Boo :(

Henry was a little tender today. I wasn't able to make it up for the trainer ride but my trainer called and said they didn't ride him cause he was a little off- not lame- but not quite right. The ground is really really hard in the indoor arena - I guess the owner needs to buy a part for the tractor. So my trainer thinks that is why he wasn't quite right.

She lunged him a little but nothing big.

I'll check on him tonight and trot him tomorrow before our lesson to see how he is going.

Fingers crossing he is ok and that he feels better tomorrow.

Wednesday and Thursday

Trainer ride Wednesday went well.. nothing special but good stuff :)

Tonight I had my lesson. It was a good ride. We rode inside and Henry was better about his frame- I went with a soft contact and that was a good compromise for us both.

We hacked around including some trot polls. Worked on a straight horse.. to the right he likes to drift towards the wall and over bend to the right so we worked on that.

Then we moved on to jumping. Started with an X.. had one stop not good but I felt like I rode aggressive to it and he was just being a bad horse. I got after him and did exactly what my trainer said and from there it was much better.

She raised the X to a vertical and then made a pile of polls that we jumped as well. Again worked on straightness after the jump with a halt- on a straight line.

Then the vertical got a little bigger. Again worked over the vertical and polls.

I was so proud of myself for being game for all the challenges that were thrown at me. I am getting more and more confident and excited to go places with Henry.

Kat and Andy took pictures so I can't wait to see them (as always)!

A few cell pics to tide us all over :)

Frame?

Last night = a 45 min fight.


Henry was not into being in a frame. He wasn't to go around wide eyed and focused on anything he could to spook. When he is in his frame and working he can't focus on everything else and be an idiot... so we fought and fought and fought. I ended up going to a canter after a while of fighting at the trot to see if that would help- nope didn't.


Kept fighting.


Finally he gave in a tinny bit. Not what I wanted but we were making progress. I ended up working on staying in his frame - halt, walk, trot, walk, trot, halt, walk... you get the picture. He actually went best with a longer rein and staying in a low "hunter" frame- except when we went by "the side" and jump. I continues to work around the arena but eventually just worked in that spot because he was being stupid. I went around and around and around that spot- making sure I didn't change anything in my body or hands- till he decided to relax and go by nicely.


After 2 or 3 times by it I called it quit... cooled him out.


Going to talk to my trainer about this cause something's gotta give. I want to be able to walk into that show ring next month knowing that I have a good feel of a frame.


Trainer ride today, lesson tomorrow, trainer ride Friday, lesson Saturday.

Oh HEYYYY!

Yep thats my horse ;)

Henry had a great trainer ride today.. was a bit high like Saturday but with a good amount of lunging and cantering he was game. Jumped everything in front of him... even was a bit blah over the X's.

Now I have mixed feeling about this- on the good side I think sweet this isn't a mountain for him to jump anymore and he's actually being quite honest.. on the other side I think wake up dude and JUMP lol.

Anywho he jumped everything that was asked of him and he did it well- no running out, stopping or freakouts. He jumped the lattice little oxer that was nicely flapping in the wind and even the liverpool!

Oh and even had good lead changes! I love being apart of his training and feeling strong enough to take control. I guess I feel even better about it all because I did all his riding last week- no trainer rides- and he was well schooled and not rotten from my week of riding!

Hack tomorrow, trainer ride Wednesday, lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday, lesson Saturday. :)

Happy Monday!!

I saw this on FB and HAD to share... good laugh for Monday morning :)

"Um, there's a 9 year-old girl loose in the ring right now so you should probably shut the gate."

Hey Saturday.. I normally like you, but not when Bayley has a rough night and is awake from 2:45 am- 5:00 am.

Anywho I wanted to get to the barn at like 8:15 so I could lunge Henry down- I had a feeling he was going to be full of it- but I didn't get there till about 8:25/8:30. So I hustled to get ready and then waited my turn for the round pen haha! When it was our turn Henry ran and bucked like a crazy man! I didn't lunge him as much as I would have liked cause someone else was waiting for the round pen and my trainer said he should be ok :)

I got on and went to work- one time around the arena and my trainer said to canter him down. Cantered in my 2 point for a while... legs were a burning! Then back to join the rest of the lesson. He was still high so after about 5-10 min of fighting I was allowed to go run him around again.

Run run run.

Back on and we were good- kinda. He wasn't great but at least I could partake in the lesson.

Flatted around as instructed.

Then onto jumping. We started with the rainbow X in the outside line. Henry did awesome... back and forth. Then on to the second jump in the line.. our first approach was bad. Henry thought/semi tried to duck out and i corrected him with my right rein but then was SURE we were going to run into the left standard so I slammed on the breaks. I got in trouble- rightfully so.

Came back around to it and was more aggressive and walla we jumped... did that back and forth a few times then went onto the line as a whole. Trot - jump - 4 strides - jump - lead change. Then my trainer had me do an oval with a tight turn after the jump. I'll be honest- I struggled. He felt heavy and just kinda barrel turned the corner. I knew I needed to balance him and my trainer was attempting to get this through my head as well... finally I checked in and we got it :) Ended on that. Henry was POOPED... I was POOPED.

I untacked him and turned him out to roll/eat grass while I cleaned tack. Bath time for Henry, grain and back home.

He had today off.

Next week's plan: Monday trainer ride, Tuesday Hack, Wednesday Trainer ride, Thursday lesson, Friday trainer ride, Saturday Lesson. Hopefully this week pans out as planned b/c that will mean LOTS of good work for Henry and me. We need it if we are going to go to the show at the end of June :)

Hard work

No trainer rides this week...

Didn't do anything yesterday- I needed a night at home to clean and do laundry.

Just lunged today on my lunch. I had lots to do at work and am SUPER tired so I knew I wouldn't be motivated to go ride after work so I jumped on the opportunity on my lunch break.

Lesson tomorrow.. should be interesting.

Henry and Louie hanging out

Switch Up

Normally I don't ride on Wednesday but my trainer can't make it tomorrow for our weekly lesson so we moved it to tonight.

Tacked up, lunged and got on. We rode in the big mother of arenas - 2 of us in the lesson, 1 in a lesson with the eventing trainer and 1 person just hacking.

We did lots of forward/extended trot to tire Henry out. He was a little ok a lot ready to go haha. Pushing his hind end over in the corners. Canter transitions with his head down- still needs lots of work. 2 point in the trot and hand gallop.

Hubby and I were scheduled to lead our small group tonight so I had a limited time to ride... of course I blew through that time limit by like 30 min (oops) so I was quite a bit late but got a good ride in which always feels good.

Third day in a row that I have ridden Henry :)

Hopefully a trainer ride tomorrow and Friday and a lesson for me Saturday.

I will leave you with this... so true- though it needs to say Smartpak too :)

Pictures! and our ride...

First I will start with the update, cause one I unveil the pictures I won't have your attention :)

Hacked last night down in the BIG arena. Again I did lots of canter work and transitions. He was better this time then Monday night. Still not where I want him to be or acceptable.

I also did lots of weaving around the jumps. Henry gets up tight when we go around/through/over/under jumps.. ok the last two were just added for the heck of it. But really when I turn and go between standards of two jumps I can feel the tension start. I close my leg and remind him to go forward and that its ok - he does but we need to get to a point where he is schooled and comfortable. It will come with time.

I did 5 min of 2 point in the canter again. Time to step it up as I am feeling comfortable at this amount of time.

I walked around and cooled him out.. then i turned him out for like 20/30 min to eat grass while I cleaned up.

Lesson tonight, hopefully a trainer ride Thursday and Friday and a lesson Saturday.

Now for the pictures from 5/10/12's lesson. Thanks Kat and Andy!

LOVE this :)

Hello 2 point challenge - "Keep going"

"My legs are jello!"

Walking up to the other arena to jump

Quiet on the home front

Didn't take a lunch yesterday as I was busy at a customer site so I left work at 4:15. Headed home and said hi to the hubby and baby girl, changed and headed to the barn. There was one person riding when I got there but she was done before I was done tacking and lunging.

So I had the WHOLE arena to myself! :) This was good for Henry cause he prefers to ride with other horses. A lone arena = a lookie/spookie horse. Good stuff work us/me to work on.

My goal for this hack was to get my 2 point in and work on our canter transitions. At the show and in general Henry likes to kinda flick his head when we canter. It's not pretty ha! So I did lots of canter transitions and once I got a couple good ones each way I cantered around in the 2 point letting Henry relax and felt the burn in my legs. I did 5 min consecutive 2 point cantering.

Henry was sweaty and I was tired at the end of our ride but it was a good one. Good boy Henry! :)

Hack tonight, trainer ride Wednesday, lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday and lesson Saturday.