A place where I record the adventures of myself and my Irish Sport Horse mare, Kika. Who I purchased as an un-backed 3yr old in 2007. This blog follows the trials and tribulations of first-time horse ownership since moving from Ireland to Luxembourg in 2010. UPDATE: as of 2013, Kika is being joined by Nancy a Friesan X ISH mare bred by my family who I had my eye on since she was a foal and have been lucky enough to buy and add to my equine family.
In a first for me, I think it is time I start writing down some goals for myself and the girls - to try and hold myself accountable & to have an aim to achieve something by the end of the month - besides just ride.
First off I must remember to KISS; so bearing that in mind my first goal is to: - LESSON I want to take at least one lesson with new trainer at yard and if it goes well sign up for more!
And if that is the only goal i meet this month, I will be super happy to have done at least that. In saying that, I am not limiting myself to that one goal, I am however hopeful that all going well with that first goal; these other goals might be more readily achievable - or i might at least be able to start making a dent in them...
A. RIDE BOTH HORSES - work on walk & halt with Nancy - work on walk with Kika - straighten/sort myself out to help N right lead canter - continue working with Kika on stretchy strides & relaxed trot work
B. Work on refining me - look up - heels down - shoulders back...
Have I seen some sort of a brace/aid mentioned on other blogs to help with shoulders - can anyone help me find out more about this please?
To achieve these goals I have set out a rough guide/plan of attack aka a weekly schedule, which looks a little like this:
Saturday + Sunday - ride both
Monday - Ride one; lunge one
Tuesday - Ride one; lunge one- inverse Monday
Wednesday - day off for both as Wed is typically a super busy day for me at work.
I also "plan" to keep Mon/Tues & Thurs/Fri flexible should I wish to and/or have the time to ride both - the above schedule is not set in stone. Although I hope to stand pretty firm with myself on riding both both Saturday & Sunday; to my mind those days are non-negotiable as that is what weekends are for.
As I said at the start - ACCOUNTABILITY
Google Images LINK
In saying all this I have already messed up this week, LOL In that i didn't go to the yard at all Monday evening as I was feeling poorly - but then rode both last night and plan to lunge Kika and ride Nancy this evening; so there is plenty fluidity & movement to the PoA (Plan of Attack).
K was a bit of a pill about things like relaxation through her neck under saddle for much of yesterday's spin so a little work in the pessoa where she is arguing with herself is in order I think. Although we did get some nicer work towards the end of the spin - I wasadamant we would do something constructive with our evening. Really yesterday was just a continuation of the little bickering arguments we had in the videos from Sundays spin (posted yesterday). I did lengthen my stirrups a hole - which made me a bit looser in the tack for our first bad side canter yesterday evening and proved once again that I am gripping with my knees as I struggled to sit into the rocking (really more choppy) motion of her canter as she flailed a bit with her front legs initially before we could find our rhythm some bit. When I really concentrated on breathing and releasing the tension in my body she eventually took her cue from me and we got some much nicer work - although all still a long way from the lovely spin we'd shared on Saturday. If only i could (a) remember what i did and (b) bottle it to reaxamine at a later stage - I'd be doing well. Admittedly Saturdays spin was in one of the smaller arenas, so maybe that had something to do with it. Also we were just the two of us on Saturday, whereas both Sunday and yesterday there was at least one other horse in the arena with us - I know that distracts me as i spend too much time worrying about staying out of their way rather than riding to my own plan and trusting we can maneuver around each other. I honnestly cannot blame my horse's ADD on anyone but myself - poor Kika being such a sensitive creature and having inherited so many quirks from me - it is scary how alike we are. That saying about animals being like their owners ring scarily true for K & I!
Old photo showing Nancy's awkward Friesian inspired stance
PS: that's her mama in the background :)
Nancy was a doll as we worked on walk, trot and halting - I can feel slight improvements. Now to remember to keep changing things up so that it doesn't get stale and we both get bored. Mirrors area godsend when trying to work on halting properly on a FriesianX horse who likes to stop and stand as awkwardly as physically possible.
All of this to say, you read it here first guys! I have set myself my first monthly goals with a plan of attack no less - now here is hoping i can stick to it somewhat and make some improvements - keep your fingers crossed for me & all encouragement welcome ;-)
I haven't shared a Kika-centric post since Nancy's arrival; and rightly so - yet Miss K is most definitely still true to herself & regularly gets up to her quirky character driven tricks.
If you would like to hear about them on a more condensed basis, I could potentially make this type of post a "thing" and update it once a month or every couple of months depending how quirky she is at any given time...
The following recent activities have spawned the potential birth of this feature.
Video I - beginning trot work
(1) Her first misdemeanor to spawn this post was accidentally cow-kicking me when stomping at flies in the cross ties. This was a complete accident as she has never been a moody mare nor lashed out at me. Bar the ill fitting saddle issue back in 2010-2011 when she was quite grouchy because I was failing to see the issue, but she still never lashed out at me.
Horses really are such noble creatures aren't they?
Video II - Kika doing her best steam train impression as puffs along,
I think it is to do with her lack of fitness - but if anyone can enlighten me, please do!
(2) Her second bout of Kika'ism conduct came about as I brought both girls in from the field on my day off a few weeks back (the day I had hoped to have my first lesson with the new trainer).
As they are turned out just the two of them together I bring them both in when I want to ride so that one isn't left alone outside screeching & hollering suffering from abandonment issues. To get the pair of them in from their summer turnout, we have to walk along a stretch of road which is a normal street and used by cars etc. Nancy typically walks at my shoulder and Kika plods along slightly behind us (rubbing her head off Nancy to keep flies from tormenting her - while Nancy & I are harassed - another typical Kika'ism, looks out for numero uno primero) all of us remaining on the footpath.
Video III - our trot work is getting better but still carrying quite a bit of tension and she is still not stretching her stride, preferring to take short choppy steps ... although in saying that, this IS better than it used to be. Baby steps and one day i might get there with her!
This particular day a truck came towards us which Kika took a dislike to and stopped to stare at it for a second - the problem with this is that she is behind me, so pulled my left arm back slightly - Nancy doesn't stop as quickly as K does - think articulated lorry or train, these things take time to slow to a stop. By the time I got Nancy stopped, Kika had decided she definitely couldn't be doing with the scary truck coming towards her a second longer, turned tail and pulled the lead rope out of my hand (hello - rope burn), turned tail and trotted back the way we had just come. This unsettled Nancy who spun to follow her but I still had a hold of - THANKFULLY there is a patch of grass, an unenclosed field (I don't know who it belongs to) where Kika stopped there, eyeballed the truck for another second, snorted at it then dropped her head to eat waiting for Nancy (almost prancing in her excitement - honestly talk about chalk & cheese these two :) ) and I to get back to her.
We stood there (no more eating for Kika) till the terrifying truck had passed and then continued on our way with my hand in bits from the rope burn on my middle & ring finger of my left hand. I did still manage to ride both and then lathered my fingers in Vaseline before making my way home - yay for smartphones with internet access so that I could look up how to soother rope burn.
As an aside, they went back out to the field no problem after this adventure and have come in every time since without issue.
Video IV - first canter video, she sure has a lot to say for herself ... perfect for this post as she shows off all her Kika glory & mannerisms as she converses with me while we work ;-)
(3) The weekend after the above incident, their old buddy O (The Guru's mare) was returned to their field for Friday & Saturday night before she returned to the off-site turnout they had all shared in may & June. Which meant that I could bring one of my girls in at a time & leave the other one in O's company. I must just highlight to readers, at this point that O, screeches and hollers something atrocious when either of my girls leaves the field. But most notably if Kika leaves her - she is almost distraut. Which is odd because I wouldn't say Kika is always nice to her - "treat them mean keep them keen" might be K's motto, she sure has done a number on me in any case :p
Anyway, Kika leaving the field is no problem, being tied in cross ties & ridden at the yard across the street was of no issue to K (last year she had hollered back a few times - but not a peep this year from the yard - she have enjoyed some Nancy-free time with me, or maybe I'm grasping at straws and projecting human emotions & feelings onto animals whose minds don't work at all in that way *blush* )
Video V - sorry not great, next time I'll show my mama
how to use the zoom when videoing on my phone.
I'm not sure if you can see her I-want-to-canter head toss
on the circle as we approach the other side of the arena
Going back to the field was another story for Miss Kika, who made half-hearted attempts to squeal in my ear - but knew she wasn't allowed so she'd start to screech, but when I'd look at her she'd choke them off. She also wanted to prance back to the field as quickly as she could, but again knew she couldn't so tried to contain herself to a walk - with her neck all arched as she really struggled to rein herself in. However it all became too much for her (read:an-excuse-presented-itself) when a car passed a little faster than I'd have ideally liked and she grabbed the opportunity to have a little hop & call loudly for a second - to reassure her mad mare-friend that she was on her way back.
She is such a cheeky cow as she knew she wasn't allowed and mellowed immediately after she had her moment of rebelliousness to walk calmly the rest of the way to the field.
Well I say walk calmly, she strided - a proper ground covering stride, the like of which she generally feigns inability to do - as she never strides, normally she prefers to dawdle behind Nancy or generally just plod along on a lead or under saddle.
Video VI - some left lead canter to round out the videos for the weekend as the mama was distracted by people chatting to her while I finished our workout without footage for comparison. I am not complaining, I am so glad to have this early spin footage to see what i am doing wrong from the beginning :)
So those are some of Kika's kika'isms to regale you as i shared the video footage my mama caught of our spin on Sunday.
Hopefully you don't think me a horribly un-careful owner, allowing myself get caught by her hind leg and letting her get loose as we walk from field. These are once-off, I hope, incidents although never say never again or anything concrete when it comes to horses as they love nothing more than proving us wrong.
Kika is a character and has much more spunk & curiosity then easy-going Nancy. K has always got this glint in her eye that you have to watch out for as she is always up to something and looking for some sort of mischief or other to keep herself amused. Remind me next time to tell you how she goes around in the walker! I'll have to try and catch a video or photo of it - she is unique!
Take-away points from these videos:
- my heels are worse on Kika then Nancy - I wonder is that to do with riding in shorter stirrups in my GP or the fact that I nag K to keep moving whereas for some reason I know Nancy will...must do more closer inspection of what i be at when riding this evening.
- I need to really get after her to work for me, i let myself get suckered into "conversations" with her rather than just pushing her that little bit harder to do what i am asking of her.
- I also need to ride for myself and forget about worrying where others are in the arena or what they are doing or trying to keep out of their way. I have as much right to be there & ride my way as anyone, i need a bit more self-belief & confidence in myself...story of my life that!
I've just realised that this post paint K in quite a naughty light, she really isn't bad nor dangerous at all - just mischievous and windy (as in a scardy-cat). So sometimes her reactions to things that frighten her cause her to disengage her brain, but she does trust me and will come around when i talk her down off the ledge. Really she is just miles too smart for me, and likes to keep me on my toes. I'll have to keep better track of the funny things she gets up to - and hope that my tales of KikaChiquita don't make me look like the totally neglectful & incapable horse owner i feel like this post has *blush*
PS: Apologies that the video quality is poorer on these than the Nancy ones i shared yesterday. Same phone videoed both from the same position, but outside factors had changed. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, a storm was brewing and the natural light that had helped in Nancy's videos was well gone by Kika's turn.
Saddle time was pretty non-existant during the week last week as one thing led to another combining to keep me out of the tack for the week - to be honest; I doubt the girls minded much especially as they got at new grass on Tuesday evening.
Thankfully I made up for this over the weekend with four fab spins, one each on each day. Starting with Nancy on both occasions as Kika spun on the walker.
(All videos in the post were kindly taken by my mother during Sunday's spin - I am still technologically challenged and haven't figured out how to get rid of sound. It may be best to watch these with computers on mute ;) )
Video I - warming up trot work after N had a brief coughing fit.
It happens from time to time when we start trot work - doesn't last long, I think it may just be dusty for her when she is used to spending so much time out in the fresh air - happens to Kika the odd time too.
Saturday Nancy & I focused on working our walk, trot & halt.
We are getting better at walk but still struggling with our halts. I feel like I am doing something wrong, but I can't pinpoint what it is in the moment. I don't think I am sinking my weight into the saddle, but doing something really stupid and tensing my body in the wrong places for some unknown reason - I'm still hopeful of getting lessons when the new trainer gets back from her holiday (note-to-self: check when that is!) and have trained eyes on the ground to help me sort myself out.
Video II - trot work on our slightly stronger side
In the mean time I am going to work more voice commands into my ridden work, she responds well to the "slow down" cue sound so I shall attempt to incorporate that into my halting process and start doing more lunge work to brush up on our voice command knowledge.
Video III - cute serpentine caught on film, am quite happy with this.
Saturday Kika was an absolute star for our second spin in the Ogilvy, she didn't put a hoof out of line as i worked through walk, trot, canter & halt exercises while changing rein, bend & serpentining back and forth across the arena. The same cannot be said for our spin on Sunday when we had someone on hand to film us - but that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes eh?
Most likely a mental undoing on my part as i typically put more pressure on myself and then by consequence ride like a pillock the day after i have a good spin. Kika videos will follow in a post tomorrow as it would be a total youtube overload if i shared them all in this post...#sorrynotsorry
Video IV - a semi decent capture of our bad side canter
Most of Nancy's Sunday spin is being documented in the videos accompanying this post - thank you Mama mia!
After the initial canter in the above video, which was our first right lead canter (my and by consequence her bad side), which went well with a correct strike off etc - it was then followed by a period captured in the following video - wherein I could not set her up properly to strike off on the right lead.
Video V - please excuse my petulantwhining during bits of this clip.
I was tempted to cut it out as I hate the sound of my own voice & the fact that I am being petty and blaming my poor horse for my shortcomings. But i must learn from my mistakes and we will work on suppling up both our right sides.
I have been told in the past that I am all sorts of crooked on this side
and am probably all over to one side and tensing making an inside bend
improbable for her and as such a correct lead strike off almost
impossible. I keep saying that I must get myself straightened out by a
chiro, physio osteo of my own - yet still haven't gotten my act in gear
to make an appointment *hangs-head-in-shame*
However we did get there on our combined bad side as evidenced in Video VI and a nice canter on our better side in Video VII shows just what my "little" Nancybelle is capable of when her rider isn't getting in her way.
Video VI - I hadn't noticed Nancy's contributions during the ride
until i heard my mother giggling in this video.
Kika was Kika, she kept making my smile during our spin with her continuous questions and ongoing conversation with me as to whether I really meant what I was asking of her. Having just watched the snippets of video my mother captured of us, it really doesn't look too shabby considering how little work we've strung together this summer. I was perhaps a little harsh on her in my thoughts immediately after our spin as she hadn't been as relaxed and smooth as Saturday's spin - but there was a storm brewing outside and I know I was slightly distracted and on edge pending it's arrival so I am sure this transmitted to her and contributed to a bit more tension on her part.
I would have loved to have been able to see our work on Saturday as it felt lovely on the day - but as is often the way with me. When one day goes well I seem to put unconscious pressure on myself to do as well or better the next day and I rarely succeed - but we didn't go backwards and that in itself is a major positive to take from the day.
Video VII - left lead canter
Again I am super hopeful that I can organise with the trainer sooner rather than later and perhaps string a lesson plan together so that I can have help from the ground and goals to work towards. :)
Take-aways from these videos:
1. Shorten my reins MOAR - if I think I have them short chances are I don't so I should shorten them again.
2. Lift my hands off her withers/neck, turn my thumbs up and carry them better while bending my elbows - shortening the reins should also facilitate resolution of the poker-elbow issue.
3. I need to put more weight down into my left ankle - the right is borderline ok - but the left is ridiculously awful!
4. I could also do with moving my legs back a smidge - more under me...less armchair.
5. Sit straighter - I look slightly tipped forward - legs back might help this.
6. Help Nancy to carry herself better - she can sneak btv at times.
7. Open to suggestions ;-) - Please help me help myself
Video VIII relaxing cool down to stretch trot
PS: I was riding in my new helmet for the first time in this video - I wasn't sure about the fit so had left the tags on - hence the weird white things by my face *blush*
I had my "old" helmet on hand on the side to swap in case the new one was too small and would give me a headache.
Needless to say the new one fit fine and I took the tags off after the spin - yay for new helmetage & melon protection *grin*
I may need my head examined after getting soaked changing the fencing on the girls paddock in a downpour with a sprinkling of thunder and lightning...
Sky just before the heavens opened this evening
I have been waiting for rain for the last week and a half as the ground was way too hard for me to drive the plastic stakes.
Nancy keeps an eye on me as Kika cozies up to N for her tail/fly-swat
I hope the girls don't spend the night stuffing themselves and get tummy aches 😕
Fingers crossed!
Photos are from Tuesday night as I picked 7 wheelbarrows of poop from other half of the field. I shall have to finish cleaning that side and collect whatever offerings they give me on new half of field.
PS: Kika's liver got the all clear from the vet so phew!
The magical genius that is L @VivaCarlos has struck again with another brain tickler of a question to get blog-tongues wagging & fingers a-typing.
What is the best advice you've ever received from a Trainer or another rider? What is the worse advice you've received from a Trainer or another rider?
The best advice I've been given was by my first riding instructor (my legendary aunt/godmother):
"Look up where you want to go, if you look down at the ground that's where you'll end up"
She is totally right, to this day, whenever I feel my horses drifting randomly underneath me - if I check myself and focus on where I am looking, usually not straight ahead of me (another nasty bad habit); as soon as I reprimand myself and get my eyeline where it should be the horse "magically" improves...honestly it's not rocket science - I just wish my brain & body would cooperate more.
Practice, practice, practice is the only answer here i think.
KikaChiquita from osteo visit on 22.7.2014
The worst advice I have been given thus far was from a "professional" saddle fitter who i will NEVER EVER use again. It is such a pity he is the only Albion retailer in this neck of the woods *sob*
Long time followers of this blog will surely remember the troubles I had with Miss Kika & rearing. Well it turned out the saddle this guy sold me & i had checked by him multiple times, never fit & the only way she could let me know when i missed all the earlier clues was to full on rear.
Admittedly, she later took this evasion tactic further as she realised she had managed to scare me and could get out of doing things she found "hard" - the root of the problem remains that the saddle never fit her & it should never have been sold to me as such.
Because he was (is) a renowned saddle fitter, the one recommended by the main trainer at our yard and used by many other livery owners & riders at our yard; I persevered with the ill-fitting saddle not knowing it was ill-fitting as Kika got progressively worse and downright cranky & sour. I had her teeth checked, osteo out - they though it could be kissing spines, so i had x-rays done...thankfully cleared. I gave her time off, brought her back slowly etc etc yet the rearing problem persisted & I ran out of people offering to help me and I had to fend for myself till the Guru took pity on me and came to my aid.
Although I am far from the only person to have had a sour experience this saddler, and no one is perfect. No one professional suits everyone - this guy certainly did not help me despite my asking him multiple times to check the saddle fit as i wasn't sure it was working out - at the end of the day he is the professional...what did i know?!
Another Nancy shot from 22.7.2014
Sorry - i shouldn't have started on this topic, it is a big chip on my shoulder & cross of guilt that i must bear for potentially permanently damaging my mare whose go-to defence/evasion tactic became rearing thanks to ill-fitting tack. It makes me so mad that this whole thing could possibly have been avoided & that even professionals can't be trusted to have the clients best interests at heart ... just makes me sad. :(
I finally played with my 3 month old Ogilvy for the first time today.
Apologies in advance for the massive photo dump accompanying this post, I got a bit snap happy in my desire to document our first foray with the Ogilvy.
I will do a proper review when I've played with it some more ;-)
Although i will say initially that I am impressed with how the OG starts out so thick and them compresses itself & moulds to your horse's shape. I know it says so on the tin - but to witness it in person is pretty cool. When i first sat it on her back I was afraid it was going to make her saddle fit way worse...and we know how sensitive Miss Kika is about her back being squished - a martyr she is not. Any whiff of a back ouchie and she will let me know about it by either rearing or threatening to.
First time sitting on it - prior to any girth tightening
As instructed i just closed the girth on the first wholes to keep the saddle in place while i got on. So that my weight in the saddle could help the pad properly mould between her back and the saddle.
I got off and straightened it under saddle after this photo was taken.
We then walked around slowly tightening the girth as we warmed up before trotting a bit and tightening it to its usual closures.
Post spin...
Kika & I had plenty ups and downs during our spin, as per norm. We had plenty good moments, but lots of tense moments too where we had issues bending and getting choppy in our trot - although again better than yesterday...every little helps.
I need to center it better before getting on.
However at no stage did the toys get thrown out of the pram by either of us - which was great.
Maybe we are both finally maturing ;-)
Her giraffe impression due to flies bugging her
(no pun intended)
There was a moment during the spin where "old" Kika would've pitched a fit and either threatened to rear or full blown stood up.
Post workout sweaty abused pony.
A picture is worth a thousand words - that martyred face (top)
A long way from being slim-lined...
but getting better & a little less blimp-like
I don't know if she has fully matured or if the Ogilvy helped keep the pressure off her back.
Sexy Back?! Hah!
Sweaty mess more like - I shall have to ride without OG
& get comparison pix.
I shall keep playing with the pad & Kika to see how we get on with it.
Nancy got the day off to chillax in the field while I digest & mull over K's and my spin with the Ogilvy. I will say that when we started trotting I could feel a difference as the shock absorption worked between us. However as my attention more towards our work and less to cushion between my butt & her back as we got into random little discussions about choppy strides, tenseness & lack of bend - i forgot to focus on OG effect...She was far from bad - just distracted & not really concentrating on what I was asking of her, preferring to keep her gaze outside making it more difficult to soften and bend towards the inside rein - baby steps and we'll work at it, we both need to relax and roll with the punches.
Sadly we are too alike in our stubbornness and allow one to sucker the other into arguments - I am slowly getting better at letting go, changing the question to distract us both and relax again before re-trying.
One day - we might get better ;-)
It is hard to know where to start with this offering as I have a few different things i want to squeeze into this post #sorrynotsorry - consider this your warning before the impending waffly madness. Abort now if you so wish - i will be none the wiser and you will probably feel much better for it ;-)
Photos in this post are part Friday Flashback - part my exciting new toys.
First photographic evidence I have of my jumping,
circa Summer 1995
As those of you who follow me on instagram saw earlier my new helmet arrived today; and would you believe I am currently sitting here at the laptop in my parents living room wearing it while typing this post. Yes I am slightly cuckoo & could probably do with getting my head examined for this madness - but in the long run it will be protected, lol, mad or no...
I think i mentioned in an earlier post that I ordered it in a size smaller than I have previously bought my helmets -which was quite risky as I have never tried on a CO before and had no idea how it would fit. But (a) the store i was ordering from didn't have the size i would've ordered & (b) my two previous helmets got looser the longer i had them and would end up tipping over my eyes - so i took an executive educated (and mitigated as they didn't have the other size) decision and ordered the lovely Leather Look Ayr8 on sale as part of #mindyourmelon Helmet Awareness week.
All important question for my shy-selfie...
Do i look like a mushroom/melon-head?
Anyways, I decided to wear it around the house with the tags still on in the hopes of finding out if the size/fit is correct without dirtying it at the barn; so that if necessary I can send it back & exchange it for another size. So far so good, although I don't know how long i shall carry out this experiment....it all depends on how long i can stop myself from ripping off the tags & using it at the yard as i love it!
All going well I will do a proper review later...
In actual equine news:
I rode Nancy yesterday on my day off - she was excellent despite us only working on walk/trot/halt transitions while Kika spun in the walker - she was on Day-2 of her recommended Rest & Recovery (R&R) from osteo appointment on Tuesday. Sadly, I did not manage to schedule a lesson with the new trainer yesterday as she had too many horses to exercise ahead of her day of competing today. Which was a big pity for me, especially as she is going on holidays next week, so I will just have to bide my time & be patient - my time will come. Who knows this is probably a blessing in disguise as I can hopefully knock a few more pounds off the girls and get them fitter in the mean time...I spent my lunch break at the barn today (check out my #barnyardchic outfit of paddock boots & silk work skirt) as the vet came to take bloods from K for a check up on her liver - she is looking like a Chiquita Banana these days, which I am hoping is just sun-bleaching - but as her jaundiced look two summers ago was actually a liver issue (Click here for pix & back-story). I would rather be safe than sorry.
#barnyardchic no?
I went back to the yard after work and had the time to work them both in the evening. For a change of pace I started with Kika as I hadn't ridden her since Sunday's mini-pole work session. She was a super star despite not having spent an hour on the walker beforehand. She started out woefully uneven in trot on our bad rein - i loosened the reins to her and did a couple of big looping figure of eights to see if she would work out of it or if something had been pinched during her osteo treatment - thankfully she worked out of it and we had our best spin since coming back to the yard. Our previous spins haven't been bad, in any way shape or form - but this one was particularly good. We got excellent powerful short bursts of canter work on each rein and some flashes of nice relaxed trot work. Overall our trotting work was much less choppy than previous spins - after the initial awkwardness as we warmed up.
During this spin i realised that we have a lot of work to do on our walk full stop. The walk is something, I have never really focused on - I know BAD ME! But for so long K was so unpredictable that all i wanted to do was get her going and keep her going forwards without giving her the opportunity to stand up. We are now (knock-on-wood) hopefully passed that stage, or at least I feel better equipped to head her off at the pass if she decides to attempt that evasion technique.
So now i can go back to basics & focus on the walk and really try to get her striding in the walk like we have been working on her trot work - she has to relax in everything she does, let go and release her back. baby steps and we will get there, silly sod carries so much tension and resists working properly that she literally ties herself in knots.
I think we are now finally in a place in our partnership when (with the help of lessons) i hope to finally address these shortcomings and wholes in both our eq-cation and really get things going in the right direction once and for all.
Neither of these fab splurges have been near the yard,
but soon young grasshoppers...soon
Nancy was also very good, although I really could have used that lesson on her yesterday as my bad side & her bad side are teaming up and making things difficult for our communication while on the right rein & attempting to bend - mixed messages are happening & i want to sort it out on my end asap before i potentially sour her & or hurt her with my bad riding.
I know 95% of our problem is me - but she is also resisting and not meeting me part of the way...welcome to the teenage years of our partnership ;-)
Methinks a hack in the woods & just getting out of the arenas and our own headspace is on the agenda for this weekend if at all possible. We both need a change of scenery & Kika can come along for the walk as the more that girl can do the better it will be for her joints & belly-loss!
