Eddy Modde Horsemanship Day 2!!
This morning again we started with a quick chat without horses about yesterday and anything we would like to work on today.
I didn’t really have much to say, understood everything from yesterday I just now need to put it all into practice.
So we went and got our ponies out and headed to the playfield, I started with playing with the patterns from yesterday and quickly got Blossom’s attention on me. We moved on and played with the hills, Blossom loves being at the top of the big hill she didn’t actually want to come down. Her ears were forward and she was just looking around her at everything else that was going on around her. Once she decided to come down we moved up the field to the trailer, it was Eddy’s trailer and to me looked quite scary as it had a tarp hung up at the front which I think they used for hay on the way over. But after a couple of approach and retreat Blossom went straight in and just stood there relaxed, she even had her head in the tarp to see if there was any food left.
Eddy then called us all over and showed us a few more patterns we could do with our ponies. The first on was backing from the rope and then asking for FQ yield, which you could then go on and ask for sideways. Blossom wasn’t very good at this so Il need to try and work on this more at home, I really had to go up my phases to get her to go backwards and also use the carrot stick.
The next was the rolling rock (I hope that’s the right name) I didn’t get it to start with, so Alison kindly showed me with her pony as she has done it before. I got the idea and tried it with Blossom, it actually went quite well for a first attempt but sideways really needs more work – but again this pattern should help us I think.
Shelley then held Blossom for me while I went to get my saddle, I said she could play with her if she wanted. When I came back with my saddle Shelley was playing with Blossom getting her to squeeze through the tractor tyres. It was really interesting to watch as this is the first time I have seen anyone play with her, so I felt I learnt something from watching maybe I should do this when she does that etc instead of what I have been doing. It really let me see things at a totally different angle, hopefully I will get a chance to watch somebody play with her again. Thanks Shelley!!
I then saddled her and this time Eddy suggested that I stay out of the round corral and play with riding in a more open area. So I decided to start with follow the rail and worked on getting good bends at the same time as working on my position and how I was holding the reins – so many things to remember!! We then tried trot, which became quite fast so I would bend her to a stop and then ask her to walk until I felt she was calm enough to trot again. I did get a few nice trots, but a lot of very fast ones too. But with work I’m sure we will both learn to relax and trust each other with time and everything will improve from there.
It was nearly lunchtime so I jumped off her and played lots of friendly game to finish.
I didn’t to anything with her in the afternoon session as I played with Aicha instead, I didn’t feel there was anything that I really needed more help with and neither did Eddy. He feels that everything I am working on will come with time and practice especially the riding.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wedensday 26th March
Eddy Modde Horsemanship day 1!!
Today was the first of the horsemanship days with Eddy Modde – we started at 9.30 without horses and just had a little chat about what we are working on just now and any problems we are having and would like help with.
I said I was just starting level two groundwork, currently working with change of direction on line and transitions. I would like some help with change of direction as every time I go backwards Blossom stops – not sure if this is because I am in the wrong position.. I would also like some help with my riding. Blossom still has lots f go and I feel that I’m not on my balance point so think I could be making things worse.
We then got the ponies and headed out to the play field and started playing with our ponies. I had to work quite hard at the start to get Blossom's attention on me, as she was more interested in eating the grass than playing with me. Eddy then came over and showed me the fallen leaf pattern as this should then help me with change of direction and will also help get Blossom to pay attention to me. Me and Blossom quickly got the idea of this game and I could really notice the change in her she really seemed more relaxed and more focused on me. Eddy then showed me an S pattern which involved me walking backwards and getting Blossom to walk with me doing a S shape. This took us a little longer to get the hang off, but once we got it the difference in Blossom was amazing she was really focused on me and was waiting for me to ask her to do something.
I didn’t want to bore her so we moved on and played with squeeze game over logs and up and down the drop jumps. She really was enjoying herself; by this stage everybody else had moved to the round corrals and was playing at liberty so I thought I would give it a go too. I started with the halter just round her neck and played the seven games, everything went well so I took the halter totally off. We managed to play the first 3 games and then moved on to playing stick to me which she done really well and we managed walk, trot, stand and back up.
After lunch I saddled Blossom in three stages and played with the new patterns from this morning, which went really well. We then played with squeeze game with obstacles and yo yo’s so she was backing up into the logs. She wasn’t very confident with this so this is something I need to work on more.
I then went up to the round corral and mounted and just sat there and let her relax. I then checked my bends in both directions, a little stiff so worked on them as I walked round. Once I was happy with her bends I asked for trot and would then ask her back to walk before she got too fast. Eddy then came over and helped me with my position and also helped me with holding the reins. The little simple things that will make all the difference, I guess its just getting used to riding with just one rein and only using one hand at a time. My main problem was when I was asking her to stop I was being to strong and not asking her with phases I basically was going straight to phase 4 and instead of asking by lifting the reins, combing the reins etc. So I got some help with that, once we got that sorted we moved back to by position in the saddle. Eddy got my to ride round with my hand on Blossom’s bum to try and encourage me to sit back more on my balance point and when it came to canter I was to have my outside hand on her bum and inside hand forward so it was more like I was cantering in my body. But I found it sore to sit with the outside arm back, but can do it with my inside arm back in both directions – how strange think there might be a problem in my body not allowing me to do this. Overall I need feel that I was able to relax more in my body today and felt it had an impact on how Blossom went. Nearer the end of the session in the round corral it was becoming her idea to stop and not mine, which was nice to see for a change.
Today was the first of the horsemanship days with Eddy Modde – we started at 9.30 without horses and just had a little chat about what we are working on just now and any problems we are having and would like help with.
I said I was just starting level two groundwork, currently working with change of direction on line and transitions. I would like some help with change of direction as every time I go backwards Blossom stops – not sure if this is because I am in the wrong position.. I would also like some help with my riding. Blossom still has lots f go and I feel that I’m not on my balance point so think I could be making things worse.
We then got the ponies and headed out to the play field and started playing with our ponies. I had to work quite hard at the start to get Blossom's attention on me, as she was more interested in eating the grass than playing with me. Eddy then came over and showed me the fallen leaf pattern as this should then help me with change of direction and will also help get Blossom to pay attention to me. Me and Blossom quickly got the idea of this game and I could really notice the change in her she really seemed more relaxed and more focused on me. Eddy then showed me an S pattern which involved me walking backwards and getting Blossom to walk with me doing a S shape. This took us a little longer to get the hang off, but once we got it the difference in Blossom was amazing she was really focused on me and was waiting for me to ask her to do something.
I didn’t want to bore her so we moved on and played with squeeze game over logs and up and down the drop jumps. She really was enjoying herself; by this stage everybody else had moved to the round corrals and was playing at liberty so I thought I would give it a go too. I started with the halter just round her neck and played the seven games, everything went well so I took the halter totally off. We managed to play the first 3 games and then moved on to playing stick to me which she done really well and we managed walk, trot, stand and back up.
After lunch I saddled Blossom in three stages and played with the new patterns from this morning, which went really well. We then played with squeeze game with obstacles and yo yo’s so she was backing up into the logs. She wasn’t very confident with this so this is something I need to work on more.
I then went up to the round corral and mounted and just sat there and let her relax. I then checked my bends in both directions, a little stiff so worked on them as I walked round. Once I was happy with her bends I asked for trot and would then ask her back to walk before she got too fast. Eddy then came over and helped me with my position and also helped me with holding the reins. The little simple things that will make all the difference, I guess its just getting used to riding with just one rein and only using one hand at a time. My main problem was when I was asking her to stop I was being to strong and not asking her with phases I basically was going straight to phase 4 and instead of asking by lifting the reins, combing the reins etc. So I got some help with that, once we got that sorted we moved back to by position in the saddle. Eddy got my to ride round with my hand on Blossom’s bum to try and encourage me to sit back more on my balance point and when it came to canter I was to have my outside hand on her bum and inside hand forward so it was more like I was cantering in my body. But I found it sore to sit with the outside arm back, but can do it with my inside arm back in both directions – how strange think there might be a problem in my body not allowing me to do this. Overall I need feel that I was able to relax more in my body today and felt it had an impact on how Blossom went. Nearer the end of the session in the round corral it was becoming her idea to stop and not mine, which was nice to see for a change.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday 24th March
This afternoon I got out to play with Blossom. We started with lots of friendly as we walked round the field, then we moved on to driving from zone three. Next we played with yo yo's again the draw wasn't very good but got better, I also had to really go up my phases to get her to go back today. We seemed to have a little dominance issues as she was stomping her front feet at me as I asked her back.
Circling game was much better today, the send was better needed a few corrections at the start but that was all. The draw off the circle was much better today and she was coming to me with her ears forward.
I then jumped on her bareback and we went for a walk round the field, we even got some really nice trots in between eating grass. This is the first time she has managed to stay calm in trot and stop by herself, even if it was just to eat grass. To me that was a huge improvement!!
Then it started to snow so we finished on that and went back to the stables where she stood and let me give her a good groom and actually seemed to enjoy it!!
Circling game was much better today, the send was better needed a few corrections at the start but that was all. The draw off the circle was much better today and she was coming to me with her ears forward.
I then jumped on her bareback and we went for a walk round the field, we even got some really nice trots in between eating grass. This is the first time she has managed to stay calm in trot and stop by herself, even if it was just to eat grass. To me that was a huge improvement!!
Then it started to snow so we finished on that and went back to the stables where she stood and let me give her a good groom and actually seemed to enjoy it!!
Friday 21st March
Today I got up really early and went out to play with Blossom.
Today I wanted to work on my draw as that hasn't been great the past few times I have played with her. We started with playing yo yo game and working on getting a better draw back, it got quite good but I was still having to sometimes go up to phase 3 to get her back to me. Today her attention just seemed to be somewhere else, I wasn't interesting enough for her!!
We then moved on to circling game, I had to do alot of work at the start to work on our send as today it was terrible!! She wasn't waiting for me to ask her onto a circle, as soon as I backed her a couple of steps she would then take off in whatever direction she wanted.. So I broke everything down and worked on the send more, I got it so I was able to back her out and she would then wait until I asked her to go out on the circle. But then if I asked her to the right, she would go to the left and if I asked her to the left she would go to the right.. So I just took what she gave me as I didn't want to be too fusy!
We then done a little bit of stick to me, but it was freezing so we finished on that.
When I noticed when I put her in the field that she is in season, so this might explain some of the problems we were having today. But I will know in future that I need to be a stronger leader when she is in season than normal.
Today I wanted to work on my draw as that hasn't been great the past few times I have played with her. We started with playing yo yo game and working on getting a better draw back, it got quite good but I was still having to sometimes go up to phase 3 to get her back to me. Today her attention just seemed to be somewhere else, I wasn't interesting enough for her!!
We then moved on to circling game, I had to do alot of work at the start to work on our send as today it was terrible!! She wasn't waiting for me to ask her onto a circle, as soon as I backed her a couple of steps she would then take off in whatever direction she wanted.. So I broke everything down and worked on the send more, I got it so I was able to back her out and she would then wait until I asked her to go out on the circle. But then if I asked her to the right, she would go to the left and if I asked her to the left she would go to the right.. So I just took what she gave me as I didn't want to be too fusy!
We then done a little bit of stick to me, but it was freezing so we finished on that.
When I noticed when I put her in the field that she is in season, so this might explain some of the problems we were having today. But I will know in future that I need to be a stronger leader when she is in season than normal.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday 16th March
Today I went out to play with Blossom, I saddled her straight away so we could play more with the saddle on. She was really good and the saddle didn’t seem to bother her much. Where as before she was less confident and more impulsive when I played with her with the saddle on.
We started with some yo yo’s she only went squint once on the first yo yo, but on the second she went straight back and went slightly quicker than she normally does which was good to see. We then played with the circling game and again didn’t try anything fancy, just worked on the draw after disengaging her, which was much better than it has been. She had less hesitation than she has done and came in with just a suggestion, which is lovely to see again!
We then played with sideways again at the fence. To the right was really good and we got nearly the full length of the fence, but to the left she was still not so sure but we did get a few nice steps. I then got her to go to the right a few steps back from the fence so she doesn’t rely on the fence to stop her going forward; we got a few nice steps. So quite an improvement today!
I then got on her and we went for a walk round the field she was nice and relaxed so I thought I would try and ask for a few strides of trot then stop her before she got impulsive. This worked a couple of times and I got some really nice trots, but most of the time after just one stride the impulsion kicked in and I had to bend her to a stop. But she is getting better and it takes less each time after bending her for her to relax again.
We started with some yo yo’s she only went squint once on the first yo yo, but on the second she went straight back and went slightly quicker than she normally does which was good to see. We then played with the circling game and again didn’t try anything fancy, just worked on the draw after disengaging her, which was much better than it has been. She had less hesitation than she has done and came in with just a suggestion, which is lovely to see again!
We then played with sideways again at the fence. To the right was really good and we got nearly the full length of the fence, but to the left she was still not so sure but we did get a few nice steps. I then got her to go to the right a few steps back from the fence so she doesn’t rely on the fence to stop her going forward; we got a few nice steps. So quite an improvement today!
I then got on her and we went for a walk round the field she was nice and relaxed so I thought I would try and ask for a few strides of trot then stop her before she got impulsive. This worked a couple of times and I got some really nice trots, but most of the time after just one stride the impulsion kicked in and I had to bend her to a stop. But she is getting better and it takes less each time after bending her for her to relax again.
Saturday 15th March
Today I went out to play with Blossom with the hope of riding her as the ground was better than it has been in weeks.
We started our session in the school as I wanted to try and work on the porcupine and driving games. We have still been having problems with this as Blossom still tends to walk away more than pivot. But the problem disappeared in the school and both games were really good – I think the problem could be because this is the first games I usually play when we go out after friendly of course. I think her attention isn’t on me enough and she is still too interested in eating the grass than listening to me. So I think Il try and start playing these games in the middle of our session when we are out on grass and see if that makes a differnce.
After playing circling and yo yo games, which were both good we moved back out to the field to play as the surface in the school wasn’t very good. We started with playing stick to me, which was good but I need to start doing more on her right side as she isn’t as confident on this side.
We then played with sideways again, to the right was good and we good some really nice sideways. But still had lots of problems to the left.. At one point she actually started coming to me sideways instead of going away from me, which she did get some praise for!! After that we did get some sideways to the left which she done really well. But we are still nowhere ready to move away from the fence yet.
We then played with circling game and decided just to play with getting the draw into better, without sending her in a different direction or anything. She seems to have lost her confidence a little on the circle as she seems to always be looking out, so I hope to help get her confidence back before asking for anything else again.
I then saddled and girthed in three stages, then got on. We just stood and ate some grass to start with before asking her to go, we started with just walking round the field. She seemed really relaxed and stopped to eat grass quite a lot. So we moved to a drier part of the field and started doing circles at trot, she got really impulsive at some points and started cantering but came back to trot quite quickly. I still felt I wasn’t on my balance point and tried going into a pushing position, but this caused Blossom to go even quicker and ended up in a really fast canter!! The ground was still too wet for me to feel safe to bend her to a stop incase she fell, so I used the suspension rein or something very similar to try and slow her down. And wow it worked, I really felt her hindquaters come under her and got a lovely few strides of canter and yes I felt as if I was on my balance point and really safe and relaxed. So maybe it is something to do with Blossom’s impulsion that is causing me problems with my position, maybe not?? We played about for a bit longer and nearer the end we got some nice circles in trot without me having to hold the reins tight, but still I can’t give her totally loose reins or she takes off. But overall I felt it was quite a good session, we even managed a few flying changes in canter. They weren’t really meant but she done them really good.
We started our session in the school as I wanted to try and work on the porcupine and driving games. We have still been having problems with this as Blossom still tends to walk away more than pivot. But the problem disappeared in the school and both games were really good – I think the problem could be because this is the first games I usually play when we go out after friendly of course. I think her attention isn’t on me enough and she is still too interested in eating the grass than listening to me. So I think Il try and start playing these games in the middle of our session when we are out on grass and see if that makes a differnce.
After playing circling and yo yo games, which were both good we moved back out to the field to play as the surface in the school wasn’t very good. We started with playing stick to me, which was good but I need to start doing more on her right side as she isn’t as confident on this side.
We then played with sideways again, to the right was good and we good some really nice sideways. But still had lots of problems to the left.. At one point she actually started coming to me sideways instead of going away from me, which she did get some praise for!! After that we did get some sideways to the left which she done really well. But we are still nowhere ready to move away from the fence yet.
We then played with circling game and decided just to play with getting the draw into better, without sending her in a different direction or anything. She seems to have lost her confidence a little on the circle as she seems to always be looking out, so I hope to help get her confidence back before asking for anything else again.
I then saddled and girthed in three stages, then got on. We just stood and ate some grass to start with before asking her to go, we started with just walking round the field. She seemed really relaxed and stopped to eat grass quite a lot. So we moved to a drier part of the field and started doing circles at trot, she got really impulsive at some points and started cantering but came back to trot quite quickly. I still felt I wasn’t on my balance point and tried going into a pushing position, but this caused Blossom to go even quicker and ended up in a really fast canter!! The ground was still too wet for me to feel safe to bend her to a stop incase she fell, so I used the suspension rein or something very similar to try and slow her down. And wow it worked, I really felt her hindquaters come under her and got a lovely few strides of canter and yes I felt as if I was on my balance point and really safe and relaxed. So maybe it is something to do with Blossom’s impulsion that is causing me problems with my position, maybe not?? We played about for a bit longer and nearer the end we got some nice circles in trot without me having to hold the reins tight, but still I can’t give her totally loose reins or she takes off. But overall I felt it was quite a good session, we even managed a few flying changes in canter. They weren’t really meant but she done them really good.
Friday 14th March
Today I had the farrier coming out to shoe Blossom and Aicha so I decided to go out and play with Blossom before he came.
We started with yo yo game and had to work a bit on the straightness and she still tends to swing her bum out to the right. But with just a little correction she is now able to go backwards and straight really well. My draw today wasn’t very good, so I spent so time trying to improve this which seemed to work as I managed to get her to trot to me. We then played with the squeeze game over jumps – I got some amazing sends from her from the left!! She would go from standstill to canter straight to the jump and would then stop turn and face me at the other end, I was really happy. To the right she wasn’t as confident and I had to make sure I lined her up to the jump really well or she would go to the side instead of jumping. This has always been the more difficult side for Blossom, but the change in her already is amazing.
We then moved on to circling, after checking both directions were good. We moved on to play with transitions on the circle. She was really good, she stopped a few times when I first started asking her to slow down but soon got the idea of what I was asking her to do. We managed to go up and down all three gaits, its still quite messy but I was really happy with what we managed to do as I haven’t really done very much work with this before.
We then went and played sideways with the fence, I haven’t been playing with this very much and it showed.. She was quite good going to the right but going to the left she really lost her confidence and didn’t know what to do. It was like being back at the start of level 1 again. But we managed to get a few steps in both directions, so decided that was enough for today but we will need to do a lot more work on this from now on.
We finished with playing stick to me round the field and also a little work on my draw I would run backwards away from her and she got the idea quite quickly that she was to run to me and she would then get a treat!
Later I got a little demo from Kris and Iona on suspension rein, as I have been reading Cathy’s blog and noticed that this was mentioned a lot but I didn’t have a clue what it was. So after Kris showing me what it was, everything is now a lot clearer in my head. I also got a little shot of Iona, as I was telling Kris I was having problems finding my balance point on Blossom.. As soon as I sat on Iona I felt straight away I was on my balance point and felt really secure I even got a little trot round and it felt great. Think I need to have a look at my saddle and see if that is maybe my problem or it could just be im not relaxed enough to find my balance point as Im too busy trying to keep Blossom calm – lots to think about!!
Thanks Kris and Iona for your help much appreciated!!
We started with yo yo game and had to work a bit on the straightness and she still tends to swing her bum out to the right. But with just a little correction she is now able to go backwards and straight really well. My draw today wasn’t very good, so I spent so time trying to improve this which seemed to work as I managed to get her to trot to me. We then played with the squeeze game over jumps – I got some amazing sends from her from the left!! She would go from standstill to canter straight to the jump and would then stop turn and face me at the other end, I was really happy. To the right she wasn’t as confident and I had to make sure I lined her up to the jump really well or she would go to the side instead of jumping. This has always been the more difficult side for Blossom, but the change in her already is amazing.
We then moved on to circling, after checking both directions were good. We moved on to play with transitions on the circle. She was really good, she stopped a few times when I first started asking her to slow down but soon got the idea of what I was asking her to do. We managed to go up and down all three gaits, its still quite messy but I was really happy with what we managed to do as I haven’t really done very much work with this before.
We then went and played sideways with the fence, I haven’t been playing with this very much and it showed.. She was quite good going to the right but going to the left she really lost her confidence and didn’t know what to do. It was like being back at the start of level 1 again. But we managed to get a few steps in both directions, so decided that was enough for today but we will need to do a lot more work on this from now on.
We finished with playing stick to me round the field and also a little work on my draw I would run backwards away from her and she got the idea quite quickly that she was to run to me and she would then get a treat!
Later I got a little demo from Kris and Iona on suspension rein, as I have been reading Cathy’s blog and noticed that this was mentioned a lot but I didn’t have a clue what it was. So after Kris showing me what it was, everything is now a lot clearer in my head. I also got a little shot of Iona, as I was telling Kris I was having problems finding my balance point on Blossom.. As soon as I sat on Iona I felt straight away I was on my balance point and felt really secure I even got a little trot round and it felt great. Think I need to have a look at my saddle and see if that is maybe my problem or it could just be im not relaxed enough to find my balance point as Im too busy trying to keep Blossom calm – lots to think about!!
Thanks Kris and Iona for your help much appreciated!!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sunday 9th March
Today I got up early and went over to play with Blossom again.
We started today with the first four games, everything was alot better today than it was yesterday. She was much more confident going backwards, which was great to see.
We then moved on to circling we managed to circle in both directions without any problems. Then Blossom decided she wanted to stop on the circles, it was quite funny as all I had to do was lift the rope and point in the dirction I wanted her to go and she would leap in the air and go again. I think her play drive is really starting to come out more. She just seemed so full of cheek today, it was really good to watch her.
Blossom then made up her own way of change of direction - she will stop and as soon as I look at her she goes of on the circle in the other direction. So after playing Blossom's game for a bit we went back to my game of change of direction - But I have to say Blossom's game seems to work better than mine. The problem today was when I started going backwards and drawing her into me, she just stops.. So I decided to forget the change of direction and work on getting her to come to me at trot. It was such a nice feeling to see her trotting towards me, and hopefully this will help her when we do go back to change of directions.
We then played squeeze over the jumps again, both directions were really good. I even managed to get her to stop with her front legs just over the jump, she stood there so relaxed I was very impressed so she got a treat for that.
Then we moved on to sideways with a fence, I'm trying to make sure she I ask her the same way next to a fence as I do without a fence. As when I do ask her without a fence I just seem to confuse her which isn't good.
I then saddled Blossom, then before heading into the school I let her just chill and eat some grass. After tightening her girth in three stages I got on her and just sat there for what felt like ages, but I’m sure it wasn’t any more than 5 minutes. I then asked to her to follow the rail at walk, this went really well in both direction. Her head was down nice and low and she was blowing out and licking her lips. So I thought I would try her in trot, but she became really impulsive and went into canter after only a few strides of trot, so I would bend her back to a trot. But in the end I asked her just to come back to walk and finished with just walking round. The surface in the school is terrible and she was tripping a lot so I thought it would be safer to just come back to walk. What I would have liked to do is just let her trot/canter round until it was her idea to slow down or trot – maybe another day when the weather is better we can play with riding more in the field.
We started today with the first four games, everything was alot better today than it was yesterday. She was much more confident going backwards, which was great to see.
We then moved on to circling we managed to circle in both directions without any problems. Then Blossom decided she wanted to stop on the circles, it was quite funny as all I had to do was lift the rope and point in the dirction I wanted her to go and she would leap in the air and go again. I think her play drive is really starting to come out more. She just seemed so full of cheek today, it was really good to watch her.
Blossom then made up her own way of change of direction - she will stop and as soon as I look at her she goes of on the circle in the other direction. So after playing Blossom's game for a bit we went back to my game of change of direction - But I have to say Blossom's game seems to work better than mine. The problem today was when I started going backwards and drawing her into me, she just stops.. So I decided to forget the change of direction and work on getting her to come to me at trot. It was such a nice feeling to see her trotting towards me, and hopefully this will help her when we do go back to change of directions.
We then played squeeze over the jumps again, both directions were really good. I even managed to get her to stop with her front legs just over the jump, she stood there so relaxed I was very impressed so she got a treat for that.
Then we moved on to sideways with a fence, I'm trying to make sure she I ask her the same way next to a fence as I do without a fence. As when I do ask her without a fence I just seem to confuse her which isn't good.
I then saddled Blossom, then before heading into the school I let her just chill and eat some grass. After tightening her girth in three stages I got on her and just sat there for what felt like ages, but I’m sure it wasn’t any more than 5 minutes. I then asked to her to follow the rail at walk, this went really well in both direction. Her head was down nice and low and she was blowing out and licking her lips. So I thought I would try her in trot, but she became really impulsive and went into canter after only a few strides of trot, so I would bend her back to a trot. But in the end I asked her just to come back to walk and finished with just walking round. The surface in the school is terrible and she was tripping a lot so I thought it would be safer to just come back to walk. What I would have liked to do is just let her trot/canter round until it was her idea to slow down or trot – maybe another day when the weather is better we can play with riding more in the field.
Saturday 8th March
Today I managed to get out to play with Blossom in between all the rain!
We started with just walking round the field until we found a part of the field that wasn't totally waterlogged. We then started with playing with porcupine and driving, recently she has been walking away from the pressure more than yielding so I want to try and improve this so when we do start working on liberty this will be alot easier. We then moved on to yo yo game, we had to do quite a bit of approach and retreat as she lost confidence when she went past the 12 ft mark on the 22ft line. But she did get better and seemed alot more confident but still tends to go a little squint.
We then move on to circling game and got some really nice circles in both directions in trot and canter, she seems so much more relaxed in canter now than she used to be. I had the dog with me and he started barking at people walking past, so I had to get him back to me. So I got Blossom to disengage from the circle from canter, she slid to a stop for me then reared right up - she must have been up in the air for a good few seconds!! She then came down put her ears forward and came right to me. I think she was just playing!! I have seen her play like this in the field before, it was so cool to watch her like that with me!
We then played squeeze game over a couple of jumps, she just seemed to really enjoy it today. She was slightly unconfident from the right on the first send but then was great after that.
We then played with change of direction its getting better, but still needs alot of work. I'm still not sure I am positioning myself correct as some changes were great and others just didn't work... I think I will need to really concentrate on what I am doing more next time we play.
I finished of with jumping on her bareback and riding round the field, she could only manage a couple of steps then had to eat some grass so I just sat on her until she was ready to walk again. On the way back heading towards the stables she did get a bit excited so I had to bend her to a stop a few times. And we just managed to get back before the rain, which made it even better!
We started with just walking round the field until we found a part of the field that wasn't totally waterlogged. We then started with playing with porcupine and driving, recently she has been walking away from the pressure more than yielding so I want to try and improve this so when we do start working on liberty this will be alot easier. We then moved on to yo yo game, we had to do quite a bit of approach and retreat as she lost confidence when she went past the 12 ft mark on the 22ft line. But she did get better and seemed alot more confident but still tends to go a little squint.
We then move on to circling game and got some really nice circles in both directions in trot and canter, she seems so much more relaxed in canter now than she used to be. I had the dog with me and he started barking at people walking past, so I had to get him back to me. So I got Blossom to disengage from the circle from canter, she slid to a stop for me then reared right up - she must have been up in the air for a good few seconds!! She then came down put her ears forward and came right to me. I think she was just playing!! I have seen her play like this in the field before, it was so cool to watch her like that with me!
We then played squeeze game over a couple of jumps, she just seemed to really enjoy it today. She was slightly unconfident from the right on the first send but then was great after that.
We then played with change of direction its getting better, but still needs alot of work. I'm still not sure I am positioning myself correct as some changes were great and others just didn't work... I think I will need to really concentrate on what I am doing more next time we play.
I finished of with jumping on her bareback and riding round the field, she could only manage a couple of steps then had to eat some grass so I just sat on her until she was ready to walk again. On the way back heading towards the stables she did get a bit excited so I had to bend her to a stop a few times. And we just managed to get back before the rain, which made it even better!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday 6th March
Well the past couple of weeks I haven’t done anything really with Blossom as I have been having problems with Aicha travelling so all my spare time has been spent with Aicha in the lorry and trailer.
I have been playing with her a bit in the stable when I am grooming her and changing her rugs etc. She seems to really respect me more now when I am in the stable with her, I have been making a point of making sure I get permission to enter the stable before I go in. Instead of just putting her halter on and getting on with what I need to do with her, I have been playing firiendly game with the CS I then porcupine the FQ and HQ then play driving game with her. Then rub her all over with the halter before I ask her to put the halter on. Just spending this extra few minutes with her as really made a difference, she now stands perfect and lets me groom her and rug her up without any problems – which is just great!
Tonight I hoped to go out and play with Blossom, I feel really bad that I haven’t done anything with her. But typical for some reason the outside light in the yard didn’t come on, so I would have been in total darkness if I went out to play. So instead I played with holding her tongue in the stable. I done some pre checks using the carrot stick in her mouth before I used my hand. She seemed to really understand what I was asking her to do and soon relaxed her mouth and allowed me to hold her tongue without any problems.
I didn’t want to do too much of this with her so I decided to move on to asking her to smell her tail – I had never tried this before so I thought it would be a good idea to use treats to encourage her to bring her head round – Bad Idea! Blossom worked out really quickly that if she brought her head round she got a treat, but it ended up she was just interested in the treats and wasn’t thinking about why she was getting them. She then became quite dominant and I had to work really hard to protect my space, as she was just interested in getting in my pockets to get the treats. So we abandoned smell your tail, and I played with the first four games to get her interest back on me before I finished, as I didn’t want to finish on a bad note.
I have been playing with her a bit in the stable when I am grooming her and changing her rugs etc. She seems to really respect me more now when I am in the stable with her, I have been making a point of making sure I get permission to enter the stable before I go in. Instead of just putting her halter on and getting on with what I need to do with her, I have been playing firiendly game with the CS I then porcupine the FQ and HQ then play driving game with her. Then rub her all over with the halter before I ask her to put the halter on. Just spending this extra few minutes with her as really made a difference, she now stands perfect and lets me groom her and rug her up without any problems – which is just great!
Tonight I hoped to go out and play with Blossom, I feel really bad that I haven’t done anything with her. But typical for some reason the outside light in the yard didn’t come on, so I would have been in total darkness if I went out to play. So instead I played with holding her tongue in the stable. I done some pre checks using the carrot stick in her mouth before I used my hand. She seemed to really understand what I was asking her to do and soon relaxed her mouth and allowed me to hold her tongue without any problems.
I didn’t want to do too much of this with her so I decided to move on to asking her to smell her tail – I had never tried this before so I thought it would be a good idea to use treats to encourage her to bring her head round – Bad Idea! Blossom worked out really quickly that if she brought her head round she got a treat, but it ended up she was just interested in the treats and wasn’t thinking about why she was getting them. She then became quite dominant and I had to work really hard to protect my space, as she was just interested in getting in my pockets to get the treats. So we abandoned smell your tail, and I played with the first four games to get her interest back on me before I finished, as I didn’t want to finish on a bad note.
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