Hand Gallop Blog Hop: Fit to Ride

I love blog hops!

The awesome Stephanie over at Hand Gallop posed this question last week and I'm finally getting around to answer it.

What do you do to stay fit to ride?

I'm probably to write this up and then crawl into a hole in shame because I have been so inconsistent with my own fitness lately.

-- Walking.  I've been trying to up my endurance level so that I can ride longer without getting tired. I can't run very much at all, so that is a goal. So far I only do good on this if I stay consistent and run every day. Some days I just do a cardio video instead.

-- Strength training:  I do this about 2-3x per week and I usually use videos to help me. Without the videos I'll give up and quit halfway through a routine. Usually, I focus on my legs and back/abs. I'm trying to work on my shoulders more, but they are so weak that I still have trouble with pushups, so its a slow process. I do a lot of squats, calf raises, planks and any ab exercises that do not involve crunching.

-- Stretching: I am horrible in the area of flexibility so I have to remember to stretch daily. I also ride better if I stretch beforehand (which I rarely do...).

-- Diet:  My health issues are a subject for another entire post, but suffice it to say that food allergies and their subsequent results make it difficult to eat in general. That, and I am in love with ice cream. Yummy. When I focus on cutting all corn and corn byproducts out, limiting breads and sugar, and eating lots of vegetables, then I'm doing super good and can keep my weight up.  :)

Thank you Stephanie!  I need this boost to get me back on track and do all these things again.

Mostly-Good Ride

Saturday was the day I finally saddled up and rode again! It took me all week to get out there for enough time to actually ride more than back and forth between pastures.

Since I got my stirrup leathers punched with more holes I was able to properly work on my two point some. I didn't time anything (boo!), but I'll try to get that tomorrow. So far, working on 2 point has been frustrating because my balance is SO bad... I do best at the halt and the trot, but have to concentrate or I fall forward or backwards.

She looks so chubby!  I promise, its not that bad...

Lady is always so people-oriented when I ride that she kept wandering over to the spot where my dad and brothers were building a porch (at least I think it was a porch). Of course, once she would get close then she would get worried about the power tools and such like and want to leave. Crazy equine.

I didn't have a good enough plan to work with, so we went over some basics. She's been a little disrespectful about listening to my aids under saddle and acting like she can't hear my legs through the saddle flaps/girth.

We worked especially on moving the hindquarters around and not just moving the whole body over. Legs in different spots mean different things, Lady-horse. She was getting better about that when we finished.

Modelling her new hackamore. I like it!

The other issue that I'm trying to solve is her bracy-ness against a direct rein. Being a former western horse, she neck reins well, but just basic steering through putting pressure on her head makes her bracy and stiff. Maybe this is part of the bitting issue?
I'm not ruling out a physical issue on this, but I will continue to insist that she put some effort into bending when I ask for it with a rein. I'll also talk to the dentist about it whenever I get her out to balance Lady's teeth. There could be something going on inside there.

We had a little hack out after we finished schooling and I probably rode for about 20 minutes. Nothing strenuous or difficult, just basics, but I do want to slowly up the bar for her fitness and mine (as well as training). Soon.

I changed things up. Now we're both redheads!

The only selfies I take... lol!

SFTS Blog Hop: That One Thing

This blog hop is totally to satisfy my hidden desire to buy ALL THE THINGS for both me and my horse.  Since I can't actually do that, I have to write about it.

It comes in two parts...

First, I wanna know: what is the ONE piece of tack (or clothing) that you simply cannot live without? Put function aside for a moment and try to decide which piece of your tack ho collection is your favorite. It can be anything for you, or for your horse. Second, I'd like to know what you're currently saving up for or lusting after. Basically, what item do you have your eyes set on right now? If someone handed you enough money, what would be the first thing to buy on your list? 

My favorite thing right now has to be my saddle. It's the first leather saddle I've owned and even though it isn't a super high quality saddle or anything, I love the smell and feel of it. 

I'm not saving up right now for anything that I want, but if someone gave me the money, I would just love to have a pair of fancy tall boots. Real, pretty, fancy leather tall boots.  Just....  *sighs dreamily*

A Horsemanship Challenge!

One of my favorite sessions of the Parelli clinic last weekend was the Four Savvys Challenge.  In this one, Linda brought out four different horses and riders and had them go through a set of challenges. It was intriguing to watch and learn.
Here they are for your interest... 4 sets of "can you's".

On Line, or working with a horse on the ground with various lengths of lead.

• Can you back your horse across an arena, quietly and straight?
• Can you send your horse sideways down a fence at a trot?
• Can you put your horse's nose and then their front feet on an object?
• Can you keep your feet still, put your horse on a circle around you, and make 3 trot-walk transitions?

Liberty, or working with a horse on the ground without a halter or lead at all.

• Can you pick up all 4 of your horse's feet from one side (one at a time, of course!)?
• Can you get your horse to stay with you in an open arena and walk, trot, and canter alongside you?
• Can you send your horse sideways over barrels laying down?
• Can you send your horse out and away from you in an arena and then bring her back without moving your feet?  This one is hard!

Freestyle, or riding either without reins or on a completely loose rein.

• Can you, without reins, do a turn/pivot on the forehand, and one on the hindquarters?
• Can you circle the whole arena at the walk, trot, and canter?
• Can you move sideways over a barrel?
• Can you push a big ball across the arena?

Finesse, or the art of riding with a soft touch/connection to the bit.

• Can you jog around the arena on a loose rein and come back to a walk without reins?
• Can you, while walking, pick up a soft touch, stop, and back up 6 steps?
• Can you trot in a large circle with a soft touch, spiral in on the circle and then leg yield back out?
• Can you do a hand gallop around the arena, come across the diagonal and do a flying change? Then loosen reins and come down to a walk/halt?

How many of these can you do successfully?

Parelli Clinic - Day Two

Sunday, day two of The Future of Horsemanship tour was equally as good as the first day, if not better in some ways.

The first session of the day was about the elements of performance, something that I hadn't heard or learned about before. A good part of this session focused on being barn or gate sour. The horse has to learn to find relief from you and not from the gate or the barn and this is usually done by creating other sweet spots in the arena.

• When passing the gate, ask for more speed, or more effort.
• Head towards the gate, but turn away and ask for more speed.
• Go past or turn away from the gate and then stop or give relief.
• The middle of the arena is a good sweet spot to have.

Super awesome performance demonstration  in between sessions.

Other points that I took home:

• The horse has to yield to pressure not only with his head and neck, but also with his feet. No brace anywhere.
• The horse should yield without a change in rhythm or energy, especially when yielding from the rider's leg.

Linda came out to do the second session with her gorgeous horse Highland. This horse has an amazing story. He has had major issues from past training experiences and is just super talented, especially in jumping.

He still gets worried sometimes, but is so adorable now. He jumped just about everything in the arena. The session with him was a lot of demonstration about how to get rid of tension and keeping the horse connected to you at shows or in show-like environments.

In between, Pat came out and did the most beautiful spotlight with his son Caton. The two of them had just come in from the Quarter Horse Congress and both were in top form. Tear-jerking indeed.

Love these dogs of Linda's!  So cute :D

It's been years since I got a picture.  Happy now :)

The last session of the day was quite amusing. They brought out a bunch of scary stuff and worked with a whole group of horses on bringing up confidence.

My pictures are horrible, but you get the idea.

These zebras. Absolutely the best thing ever. I Want One!

Working with a tarp.

Teeter-totter!

Some takeaways from this session (besides really seeing approach and retreat in action):

• Turn the tail away from what scares the horse.
• Allow curiosity.
• Don't allow bad experiences. Let the horse try and set it up for success.
• Confidence training is not the same as desensitization.

Lots of great things over the weekend.  I've got one more post about one of Saturday's sessions to write yet, and its very relatable, so stay tuned.  :)

Parelli Clinic - Day One

I spent Saturday and Sunday at The Future of Horsemanship tour put on by Pat and Linda Parelli, two of my favorite clinicians. This tour was focused on more aspects of performance than anything I have seen in the past, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Well, I enjoyed everything except the 2 hour drive one way that we made both days. Lots of time spent in the car.

Saturday started out with one of the sessions that I've seen so many times in all my years attending the Parelli tour stops, but this time it was different. All the times before, Pat has taken a local horse, talked to its owner, and then worked with the horse for up to 2 hours until its most major issues had improved. This time, Pat gave instruction and helped the owner learn along with his horse.

The horse was a lovely Arab/Morgan who also had some interesting problems: not letting people ride her, kicking whenever her hind legs were messed with, bracing and so on. By the end of the 2 hour session, the young man was able to touch the horse's back legs, have her understand basic instructions, and he knew a lot more about how to slow down and give the horse time to process and think.
It was different than I had seen before and I really enjoyed it.
Takeaways from session 1:

• The little things are more important than we think they are.
• Patience is important. Give the horse time to process.

I didn't get any good pictures from the second session, but it was about the different "personalities" of horses and a few strategies on how to work with each one. Linda brought out four different horses and showed all of this in action.

The fearful, fractious horse that can't stand still:

• Telling them 'no' only makes them worse.
• Alternate encouraging them to run and leaving them alone to relax. 
• They have to try, we can't force them to make a change.

The naughty, playful, dominant horse that can't stand still:

• Control your energy, go from strong to soft, keep them interested.
• Have a plan, a focus. Be provocative. Be faster with decisions.
• They will quickly assess how weak you are and take advantage.
• Don't give them time to be naughty. Always something new.

The quiet fearful horse that has a hard time moving (can't move):

• Don't push them hard, stay very soft in energy.
• Work very slowly on the same thing for a long time.
• They are emotionally sensitive and its easy to offend them.
• When asking for a little more effort, be satisfied with a little bit at a time.

The dominant reluctant horse who simply won't move:

• Move slowly but be very particular in your questions.
• Be intense. Ask slowly and then "bite".
• Ask for slower than they want to go. Blow their mind.
• Reward before they get bored or frustrated.

Pat came out again after the second session and talked about horsemanship in general again, and specifically about the type of support you surround yourself with.  The people you need to be around ought to put the relationship first (with horses and other people), ought to have or be putting down a great foundation in everything they do, and constantly be focused on never ending self improvement.

Christi Rains, an instructor, showing off with her lovely horse.

Giveaways! This was fun too. ;)

Strewn About

If you read yesterday's post you actually got to see (or rather, read) me melt down over some of the problems in life. Yeah... I don't ever do that either online or in public.   

Don't judge me, not for being human!  *cowers in a corner*

Today and tomorrow are both being spent at the Parelli tour stop entitled The Future of Horsemanship. One of the things I'm most hoping to take away from this event is how to keep the horse engaged while still going into a specific discipline. Even though I don't plan on competing with Lady, things still seem to fall apart whenever I narrow my focus, so hopefully I'll come away with some good things.

As far as the strange saddle/girth issues, I'm going to continue with the saddle I have, knowing that it fits better than my other one. 

I will not use the leather girth with elastic that came with the saddle since she definitely did not approve of it.. Instead I will continue using my cheaper but wider black girth (no matching... sad) that for the most part she seems to be okay with.

I know that by shortening my stirrups two holes I will be able to work on my 2point better (sorry, L Williams, but I just didn't end up getting an updated time this week!) and therefore improve my position, or at least my lower leg.

I know that by keeping a positive and calm attitude every time I ride, I will be able to improve Lady's attitude and therefore her responsiveness. Getting frustrated and tense does not help her at all.

Part of being so frustrated comes from being behind on homework, craziness at work, and much less time than I would like to focus on my lovely horse.

Deep breath.....

Because, if we are truthful and see past the hardships and the expense and the tears, they really are.

*sniff*