After the Gorge

Thanksgiving is over and the leftovers are basically gone. Now that we’re not feeling like overstuffed pillows anymore it’s time to get back to reality.  For me anyway.   After this latest gorge-fest known as Thanksgiving, and with the rest of the holiday season's temptations not too far off, I've had to be honest with myself about where I'm at fitness-wise and ask myself what I can do to improve my own fitness, not only for good health, but to be a better rider - for both myself and my horses.  And I've realized I'm not as fit as I used to be and could be doing more to get myself in better shape for riding.  Usually I'd save this sort of thing for New Year's resolutions, but I've decided to get an early start this year.

After all, I make sure my horses are fit, but what about my level of fitness?  Once I've made the commitment to ride, I feel I should make the commitment to achieve a certain level of fitness in order to be a good rider.  As we are heading into the cold miserable winter months, there may be less riding and more down time.  It does not take long to pack on a few extra pound as we hibernate; don’t ask me how I know this, I just do....  But I feel to be a balanced, effective rider I need to have some degree of fitness, and this is maybe something that concerns all of us who ride.

Everyone knows we should eat healthy and maintain as close to ideal a weight as possible.  But let’s face it, losing weight is incredibly difficult and exercising is usually tedious, so what’s the best way to stay fit?  Using our horses as exercise machines has always seemed a tad unfair to me.  While riding can be part of a balanced exercise plan, we shouldn’t rely on it completely for our fitness goals.  Riding a horse is good exercise but, unless we ride quite a lot every day, riding by itself as our only exercise simply will not keep most of us physically fit.  This is just my opinion and I’m sure many will disagree with me, but that’s okay; opinions are just opinions and they are meant to be disagreed with.  And for some people, fitness comes easy and the riding they do is more than enough for them to say in shape.  Of course, I'm not that lucky.  And since this blog is basically geared to the aging rider, I thought that perhaps I would jot down a few exercises that I’ve done/do that I feel have worked for me and may work for you if you also find yourself needing a little extra help.

Getting older isn’t for wimps and I’ve noticed that, as we get older, we need even more exercise than we did when we were younger.  Nothing snaps back as quickly as it did in the past.  Ligaments and muscles seem to harden and contract and the best thing we can do to combat this is to stretch regularly.  It’s probably one of the best exercises we can do to keep our bodies flexible.  Stretching for flexibility is great for the stiffness and decreased mobility that comes with age.  I have personally tried the Equi-Stretch videos (below) and would recommend them.  I’ve also got to finally make the time to take up some form of Yoga. I keep meaning to, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.  I’m sure it will make a big difference.  I bought the Yoga for Equestrians DVD and book by Linda Benedik.

The experts suggest aerobics to help build endurance, resistance training with weights for strength, and stretching for flexibility and mobility.  Joining a gym or hiring a personal trainer would be a great way to get started on a fitness program if money or time is not a concern.  I’m not comfortable with having a drill sergeant in my face forcing me to exercise at this point in my life, but I’m not ruling it out for sometime in the future.

Another fitness option is Pilates, which is probably the best exercise system you can do as a rider.  Having tried the Winsor Pilates videos, I can attest to the fact that there is nothing easy about Pilates.  To be fair though, I never really gave it a chance and will have to bite the bullet and try again.  I’ve bought the book Pilates for the Dressage Rider by Janice Dulak.
 
Balance ball exercises are another alternative to compliment Pilates; however, keep in mind that staying on top of the ball during the exercises is so much more beneficial than sliding off and landing unceremoniously on the floor with a thud, which can be quite amusing to onlookers.  From now on, I will do the exercises without an audience with a sense of humor.

In order to be successful in your quest for fitness, I’d choose an aerobic exercise that appeals to you and one that you will actually do such as walking, swimming, bicycling, jogging, etc..  Since my knee surgery, it’s easier for me to use the recumbent bike as much as possible when I’m stuck inside because of weather or time constraints.  Personally, my favorite exercise is to walk for thirty minutes at a moderate speed on the treadmill or outside; this is the easiest and least expensive exercise to do - a good pair of sneakers and you're off.  Always warm up and cool down before and after your preferred exercise.  Additional things you might want to try if you have arthritic joints would be the elliptical machine, or the dreaded NordicTrack ski machine, which I absolutely despise.  When this machine is not collecting dust, it actually makes a good clothes rack for your workout attire.  Except for the fact that it really works, I would never recommend it - it’s boring and pure torture.
 
As for other exercises, occasionally I will do an exercise tape for aerobics and one for working with weights. I’m sure everyone knows that as we age we need to keep our bones strong and lifting weights is one of the best exercises we can do to keep bone mass. I’ve requested a weight machine for Christmas; I hope Santa can fit it under the tree.
 
Aerobics will keep your heart pumping, stretching should keep us limber, and weight training should keep us strong.  All of these combined should keep us in fairly good shape and a big plus for me is that, on the days I actually get to exercise, I sleep better at night.
 
In conclusion, I think many of us who ride could benefit from some out-of-the-saddle exercise to help get and/or stay fitter.  That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep on riding in the meantime, it’s just that the extra effort out of the saddle can help make time in the saddle more productive and more enjoyable (and hopefully less painful the next day! ;-)  It’s not easy and it doesn’t come overnight.  Of course, anyone who plans on starting an exercise plan should check with his or her doctor first.  My doctor insists on 30 minutes of exercising everyday; when I told him I didn’t have the time on certain days because I had to get up early to babysit or whatever excuse was handy at the time, he told me to simply get up earlier (easier said than done!)  It’s especially hard to get motivated on dark, cold mornings instead of snuggling under a warm comforter.  But we do what we have to if we want to stay healthy and fit enough to ride and enjoy our horses well into the future.  Increased fitness reduces your chance of injury; if your horse takes a misstep or spooks, you will be more able to handle the situation and stay in the saddle (or at least you might bounce better if you hit the ground!)  The benefits far outweigh the inconvenience - that's what I keep reminding myself.

I’m interested to know what you do to keep riding fit.  I could use any tip to stay in shape.  Although, I know that there are no shortcuts to a healthy fit body, I’d sure like to find one.
 
I’ve listed some books and videos below you might be interested in for getting in shape.  Be sure to start slowly and work your way up to the level of fitness you desire. 
 
One last helpful hint: before you put a foot in the stirrup, take the time to warm up and stretch your muscles.
 
Until next time

Quote for Today
Wild oats aren't meant for sowing - but they make a nice trail snack
 
Stretching
 
Equi-Stretch--Strengthening and Stretching Techniques for the Rider ~ Dan Weltner
Equi-Stretch--Strengthening and Stretching Techniques Level Two ~ Dan WeltnerEqui-Stretch--The Seated Workout ~ Dan Weltner

Product Description
Equi-Stretch is a home workout video series designed primarily for, but not exclusively for equestrians, these videos offer a great 40-minute low-impact workout. Equi-Stretch consists of exercises designed to enhance muscular efficiency. These exercises help both riders and non-riders learn to improve their strength and flexibility, as well as overall body awareness, by developing a greater range of motion, building stronger abdominals, and learning isolation. Learn more at equistretch.com

Yoga
The following two videos are a good introduction to yoga and easy to do. Relaxation and balance are an integral part of riding that all equestrians should strive to achieve. Linda Benedik has also written 'Yoga for Equestrians' books if you prefer the book version.

Yoga & Riding: Balance and Symmetry Techiniques for Equestrians
Product Description
Riders are introduced to the author's yoga methods and learn how to achieve a balanced and symmetrical position on the horse.
Yoga & Riding Volume 2: Breathing and Relaxation Techniques for Equestrians
Product Description
In this video, riders build from the yoga lessons they learned in Volume 1, with the focus on learning to relax in mind and body.

Pilates for the Dressage Rider
by Janice Dulak
Product Description
In this beautiful new book, dressage rider and Level 2 Pilate's Instructor Janice Dulak has compiled a program of Pilate's exercises specifically designed to help the dressage rider enhance her ability for success in dressage. While they use different terms, both Pilate's and dressage share an emphasis on the torso, or the "Powerhouse" in Pilate's-speak, and achieving core strength, good posture and muscle flexibility. The goals of Pilate's program are often identical to what riders try to achieve in the saddle in the sport of dressage.

(I cannot vouch for this book, as I have not read it yet. Even if you are not a dressage rider, I am sure that this book will benefit any rider no matter what your riding discipline.)

While we are speaking of fitness, let's not leave our horses out; stretching is beneficial for them as well. There is a great book on horse stretches and the proper techniques to use.

The Path to Perfect Suppleness
by Karin Blignault

Friday's Funnies

I recently received this in an e-mail and thought it was interesting. Hope you find it interesting too.

A History Lesson For Modern Times

Railroad tracks

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the US railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

 Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

 Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

 So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.

Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses' asses.)

Now, the twist to the story:

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah

The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

 So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important?

Until next time

Quote for Today
No matter how fast the horse trots the damn cart still chases him.
    - Horse Illustrated

Happy Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving
author unknown

The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest all is gathered in
And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain,
So open wide the doorway~
Thanksgiving comes again!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Until next time

Quote for Today

John Greenleaf Whittier
No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope or fear;
But, grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.

A New Training Aid

This weekend we added a new training aid to Dusty’s repertoire.  Because of her left-sided stiffness/crookedness, she needs to work on her positioning through softening and correct inside flexion.  We’ve been trying to achieve this with an opening rein alternating with an indirect rein behind the wither, a giving outside rein combined with some inside leg cues.  All worked for the most part on different circles sizes and at times spiraling in and out.  And while this is working to help keep her fresh and not boring her to death, something was still missing, so we decided to try something new.

Today we introduced her to seat aids.  Basically, it’s dropping more weight into one side of your butt or the other depending what direction you want to bend in.  No leg cues whatsoever except for creating forward motion.  Instead of using leg to help with flexion, sitting with more weight on the inside apparently causes a horse to naturally bend slightly in that direction.  That combined with the rein aids is enough to get a nice balanced bend.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, but once I got the hang of dropping my seat and resisting the urge to use my leg, I’ve got to say it worked like a charm.  Dusty relaxed, lengthened her topline and softened very nicely.  This only took maybe two times around the circle until she was a different horse.  The most amazing part is that she felt more upright and balanced through her turns.  She’s still crooked on her left side but she was really trying and she did get straighter and started to round up in her back a little.  That’s what we’re looking for, just a little try.  I should add that it was only necessary to drop the seat bones in the corners and not the entire way around; that would have been overkill and I’m sure she would have gotten annoyed eventually.  There has to be release and a lot of pats and praise, especially for a strong-willed girl like Dusty.

And so we had some very nice rides and, believe it or not, you can even steer a little bit with this method alone.  I took her over a few cavelletti’s in patterns at the walk and she did great. Then we moved onto trotting exercises over the poles for fun because she thinks she’s a hotshot jumper, no matter that the poles were on the ground!

Until next time
Quote for Today
There are many wonderful places in the world, but one of my favourite places is on the back of my horse.
    - Rolf Kopfle

Autumn Days

" The Unsuspecting Victims "

 We were treated to a few gorgeous fall days recently and took full advantage of them by saddling up. I might mention that the horses took advantage, too.  Apparently they’ve decided they are now a wild horse band living in the badlands of the back pasture.  For the past two nights, they took a group vote and made the decision there was no need to come in. Also voting as a group that they didn’t need no stinking grain or supplements; they are rough tough creampuffs living the undomesticated life. 

Unfortunately for them, if they thought they were getting out of work, that scenario didn’t play out quite like they thought it might.  It’s not easy to outsmart two humans intent on enjoying the day with a ride or two.  Try as they might, it’s awfully hard to hide in a field when you’re fenced in. Although, Blue did his best to mosey away nonchalantly and distance himself from the grazing herd, but his paint spots gave him away.

Being the big game hunters we are, we loaded the tack into the back of the Kubota and tracked them down.  Once we parked in the middle of the riding ring it wasn’t long before the nosiest members couldn’t control their curiosity and came in to check out the orange treat dispenser (the equivalent of an ice cream truck for little kids). Of course, Donnie was the first one through the gate, which led to the indignity of being free - longed.  Then Nate and Dusty were tacked and ridden in the arena with most of their fan club hanging over the fence looking on and nickering to them for support.

Nate is just coming back into work, so he didn’t do much but walk and, not being able to control himself he did pick up a nice easy canter once in a while.  Dusty was as good as gold; I’ve never ridden her when she listened to every aid and kept an even pace the whole time.  I’m thinking staying out all night with the boys must have taken the edge off her normally enthusiastic energy level. Next up to the mounting block was Grady, who my daughter worked with; he is coming along in his re-training very nicely.  And I rode Blue. Blue’s a good boy but one of the laziest horses I’ve ever known. He’s always the one to ride last because he has a tendency for killing your lower back and legs just trying to get him to move and keep him going. In all fairness to him though, he’s been out of work for over a month.  He had a muscle biopsy taken and evaluated and was diagnosed with moderate pssm; he also has chronic Lyme (that comes and goes) and not the best hocks. Since this was his first day back working we mostly walked with a little trot in each direction.

The next day they were foolish enough to come up to the catch pen demanding breakfast, they promptly got locked in and taken out one by one as needed for their daily prescription of exercise/training. 

Dusty was once again a little superstar.  We worked on her left bending/crookedness.  Circles, figure eights and serpentines at the walk and trot in patterns over cavelletti on the ground kept her focused and from getting too bored with doing the same thing repeatedly.  We’ll continue to work on her suppleness in the months ahead.  It’s small steps but in the end it will be worth the time it took to do it right.

Last night they were all up crowding the gates to come in by four o’clock.  Rumor has it that grazing under the stars and sleeping on the hard cold ground has lost its appeal when there are warm cozy, comfy stalls waiting in the barn for them.

Until next time

Quote for Today

The wind which flows between a horse's ears is the air of heaven.
    - Rolf Kopfle

Rein Aids and Dusty

 I’ve been busy this week. We had the vet/chiropractor/acupuncturist all visiting the barn this week for evaluations and treatments. Dusty ‘s evaluation: TMJ in her jaw on the left side. Probably from grinding her teeth in frustration at her neighbor Grady. He annoys her by positioning himself to close to her hay net.  Her hind ankles were sore, again probably from kicking the wall when Grady is too close to her wall. She’s since been moved to her Greta Garbo “I vant to be alone” stall, where she can easily open and close her door at will, shutting herself off from the annoyances of her life.  This should help those two problems disappear.  She’s also stiff on her left side and a little crooked.  Tell me something I don’t know!

We’ve had a few rides and have been working on her left side crookedness/stiffness by bending and softening on circles.  In order to get her to try and soften to the left I use an opening rein on the inside and release the rein on the outside.  It’s not a constant opening rein; I use it, release for a few steps and employ it again. If she’s really not listening or begins to fall in on the circle I will use an indirect rein behind the wither with a release on the outside rein occasionally. I don’t like to use this too much because it is a little more advanced, but it’s alright to use intermittently to give her the idea of what I want; it helps to create a more even bend through her whole body and helps me to leg yield her back out onto the circle when I need.  Spiraling in and out helps her to focus. It takes her a while but when she finally gets it right, we end on a good note and finish up with a relaxing walk to cool off.

 All of my rein aids are used with a steady light contact with a following rein.  It’s difficult to do because she has a very active walk with a lot of head movement at all times.

Just when I start thinking she’ll never stop fighting me and never stop popping that shoulder in we have a small flash of brilliance for a few steps.  She will soften and bend, come onto the bit and work through her topline.  I read jme’s post today at Glenshee Equestrian it’s a terrific post explaining “on the bit” with such clarity and insight that I’ve been inspired for my rides this coming weekend.  I’m going to keep plodding along and hopefully soon we will click and be “on the bit,” soft, bending and straight…

Until next time

Quote for Today

A horse is an animal not a machine and is only as good as it's rider.

 

A List of Classic Books

This is a pared down list of a few of the books I’ve read over time that are either informative or thought provoking.  Some I liked very much on my quest to understand what real horsemanship is all about.  There are many opposing views to mine but it’s always good to educate oneself on different methods whether I agree with them or not. I don’t subscribe to any one hard and fast rule with training horses.  I believe that to actually become a better horse person you must research many different philosophies from myriad factions.

In my opinion, the more you familiarize yourself with different philosophies concerning horses and their training, the easier it is to sort through differing viewpoints and keep what makes sense and throw out what doesn’t make sense or can’t possibly work for the good of the rider and horse.  For example, the Duke of Newcastle is often looked upon as a classical master, and trainers today continue to refer back to his methods, many of which are sound; but if you were to read more thoroughly about his methods you would find that some of them were, shall we say, less enlightened than we might find tolerable today.  For example if a horse went around with his tongue hanging out of his mouth (a sign of resistance), he simply hacked it off.  Problem solved!  I guess that’s one way to “deal” with resistance, but that’s just a little too extreme for me.  So, no one master or school of thought is infallible and I’ve made the choice to view them all with a critical eye - to take the good and discard the bad.

So even though this is not by any means all of the books I’ve read, it’s a small sampling which I think has been useful in educating me on the history and development of horsemanship through the ages, as well as the array of philosophies available, some compatible and some contradictory.  From there I’m able to compare and weigh all the options and choose those methods which make the most sense for me and my horses.

Hope you find something you might like to read over the winter.

• My Horses, My Teachers - Alois Podhajsky
• Complete Training of Horse and Rider - Alois Podhajsky
• The Art of Horsemanship - Xenophon
• Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage: A Search for a Classical Alternative - Philippe Karl
• Long Reining: the Samur Method - Philippe Karl
• Classic Show jumping-The De Nemethy Method – Bertalan De Nemethy
• Reflections on Riding and Jumping – William Steinkraus
• School of Horsemanship - Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere
• The Art of Classical Horsemanship - Egon von Neindorff
• Dressage in Harmony: From Basic to Grand Prix - Walter Zettl
• Falling for Fallacies: Misleading Commonplace Notions of Dressage Riding -Jean –Claude Racinet
• Racinet Explains Boucher –Jean-Claude Racinet
• Tug of War: Classical vs. Modern Dressage – Gerd Heuschmann
• Total Horsemanship – Jean-Claude Racinet
• If Horses Could Speak by Gerd Heuschmann
• Understanding Equitation – Jean Saint –Fort Paillard
• Academic Equitation – General Decarpentry
• The Way To Perfect Horsemanship – Udo Burger
• Francois Boucher-The Man And His Methods – Hilda Nelson
• Alexis-Francois L’Hotte, The Quest For Lightness In Equitation – Hilda Nelson
• Horses Are Made To Be Horses – Franz Maringer
• Dressage- A Guide Book For The Road To Success- Alfred Knopfhart
• The Principle Of Riding- Official Instruction Handbook of the German National Equestrian Federation
• Advanced Techniques of Riding – Official Instruction Handbook of the German National Equestrian Federation – Book 2
• Principles of Dressage- Brigadier General Kurt Albrecht
• The Gymnasium of the Horse by Gustav Steinbrecht
• Manual of Equitation of The French Army for 1912 (basically it’s the French cavalry manual.  When we in the US were looking to develop our own system of horsemanship we adapted our system from this particular manual.  Of course, over the years it has been bastardized beyond recognition.)

Until next time

Quote for Today

In training horses, one trains himself
    - Antoine De Pluvinet

Investigate and Research

Recently I was thinking about some of the horses I’ve known or had as partners over the years and how much I miss them. More importantly, I’ve been thinking about all the things I wish I had known then that I know now.  An old German saying comes to mind my grandmother had hanging in her kitchen: “Too late we get smart.”  Not to say that I think I know everything there is to know about horses; just the opposite is true.  The realization that we are always learning and will never fully understand their thoughts, emotions and behaviors is never far from my mind.

The horses we’ve had - and two in particular, Lifeguard and Erik - will always have a special place in our hearts and memories.  Years ago there was no Internet or information highway and it never would have occurred to us we could learn about riding from old books, so we basically did whatever we were told by trainers; we placed our trust in them, expecting that they knew more than we did. Unfortunately, this wasn’t always the case, as we found out later on.  But at the time we thought we were doing right by our horses.

These days there is a lot more information out there, some good some bad.   And there are also a lot more trainers out there, and access to their “expertise” is much easier to come by, for good or for ill.  I’m of the opinion that the Internet and the information it makes available to the masses is a double-edged sword. On the positive side:  A few actually know what they’re doing and care about the good of the horse, know how to deal with real training issues and don’t pressure people into believing their new and improved way is the only way.  On the down side: There seems to be so many horse gurus or whisperers out there now and they are either selling themselves, their opinions, their egos, their products or all of the above.  Some are making it up as they go along; others are scamming inexperienced horse people looking for a better/easier/more humane way of dealing with their horses; and absolutely none of them are responsible for the way in which their methods are understood or misunderstood, used or misused once they put it out there.  This makes me furious because the ones who ultimately suffer are the horses.

Which sort of brings me to the purpose of this post.  I’m wary of all the new methods of training that have cropped up in recent years.  Some are cruel, some are totally incorrect and some are just stupid. Without going into all of these, because there are just too many to name, I’d like to recommend that if you’re not sure what you’re doing, how to do it, or what the end result should be, why not give reading some of the real experts a try?  Not the experts that have reared their ugly microphoned heads at clinics and book signings, but the old trainers and authors; the classical masters who were champions of working horses with dignity and not making a circus act out of a riding partner.

There is much to learn from reading the classics; you may or may not agree with everything they say, I know I don’t.  But at least it will give you access to a deep well of information gathered over hundreds of years of trial and error, failure and success.  After you’ve done that, then maybe you can go back and read this or that guru’s new bible of horse training and see if it still holds up.  If it still seems like the best way, go with it.  Just don’t take any one person’s word on anything; investigate and research until you understand all the different philosophies on your own, turn a critical eye on all of them, then choose and apply what makes the most sense for your horses and yourself.  This is what we did years ago (before the natural horsemanship holy men appeared) and it made us realize that we were on the wrong side of the horse, but we've learned to continually reevaluate everything we think we know; with education, research, and a willingness to question everything we see, hear and read, we’ve turned our thinking and training around.

In conclusion I’d like to thank Lifeguard and Erik, for putting up with my mistakes and getting it wrong a lot of the time. I wish they were here so I could make it up to them, but since they’re not I’ve made a commitment to do the best I can with the horses I have now.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Great riders are not great because of their talent; they are great because of their passion.

A Walking Lesson

'Dusty's Latest Hoof Photos'

Our farrier came to the farm this past Friday and everyone got what they needed, either trims or shoes.  Dusty’s foot is healing but still not quite there, some bruising is still evident.  He’s very surprised that she’s doing as well as she is in the time frame since her original injury. I’m happy that she heals so quickly and is a stoic little mare - never a complaint from her about anything going on physically.  When he turned her out in the paddock after her treatment Mellon chased her (he always does this, he’s such a neurotic character) and she took a few bad steps.  Due to this the farrier recommended that she not be ridden until Sunday and then only worked lightly.

The footing in the indoor is soft sand and couldn’t possibly hurt her feet so we decided to have a lesson at the walk. I practiced some leg yielding in both directions and added something new for her to think about.  Shoulder-in down the long sides.  We were hoping this might help her in the future to stop popping her shoulder out all the time. Sort of developing straightness and getting a little collection in the bargain. 

For a green mare she did exceptionally well.  Dusty is very smart and sensitive, by the second or third attempt she got it. I am very proud of her. It always astonishes me that with her tough persona she also wants to please. Of course, I could be wrong she may not be trying to please me, as that might be degrading to her, but maybe she has the sort of personality that doesn’t allow her to do things the wrong way.  She is very intent on “getting it right” all the time. Getting it right, also involves getting a treat, so that’s another cause for motivation.  I know most trainers/riders frown on treat training but I say pass them out along with the praise. It works for us and since most of our horses are treat monsters it works for them too. Whatever her reason, I’ll take it.  Things are working out very well.

Until next time

Quote for Today 

There are many wonderful places in the world, but one of my favourite places is on the back of my horse.
    - Rolf Kopfle