Sadly, but hopefully not surprisingly, it will likely be too muddy to lesson outside still, so we will remain indoors. It is still April, so keeping with my April theme there will be a spooky jump or two in the ring so keep preparing horses and riders for dealing with the unexpected jumps!
For flat work, we are going to be doing canter and trot leg yields, but moving away from the rail. At the canter this will resemble a half pass, but with a straight neck. This will require a little more preparation by the rider, as you will need to (for the trot leg yield) get the horse flexed slightly to the outside before asking them to step over. You will also need to fight the magnetic pull of the wall! At the canter, you will not do a counter bend, but rather keep the neck straight, and ask them to move over with each jump between strides.
Being able to leg yield at the canter helps with straightening a horse in a line, or fixing a poor approach.
I think we will also work at jumping a fence at a specific point: picking to jump the center, the left, or the right side. This can be useful in the jumpers when a certain side of the jump offers and advantage for a turn or because of how it is built.
We will also jump a combination as we haven't done one of those in a while! A combination is a series of 3-4 jumps ridden with usually only 1-3 strides in between. Very common in jumpers, but also sometimes seen in jumpers...MLM had a 3 to a 4 stride combination last year in their hunters.
Karen
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Went with Rhiannon to look at a horse this weekend. It was at a newish facility that I had never been to, but was interested to see. It had a decent/big indoor, but unheated so once again I realized how spoiled I am at home! Anyway, she brings the horse in and we pull the blanket off...and it is skinny. Play the xylophone on its ribs skinny, but not SPCA skinny. Her response to my question of why? "the barn owners only feed for maintenance".
Really?!?
First off, how stupid to bad mouth the barn you currently board at, and secondly how stupid do you look for leaving your horse somewhere that doesn't feed it enough? And trying to sell it that way (and not cheaply either!)?
I won't name the barn because I question if the barn is really at fault: obviously the horse isn't being fed enough, but the horse is blanketed and on outside board, so it is possible that the barn staff just don't know the horse needs more food.
Which reminded me of the "Tell all" currently of Facebook, where someone is bashing a local boarding stable for endangering the horses in various ways, lying to boarders, and not feeding the horses for days at a time. She listed many good reasons to leave the barn and months and months of incidents...so why did she finally leave? She was told to get out by the barn owners. Why did she stay? By the sounds of it she liked being in the center of the drama.
I remember when we had that barn up the road (not Pleasant View) that would turn out super thin horses. Hillside rehabbed a few of them. The barn owners were clever and would point that most of the horses looked good, so would blame the horse owner, or say the horse had some ailment. In reality it was because the idiots would only put out four piles of hay for twelve horses, so only the strong got to eat. So why would people stay? It was cheap and close and they bought the barn owners stories/excuses. But once they left they would bash the old barn and not take any accountability for letting their horse get skeletal. Smart people would leave as soon as they noticed weight loss, and not leave it for months and months!
Edmonton has lots of boarding stables. There is no excuse to be at one that doesn't provide the basics of life such as feed and water, and if you leave your horse at one to get crazy thin, don't look to me for support on Facebook or the like. Its your horse. accept the responsibility!
Karen
Really?!?
First off, how stupid to bad mouth the barn you currently board at, and secondly how stupid do you look for leaving your horse somewhere that doesn't feed it enough? And trying to sell it that way (and not cheaply either!)?
I won't name the barn because I question if the barn is really at fault: obviously the horse isn't being fed enough, but the horse is blanketed and on outside board, so it is possible that the barn staff just don't know the horse needs more food.
Which reminded me of the "Tell all" currently of Facebook, where someone is bashing a local boarding stable for endangering the horses in various ways, lying to boarders, and not feeding the horses for days at a time. She listed many good reasons to leave the barn and months and months of incidents...so why did she finally leave? She was told to get out by the barn owners. Why did she stay? By the sounds of it she liked being in the center of the drama.
I remember when we had that barn up the road (not Pleasant View) that would turn out super thin horses. Hillside rehabbed a few of them. The barn owners were clever and would point that most of the horses looked good, so would blame the horse owner, or say the horse had some ailment. In reality it was because the idiots would only put out four piles of hay for twelve horses, so only the strong got to eat. So why would people stay? It was cheap and close and they bought the barn owners stories/excuses. But once they left they would bash the old barn and not take any accountability for letting their horse get skeletal. Smart people would leave as soon as they noticed weight loss, and not leave it for months and months!
Edmonton has lots of boarding stables. There is no excuse to be at one that doesn't provide the basics of life such as feed and water, and if you leave your horse at one to get crazy thin, don't look to me for support on Facebook or the like. Its your horse. accept the responsibility!
Karen
Monday, April 21, 2014
Horse show update and this week in lessons
Had fun at the horse show on Saturday! Nice weather, although still a little muddy. Wolf and Duncan both behaved and came home with a pretty assortment of ribbons. There were quite a few horses that looked a little shocked to be at a show, with may run outs and refusals in the 2'3" division...some of these riders should have been reading this blog to know how to handle the run outs, and instead of stopping and reassessing and/or letting the horse look at the jump, they would just keep going at a canter and loop back and try again...and again...and again... trying the same thing over and over is just going to get you the same result!
I am still not sure about going to jumping shows this early in the year though...it was awkward to not be able to warm up properly before the classes and to have to get off to get into the show ring, and then get on again to show...and we didn't exactly bring short horses! I so look forward to being outside again!
This week in lessons we will still have some spooky jumps, but it will be more of a jumper course vs the hunter type courses we have been doing. This means some bending lines and complex turns. You still want to get the horse straight to the spooky jumps, so it is important to hold the horse out on the turns and keep control of the horse's shoulder so they are straight when they get to the jumps. To this end we will do some flat work to make sure the horses are listening to the leg aids and bending around the inside leg rather than falling in.
Karen
I am still not sure about going to jumping shows this early in the year though...it was awkward to not be able to warm up properly before the classes and to have to get off to get into the show ring, and then get on again to show...and we didn't exactly bring short horses! I so look forward to being outside again!
This week in lessons we will still have some spooky jumps, but it will be more of a jumper course vs the hunter type courses we have been doing. This means some bending lines and complex turns. You still want to get the horse straight to the spooky jumps, so it is important to hold the horse out on the turns and keep control of the horse's shoulder so they are straight when they get to the jumps. To this end we will do some flat work to make sure the horses are listening to the leg aids and bending around the inside leg rather than falling in.
Karen
Monday, April 14, 2014
This week in lessons
This week in lessons we will be doing a hunter course to prepare for show season. To school the horses on their rhythm, balance and straightness, we will first jump the courses small and slow (adding strides) before raising the jumps and riding at course pace. I will have the jumps decorated like at a show, and we will continue to practice riding the spooky jumps by staying back with our body, and straight with the horse.
Hunter courses should always be started and finished with at least 3/4 of a circle to look polished and to allow you to develop a course pace, and to finish in an organized fashion. You don't want the horse to just fall apart into a walk/trot when done!
Rhythm, pace, and straightness are the key ingredients to a hunter course, with the details of lead changes and distances made easier by paying attention to these basics.
See you this week!
(and if you ride Wednesday, apparently I may have trouble talking loudly as I will have a tube up my nose...should be fun)
Karen
Hunter courses should always be started and finished with at least 3/4 of a circle to look polished and to allow you to develop a course pace, and to finish in an organized fashion. You don't want the horse to just fall apart into a walk/trot when done!
Rhythm, pace, and straightness are the key ingredients to a hunter course, with the details of lead changes and distances made easier by paying attention to these basics.
See you this week!
(and if you ride Wednesday, apparently I may have trouble talking loudly as I will have a tube up my nose...should be fun)
Karen
Monday, April 7, 2014
This week in lessons
This week in lessons we are going to continue to work on some tricky looking jumps. This helps make sure rider's have a strong position that can keep their horse confidence even if they are sceptical about the jump.
Spooky jumps really highlight rider issues such as dropping their eye, or dropping their body. Riding a spooky jump needs a rider that has a deep and secure seat, but that isn't so much behind the motion that they will get left behind if the horse jumps. Basically, just make sure it is your CORE and not your lower back holding you up, and that you can feel your seat bones in the saddle. They rider's eye must stay up, as must the rider keep the horse's eye up so they don't fixate and focus on the spooky jump, and instead both horse and rider must look up and past the jump.
Looking up and past the jump also helps the rider FEEL if the horses starts to wiggle or get crooked. It is important to hold the horse straight, and to maintain the same rhythm to the jump. If the horse gets quicker on the approach, chances are the horse is nervous, and planning to run out past the jump rather than over.
It is far better the horse stops straight in front of the jump, than runs by. A horse that stops in front of the jump is at least still thinking about the jump. When this happens I usually hold the horse in front of the jump, let them look a moment, give them a bump with my legs to remind them to GO, and then try again. On the next approach I will sit a little deeper, possibly cluck as well, but keep them from getting quicker, and be ready for a BIG leap over by grabbing mane and/or slipping the reins as it is very important to not catch the horse in the mouth when it finally jumps!
If the horse tries to run by the jump, the rider needs to do their best to NOT let them go past by pulling on the rein to keep the nose pointing at the jump, even if they bonk their (the horse's) nose on the standard! If the horse goes to run out left, pull right! Simple as that. If they DO get past the jump, pull them up as soon as possible, bring them back to the jump, bump with the heels, then turn away to the opposite side and come again, protecting the side that they ran out on, making extra sure to not let them get quick as that almost always precedes the run out! As with stopping, make sure you are ready for them to jump by being ready to grab mane or slip the reins!
Karen
(remember no lessons on Tuesday night!)
Spooky jumps really highlight rider issues such as dropping their eye, or dropping their body. Riding a spooky jump needs a rider that has a deep and secure seat, but that isn't so much behind the motion that they will get left behind if the horse jumps. Basically, just make sure it is your CORE and not your lower back holding you up, and that you can feel your seat bones in the saddle. They rider's eye must stay up, as must the rider keep the horse's eye up so they don't fixate and focus on the spooky jump, and instead both horse and rider must look up and past the jump.
Looking up and past the jump also helps the rider FEEL if the horses starts to wiggle or get crooked. It is important to hold the horse straight, and to maintain the same rhythm to the jump. If the horse gets quicker on the approach, chances are the horse is nervous, and planning to run out past the jump rather than over.
It is far better the horse stops straight in front of the jump, than runs by. A horse that stops in front of the jump is at least still thinking about the jump. When this happens I usually hold the horse in front of the jump, let them look a moment, give them a bump with my legs to remind them to GO, and then try again. On the next approach I will sit a little deeper, possibly cluck as well, but keep them from getting quicker, and be ready for a BIG leap over by grabbing mane and/or slipping the reins as it is very important to not catch the horse in the mouth when it finally jumps!
If the horse tries to run by the jump, the rider needs to do their best to NOT let them go past by pulling on the rein to keep the nose pointing at the jump, even if they bonk their (the horse's) nose on the standard! If the horse goes to run out left, pull right! Simple as that. If they DO get past the jump, pull them up as soon as possible, bring them back to the jump, bump with the heels, then turn away to the opposite side and come again, protecting the side that they ran out on, making extra sure to not let them get quick as that almost always precedes the run out! As with stopping, make sure you are ready for them to jump by being ready to grab mane or slip the reins!
Karen
(remember no lessons on Tuesday night!)
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