I'm still here!
Sorry, I've seriously been very busy with school work and terrible with remembering to take pictures and document the rides I have had. Life has been sort of chaotic in the sense of how time is passing so quickly, but I promise to get all of my updates in before this year is over!
So I've been learning every ride, as usual. Malachi and I have soared to even greater heights in these past couple of months. Not has really happened besides minimal breakthroughs in rides, no shows because we haven't renewed our coggins yet... But as soon as those get going we'll be sure to start up some cross country schooling and perhaps a dressage show or two this spring. I want to get into the NFDA (North Florida Dressage Association) so we can qualify for horse of the year and the championship banquet. I don't want to get into this for winning or getting anything other than my scores. I want him to have a fun show career, and If I do this I could be eligible for a scholarship.
I think that Malachi would do well at these big shows especially since he loves to show, and he gets oodles of attention.
I'm also helping my trainer relocate. She was forced out of her house that was on school property because the principal decided that they waned to buy that property and kick her out. They shut off her lights last minute, and are taking some serious risks in moving to the barn. We are doing some wicked makeshift shifts in routine.
As training Malachi goes, he started up some of his older habits, like bulging out the left shoulder to catch the wrong lead again. He'll get it almost automatically over a jump, but not on the ground, he almost does it out of defiance. He's getting a lot better with jumping, however he's decided officially that it is his favorite thing to do next to barebacking. He got an Irish clip. He did a flying lead change. He went on a ride in the neighborhood. So besides the bad lead and good jumping work, we're the same as always.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
Christmas break!
Christmas break is here! I'm only a couple days in and I've been at the barn every day so far. My friend Kayln came back for winter break at college and she's been riding with us some. It's in our sights to jump a little next week!
So far I've dome some suppling workouts with Malachi and some extra work on our sitting trot. He's really working on slowing down and collecting himself. I think the leg yielding work has payed off because he's become so round in his neck and back. I'm really proud of the guy.
The first day I rode him it was after two solid weeks of pasture time. I lounged him for about ten minutes before hopping on and I swear he was just fine. He acted like there wasn't a day missed between rides. He was as calm as ever even though the neighbor's chain saw was raging in their loud little barn. I've been very proud of his good ride.
Today I practiced some of Jane Savoie's riding tips. I'm trying to get him to listen to my seat bones when I tense up and push him with my seat. I use my retardant seat for slowing the pace and even changing gaits. Basically, I just sit very heavy and still in my saddle arcing my back a little and following through with my hands. Eventually, he will be so sensitive that I won't need the reins anymore. For my following seat I just sit normally, following with my hips. It's the natural position in walk, I just needed a name for it. And finally, my pushing seat. I think about lightly pushing the cantle to the prommel of the saddle with my seat to increase his gait. Until he gets used to the dramatic movement, I'll use a little leg, but like the retardant seat, I won't need leg.
He's beginning to understand it too. The retardant seat is much harder because he doesn't quite understand the tenseness in my seat so he looks for a reason to spook. I have confidence in my pushing seat because he tends to understand the movement there.
So we'll see what tomorrow brings with that training.
He was really good on his left lead canter. The transition upward was really nice, but the downward transition was a bit forced. His right lead is still another story for another day. I'll try to get a video so I can show you an example.
I had my camera with me and grabbed a ton of pictures! I'll make a post to introduce all the stable horses soon!
So far I've dome some suppling workouts with Malachi and some extra work on our sitting trot. He's really working on slowing down and collecting himself. I think the leg yielding work has payed off because he's become so round in his neck and back. I'm really proud of the guy.
The first day I rode him it was after two solid weeks of pasture time. I lounged him for about ten minutes before hopping on and I swear he was just fine. He acted like there wasn't a day missed between rides. He was as calm as ever even though the neighbor's chain saw was raging in their loud little barn. I've been very proud of his good ride.
Today I practiced some of Jane Savoie's riding tips. I'm trying to get him to listen to my seat bones when I tense up and push him with my seat. I use my retardant seat for slowing the pace and even changing gaits. Basically, I just sit very heavy and still in my saddle arcing my back a little and following through with my hands. Eventually, he will be so sensitive that I won't need the reins anymore. For my following seat I just sit normally, following with my hips. It's the natural position in walk, I just needed a name for it. And finally, my pushing seat. I think about lightly pushing the cantle to the prommel of the saddle with my seat to increase his gait. Until he gets used to the dramatic movement, I'll use a little leg, but like the retardant seat, I won't need leg.
He's beginning to understand it too. The retardant seat is much harder because he doesn't quite understand the tenseness in my seat so he looks for a reason to spook. I have confidence in my pushing seat because he tends to understand the movement there.
So we'll see what tomorrow brings with that training.
He was really good on his left lead canter. The transition upward was really nice, but the downward transition was a bit forced. His right lead is still another story for another day. I'll try to get a video so I can show you an example.
I had my camera with me and grabbed a ton of pictures! I'll make a post to introduce all the stable horses soon!
 |
| Malachi and his best friend Hurry |
 |
| Pretty eye |
 |
| Sweet face |
 |
| He wants to follow my camera |
 |
 |
| Malachi and Hurry again |
 |
 |
 |
| Sleeping baby |
 |
| Look at his flat ears! |
 |
| Forelock braids |
 |
| This keeps the sweat off his neck |
 |
 |
| Wavy mane |
 |
 |
Sunday, December 9, 2012
It's been a while
I'm getting so excited for winter break! I can't wait to have nearly twenty days off to make up for the hectic business that my life is now. I haven't ridden Malachi in about a week, and this week isn't looking too good either. I've been so busy that keeping up my facebook is even crazy. So nonetheless, I apologize for not being able to update SLASN.
I'll just give a brief update of the past month.
The last couple of weekends after Thanksgiving I got my dad out to the barn (which is in serious renovation). He brought out the Bobcat and pushed down trees, scraped the paddocks, leveled out the arena, and spread some dirt. It looks so much better out there! Everything is flat, smooth, and ready for riding. We've done some post-digging and more spreading by hand because the Cat ran out of gas before he could quite finished everything we wanted, but it was totally okay because he'd really done everything that couldn't be done by hand. That weekend I rode Malachi with spurs for the first time. I can't say it did much for us because he acted the same, and they didn't give me as much support as I thought they would. So I've converted back to no spurs because they're too hard to get on and some horses can't have them and they're just a pain. My horse really isn't ready for many changes yet anyway because I need to work on getting him balanced and frequent. He's not as bad as he was in terms of motivation, but he is definitely still a lazybones and he still needs a good disciplining.
As for the jumping streak, it's pretty much gone now. I just haven't had the time to get out there at all and work him consistently. I don't have any clippers that work anymore so I can't get his nasty hair off, poor guy. He has a load of thick, short hair that attracts dirt like a vacuum as well as heat. He sweats mostly in his lower neck, his flank area, and of course the girth. He isn't even grown in yet and he's still looking pretty hot after rides. I hate the weather down here because it is so freaking unpredictable. One day it's blistering 82 degrees, the next it's 45 degrees and raining. It makes me want to hit Florida in the face.
The last two rides I had were devoted to leg yielding. He is nearly 75% in the walk, he would be solid if he stopped playing games and focused only on stepping under. He can go over at whatever angle I want except straight over. I'm thinking about doing some research on how to get him focused on his ride, but I can never find one specific query that's like mine.
Malachi is just so different from other horses that it is hard for me to realize that I need training methods tailored to his individuality. I can do many different things on the ground with him that work, but I just need one for on his back. The one thing that makes me mad at him is how defiant he is. If he would give an effort he would not be so green. All of his goofiness is superficial. He never truly spooks at anything. It's all a distraction he had planned for me. One thing that helps him with on demand focus is transition. I'll trot, halt, trot, walk, trot, halt, and change direction. Everything is really random so he doesn't have much time to think.
But anyway, I had an epiphany on horseback the other day. I asked him to leg yield in trot and he struggled a bit at first before thinking about it and moving completely under. I don't think I've ever been so surprised. It just must have clicked in his brain at that instant and he crossed all the way over the diagonal. I tried the other way and he followed, but was slower and I figured it was like writing with my left hand. He was finally on board with it. I guess that just like that something can click in a horse's brain.
I'll just give a brief update of the past month.
The last couple of weekends after Thanksgiving I got my dad out to the barn (which is in serious renovation). He brought out the Bobcat and pushed down trees, scraped the paddocks, leveled out the arena, and spread some dirt. It looks so much better out there! Everything is flat, smooth, and ready for riding. We've done some post-digging and more spreading by hand because the Cat ran out of gas before he could quite finished everything we wanted, but it was totally okay because he'd really done everything that couldn't be done by hand. That weekend I rode Malachi with spurs for the first time. I can't say it did much for us because he acted the same, and they didn't give me as much support as I thought they would. So I've converted back to no spurs because they're too hard to get on and some horses can't have them and they're just a pain. My horse really isn't ready for many changes yet anyway because I need to work on getting him balanced and frequent. He's not as bad as he was in terms of motivation, but he is definitely still a lazybones and he still needs a good disciplining.
As for the jumping streak, it's pretty much gone now. I just haven't had the time to get out there at all and work him consistently. I don't have any clippers that work anymore so I can't get his nasty hair off, poor guy. He has a load of thick, short hair that attracts dirt like a vacuum as well as heat. He sweats mostly in his lower neck, his flank area, and of course the girth. He isn't even grown in yet and he's still looking pretty hot after rides. I hate the weather down here because it is so freaking unpredictable. One day it's blistering 82 degrees, the next it's 45 degrees and raining. It makes me want to hit Florida in the face.
The last two rides I had were devoted to leg yielding. He is nearly 75% in the walk, he would be solid if he stopped playing games and focused only on stepping under. He can go over at whatever angle I want except straight over. I'm thinking about doing some research on how to get him focused on his ride, but I can never find one specific query that's like mine.
Malachi is just so different from other horses that it is hard for me to realize that I need training methods tailored to his individuality. I can do many different things on the ground with him that work, but I just need one for on his back. The one thing that makes me mad at him is how defiant he is. If he would give an effort he would not be so green. All of his goofiness is superficial. He never truly spooks at anything. It's all a distraction he had planned for me. One thing that helps him with on demand focus is transition. I'll trot, halt, trot, walk, trot, halt, and change direction. Everything is really random so he doesn't have much time to think.
But anyway, I had an epiphany on horseback the other day. I asked him to leg yield in trot and he struggled a bit at first before thinking about it and moving completely under. I don't think I've ever been so surprised. It just must have clicked in his brain at that instant and he crossed all the way over the diagonal. I tried the other way and he followed, but was slower and I figured it was like writing with my left hand. He was finally on board with it. I guess that just like that something can click in a horse's brain.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
We Went to the Moon
I hate myself for not getting pictures or videos, so I apologize in advance.
Malachi and I decided to jump yesterday. He wasn't so happy when I threw on the ol' close contact, but I put a bump pad underneath for good measure. On our walk down to the ring, he spotted those jumps and stopped dead. I felt kind of bad for the poor guy because he is really big and his coat is pretty thick despite the weather's heat but I promised I would only jump him a couple of jumps.
As our warm-up went along he got really anxious because he knew he was getting closer to the time where he'd have to go over one of those scary crosspoles. After some reassuring, he walked up to them and knocked them over, defiantly. Typical Malachi. I could tell he was ready to tackle them.
The first jump was a tiny pink crossrail, and I wouldn't call it a jump if it wasn't to Malachi because he did indeed jump this one. He's beginning to get the hang of trotting these things. Out of natural instinct he wants to canter the last stride or two, but I held him back and he eventually got used to jumping them from the trot. I am very proud of him for being brave. He does these cute little victory bucks, and canters around all collected and excited.
So I said what the heck and set the jump up to a tiny vertical. He trotted it alright the first couple of times, and I went ahead and let him canter the last couple of strides so he could build confidence. At random, I picked up a big canter and we went at it all the way. He got really excited somewhere around five strides away, taking those normal five strides in two! I swear he jumped this tiny little vertical at least three feet! I would have never imagined he'd want to go this high. Somehow in the midst of this I was able to grab mane or something and stay in the saddle! My mom described his enormous take off to be at least a horse length AWAY from a long take off spot. She said he tucked his back, and threw his legs to his cheekbones. Mission accomplished! Now I know this horse can jump!
Malachi and I decided to jump yesterday. He wasn't so happy when I threw on the ol' close contact, but I put a bump pad underneath for good measure. On our walk down to the ring, he spotted those jumps and stopped dead. I felt kind of bad for the poor guy because he is really big and his coat is pretty thick despite the weather's heat but I promised I would only jump him a couple of jumps.
As our warm-up went along he got really anxious because he knew he was getting closer to the time where he'd have to go over one of those scary crosspoles. After some reassuring, he walked up to them and knocked them over, defiantly. Typical Malachi. I could tell he was ready to tackle them.
The first jump was a tiny pink crossrail, and I wouldn't call it a jump if it wasn't to Malachi because he did indeed jump this one. He's beginning to get the hang of trotting these things. Out of natural instinct he wants to canter the last stride or two, but I held him back and he eventually got used to jumping them from the trot. I am very proud of him for being brave. He does these cute little victory bucks, and canters around all collected and excited.
So I said what the heck and set the jump up to a tiny vertical. He trotted it alright the first couple of times, and I went ahead and let him canter the last couple of strides so he could build confidence. At random, I picked up a big canter and we went at it all the way. He got really excited somewhere around five strides away, taking those normal five strides in two! I swear he jumped this tiny little vertical at least three feet! I would have never imagined he'd want to go this high. Somehow in the midst of this I was able to grab mane or something and stay in the saddle! My mom described his enormous take off to be at least a horse length AWAY from a long take off spot. She said he tucked his back, and threw his legs to his cheekbones. Mission accomplished! Now I know this horse can jump!
Friday, November 9, 2012
What to do with the Cold
 |
| Malabutt in his iPhone photo shoot. |
The last time I rode him, he was a crazy person. He was leaping up and down in a constant frenzy for canter, so knowing me I gave him what he wanted and he took it. We would gallop a couple strides before he'd decide he didn't want to run anymore and slam on breaks, nearly throwing me over his ears. I didn't care about what he got away with, he was just a goofball doing what goofballs do best - being goofy. Besides, it's good for me to ride those crazy big-horse spooks anyway, it sets a nice relaxed seat on my part. Sometimes the guy just needs to be a retard for a day.
That day I pulled out my mom's quick-snapping phone for some pictures for the blog. I thought you guys would like to see what he's usually up to out in the paddock. It's really nothing very interesting, just him and his big round bale. He was also with his little buddy Hurry. You've got the smallest horse, and the biggest horse as best friends. They are so cute when they play! Usually Malachi will just headbutt him, but Hurry with rebound with tiny bites and rears, and OH, they are so so cute!
I did some messing around with my little Shetland girl, Sugar. I brushed her mane, tail, forelock, and I even painted her pony nails!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Fun in Freedom
Last Friday I was out at the barn again. Kenda picked me up from home since my parents were working and I had to catch up on some sleep. This is why I love planning days on Friday, riding is always the perfect way to kick off a good weekend. I chose Malachi first off and he was really hyped up. I'm guessing it was the cold front that really made him excited but I also think he was relieved to finally get out again. I could tell he was a tad nervous when I dissapeared into the tack room to grab the unknown saddle. I think he's content with learning to jump, but I know he loves the quieter more connectable discipline of dressage most. He was super focused that day.
We started out like we normally do, there were some quarter-line jumps on long side by B that he kept eying, but after some encouragement he was calm. Malachi likes his day planned out. I lengthened my stirrups a hole so I could work on my lower leg swinging. When I trot, Malachi takes lots and lots of leg to keep him at an even pace, to keep him on the bit, and to make sure he's steering correctly. The longer my stirrups are, the more my legs tend to swing as I struggle to balance. He is very hard for balancing in the saddle because he's got such a giant stride. I've tried those leg blocks, and even those make it harder for me to use my calves. This is only bad when I'm posting. We're fine in the sitting trot which is coming along nicely.
Friday I introduced the leg-yielding in trot and it did not take long before this horse was confident and even in his strides. He was supple and working with the bit rather than against it. This was a huge step in the right direction for him - for the both of us.
Sunday I rode him again in the dressage saddle and he was even better than Friday. I was told to "work his ass off," by Kenda because he escaped from the property Saturday night. He ate an entire bale of peanut hay and half a bag of grain NOT including all of the dipped beet pulp and alfalfa pellets. He destroyed part of the fence line and when he was caught the round pen boards suffered considerably. So I did as I was told even though he was great. We worked pretty heavily in the canter. His left lead was fantastic, my seat was solid and his pace was perfect. He was better than usual going right. Malachi did pick the lead up wrong at first, but he recovered himself and pushed through the circle. I couldn't really get myself established because he was running rather than cantering, but it was all well after he did complete a correct twenty meter circle. I was proud of him so I got off and gave the boy a good hose and a dozen treats.
The best part of this weekend was the serenity of autumn. It made our rides more consistent and joyful because of the coolness of the air. I believe that the weather makes him feel as if he can enjoy his rides more because he won't be overheated. I'd love to show him soon with his great progress and hopefully win a couple more blues.
We started out like we normally do, there were some quarter-line jumps on long side by B that he kept eying, but after some encouragement he was calm. Malachi likes his day planned out. I lengthened my stirrups a hole so I could work on my lower leg swinging. When I trot, Malachi takes lots and lots of leg to keep him at an even pace, to keep him on the bit, and to make sure he's steering correctly. The longer my stirrups are, the more my legs tend to swing as I struggle to balance. He is very hard for balancing in the saddle because he's got such a giant stride. I've tried those leg blocks, and even those make it harder for me to use my calves. This is only bad when I'm posting. We're fine in the sitting trot which is coming along nicely.
Friday I introduced the leg-yielding in trot and it did not take long before this horse was confident and even in his strides. He was supple and working with the bit rather than against it. This was a huge step in the right direction for him - for the both of us.
Sunday I rode him again in the dressage saddle and he was even better than Friday. I was told to "work his ass off," by Kenda because he escaped from the property Saturday night. He ate an entire bale of peanut hay and half a bag of grain NOT including all of the dipped beet pulp and alfalfa pellets. He destroyed part of the fence line and when he was caught the round pen boards suffered considerably. So I did as I was told even though he was great. We worked pretty heavily in the canter. His left lead was fantastic, my seat was solid and his pace was perfect. He was better than usual going right. Malachi did pick the lead up wrong at first, but he recovered himself and pushed through the circle. I couldn't really get myself established because he was running rather than cantering, but it was all well after he did complete a correct twenty meter circle. I was proud of him so I got off and gave the boy a good hose and a dozen treats.
The best part of this weekend was the serenity of autumn. It made our rides more consistent and joyful because of the coolness of the air. I believe that the weather makes him feel as if he can enjoy his rides more because he won't be overheated. I'd love to show him soon with his great progress and hopefully win a couple more blues.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Deciding on a Day
Hopefully sometime today I can convince my instructor, my horse, and my parents to trailer me out to the beach. I have trail ridden once or twice, uncountable times on the property, but I want to expand my horizons. I see a constant stream of pictures on Google when I enter the word "horse" into the picture search engine; of riders seeking solitary comfort in the shores. I've always dreamed that it would be me out there on my glorious Spanish horse, but the unfortunate thing would have to be that he's very green yet, and too big for a giant leap forward in the trailing world. We could take him, if only he was obedient and maybe five hundred pounds lighter... I'm not saying that he'd never be able to go to the beach, just maybe not this year. Besides, it's getting colder anyway. The weather is kind of rough with the passing tropical storm. Today would be the perfect day because it's a high of 76, a slight breeze, with full sun. But it's Sunday, and I'm not the one hauling. We've had plenty of time on our hands every weekend, but our horses either have a show or the weather is bad.
If we did by some strand of luck, head out to the national forest, or the beach I'd probably take the palomino pony Princess that I've been riding and showing for Kenda. This pony, I'll tell you is a superstar. She will jump, or at least attempt to jump anything you throw in front of her.
Before we put her ad up we want to take her on some trails and maybe to the beach a couple of times so we can say she's been trail-ridden. There is no doubt in my mind that she'd be fabulous on the trails because she's done some serious cross country. We've schooled it a couple of times at Longwood Farms South (my favorite pony jumping playground) and at home. She goes through water and everything. The best part of all of it is that she's only five years old. She can go up to training three on basic movements and pretty much any height for jumping. I love her to death, because a couple weeks ago we were practicing bounces and she had no earthly clue what those two jumps so close together meant. After a couple weeks of confusion she comes right out of the paddock fresh as day and jumps every one of those bounces.
Malachi is not so fond of her. I've kind of already established a bond of sorts with Princess pony. She comes running and talking at the fence to me, she always greets me with a nicker even if I'm just coming back from the tack room because I forgot a whip or something. She's a super sweet thing who doesn't need to do lessons. I want to steal her ~ lalala. But really, I do love her. You just have to love the cute thing. But Malachi always comes first, he's a given. When I am riding her, he's away from the giant round bale behind a tree playing sneaky spy on Taylor the traitor with his two best buddies Sugar and Hurry. Those two are for another day...
What I've been getting at is that I really need to step up and get out to the barn more so that way I can successfully avoid trying to choose between my horse and the horse I'm training. Sometimes you just don't have time to ride one over the other, and one of them just happens to get tossed in the round pen instead of the full process. I still have that homework to do guys. I promise that one extra day in the paddock isn't going to kill you. They still don't believe me.
Can't you see how many problems I'm running into with this beach thing? I obviously want Malachi to be my first beach-goer over Princess because I can always look back and say he was my first ride at the beach. We could get some phenomenal pictures too. It would be more beneficial to him as well because the poor guy needs to go different places if I expect to event him next year. Princess already has all the experience she needs as far as different places go. Malface on the other hand - he needs some experience.
We just need a day. Next weekend would probably be a rush because I have a show at Green Cove Saturday for Princess, and if we were going to go at all it would be Sunday. I can only think about the fact that I have school the very next day and how exhausted and sore I'm going to be. But by then I have no idea what the weather would be like. I fear it's going to get extremely cold the weekend after the next. This is so hard! The forecast for today is shining right on an open schedule! Maybe my words can do enough... I'll come up with something...
If we did by some strand of luck, head out to the national forest, or the beach I'd probably take the palomino pony Princess that I've been riding and showing for Kenda. This pony, I'll tell you is a superstar. She will jump, or at least attempt to jump anything you throw in front of her.
 |
| This is the stadium round at RockingHorse Equestrian Center. |
Before we put her ad up we want to take her on some trails and maybe to the beach a couple of times so we can say she's been trail-ridden. There is no doubt in my mind that she'd be fabulous on the trails because she's done some serious cross country. We've schooled it a couple of times at Longwood Farms South (my favorite pony jumping playground) and at home. She goes through water and everything. The best part of all of it is that she's only five years old. She can go up to training three on basic movements and pretty much any height for jumping. I love her to death, because a couple weeks ago we were practicing bounces and she had no earthly clue what those two jumps so close together meant. After a couple weeks of confusion she comes right out of the paddock fresh as day and jumps every one of those bounces.
Malachi is not so fond of her. I've kind of already established a bond of sorts with Princess pony. She comes running and talking at the fence to me, she always greets me with a nicker even if I'm just coming back from the tack room because I forgot a whip or something. She's a super sweet thing who doesn't need to do lessons. I want to steal her ~ lalala. But really, I do love her. You just have to love the cute thing. But Malachi always comes first, he's a given. When I am riding her, he's away from the giant round bale behind a tree playing sneaky spy on Taylor the traitor with his two best buddies Sugar and Hurry. Those two are for another day...What I've been getting at is that I really need to step up and get out to the barn more so that way I can successfully avoid trying to choose between my horse and the horse I'm training. Sometimes you just don't have time to ride one over the other, and one of them just happens to get tossed in the round pen instead of the full process. I still have that homework to do guys. I promise that one extra day in the paddock isn't going to kill you. They still don't believe me.
Can't you see how many problems I'm running into with this beach thing? I obviously want Malachi to be my first beach-goer over Princess because I can always look back and say he was my first ride at the beach. We could get some phenomenal pictures too. It would be more beneficial to him as well because the poor guy needs to go different places if I expect to event him next year. Princess already has all the experience she needs as far as different places go. Malface on the other hand - he needs some experience.
We just need a day. Next weekend would probably be a rush because I have a show at Green Cove Saturday for Princess, and if we were going to go at all it would be Sunday. I can only think about the fact that I have school the very next day and how exhausted and sore I'm going to be. But by then I have no idea what the weather would be like. I fear it's going to get extremely cold the weekend after the next. This is so hard! The forecast for today is shining right on an open schedule! Maybe my words can do enough... I'll come up with something...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)