Neeee-reeeep!
Jun. 8th, 2006 02:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseAfter last week's discouraging lesson and a week of rain, thunder, water outage, tendon owies, and other delights, it was good to have a good lesson again today. Da Pook was delighted to get the nod, though he needed a long free longe beforehand, complete with some of his patented dolphin dances, a fair amount of rampsnorting at Pandora who is in heat and who was in the run at ringside (but when I told her we were working, she calmly and kindly retreated to her pen and her breakfast), and a lot of demonstration that the Boa Boots were indeed an excellent choice. This included (after last night's rains), a very nice wipeout in the mud by the stock tank, in which he went down in slo-mo, muddied but did not damage his saddle, and got up with his usual catlike air of "I Meant to Do That." He has great breakover in the boots, and though his feet look very weird (like a kid in ginormous track shoes), he moves wonderfully.
When he stopped, I tried mounting, but knew within three strides that that was not a good idea. Sensation of bomb about to go off. I bailed and told him to finish getting his bucks out. Which he did, until he had a soft eye and a quieter mind. He stopped exactly between Teacher (who was running with him because the injured leg is now painless but is still weak and buckles when I try to run) and me, and said, "OK, you tell me what's next." Then he was ready.
I talked to Teacher about last week's problems. She said she had had a series of amazing rides that day, before and after my lesson, but the Radical Stupids resurfaced for her the following day, when she tried to ride keed and she couldn't even find her seatbones, let alone do anything with them. Keed nearly tossed her yesterday, too: they had had a fantastic ride, nearly to piaffe in trot collection, and a wonderful canter in one direction. He then said he was done, he'd given as much as he had to offer that day, but as trainers will, she said he had to do the other direction, too. He pissed his way into it, cow-kicked, then kicked up his whole back end and damn near launched her over his head--but just before she went flying, he tucked his butt and did a slither and caught her right in the middle of the saddle.
Point taken. Keed is so good for her. He loves to play with her (unless she's being a brat about it), he has enough conformation and attitude problems to be interesting and more than enough talent to be worthwhile, and he gives as good as he gets. All of which was by way of saying, she has her off days, too, and she can feel even more incompetent than I am. After all she's the trainer and she's paid to do this. If she screws up, it's not just her hobby, it's her job.
Which is a very good point. She reassured me that I can ride Pandora as she really should be ridden, I just have to be patient and keep working toward it. I'm riding Pooka so much better, there's no comparison with what I used to do. I was able to sit straight with less prompting than usual, keep my elbows where they belonged, and think the bend rather than making it happen with reins. I'm supposed to remember the sensation of plugging in the seat, keeping his various protruberances in place, and when he throws a shoulder, squeeze the opposite side of the cantle over with the seat. (And, as with Pandora, when he's determinedly crooked, shift my hands over to the side in which he wants to be a banana.) She noted that she's watching and transcribing my clinic lesson with Capria, and when TL had me perfectly straight, my left-hand problem disappears. Straightness is key for me as well as for the horse.
All of this was only in the walk; we need to ramp it up to trot, but for now we're taking it gradually. Probably I'll try a trot in a schooling ride realsoonnow. I noted that it's just as well I'm not trying to take him to Dallas in five weeks. It's a better and more realistic goal to have him up to the level of Capria's lesson with TL by the time she comes back in October. By next year he'll be up for a clinic at the SRS level, but for now it's steady as he goes.
I purely do love riding my Pooka. Working with him on anything really. He is such a soft horse and so very focused, and he fits me perfectly. I can get a correct position on him with minimal effort, and keeping my elbows bent is easy. All the controls are exactly where I can reach them, and while his hypersensitivity means I have to really be focused no matter what (not to mention the testosterone factor), there's this sense of symbiosis that I don't get with any other horse. Not to say it's perfect; we have our issues and sometimes we go head to head. But it's an amazing partnership.
I felt so good after I rode him (and it was still relatively cool and lovely after last night's waves of storms) that I went and fetched Camilla. She's been a bee-yotch the past few days, not at all amused to be persistently neglected. No use explaining to her that every time I line up her tack for a session, the lightning moves in and it is Not A Good Idea. Yesterday she was kicking at me out of sheer stinkiness. Today I saddled her up and brought her out, found her fairly soft for the bit work but in no shape for a ride. She was spooky, looky, and generally not up for serious work. After a bit of in-hand work, which was all about her not having enough focus to think straight, I took off the reins and we had a very nice free longe in trot and canter. Good self-control on her part, good focus, great expression and to-die-for gaits. There's nothing quite like the War Mare doing her power float around me, with every stride perfectly measured. The closest analogy really is the Imperial battle cruiser booming overhead at the beginning of Star Wars.
She didn't want to stop, which was good; and her attitude was Much improved. I gave her hay and turned her loose and fetched Pandora. By then the heat was coming up, but it wasn't so bad it wasn't workable. She was waiting for her turn and glad to get it.
Very interesting after riding Pooka, doing my homework which was to ride her the same way. She's literally twice the size, of course, and she is Really determined to push into my right seatbone, kink her neck to the left, and set rigid. It's also much harder to find her spine and get into her back; she wants to drop away or just not be there. Per Teacher's instructions, I stayed with her, experimented with various ramifications of aids, and finally got enough softness going right that I could ask for a trot. Again the goal was softness, as much straightness as she would give, and not getting into a tug of war (Elbows, dammit, Elbows!). When circles didn't seem to be having much effect, I decided to try squares--and bingo. Just what she needed. Going straight, then making the 90-degree turn, seems to make sense to her at this stage, and she doesn't try to grab the wheel and do the circle her way instead of mine. She was quite cheerful about doing her squares, lightened and softened nicely and gave me her back as well as she ever has. We were both very pleased.
Capria still needs a ride, but by the time I finished with Pandora it was nasty-hot and I was knackered. Now there's a thunderhead sitting right on top of us and it's spitting rain. Rather nice actually, in a heavy, wet, un-desert-y sort of way.
When he stopped, I tried mounting, but knew within three strides that that was not a good idea. Sensation of bomb about to go off. I bailed and told him to finish getting his bucks out. Which he did, until he had a soft eye and a quieter mind. He stopped exactly between Teacher (who was running with him because the injured leg is now painless but is still weak and buckles when I try to run) and me, and said, "OK, you tell me what's next." Then he was ready.
I talked to Teacher about last week's problems. She said she had had a series of amazing rides that day, before and after my lesson, but the Radical Stupids resurfaced for her the following day, when she tried to ride keed and she couldn't even find her seatbones, let alone do anything with them. Keed nearly tossed her yesterday, too: they had had a fantastic ride, nearly to piaffe in trot collection, and a wonderful canter in one direction. He then said he was done, he'd given as much as he had to offer that day, but as trainers will, she said he had to do the other direction, too. He pissed his way into it, cow-kicked, then kicked up his whole back end and damn near launched her over his head--but just before she went flying, he tucked his butt and did a slither and caught her right in the middle of the saddle.
Point taken. Keed is so good for her. He loves to play with her (unless she's being a brat about it), he has enough conformation and attitude problems to be interesting and more than enough talent to be worthwhile, and he gives as good as he gets. All of which was by way of saying, she has her off days, too, and she can feel even more incompetent than I am. After all she's the trainer and she's paid to do this. If she screws up, it's not just her hobby, it's her job.
Which is a very good point. She reassured me that I can ride Pandora as she really should be ridden, I just have to be patient and keep working toward it. I'm riding Pooka so much better, there's no comparison with what I used to do. I was able to sit straight with less prompting than usual, keep my elbows where they belonged, and think the bend rather than making it happen with reins. I'm supposed to remember the sensation of plugging in the seat, keeping his various protruberances in place, and when he throws a shoulder, squeeze the opposite side of the cantle over with the seat. (And, as with Pandora, when he's determinedly crooked, shift my hands over to the side in which he wants to be a banana.) She noted that she's watching and transcribing my clinic lesson with Capria, and when TL had me perfectly straight, my left-hand problem disappears. Straightness is key for me as well as for the horse.
All of this was only in the walk; we need to ramp it up to trot, but for now we're taking it gradually. Probably I'll try a trot in a schooling ride realsoonnow. I noted that it's just as well I'm not trying to take him to Dallas in five weeks. It's a better and more realistic goal to have him up to the level of Capria's lesson with TL by the time she comes back in October. By next year he'll be up for a clinic at the SRS level, but for now it's steady as he goes.
I purely do love riding my Pooka. Working with him on anything really. He is such a soft horse and so very focused, and he fits me perfectly. I can get a correct position on him with minimal effort, and keeping my elbows bent is easy. All the controls are exactly where I can reach them, and while his hypersensitivity means I have to really be focused no matter what (not to mention the testosterone factor), there's this sense of symbiosis that I don't get with any other horse. Not to say it's perfect; we have our issues and sometimes we go head to head. But it's an amazing partnership.
I felt so good after I rode him (and it was still relatively cool and lovely after last night's waves of storms) that I went and fetched Camilla. She's been a bee-yotch the past few days, not at all amused to be persistently neglected. No use explaining to her that every time I line up her tack for a session, the lightning moves in and it is Not A Good Idea. Yesterday she was kicking at me out of sheer stinkiness. Today I saddled her up and brought her out, found her fairly soft for the bit work but in no shape for a ride. She was spooky, looky, and generally not up for serious work. After a bit of in-hand work, which was all about her not having enough focus to think straight, I took off the reins and we had a very nice free longe in trot and canter. Good self-control on her part, good focus, great expression and to-die-for gaits. There's nothing quite like the War Mare doing her power float around me, with every stride perfectly measured. The closest analogy really is the Imperial battle cruiser booming overhead at the beginning of Star Wars.
She didn't want to stop, which was good; and her attitude was Much improved. I gave her hay and turned her loose and fetched Pandora. By then the heat was coming up, but it wasn't so bad it wasn't workable. She was waiting for her turn and glad to get it.
Very interesting after riding Pooka, doing my homework which was to ride her the same way. She's literally twice the size, of course, and she is Really determined to push into my right seatbone, kink her neck to the left, and set rigid. It's also much harder to find her spine and get into her back; she wants to drop away or just not be there. Per Teacher's instructions, I stayed with her, experimented with various ramifications of aids, and finally got enough softness going right that I could ask for a trot. Again the goal was softness, as much straightness as she would give, and not getting into a tug of war (Elbows, dammit, Elbows!). When circles didn't seem to be having much effect, I decided to try squares--and bingo. Just what she needed. Going straight, then making the 90-degree turn, seems to make sense to her at this stage, and she doesn't try to grab the wheel and do the circle her way instead of mine. She was quite cheerful about doing her squares, lightened and softened nicely and gave me her back as well as she ever has. We were both very pleased.
Capria still needs a ride, but by the time I finished with Pandora it was nasty-hot and I was knackered. Now there's a thunderhead sitting right on top of us and it's spitting rain. Rather nice actually, in a heavy, wet, un-desert-y sort of way.
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"ELBOWS!"
Date: 2006-06-08 10:22 pm (UTC)And YAY! for Boa Boots and the return of da Pook!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-09 01:22 am (UTC)Glad to hear Pooka is back in action. :)
- Sean
no subject
Date: 2006-06-09 01:58 am (UTC)Air Pookas.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-09 03:37 pm (UTC)also, dancinghorse, I meant to tell you - I saw marquis boots in action at the clinic, and while they are nice, I'm not sure they are worth the extra cost - so go you for choosing the boas!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-09 06:07 pm (UTC)