This week has been a busy one and I've also been having a few back problems which have made riding a bit tricky. Nevertheless, every time I get on Fudge I'm really pleased with how he's improving!
Tonight was funny - I was trying on a secondhand jump saddle. It looked perfect on, but as part of trying it I hopped on and had a ride and he very clearly said "NO!" and refused to even make a trot transition! Such a shame as a beautiful saddle and very reasonably priced for the quality of it. Then, because I didn't want to put him away and feed him after the last thing he'd done was refuse to trot (despite understanding why he did it!) so I took the jump saddle off and inelegantly struggled back on bareback. It was the first time I'd been on him bareback and potentially the first time he'd ever been ridden bareback! He was very unsure and I have to admit that I was too! But we plopped around the arena for ten minutes, got some quite nice swinging trot work (though rather shorter-striding than we've been working on) and I took the opportunity to use my unencumbered seat contact to play with collecting the trot. I did this by increasing the energy in the trot and then going through the deeper patch of sand in the arena and making the 'shape' of the trot go up instead of out. It's a hard thing to describe but not a particularly hard thing to do once you've got the idea. Fudge seemed to enjoy it and certainly gave me some quite passage-y feeling steps though I doubt they looked much like it!
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Week Thirteen
Well, five weeks of 'full work' and Fudge is travelling very well! I really like his attitude and he's becoming very rideable.
I've had several rides this week with various degrees of improvement. Saturday afternoon was very busy at the yard with lots of coming and going and consequently the horse was quite distracted and spooky. I got a little steady trot work and then went for a walk around the block instead. Sunday was much better and I had some really lovely moments of trots which strrrrrretched beautifully without sacrificing the swing or relaxation. Sadly, the canters seem to have reverted a little and the left lead in particular was a little difficult to gain or maintain.
The difficulty maintaining the canter gave me an idea of what I next wanted to capture with the clicker: "slow down without breaking pace." It took a surprisingly few repetitions on the lunge and I think he also enjoyed getting 'chased' up into a big crazy trot for me to steady him back from. I tried a few times in canter but he didn't catch on and just kept falling back to trot when I said "steady". Will work some more on this one!
I also had a go at putting the dressage whip on the far side of him and trying to get him to cross his hind legs towards me. VERY, very difficult for him and will require a good bit more work to get him confident.
I've had several rides this week with various degrees of improvement. Saturday afternoon was very busy at the yard with lots of coming and going and consequently the horse was quite distracted and spooky. I got a little steady trot work and then went for a walk around the block instead. Sunday was much better and I had some really lovely moments of trots which strrrrrretched beautifully without sacrificing the swing or relaxation. Sadly, the canters seem to have reverted a little and the left lead in particular was a little difficult to gain or maintain.
The difficulty maintaining the canter gave me an idea of what I next wanted to capture with the clicker: "slow down without breaking pace." It took a surprisingly few repetitions on the lunge and I think he also enjoyed getting 'chased' up into a big crazy trot for me to steady him back from. I tried a few times in canter but he didn't catch on and just kept falling back to trot when I said "steady". Will work some more on this one!
I also had a go at putting the dressage whip on the far side of him and trying to get him to cross his hind legs towards me. VERY, very difficult for him and will require a good bit more work to get him confident.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Week Twelve
This week began with Fudge's first outing! We travelled down to the local show ground and participated in a local western club's come and try trail morning. The outing itself was just an excuse to get him out and about - it was a very busy day at the grounds with show jumping, western and polocrosse going on and poor Fudge found it all pretty overwhelming.
At the time I felt a little disappointed that he didn't settle as well as I'd have hoped but on reflection he actually did fine. He loaded and travelled well, was easy to handle and 'came back' every time I redirected him when he was distracted (which was often!) He was tense while I was warming up - I didn't canter as I felt he was too uptight - and then once we got in the indoor for the trail, he did all the obstacles well, tackling the bridge with some trepidation initially but very quickly learning to tromp over it bravely! He was also sweet about the various pole exercises, struggled a bit with the gate and I need to do more work on my one-handed steering but also all very amenable. He even reined-back multiple steps which was very surprising given how strongly he'd objected just a few days before.
The following day I took the opportunity to put one of my students on him both for her to have a feel of how he was going and so that I had a chance to observe some of the details of how he is looking. Overall I was very pleased with how he went for her. Maybe a little hesitant to begin with, after all, I'm the only person that's ridden him for the last eight months or so, but she rides well and is sensitive and has good feel so she soon had him swinging along. My major observation is that he probably feels better than he looks at this point. He's still looking quite insecure in the contact, his long neck makes it look wigglier than it feels. He also sits in his 'safe' trot which feels very nice but is lacking in power and proper engagement and when you see it from the ground you can see that he's got a lot more to give. I also saw how good it looks when he does suddenly give a 'surge' and find the engagement but I have to be a little bit careful how much I ask for and remember that it will take a reasonable amount of time for him to develop the muscular strength required to maintain the true working trot he's showing me he's capable of.
The canter also looked great - better than I expected - especially when R used shoulder-in to prepare for the strike-offs. The more engaged strike-offs made the canter way more uphill and it was great to see he's capable of such work as to me, the canter feels green as grass under saddle, particularly compared with his ease in the trot. Here he is doing some stretchy trot with her - I love the tempo but you can see he needs to go forward more and be more confident and secure into the rein.
So, lots to reflect on!
I had another ride the following day and used my observations to change my approach a little bit. I tried holding the contact very still and stable, keeping my upper body very independent and forcing myself to rise to the trot (although R and I both agreed he finds it easier to balance under a softly sitting rider.) The rises helped me insist on a bigger stride and maintain the lovely steady tempo. I felt like it worked very well!
I was also really pleased that he offered some very confident and prolonged rein back steps, maybe ten or so, with almost no resistance and very nice big steps. Consolidating that movement in hand has been a very good move and I think he's also realised that I'm not going to force him which makes him offer it more willingly.
Unfortunately, the canter strike-offs were woeful on the left rein. I think he went on the wrong leg about ten times! Will have to do more getting the preparation really right and trying to get him really obedient off the aid and not running into it. The two running steps he habitually offers on the left rein are what gives him the opportunity to get onto the wrong lead. I need to be a little bolder about letting the strike-off be a bit bigger and more explosive off a bigger, non-negotiable aid.
Day off tomorrow, then another school on Wednesday afternoon! Will try a few more things in hand including putting the whip on the offside and attempting some travers...
At the time I felt a little disappointed that he didn't settle as well as I'd have hoped but on reflection he actually did fine. He loaded and travelled well, was easy to handle and 'came back' every time I redirected him when he was distracted (which was often!) He was tense while I was warming up - I didn't canter as I felt he was too uptight - and then once we got in the indoor for the trail, he did all the obstacles well, tackling the bridge with some trepidation initially but very quickly learning to tromp over it bravely! He was also sweet about the various pole exercises, struggled a bit with the gate and I need to do more work on my one-handed steering but also all very amenable. He even reined-back multiple steps which was very surprising given how strongly he'd objected just a few days before.
The following day I took the opportunity to put one of my students on him both for her to have a feel of how he was going and so that I had a chance to observe some of the details of how he is looking. Overall I was very pleased with how he went for her. Maybe a little hesitant to begin with, after all, I'm the only person that's ridden him for the last eight months or so, but she rides well and is sensitive and has good feel so she soon had him swinging along. My major observation is that he probably feels better than he looks at this point. He's still looking quite insecure in the contact, his long neck makes it look wigglier than it feels. He also sits in his 'safe' trot which feels very nice but is lacking in power and proper engagement and when you see it from the ground you can see that he's got a lot more to give. I also saw how good it looks when he does suddenly give a 'surge' and find the engagement but I have to be a little bit careful how much I ask for and remember that it will take a reasonable amount of time for him to develop the muscular strength required to maintain the true working trot he's showing me he's capable of.
The canter also looked great - better than I expected - especially when R used shoulder-in to prepare for the strike-offs. The more engaged strike-offs made the canter way more uphill and it was great to see he's capable of such work as to me, the canter feels green as grass under saddle, particularly compared with his ease in the trot. Here he is doing some stretchy trot with her - I love the tempo but you can see he needs to go forward more and be more confident and secure into the rein.
So, lots to reflect on!
I had another ride the following day and used my observations to change my approach a little bit. I tried holding the contact very still and stable, keeping my upper body very independent and forcing myself to rise to the trot (although R and I both agreed he finds it easier to balance under a softly sitting rider.) The rises helped me insist on a bigger stride and maintain the lovely steady tempo. I felt like it worked very well!
I was also really pleased that he offered some very confident and prolonged rein back steps, maybe ten or so, with almost no resistance and very nice big steps. Consolidating that movement in hand has been a very good move and I think he's also realised that I'm not going to force him which makes him offer it more willingly.
Unfortunately, the canter strike-offs were woeful on the left rein. I think he went on the wrong leg about ten times! Will have to do more getting the preparation really right and trying to get him really obedient off the aid and not running into it. The two running steps he habitually offers on the left rein are what gives him the opportunity to get onto the wrong lead. I need to be a little bolder about letting the strike-off be a bit bigger and more explosive off a bigger, non-negotiable aid.
Day off tomorrow, then another school on Wednesday afternoon! Will try a few more things in hand including putting the whip on the offside and attempting some travers...
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Week Eleven
Several rides squeezed into our schedules this week and there has been some more nice progress.
The lateral steps are continuing to really help Fudge 'find his feet' literally and figuratively. It's so lovely to get a big, confident response to a light leg aid and I've been having fun tuning the aids into 'move your whole body over' and 'only move your hind legs over' and he is really nailing it.
I am desperate to get some footage of him under saddle, both for illustrating this blog and so I can check things like the angles of his head and neck and how the paces look compared with how they feel, whether he is properly tracking up and swinging and my own position! Might be time for a lesson or two soon! (when we're both a little fitter, maybe...)
Yesterday was an interesting ride and we worked through two little 'moments' and continued to delve into what makes this pony tick.
The first 'oops' happened early in the ride when I rather thoughtlessly asked for a canter very early in the ride. I think I was justifying it to myself because I wanted to try getting up off his back and seeing if having a big bowl along loosened him up more quickly. So instead of the walking, stretching, lateral work, trotting, stretching, lateral work sequence he's been getting used to, I just put my leg around and asked for a canter after only about half a circle of trot. I also asked on the harder lead, and in the deepest sandy corner of the arena. So it wasn't really surprising that he gave a plunge and a flick of the hind legs. (I think. Nobody saw it and I'm just judging by what it felt like!) I went way way up out of the saddle but luckily crash landed back into it, only losing one stirrup and halting rather raggedly a few steps later. Looks like my 'no bucking!' reflexes are still there. After having one particularly bucky horse many years ago, I learned to sit on, drag him to a halt and then reapply the aid immediately.
Well, popping straight back into canter was not what he was expecting to be asked to do but he did it, a bit fast and snorty but perfectly obedient so we came back to trot and carried on with the schooling session.
Then later in the ride I decided to try asking for multiple steps of rein back. I've done the odd step here and there and while negotiating gates etc, and he's always complied fairly amenably so I was pretty surprised when after initially offering 4-5 shuffly steps back, he just stopped and shut down completely. Wouldn't move, mouth gaping wide, neck twisted and a very mulish expression on his face!
Thinking it through, having played with it a few more times since, I think he's really scared to go back. Specifically, he's scared of his rider's aids, particularly the hand. I surmise that he's been forced back at some point and either had his mouth badly hurt or even panicked and gone up or over. So I have backed (ha!) the pressure right off and am asking for and getting, reasonably consistently, the odd single step back which I praise lavishly. I am also going to consolidate this behaviour on the ground and use the clicker to get him really confident. Tomorrow's game!
The lateral steps are continuing to really help Fudge 'find his feet' literally and figuratively. It's so lovely to get a big, confident response to a light leg aid and I've been having fun tuning the aids into 'move your whole body over' and 'only move your hind legs over' and he is really nailing it.
I am desperate to get some footage of him under saddle, both for illustrating this blog and so I can check things like the angles of his head and neck and how the paces look compared with how they feel, whether he is properly tracking up and swinging and my own position! Might be time for a lesson or two soon! (when we're both a little fitter, maybe...)
Yesterday was an interesting ride and we worked through two little 'moments' and continued to delve into what makes this pony tick.
The first 'oops' happened early in the ride when I rather thoughtlessly asked for a canter very early in the ride. I think I was justifying it to myself because I wanted to try getting up off his back and seeing if having a big bowl along loosened him up more quickly. So instead of the walking, stretching, lateral work, trotting, stretching, lateral work sequence he's been getting used to, I just put my leg around and asked for a canter after only about half a circle of trot. I also asked on the harder lead, and in the deepest sandy corner of the arena. So it wasn't really surprising that he gave a plunge and a flick of the hind legs. (I think. Nobody saw it and I'm just judging by what it felt like!) I went way way up out of the saddle but luckily crash landed back into it, only losing one stirrup and halting rather raggedly a few steps later. Looks like my 'no bucking!' reflexes are still there. After having one particularly bucky horse many years ago, I learned to sit on, drag him to a halt and then reapply the aid immediately.
Well, popping straight back into canter was not what he was expecting to be asked to do but he did it, a bit fast and snorty but perfectly obedient so we came back to trot and carried on with the schooling session.
Then later in the ride I decided to try asking for multiple steps of rein back. I've done the odd step here and there and while negotiating gates etc, and he's always complied fairly amenably so I was pretty surprised when after initially offering 4-5 shuffly steps back, he just stopped and shut down completely. Wouldn't move, mouth gaping wide, neck twisted and a very mulish expression on his face!
Thinking it through, having played with it a few more times since, I think he's really scared to go back. Specifically, he's scared of his rider's aids, particularly the hand. I surmise that he's been forced back at some point and either had his mouth badly hurt or even panicked and gone up or over. So I have backed (ha!) the pressure right off and am asking for and getting, reasonably consistently, the odd single step back which I praise lavishly. I am also going to consolidate this behaviour on the ground and use the clicker to get him really confident. Tomorrow's game!
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Week Ten
An absolutely lovely ride this morning to start the week. Fudge started out a bit out of sorts this morning and it took quite a bit of groundwork to get him working with me. I might have made an error by attempting to move the poles in the arena with him standing (untied) nearby. He wandered off up the arena and I followed and recaptured him with no incident but he seemed fearful of me after that.
When I was doing the lateral work in hand he was anticipating and whizzing around me, falling out with his outside hind instead of crossing his inside hind and taking ages to stop when told. I just kept my patience and only rewarded him for calm, slow crossings. It's situations like this where you have to keep the long game in mind. I don't just want him turning around the forehand, I want him calmly accepting the pressure of the whip and giving me the rhythmic steps that will translate to good work under saddle.
Hopped on and again, he stood like a rock at the mounting block, even when I reached over and ran down then dropped the offside stirrup. Good boy. He got a food reward for that one and looked very pleased with himself.
FLEXION was the word of the day and we started off doing nuchal (crest) flips at a halt. I was giving him a verbal reinforcer ("good") each time he did it and soon started to catch on that that's what he was getting rewarded for. We continued to play with flexions as I moved him around in walk, walking up the inside track and flexing left and right. At first, his forelegs deviated a few steps per change but as he got the idea he was able to stay travelling straight but flex in and out easily.
Then we worked on some spirals and I was so pleased at how easily he followed my shoulder and weight aids to move in on the spiral. Effortless! Then we did some big leg yielding steps back out and again, very pleased with his quick, big response from my minor leg aids. Spiralled back in and asked for counter flexion on the small circle and this was where he said things got hard! I had to keep my shoulders rotated to keep him travelling around the circle and not always wanting to follow his nose out. When this was established and after a few solid repetitions, I put my inside leg on and *bingo* got a few half-pass steps with very easy and soft flexion in the direction of travel. As this is sometimes a difficult concept for horses I was pleased he was accepting of my aids and tried so hard to do what I wanted.
Up to trot and it's feeling much looser and longer, especially when we hit a patch of deeper sand in the arena. I have to be careful to sit very square and straight as he's so responsive to weight that I don't want to make him crooked by accident! Sitting trot still much easier for him to balance under me so will continue to do that for now, with bursts of rising trot on big circles and straight lines.
When it's so much fun to play with laterals it's hard to make yourself do 'boring' basics but I did several reps of trot-walk-trot sequences decreasing the number of walk steps until he was doing two and then neatly hopping back into trot immediately off my aid. It felt brilliant and the downward transitions are just getting stronger and straighter and easier, I just had to sit up and lengthen the front of my body and he flowed into walk and stayed on the contact. Was a good exercise to do going-large around the arena and using the corners to help him balance.
The transition sequences really switched him on to the aids and I used the opportunity to pop him into canter. The canter feels really green compared to how good the trot is feeling but at no point today did I feel like there was any 'naughtiness' coming. Even the tense moments felt relaxed, if that makes sense!? He struggles a bit accepting the hand in canter and thinks that he is being asked for a downwards transition so I just need to really think about maintaining the rhythm with my upper body and leg and occasionally use a voice aid to reinforce that he should keep cantering. Several good circles on the bad side and one really good circle on the good side and we went back to trot and tried some leg yielding from the quarter line to the track. Easy peasy and lovely big crossing steps so feeling like Novice is not so far away with a bit more practice (and the canter a bit tidier!) We also popped over the single cavaletti (cavaletto?) out of trot and he landed in right canter (the hard side) and lolloped along sweetly so he got a food reward for that attempt too. Maybe I will try lunging him over some bigger jumps to teach him the idea without the complication of a rider for now.
We finished with a wander up the road where he felt wonderfully relaxed - we did some shoulder-in along the roadside and it was fun to see him working out the aid even while out of the arena. We went a few hundred meters up one side, then back and past the driveway (small nap/suggestion of going home) so carried on a few hundred meters back the other way including paying a visit to the large boulder he was a bit scared of on Thursday.
Then he gave my 3yo daughter a pony ride around the arena!
When I was doing the lateral work in hand he was anticipating and whizzing around me, falling out with his outside hind instead of crossing his inside hind and taking ages to stop when told. I just kept my patience and only rewarded him for calm, slow crossings. It's situations like this where you have to keep the long game in mind. I don't just want him turning around the forehand, I want him calmly accepting the pressure of the whip and giving me the rhythmic steps that will translate to good work under saddle.
Hopped on and again, he stood like a rock at the mounting block, even when I reached over and ran down then dropped the offside stirrup. Good boy. He got a food reward for that one and looked very pleased with himself.
FLEXION was the word of the day and we started off doing nuchal (crest) flips at a halt. I was giving him a verbal reinforcer ("good") each time he did it and soon started to catch on that that's what he was getting rewarded for. We continued to play with flexions as I moved him around in walk, walking up the inside track and flexing left and right. At first, his forelegs deviated a few steps per change but as he got the idea he was able to stay travelling straight but flex in and out easily.
Then we worked on some spirals and I was so pleased at how easily he followed my shoulder and weight aids to move in on the spiral. Effortless! Then we did some big leg yielding steps back out and again, very pleased with his quick, big response from my minor leg aids. Spiralled back in and asked for counter flexion on the small circle and this was where he said things got hard! I had to keep my shoulders rotated to keep him travelling around the circle and not always wanting to follow his nose out. When this was established and after a few solid repetitions, I put my inside leg on and *bingo* got a few half-pass steps with very easy and soft flexion in the direction of travel. As this is sometimes a difficult concept for horses I was pleased he was accepting of my aids and tried so hard to do what I wanted.
Up to trot and it's feeling much looser and longer, especially when we hit a patch of deeper sand in the arena. I have to be careful to sit very square and straight as he's so responsive to weight that I don't want to make him crooked by accident! Sitting trot still much easier for him to balance under me so will continue to do that for now, with bursts of rising trot on big circles and straight lines.
When it's so much fun to play with laterals it's hard to make yourself do 'boring' basics but I did several reps of trot-walk-trot sequences decreasing the number of walk steps until he was doing two and then neatly hopping back into trot immediately off my aid. It felt brilliant and the downward transitions are just getting stronger and straighter and easier, I just had to sit up and lengthen the front of my body and he flowed into walk and stayed on the contact. Was a good exercise to do going-large around the arena and using the corners to help him balance.
The transition sequences really switched him on to the aids and I used the opportunity to pop him into canter. The canter feels really green compared to how good the trot is feeling but at no point today did I feel like there was any 'naughtiness' coming. Even the tense moments felt relaxed, if that makes sense!? He struggles a bit accepting the hand in canter and thinks that he is being asked for a downwards transition so I just need to really think about maintaining the rhythm with my upper body and leg and occasionally use a voice aid to reinforce that he should keep cantering. Several good circles on the bad side and one really good circle on the good side and we went back to trot and tried some leg yielding from the quarter line to the track. Easy peasy and lovely big crossing steps so feeling like Novice is not so far away with a bit more practice (and the canter a bit tidier!) We also popped over the single cavaletti (cavaletto?) out of trot and he landed in right canter (the hard side) and lolloped along sweetly so he got a food reward for that attempt too. Maybe I will try lunging him over some bigger jumps to teach him the idea without the complication of a rider for now.
We finished with a wander up the road where he felt wonderfully relaxed - we did some shoulder-in along the roadside and it was fun to see him working out the aid even while out of the arena. We went a few hundred meters up one side, then back and past the driveway (small nap/suggestion of going home) so carried on a few hundred meters back the other way including paying a visit to the large boulder he was a bit scared of on Thursday.
Then he gave my 3yo daughter a pony ride around the arena!
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Week Nine
This week started with an absolutely brilliant ride! As well as standing like a rock to be tacked up, Fudge surprised me by opening his mouth wide for the bit, a pretty clear sign that he was happy to be ridden and not something many horses do!
I started with ground work, using the dressage whip to ask him gently to cross his hind legs and progressively moving the location of the aid from his hock up his leg and quarters to his flank and then his girth. Once he was quietly stepping over from a light pressure at the girth I used my body language to ask him to cross over his forelegs too until we were walking small circles at a sort of leg-yield/shoulder-in. Most importantly, he was calm and relaxed throughout and is becoming really trainable and offering lots of 'tries' in response to new or different pressures.
Then I climbed on board and he very happily crossed his hind legs at walk on the right rein but was less willing to do it on the left. This confirms what I've observed on the lunge; that he's just not as coordinated on that side and just isn't as strong. If he's ever going to go on the wrong lead or get disunited on the lunge it always happens on the left rein.
Once I'd given him some clearer feedback and a food reward or two for hind-leg crossing to the left he was much happier to do it. Then we tried it in trot and here we came upon our first real objection under saddle! It didn't last very long but it was a good demonstration of how a horse like this needs things really broken down for him to accept them calmly. We went back to walk and got him really confirmed and then just tried again on the easy side... success! He trotted slowly, crossing his hind and forelegs quite nicely and I quickly changed the rein and got it happening on the hard side before he had a chance to think or worry about it too much. We played with this exercise for quite a while and it was great for unlocking Fudge along his length so I found a great way to use his new-found looseness. I did the big broadside shoulder-in/leg-yield up the short sides, then pushed the trot right out across the long diagonals. Unusually, I drilled this over and over and he seemed to really appreciate the repetitions! Another interesting quirk about Fudge's personality, maybe?
It was lovely to feel how the lateral steps loosened him up and the steps got longer and freer without rushing. I haven't really achieved very much when I've tried to lengthen his trot steps before so it was a big improvement on earlier efforts. He also got a bit tight in the neck the first couple of times (I think in response to both legs going on and maybe anticipating canter?) so was fun when he started lengthening and stretching his neck as the steps lengthened too. I finished on a pretty flawless 'stretchy circle' from the Prelim and Novice tests
We also trotted over a cavaletti for the first 5-6 times, which was hard and scary for poor Fudge. He landed in canter after one of the attempts but it was rushed and really tense so I just used a voice aid to bring him back. When he can consistently canter in a relaxed way on the lunge I will start to ask for it under saddle. I really think he's very weak physically and that slowly-slowly is going to be a smart move with this guy.
I also remembered to take a photo!
I started with ground work, using the dressage whip to ask him gently to cross his hind legs and progressively moving the location of the aid from his hock up his leg and quarters to his flank and then his girth. Once he was quietly stepping over from a light pressure at the girth I used my body language to ask him to cross over his forelegs too until we were walking small circles at a sort of leg-yield/shoulder-in. Most importantly, he was calm and relaxed throughout and is becoming really trainable and offering lots of 'tries' in response to new or different pressures.
Then I climbed on board and he very happily crossed his hind legs at walk on the right rein but was less willing to do it on the left. This confirms what I've observed on the lunge; that he's just not as coordinated on that side and just isn't as strong. If he's ever going to go on the wrong lead or get disunited on the lunge it always happens on the left rein.
Once I'd given him some clearer feedback and a food reward or two for hind-leg crossing to the left he was much happier to do it. Then we tried it in trot and here we came upon our first real objection under saddle! It didn't last very long but it was a good demonstration of how a horse like this needs things really broken down for him to accept them calmly. We went back to walk and got him really confirmed and then just tried again on the easy side... success! He trotted slowly, crossing his hind and forelegs quite nicely and I quickly changed the rein and got it happening on the hard side before he had a chance to think or worry about it too much. We played with this exercise for quite a while and it was great for unlocking Fudge along his length so I found a great way to use his new-found looseness. I did the big broadside shoulder-in/leg-yield up the short sides, then pushed the trot right out across the long diagonals. Unusually, I drilled this over and over and he seemed to really appreciate the repetitions! Another interesting quirk about Fudge's personality, maybe?
It was lovely to feel how the lateral steps loosened him up and the steps got longer and freer without rushing. I haven't really achieved very much when I've tried to lengthen his trot steps before so it was a big improvement on earlier efforts. He also got a bit tight in the neck the first couple of times (I think in response to both legs going on and maybe anticipating canter?) so was fun when he started lengthening and stretching his neck as the steps lengthened too. I finished on a pretty flawless 'stretchy circle' from the Prelim and Novice tests
We also trotted over a cavaletti for the first 5-6 times, which was hard and scary for poor Fudge. He landed in canter after one of the attempts but it was rushed and really tense so I just used a voice aid to bring him back. When he can consistently canter in a relaxed way on the lunge I will start to ask for it under saddle. I really think he's very weak physically and that slowly-slowly is going to be a smart move with this guy.
I also remembered to take a photo!
Week Seven
This week started with an absolutely brilliant ride! As well as standing like a rock to be tacked up, Fudge surprised me by opening his mouth wide for the bit, a pretty clear sign that he was happy to be ridden and not something many horses do!
I started with ground work, using the dressage whip to ask him gently to cross his hind legs and progressively moving the location of the aid from his hock up his leg and quarters to his flank and then his girth. Once he was quietly stepping over from a light pressure at the girth I used my body language to ask him to cross over his forelegs too until we were walking small circles at a sort of leg-yield/shoulder-in. Most importantly, he was calm and relaxed throughout and is becoming really trainable and offering lots of 'tries' in response to new or different pressures.
Then I climbed on board and he very happily crossed his hind legs at walk on the right rein but was less willing to do it on the left. This confirms what I've observed on the lunge; that he's just not as coordinated on that side and just isn't as strong. If he's ever going to go on the wrong lead or get disunited on the lunge it always happens on the left rein.
Once I'd given him some clearer feedback and a food reward or two for hind-leg crossing to the left he was much happier to do it. Then we tried it in trot and here we came upon our first real objection under saddle! It didn't last very long but it was a good demonstration of how a horse like this needs things really broken down for him to accept them calmly. We went back to walk and got him really confirmed and then just tried again on the easy side... success! He trotted slowly, crossing his hind and forelegs quite nicely and I quickly changed the rein and got it happening on the hard side before he had a chance to think or worry about it too much. We played with this exercise for quite a while and it was great for unlocking Fudge along his length so I found a great way to use his new-found looseness. I did the big broadside shoulder-in/leg-yield up the short sides, then pushed the trot right out across the long diagonals. Unusually, I drilled this over and over and he seemed to really appreciate the repetitions! Another interesting quirk about Fudge's personality, maybe?
It was lovely to feel how the lateral steps loosened him up and the steps got longer and freer without rushing. I haven't really achieved very much when I've tried to lengthen his trot steps before so it was a big improvement on earlier efforts. He also got a bit tight in the neck the first couple of times (I think in response to both legs going on and maybe anticipating canter?) so was fun when he started lengthening and stretching his neck as the steps lengthened too. I finished on a pretty flawless 'stretchy circle' from the Prelim and Novice tests
We also trotted over a cavaletti for the first 5-6 times, which was hard and scary for poor Fudge. He landed in canter after one of the attempts but it was rushed and really tense so I just used a voice aid to bring him back. When he can consistently canter in a relaxed way on the lunge I will start to ask for it under saddle. I really think he's very weak physically and that slowly-slowly is going to be a smart move with this guy.
I also remembered to take a photo!
I started with ground work, using the dressage whip to ask him gently to cross his hind legs and progressively moving the location of the aid from his hock up his leg and quarters to his flank and then his girth. Once he was quietly stepping over from a light pressure at the girth I used my body language to ask him to cross over his forelegs too until we were walking small circles at a sort of leg-yield/shoulder-in. Most importantly, he was calm and relaxed throughout and is becoming really trainable and offering lots of 'tries' in response to new or different pressures.
Then I climbed on board and he very happily crossed his hind legs at walk on the right rein but was less willing to do it on the left. This confirms what I've observed on the lunge; that he's just not as coordinated on that side and just isn't as strong. If he's ever going to go on the wrong lead or get disunited on the lunge it always happens on the left rein.
Once I'd given him some clearer feedback and a food reward or two for hind-leg crossing to the left he was much happier to do it. Then we tried it in trot and here we came upon our first real objection under saddle! It didn't last very long but it was a good demonstration of how a horse like this needs things really broken down for him to accept them calmly. We went back to walk and got him really confirmed and then just tried again on the easy side... success! He trotted slowly, crossing his hind and forelegs quite nicely and I quickly changed the rein and got it happening on the hard side before he had a chance to think or worry about it too much. We played with this exercise for quite a while and it was great for unlocking Fudge along his length so I found a great way to use his new-found looseness. I did the big broadside shoulder-in/leg-yield up the short sides, then pushed the trot right out across the long diagonals. Unusually, I drilled this over and over and he seemed to really appreciate the repetitions! Another interesting quirk about Fudge's personality, maybe?
It was lovely to feel how the lateral steps loosened him up and the steps got longer and freer without rushing. I haven't really achieved very much when I've tried to lengthen his trot steps before so it was a big improvement on earlier efforts. He also got a bit tight in the neck the first couple of times (I think in response to both legs going on and maybe anticipating canter?) so was fun when he started lengthening and stretching his neck as the steps lengthened too. I finished on a pretty flawless 'stretchy circle' from the Prelim and Novice tests
We also trotted over a cavaletti for the first 5-6 times, which was hard and scary for poor Fudge. He landed in canter after one of the attempts but it was rushed and really tense so I just used a voice aid to bring him back. When he can consistently canter in a relaxed way on the lunge I will start to ask for it under saddle. I really think he's very weak physically and that slowly-slowly is going to be a smart move with this guy.
I also remembered to take a photo!
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