Updating..

I will try to update more, but the majority of my time is at my main blog; The Equus Ink.  I have been riding Ink and you cna check out the latest info on there!

Ride

I lunged Ink today, then rode him.  He was looking really good on the line, and these last few days he’s been improving.  I decided to do a test ride to see how he went.  Besides being un-balanced he felt good.  Towards the end I noticed he became a little off, so I stopped.  I wanted to lunge him out to see how he moved after the ride but I couldn’t get him to lunge.  Matt’s out of town, so I had no help.

Riding

I’m not riding currently.  Both my horses are out of commission.  Although when Ink is looking good I might step up on him.  I walked him around bareback the other day, but that’s about it.  Errika won’t be doing forced exercise for another two months, and I probably won’t start riding her for three. 

My mom and I talked about it, and I’m going to start looking for a new place to take riding lessons in eventing.  But for now I need a place with lesson horses.  After we’re done paying for the current horse bills (Errika’s surgery, Ink’s dentist appt. and sooo on) we’re going to really find out what seems to be the troubles with Ink.  We might even have to take him up to UCD (where Errika went for her surgery) for x-rays and ultra-sound. 

I was asking a lady last week about Ink’s lameness and what she thought might be going on (based on my discription and a video) and she was incredibly rude to me.  I was so upset over the situation I was debating on selling Ink to a home that could follow-up on this lameness.  And after she said that if I’ve had him for a year now, we should already be figuring out what’s wrong, and she was “skeptical” on my story, I cried and cried. 

People don’t understand the situation completely from online.  It’s so much more than what it can appear to be.  A trainer was recently talking to me and he said; “What are the options?  People don’t understand that I can be a little tough on a horse (in regards to his riding).  But what are the options, this horse is living a good life, she’s fed well, exercised, and loved.  She could be a BLM mare on her way to a slaughter house.  And people are worried because I’m a little tough?”  And what are the options?  I’ve had people help me and tell me what might be wrong.  When I told this lady about my other horse going through the colic (which is a WHOLE story in itself) she still thought I was a bad person.  But then again I rescued Ink.  Why am I bad when the racing industry is the one who throws all these horses away, and generally they go off to slaughter?  Why is it that people focus on a horse that hasn’t yet been diagnosed in regards to lameness, when there are countless people out there letting their horses starve? 

Cavallettis

I don’t have a set of Cavallettis right now, but should shortly. My friend and I are going to build them. I want to work Errika over them to keep her supple. But I wanted to get some good advice on where, how and what to start with. Errika is just doing some simple Dressage to keep her active physcially and mentally at this point in her life. I want to keep her fit, and a horsemen I so highly respect, advised me to use them with her. In addition it will be good for my riding, two for one.

This information was obtained from; Website

The website says the following on the subject of Cavallettis for Dressage horse and rider:
Objectives – “The objectives of these exercises are to improve the way the horse moves through loosening his back (all grids), to teach the horse how to collect and lengthen stride (grids 7,22), to improve his ability to bend and change bend (grids 11,26, 28), to teach the horse to shift his weight in the canter to the hind end (grid 9), and to give a new way to practice some movements (grids 12, 13, 14). These exercises also give the dressage student and horse a change of pace.”

This should be good for Errika. I like the idea of loosening her back and overall it will appear to develop her into a more supple horse.

Theory – “These exercise are based on the fact that the exaggerated movement of the horse through the cavalletti will strengthen the hind leg muscles and will loosen the horse’s back. This will result in an improved ability to move and to shift the center of balance toward the hind end. These exercises also require a great deal of focus on the part of the horse and rider and will improve the ability of both to concentrate. Several exercises will also focus on giving the horse a reason to bend correctly. It is significantly easier to go through curved cavalletti patterns if the horse is bending correctly. Dressage cavalletti can also give the rider the chance to learn to feel if the horse is moving straight, as crooked movement will cause him to move away from the center of the cavalletti while going through the grid. Horses that have difficulty learning that lengthening is not going faster and collection is not going slower will be able to better grasp this concept by using the grids which have longer and shorter stride lengths set in them. The student can also use these grids as a way of learning to feel if the tempo remains the same when lengthening or shortening because the work of achieving the difference in stride length is accomplished by the grid and the rider has more time available to feel what is happening. Cavalletti work can be very useful also when the horse/rider combination is stuck in a rut and needs to do something completely different in order to progress.”

You can see the grids on the website link above.

I think I will start lunging Errika starting with the easiest grid for her level at this point. And then go from there. Once she is doing well, I’ll ride the grids. What fun. I’ll try tommorrow with the things I have.

AOD Pt 6

I was at a lose. I knew with my ‘hands’ method it was just another way to force, which by any means I wanted to avoid. I stopped riding her. I figured there must, must, be another way to do this, and I need to figure it out, obviously, before I ride or try to. What was wrong with me? I had rode plenty of ponies and horses that I rode absolutely fine. I was the star student of my riding school, and riding class. But this wasn’t just a riding problem, it was a down right communication problem. The odd part was, that we had the best relationship on the ground. I loved her with every inch of my heart, but it all fell apart when the riding came into play. I could take her on miles and miles of trail rides without any rein contact, just let her take me away, but for some reason the riding in the arena was a growing issue. My riding wasn’t making it any better, I became un-patient in the beginning, frustrated, and I felt like I was letting my new horse, my new love, down.

Maybe horse ownership isn’t the easiest thing? She’s wasn’t and still is not the easiest horse to ride.
A man came to my assistance. His name was/is Jim. He lived behind where I boarded, with his own little facility. He seemed nice, but full of himself. I give my first understanding of what he taught me, the credit. He helped open doors that needed to be open. This man took me and my horse into the round pen and taught me how to move her using my body. To stop, turn her, and communicate on a deeper level. Maybe this would be the beginning to the new found path..

AOD Pt 5

Every-time I rode now, I used the running martingale. But she was taking advantage of it, didn’t respect the pressure, after the overuse of the extreme pressure of the stretcher, and therefore I was riding with a horse that had a head that was almost touching the sky. She seemed have gotten more than just sore muscles out of that thing. Maybe she knew what I wanted her to do? Rarely did she relax, it was just a shuffle of rides with little learned each time. I felt stuck, and in a rut with her and my riding. What was a new horse owner supposed to do? I had received more advice to bring her head down. See saw on her mouth and when she brings her head down, release. I still used to running martingale, but I forced her head down this time with my hands. We managed to have more success as far as the head goes, in this method. But she was still resistant. Her sensitive mouth was taking an undeserved beating. I really do not understand why people advise others to do these things.. I look back at it now, another shameful moment, when both horse and rider were frustrated, and the frustration as only escalated when other forceful methods were introduced.

I managed to ride without the running martingale, and continue to use my hands to bring her down. When I’d use my hands to bring the head down, I’d use the word “head” along with it. That way, possibly, I could use a voice command to communicate instead of this hands thing. I didn’t know what else to do, anyone who helped me really didn’t know what they were advising. But I take full responsibility for not knowing better and taking that advice.

As time went on, I had to learn to lighten my hand and relax my body, so she could do the same. The task wasn’t the easiest…

As of Dressage

Almost 5 years ago this spring, when I got my first horse, I learned she would not be suited as a jumper or eventer. So I took the Dressage path. I was young, 14, and I rarely rode in a Dressage saddle at lessons, nor did I understand the true mechanics behind the art in which the equestrian world calls; Dressage.

I bought my first saddle, and my first Dressage saddle. A Wintec, which has done me so very well. But developing the seat and leg wasn’t the easiest task. I was used to riding in shorter stirrups, in a close contact, and didn’t know how to get this horses’ head from touching the sky.