Fun Stuff

A couple fun things lately.
Yesterday I took Mo over to D, L and S's place to play. K was there to, and we all had a blast. We played with Sparky again, which I always love! Mo loved it to! Instead of playing in the arena, we played in the straw field!! There were rows of cut straw so when the cow went out of the path, it had to jump over the rows which gave an extra little fun bit!

Me and Mo played with some contact with the Cradle bridle, and some bridless stuff too, which was a blast. S and D had set up an awesome obstacle course that we played online and the undersaddle as well, which was a super challenge and fun. Mo was really tuned in and I am super proud of her.

Today I went out to test out some new saddle fitting things on Indy.  OH WAIT! I forgot!! I changed the gullet again in my saddle! It is now on the uber widest one, and I am currently playing with shim patterns to figure that one out.... I havent found the perfect one for Mo yet, but B gave me some good ideas the other day via skype [which I adore] that I am playing with. I am not sure how well it works for Mo, but I tweaked it a bit today to fit Indy better and it really seemed to work. I think I could use one thin shim, just for me to get better back on my balance point, but other than that I was happy with it - and better, SHE was happy with it - she was actually OFFERING to put her head down at the trot after a while, and we were just in the halter and 12' - that is something she has never done without being prompted by a fluid rein! So joy for that!

I had some ruffles on the left side, but I think that might be from me re-adjusting the saddle because the girth wasnt tight enough in the beginning. I will keep an eye on it either way though, to make sure it isnt a fluidity issue in me! Interesting note to, she picked up both leads pretty easily. The last time we rode she could not for the life of her [OR ME!] get the right lead -which is interesting because Mo has a hard time with the left lead! So... what does that say about me? I havent quite figure that out yet either.... Lots of figuring going on currently!

Actually lately I have felt a bit stuck, so I have to keep reminding myself that when you feel stuck or like you are moving backwards, its just a new level of concious incompetence. Its a good thing. I just forget that sometimes... it is hard to feel stuck when you want to feel progressive all the time! Things ARE progressing though, I think sometimes though my expectations just get to high for what I am actually doing - in contrast, having high expectations is what has pushed me to get where I am now, so thats not a negative.

In a 'things are progressing' note, I am now consistently and confidently [and regularly!] riding Indy bridless around the pasture at a walk and trot and in to the barn. Little liberty things coming along nicely with her to, which is a nice treat. Mo is being her usual goobery self tonight. I just brought her in to brush her [all those hairs take a lot of upkeep!] but she was so cute and searching out treats that we played with practicing her bows on both sides. I am also trying to figure out how to turn that into lying down without ruining the bow. Yet more figuring! YIKES!!

Lots to think on!!

:-)
S

Oops...

Interesting observation today.

I changed the gullet in my saddle - a Wintec Wide - to be the medium sized one. The saddle comes with three, all extra wide, but a small medium and large extra wide, so I guess 1x, 2x and 3x [or some such] Today I put the 2x gullet into the saddle, after having been using the 1x one for the last... ever. The idea was initially for Indy, as her muscle is building up so much that the saddle is really getting to small for her. I thought I would have to shim like crazy to get it to fit Mo now!

Apparently I was wrong!! Mo was the close one after I did the re-adjusting so I brought her into the barn to do a shimming session with the new set up. Upon really looking at her and feeling around the saddle, I think she could actually even maybe use the biggest gullet! YIKES! I will have to check it out with Indy and maybe just go right to that one. For now this one suffices, and with two thick shims and a thin one it seems really good, has great clearance in the scapula and actually put me on my balance point!

ANYWAYS! The point is that when I took her out to move around to see what she thought, I got some fun reactions. Her first thing when I asked her to move out was head up brace for half a second followed by head on the ground blowing and trotting like that. Hmmm. Both directions that happened for, AND she offered me some super soft CANTER circles on the 12' line, which is a first [in a left brain state!] So that was uber cool. We played with that for fie minutes and then I mounted up to test it out with my influence [ostensiably for just a few minutes... ]

HOLY CRAP! Mo was just sooo flowy. This gorgeous slow smooth trot, head on the ground and this AMAZING slow cadenced canter. She was light, she was supple, she was paying attention and she was HAPPY!! She was offering me the canter and we just did all kinds of cantering. I couldnt believe the totall turn around. This complete reversion to MY Mo leads me to believe that it may have been a pinchy saddle contributing to the snarky Mo I have been around for the last little while. Mo never has been one to suck it up and be good anyways, I am just not always so clever at finding out what it is thats bothering her!!

Now I know that at least the saddle was part of it! What I wouldnt give for a Parelli saddle... ! Maybe in a few paycheques... hahaha! It was just so nice to be able to have a nice connected ride with Mo without her being bracy and concerned about everything. I forgot what a treat that is. It will be very interesting to see how m'dear Indy likes it tomorrow!!

I am happy now that Mo is happy. I was getting very concerned! Should have clued in when bareback riding was still going well... DOI. Oh well! Hindsight 20/20 right? At least I figured it out now :-)

:-)
S

Great Afternoon

This afternoon I finally dredged up some time for MY ponies! I have not really done anything much since before I left for Michigan, so it was a nice treat to have A) daylight and B) the time!

As I walked out to the barn I saw Mo in the middle of the feild and whistled [and was graced with not even so much as a lifting of the head] but then I saw Indy in the shed with every horse EXCEPT Mo, so that was good. When I went to the back door and whistled she came over and I was able to halter her and bring her into the barn.

I brushed her and made her gorgeous [not hard to do] and then brought out my saddle and shims. The last time I had her saddled she bucked and acted generally uncomfortable, so I thought it was time to re-assess my shim pattern. That, and the fact that she has beefed up CONSIDERABLY since coming home! She has a NECK and a CHEST and her back is spreading with muscle like nobodys business! She is just flowering into this gorgeous phenomenol horse. I cant get enough of her.

Shim pattern re-done, I put my saddle and pad outside and grabbed my 45'. We went into the arena and started to play. Firstly I moved some barrels into a row so that we could have them for a jump. To begin with I ended up testing our yo-yo, because she was slacking a bit while I was moving barrels around so we played with "How little can I do while you back up quickly and straight" - now THAT was fun! She really got into it and tried and really got backing with very little more than an energy burst from me!

From there we went into some circles all the way out on the end of the 45' and I got a really nice surprise! ALLLLL the way out there I took two steps back for a change of direction and POOF there it was! WOWWWWYYY!!! I was so thrilled!!!

On that high note our ground play just progressed and was fantastic. We moved on from circles to do a really fun playful squeeze over the barrels that inolved Indy playing Cow pony when I disengaged her as she would cut down low on the re-send. It was hysterical! She also offered some BEAUTIFUL collection on the circle, bending her body perfectly. I will admit I was asking for sideways at the time, but I will take what I can get!!

We went on to do some falling leaf through the small pasture and generally just played around with some high energy things until I got "the look" and had permission to saddle. Saddling was a snap and we went back out to play some more for girth tightening. My pony is getting chubby... the girth only goes up three holes currently! Used to go five or six... oopsy..!

When she was ready to ride I unsnapped the 45 and coiled it up - during which time Indy didnt move at all, which was a real treat and testament to our friendly game progression - and we walked over at liberty to the fence to get the 12' to make into reins. I also put my savvy string around her neck to see how that would work out. Me being me, I just clambered up onto the ledge of the water trough for a mounting block, and Indy being Indy was a doll and just sidled right over to help me on! What a sweetie! Of all things, helping with mounting is one of my very favorite things!

Once mounted I got myself arranged and then set to the task of getting Candy out of the ring because she likes to be a nuisance. Indy LOVED that task! I focused on the pony and she was right there with me! I hardly had to do anything, she walked when Candy walked, and trotted when Candy trotted. Apparently my cow practice paid off! I wish I had a cow here to play with... must ask neighbours.... [more on cows later..good times!]

After Candy kindly vaccated the area we wlaked around, testing our pseudo-bridless brakes and turning and what not. Everything went very well. As per usual, a little more go than whoa, but getting more centered every time. When we picked up the trot Indy was a little impuslsive and trotting around very fast so that was interesting. I offered her some circles and those seemed to help a little bit. She ran into the stick once from trying to get behind the shed, and I have to say that was kind of funny. I put the stick down in a phase on position, and she just turned her head wrong and went THWACK and consequently spun herself in a circle, stopped, licked and chewed. What a dork. Love her!

So on we went. My self-disiplining pony was slightly more compliant now and amenable to my ideas for direction at the trot. She was still impuslive though, which was kind of fun. She kept offering the canter, which I allowed because the last time we rode in the ring her attitude was very much the " I am to BIG I cant canter in here!" so I was just happy she wanted to canter at all.

We played around in the ring area for a bit but really she was just feeling good so I directed her out to the pasture area and she saw it and went OH BOY and just galloped down the length of it. Good thing I am ok with that... I didnt precisely ASK for it, but neither did I suggest she slowed down, so long as I chose the direction. After joyously cavorting all the way down and allllll the way back she was happier to relax and pay attention. And I think I was better off for a good gallop to - lets face it, I really do have a need for speed! Speedy cars, speedy ponies... either, or, preferably both!

From there we did some sideways stuff - which is getting REALLY soft [so is her general response to my leg which is SO delightful!] and then went out the gate because I heard a something-mechanical start up and was hoping it was a dirt bike or four wheeler I could follow, but it was the motorcycle and it was leaving. Poopy. Oh well, I went on a trail ride anyways.

Funny thing happened on the very first stretch of the trail though! We were cantering happily along and then I look down to check for pot holes and such, and make sure the ground is actually dry enough to support us and I see HERMIONE! [the cat, well A cat] Right underfoot [or about to be] and sleeping. Gack. I sort of probably created a tiny brace in my body, expecting Indy to go AHHH but I was SO PROUD when all she did was a sort of mini jump over the cat, and keep cantering happily. NO SPOOKING!!! Not even when the poor kitty jumped up, freaking out and ran away! YEY INDY!

*so proud*

We cantered most of the trail, trotting where appropriate and snacking along the way [her, not me] When we got to the top of the hill at the end we did some circles around the tree waiting for the motorcycle to leave and playing Follow Fritz [the dog] Of course, being me, I had this grand idea to race the motorcyle down the laneway on the galloping stretch, and that started out well enough.... until the bazzilion cows in the pasture bordering the stretch decided to race ME! AHH! Indy was sooo not impressed with cows racing her and bolted a teensy bit... just a teensy bit though. I bent her to a stop and then all was fine, we played more tackle Fritz and then cantered back down the trail.

We walked and moseyed and stopped with snacking most of the way in order to 'cool out' but as often happens to my attention span, I got distracted when I saw C and C biking off down the laneway. Indy is a bit sketchy on bikes and moving things like that so I thought it would be a perfect chance to build some confidence. They had a pretty food head start on me so we trotted and cantered after them to catch up and then follwed at a walk for the rest of the way up the laneway. It was really good! C and C stopped at the end to pick some flowers, so Indy got to graze beside the pony-eating-cycles and wasnt really bothered by them anymore when they took off again, so JOY! Mission accomplished!

Funny thing about that though, is about a third of the way down the laneway I hear this quiet thunder and then I look over into the pasture... and there is Mo... looking all dejected following us down the road on her side of the fence! She ran up and down the whole way we walked and when the trees were to thick to see us, she would whinny. How adorable! So when we got to the barn, she was waiting all anxious at the gate.

I brought Indy into the barn and put her in 'The Spot' where she waits. I got her some crunch and then got Mo some and ran down the aisle to give it to her. I figure its good friendly game to hurtle myself at her and then give her cookies... it makes her confident about me running to her. Incedentally, it makes Indy confident about me running behind her, because she gets treats on my return! How handy!

After untacking Indy and giving her TONS of love and treats I backed her down the aisle and squeezed her out the gate where she disengaged happily to come in for some more Apple Snacks. She kind of wanted to chase Mo away, and with Mo trying so hard to be nice and come say hi, I sort of pushed Indy away a little and called Mo's name while *trying* to disengage her. Lo and behold, IT WORKED! She turned and faced and walked up all enthused! Good thing I saved her some snacks.....

When I turned to walk into the barn [ostensiably for the night] she followed me so happily that I just couldnt ignore her! She walked with me into the barn, although instead of sticking with me she wandered over to Delilah's stall to investigate for left overs... its always that stall though, so thats interesting. As soon as I walked by though she came right out to see me. I loaded on the yummies for my little food oriented monster and then yo-yo'ed her ALL the way out of the barn... thats right! Riht up and over the large step out of the back of that barn, and she did it with out even pausing [other than to let me open the gate] AND she offered to come back in and do it again! What a doll! She got me to run back for more crunch something like three times. She knows EXACTLY how to get me! Little monster!

Just when I thought she got bored of me and walked away [and so I did to] she came back with water dripping from her muzzle begging for more hugs! She really has me in her back pocket, because I definately went back to hug her some more. How I loves my ponies <3

Such was my amazing evening.

:-)
S

Saddle Woes Solved.. I hope!

I think I have solved my recent riding woes. Mo has been really really strange and different in a negative way under saddle since I have been trying the Wintec Wide with her again. I think it is because it puts to much pressure on her shoulders. Always under the area where the shims are is a dry spot no matter how sweaty she is otherwise. So tonight after visiting my friends new horse [gorgeous] I ran over to test out my latest theory - new shim pattern, regular Wintec saddle.

I whistled when I got there and both Mo and Kota came over going "FOOD" so that was nice. I quickly haltered Mo and started getting out my shims and theraflex. Mo kept wandering away into the impending gloom of evening so I changed tactics and led her right into the tack room. That fascinated her and kept her amused while I fidgeted.

I deduced a new shim pattern for us. One thick shim in the regular vertical position, one thin shim horizontally and back a little, and then one thick on top of that horizontally back a little more. When I put the saddle on it looked really good so I girthed up and off we went into the ring.

I played a few little games on the ground then mounted up and wlaked off. Mo felt really good and started blowing and putting her head down right away. WHOO!! We trotted around and more stretching and blowing and happiness. Walk trot and canter, all stretchy and blowing! I got a canter to halt INSIDE my hula hoop on try one and basically threw myself from the saddle to hug Mo. MY Mo is back! The Mo I know and love has made a triumphant comeback!! HOORAAYYY!!!!!!

:-)
S