Weekly Lesson Neep, With 'Tude
May. 28th, 2004 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseThe good news is, spring ends and things settle down.
The rather amusing (rather than bad) news is, da Pook has decided it's Shark Week. This is when he goes through a phase of lunging with teeth bared at assorted objects including keed, the manure cart, Teacher walking by...Oooops. Not a good idea, that last. He does Not try it with me unless he has a solid wall in between--he knows he'll die a thousand deaths. (Shaking one's finger really does work on a totally socialized horse. Backs him up right good and quick.)
This morning at breakfast, he kept leaving his hay to gallop madly back and forth. He chased every single rabbit and bird out of the arena--several times. He ripsnorted up and down. He asserted his stallioninity. Repeatedly.
Mind you I had to ride this maniac.
Keed did well in his lesson as always. Since he's so tubular, he has no strength in his back, so the usual "on the bit" performance was harder than usual, but Teacher was understanding and he had some nice, round moments. He did decide he'd had enough, get in touch with his Inner Ayrab, and start having eek attacks, but that just made Joni laugh.
Then I brought out the Wild Stallion. Apart from intermittent snaps and crackles, he was his lovely self for grooming and saddling. As soon as he was tacked up and his reins tied out of the way, he warmed himself up at liberty--had a fantastic time blasting around like mad, interspersed with periods of high boingitude. It's rather indescribable; it's a very high, elevated, cadenced trot with a lot of snap and brio, not a passage because it's too fast and springs too high, but it's not really a trot, either. He zings into the air, hangs there, snaps his knees up, floats down, repeats, all around the arena. It's "that cool passagey thing," as in, "can you get him to do that cool passagey thing again?"
Today's icon is another![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lynnesite photo--that's the gallop, where he looks like the Ford Mustang logo and moves realrealrealrealfast.
After he had got the yayas out, he stopped and posed. "This horse really needs to be a Breyer model," Joni said. He made sure we totally understood the him-ness of him, then I mounted and he was Mr. Mellow Lesson Pony. Relaxed, easy, not giving me anything for free--we are having serious discussions regarding outside aids and equal weighting of the hindlegs--but there was no hormonal sass.
Today's discussion was about a combination of our bad habits: my left hip that tends to rotate outward, and my tendency to throw away the outside rein and pull on the inside, combined with his tendency to drag the right hind (he does this all on his ownsome--so does his dad and his full sister; it's a family trait) and push with the left hind and go off all crooked to the left. On right circles this means we can end up on a leftward trajectory, what with me not being there with left leg and hand, and him being predisposed to throw the left shoulder and go staggering after it.
All horses are crooked. So are most humans--we all tend to drop one shoulder or hip, and go crooked unless we correct for it. A young, big-moving one like this, who is also hypersensitive and copping a 'tude, makes for an interesting challenge. We're working on it little by little, one step at a time, until he understands that the outside aids are to be moved away from, and that his hindlegs are to track and carry equally. Then he can start learning about bending, then about advanced straightness, then...
He actually broke a sweat, which for him is a big deal; and most of the effort was mental. He was trying hard. He got hosed off (which caused him to wriggle something awful) and petted and fed treats and told how wonderful he is, which suited him just fine.
And then I had to go out and run many errands, because I opted out of them yesterday. Went to the PO and my Return of the King DVD was in. SQUEEEEE! quoth I and ran home and spent the afternoon in Middle-Earth.
Dang, I want to live in Minas Tirith. Got the horse to ride up the levels and everything. (Though I tend in my biased fashion to think mine is prettier.)
The rather amusing (rather than bad) news is, da Pook has decided it's Shark Week. This is when he goes through a phase of lunging with teeth bared at assorted objects including keed, the manure cart, Teacher walking by...Oooops. Not a good idea, that last. He does Not try it with me unless he has a solid wall in between--he knows he'll die a thousand deaths. (Shaking one's finger really does work on a totally socialized horse. Backs him up right good and quick.)
This morning at breakfast, he kept leaving his hay to gallop madly back and forth. He chased every single rabbit and bird out of the arena--several times. He ripsnorted up and down. He asserted his stallioninity. Repeatedly.
Mind you I had to ride this maniac.
Keed did well in his lesson as always. Since he's so tubular, he has no strength in his back, so the usual "on the bit" performance was harder than usual, but Teacher was understanding and he had some nice, round moments. He did decide he'd had enough, get in touch with his Inner Ayrab, and start having eek attacks, but that just made Joni laugh.
Then I brought out the Wild Stallion. Apart from intermittent snaps and crackles, he was his lovely self for grooming and saddling. As soon as he was tacked up and his reins tied out of the way, he warmed himself up at liberty--had a fantastic time blasting around like mad, interspersed with periods of high boingitude. It's rather indescribable; it's a very high, elevated, cadenced trot with a lot of snap and brio, not a passage because it's too fast and springs too high, but it's not really a trot, either. He zings into the air, hangs there, snaps his knees up, floats down, repeats, all around the arena. It's "that cool passagey thing," as in, "can you get him to do that cool passagey thing again?"
Today's icon is another
lynnesite photo--that's the gallop, where he looks like the Ford Mustang logo and moves realrealrealrealfast.After he had got the yayas out, he stopped and posed. "This horse really needs to be a Breyer model," Joni said. He made sure we totally understood the him-ness of him, then I mounted and he was Mr. Mellow Lesson Pony. Relaxed, easy, not giving me anything for free--we are having serious discussions regarding outside aids and equal weighting of the hindlegs--but there was no hormonal sass.
Today's discussion was about a combination of our bad habits: my left hip that tends to rotate outward, and my tendency to throw away the outside rein and pull on the inside, combined with his tendency to drag the right hind (he does this all on his ownsome--so does his dad and his full sister; it's a family trait) and push with the left hind and go off all crooked to the left. On right circles this means we can end up on a leftward trajectory, what with me not being there with left leg and hand, and him being predisposed to throw the left shoulder and go staggering after it.
All horses are crooked. So are most humans--we all tend to drop one shoulder or hip, and go crooked unless we correct for it. A young, big-moving one like this, who is also hypersensitive and copping a 'tude, makes for an interesting challenge. We're working on it little by little, one step at a time, until he understands that the outside aids are to be moved away from, and that his hindlegs are to track and carry equally. Then he can start learning about bending, then about advanced straightness, then...
He actually broke a sweat, which for him is a big deal; and most of the effort was mental. He was trying hard. He got hosed off (which caused him to wriggle something awful) and petted and fed treats and told how wonderful he is, which suited him just fine.
And then I had to go out and run many errands, because I opted out of them yesterday. Went to the PO and my Return of the King DVD was in. SQUEEEEE! quoth I and ran home and spent the afternoon in Middle-Earth.
Dang, I want to live in Minas Tirith. Got the horse to ride up the levels and everything. (Though I tend in my biased fashion to think mine is prettier.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-01 04:27 pm (UTC)I got to sit next to Sir Ian last summer as he autographed my book of the movie. One of the cool bits of my life! He's rather tallish, about 5'10", so the horse they had for him fit him nicely.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 06:49 pm (UTC)Actually, I have a big weakness for all nicely solid and proportional breeds, so I can't quite decide between Lipizzans and Andalusians. But I like them small (height wise) too, so a smallish Lipizzan would be an ideal fit for my somewhat compact self.
I am, btw, reading Queen of the Amazons at the moment, as my long-awaited copy finally made its way over here to Sweden. Very enjoyable, if a guilty pleasure right now when I ought to be reading about Etruscan terracottas.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 09:56 pm (UTC)I was supposed to buy an Andalusian, but she was bought out from under me and I ended up with Capria instead. It was a good bad thing to have happened. I love Andys, but Lipps are My Breed. We fit.
Sweden, really? Wow. And Etruscans, too. I'm impressed. (I won't shake my finger and make you back up three crisp steps for reading a novel when you're supposed to be reading School Stuff.)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 08:31 am (UTC)And yes, compact, short horses definitely suit people of the same conformation. I look just fine on an Icelandic horse, even, but between 14-15 hands is pretty ideal. Over that, and my nerves kick in big time anyway.
As for the conflict between Amazons and Etruscans ... well, I had told myself I could read a chapter or two as a reward after struggling through another article in French, but before I knew it, I was 100 pages into the book. Hopefully, my paper should be long done by the time your next book is out. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 08:47 am (UTC)This one will slay you.
But finish your paper first!
On tall horses: My nerves are OK as long as the horse is sane. My problem is balance. I have the same allergy to horses who move downhill as Lipps do to moving downhill. Give me a nice rear-wheel-drive vehicle with a nice big archy neck any day of the week. I don't mind the warp thrusters at all, though those can be Really Scary if you're not used to them. (The horse will feel as if he's going to buck or bolt when he's just moseying along.)
Was thinking about the movie Shadowfax this morning. There are so many better Andalusians in the world, but the fact is, this rather elongated, weedy one fits McKellen perfectly. It makes a fine picture. And that of course is what filmmaking is all about.
He'd have looked weird on a Lipp--they're too thick and short. Also for the most part, let's be honest: they're not very pretty. Big old honkers and heavy bones and not much hair for the most part. Da Pook is the exception rather than the rule. He got the rare Good Hair gene, and Carrma makes an exceptionally pretty baby. (She's not exactly chopped liver herself.)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 02:47 pm (UTC)Pooka's hair genes are definitely good -- and all his other genes too, by the look of it. Such a dazzling boy. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 05:01 pm (UTC)He has a good opinion of himself.
So you read the excerpt. How many pages of Etruscans did you read? Hm?
She said, having spent the entire day doing nothing of any redeeming social value.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-03 08:55 am (UTC)I very much enjoyed the book (can't go wrong with Amazons, Alexander and horses, really), and predictably enough it put me in a mood to re-read Lord of the Two Lands again. :) Fittingly enough, I also saw a trailer for the upcoming Alexander movie a few days ago. Its looking pretty decent, I have to say. In stark contrast to Troy, which I probably won't see unless I am chained to my seat. ;)
Congrats on the writing progress of late, btw. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 04:42 am (UTC)The first and second features/documentaries/things are almost exactly the same content, just re-shuffled a bit. I was very disappointed. The second one has a touch extra, so if you want to watch one, I'd make it that one; but it still wasn't much new to people who've watched the Extended Editions and their extras.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 08:50 am (UTC)Maybe the extended version will have mo' bettah extras?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 10:28 am (UTC)The main effect of the extras, fwiw, is "this people are *insane*. In a good way, that is." What with the hand-made chain mail, and the careful detail to layers of the costume that will never be seen, and such.
Oh--can I ask you a horse neep question? They had a "featurette" on making digital horse doubles, and they showed a motion-capture of a horse, where they stuck shiny bits on it and filmed it from all angles. They said they were filming it "galloping", except it didn't look like it was going very fast to me: is "gallop" a form term, that can actually be done slowly, or where they being imprecise?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-29 05:00 pm (UTC)To further muddy the issue, in Europe a "galop" is a canter.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-30 07:03 am (UTC)Did you think the digital horses were good? Could you spot them, besides being the ones getting snagged by Nazgul?