Well I have seriously been neglecting this blog. Honestly it's because I just haven't felt like writing down how awful my rides have been and how frustrated it's been making me. Basically, Gatsby has been pretty much back to his old ways, exploding at random moments, blowing off all my aides, completely ignoring what I'm asking of him. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little but, especially after all the progress we'd been making, I was starting to feel like I was back to square 1.
Last weekend we had a less than stellar jumping lesson and I may have had a near-mental breakdown at some point. In all honesty, he could have been worse. He was still jumping well, locking on to the fences and looking for a job. However, it felt more like a jumper speed round than a relaxed, schooling stadium course. Oy vey...
Monday I took off riding because I wanted to really address where our issues were coming from and, quite honestly, I didn't even feel like riding. That has kind of been the case for the last couple weeks, I just haven't felt like it. It's depressing to get on knowing I'm going to work but tush off and have nothing to show for it. But, I know that this will pass, as similar phases have in the past, so I tried to persevere and scheduled a dressage lesson for Tuesday.
Thankfully we had an actually decent lesson on Tuesday. I'm not going to say good because I had to spend a good portion of the lesson getting him to the point where he usually starts but, we did end on a good note and we did have some really nice canter work.
Unfortunately as I was rubbing down his legs after our lesson I discovered a pretty nasty case of scratches on his hind legs. It doesn't seem to be bothering him much and his legs were still tight and cool so I just scrubbed with Betadine, wrapped and gave him a day off yesterday. When I went out last night they looked a little better and I added some anti-fungal cream, anti-bacterial cream, and diaper rash cream under his wraps. Hopefully today his legs will still be tight and cold and we can have a nice ride!
Also, I know I need to get to work on my goals seeing as we are almost half-way through June but I may have to save that for tomorrow:)
Showing posts with label canter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canter. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Down to Business
Gatsby had an unfortunately light week last week, I only got to ride twice:( So I knew he would be crazy when I went out yesterday because he had only been turned out 3 out of the last 4 days (not Sunday because it rained). However, I decided to brave the crazy and was determined to have a productive dressage ride regardless. Looking back, I think I should always get on with that mindset because we had a FANTASTIC session.
I was down to business right from the start, beginning with leg yields, shoulder in, and haunches in at the walk to get him supple and focused. When I picked up the trot I sat for a bit and really focused on my position which I think ended up helping set the tone for our whole ride. We did a few lengthenings and leg yields but I was mostly focused on keeping him supple, reaching into the contact, and listening to me!.
Our canter work is where the issues finally started to show up (I knew they would at some point). He was pretty good working on the circle with only a few spooks that were easily and quickly corrected. However, moving off of the circle was a whole 'nother story. He stayed nice and calm for all of 5 seconds and then his head shot up, his stride got choppy and before I could even correct him, he was trotting completely unorganized. NOT OKAY. My response to this was to stop him, immediately, and have him rein back until he came back to me. I know this isn't a perfect solution and I don't want him to learn rein back as a punishment but, it did work wonderfully after 2-3 times and he was much more focused and attentive to what I was asking for. We actually eventually had some really lovely canter lengthenings that I was really happy with. What I realized is that I normally ride these too much from the leg and that's why I tend to lose the connection. Yesterday, as I mentioned, I was really focused on my position and I rode the lengthenings from my seat and he stayed very relaxed and did not throw away the connection.
I ended our ride with some counter-canter work. I know this is not something he really needs to know at this time but I think it is really helpful in getting him to engage his hind end at the canter and also to keep him attentive as it really is hard work and he does need to be listening to my every cue to succeed. Our first few attempts were sloppy and he either broke to the trot or changed leads shortly after crossing the diagonal. After that though, he seemed to really "get it" and we had some really nice serpentines.
I let him finish with a nice long stretchy trot and a long walk around the property. At this point, I am thrilled with my horse and I just hope we can keep up the good work for Woodside!
I was down to business right from the start, beginning with leg yields, shoulder in, and haunches in at the walk to get him supple and focused. When I picked up the trot I sat for a bit and really focused on my position which I think ended up helping set the tone for our whole ride. We did a few lengthenings and leg yields but I was mostly focused on keeping him supple, reaching into the contact, and listening to me!.
Our canter work is where the issues finally started to show up (I knew they would at some point). He was pretty good working on the circle with only a few spooks that were easily and quickly corrected. However, moving off of the circle was a whole 'nother story. He stayed nice and calm for all of 5 seconds and then his head shot up, his stride got choppy and before I could even correct him, he was trotting completely unorganized. NOT OKAY. My response to this was to stop him, immediately, and have him rein back until he came back to me. I know this isn't a perfect solution and I don't want him to learn rein back as a punishment but, it did work wonderfully after 2-3 times and he was much more focused and attentive to what I was asking for. We actually eventually had some really lovely canter lengthenings that I was really happy with. What I realized is that I normally ride these too much from the leg and that's why I tend to lose the connection. Yesterday, as I mentioned, I was really focused on my position and I rode the lengthenings from my seat and he stayed very relaxed and did not throw away the connection.
I ended our ride with some counter-canter work. I know this is not something he really needs to know at this time but I think it is really helpful in getting him to engage his hind end at the canter and also to keep him attentive as it really is hard work and he does need to be listening to my every cue to succeed. Our first few attempts were sloppy and he either broke to the trot or changed leads shortly after crossing the diagonal. After that though, he seemed to really "get it" and we had some really nice serpentines.
I let him finish with a nice long stretchy trot and a long walk around the property. At this point, I am thrilled with my horse and I just hope we can keep up the good work for Woodside!
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