First we have a 1990-91 Clydesdale Stallion
Second we have a fall 2000 Misty mold painted as an Exmoor pony, still in the box. She's such a cutie.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Newest Members of the Herd
I recently picked up a couple Breyers at antique malls. They're examples of my favorite types--drafters and ponies. I love riding draft crosses and ponies, so I guess that's why I gravitate towards these models.
First we have a 1990-91 Clydesdale Stallion
Second we have a fall 2000 Misty mold painted as an Exmoor pony, still in the box. She's such a cutie.
First we have a 1990-91 Clydesdale Stallion
Second we have a fall 2000 Misty mold painted as an Exmoor pony, still in the box. She's such a cutie.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Lesson 1/14/12
First things first--Buttons has been sold!! I got to the barn on Saturday, and my instructor told me that Buttons (who I had ridden just last week) had been sold as a companion horse to a farm raising younger horses. Buttons isn't exactly the most mothering of horses (she's a biter), so I hope "companion horse" isn't a euphamism for dog food factory.
Other than that excitement, I had a pretty normal lesson. Here are some details, although I haven't got the time to write everything out.
I rode Buster, who is a somewhat green horse the barn is slowly working into the lesson program. He's really sweet, but still a bit unbalanced, particularly at the canter. We warmed up in both directions at the walk and trot, then did a little cantering. No big problems, but Buster wasn't bending through the corners as much as a more advanced horse could.
Then we did leg yields. This is when the horse steps under laterally with their inside hind, while bending away from the direction of movement. Starting at the walk, Buster at first didn't really get it, but after a couple tries was stepping under better. At the trot, we would get a couple good steps, but then would lose speed and drop back to walk. Buster was having trouble keeping momentum forward while moving laterally.
Next step in the exercise was to pick up a canter from the leg yield at a trot (this helps with a prompt canter depart). This did not go well, as Buster is pretty unbalanced in his trot to canter transition. He just runs faster instead of cantering. I can usually balance him back and get the canter after a half circle of this, but that totally defeats the purpose of transitioning from the leg yield. We did get the leg yield better at this point, but only got the canter after circling at the trot afterwards. Oh well, at least the leg yield was improving!
Other than that excitement, I had a pretty normal lesson. Here are some details, although I haven't got the time to write everything out.
I rode Buster, who is a somewhat green horse the barn is slowly working into the lesson program. He's really sweet, but still a bit unbalanced, particularly at the canter. We warmed up in both directions at the walk and trot, then did a little cantering. No big problems, but Buster wasn't bending through the corners as much as a more advanced horse could.
Then we did leg yields. This is when the horse steps under laterally with their inside hind, while bending away from the direction of movement. Starting at the walk, Buster at first didn't really get it, but after a couple tries was stepping under better. At the trot, we would get a couple good steps, but then would lose speed and drop back to walk. Buster was having trouble keeping momentum forward while moving laterally.
Next step in the exercise was to pick up a canter from the leg yield at a trot (this helps with a prompt canter depart). This did not go well, as Buster is pretty unbalanced in his trot to canter transition. He just runs faster instead of cantering. I can usually balance him back and get the canter after a half circle of this, but that totally defeats the purpose of transitioning from the leg yield. We did get the leg yield better at this point, but only got the canter after circling at the trot afterwards. Oh well, at least the leg yield was improving!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Horseback riding lessons, 1/7/12 and 1/8/12
I had two lessons this weekend, to make up for missing my lesson on Christmas Eve when the barn was closed. The first had some unfortunate excitment, while the second was more low key.
On Saturday, I was riding Buttons again. I was supposed to ride Andy, a newer horse at the barn, but he came up lame. It was warmer (high in the 60s), so Buttons was not as stiff as she usually is in the winter.
We were working on getting our horses round. That is, we wanted our horses to lower their heads into the contact, so that they would raise their backs and engage their back muscles. Buttons can get into such a frame, but I don't have steady enough contact to achieve this with her consistently. I would get Buttons to stretch and raise her back for a few strides, but then lose it. I was having some success at the walk, and then we moved to the trot (without stirrups).
As I've mentioned before, Buttons has a stiff back. At times this makes trotting more difficult for her than cantering. So as I pushed her into a trot, she tried to evade and canter instead. She did canter for a few strides, although pretty slowly. I didn't have stirrups, but she wasn't running off, so all I had to do was turn her onto a circle, and she came back to trot. The unfortunate excitement came for the rider behind me, who was riding a new, younger horse named Timmy.
Timmy saw Buttons canter, and he decided to do the same. His rider was a bit surprised by this and leaned forward in response, trying to steady herself (she didn't have stirrups), which sent Timmy off faster. He cantered down half of the long side of the ring, then turned in, changed direction, and did a flying lead change. The skipping step of the lead change unseated his rider, and threw her hard on her back and head. I heard today that she's fine (one of the instructors took her to the hospital), but at the time it was pretty scary. I've fallen a lot and seen a lot of other people fall, but in this case, the fall-ee was pretty woosey afterwards and experienced memory loss. Her helmet took the brunt of the fall, but there was a big mark where it had contacted the arena surface. We were talking to her afterwards, but then when we mentioned what we had said about 15 minutes later, she didn't remember. That's when the instructor decided to take her to the hospital. To reiterate, I heard today at the barn that she was fine, just that she shouldn't ride for the rest of the week, but at the time it really put a damper on things.
I did manage to end the lesson on a good note for me, as I got Buttons to round for me for a number of walk strides in a row finally.
After that lesson, I was hoping today would be more fun. I got my wish, as I was riding Sunny, who is one of my favorites, and we did some canter pole work to work on straightness when jumping (which Sunny is a pro at).
We did a "course" of poles. We started working to the left, did a two-pole dog leg on the diagonal, then up the other diagonal with one pole, then down the other side through a double combination. I had a lot of fun, and just let Sunny do his thing.
Sometimes when turning onto the diagonal he would throw his outside shoulder on me, which then needed some outside rein and leg to straighten. That was the only issue Sunny was having. HE got every lead change no problem. As for me, I had some trouble seeing the take-off spots. I used to jump regularly at 2'6" and I have jumped at 3' occasionally, so I know that I can get the timing, but it's been awhile. I need to get better at waiting for the jump to come to me. When Sunny has a quality canter, all I should have to do is bide my time, and then move with his jumping motion when he takes off. I had that a number of times, but maybe about 1/3 of the time I was slightly ahead of his timing. I was too locked onto the pole itself instead of reading the distance. Something to work on.
On Saturday, I was riding Buttons again. I was supposed to ride Andy, a newer horse at the barn, but he came up lame. It was warmer (high in the 60s), so Buttons was not as stiff as she usually is in the winter.
We were working on getting our horses round. That is, we wanted our horses to lower their heads into the contact, so that they would raise their backs and engage their back muscles. Buttons can get into such a frame, but I don't have steady enough contact to achieve this with her consistently. I would get Buttons to stretch and raise her back for a few strides, but then lose it. I was having some success at the walk, and then we moved to the trot (without stirrups).
As I've mentioned before, Buttons has a stiff back. At times this makes trotting more difficult for her than cantering. So as I pushed her into a trot, she tried to evade and canter instead. She did canter for a few strides, although pretty slowly. I didn't have stirrups, but she wasn't running off, so all I had to do was turn her onto a circle, and she came back to trot. The unfortunate excitement came for the rider behind me, who was riding a new, younger horse named Timmy.
Timmy saw Buttons canter, and he decided to do the same. His rider was a bit surprised by this and leaned forward in response, trying to steady herself (she didn't have stirrups), which sent Timmy off faster. He cantered down half of the long side of the ring, then turned in, changed direction, and did a flying lead change. The skipping step of the lead change unseated his rider, and threw her hard on her back and head. I heard today that she's fine (one of the instructors took her to the hospital), but at the time it was pretty scary. I've fallen a lot and seen a lot of other people fall, but in this case, the fall-ee was pretty woosey afterwards and experienced memory loss. Her helmet took the brunt of the fall, but there was a big mark where it had contacted the arena surface. We were talking to her afterwards, but then when we mentioned what we had said about 15 minutes later, she didn't remember. That's when the instructor decided to take her to the hospital. To reiterate, I heard today at the barn that she was fine, just that she shouldn't ride for the rest of the week, but at the time it really put a damper on things.
I did manage to end the lesson on a good note for me, as I got Buttons to round for me for a number of walk strides in a row finally.
After that lesson, I was hoping today would be more fun. I got my wish, as I was riding Sunny, who is one of my favorites, and we did some canter pole work to work on straightness when jumping (which Sunny is a pro at).
We did a "course" of poles. We started working to the left, did a two-pole dog leg on the diagonal, then up the other diagonal with one pole, then down the other side through a double combination. I had a lot of fun, and just let Sunny do his thing.
Sometimes when turning onto the diagonal he would throw his outside shoulder on me, which then needed some outside rein and leg to straighten. That was the only issue Sunny was having. HE got every lead change no problem. As for me, I had some trouble seeing the take-off spots. I used to jump regularly at 2'6" and I have jumped at 3' occasionally, so I know that I can get the timing, but it's been awhile. I need to get better at waiting for the jump to come to me. When Sunny has a quality canter, all I should have to do is bide my time, and then move with his jumping motion when he takes off. I had that a number of times, but maybe about 1/3 of the time I was slightly ahead of his timing. I was too locked onto the pole itself instead of reading the distance. Something to work on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)