Wizard Ride 155: A Game of Inches

Thursday, 7/8/10

The muggy, buggy days of July. We had a heat wave and many days of no rain. The outdoor arenas are dusty and the flies are bloodthirsty so we moved our ride to the watered, bug-free indoor arena. Wizard had not been ridden in almost two weeks, so it was a refresher, with a pleasant surprise thrown in :^)

We did a lot of loose, stretchy trotting as a warmup and he felt fantastic. Upon inspection of my recent riding photos, I realized that I’m still riding at a dressage length and my jumping saddle puts me in a funny position when I ride long. So I shortened them just one hole so far. Maybe an inch. And check out the difference!

Longer stirrups, not as strong position:

Shorter stirrups, stronger position! Just an inch made a difference.

Once we were warmed up and loose, I let him take a breather at a walk and I attempted a turn on the forehand in each direction. I used too much hand to the left because his whole neck bent around me like a rubber band! I worked hard to keep the impulsion through the turn and we executed a decent turn both ways, especially for our first try. It is an absolute thrill that we have been doing one new thing virtually every ride. I’m so proud of him.

We then worked on big-trot-little trot and I got a few strides of a nice, round trot with really good impulsion. I could feel him bouncing a little. Once, he volunteered a canter and I allowed it because it was the correct lead and then we went back to our trot work. Wizard was pretty sweaty from this ride even though it was about 30 minutes. I made sure to cool him thoroughly in front of the big fan after I hosed him off.

Wizard Ride 151: Over Under Sideways Down

Thursday, 6/17/10

Wizard had a visit from the farrier on Thursday. He remarked that Wizard was far more flexible in his hind end than he was the last few times. This makes me think that the chiropractic appointment last week had more benefits than just the ones I felt under saddle.

I rode Wizard in the dressage court outdoors, again with our stripped-down bridle and also an ear net to keep the flies away from Wizard’s delicate noggin.

Forward and sideways were the name of the game. We worked on leg yirlding at the walk and the trot in both directions. In order the keep his impulsion up, I also sprinkled in some big-trot-little-trot exercises. We were able to leg yield with the correct amount of bend from the center line in both directions. I’ve never tried that before- we usually use the quarter line as our marker. He was great! And he was also greatly improved at his transitions within the gaits, moving smoothly into a very big walk from a regular walk and also a great forward trot from his working trot. I used to do a lot of forward trot work with Alibar and I think it has a world of benefits for a horse.

The best part of the ride came when we were doing a forward trot across the diagonal- my reins were soft and giving to allow him to stretch his neck and head, and he pushed himself onto the bit, stretching and also taking contact. For just a moment, we had ourselves a pretty fancy little trot :^) Onward and upward…

Ride Plan for Monday Night

If I don’t have a ride plan, I tend to trot a bazillion times around the arena and ride in little paisley-shapes. This is a tentative ride plan for both JR and Wizard for tomorrow night.

Goal: To improve and continue work on relaxation, suppleness, and connection to leg, seat, and hands.

Warmup:

For JR, I will long line for 5 minutes and longe him for about 10 minutes. He had about 2 weeks off of riding but now the saddle has been adjusted. If he feels tired, I will modify as needed.

Warm up at the walk on a loose rein, allowing the horse to take in his surroundings. Begin work at the trot on half the arena, first asking the horse to stretch down and reach for the bit. Ask for walk/trot transitions, using the entire arena. Encourage engagement of the hind end by asking for the transitions frequently. Be sure to actively ride into and out of the walk. DO NOT pull for a walk. Ask for the trot when the inside hind leg is ready to go forward. Change directions and work on walk/trot to the right and to the left until the horse feels more supple and is on the rider aids.

Ride on a 20m circle in both directions. Count the number of steps on the circle and determine if the number is similar the next few times around the circle.

Work:

Ask for a Figure 8 with a walk in the center, making sure to trot only after the center line.

Go back to riding a 20m circle in both directions, riding short into the circle and ask for a leg yield for just a step or two outward toward the rail and the edge of the circle.

Begin work on a more sophisticated and balanced trot by alternating between a forward trot and a working trot, making sure to keep the rein aids light and soft. If the horse gets tense or resistant, give, give give and ride softly.

Cooldown:

Trot on a loose/soft rein on a 20m circle, counting the number of steps again. Did they change? Are they the same?

Walk on a loose rein until horse is cooled out.

JR Session 16; Wizard Ride 60: Hello, Abs!

“We have to show the horse what we would like to do, but we have to allow him to do it.” – Walter Zettl

Thursday, 3/19/2009

The other day, I got the wheels turning in Sarah’s head when I told her how well Wizard trotted the ground pole in our last ride. Tonight during my warmup for my lesson, I heard the wonderful and familiar sound of jump poles being rearranged. Once we worked on getting a good rhythm for our trot and asking for a little bend, Sarah told us to trot the a pole. I stayed straight, concentrated on the rhythm of the trot, curled a pinky finger in his mane, kept my eyes ahead, and Wizard took care of the rest. Good boy! We trotted the pole in both directions. She added another pole and we trotted a “line”.

Then Sarah got creative.

She set up a little bitty hunter course of poles. Line, diagonal, line, diagonal. If I felt Wizard rushing or getting tense, I asked for a walk for three steps and went back up to the trot. Wizard was fabulous! He trots the poles really nicely. I remember doing a lot of work like this with Alibar and he always wanted to canter after the pole, but Wizard is happy to trot, and he really picks his feet up nicely. Work over ground poles and cavaletti will help his topline as well as his balance.

Sarah got really creative.

She made little itty bitty teeny tiny crossrails that were about the height of the poles themselves. She even made what we jokingly called a vertical and a spread fence, of poles on the lowest jump cup, about 6 inches apart. Wizard did the little course like a champ! It was so much fun (after the initial shock! I had assumed we were working on more trot work and bending and was totally not expecting this kind of lesson).

The change in routine was great for me. I could feel myself riding better and Wizard was very interested in his job. It was a big challenge to keep all of our flatwork in mind and focus on the course of poles.

Here’s our little outside line…

And then we popped over this one… Just kidding.

The entire ride lasted about 45 minutes. Wizard is getting fitter- he just had sweat under the saddle. As Walter Zettl also says, “We have to go to the limit, but never over”.

I was recently going through Ingrid and Reiner Klimke’s The New Basic Training of the Young Horse and was delighted to see that Wizard is following the basic schedule that they use for young horses (minus the hacking, but I’m hoping to do a little trail riding soon). Of course, we’re going twice as slowly as the book’s plan *g* Here’s the third month’s training plan:

Main aim: Developing looseness under the rider; developing pushing power and contact on the lunge.

Quiet work in rising trot on both reins, both on the circle and going large around the school, trot-walk transitions, stretching and chewing the reins out of the rider’s hand. When possible following a lead horse in walk and trot over cavaletti and single poles. Hacking out in walk behind a lead horse- enjoying the countryside.

Introducing the driving aids of the voice and the whip on the lunge. Short spells of canter on the lunge. Increasing tempo in trot to develop pushing power and the contact with the bit, making sure that the horse does not come behind the vertical. The side reins must not be too short. Cavaletti work on the lunge is a good gymnastic exercise and strengthens the back muscles. Free-jumping; free-schooling in the indoor school- with correct equipment.

After Wizard was cooled out and put to bed, I took JR out for a groundwork session. My goal was to start him with the process of long-lining with clicker training. I tacked him up with a surcingle and a longeing cavesson and attached my long lines to the rings on the cavesson and through the surcingle rings. I stood to his side, asked for a walk, and when he did… click and treat. Good boy!

We repeated the cues a few times in each direction. He broke into a trot a few times but as long as he was forward and straight, I let him trot. I prefer forward at this point.

I longed him a few rotations at the walk and trot, then turned him loose to stretch his legs.

He is moving out freely and I think that he’s feeling pretty good after his chiropractic adjustment. Hooray! He has an amazing amount of suspension for an Appendix Quarter Horse- I can totally see him in the dressage ring some day :^)

As I walked out of the barn, I felt a familiar muscle burn- abs! Hello abs, nice to have you back. It’s been a while, eh? I think the work over poles with Wizard helped me use my core muscles more properly today. I’ve long believed that the motivation of jumping always makes me a better rider- I always pinned better in over fences classes than I did in flat classes. It feels really good to get my riding muscles back. A year ago, Alibar injured his hock and I did not ride very much for several months. When the hock healed was when he was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma. And in the beginning of my sessions with Wizard, I really sat pretty quietly and stayed out of his way. Now that we are ramping up the work in our lessons, I’m beginning to feel like a rider again and it feels good.

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!