Neepicheep
Apr. 23rd, 2006 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseMore lessons today. The Great Campaign To Get Ready For Clinics continues. We're plotting out the May clinic with UK Torture Lady--which btw is open to auditors, and there might be a ride slot or two available. May 24th-26th, for them as wants to know. It's a moveable feast; part will be here, part next door, part at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
casacorona's, and part at Teacher's end of town--most of the horses involved don't have transport to one venue. Torture Lady will get the grand tour of Greater Tucson.
Meanwhile I've been collecting the comments from the earlier post re. Horse Camp and have some thoughts--will put up a post on that realsoonnow. People have great ideas and really good input, and thanks! It's extremely helpful.
Stress of the week is Shadow the Doberman, who is at the end of the line. She's 15, 'way older than most Dobies get, and up until a couple of weeks ago was doddery but bouncy and cheerful. She had meds that were working, and she was still glossy and hungry for whatever I wanted to feed her. Then rather suddenly the weight dropped off her; last weekend was bad, with many falls, and she hasn't been improving. When she lies down or falls, she can't get up; I have to go and rescue her (just got in from retrieving her from a fall down the steps she usually negotiates without a problem). Her appointment with the vet is tomorrow morning. She's been getting lots of TLC this weekend, and gets to eat whatever and whenever she wants. She still recognizes me, though her other friends have receded from her memory, and she likes to be petted and talked to. The call when I made it felt right; it's time. That will be tomorrow's expedition.
Now then. Lessons. Pandora is over her muscle spasm; from the way it's evolved, I think she got a point-blank kick, recoiled, and spasmed herself. She was in standing, squatting heat this morning, which caused her to be a bit glommy on the side of the arena where Pooka was, but she was relaxed and willing and happy. We had one of our Killer Basics lessons, entirely in walk, which was much more interesting than it sounds. Focus was on me--sitting straight, stabilizing midsection, carrying hands. Then Teacher took over and worked on Pandora, asking her to raise her back and reach forward into the bridle. That is a beautiful horse when she has it together, and oh my the athleticism. Big, scopey mover with the Lipp balance and natural correctness. Hubba. The best part was watching her go from llama-neck, you-can't-make-me, to soft, contemplative, with floppy ears and a look of concentration as she figured out what she was being asked to do. Goal for June, says Teacher, is four solid circles on the aids in walk with me. (And canter with Teacher's help, which I will maintain.) Walk, not incidentally, is a hard gait to perfect because it's slow and lacks the natural push and bounce of trot or canter; the horse can get stuck or start pacing, and she has to generate a lot of oomph in order to carry herself properly.
Pandora has naturally wonderful gaits--dead-on rhythm and great balance--so though she's got a lot of crookedness and she likes to be in charge after her years in the pasture, the basic "dressageyness" of the horse is solid. She's got the famous Lipp mind, too: opinionated, self-aware, but willing and peoplecentric, and naturally inclined toward arena work. Part of my job is to get her out and about, which means among other things walkies away from the farm. Much fun yesterday evening when I took her out, Pooka had a literally screaming, rampaging fit, and about a quarter-mile out, I had 26 hands of screaming, yelling monster to deal with. Good thing she's had such good training in her life; nobody died or got trampled, nobody escaped, and we were able, with some effort, to calm things down and get home quietly and in one piece.
I also, toward dark, took Camilla out for shorter walkies, which is relevant. First time she's been out in quite a while.
Pandora
4-23-06
This one has a lot of graphics, so rough translation will have to do.
Props and kudos
-Pandora's attitude in general is much more quiet and willing--relaxed [or, daily work does pay off]
-topline muscling in neck is developing :) [So I noticed: she has a rope of muscle over the crest, rest of neck soft and developing a shape; she was, when she arrived, rather pencil-necked; now she's more like a swan, in a good way. The real and true test of correct training is the horse's musculature--no matter what the trainer may claim, if the horse has a lower-neck bulge and no muscling over the crest, that horse is being ridden wrong. Same applies to the rest of the topline, which can get hollow or collapse if the horse is hand-ridden or incorrectly trained.]
-patience and good humor exceptional on your part dealing with my pickyness [sic] and overly vigilant attention to the tiny details (can you say "OCD"?) [Trust me, I want this; it's the only way I'm going to ride well enough to [a] survive the clinic and [b] survive my roster of genetically engineered dressage machines]
Review
-Keep reins centered over withers--or withers centered between reins
[During Teacher's ride] The reason I was kicking [actually noodging without shifting position of leg] with left leg was because she was stuck--glued to Pooka--and I needed left hind leg push in order to get unstuck NOT more right rein.
graphic here: Horse's flow of energy right hind pushing over left shoulder. Pulling with rein WRONG! doesn't really work very well [pulls horse down over right shoulder, blocks inside hind, prevents balance and engagement] pulling on right rein: right hind pushing too much, left hind "sucking back" not pushing [in fact she would go short and chop with left hind during demonstration]
Energy flow right hind pushing too much, horse falling over left shoulder
Correction: left rein, left leg, applied whip if necessary [just a tap behind rider's leg moves shoulder to right and to straightness], open right rein, no pressure, no pull, soft right leg
pulling right rein causes jackknife
Meanwhile I had found my midsection when I got off and stood watching--felt like an inner tube right around the waist, stabilizing it. Had trouble maintaining it on the horse, kept wanting to roll seatbones from side to side in effort to "help" horse move forward. This caused her actually to get off balance and go hollow. I do not need to worry about stiffness through the middle or locking the hips at this stage; I have the opposite problem. Going for a very still, upright, quiet torso, hands up, pelvis straight, aids as above. The best image for me is to feel as if I'm lifting her withers rather than pushing her forward. Wither lift in my personal vocabulary puts together the aids required and the position I should achieve. So I go with it. 8)
Also have to work on the ADD--tendency for eyes to wander and get off the viewfinders, which makes me crooked, which makes the horse crooked.
Pandora thinks this is just fine, even if she does have to reprogram her body. It feels good, she says. And it means she gets lots of Attention. Attention is what it's all about.
Camilla's lesson was an exercise in improvisation. Teacher was still sitting at the table under the Party Tree, finishing up her notes, when Camilla was ready, so I brought her out to play outside the usual box. It was just 10 feet away from the arena, but it was a different set of coordinates in the GPS that is her brain, and she was Very Very Anxious. We worked on relaxing her tension in one spot, moving a few feet farther on, then repeating it. Teacher kept on going until we ended up all the way out at the intersection of our road and the next larger one--well away from the herd. It started as a leading and softening exercise, turned into in-hand work, with Teacher maintaining a complete stillness and calm no matter what Camilla tried to do. In the event, the worst she did was a little body-swinging; no eruptions, flying kicks, or tantrums. Mostly she was extremely looky and anxious, mapping the planet inch by inch. She was learning that tack means relaxation, drama queens don't get any satisfaction, and the world isn't so terrifying if you have your humans with you. She also learned that one does not need to get frantic when the situation changes; one can stay relaxed and not grab or bite at things and people, or have fits of temper.
Now she goes to one-on-one in the arena with me for a few weeks, back to her best comfort zone minus Teacher, with walkies thrown in at intervals. I'll see if I can get her balance under saddle sorted out and give her more work time.
This evening Pooka will try the bitcasacorona got rooked on from ebay: I tried the smaller one I have and he really liked it. If this one fits, he has a new bit. Naturally he would want the $90 superfancy KK bit. It will be nice if the seller's gyp turns into something we can use after all.
casacorona's, and part at Teacher's end of town--most of the horses involved don't have transport to one venue. Torture Lady will get the grand tour of Greater Tucson.Meanwhile I've been collecting the comments from the earlier post re. Horse Camp and have some thoughts--will put up a post on that realsoonnow. People have great ideas and really good input, and thanks! It's extremely helpful.
Stress of the week is Shadow the Doberman, who is at the end of the line. She's 15, 'way older than most Dobies get, and up until a couple of weeks ago was doddery but bouncy and cheerful. She had meds that were working, and she was still glossy and hungry for whatever I wanted to feed her. Then rather suddenly the weight dropped off her; last weekend was bad, with many falls, and she hasn't been improving. When she lies down or falls, she can't get up; I have to go and rescue her (just got in from retrieving her from a fall down the steps she usually negotiates without a problem). Her appointment with the vet is tomorrow morning. She's been getting lots of TLC this weekend, and gets to eat whatever and whenever she wants. She still recognizes me, though her other friends have receded from her memory, and she likes to be petted and talked to. The call when I made it felt right; it's time. That will be tomorrow's expedition.
Now then. Lessons. Pandora is over her muscle spasm; from the way it's evolved, I think she got a point-blank kick, recoiled, and spasmed herself. She was in standing, squatting heat this morning, which caused her to be a bit glommy on the side of the arena where Pooka was, but she was relaxed and willing and happy. We had one of our Killer Basics lessons, entirely in walk, which was much more interesting than it sounds. Focus was on me--sitting straight, stabilizing midsection, carrying hands. Then Teacher took over and worked on Pandora, asking her to raise her back and reach forward into the bridle. That is a beautiful horse when she has it together, and oh my the athleticism. Big, scopey mover with the Lipp balance and natural correctness. Hubba. The best part was watching her go from llama-neck, you-can't-make-me, to soft, contemplative, with floppy ears and a look of concentration as she figured out what she was being asked to do. Goal for June, says Teacher, is four solid circles on the aids in walk with me. (And canter with Teacher's help, which I will maintain.) Walk, not incidentally, is a hard gait to perfect because it's slow and lacks the natural push and bounce of trot or canter; the horse can get stuck or start pacing, and she has to generate a lot of oomph in order to carry herself properly.
Pandora has naturally wonderful gaits--dead-on rhythm and great balance--so though she's got a lot of crookedness and she likes to be in charge after her years in the pasture, the basic "dressageyness" of the horse is solid. She's got the famous Lipp mind, too: opinionated, self-aware, but willing and peoplecentric, and naturally inclined toward arena work. Part of my job is to get her out and about, which means among other things walkies away from the farm. Much fun yesterday evening when I took her out, Pooka had a literally screaming, rampaging fit, and about a quarter-mile out, I had 26 hands of screaming, yelling monster to deal with. Good thing she's had such good training in her life; nobody died or got trampled, nobody escaped, and we were able, with some effort, to calm things down and get home quietly and in one piece.
I also, toward dark, took Camilla out for shorter walkies, which is relevant. First time she's been out in quite a while.
Pandora
4-23-06
This one has a lot of graphics, so rough translation will have to do.
Props and kudos
-Pandora's attitude in general is much more quiet and willing--relaxed [or, daily work does pay off]
-topline muscling in neck is developing :) [So I noticed: she has a rope of muscle over the crest, rest of neck soft and developing a shape; she was, when she arrived, rather pencil-necked; now she's more like a swan, in a good way. The real and true test of correct training is the horse's musculature--no matter what the trainer may claim, if the horse has a lower-neck bulge and no muscling over the crest, that horse is being ridden wrong. Same applies to the rest of the topline, which can get hollow or collapse if the horse is hand-ridden or incorrectly trained.]
-patience and good humor exceptional on your part dealing with my pickyness [sic] and overly vigilant attention to the tiny details (can you say "OCD"?) [Trust me, I want this; it's the only way I'm going to ride well enough to [a] survive the clinic and [b] survive my roster of genetically engineered dressage machines]
Review
-Keep reins centered over withers--or withers centered between reins
[During Teacher's ride] The reason I was kicking [actually noodging without shifting position of leg] with left leg was because she was stuck--glued to Pooka--and I needed left hind leg push in order to get unstuck NOT more right rein.
graphic here: Horse's flow of energy right hind pushing over left shoulder. Pulling with rein WRONG! doesn't really work very well [pulls horse down over right shoulder, blocks inside hind, prevents balance and engagement] pulling on right rein: right hind pushing too much, left hind "sucking back" not pushing [in fact she would go short and chop with left hind during demonstration]
Energy flow right hind pushing too much, horse falling over left shoulder
Correction: left rein, left leg, applied whip if necessary [just a tap behind rider's leg moves shoulder to right and to straightness], open right rein, no pressure, no pull, soft right leg
pulling right rein causes jackknife
Meanwhile I had found my midsection when I got off and stood watching--felt like an inner tube right around the waist, stabilizing it. Had trouble maintaining it on the horse, kept wanting to roll seatbones from side to side in effort to "help" horse move forward. This caused her actually to get off balance and go hollow. I do not need to worry about stiffness through the middle or locking the hips at this stage; I have the opposite problem. Going for a very still, upright, quiet torso, hands up, pelvis straight, aids as above. The best image for me is to feel as if I'm lifting her withers rather than pushing her forward. Wither lift in my personal vocabulary puts together the aids required and the position I should achieve. So I go with it. 8)
Also have to work on the ADD--tendency for eyes to wander and get off the viewfinders, which makes me crooked, which makes the horse crooked.
Pandora thinks this is just fine, even if she does have to reprogram her body. It feels good, she says. And it means she gets lots of Attention. Attention is what it's all about.
Camilla's lesson was an exercise in improvisation. Teacher was still sitting at the table under the Party Tree, finishing up her notes, when Camilla was ready, so I brought her out to play outside the usual box. It was just 10 feet away from the arena, but it was a different set of coordinates in the GPS that is her brain, and she was Very Very Anxious. We worked on relaxing her tension in one spot, moving a few feet farther on, then repeating it. Teacher kept on going until we ended up all the way out at the intersection of our road and the next larger one--well away from the herd. It started as a leading and softening exercise, turned into in-hand work, with Teacher maintaining a complete stillness and calm no matter what Camilla tried to do. In the event, the worst she did was a little body-swinging; no eruptions, flying kicks, or tantrums. Mostly she was extremely looky and anxious, mapping the planet inch by inch. She was learning that tack means relaxation, drama queens don't get any satisfaction, and the world isn't so terrifying if you have your humans with you. She also learned that one does not need to get frantic when the situation changes; one can stay relaxed and not grab or bite at things and people, or have fits of temper.
Now she goes to one-on-one in the arena with me for a few weeks, back to her best comfort zone minus Teacher, with walkies thrown in at intervals. I'll see if I can get her balance under saddle sorted out and give her more work time.
This evening Pooka will try the bit
casacorona got rooked on from ebay: I tried the smaller one I have and he really liked it. If this one fits, he has a new bit. Naturally he would want the $90 superfancy KK bit. It will be nice if the seller's gyp turns into something we can use after all.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 03:13 pm (UTC)Which, y'know, is true for two-foots, too.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 05:55 pm (UTC)Joking, I'm joking! :)
Fat boy plucks at my clothes when he is particularly anxious. Step pluck step pluck step pluck.
Do they make horse pacifiers for the oral fixation?
no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 10:00 pm (UTC)As for this: It was just 10 feet away from the arena, but it was a different set of coordinates in the GPS that is her brain, and she was Very Very Anxious. We worked on relaxing her tension in one spot, moving a few feet farther on, then repeating it. Teacher kept on going until we ended up all the way out at the intersection of our road and the next larger one--well away from the herd. It started as a leading and softening exercise, turned into in-hand work, with Teacher maintaining a complete stillness and calm no matter what Camilla tried to do. In the event, the worst she did was a little body-swinging; no eruptions, flying kicks, or tantrums. Mostly she was extremely looky and anxious, mapping the planet inch by inch. She was learning that tack means relaxation, drama queens don't get any satisfaction, and the world isn't so terrifying if you have your humans with you. She also learned that one does not need to get frantic when the situation changes; one can stay relaxed and not grab or bite at things and people, or have fits of temper.
Wow. And right after last night. 1. How old is Camilla, again? 2. Please teleport teacher to BC- I promise to return her in one piece in time for your next lesson. 3. 10 feet is that bad, huh? Even if they have been there before. Cool. 4. complete stillness and calm no matter what Camilla tried to do. *sigh* maybe someday. amazing talent, that.
For the record, after JJ had some time in the field/pen/work area, just grazing with lead mare Shaughns for companionship and comfort (I heard pounding hooves....), and after I typed it all out and tried to find my zen (mediocre-ly successful, alas), she came to the fence, hung her head over and said "Can I go back now please?" and was lovely for the walk back. Today's session in the familiar round pen gym was quite good....
no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-23 10:43 pm (UTC)