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| Sunny and his amazingly hot weekend girlfriend, Koi |
We woke up dark and early on Thursday morning and were on the road just as it was getting light so we would arrive early enough to enjoy loads of learning each day. I am very pleased with how well Sunny does with loading and traveling, he is relaxed enough to eat it in the trailer and doesn't paw, weave, kick, etc -- just rides like a champ!
Initially, after Sunny had some time to settle-in, we played with saddle fit (as I have been riding him bareback for 5 weeks!) The DP saddles fit him well, but need to be adjusted on the narrow side for his lean build, I just had to figure out what model I preferred! I really like how you can adjust the width of the tree angle for the entire tree, it gives you lots of options for fine-tuning fit. The rock of the saddle seemed to fit him nicely, it did not bridge or rock and had nice even contact along both panels. Overall, I ended up preferring the Quantum Sport model, which is best-suited for endurance, and they even happened to have a red/black model in stock! I think my current woolback pad, and girth will work for it now, though I may want to upgrade to accessories that fit a little more precisely in the future.
During each session we started off with ground exercises and then proceeded to riding once Sunny was soft and relaxed. I am going to split what I learned over the entire 3 days into 2 sections, groundwork and riding.
Groundwork
From the session in August
"Stretch and lift the back: Raise the head by lifting up at the halter nose buckles pointing towards the ears. The horse should raise his head and shift his weight to the hindquarters. Follow this by next bringing the head and neck down and forward. Repeat by raising the head then take 3 deliberate steps to the side (with the head up) and then ask the horse to lower his head while bent to the side. Repeat each direction. Eventually this is done while riding when the back is stronger."
We still start with this, but then refined it having me stand to Sunny's side and use the reins to ask for the same movement. This also has progression, I start re-teaching him standing just by his head to help him understand this is the same 'game' as before but we are just asking in a slightly different manner. As he understands I slowly work back to his shoulder and change to using the reins as when riding. This was hard for Sunny and we need to practice -- he thinks he should turn when using the reins versus lifting and stretching, but he did start to understand -- and boy, he does REALLY love the stretching! When he understands this more thoroughly from the ground I will then ask for it under saddle.
We then once again built on my previous session's:
"lateral disengagement - (similar to a '1-rein stop, but actually bio-mechanically correct) - Lift the inside rein/lead with the fingernails up to heaven and point at the hip. The horse should bring his inside hind leg in front of the outside hind leg.
Follow the lateral disengagement with a reverse bend shoulder arc. Lift the inside rein/lead (with the fingernails up) and step into the shoulder. The horse should softly cross his front legs and move over softly. Reward/praise and repeat on the other side. Continue until horse is relaxed and warmed up."
From the basic lateral disengagement we progressed to asking for every combination of bend and body movement -- basic shoulder-in and reverse arc circles, walking straight while maintaining bend, counter bend while walking straight, and walking straight with counter-bend then asking for a draw towards me on the diagonal maintaining counter bend. With these exercises I stand close to his head initially and as Sunny learns I drift back to his shoulder to make a better transition to under saddle. He was fantastic, but needs more practice (a lifetime of learning!) as these movements are basically like Pilates for horses. As he learns and practices he will becomes softer, stronger, and more relaxed and supple.
Riding
Sunny is very forward with a naturally long walk and trot, which is fantastic for endurance and the trail! With this training we are developing his understanding and muscles for slow and precise work, which will ultimately help him be more balanced, forward and relaxed on the trail. The dressage and trail training complement each other very nicely. While just motoring down the trail the horse is forward and happy, but often loses the healthy weight-bearing-posture and suppleness. While dressage develops the back and suppleness, the horse could get bored and lose the forward if you never left the arena. It is lovely to ride a soft, supple, engaged, forward horse down the trail!!
So, at the walk we used the roundpen rail as an aid to help keep his body from drifting and asked for a slow, precise, marching walk with inside bend. This 'school walk' helps teach Sunny, resulting in him lifting his shoulder and bringing his inside hind leg underneath himself with each step. I actually felt the withers lift underneath me and understood what was happening for the first time!! I have felt that body lift before, but it generally was immediately followed by very bad things... LOL, but this time Sunny lifted the base of his neck with relaxation! WOW!! And after each bit of 'Pilates' exercise, Sunny gladly stretched his neck down and out, walking on a loose rein in relaxation -- Yay!!!
We built on these exercises, progressing to shoulder-in on the circle (volte) at the walk, then transitioning to a small circle (volte) of counter bend. The right is his harder side, meaning his left side is stiffer and it is harder to stretch that side out when bending his body to the right. The next day we practiced these same exercises and started the trot. Once again, Sunny has a wonderful 11 mph trot, but the goal is to teach him he also has a slow, balanced trot, and that he can trot relaxed with his head stretched down and out. He did fantastic (of course!). He developed a nice, cadenced trot with his head relaxed and seeking contact. We practiced small circles of connected trot with correct bend, then switched direction (a figure-8) doing a circle with counter bend. This was hard for both of us! I tend to drop my outside hand both directions and Sunny is trying to figure out how to use these new muscles. This will be fun to play with and practice. We also got a few steps of shouder-in on the circle to the right that was excellent. He was tired from using all the new muscles so that was where we ended.
Mounted Games
The last day coincided with a clinic of mounted games with Bella Pellet, a world champion in Pony Club and MGAA (Mounted Games Across America) and Cora and Kensey, amazing Pony club game champions. My goal was to have fun and teach Sunny to enjoy himself with relaxation while the other ponies galloped through the game courses! We were successful :) At first he was a bit nervous, keeping his head up and wanting to walk, rather than stand relaxed. After just a few lateral disengagements and a bit of time, he figured out it was much easier to just stand still and chill. We had fun playing the games at a relaxed walk, he was great with the games themselves. He readily approached the flags, poles, and thought the tennis ball just might be an apple when it bounced in front of him after unbalancing off the tennis racket. He never spooked at any of the music or rattles from tin cups. He was naughty once, aggressively backing up to and kicking innocent, well-behaved Petey; he got in trouble and we prevented further mishap. This was the second kick episode he has had with me, so he may be getting a red ribbon in his tail at the endurance rides :(
I had the most fun learning to vault onto the horse. Similar to jumping on bareback, but instead of belly-flopping onto the horse, you kick your leg up and swing on. The accomplished gamers did this at a gallop! I practiced on a stout 12 h lovely pony and was very successful swinging myself into the saddle (at a stand still). I then decided I need to be able to do this with 15 hand Sunny. I was getting decent height but my shin kept banging into the high-cantle of the saddle. Each time I banged into him and he stood like a statue he got a cookie. I then got smart and removed the saddle and then successfully vaulted onto him bareback (maybe scrambled onto him...) but we were mounted! He got quite a few cookies and we ended on that note as he was being amazing, was relaxed, and was tired from all his pilates over the past 2 days. Hopefully I will get to add-in some pictures of the mounted games soon!
I can't wait to keep playing with everything we learned and to see where we are in a few months. I am following the Perseverance Endurance conditioning schedule and we are 11 hours into the 48 hours of trail walking. Hopefully in the spring we will have some crazy dressage skills and be ready to tackle the No Frills LD or 50!
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