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Apr. 19th, 2008 08:56 pmGot up early yesterday and rode- the neighbors were busy doing something that involved banging chains loudly and later dragging a tarp that could have covered an Olympic sized pool down their driveway- Trudi felt a bit unhinged by all this, but kept her spooking to a low level- shying and dancing for the most part. It was not a great ride but it could have been worse. We did end up with some walk/canter transitions when I decided to "say no to prancing."
It's not fun to be struggling right now, but it never is. Usually things will improve markedly after such a time, so we'll see.
I went home, showered, and went to watch a Dennis Callin clinic. $10 with a huge free lunch=GOOD DEAL. He was interesting- he pretty much had the same set of exercises that he ran everyone through, at least up to a point. Trot, trot on a 20 m circle, concentrate on pushing the horse out with the inside leg. Trot serpentine with 4 loops. Full school- trot down the longside, with 5-6 strides of medium trot, bringing the horse back well before the corner. Canter, medium canter 5-6 strides, bring the horse back well before the corner. Walk break, trot, shoulder in down the long sides, then counter shoulder in down the long sides, then haunches in down the long sides. Haunches in across the diagonal to X (basically half pass) and shoulder in bent the opposite way down the centerline. Canter, serpentine 4 loops- no change of lead. He said this was a really good "non invasive" way to make the horses really sit back, because they quickly learn to anticipate the loops and sit back in preparation. Canter serpentine 4 loops, walk and simple change at the centerline in each loop. Canter serpentine 4 loops, flying change at the centerline. Both sets of exercises were done both directions, of course.
Occasionally he did a bit more or different counter canter work- short diagonal to full school, or in one case, short diagonal, full school, then 20m circle, flexing to the inside- (think shoulder in right on the left lead) and then after a few strides of flexing the horse to the inside, he had the rider cue for a change- and that was how her horse learned to do his first flying changes.
It was sort of like watching a personal trainer run people through a fitness program at a gym.
Thanks to my own clumsiness, I smashed my knee against the frame of the shower door last night, so today Trudi just got a little turnout - she trotted, cantered, then went "whoopeee!" and bucked and galloped, which I think is fun for horses to do once in a while. Then she got a bath- so she's clean, and fuzzy, and looks like a plush stuffed animal. Sigh.
C'mon mare, shed out!!! We have stuff to do this summer!!! :)
In other news, hubby broke his glasses this morning, so we spent most of the day replacing those. Hello unexpected $400 expense. Ouch. I may have to revise some of those summer plans.
It's not fun to be struggling right now, but it never is. Usually things will improve markedly after such a time, so we'll see.
I went home, showered, and went to watch a Dennis Callin clinic. $10 with a huge free lunch=GOOD DEAL. He was interesting- he pretty much had the same set of exercises that he ran everyone through, at least up to a point. Trot, trot on a 20 m circle, concentrate on pushing the horse out with the inside leg. Trot serpentine with 4 loops. Full school- trot down the longside, with 5-6 strides of medium trot, bringing the horse back well before the corner. Canter, medium canter 5-6 strides, bring the horse back well before the corner. Walk break, trot, shoulder in down the long sides, then counter shoulder in down the long sides, then haunches in down the long sides. Haunches in across the diagonal to X (basically half pass) and shoulder in bent the opposite way down the centerline. Canter, serpentine 4 loops- no change of lead. He said this was a really good "non invasive" way to make the horses really sit back, because they quickly learn to anticipate the loops and sit back in preparation. Canter serpentine 4 loops, walk and simple change at the centerline in each loop. Canter serpentine 4 loops, flying change at the centerline. Both sets of exercises were done both directions, of course.
Occasionally he did a bit more or different counter canter work- short diagonal to full school, or in one case, short diagonal, full school, then 20m circle, flexing to the inside- (think shoulder in right on the left lead) and then after a few strides of flexing the horse to the inside, he had the rider cue for a change- and that was how her horse learned to do his first flying changes.
It was sort of like watching a personal trainer run people through a fitness program at a gym.
Thanks to my own clumsiness, I smashed my knee against the frame of the shower door last night, so today Trudi just got a little turnout - she trotted, cantered, then went "whoopeee!" and bucked and galloped, which I think is fun for horses to do once in a while. Then she got a bath- so she's clean, and fuzzy, and looks like a plush stuffed animal. Sigh.
C'mon mare, shed out!!! We have stuff to do this summer!!! :)
In other news, hubby broke his glasses this morning, so we spent most of the day replacing those. Hello unexpected $400 expense. Ouch. I may have to revise some of those summer plans.
