simplicity

Well I've just returned from the briefest visit to the UK; no time for visiting friends (flights didn't allow for it) and a 4.00am rise this morning to get the flight home. I feel like I'm holding my breath whilst I'm there, so much traffic and noise and too much choice of everything.....pubs, shops, hotels, magazines and anything else you can think of. I understand why lots of people who re-settled from the UK to France find it hard to adjust but I just find the quantity of everything rather baffling, lol, I guess I like things simple.
Talking of simplicity, I've been spending most of my time with Moo either walking out or in-hand/lunging in the school; working on the principle that he really needs to strengthen up before I advance the ridden work and I'm not sure my discipline skills are up to not trying too hard when on board ;-).
All of our in-hand work is done in a headcollar and lead or lunge, it's at least 6 years since I've lunged in anything else but the in-hand is a different story, I've used a bridle and worked off the bit always with this. I decided to ditch the bridle after working him in-hand in the hackamore worked so well.
OK that's the history, now to technique. Even when I plan for most of the work to be on the lunge I start with him in-hand. This is not only a barometer for me to see how he's moving but a nicely contained stretch and warm-up for him. To begin we just walk straight lines and corners, on and off the track. Then we start to bring the shoulder fore and add in a quarter turn on the forehand to change direction. Then maybe shoulder-in with some haunch and or shoulder yield. If we're lunging then we go onto transitions, spirals etc which I'll try and video as it will help me watch for any longer term improvement. If we are working in hand we may go forward to some reinback, trot, counter-shoulder fore/in and travers/half pass. The most amazing discovery for me has been the way I can influence him by the merest touch, for instance, if he brings around his head too much in the shoulder-in I can just use the tip of my fingers (at the side of his face) to realign it. If his neck looks 'held' somewhere I can use my fingers (or gently touch with the end of the whip) and he seems to react.
I used to truly believe that I couldn't work without a bit (sorry I know I labour on about this) not if I wanted to access all areas; now I wonder at what science (you KNOW I love science) I was relying on to support this? I know all about the recycling of energy from back to front and back again, I know about 'feeling' for resistances via the mouth but really and truly I wouldn't put a bit in my childs mouth (oh lord don't tempt me) to 'feel' anything and I KNOW horses ain't humans but......it's making me return to old values with new light on them. Any thoughts on this guys?

it's a long haul

Very briefly (still have house guests, sigh) but Ive been working away with Moo. He's been getting so much better in walk and trot and some really good ridden work plus the stretches are getting slightly easier for him. Rather optimistically I thought the canter may be much improved :-( not so. He is definitely still a bit uncomfortable on the left rein in canter on the lunge. I'm not too dismayed because all that I read on pelvic injuries suggests that a return to fitness, whilst possible, is a very gradual thing. Oh well, back to work and forget the canter for now; take what I have and increase his strength for the future.
I'll be back soon, liver permitting.

the main man

Why wasn't it meeee???

Oh honestly, ask the OH to take pics and he takes four!! All rubbish but heyho, I'm deleting the fourth as we're rising to the trot and it looks like I'm being kinky with the saddle awwwww!!

Actually It's rising trot in the second but he got lucky, lol. It was a great session with Moo this afternoon. I am just so content with him and he seems a very happy bunny. I can see my soft bits, arrggghh, so I'm on a diet in a weeks time (can't before as we have an aunt and uncle coming tomorrow and they will ply us with drink and food for sure).
I'm quite frustrated with my saddle, it's really comfy in walk but I swim around in trot; it fits Moo well but I'm selling my Albion (well hope to) which is also a bit too big for me and I'm planning on trying a treeless!
However, in spite of the workwoman blaming her tools, lol, I'm really pleased with the boy...just need to get myself up to speed :-(

more on the 's' word

I guess I should mention Moo, oops, I haven't forgotten him. We've been working on the norty 's' word, whether ridden, lunged, in-hand it is the buzz word. Reward him for waiting for my signals so that he gets the idea and being rather pedantic and fussy about his accuracy (eg expecting transitions on the aid not 3 strides later). His work is much improved because of this attention to detail and it reinforced my belief if one could only do all this stuff correctly at the beginning then the more tricky stuff that follows would run smoothly.
Today was half in-hand half lunge, focussing on stretching over his back and using himself properly behind. In hand we are once again working on the trot (after warming up in walk and lateral work) and today he was brill with his reinback to trot.
On to lunging and he was very calm and listened well, especially since there was a hell of a wind and Patrick was banging about at the edge of the school. A really pleasing session. Drat though, I've got leaves already raining down into the school; better find the leaf blower out of the barn.
Oh well, off to pick Missy up from school and think of another use for Di's gorgeous pumpkin; we've had soup and risotto (both delicious thanks Di) and I'm thinking I could just bake some slices with butter and black pepper. Any ideas?

Chapiro diary 3rd September 2009

Now I'm aware that just like some mother droning on about how great her kid is in class, me droning on about my midget may get a tad boring, lol. So I'll try to be brief but a) I'm excited about him and b) I really do want to keep this 'diary' to look back on and check our progress.
Today we worked in the stable again, he now stands really well for all the daily chores of grooming etc and then we tried on the hackamore; incredibly, even though Moo seems much bigger all over, it fitted pretty well. Then we moved on to direct lateral flexion with me standing by his shoulder and asking, with a light feel on the rein, for him to flex. He picked that up pretty quick and so then I did the same but asking him, with the outside rein, to flex away from me. That was a little more tricky but he picked it up well enough after a couple of goes (click/treat is the way to his brain). Then enter my big green bucket :-o  We clicked and treated for touching it, then me standing on it, then me standing on it as if to mount, same again but him standing still and finally me being very noisy and stomping on the big bucket!  Only 15 minutes but probably as much as his brain can tolerate right now.

moo and midget

OK, time for me to shut up for 5 minutes (oh that's sooo hard) here's Moralejo (today with 'bad' hair) and  Chapiro last week.

baby submission

It's been a quiet time lately with Chapiro, my midget is so frustrated by the flies that I've just been consolidating some clicker work in the stable. Today was damp and cooler, finally hooray!! So my baby (well he's 2 months off  four actually) went back to work in the school today.
It's as if there is a higher 'order' to things in a weird way, as if all the mistakes I've made with Moo  (oh and of course all the other generous equines who have suffered me) were sent especially to prepare the way for Chapiro.
In any case he has picked up all his basic ground skills really well. We started off with just standing around and doing nothing, everytime he stands calm and not mugging me he gets a click/treat to write that lesson firmly in his mind. We back up from voice, body language and/or signal and the same with walking on and stopping. Today we walked on and then onto a circle on the lunge (easy peasy on the right rein, somewhat more tricky for him on the left) and  we tried trotting on the lunge which was pretty successful for his first time.
To finish we knotted the end of the rope onto the other side of the headcollar and (he is sooo small) I can lean over with him under my armpit and ground ride him; just walk on and halt but he was really accepting.

I've been taking it very slowly with him but it will definitely pay off in the end. I do really like him now and I'm looking forward to our future.