Opposites.

< < < < OMG. Right toe & ankle FAIL.

Rode the critter again last night. I LOVE riding in the evenings, but it is a rarity since I usually work 3-midnight, except for this week.

Sidenote: Barely 5 minutes after I had walked Hampton back into the barn after riding outdoors, the neighbors started setting off fireworks! Note to self, ride indoors until Monday ...)

 Started out in the indoor with the usual warm up. I chose the Leg Yield to the wall, then canter, exercise from my 101 book. Trotting on the right rein, turn down the centerline ... leg yield left to the wall, then immediately canter right lead. I modified this just a bit for Hampton's training level and made sure that by the time I got to the rail, we were close to the corner to help our transition out. Seemed to go well, except he's started to anticipate the leg yields, and I lost the haunches a couple of times. ugh. I may steer away from leg yields for a while. He's getting a bit too smart about them. I'll probably spend the rest of the week riding the quarter line all the way around.

No bucking or pig rooting with canter work. Woot! We actually had a couple of AWESOME straight-away canter sections (like from Training Test 1). Still need more uphill balance when we turn on another circle, but it will get there. Then I went to the outdoor to run through Training Test 1. The outdoor is USDF regulation size (the small size) so I knew I could more accurately ride my figures out there. One centerline was a little wiggly, and there was some resistance on a trot circle or two ... but the canter transitions were prompt, correct lead, balanced. Score!

I know the issues are very likely due to Hampton being behind my leg. I just am not used to riding a horse that needs so much motivation! T-Bone was VERY forward (although still behind my leg), and I was always holding him back. Hampton needs much more forward and the issues pretty much go away. I know this. Why do I not do what I say? The nice thing about Hampers is that I can rev him up and he won't get hot. With T-Bone, everything I did was slow down ... slow slow slow. So, it's different for me. I don't have to be so "careful" with Hampton, we can make a mistake and it's just that, a mistake, both of us move on. With T-Bone, once he got "offended" or upset, you might as well have put him away because his brain would NOT come back.

Below is a photo of me and T-Bone, my Morgan I sold last year (I also started him as a 2-year-old). Notice the tension in both of us ... when I look at photos of Hampton and me, I don't see this. Maybe I have rose colored glasses on, though.

No wagging allowed.

Hampton's official birthday was yesterday. I'm a bad owner and didn't really do anything special except ride him in the evening. Our ride went pretty well. For some reason he was a little narly in the mouth - wanted to be above the bit, not bending as easily as he usually does, wanting to "wag" his head a little. I'm very careful about this, as I think it looks awful when I rider uses their hands too much and creates the "head wag." I was extra careful with my hands, but he just was stiff and every time I tried to supple him, instead of softening and giving like he usually does - he poked his nose out and wagged. ugh. In his defense, I hadn't rode since Thursday (3 days off for him) and I didn't lunge him as long as I usually do so maybe he just wasn't loosened up well enough.

And he was behind my leg. It got better as the ride went on. We worked mainly on trot to canter transitions. Most were good, a couple were accompanied by a little buck and/or pig root episode. Again, it goes back to the root of the problem - he was behind my leg. This generally never happens when he's quick and sharp off my aids. It was somewhat hot and I wasn't feeling too well, so I'm sure that contributed. All in all he was a good boy and I think today we'll work on more trot to canter and the canter work from T1-2. Maybe throw in some more leg yields, and pick an exercise from 101 Dressage Exercises. Going to take a small trail ride around the hay field too I think ... to keep us both fresh.

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In other news - how many of you horse owners out there are feeding electrolytes to your ponehs? It's been SO hot here, that the horses are sweating just standing in their stalls (with fans). My train of thought is that if they are sweating, they are keeping themselves cool. And Hampton is a VERY good water drinker and doesn't seem affected by the heat (other than the bugs). I was thinking of getting an electrolyte supplement. (maybe just for super hot days). Any recommendations?

Back in the day Part 4: JLS High Tech

This is part of a "mini-series" on the horses who have influenced me and taught me the most. 


"Doc" was the first horse my family actually purchased. Before him, we had only leased horses. We went to look at Doc at the Cochren auction when it was in Columbus Ohio. I watched his trainer ride, then my trainer rode, then I rode. The horse was fun and full of spunk. He never spooked or did anything stupid. I think at the time he was just 4 years old. Maybe 5. We had some trouble getting him to canter but my trainer at the time said that wasn't a problem - he could fix that. He was also broke to drive. So, we took him home.

He was a friendly, well-mannered son of the famous Morgan stallion, Tedwin Topic. Had I know anything about that particular line, I probably would have turned the horse down. But I was only 14 or 15 and all I knew was that I loved Morgans and wanted a show horse. Topic babies are pretty nortorious for testing you and pushing the limits. They are smart, clever and can be lazy. And by lazy I mean they might do something dumb to avoid working for you.

So after a few weeks of the training riding Doc and "fixing his issues," I got to ride. I liked the horse. We got along most of the winter and decided that we'd show in Junior Exhibitor English Pleasure the following season. We won at Gold Cup and I was thrilled. However, the horse's true personality started to come through as the season went on ...

Doc had a tendency to scoot off/bolt at random moments. It was 100% a naughty behavior, because he NEVER did it with my sister - who was a tiny walk-trotter at the time and also showed him. But he would pull that stunt with the trainer, and me. He also got into the habit of flipping his head almost upside down with me. It was annoying and I felt out of control. All I could do was lower my hands and wait it out - meanwhile looking like a hot mess in the arena. We lost a LOT of classes because of this. Looking back, he was avoiding the action of the curb. He learned that  he is started flipping his head, I would lower my hands, soften and stop asking him to work. I would take a very different course of action these days.

At the Mid-A regional show (at the time in Hershey, PA), my trainer tried a different approach. He let Doc sit in his stall for a few days, then on show day he brought him out, threw a gag bit on for the snaffle, warmed him up briefly and threw me on. The horse had his trail over his back, blowing and snorting, high as a kite. I don't remember warming up much, just that my trainer had to lead me to the show arena. I do remember literally HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE the entire friggin class. I thought my arms would literally fall off. My trainer shouted at me from the rail "He looks like the Master's Touch!" (a world champion park horse ... I was like, uh, doubt that!) ... We amazingly placed 3rd in a pretty competitive class. But that was NOT fun.

The last year we owned him, I was blessed with the opportunity to show at the Morgan Grand National. Doc was a complete and total JERK in the championship. Head flipping, scooting, wiggly. We never came close to even placing. I was almost in tears at the end of the class. My trainer came up to me, mad at the horse too. We sold him quickly after to a lady and daughter who rode with a famous Morgan barn in Michigan.

The next season I saw Doc at a few shows - he looked great. The mother drove him in pleasure driving and the daughter rode. But they never finished the season.

At a show in Michigan, the mother was jogging Doc around the fairgrounds. He pulled his scooting tactic, however he was hooked to a cart. Something must have scared him because he truly bolted, the lady fell out of the cart, which then caught on a fence, ripping up the cart, fence and harness. Doc tore off around the fairgrounds before finally being caught.

After that incident, he never went back in the show ring again. The last I  heard, they donated him to William Woods University. Someone told me that the college sold him to the Amish. But frankly none of that is confirmed. I sort of wish I knew where he was. He was a wonderful horse on the ground - the best a girl could ask for. Very easy to handle and super friendly. He just did not like to work. Soon after we sold him, my trainer at the time took in a half brother in training. The horse looked remarkably like Doc - and had the same issues! One day I heard the trainer yell, and I went to the arena to see that the horse had dumped him out of the cart, which had flipped on its side and the horse was going in circles, cart banging and dragging everywhere, with the trainer desperately trying to stop him. No body got hurt, but I was reminded that we were lucky we never had a super scary incident with Doc.

Part 3: Queen
Part 2: Sparkles
Part 1: Star

First show on the calendar

Gone is the hairy, skinny, scraggly-looking 2 year old 4-legged beast of mine. Someone switched him out for a muscular, gorgeous-looking 3 year old! I really need to get updated photos because the progress is remarkable. It's amazing what good food will do for a horse! He is also beginning to muscle up thanks to consistent work and a growth spurt in general. Our most recent rides have been awesome. We've been doing more leg yielding (quarter line to wall and sometimes center line to wall), transitions between all gaits (except walk to canter/canter to walk of course), beginning some shoulder-in maybe once a week, groundpoles once a week, lots of changes of bend, forward and back and working on balancing the canter. I mean ... I think he's doing pretty darn good for a 3-year-old. When we ride in the arena with the other more educated horses, we are not outclassed and fit right in.
So - I've chosen a small dressage/combined training show on July 31 to take Hampton too. It's close (about 45 minutes away with a trailer in tow), and low-key. Obviously, we'll just be doing dressage (I think Training Level 1 and 2 will be appropriate), but they do have crossrail classes if we decide to return next year! So it will be interesting to see how Hampton handles the show atmosphere ... I really hope he is not like T-Bone, my previous horse, who made showing a miserable experience. And never got over it. So we'll see. Time to start practicing pieces of those Training Level tests!

I might name it, "Bruise" since it's black and blue

Well, it's official. I got a new truck. Finally! It's a Silverado 2500 with a TON of really cool features (for example, it will tell you how many miles you have left to drive on the amount of gas you have). It's a 2003 and a really pretty, although somewhat loud, blue. Leather seats (heated, too) and the electric brake is already installed. I still need to have that checked out to make sure it works ok, but at least it's there. I'll be a little more poor, but hell my dream of having a horse trailer is one step closer.

Give it a stretch

So ... no exciting "I almost got dumped" reports. Hampton has been a true gentleman, very obedient and has done everything I have asked of him. Of course, it's also about 90 degrees and humid. That might be helping. But either way, our rides have been great lately. I've now started teaching him about stretching down and out. I hadn't introduced this yet, because I wanted to make sure he was truly broke to ride before I said, "Ok horse, you may put your head down now." Today he really started to get the concept. He really started to lower his neck. He still needs to poke his nose out a little more, but I felt it was a good start for a baby. We'd probably still pull a 6 on a training level stretchy circle. Here's what I really want to avoid as far as the forward-down-out working goes. T-Bone (my previous horse, a Morgan), learned this by way of vienna reins (or running side reins). This appeared to work great for him - as he was an uptight, upheaded horse who took any opportunity brace against the contact and hollow his back. The thing is, all the Vienna reins did was teach him to unhinge at the withers. He never truly stretched into the contact, but he was great about lowering his neck as if to graze. I want to avoid this at all costs with Hampton. To be fair, Hampton is a totally different animal. He's not built like T-Bone, and does not have the same mind. Right now I see no need to use Vienna reins, as he's learned to lower his neck just fine with me opening my inside rein and "turning the key" with my hand. But how do I teach him to strrrretch and not just unhinge? ... In other news, the canter is still great. Starting to get a few more strides of straight-away each ride. Training Level 1 or 2 will be no problem. If I can get a good stretchy circle, Training 4 will be within our reach, too. Yippeee!

Little victories

Well it took almost a year, but Hampton's fear of baths is gone. Last year, you could not turn on the water without him freaking out and sometimes running backward, dragging me along with him. I continued to work with him on it, and at one point I got so mad that I locked him in his stall and sprayed him with the hose in it so he couldn't go anywhere. Eh, probably not the most sensitive thing to do but I was getting annoyed. Welp, he now stands quietly - even grazes sometimes - while I hose him off. Sweet success! The hot and humid weather recently was a big help, but I think he was going to get over it anyway. Now if only I could clip his darn bridle path ...

He's a ... goddess?

I took the quiz at http://www.horsepersonality.com/quiz.html

Hampton ended up being "The Goddess" ...

The Goddess is loved by most of the other horses and most people. They are expressive and sensitive and emotional. You will know how they feel. They try very hard to please and will worry and be anxious if you are not happy with them. In the negative they can have scattered energy that is hard to get focused. This personality can be loved on as much as you want.

Funny. This actually describes him pretty darn well.

Good thing I wore the full seat breeches.

Since the weather has finally cooled off (for a bit anyway), I picked Sunday to work Hampton over some cavelletti. (sp?). They were about 4-5 inches off the ground. At first I lunged him over so that he could find his own balance, and so that I could see if they were going to need adjusted for his stride. Ummm, so the first 5 or 6 times through it bumped them, tripped, basically stumbled through them. Ugh. I made minor adjustments. Bump. Stumble. Unlike the old barn, these poles are the real, HEAVY kind so eventually Hampton began to pick up his feet. Then ... he got it. He trotted a couple of times through without even touching the poles. He used his hocks, he used his neck and back and flexed those joints. Good boy! I left it at that and got on to ride.
Decided to go work in the outdoor since it was so pretty outside. The screaming and dumb behavior has stopped out there. He was his normal self. (cue foreshadowing music ...)
Just as I was preparing for a canter transition, a white van came careening around the corner. (when you drive up the driveway, you can't see the outdoor until you are basically right by it. And horse and rider can't see cars coming up either). Well, we were trotting away from the van, and WHAM ... scares the poop out of Hampton, who scoots HARD and fast. Like, my neck was whipped back and I think I closed my eyes because things went dark for a minute. I said "WHOA" and just as quickly, we were back trotting. I did some small circles just to confirm I had control. But Hampton wasn't shaken up by it. He came right back to me. What a good boy! I was pretty impressed because he could have easily hauled ass back to the barn, but he didn't. I was however, thankful that I had worn my full seats. I stuck to that saddle like glue. lol.

I put us back together and cantered in both directions. It was fantastic. Perhaps the best yet. Slow, perfect 3 beat rhythm. Yes, I need to add some jump and get him more uphill, but it's totally fine for a training level horse. Same thing in today's ride .. except I decided to go for it and try a few strides on the straight-away. Nailed it on the right rein. There was some mild wiggling on the left rein. Possibly my fault for not being totally clear that we were to keep going straight. All in all very impressive. I think I was perhaps underestimating my horse when I set my sights for big bad Training Level 1. I think in about a month I'll see where we are and possibly aim for Training Level 3 or 4. He's got the trot work.

Photos:
• He's a big boy now and standings in the aisle crossties.
• Hampton & his pasture buddy, Earl. 

Can I live while I'm young

Thank goodness I was right! The naughtiness WAS just a phase. Hampton has been back to his quiet, sweet self all week and we have made great progress - especially in the canter. I was tickled today because the BO (who rides a retired Grand Prix horse and has a lifetime of dressage experience) complimented me on what a nice job I was doing with Hampton and how great his canter looked. (GOOD THING she never saw it back in March/April. OMG!) But really, just this week we have started to really come together in the canter. It's soooo rhythmic and becoming so balanced. I have yet to attempt to canter down much of a straight-away (that's when we lose the balance), but I will soon. He is started to give me 4-5 strides of uphill, jumpy, balanced canter which is fabulous. So I know it's in there, he just needs to be stronger. No problem! I really was worried there at the beginning that he may have a "canter issue" because it was so unbalanced, borderline lateral and just ugly. I really wish I had taken video of those first canters. If nothing else, it would be humorous to watch now.
We've also been schooling leg yields quarter line to the rail. He is pretty good at these now, so I've started to just ride down the quarter line so he doesn't learn to anticipate. I've also been schooling more slow trot --> big trot transitions which really help raise his poll up. I suspect this is because it gets him more in front of my leg. He tends to sort of go BTV when he's behind my leg (not too bad, but he doesn't need to be there). I need to stay more on top of that. Umm, so I'm not sure what else to teach a 3-year old?!? Going to keep looking in 101 Dressage Exercises for more ideas ... plus I found some ground poles that boarders are welcome to use so I'm going to start incorporating those, too. New goal: Show Training Level Test 1 this fall. I think we can do it. Maybe not T4 because you have to sustain the canter for longer, but T1 for sure. I'm still going to aim to show in an FEI 4 year old test next year, which I think is totally do-able at this point. We won't win, but I'd love the experience! (and to see what the scores might be).
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In other news, I'm shopping for a new truck (to pull a horse trailer). And it's frustrating. Annoying. I may give it up for a while. Ugh.

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I'm also shopping for a new helmet. I'm looking at the Ovation line. Anybody got one? I realize it's one of the "cheap" lines, but I find them attractive, well-priced, safety certified and vented. My old IRH velvet helmet is more than 5 years old, so while I'm not going to throw it out - I would like a newer helmet to ride in on a daily basis and keep my IRH as a back-up.