lesson from that different lady

Widdlest had her very first clinic this past weekend, with Heather Mason.

My trainer suggested I do the clinic because we're really pushing to get that 70% in recognized competition, perhaps even bring it when we're at regionals!

Lots of homework for the widdlest girl & myself.

She needs more suppleness through her body, so spiral ins & spiral outs at the trot, with true bend and counter bend.

Need to influence more with the seat to get a much larger walk out of her (i knew she had more in there!).

She needs to have her nose further out in front of her in free walk & stretchie trot. She likes to duck btv.

Canter transitions: no more rushing into canter. trot must ALWAYS STAY THE SAME SPEED. No cantering if trot increases in speed AT ALL. If trot to canter cannot be maintained in a calm & organized fashion, must proceed to walk-canter transitions until the liddle horsie is reasonable, and canters off in a correct and non-resistant fashion.

If canter quickens or becomes unruly, bring to a halt and try again. If this happens a second time, halt & reinback only a few steps (depending on the level of belligerence) until desired results are achieved.

Also, true bend & counter bend in canter to create suppleness through the body.

Trot leg yields from centerline to the wall: if fussing, increase difficulty by inserting walk/trot transitions mid-leg yield; until appreciation for easier work occurs.

SO MUCH HOMEWORK. HOLY CRAP.

Heather thinks Dezi is adorable & immediately remarked that she can easily go up the levels. Also asked if I was planning on keeping her. :3 of course i am.

Inching along...

Ridiculous weather, trainer's family emergencies & mysterious equine  illnesses seem to be plaguing me during the last week or so...

I figure I shouldn't really work tori until Tilen comes back... Further discussion of this will happen tomorrow morning with the trainer...

Dezi has a mysterious lameness aka thar's prolly an abscess abrewin'! And poor City has hives on his head, chiggers all up & down his neck & mane & legs, and his sun blisters are still healing... Nnngh. I wanna get going dammit!!!

Tentatively planning on taking City to the OTTB show @ the new jersey horse park in October... Gotta at least have a respectable Training Level 3 & First 1 by then and gotta build a costume for him... HALLOWEEN COSTUME CLASS!!!!

Outside of that only other show I've got to look forward to is the SGSDS Championship show with Dezi. Hopefully we'll get to Training 2/3 by November. :3

ride 28...

I've always thought that riding should be an art that is more about the quality of the time spent in the saddle... not the quantity. Due to my work schedule, I really can only ride about 3 days a week, 4 if all the planets are in alignment. 3 days a week really worked out perfectly for Tori and her lameness issues and as it turns out 3 days works out perfectly for my 3 year old, whom has only been officially started under saddle sometime mid-April this year.

We're at our 28th ride, and in our lesson, we successfully completed Training Level - Test 1. So our 2 tests for show at present are Intro C & Training 1. Which is incredible, considering she's still not been ridden a whole 30 days yet. While, the tests aren't AMAZING, she does offer to do all the movements, she does them in a timely fashion and for the most part, she's not an asshole about it either. Plus, she's proud of herself and she's excited to do more work. which is awesome. :D

22 rides and counting!

Dezi has been absolutely wonderful. We've now worked on turning on the forehand (to establish that no matter what, she needs to move off my leg; so we don't have another tori).

All transitions are to be WITHOUT touching her mouth. (which honestly, for her, it's cake)

her canter transitions are a little rocky, but she does pick them up. and her right lead is SUPER comfy. left one is kinda "eh" but it's to be expected. its soo cool though, i had one of those epiphany things when riding the canter, realizing my reins were fairly slack, except for the play every couple strides so she understands that she can't poke her nose out ALL the time... and i was sitting up, and straight, and i was able to keep myself even on both seat bones. and i was actually able to feel how the canter goes from back to front. SO COOL.

and seriously, how many 3 yr olds can you canter around on a loose rein? xD

baby's first dressage test

I cannot hardly stand myself. The only horse I've ever bred, the 2nd horse I've ever owned, she's out of my 1st horse (who is still very alive, and finally feeling better since her recent recurrent-injury). Dezdemona is a labor of love. She's my only "child" and like all parents, you prepare as best you can, play with the hand you are dealt and move forward. I'm pretty darn okay with the hand I happened to be dealt. I have an 85% cooperative 3-year-old filly, whom I had the opportunity to help bring into the world, so she and I have bonded since she hit the ground. She's been the friendliest, most forgiving, loving horse, I've ever met and I'm so happy that she's mine.

 Our first show under saddle was extremely nerve racking for me. I didn't have enough time to lunge her (not that she really needs it, it's more of a learning/repetition tool than to get her "naughties" out), so I simply hopped on and started warming up.

All things considered, we received a 63% for Intro Level - Test A and won 2nd place. The things that need improvement...

• steadier connection in the bridle (and steering)
• listening to the aids (leg aids in particular; and creating a more forward energy, especially in walk [she felt like she was gonna stop at any moment x.x])
• better balance
• free walk (she needs to learn to stretch forward & downward and reach for the contact)

All-in-all, those things will improve anyway as she matures. (but that still won't stop me from buying a few kindle books to help me understand how to make learning easier for her ;D)