Dressage Lesson #27

Now that it's finally winter it's hard to make it out to the barn. Between the cold weather and the snow storms every weekend, I've been hiding out a bit more. In the end I don't think Cody and Axel mind the break too much. We did make it out last night for a lesson though. I thought we might even get to ride in the daylight atleast for part of the lesson but Tricia fell asleep on her couch so she made it out a little later than normal.

Axel's looking like a big black teddy bear these days. I don't recall him getting quite this fuzzy last year. I could be mistaken though. All that hair makes it so when I tighten up the girth, I still have to go up 3-4 more holes after I get on. I think we're getting almost to a breakthrough here. It seems Axel much prefers the whip to the leg. I think he gets a little confused with the constant kicking. But when I had a whip in my last lesson, he did so well and wasn't cranky at all. Last night he was mildly cranky when asked to extend. I can't say I helped matters at all. Working in the round pen is a little annoying for me. I always feel like I'm too close to the fence, and I usually am. I really don't want to loose a knee. So then I compensate and get all crooked and it can't be easy for Axel to drag me around like that. We haven't been working on any collection pretty much this whole winter. I think we're just concentrating on moving out, relaxing, and responding when I ask for something. I'm sure I could be more clear in my aids and that would help Axel a lot, something I really need to work on. I'm really looking forward to daylight riding and getting out of the round pen.

We worked back and forth in both directions several times, starting with some smaller loops to get him limbered up a bit. Tricia thought he looked a little stiff. After he loosened up to both sides we just worked on trotting. Extending and then relaxing. Threw in a few ground poles to get Axel to pick up his feet more. Usually he just tripped over the poles, once even stepping right on the pole. Grand Prix Jumping - here we come! *snort* We worked a little on transitions and responding right away. Boy he's good at the trot to halt. Not so good at halt to trot. And I'm getting better at trot to walk myself.

We've had 27 lessons so far (yes I counted). It's hard to see our accomplishments when you're so close to it all the time. Stephanie said his mouth is much softer now last time she rode him. I don't have kick the whole time any more. His free walk has improved (when I'm not riding). He's a lot more willing to keep trotting once he gets going. I never thought I'd be able to practice posting the trot with him because he kept stopping constantly, but that's so much better now. I don't know if we'll ever be ready for the schooling show in August but we'll sure give it our best shot. Too bad they didn't see him before we started working, then I'd win for sure.

Still planning on getting the dentist and hopefully a chiropractor out this spring for both Cody and Axel. Cody needs an attitude adjustment and Axel could maybe benefit from some chiropractic work to help loosen him up a bit.

Freezing Ride

I got up and shoveled the drive way and I was thinking it was pretty nice out. Sunny and warm and what better day to go out to the barn. As I was driving there I passed one of those billboards with the time and temperature that said it was 23F. I called Tricia and she agreed to meet me at the barn. I had her ride Cody this time to see what she thought of him. I rode Axel bareback and we headed down the road. Trotting bareback in the round pen seems so much safer than out on the road or in deep snow where the trot is extra bumpy. But otherwise Axel was just fine. Cody gave Tricia some troubles but just from looking you wouldn't have guessed it. She was able to correct him almost the second before he tried to act dumb. The wind was getting really cold so we headed back. On the drive home, Tricia called me to tell me it was -1F. Apparently that 23F must have been in the sun or something. Brrrr.

Another Round with Cody

Snuck out to the barn again this week while it was still nice. Saturday was warm but a little windy. Stephanie joined me for a ride but Kiko and Kalani weren't ready for a trip down the road so we just took Cody and Axel. Steph rode Axel but I probably should have had her give Cody a try. He sure gave me a hard time. I decided to start out with just the rope halter instead of a bit, to see if maybe it's his teeth that bother him. He seemed pretty happy with the rope halter but from the beginning he wasn't completely "with" me. We had a few arguments on the way down the road until we made it to the first field after the nursery. And from then on he pretty much gave up on me. Spinning around in circles and not wanting to stop. I got off and put his bridle on (I had brought with for just such an occassion). In all reality it probably didn't make much of a difference but atleast I felt a little better in case he ran off. So we spun our way down the road, actually we spent most of our time in the snow in the plowed field. Certainly didn't tire Cody out though. Axel was his pokey, normal self, by the way. I'm starting to think maybe Cody needs to work with someone more dominant nad experienced than me. He tried to bounce his way back to the barn when we finally turned around. If I tried to bend him into a stop (or even a walk) he'd speed up and canter sideways (talented horse, I tell ya). I finally moved him up on the road where it was a little slippery and he slowed down. We had a walk most of the rest of the way back but it wasn't a relaxed walk. Only for a very short stint did we have a "just about" relaxed walk. I realized just how hard it is to half halt a horse who has the world's smoothest trot. You'd swear Cody was gaited, you can't feel a single bump when he trots (that'd be his cheating trot, the one where you asked for a walk but he just can't bear to go that slow). Steph said he'd make a good western pleasure horse, if he wasn't such a freak maybe! *sigh* it's very frustrating, I think we're just getting down to plain ole' disrespect, fear, and not seeing me as the herd leader.

Dressage Lesson #26 - In the Snow

We weren't sure if we were going to have a lesson last night but we figured we'd try and if all else failed we'd go to the bar. I arrived around 5 and let Beau in the barn so he could graze. Axel wandered away from me a few feet before stopping so I could catch him. I decided to groom him inside so I could see what I was doing. He had been laying down when I got there so I had to brush all the snow off. I had tied him up which I'm pretty sure didn't make him happy since Beau was loose and eating. I remember just a year ago it took some work to get him to pick up his feet to clean them. Last night I barely touched each foot and he lifted them for me. If only everything else was going that well! I didn't know what the plan was so I put his saddle on while I waited. Tricia had gone out XC skiing before she came down to the barn so she was a little later than normal. She decided the deep snow in the round pen would be perfect incentive to get Axel to pick up his feet. Of course once the snow was packed down that didn't apply any more.

So I have a fairly difficult time getting into the saddle in the first place. Axel is tall, I'm short, and then add big winter boots and long underwear. I tried to climb up there and ended up on my butt in the snow. Second time in two days I might add. Not the most graceful mounting I've ever done. Tricia gave me a leg up instead, but of course I jumped on the wrong count so she pretty much had to heft me up there. Luckily that wasn't a sign of things to come. Axel was very forward in the snow. I had a whip just in case, we've decided to stop with all the kicking and see if a whip would get a better reaction. It seems to do the trick. He's catching on that he needs to just keep moving until I tell him otherwise. When the snow got packed down he started dragging his feet again so we threw a couple cavaletti in. That went pretty well tracking right but left is our worse side so that direction it was a bit "wonky." But all in all he did well, rarely did he actually clip the poles with a hoof. Maybe twice at the most. We moved on to some sort of figure 8 type turning but that was just off. I didn't feel right and Axel wasn't listening to me, or he was and I wasn't telling him right. In any case it was the end of the lesson and it seemed like Axel was getting pretty tired. Though not sweaty which was good. My legs are sore today from all the posting trot. That was one of the first rides in a while with no tail swishing or bucking attempts.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since I had a chance to go out and see the boys! I brought out my new wide angle lens to take a few shots. The day was too gorgeous to pass up. The boxes of "stuff" that need to be unpacked can wait another day, right? Axel wasn't really in a photogenic mood today so most of my photos are of Cody and his friends. I was planning on working in the round pen but the snow was knee deep and it was pretty difficult. I ended up riding Axel around the pasture bareback for a while, including a little trot or two. He was a bit cranky, come to find out the bit got twisted around on the bridle and was in his mouth backwards. I'd be cranky too. Of course Axel cranky isn't very threatening, stoic horse, he'd probably just swish his tail if he had a broken bone.


When I was done riding him I decided Cody needed some work as well. Cody decided I needed some work and made me chase him. Luckily when he started wandering away I decided to chase him away and made him run. He finally got tired of running and stood there while I bridled him. Not wanting to fight bareback, I threw the wester saddle on him. The goal was to wander to the opposite side of the pasture, where his buddies were blocked from sight by some bushes, and stand there calmly
and I'd dismount. Things didn't happen quite like that. There was a lot of spinning around, trotting around, even some cantering around on the wrong lead. We just couldn't get to the standing calmly part. Cody was huffing and puffing and starting to sweat so I didn't want to get him too worked up. When he finally *almost* stood calmly I dismounted and walked him back. He's like a completely different horse on the ground. He walked calmly. Halted when asked, and was in a generally better mood. I think we need to do some experimenting to see if it's me on his back he doesn't like, any person on his back, or what.

I had him stand with the fleece blanket on for a while until he cooled off a bit before I turned him out. Meanwhile the other horses were chasing each other around, usually ending up with Axel running under a branch that was too low and getting covered in snow. And of course all that was followed by me getting my car stuck in a snow bank. Lovely day, I tell ya!