Today Eddy offered to come and have a look at myself and Corine play so he could help us point out any holes in our play that we can work on when we get home. After we had played a little indoors Eddy thought it would be a good idea to go outside and play at liberty in the round pen and he could watch and see what problems we were having. I was first and today nothing was working, so it was really difficult for Eddy really to help with specific problems I would normally have. But what we did find that Blossom seems to have real difficulty with is change of direction at liberty (which I have done with her before and it went really well) But anyway today she just couldn’t give me the other eye, so therefore the change didn’t happen as it should. Eddy helped me a little with this and gave me some strategies I can do to try and help her with this, but I just couldn’t get any of them to work. So Eddy then had a go at playing with her, and he had very similar problems. So it was interesting to watch what Eddy done to help her with her confidence and how he tried to make the right think easy and the wrong thing more difficult.
Corine then played and her liberty isn’t great, so it was really interesting listening to Eddy helping Corine and the different strategies he gave her for a different type of horse.
Eddy was then going to watch us ride, but we had spent so much time outside playing at liberty that we had totally run out of time for today, normally it wouldn’t have mattered and we could have played longer. But tonight we had promised Nadine we would be home early as she was cooking a meal for us tonight and a little leaving dinner for the three of us.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday 25th February
Last night we went out for a lovely meal to an Indian restaurant in Brugge for a leaving dinner for myself and Corine with Eddy and Marieke. We had a brilliant night, but it was later than we would normally be up.
So today I was really tired and I think it really showed in my play. Again today because of the course I was playing with the ponies through lunch - we had a little warm up online and everything went really well. I then mounted Smarty and lead Blossom and we started with following the rail and today from the start they were so calm and relaxed. We played with transitions in walk, trot, canter and stand, backup and I couldn’t fault anything. Corine was watching me ride and commented on how calm the ponies were and she thought it was due to my own energy levels being so low (the fact I didn’t stop yawning the whole ride, was a clue I was tired) So this was something to think about were they so calm and relaxed because my energy was low or was it because they have been doing this for the last few days and are now in a routine..
So today I was really tired and I think it really showed in my play. Again today because of the course I was playing with the ponies through lunch - we had a little warm up online and everything went really well. I then mounted Smarty and lead Blossom and we started with following the rail and today from the start they were so calm and relaxed. We played with transitions in walk, trot, canter and stand, backup and I couldn’t fault anything. Corine was watching me ride and commented on how calm the ponies were and she thought it was due to my own energy levels being so low (the fact I didn’t stop yawning the whole ride, was a clue I was tired) So this was something to think about were they so calm and relaxed because my energy was low or was it because they have been doing this for the last few days and are now in a routine..
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday 24th February
Today was also really busy, the weather was quite nice today so I could have played with the ponies outside. But because of the few problems I had with Smarty yesterday I decided it would be better to ride through lunch again in the arena to see if Smarty was better today.
I warmed them up online pretty much the same as yesterday and everything went well.
I then mounted Smarty and today from the moment I got on him he was really soft and relaxed, so I was really happy about this and pleased that what I done with him yesterday must have worked.
So today we had a really nice ride and both ponies were really good, today we played with transitions in walk, trot and canter and also stand and back up and everything went really well.
I warmed them up online pretty much the same as yesterday and everything went well.
I then mounted Smarty and today from the moment I got on him he was really soft and relaxed, so I was really happy about this and pleased that what I done with him yesterday must have worked.
So today we had a really nice ride and both ponies were really good, today we played with transitions in walk, trot and canter and also stand and back up and everything went really well.
Monday 23rd February
Today the place was so busy, it was the busiest I have ever seen it - lots of people and there family and all the stables were full too!!
So any chance of playing with the ponies was going to have to be through lunch again so to make things easier for myself I decided to play with them both together and then ride Smarty and lead Blossom.
I started online with them both playing with friendly game and stick to me this went really well, so we moved on to playing with circling game. This was so much better than it was the last time I played with then both together, they were so calm and relaxed and even done a change of direction at trot. I was so impressed with this and today Smarty was happy to take the lead on the circle, whereas the last time Blossom always had to go in front.
Circling game over a jump didn’t go to good, Smarty was really good but Blossom just didn’t like the idea of jumping with Smarty so close to her.
Yo yo game was good and they both went backwards from phase one and also came back to me at trot. Sideways along the wall also was very good!!
I then mounted and we started with just following the rail in walk and then I started asking for some stop and back up transitions. Smarty was really leaning on the bit and wasn’t yielding to pressure very well so we done quite a lot of this and I was also having to use the CS to get him to yield. We the started adding trot into our transitions, but still Smarty was really leaning on the bit when I would ask for downward transitions. So I couldn’t let this go on for any longer, so I let Blossom loose in the arena and gave Smarty a really good canter as I wasn’t sure if he was leaning just because he had lots of energy. But even after the canter he still wasn’t much better so I spent quite a lot of time working with him to teach him to be soft.
I then got Blossom to catch us again and we had a lovely ride now that Smarty was so much softer and was more relaxed.
So any chance of playing with the ponies was going to have to be through lunch again so to make things easier for myself I decided to play with them both together and then ride Smarty and lead Blossom.
I started online with them both playing with friendly game and stick to me this went really well, so we moved on to playing with circling game. This was so much better than it was the last time I played with then both together, they were so calm and relaxed and even done a change of direction at trot. I was so impressed with this and today Smarty was happy to take the lead on the circle, whereas the last time Blossom always had to go in front.
Circling game over a jump didn’t go to good, Smarty was really good but Blossom just didn’t like the idea of jumping with Smarty so close to her.
Yo yo game was good and they both went backwards from phase one and also came back to me at trot. Sideways along the wall also was very good!!
I then mounted and we started with just following the rail in walk and then I started asking for some stop and back up transitions. Smarty was really leaning on the bit and wasn’t yielding to pressure very well so we done quite a lot of this and I was also having to use the CS to get him to yield. We the started adding trot into our transitions, but still Smarty was really leaning on the bit when I would ask for downward transitions. So I couldn’t let this go on for any longer, so I let Blossom loose in the arena and gave Smarty a really good canter as I wasn’t sure if he was leaning just because he had lots of energy. But even after the canter he still wasn’t much better so I spent quite a lot of time working with him to teach him to be soft.
I then got Blossom to catch us again and we had a lovely ride now that Smarty was so much softer and was more relaxed.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday 22nd February
Today I stuck to my plan and played with Blossom during the lunch break of the course, we only had about an hour so we started online playing with:
1. Extreme friendly games in all zones
2. Porcupine games from tail, hind legs and chin - these are now all going really well
3. Yo yo over a pole - we haven’t played with this in a while and it showed!
4. Sideways over a barrel both directions - getting good!
5. Circling game with transitions, change of direction in trot and canter.
6. Figure of eight pattern and Weave Pattern.
I then mounted bareback and played with circling around a block and today was really good as I didn’t have to make many corrections. So this was a massive improvement for us, so I didn’t want to play with it for too long. So we played with the weave pattern so I could practise my steering from just the string, to start with it wasn’t very pretty. But she really got the idea very quickly and soon we were trotting through the pattern, she was so good. So there is hope still that one day she may be a games pony - If I can do the weave pattern which is the same as the bending in games in trot bareback and bridleless I think there is a really good chance!!
1. Extreme friendly games in all zones
2. Porcupine games from tail, hind legs and chin - these are now all going really well
3. Yo yo over a pole - we haven’t played with this in a while and it showed!
4. Sideways over a barrel both directions - getting good!
5. Circling game with transitions, change of direction in trot and canter.
6. Figure of eight pattern and Weave Pattern.
I then mounted bareback and played with circling around a block and today was really good as I didn’t have to make many corrections. So this was a massive improvement for us, so I didn’t want to play with it for too long. So we played with the weave pattern so I could practise my steering from just the string, to start with it wasn’t very pretty. But she really got the idea very quickly and soon we were trotting through the pattern, she was so good. So there is hope still that one day she may be a games pony - If I can do the weave pattern which is the same as the bending in games in trot bareback and bridleless I think there is a really good chance!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday 21st February
Today there was a course on so this meant we couldn’t use the arena as there just wasn’t enough room for any more horses to come in.
So today I just really spent a lot of undemanding time with Blossom walking about outside letting her graze. We did go out to play in the 100ft round pen outside, but as it hasn’t been used since the summer so the surface wasn’t very good and Blossom seemed worried about going any faster than walk and even then preferred to come back to me. So I didn’t want to push her, so we just spent some time hanging out together and every now and then I would ask a little something of her maybe stick to me, circles, backwards by the tail, sideways and this really kept her attention on me even when she was grazing.
The course is on again tomorrow so I think me and Corine plan to have an early lunch so we can play with our horses while the students on the course have their lunch.
So today I just really spent a lot of undemanding time with Blossom walking about outside letting her graze. We did go out to play in the 100ft round pen outside, but as it hasn’t been used since the summer so the surface wasn’t very good and Blossom seemed worried about going any faster than walk and even then preferred to come back to me. So I didn’t want to push her, so we just spent some time hanging out together and every now and then I would ask a little something of her maybe stick to me, circles, backwards by the tail, sideways and this really kept her attention on me even when she was grazing.
The course is on again tomorrow so I think me and Corine plan to have an early lunch so we can play with our horses while the students on the course have their lunch.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday 20th February
A week today and I will be loading the ponies into the trailer to go home, I can't believe how fast the last 3 months have went!!
Today I played with Blossom online and had a play with some of the tasks that didn‘t go so well for us yesterday or the ones I would like to improve.
So today everything went much better than it did yesterday, especially her porcupine games I really noticed an improvement everything was just so much softer and smother.
Well seen as everything was going well I decided it was better not to play online for to long and try and find problems.
So I saddled and started with checking my lateral flexion with the CS and then my back up from the SS and also turning left and right from the SS. This all went very well so we moved on to playing with follow the rail in walk and trot and this went very well, she still gets impulsive if we use all of the arena so we are still only using half.
We then played with transitions from walk, trot and canter and these went very well she is now really listening to me and going up and down the transitions from just the energy in my body. As everything was going so well I put the cradle bridle on her and started with a passenger lessons just to get her used to having the bit in and then gradually took up more of a contact on the reins.
We then played with circles and transitions and she was really good and stayed very calm and relaxed, so I was happy with this so decided to finish on this and not push her to do anymore for today.
Today I played with Blossom online and had a play with some of the tasks that didn‘t go so well for us yesterday or the ones I would like to improve.
So today everything went much better than it did yesterday, especially her porcupine games I really noticed an improvement everything was just so much softer and smother.
Well seen as everything was going well I decided it was better not to play online for to long and try and find problems.
So I saddled and started with checking my lateral flexion with the CS and then my back up from the SS and also turning left and right from the SS. This all went very well so we moved on to playing with follow the rail in walk and trot and this went very well, she still gets impulsive if we use all of the arena so we are still only using half.
We then played with transitions from walk, trot and canter and these went very well she is now really listening to me and going up and down the transitions from just the energy in my body. As everything was going so well I put the cradle bridle on her and started with a passenger lessons just to get her used to having the bit in and then gradually took up more of a contact on the reins.
We then played with circles and transitions and she was really good and stayed very calm and relaxed, so I was happy with this so decided to finish on this and not push her to do anymore for today.
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