Izzy has real shoes on again!

A big day for Izzy; she finally gets to wear normal horse shoes again rather than the half shoes she had been wearing.

The half shoes had been on her to encourage her oversized frog to shrink, and to allow her heels to grow downward. Her former owners had been shoeing her with thick shoes and wedge pads cut to be flush to the shoe. This combination led not only to having under run heels, but also left her frog that had expanded enough to reach the ground, so when the shoes came off, it was just her frog and her tip toe touching the ground by a large margin!

Changes in hooves take a while, as they get conditioned to grow and wear a certain way, so have to be retrained to regain a healthy and functional growth.

The nice thing about the 1/2 shoes was that there was no worry about her stepping on them and pulling them off.

Here is the changes to her hooves since she was first put in the 1/2 shoe in April; you can see more heel, an more upright heel, and a slightly higher angle to her toe. (on the left is the recent shoe job, on the right is the first cycle with a half shoe.

News from the barn:

Tiny black kitten is officially on the missing kitten list. Neither her owners nor anyone at the barn has seen her since Thursday. I am guessing the fox made her aquantance, but I hope that she just ended up in someone's yard and found better cat food.

Horse show on Saturday went ok I guess. Roxy and Miranda placed second in a decently sized class, and Roxy was extremely good for her first show! The footing was very deep, which proved to be a struggle for our horses (and even for me when I went to help set jumps!). The courses were better than last year, with only one crazy hair pin turn. Frustratingly, it was once again just Hillside in the higher divisions...no fun going to a show only to compete against yourself.

This makes me wonder if I should be considering holding another "Ride for Red" jumper show....thinking in August. Thoughts?

For lessons this week, we will be working on some position issues using instruments of torture....AKA bailing twine attatched to stirrups and/or tensor bandages to remind to keep elbows in. The tensor banadage reminder is one I have been using on myself, as I have a habit of sticking my left elbow out when my left side starts to get stiff (often from left leg getting tired). The tensor isn't enough to actually hold the arm in, but it works to make the rider THINK about what their body part is doing so they can self correct. It works best on sunburnt arms.

For jumping...I am hoping to build a kick ass course outside using many jumps so that Rob can mow the grass where I store the jumps, but we will see what the weather says. May build a good course outside, and if inside doing something more simple.

Also want to start working out the Summer Schedule with more day time lessons. Would like to teach in the day as much as possible for students that can make it, but only if it means I can cut out some evening times.

Karen

Milestones

I rode Coregel outside for the first time today.

I have been hesitant to do so considering what a nut she is when in her paddock; anything changes such as a new blanket on a horse, or a horse leaving and she looses it. She has also proven herself to be insane if I try to put her in the outdoor to do the edging while I put jumps up, and she just runs and whinnies. She is the only horse I know that will not settle down even long enough to take a bite of lush green grass.

Today was just too nice to ride inside, so I decided to give it a try. first I did some basic ground work such as having her halt politely beside me without me having to pull, and then some flexions with her jaw to make sure she would give to the bit, and then I got on. We walked for a long time. Spooked a bit when the wind picked up, but nothing major. So we trotted. She was fine. A little looky, but nothing frightful.

I will admit though, that we avoided the issue of the pylon hanging from the chain at the far end. That was spooky and I opted to avoid the issue.

It feels good to have that out of the way; I had been worried for a while about how she would be in the larger space, with loose horses in her line of sight, and her friends sometimes visible...but the odd thing about this horse is that she is consistently better with me on her than off. If i had waited for her to be sane on the ground, I would still not be riding her...so perhaps her injury was a blessing in disguise; it forced me to train her under saddle without longing.

Karen

First level test 2

Izzy & I practicing first level test 2.

I would like to show her at this test at our next show. I think adding more elements of difficulty will help me keep her focus. Or, like in this video, the exciting, spooky thing could wait to happen for our free walk (in this case it was the geldings booting it to the front from out back).

I thought videoing it may help with rider's that wish to learn it, however my fence post fails completely when it comes to following the test so hard to see what goes on in the corners. It also fails at zooming in, so hard to see details. Also please note I rode the test backwards so that A was at the far end and C at the near end. This made sense to me for some reason.

If you watch the video, this is what you should see:
1) My halt starts on centerline, but then I allow Izzy to step out and to her right. She did this at the show as well, so is something I need to work on and is a result of her not carrying her weight evenly on both hinds (stops with her left, then steps out and over with her right) and not carrying even contact with my hands.
2) We proceed and then are supposed to be lengthening across the diagonal. We do not get much lengthen and this would not score well. A lengthened trot isn't just supposed to be more active, the horse is supposed to get LONGER and a tad lower in the neck, and push from behind. I do not get that in this movement.
3) Then a nice trot down the side to R, where I am supposed to be doing a 10 meter half circle. I made the half circle too small, so did not get to the centerline. I then travel to X, and then leg yield to the wall. Because I am not on centerline I have further to go. Fortunately Izzy can do it, but getting to centerline isn't rocket science and being precise is easy points gained, so I obviously need to practice this.
4) Canter transition at A. It is ok. Precise, but she flings her head up and I lean forward so not seemless. Then we do a 15 meter circle at P, followed by a lengthened canter. Our circle is ok, but our lengthened canter isn't longer as much as quicker. Still, would likely score ok. I have the corner to come back to working canter, then across the diagonal, and trot at X.
5) Next we walk at A, then freewalk loop. We just start to get some stretch when she hears the boys galloping up and I lose her focus. Still, we maintain the path, and she doesn't break from the walk, so good practice for us. Gather reins in the corner, trot at C.
6) Stretch circle is at R...again, not stretching down, and still paying too much attention to what the geldings were running from.
7) At P I am again supposed to be doing a half circle, but get too small with it so don't get to the center line, so again at X we have further to go than we should with the leg yield.
8) after the leg yield comes the canter with the 15 meter circle at R, then our lengthen. The trot is again at X, and then we go for another lengthen across the diagonal before coming up centerline and halting. I am happier with this lengthen as she shows some increased reach, and our halt at centerline is straighter.

I hope to be able to do another video in a few weeks and show some improvement!

This week in lessons

This week in lessons we will be continuing to work on quick response times and patterns.

I think lessons will likely be inside once again, but will teach outside as much as possible.

For the quick response times we will be doing transitions at markers (pylons). Not only will this require accurate transitions, but also riders will need to set their horse up properly to canter on the correct leads on a straight line.

For patterns/jumping, there will be a "make your own course" challenge. Riders will have to start and stop their course at the markers, and get over all the jumps in an order that they think will be the quickest for their horse. It will be important to take into consideration your horse's strengths and weaknesses when coming up for your ideal course. A smaller horse will do better with tight turns, and a big, fast horse, will do better if allowed to do larger turns and make up time with its big stride. Rocket will do best if you cheat.

It is also a good idea to make up a course that makes SENSE to you so you can remember it! 3 seconds added for a rail down.

For dressage riders who may want to compete at Westwood Warmbloods in July and August, or Amberlea in the fall, we will use nice weather days (aka days we can ride outside) to start riding the EC tests to pick out which ones will best suite each horse. Please note, I do expect riders who have show experience to memorize at least ONE of their tests for these shows to save me having to read....this will be particularly important if I take Coregel to any shows...or even worse...both Coregel and Izzy...two nutty mares will surely keep all my attention!

Karen

Results are in!

The results of the timed obstacle course are in!

In first place was Christine and Spencer: Time of 0:58:64, with no faults! It may have helped that it was Spencer's fourth lesson on the obstacle course...he seemed to really get into it by Saturday!

2nd; Kelsey & Zander: 1:04:83
3rd: Lindsay & Java; 1:04;55 with one fault for a time of 1:07:55
4rth: Emma & Gody (!?!): 1:10:89
5th: Kaitlin & Justice: 1:06:09 + 2 faults for a time of 1:12:09
6th: Janine & Zander: 1:14:58 + 2 faults for a time of 1:20:58

Good job everyone!

I am still in shock that Gody made the top 5....

I think the lesson did work in making people think about making their horse respond in a timely manner, and also about controlling the horse's entire body; it helps to maintain outside aids when turning to help keep the horse better balanced and ready for the next turn!

I think the horses liked it too; obstacles are something they can see and understand, and anything that makes riders be more effective is welcome to them.

Karen

Hope for Wolfgang?

Reading Dressage Canada rules, and grinding of teeth should NOT count against a horse's scores if the horse is otherwise relaxed.

Too bad the judge at the last show didn't know that.

The rules also say that coaches shouldn't have to read the tests for their students that have show experience and months to learn their tests before the show....or that the coach must be paid large sums of money (also payable in high quality chocolate or Second Cup Chai Lattes) to do so.

Interesting things in the rule book.

The obstacle course has been interesting; so far Java and Lindsay are in the lead...not really a shock there! Wyneke and Spencer did the best job remembering the course and leaving everything up though.

I have been asked "why are we doing this?' by a few students, so here is why:

1) It is entertaining for me.
2) It helps show training gaps...a big example would be the number of horses that take a few too many seconds before agreeing to do the turn on the forehand...riders are letting their horses take too long to answer them in general, which leads to things like picking up the wrong leads, not getting lead changes, messing up turns and transitions, taking too long to start a leg yield and so on.
3) Rider faults come to the forefront when pressure is on; Hands come out of place, eyes start to look down and the leaning which throws the horse off balance! Oy vey.
4) Having to do things in tight quarters makes riders really think of rebalancing their horse and containing the horse between hands and legs. This is needed for things like corners in dressage, and tidy turns in jumping, but it is easier to let precision slide when there aren't markers forcing you to make a certain track. The tight weave pylons, and L's both really show the benefit/need of keeping the horse between the reins and legs.

So I think doing more exercises like this will be in order!

Reminder; entries are due for Heads-Up horse show next Monday. let me know if you are interested in going!

Karen

This week in lessons

Pretty sure this week lessons will have to be inside. Maybe the weather will suprise us, but I doubt it and the ring is pretty wet right now!

So I am thinking of building an obstacle course that will challenge the rider to control the horse's body as well as their own. I may even time it and make it a week long challenge. It will be fun.

Jumping lessons will involve a bit of an obstacle course as well, and we will also be working on flying lead changes for the horses that need it.

We are really focusing on body control of the horse this week!

Maple Leaf Meadows

The Maple Leaf Meadows dressage show went great! I overdressed as I planned for cold and wet, but it was perfect show weather.

MLM is a nice facility, but even they had to make some adjustments for the wet weather, so our warm up ring ended up being a small patch of grass right beside the house...so nice of them to give up their lawn so we had somewhere safe to ride!

The horses behaved well, the rider's rode well and I look forward to going back in September. The only real glitch I suppose was the judge and scribe completely missing a score on one of my tests...and so the score keeper decided to just give a zero! I admit I stressed about it for a while until Laureen helped me deduce that the zero was written with the same pen as the scorekeeper and not that of the scribe or judge.

Many thanks to Janine who helped out and took pictures, to Laureen who hauled two of the horses, and to Rob who hauled and helped with Izzy. She appreciated having someone to scratch her!

Little Izzy definitely needs some show miles...dressage rings are scary! Shawn agreed, but settled down quickly. Gody and Wolfgang were both a little more spunky, but in their cases, that was a good thing!

Cadora Test learning help

For those showing this weekend, I have posted Izzy and I doing both Cadora tests. Sorry that we leave the frame from time to time, but my videographer (aka the fence post) had trouble following me or zooming in. I figure it is the judges video if the judge's neck is in a neck brace. Note that I do the stretch circle in test C twice as she stalls into the walk the first time and I wanted to redo.

http://youtu.be/ejZ6Mt2z-bo

Also pictures of leg yields taken by the fence post:

Not ideal, but enough to show the following:

1) Clear crossing of the legs (fronts in the first two, hinds in the last photo)

2) Slight flexion away from the direction of travel, but a relatively straight neck. Flexion refers to the jaw, bend (which you don't want in a leg yield, refers to the neck and spine)

3) Shoulders slightly leading compared to haunches.

Faults: Should be slightly more flexed right in the second photos (leg yield right). Head slightly tilted in bottom photo. (nose should be directly below her forehead)

Well of course...

We now have some lovely new sand in the outdoor. Still needs some leveling, but is definately rideable, so will be teaching outside today. Was looking forward to building a fancy jumper course for tomorrows lessons, but of course rain is forecast for the next couple days. We do of course need rain, but  too bad about the timing.

Also supposed to rain for the show this weekend, so glad we have stalls and booked early enough to be indoors! Still not sure if we should worry about braiding or jackets, but as far as I can tell it is just a "neat attire" kind of show...although I do expect everyone to have clean tack! I will confirm about the braiding and jackets with the show organizer...although braiding for this show is good practice if you are planning to show at a bigger show later this year!

Karen