Oh now I get it!

Today it was sunny and near 70 degrees, so obviously I went out to ride Hampton. I tried a few things differently today. 1) I lunged him for just less than 10 minutes. I have been lunging him for 15-20 minutes up until today and want to try to wean him off the lunging so when summer gets here, I can just hop right on. 2) I lunged and rode him over 2 ground poles. They were no big deal to him whatsoever. Next time I may up the anty and put down 3 poles. Today was the first day where I felt that Hampton has really started to "get" the whole riding thing. He was forward off my leg - almost to the point where I thought "Crap, he's got some energy today I hope he doesn't buck!" ... but I just let him go forward and he trotted around, ears pricked, happy to be doing something I think. He is almost steering off my legs and body now. I barely touch the reins to turn anymore, which I LOVE. He was just so quick off my aids today, and forward. It was wonderful! We have stopped the slow, "slothy" shuffle-like trot under saddle and he now gives me his forward, powerful trot. It feels like I'm floating over the ground. I was almost tempted to try a canter today, but I chickened out using the excuse that he needs his feet trimmed, don't want him to trip. :-) Of course now it's supposed to rain the rest of the week, so I don't know if I'll be able to get a trail ride in. Tomorrow Hampton gets his feet trimmed. He wasn't tripping nearly as bad today as he was on Sunday. Also, his eye cleared up just fine. *whew* I also put him back out in the field nekked ... so I have no doubt I will have a large mud-ball tomorrow.

Changes

I didn't want to jinx it by announcing it too early, but Hampton and I will be moving barns in early May. I will also be moving into a new house. The house is on the farm property and I will be doing barn chores in exchange for rent. Meanwhile, Hampton will have a stall there. We will be able to ride in this arena (mirrors on one end - yipeee!!!)

and our new outdoor arena:

and of course pastures:

and here's an overview of the farm:

I can't wait!! 

Weekend ride roundup

Saturday: Hampton was fantastic. This was the first time I've ridden him with other horses in the ring and he did wonderfully. Thank goodness he steers now, but I did warn the other riders just in case I lost steering at some point. lol. We walked and trotted all over the outdoor arena. I didn't do many circles, but did make some sweeps across the diaganol and many transitions. I can't really ask much more from him ... I mean he's been fantastic. I realize at some point I'm going to have to grow a pair and canter, but for now I feel he's just a little too unbalanced and gangly to go there.

Sunday: The arena, while mostly good footing was somewhat wet and I'm not sure if it was causing Hampton to trip so much, or if his feet are getting a little long. But anyway, he was tripping. A lot. More than normal for an awkward young horse. At one point lunging, his legs got tangled and he fell to his knees, then lept up with a ginormous buck to express his opinion on the matter. Then in true Hampton fasion, right back to work as if nothing had happened. I noticed after I was done riding that he has scraped the cornet band on his back foot just a bit. Nothing serious, but damn, horse. I rode today as well, but kept trotting to a minimum because I was a little scared he might trip and fall again. Did not want that to happen with me aboard. But he was otherwise good. Steering like a champ and we had a couple of super transitions where I felt him really power from behind. *gulp* There is quite an engine in there.

His left eye also came up pretty red today. I think I will call the vet if it is not improved tomorrow. There wasn't any discharge when I brought him in, but there was a big booger in it when I hopped off of him after riding. Not sure what's going on there. I don't see any foreign objects in there, or any obvious trauma - it's just red. But still, eyes or nothing to screw around with. Plus, he needs his teeth checked again anyway. He's acting a little weird again while eating.

Goals for this week (as long as his eye turns out ok) are to try a mini trail ride around the farm. Walk and trot over a ground pole (maybe 2). More miles under saddle.

Stay tuned for some really good news!

The Great Helmet Debate

A recent incident involving a high-profile rider has sparked yet another round of debate on whether or not equestrians should wear appropriate helmets.

When I first began riding, the barn required that we all wear helmets. So for the first few years of my riding career, that's what I did. However, once I switched to riding saddleseat, suddenly it was "uncool" to wear a helmet. My trainer never did, nor did any of the other junior (or adult) riders at this particular show barn. I never thought anything of it. I went off to college and again, during lessons a helmet was a must. This was fine with me, but once I returned home, off the helmet would go. Hell, I even rode T-Bone as a 3-YEAR-OLD around the farm, trail riding, at all gaits WITH NO HELMET. (see photo. This was me and T-Bone during my stage of being totally class-less wearing a skimpy tank top, ratty half chaps, friggin sneakers, and no helmet. Geeez. Not that I'm a total class act these days, but man.) I probably jumped him without a helmet, too. At shows, I would wear what most people call a "hunt cap." Purely for looks, the "cool thing" was to take off the chin strap, which I did. I would guess just about any type of fall or jarring movement would knock one of those off your head, and if not they don't provide any protection. (see photo, T-Bone again)

I'm sure not of the exact moment when I stopped being so apathetic about the whole helmet deal. Perhaps it's just getting older and losing self-preservation, perhaps it was when one of my friends fell off a young horse. She hit quite hard, and her helmet was basically crushed. She ended up ok, but in a neck brace for a week or two. I kept looking at the crushed helmet thinking "that would have been her head." For perhaps the past 2 or 3 years, I have been wearing a helmet every time. Even when I ride the old therapy horses out at the farm. And obviously, when I ride Hampton. (My chin strap was a tad loose in this photo - our first ride ever - but I fixed that).

Wearing a helmet is a personal decision. I don't think any less of people who choose not to wear one, but I have this inner voice in me that says I really should be wearing one. So I do. I'm probably due to purchase a new one - although I love my current one (I think it's an International), it's kinda old. I've had it since college. It's never suffered a fall, but it probably needs updated. Any suggestions?

Off into the sunset

Not sure what Hampton thinks, but I'm pretty thrilled with ride #2 of this week! Again, all alone at the farm with no ground help. He is an angel standing next to the mounting block and walked promptly off with a squeeze of the leg. I had lunged him pretty well, so I decided to just stick with walking today - the arena was sort of muddy and slick in spots anyway. The lesson plan for today was steering. That's it. After a few moments where I had to insist that "Yes, horse, we ARE going to turn right," (we actually mowed down a couple of traffic cones ... and he did not care) ...  he started to catch on and was turning with just light touches on the reins. A few times I added some outside leg and he responded to that, too. I'm hoping he will remember the steering discussions from today and we can go back to trotting tomorrow (if the arena has dried out some). He looked really good on the lunge again today. I asked for a bit of canter, but that didn't go too well. I think he's still a little too unbalanced and gangly at the moment. I'll try again in a couple of weeks. He may be one that just can't canter on a lunge circle - may  have to just bit the bullet and do it under saddle. We'll see.

It makes me laugh when I look back. Last year at this time I was doing flying changes and half pass with T-Bone ... now I plow over traffic cones because I can't steer. lol. Even so, I love young horses. I love the process and the rewards of creating a solid citizen.

All aboard

Finally, the middle portion of the outdoor was good enough to lunge and ride on. The outer ring of the arena though was still icy and slick, so I figured hell ... at least it would give me some incentive to really practice steering. So I tacked up the horse and lunged for about 20 minutes. He is such a funny horse. For the first 5 minutes, he is somewhat of a turd. He bulges in, he bulges out, he scoots into the canter, sometimes it seems like he might buck but he hardly ever does. Eventually I get fed up with the antics and I get after him and then ... it's like *poof* all of a sudden he lunges like he's been doing it for years and years. It's like he has to test me or something at the beginning. Anyway, I hooked up the inside side rein and continued on (trotting only). He had moments where he started to look REALLY good. He is one that really needs to be sent forward. If left to choose the speed, he will pick a slow, slothy, not-very-pretty trot. But once he's forward, the animal is quite a nice mover.

After some lunging, I was pretty convinced he had gotten his antics out (that's the nice thing about an out-of-shape youngster). I parked him next to the mounting block and just got on. This is the first time I have ridden him without any ground help. Nobody standing at his head at the mounting block ... nobody. I did have my cell phone in my pocket, and knew that there were some volunteers somewhere on the property so I was comforting knowing my body would not be left unfound for very long. But of course Hampton was fantastic. Stood quietly, walked off. Steering is still uh ... not really there, but he does have a nice fat happy mouth bit so I don't feel too guilty pulling a little harder on the rein than I normally would. I'm sure he'll start to come around soon. Mostly stayed on a big 20m-ish circle (the dry part of the arena). Did some walk, trot, turns, more circles. Then called it a day. He was very good - just needs sharped up to the aids now. In fact one time I asked him to walk off with my legs and did not get a response so *WHACK* on the ass with the whip ... and he reacted calming and stepped off. lol. He is just so much less reactive than T-Bone it's amazing to me. He will teach me a lot, I am sure.

After our ride, I pulled his mane and clipped up his face some. Now he looks like a horse, and not a yak.

Crossing my fingers ...

Well, I don't want to jinx anything so I'm not going to reveal too much information just yet ... but recently an opportunity presented itself that would greatly benefit me 1) financially and 2) allow me to train Hampton on a daily basis no matter the weather.  ... Things might be more official on Saturday.

Not much in the way of other news. A couple of people have commented that Hampton looks a little ... uh ... "round" in the riding video, as in fat. lol. I assure you, in my opinion he still just about a "5" on the body condition scale. I can still EASILY feel his ribs. I think he's at a very good weight now for a youngster not in work. I'll revisit his diet once we get back into regular training. I am pretty sure he was going through a major growth spurt and ended up looking sort of thin, rather ribby and ... well, ugly. Today I had to loosen his halter 2 holes because it would not fit on his head. He's busting out of his blankets (I'm stubborn and keep hoping they will finish out the winter) and seemed taller to me when I was giving him is daily check over in his stall. Could be just me, but I do think the boy has grown.

I wish the ice and slush would melt in the arena so we could get back to work .... grrr ...