It’s been awhile since I’ve updated our blog. I’ve been busy doing a lot of scrapping, card making and working on the interior of our house. Anyway....
A couple of weeks ago I set up a lesson with Deb, but rather than me riding I asked her to ride G. I thought it would give her a better understanding of the lack of communication we’ve been having with the current bit. I have to say it was interesting to watch her ride him. At first you could tell he was a little uneasy – not only was there someone different on his back but there I was standing in the corner. Whatz up with dat? He quickly learned that when Deb asked for something he was to comply. But it sure was fun to watch him test her the same way he tests me. Definitely a challenging personality ~ luckily not a “mean” one.
She agreed that we needed to address the bit and see if we could find something he was a little happier in. So into her car’s tack trunk she went and came out with our first one to try. So I’ve been riding G the past few weeks in another Herm Sprenger KK snaffle. It’s basically the same as what we were using it’s just 18mm rather than 12mm. At first I wasn’t sure G would accept a bit this fat, but after mouthing it for a couple of minutes he settled right in with it.
To me he seems more comfortable with the larger diameter mouthpiece and seems more content in staying on contact. Deb dropped off two more bits this past weekend. Both single jointed snaffles, one 14mm and the other looked like a 21mm. The later being too fat for Mr. G’s mouth. I tried the 14mm snaffle which was a stainless Kosteel bit and was surprised that he went okay with it. However, he wasn’t as content as he’s been in the HS bit. Argh...of course he likes the crème de la crème of bits. His nibs has taste like his mom.....champagne taste....beer budget, lol.
We’ve got a lesson on the 29th so I’ll have Deb check us from the ground and possibly get her to ride him before the lesson is over. The weekend calls for sunny weather with highs in the 80’s! Egad we went from early spring to middle of the summer overnight! Hopefully we can get G to shed a little more before Saturday so we can get in a nice long trail ride.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
It's Spring...Trail Riding at last!!
Yesterday was just a perfect weather day, especially seeing that its March. By noontime the sun was out and temps were hitting 62. I loaded up my western tack and headed to the barn.
I double checked saddle fit first; something I like to do every spring "just in case". Good to go! I just recently trimmed G and trimmed a hair too short, so I put on his front hoof boots, tacked him up and off we went.
The dreaded bridge...what bridge? G didn't even hesitate for a moment. Good Boy!! We did have a few moments of "hey mom lets turn around here", but I simply did a turn on the forehand and headed back out toward the river. Did I say how I love dressage? It certainly has given me an arsenal of tools! We did encounter one quad and small bike and I asked G to stand off in the woods while they passed and he did his imitation of a piafe, lol.
I could hear more atv's out along the river so I decided to cut down a trail that I haven't been on since the first year I was there. It's usually flooded over at the end hence the reason I don't follow it. So we're following the trail and it kinda disappears. I wasn't sure which direction to take and because of the way the marsh floods I hesitated to go toward the river. I looked to the left and saw the corn fields up above, but we'd have to cross a little stream. Hey no biggie right?
Well, we descend and suddenly G goes from ankle deep water to chest high water. I'm thinking the stream bottom is not sand but mud. I encourage him onto the bank. Next thing I know his left leg is over his knee in mud. At this point I have to say I'm so proud of myself. Instead of panicking, I gave G his head held onto his mane and just let him do his thing. He worked himself out and up the bank to the field. I'm really proud of him, as I'm thinking he's going to buck when he gets himself out of this mess. Nope. BUT he was extremely tense. Since there was no grass to be found I decided to just let him keep moving. Once we got through this field we found that they had let the next corn field go to grass so I steered him over and gave him his head....yum yum yum. He spent about 10 minutes grazing and I asked him to move on. He was now much calmer. Still a little high headed since he knew we were headed home, but at least we weren't jigging anymore!
When we got back to the barn I took him up to the track to work another 20 minutes. It's our routine. Go home, get to work some more. He was gaiting so well, and we had more lift in the canter which was sooo nice. While I was untacking G, the owner who was sitting at the end of the barn yelled over "what do you have on his feet, bell boots?". I told her they were his hoof boots. Then she asked if I had ridden him on the track with them. I said yeah why? She said that he had more animation and looked smoother than she'd ever seen him. It was nice to have confirmation of what I was feeling! I think I'm going to continue to ride him in the boots...cause the canter was awesome. Did I say how much I love spring, oh wait that was dressage? lol.
I double checked saddle fit first; something I like to do every spring "just in case". Good to go! I just recently trimmed G and trimmed a hair too short, so I put on his front hoof boots, tacked him up and off we went.
The dreaded bridge...what bridge? G didn't even hesitate for a moment. Good Boy!! We did have a few moments of "hey mom lets turn around here", but I simply did a turn on the forehand and headed back out toward the river. Did I say how I love dressage? It certainly has given me an arsenal of tools! We did encounter one quad and small bike and I asked G to stand off in the woods while they passed and he did his imitation of a piafe, lol.
I could hear more atv's out along the river so I decided to cut down a trail that I haven't been on since the first year I was there. It's usually flooded over at the end hence the reason I don't follow it. So we're following the trail and it kinda disappears. I wasn't sure which direction to take and because of the way the marsh floods I hesitated to go toward the river. I looked to the left and saw the corn fields up above, but we'd have to cross a little stream. Hey no biggie right?
Well, we descend and suddenly G goes from ankle deep water to chest high water. I'm thinking the stream bottom is not sand but mud. I encourage him onto the bank. Next thing I know his left leg is over his knee in mud. At this point I have to say I'm so proud of myself. Instead of panicking, I gave G his head held onto his mane and just let him do his thing. He worked himself out and up the bank to the field. I'm really proud of him, as I'm thinking he's going to buck when he gets himself out of this mess. Nope. BUT he was extremely tense. Since there was no grass to be found I decided to just let him keep moving. Once we got through this field we found that they had let the next corn field go to grass so I steered him over and gave him his head....yum yum yum. He spent about 10 minutes grazing and I asked him to move on. He was now much calmer. Still a little high headed since he knew we were headed home, but at least we weren't jigging anymore!
When we got back to the barn I took him up to the track to work another 20 minutes. It's our routine. Go home, get to work some more. He was gaiting so well, and we had more lift in the canter which was sooo nice. While I was untacking G, the owner who was sitting at the end of the barn yelled over "what do you have on his feet, bell boots?". I told her they were his hoof boots. Then she asked if I had ridden him on the track with them. I said yeah why? She said that he had more animation and looked smoother than she'd ever seen him. It was nice to have confirmation of what I was feeling! I think I'm going to continue to ride him in the boots...cause the canter was awesome. Did I say how much I love spring, oh wait that was dressage? lol.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
So its not me, it's the bit!
I asked hubby to go ride G tonight and Thursday as I have a zillion things to do between scrap projects and the routine stuff.
Well he came home a little while ago and said boy is he a gaiting fool with the Dr. Cooks bridle. My first reaction was to say "oh, you didn't want to try the bit" and he told me that he did at first and found that G just kept fussing with where he was carrying his head. After 10 minutes he went in and switched to the bitless and from there on he gaited his fool head off.
So I guess the good news is, it's not my hands (cause I know hubby has even lighter hands than me). Now the question is...is it this particular bit and contact or is it any bit and contact? Argh...I guess I could just keep using the Dr. Cooks bridle, but G being G, I'm not sure I will feel 100% secure with him on the trail with it. But I suppose I could simply ride western on the trail since we neck rein and he has no problem with that bit? I'm just not sure how to proceed at this point.
p.s. Just wanted to update this. Turns out that hubby wasn't using the Dr. Cooks with him but the Liz Graves sidepull, lol. So either way he's telling us he likes being bitless!
Well he came home a little while ago and said boy is he a gaiting fool with the Dr. Cooks bridle. My first reaction was to say "oh, you didn't want to try the bit" and he told me that he did at first and found that G just kept fussing with where he was carrying his head. After 10 minutes he went in and switched to the bitless and from there on he gaited his fool head off.
So I guess the good news is, it's not my hands (cause I know hubby has even lighter hands than me). Now the question is...is it this particular bit and contact or is it any bit and contact? Argh...I guess I could just keep using the Dr. Cooks bridle, but G being G, I'm not sure I will feel 100% secure with him on the trail with it. But I suppose I could simply ride western on the trail since we neck rein and he has no problem with that bit? I'm just not sure how to proceed at this point.
p.s. Just wanted to update this. Turns out that hubby wasn't using the Dr. Cooks with him but the Liz Graves sidepull, lol. So either way he's telling us he likes being bitless!
Back to the Bit (kinda)
I haven't had much opportunity to keep my blogs updated (bad me). I rode G in the dressage bridle with the HS bit and it was like we were beginning anew.
He definitely is more responsive to light pressure as I work on flexion from the ground then before. I taped my reins to where he was the most comfortable with the contact as I wanted to be sure that I was keeping my hands in the same place so I could concentrate more on softness in my hands and requests. We just worked on walking and he was above the bit and behind the bit and just couldn't seem to be happy in between. So after about 20 minutes I switched over to the Dr. Cooks bridle and he just flat walked along with his head steady and his neck was a shaking. I'm beginning to think that it's either the bit we're using or he's just a horse that will never be happy with a bit in his mouth. I remember David from ESF telling me he went through about 10 bits before he found one G was happy with. However, I don't think I want to go back to that type of mouthpiece, as I think he has progressed past that at least.
At this point I'm going to continue working with him on the lunge line with the HS bit and side reins and see if we can find a comfortable place for him. I may even tap into our barn's DQ to see if she has any ideas. Since she brought her WB through his training she may recognize something that I'm missing. But at this point I figure some of the work will be easier without me on his back. We'll see.
He definitely is more responsive to light pressure as I work on flexion from the ground then before. I taped my reins to where he was the most comfortable with the contact as I wanted to be sure that I was keeping my hands in the same place so I could concentrate more on softness in my hands and requests. We just worked on walking and he was above the bit and behind the bit and just couldn't seem to be happy in between. So after about 20 minutes I switched over to the Dr. Cooks bridle and he just flat walked along with his head steady and his neck was a shaking. I'm beginning to think that it's either the bit we're using or he's just a horse that will never be happy with a bit in his mouth. I remember David from ESF telling me he went through about 10 bits before he found one G was happy with. However, I don't think I want to go back to that type of mouthpiece, as I think he has progressed past that at least.
At this point I'm going to continue working with him on the lunge line with the HS bit and side reins and see if we can find a comfortable place for him. I may even tap into our barn's DQ to see if she has any ideas. Since she brought her WB through his training she may recognize something that I'm missing. But at this point I figure some of the work will be easier without me on his back. We'll see.
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