Thursday, June 17, 2010
It Must be in the Water
I don't know what it is but Holly was great again tonight. I'd love to know what has changed so much that she is happy and relaxed under saddle now. I rode her in my saddle tonight and she was still the same as she has been for the past week. I used a Cashel lollipop pad to raise the cantle up and make the saddle more level, that did seem to help my balance. I think she's back in season now so that is even more amazing. Oh well, I guess I need to stop questioning it and just keep enjoying it!
Hey, That's a Thought, Actually RIDE the Horse!
Get ready, this is a long one since I have so much to tell! It's all about Holly today. So... after our last unhappy bareback ride I decided to wait until Holly was not in season to ride her again. I wanted to see how much of a difference that made in her behavior. However, I did not rule out the saddle and my riding as potential causes to her swiftness.
Last week a friend offered to let me try her saddle, which is a medium tree. She came down on Thursday and I had her get on first to see if there was a big difference. The transformation was astounding! Holly was super relaxed, even lazy! When I got on she was the same. The biggest difference I noticed with the saddle was my riding. My saddle is SO flat and actually sits uphill on her back so it is very difficult to stay balanced. My friend's saddle is much better balanced and sits level on Holly. It has a deeper seat and is so easy to sit in even though it has no blocks or rolls under the flap. I was so happy I can not even describe it! "I've finally found the problem!" I thought, at last. However, when I was untacking her I realized that she seemed more mellow than normal. Not depressed or unhappy, just utterly relaxed. It was a hot and sticky night so maybe that was why she was so good. My friend left her saddle with me for the weekend so I could try it again.
On Friday morning Holly was still in the same mood (it was again very hot and muggy) so I put my saddle on to see if there was a difference in her. Oddly, she was just the same as she had been with the other saddle. Hmmm. I put my friend's saddle back on and that's when I finally found half of the problem. You see, every horse reacts to things differently. Some of them are very predictable in the way they react. Henry, for example, backs up when he doesn't like something. Mojo spins away, and Holly...you guessed it...she just runs over anything she doesn't like. Even though I rode her for five minutes in my saddle, she thought she was finished for the day and was going to get treats and go back to munching hay. When I put a saddle back on her she gave me a bewildered stare. When I led her back to the mounting block she looked incredulous. When I got on her for the second time she was downright indignant, and when I finally asked her to trot she expressed her displeasure with a swift departure.
What is funny is that she really did not want to work at all and so she kept trying to walk. I would squeeze her forward and, annoyed, she would speed off again. It was actually really amusing. At last, I realized that this is just her way of expressing when she feels anything other than happy, relaxed, and ready to work. Since this is obviously her personality I am going to have to figure out a way to keep her listening to me even when she doesn't feel like it. On to the second half of the problem....
I started to concentrate on my riding and very quickly realized that I had stopped "riding" Holly a long time ago. I had become a passenger and Holly had been taking advantage. I have some ideas as to why I was riding that way, but no matter. As soon as I realized what was going on I became more engaged. I noticed that she speeds up in specific areas around the field, and she tries to walk in different areas. First we addressed the steering. I held my ground and made her trot where I wanted her to trot, instead of following the paths she usually likes to take. That was easy enough. Next, I tackled our pace. Just before a speed zone I actually did what so many have tried to tell me...I sat up. I know, totally crazy right?! This was not sitting up like before. Before I would just bring my shoulders back. I finally realized that I had to act, with my whole body, like I was going to ask her to walk and then just refrained from sitting and saying "walk". She actually slowed down. Let me repeat, she actually SLOWED DOWN! If anyone had watched me at that moment they would have seen the brightest damn light bulb over my head. Not only did I finally employ a proper "sit up", but I also redirected her before the speed zones so that she didn't know where we were going. In one area that meant making a smallish turn back up the hill whence we came, and then making a large circle past another speed zone. It was like a figure eight but more like an actual written eight, where the top hole is smaller than the bottom. The last thing to address was the slowing down, which was part of the pace adjustment. In between circling and sitting up I really pushed her forward. The result? I think we held a fairly even pace on a loose rein and Holly for the first time started to wait and listen to me. She tried to have her own way a bit but by the end she was waiting for me to tell her what to do. It was the best ride I'd had on her since the first day I jumped her!
We did a little cantering that morning but not much. It wasn't bad either but we didn't spend very much time on it. I gave her Saturday off and then rode her Sunday afternoon. To date I think Sunday's ride was the best I've ever ridden her. She was relaxed, happy, we went around on a loose rein and I used the "sit up" whenever she got a little quick, which was barely at all. What made the ride spectacular though was that we cantered around the whole field on a loose rein! We've NEVER done that before. She was listening and happy, and I was ecstatic. A trick I used was that I asked her to canter out of nowhere with no buildup and fairly soon into the ride. She wasn't expecting it and so didn't have time to anticipate it. She came back to the trot just as happy and relaxed as she had been before. She seemed to like that better than trotting for a while and cantering near the end of the ride.
Tuesday morning I rode her again but only for a very short time because I was trying out a brand new saddle. She was very lazy and I had to use a fair amount of leg to keep her going. The saddle didn't work out, it puts me too far forward, but I loved the ride.
Well that brings us up to date. I hope to ride her again today if I can get home with enough time. Hopefully I can keep up the good work. I'm hunting for a new saddle, one that is better balanced. In the meantime I'm going to try my saddle with a variety of pads to see if I can make it sit level. Wish me luck!
Last week a friend offered to let me try her saddle, which is a medium tree. She came down on Thursday and I had her get on first to see if there was a big difference. The transformation was astounding! Holly was super relaxed, even lazy! When I got on she was the same. The biggest difference I noticed with the saddle was my riding. My saddle is SO flat and actually sits uphill on her back so it is very difficult to stay balanced. My friend's saddle is much better balanced and sits level on Holly. It has a deeper seat and is so easy to sit in even though it has no blocks or rolls under the flap. I was so happy I can not even describe it! "I've finally found the problem!" I thought, at last. However, when I was untacking her I realized that she seemed more mellow than normal. Not depressed or unhappy, just utterly relaxed. It was a hot and sticky night so maybe that was why she was so good. My friend left her saddle with me for the weekend so I could try it again.
On Friday morning Holly was still in the same mood (it was again very hot and muggy) so I put my saddle on to see if there was a difference in her. Oddly, she was just the same as she had been with the other saddle. Hmmm. I put my friend's saddle back on and that's when I finally found half of the problem. You see, every horse reacts to things differently. Some of them are very predictable in the way they react. Henry, for example, backs up when he doesn't like something. Mojo spins away, and Holly...you guessed it...she just runs over anything she doesn't like. Even though I rode her for five minutes in my saddle, she thought she was finished for the day and was going to get treats and go back to munching hay. When I put a saddle back on her she gave me a bewildered stare. When I led her back to the mounting block she looked incredulous. When I got on her for the second time she was downright indignant, and when I finally asked her to trot she expressed her displeasure with a swift departure.
What is funny is that she really did not want to work at all and so she kept trying to walk. I would squeeze her forward and, annoyed, she would speed off again. It was actually really amusing. At last, I realized that this is just her way of expressing when she feels anything other than happy, relaxed, and ready to work. Since this is obviously her personality I am going to have to figure out a way to keep her listening to me even when she doesn't feel like it. On to the second half of the problem....
I started to concentrate on my riding and very quickly realized that I had stopped "riding" Holly a long time ago. I had become a passenger and Holly had been taking advantage. I have some ideas as to why I was riding that way, but no matter. As soon as I realized what was going on I became more engaged. I noticed that she speeds up in specific areas around the field, and she tries to walk in different areas. First we addressed the steering. I held my ground and made her trot where I wanted her to trot, instead of following the paths she usually likes to take. That was easy enough. Next, I tackled our pace. Just before a speed zone I actually did what so many have tried to tell me...I sat up. I know, totally crazy right?! This was not sitting up like before. Before I would just bring my shoulders back. I finally realized that I had to act, with my whole body, like I was going to ask her to walk and then just refrained from sitting and saying "walk". She actually slowed down. Let me repeat, she actually SLOWED DOWN! If anyone had watched me at that moment they would have seen the brightest damn light bulb over my head. Not only did I finally employ a proper "sit up", but I also redirected her before the speed zones so that she didn't know where we were going. In one area that meant making a smallish turn back up the hill whence we came, and then making a large circle past another speed zone. It was like a figure eight but more like an actual written eight, where the top hole is smaller than the bottom. The last thing to address was the slowing down, which was part of the pace adjustment. In between circling and sitting up I really pushed her forward. The result? I think we held a fairly even pace on a loose rein and Holly for the first time started to wait and listen to me. She tried to have her own way a bit but by the end she was waiting for me to tell her what to do. It was the best ride I'd had on her since the first day I jumped her!
We did a little cantering that morning but not much. It wasn't bad either but we didn't spend very much time on it. I gave her Saturday off and then rode her Sunday afternoon. To date I think Sunday's ride was the best I've ever ridden her. She was relaxed, happy, we went around on a loose rein and I used the "sit up" whenever she got a little quick, which was barely at all. What made the ride spectacular though was that we cantered around the whole field on a loose rein! We've NEVER done that before. She was listening and happy, and I was ecstatic. A trick I used was that I asked her to canter out of nowhere with no buildup and fairly soon into the ride. She wasn't expecting it and so didn't have time to anticipate it. She came back to the trot just as happy and relaxed as she had been before. She seemed to like that better than trotting for a while and cantering near the end of the ride.
Tuesday morning I rode her again but only for a very short time because I was trying out a brand new saddle. She was very lazy and I had to use a fair amount of leg to keep her going. The saddle didn't work out, it puts me too far forward, but I loved the ride.
Well that brings us up to date. I hope to ride her again today if I can get home with enough time. Hopefully I can keep up the good work. I'm hunting for a new saddle, one that is better balanced. In the meantime I'm going to try my saddle with a variety of pads to see if I can make it sit level. Wish me luck!
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