Counter-Bending on the Sepentine

Today I finally had a lesson which supposedly made up for the one 10 days ago that we had to reschedule for twice. At least Ulla showed up today, even if she was almost 10 minutes late. I'm glad she didn't cut the lesson short either, since sometimes she does that saying that she had to hurry off to something else. So I had a full hour lesson today and was worth her $1/minute charge (well not really, but that's about what it worked out to be).

I always look forward to lessons, since Ulla has so much riding and training experience she always teaches me new exercises that really help to improve Ben's suppleness. Today we worked a lot on counter-bending. When riding on a 20m circle to the right instead of having him slightly bent to the inside following the path of the circle, she had me bending him to the outside. This helped to make me use my outside rein more and create a better contact with in and in turn forced him to use his haunches more and lift his back. Once he showed signs of relaxing, dropping his neck and following the contact with the bit I would straighten him out and then ever so slightly ask him to bend to the inside.

We also worked on this on a 4 loop serpentine across the length of the arena. It was really tricky at first to develop the feel for this exercise, since in essence I had to ride opposite of what I normally would do. The tricky part was posting on the diagonal towards the counter-bend even though we were traveling the opposite way. So when going to the right you would be posting with the outside or left leg, but in the counter-bend when traveling to the right you post with the right leg since it's now your "outside" leg. Confusing to explain and even a little more confusing to practice, but at least by the end of the drill I got a hang of it and will be able to practice it on my own more the next time I ride. This exercise felt a lot like doing square turns as similar outside aides are used. It has a very nice effect on the horse since they horse really has not other choice but to engage his hind end and lift his back. If they don't do it, they are trapped feeling a bit out of balance. Once they correct themselves their carriage is really nice!

Ulla commented today that, "Finally we are getting a horse that we can work and progress with." I was really proud of Ben today that even though his episodes yesterday, he didn't goof off or spook at all. He was really willing and didn't put up a fight. Ulla even had me riding portions of a Training Level test to see how Ben would react. Sometimes over-schooled horses turn sour once you start practicing tests with them, since they all have a "been there, done that!" type attitude. But Ben did really well and hopefully we'll be able to start drilling tests a little more and Ulla can give me a valid opinion on how I'd score at a show. Even though I don't consider Ben a highly competitive horse and I haven't shown for 10 years, I think it'd be fun to try at least one show with him to see how he'd do. So we shall see what the future holds!

Spiraling In and Out

Yesterday and today I rode over at the Martin's arena. Since my mom is in California visiting my brother Scott and his family, I had Tifanie watch the boys for me while I rode. I lucked out since it was nice both days and made it quick and easy to ride at the Martin's. I couldn't believe that I was able to drop Hyrum off at Preschool at 12:30pm drive back to my parent's, brush and tack up Ben, ride for 45 minutes, untack him and put him away and then drive back to pick up Hyrum by 3pm. It was great, almost as perfect as having my own arena to ride in! Imagine all the time I'd save. Although I really do enjoy riding at Barnabee since I'm able to see my friends, other horses, and ride in a covered arena with excellent footing, it's such a hassle to have to walk there 25 minutes each way. At least I'm getting some exercise though!

Anyhow, back to my rides. Both yesterday and today Ben was really antsy. I had to try really hard to keep his attention, lots of changes of direction and transitions. He had a lot of energy too, so one thing that really helped him to focus was riding on a 20m circle and then leg yielding in to make it smaller and then leg yielding out to make it larger. It was like a big spiral and I got a little dizzy from the exercise but it really helped to engage his hind end, slow down his pace and create a better connection with him.

Today there was someone working across the street, who sounded like they were chopping down a tree or something. Every time we rode on the west side of the arena which is parallel to the road, Ben's attention was focused on what they were working on and not me. I was getting frustrated and after spending 30 minutes working with him I figured it was time to quit and he just needed to run around and have some fun. So I dismounted and took off his saddle and bridle and then just let him run around the arena. He was really cruising and acting pretty crazy! A couple of times when he came racing towards the end of the arena, I didn't think he was going to stop and would just jump right out. Luckily he'd skid and turn just in time and go bucking and racing down to the other end.

What a mess that would be to have a loose horse, who was super excited! If he did get out I would hope he'd just run around in their field or something, because I'd hate for him to try to run back home, even though it's only a 1/4 mile away. What a nightmare to have a horse loose on the road! Sorry Ben, I've already been through that with Toasted and don't need to relive that experience. So please Ben, don't try anything too crazy...your life depends on it!!

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!"

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!!

Too Bad I Can't Lunge My Kids!

When I arrived at Barnabee I decided that after my tough morning with my kids, I decided that I really didn't want to fight with my horse either, so I was sure to lunge Ben before I got on him. I lunged him for a good 20 minutes and worked on increasing and decreasing the size of the circle to get Ben to reach with his inside hind leg under his body more which in turn allows him to lift his back and carry himself in a more balance frame and strengthens his back muscles in the process. He was doing really well to the left but when we switched to the right he started bucking and jumping all over the place at the canter. I remember him doing this the last time I lunged him so I'm wondering if something must be going on in his right hind leg. Maybe he is experiencing some sort of pain so he's acting out because it hurts? I don't know. I just need to pay more attention to it and do some trail and error and then the next lesson I have with Ulla I need to be sure to bring it up with her and see if she notices anything.

After lunging I rode him for about 25 more minutes and Ben was really relaxed and preformed well for me. He collected very nicely and also stretched very well. I worked a lot on transitions within the gaits of trot and canter from collected to medium. We also did a lot of square turns which helped to engage him as well. While riding his canter in both directions was smooth so I don't know why he exploded like he did on the lunge line. Maybe he was just having a bit of fun?! Hopefully I'm just over analyzing things, since I'd hate to have give him any more time off. Two days a week of riding already seems like nothing at all, but at least it's something. And days like today, it's certainly a breath of fresh air as I'm able to take a break from the kids.

Back to Back Ds

When I rode Ben this afternoon I worked on a new exercise with him to allow him to collect more and work on his hind end engagement. I rode him on a 20 meter circle at the trot and then turned it in to back to back Ds. This seemed to work really well for him since it gave time while on the center line to be straight before we had to collect and make a turn toward the wall. This allowed more collection on the outside aides and while turning I incorporated swing turns to engage his hind even further. He was very willing throughout this whole exercise.

Afterwards, I worked on his lateral work by leg yielding down the center line toward the wall. If he started to resist at all I would stop and either make him do a turn on the forehand or back up for a few steps until he was once again engaged.

Lame or Not Lame? That is the Question!

On Saturday when I came over to ride Ben, he was acting very strange. While I was brushing the mud off his blanket he started to lift his right hind leg and hold it in the air. After I removed his blanket, I felt him all over his back leg and didn't find any areas of heat or swelling. However, when I touched him around his stifle and the inside of his thigh he would again lift his leg out to the side and shake a little as he held it. This really worried me and I almost wished I had found a wound that I could pin point it to.

I decided to try lungeing him to see if his gait at the trot and canter were affected it was hard to tell. The ground in his pasture isn't level and he was full of energy so he was really jumpy. But at least he didn't seem to be favoring it much while moving.

I'm thinking it may have been caused on Wednesday when I free lunged him after my ride. There was a lot of tractor work going on at Barnabee and they were fixing their retention pond and Ben didn't like all of the noise, so he was a little nervous. Had I not had such a solid seat I probably would have fallen off at least 4 times since he was so jumpy, especially at the canter. Anyhow, after riding for a 1/2 hour I decided I would get off and let him run around the arena. He had a great time doing this and at times was in a full gallop before he had to break and turn a sharp corner.

So he could have strained a muscle then, or possibly it was on Thursday morning when my Dad saw some coyotes near the pasture. The horses were pretty nervous and running around snorting, so he could have easily slipped and stained it then as well. Either way, something wasn't right. Since I didn't have any bute I just gave him the day off and hoped that it would heal with time.

Lucikly it did and when I came to ride him today, he showed no signs of soreness. We had a great ride today! At first I lunged him a just to make sure he was 100% sound. After 10 minutes I got on and we worked on suppling him through the serpentine and getting him to establish the correct bend and be balanced as he changed directions without lifting his head. Then we worked on his canter on a figure 8, changing leads in the middle and also leg yielding down the quarter line at the canter. He did really well during both of these exercises. In the past he has had some issues with leg yielding at the canter to the right and would break out and bolt, which lead me to thinking that something must be pinching him or hurting him, but today he showed no signs of this and was very willing. We also worked on swing turns at the trot and that really helped him to collect more and engage his inside hind leg. All and all it was a great ride!