Transitions, Transitions!!

I've been having some luck lately on Wednesdays and was able to ride again over at the Martin's outdoor arena since it wasn't raining today. YEAH!! Today we worked on lots of transitions between the trot and canter on a 20m circle. I would only have Ben canter for about 3 strides until I asked him to trot again. Basically I had him changing at each quarter of the circle. This seemed to work really well for him especially since when riding outdoors he tends to have lots of energy. So I was able to control him a lot better today. He also became quite engaged through the transitions and was very attentive to my aides.

Riding over at the Martin's has been such a blessing! It's saving me so much time and I can't believe that from leaving the house all tacked up, that I'm back ready to untack in just one hour! Amazing!!! Especially since when I ride to Barnabee it takes at least 1 hr and 45 minutes. So here's a BIG THANK YOU to the Martin's for letting me ride in their arena each week!!! :)

Changes of Direction and Counter-Canter

Today I had another lesson with Ulla. I made sure I arrived 15 minutes early to give me time to lounge and warm-up Ben. This was a very wise decision since he had lots of energy and was spooking in the corner at F. Jamie had finished dragging the arena right before we got there so the whole surface was smooth. It was funny to see that after lounging Ben, he totally avoided most of the east end of the arena, especially around F and A. There wasn't even one hoof print in that corner!

At the beginning of my lesson Ben was still shying away a bit at F and A, but then Ulla came down into the arena with me and held a lounge whip to encourage him to go forward and pass all the "scary" things in the corner. Then she just stood in the corner and that gave Ben the confidence he needed and easily passed by her. I'm not really sure why he is so afraid of that part of the arena, maybe it just looks or smells funny to him, even though we've been here hundreds of times.

Once Ben was going really forward we worked on a 20-meter circle and practiced doing changes of direction through the circle. On the left rein I would turn right past P and then make 1/2 a 10m circle to the center line and then change reins and turn to the right and make another 1/2 of a 10m circle to V. Then I would continue around the circle and do it again in the opposite direction. The was a good exercise to work on since it made me think all about preparation for the turns, engaged his hindend and also kept his mind focused.

The next exercise we worked on was the counter-canter. I have never successfully been able to hold a true counter-canter on Ben before since he is programmed to do a flying change each time we change directions. Flying changes are good of the horse to know how to do them, but they must come when you ask for them and not when the horse thinks it's okay. Ben struggled a bit with the counter-canter, so Ulla broke it down for us. Instead of crossing the diagonal and then continuing on the counter canter around the short side of the arena, we would just simply ask him to canter on the wrong lead. After trotting to the left along the short side of the arena I would turn on the quarter line down the long side and ask him to pick up his right lead canter. I had to use my new inside rein (the right) more heavily and bend his neck slightly to the right as well. Almost as if I was asking him to canter to the right around a circle, but instead keep traveling straight. Once I came close to F, I would ask him to trot again. He's not ready quite yet to canter all the way around the short side, but this will come with practice.

It's fun to learn and teach Ben new exercises. The counter-canter is especially a good one for us since it causes the rider be in more control and asks the horse to listen. It also helps to balance the horse more and shows the rider how unbalanced they may or may not be. In order to hold the true counter canter your body has to essentially be traveling opposite of what it's used to doing. So it is really a great tool to teach the horse to "Follow Me!"

Overcoming Fears

This afternoon was beautiful so I rode Ben over at Barnabee in their outdoor Olympic-sized Dressage arena. Ben always has much more adrenaline when I ride him outside, so it was fun to have some "horse-power" beneath me. I could tell that he really enjoyed the ride also, since he performed really well for me. Since it was a change of scenery he didn't act bored even though the exercises we did were similar to what we always do.

While riding outside, some of the things I have to always work on are lots of serpentines, changes of direction, small circles and transitions between trot and canter. All of these exercises allow me to have greater control of him, collect and engage him more and in turn also slow him down. He is so strong when he's outside, sometimes I feel like he just wants to take off at a gallop and run away with me.

After a 1/2 hour of straight arena work I decided to give Ben a break and try something different. I took him out of the 1/4 mile track that encircles the arena and the neighboring pasture. I'll have to bring my camera with me sometime while I'm riding so I can take a photo of how cool it is. Anyhow, when we first started walking around the track, Ben was really apprehensive. So I just encouraged him softly to go ahead and be brave. Ben can be a real chicken at times and easily freaks out at the smallest changes in his environment. I don't think I've worked Ben on the track since at least last summer since had been lots of construction in the retention pond close by and the track is closed when it's raining. A lot has changed since the last time we rode there and Ben was noticing everything!

After we walked about 1/2 way around, he saw some flowers that had definitely NOT been there before and he wasn't going to go near them if his life depending on it. The flowers had been placed there in memory of Jennie, one of the horses boarded at Barnabee who recently passed away. Her body was actually buried in the pasture that we passed, so maybe he sensed her presence or saw her ghost or something. Once we came close the grave, he stopped dead in his tracks and would not go forward at all. He started backing up really quickly and then just spun around. I turned him around again to reapproach the area but he wanted nothing to do with it, so I decided it was best to just go back the way we came then push him.

As we got back to the track entrance, I decided to get off of him and just handwalk him around the track to see if that would help to relax him. Sure enough it did and he walked past all of the spooky ghosts very confidently. I then decided to get back on him and walk around the track again, but this time when we approached the scary area I looked way past it and acted like we had seen it 1,000 times and it wasn't a big deal.

He was a little shy at first, but with my confidence he was able to gain his own and passed easily by. Getting my courage up I decided we should try passing at the trot and see how he'd do. At this point, I think he was so happy to be trotting around the track that even though he weaved a bit at the flowers, they weren't really a big deal anymore. He then trotted successfully past them twice more and then I called it quits.

My next goal with Ben is to get him confident enough to ride on the trails at Barnabee. We used to ride on them with no problems, but now he won't even step foot near them. So the next sunny Saturday that I ride, I think I'll tackle them. Wish us luck!

Balance is the Key

Today I rode Ben over at the Martin's arena. It was a beautiful day in the low 50s and is starting to feel like spring which I'm super excited about! I don't want to get too excited though, in fear that the temps will start to drop. Ben did well over in their outdoor arena today although a couple of times when it got a bit breezy it made Ben really excited and he started to "spring" around. At one point when I was rounding the corner on the northend of the arena he jumped from the corner to the quarter line and twisted his body in such a way that I almost fell off. In all of his little quirks and spooks, this was the first time that I actually felt like I could have fallen off, but I was super glad I didn't. In the process, both of my feet came out of my stirrups and my body weight shifted to the right. I had to try really hard to keep my balance and shift it back to the center of the saddle and just hung on tight with my thighs and sat as deep as I could in the saddle. I was successful in staying aboard and throughout the rest of the ride I started thinking about how important balance is in riding.

In order for the horse to be able to carry himself properly the rider has to be perfectly balanced as well. One's natural crookedness, one-sidedness or weakness will cause their horse to not travel straight or properly balanced. Especially during transitions, you've got to align your center of gravity with the horse in order to achieve the upward on downward transition that you desire. The more I tune in to my body and how I'm using it while I am riding, I can see that Ben is greatly improving the use of his body. Because my core muscles are developing and being used properly he is able to use his body properly as well. His muscle tone has changed since I bought him and his back and hind end are being used more and his lateral flexion has greatly increased. So like all things in life, I guess BALANCE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS!

Here are a few links to articles in Dressage Today that I found helpful on this subject.

Understand How to Ride the Horse - "Forward into the Bridle in Balance"

Video: Create Better Balance in the Dressage Horse

Learn Balance and Self-Awareness

He Can Do It!!!

Today I had an awesome ride on Ben!!! Days like today are one of the reasons that I started this blog in the first place. Whenever I have a great ride I wanted to be able to record what happened, how it felt, what we worked on and how he reacted, so for future rides I'd know how to recreate the event. In riding since you are dealing with an animal almost 10x the weight of yourself, who has his own ideas of how things should go sometimes. So, it's a great triumph to have mastered the art of control and create a harmonious relationship between horse and rider.

Although we may not have looked as perfect as these pairs, they look how I felt. Today was one of those days I wished someone would have been there watching me or better yet had photographed or recorded my ride so I'd be able to watch it again and again.
I started out by lounging Ben first since it had been 5 days since I rode last and I had a feeling Ben was going to have a lot of energy and either freak out at everything or put up a fuss and not want to do anything. He has a very extreme personality sometimes. It's very odd, since at times I feel like I have to try my hardest just to make him go forward and then days like today he has so much adrenaline I just have to keep it all channeled in the right direction. His energy proved to really benefit him today and through it all he was able to remain in focus with me.

After walking around the arena once on a loose rein, I picked up the contact and started walking him in a large 4 loop serpentine across the width of the arena. Each time I crossed the arena I had him leg yield and bend little out to make the line curved instead of straight. This really helped to engage his hind end and worked on his lateral flexion. After doing this a couple times, I picked up a nice working trot and repeated the exercise. This is an exercise that Ulla taught me last week and in practicing it today I could really see it's benefits.

I also worked turning down the center-line and leg yielding toward the wall at the trot. Ben responded to this well also, however at times he was a little rushed and lost his forward movement and yielded too quickly.

What I was really impressed with in today's ride was the quality of his trot. It was really forward and had lots of power. He met the contact in my hand and was light on the forehand. His canter was also very relaxed and even and I was able to change it easily from collected, to working, to an extended canter and then back again. Same with his trot, he gave me a very nice collected trot in 10 meter circles and then a great medium/extended trot across the diagonal.

Riding Ben today felt GREAT!!! He has really come along way in his training and I'm very proud of him. I'm so thankful to have a horse like him to ride that makes me work hard and then give me his all and lets me feel successful. It may not happen all the time, but when it does I'll take it! Thanks Ben!!

Meeting Heather

Yesterday I had someone respond to my Dream Horse Ad about leasing Ben. I was so excited! After talking with Heather on the phone, she seemed like a really nice person and with enough experience that she would be able to handle Ben. I met up with her today over at the Martin's arena, despite the rain, and I was really impressed with they way she rode. She has taken a few years off from riding since she sold her two horses two years ago, but has lots of riding experience with Hunter/Jumpers, Dressage and Endurance riding. She is my same height and build, so that's great too as it won't pose a difference for Ben to carry. It was fun to watch her ride today, since I've never seen Ben ridden by someone else who actually was at my same level of riding. Ben was very attentive to her and seemed very relaxed as well. She was able to ride him forward using her seat and legs as diving aides and he became very round and supple for her. While I was watching her ride I thought, "Wow, I sure have a beautiful horse!" Ben looked really sleek since he was wet from the rain and moved so fluidly across the arena. We are going to try and hook up again next week at Barnabee, so Heather can see what it is like riding there. I am really hoping this lease will work out, because I know Ben would be much happier being ridden more than 2-3 times a week that I am able to commit to. Plus, with her as the rider, I feel really comfortable leaving him in her hands to help train. Funny how when things are right you just know! Here's hoping she felt the same vibe I did!!!

"You are wasting my time!"

So that was Ulla's comment to Ben this afternoon during my riding lesson. Ugh! I felt really bad because Ben was really misbehaving. I was trying really hard to get him to cooperate and go forward, but he had a different idea entirely on what was going to occur today. For some reason, he resisted passing the E-X-B line again. I had to work really hard to keep my leg aides strong, be light with my hands and ignore the tantrum he was having. Eventually he got over his issues and then for the rest of the lesson he acted perfectly normal. Sometimes I seriously don't understand this horse! It's almost like he is a child. He doesn't want to be told what to do and then acts like, "Make me!" This gets to be so frustrating! The worst part is I know his potential and he's always proved to be good in the end, so why the big fuss in the beginning? It's actually really embarrassing sometimes, especially during lessons. I guess it's just teaching me to be more patient, as always. Next time I have a lesson though, I'm going to be sure to lunge him beforehand and see if that has a positive effect on his attitude. If I'm going to pay $65 for each lesson, I definitely want to be getting my money's worth instead of working though tantrums all of the time.

Ben Here Before!

Today I rode over at the Martin's arena again and Ben was so much better than when I rode him here on Wednesday. He acted liked he's been there 1,000 times and I was able to get him to do everything that I asked of him. A couple of times he spooked a bit, but as long as I kept him busy by riding in circles, figure 8s or serpentines, he concentrated on me as opposed to his surroundings. I am really glad riding in the Martin's arena is working for us, because it is saving us so much time. From the time that I walk down my parent's driveway until the time that I return it's about an hour, as opposed to an hour and 45 minutes when I ride at Barnabee. So from now on I think I'll mainly ride at Barnabee on Mondays or unless it's super rainy and I want to be in the covered arena. It's great to be able to come over on the 12:20pm ferry and head back on the 3:50pm. Gotta love being able to find ways to save time, something of which we all lack I'm sure.

"Blithe Spirit"

"Presently he would wheel around and stare in another direction,

pointing his ears forward to listen to some faint far sound

which had touched his senses."

~ William Henry Hudson

This quotation and painting completely depict what Ben was like when I rode him today over at the Martin's arena. Being in a totally new surrounding, he was full of adrenaline and every little sound and movement set him off. Krista has an Arabian mare that was up in her paddock, but Ben was barely able to see her while we were in the arena. At times he saw glimpses of her and would stop dead in his tracks and stare in her direction. It was like the two horses were speaking to each other and they stood frozen with their eyes locked on each other. I had to ride really hard to and keep him constantly turning and trying new things to distract him from wanting to look in her direction. Considering all the new surroundings and not usually riding in an open field, I was pretty happy with our ride today. It's always nice to ride a horse that is full of energy as opposed to one that won't get off your aides. Cantering was a challenge though, since Ben had definitely too much energy for that. At times I felt as though he would have jumped right out of the arena if I would have let him. By the end of the 45 minutes even though he was huffing and sweaty, he didn't act tired at all. I walked him up through the pasture so he could get a closer look at the mare and that made him feel much more comfortable. I'll have to be sure to talk with Karen and hopefully we can ride together one day so our horses can officially meet each other and then Ben might not be so excited when we go to ride there. That would be fun for the both of us!

The Ghost at "A"

Although not apparent to my senses, there was a ghost at the end of the arena while I was riding today. Ben didn't want anything to do with going on the east end of the arena towards "A" today. At first I was having a very difficult time even getting him past the E-X-B line. It was getting very annoying as he wiggled away from all of my aides trying to avoid heading even the slightest degree in that direction. With patience I continued to ask him to make little circles, slowly enlarging them. After about 10-15 minutes the ghost either left or Ben was willing to work along side it and we were able to ride the full way around the arena.

The remainder of my ride was like a 180 degree transition. You would have never had guessed he was so unruly when I first got on him. He performed very well for me and was very submissive to the aides. I'm so glad that patience and persistence pays off with riding. On days like today it's worth the battle to end on such a high note and see all the hidden potential my horse has when he is truly giving me his all.

Starting the Year off with a BANG!

New Year's Eve I spent the night over at my parent's house so that I could help to calm the horses from the fireworks. Apparently last year they were really scared and my dad had to stand down in the pasture with them too keep them from galloping around in the dark. So this year it was my turn. I had some oral Acepromazine left over from the 4th of July so I gave Ben 5cc and Jena 2.5cc. This seemed to help out a lot. It took 30-60 minutes to go into effect so I gave it to them at 10:30pm. The fireworks were the loudest between 11:50pm - 12:10am. At the worst point, even though the horses were worried, they weren't racing around, which was very good. Jena seemed much more nervous than Ben. Neither was really that interested in eating their dinner though. At 10:30pm when I went down to give them the medication they had over 1/2 of their dinner still left. I managed to get Ben to come into the barn and eat but Jena would just grab a bite and then go trot off into the woods and Ben of course had to follow. I'll have to be sure to stock up on Ace each year, because this year was much better than last year.

This afternoon I went over to meet one of my parent's neighbors, Krista Martin. She has a 11 year old Arabian mare and keeps her at home on her 5 acres. She also has a small outdoor riding arena that she said I could start riding in. So I went over to check it out and it looks like it is going to be something that will really work out for me. I'm very excited to be able to ride somewhere a little closer. Right now it's taking me 25-30 minutes to walk to Barnabee, so not having to do that each time I ride would save me an hour of travel time. As long as it's not raining and the footing is good, I think I'll only ride at Barnabee now for my lessons.

After talking with Krista I decided I'd take Ben over there so he could sniff the place out and get used to it a little. What luck! Right after I got changed into all of my riding clothes it started pouring rain. Ugh! But since I had everything all together and Jonah was peacefully napping I decided to go ahead with it anyway. So I got Ben all tacked up and took the 5 minute walk down the road. Ben was pretty excited when we got to their pasture and was very alert. However he was pretty confused as to why he couldn't see the other horse. Krista has her kept up in a little paddock near her house, so you can't see her from the pasture and arena. Ben whinnied a couple of times, but no answer was returned. He was a little sad. Hopefully he'll be able to meet her make a new girlfriend one of these days. Since it was raining so hard and I was already soaked by the time I got there, I decided to just walk Ben around the arena a few times and then walked him a bit around the trails. He behaved really well, but the whole time was excited since it was a new situation, but at least he wasn't afraid of anything.

When we got home we were very wet and I wanted to hurry and get us both dry. While I was unbridling Ben, he managed to slip away from me before I could hook his halter on him. At first he just walked over to the grass to eat, but when he saw me following him trying to catch him he trotted off. Luckily, my dad was outside down by the woodshed, so I called to him for help. He ran up the driveway and waved his arms in the air to try to get Ben to stop and keep him from going further down the driveway. Since the ground was so soft and wet, Ben slipped and skidded in the grass and created many divots, which I later patched up.

Seeing him trot down the driveway brought back many memories when Toasted did the same thing when I was 17. She wasn't as lucky though and trotted right into the road and got hit by a car. It was terrifying to watch, but at least she lived and recovered from the accident. I was so thankful that today I wasn't alone and that my dad was out there to help me herd Ben into the pasture. Once he was inside he was easy to catch and calm down.

Maybe I should have listened to my first instinct and just turned around and gone back inside when I saw the pouring rain this afternoon. But I had made myself a promise when I bought Ben that since I only am able to come and ride him a few times a week, weather wasn't going to stop me. Here's hoping that 2010 is full of good rides and incidences like these are behind us!