lionhearthorses

whoop whoop

2012-01-26T22:14:00.002+01:00

Or not!

Chapiro had a couple of days off (well he had worked 8 days straight and I had a lot on) but yesterday we were back in the school and then walked down the hill to the bottom field. On the way back up we trotted on a long rein where we have cantered but he stayed balanced in body and brain, no rushing or anticipation. We continued up the lane past the house and he seemed quietly confident, didn't go far on my own but he behaved well. The only niggly bit being his trot transitions in the school which remained a little 'sticky'.

So today, in the rain (is this really me, riding in the rain?) we worked on keeping a really relaxed neck through the transitions and keeping his head a little lower than usual and it made a big difference. We ended up riding relaxed transitions on long, long reins but with his back working, it felt good.

So is my boy finally relaxing? I hate to speak too soon but this last week his confidence has emerged and I can count the spooks on one hand rather than on all fingers and toes! He is walking boldly down to the school and even me whacking by boot on the fence today didn't induce even the merest spook.

I'm thinking that when Steinbrecht said ''ride your horse forward and straight of shoulders'' he was very wise and that maybe when l'Hotte said the horse should be ''calm, forward and straight' it could have read ''forward and straight (by virtue of the shoulders) will bring on calm''! This certainly seems to be true of Chapiro, the straightening work is bringing along the gift of calm...or let's hope so.

Chapiro's week

2012-01-21T22:31:00.000+01:00

It's been all work for the young man this week and he's been a good boy, taking it all in his stride so to speak. The flexion work is continuing to reap rewards and it's following through to the ridden work. We've clicker trained the transitions a bit and we now have a trot that flows, just need to build some stamina. The lateral work is coming on and we even started a little travers. We hacked down the track and trotted back up the hill a couple of times after schooling and all of a sudden stamina wasn't an issue, lol.
The canter is improving on the lunge and we've ridden a few transitions in the school but maintaining the canter in the school is going to require more stamina training (spot the trend here).
Tonight we lunged over some small jumps which he really loves, he maintains a nice balance in the approach and makes a decent enough shape over them so it bodes well for him and Lydia in the future.

Lydia and Cacahuète have been enjoying their jumping and he also seems to be loving it

onwards and upwards

2012-01-15T13:53:00.000+01:00

Chapiro has ended his light duties for sure and has been ridden the last three days, I think he actually likes to be back into 'proper' work. I've just been riding for about 20 minutes after and in-hand or lunge session as he won't be too strong yet, we'll build up over the next few weeks.

I've ridden either in the bareback pad or the treed saddle as I do need to get Lydia on board more now and the Barefoot is too big for her. It feels strangely unsupportive after the treeless but he seems very happy in it.

Yesterday he was very sparky on the lunge and spooking everywhere but when I get on he seemed much calmer (thank goodness ). We worked on sideways and keeping the neck relaxed and then some trot work which already seems more energetic than it did a couple of days ago.

This is our work towards giravolta, I need to work lots on me but he's a star and very obliging.

Lightness

2012-01-05T23:01:00.002+01:00

I am heartened to say there is much talk on Enlightened Equitation of a plan to run baroque style online dressage tests. The idea of tests where lightness and artistry will be blended with correct gymnastic work quite excites me. I'm still saddened to read of folks 'holding' their horse together, driving aids and other things that are a complete anathema to me but perhaps if more of the good stuff is out there it will inspire others. I know I shall be working on my moves once this damned weather clears! No rain for months and then the annual rainfall in one month, or so it seems.
Today the boys came in and were happily munching on hay to the sound of rain hammering on the roof. They all had a brush and massage and Chapsi did some work on the yard; asking him to be more aware of my space, I didn't use 'click and treat' but 'good and scratch' (for those who fear treat giving it's a viable alternative), we had a few magic moments. Tomorrow the sun will shine!

phew, that's done then

2012-01-01T10:30:00.000+01:00

Regular followers will already know that I'm not a truly festive person and thankfully as I sit here on January 1st it's all but over. It's been a lovely quiet time for us as a family and I've enjoyed it more than I probably care to admit! We've cooked together, eaten and drunk too much together and enjoyed some nice time with friends along the way but I'll be happy to get back into my regular routine tomorrow.

Christmas being dry and sunny we managed to film some interdressage entries and some hacking and playing over logs in the woods. Helen and her family came over and of course Lydia and Ali overdosed on pony fun whilst Cacahuète got double the attention but worked pretty hard to deserve it. After lunch Helen had a play on Moo, she was impressed with him and how light he was, quite a compliment as Helen is a stickler for manners!

Cacahuète sneaks a mouthful

Tyres in the woods

Ali and Cacahuète with his warpaint

My fave small person!

Too busy to catch action shots but Ali made a lovely go of the tyres, take my word for it

Yesterday was wet and dreary but we made the effort to tack up a damp Moo and Cacahuète. Lydia had a nice canter alongside Moo's slow trot which is getting more and more contained and inspite of the drizzle we enjoyed our hack, certainly blew the cobwebs away.

back to it

2011-12-20T23:35:00.000+01:00

After a short break I got back to work yesterday with Chapiro, relaxing the neck. The reflex relaxation response when the tension releases in his neck leads to him licking and lowering his head which I'm hoping to be able to bring on cue from the ground or when ridden. Basically using the same principle as bitted flexions I'm trying to wing it in a headcollar! It's still very much a work in progress (I have discussed it here before) and it may just be another one of those blind alleys but both he and Moo seem to benefit from this type of work so I'm going to give it some serious consideration over winter. In the second video we are working on the in-hand trot, again trying to keep the neck/shoulders relaxed especially through the transitions. The small circles (I only do this work for a few minutes) also mean that I can easily keep the shoulder lightly 'in' as on this size of circle it would be impossible for him to keep uniformly bent around the circumference.
I might give the in-hand horsemanship a go on interdressage this month if I can up our game in time.

sleep tight

2011-12-17T16:11:00.001+01:00

I always knew I'd write this post but never considered it would happen this way. Eight days ago our Cleo walked out of our lives and hasn't returned. We knew her from the day she was born 16 years ago and had hoped we'd be there with her to say goodbye at the end but sadly that isn't to be. We don't know where she went and imagining is too painful but after hunting high and low for days we have had to admit defeat. Dementia is a cruel disease and it isn't my first brush with the monster. Wherever you are my baby, sleep tight, we miss you.

training tricks part 1 Jambette

2011-12-06T19:40:00.001+01:00

Last post Di asked how to train the spanish walk so here goes!
I'm not a great trick fan and I know that lots of folks think of jambette and spanish walk as tricks but for me they are an extension of movements that horses can be seen to perform naturally. Chapiro most definitely raises a fore leg and quivers it at Manolo, his neighbour, if he dares to get too close to the fence. I think it also helps create more lift in the foreleg in preparation for passage (which we are some way off, lol) certainly in Chapiro's case I'm hoping it will help make him more mobile in his shoulders.

This is a brief resumé of how the jambette can be started ;

*cue a leg raise in-hand
this will be different for each horse, a sensitive horse like Chapiro just needs a hint of a touch on any part of his leg to get a response, less sensitive horses may need some help with a hand to lift the leg at the same time as giving the touch or verbal (or both) cue. Begin by rewarding the tiniest try, even a shift of weight and gradually encourage the full lift by both physical and verbal cues. Remember that at some point you may want to transfer this to ridden work and so it's vital that you have a cue that is able to be given from the saddle. In theory though you could use a touch of any part of the leg/shoulder in the early stages but for me the most obvious spot is the upper front of the foreleg.

You can also use mimicry as I did on day one with Chapiro. When he watched Moo getting clicks and treats just for raising his leg he thought he'd have some of that! Some folks (and I have tried this but my right hip argues too much, ouch) do the leg raise themselves to encourage the mimicry.

If you already have target touching in your trick bag then you can easily use the touch cue to get the leg to the target. I am using this as an improvement tool and so far it's working well.

*improve quality and duration

Once you have the leg lift on cue then it's down to refinement, this can (certainly did in Moo's case) take a long time and I would reckon it's well worth taking time on this and doing short sessions to keep the work really sweet. To improve the placing of the leg then the target is perfect, think of getting the upper forearm to touch the target, then progress to the knee and finally the fetlock or hoof. The same with duration, just keep the touch for a split second longer each time before rewarding and end on a good note, always without pushing it too fast.

*extinguish unwanted tries

This work can become so exciting to a horse that he will offer it at every opportunity and often when unasked, this is quite dangerous and so it's important to work on calmy ignoring these offered tries and unsurprisingly I use clicker for this too, a few minutes at the end of the early sessions may well be all it takes for some but as always all horses will be different.

*progression to spanish walk

I'll cover this as Chapiro works towards it but for now it's just important that he is able to raise a leg and then walk on so that we will be well prepared for spanish walk proper.

Hope this helps Di, any questions and input from others always welcome.

Here's our video's of the early work with Chapsi and some basic leg raising with Moo to illustrate my points.

We are currently continuing our 'homework' from the body worker with Chapiro so it's shoulder circles and jambette.

Ministry of Funny Walks

2011-12-01T20:50:00.001+01:00

Chapiro seems to have really picked up the idea of jambette/spanish walk from Moo when we had our double clicker session earlier this week. Today I had 'family' duties in the form of Christmas shopping and had more or less written off the day in terms of training but I raced MIL round Limoges at breakneck speed and just got back in time for a second go at the spanish walk preparation. Sorry for the rather gushing sound track but I'm so proud of my clever wee man, wish I was half as clever

bitless flexions

2011-11-13T09:03:00.001+01:00

I've been teaching Chapiro the rein actions for some time now and almost gave up when I went to Di's and felt Rem's mouth in a bit! I want the same feel bitless of the neck yielding and the mouth being mobile but Chapsi is a stresshead and keeping it all mobile has proved diffeicult. The last couple of days we've had a bit of a breakthrough and the boy has been chewing and swallowing during the flexion work. Next will be to try and transfer it to ridden. It's still not the finished product but here's the video from yesterday.

redeemed myself

2011-11-07T21:03:00.001+01:00

Only in the tech sense! I somehow saved my video of Saturday with Chapiro, not sure how but I'm glad I have a comparison because today he was definitely a step on. I've edited the two vids together and it's pretty self explanatory, nothing smart or clever just reinforcing for him staying at my side, not rushing ahead and stopping when I stop. Very pleased with him today and so tomorrow I think we'll swap from a shaping session to a free shaping session where he can decide what we do...not exactly that he can put me where he wants but more that I'll listen to what game he prefers to play; usually he loves free shaping so we'll see how it goes.
I still have them living out without rugs, they are coming in for a few hours to munch hay and work. They don't appear to be starving when they come in and in fact today the pone didn't really want to come in. I took the other two and then went back for him and rode him up the hill to save my legs...perhaps next time he'll think more carefully about being caught! They all look pretty good so far and we have rug options lined up should they be necessary.

A tale of two horses

2011-11-06T22:18:00.000+01:00

November has traditionally been my least favourite month. Grey skies, wind blowing rain horizontally and the diminishing daylight hours are hardly conducive to horse training happiness. Last year the boys were turned away until christmas but this year during the same period I'm going to concentrate on the basic groundwork and really cement the liberty work. I will still ride when the weather suits but it will ease the pressure if I already have my head lined up for groundwork.

With this in mind, yesterday I had a session with each at liberty to re-draw the line and see exactly where we are. Now I was hoping to have video to back up the words but I only have Moralejo's work on video, owing entirely to my ineptitude with movie maker and having somewhow wiped the footage of Chapiro!

During last week a FB friend kindly sent me a profile chart and I filled it in for both the boys,
unsurprisingly both came out as full on extroverts (bags of energy and forward types) but one being dominant and the other being submissive makes them rather different beasts. I'm going to be very mindful of this as we progress and IF I had both vids you would see instantly what I mean about different. Chapiro won't wait, doesn't want to stay at my side because usually it's HIM who decides where the boys in the field go, HE who stops where and when he wants. My way round this is, as usual, with the clicker. To begin with I'm just reinforcing his being at my side but not in my space, if we manage two strides of walk like this I click, if he romps off at his own pace without me then I turn and take a step away and wait for him to come back to 'position' and then click before walking on again. Yesterday two strides was a big ask but today he was already sussing the game and we managed the occasional ten strides before losing it. I will video asap so that I have a record.

Moo is of course stuck to me like glue! He NEEDS me because he is used to being TOLD where to go and can't really make decisions on his own. Again we used the clicker to focus on keeping him out of my space (ideally he would actually like to be touching me throughout) and slightly more ahead than he wants to be. We played again today and he had definitely got the idea (he is certainly one that does well when he's slept on it).

My thoughts from both sessions are...keep it short, keep the building blocks tiny at this stage and play around with variable reinforcers (ie not necessarily rewarding every try, that's not to say clicking without treating but not clicking each try) I know that this really focusses Moo's attention to detail but I'm not sure yet with Chapiro.

Clever Friends

2011-10-23T21:23:00.001+02:00

I have some very clever friends, borne out today by this lovely study of Moo by Sarah Cameron. I can't really thank her enough. It captures my man perfectly, that certain sadness in his eye (so true to him) brought a tear to mine.

rusty

2011-10-16T09:08:00.000+02:00

I can't remember the last time I long lined but following discussion of the topic and the fact that Interdressage have a class dedicated to it (well anything goes really, lunge, longline, ridden) I decided to give it a try.

To say I'm rusty would be an understatement but Moo was his usual obliging self. Need to work on straight lines, lateral work and keeping the bend correct on the circles, oh and not dropping the lines!

Indian Summer

2011-10-03T14:24:00.000+02:00

It's been a real scorcher this last week and everyone, human and horse alike, seems to be happy with the last blast of summer. I've been playing with the liberty again with Chapiro, working mainly on free shaping (successive approximation) where I'm looking for the tiniest hint of him trying to stay with me and rewarding it. It makes no sense to an onlooker but it's already bearing fruit in a small way. There is a small part of Chapiro that stops him from 'giving' himself to me, on a lunge, lead or ridden he can cope but set him free and he can't make the link but it's definitely improving.

Today he was a little 'alert' in the school but by relaxing the neck and asking him out and down a little he finally chilled. We worked on my current ridden project of separating the aids into voice, weight,rein/leg. I started 100% with voice as that was the easiest to transfer from ground to ridden work but now I'm transferring this, firstly, to hand/leg aids (hand says stop, leg says go etc) and then to weight aiding. Ultimately it will be a light weight aid but having a three fold aiding system should theoretically give me a lot of choice when training different movements.

I've been deliberating about Moo lately, to the point that it's rendered me useless! The fact that he got tight and sore again after the canter work has really bugged me, maybe it was nothing to do with the canter work but the fact that it winds him up and stresses him makes me think it was. We haven't really done any ridden work for a couple of weeks but this morning I figured that I should just keep the walk and trot work going and just wait and see.
He is such a star that boy, no work for a few weeks and I slapped on the bareback pad and away he goes. I had a real emotional surge sitting on him, I just love this horse. We worked on lots of lateral work, playing with half pass and pirouettes and I didn't sense any soreness or tight areas...onwards and upwards then.

Weekend Horses

2011-09-27T09:25:00.002+02:00

At the week-end Lydia and I were invited to visit about 2.5 hours south for a friendly competition/get together organised by Helen . In spite of a rather drizzly day (can you believe we had not a drop at home even though it's badly needed) we arrived as the riders were coming back from the orienteering part of the Trec, it was great to finally meet all these folks that I've known 'virtually' for a while. After a super curry for lunch the competitors started on the 'obstacles', a couple of small jumps, bending poles, ducking under a line of flags, walking over tarp etc After the girls had finished Lydia was very lucky to have a go on Polo, who was a superstar (thanks Hollie), and then got to play with Gandalph, Chester and Seraphina. It was a lovely day and really fired Lydia up. Thanks Helen and all the gang who made us feel so welcome. On Sunday Lydia and I worked Chapiro and he was a little star, it's hard for him to adapt to her as I use a lot of voice aiding and of course Lydia's aiding is slightly different but he coped well. After some pole work in walk and trot we then raised the poles so he was having to really lift and stretch, Lydia finished with her first canter on him and a daft grin on her face!Good week-end, Lydia and Polo (receiving sustenance from Tanya).

Ali and Seraphina on the course

Big 'G' (Lydia's fave)

A short, badly filmed video (I was too busy chatting oops)

really showing off now

2011-09-14T14:08:00.001+02:00

Yahoo the boy done good! First canter in the school and no problems, two transitions from trot to canter on each rein, every time correct lead and no excitement just calm and business like; I so love the boy :))I'm so happy that he has a lovely balanced canter and that he seems to enjoy this work, makes me realise that I'm maybe not so rubbish after all as it's only me and him, nobody else's input. Can't wait for more although I mustn't be impatient. Sadly the batteries died on the camera before the canter work but I'll capture it another day.

13th September 2011

2011-09-13T22:15:00.001+02:00

Another good session, still a little tense when we start out but relaxing very quickly. A little leg yield and baby shoulder fore and an old exercise I haven't used in a while, basically designed around Kyra Kyrklund's stopping/starting and turning on a square principal (she designed her's from the same place I guess as Udo Burger and others....). Fundamentally you ride a line until you feel the horse trying to control the line (a shoulder leaning, a hind wavering...) at which point you change the line in an equal and opposite way to that which the horse is trying to take. Take as an example the horse throwing his 1/4's to the right, I would change the line by bringing the left shoulder around to the right and thus changing direction by 90° in the process and taking a new line across the school.We ended with some reinback which was improved after yesterday's session. Then we tootled off down the hill and had a trot back up, about half way up I voice cued canter and he didn't even hesitate.....he has such a lovely canter and I think it's nearly time to ride it in the school.

clever boy

2011-09-12T23:04:00.002+02:00

I haven't done very much mat work with Chapsi for a while. Not because I don't think it has value (I know many are yet to be convinced) but because I haven't really needed it with the work we've been doing. However, as part of building up his strength behind I want to do more reinback both ridden and in-hand/lunge so I want to tidy up the aids and reaction time. As soon as I threw the mat into the school his eyes lit up! It's quite bizare because in a whole session of clicker work he will only get about two small hands of nuts but it certainly fires him up. Today he was on top form, straight on to the mat and standing square and after a couple of attempts he was backing from just my voice and then we tried a few with me stood at his side (to mimic the lunge position) and me sat on the mounting stool to his side each time he took a couple of confident strides so we called it a day and finished with a stretchy lunge. Very clever boy today. Oh yes and he will now let me spray the anti fly product onto a sponge right beside him and then wipe it over him....still a way to go but a step in the right direction.I was pleased that Heather OK'd my trot position, I've been panicking as the Barefoot is a very different feel to a treed saddle but if anyone is a good judge in these matters I'd say it's her.

finding the balance

2011-09-11T13:35:00.000+02:00

We've enjoyed a good week although, as ever, the weather has been at extremes. Moo has stayed perfectly sound and we started a little canter work again, if it all falls apart again then I know it's the canter causing the problems.

Chapsi has had some good sessions, trotting up our steep hill, one using trotting poles which really helped him to pick up behind and then yesterday our best ridden session so far. It's a long way from perfect but I'm really excited that the things I've played with have actually worked. Chapsi is a little straight moving behind and so I'm focussing on getting the hocks moving and the pelvis tilting so that we ultimately end up with good lift through the withers and shoulders alongside a soft neck. Ordinarily this wouldn't phase me in the least but this is the first time I've attempted this without a bit. I'm still struck (or should that read shocked) by how many people will tell you that they only work from the back to the front and the hand has the lightest feeling when quite obviously when you see them work it isn't :( am I being unrealistic thinking that this CAN be achieved without a bit, am I just too darned picky on what the true picture of lightness is?? I think I may cover this in a separate post.

So here is a video of Chapsi yesterday, I admit there are huge holes in his balance, he swings his quarters at times, loses his shoulders and we're not 'round' all the time but the energy and oomph are coming, perhaps we will find some paces in there!!! Oh and excuse lardy bum riding....I AM on a diet!

la rentrée

2011-09-04T21:33:00.001+02:00

Well almost and not too soon might I add! Lydia doesn't actually start until Tuesday as it's her first year at collège and they will be starting back a day later than the others. I would say there is an air of eager anticipation in our household right now but of course it won't last long once the first week's homework has been set.

My rentrée will be diet and exercise based in a huge effort to shift the six or seven kilos that have ungraciously welded themselves to my waistline, I'm dismayed to hear that our step class might not happen this year due to the ill health of the teacher, I really do need to join a class because I'm so darned lazy on my own.

Moo is still good and I'll start ridden work during this week. Chapsi is going well and it's amazing how a year on he seems much better able to cope (mentally AND physically) with the work. He's a little lacking in stamina during the ridden work (well who can blame him with fat momma astride) but we're up to about an hour's work most days and it's starting to tell on his waistline. The fly spray saga is slowly advancing, I basically hold it while I groom him and occasionally give him a little burst...slowly, slowly catchee.....

Today we did pole work on the lunge (well not really lunging, I'm more of a move around the school on the lunge sort of gal) and it really helped him pick up behind, reinback to trot and giravolta type work made up the rest of the session.

1st September 2011

2011-09-01T21:22:00.003+02:00

Tuesday I gave Moo a light warm-up and then some quite deep massage, I managed to get in behind his scapula (point of old problems) and found a very tight spot which he finally allowed me to get into. Yesterday I just did some gentle stretching with him as he seemed quite a bit better and today he seemed pretty good, yay!!! So just a little lunge to warm him up and then on to some stretches and light massage, hopefully I've sorted the problem but we'll have to see over the next few days. Certainly no ridden work for him until after the week-end.

Chapiro continues to impress! A couple of lovely sessions and I've upped the stirrups a hole and moved them forwards about 1cm which feels better, I could show you video that Lydia took but it would make you dizzy, lol, she definitely needs some work on keeping her hands still. I'll go back to the trusty fence posts next opportunity. Anyway, more on what we worked on.
The release when I ask with the unilateral rein is really coming on and aided by the touch of the whip at the shoulder stops an inside collapse. Injecting a little more energy can result in loss of the relaxed neck so I'll be patient on that and wait for him to build a little more stamina and balance before asking more oomph. We've had a couple of wanders about the place with Lydia on foot (she's a good gal) and he is very relaxed with her around and even went up the lane without a thought.
The fly spray saga continues, I can now spray near him or actually on to his rear end but he's a bit panicky about it all. I think I'll have to continue with water in the bottle until we have this thing licked, he was the same with the horse eating hose serpent but now he loves a bath....we'll get there I guess but every new situation seems a mountain for him to climb!

29th August

2011-08-29T22:33:00.000+02:00

Aaarrgggh, yesterday Moo was very tight/sore when I brought him in so we did some moving massage and stretching and a short stretchy lunge session. Today he was slightly easier so more of the same, I'm just hoping it wasn't the canter work that exacerbated it; time will tell.

Chapiro was lunged yesterday and he's getting much fitter, I think he's like Fidge and just retains a certain level of fitness whatever work he's doing/not doing.
Today I rode him and again just concentrated on keeping his neck relaxed so that he stretched out and forwards, I'm really pleased that we've slowed the whole thing down and now he can really balance himself even with me on top. I'm downloading a short clip as I type this and I'm pleased with how his neck looks and his general relaxation (flies aside!!) but I can now see that I can let him use his forwards energy as long as I can direct it to the right place ie more lateral work. I can also see I need to move the strirrups if I'm rising to the trot, on Moo I need them further back but Chaps is more slender and the stability of my lower legs looks pants, makes it look like I had to nag with my legs which I can assure you is a long way from the truth. Lots to work on then but another good day.

bring it on

2011-08-27T21:50:00.000+02:00

After the monsoon came sunshine so it's been a great day for riding in the school. Damp sand and a light breeze, ah, if only every day was the same.

Well the canter plan worked and whilst it's still not pretty, understatement, it is en route to something better. Video below shows how little we could manage two days ago and how with a few tweaks we can at least keep the canter for longer, we'll keep working on the stamina for a while and then play with the stepping under issue later. Moo and I finished with a walk up through the village.

Chapiro was a total star. The neck relaxation work first and then a quick lunge before riding. The lunging has come on so well, he is so attentive and listens and acts on all his verbal cues and I'm quite proud of the man. The difference in his ridden work is quite noticeable too, he can bend both ways now with just a feel on the rein to get the soft neck and a long leg to get the bend. The transitions are OK but I will work on the upwards transitions being more energetic in the coming weeks.

never rains but it....

2011-08-26T23:04:00.000+02:00

....pours. The thing about weather is that it all happens at once. That perfect climate of sun drenched days and soft gardeners rain through the night just doesn't exist. So from Sahara to monsoon it was!

Luckily I got a session in with both of them yesterday and did lots of canter transitions with Moo, blinkin' awful but it is getting better and I've a plan so if it works I'll let you know.

Chaps is now 'in school' and we're starting with fly spray. Never in my horsey life have I experienced a horse so terrified of flies. In fact he has no regard for his own safety when a bot fly appears and thus no regard for his human's space either. Not only does he freak at flies but he freaks at fly spray *rolls eyes*. So every day we are having a session with the spray bottle and the clicker and one day we will beat it. Any tips or advice on this would be very gratefully received. After the demonic spray he actually worked very well in-hand and then a quick bareback session so that he doesn't forget where we're heading.

Today? Well today was just a monsoon.

two's company

2011-08-24T19:39:00.001+02:00

I can hardly believe my luck, it rained overnight and throughout the morning so the school was perfect to trot without causing a sandstorm. Lydia brought Cacahuéte in with Moo and I and we played with a little pas de deux , after first having a super soft and stretchy trot session; love that Moo. We pootled off down the tracks to the bottom field to cool off.

Chapiro did more relaxed stretching in hand following the the sort of routine I've always used with Moo and it's working well for him too. Chaps has this build up of tension (when he finds things hard) and tries to rush off which in turn causes his human to try to slow him with the hand which is obviously a bad move and becomes a spiral of more and more tension. The moving neck massage is perfect to relax him, I start at the base of the neck near to the withers and then move along with the flat of my hand or fingers releasing each area as we go until we get to the poll, it's amazingly effective and has the added bonus of creating good relaxed bend in the neck.

oh err!!!

2011-08-23T22:50:00.001+02:00

Everything's changed! OK so I've been away awhile, heck it's been way too long, but I hardly recognise the place.
We are enjoying a hot spell right now, not so great for the horses but great for lazy days swimming at the lake! It's been a good couple of weeks since I worked the boys and with the school dry as the Sahara (we have a hose ban so can't even water it) today we got back to work in walk!
Moo was a just a star, he has turned into Fidge and just concentrates on the session however long he's been off. We were straight back to relaxing the neck and bending, yielding, rein backing to throughness. My back, which has been a bit dodgy lately, was fine so maybe I just need to ride more, great.
Been thinking lots about Chapiro and I'll try and convey my thoughts tomorrow but he was a good lad too and willing as always.

stum or mum?

2011-05-29T22:16:00.000+02:00

Well today is Mother's day here in France and it's been a lovely weekend, friends, food, wine (possibly too much) and gorgeous weather. The hay was cut, baled and barned. Lydia rode Chapiro and he was very good, a little jumpy to begin with but he settled well. Rain is forecast tomorrow, much needed and hope it doesn't pass us by again.
For the first time ever I was told to keep stum today! I am rarely controversial on forums but when I see someone pushing their horse beyond it's capabilities and being praised by others it pains me and I'm fed up with being quiet. Laugh was on me though, not allowed to tell the truth and my post was removed. Thank goodness on Heather's forum we can speak our minds and give horses a voice.

2011-05-25T08:44:00.000+02:00

More of the same with Chapiro doing liberty, bit of bareback/cordeo work, walking out in-hand (whilst working on our S-I and travers on our hills) and generally just getting the little man to chill. Finally he seems to be lots more relaxed and so the last couple of days we've put on the tack, obviously the bitless arrangement still and worked in-hand and yesterday I rode in tack.

A little vid of the in-hand just to show how difficult he finds stepping under, he's really getting this now and compared to earlier in the year it's hugely improved but still has a long way to go. I think taking it slowly has been the only way not to end up with a horse screwed up either mentally, physically or both this (imho) is why so many poor horses have problems because their physical strengths/weaknesses are totally ignored in the early stages.

Don't look at me in the ridden work sack of spuds comes to mind but I'm SO pleased that my little 'hos can move about with no more than a voice cue to stop and go and can listen to weight and rein aids but still remain relaxed. Most folks will think I'm mad to be holding back this long but I reckon this summer he'll go from strength to strength.

The trannies are a bit abrupt but this is the first time ever I've ridden them from just voice cues, he's wobbly in the turns but not resistant at all and the big test??? I just didn't want to get off! I did but only to lead him down the track and then ride home. It's put u back where we were when I stopped riding last autumn but this time it's all feeling much better. Onwards and upwards then.

oh YES

2011-05-20T13:19:00.000+02:00

We have go and stop! The last few days I've been taking Chapiro down the track and stopping in the shade to chill and then continuing in shoulder-in/travers for a few steps and then halting, backing etc, generally high reinforcement CT tasks. He has responded really well and today I took him down to the school and used the same exercises, asking him to keep it very slow and relaxed throughout (by having lots of breaks and praise). It was a real breakthrough session and so I hopped on bareback for a few minutes and hey presto he was very forwards but with the ability to stop on voice this time, very happy with that. Went on to lunge a little stretchy trot and then walked up the lane to the neighbours, again with much stopping and chilling.

Moralejo had a little free jumping session this morning and incredibly my heffalump can actually get all four feet off the ground at the same time, he even made a pretty good shape a couple of time **shock** it does help free him behind.

Yesterday we had a lovely ridden session and he was able to maintain the stretch in trot with much less support than usual, we then had a lovely walk down the tracks on the buckle.

patter of tiny feet

2011-05-17T21:43:00.000+02:00

Well that was my initial thought, that Lydia was up and about at around midnight last night! Ahem no it was ouside and hardly tiny feet but 12 hooves as the three boys came to a halt from galop outside the front door! The boys have not escaped since living here but last night I stupidly forgot to close the gate on the other side of the paddock and by midnight it seems they'd had enough of the gypsy life and came to ask me to sort them out. They were quickly restored to the paddock (thank goodness for an illuminating moon) after being checked over (not one scratch, just Moo and Chaps rather puffed out!).

So this morning we had fairly quiet sessions so that I could check for any stiffness, particularly in Moo.
Chapsi and I did our regular walk down the track, worked on shoulder-in and rein back as he seems much less stressed about leaving the others when he has a job to do. We were out for about 30 minutes and he wasn't really stressed at all.

Moo had a stretchy lunge and he did start off a little stiffly but was fine after some gentle trot work, finished with some in-hand work by which time it was very warm, going to have to start working them even earlier to avoid flies.

2011-05-15T21:33:00.000+02:00

Yesterday made me smile. Chapiro embraced forwards with gusto! I didn't have the cordeo but hopped on with nothing after some liberty work and immediately after his CT for standing well he marched off with purpose! In fact he was so forward we rather forgot stop but heck forwards is good and I'll just go back and refresh the stop....

bite my boot

2011-05-12T19:47:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I tried a more simple bridle system with Chapiro and cobbled some reins onto a noseband. We started in-hand and then I hopped on bareback. I've noticed the way he 'chews' when he is stressed on our outings and sometimes in-hand too so the noseband was the initial fact finding mission. To be perfectly honest it was no different, he wasn't particularly stressed (apart from him being a naturally stressy lad) but on occasion he yawned and chewed.

Today we trialled the cordeo and it was a lot better. I'm afraid the video is rather dull (unless you're me) as I was free shaping (in other words just sitting there and waiting for something to happen) and in a 20 minute session he didn't do lots! LOL. I was very pleased with how relaxed he was and we did get some forward steps and I got to watch the golden orioles flying so it wasn't all bad! In fact it was rather good and I am now thinking this would be the best place to start. I know we can walk, trot and canter, we've got that T-shirt so it's a case of having the total relaxation and building from there. We'll see how it goes.

Moo had a good lunge session today and he's looking rather well.

2011-05-10T14:18:00.000+02:00

It's been a bit quiet on this here blog, not because I haven't been working with the boys but because I have family (or rather OH's family!!!) here and internet time is rationed or impossible!

Moo is great at the minute, there's vid below of us bumbling about in the school the other day and I've had a couple of good ridden sessions and some fat-busting lunge work. He is striding out on the buckle round the tracks now which is lovely, probably has a lot to do with the heat but whatever the reason it's very welcome. We've also fitted some liberty shaping CT into our days and he's getting ever more confident in offering things.

Chapiro has had a couple of lunge sessions and most days we're managing a walk up the lane or down the tracks. Today I feel was a little milestone on this front; we saddled up (I'm planning for the day that I start to ride him home) and went down the tracks, he walked off on my voice aid every time and wasn't at all 'sticky' about leaving the others. When we got a little way I did some short ground tying work and he got a juicy mini-branch out of the hedge as his treat for each click, he rather liked that game. When we got to the hay field he was still very calm and remained so as we took the track around the edge. Every time he got slightly ahead of my stride we stopped and had a scratch before setting off again. When we were nearly all the way round I turned back and retraced our steps, still calm!! Again we stopped for scratches and the odd CT and only had teeth grinding a couple of times. Before heading on the homeward track I again asked him to turn away from home a couple of times and he remained pretty calm. On the way home we used the stroking hand to ask the shoulder fore and a 'pulsing' finger for travers, both reins we got great relaxation and so we stopped for more mini-branches from the tree and ground tying before finally making it back to the yard.

I know these things don't sound much but for my fizzy, dizzy little fella it's just great and his progress is measurable; softly, softly catchy monkey!

2011-05-03T20:11:00.000+02:00

I still haven't written my plan but I have worked the boys so it's not all bad. Funnily enough it's working out that I cover at least a couple of bases during each session.

Yesterday I led Chapiro down the track and round the bottom field with a 5 minute stop for a munch part way round, he was much calmer in general and was happy to stop off into the shelter and do some leg stretches etc. We walked back past the yard and off up the lane to the neighbours and then back down to the school for a stretchy lunge. It was a definite improvement in terms of his calmness.
Today was a fatbuster day with an energetic lunge session followed by some in-hand working on the shoulder fore/in and to finish a little shaping with the CT. I'm not using CT for the energetic lunge work because it just gets too stilted.

Moo had his energetic day yesterday and then some in-hand trot work using some moving massage from my fingers and finished with some CT shaping....he's really funny doing this and it's great to see how he's getting the hang of making his own decisions and getting a reward for it.

No work for Moo today as whilst I was in the school with Chapsi the heavens opened along with a raucous storm, we are in real need of rain and Moo didn't complain at getting off the hook!

in the groove

2011-05-01T23:36:00.000+02:00

Good week end with more lovely spring weather.
Saturday Lydia videoed Moo and I doing an Interdressage horsemanship test, I hadn't really planned on doing it but as part of my 'planning' theme at the moment it seemed a good way to get some feedback and perhaps push me to do something I wouldn't otherwise do. I was badly prepared (oops) but Moo tried his heart out even if I couldn't quite get my act together! It wasn't a total disaster but perhaps the judge was being kind because I know we could have done better. Really looking forward to reading my score sheet to see if I agree with the judge ;))

Today I spent some time with Chapsi at liberty, he decided we'd work on head down, so we did and then we spent time on neck flexion (again his idea) I'm not sure I got it attached to a cue like the head down but he seemed happy.

Then I popped the headcollar on and worked in hand. As I mentioned the other day I'm really trying to keep him out of my space when leading and at liberty so I was CT'ing for walk on and halt when keeping a good space between us and again he was obliging. Then on to a little shoulder fore which he seems 'excited' about (not in a good way though), he rushes off at a brisk walk and then we encounter the other 'to work on' problem of keeping him with me. To cut a long thought process short (thank goodness they cry) I have decided to change the physical cue. Currently my aid is to draw my lead hand towards me a little (just a thought of a feel really) and then connect with my other hand on his inside shoulder which brings the shoulder in whilst keeping the movement forward down the track. Today instead of a constant touch at the shoulder I found that a more lightly stroking hand wound him up less. I'll have to see if it was a fluke or if he really does prefer this new aid.

We finished with some trot work on the lunge and then walked up the lane past the house and up to the neighbours, he was very calm and behaved perfectly.

Moo was just fab with some slowing of the walk and lateral work, finished after 30 mins and went down the tracks in the evening sunshine, managed to avoid any jogging by slowing the trot on the steep parts of the hill, great end to the week end.

back on track

2011-04-30T00:04:00.000+02:00

Both worked today! I decided to combine things so that my basic plan of fitting certain things into each week will work, perhaps!

Chapiro and I walked down the track to the bottom field and the field shelter, where we stopped for a good ten minutes and worked on some neck massage into head down, walk on, back etc with the lead resting on his neck. He was pretty settled and I felt he was happy enough to stay with me. I did spoil it (doh) by asking him to go round the bottom track which takes him further away from home and he was getting quite stressy so we turned for home and got the calmness back. I will be interested to see how this improves.

Moo had a very chilled ridden session in the school, slightly sticky when we turned down the track afterwards but he walked happily on a long rein (even past the five nosey cows who were standing not a foot from the fence line) and only tried to jog a couple of times.

Good day all round.

best laid and all that

2011-04-28T22:57:00.000+02:00

That's the things with plans, they go awry! Plan today was to have time for both but Chapsi had a swollen fly bite between his thighs (think golf ball) and it seemed unfair to do anything too energetic so we just had a groom and massage/stretch.

Moo had an energetic session (mmm well an expanding waistline requires a little work) and we had some relaxed trot work, canter transitions starting on the lunge and then free. He was a good lad.

Cacahuète had his second session (just on the yard) of clicker with me and he is one cutey, he's catching on quickly.

Chapiro plan

2011-04-27T22:27:00.000+02:00

I had a brainwave today, only one mind! I was near to the camera so I spoke my thoughts directly to the camera so I didn't forget them. I'm now thinking this could be a great 'cheat' for blogging as it saves lots of typing, lol.

Following the theme of planning I need to find a viable way forward with Chapiro. I've been having fun playing and delving more into clicker training and learning behaviour but I do need to focus somewhere with all this as I really just want to ride and work with a balanced, relaxed horse who is as happy as can be expected to have a human balancing on his back.

I want to take him out on the tracks or lane at least once a week to improve his confidence. I want to keep going with the liberty work with free shaping being a big part of that, however I will intersperse that with some attached in-hand work to help with his straightness and gymnastic work. He loves pole work and a little free jumping will help him build up his rear end strength and flexibility, perhaps once a week for that and of course ridden work of basic circles, rein changes and transitions.

Oh dear, I forgot there were only 7 days in a week!!!

I'll flesh this plan out more as I go on but here's a fairly dull, if self explanatory, video of today.

Plan

2011-04-26T21:44:00.000+02:00

I think I need one. So I will take each of the boys and endeavour to create a path that we might tread together.
I will start with Moralejo.
I feel that I have a good relationship with Moo but he's still a little shy and not able to express himself well. This manifests itself as a 'sharpness' and a tendency to spill over all the time. He is embarassed by silence and stillness, trying always to fill it with his excess energy. We've learned to channel that energy but I really want him to find a place where he can be comfortable with us doing nothing.

I've been playing with some free shaping clicker work and he's responded well when we're on the yard but in the school he tends to panic or lose interest. So part of every week's routine will be a free shaping session in the school when Moo can decide what we do. Free shaping is hard for a control freak like me so I feel one day a week is a good goal to begin with.

During the summer months I'd like to get out once a week for a hack with Lydia and after work in the school I want to be able to wander down the track and around the fields on a long rein to cool off. This is directly linked to his confidence/shyness because if he panics it goes pear shaped, so I want to be able to have a plan (other than always having the pony with us and then he's fine) that gets us through the sticky moments.

I love the liberty work but due to his lack of confidence he sometimes needs to be attached in a physical sense so, aside from the free shaping session, if I work from the ground it will start attached only moving on to liberty if the rest of the session has been good. The ultimate aim would be to do all the groundwork at liberty but I'm not sure we have enough years left for that.

It's slowly dawning on me that my 'dressage' in the school has become less important. The fundamental gymnastic training will always be important but the way I want to achieve it is changing. My next task will be to identify where I'm going with the gymnastic work but I'll leave that for now as I'm running out of time.

I'll leave this for now, It's a basic outline and I'll be back to put some meat on the bones shortly.

where does it go?

2011-04-25T22:12:00.000+02:00

'It' being time.
Last two weeks it's been school holidays and with fantastic weather it's been great to give the boys a proper bath. This month it's Moo's turn to star in an Interdressage competition and even though I messed up with the video (pressed some button that made it horribly grainy) the organiser is happy to accept the entry.

So it's been a quiet few weeks for me and the boys, Lydia has ridden Moo a couple of times (he is so careful with her) and we've had some fruitful liberty and in-hand sessions. I've been keeping up their massage and body work which seems to be keeping them in good shape and we've been trying some free shaping with the clicker which is really connecting Moo with me.
Tomorrow it's back to school and normal service will resume! Hopefully.

at liberty

2011-04-01T09:49:00.000+02:00

As promised some actual work rather than mushy stuff!

I think the captions explain but it's basic clicker training liberty work with Moo, it's taken quite a long time for him to really trust and engage in the liberty work but I'm pleased he's finally come this far.

honesty in training

2011-03-30T14:39:00.000+02:00

It dawned on me recently that I've not always been perfectly honest in my training. Not that I've lied specifically but more I suppose that I've not actually asked myself any of the difficult questions that should have been asked. I've lied through ignorance let's say.

If our horses mirror us then we need to be honest with ourselves before we can expect them to be honest in return. Our horses don't lie, they can't, they reflect their training, they reflect us, that's all.

I like this quote from Sara Paddison <You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness >

So I'm seeking forgiveness and telling the truth and my horses seem to be happy with that.

I've always been amazed by horses, the fact that they tolerate all the things we do with/to them is indeed amazing. As so often before I'm on a new learning curve. This one is sharp, so sharp that I feel in danger of sliding down to the bottom at any moment. Even trying to put this into words feels somewhat dangerous. It's as if I'm teetering on the brink of something fantastic, just a few more steps and I'll be there but what if? What if, as I step into this fantastic world, I lose it all and bump back down with a thud? I think the last week I've decided either a) I won't hurt my @rse if I do end up bumping down to the beginning again so I could dust it off and start again and that, more probably b) the fantastic world ahead is just another step in the right direction, it isn't that nirvana is only a breathe away, lol.

Bearing all this in mind I'm trying to let go in my training, less control (which for a self confessed control freak is a big deal) and more partnership with the boys. It's quite strange because the added bonus with all this is that I've seen it reflected in the relationship I have with Lydia, my daughter. When you let others have the reins (so to speak, no pun intended) and they actually follow the thought process you were having yourself it is magical and it's been quite emotional at times (lol menopause looming!!).

This isn't a sudden change as I've been headed here for some time but this does very much feel like a big break through. The practical side of this current change of heart/mind is that I feel a huge release from the ball breaking job of parameter setting! I am still headed in the general direction of gymnastic training, I truly believe that this is the only method that will nurse Moo into old age without further ceasing up. The way I achieve that gymnastic training will evolve (well I'm hoping so, it already has started to) and I'm going to chart the progress, even if I hate writing it up in such a methodical manner I think it is the only way I won't get lost.

At the moment we are still laying down the foundations, not so much so with Chapsi but with Moo it's very slow but that doesn't bother me too much because his needs are different; he needs to be 'released' which Chapiro already understands. Moo is releasing me too because he is so sensitive I have to let go even more with him, learn to trust him.

I'll write up the last week's work (it's not terribly exciting) when I can find time but this gut spilling has been cathartic.

Just to finish I want to reproduce a verse from Charlie Winston's Boxes which I like because it puts me in mind of where I am, analysing every little thing but I believe that through this comes a place where I can step outside the box again!

As a child with ocean eyes I smiled

At a world existing just for me

Without boxes, borders or boundaries,

I built dreams but like plastic building blocks

They were knocked down to the ground

I grew up to a world of compromise

Analysing what it means to dream

I don't really want to understand everything in my world

It spoils the fun for me.

winter hols

2011-02-27T21:48:00.000+01:00

School holidays have been on us for two weeks now and tomorrow it's back to work, thank goodness says Cacahuète, as this means a quieter time for him!
The weather has generally been OK for pony fun and we've managed to school, jump or 'play' in the school most days with him but the ground has been a bit too wet for galops around the fields, oh well spring is surely around the corner. Today he was brushed and plaited before doing a little in-hand work, I'm quite proud to say that mini-me seems to be picking up the knack of flexing and bending.

easing the boredom on a wet day

2011-02-19T22:47:00.000+01:00

on board

2010-12-29T22:25:00.001+01:00

Today was warm and I couldn't resist a little sit on after a lunge. It felt so nice to be back on board and he was pretty chilled, finished with a short trot (a bit rushed ).

To work on...strengthen with some more lunge/in hand and light ridden work so that I can push the nose out a bit in the stretching down work. Promise I won't be boring with vids every time it's just good to capture this new beginning.

Moralejo works too

2010-12-28T20:42:00.000+01:00

Now for Moo's turn
I was more than slightly worried about turning him out for a few months with no work, no massage or general pampering well I needn't have worried as I don't think it's done him any harm at all. He hasn't really lost much weight (in spite of the lack of growing grass and just a small hay/lucerne nut ration) but his gut is less erm beer belly and more recently given birth belly so not too awful.

He is a 'square' type, more baroque than elegant and has a bit of a dippy back and is slightly croup high. He is less wonky than he was last year and today after doing his stretches I felt he was really a lot more even than this time last year

All we want for Moo is too keep him as fit and well as possible, join that big @rse to his front end and so build a decent back....anything else will be a bonus.

Here he was yesterday, titles say it all. Oh and sound still on as I had a COMPLAINT about the music well it was pretty dire; how do you get decent music to put on youtube vids??

At last some 'horse' to talk

2010-12-28T08:49:00.000+01:00

Yesterday went from good to better the boys came onto the yard in the afternoon and were de-rugged (pone isn't rugged), it wasn't a more a in Chapsi's case and Moo, well let's say he's lost a few kilos but not necessarily in the right places .
They all had a good groom and Lydia took Cacahuète in the school for some liberty and in-hand play whilst I tried to ignore my two who were bleating after him, a little herd bound after a few months of being inseparable Anyway I did some anti mugging CT stuff just to get started and some head down and neck massage.

I'm not sure who slept in their beds overnight but it sure as heck wasn't them it hardly looked like they'd moved which will probably be the last time they look like that. I put them out in the dark which I'm sure they appreciated (I certainly liked being up at 6.30, not) so they got plenty of time out and came in around 3ish to work.
They all worked really well for their first time in a while and the herd seemed a little more chilled when each one went down to the school OH took stills yesterday to do a conformation pull apart but he hasn't 'produced' them yet so that can wait for another day. This is a 'snap' I took while Lydia lunged today (no we don't usually lunge in bridle it was a slight mis-communication on my part).

I haven't uploaded the vid of Moo but here's Chapsi. We worked for about 15 mins after a few minutes mat work (I couldn't believe how well he remembered it) we did a little in-hand, moving shoulders and haunches and some gentle lunging. Loads to work
on but no horrid surprises either. The plan is to work him lightly a few times a week until he builds up his back (and his thighs which are weedy) and work on some hock flexing via reinback and hill work. I won't be on board again until spring I don't imagine, could be me but he seems a little bum high (could the midget be growing again??). Anyway it's nothing special just where we are on day 1.

2010-12-23T17:57:00.000+01:00

Wishing all of my friends a very Happy Christmas. I shall be starting back to blogging during the holidays and will be 'refreshing' lionhearthorses or maybe even starting anew! My boys will be wending their way into the yard after christmas, to start back to work and I shall be blogging purely on the joys of training...it is after all the 'thing' that gets me going.

snow in November

2010-11-28T22:36:00.000+01:00

It seems winter has hit early and we have already had a decent covering of snow. The boys are still out and currently none of them working as the weather seems to have been against us on all but a couple of days this month. November has always been the month I dislike most and so I doubt it's doing any harm having a quiet time and at least I have caught up with lots of non-equine chores jobs that needed doing.

This last week I started to feed and hay morning and evening and the boys have settled into a good routine, each content to take their bucket of feed in the field and with very little argy bargy during the process.

This was yesterday's ad hoc hay trip due to the snow, by evening they were happily picking grass through the snow.

Yesterday I saw a 'first' that I have read of but never seen...Manolo my neighbour's horse was eating snow! It's a fair trip down a steep hill to their water source and a good distance from their shelter and hay and presumably he thought the snow would be a short term solution. I believe a horse has to eat at least five times the volume of snow to achieve the equivalent volume of water so I do hope he took the trip to the water before too long.

november

2010-11-14T22:01:00.000+01:00

Yesterday brought a reprieve from the perma-rain! The temperatures having dropped last week I had put the boys rugs on, by friday it had climbed to 15° C at 9.30am so I derugged three sweaty neds; I truly hate rugs! Today, although it's still not cold, the rain is back with a vengeance. As well as hatred for rugs I also have hatred for November so it's unlikey they'll be working much for the time being.

Just for the record here is Moo looking, erm filthy LOL

Chapiro wanting to play with me!!

The sheltered corner at the bottom of the field

Pony's eye view of the sheltered corner!

The resting paddock that they will be able to graze when the perma-rain passes.

The paddock that we'll use for daily turnout when they start to overnight in the stables (hopefully not until after Christmas).

Cacahuète sunbathing.

the past (what to do on a rainy day)

2010-11-11T19:01:00.000+01:00

The weather has been truly miserable this last week (in fact since I promised to go over and play pones with Di!!) and so I've made chutney from my last green tomatoes, cleaned the house, raked up leaves and generally been a stepford wifey :-o

Yesterday I began to get my books in order (reading ones that is not financial ones) and amongst the horse tomes I found that I had secreted away some ancient pics of previous horses.

These shots are of Eite, my Friesian horse that I bought in 1998 as a barely touched 5 year old.
The advert in Horse and Hound had stated suitable for dressage and the guy on the 'phone failed to mention this was just a hope and not in any way reality! So off we went to see my first ever Friesian. Eite was what one could describe as an 'eyeful' of a beast. The guy selling him had never ridden him only long reined him but assured me he had been ridden out in the field by someone at some point! I have always had a rule that I never get on a horse until I've seen it ridden, well this wasn't going to happen in this instance so it was rule break or go home. Of course rules are made to be broken and I rode Eite who was greener than green but very kind and very reactive to seat and weight. The rest, as they say, is history and the big man was duly delivered to us.
Anyone that has worked with a friesian will understand that canter had it's problems that we did conquer in the end but lateral work and collected work was a joy to teach him. During this period I was competing and also had a huge moving Gelderlander and an lighter framed WB but Eite had a lightness that was more like my current Spanish boys and a desire to work with me that was so different to anything I had experienced before. The photos were taken not long before I sold him, I was 6 months pregnant with Lydia and had to downsize the herd. He is the one horse I really wish I hadn't sold, especially now with all the bitless and liberty work I've learned but I think Patrick may notice if I tried to sneak a big black beasty onto the premises :)

ducking out

2010-11-08T21:46:00.000+01:00

Sunday's jumping lesson with Lydia and Cacahuète heralded a real breakthrough. We've been working on little grids with poles and very small jumps. The pone when too tired or lacking in sufficient confidence to actually jump will usually just stop dead in front of the fence. This week, however, he produced a magnificent duck at the last minute and ditched Lydia out of the side door. Wow I was so proud of that pony, he had the energy to actually duck and run when he thought he couldn't make it! I was very proud too of Lydia who just climbed back on and rode straight at the fence with none of her confidence dented and in a much better rhythm he managed the 50cm easily, LOL. The thought often crosses my mind that I should spoil her with a 'proper' pony but I think Cacahuète still has a thing or two to teach her.

Here's Moo at the weekend working on softness in the reinback, he's getting there but boy is he filthy. It's cold and wet today so they're all rugged up which frustrates me but the pone's too old to be getting cold and wet.

struggling

2010-11-03T21:50:00.000+01:00

It's quite strange but I'm struggling to blog! Since being inspired by Claire to start blogging I've really enjoyed it but just lately it's been a bit of a chore. Di asked was I too busy to do the boys but no they've been working away well and making good progress, especially Moo. They are living out still with no rugs and as yet no need for hay, they have gorgeous fluffy coats and as long as I don't work them too late it doesn't matter that they get a little hot and sweaty. So on the horse front it couldn't be better.

On the renovation front we have practically finished indoors, how good it feels to have a home again you can only guess but it is making a big difference to all of us to be free of builders dust.

It's been toussaint holidays here and it's been great to get out with the family and enjoy the mild autumn weather, duck feeding at Brantôme is so good for the soul!

So I think it's just a phase, I will be back blogging regularly soon but maybe I'll get my arse into gear and write some stuff in my other place.

raaaaaarrrrrrr

2010-10-29T21:57:00.001+02:00

I'm cross. Bloody cross. I thought I was good at looking away, not seeing the difficult stuff but no I'm afraid that seeing a lion and tiger sat in the back of a caged lorry, paraded around our village to advertise the travelling circus made me see crimson. I just felt the bile rise. These wonderful creatures just deserve so much better. France is my adopted home but sometimes.....

http://www.code-animal.com/sinformer/cirque.htm
http://www.spa.asso.fr/174-contre-le-cirque.htm

2010-10-27T23:05:00.000+02:00

What a glorious day, bright and sunny from the outset and full of feel good factor. Lydia played jumping and Cacahuète played alongwell. Moo had a fab ridden session in the school and then we went for a rather excited gallop up the hill :)
Sadly my French cooking course scheduled for Friday has been cancelled due to lack of participants, I guess it's another casualty of la crise.

warm

2010-10-26T09:16:00.000+02:00

Not the weather but the need to keep warm, the cold wind sucked all the breath out of me yesterday but by late afternoon I succumbed to the sunshine and got the boys in for some work. Moo is doing some sterling work and seems in rude health and even Lydia couldn't resist a zip around the place with Cacahuète to keep them both warm.
Patrick carved Jack and so now we can keep warm by eating pumkin soup.....yum.

all that jazz

2010-10-21T22:29:00.000+02:00

Mr Frost finally made his appearance but the ensuing sun earned him instant forgiveness!
Moo started in hand, working on the travers/half pass with some good results. Lots of rein back and transitions on the lunge to finish.
Chapsi walked out inhand for the second time this week and we went just a little further into unknown territory, he behaved perfectly and I shall be doing more of this over the winter, combined with some fittening lunge work and the occasional sit on to monitor progress.
I finished the day with a jazz dance class, I think I may have come home with the wrong legs! Great way to exercise and will be going again if I can find my legs!

bright

2010-10-20T22:45:00.000+02:00

One of those bright crisp autumn afternoons found the boys loitering in the field shelter (I finally relented and let them in) away from the flies. They all seem so content right now, me too!

I worked Moo in the school, concentrating on lateral work; it's time to get picky! The shoulder-in is pretty OK on both reins now but the travers is better on the right rein than the left, no big surprise as moving from the left leg is our bête noire. Played with moving between SI/travers/renvers and finally some half pass exercises before moving on to trot. Finished with some half step work again; this will be a long journey for Moo as he is so fearful of getting new things wrong and tension abounds. We finished off with a walk down to the bottom field and for the first time we took the direct descent, blimey that is steep but he coped and then tried to wizz home when we came back up; kept him calm and we just walked.

nippy

2010-10-18T19:56:00.000+02:00

The promised overnight frost didn't happen but nonetheless it was a nippy day. No work for the boys today as Di and I were keeping warm and dosing up on the caffeine....we talked plenty about my pet subject in horse training of FORWARDS and I'll probably pen some thoughts on the subject either here or my other place. Keep warm all.

autumn rolls in

2010-10-17T22:06:00.000+02:00

It's turned decidedly autumnal this weekend and with the impending overnight frost in mind I gathered up the remaining tomatoes, peppers etc from the veggie plot; I also dug up the lemongrass which I've divided for friends and will keep warm over winter so we can replant nexy year when it warms up.

As so often I have lots of training thoughts in my head but I'm enjoying playing ponies too much to find time to commit to words. Both Moo and Chaps worked hard inhand, lunging, jumping over the weekend (in spite of the stiff breeze and hunter's horns) and I'll write it up tomorrow if I can(only so that I have a record for me).

I set up a diddy grid for Lydia to jump today and Cacahuète excelled himself, now remember he ain't no jumping pony but he managed a raised trot pole to a bounce cross pole and then a canter stride to a little upright...boy did she have a smile on her face and he had a certain 'swagger' to him....

Playtime

2010-10-14T20:50:00.000+02:00

It's still dry and sunny, cooler but that's fine as there are less flies. Yesterday Lydia and her mate had me messing about with the pone and we played all sorts of games; felt like I was a kid again and we had great fun. Cacahuète is an absolute angel and behaved perfectly for the girls, this prolonged period of being out in the field has really helped his COPD and I've never seen him so fit.
Today Chapsi and I got to play, a little in hand then lunging and then wheeeeeeeeeeeee jumping! He seems to love it and I put the jump up to nearly a metre and he just kept going....his confidence astounds me, even when he rattles them he comes back for more.

back on

2010-10-12T23:21:00.000+02:00

It was wonderful to work the boys in today's glorious sunshine. Good liberty/lunge with Chapsi and then down to the bottom field with Moo where we practised our lateral work along 100m or so of straight-ish fence line. Leg yielding uphill is a great exercise as is leg yielding to the fence (with a little bend) and then 1/4 pirouette away from the fence, then continue leg yield and then again 1/4 pirouette and so on and so on. Great 30 mins after no riding for what seems ages; bloody cold (if I was a bloke it would be flu!!) thank goodness it's on it's way out, onwards and upwards.

friday night fajitas

2010-10-08T23:47:00.000+02:00

As part of my quest to be a more perfect mother I made fajitas tonight, we still have an abundance of coriander growing in the garden and a few mexican herbs thrown in with the chicken and veg makes an easy, healthy (yet amazingly child friendly) friday supper. Having enjoyed a good balade with the club tonight Lydia is now set for tomorrow evening's pizza and bowling session to celebrate her buddies birthday; we shall eat scallops and no doubt sup a drop!
Had a good lunge in-hand session with Moo today, the rein back to canter makes me want to cry (good tears LOL) when I think how awful a simple trot/canter transition was a few months ago. More work on shortening the trot into half steps; he's such a trier these days.
Chapiro had his first proper massge and stretch session, not sure what he made of it but he coped well. Followed this with some flexion work which he's starting to respond well to.

wheeeee

2010-10-07T22:39:00.000+02:00

Another glorious day and I took the oportunity to ride Moo in between touching up the paintwork and vitrifying :(
I started with some stretching and then on to lateral walk in work (shoulder-in to counter shoulder-in, travers to renvers) on a square. Then on to the slow trot work, again working some lateral work (shoulder-in/travers on the circle) before allowing the trot a little more through. To finish I shortened the trot and rode lots of transitions (rein back to trot, trot to halt etc) and then just the teeniest bit of work towards half steps, he tends to tense but then anything new has that effect, hopefully he'll relax when he gets the hang. Finished with a stretchy walk down the hill and a rather whizzy canter up the field...wheeeee.

Chapsi got the hang of the double mats straight away today and so I gradually moved them so that they were touching and he had to make an effort to step under with his hinds. I won't push any more until this becomes easy for him, it made me realise how easy it would be to teach straight halts with two mats though :) finished with a little lunge.

autumn

2010-10-06T15:41:00.001+02:00

Well yesterday the rain had subsided and at times chinks of blue were letting the sun through but still pretty windy; that’s autumn I guess. The veg patch is slowing up and only a few tomatoes still ripening, still have peppers to harvest but they are slowing down and the chillies are still managing to ripen. Sadly my aubergines are plentiful but very late and I doubt they’ll make full size unless this warm period keeps going. The lemon grass, coriander and basil have done very well and will be a definite for next year.

Thanks to Di tempting me with videos of liberty work I decided to have a liberty day with Chapsi. I noticed in one of the videos how when using a pedestal to stand the horse on became like the exercise ‘goat on a mountain top’ which has been very beneficial to Moo. Basically by asking a horse to stand all four feet close together you get an incredible stretch over the back whilst maintaining the connection of the hinds underneath the stomach.

So to begin with I thought I’d try just getting him to stand with his back feet on a mat rather than his fronts, LOL, no way was he going to halt with his hinds on there, in fact he was actively avoiding even treading on it with them by swinging his 1/4’s. Plan B, I placed two poles parallel to each other the width of the mat apart, the poles kept him straight and by asking for the walk on with one foot at a time I managed to get him to stand with his back feet (sometimes only one) on the mat. Finally I added a second mat so that he could comfortably stand with all four feet on mats, this we conquered and all in a very calm manner, the aim being ultimately to get him to stand with all four on ONE mat! We’ll see.

After the mat work I did some liberty lunging and then some lunging from the cordeo, his left rein is very tight to stretch and we’ve been working lots on this in our flexion work and I tried to follow this through into the lunge work. This is obviously a natural one sidedness and is something I want to address off rather than on-board, I think with a bit he would be more compelled to release to the left, not because it is a tension in his mouth/jaw it is, as so often, tightness in his neck but perhaps the bit would be less easy to ignore than the bitless? However the bitless flexion option should hopefully have less side effects, that’s my hope.

Moo was ridden in the school and we had some great moments in the trot using the system of slowing it right down, he feels much stronger now and in the rein back to trot transitions he was really together and up through them. We cooled off with a lovely stretchy walk down the track to the big field, he let me know he was up for canter but I asked him to stride out in the walk instead which he accepted with good grace.

No riding today as I’m coming down with a wretched cold, no big deal and hopefully gone in a day or so but I really don’t have any energy to work the boys. They are however in the stables, away from the flies and the gorgeous sunshine, think I’ll get a book and sit in the garden.

rain and brownie points

2010-10-04T20:39:00.000+02:00

Finally some rain after a cracking storm (hardly surprising after the warm week-end temperatures). I left the boys out as it was pretty 'fly free' in the rain, they repaid my kindness with multiple rolling; luckily I had shelved all plans to work! I directed my intentions instead on gaining some brownie points from himself and applied vitrifier to the new chestnut floor and rubbed down and stained some doors!

Hope I'll be back to work tomorrow as I'm working on flexions with Chapiro and it's just getting interesting, mind you the odd day to think things over isn't a bad thing for either of us...it's just whole weeks at a time I get twitchy over!

warm n' windy

2010-10-03T23:12:00.000+02:00

An unseaonably warm (24 degrees!) but windy day today. This morning I spent some time teaching Lydia the finer points of French equitation (allegedly) because she is constantly being 'nagged' at the club about how she rides (of course being biased I think she's brill); after team silver in the dressage (at the WEG in Kentucky) and tonight's gold in eventing I can safely say that British equestrianism ain't that bad Mme Monitrice!!! Well we did a little turning with the nails skywards and the inside rein opening and a few slight adjustments to her leaning back (mmm, that may get her in more hot water as they lean back a lot here) and she made a good little picture by the end of 30 minutes. To be honest I hate to teach her, I'm fully aware that I obsess about position and I want her to have fun not be a dressage queen.
Chapiro and Moo both worked well in hand and gave me a lovely sunday feel.

fun

2010-09-30T22:16:00.000+02:00

Fun day today with both boys lunging over jumps (well that IS stretching it slightly as my 3m rustic poles on top of the mounting step or a big bucket hardly rate as proper jumps) but the boys don't seem to care. We started with poles, then X-poles and then little jumps of about 60cm with a stride between them. Once Chapsi got the idea he was really keen and even pulled over to take the jumps when we were lunging on a circle, bless his cottons. Moo is slightly more reluctant but once suitably encouraged with some click/treats he was flying. Chapsi was shattered after we finished and was soundly dossing in his box as soon as we got back, Moo on the other hand had bags of energy left so we worked on lots of canter transitions which seemed much improved; perhaps as a result of the jumping.

stretch

2010-09-29T23:21:00.000+02:00

Another sunny autumn day had the darned bot flies out in force; Chapsi has BIG problems with them and whilst I was poo-picking he had a massive tantrum and high tailed it round the field for ten minutes! It's pointless trying to catch him when this happens as he is so unconcerned for his own safety that it is pretty dangerous. Eventually he came to me for help and in trying to swot the damn thing for him he caught my hand with his hoof while trying to do the same! No lasting damage but I got him up to the stables pretty pronto for a shower off and a snooze; didn't work him as he had already had plenty and in case we found more bots.
Moo on the other hand doesn't care about the flies, good job as he's a bit of a magnet for them. I had a good session with Moo, after starting in the same 'up' slow trot as yesterday I then let the reins out and sat it out :-o lots of turning, circles, rein changes etc resulted in a quite stretchy trot, still fast and at times unbalanced but I gritted my teeth and stuck with it for 25 mins; boy do my legs ache tonight! He is so wide that sitting for so long in a fast trot is a real killer BUT I think this is my way forward. To finish we went for more canters down the field and this time I came up the steepest part and he flew and that's after an hour in the school!

2010-09-28T22:59:00.000+02:00

This afternoon I started with Chapsi in-hand, some flexion and head down and then into the walk on. I don't want him sniffing sand but just enough to relax his neck and stretch over his back; he's getting the hang of it and it's transferring to the ridden work now. Today I picked up the schooling whip once on board as I've been working on desensitizing him on the ground with it; he didn't take any notice even when I changed hands and it's not even a riding whip but a pretty long in-hand one, so I was pretty pleased with that. Lots of transitions and working on the forwards energy, as you could see from his spook he isn't that energetic about things and I feel the Iberian in him is hiding for now!!!

Moralejo worked on slow, slow, slow in the trot and lots of rein back. This is by no means collection work, purely slowing the trot and keeping him off my hands so that at SOME point, if we keep progressing, we will be able to develop the trot into something worthwhile. I have to say it's not always easy to keep patient through this work as it isn't consistent as yet but he just feels so much better. There's a tiny bit of vid here and for comparison here is an old vid (for my reference) of a broken pone earlier in the year. After 30 mins school work we went down the field and cantered up the field a couple of times :-) both canter leads felt strong and we both enjoyed the feeling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKkGLTkj5SM

Spooks

2010-09-27T21:53:00.002+02:00

My fave TV show is on tonight and a cute one from Chapsi today! I had long reins chilling after work and the tarp blew off the leveller (it was quite breezy this afternoon) I was pleased he settled back straight away.

missing

2010-09-26T21:04:00.000+02:00

Chatting today with Di I realised how much I miss having a trainer. It's not that there are no trainers in our parts, there are plenty but it's having a trainer that one trusts and those are as rare as hen's teeth! I can quite ably 'help myself' with video but it's not in the present, the here and now, so it takes longer to adjust the picture and get results. I guess it's pointless to wish for what you can't have so I'll just carry on the best I can and enjoy the process but one little wish surely wouldn't hurt?

whose turn to buy the sweets

2010-09-25T11:53:00.002+02:00

Well it was Lydia's turn last night! In the UK we bought cake if we tumbled, here it's sweets and last night Lydia took Haribo as she had been 'flung' by Darcos the week before; no lasting damage.
Yesterday the boys both worked in-hand and on the lunge, good work from both. I need to work Chapsi a little harder now, in our ridden sessions he's quite tired by the end of the trot work so perhaps a more serious lunge programme will now be in order if we ever going to ride the canter in the school and not just on the track. He really has a lovely balanced canter (so different to Moo) it's lacking a little 'jump' but it's a great canter to start from.
Moo is almost there (as in like a baby 'there') on the lunge, lots of canter trans and rein back/giravolta in between, he is still mega on the forehand in the canter but at least he can now maintain it; I'm so looking forward to being able to work 'within' the canter as I'm sure that will help.
Off to Limoges later to buy some winter gear for the pone and Lydia and I...the debit card is already trembling.

Tootsies

2010-09-23T20:40:00.001+02:00

Gareth came today to trim the boys and it was good news all round! Cacahuète and Chapiro have always been fine but Moo has proved more tricky, he has taken a while to thicken his soles. Well it would seem that the hacking and consistent work are paying off because Gareth was very pleased with his progress. I'm such a numpty that I didn't take before pics so you'll have to take my word for it but they have changed lots. Today Patrick had a quick lesson on a maintenance file so that we can keep Moo even better between trims.
After lunch I rode Moo and Chapsi, both went well but Moo just feels so much stronger and able to carry himself in the trot work (of which we did a good 20 mins). After schooling I took Moo down the track to have a canter up the field and again he felt strong over his back and was not leaning on the rein, about the best canter I've had from him in a long time.

2010-09-22T21:45:00.000+02:00

Only had a short session with the boys this morning but pretty satisfactory with both. It is wonderful having both to work with now and the ideas seep between the two (pretty helpful). Both worked in-hand and of course Chapiro had the 'over' theme of calm, part of his lack of calmness is his worry over the whip; of course I don't HAVE to use one but it is extremely useful to be able to touch the haunches in the right places when necessary so I would like him to be more accepting. He has never been hit with a whip as far as I am aware, never with us and I can't imagine his breeder having used one as he was very lightly handled and she was very gentle with him. I'm not sure but I think it's akin to his fervent hatred of flies; for one it's the noise (if it brushes against me, the sand, the saddle etc) and then it touches him in a place that is alien to where I am stood (ie his hind foot when I am at his head) he's already greatly improved but today I started with him at liberty and me sat on the mounting step. A little targeting of the whip and then some backing and walking on from aids given through the whip whilst I stayed in place on the step. Then on to some foot lifting from cues given by the whip, well we'll have to start piaffe training at some point :-) finished with giravolta and shoulder-in on the circle (after a conversation Di and I were having about the differences between the two I thought I'd work through them to highlight the difference.

Moo worked a little on spanish walk, giravolta and shoulder-in and was uber relaxed (he like many boys has his special way of showing this!) loads of long rein backs on straight and curved lines; he makes me smile.

Trims tomorrow, must remember to take pics.

flex and relax

2010-09-21T21:27:00.000+02:00

Another gorgeous day, warm and sunny (dare I mention our need for rain) and chores all out of the way by the afternoon so time for the boys again.
Chapiro has spent lots of time working at liberty but he's finding it quite hard to make the transition to 'proper' in-hand. He tends to rush and almost panic when I try and control the forehand (slow it or move it). Today I started the in-hand in a shady corner of the school and just worked on relaxing his neck at the same time as asking for inside flexion (using the inside rein with a light constant feel). Once he flexed laterally in his neck I released the feel and let him stretch down (pretty much like the bit flexions but without a bit). He responded really well so hopefully in a couple of weeks we'll have the in-hand work cracked.
Afterwards I rode him and concentrated on a relaxed neck and good transitions and started to ask a little leg yield.
Moo had a lunge session interspersed with in-hand (worked a little again on spanish walk and giravolta tied into the long rein backs) and today the canter was really free, still not perfect but progress for sure.

2010-09-20T21:10:00.000+02:00

Another cold, crisp start and a warm sunny but fly free (well almost) afternoon. I rode Chapiro in the school working on sharpening up the transitions. The downwards are actually too sharp and so we worked on smoothing them by staying in the rising trot and slowing it with the seat whilst keeping a little 'forwards' feel with the legs until a good walk transition was arrived at. To get him up and off into trot from walk more sharply I used some click/treat which always appeals to him. Some good work followed by a pootle down the track and round the bottom field. The video is from last week, just a few seconds of what's happening at the moment.

Moo and I went up through the hamlet for a hack and for the first time in a while he backed off. To be fair we met a generator running a plaster shooting nozzle wielded by a chap in full protective gear and full on NOISE! So I hopped off and led past and he was fine, got back on and no more problems even on our return when we had to come back past; of course we were headed home and he now knew it wouldn't eat him. To finish off we went down the bottom field for a nice long canter, he was very contained and stayed relaxed on a light rein :-)

Moulin de Fouilloux

2010-09-19T21:13:00.000+02:00

Another sunny autumn day to play ponies! Chapiro had great fun playing over poles and a small jump and then this afternoon Lydia and I took Cacahuète and Moo on a new hack to the Moulin de Fouilloux. It was a very quiet afternoon and we hardly saw a soul in the hour we were out; it's a lovely route (once through the scary farm yard mentioned in a previous post) through woods and up and down some decent hills, we turned back but if we'd had more time it can be done as a circular route but we may need a pique-nique for that one .

spooky

2010-09-15T22:49:00.000+02:00

Well another gorgeous day for working so taking full advantage I rode Chapsi in the school. Having levelled the school yesterday I had removed all the 'toys' so I took in the mounting stool and one mat and left it at that. We did a little in-hand to start and really concentrated on transferring the halt aid to the rein. So to begin with I raised the inside rein AND gave the verbal cue 'whoa', clicked and treated lots and then began to remove the verbal cue and work off just the physical cue. At the same time I was asking him to slow down to my pace and not keep trying to rush me with his shoulder; we need to work more on this but he's getting the hang of it.
When on board I worked large in walk for a couple of circuits on each rein, just letting him relax and stretch. Then worked on the exact same thing as we had in-hand, taking away the verbal cue from the halt; really good halts on a very light vibration on the inside rein and lots of treating! Today's problem wasn't the halt but staying halted, as soon as I went to sit up after giving the treat for halting he would be off! Now I'm not averse to forwards but as he has always been so good at standing it was a bit disconcerting. After about 4 attempts at staying halted after the treating I finally got my brain into gear...doh...everytime I sat up my seat said go (as we have been practicing, double doh to me) so off he went, LOL. Easily dealt with by verbally cuing 'stand' whilst I gently recovered my position and then asked for the walk-on. I guess next session we'll go back over this but I think he got my point.
We then worked on turning in walk and working proper baby corners; then same in trot and had some better changes of rein today. Then IT happened!!! The first spook LOL! For a sharp pony he's been lacking in spook juice and I'm happy it's been that way (my last WB baby could spook so sharply that I could be left standing in the sand with him facing the opposite way!) but today he kicked a fallen apple out of the school and it ricocheted off the bank making it zip back into the sand with venom! Well bless him he did a neat wiggle to the inside and then just carried on...oh please let all spooks be so balanced! We cooled off (well aside from a little canter) down the track and I was pretty chuffed with him today (can you tell??)
Moralejo had a good lunge session; lots of canter and long rein backs, he is slowly joining up in the middle, one day soon he will be a 'whole' horse!

same ole

2010-09-14T22:58:00.000+02:00

Moo and I took off for another wander down the track, round two different fields and then back up through the hamlet on a hack we haven't ever done before...big test for the boy and he was just brilliant for almost an hour.
Chapiro was ridden in the school where I made a smaller area (by laying out poles) in the centre. We worked on some 'proper' circle shapes, changing the rein within the circle and tried some turns on the forehand. It's very basic stuff but with a pony like a bendy bus it's got to be done and having no fence to lean on makes it even more beneficial! Then we worked large in trot and warmed up before coming back into the circle work. The trot is really getting energetic and he's pretty quick off my aids, something to work on is changing rein in trot as he gets a little wobbly through the change and stopping from a rein aid and not just my voice. There's lots of good things going on but more to work on; this has to be the best time with a baby.

happy hacker

2010-09-13T22:47:00.000+02:00

The boys have worked for the last three days; Moralejo started first on Saturday with a great in-hand/lunge session. I was really pleased that he was relaxed and free flowing after being 'left' in the field for a week. Worked on the 'big' rein back (half the length of the school each time) and it seems to really help engage himself better.

Yesterday Lydia and I took off down the chemin for some hill work, bless Moo he kept a steady canter in the lead even with Lydia whooping like a cowgirl bringing up the rear! We did three circuits of the big field, walking down and cantering up the hills and then went up through the village and hacked round the triangle route, walking down the hills and trotting up. Both Moo and Cacahuète seemed on great form and behaved impeccably. On our return I took Chapsi down to the school for some in-hand and lunging...had some lovely canter transitions and he seemed not to have suffered from the time off!

Today Chapsi was ridden, after some in-hand work with the mat, and we worked on transitions and keeping the trot more free flowing. We finished with some gate practice and wandered down the tracks and had a gentle trot back; what a wonderful lad he is maturing into. Afterwards Moo and I repeated our hill/hack of yesterday but this time of course we were alone! Remarkably he was just as relaxed on his own and didn't even raise an ear at the noisy (hidden) tractor in the woods; blimey, I even enjoyed it!!

bunkin' off

2010-09-10T15:32:00.000+02:00

Well what a lovely surprise! On the anniversary of twenty two years of wedded bliss I was given the day off! I caught the boys up and brought them in for a good groom and a lot of cuddles and scratches, couldn't resist a Lydia like leap on to Chapsi for a 'proper' cuddle....omg are horses good for the soul!!! I was then taken to St Jean de Cole for a pucker lunch and an amble around it's delightful cobbled lanes. I'm now listening to a Maroon 5 concert whilst typing this (missed it last night, thank goodness for the iplayer) and will leave shortly to take Lydia to her first 'double poney' lesson at the club, BIG PONIES Chapsi is already lost!

nearly done

2010-09-09T21:58:00.000+02:00

The painting plan is coming to an end, phew, so the boys will be back to work. I've noticed a neat idea that Kate has of keeping a work diary on her blog and I think that's something I should aspire to over the coming months. In spite of being a whinge bag about having enforced time off I'm realising that perhaps 'planned' breaks could do us all good. The big problem during winter is working in an outdoor school can lead to unplanned breaks!
It's been a lovely day and Lydia and I at least found time to wander down to the boys tonight, they seem quite happy and obviously blissfully unaware that work will shortly resume.

kick up the a*se duly administered

2010-09-08T22:32:00.000+02:00

Sorry about that, I've recovered my sense of humour and my body seems to have finally accepted that 8 hours painting per day is within tolerance. The boys are out (well they do have their shelter) in the wind/rain/sun/night/day and seem unperturbed; no doubt they'll be a tad reticent to come in when they finally do!
I'll not have anything much to report until next week but painting leaves a lot of time for thinking ;-)

whinge

2010-09-06T21:45:00.000+02:00

I hate to write pathetic, self indulgent, too tired, fed up with painting, haven't worked the boys for three days, need more sleep (did I mention tired) sorts of posts ;-)

2010-08-31T21:56:00.001+02:00

I'm too tired to coherently put any thoughts down (as always I have lots regarding where this liberty work is going) but this was our latest session a couple of days ago. Yesterday spent with old friends passing through France means that I was too spaced to work with them today, caught up with field maintenance instead.

shelter

2010-08-28T00:19:00.000+02:00

The boys had their first encounter with the new shelter yesterday....it seemed to meet with their approval.

yet MORE mat work

2010-08-27T00:02:00.000+02:00

lists

2010-08-25T21:47:00.000+02:00

This morning I lunged Moo; a little canter and lots of stretchy trot. Lots of clicks and treats and he responded very well....the hard work will help in the battle of his bulge!

Chapiro and I tried the mats again to start off and I just tidied up the earlier work so he understands that he has to have two feet fully on the mat to get the click and that he has to approach it at the speed I set rather than push through me and race to it. He was very attentive and so we took it down to taking single steps between the mats and some yielding of the shoulder when he threw his shoulder into me. If he raced ahead I asked halt and a step back which worked well. To finish (before lunging) we worked on some trot between the mats and for the first time ever in the trot liberty work he wasn't trying to get ahead of me all the time. I still don't have a plan and this is organically forming itself which I'm not entirely happy about, I think I'm supposed to have a list!

more mats

2010-08-24T23:00:00.000+02:00

A perfect morning for working the boys, not too hot and so less flies. Chapsi and I took a second mat down to the school and we played with some moving from one to the other at liberty. He was a little distracted to begin with but once he realised we had a new game he was upfor it. We did some head lowering and backing and then I got on.
Now forwards in the ridden work was initially a bit of an issue with him but we've gradually got the hang of it but the mats added a whole new dimension to forwards. The mats were placed at each end of the school (imagine a circle at each end with the mats in the center of each circle) and to begin with I just voice cued to walk to the mat, then to walk on and cued to walk to the next mat. I was absolutely amazed at his accuracy on the mats! Then we worked some figures (turns, 8's, diagonals) and stopped at the mats when it seemed appropriate. To finish we worked on trot transitions between the mats and he was very willing to go forward. A good session.

Moo was again stretchy and relaxed and we too worked with the mats (in-hand though rather than liberty) ridden we had some moments when it felt pretty good and less of the tight bits but we've still some way to go.

2010-08-23T23:01:00.000+02:00

This was George (son of Chapsi) when newly born. According to the go-between he is already over 15hh at 2yo so he'll be quite a bit bigger than mum or dad.

Today all the boys worked well, including Peanut the pocket rocket who seems to have discovered fun with Lydia.

Chapiro wore the Barefoot for the first time and it sat very well, he worked at liberty (with saddle) for some mat work and then we lunged a short while to check out the saddle before I got on. I just worked on having good transitions from the halt to walk and then asked for him to walk to the mat...WOW I couldn't believe how he upped his energy and strode over to it, he was absolutely on cue until we got almost on the mat at which point he was a little unsure (I'm usually stood at the mat with him). I cued the mat again and he caught it with one foot so clicked and then we walked off on a circle and I gave the cue again and he was much more confident this time and we had two feet on the mat. I called it a day on this positive note as I had only really got on to check the saddle, which felt great.

Moo continued in the same vein as the last few sessions and was amazingly soft and stretching, it really is a lovely feeling to be able to vibrate a rein and get a relaxed stretch. The transitions up are soft but we're working on downwards with the help of clicker and some strategically placed poles.
Silly me thought he was so chilled that we'd have a little canter...cue mega-excitement but I guess well have to work on it.

I fibbed

2010-08-21T16:56:00.000+02:00

I was going to talk more on the clicker matwork and I will but not today.

The last two days I've ridden Moo we have had some real progress and I just want to get it written up before it disappears again.
The saddle is definitely OK, it seems to suit us both and is settling in well, maybe that is the difference. Perhaps he is finally getting it too? Well whatever it is he has been really relaxed and stretching down through all the walk and trot work. The trot can get a bit excited but generally with C/T'ing the halts and downward transitions he can contain it. He also responds well to constantly saying 'good' in the way that I do just before the one that gets a click, as if he's slowing it all down ready to stop for the treat, LOL I don't care what it is but it's a great feeling and one I can work with if he keeps offering it. He has also become much freer on the left rein stepping away from my leg which is a breakthrough at last :-)
I almost daren't think it might last but inside I'm really hoping it will.
Chapsi is having a couple of free days and just getting hosed down (a miracle of C/T too!!) in the intense heat we've had. I had a call last night to say the lady that bought his 2 yo (yep do the maths) son wants to trace dad. His name is George and he is, apparently, as handsome as his dad :-)

clicker training mat work

2010-08-19T23:53:00.000+02:00

I've been putting this off for a few days but I'm just going to have to get on and write it. It was not the time for the camcorder to die on me, so I can't even back up my words with video. It's quite likely that none of this will make any sense (probably not even to me) but I feel I need to record this progress as I'm quite excited about it.

A short while ago someone on the Enlightened Equitation forum was discussing mat work for expanding the clicker training work. Apparently it is something that Alexandra Kurland (one of the top CT trainers) has introduced to her British students and so I've been giving it a go with Chapiro this last week.
The work starts with getting your horse to approach a small mat (think car floor mat). The advice was to form a funnel of cones that arrive at the mat, this way your job is slightly easier (allegedly) in the beginning stages. Typically Chapiro thought the cones were target practice on the first run and took great pleasure in obliterating my funnel. It didn't take too long for him to work out mat = lots of treats and so he was pretty obliging.
OK I wrote that a couple of days ago, before I thought of doing a short video on my stills camera. So yesterday we worked in the yard (it was persisting down) and that in itself was a challenge, LOL, he doesn't usually get to snoop around the place at liberty so his attention wasn't great. Anyway, what follows is a short, goofy video but it gives an idea of where we are and how much we have to do (lots as always). More tomorrow on how this work will progress.

trial saddle

2010-08-14T21:57:00.000+02:00

OK this will be brief but for those who wish to try out their childhood french and struggle with my grammar I'll add my report to the saddle vendor at the bottom. The Baloun dressage saddle (flexi-treed) C1 is a beautifully put together saddle. It comes in a range of traditional and more modern colour arrangements and seems aimed at the compo rider. It was very comfortable for me and Moo seemed very happy and able to move well in it. The downside I guess for me was that it was just another traditional seaddle, made for some long-legged skinny bloke or wench and hence I had lots of panel in front of my knee and not enough at the back of my thigh. It has a changeable gullit arrangement and I'm sure will appeal to a certain market but it still falls well short, for me, of the perfect saddle.

I did ride in my 'new' Barefoot today and decided I'll go stirrupless for a while (omg think yourselves lucky readers that you didn't see me mounting with no stirrups!!!) and Moo went well and it felt very good.

Chapsi is back to serious CT (I'll blog more soon) and we are having BIG fun, what a boy hehehehe.

For anyone interested the Baloun write up;

J'avais déjà dit combien j'aime la qualité. Le design ressemble beaucoup plus à une selle de dressage traditionnelle mais avec une systeme moderne d'arçon. J'ai monté mon cheval Andalou et il a aimé la selle!! Donc pour moi les points forts....

1) pèse très peu

2) le 'look' modern mais encore traditionel

3) la selle a pas bougé en montant et la même quand j'ai fait les mouvements sur deux pistes (comme épaule en dedans, travers) et quand nous avons galopé (dans la carrière et sur un chemin)

4) montage d'étrivières très facile!

5) siège bien profond pour une jambe très decendante et les panneaux (courts et souples) permettent ('panels' en anglais mais je suis pas certaine, ils sont les panneaux en francais???) les cuisses d'épouser la selle

6) siège très confortable

7) arçon très flexible/souple

8) le cheval a travaillé en tout tranquilité, tete en baisse (énchauffement) et tete en haut ( rassemblement) et avec un grand souplesse

9) la selle offre la possibilité d'utilisation sur plusieurs chevaux

les points moins forts!!

1) pas d'anneaux d'attache (difficile d'attacher le tapis de dressage mais peut-etre Baloun offre une systeme speciale comme tapis)

2) le prix! Mais pour un cavalier pro ou pro/am c'est pas trop chere parce que c'est utilisé avec tous les chevaux.

3) étrivières pas amovibles, donc pour moi (sans les jambes très longues!) c'est un peu difficile de trouver la ligne classique d'oreille/hanche/talon)

J'aime bien la selle de dressage Baloun mais pour moi la selle Lexington est plus polyvalente (bien pour les balades et pour le dressage) pour un cavalier qui fait les concours la selle Baloun est plus adaptée. Je pense que fondamentalement cette selle est conçue pour un cavalier différent que les clients de Barefoot mais je l'ai trouvé assez satisfaisant.

saddles are here

2010-08-11T21:59:00.001+02:00

Just had a time to lunge Moo before we headed off to Limoges for a shopping trip. Bought Lydia a new body protector as she has outgrown the old one; she has decided to go up to 'double' ponies in her lessons at the club....bigger jumps= Mum's nerves jangling so a new body protector was essential, LOL.
The new Barefoot arrived and looks lots better if not quite perfect! The Baloun C1 dressage saddle arrived too and can be seen here.......Baloun

A very kind friend has translated the German for me and it's a flexi tree not a tree free, I'll give it a try tomorrow but it is beautifully made (should be at that price) and much moe 'traditional' than the Barefoot. I'll keep you posted :-)

wheeeee

2010-08-10T21:43:00.000+02:00

All the boys played jumps today! Chapiro being the star. He's not going to make a GP showjumper but he impresses me with his calm approach and natural shape over 50cm hehehe; it was funny too that when we finished the liberty jumping he decided to go do one more each way of his own accord, LOL.
Moo just did bounces to get him picking up a bit better and he worked very well.
Then it was the peanut pone's turn! All I will say is my daughter has the utmost patience and the peanut ain't ever going to be a showjumper (21 years old and copd won't help either).
Good fun session.

my babes playin'

2010-08-09T23:50:00.000+02:00

waste

2010-08-08T22:26:00.000+02:00

...of a day today. Haven't had a day like that in a while; had planned to hack with Lydia this morning but she was up half the night coughing and I could barely get a response at 6.30am so thought it only fair to let her sleep. By the time we all got up and started it was too hot to work the boys so I cleaned up an old saddle I have and got it on ebay, don't hold out much hope but it's not expensive and is in good nick so maybe it will go. Groomed the boys before turnout and then had dinner followed by scrabble; some cheating tolerated as Lydia liked to pop in the odd french word.

moo, moo I love yoo

2010-08-07T14:30:00.000+02:00

He,he,he my boy was a star this morning. Can't say the same about the camcorder as it is playing up again *bangs head against wall* and so I have no record but it felt good. I took him straight into the school after I brought them in and we got into the trot work after a short stretching session. I managed to keep the trot slow but purposeful (not easy bareback) and we worked on some halt/reinback/trot transitions. Short and sweet and no soreness now so I was pretty pleased.

Yesterday I rode Chapsi bareback after some in-hand work, then Lydia was legged up and I did some more in-hand with her on board, he was a very good boy. Then Moo was ridden bareback in his rope halter by Lydia, again I did some in hand and he behaved perfectly.