Guess what I did today...my horsey adventures
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@jodi said in Guess what I did today...my horsey adventures:
Western Saddles always feel like a wide twist to me
Mrs. George can't abide a Western saddle. She always gets off sore and hurtin'. She loved her close-contact Crosby.
my first dressage saddle
What manufacturer is that? Just out of curiosity. The knee rolls look pretty small to me.
Do you ride with a really long leg? I used to ride (English) with a short stirrup because Simon's canter was pretty bouncy, and I couldn't sit it - at all. His trot was the same, and I needed the support of the stirrup. With Opal, I'm riding with a longer stirrup (just at or slightly below the medial malleolus) and I'm OK with that.
Re' your picture.
Saddle, comfy chair, piano and stringed instruments on the wall, along with a personalized painting. Wonderful.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K It’s a Karl Neidersuss. Made when people still rode in brown dressage saddles! Seems to fit lots of horses - it’s a touch wide for Ruler, but I use a big fleece lined pad, or an extra thin line pad. The knee rolls are small compared to what they put on dressage saddles now. It has a narrow twist. It’s not the most comfortable saddle to do a sitting trot in, but I don’t sit Rulers trot - it’s huge and bouncy and he’s not there yet. (He may never be there). His canter is lovely and rolling. I haven’t galloped him, I’m ok with that he’d likely take a long time to stop! First two photos are him racing (and winning) as a 2 year old in California. Last one is a from a couple of years ago. (He’ll be 14 next year)
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No video today (you're welcome) because there's really nothing new to see.
But...
It was a good day with Opal. My lesson is only 30 minutes, and we spent a fair amount of time getting my stirrups even and functional, they were OK, but a bit too short, pushing my heel down. When I first learned to ride English style, it was at a hunter-jumper place, and the mantra was to have a short stirrup and keep your heel down, relative to your toe - at about a 25 degree angle. The thinking is that with your foot in this position, you're in a better place to take a jump, etc.
But, for everyday riding, that might not be the case.
Today I rode with a shorter stirrup than I needed, but it was OK.
Opal was a bit on the sluggish side until we encouraged her by having me hold the "magic wand" - a crop. It only took about 2 gentle taps on the shoulder to get her to pay attention to me and understand that we were going to do some serious work.
Today, I worked on subtle signals, and getting her to be "soft" and understand what I'm asking for with minimal cues for me. We did lots and lots of circles, with emphasis on keeping her in a position, at the trot, where she is not crooked and requires the most subtle signals. I was able to get some nice changes in direction using no rein - just turning my body and pointing my sternum to where I wanted to go got the desired result.
One good thing I noticed, watching myself, is that I spend very little time looking at the horse. In many ways, it's like driving a car. When you're driving, you don't look at the hood of the car, you look where you want to go. Same with horses - the direction where you're headed, or want to head, will shift your body weight enough so that the horse gets it, and will follow you. Today, I had multiple conversations with Janet, while trotting. That made me relax, and more importantly, Opal relax.
When I started riding (again) back in April, I got tired after trotting around the arena one time. Today, in a 30 minutes lesson, I trotted for at least 10 minutes, and I could have easily gone longer. Janet, my instructor, commented that that's for a couple of reasons. First of all, my stamina is better just from the minimal exercise this is. More importantly, I'm a better rider on this horse, and it's taking less effort to get her to get going, and keep going. My balance is better, and she knows it. That makes both of our jobs easier.
A good day.
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An interesting day yesterday. It was quite cold yesterday, about 15 degrees when we got out to the barn. This is one of those days where horses think, "Do I REALLY have to work today? I'd rather just stand in my stall and, ahem, chill."
So, it was no surprise that Opal was a bit less than enthusiasicc about having my butt on her back.
Our teacher had laid out some ground poles in the shape of a triangle. The idea was to get the horse to walk, or trot, through one of the apices of the triangle, and then over the horizontal pole. Once I got Opal warmed up, or thought that I had, we started the exercise. I tried to get her to go through the triangle, but she simply would not maintain the trot. Apparently, the circles were too small, and it was difficult for her to keep at the pace with tight turns. Finally, she said, "I've had enough of this bullshit," and gave me a little buck to let me know her displeasure. She also did some head-tossing, showing me that she's unhappy.
Link to videoSo, we gave up and worked on other stuff - larger circles, etc.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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"My pronouns are FA/FO." - Mik, 2024
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@Mik said in Guess what I did today...my horsey adventures:
Developing good communications it looks like.
Indeed. Once we got over this stuff, and my instructor gave me the
cropmagic wand, Opal's attitude changed. She realized that I wasn't going to ask her to do anything difficult, but I WAS going to ask her to do things.Later in the lesson we came down the middle of the arena, and I asked her to trot over that pole. She complied, but she hesitated for a moment, making it a bit of a bumpy ride. My instructor said that she's probably just "tuned out," and not really paying attention to what's going on. So, as we were approaching the pole, she sort of went "What the actual FUCK??" I have to adjust my stride to get over that thing!" and she "hiccuped."
So, the next time we did it, I have her the slightest wiggle on the reins, to say, "Pay attention now! Look what's coming up!" And she went over them with no problem whatsoever.
If nothing else, I'm glad to see my stamina improving. When I started, back in April (?) I could barely make it around the arena without getting winded. Now, I'll go for 10-15 minutes without stopping. When you ride, you use muscles that are not used for anything else, really, so building them up is a good thing.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Guess what I did today...my horsey adventures:
I'd rather just stand in my stall and, ahem, chill."
Silly George. Horses don't make puns.
Our teacher had laid out some ground poles in the shape of a triangle.
I remember ground poles. In my neck of the woods they were called cavalettis. I never got higher than about a foot off the ground. I was helped over by a wise old mare named Sheba, who lumbered over with no help from the rider (me) up top who lurched around like a drunken beanbag.
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
