and pain free. Also, when I took the saddle off, there was very little ruffling on her back.
*So, is it simply because the pad is dirty?
*Is my horse just getting that uphill?
*Or am I over shimmed?
I'm perplexed. Fortunately, I emailed LP about the problem, so I'll post what she says when she responds.
The FUN in this came in when I decided to eliminate the "dirty" option for the pad, and cleaned it. It was about 85 and humid today. Humidity (and sweat-ICK!) makes my grouchy, and I know from experience that a theraflex pad is best cleaned a tub of water. So, see these photos of what happened next. It's GREAT fun, and it does a surprisingly thorough job of cleaning it!
Feet are better than ANY scrub brush, and you get a good massage while doing it...Win-Win situation!
Doin' the twist-that's the best motion to loosen all that stubborn dirt and hair.
That water has been changed 3 times, and it's still scuzzy.
And of course, finish with a rinse :)
Okay. Now. Fear and fluidity issues. Bear with me, this may be a bit scattered. I have come to the conclusion (temporary or not, hopefully the former) that I CANNOT ride Crest. Or actually no, let me rephrase that, I cannot ride Crest WELL. It is disgusting and sad for me to say, but I'm terrified of him. He's getting more and more LBE every day with a rider,(yay?) but has a tendency to get scared when I'm not fluid with his antics, which is a cataclysmic situation. See, Crest has HUGE bouncy gaits (particularly in trot), and likes to crow hop in the canter. I'm a very naturally balanced rider, and am fairly fluid too. I come from the hunter/jumper realm where the horses have big strides, so I'm used to that a bit too. But this is just...strange. I SOLIDLY refuse to ride Crest in a saddle until I'm somewhat fluid on him bareback. The reason I'm being so stubborn here, is because I don't want to use my stirrups as an excuse to not become a stronger, better rider. But the problem comes in when Crest breaks the trot. I have a really healthy respect for what this horse is capable of since my accident (shouldn't even THINK of that, but it did do some damage) and so when he gets going big, I get tense, whether I want to or not. Now riding in a bareback pad recently has helped IMMENSELY, but still...I KNOW Crest is not offering a nice easy trot for me either. I've seen it on the ground, and experienced it when he's in a good state of mind, and for some reason (probably due to my recent developing fear) I can't get it. So anyway. That's my fear issue. I'm hating it, today we went for a solid HOUR, were both dripping with sweat, and I was almost in tears because I was so mad at myself. I just need to learn to trust him again, and I just kept thinking "What would Linda Do? What would Farrah say?" and that made it worse, because I KNEW I was wrong...so ACK... I know it's me, and of course that's a step in the right direction, but GAH! Mental development in it's finest. I WILL get this eventually!
Savvy out, wish me luck!
First of all, my frustration. My theraflex pad has decided that it needs to slip forward when it's being used under my fluidity saddle. Fortunately, as wonderful as the the saddle is, it doesn't follow the pad, but it results in a mess on the back of the saddle when it actually slides OFF. GRR! Here are some of the options I've gone over in my head:
*At first I thought that I might have been driving with my seat without knowing it (I noticed this after playing with the collected canter).
But I ruled that out, because I sat on my thumb, and it came out in one piece and pain free. Also, when I took the saddle off, there was very little ruffling on her back.
*So, is it simply because the pad is dirty?
*Is my horse just getting that uphill?
*Or am I over shimmed?
I'm perplexed. Fortunately, I emailed LP about the problem, so I'll post what she says when she responds.
The FUN in this came in when I decided to eliminate the "dirty" option for the pad, and cleaned it. It was about 85 and humid today. Humidity (and sweat-ICK!) makes my grouchy, and I know from experience that a theraflex pad is best cleaned a tub of water. So, see these photos of what happened next. It's GREAT fun, and it does a surprisingly thorough job of cleaning it!
Feet are better than ANY scrub brush, and you get a good massage while doing it...Win-Win situation!
Doin' the twist-that's the best motion to loosen all that stubborn dirt and hair.
That water has been changed 3 times, and it's still scuzzy.
And of course, finish with a rinse :)
Okay. Now. Fear and fluidity issues. Bear with me, this may be a bit scattered. I have come to the conclusion (temporary or not, hopefully the former) that I CANNOT ride Crest. Or actually no, let me rephrase that, I cannot ride Crest WELL. It is disgusting and sad for me to say, but I'm terrified of him. He's getting more and more LBE every day with a rider,(yay?) but has a tendency to get scared when I'm not fluid with his antics, which is a cataclysmic situation. See, Crest has HUGE bouncy gaits (particularly in trot), and likes to crow hop in the canter. I'm a very naturally balanced rider, and am fairly fluid too. I come from the hunter/jumper realm where the horses have big strides, so I'm used to that a bit too. But this is just...strange. I SOLIDLY refuse to ride Crest in a saddle until I'm somewhat fluid on him bareback. The reason I'm being so stubborn here, is because I don't want to use my stirrups as an excuse to not become a stronger, better rider. But the problem comes in when Crest breaks the trot. I have a really healthy respect for what this horse is capable of since my accident (shouldn't even THINK of that, but it did do some damage) and so when he gets going big, I get tense, whether I want to or not. Now riding in a bareback pad recently has helped IMMENSELY, but still...I KNOW Crest is not offering a nice easy trot for me either. I've seen it on the ground, and experienced it when he's in a good state of mind, and for some reason (probably due to my recent developing fear) I can't get it. So anyway. That's my fear issue. I'm hating it, today we went for a solid HOUR, were both dripping with sweat, and I was almost in tears because I was so mad at myself. I just need to learn to trust him again, and I just kept thinking "What would Linda Do? What would Farrah say?" and that made it worse, because I KNEW I was wrong...so ACK... I know it's me, and of course that's a step in the right direction, but GAH! Mental development in it's finest. I WILL get this eventually!
Savvy out, wish me luck!
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