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dancinghorseDowner first, though it came last in the clinic. Ze keed is coming home. No dressage for him. He has arthritic changes in three legs and can't handle the work. He is, however, trail-sound and should remain so. I've always felt he wasn't sturdy enough to tolerate much, and have always, instinctively, worked him lightly and trail-ridden him--I tend to have solid instincts in these things, though I ever really understand why I do what I do.
I've been "hearing" him for a couple of weeks, which is how long Teacher has been having problems, not telling me, and waiting for TL to confirm what she's been seeing. Missing him, wanting him home. We need him. Oreo needs an older gelding to teach him the ways of Evil, neighbor's young horse needs a trail bud to teach him to be calm out there, ditto Camilla and Pandora, and I need my best bud back. And Capria is missing him. So. Der Mooseburger will come home. I feel really bad for Teacher, who loves him, but she'll be able to ride him and help trail-train the kids. And she has Gaudia, who is hers and beautiful and as solid as a rock. And that will be good.
Of course they dropped that one and left, so I'm feeling down and empty, but that's normal anyway after a very active week and a houseful of people. I still have![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
casacorona's Surprise here, until tomorrow; she and Capria are snoozing contentedly together in the sun.
The clinic itself was wonderful. It was fair to middling insane in the beginning, with horses and people coming in, rush jobs on the work end that meant frequent runs to the puter to deal with the latest, and a lot of juggling and tapdancing. Camilla ended up being my clinic pony throughout--I was prepared to ride Pandora if Camilla maxed out on work, but she couldn't get enough of it. Capria was the popular girl at the dance; she gave a lesson to a different person every day, was much admired and adored and praised for her schoolmasterly conduct. Each day she was rounder and smoother and more supple--this work was just what she needed. Pandora gave lessons to TL's student from England, a lovely lady and a very fine rider, and to Teacher, and was a Star for both.
We had all levels of riders, including some trainers, and one lady who has been back to riding for a year after a 30-year hiatus and is just getting going in dressage. She has a gorgeous Arab mare, and the transformation in the rider's seat (and the horse's response to it) from beginning to end was remarkable. The best part for me was seeing how much everyone, horse and human, changed for the better, and even more so, how eager the horses were for each new lesson. The clinic ran the best of any we've had in many years of these events; it was an excellent mix of participants, and everyone leaped in and lent a hand when and as needed. I've never had as light a workload as I did this time; everybody was wonderful.
The main question everyone asked was, "When's the next one?" I'm ready to go another round myself.
The only thing that didn't quite go according to plan was Teacher giving a groundwork lesson to one participant who needed to learn how to handle a Lipizzan stallion. Pooka wouldn't act like a stallion. He was too calm. They had to go next door and borrow the peppy gelding. I apologized. During his layup I've been training him too well--he won't act studdy. Ooops. "I'm sorry my stallion was too well-behaved." Much hilarity at that.
He did get a lesson--20 minutes of in-hand work today. Nummins has outgrown his bit. The 5 1/8 KK fit him perfectly a month ago. Now it's too narrow. I have to move him out to a 5.25 eggbutt. If that doesn't work, we'll try a mullen. We worked on my body language with him--if I look at him, he looks at me; he mirrors me exactly. So I have to "be" him and "ride" him and he'll mirror that. And, if he gets all rumbly going past the mares, I have to keep the outside rein and tug the inside lightly: "Hello! I'm here! Listen to me!" This can translate into voltes and shoulder-in (if I go into shoulder-in position), and that is a cool thing. It's just another 10 days before he's back to ridden work, but I want to keep up the groundwork a time or two a week because it's been so beneficial. Must also massage his sternum to encourage him to slide his shoulders back and lift his withers. This is good for his collectability (and for reasons therefor, see below).
Oreo got lots and lots of schmoozles and attention. He ate it right up. Good for him, good for people to get Major Baby Fix. He's a moose, as in huge, and fuzzy and cute. And very, very charming. He just loves people.
As for Camilla, I think she's on her way. We had some real insights into her this weekend, and some real breakthroughs. It started on Friday when she came out; TL looked and her and said to her student from England, "Look at this conformation. This is the Airs horse, especially the courbette horse; the skeleton is different than on other horses. The shoulders and chest hang unusually low, and the shoulders, which are free-floating in horses anyway (they're held together with muscles and ligaments; there's no collarbone), are completely loose. This horse is so loose that she can't hold herself up without thinking about it. The challenge for her is to get the shoulders up and straight, and keep them there."
And that is true. She's a rubber pony and always has been. Her staggery bits are not young-horse imbalance as I thought, they're conformational--as in, too much of a good thing. She's built like this to make it easier for her to do the Airs and the work of the highest levels of dressage, but in order to get there, she has to learn to carry herself in a different way than the average horse with tighter shoulders and a different skeletal structure. She's loose all over in fact--her back end can sprawl every which way. TL, with her dry wit, said, "You need to call her Lautrec." As in Toulouse-.
Oy.
Anyway, because she's so different from the norm (and it should be noted that Pook is as well--his thick stallion neck masks some of it, but he has the same structure, as does Gaudia, brother Cai, and all the Pooklets), she needs a different mindset, somewhat, for her training. I have to center myself exactly, feel her spine flowing down the middle, and when she starts to stagger, the very instant I feel the loss of balance, stop and regroup and then go on. She may, while regrouping, offer a reinback. Normally this is bad--horse backs up, horse evades, can lose all forward momentum--but with her it's part of the balancing process and we need to let her do it, catch her just when she gets her hindlegs under her, then quickly and crisply ask her to move on straight until she starts to wobble again. We can even ride thinking reinback but keeping her moving--i.e. offering clear, crisp half-halts. And repeat and repeat and repeat. Very very balanced and precise seat (TL: "You couldn't have done this in May. You've come a long way."), very clear and firm but not harsh contact, solid walls all around and no doubts or wavering, just clear support.
She asked a lot of questions, and some were in the form of her first trot under saddle. And that was awesome. She has a fabulous trot, and because of her build and way of going, she has to collect in order to do it, which makes it even more fabulous. Better yet, when she offered it, she was relaxed and balanced. She moved wonderfully in fact, freely forward and, with help, not too crooked. And she must be straight. Always.
TL rode her on day two to show her what we wanted. She loved that. She loves TL. I felt a real difference afterward, more balance and straightness and more confidence in her ability to carry herself.
On day three, Teacher rode her first, in trot as well as walk, and really showed her how to give her back and hindlegs and carry her front end. She was a bit close to the edge when I got on her, so had a couple of hysterical fits, but she kept me with her and was not resisting or trying to get me off--she was just saying she'd had enough. We had one nice, straight, forward walk and that was good. Now she gets some rest. Three straight days of intensive clinic is a lot. My homework is to work with her 30 minutes at a time, 2-3 days a week to start, maybe no more than 15 minutes on her, but plenty of in-hand work and groundwork to help her mind learn to cope with regular work. She's finally ready.
"Balance before movement. Balance and then move. Let her find her hindlegs, then get them under her, then immediately get her forward." I had two whips, so there wasn't constant swapping from side to side, and that helped. She's used to the whip for forward, thanks to her trailer training, so the touch of the whip reassures her that I want her to move forward.
"She is a horse of extremes. Praise her to the skies--tell her she's won Olympic gold--after every tiny advance."
She sometimes resists, but mostly she's trying to get her body under control. Keep reintroducing her to her hind end. Catch the slippage the instant it happens, and be quick to correct.
She parks like a Morgan for some of the same reasons: big, loose front end, loose back end, excessive suppleness through the body. Hard as it is to believe in a horse so thickset and chunky, but there she is.
Her attitude throughout was fabulous. Positive, soft-eyed, eager, willing and happy. No teeth-grinding. Even when she got overfaced and started panicking, it was communication rather than meltdown. "Hello, I've had it, can we run out of here now?" We, not I, be it noted. When she was done on the first day, her neck was six inches longer. She'd freed it and relaxed, and er whole shape changed.
We are very proud of her. She looks amazing; she has a true panther's walk and a naturally collected, very elastic and suspended trot. Ultimate dressage horse in a fat-chunky-pony package, kind of like those t-shirts that are the size of a pack of cards until you open them and they're voluminous.
Altogether a most excellent few days. There will be more. For sure.
I've been "hearing" him for a couple of weeks, which is how long Teacher has been having problems, not telling me, and waiting for TL to confirm what she's been seeing. Missing him, wanting him home. We need him. Oreo needs an older gelding to teach him the ways of Evil, neighbor's young horse needs a trail bud to teach him to be calm out there, ditto Camilla and Pandora, and I need my best bud back. And Capria is missing him. So. Der Mooseburger will come home. I feel really bad for Teacher, who loves him, but she'll be able to ride him and help trail-train the kids. And she has Gaudia, who is hers and beautiful and as solid as a rock. And that will be good.
Of course they dropped that one and left, so I'm feeling down and empty, but that's normal anyway after a very active week and a houseful of people. I still have
casacorona's Surprise here, until tomorrow; she and Capria are snoozing contentedly together in the sun.The clinic itself was wonderful. It was fair to middling insane in the beginning, with horses and people coming in, rush jobs on the work end that meant frequent runs to the puter to deal with the latest, and a lot of juggling and tapdancing. Camilla ended up being my clinic pony throughout--I was prepared to ride Pandora if Camilla maxed out on work, but she couldn't get enough of it. Capria was the popular girl at the dance; she gave a lesson to a different person every day, was much admired and adored and praised for her schoolmasterly conduct. Each day she was rounder and smoother and more supple--this work was just what she needed. Pandora gave lessons to TL's student from England, a lovely lady and a very fine rider, and to Teacher, and was a Star for both.
We had all levels of riders, including some trainers, and one lady who has been back to riding for a year after a 30-year hiatus and is just getting going in dressage. She has a gorgeous Arab mare, and the transformation in the rider's seat (and the horse's response to it) from beginning to end was remarkable. The best part for me was seeing how much everyone, horse and human, changed for the better, and even more so, how eager the horses were for each new lesson. The clinic ran the best of any we've had in many years of these events; it was an excellent mix of participants, and everyone leaped in and lent a hand when and as needed. I've never had as light a workload as I did this time; everybody was wonderful.
The main question everyone asked was, "When's the next one?" I'm ready to go another round myself.
The only thing that didn't quite go according to plan was Teacher giving a groundwork lesson to one participant who needed to learn how to handle a Lipizzan stallion. Pooka wouldn't act like a stallion. He was too calm. They had to go next door and borrow the peppy gelding. I apologized. During his layup I've been training him too well--he won't act studdy. Ooops. "I'm sorry my stallion was too well-behaved." Much hilarity at that.
He did get a lesson--20 minutes of in-hand work today. Nummins has outgrown his bit. The 5 1/8 KK fit him perfectly a month ago. Now it's too narrow. I have to move him out to a 5.25 eggbutt. If that doesn't work, we'll try a mullen. We worked on my body language with him--if I look at him, he looks at me; he mirrors me exactly. So I have to "be" him and "ride" him and he'll mirror that. And, if he gets all rumbly going past the mares, I have to keep the outside rein and tug the inside lightly: "Hello! I'm here! Listen to me!" This can translate into voltes and shoulder-in (if I go into shoulder-in position), and that is a cool thing. It's just another 10 days before he's back to ridden work, but I want to keep up the groundwork a time or two a week because it's been so beneficial. Must also massage his sternum to encourage him to slide his shoulders back and lift his withers. This is good for his collectability (and for reasons therefor, see below).
Oreo got lots and lots of schmoozles and attention. He ate it right up. Good for him, good for people to get Major Baby Fix. He's a moose, as in huge, and fuzzy and cute. And very, very charming. He just loves people.
As for Camilla, I think she's on her way. We had some real insights into her this weekend, and some real breakthroughs. It started on Friday when she came out; TL looked and her and said to her student from England, "Look at this conformation. This is the Airs horse, especially the courbette horse; the skeleton is different than on other horses. The shoulders and chest hang unusually low, and the shoulders, which are free-floating in horses anyway (they're held together with muscles and ligaments; there's no collarbone), are completely loose. This horse is so loose that she can't hold herself up without thinking about it. The challenge for her is to get the shoulders up and straight, and keep them there."
And that is true. She's a rubber pony and always has been. Her staggery bits are not young-horse imbalance as I thought, they're conformational--as in, too much of a good thing. She's built like this to make it easier for her to do the Airs and the work of the highest levels of dressage, but in order to get there, she has to learn to carry herself in a different way than the average horse with tighter shoulders and a different skeletal structure. She's loose all over in fact--her back end can sprawl every which way. TL, with her dry wit, said, "You need to call her Lautrec." As in Toulouse-.
Oy.
Anyway, because she's so different from the norm (and it should be noted that Pook is as well--his thick stallion neck masks some of it, but he has the same structure, as does Gaudia, brother Cai, and all the Pooklets), she needs a different mindset, somewhat, for her training. I have to center myself exactly, feel her spine flowing down the middle, and when she starts to stagger, the very instant I feel the loss of balance, stop and regroup and then go on. She may, while regrouping, offer a reinback. Normally this is bad--horse backs up, horse evades, can lose all forward momentum--but with her it's part of the balancing process and we need to let her do it, catch her just when she gets her hindlegs under her, then quickly and crisply ask her to move on straight until she starts to wobble again. We can even ride thinking reinback but keeping her moving--i.e. offering clear, crisp half-halts. And repeat and repeat and repeat. Very very balanced and precise seat (TL: "You couldn't have done this in May. You've come a long way."), very clear and firm but not harsh contact, solid walls all around and no doubts or wavering, just clear support.
She asked a lot of questions, and some were in the form of her first trot under saddle. And that was awesome. She has a fabulous trot, and because of her build and way of going, she has to collect in order to do it, which makes it even more fabulous. Better yet, when she offered it, she was relaxed and balanced. She moved wonderfully in fact, freely forward and, with help, not too crooked. And she must be straight. Always.
TL rode her on day two to show her what we wanted. She loved that. She loves TL. I felt a real difference afterward, more balance and straightness and more confidence in her ability to carry herself.
On day three, Teacher rode her first, in trot as well as walk, and really showed her how to give her back and hindlegs and carry her front end. She was a bit close to the edge when I got on her, so had a couple of hysterical fits, but she kept me with her and was not resisting or trying to get me off--she was just saying she'd had enough. We had one nice, straight, forward walk and that was good. Now she gets some rest. Three straight days of intensive clinic is a lot. My homework is to work with her 30 minutes at a time, 2-3 days a week to start, maybe no more than 15 minutes on her, but plenty of in-hand work and groundwork to help her mind learn to cope with regular work. She's finally ready.
"Balance before movement. Balance and then move. Let her find her hindlegs, then get them under her, then immediately get her forward." I had two whips, so there wasn't constant swapping from side to side, and that helped. She's used to the whip for forward, thanks to her trailer training, so the touch of the whip reassures her that I want her to move forward.
"She is a horse of extremes. Praise her to the skies--tell her she's won Olympic gold--after every tiny advance."
She sometimes resists, but mostly she's trying to get her body under control. Keep reintroducing her to her hind end. Catch the slippage the instant it happens, and be quick to correct.
She parks like a Morgan for some of the same reasons: big, loose front end, loose back end, excessive suppleness through the body. Hard as it is to believe in a horse so thickset and chunky, but there she is.
Her attitude throughout was fabulous. Positive, soft-eyed, eager, willing and happy. No teeth-grinding. Even when she got overfaced and started panicking, it was communication rather than meltdown. "Hello, I've had it, can we run out of here now?" We, not I, be it noted. When she was done on the first day, her neck was six inches longer. She'd freed it and relaxed, and er whole shape changed.
We are very proud of her. She looks amazing; she has a true panther's walk and a naturally collected, very elastic and suspended trot. Ultimate dressage horse in a fat-chunky-pony package, kind of like those t-shirts that are the size of a pack of cards until you open them and they're voluminous.
Altogether a most excellent few days. There will be more. For sure.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 10:06 pm (UTC)and reading this filled snack break.
So I will comment more later, prolly.
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Date: 2006-10-23 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 10:47 pm (UTC)*hungry for pretty horsieness*
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Date: 2006-10-22 11:39 pm (UTC)Is he going to go on an arthritis supplement regimen?
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Date: 2006-10-23 08:47 pm (UTC)I have Shattered Dance but haven't started it yet. I happened to have three library books out that can not be renewed, (I Woz, A Raddick and a collection of National Geographic travel stories. None of them fast reading)