horsin' around

Finally, A Positive Reaction..

2012-01-16T23:12:00.001+11:00

A thoroughbred is a different breed of horse, one that plays tricks on their riders and feigns their vivacious emotions to get out of work. The trick to getting around these reactions is to ride a thoroughbred as you would a warmblood and vice versa.

Rion, being the thoroughbred he is, has created a plethora of emotional tools to escape having to listen and actually work. I have been told a million times when he rears, or just refuses to go forward to 'use my leg'. I agree, of course, but as Mark said to me it is not as easily said as can be done. To receive forward from Rion and any horse that is so inclined to behave like him needs to be pliable to the leg and pliable from the hands. Rather than be braced by the hand. He must stay in front of the leg, long and low - at this stage - working from behind through to his shoulder, relaxing over the back. He must remain on the bend of the circle, only when he drops the head and he takes the hand forward do we give the reins and allow him to walk on a long lead. This is the reward for taking the contact rather than bracing against it.

Today, I warmed him up on the lunge, a little sluggish to the aids at first but ending much more responsive to me he was showing himself as a much calmer horse. Mark jumped aboard first. Moving him forward into a marching walk, keeping him forward. Mark made the importance clear to me in not throwing my reins away while I was riding, keeping the contact in the direct line to his mouth but giving my hands towards the bit. I noticed as I took Rion for a spin after Mark schooled him that he was much softer and more responsive to the leg and accepting the contact. He has always moved off my leg but just as everything else he has done it was bracing and heavy. When I put my leg on to move him out onto the circle it was instantaneous and light, a smile lit up my face as in that moment he took my hands forward and I gave him the rein and a little pat.

Mark taught me that there are three parts to the horse:
A: The head to shoulder.
B: The shoulder to flank.
C: The hindquarter.

Each of these parts has their designated controller and need. In order to make a pliable horse the parts need to be able to move in isolation and in conjunction.

The moving turn on the forehand is my best tool in softening Rion. The first point of business is to 'puppeteer' the hands, not pull the horse's mouth and move the leg backward to control part C by applying the leg on and off, squeezing the side as he moves. The aim is for the horse to step through with the inside hind leg, with the forelegs walking forward on a small circle. When the cross over is well received the horse can walk forward again onto the circle. The product should be a softer, more rounder horse. If this is not achieved the exercise should be repeated. The same applies at the trot and the walk. The results are great, to have a horse that is soft and moves from my leg without question is a good feeling for a change.

After a rewarding and successful lesson we finished with a long walk through the property as a nice cool off.

Hopefully the winning streak can continue.

Jess|x

Finding the Pattern

2012-01-06T13:06:00.001+11:00

My lesson with Mark and Rion today was enlightening. We spent the first half of the lesson working on the lunge and the second with me riding on the circle.When I first took Rion to Mark three years ago he was a a classic, unbalanced throughbred. After the work that we did with him then he was a much better, much happier in himself. Since that time there have been ups and downs and large interruptions to our training together.

Today our lesson was based around the the correlation in training between the Pat Parelli system and the training scale. As I have mentioned before, everything when riding and similarly, on the ground, relates to the training scale. For Rion at the start of the lesson, due to the bad habits he has picked up by my lack of leadership he wasn't ticking any of the boxes on either scale

Parelli:
Is the horse maintaining the gait?
Is he acting like a prey animal? &
Is he looking where he is going?
Is he maintaining direction?

Together both scales create a horse that is in-tune with its rider on the ground and under saddle. In my opinion if you don't establish and maintain movements and behaviours on the ground you can only expect a finite relation between the ground and saddle behaviours. I admit that my mistake with Rion was not maintaining his groundwork - to the right degree. I still worked to the bone on his lunging but I had not been using the lighter, more common, light lunge line rather than the heavier rope line I have been using. Mark informs me that in order to find the 'finesse' in my horse I need to be using the light line.

Mark stepped in on the lunging early on, picking the cause of Rion's problems, as demonstrated by his behaviours on the ground, were due to his 'running the show'. If the horse is not maintaining the gait he is not listening to the leader, when we asked him to yield to the contact, the pressure of the line, his failure to listen earned him a flick with the whip. He runs, he stops, he bucks, just as a young horse tries his best to create distractions for himself he questions the leader. Rion as a horse in general has been described as 'storm in a teacup'. Everything is a big deal. On the five year long road I have travelled with this horse I have seen him come from a horse that was scared of his own skin to a horse that is temperamental and aggressive of sorts. His question of leadership is constant and as I became complacent in my training of him I never noticed how this had occurred.

Midway through my journey with Rion I had a horse, after working with Mark that could accept the contact and met the regulations - if you will - of the training and Parelli scales. The lesson was all about the foundations again. Asking at first then telling him to maintain the speed we directed not the speed or direction he wished to follow. As the cogs turned, the tongue licks as the usual signs of acceptance and 'mulling over' occur he loosens over the back and his hips start to swing, maintaining the direction. In that moment, another box ticked on the scales. Each step on the scales directly correlates whereby there is a direct line between the two scales and the behaviour of the horse.

When I hopped into the saddle, I had to learn to give my reins, using my core as a means of control rather than the hand. I had grown a reaction to his behaviour - as he tensed I would follow in suite - a natural yet detrimental action on my behalf. In my riding I have to teach Rion to have confidence in the hand and come in-front of the leg by following through the contact, following his nose. The lick of the lips and the lengthening of the neck and the smile crosses my face as I get my horse moving through his body, loosening across the back. We have done it before and we can do it again.

I have lost much of my core strength from my time spent studying at a desk and neglecting the gym and riding itself. It is time for a change. I'm considering this week the start of my new year's resolution. Better late than never as they say.

All in all it was a very enlightening and constructive lesson learnt during the lesson.

This week we will be doing more work with Mark in the quest to make my beast tamed.
Until my next lesson - adios :)

Jess|x

Lions and Tigers and Bears..

2012-01-04T12:53:00.000+11:00

It seems a young horse will find any excuse in their search for leadership. This is my latest lesson that I have learnt from my surprise visit from Mark yesterday and today.

Yesterday the young fellow was rather fresh, after being spelled for a week over Christmas. Mark took the keys yesterday and said my aim for him was to have him moving from the leg/whip onto the contact. For Mark being the experienced and stronger between us the 'discussion' that occurs when the horse learns to step across with his hind-quarter on the circle. The 'discussion' is the giving and taking of the rein through the contact of the line - somewhat encountering some resistance until said contact is accepted. Being on the other end of the line there is an amazing difference in his 'going' - for want of a better word. When the hind-quarter steps across and under the horse there can be a give in the rein and there is a rise in their back as they carry themselves.

I found that there was a fight with me, which depended greatly on my ability to walk a small and direct circle whilst lunging. At the moment we are working on travelling up and down the arena. Our aim for the past two days was improving Dart's ground work. Moving the circle slowly, encountering props and stops along the way. As I stated, a young horse will look for any excuse to stop, to question their leader. Young horses need a clear direction, reiterated by the contact of the line, and they must always be in-front of their leader; in-front of the leg. Horses don't know what you are asking, they have to be given the opportunity to work it out for themselves - accept and understand what is being asked of them. Lick and a chew later and you see that the horse has understood, is mulling it over as they continue on.

Today, as I was lunging under Mark's watchful eye I felt Dart pulling, particularly on the right rein as a result of my allowing him to lose the rhythm and let him fall behind the leg. Just as when you are riding and the horse gets behind your leg you are no longer the leader. They prop, they rear, they stop, whatever their method of payment it serves as a challenge to the rider. Mark advised that he is a clever horse and as a young fellow he is not abnormal in his displays of youthful disagreement. In saying this the horse must then again yield from the rider and accept once more their place in the herd, if you will. When he stopped and I got behind his shoulder, the literal relationship of my body and the aid of my whip caused him to be in-front of the leg, moving once more into the contact.

The legendary, George Morris said to me last year: 'your greatest aid is your brain'. People believe it is either the seat or the leg, even the hand but without the brain they would be pointless. You have to become a thinking rider, a thinking leader for your horse. To know when you need that extra leg, extra give on the rein, the movement of the hind to get your horse in the frame you want. To react and get the right reaction in turn. That is a thinking rider. The same applies when you are lunging.

A horse, such as Dart, is pliable but also disagrees, playing and questioning. In order to keep him from learning bad habits we have decided to give him a spell, without me playing with him on the lunge. I will still be de-sensitising him to his surrounds, training him to accept the rug and a fly mask and so forth, each making the starting process that little bit easier when the time comes in a couple of months.

As of Friday I will have some news on Rion as I am having a lesson with Mark on the trouble maker.

Jess|x

New Year - New Goals

2012-01-02T14:03:00.003+11:00

The New year brings a rejuvenation for the soul, for the things we didn't do in the past year and what we want to do in the new year.

For myself this will be, undoubtedly a huge year. This is the year that I start university, continue at my new job, break Dart in, turn 18 and live large. Balancing the necessary components will be a hard task that will test my time management skills.

In terms of riding my goals are clear - I won't let anything keep me from riding as I did for the past two years for my HSC. It isn't worth it and I wasn't happy. For Rion I want to work with him regularly again and get him working on the flat and bring his dressage scores up. I hope I can, most likely in the second half of the year get him going 1* eventing. Its always been the dressage that has kept me from going up the grade. Mark will be on my speed dial this year, breaking Dart in and helping me get Rion back to top form again.

There was a time when my hot Thouroughbred could carry himself, be balanced and not get tense; not rear. I have to take him back to foundations again with his lunging. Following the ever present yet almost neglected, at times, training scale. If we have done it before we can do it again and that is my goal for the main man.

After our jump at Colleen's on the weekend.

Here is a video of Rion and I from the weekend - forgive the poor quality, my camera is still in repairs.

In terms of Dart this will be one of the most exciting things that happens to me this year - breaking in my own horse. I have helped others in the process before but, almost as if he were my own child, everything is much more connected and important to me. For the time being he is on a hiatus until mid February to March where Mark and I will begin his breaking. I can't help but feel the butterflies of excitement whirl up within at the thought of it. After seeing his speedy progress in the five lessons on the lunge his breaking seems like a large but easy step for the young man. My goals for him are quite simple - break him in and follow Mark's steps as time goes on, introducing him to new things. Eventually take him to events with Rion. Maybe he could learn a few tricks - the good ones only I hope..

And for now, those are my headlines for 2012.

Happy New Year!

Jess|x

Its Christmas!

2011-12-20T08:49:00.001+11:00

As you would all know, Christmas time hampers much time for relaxation. The constant tire of cleaning, preparation for the day - late night shopping, cooking and so forth. It is tiresome but definitely worth it all. It also doesn't leave much time for maintaining a blog..

As of yesterday the sun shone for the first time in about 2 weeks; a sight to bask in the Vitamin D of.
The days preceding that were slow and wet, hampered by the inglorious summer rain.

Mark hasn't been out in the past few days as he has been busy but we are planning a lesson together today. I managed to get one lunge and one gallop in on Rion in the past four days before he was attacked by paper wasps. It scared me half to death, I had no idea what could have brought so many hives out from his nose to his tail, simply covered. I called the vet out to find that it was paper wasps that had gotten to him and caused a severe reaction - which would only be worse if they bit him again. Understandably Rion gave himself a small stress colic where he was sweating and wanting to roll but I kept him walking until the vet got there.I couldn't for the life of me think why it had happened. An injection of cortisone, a stress reliever and antihistamine of sorts later and he was much happier.

I have been working Dart by myself when Mark is caught up and can't make it and he never ceases to amaze me. I have such an inquisitive young man on my hands - almost to my detriment. While he was being agisted the 300 acres he was in had one or more dams, the only dam we have the horses don't have access to. Meanwhile Dart believes it is perfectly fine to put his hoof in the various troughs and pull them off their stands. Watching the hundreds of litres just rush down the hill. Perhaps a kiddy pool would do the trick..

Being the inquisitive young man that he is he is easily bored. In order to amuse for an afternoon mum and I thought it would be nice to give him some respite and forfeit our exercise ball for his amusement. It was a hit. Kicking, nuzzling, biting; we began to fear for the life of the ball if this kind of maltreatment went on. I have a 'Jolly Ball' - intended for horses - on his Christmas list. Last night we put him in the big paddock with Rion. He has a new found interest in life again, allowed to be a silly young man with his silly older brother - Rion.

Dart is now on hiatus until late February/early March when Mark and I will start breaking him. An entirely painful experience having to wait but in the meantime I can still play with him a little bit on the lunge. In our last session we made real progress. He is now able to stay on the circle, carrying himself in balance, tracking up well in the walk and trot. At the trot it is clear to see; as in traditional warmblood form, needs a constant reminder to keep moving, keep in-front of the whip - in-front of the leg. Within a week and a half we have gone from fresh out fo the paddock to cantering on the circle. At the canter he still needs more work - as expected, but slowly and surely he is learning to hold himself. Watching Mark work his magic I can see that the balance at the canter and holding the impulsion without making him run is the cause of his disuniting and breaking to the trot. Less and less so as the lesson wore on however.

Since his run in with the wasps I have lunged Rion twice and taken him out for a run on the track again. There is no doubt in where Rion's heart lays - his legs. As they pound the ground, snorting out each breath -- It puts him in a good frame of mind to finish with some flat work in the arena. Its good fitness for the both of us. Hopefully after Christmas Day I can get back into action with him. I have a craving to do some jumping!

Here is a quick video of Dart with Mark on the lunge:

Merry Christmas all!

Jess|x

Its All About Pressure

2011-12-15T11:44:00.001+11:00

It goes without saying that horses must yield from pressure from the leg, the hand, the stick and so forth. Without there is no respect from the horse, if they fall in or push down that respect is not maintained from their abuse or lack of respect for the pressure.

Today's lesson with my young man was all about pressure. We started the day off with me walking on the circle backwards, going staight down the centre, stopping, walking forward again and swapping reins. Dart is carrying himself well and finds it amusing to play with the rope while we are walking around. If anything, I now believe in the wonders of karmic re-incarnation. I had a pony, Tiger, who Dart is the perfect duplicate of. Not only in countenance but personality and act - what's left is to see if they are parallels under saddle as well - if so then I shall be a very happy camper! I digress..

After I continued my circle work backwards I started moving forward, with the stick behind me, touching his side to keep him marching at the walk. This exercise was much harder to maintain with him than walking backwards. When you are looking at the horse there is more control.

Mark took the keys from me after that and began lunging on a small lead with him, making him yield to the pressure, move from it. Trotting on the circle, if he stopped there was a follow up tap on the belly or flank to move forward, resistance to the pressure in turn made the pressure increase - tap behind the shoulder, tap with a small whip crack. It is interesting to watch the reaction of a young horse as they come to understand, what and why and how things are happening. The cogs turn slowly, the tongue licks the lips and an understanding is come to. Sigh. It begins again. Changing of the rein, moving the horse away from the pressure, lifting the weight off the shoulder and the head. The horse must carry itself. As I sat watching Mark move him around, encountering bouts of resistance and complete distraction from Dart I couldn't help but notice how all the exercises we were doing tied into the training scale.

Once moving from the pressure, he established a rhythm that consequently led to his relaxation and acceptance of the pressure/rein. I can go on but I think the point is made - everything correlates.

The man who will never walk away..

In the afternoon I got Rion out and played with him on the lunge - getting some energy out as he bounded into the sky when I asked for the canter; nothing out of the ordinary for him really. He settled later though and we had a good session playing with a square made out of poles to walk, trot and canter through. As usual he was a good boy once he came back to earth and relaxed, stretching out on the lunge. I had to get something from inside the house but it is a good feeling to be able to stop my horse, say 'stand' come back 5 minutes later and know he hasn't moved a muscle.

All in all today was a successful day; hopefully I can wake up early enough to take Rion for a gallop, after expending that energy on the lunge again before Mark comes for Dart.

Until then, cheerio :)

Jess|x

One Small Step For Me..

2011-12-14T11:54:00.000+11:00

One giant leap for Dart...

Today was Dart's first lesson - oh the excitement that his training is getting under way. It will be a long road over this summer but it has begun. My breaker/natural horsemanship trainer, Mark, came around since we couldn't get Dart back onto the float to work with him. All up we probably spent 30-45 mins with breaks every 5 mins.

He is remarkable today; so quick to learn which is exciting considering he has spent the last 18 months in a 300 acre paddock with old mares and cattle left to their own devices. He is 3 years old this month so I think he has had a good youth so far.

Mark started today moving him off the carot stick, tap him on the shoulder, making him yield to the pressure which he picked up straight away, leg yielding left and right. Standing there I couldn't help but be proud and start making plans for the future based on 45 mins of ground work today - knock on wood. He went onto walking him on a circle which is when the shoulder taps came into play when he decided to stop or drop off the arc, quick tap and squeeze of the rope and he was back.

Every 5 minute break was proceeded by a deep breath and lick and chew of Dart's lips, he is a thinker, must be the warmblood in him. Mark then began changing rein to the right where we got some resistance to change but we eventually got him to get on the right arc, moving in a constant circle. Repeating this action Mark then asked for the trot, Dart picked up a bit, head up, smelling the clouds, falling to walk, stopping, repeating the small taps with the rope on the but to get him going again.

To end the session Mark gave me the keys and had me walking backwards on a large circle, standing on a diagonal from his shoulder with the rope and the stick guiding his shoulder, should he fall in from the circle. He passed with flying colours, following my 'circle' with starting turning into ovals and rectangles and began to go all over the shop really. I better grow that eye in the back of my head.. Following me he stopped, walked on again all from my movements, without any pressure needed from the rope or the stick.

A job well done for our first lesson together and I have now been charged with writing up notes about our session to prepare for tomorrow's lesson. I'm happy with my baby and hopefully I will be able to get some photos or video in the next few days for you all.

Until tomorrow :)

Jess|x

Every Equestrian's Worst Nightmare

2011-12-13T13:52:00.002+11:00

In the aftermath of shock that was the death of Showjumping star Hickstead, Blas Lago's Northern Hector's death was not treated so gently.

Upon feeling Hector collapse beneath him whilst preparing for the Grand Prix, Lago, his rider of 15 years was rushed away from his best friend to gather his thoughts and have a strong coffee - only to hear from someone they just saw the pet-food truck drive away. One of Australia's top ten dressage horses had become dog meat.

After Hickstead's death was pronounced there was an FEI post-mortem as of the FEI Veterinary Regulations. Hector - competing at an FEI event - was entitled to the same treatment as Hickstead received. Unfortunately these regulations were not at adhered to, worse still they were refuted by officials on the ground which saw him taken to be processed - without any consultation of Lago.

For such a personal matter to happen in the eyes of the public and regulations that should been maintained to be so blatently is ridiculous and an illegal act.

Click here to read full article..

Jess|x

Baby Dart Is Home

2011-12-12T10:14:00.002+11:00

Reebok & Dart together.

Dartanion is home safe and sound. At least he was until we had to get the vet out yesterday as he sliced his heel. It was only a superficial wound and the vet simply cut away the proud flesh but there is no pain and he is a happy camper in every other way.

He is the most relaxed youngster ever, he always comes up to you in the paddock to say hello. He has grown a child like obsession with Reebok - I think Reebok likes the attention honestly. They bonded when we went to go get him from agistment.

Rion and Dart are still getting there. Dart was meant to go to the breakers to get some work done but being a stubborn young man refused to get on the float.. It's something I have to work on with him this week.

And did I mention that he is huge! The vet thinks he could get to 17hh or 17.1hh.

And the man himself

Jess|x

River Swims

2011-11-16T11:58:00.000+11:00

It has been 4 years since I last took Reebok to the river close to my house for a gallop and swim. I miss it down there, so serene, so naturally beautiful. You always meet friendly people, if there are any at all and the water is always so warm and clean.

The water was a bit deeper in most places than last time so we just trotted around. I think he rolled about 20 times, he has never gone done in water while I have been on him but he is only teeny so it wasn't bad. I love taking him down there, he gets to see new things and get exercised in a more exciting way. Its fun for the both of us. I have never taken Rion down there but next time I want to take both of them. I have a feeling that Rion will absolutely love it! A sandy gallop track that runs for miles -- for a thoroughbred I think that is the dream. I'll have to work him beforehand or I may not be able to stop him.I feel a few pig-roots and bucks coming on.


Dad can't deny he loves the pony!

Jess|x

Today's Escapades

2011-11-10T21:15:00.000+11:00

Today was the best ride we have had for a while. Getting back out there definitely feels great and now that HSC is over I can ride more and more and more and more.. An exciting prospect, I assure you.

We did some jumping grids and then ended with a larger oxer. I have missed jumping. Hopefully next weekend I can get to my coach's place to get some real jumping in and a reminder in how to ride. It has been 4 months since I have taken him over there.

The jumping grids work well with Rion's brain. He gets a bit hot and the bounces build his energy up but I had to remember to squeeze and just allow and not let him run through the hand as he tends to love doing. All in all though we had a good ride with no muck ups from either of us.

The past couple of days I have just been doing flat work with Rion. Neither of us have loved that and I think I have to come to accept that he will never do good dressage. So now I lay all my hopes and dreams on Dart. He is a bay so I have a good feeling about him.

In other news, I get to bring home my yearling in 3 weeks - so close! We are going to spend the weekend with him getting him on and off the float. Getting him accustom to it before we take him on the 3 hour drive home.

Here is a photo of Rion and I from today:

Over and out

Jess|x

Ola amigos

2011-10-24T10:32:00.002+11:00

Everytime I get on here I seem to be saying that I have made a return.. trend forming? I think so..

Alas, I have been kept away form my horses for quite some time now. My last competition was the 9th of July. I travelled 6 hours north to have to come home early with a lame horse. Such is life in the world of horses. Although, I think it could have been an elaborate plot on Rion's behalf to go home.

We had a few troubles, with his rearing in the warm up, once in the ring though he was a star and we almost posted 2 clear rounds on the first day had it not been for my pilot error that led me to take a fall. Nothing hurt but my pride and a nasty bruise on my hip. I couldn't have expected anything else considering my preparation was limited no thanks to school work which haunts my every move. School and the HSC will be a distant memory after the next week and a half! I couldn't be more excited. I have been riding the past few days since our last comp and everything had just clicked for me. I have my yearling, Dart coming home in the beginning of December.

He has grown so much! The warmblood is really showing in him now, his chest is widely set and is standing at about 16.3hh. He will be 3 when he comes home and he still has some growing to do, should be a strapping lad when he finishes spurting up, and out. Myself and my coaches are going to start him in January/February which gives me some time to play and get to know beforehand.

Here is a photo of him the last time I visited him which was in July, on the way home from the competition with Rion: Since then he has bulked out quite a lot.

kisses for mum

When I should have been studying instead I was making this video from the last few days of Rion and I

Enjoy :)

Watch this space, I don't intend to be kept away for much longer.

Jess|x

It seems I have made a return..

2011-03-20T20:30:00.000+11:00

However small and insignificant it may be I have made a return to competing. I still have difficulty in finding time completing school and balance my study with riding, without any thought of competing. On the 6th of March I competed at my last interschools competition in the 1.20m jumping. I have also been to my coach's a few times in the last month or so which has given me the motivation which I have been lacking this past year.

Rion gave me some trouble in the warm up, which i expected nothing less than the usual rearing and racing thoroughbred brain to show itself. It was our first show in quite a few months, from being a fool in the warm up he went into the ring to complete a perfect round, if only me, as the pilot didn't shift the balance we had on a short turn to a vertical in the air; causing him to drop one rail. Not to worry, pilot error so he was rewarded for that round. It is amazing the difference between his behaviour in the warm up and the ring. In our second round he was great again though another pilot error was my micro management into the double whereby he just said no and refused, I don't blame him at all, I gave him nothing to go on. I should have kept my pace up and just waited for my distance. Alas, I am rusty and this competition was a learning experience for us.

In our first round, in good form

His reward after our first round..

Our third round was another good round though Rion had started to tire, I don't fully remember but we dropped 1-2 rails. It may have been a partnership mistake in this round. I had a good day and the feeling of being out and competing again was so invigorating. The fact that I have also been to my coach's place to ride and have lessons has also increased my motivation, to ride and compete. I have missed it but had lost the memory of what it felt like. My lessons are never boring, Rion is either a complete gem or is producing his customary rearing behaviour. When I get off and feel dizzy and the next morning when the lactic acid in my legs and shoulders is present I feel the most alive and remember what it is like to live for my horses; not just live in seeming contentment.. How I have been wrong.

My last lesson Rion showed no ill behaviour until we introduced the water jump. As a part-time eventer who has no second thought at jumping into water and as a show-jumper having no problem jumping a liverpool; introduce a water jump, well that changes everything..Long story short we managed to get him over it whilst riding though he still didn't like it when we put the wall infront of it, so we lunged him around and then through and over the jump. Surely, he had no problem with it and we had to stop him from jumping it when we just wanted him to look at it.

Our second round.

As a goal I have to do more ground work with him, pushing him off my leg, or hand depending whether I am in saddle or on the ground. He needs to respond to my leg and know that go, does, in fact mean go! He, and I have become complacent in our time off and it is time that I gave us both the kick start that we need. Like I said, I have found my motivation again and during this coming week, as my exams end, I will be able to put my efforts to good use and actually work with Rion again.

Our next competition is on the 2nd and 3rd of March.

JESS | x

George Morris Clinic

2010-11-13T17:22:00.006+11:00

It has been almost a year since the clinic and I can't believe I haven't posted about the great George Morris and my 3 training days with him.In January this year I spent my 3 best equestrian days in the heat of the Australian summer at a Clinic with Mr Morris.
At first I thought that he would not be a fan of my crazy thoroughbred, with his racehorse tendencies to rear, which there was no shortage of at the clinic. However it was quite the opposite, George was a fan of my "easy and straightforward jumper" as he soon became the 'teacher's pet' in my group which very much came as a surprise to me. Each day our lesson began with flatwork, using it as an aid for our later jumping exercises. The flatwork was tiring, as expected. George's goal with us was to attain perfect straightness in our horses, to achieve this we were made to start in shoulder in up the track, then into haunches in and again into straight, repeating the exercise around the arena.

Each day we began with new exercises, all focusing on the straightness and later implication on our jumping.Our jumping began each day with small grids, getting larger and more complex each time. George's favorite exercise was 3 jumps in a loose 'z' formation on the arena, the point was to continue what we had begun in our flatwork, bending in the air and making the horses listen to our aids, we would go down through the 'z' then half turn back to reverse the order of the jumps. George used this exercise with all the groups at the clinic as a warmup for the later courses and grids. It is an exercise that I have implemented into my jumping warmups.

The hardest part of the clinic would have been our flatwork and jumping warm up without stirrups. The flatwork was all fine, that I am used to but as soon as the jumping began I forgot the importance of my legs again and Rion went up in the air on yet another racehorse rearing spree. As much as I didn't want him to show his bad side to George but he helped me greatly in avoiding and getting out of the situation; stating that "this horse will teach you equestrian tact," and indeed he has.

I can honestly say that this was the greatest clinic I have attended and am lucky enough to be attending another this coming January. A big thank you to Vicky Roycroft for organising the clinic, without her I would not have had the chance to meet the man himself. George is a master of his craft and thoroughly instilled the importance of the leg to us and also safety and correct care for our horses which he called 'cavalry'. I will definitely be writing a longer, more thorough post after the next clinic.

Click here to watch videos from the clinic.

David Green, Colleen Brook, George Morris, Team Brook riders and Vicky Roycroft

We are back.. Slowly

2010-10-24T11:54:00.005+11:00

I sit writing this on my bed whilst peering out into the greyness and rain at home. Impeding my ability to ride and also dampening my energy to go exercise my beasts. Instead I am studying and blogging, not as exciting in my opinion.

I have a bit of a break from riding, not having been riding much in the week prior to my leaving or a week since my arrival back in Australia Rion has had a good break which ended on Friday with our first ride, nothing special just some lunging and then I hopped on to do some lateral pushing off the leg, shoulder in, haunches in to get him back into theswing of things.

If this rain would go away my life would be much easier, I have to prepare for a small eventing competition next weekend where there is only one other competitor in my level so it will be a 1st or 2nd place for me :) The next real competiton will be Berrima on the 27th of November which will hopefully have some good weather. It is always a great event down there and I am hoping for some good results, it is enough time to get him fit and ready again. I will get the musculo-skeltal vet out a week before the comp, I hope, to loosen his muscles up before the dressage and open his big stride up. I am excited thinking about Berrima, I have hardly competed this year thanks to school. I have only been to two horse trial events, in total I think I have been to 6 or 7 shows this year, normally I am out every weekend or two at an event. School has been such a negative impact on my competition life, I really do hate that aspect of school, but it needs to be done so I can't complain too much, I am still riding at home and at training days.

Rion is in good shape after his break with a lot of energy so I have a lot to work with but it should be good fun. This rain should leave soon and then I will be able to take him out for regualr gallops and trots to get his fitness up again, and mine for that matter. Its amazing what French pastries can do :P It is meant to be spring here, with sunshine, rainbows and increasing heat, I feel severely ripped off. I have just started by website on horses which I will use as a blog on myself, as this is; as well as articles on health, training etc. So at least I have one pleasureable thing to do on this rainy day.

Serious work going on here...

Alas, we are on our way back to normal form, with only a few more shows left this year, I am looking forward to getting back into the circuit.

Silver Hills ODE

2010-08-15T18:44:00.008+10:00

A good weekend with the horses. I have to thank my best friend for being my groom, made my life less stressful – that’s for sure. This was my first eventing competition for the year, considering that we did fairly well. The dressage left much to be desired, I need to get the musculo-skeletal vet out again and get Rion on the mend. Time to get the dressage saddle out more often I think. Pippy was in the intro class (80cm) and Rion was in the Pre-Novice (1.05m)

I was appointed yesterday as Pippy’s trainer; she will be staying at my place for a month. She tends to get nervous in her dressage, particularly in the warm up area. I have a month ahead of me to fill with work for both the horses. Time to go back to my sources and get some good dressage exercises. I love 101 Dressage Exercises, amongst the other 101 books, they are all great. She is such a great little jumper though, so much spring, very quick. We had a clear showjumping round though we did have two time fault which I’m not happy about. Something to keep in mind. We had a great cross-country round. Straight through the water, didn’t even look at a single jump and we were exactly on time, take a second or two. All good on the jumping front but my job is to improve the dressage. Bring it on I say!

Rion jumped well in showjumping though I made some rather stupid pilot errors, giving us three down, another thing I’m not happy about, being a showjumper I don’t like knocking fences when I’m out eventing. The x-c footing was good, not hard, just the right amount of give. At least it was before the freezing rain and hail bucketed down in the 10 mins before I had to start. In my min countdown to start he started to get more tense, he had been rearing in warm up, which is customary for him, though it is rather annoying, he started rearing 10 secs before start time. Mum couldn’t get near him to walk him in; by the time she did we were already 20 secs behind, once I got him out of the box I didn’t even bother starting my watch, we were behind time and the footing after the rain wasn’t worth killing myself over. I just took everything easy, kept forward and galloped only in the long stretches between jumps. I had to stop on course as my gaiters unzipped and was annoying the heck out of me. So on the time front I don’t even want to know how many penalties I got! He jumped absolutely perfectly however which I am pleased about.

Me and Rion :)

So overall I would say we had a good weekend, despite our flaws. Waiting on the musculo-skeletal vet to get back to us, then I could sort Rion out faster but until she does I will just have to keep doing the muscle exercises she gave me and massaging him my self. Well that’s all for now, over and out.

I Miss the Early Mornings..

2010-08-14T16:53:00.002+10:00

Early mornings, late nights; ah how I have missed this. Last year I would get up and ride before school nearly every morning, come home of an afternoon and ride another horse, come in late. It was great. Still is. Yesterday was the first day I rode before school this year, its such a wake up call in the crisp air, I love it.

Rion has been a fairly good boy this past week. I have done mostly flat work exercises I learnt from my George Morris clinic this year. The exercises work on moving the horse off the leg to come onto a true contact. The importance of the leg was engrained into my mind from that clinic I will never forget their importance again. The main exercise I love and use with any horse I ride is to use shoulder fore/in then change to haunches in and then straight and repeat. It really gets the horses working, accepting the contact and moving laterally which is always good. I always use it in my warm-ups at a walk then move onto a trot.

Pippy (my friend’s horse I’m competing this weekend) has been doing well. There is little I can change in the week I have her before this weekend but I have been doing the above exercise to get her forward and in front of my leg and off the forehand. Yesterday afternoon I set up three jumps on the arena for her; a cross, vertical and oxer. The vertical was a turn back then 6 stride dog leg to the oxer. She was jumping so well. She has a tendency to run and get quick, as ponies do sometimes, but I just sat quiet, holding with my stomach and such a light contact. The waiting distances definitely do her a world of good. She has such a spring in her jump she doesn’t need to be fast or even overly forward as she has a tendency to be.

That’s all until I post from day one of competing :)

For the Love of Horse

2010-08-08T20:02:00.005+10:00

School has consumed me, eaten me up and swallowed me whole. I hate it. I have been to 5 competitions this year whereas, last year I would be competing nearly every weekend or two. I have lost muscle and gotten so unfit. I'm over it. I am fighting back, getting fit, cutting back on the books a little and riding to the maximum to get the old me back on top. I have thought about this and it is doing me no favors sitting at my desk getting fat.

I have been riding Rion a lot the past few weeks (which I am so grateful for) getting himself and myself fit again for Silver Hills eventing next weekend. He is doing well. I have been taking him for nice gallops and trots out on the gallop track and on the trails, it is doing his brain a world of good; and anything that can do that is worth sticking to. Hopefully I can get the musculo-skeletal vet out to the big man and get his muscles working better and get him back on track completely.

We went out cross-country training today on the grounds I was supposed to compete on today before the competition was postponed. Luckily we could access the grounds and I schooled Rion over water, which he was great at, and popped some fences. We haven't gone eventing once this year so I thought it would be a good training comp before next weekend. I've also been given a friend's horse to ride at Silver Hills next week, so I shall have my plate full for the next week.

Training two days ago:

We had winter championships at Jump club a few weeks ago and Rion jumped amazingly. We only had one down in a fairly tough 1.20m class. If only he picked that foot up a cm more we would have been in the jump off. I would like to thank our gallops and trails for his good behavior, I think having him in the arena, even though I mix up what we do each day, bores him and he needs to run more. Its a win win I think.

From Winter Champs:

That is all :)

My love interest..

2009-12-06T17:46:00.003+11:00

This horse blew me away when I watched the video I stumbled across on horse & country TV. He is down right gorgeous. I am enamoured with his movement. For a nine year old he has some talent! I am scheming with mum to fly over to the stables and steal him a night and fly back to Australia with this gorgeous black warmblood. If you are wondering what on earth I am going on about it is Edward Gall and his awesome horse, Moorlands Totilas.

Why can't I find a horse like this under $10,000??? I wonder...

We're moving on up!

2009-12-06T15:42:00.005+11:00

I have been really lazy about this blog, it is true. Here is a little update on the time after my last post. Just a warning - this will be long.

At heart Rion is a big sensitive soul and is can just freak out mentally which is what happened to him the year I got him (3 years ago now). Just over a month ago now Rion had another freak out, he had been getting very anxious and just being very, well.. stupid. Rearing whenever we stopped moving, backing up, bucking, you name it he did it. It wasn't to be mean, there was an underlying reason for this outcry. when this behavior started we had the masseur out to him and the saddle fitter and his teeth done, all in the same week and they helped but only minimally. Our friends put us onto a girl who is a vet but is also an equine chiropractor. She is a musculo-skeletal vet.

As well as Rion's huge change in behaviour his re-occurring 'bridle lameness' as we call it had dramatically worsened. We know he is not lame. In the past we have had vets check him out for lameness but he isn't lame he just continually shows the symptoms of a lame horse when contact is made in his mouth. Very annoying for dressage! So after Rion had his first visit from the musculo-skeletal vet he had a few days off. When I got back to riding him the bridle lameness seemed to have disappeared.. well, not really but it was dramtically better. So finally a step in the right direction. If I can remeber correctly after his first treatment we took him down to the vet clinic to get another scope up his nose to check the development of his ethmoid haemotoma. I don't think I have said anything about it on here before.

A little bit of background knowledge:

One day when I was riding he coughed which he never does so I jumped off straight away and found his nose bleeding. We rang the vet and we monitored the bleeding for a week until we could take him down to the clinic for his first scope. It is just one of those unlucky things that can happen to animals and humans alike. It in no way affects his performance or health. We were lucky that the whole week it bleed out but it has since regrown. It is only small but we can't treat it until it becomes larger. At his second scoping a more than a month ago he also had nerve blocks in his off side fore to find the section where the appearance of lameness is coming from. From it we discovered that it is from the shoulder area and further investigation and treatment with the musculo-skeletal vet told us that he has a great deal of tight muscle tissue in his pectorals. A lot.

She has given me exercises to do with his neck, back and fore legs to help strengthen his back and improve topline, stretch the scar tissue and get as much blood flow as possible to the area to increase his chances of healing the scar tissue, as best he can. It is all very interesting to watch and learn about. I have now officially decided I want to become a musculo-skeletal vet.

We have also reverted back to my use of natural horsemanship lungeing for Rion which changed our relationship and his ability to cope with pressure and allowing him to feel comfortable in his own skin again. We used this when we first got him and he had his first mental breakdown. I now lunge him before every ride and focus on pushing him around again as this seems to be what puts him in his place and allows him to relax and think again.

Fast forward to the good news.

After 3 visits from the musculo-skeletal vet and lots of dressage work we did our first Pre-Novice (1.10m) together and came sixth. Not too shabby I think. I am so proud of him. His dressage warm up was perfect, swinging qaurters, rhymical and rocking canter, a much freer trot thanks to the work on his pectorals, when we went up to the arena which was away in a different paddock to where we warmed up the thorughbred gene turned on and he got all excited and completely ruined all the preparation. Although the test had it's nice parts he was also very anxious and was resisting the contact. We ended up scoring 55% (I know, 10% off my 65% goal. Next year I say.) Cross country was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. His stride length was so much more powerful and longer, it was like magic, again thanks to the pectoral work he had done. Although we had 9.2 time faults XC I didn't push him as it was his first official time at the height so I was going for a clear jumping round, letting him move into the new grade stress free. It worked, we we clear on jumping, even through what I thought may be a rather difficult water jump.

The water jump consisted of a drop down into the water, two strides to a bank out of the water, a bounce across the bank into the water again and then one stride to a bank out of the water all in a straight line. I thought he might get confused at the distances and water but he was completely at home. I thought the huge, protruding log in the direct line of the jump into the water would be a problem, i had to go around it and enter the water from and angle then straighten up on the first stride in but I have no complaints, he was a star. I even said to mum I think he can go 1* now.

In the SJ he was as good as ever considering we are both showjumpers it was easy peasy for us both, the silly pilot on his back however on the last jump decided to grab his mouth on the last stride and throw her weight around making it difficult for him to do the right thing. The silly pilot thorughly regrets it but isn't too upset about the extra 4 penalites. One way of making sure I don't make a stupid mistake again :)

Since the weekend I have only ridden him once and it was a ride I like to include in my "Staple it together and call it bad weather" folder. (Thank you Jack Johnson for the lyrics). It was probably a good idea not to ride him for the rest of the week as I was distracted about our year 10 formal on friday of this week. It was so much fun! Loved every second of formal. But that isn't what this is about.. I am going to lunge Rion today after the heat of the day is gone.

I have no more competitions this year, just training. I have to have the musculo-skeletal vet out again and then he will get a big break the week before Christmas and he can have a horsey holiday. In January next year, not that I am entirely keen on the idea of having a clinic in the middle of the sumer heat. I never like to ride in January or late december here, it is just too hard on me and the horses, it gives us both a chance to chill and reguvenate. Anyway, as I was saying in January Rion and I wil be attending a George Morris clinic. I'm a little bit worried as to what George is going to make of my little Thoroughbred with some bad training issues.. It is one of those 'wait and see' instances. Next year I also plan to join the local dressage club to get us both more comfortable and used to doing dressage tests so it isn't as big a deal.

Until Next I post.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho I'ts off to work we go.

2009-10-04T17:14:00.004+11:00

Today after mum made me clean the bathroom.. I thought it would never end. I rode Rion.
I haven't ridden him since the weekend competing and since my jump saddle is gone dressage was on the agenda.

I lunged him for about 15 mins, getting him to stretch and doing transitions up and down and in the gait.Rion is so bad at dressage, there is no other way of saying it. He has improved since I got him but my dressage work this year has not been consistent enough. Starting today I have a new goal.

Consistently achieve 65% in any test and work towards 70% going into next year.

I think we can do it. I hope we can do it.

I worked just on the basics, transitions within the trot to warm up when I got on and just focusing on keeping him supple and not having a repeat performance with his back issues. Rion has always had contact issues, particularly in the form of bridle lameness. Today he was showing exactly that. Looking at the pictures he is just not coming up underneath himself and is behind the vertical.

I need a lesson..

That's it for now folks. Another update on how he goes tomorrow.

Ride time: 1 hour.

There are no problems.. just solutions

2009-10-03T14:01:00.004+10:00

I have just gotten inside from the rain after Rion got his saddles refitted. The saddle fitter did the usual, saddle without riser, with riser, with me on etc for his jumping and dressage saddle.

The diagnosis: the riser I use on my jumping saddle was creating too much tension and where the rise stopped it was hollow. The dressage saddle is fine.

The treatment: He is going to fix the packing in the jump saddle, although it has retained its shape since we got it 18 months ago, and is going to fix my riser so that it isnt hollow around his waist area.

So it is good news, gives me time and a reason to do lots of dressage work now. We are both in a dire need for it.

Thanks for Reading.

Sorry.. uber busy.

2009-10-01T14:46:00.005+10:00

Long time no blogging. I have been so busy with school and so much on my plate but now exams are over and I am on holidays posts everyday! With Pics!

Last weekend:
We went competing and boy was it cold. Freezing actually. And gale force winds, icy rain. Not pleasant. Rion was a star in the first class, we had just one rail down due to pilot error. He had a little looksy at a liver pool and silly pilot wasn't there with her legs early enough and he knocked it. But he was a star for me the rest of the way round. It was about 1.10m/3'4+.

When I got on before the second class he was being an absolute trouble. Backing up, spinning, sidestepping, rearing, backing into people ("very rude Rion"). He was still playing up in the warm up and in the ring we had three down. Took him back to the stables and found he had a sore back. Gave him some Bute (anti-inflammatory) and waited to see how he was in the morning. No better so we packed up and came home.

This morning he had a nice massage. And oh boy did he like it! Falling asleep, licking his lips.. He was very tight all over but is much better now after his massage. We are having the saddle fitter come out on Saturday to find out whether the saddle caused his back problems. I'm only allowed to lunge him for now just to let him stretch out and I'll play some games with him tomorrow as well. I hope mum will take some pics =]

Here is the video of Rion from the weekend in the first class.

Completely non-horsey post..

2009-09-01T19:15:00.003+10:00

So I have just gotten inside from playing Touch Football for school (If you are from the US it is very unlike your football ;] ) After the long - 45 min- drive home I fed the horses up, rugged them up. Ate some yummy dinner then jumped straight back on here.

It is so addictive, I found that I had one follower - thanks a million jjcass, you made my day- and one comment made on my first post.

Now that I have updated you with some completely un-horsey news I am about to hop in the shower - I'm a bit smelly from footy!! - and get a long sleep so I can wake up before the sun to ride Rion. He is a 13 year old Thoroughbred. I haven't decided what I will do with him yet.. maybe a lunge then some dressage work. Nice and relaxing. I'll tell you tomorrow how it goes.

I'm having a pretty busy day tomorrow. When I get to scholl I'm going on an geography excursion to the beach..if only it wasn't the beginning of spring and we could swim! I will also post some pics.

So toodle-loo for now my very small bunch of followers..

Hi!

2009-08-30T12:05:00.001+10:00

Howdy,

I'm new to the whole blogging thing.. kind of strange really.

This blog is going to be about my adventures in life and my journey with horses. I will post as much as possible and tell you all the teeny details of my life..Well maybe not all the details. I will also post pictures and write about the photography that I do. I will also post things that I learn in my lessons and studies of the equine world.

Here is my facebook if you want to talk or ask questions, feel free.
http://www.facebook.com/J.KONN

Here is my You Tube for videos of me and my horses.
http://www.youtube.com/ilovehorses121

You can contact me on:
jumpingponygirl@yahoo.com.au

Until next I blog.