Wizard Rides 455 & 456: Tomorrow Tomorrow

Wednesday, 3/27/13

After work, I went to the barn for a quick ride. The footing in the outdoor arena was just dry enough for some trot work, so we rode until dark. For most of the ride, Wizard was NOT happy. He was uncomfortable, grumpy, or whatever it is that makes him kick, pin his ears, and do a few little bucks. We just finished a month of ulcer treatment, got a saddle fitted specially for him, had multiple vet evaluations, tested for Lyme Disease, etc, etc, etc. We walked for about 10-15 minutes and then did some light trot work. I asked him to leg yield at a walk on one long side, do a shoulder in on a short side, and trot the other long side. We did this in both directions until I was comfortable with how he was responding to the aids. It was a frustrating ride, but we ended on a decent note. I wish he could tell me what he is feeling. After I untacked him, I turned him out in the indoor arena to let him trot around a bit. The hunters (and horses and dogs) in the woods caused him to be on extra high alert, and he was pretty giraffey until I put him to bed.

Thursday, 3/28/13

And then on Thursday, it was as if Wednesday never happened. Wizard did not offer a single swish of the tail, and he had “happy ears” for the entire ride. Before our ride, I turned him out in the arena for a good run so he could blow off some steam, and boy did he! He flagged his tail, snorted, and ran like a wild thing. After his run, I tacked him up and hand walked him through the park for about half an hour. We saw the horses and dogs and trailers again, and Wizard stared, but was less blown away by them than he was in previous days. After we returned to the farm, I mounted up, and he was pretty great under saddle. He’s still pretty mouthy with the bit. I tried a D-ring with a single joint and curved mouthpiece today, and it’s definitely not the ticket for him. I’m wondering if an eggbutt is the answer in the Micklem Bridle.

We did light walk and trot work again, walking on the short sides and trotting on the long sides. A little herd of 4 young deer were being silly in the neighboring pasture, and Wizard watched them with great amusement. The entire ride was about 30 minutes with warmup and cooldown. I tried to spend some time thinking about my equitation in the new saddle. I worked diligently on not hooking one seatbone and hovering with the other. I also thought a lot about loosening my hips and opening my hip angle. The saddle does nice things with my leg- it stays pretty quiet for me, especially since I have not ridden in five months!

Hopefully, Wizard will continue his good behavior from Thursday and we will not see any more of the Wednesday behavior.

Wizard Ride 200: Horse Show 1

Sunday, 11/21/10

The day has come… our first horse show! The show was at my barn, so there was no shipping. The show was the most casual I’ve ever done- it was a fun, relaxed schooling show. In my youth, my trainers always made me wear the show coat even at the most informal shows (and on the hottest days!) but now that I’m doing my own thing, I dressed casually with breeches and a vest :^)

Warmup was great- I knew our classes would take a lot of mental and physical effort for Wizard so we kept it short and sweet. I did a lot of walking, getting him used to the weaving and circling of all the horses. We then trotted, working on stretching and making contact with the bit. I only did one spin at the canter in each direction and he (gasp!) picked up the correct lead each time.

I had a very nice support group at the show, including my mom (also photographer and groom), my friend Christie, and my dad later in the day.

So here’s a rundown of our classes and how we did…

Adult Rider- 18yrs or older. English or Western.
W/T Eq Placed 6th. Wizard bounced around quite a bit during his walk-to-trot transitions, but was great with the horse traffic.
W/T/C Eq Placed 6th. They asked for a canter from a walk (oh, hm, we’ve never done that before!). No time like the present, and Wizard bounced into a canter from the walk. Not the prettiest transition, but he had a fair amount of impulsion from the show energy and it was pretty decent.
W/T/C Pleasure Our best class (according to the judge). Placed 4th.

Beginner Horse – Open to horses and ponies in their first or second year of showing.
W/T Placed 5th. I was much more relaxed and Wizard mirrored me.
W/T/C (canter individually) Did not place. Wizard picked up the wrong lead and leapt around a little in the first few strides of the canter. But once he settled, his canter was nice. Problem was, the judge was only watching horses in one spot on the rail and we tended to be pretty awkward in that spot. Wizard was getting a little grouchy around the other horses. I think he was hitting his threshold for attention span. If the last class was not over fences, I would have called it a day. I was proud of his performance in the class but the class was large and in the grand scheme of things, it was probably not that pretty.
W/T Hack with two cross rails Placed 5th. Our best performance (according to me). The judge made a comment about a rider who cantered the cross rails so I made sure to really bring Wizard down to a serious trot between the fences. Wizard was thrilled to jump and I was thrilled with his performance.

In all, it was a wonderful first show. I did not fall off or get otherwise disqualified, and Wizard performed admirably. I’m quite proud of him- it was fun to show off the results of all our hard work.

Selena Ride 12: The Great Outdoors

Monday, 8/17/09

Here in New Jersey, the dog days of summer have been more like medium-sized spaniels. Even the hottest days are not so bad this year. The sun is strong but there have been very few truly unrideable days. Flies, mosquitoes, and ticks are ugly, but the heat itself is bearable, especially since I normally ride at night :^)

Selena’s heat cycle appears to be calming down and she was perfectly responsive and sweet during our ride. I rode her under the lights in the big outdoor arena- I thought about riding indoors but it was too cool and nice outside. There were a few bugs biting but we dealt with it. We did a long walking warmup with leg yields and circles, followed by work at the trot. We worked on three-, four-, and five-loop serpentines, as well as “skinny” serpentines (riding the long sides and turning at the ends).

While I am working on Selena, I am also working on my own riding. I can feel a lot of weakness in my legs and seat, especially when we are riding at a big working trot in the big arena. When my riding improves, Selena also improves. At the end of the ride, I worked on a 20+ meter circle on a long rein, asking for her to stretch down into the bit. It was humorous at first, with her keeping her head the same the whole way around, not taking contact and not stretching. I sat, waited, and kept riding. Kept riding. Kept riding. Seat, leg, hip. Loosened the spine. Aligned the shoulders. Tempo, tempo, tempo. And WHEW, her neck stretched out the right way, down and relaxed.

Hooray! I am getting her supple and she is getting me fit- it’s a good match :^)

JR Ride 8; Wizard Ride 51: Heels Down!

Wednesday, 2/25/09

I lost Alibar in September 2008 but I still see reminders of him all the time. I bought a bag of hay cubes for Wizard and I just about started bawling when I started making them. We made hay cubes for Alibar for over a decade- it was a signature Alibar dish.

I started the night with JR. First, I turned him out in the indoor arena to let him blow off a little steam and stretch his legs. We worked on some clicker training at liberty. Although JR was a little slow out of the gate with clicker training, he has caught up really quickly. I rewarded him for circling around me and also for approaching me on command. I think that a moderate amount of liberty training really strengthens the bond between horse and rider. I’ve never used round pens- I find a big arena to be just fine for what I need.

I tacked up JR and Sarah rode him first. She rode for about 10 minutes. She worked on adjusting his stride- forward trot, working trot, sitting trot. She also cantered him. For a green horse who has been out of work for more than a year, he was quite balanced. JR has a really nice inner balance and rhythm and I think he has the ability to go really far as a riding horse. JR just barely broke a sweat by the time she was done.

Then it was my turn. JR and I had a workout! Sarah really put us through our paces. We trotted figure 8s, serpentines, and figure 8s down the long side (really skinny figure 8s). Sarah asked us for three trots: forward trot, posting trot, and sitting trot. JR has a remarkable forward trot! He never feels like he is going to break into a canter and he sort of floats along. His natural ability to adjust his gaits will be an asset if he ends up doing any dressage. We rode for about 20 or 25 minutes. By the time we were done, I was sweating! I’ve ridden all my life but since Alibar got sick and before that hurt his leg, I barely rode in 2008. In the beginning of the lesson, JR did a lot of adjusting his head, sometimes up, sometimes out, sometimes down. At the end of the lesson, I could feel JR stretching into the bit and accepting contact. His trot became more rhythmical and easy to ride. I cooled him out, groomed him, and moved onto the next victim :^)

I let Wizard spend about 10 minutes loose in the arena to stretch his legs and so I could see how he was feeling on the new shoes. He looks more comfortable. I tacked him up and Sarah rode him for about 10 minutes. A lot of the relaxation and schooling we did in January has regressed. He was back to being tense and anticipating the trot. Sarah was very patient with him and worked on asking for a quiet trot on a large circle. He did relax a bit after a few rounds. Then, I rode him for about 10 minutes. I think that it will not take as long to get him settled this time around as it did last month. Even though he had a layoff, I find that horses pick up training quickly once they have already learned it at some point. We did a few quiet walk/trot transitions and then walked some more, working on getting him to his “happy place”. Wizard simply needs more physical care and work than JR. I love working with them both and I am beginning to appreciate their differences.

It’s also really nice to be doing actual riding lessons. It feels good to have somebody tell me to put my heels down :^) Part of the comfort of a lesson is that I can allow somebody else to pilot the ride while I work on myself. I can focus more and we both improve. I’m really impressed with the progress we made. Can’t wait for the next lesson!

Wizard: Ride 9

Tuesday, Sept 30. It’s not him, it’s me. After seeing Sarah getting Wizard to totally relax and go quietly (Ride 8), I now know that I need to work on relaxing. I’m transmitting my energy to him and it’s making him a little tense. He walks fine, but he breaks into a jig from time to time.

I intend to re-evaluate my saddle fit and have an equine chiropractor take a look at him, just to be sure that he is as comfortable as he can be. And in the meantime, I need to RELAX and be sure that my signals are not confusing him.