Lil lame

We are supposed to be going off to a clinic at Hazelwood Lodge on Saturday, and Lil is lame.  Not uneven, and it might fix itself in a day or two.  No.  Dead lame.  So lame, she refuses to trot on the right rein.

Tragedy?  No.  Opportunity.  Opportunity to take Dingo to the clinic.  Of course, this is not my ideal situation, as I have a thousand questions to ask about Lil and her training.  Those will just have to wait.

In the meantime, the opporunity to take Dingo opens up a whole new can of worms.  Where to from here with Dingo?  Do I want to train him for myself?  Keep him for Sabina?  Or sell him?

Group ride

A couple of friends came up today and together we went for a trail ride.  It was a great opportunity to take Lil out.

Well, she was a little champ.  When we first heard the motorbikes she seriously thought it was time to flee.  But since the other horses remained calm, and I just firmly asked her to calm down, she gave the whole fleeing thing a miss.

When we went for a canter, I thought she might want to head to the front and race.  But no.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I was able to move her to the front, then move her to second, and so on.  And she stayed so relaxed and so soft throughout.  It was, to put it simply, just marvellous.

Ride in the wind

It was a really windy day today.  Gusty, gale force at times.  I expected that Lil might be agitated.  I mean, in theory, she shouldn't be.  After all, horses live in that wind all of the time.  But, I guess it's one thing to hang out with your mates in the paddock, where their calmness settles you down.  And another thing to go into the arena where the hay-to-be is combed by the wind, then swing in the tree sways, and the bunnies dash in and out from under the logs.

Even as I was leading Lil from the paddock to the hitching rail, she was calm and settled.  That in turn, settled me.  Probably a good thing.  Then, when I hopped on, and started walking her around, she was as calm as a quarter horse on a pleasure ride.  Bliss.

I smiled and patted myself on the back.  Because this is not the thoroughbred that I started off with.  This is my training.  Yay!  Some success at long last.

I did some walk, some trot, and then I went into canter.  That's where it all went pear shaped.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  The canters were good, and Lil did well, and no one fell off, and by many adult riding club standards it was a really good workout.  But ... but, she lost that quarter horse quality calmness.

That, is my next challenge.

Pony Club

Today at Pony Club Sabina is being tested for her D certificate.  We've been going over the things she needs to know many times, and I am confident she will pass with flying colours.

A lady is assigned to examine Sabina, while I am assigned to examine someone else's child.  So I don't get the opportunity to see how the test is going.

When the test is over, Sabina's examiner secretly gives me the thumbs up, and says she did really well.  But, the real proof is in the pudding.

Up until now, mainly I've been saddling the ponies for Sabina.  This afternoon, we need to get Tornado saddled for another ride.  Sabina shows me the palm of her hand, and says "Mama, go away.  I will do it".  (Talk about "speak to the hand").

Sure enough, she saddles and bridles Tornado, including doing the girth up ... fully!  That takes some strength!  You go girl!

Hazelwood Clinic

Today I am at Hazelwood Lodge again for a clinic.  It's actually a two day clinic, but, because of Pony Club tomorrow, I am only here for one day.  Such a pity.  I'd love to stay for two.

The weather leaves a lot to be desired.  Sheets of rain have been coming down all night and morning.  It's not inspiring.  However, we seem to get a slight break just as my lesson starts.

Within minutes, Catherine has my horse going much better than I have her going at home.  It's all about using the correct aids, at the right time.  It's also all about balance.  Apparently, we need to help the horse to balance themselves.  We need to teach them to find the right balance.  Really?!!  I've always thought that horses will find their own balance.  Apparently, not so.

Towards the end of the lesson, the rain starts coming down again.  I briefly consider getting my rain coat.  But my horse is now going so well, and I am so engaged in the lesson, that I just do not care if I get saturated.  We work a bit on canter transitions, and just a couple of brief words from Catherine help me to improve out of sight.  It's just awesome.

Lunch is delicious, as always.  Then time for my jumping lesson.

I warm up my horse.  She seems somewhat distracted initially, what with the pinto grazing on one side, the cows on the other, and the foal frolicking carelessly in the paddock.  But even while distracted, her work is much improved.

We go over some trot poles, then Catherine sets up a cross rail.  It's not a big cross rail, but I'm having kittens all the same.  Why?  Because Lil will either go left, or go right, or do a huge leap over it, and I just don't know which one it will be.  It's the huge leap, and I jab her in the mouth.  So of course, next time around she tries to go right.  I get her over it, this time I don't jab her in the mouth, and from then on we just gain confidence.

The grid increases in difficulty, and Lil just grows more confident, more balanced, and more focussed with every jump.  The progress is fantastic.  Catherine's advice is invaluable - she is so clear about just how much I need to do as a rider, and how much the horse needs to work out for themselves.

I've now got lots to work on at home, before I return here in December.

I just wanted to add, that during the breaks I watch other lessons intently.  What amazes me every time, is how much the horses improve for each rider, within each lesson.

Horse going sideways - fixing the problem - part 2

One of the ground exercises that I do with Lil is making her do a couple of circles around me, and going over a little cross rail while she's out on the circle.  Now I am very strict with going over the cross rail - there is to be no running out, no shying, no stopping.  Just a nice clean pop.  I don't mind (at this stage), whether she goes over it on the left rein or right rein, but she must go over it.

Has it all been going smoothly?  No, of course not.  We've had times when she's hesitated before jumping the rail, when she's tried to run out, and when she's tried to avoid it by changing direction.

Today I have set up the cross rails so that there are plenty of them - around our lunging area.  I stand in the middle and ask Lil to go out on the circle.  I don't ask her to do the cross rails, and there is plenty of space for her to circle.

I notice that she glances at the cross rail.  Well, if she's that keen to do them, then why not?  I build enough slack in the lungeing rein.  Lil feels the slack, lines up the double and jumps the two cross rails perfectly.  On the surface I remain calm, although perhaps my jaw has dropped, but deep down inside I let out a huge "YES!".

So how is this related to "horse going sideways"?  Well, she used to get very nervous when I used to ask her to jump those cross rails.  Yet now she has learnt to do it, and does it by choice.  Which means, I should  be able to use the same methods to teach her to go forwards, and not sideways.

Horse going sideways - friend's advice

I spoke to a friend today about our "going sideways" problem.  Now this friend is a bit of a mentor.  He is someone who has been out there, owned various horses, competed in horse trials, and lived to tell the tale.

Well, the minute I said the words "nervous" and "going sideways" in the one sentence, he straightened up, looked me straight in the eye, and gently, but wisely, said "I had a horse like that once.  Tried to event him.  I used to finish the dressage test and people would run up to me saying it looked beautiful.  But it felt like sitting on a time bomb.  The horse would get all hot and excited at events.  And when it mattered, it would always let you down."

My friend later did some research into his horse's past, and found out, that during his racing days, the horse managed to put two jockeys into the rails.  A few more bad experiences and the said horse was retired from his eventing career.

Now, my friend didn't tell me that Lilly was exactly the same.  He just told me not to waste too much time, if it most obviously wasn't working out.  "A good horse, with a good temperament, should be able to take you from where you are right now, right to where you want to go", he said.

Food for thought.

Horse going sideways - fixing the problem - part 1

So, horse seriously going sideways out in the state forest - where to from here?

Well, I think you can go in two directions.  You can get the whip out, and get forceful until they do what you want.  Or, you can try to gain their trust, get them to realise that they are safe with you, and do things for you because they know they are safe.  I'm of the latter elk.

Yesterday, I did a lot of calming work in the arena, and it worked well.  Today, it was time to challenge ourselves.  Maybe going back out on the trail was a bit too much of a challenge, so I headed down into the amphetheatre.  To the other arena.  (Hmm ... more about that some other time.)

I walked Lilly down in hand, and already on the way down she was showing me serious insecurities.  Not helped by her friends neighing from up above.  She would try to rush past me, and head up the hill, back to her friends.  I stopped her, by jiggling the lead rope (a move we practice a lot around the hitching rail, and in the arena, and everywhere really) and asked her to back up.

Once down in the arena I did some ground work.  I concentrated on two things - 1) that she does exactly what I ask (no anticipating!) and 2) that she does not invade my space.  Her reward was being allowed in my space, and a pat.  This worked extremely well.  She became very obedient, stopped anticipating, and calmed down a lot.

Then I mounted.  Initially I worked just on a 20m circle - in walk.  In fact, most of the hour was in walk.  We did maybe four circles in trot.  I focused on getting her head down, and keeping her relaxed.  The minute she did a slightly faster stride, I was there with a half halt, and I kept half halting until I felt her relax.  Towards the end it felt wonderful!

On the left rein, of course she tried going sideways.  So I had to be a little bit stronger with my half halts, do them earlier (in preparation), and be firmer with my outside leg and rein.  And every now and then, we challenged ourselves with a bigger circle.  Each time the circle got bigger, Lilly got more excited and was more likely to go sideways.

Finally, we walked up the middle ridge, towards the gate.  Just before the gate, I asked her to turn left and halt.  All good.  Then I opened the gate from atop Lilly, walked her through the gate, and closed it again.  Magic.

Now, the problem is not fixed yet.  But we're on the right track, I think.  I just have to be consistent now, and change the "reaction" (going sideways), into a "response" (trust, calmness, and going forwards).

Horse seriously going sideways

I got up early this morning, hoping to avoid the motorbikes, and get out onto the trail for a serene ride in the state forest.

Lilly seemed a bit fresh, but otherwise everything was going according to plan.

Then we got to the top of the hill, where the state forest track starts.  It just so happens that the next door neighbour had chosen this exact same beautiful morning to send his cows off to market.  His quad bike was going up and down the hill like a growling monster, the family was standing around the cattle yards, the cattle, in the cattle yards, were knocking about, with the cattle trailer and ute on hand.  Oh, and the dogs in the back of the ute were sniffing and whining.

By the time I got Lilly past the show, she was having kittens.  It took me a little while to hop on, and then she considered backing into a tree and leaving me there.  I resorted to just sitting atop my steed quietly for a while, never taking my eye off that tree behind me.  Then some sanity overcame my horse as she proceeded down the track.

She was a bit nervous, but it was pleasant enough until we got to a fork in the road.  Lilly stopped and no amount of encouragement could get her to walk forward.  In fact, she just started going sideways - back towards home.  I tried to stop her from going sideways, of course, but she had stopped listening to me.

We travelled like this for a kilometre, while I considered whether getting off is a good idea or not.  Then she heard the quad bike again, and promptly proceeded to travel sideways, in the opposite direction.  "Oh goody", I thought to myself.  "She's not going forwards for me, but we're going where I want to go, so this is sort of good."  When we got within sight of the fork in the road, Lilly stopped.  She tried to rear, then proceeded to go sideways towards home again.

At this point, I knew that the horse had lost it.  She was no longer listening to me.  In fact, I had sort of become her arch enemy, she just decided I wasn't pesky enough to dislodge.  She was totally lost at what to do, she felt terrified, and didn't see a way out of the situation.

The smartest thing I could think of was to just make her stand still.  This worked fairly well, and when she stood still I stroked her neck and spoke softly to her.  When I thought I had restored some good will, and we had been standing still for a sufficiently long period of time, I got off.  I picked up the shoe we'd lost along the way, and then walked her towards home.

When we got to where my next door neighbour was loading his cows, I made Lilly stop.  I stayed as relaxed and calm as I could, and I let her just observe and work it out.  When she finally put her head down to graze, I knew this was as relaxed as she was going to get, and walked on home.

At home, we walked straight into the arena, and I worked Lilly for about an hour.  Mainly we worked at the walk, concentrating on lowering the head and relaxing.

The conclusion from this ride is - every horse has a reaction when they feel panic.  Some bolt, others buck, some rear.  Lilly's thing is going sideways.  That's what made me have such a hopeless ride a week ago - Lilly was going sideways in the arena.  But only on the left rein.

Warragul PC Showjumping Day

Recently I took Sabina to the Warragul PC Showjumping Day.  She had just been graded in showjumping, so I thought the timing was perfect.

It was a lovely warm day, with a pretty early start.  The day started at 8:30, with all rings running in parallel.  The organisers did an absolutely fantastic job.

Sabina did the training F grade, where they were allowed to be led around.  As Tornado can have a bit of a mind of his own, I thought she would have far more fun if I took up the led option.  So we jogged around the course, with Tornado going faster towards the end, and me getting quite puffed out!

In the end Sabina was very happy with 6th place - especially since the ribbon colour was the same as her club colours.  They had 3 competitions in all (for each grade), which I thought was really good value.  Sabina had had enough after 2.  I was a bit disappointed, but managed to keep my smile.  Anything to make sure the little one has a "great" day!

My one comment on the day would be - can we please start after 9am!  Otherwise, it was brilliant!

Bad riding days

Everyone has them.  At least, I think everyone has them.  Bad riding days.  Not necessarily catastrophic riding days.  Not the sort of days where it's all a tragedy.  No.  Just bad riding days.  When you ride badly for no good reason.

You can feel them descending upon you.  You brush and saddle your horse, all fine.  But something niggles at you.  The world is not quite right.  Then as you put your foot in the stirrup to mount, you feel it.  You feel that you're going to ride badly.  That it's just not going to work.  That you need a different mental attitude.

So stop!  Take that foot out of the stirrup, stand next to your horse, and examine the time space continuum.  Watch the view.  Listen to the birds.  Count the bees.  But of course ... you don't.  If you did, it wouldn't be a bad riding day any more.  Much against your own better judgement, you mount up.  Because that's what you always do.  (Victim of habit).

Then sure enough, things don't all go well.  You're not happy with how your horse is travelling.  It's not responsive enough, it's too flighty, it won't do this and that.  It's hanging on the bit, it doesn't have enough impulsion.  It's falling in.  Or falling out.  Or ending up in the middle of the haying paddock (as happened in my case).

Sometimes ... sometimes you can set it right.  Sometimes ... if you're having a lesson ... the coach can set it right.  (In fact, perfect situation in which to have a lesson).  But most of the time, it's just a bad riding day, with neither you, or your horse enjoying the ride.

I hate those days!

Oh, if I could only go back to that moment where I put my foot in the stirrup.  I would take it out again, rather than mount up.  Just give myself more time to think "why do I feel like this?".  Give my horse time to stand there and just park.  Important skill "park".  Mark Jones, my trainer, and Andrew McLean both agree on this one.  Two fine horsemen can't be wrong.

But, you cannot go back in time.  You can only take with you what you've learnt, and go forwards.  And that's why we have the bad riding days.  If we pay enough attention, they teach us more than 6 months of riding.  More than 6 months of lessons.  Think about it.  Economically speaking, it's worth having a bad riding day.

(Perhaps, if I had paid "enough" attention, I would have taken my foot out of the stirrup, and stood there and still learnt the same lesson, and avoided the bad riding day.  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.)

Naughty or uncomfortable?

The saddle fitting experience has highlighted something to me.  Before the saddle fitting, Lil was very girthy, putting her ears back and baring her teeth at me.  Of course, she wouldn't bite me, so instead, she used to sink her teeth into the hitching rail.  After the saddle fitting, this all stopped.  Now when I do up the girth she looks around, sniffs my elbow, and then gazes off into the distance.  Massive difference.  From this I conclude that when she is comfortable, Lil is relaxed and happy.

Now onto riding.  Firstly, when I try to get on, Lil tries to walk off.  Is this just a bad habit?  Or is she uncomfortable about being ridden?  (I will add here that I do not use a mounting block.)  Then when I ask her to trot, she sometimes throws her head up.  Especially on the left rein, which is her stiffer side.  Is this a sign of discomfort?  Or is she just being naughty?  Or, is she confused?  Not sure whether to go forward from the legs, or to slow down from the reins?

It is important to remember that, according to Dr McLean, horses are sometimes victims of their own habits.  That is, once they have acquired a habit, they just do things out of habit.  It takes a human (or some other factor) to actually come along, and train the habit out of them.

Walking off while I am mounting may well be a habit.  However, I don't think throwing her head in the air when being asked for trot is a habit.  It escalates when she has been ridden several days in a row.

The problem here is that I am asking her to trot on her stiffer side.  So of course, she is stiff.  Yes, that is uncomfortable.  But I need to trot her, in order to build up the muscle strength on that side.  Yet, every time she throws that head up into the air, she is building up a habit of head tossing.  The result is that in two months time, she might have the muscle strength to trot, and she may no longer be stiff and uncomfortable, but she will still be tossing her head!

Ahh, the fun and games of training horses.

So what's the answer?  Ask for trot, and don't allow the head toss.

Luckily, Lil is very keen to work with me.  So every time she tosses her head in disagreement, I ask her to lower her head (with a firm, short, sharp downward tug on one rein, followed immediately by a firm downward tug on the other rein, followed immediately by a slight loosening of both reins).  This makes her lower her head, carry herself, and relax.

Of course, I haven't really tackled the confusion theory so far.  Lilly may well be confused.  However, the two tugs followed by a slight release should also deal with the confusion issue.

To Cair or to flock?

Bates and Wintec saddles (and possibly other brands) come with a choice of stuffing - Cair or flock.  Flock is the traditional stuffing that looks a bit like cotton wool.  Cair are air panels.

Riding on air sounds kind of cool, and it sounds like it would be good and comfortable for the horse too.  However, when Gally didn't seem too happy to be saddled, I got researching (as you do) about the Cair panels.  I found a few private ads selling the saddles with Cair, accompanied by a statement that the horse appears to not like the Cair, and goes much better in a flock saddle.  I also found the topic discussed in some equestrian forums.  But at the end of the day, there was little more to go by than the "my horse goes better in a flock saddle".

Since I suspected that some of my issues with Gally were due to Cair, when buying Sabina a saddle I was adamant that it had to be flock.  Once the saddle fitter was out, we had a solid chat about the two types of stuffing.  And here is the low down.

Cair tends to suit the narrower horses, preferably with a high wither.  It sits well on their backs, moulds to their shape, and prevents pressure points.

When you get a horse with a wider back, and a lower wither, the Cair tends to roll around a bit.  Which means that as the rider's weight shifts, the saddle rolls over the air bubble that is Cair.  With the wider horses, this can be a fair bit of roll, simply because of their shape.  Now, some horses won't mind this, just like they won't mind a fly.  But other horses ... well it will just freak them out.  Yep ... that sounds like Gally (who incidentally, detested flies).

After this conversation with the saddle fitter, I have basically made up my mind that flock, in general, is better.  Obviously, for the time being I am stuck with Cair.  I will give it a solid go with Lil, as she has "the prefect back for it" apparently.  However, I will be keen to compare it with a flock saddle if I get the chance.  And in the long run, I am intending to replace our Cair saddles with flock ones.

So maybe, the title of this post should have been "Back to the flock"?

Saddle fitting

I have said it before (see here), and I will say it again - money spent on a professional saddle fitting is the best money you will ever spend on your horse.

Firstly, the time had come to buy Sabina a saddle for Bel Bel.  I had been using my old 17 inch Bates Olympia, and while there is nothing wrong with this saddle; it was 1) too narrow for Bel Bel, and 2) too long for her back!  In addition to that, 6 year old Sabina was swimming in it.  Fine while you're walking, but anything beyond that and you're not doing your child's riding development any good.  Having conferred with other mothers at Pony Club, I went in search of a 15 inch saddle.

Sure enough, our local Horseland store had just the saddle in stock.  (Wintec All Purpose 250 (flock).)  Sabina sat in it in the store.  Then she sat in a 16 inch saddle.  Both the sales lady and I very quickly came to the conclusion that the 15 inch really is the right size for now.  So we arranged for the saddle fitter to come out, to make sure that the saddle fits the pony as well as the rider.

Well the saddle fitter sized up the pony, and changed the gullet.  Then he showed me exactly where the saddle sits well, and where it doesn't.  He explained how the saddle should sit no further than the horse's last rib.  Then he added some more stuffing, and an attachment point for a crupper - should we need one.  Finally, he showed me how, after all the adjustments, the saddle fits very well. 

Then we moved onto Lilly.  Initially I had ridden her in my Bates Caprilli All Purpose (with Cair), which had been fitted to Gally.  Then a friend lent me her Bates Maestro (dressage saddle, with Cair).  This had the medium gullet, and Lilly definitely preferred this saddle.

Enter saddle fitter.  Well, for starters - definitely medium gullet for Lil.  So the saddle fitter pulled out the blue (Gally's) gullet, and put the black one back in.  Then he had a look at the adjustment pads.  These were in totally the wrong place!  We suspect that while the saddle was being used on Gally, they were in the right place, but once the saddle was used on other horses (Lil, Dingo) they may have moved.  So he pulled out the pads, and put some new ones in.  We put the saddle back on Lil - the fit looked just perfect.

Lil's verdict - well when I used to do the girth up, she used to put her ears back and lash out with teeth.  She would never bite me, because she is just too nice, but she wasn't happy.  Now, she just sniffs my elbow if she notices that I am doing the girth up.  Sometimes, she doesn't notice, and she just stares off into space with a goofey look.

So, one question remains (two actually).  I have been riding Lil for about 8 months now.  Why didn't I have a saddle fitting done earlier?  Because I was too scared to part with that X amount of dollars!!!

What's the other question?  Cair or flock?  See my next post.

Lilly's outing

Yesterday Dingo had an outing, today it's Lilly's turn.  Except that she's not off to a clinic.  She's off to the state forest for a walk.

We are barely out the front gate, when Lilly first sinks her hooves in the ground and refuses to go forwards.  I am carrying a crop, but at this point I don't feel the need to use it.  There is a lot of going backwards, and she tries at all costs not to go forwards.  But in the end, she relents, and we walk on, up to the state forest gates.

There are two gates into the state forest, and the 40m in between them is hardly enough to bother getting back on.  So while I am walking her between the two gates, Lilly kindly tries to bulldoze me.  Nothing a bit of "stop" and "back up" can't fix.

Once we are on the state forest track, firstly it takes me a while to get on, due to Lilly spinning about.  When I am finally on, she takes up to going backwards again.  A bit of a tricky task, as there is quite a slope in places, and the ground has all sorts of nasty branches lying in long grass.  I persist gently.  The fact that the gate is closed is a real help - at the very least we can just stand there.

After about 10 minutes, she gets over it, and goes forward.  Uncertainly at first.  I encourage with my seat, and she decides to trust me.  And the rest of the ride is pure pleasure.

Of course our tustles mean that we have wasted time, and I probably don't have the time to do a loop.  Not to mention, there might me more tustles along the way.  So I pick a nice safe looking spot and stop.  Then I ask her to go forward again.  Yes, this is really important.  It tests the friendship.  I can feel her hesitate, but we're good.  She goes forward.  I reward her by turning her around and heading home.

On the way home, I ensure that she is on her best behaviour.  There is to be no getting excited, no trit trotting, no head shaking, no shying.

Once we're back at the hitching rail I feel really satisfied with my ride.  It has shown me that we need to do much more of this.  But I have also returned feeling that quiet persistance, which is so much in my nature, works really well with this horse.  And I just think we make such a solid partnership.

Showjumping clinic

I took Dingo to a showjumping clinic today.  It was supposed to be a cross country clinic, but either due to lack of interest, or wetness of the cross country course, it ended up being a showjumping clinic.  Never mind.  If the pony is to compete, then any clinic is a good clinic.

Well we arrived without any issues, I saddled up and then I looked at our arena.  It was indoors.  Dingo had never been in an indoor before.  (Well, he actually had.  Back in February when I took him to a dressage day.  But we only did a short warm up in there.)  He took it all in his stride, though.

The instructor made some interesting points in the lesson.  Some to which I nodded wisely, and some which were quite new. 

Firstly - confidence is everything.

Secondly - if you feel things are not going right, and you do nothing, then your worst fears will come true.  Do something.  As long as you do something, chances are you will change the situation for better.  But, never, ever, do nothing.

Thirdly (and this was the new one to me, and my favourite) - do not jump from a standstill.  If your horse stops at a jump then show your displeasure, then take him around again and make him do it from canter, and make him jump it.  In fact, the coach went as far as saying that you don't jump from a trot either.  Nor from a walk.  The reasoning being that in a competition you will be jumping from a canter, so train your horse to jump from the canter always.  If they sometimes stop, then you will never know whether they will stop or whether they will jump, and so you can't be confident.  See first point.

Fourthly - if something goes wrong, then it's your horse's fault.  But you have to correct it.  Which might not look pretty.  When you've finished your jumping round, you might want realise that it was actually your fault, and you might want to apologise to your horse.  But while you're jumping - it's your horse's fault.

We jumped a warmup jump.  Then we did a little course - a mixture of grade 5 and 4.  Then he added a second part of the course at grade 3.  Dingo did the first part of the course, and we had fun doing it.  He did a great job of it.

I skipped the grade 3 part though.  I have every confidence that Dingo can do the height.  But to me, he just wasn't travelling well enough on the day.  And I kept thinking that if he jumps funny, then there is just not enough neck to land on.

It took me all afternoon to work out that what I should have done is sat back more, and looked up more and treated the upcoming grade 3 jump as though it was a grade 1 jump.  Next time.

The instructor was really happy with Dingo and with my riding.  He really thought I should have done the second part of the course.

Managing the competition calendar

There are many events on the horse riding competition calendar. Primarily I am interested in the HRCAV events. However, shows can be really handy to give the rider preparation experience, and the horse a nice outing. Then there are Equestrian Australia (EA) events, which sometimes have training grades at my level. Pony clubs sometimes have "open" sections where anyone can compete. In addition to that there are clinics, lessons, adult riding club, and pony club to juggle. And that's on top of the usual family commitments - lunch at grandma's, ballet practice, parties, etc.

Ah, I forgot to mention that I prefer events within a 2 hour drive.

All in all, trying to create a manageable calendar of events for you and your horse, where you get a good mixture of training and competing, is quite a challenge!

So, what I do, is I sit down with my diary every few months, and write down every single event within a respectable distance that I can find. I ensure that I include Pony Club, and any other events my daughter may wish to go to. Then I go through the diary and put a red box around the "must do" events. That is: Pony Club and Horse Trials at my level. And, of course, those pesky family thingies.

Once I have a Horse Trials event in sight, I work backwards and try to find a cross country clinic. I try to squeeze in a dressage lesson or two or three, and one other outing. The aim of the outing is to give your horse a taste of being away from home at an event, but without much pressure, or nerves, or stress from me.

For this purpose, shows are my favourite. Because I just don't care! Of course I still wash my horse, plait them, put white stuff on my horse's socks, and black stuff on my horse's hooves. I still try and ride them to perfection. But, I don't care about the result. What I care about most is that my horse behaves well, and that they have the opportunity to relax.

Another very useful option though, is to take your horse to an event that you're not actually competing at. That way you get the whole feel of the commotion, but you just do your normal home workout. Your horse has to stand at the float and take in the atmosphere.

Achieving the perfect preparation is always difficult. But being able to see all the events in my calendar gives me a really good view what my options are. That way I can adjust my plans, depending on how my horse is travelling. I can also see why I am not attending certain events - especially when I hear friends are.

Dingo's grading

I had Dingo graded at Adult Riding Club today.

We were very lucky as the instructor came out and gave us a lesson first and then graded us as well. So I was able to work on Dingo's running issue, get him to slow down, and carry himself much better. This, in turn, meant that the grading was far more in control.

We were graded for Dressage, which went smoothly.

Then we proceeded with Showjumping. Dingo took to this like a duck to water. I had practiced trot poles and canter poles with him at home, and tiny little jumps. But here, he went around the grade 5 course like a little pocket rocket. Then we started jumping grade 4. And honestly, if it wasn't for his short neck and my terrible habit of getting too far forward, I think we would have graded at grade 4. But, due to the reasons mentioned above, I'll stick to grade 5 until we've got some experience under our belt.

Finally, cross country. As we don't have a cross country at our club grounds, the instructor just asked me to go for a fast canter around the perimiter of the grounds. I kicked Dingo into gear, enjoying every second of my little hoon.

So now we are graded and ready to compete.

Take Two

We've acquired a new car - the primary reason for the upgrade being the ability to tow two horses. So today, when I headed off to Adult Riding Club I took Lilly and Dingo.

My intention was to be graded on both horses, but of course I always chew off more than I can swallow. However, I was unconcerned. Grading Dingo was the priority, while grading Lilly was always going to be a bonus. Either way, the outing would be good for her.

Well the car towed really well. Yes, I could feel that we were pulling something heavy. But I felt quite confident on the way to Adult Riding. The acid test came on the way home. The road to our farm has a dip in it, which I affectionately call "the big dipper". When you drive through it, you know why.

Well the big dipper is steeper on the way to the farm. And it's gravel. And there is a turn in the road at the top of it. And the turn is banked the wrong way.

I took it easy up the big dipper. The car kicked down a gear, but otherwise we made it up without any issues.

So now, I just need to get fit enough to actually ride two horses at an outing.

The hoon horse

I have realised something really important. Horse riding, in my life, fulfills two distinct (and almost opposing) purposes. One purpose is time out. The other purpose is the art of training.

When horse riding is used for time out I head out bush and get lost for three hours, and I gallop. This behaviour is also known as:

• hooning
• fanging it
• racing with the wind
• flying, reins loose, arms out to the sides, screaming "yeeee-haaaar!!!"
• using up the juice
• letting it all out
• burning rubber
• sending sparks
• getting a breath of fresh air
• creating dust
• kicking up mud

(Rest assured I don't gallop for the full three hours, and my horse is well looked after, both throughout the ride, afterwards, and in between rides.)

The long and short of it is, that I need a horse that's my "hoon horse". A reliable steed that I can just jump on and get out there and enjoy the wind in my face. I might still take my hoon horse to competitions, but his primary purpose is to be the hoon horse. The fun horse. The everything horse.

Crownie used to be the perfect hoon horse. She is now happily retired, although we often reminisce about those days as I scratch her wither under the shade of a tree.

Now Dingo wears the title.

Clear signals

So, Lilly is back in work, day 2, and I decide to iron out the problems we had yesterday. Mainly we had one problem - she was not relaxed in the trot. But that's probably a slightly simplified view. My experience in trot was that she was rushing off, running out to one side, and throwing her head in the air. That sounds to me like she was trying out random behaviours. And, when does a horse try random behaviours? When they do not understand what in the world you are asking, and their normal responses are not causing the rider's pressure to go away!

Hmm ... food for thought there. I was putting some sort of pressure on Lilly when asking her to trot, and then, once she was trotting, I wasn't taking this pressure away. Wonder what it could be?

Well, as you go into trot you squeeze with your legs, and in order to keep your legs still, and yourself in the sweet spot, you need to retain some rigidity in your legs. So I figured I was about right there.

Also, Lilly wasn't exactly complaining about my legs, but she was throwing her head up in the air. Was I holding her back with my hands perhaps? No, really? But she was also rushing off! How am I supposed to tell her to slow down and not rush off if not with my reins?

I went back to walk and had a bit of a think about it. And then it dawned on me. Of course, Catherine had told me to control the horse's rythm through my rising, and it worked really well on Lil.

So I went forwards into trot with just the lightest contact on the reins, and a good squeeze with my legs. When Lilly went into trot, I just rose up and down at a tempo that I thought was appropriate. Lo and behold, Lilly lowered her head, chewed the bit, and trotted at the tempo I dictated. Magic!

At the end of the riding I jumped off and made a fuss of her, telling her what a good girl she is. I couldn't help but notice though a certain feeling of "I'm so glad you've finally worked it out" oozing out of the horse.

Teachings of Andrew McLean

One of the "light" readings I've had the pleasure to indulge in during my break is "The truth about horses" by Andrew McLean.

But, allow me to back track.

Ever since reading "Horse control, the young horse" by Tom Roberts, I have understood that training horses is based on applying an unpleasant pressure, and then releasing it when the horse reacts as desired.

But other questions still welled up in my mind. Why does the horse jig-jog? Why does the horse rear? What does it mean when the horse paws the ground? Puts his ears back? Why do some horses shy in the same spot every single time?

From other sources, some trainers were saying not to lunge horses. Yet other trainers were lunging horses and it was a marvellous tool in their hands (I had witnessed this first hand).

I was majorly confused. Yet when I asked equestrian coaches these questions they were either stumped or silent or both. These are legitimate questions and any coach who is qualified should know the answers to these sort of questions.

Along came "The truth about horses" and all of a sudden I wasn't just reading the book. I was breathing it in. Andrew McLean had answered all of my questions. And like I had suspected, his answers were very simple. (Horses are very simple animals, most solutions to training horses are simple).

Now, if you really want the answers to all your horsey training questions, then I suggest you read one of Tom Robert's books first, and then go and read "The truth about horses". It is worth every cent, and every second of your time.

What really clicked for me was that when we ask the horse to do something, and he is not sure what the right response is, then his behaviour will become random. That's when he will kick, bite, put his ears back, paw the ground, etc. Some horses are more inclined to do random behaviours in close succession than others. What the trainer must remember, is that he must only release the pressure when the horse had performed the correct behaviour.
 
The next part that I really liked, is that most bad behaviour can be fixed by re-establishing correct forwards, stop and backwards responses. So if your horse is prone to kicking. Don't get in there and risk being kicked. Walk your horse, ask it to stop, ask it to walk, ask it to stop, ask it to back up. I've actually experienced this with my horses in the past, but never understood why it worked. It works because you are establishing a control over how the horse's legs move. But - if you have this sort of problem with your horse - go and read the book to get all the detail on it. (It's how you ask the horse to walk forward, how you ask them to stop - the devil is really in the detail.)
 
Then Andrew McLean talks about lungeing. And basically, it's a very powerful tool. If you know how to use it, then you will know which horses not to use it on. And if you don't know how to use it, then don't use it, because you'll do more damage than good. I'm really glad I've finally got the truth on this one, because lungeing doesn't really work for Dingo, but is brilliant for Lilly.

Lilly back in work

At the start of August I put Lilly out for a bit of a break. That allowed me to have a bit of a break too, have some more family time, and catch up on a few odd jobs. (Cleaning saddles being one of them!)

Well, today I brought Lilly back into work. She felt a little bit agitated under saddle, especially in the trot. That is fairly normal, and I expect it to diminish over the next two weeks. On the other hand, she was very responsive when I asked for shoulder in. Impressively so.

The big difference is, that during my little break I've also had a pleasure of catching up on some "light" reading about training horses.

Pony mum

My daughter and I went into the pony paddock today. Sabina was carrying a bowl full of chopped carrots. We entered the paddock, and the ponies, Tornado, Bel Bel and Dingo surrounded me. They kept a respectable distance of an arms length so that I wasn't crowded. And they were more than happy to be given an affectionate rub on the forhead. In the meantime, my daughter was standing about 4 metres away, with her bowl of chopped carrots, a little frown slowly forming on her forehead.

Why weren't the ponies rushing over to get a juicy carrot?

Eventually, the ponies did sneak off for a carrot, but when their mouth was full, they would come and stand next to me again.

When we were leaving the paddock, the carrot bowl now empty, Sabina asked "Why do the ponies think that you're their mum?"

Clinic - Day 2

This morning we're up early and riding by 8am. Dressage is first, and Lilly and I find a good rhythm. When I ask for canter, Lilly rushes into it, just like she did yesterday. "That was terrible!", shouts Catherine in a friendly voice. But she means what she says. "But ... but ... that was just fine yesterday", I stammer. "Yeah, but I didn't know you then, or how you ride", comes the reply. "Oh", I sigh. The bar has been raised. I try again, and the transition is indeed much better.

In this lesson we also do some leg yielding. At home, I've had a few problems with leg yielding. Here, it's much smoother. Something to do with Lilly actually using her top line and being able to do it. Feels great.

After the dressage lesson I get a breather, and then we ride again at 11am. Jumping.

The other girl in my lesson and I do our own warm up. Catherine is watching, but doesn't comment unnecessarily. This is great, because it alows you to think for yourself - just like you would have to do at home. The canters (and their transitions) are improving out of sight. I am very happy.

Then Catherine just builds on yesterday. That's right. No trot poles, no canter poles, just straight over the grid. And this works really really well. Then she adds another obstacle at the front of the grid. We go around, and the heights go up. By the end we're jumping about 2'.

Lilly starts to get tired. She knocks down one of the jumps entirely. Then she starts refusing. I grab a little crop, and Lilly has a bit of a tantrum. Compared to what Princess and Gally could dish out, this is nothing. Finally I get her over the jumps (now lowered a bit) a couple of times, and we call it a day. She is lathered up everywhere - even behind the ears.

I feel tired, but really really happy. The progress we have made is just fantastic, and in addition I walk away with just the right amount of tips, and things to practice. I simply cannot wait to come back for another clinic. I cannot wait to bring Sabina here too!

Hazelwood Lodge

It's one of those cold mornings, with the classic colourful Australian sunrise and frost on the ground. In fact, it's the most frost I have ever seen at the farm. But, no time for photos, as I'm off to Hazelwood Lodge for a two day clinic with Catherine Martindale.

The drive is made a little bit tricky by heavy fog, but I arrive without a hitch. I unload Lilly and put her in a yard, then I take in the place. It's only 9am in the morning, but the place is ... well ... busy.

Stables are being cleaned out, yards are already full of horses. Some are being saddled. There are three riders just starting a lesson. A lady in a purplish-pink jacket walks up to me "Hi, I'm Catherine", she smiles. I like her straight away.

I saddle up and start my lesson. Within seconds, Catherine is at my side explaining things. "Ok, you want to have her head just here", she takes the bit, and gently asks Lilly to drop her head. "When you're working at home, you want the ears level with the wither. You want to see this muscle here. That's their top line."

Lilly relaxes and travels happily forward. Of course, this is a new place, so she keeps getting distracted a bit by the goings on. But Catherine has made things so clear to me, that regaining the right frame seems childs play. I feel like jumping off and giving her a big hug!

When it comes time to canter, Lilly rushes into it, but we manage to maintain a 20m circle. This is great progress for a horse that believed you can only canter in straight lines a mere two weeks ago. We even manage a few relaxed strides.

I am actually in a group lesson - there are three of us. However, Catherine gives me one-on-one attention, then sends me off to practice. But, she's got eyes in the back of her head. Even though I'm at the other end of the arena, when I really do something wrong, I hear her shrill voice correcting me.

After lunch I have a jumping lesson. "So, how much jumping has she done?", asks Catherine. "Well, only trot poles really", I reply. Catherine sets up some trot poles and we go over. Then she converts them into canter poles, and we canter over them. Lilly is caught a little bit by surprise, but she adjusts pretty quickly.

Then Catherine sets up a grid. Just a simple one at the start - some trot poles and then a cross rail. Lilly trots over the lot. The grid changes to cross rail, one stride with a pole, cross rail. Lilly trots into it, then takes the remainder at canter. That's the whole idea. The grid is forcing her to jump. Very soon, the second obstacle becomes a straight bar. The progress is so smooth and simple that once again I feel like jumping off and giving Catherine a huge bear hug.

After the lesson, I have the chance to watch others ride. Women of all sorts of shapes, sizes, ages, and aspirations are here. And Catherine is equally attentive to all of them. Her confident, but relaxed style, with the odd joke thrown in for good measure, creates a fantastic atmosphere.

More riding than you can poke a stick at

Today was unbeatable.

Firstly I rode out into the state forest on Dingo. We had a fabulous time, riding all the way down to the other (pine) plantation. We had a few encounters with motorbikes and I think that Dingo has now pretty much learnt that when they idle by, they are harmless. My plan was to ride up a particular track, which extends beautifully between tall pines. Well, it's been a while since I've been there. So, firstly I got my tracks mixed up, and went down the wrong one. Secondly, the beautiful tall pines along said track have been logged. But the ride was spectacular and we enjoyed many trots, canters and gallops, as well as pleasant walks.

When I returned back to the farm I had lunch, and then headed out again. This time I rode Bel Bel, Sabina's pony. We just did some walk and trot in the arena/paddock, then headed up to the top gate. From there I led her home via the road. I like to ride Bel Bel once per week, just to keep the correct commands ticking over.

Finally I brought Lilly in. With Lilly I just did a standard dressage work out. The walk and trot (especially the trot) are now coming along nicely. The canter is still in the early stages, but I'm really happy with the progress there too. The other things we practice are serpentines (in the trot), leg yielding, shoulder in, and turns on the forehand. Notice that those last three ask for exactly the same thing - for the horse to respect your leg.

By the time we were finished it was dusk. Then I still fed the horses, and I was in the house at dark, a smigin after six. Heaven!

June Pony Club

They say that a picture tells a thousand words.  Well, here are a few words for those that still need a caption added to the above photo.

We went to pony club.  Sabina was riding Tornado, and she had an absolute ball going over the jumps.  (She has never ever jumped before).  And ... the minature (pony) can jump.

Horse play time

Today, when I went to get Lilly from the paddock, she snorted at me, struck out and gallopped off. Dingo followed, pigrooting along the way. At the end of her run, she did a little rear, and gallopped back, throwing a double barrel at Mo on her way back. She arrived at the gate, mane flowing, eyes blazing, nostrils flaring. She snorted, and was off again, showing the agility of a cat. Twisting this way and that, rearing, striking, double barrelling, pigrooting. The two geldings could barely keep up with her.

I have seen some pretty impressive horses in my lifetime, but I have never seen one this agile. The ground was slippery, and yet Lilly never missed a beat, never slipped, never ever lost her ground or confidence.

Every time she arrived at the gate, there was never any anger in her at me. Never any nastiness or evasiveness. Never any fear. Had I stepped into the paddock, I could have probably easily caught her. But I was too interested in trying to understand what was going on.

Lilly was playing. And, I think, she was inviting me to join in.

There's a massive difference between horses playing, and horses being dominant. When they are dominanat the kicks are meant to make contact, the bites are meant to leave a scar. And many humans have lived to tell the tale of their horse trying to dominate them. But, when horses are playing, the kicks are done at a safe distance, and there's some head shaking and striking, but no biting. That's exactly what Lilly was doing.

Being invited into horse playtime is a huge compliment. It shows an amazing amount of trust. It's like the golden handshake between man and horse. Once you have this sort of trust from your horse, you can really start asking for respect, and when you have respect, then you can really start asking your horse to work for you. Work with you. It means that your relationship with your horse stems from trust and respect. Not from fear.

So, what had I done to be trusted and invited into horse playtime by Lilly? It was the leadership I had shown at Adult Riding Club last weekend. Despite the session looking like an absolute disaster, I was able to pull myself together, and be brave, firm and fair. I was able to show Lilly that when she listens to me, when I am the leader (the leader; not a raging, angry tyrant), she is safe.

Unscathed

This morning, I headed out to Lilly's paddock, headstall in hand.

I wasn't intending to ride her.  I didn't even really want to catch her.  I was far too sore for that.  It was just a test.  A test to see how she felt about yesterday.

If she was going to turn away from me, then yesterday was a bad day, and I had more ground to make up.  If she was going to turn towards me, then any problems created by yesterday had already been fixed yesterday.

Lilly gazed at me, she gazed at the headstall, turned towards me and came right up.

Wrong instruction

Today I rocked up with Lilly to Adult Riding Club. My main aim was to socialise her with other horses. She was "looky" but overall I thought we started well, and she was willing to listen to me and go anywhere I asked.

I told the instructor where we were at, and after a couple of laps of the arena, the instructor asked me to do one-rein-stop type circles, every time Lilly increased pace or did a stride of trot. And I had to do these circles until she stopped. And can I please take my legs off the horse.

I will say here, that my intuition was screaming at me that this is the wrong thing. And in fact after a couple of these circles, I could feel that Lilly wasn't so happy and she was losing respect for me. But, I chose to listen to the instructor. (What sort of naive idiot am I?)

Well, Lilly very quickly worked out, that since my legs weren't on, she could go wherever she liked, as long as she just circled. And very quickly we circled out of the arena. Now at this point, I stopped circling, and tried to kick her forward. But of course she had lost respect, I had lost confidence, and she was no longer listening to forward. The instructor? Well, she seemed totally oblivious to the situation at hand.

Eventually, when I was almost back at the float, she noticed. And, incidentally there was another instructor, who was mounted, and she asked him to help me. Did he not notice me spiralling out of the arena either? I've got to check, maybe I was wearing the cloak of invisibility?

As he approached, on his horse, who was unfamiliar to Lilly, Lilly almost had kittens. And it just made her back out all the faster. She tried to pigroot, and when I reprimanded her for that, she reared. Just a little rear.

After that encounter, Lilly no longer wanted to have anything to do with all of this. So finally I asked one of the kind bystanders to lead her back into the riding field. I dismounted and led her back to the float.

I relaxed, had something to eat and drink, enjoyed the sunshine, then proceeded to fix the problems, before they became a habit.

First, I brought Lilly out into the field and lunged her. I lunged her left, and I lunged her right, and made sure that she listened. I didn't necessarily lunge her for very long - I didn't really want to go from one set of boring circles to another. The emphasis was on making sure she listens. She had to listen when I told her to go out, and she had to listen when I told her to keep going, and she had to listen when I told her to stop. But quite often I would stop her every 3 or 5 circles.

Then I took her back to the float.

Then I brought her out again, this time on the lead rope. I made her go forwards and backwards. I made her go on a circle - like lunging - but usually just one circle. Then I would stop her and make her back up. If she tried to eat the grass, I made her back up. If she tried to come forward, I made her back up. If she tried to rear, I made her come forward. Always making her move, always being unpredictable, always making her notice me, rather than the surroundings.

Then I took her back to the float. I put the bridle on, and led her back out into the riding area.

Here, I mounted again. And I worked her first in walk - in nice large circles, with leg on, making sure she was going towards the float, and away from the float. I made her walk towards the north and back south. I made her walk east, then west. I made her do some leg eilding. Then we progressed onto trot.

Once I was satisfied that she was working well, I stopped, gave her a huge pat, and gently walked her back towards the float. As I was doing so, the instructor on the horse came cantering towards me, passing a whisker behind me. Lilly, once again, nearly had kittens. I realise that if I take my horse to a competition, this sort of thing will happen. But that's why I am not at a competition! That's why I am at Adult Riding Club. So that if I am having trouble with my horse, people can be considerate and help me out a bit! Hello?

To summarise, the original instructor meant well.  The advice was good advice.  It was just the wrong advice for that horse.  And I should have just listened to my intuition.  But that means not listening to the instructor.  So where does that leave me in terms of learning and progressging?

Another day, another ride

So, we went riding again today. In the state forest. Lilly and I. My friend on her horse. The clouds threatened, the track was wet, the air fresh. The mushrooms were rapidly growing out of the needles under the pine trees.

The few puddles provided handy obstacles for Lil. I asked her to go through some of the bigger puddles and she was a good sport.

We did the obligatory canter.

"She's pretty relaxed. She is ready to go out by herself now", commented my friend towards the end of the ride. I think I've found myself a new coach.

Or maybe my friend is just sick of opening gates for me.  Should I, perhaps, get off my high horse?

Lilly canters

Today I went out riding with my friend again, but this time I rode Lilly.  (Now that she's got shoes.)  I've only cantered Lilly twice, and on a ride into the state forest, you want to put in a canter or two.  But in the back of my mind, this canter, still sat as an unknown quantity.

So, up the first hill, we trotted.  That is, Lil trotted.  My friend was quite happily half a length behind us, cantering.  Up the next hill, I mustered up all my bravado, and after a few strides of trot I asked for a canter.

Lilly, the ex-racehorse that she is, lept forward, and hearing the cantering horse behind her, bounded along.  I sat back a bit, and she came back to me, and we continued on, up the hill in this lovely lovely fast canter.  It was just ace.

Pony express

Today my girlfriend came over again, and we decided to go and do a ride with some cantering.  She rode Mo, and I rode Dingo.

We rode deep into the state forest, chatting and ambling along.  When time came for a canter, I let my friend go first.  I thought that this would be good for Dingo - it would teach him to sit back and listen.  That it did, and he did some lovely canter work.

However, on the final stretch for home, my friend, having regained trust in her horse, allowed me to go first.  I gave Dingo the reins, and the pony galloped gladly along.  Then half way up the hill he started slowing down.  "Nice", I thought to myself, and then I heard my friend cantering up behind me.  I dug my heels in and the race was on.  All the way to the top of the track.

Dingo arrived first, with my friend calling out "I'll give you a run for your money next week!".

Love it!

Confidence

I have been wanting to write about confidence for a while now, because in riding a horse, confidence is everything. You can be doing the right thing, but if you are not doing it with confidence and conviction, then you will not get the results you want or expect. At the same time, finding a good example of confidence is hard, but I think I've got one.

I brought Lilly in for training, and while brushing her noticed that she has a small cut (about the size of my thumb nail) on her left hock. The hock also looked more swollen than the other hock. It would be a shame not to work her at all, so I decided to start slowly, and just see if the hock was a problem or not.

As a starting point, I lounged Lilly, first at the walk, then at the trot, to check if she is lame. She wasn't. Then I started riding. I rode her the way I normally do, sticking to the same routine, but the back of my mind was still thinking about that hock. Was she really ok? Was she in pain? Was she maybe unable to do some things?

While my mind was wondering, Lilly started playing up. Nothing serious, just a bit of falling out, minor rushing off, bit of getting prancy.

I thought about that hock one more time, and then I decided that if she is well enough to ride, then she is well enough to be ridden with confidence. And so I rode on. With conviction. And all of Lilly's problems vanished.

Lilly goes bush

I've been wanting to take Lilly for a ride in the state forest for a couple of weeks, but the fact that she doesn't have shoes, and I don't have a riding buddy, has held me back.

Well today, my girlfriend came over, and "no shoes" by itself is not a good enough excuse to stay home.  So off we went.

Lilly started prancing down the first hill, but then she settled down.  A couple of times she thought about not going forward any further, but we got through that relatively easily.  Towards the end she was quite obedient and relaxed.  She enjoyed watching the views.

To town and back

Today we went to town. On horseback. There's not much of a town left - it's really just a grouping of houses now, but that's not the point. The ride into town is 2km one way.

Sabina rode Bel Bel and I rode Dingo. We had a lovely ride. We passed cows, a man mowing the lawns, dogs, calves, other horses. And of course cars passed us. Bel Bel was a dream. She really didn't put a foot wrong. I can't quite say the same about Dingo - such a princess.

In town, we stopped in front of our neighbour's house, and had a snack. Then we rode back. On the way back Sabina said "Can we keep her?"

"I thought you wanted a palomino pony?", I quizzed. I mean, you know, I have to be sure here. I don't want back pedalling once the novelty wears off.

"Well, I would have liked a palomino pony", explained Sabina, "but really I just wanted a pony that I could call either Bel Bel, or Thowra, or Golden."

I wonder how long it will be before she'll want to take Bel Bel brumby hunting?

New pony settles in

Sabina, of course, was pretty keen on a palomino pony. But, the new pony is not palomino. She is a chestnut with a flaxen mane. But not flaxen tail, as is usually the case. However, Sabina was happy to forgo the palomino colour, as long as she got naming rights. She named the pony "Bel Bel". If you've read "The Silver Brumby", then you'll understand. And if you haven't read it, then I highly recommend it.

We started the day off with "personalising" Bel Bel. That is, Sabina trimmed her mane and forelock, as she saw fit. (Dingo had already done some personalising of Bel Bel, for which he quickly got relegated to another paddock).

Then we went on a trail ride into the state forest. Sabina, on Bel Bel, lead the way. That is, until we saw a bird on a log, which gave Bel Bel a tiny fright. The pony barely stepped sideways, but you've got to be fair. This was Sabina's first real ride on Bel Bel.

As Sabina got more confident we took turns leading, and even spent some time riding side by side and chatting. We rode all the way to Dead Cow, where we had a snack. Then back again. Along the way we saw dogs, birds, puddles, and fallen logs. We heard a car with a trailer. Bel Bel was unfazed.

More ponies than you can poke a stick at

Today we went to Pony Club and Sabina merrily rode into her lesson. She handled Tornado well, and even seemed to be paying attention to the instructor.

I was standing outside the arena, watching the world go by, thinking how in the world I am now going to upgrade her pony. I mean, I don't really want to go trapsing around the state, looking for the perfect pony for my daughter, preferably a palomino colour (more about that some other time). Another adult came along and I opened my big mouth.

"Well, why don't you go and talk to M. She's got a pony here for sale, that might be suitable.", was the response I got.

By the time lunchtime rolled around and all the kids were having a break, Sabina was back in the arena on the said pony. After a lot of walking, a few halts, several attempted transitions into trot, and finally the trot itself, Sabina was allowed to have some lunch, while I went to talk to M.

Later in the afternoon, the said pony was delivered (together with rug and bridle) to our property for a two week trial, with the potential to extend it to a one month trial. Perfect timing. It's school holidays at the moment, so we will be able to test ride the pony a fair bit.

Gallop

Last year, when Sabina first joined pony club, at her first pony club rally she went on a mock fox hunt. Tornado's belly got stuck on one of the jumps. On the way home, she said that she enjoyed the rally, but needed a bigger pony. Well, I promised that I would buy her a bigger pony, when she learnt to canter.

Recently, she has been having a few problems getting Tornado to go forward. Finally, when even spurs didn't seem to work, I convinced her to try my whip. Sure, it doesn't glitter, and it's not a fancy colour, but it works.

She ventured into the arena, riding Tornado, whip in hand, and put it to the test. She was cantering around in seconds. In fact she got so enthusiastic, that the canter became a gallop. The gallop elicited a magic smile, and squeals of excitement from the little girl. She even seemed oblivious to the little pigroot he managed to add at the beginning.

It might just be time for a pony upgrade.

Lilly goes to Adult Riding

Today is Adult Riding Club, and I thought I would take Lilly. I wasn't sure whether I would ride her, but just the experience of going there and coming back would be good for her.

So we got Lilly on the float (more about that some other time), and off we went.

Well, due to dropping my husband off at the start of his cycling race, we were somewhat late. How late? Umm, about 3 hours. Adult Riding Club had basically packed up and gone home. That's right. Not a soul in sight. The only evidence left was a couple of tyre marks in the grass.

Never mind, I unloaded Lilly and put her in the yard. I let her sit there and take it all in, while I ran Sabina across the road to play with her friend.

Then I saddled her up, and lounged her. All going well there, I mounted. Well, she did feel excited, and I quickly came to the conclusion that if you ever took her cross country, she would be a little fire cracker. However, that excited walk was, I think, 99% correct.

Of course, once she calmed down, the walk changed. But I think I now understand what the walk is supposed to feel like.

Once we mastered calmness at the walk, I asked for trot. Mostly good. Some falling out - mainly in the direction of the float. This is a disobedience, but not one I am going to deal with right now.

Towards the end of our session, I was starting to think a canter might go down alright. This is amazing, seeing that we have only just started cantering on the lounge. Of course I didn't canter. Best to finish on a positive note.

Putting Dingo to the test

Have you ever trained at home, thought you were doing well, and then got to a dressage competition and felt like it was all falling apart at the seams?

I have certainly done that. And it doesn't feel that good. So, today I decided to put Dingo and my training to the test.

I did my normal workout, and then I did a made up dressage test. I pretended it was the real deal, like in a dressage competition, and I just observed what happened.

Well, what happened was that it all fell apart. Why? Well, the devil's in the details. For example. I ride down the center line in trot and ask for halt. The horse stops moving forwards, for sure, but sideways? Hmm ... I don't know. Do I practice trot to halt? Well, not really.

So, the sideways going horse feels somewhat agitated, but we continue. Trot circle goes alright, but then I ask for a canter in a part of the arena that I don't normally canter in. And the transition is all over the place. Coincidence? I don't think so. Because when we continue our canter onto the normal circle, all of a sudden it improves! Horse attitude, or rider confidence, I don't really care which, it makes a difference.

Back to trot, then walk across the diagonal on long rein. Why is the horse weaving? And how often do we really do a long rein walk across the diagonal? Once at cooldown perhaps? Ooops?

Overall I also discover that in a dressage test I am much more business like, than in training. Transitions have to happen on the letter, and that's final. Don't argue with me, because we're in the middle of a dressage test. Hmmm ... perhaps, some of my training should be conducted in this mode too so that the poor unsuspecting horse doesn't get a shock in the dressage arena.

The experience is a real eye opener. I definitely walk away with the following points:

1. Practice all the movements of a dressage tests. Break it down. Get it right.
2. Combine dressage test movements into little combinations and practice those.
3. Practice all dressage test movements in different parts of the arena.
4. Get yourself into "I am now doing a dressage test" mode, and train your horse in that mode for some of the time. I guess that's kind of your "working" mode, as opposed to "warm up" and "cool down" modes.

Lilly's progress

Since Princess Lil is a bit of a mouthful, the horse in question now goes by the stable name of Lilly. Her competition name will remain Princess Lil, of course.

So I have now progressed to riding Lilly. I still start our sessions with some lounging, both walk and trot. Loose, and with side reins. No canter yet. I do this to make sure that I can make her move her feet, while I stand still. It's one of the principles of horse training.

I also use voice commands while lounging. This means that when I am riding I can use the same voice commands to ask for upward transitions. Click to trot. Kiss to canter.

I have just started to establish her walk and her trot. She is an amazing mixture of the horses I have ridden in the past. She is the same size as Princess, but she has the power of a much bigger horse. She has the forgiveness of Crownie, the placidity of Gally, and the eagerness of Princess.

It feels like there is heaps of power in her hind quarters, and I can't wait to see how she jumps. I am hoping she has power to jump, but not so much power that she catapults me out of the saddle.

Leading

A couple of friends came up to the farm yesterday and together we went for a nice ride in the state forest. We had a lovely time catching up, and everyone enjoyed their horses. The odd thing about this particular ride was that one of the said friends brought two horses.

She rode one horse, her trustworthy trail riding mare, and she led the other horse, her young beautiful (and big!) dressage horse. It appears that both need the exercise, and the dressage horse has been a bit difficult on the trail, so leading him is a nice way to get him used to being out.

The moment of truth (and good training) came when we all went for a canter up a 2km hill. We had Chris out the front on Mo, me second on Dingo (and a loose rein!) and the friend with two horses up the back. And none of the horses decided to get out of control and race. It was fabulous!

But it got better. Half way during the ride, Emma decided that her young dressage horse was going so well that she will ride him. So the saddle came off the mare, went onto the gelding and off we went again. The gelding did put in the odd trit trot here and there, a snort or two, but overall was very well behaved. Even when we heard the motorbikes.

I was most impressed.

Now I've been contemplating leading a horse out on trail rides for ... oooh ... about 4 years now. I've been mulling over the problems and issues I might encounter, and how I would deal with those. And that's where the matter stood.

Having now seen how my friend did it, how she handled various situations, has renewed my enthusiasm for it. It certainly trains two horses with the one ride. Especially if you swap half way.

WEC Dressage Day

So, the Warragul Show wasn't enough for me - today I headed off to the Warragul Equestrian Centre (WEC) Dressage Day.

Honestly, I discussed it with my husband - the horse is already washed and plaited, the float attached, the car packed.  Surely it will be half the effort.  At least to get away.  And indeed, I was correct.  As an added bonus a friend from adult riding club offered to come along as a strapper.  I even had adult company.  (Sabina stayed at home).

We arrived at WEC nice and early.  I warmed Dingo up, then came back to the float for a coffee.  Except that, no one was serving coffee.  I had brought hot water, but not coffee.  This is a mistake I will not make again in a hurry.  Our lack of coffee, and desire for, became the running joke of the day.

Coffeeless, we headed for the dressage rings.  My test was at 9:28am, but it looked like the dressage judge was running late.  We waited, and chatted, and waited.  Finally I rode up to the judge's car - "oh, you were supposed to be on at 9:28, in the other ring".  Oh!  Oh no!  Oh dear!

Luckily, the other ring was still running the test, and I was allowed to go out of order.  So all good there.  My only hesitation was that I had been running over test Prep 3 in my head, and now I was required to do test Prelim 2.  I knew the test, but it just wasn't fresh in my mind.  So feeling slightly nervous I proceeded to ride into the arena.

The arenas were fenced with grey ropes, and at the entrance Dingo stopped dead.  So much for the "enter at trot".   I coaxed him through, but in his mind the ropes were electric and they were going to eat him.  So best to stear well clear of them and watch them the entire time.  There go my corners, straightness, and calmness.  Other than that, the test went well.  (To those not familiar with dressage tests, corners, straightness and calmness pretty much form the foundation of these tests.  Accuracy is the only other thing left.  We had that.  Most of the time.)

But we had a brilliant dressage judge.  As I did my last halt, she got out of the car and approached me.  Now, generally, this is the most humiliating thing that can happen.  It means that you have just totally stuffed up.  However, she very calmly said to me "He appears to be very freaked out by these ropes.  If you ride out of the arena now, it will just teach him all the wrong things.  Please stay in here for a few minutes, and just ride him around on a loose rein, so he can relax."  Allelujah!

Due to my misunderstanding about the test order, it was out of one arena, and pretty much straight into the next.  Dingo was still worried about the ropes, but much less so and it was a more relaxed test.  Straightness and corners were still pretty much missing.  However, that's not the purpose of the exercise.  The purpose of the exercise was to gain experience, and identify holes in my training.  (Training?  What training?  A mere 3 weeks ago I could barely trot a circle.  I'd push it to two trot circles, then I'd be totally out of breath, and needed to rest my muscles.  Canter was a forgotten gait altogether).

At the end of it all, we all got our coffee (hay and water for Dingo) and we were still home (more or less) by lunchtime.

I would really like to thank my friend from adult riding.  It was such a pleasure to have her along, we had a few laughs and best of all, I've ended up with some fantastic photos!

(I find that when you go eventing, you can sing out "hello" to the people in the float next to you, and they will generally respond in a friendly manner.  Do the same at a show, or a dressage competition, and you're lucky if the person cocks an ear.  This sort of attitude can be very unsettling for the inexperienced competitor.  So having your own team along, can really boost your confidence.)

Warragul Show

The massive toothache wakes me up at 4am. I drink some water and go back to bed. On the one hand I realise that I should get up at 5am and plait up Dingo. On the other hand, I cannot fathom how I will plait him up in the dark.

I compromise and get up at 5:30. It's dark. I pack the rest of the car. Then I get the ponies and plait up Dingo. It's just light enough. I put the ponies back in the paddock, have breakfast, then run out again with Sabina.

We're on the road. The day looks beautiful. Windstill and not a cloud in the sky. By the time we get to Warragul it's not windstill any more.

The experiences of yesterday leave Sabina more focussed, and today when I say "get dressed", she does. Yay! I saddle up Tornado, and we run over to ring 2, just in time for smartest on parade. Sabina rides into her class. Is she paying attention to the judge? Ummm ... no. She comes third (out of three), and looks at me. "Mama, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing." I smile. "Well, you need to listen to the judge. She will tell you what to do. And if you don't understand, then you need to ask", I say patiently.

We run back to the float, where hastily, in the wind, I finish Dingo's preparation. That includes sawing the plaits into rosettes. I busy myself with the needle, while Dingo keeps getting distracted by floats and horses. Do I prick myself? Yes. And there are bits of blood running down my fingers. Lucky that Dingo is a chestnut and it doesn't show.

Once Dingo is ready we rush back to the ring. I ride into my class with Sabina running behind me. I stop and gently say "hey, why don't you go and sit down on one of those chairs?", as I point to the chair next to the penciller. Luckily, the penciller is kind. Phew! It's not like that at all shows.

Finally, I can relax though, and enjoy my class. In fact, from here on, I enjoy the rest of the day. Sabina and I even find the time to ride around the outside of all the show rings, and take in the atmosphere. On our well groomed, clean ponies, in our jackets, we cut quite a picture.

It's all worth it.

Show prep

Sometimes I think that I've got it all. Horses, float and a daughter to enjoy it all with. Shows, bush riding, pony club. But the reality is closer to this.

Today I spent the entire day getting ready to go. Packing clothes, esky and the beloved guinea pigs. By the time I pick up my daughter from school the car is ready to go. Well she (my daughter) isn't. Sheesh. Gently, I encourage her to stop playing, get changed, eat her snack, and we're finally on the road with her still asking why we have to go now.

Then, of course, we get peak hour traffic, and the 1 hour trip takes us 1.5 hours. Charming. We eat dinner - no complaints here. Then we're outside getting our ponies. "Now, Sabina, it's simple", I say. "We tie them up to the hitching rail, we wash them, we rug them, we put them away."

Do you think she follows instructions? NO! Off she goes with her pony to graze on the grass. That upsets Dingo, and the minute I turn my back he breaks free and runs over to Tornado. Now the big horses have come over to the fence to investigate. Great. Do you think I can catch Dingo? No, of course not. Off he goes, trotting up to Princess Lil.

I gaze at the front gate. "Sabina, just stay here, I really don't want him galloping out the gate". As if on cue, Princess Lil takes off towards the gate. Dingo follows on the other side of the fence ... and yes, he gallops out the gate and onto the road. Lovely. Half way up the paddock, Princess Lil changes her mind and gallops back. Dingo, lead rope dangling, gallops back at full speed. I quietly close the gate behind him, praying that he doesn't somehow catch on the lead rope and break his neck.

As I wander back to the hitching rail, I see the two ponies trotting off towards the house, and I hear Sabina crying. My first thought is that she's been run over by Dingo, but of course she's just upset that Tornado pulled away. So I decide that we need a break and I invite her to sit down in the shed. Well, she refuses to sit down because there are a couple of cob webs on the chair! Am I at the end of my tether by now or what? I stay calm. I don't feel calm. I take a few deep breaths and stay calm. By now of course, the sun is starting to set.

So, we go and get our ponies, again. This time, we successfully tie them up to the hitching rail, and at least I manage to wash mine. But Sabina is still off in la la land, doing everything, but washing. "Mama, can you wash him?", she asks. In the interest of time "yes". So we've got two washed ponies, standing in mud, it's dark outside and we need to put rugs on.
 
Luckily the float is out, so we can rug the ponies in the shed. But in the process, Dingo steps on my foot. Ouch! Anyway, finally we're done. "Mama, it's dark outside, I'm scared". "Well that's why we needed to get on with it." "Mama, I didn't realise it would get dark." Like it doesn't get dark every day? So there I am walking back to the paddock in pitch blackness, scared daughter in one hand, two scared ponies in the other.
 
With no further incidents, the ponies are back in their paddock, and Sabina is in the bath. Husband has managed to arrive too. Thank goodness for that, because I need his help to unpack the cupboards off the float. On the upside, he helps to pack the car for tomorrow.
 
By about 11pm I hit the pillow, only to realise that I have a pretty massive toothache. Not massive enough to get the panadol, though. After some time, I fall asleep.

Farewell Gally

Almost a month ago we had a terrible storm. In our area it was quoted as a one in 500 year event. Wind, lightening and rain, rain and more rain. Sometime in that storm, somehow, Gally broke a leg and had to be put down. My more personal recollection of this event is recorded here and here.

Since the incident, friends have asked me how it happened? Well, the short answer is, I don't know. What I do know, is that it is not uncommon. Soon after I started riding, I got to know a girl who was into equestrian competition. She already had a mare for showing, and she had just bought a horse for jumping. It was a lovely horse in every way. Not flighty, nice to handle, nice to ride. The girl's property had good fencing, and was fairly flat. Three weeks later, the horse broke a leg and had to be put down.

I was very sad to hear this, and asked why it happened. The answer from the general equestrian community around me at the time, was that it was freak accident. No one saw it happen, so they don't know what happened. But, "it does happen", I was told.

A few years later I heard of another similar story. Quiet horse, flattish, safe paddock.

So, ever since I have owned horses, I have lived with the reality that one day it might happen to me. But I have also lived with the stories of how other riders, lost their horses and moved on. Got new horses, and rode on to bigger and better things.

Life, and "the show", goes on.