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.