Thursday 29th September
Out this morning teaching but back this afternoon and the weather is very very mild today....balmy almost, so I do some office work and then put the bareback pad on Tara and head on out to the herd. I am tired and decide to spend some undemanding time with the herd and then groom them all thoroughly. They all look fabulous now, clean and their long manes and tails all flowing and shiny. Love just spending time with them individually and they each appreciated their time with me too ;-)
Wednesday 28th September
A whole day at home and the sun is shining....the universe loves me today and I spent 4 hours of it with the herd ;-)) FAB...and here's what I did....
1) Online w/Solly:
I did some small pieces of practise for our OLHA test, backing up over pole and through poles and also the jump as these are often the bits that need most concentration from Solly. Then I got Mark to film our OLHA test for us ;-))) I feel it went very well so will produce that video and send it off.
2) Online w/Stormy:
First Mark went around the same OLHA test w/Stormy and they did very well, Stormy just likes to be involved and hates being left out so this was a good bit of fun for him. Then I did exactly the same thing with him so that he felt he was important enough to have both our attention today. Stormy did very well and here's the pic's to prove it...
I did some small pieces of practise for our OLHA test, backing up over pole and through poles and also the jump as these are often the bits that need most concentration from Solly. Then I got Mark to film our OLHA test for us ;-))) I feel it went very well so will produce that video and send it off.
2) Online w/Stormy:
First Mark went around the same OLHA test w/Stormy and they did very well, Stormy just likes to be involved and hates being left out so this was a good bit of fun for him. Then I did exactly the same thing with him so that he felt he was important enough to have both our attention today. Stormy did very well and here's the pic's to prove it...
OLHA obstacle 5) back all 4 feet over a pole
OLHA obstacle 7) weave in trot
stop for 5 seconds and trot out again
Enjoyed our session today...lots of fun
Monday 26th September
Monday 26th September
Was away over weekend teaching nr the Lothians and every day this week I'm out in the morning for a couple of hours working on a horse that needs more socialisation with humans and generally getting more un-sceptical about life in general. SO, not had time to see or do anything with our herd until this afternoon when Mark and I went to the field and I got Fortune and Tara to catch me so that Mark could trim Fortune's hooves. I caught them okay but then the other three decided to give me a HUGE welcome home by running around the field almost flat out a few times...not just once ;-) Solly was jumping in the air like a cat and was very very athletic, Stormy was thoroughly enjoying it all and Holly was SO fast it was amazing. Luckily Fortune and Tara on their lead ropes were as calm as anything and I enjoyed the show enormously.
Mark did Fortune's feet and then we let her off but whilst I was grooming her hair and making her comfortable I took some nice pic's of the others....
Mark did Fortune's feet and then we let her off but whilst I was grooming her hair and making her comfortable I took some nice pic's of the others....
Mark is 6'2" and Stormy is 18.2hh,
that makes Stormy 6' at the withers !!
this was a rarity and so cute
albeit a HUGE horse was completely in his way. lol
a BIG SCRATCH ;-))
Thursday 22nd September
Well I had a teaching cancellation and it was a PERFECT opportunity to get down with Solly and PLAY ;-)
On Tues I had a student up from Dunfries & Galloway to play/learn with our horses and she did a great job playing and riding Mark's Holly....dear Holly really knows how to take care of people and it was lovely to see her being so good. Yesterday (Weds) I was set to play with horses but it was blowing a gale with torrential heavy rain so I stayed inside instead BUT today was perfect, so outward bound was I.
Firstly I put up the electric fencing around the dressage arena area, it is nicely grazed down now (thanks herd) and so I'm going to leave it up and electrified and hope that the horses leave it alone (fingers crossed! lol)
Whilst putting the fence back up Solly hooked up with me, leaving his beloved Fortune, and followed me around. I took him at liberty to the Horse Agility arena / Play area and I set to grooming him as he was muddy and it gave us a good opportunity to get aquainted again.
Then I haltered him and with 12' line on we went around the OLHA obstacles a couple of times, once individual tasks and then putting them together. Today Solly was a star and I hope he keeps that attitude when we film him next week as it was lovely, light and responsive ;-) THUMBS UP for that.
I then saddled him and played around the HA obstacles on the 22' feather light rope. He did some nice circles with trotting over the large tarp one side and jumping the single barrel the other side of the circle and once he had done all the pre-flight checks I gave him a treat and took him out of the HA area and to the dressage arena.
Today I had a new piece of equipment for us to try out. I bought this a few weeks ago but it only arrived a few days ago as it's beautifully hand made. It's a rope sidepull nose band. I put it on one of Sol's leather bridles and we will try it out. Looks very smart.
Anyway, started off with some online play to make sure arena okay for him, no spooky spots or scary things in the forest. Then I mounted and tried out the sidepull. Well it was nice and we are still working from my thought/energy connection so it really wouldn't matter what I put on his face really but he felt easier in the regular rope halter...but then he's used to that one more. I will continue to try it out, thought it might be a nice bit of equipment for Mark and Holly too, see how it goes. Must admit it's a beautiful bit of rope work and it was only £25.
After the sidepull, freestyle work to make sure all my body aids are working I dismounted and put the bridle/bit on Solly and remounted. He went into the bit beautifully and much easier than the sidepull...I really think he likes the bit now as it's the right piece of equipment for the job at the moment and it feels lovely to have him in self-carriage without having to use the reins, I pick up the reins to keep a contact with his mouth but I really am not holding him at all....COOL ;-)
We did some warm up stuff, collected circles 10m and 20m, fig 8's 10m and 20m then some serpentines. I really concentrated on where my legs were, where my knees were pointing, looking through Solly's ears and keeping my elbows nearer my body and it all felt good.
I let him have a loose rein for a while and then asked him back into self-carriage and worked on some trot, walk for one step, trot trans for impulsions...these REALLY WORK and he tried a couple of canter strides! ;-) Fab. I then asked him to do leg yield to the right...FAB. Then leg yield to the left, harder but...FAB. Then leg yield to the right in TROT....he really put in some effort and it felt pretty good.
Then I let him have his head for a while, still doing some loose rein circling and keeping our body connection going. Then asked him for collection again and did shoulder-in to the right...PRETTY DARN GOOD, it really flowed when I got my body upright and keeping my left hip moving in the right direction. lol and finally we did a shoulder-in to the left...not bad at all. I will work on my left side as this is harder to do and I really find I'm thinking about where my seat bone is, where my hip is pointing, where my waist is and if my ribs are behind or with the movement in the right direction. It's good to be learning again though and Solly put in a wonderful effort. I then asked him to canter L&R along the long sides and gave him a loose rein after that and brought him down to a walk and halt. He did so well I stopped there and gave him lots of treats and hugs and then set him free with the herd....although he followed me around until I left the field which was super.
Here is some snippets of the lovely work Solly did on the recent clinic we went to...enjoy ;-))
After the sidepull, freestyle work to make sure all my body aids are working I dismounted and put the bridle/bit on Solly and remounted. He went into the bit beautifully and much easier than the sidepull...I really think he likes the bit now as it's the right piece of equipment for the job at the moment and it feels lovely to have him in self-carriage without having to use the reins, I pick up the reins to keep a contact with his mouth but I really am not holding him at all....COOL ;-)
We did some warm up stuff, collected circles 10m and 20m, fig 8's 10m and 20m then some serpentines. I really concentrated on where my legs were, where my knees were pointing, looking through Solly's ears and keeping my elbows nearer my body and it all felt good.
I let him have a loose rein for a while and then asked him back into self-carriage and worked on some trot, walk for one step, trot trans for impulsions...these REALLY WORK and he tried a couple of canter strides! ;-) Fab. I then asked him to do leg yield to the right...FAB. Then leg yield to the left, harder but...FAB. Then leg yield to the right in TROT....he really put in some effort and it felt pretty good.
Then I let him have his head for a while, still doing some loose rein circling and keeping our body connection going. Then asked him for collection again and did shoulder-in to the right...PRETTY DARN GOOD, it really flowed when I got my body upright and keeping my left hip moving in the right direction. lol and finally we did a shoulder-in to the left...not bad at all. I will work on my left side as this is harder to do and I really find I'm thinking about where my seat bone is, where my hip is pointing, where my waist is and if my ribs are behind or with the movement in the right direction. It's good to be learning again though and Solly put in a wonderful effort. I then asked him to canter L&R along the long sides and gave him a loose rein after that and brought him down to a walk and halt. He did so well I stopped there and gave him lots of treats and hugs and then set him free with the herd....although he followed me around until I left the field which was super.
Here is some snippets of the lovely work Solly did on the recent clinic we went to...enjoy ;-))
Me and Solly at Perry Wood Clinic - Aug '11
Sunday 18th September
Down to horses with Mark early today. Grey skies but no rain (so far) and the wind isn't too bad. I start off by playing with Solly, Mark takes on big Stormy and also takes off his ergots and chestnuts too as one of his back feet ergots was long and split and he was stamping his foot trying to be rid of it! lol
Solly was in a good mood and we went around the HA course okay. Lots of bits to refine on though:
1) Trot through curtain / okay
2) Back through poles / need to work on getting him set up in position with me doing less and backing more from just my energy
3) Jump barrel / okay but lacked focus today
4) Around corner w/me in hula hoop / not bad but needs me doing less again, may move jump before to put his obstacle in a more fluid place
5) Back over pole, all 4 feet / again positioning is the key, will put two poles together end to end to make this longer so that Sol see's that it's more solid
6) Trot onto tarp, turn on forehand 360* and trot off / trotting onto tarp is hard, he always wants to stop and look before that. The turn isn't a true turn on the forehand, he needs to stop moving his forehand and just move his HQ's so this needs lots of subtle refinement
7) Horse Trots weave, human straight / this was okay after initial turn, maybe move tarp from previous task over slightly to help flow of the course
8) Fig 8, human standing still / not bad but need to work on getting him out of my personal space more...maybe try putting fig 8 cones closer together so I'm not stretching on the 12' so much
9) Horse trot to scary corner, stop in middle, trot out, human outside scary corner / He didn't have a problem with this apart from stopping one step after I asked so not bad at all ;-)
10) Imagination task of own choosing / trot to pedastal and put 4 feet on it, not a problem with this one at all either.
So, a few niggly refinements to work on and making the course so that it flows better would help. I have a few teaching days next week but the last week in Sept I have 3hrs away every morning the whole week so my task will be to take Solly through the obstacles slowly one by one until we're more refined and conneted. Then hopefully on Sat morning Mark can film us and that'll be that. It's good to be stretched in my horsemanship as otherwise things tend to get a little sloppy and lax. I think Solly's enjoying being stretched a bit too ;-)
After our play I set Sol back into the field and took Tara, played, groomed, tacked up and went for a medium hack out with Mark and Holly. Both horses were calm, responsive and enjoyed our ride out together. Was lovely to be back with our herd and back in the saddle again after a couple of weeks working with other people and their horses. It was also good to see how quickly my connection with Solly and the herd comes back now ;-)
Solly was in a good mood and we went around the HA course okay. Lots of bits to refine on though:
1) Trot through curtain / okay
2) Back through poles / need to work on getting him set up in position with me doing less and backing more from just my energy
3) Jump barrel / okay but lacked focus today
4) Around corner w/me in hula hoop / not bad but needs me doing less again, may move jump before to put his obstacle in a more fluid place
5) Back over pole, all 4 feet / again positioning is the key, will put two poles together end to end to make this longer so that Sol see's that it's more solid
6) Trot onto tarp, turn on forehand 360* and trot off / trotting onto tarp is hard, he always wants to stop and look before that. The turn isn't a true turn on the forehand, he needs to stop moving his forehand and just move his HQ's so this needs lots of subtle refinement
7) Horse Trots weave, human straight / this was okay after initial turn, maybe move tarp from previous task over slightly to help flow of the course
8) Fig 8, human standing still / not bad but need to work on getting him out of my personal space more...maybe try putting fig 8 cones closer together so I'm not stretching on the 12' so much
9) Horse trot to scary corner, stop in middle, trot out, human outside scary corner / He didn't have a problem with this apart from stopping one step after I asked so not bad at all ;-)
10) Imagination task of own choosing / trot to pedastal and put 4 feet on it, not a problem with this one at all either.
So, a few niggly refinements to work on and making the course so that it flows better would help. I have a few teaching days next week but the last week in Sept I have 3hrs away every morning the whole week so my task will be to take Solly through the obstacles slowly one by one until we're more refined and conneted. Then hopefully on Sat morning Mark can film us and that'll be that. It's good to be stretched in my horsemanship as otherwise things tend to get a little sloppy and lax. I think Solly's enjoying being stretched a bit too ;-)
After our play I set Sol back into the field and took Tara, played, groomed, tacked up and went for a medium hack out with Mark and Holly. Both horses were calm, responsive and enjoyed our ride out together. Was lovely to be back with our herd and back in the saddle again after a couple of weeks working with other people and their horses. It was also good to see how quickly my connection with Solly and the herd comes back now ;-)
Tara, Holly & Mark walking down the hill back to the field
at the end of the ride today ;-)
at the end of the ride today ;-)
Stormy, Solly and Fortune welcome us back from our hack out
Saturday 17th September
Back home now after almost 9 days away continuously...teaching horsemanship around Scotland and enjoying every second BUT do miss my home and horses when away and know that my 'connection' will now need to be regained after such a long absence.
SO, today Mark and I try to miss the rain showers and we go down to the field to see the herd. We firstly put back up some electric fencing and the boys come over and see what we're doing which is a great way to start our session. Solly isn't too interested in me, Mark has been his main human contact so I need to get back our partnership but on his terms and in his time.
When walking back to the Horse Agility arena Solly (and Stormy in fact) follow me very nicely. They both stand at the gate and I open it and allow Solly to calmly walk into the arena, Mark is already in here with his Holly. Solly stands at the grooming kit and I spend about 20 mins grooming him at liberty, checking him over, making sure he's relaxed and happy. He just stands there and cocks one back leg and enjoys the handling.
I start off with a halter and 12' rope and do very quiet simple things and in fact we do the Sept OLHA tasks one at a time, seeing if the willingness is there and if we're communicating together nicely. Then we do more impulsion tasks like S2M w/t/h/bkups and circling with a jump or over the tarp.
After 10 days Solly is very curious about Mr Cat now ;-)
We then have a rest while we watch Mark and Holly doing some of the OLHA tasks too. They both did very well considering they've not played for over a week. Solly and I then go through the Sept OLHA Medium test with a bit more clarity. This month there is lots of trot and stopping, more intricate manoeuvres and we need to be very focussed. The session went very well, short and sweet. The rain starts to come down again and we decide a short session is good to start with, Solly did well and tomorrow we can build on that more. Mark also played with Holly and Stormy so it was a good herd play day ;-)
After setting Solly free in the field he stayed close to me a lot which was lovely. Really feel our connection again and only after a couple of hours. I missed him lots and I'm glad we stopped after only a short session as tomorrow hopefully we can do more and still keep sweet about it. Whilst he was 'stuck' to me I asked him to back from his tail, 7 steps, which he did so lightly, I just had his tail laying in the palm of my upturned hand. Then I let his tail go and kept him going back until I was at his shoulder...cool horse, he remembers everything ;-)
Backing from tail
Connecting ;-)
Tuesday 6th September
Well yesterday Mark and I finished pulling all the ragwort in our horses field, it feels so good to have that behind us now. The field below ours and next to ours has qutie a lot of ragwort in them but they're not ours and I just haven't got the energy or time to sort out other fields nowadays. Hopefully the lease holders will do something about it (fingerscrossed!)
But back to today. I'm off teaching over the next 10 days so this is the last opportunity to do something with Solly until I get back. The weather looks grey but I manage to get out when it's still okay and when down in the field I put together the On Line Horse Agility Medium Horse Competition obstacles for September. I have watched last months winning session and now know where I need to be with Solly to get better scores and to try for more refinement. SO, with that in mind I go and ask Solly to catch me, which he does very nicely and I halter him and put him on the 22' featherlite rope.
I play in the open field all the way to the HA arena, we do some S2M, transitions, circles w/t/c/ L&R w/COD's and some yo-yo's. In the HA arena I just pop around the course to see if we have any worry issues about any of the obstacles. Not too bad BUT the wind and rain are now both coming in a bit and Solly just wants to keep his butt to the wind which makes it interesting to try to go in any other direction! lol
But he does okay and today these are the issues with the obstacles:
1) Trot through curtain:
The curtain is really blowing with the wind and he's not bad with it but there could be a bit more relaxation through it SO we practise relaxation techniques and go back to working in walk through it.
2) Back through parallel poles:
His backing is not bad at all BUT his turning around on the forehand (move hindquarters) has much to be desired SO I practise just moving his HQ's and asking him to keep his FQ's still more. Getting better but needs more work and I need to refine my signals more.
3) Jump barrel:
Good but a bit fast, must see if I can slow the exit from the jump more, try to keep him less excited and more controlled. lol.
4) Stand in hulahoop and horse goes around 5' away from me through corner poles:
He does this okay but again could be much better. I need to stop flapping, I'm much more refined when I have my short training arm with me so it's quite challenging to work without that but it's the same for everyone ;-)
5) Back over pole:
Again he does the backing part okay but faffs about when I ask him to just move his HQ's over into place, he keeps overstepping SO I went back to basic's again and worked on being refined and really getting him to STOP when my THOUGHT/ENERGY stops asking for something.
6) Trotting onto tarp, turn on FQ's 360* and trot off again:
Hard one for Solly, with the problem with moving his HQ's without moving his FQ's I decide to give him the chance to not make a mistake and make my tarpaulin the full size. He firstly had a problem with the tarp itself being so large and flapping with the wind (not a good day to try this all out really! lol). And then he has a problem trotting onto it and stopping. As it's in a new place the grass underneath it is long so it's has funny shapes underneath it all. I can see us doing a bit of work on this and today we did some trotting over it often to help with that and then S2M trot/stop/trot and seperately working on the turn on the forehand so that we can put these two together.
7) Weave in trot, horse to weave, handler not:
Buy this time through the process the wind is up and it's starting to rain and we're both getting wet and Solly is very distracted...not sure by what as the herd is peaceful and standing with their backs to the rain on the opposite fence. We practise this at walk and then trot but I can see his energy is a bit too high for any sensible communication and practise so I just go through the process on each obstacle for now.
8) Fig 8, handler stands still:
His fig 8 was okay but not sure really how to do this with myself standing still. I was using the wrong length of rope (didn't have my 12' on me) but probably be okay to swing the end of the rope to teach and then refine to where it's just a point with my finger to get him to do the fig 8...will work on that one ;-)
9) Scary corner, trot into, stop in centre for 5 seconds, trot out:
Scary corner okay, stopping away from me harder but not impossible BUT must refine it so that it's not a rope wiggle!!! this could be very interesting! lol.
10) Own choice obstacle:
Well I have sort of run out of things to think up for own obstacle so I just trot Sol over the arena and ask him to put all 4 feet on the pedastal, which he does very well ;-)
Now as the rain is pouring, the wind is blowing badly and Solly really isn't listening to me anymore I set him free and go to take the curtain down as it's blowing noisily. Solly just canters big time around the arena, it looks like he's looking for a way out and I run to the gateway and open it before he decides it's time to jump the fence and maybe hurt himself as the ground is very slippery now. Once out of the gate he GALLOPS across the field, Stormy galloping behind him and they both go and re-connect with the girls (the girls meantime are quitely minding thier own business waiting for the weather to change. lol) It really felt like Sol and Stormy needed to be with the girls because of the blustery weather...once back where they needed to be they proceed to play/fight and generally be 'boys'. I pack up my things but go and reconnect with Solly and Stormy at the far end of the field to give Solly his treat for being with me today. Not such a good day but then we all have those sorts of days.
The curtain is really blowing with the wind and he's not bad with it but there could be a bit more relaxation through it SO we practise relaxation techniques and go back to working in walk through it.
2) Back through parallel poles:
His backing is not bad at all BUT his turning around on the forehand (move hindquarters) has much to be desired SO I practise just moving his HQ's and asking him to keep his FQ's still more. Getting better but needs more work and I need to refine my signals more.
3) Jump barrel:
Good but a bit fast, must see if I can slow the exit from the jump more, try to keep him less excited and more controlled. lol.
4) Stand in hulahoop and horse goes around 5' away from me through corner poles:
He does this okay but again could be much better. I need to stop flapping, I'm much more refined when I have my short training arm with me so it's quite challenging to work without that but it's the same for everyone ;-)
5) Back over pole:
Again he does the backing part okay but faffs about when I ask him to just move his HQ's over into place, he keeps overstepping SO I went back to basic's again and worked on being refined and really getting him to STOP when my THOUGHT/ENERGY stops asking for something.
6) Trotting onto tarp, turn on FQ's 360* and trot off again:
Hard one for Solly, with the problem with moving his HQ's without moving his FQ's I decide to give him the chance to not make a mistake and make my tarpaulin the full size. He firstly had a problem with the tarp itself being so large and flapping with the wind (not a good day to try this all out really! lol). And then he has a problem trotting onto it and stopping. As it's in a new place the grass underneath it is long so it's has funny shapes underneath it all. I can see us doing a bit of work on this and today we did some trotting over it often to help with that and then S2M trot/stop/trot and seperately working on the turn on the forehand so that we can put these two together.
7) Weave in trot, horse to weave, handler not:
Buy this time through the process the wind is up and it's starting to rain and we're both getting wet and Solly is very distracted...not sure by what as the herd is peaceful and standing with their backs to the rain on the opposite fence. We practise this at walk and then trot but I can see his energy is a bit too high for any sensible communication and practise so I just go through the process on each obstacle for now.
8) Fig 8, handler stands still:
His fig 8 was okay but not sure really how to do this with myself standing still. I was using the wrong length of rope (didn't have my 12' on me) but probably be okay to swing the end of the rope to teach and then refine to where it's just a point with my finger to get him to do the fig 8...will work on that one ;-)
9) Scary corner, trot into, stop in centre for 5 seconds, trot out:
Scary corner okay, stopping away from me harder but not impossible BUT must refine it so that it's not a rope wiggle!!! this could be very interesting! lol.
10) Own choice obstacle:
Well I have sort of run out of things to think up for own obstacle so I just trot Sol over the arena and ask him to put all 4 feet on the pedastal, which he does very well ;-)
Now as the rain is pouring, the wind is blowing badly and Solly really isn't listening to me anymore I set him free and go to take the curtain down as it's blowing noisily. Solly just canters big time around the arena, it looks like he's looking for a way out and I run to the gateway and open it before he decides it's time to jump the fence and maybe hurt himself as the ground is very slippery now. Once out of the gate he GALLOPS across the field, Stormy galloping behind him and they both go and re-connect with the girls (the girls meantime are quitely minding thier own business waiting for the weather to change. lol) It really felt like Sol and Stormy needed to be with the girls because of the blustery weather...once back where they needed to be they proceed to play/fight and generally be 'boys'. I pack up my things but go and reconnect with Solly and Stormy at the far end of the field to give Solly his treat for being with me today. Not such a good day but then we all have those sorts of days.
Solly cantering down the HA arena fenceline!!
he does look lovely though ;-)
he does look lovely though ;-)
Sol canters hard to the corner, stops and then goes into canter along the next side
trying to find a way out....maybe not a day to ride him. lol
trying to find a way out....maybe not a day to ride him. lol
Sol and Stormy galloping/cantering off to the girls
~~~~~~~~~~
On a good note, from the Perry Wood clinic, Kate Robertson took some fabulous pictures of me and Solly on the clinic and here are 4 of my favorites. Thank you Kate for being there and taking these for me ;-)
Nice stretch in our leg yield to the left...
Sunday 4th September
Solly enjoying the sunshine and peace in the field
Lovely day today, sunshine, not too hot and not chilly at all. Perfect for a hack out. I ride Tara down to the field and Mark gets Holly groomed and tacked up and we head out to the village. Tara and Holly both are not too frisky and we mostly do a nice steady plod along the track and then turn away from the village up into the Kirkmichael hills, going up the hills is a nice tarmac road and I trot tara along this for quite a while to help improve both her and my trotting.
We go up onto the moorland and both horses take it slow and easy. Tara was a bit puffed and although she's been loosing weight up at the house she's not had much exercise up the hill behind the house and so hill work was a bit tiring for her today so we went very easy for her. She will be back with the herd from Tues eve until I get back from working away on Friday week so although more grass there is a huge hill which she will have to venture up to get water ;-)
We then went through a small shady forest which is the mid point of the ride and in the centre of this was an old tree that had fallen down and then been eaten away by insects and fallen away to make this strange statue...cool.
At the very top both Mark and I got off our horses and walked a bit on the downhill part. It's a nice road with a few log cabins along it and it's very pretty at this time of year. The horses enjoyed their breather and we both got back on half way down the hill at the Log Cabin Hotel/Bar. Down through a small track where there was a small tractor backing up, Holly went around it well and showed great bravery. Tara was sceptical so we stayed back and kept an eye on it until we could safely go on our way. Then just over a stream a friend had a small sit-on lawn mower and was just coming out of his putting green and again Holly went past okay but Tara needed to keep an eye on it so we sidepassed down the small road and she did very well, calm but very aware and observant about where the mower was going. lol. She's such a character. ;-)
Just down into the village we went across the bridge and up to the shop where I got two carrots, two apples and two icecreams..yum, yum. We had our picture taken by some tourists having tea at the shop and then we mounted back up and rode down the main track to home.
Going home we went through three fields instead of going along the stony track and in the second field there were piles of wooden fencing that was stacked ready to move from the end of the local Strathardle Highland Games and we took full opportunity to weave, fig 8 and circle around these for fun...love local opportunities for a bit of fun ;-))
Just down into the village we went across the bridge and up to the shop where I got two carrots, two apples and two icecreams..yum, yum. We had our picture taken by some tourists having tea at the shop and then we mounted back up and rode down the main track to home.
Going home we went through three fields instead of going along the stony track and in the second field there were piles of wooden fencing that was stacked ready to move from the end of the local Strathardle Highland Games and we took full opportunity to weave, fig 8 and circle around these for fun...love local opportunities for a bit of fun ;-))
Saturday 3rd September
A few things happen today but mainly the first one is that we sacrifice our riding day out to break the back of the ragworting in our grazing field. It's worse than last year but has to be done. Unfortunately the field below and next to ours has ragwort as well but we can't do all of it unless there's a lot of help as our backs just won't cope ;-( BUT our field is getting straighter now and we've done a whole big trailer load already in two sessions ;-)
I had a good ride of Tara to and back from the grazing field which was nice and I also got my Karen Rohlf SiMoN (School Master Noodle) kit up and running, this is a pool noodle with handles, head and tail to represent a horse and used as a tuition tool to teach riders what position their bodies need to be in to achieve lateral dressage manoeuvres...it will help me to get better with Solly and also work on my position at home in Winter when I can't get out and ride. Here's some pic's from the last couple of days:
Trailer half full, first session of Ragworting
Trailer full after 2nd session of ragworting,
taken to dump where it will be burnt and trailer now
empty ready to do the rest of the field ;-)
taken to dump where it will be burnt and trailer now
empty ready to do the rest of the field ;-)
mutual grooming session over the arena fence
Riding Tara back to the house today
SiMoN...Karen Rohlf's dressage tool ;-)
I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him on here
I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him on here
Mark improved the ends of the 2nd bridge in the house paddocks
and Tara is the first to try it out ;-))
First one way...
Friday 2nd September
Started out grey today but had very bright, hot moments in the afternoon which was lovely. I rode Tara to the field at about 12noon and first re-connected with the herd and made sure Holly was okay as she was very listless this morning BUT she seemed fine this afternoon and was keeping the herd in line...she must have just had a tummy ache, glad it was nothing else ;-)
I then went and closed up my new 40x20 arena arrangement, I leave it open at other times so that they will help me by eating the grazing in it, part of it is grazed the other part is quite overgrown so it was time to give them the extra grazing and they'll help me by making my arena more rideable as they go along. lol. Once the arena was set up I went and got my equipment (ropes, halters, training sticks, saddle, grooming kit etc) and wheeled it into the side of the arena. Solly was grazing over the side of the field with Fortune and I went and got him...well he came and got me which was good. He was a bit muddy (dry thank goodness) so we started off our session with a lovely liberty groom.
Then we played. Checked all our criteria was in place. He was very relaxed and circled with his head down nicely, blowing out. He was willingly obedient and backed up with just a thought and energy in a nice way and also did some nice sideways away and towards L&R. We worked on his impulsion as this was a bit low but it didn't take long and we did this by doing quick, multiple S2M transitions ;-) Then we put this to circles, COD's and transitions (w/t/c/cod/c/t/c/cod/t) and he was nicely alert and listening to my requests. With those final transition circles we worked on the last pre-requisite of flexibility. I asked him to put his ribs over nicely in an arc when on the trot circles both L&R until he did them more on his own and we also worked on this with some slow nice 'S' bends ;-) So, that was a nice warm up for him, not too long, not too short and ready for saddling.
Once saddled and cinched nicely I mount up. I work first on freestyle with a halter and clip on rope reins. I am doing this so that we both go slowly and work on the essential ingredients of riding, these are that we work together in harmonious partnership, that I give good thought/energy/body cues and he moves lightly off those. That we have stop/go, L&R, backup and that I can move each foot individually. All goes well. We work on RtR for relaxation, turn with HQ's and turn with FQ's and some quick transitions for obedience, the transitions also work for his impulsion and I do a few one step walk (or down one step to walk from trot) and quickly up to trot again that I learned from Perry Wood and this works very well to help him get some fabulous impulsion, always making sure our stop from a thought is always there too ;-) Then we do some circles and serpentines all with a loose rein for his flexibility and it doesn't take very long in freestyle to check our pre-requisites and once I was happy I dismount and ask him to take the bit/bridle for me....this didn't take long either.
Once re-mounted we did a 20 min session of finesse (collection and short reins) and did exactly what we did at the clinic last weekend. Worked on his impulsion in trot on circles, then did some walk leg yields L&R and then shoulder-in L&R in walk. I really was working on me basically remembering all the little tips Perry gave me and going over them in mind/body to get them set in my head better. Things I worked on were: Look between the horses ears at all times, keep my elbows back and in to my sides, keep seat back but body upright, asking for manoeuvres by keeping my butt central in the saddle and learning to have the feeling of my upper body being in harmony with the movement as I was behind the movement beforehand from learning to ride the outside of the saddle freestyle the Parelli way, so before I was always trying to 'push' the horse over in leg yields, now I'm learning to hold the leg yield between my legs and flow with my upper body with the movement. It felt a bit like I was tipping infront of the movement when I first tried this but actually I've been behind the movement so long that my body needs re-training as to where upright and straight is! lol. All went well today on our first homework day. It will get better and better I'm sure and I love that I have a new journey location to go to , a new doorway has been opened up for us and it feels good to be on a learning curve again ;-))
Thursday 1st September
Golly gosh it's September already, where do the months go? I was out teaching this morning but came back and grabbed a quick lunch and then rode Tara to the herd field, set her loose and had some fun putting up a fence over a 20m x 40m flattish area so that me and Solly can do our Perry Wood lateral homework ;-) Very happy with arena, left it open for the boys and girls to graze down and I'm sure they're all happy helping with that. lol
Before I got to do the fence though I had a bit of fun introducing Mr Cat to the horses (mainly Stormy & Solly) and here are the piccie's from that fun session ;-)
Not a problem playing friendly game for Mr Cool (Stormy)
Solly asks Stormy 'what is it?'
Stormy getting to grips with it...he has to put EVERYTHING in his mouth,
although he is super gentle
although he is super gentle
Mr Cat wriggling around Stormy's neck ;-)
Mr Cat getting adventurous on Stormy's head. lol
Mr Cat thinking about sliding off Stormy's bum ;-))
Stormy is like 'yeah yeah'
Stormy is like 'yeah yeah'
Holly checks Mr Cat out ;)
Solly is not really sure about this Mr Cat thingy!!
It moves when you push on it and it's scary ;-)
It moves when you push on it and it's scary ;-)
Not bad on the back, quite soft and doesn't wriggle too much but
Solly's not sold on Mr Cat's good qualities yet
Solly's not sold on Mr Cat's good qualities yet
Mr Stormy showing pure curiosity...he just can't help himself. lol
Solly getting braver and touches Mr Cat with his front foot ;-)
Much braver with the head-collar on and he manages to step on Mr Cat...squish ;-)
Then steps on Mr Cat with a back foot....how brave is that ;-)
Head massage anyone? lol
Slowly getting a bit more curious about this strange object
Well that was fun.....is all the silliness over now, I think I'll get back to grazing ;-)
Mr Cat is grateful to still be on one piece albeit he looks a bit RBint now! lol
Mr Cat is grateful to still be on one piece albeit he looks a bit RBint now! lol
