Friday, June 3, 2016

Half and Half

Poor Stinker has been getting tormented lately.  I have been splitting my lessons with S, so I ride the first half then she rides the second half.  I want him to be well schooled enough that other people besides me can ride him without him deciding the world is going to end.

Someone had his bitch face on

I was actually surprised the first lesson, because he was really relaxed and going really well.  But when S got on him he got really anxious.  He has been so much more relaxed with me I thought it was going to carry over more than it did.  Especially since S is a better rider than me and she is also very soft and balanced.  He wasn't bad, just a little bouncier and carried more tension.

Maybe because I do things like laugh and take pictures
instead of saving him from the bonnet.

The second time, I was pleasantly surprised.  We had gotten a bunch of rain, so the dressage ring was sloppy and I decided to go to the stadium field instead (Stinker doesn't like wet footing.  I think it is harder for his hind end).  I haven't ridden him up there a ton because I tend to stick to the hills when I have him out of the ring and that pasture is flatter.  I was expecting him to be more nervous, but he settled nicely and we even did some trot work.

It has gotten freaking hot.  This is from 20 min of mostly walking.

That may sound a little silly but it was our first trot work out of the ring since the start of the new program in January.  I was really pleased with him because it was basically the same as it has been in the ring.  Yay for progress!!  I played with him over poles a bit and damn he gets a big lofty trot over the poles.  He doesn't have the strength to maintain it yet, but I need to get my act together so I can ride me horse.

He is getting to be so much better on trail rides!

He was really good for S when she got on him.  He was anxious, but very willing and was trying despite having, "OMG this is different" written all over his face.  Hopefully, I can get him used to S and get him started on understanding that other people can ride him and the world isn't going to come crashing down.

12 comments:

  1. I think its good for his brain to work through two riders like that! With the same instruction I would imagine that carries over consistency but he would have to adapt to each of you which will make him more resilient :)

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    1. Yes I just need to get him past the OMG different stage.

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  2. Yay! He's come so far in the time I've been reading your blog. He'll get used to another rider eventually (something that is very good for them!). Also, what's with the girth? I finally noticed it looks quite different from a "normal" girth.

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    1. It is an H girth. It is supposed to help stabilize the saddle and is found more commonly in the UK but no one knows about it in the US. It was recommended by the saddle fitter and she gifted it to me with the purchase of the saddle so I said why not. It just took awhile to actually get since he is way smaller than most horses she works with.

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    2. I bet it distributes pressure a lot better too. So interesting! Do a review for us sometime!

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    3. I can manage that. I am betting the rate limiting factor will be cleaning it to get pictures...

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  3. Splitting lessons is an interesting concept! Glad its working out :)

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    1. It is one of my many schemes. Basically I wanted S to ride him but I also really wanted to ride so I decided to have my cake and eat it too.

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  4. Oh that bitch face tho!! Haha he's quite expressive eh? Glad to hear he is mostly figuring out the rides with S too!

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    1. Just a wee bit expressive. Me too. I want him to be well rounded.

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  5. Replies
    1. Thanks! I am pretty fond of it and it matches his sparkles. :)

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