dancing horses

dancing horses

Monday, May 8, 2017

Good Rides are Not Free

If you've been reading my blog lately you know that I have been having some really awesome rides. I was not foolish enough to think that 'bad' rides were behind us. And it's not that she hasn't been testing me periodically. Our good rides were the result of the work I did last year and being consistent this year.

Alternative Title: It must be a full moon. 


Part of me figured that once the grass and leaves came in enough to wave that there might be future issues. Today proved me right. I came home from work and had time to ride before dinner. It was windy and Carmen was definitely 'up'. I lunged her and she was definitely reactive to stuff. When I went to mount she scooted away. I brought her back and got on.

I definitely earned my stripes. She was reactive, tight, stiff and resistant. And I thought about dismounting but decided that I could work through this.

Alternative title: How to Tame Your Dragon

To be honest she didn't feel frightened to me. She felt not in the mood for this right now thankyouverymuch.  

So I started using the tools that I had in my disposal. Tools given to me by Royce, Karen, Shanea and Jane. I have to say that I think my seat is a LOT more solid then it has been. I kept to the plan that I had which was to use the ring and practice our transitions. She did a few mini bolts, lots of trying to NOT go places and calling on me to really ride. 

not so much fun to ride

I was happy that I did not get angry or scared or even upset. We had to work through this because there are going to be lots of times where's not sure or in the mood or want to do what I ask. 

And she has to do it anyway. 

Alternative Title: Just Do It, Horse

I realized that as we were going around she was ignoring my leg when I was asking her to go forward and she didn't want to. I stopped and picked up the crop. Now Carmen does not like the crop. She will kick at it or hump or shake her head. I decided that I didn't care about that. So we began the lesson of leg means go and if not then leg + crop means GO. 

Funnily enough our trot work had moments of feeling absolutely brilliant. Her canter transitions were effortless. But then it would be spoiled by sudden tension and stiffening her front legs and bouncing to a halt.  FYI- that is not comfortable. 

I tried to stay on task and ignore the grass. I understand that she doesn't like the grass blowing and we have a 2 year history of that causing difficulties. 

Alternative Title: Dramatic Spanish Mare is Dramatic

It was one of the more dramatic sessions I have had with Carmen and definitely the most this year.  But no way am I joining. Two drama Llamas are two too many. So I stuck to my plan of the moment. If I was asking for a walk transition at K and she spun away I returned to K and asked again. I wasn't looking for her to be okay with the waving grass- I was demanding that she focus on me anyway. 

an oldie but illustrative


And in the end it worked. 

Alternative Title: Stay the Course

In the end we had some reasonable work. I was able to walk, trot and canter all over the ring and have her listen to me. 

Make no mistake, if this happens in a test I will be lucky to break 40. 

But if I'm showing and she's like that and we manage to work through it anyway I will frame that test and be very happy. Because I would have earned it through my blood, sweat and tears. 







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37 comments:

  1. Very true. Good rides come from lots and lots of work beforehand. That's the joy of it all. I need to motivate myself to go out tonight.

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  2. Sounds like a tough test but good for you not letting her pull you into the drama :)

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    1. It's not easy- it's easier to get into the drama then stay above it.

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  3. It sounds like you are confident in the tools you've been given to get you out of a bind. I almost need a cheat sheet to remember all I've been taught.

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    1. no kidding! Sometimes I'm going around and I'm 'oh yeah this one!'

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  4. "To be honest she didn't feel frightened to me. She felt not in the mood for this right now thankyouverymuch." This is Nilla to a T. Except her version involves words best not used in polite company. I'm glad you worked through it.

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    1. I may have used some of those words. But not Carmen- because she is a LADY. :)

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  5. Glad she settled into the work a bit more and you accomplished your goals.

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    1. Well by that point my goals were pretty much a moving target.

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  6. Good for you for not playing into her drama. We had one of those tests in March and the scores were wretched but we made it through the entire test, so I don't care. Dramatic Spanish mares are so dramatic!

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    1. Thank you for this! I will see what happens.

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  7. It sounds like you made the very best of a difficult ride. God for you!

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  8. lol so much drama Carmen! way to stick it out tho!

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    1. Can I borrow Charlie for a bit? Pretty please?

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  9. Really good work! omg she is really testing you to bring your A game every ride!

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    1. Oh yeah. She's not going to be sweetness and light all the time....

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    1. Thank you! I know that you experience some similar dramas.

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  11. As always, I love your attitude towards her when she is "up".

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    1. Thank you! That's been my major learning from her. I am not a professional- hell I've only owned 4 horses in my life.

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  12. This sounds a lot like you're talking about Aria. I love your approach to Carmen's antics. And it's so true. You set an expectation and they must rise to meet it. If you aren't freaking out, they shouldn't be either.
    Riding in a gusty environment is so tough with the dramatic greenies. I feel like I haven't had a ride in the last month that didn't have some kind of wind shaking the trees!
    Seems like you're doing well together though.

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    1. I agree that they gustiness is not easy but at this point it's unusual for it to NOT be windy so she needs to suck it up.

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  13. Love when they're dishing out their worst and as a rider you feel like you've got the tools to deal with it and it's actually NBD, all going to be fine. Nicely done!

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  14. Yes! exactly what you have been working so hard for. So she knows she has to listen to you no matter her reasoning and you have the tools to make it happen

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  15. Nice work keeping true to the goal and remaining calm while she had her "moments". I know you've worked hard to get to that point and it's awesome that all of the skills you've been developing helped.

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    1. It's good to see it pay off and that we can become self-sufficient

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  16. Dressage: blood, sweat, tears. Amen and let's carry on!

    I wanted to answer your last comment about Mag's biopsy, I didn't mean to sound contrary when you tried to help with your experience with lumps on the back. I guess I should add that the lumps are around 6 inches (20cm?) down from the spine, in the middle of the back, so it's not a typical area for a saddle to create an issue in this concentrated way.

    I suppose I could be paranoid cuz of the tendency for grey horses to have tumors. And now that I like the horse I'm really paranoid.

    You owned 4 horses? What was the other one?

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    1. you weren't contrary. I only mentioned it because they looked like what Irish had. They were about 4-6 inches from his spine. I had various opinions from the vet from an allergic response to tumours to bug bites. A saddle fitter I knew on FB said that they could be from the saddle not fitting right. I poo-poohed her response and spent a long time washing Irish's back right after a ride. Then I got a new, better fitting saddle and they disappeared. So I'm not trying to armchair vet I just wanted to share my experience.

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  17. I love that you were able to work through it!!! It is never easy when horses test our buttons! I had to take several marriage and family therapy classes in school and one thing they always spoke about was that when you know someone really well you listen less to what they are actually saying and instead assume you know what they are saying. It sounds like Carmen assumed you didn't actually mean to work even though it is exactly what you wanted...but you got there in the end!! Persistence makes progress!! :)

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    1. Thanks. Sometimes a girl has gotta make a point.

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  18. Sometimes the horse just has to listen and we just gotta get down to it. Good job.

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    1. You are right. Sometimes you have to say 'this is my hill'

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  19. Good for you for sticking it out. And good for Carmen for listening :)

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