Feral to Fancy!

  

I managed to finish up early enough with the other two (after my delayed start due to cold and icky sick feeling) to sneak in a quick ride on Funny. I managed to ride while Mike took the mustang out. :) 

 

I would have been on sooner, but as I was about to put the halter on her, Dan snatched at her treat and she jumped and then she decided that she wasn't going to be caught and took off!! She was running like a feral fool! And Dan and Lyric just looked at her like.... "should we join in?? nahhh... we're tired.. it's cold.... nahhhh". Ha ha. She was running and running and finally stopped. And then she sort of came up to me and let me catch her easily. Weirdo! 

   

But the good news is that I didn't have to do much of a warm up because... at this point, she had already galloped around, so no worries about warming up her tendons. ;) So we did a tiny bit of walk work and reiterated softness with slight pressure. Then we picked up the trot. And she was SOOOOO good! Like... so good. She was quick but only slightly quick and she was much softer in the bridle overall. And we even got some nice back lifting too. And she wasn't fighting me hardly at all. She did duck behind the vertical a tiny bit, but... she also was reaching for the contact a good bit here and there too!! Like... we are making actual progress!!! Whoo hooo!!

   

We did some trotting and some cantering and some shoulder in while sitting the trot and some leg yield. And we did some transitions and small circles. And she was great! She got a bit quicker towards the end but then settled again into a lovely trot. So... we did 15 more transitions and we called it! Best to finish on a good note. Plus, the sun was setting and I was trying to make it back before Mike did. I timed it perfect because as we were heading in, I heard and saw him pull down Skyline. :) And we caught a glorious slanty sun view in the trees! It was such a pretty night! 

   

GOOD PONY!!! I'm getting excited now! All the pieces are starting to pull together. 

  

 

Thankful and blessed. And making progress

 Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

What a beautiful day. Cold, but beautiful. Mike and I slept in. Ahhhh... it was so nice in our warm cozy bed with flannel sheets.. and the horses weren't making noise and banging about so I was able to sleep. Which was great, because... I  think I'm getting sick. Ugh. Then I let it warm up a bit and took Dan for a ride and then I went back out with Funny! 

 

We did a little bit of BTMM warm up in the arena... worked on our relationship to contact.. then did some pillar work... and then I hopped on and did some more contact work. Basically I just apply light pressure (squeeze the reins) until she softens, then immediately let go. A little bit of a cross between Celeste's bridle horse work and Tik's thoughts. If I want the pressure/contact at a 1... if she braces or hangs, I got to a 2, until she softens, and then we go back to 1. Or 0 for now. Until she learns to soften with a slight squeeze. I can confuse myself with it but I can also make it make sense in my brain how it teaches her that she has to soften but when she does, I do too. And then I can also make it make sense that I'm essentially teaching a half halt. And then eventually, when she softens... I can start getting actual contact vs just dropping her. I mean.. it seemed to work well for Dan and Lyric, so... why not try it on her. And so far.. so good. 

 

So we pretty quickly went out on the trails. I didn't drill it on the trails but if she inverted, I did squeeze and ask her to soften. But I let her be on the buckle a good bit of the time and only had a very soft connection for a little bit. We had a nice hack. She wasn't super quick but did start out a bit more animated! And we had one or two random scoot/spooks. We had fun though. At the end I did let her trot a tiny bit and we practiced softening to the rein pressure but we didn't do it very long. 

 

We finished up by the arena and I had planned to do a little arena work so we headed in. I started out again reiterating that when she inverts/braces/throws her head up, I squeeze until she softens. (And, I do worry a little bit when she goes behind the vertical, but honestly... she seemed to work out of it, so...we'll see if this is actually an issue or if it solves itself). We struggled a bit in the beginning but she eventually settled into it and seemed to get the new game and rules. (Sorry baby.. one of these days I'll stick to rules consistently all the time). So then we trotted. And we had to get a little heavy in the contact again more than not, but... over the course of the ride, it kept getting better! And sure, it reverted every time we changed direction or took a walk break, but... each time it did get better! We even cantered. And by the end of my ride, we had some really nice work where she was soft, in a good tempo, felt more balanced on her hind end, and was soft in the connection and I was able to send my hands forward and not have her tip or run! Wheeee!!! Maybe this is really gonna work out! We finished on a really good note and then I got my jacket back off the judges booth and fed her most of the cookies! Good pony!

 

We took a little hack around the jump arena and in the woods to cool down and then we headed home. I'm so proud of us. Honestly... a little bit me too. I'm trying. I'm really trying. And so is she. So... today felt like progress. And that's a good feeling! Now to keep trying out this plan and hopefully get my pivo going so I can see if I'm actually doing what I think I'm doing. 

 

 

Relationship to contact.. back to basics

 Today was farrier day. And the forecast was supposed to be cloudy but like... 4% or less chance of rain til tonight. Then pour all night. Well, as we were finishing Lyric, the bottoms opened up! And then it lightened up but kept up a steady rain for a few more hours. So... I ended up taking Lyric to Ashland around 1:30 and then got back around 4ish. And it was drizzling a little bit on our way home but not at home, so... I decided that I could have time to take Funny to the round pen or arena and do our "relationship to contact" stuff. The BTMM stuff. So I put her bridle on and then decided we might as well go to the arena. On our way out there the light was so cool and... we saw a rainbow! A very faint rainbow. Like the little bit of Hope that God breathed back into me... except it's starting to build and build. Ahhh, thank you God!

 

Worked on yielding to pressure, but only soft pressure. Lots of cookies. Then decided to hop on because the rainbow came and I needed between the ears. worked on giving to contact while bareback. Still cookies. Trotted a little even. And... a bit behind the vertical but... not horrible. finished with a lovely soft connection, slow tempo (maybe partially due to bareback and sitting trot) so.. she got the last cookie and we called it. 

   

took her bridle off outside of the gate and then she stayed with me to the top of the hill. practiced halting... then shifting back too. Work those pecs!

  

GOOD PONY!

 

so... must do this for all rides at the beginning from now on.. until we get it. She can be like Lyric in the contact.