Intermittent Lameness

From the very first time I ever rode Lil I had this feeling that if I pushed her really hard (the way I push Dingo), then she would buck me off.  Or at least put in a really solid pigroot.

Now many trainers think I am just chicken.  But I'm not.  I know I am not.  And when I have a gut feeling there is a reason for it.  Finding the reason is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So I rode Lil with some suspicion and care until one day I went for a trail ride and she pulled up lame.  I couldn't see anything wrong with her leg, but gave her a break.  After four weeks she was sill "stiff" but not lame, and I started riding her again.  But she felt "stiff".  I had trouble doing a 20m circle on her.

Then, after more intensive riding, the lameness returned.  Six weeks break and the lameness was dimished but not totally gone.  You could see the head nodding in trot on the right rein.

Finally I called out the chiropractor.  He adjusted her spine in one spot, and then touched her rib cage just where the girth goes.

"And here is the source of your lameness" he said, as Lil almost ripped his head off.

"There?!!", I gasped thinking he was crazy.  I had expected the spine, the shoulder, the joints, but not the rib cage.  Mind you, if this really is the problem, then it would explain why Lil hates the saddle, and the girth, so much.

"Yep.  There is a muscle here, and if it gets injured it never heals.  You need to treat it with a Faradic machine. Three treatments of 15 minutes each, on three consicutive days should do it.  I've had a 100% success rate so far, and it never re-occurs."

Apparently, the said injury causes different issues in different horses - such as rushing forward, bucking, pigrooting and head tossing.  And a lot of vets fail to find it.

So we made the dates to fix the problem.  I shifted all my other plans so that Lilly's treatment could go ahead, and continued to wonder how many other horses are out there with the same problem, sending their owners mad and possibly broke in the process.  And, how many instructors are there telling their pupils to just "push" the horse through it?

Cross Country

A couple of weekends ago I went cross country training with Dingo.  I managed to convince a friend to come with me.  I really don't think it's sensible to train cross country alone.

We went to one of the local pony clubs that is lucky enough to have a cross country course.  The range of jumps was very diverse, and you could really challenge yourself with logs and ditches.

At home, Dingo is now jumping 70cm.  But cross country is a whole different affair, and we went right back to the littlelest logs we could find.

When it came to the water jump, I was really thankful for my friend.  Her horse is more experienced, and he happily waded into the water.  Dingo wasn't that keen on the water, but was happy to follow the other horse.  Once he discovered it was all safe I think he found it quite a lot of fun.

It was a great day out, and I am really annoyed that that particular cross country course is now closed in preparation for a competition.  I cannot wait to go again!

The 30 day challenge

I have been challenged to ride without stirrups for 30 days.  And you know me and these sort of challenges.  I love them.  So I have taken it up.  At least with Dingo, and in dressage.

So, I have duly detached said stirrups from the saddle.  It feels weird to be sitting in a saddle without any stirrups.  But, you can't sit around looking at the view forever, so off we went at a walk.  Then the trot.  Whoa!  This little pony thinks that if he goes fast enough he will just bounce me out altogether.  And this is where the whole seat and half halt thing came in.  I sat in the saddle, and half halted until I was blue in the face, but eventually we got a lovely trot, that I could comfortably (OMG! Really?) sit to.  And I had a totally lose rein!

Since the trot was now so good, we tried the canter.  This was an amazing experience.  It made me realise just how flat Dingo normally is.  This canter was just amazing.  It was as light and fluffy as drifting along on a cloud.  This is what riding is all about!

Now I am absolutely hooked on riding "sans stirrups".  So much so, that now Lil is on a mission plan to ride without stirrups within about 4 weeks.

What I don't understand is this.  Three years ago, I went to a riding instructor and said "there is a problem with my seat and I want to fix it".  Which part did she not understand?  There was a problem with my seat, and riding without stirrups has fixed it.

Lang Lang Show Fun Ring

Last year I took Sabina to a show.  I put her in with the professionals, and let her have a go.  She came back with a few ribbons, but when we got home, she commented that she was kind of hoping for more ribbons, and some different colours.  Not just white.

So this year I attacked the whole thing from a different perspective, and took her into the fun ring at the Lang Lang Show.  I kind of expected 6 other ponies in the ring, with a couple of dirty kids, and an opportunity for Sabina to "clean up".

To make sure we really had the best chance, we washed and scrubbed Tornado till he was sparkling, then wrapped him up in cotton rugs from head to toe.

Upon arrival to the show we had our first "show stopper".  The show was so packed, that we pretty much couldn't find a parking spot.  I had never envisaged this, and so we missed our first class.

Finally, with unbreakable smiles on our faces we rocked up to the fun ring.  Show stopper number two ... so much for the 6 grubby ponies.  There were about 20 immaculately turned out ponies, scrubbed squeeky clean, with manicured tails, and riders to match.  Fawn jodhpurs, long sleeved shirts, stocks, matching vests, jackets, you name it.  And, there was Sabina in her pony club uniform.

Never mind.  We held our heads high and proud and joined in the "fun".  In the end Sabina competed in 5 classes, and she got four different coloured ribbons.  After class number 5, she cracked it, as in her opinion Tornado had the longest tail but the judge seemed to fail to notice this fact.  So we called it a day.

When we got home, my husband enthusiastically asked "So, how was it?  Did you have fun?"

"No!", Sabina replied flatly.  "It was just walk and trot.  We didn't get to gallop.  It was no fun at all!"  And she stormed off towards the house.

You see, the problem was that just a mere day or two before the show she was riding Tornado in the top arena.  The seven acre haying paddock.  And he took off on her.  Full gallop, and pretty much as fast as a mini can go.  I sat there, on my horse, and just screamed at her "Look up and hold on.  And look UP!".

The next thing I heard was ecstatic giggles, as the pony finally pulled up to a stop at the gate.

"Ok, just walk him back", I instructed.

But no.  I saw a distinct kick (from Sabina), and the pony was back in full gallop, Sabina giggling all the way to the next gate.  Needless to say, this went on for some time.

Like mother, like daughter.  Eventing, here we come.

Dream Team

I have joined the Dream Team.  The thinking behind it is that I need some guidance how to achieve my goals, and how to achieve them fast.  So far we have had one workshop, and I think it's just FANTASTIC!!!

I would easily say, that it's the best thing I've done (towards achieving my riding goals) since buying a horse.

The down side of it, is that to do it, and do it properly (which is what I intend to do) is going to take up quite a lot of time.  And I just don't know how much time I will have left to maintain this blog.

I am not going to stop writing, but, at least for this year, Dream Team comes ahead of blog.

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.