Nice long ride

Maria & I had a nice trail ride yesterday.  We took Jordan and went a good 8 miles.  I pushed Maddie out front a lot, and even made her pass Jordan at the canter.  I was really pleased.  At the half way point we switched mounts and rode home.  Maria also kept her out front a lot and got her walk nice and loose.  We took a few odd jumps as well.  We both agree that Maddie has a nicer canter than Jordan.  It's just so smooth and easy to sit, and the canter depart is very crisp and controlled.

Today I did some ground work in the driveway, working on her loins some more and also using the plastic bag.  Then I trimmed her feet a bit.  It's exciting to watch her feet improve--her sole is starting to lift and recede, exactly as it should if the trim is correct.  I rolled both the front and rear hooves.  I was working alone and just had her ground tied in the driveway.  Once or twice she moved and I just went back to ground work, then gave her the choice of standing still while I trimmed.  She chose correctly!

work and play

Yesterday Maria & I went for a ride, Maria on Maddie, and myself on Jordan.  We were out for an hour or so and basically just took the river trail.  Maddie led for about 1/3 of the time and did well.  Old spooky spots, like the tire jumps, were completely gone!  I also rode Jordan into the river and Maddie followed without incident.  Later on, we took the jump series behind Triple H.  Maria was amazed at what a solid reliable jumper Maddie is.  We had a terrific ride.

Today I went out and did about 30 minutes of ground work with Maddie before riding, leading up to more desensitizing in her loins and hindquarters.  I feel stupid for not getting this out of the way two months ago.  I worked with the rope and my hands again and made a lot of progress.  She went to bite me a few times but I just waited for a concession before retreating.  I'm wondering if I should keep at it until even the tail swishing is gone.

The ride went well, but I did not let up.  More roll backs and dandelion circles, backing, and all kinds of transitions.  I made sure to keep a loop in the reins nearly all the time and to let her spook if she wanted to.  It was a nice day and a really heavenly ride.  She stayed with me 95% of the time and I really had a great time.  Such a good mare.

Going back and fixing things...

Madison exposed some serious weaknesses in Maddie's foundation.  Although she could handle new things one at a time, when several elements were thrown at her at once, she forgot who I was and reverted.  So I need to get her foundation more solid.

Yesterday I rode Maddie and did not get very far from the stable.  She wanted to run out, so I found a fenceline and did lots of stops, backing up, and changes of direction.  We eventually rode out on a trail, but I kept up with lots of walk-trot-walk transitions.  We got to a field with a scary burn pile and a scary dump truck, and here I just walked her and waited for trouble.  When she reacted, I took her away and did trot circles around dandelions.  I worked her hard, but calmly, and did not let up until she showed some improvement.  In the woods I did more tree bending, backing, and changes of direction.  Overall, my attitude was one of low tolerance.  She needs to pay attention to me, and look to me when she spooks at something.  Maddie can spook, but immediately afterwards, she needs to go back to listening to me.

Today it was wet and I just lunged her in the mud lot, asking for a soft trot on a small circle.  I insisted that she keep a regular loop in the lunge line and a nice arc in her body.  I held the lunge line against my thigh and did not move from my spot, making her work around me.  I did some rope work in her hindquarters and found some trouble spots.  I picked up each hind leg with the rope, and also looped it around her barrel and worked it back to her loins.  Several times she went to bite me when the rope bothered her.  I backed her up and worked through it.  She also kicked out hard several times.  I've done these exercises before, of course, but apparently I didn't do it well enough, or she forgot some of it.  I feel stupid for letting this situation go as long as it has, but I'm happy that I'm seeing this.  She needs to learn more respect, simple as that.  I know what to work on.

The Midwest Horse Fair--the deep end of the pool

Maddie settled into the Fair on Thursday unbelievably well.  We walked her into all the chaos of 600 horses being moved in at once, among trucks, trailers, golf carts, electric saws, tools, etc.  I was amazed that we could place her into a stall safely.  She actually settled down almost immediately.

Within 90 minutes we were saddled up for our first warmup in the Nutrena arena.  It was a thrill to meet and ride with my fellow competitors.  Maddie had trouble with spooky parts of the arena, but we were soon moving all over the arena well.  Her lateral work was fantastic!  She was smooth on both reins and just moving wonderfully.  I was really proud of her.

Later that day, after a break, we rode a warmup in the Hutchison arena, which is a tent with a 20m x 40m riding enclosure inside.  It was windy and rainy, so the tent flaps were making a lot of noise.  It would have been nice to let Maddie rest in her stall after such a long day, but the first two of 4 elements of the contest would be held in this arena at 8:00 am the next morning.  The pace of the contest was driving things now.

The Friday morning warmups began at 6:00 am, and our first class was at 8:00 am.  Maddie did better in the tent this time.  I put her back into her stall and waited for my number to come up at around 9:00 am for the pattern class.   The class called for trotting into the tent, two tracking in both directions, lengthening the trot, and halting, followed by some canter circles and lead changes, and finishing with two pirouettes.  Maddie was so scared that she only did about 25% of this.  We managed to do the circles and spins, but nowhere near our marks.  She wanted to get out of that arena very badly.

The second class was the compulsory, which would only count if we made it to the finals.  It was a freestyle ride of ten required elements.  Since Maddie was so scared, I planned to lead her in and mount in the arena.  Unfortunately, when a friend saw my plan he offered to help, and I stupidly agreed.  I mounted outside while he held Maddie, and he hit her and backed her when she got fussy.  Then I rode into the arena and began my ride.  This time she was so scared that all I could do was circle her near the entrance.  I hopped off and put her back into her stall.

On Saturday we started fresh at 6:00 am, which was the only time available for warming up. We were back in the Nutrena arena and we had a good ride.  During this ride I asked for a half pass at the trot and she really did it!  We were just floaty smooth for a few lovely strides.  I even rode over to the Coliseum and rode around inside for a few minutes!  This day's class was the trail class followed by a free style 90 second ride.  Our ride time was around 9:30 am.  This day ended up being the worst for Maddie.  Outside the Nutrena arena we waited for our turn and she was just dancing and dancing.  None of my tricks for calming her down worked, even though the day before I was able to safely ride around the grounds before my class.  A fellow competitor came to my aid and offered to hold Maddie for me while I collected my thoughts.  It became clear to me that she was not rideable and I made the painful decision to just walk her through the class.  Even being led, she was terrified the entire time and mostly just circled around me.  I thanked the judges and got her out of there.

Later in the afternoon Maria rode her around the grounds bareback and we all felt a little better.  At least we could see that Maddie was still the same horse.  She just could not handle the arenas and the crowds.

Back in her stall, Maddie was a real crowd pleaser.  Many of the fair goers stopped to pet her and I saw her give quite a few girls a kiss on the lips.  What a friendly horse!  This was the best part of the fair.  

Sunday morning I woke up early to watch the mustang finalists warm up.  Afterwards I took Maddie for a ride on the grounds before the crowds got too intense.  We had a good ride, but I could tell she was ready to go home.  I took her over to the outdoor practice arena and let her canter around for a few laps.

Later on Sunday we had the nerve wracking experience of putting Maddie up for auction, which was a required part of the challenge.  We had to bid against one other buyer but we were fortunately able to buy Maddie for just $500.  We loaded her into a trailer and drove back to Caledonia as fast as they would let us!  We were never so happy to be home.  Madison was a fantastic, fun, and unforgettable experience.

We are so ready!

For our final lesson before the Fair, I did a regular session, riding 15 minutes over to Wendy's and working her inside.  For the first time I tried the 3.5 minute free style performance that I have been building in my head, playing the music in earphones so I could hear the cues.  I think it will work if we need it (only the top 10 do a free style).  Nothing fancy--just starting out with some shoulder in, two half passes, then doing figure eights at the trot and canter.  I included a pirouette on both half passes but I may nix that--she is still weak to the left and it will stick out like a sore thumb.  Overall, Maddie did great.

We played around a bit, sidepassing up to various gates and jump gear, me reaching over and moving things around while she sniffed at them.  I picked up the cone a bunch of times and rubbed it all over her, switching sides, putting it down onto a jump, etc.  She felt solid and I got her to the point where she pretty much ignored it on her back when we walked out.

On the way home I repeated the free style in Jane's outdoor.  By this time a thunderstorm must have been passing by because the wind really whipped up.  She was a bit peevish and actually bolted when I asked for a canter in the direction of home.  I spun her around a bunch of times and kept her in shoulder-in until she had come back down.  Not sure exactly what was up with her.  By the time we got to the hayfields near the stable she was back to her old self.  We watched a lone coyote trot across one of the fields--not sure if that is a good omen or not.  Maddie paid it no mind.

I feel really confident that Maddie will shine in Madison.  The rest is just a giant logistical puzzle.  The trailer is loaded with hay, shavings, tack, backup tack, buckets, displays, sleeping bags, etc.  Joe's truck is filled with food, suitcases, water, gear, and more gear.  What an expedition!  Next time I do this, we are going bareback and brideless, and I'm just going to ride the mustang all the way to Madison.  Back to basics.  :)

Loose ends

A real nice day for riding today--45 degrees, sunny, and 10 mph wind.  I saddled up Maddie and tied the lariat into her saddle, which I have done before, and rode out with the dressage whip as well.  I have been using the dressage whip for pretty much every ride in the last 3 weeks, and she has accepted it well.  The lariat is also no problem now--we can canter around and the banging does not bother her.

At Wendy's arena we worked with another horse for awhile and had a great session.  We played with the big ball and had no trouble pushing it all around the arena.  From the ground I reintroduced lariat work and then had her dragging a cone around by draping the lariat around her haunches and the saddle.  She handled this well.  I hopped up there and repeated, switching sides several times.  I was really pleased.  I think we will be able to handle this test in Madison.  I also picked up and put down the lariat in a bunch of places around the arena, and reached down to pick up the cone and moved it from place to place.  She shied slightly from the cone when I was carrying it in my lap, but it was pretty good.  I also closed the gate from the saddle and latched it.

Canter was only slightly better than last time--she has a messy, fast canter with a faint trotty feel to it when she is nervous and being pushed.  Circles were difficult because she just had no impulsion.  But I did the most indoor canter to date.  I am expecting that the mental challenge in Madison will not be as great--the arenas are bigger, and even though there are more things to bother her, I feel she will be so flooded that she will just deal with them.

Turn on the haunches to the left is sketchy--this will be a weak spot in the contest.  But overall I am really feeling confident.  Maddie has been exposed to so much and I really feel she is prepared for the big show.  For sure I know we can have a great weekend together.

Wendy saddled up and joined us for the ride back to the stable.  Maddie kept up well  with the fast walk of Wendy's draft cross, but we had to canter a bit when Wendy picked up the trot.  As expected, Maddie's outdoor canter was engaged and easy.  Wish she could do this inside!

Windiest day yet

Today there was a wind advisory all day long, and we had winds pushing 40 mph.  I waited until about 4:00 when things had died down enough that no more branches were likely to fall down during our ride.  I planned to play it by ear and not do anything ambitious. 

Maddie came out calm and was a pleasure to tack up.  Chuck had a lawnmower in pieces right outside the stable and she basically paid it no mind, including when he started it up while she was in the cross ties.  I'm really pleased she can handle this stuff now.  Riding out she was tuned up but sensible.  At this point I can keep her on a very loose rein and trust her, which really helps.  Riding a nervous horse can be a "chicken and egg" question, where you need to give the horse the benefit of a loose rein in order to relax, but giving it a lot of rein can mean it will take longer to rein it in if it bolts.

We worked in the woods bending around trees, then went into the smaller hay fields behind the stable where the wind was partially blocked.  We did a lot of canter departs, working on picking up leads on a straight line.  At this point, my riding skills are more of a limitation than her training level.  But I could mostly get the leads I was asking for.

She walked and trotted past a bunch of spooky spots with ease.  I did a lot of shoulder in and haunches in, and also zig zag half pass when the trail was wide enough.  She is starting to give me lateral work at the trot.  Funny, she would not back well today, which I think is a challenge when she is wanting to bolt on a windy day.

Walking through the woods she danced once or twice over small twigs. This is one hole in her schooling--she is still ticklish on her undercarriage.  On a calmer day I need to hop off and rub her with some branches again.

Clinic Day at Lalo's

Today we loaded Maddie in the trailer and took her to Lalo's farm in Elkhorn.  This was the first road trip we took--I was relieved when we arrived safely.  The trailer worked well and Maddie was mostly calm.  We could hear her whinny a couple of times back there. The truck was a little overwhelmed and I'm pleased to report that our friend Joe has offered us the use of his considerably more powerful truck for the trip to Madison.  Our little Ford Ranger was really getting bounced around and could barely make 55 mph on flat blacktop.  It was about an hour each way.

There were 5 other horses at the clinic and maybe 10 people watching.  We started with ground work and an obstacle course.  There was a bridge, a tarp, some ground poles, etc.  Maddie aced all this.  I was actually pretty surprised that she walked over the bridge so well.  We played with a plastic curtain that Lalo uses for desensitizing and Maddie was able to pass through it a few times.  There was not enough time to finish her on this obstacle, though.

For ridden work we repeated the obstacles and did some barrel racing at the end.  There was also a tire on the ground and several riders tried to have their horse put a front leg into it.  Maddie was the only horse that could do it!  Not even Lalo could get his horse to put a leg into it.  For the ridden and ground portion, a judge was watching all the horses and scoring each one.  Maddie placed 3rd in ground and 3rd in ridden work.  Everyone was really impressed with her!  I was just pleased that I could work her and feel safe and in control.  She looked to me for leadership today.

We also had the crowd make some noise while Maddie walked past them.  I was happy that Maddie could handle this.

We need to work on picking up and object and moving it.  Today Lalo had a bucket on a barrel and the bucket was a little unnerving to Maddie when I picked it up and we walked off.  I have done this exercise with Maddie, but only a couple of times and never with a bucket.

Throwing more stuff at Maddie

I loaded Maddie in the trailer for 10 minutes again, then pulled her out, tacked her up, and rode out.  Today I met up with Sarah over at Mary's barn and used that indoor arena for the first time.  Maddie took her time settling in--I really don't like riding nervous horses!  Sarah's family was there specifically to help Maddie get used to a group.  They clapped for us a few times and Maddie dealt with it OK.  We did some really, really nice lateral work.  Turns (forehand and haunches) were weak today, though.  The trot work was good, but there was always one side of the circle that was a fight.  We did a few ugly canters on each lead.

Someone suggested letting Maddie explore the arena herself, so I took the saddle and bridle off and let her be.  She just hung out with the group of people.  I tried driving her away with a lunge whip but it was hard to push her away.  Once everyone had left, I stayed in there and lunged her for a while with an imaginary lead line.  She was so hooked up that she never left my pocket.  She followed me down to the spooky ends of the arena just fine.  It was fun, but I don't know if it taught her anything.

We hung out for a long time talking and watching stuff go on (lawnmowers, children, manure spreader, etc) and rode out with Jean on her Rocky Mountain horse.  We walked and trotted over to Jon & Sue's, where I worked Maddie a bit in the outdoor arena.  She cantered well and did nice work.  On the way home we did a bunch of w-t and t-c transitions, and attempted some so-so halt-trot transitions.

Have no idea what to expect in Madison.  If I can keep my cool, I think it will be a successful weekend.  But if Maddie gets nervous and takes me with her, I don't know how it will turn out.

right and left

Finally have some good trailer news to report.  I worked Maddie alone with the trailer before riding today and closed her in there several times.  I insisted on staying outside the trailer while she loaded herself--this really seemed to help her confidence.  I let her turn around, which is not the best practice, but then she could watch me close the door.  I closed her in a few times and then reached in and got her turned facing forward and tied her to the blocker ring.  After she got used to this, I reached in and closed the divider (the trailer is a slant-load type).  Lots of rubbing throughout all this.  When I finally opened the door and let her out, she was able to stay in place fairly well.  For the first repetition, she stayed up there until I hopped up and backed her off, which is ideal.

We worked in Jane's outdoor arena for this session, with lots of canter.  Son of a gun, now the right lead is harder to pick up!  But she was staying in canter nicely and the circles were really coming along.  I was very pleased.  In walk the half pass is getting better and requires less babysitting.  Turn on the haunches is looking better, too.  I got her good and sweaty.  The only thing I noticed was a little bit of jumpiness on the way home.  Once back at the stable, I put her in the trailer two more times and closed her up completely.  Cross fingers the trailering issues will be downhill from now on!

Here's a pic from the end of Maria's ride yesterday:

Yesterday and today

Yesterday's ride was short.  We rode over to Wendy's to use the arena, but there was a horse turned out in there.  So I backtracked to Jane's and practiced in the outdoor.  The trot looked good, but the canter was so-so.  Jane was working her horse at the same time and it really seemed to dull Maddie down.  On the way home I tried to jump some logs and Maddie stopped with two feet over and two feet behind.  Something about having another horse nearby robs her of her impulsion.  And nobody believes me when I say Maddie is a good jumper now, on account of her doing terrible jumps when anyone is watching.

Today we met up with Wendy and another rider on the way over to her barn and chatted a bit.  Everyone is amazed at how calm Maddie is!  This is the best part about her.  Once in the arena, we were joined by another rider on a Morgan.  Maddie paid him no attention and really went well.  We cantered on both leads and did a lot of trot circles around the big ball.  In walk we did more half pass, doing the zig zag exercise to try to even up the sides.  Right now the right half pass is about correct, while the left half pass is a little squirrely and can turn into a side pass.  We had a good ride home.

In the evening Maria & I came back for some trailer practice on the small stock trailer.  We could not safely close the door but made a lot of progress.  I was able to get off a couple of times with her tied to the blocker ring.  We quit and Maria hopped on for a 20 minute bareback ride.  She joined two other riders and just looked lovely across the field.

More indoor work

I rode Maddie at Wendy's again today.  She started off with a lot of impulsion and great softness--Wendy was watching and even commented on how nice our trot circles looked.  I set up some cones this time and played around with a giant beach ball that was sitting in the arena.  I worked on getting that pesky right half pass back, and did nice turn on the haunches in both directions.  Canter was the same story--difficult to keep her going.  Today she also cross-fired something fierce.  The cross fire is a mental problem--a way of saying "I'm too nervous to canter properly."  I am going to keep coming back and challenging her with this arena until she gets it.  As I expected, once we were outside on the trails, she could canter beautifully on either lead.

The ride home was fun--we visited with Lizzie who was tearing around on her tb.  I practiced rollbacks along the edge of the hayfield again, and finished with some trailer loading practice.  I have been bringing the trailer along and tying her to the side when I tack up for the past 2 days as well.

The Payoff

Another windy day today, windier than yesterday.  I was really proud of how Maddie handled it.  I kept her busy and did not give her a lot of time to look at things, and we moved out nicely past the scary places.  She stuck a little, but overall I was pleased with her progress.

We worked in the outdoor arena at Schumann's, focusing on impulsion and lots of canter.  I did the canter as a cruise lesson and really got her feet loosened up.  In walk I did turns on the forehand and the haunches.  The right half pass was sketchy, so maybe it's time to stop obsessing about her weak left bend.  She also gave me another unplanned lead change from right to left.

On the way home I found her rushing and anticipating the final turn, so I cantered her past the trail several times, stopping and doing little rollbacks.  She gave me a couple of genuine rollbacks that leaped right into canter, which was a lot of fun.  I'm starting to be able to really lift her shoulders with my reins now.

ugly ride, but a good ending

It was a windy day today and there was plenty to spook at.  I was determined to make some progress and change the spook ritual with Maddie.  When we got to the construction site and she balked, I just took her about 20' away and practiced trot circles and transitions for 10 minutes.  Then I offered her to walk past the tractor.  She got a little closer and then balked again.  I repeated this routine about 4 times before she would walk past the tractor.  I wanted to make walking down the path easy for her, and balking difficult.  Then I walked her past the tractor in both directions a few more times.  We went a little further and she balked at a hay bale on the ground.  Same thing, but it didn't take as long to fix.  In another 100', we really got stuck where a 4 wheeler was parked next to the barn.  The wind was causing the barn to make noise and she really pitched a fit when I pointed her down the gravel road, which required us to pass around the corner of the barn and close to the 4 wheeler.  By this time, her impulsion was gone at it was impossible to do trot circles anywhere.  I hopped off and lunged her for a few minutes before trying again.  She gave a bunch of rears at different times.  Quite a few times I repeated the whole gauntlet of spooky spots.  I really wanted to make walking forward look easy, and all the snorting look difficult.  By the end of the day, when we went home past this same area, she trotted past all this stuff without slowing down.  I hope she learned something, and I hope she felt good about it.  I'll find out tomorrow when we take the same route again!

We went over to Wendy's indoor arena for the first time, and I was really happy with her performance.  The trot work was solid, although I could not keep her in canter very well.  We were able to walk up and down the aisles when I was looking for a bedding fork to pick up her poop, which I was pleased with.  Overall, it was an ugly day of foundation work, but I think it will pay off in the long run.

PS  Maria & I stopped by shortly before dark to say hi to Maddie.  When I entered the mud lot, she trotted straight over to me and buried her head in my arms.  Thanks, Maddie!  I needed that.

Group ride

Maria came along on Jordan today and we had a fun ride--weather was perfect!  Right after mounting up, Wendy arrived with a group of four horses going out for a trail ride, so we asked if we could join them for a bit.  I knew it would be a challenge for Maddie, but she was ready for it.  I kept her in the last and second to last position, where I felt safe if I need room to maneuver.  She got a little excited when the group trotted, but in fact it was another horse in the group that caused its rider the most trouble, not Maddie.  At any rate, Maria & I separated after 15 minutes and went our own way.

I put Maddie in the lead and kept her there for a good long way.  I was really pleased with how she moved out.  I could feel her getting ready to fall back and let Jordan take the lead, but it was really no trouble keeping her in the lead.  We trotted and cantered with glee.  When we got to a large hayfield, Maria opened up Jordan and tore the place up!  Maddie & I let them go past us without a challenge.  It's funny, Maddie is not only happy to let someone else lead, she does not even try that hard to keep up.  She will fall back 100' and not seem to care much.  I actually like this--horses that get that "left behind" panic and bolt to catch up are kind of unnerving to me.

We goofed off in the cross country course, chatted with another rider, and took a series of jumps in the woods.  The only disappointment was the log jump in the cc course--both Maria & I tried to get her over, but I could only get her to walk over it.  I hopped off and made her lunge over it a bunch of times before quitting.

Rope work

I went over to Jon & Sue's today with my lariat to practice picking things up off the fence and to try dragging things again.  She did well with me putting the lariat on the fence and picking it up.  I started to uncoil the lariat and throw it around, but soon hopped off and did more work from the ground.  I dragged a cone around a bit from the ground but did not try it from the saddle.  We spent a good time chatting with Jon & Sue as well.

She did some nice lateral work in the arena, building on that nice flexion and roundness she has started giving me.  At the trot and canter she was a bit dull in the arena.  It took all I had to keep her in the canter.  I want to come back with a dressage whip and fix this.  This arena is plenty large enough for her to stay in the canter.  Enclosed areas just shut her down somehow.

On the trails she kept moving better today but still showed some scary spooks at the walk--backing away in a very unpredictable and uncontrolled manner.  But I was testing her more by keeping her more at the walk in the first place.  At the trot and canter she is too busy to do anything that crazy.  Overall I was pleased with her progress.  We rode to several farms.

Playing around

I did not have much time this morning and only worked Maddie for about 45 minutes.  We trotted around the cc course, took the Irish steps, and went over one of the jumps.  Her jumps were very dull--she just became wooden sided and lost all of her impulsion and confidence.  Not sure what is up with that.  We trotted over to a small hayfield in back and practiced canter departs.  On the way she had to pass a spooky hay wagon, past which I walked her back and forth several times until she stopped making such a big deal over it.

In the hayfield and on the walk home I started playing with direct flexion, with good results.  She found her release and really lightened up.  It would be so much fun if I could get this lesson solid in time for the horse fair.

Hanging out at the Schumann's

Maddie walked out very nicely today, moving forward with minimal spooking.  I was really happy to see this look again.  We had some pretty good spooky objects to test us next door--there was a dump truck that dumped while we were there, a bobcat picking up rocks, and an excavator filling up the dump truck with dirt.  I can't imagine what Maddie the mustang makes of this!

I worked on canter leads in Schumann's outdoor arena, then put her into the indoor torture chamber.  This was her 3rd time in this arena.  She showed improvement, and we cantered inside for the first time.  Jane & Eric watched us for about 20 minutes, and boy did they love on Maddie during the rests.  Maddie loved the attention!  They were really impressed at how calm and affectionate she is.  It was fun. 

I still had trouble getting her over jumps in the indoor.  We set up a low cross rail again, but she just barely trotted over it.  She would go towards it with good impulsion, but just come to a screeching halt most times.  So Jane won't believe me when I say Maddie is a good jumper!  Anyway, on the way home I took a bunch of jumps in the woods and she did just fine.

Irish Steps

Maria came out yesterday and we grabbed Maddie for her second ride of the day, spending about 1.5 hours and going 6 miles or so on the trails.  Maria rode Maddie the whole time and they did great together--taking the Irish steps in both directions and cantering up and down the right of way.  They took a couple of jumps together, too.  Maddie seemed really quiet and happy.  I rode a fussy and spooky Jordan.

simple changes

I saddled up Maddie fairly early today and walked out from the barn on trails that she is not familiar with.  Maddie was very spooky around some garden-variety obstacles--piles of manure, a bench covered with a tarp for the winter, and a bag caught in the bushes.  She backed up hard and dangerous, and I was frustrated with her.  This continued for the next 30 minutes, which was the distance to our planned practice area.  This set of trails did not have a lot of opportunity for trot/canter, and without being warmed up she had a lot of difficulty dealing with scary stuff.  Hope we made some progress.

In Jane's outdoor arena we alternated between trot/canter transitions, lateral work at the walk, and simple lead changes.  This was the first time I attempted lead changes, and I was very pleased.  I was doing figure 8's with about 15m circles, and she picked up her leads 100%.  At the walk her renvers/travers and half pass are really coming along.

Our ride home was easy.  I made her walk past the property several times before hopping off and putting her away.

Finding a way

Ken Mcnabb likes to say that you should find a way for your horse to feel like he has won.  I thought about this idea during my session with Maddie today, although at times it was easier said than done.

We walked and trotted over for another session in the indoor.  It's about 1.5 miles or so on the trails, but I stretched it out with a canter around a hayfield.  Once again we were alone in this indoor arena, which was filled with jumps.  Maddie calmed down much faster this time, and I was able to do more lateral work and more transitions.  But I still did not canter.  Her spooks in the corners, around jump standards, and from throwing up sand into the walls and doors kind of unnerved me.  I worked her over one jump, which took longer than I thought it would.  I started by putting all the poles on the ground, then raising them up to a tiny cross rail jump.  For the first 6 or so times, Maddie would come to a halt and then walk over the cross rails after some encouragement.  After that, she could stay in the trot and go over.  But it was a big effort for her to get this far, so I quit at this point and took her home.

I trotted and cantered her around some fields, and the wind was making the vinyl fencing flap a bit.  She has not figured this one out yet and it was unnerving her.  But we made some progress in building her confidence, I think.

In the woods she was fussier than I hoped.  I tried to walk her home on a loose rein, but she would duck down for bites of grass and we would get into a fight--exactly what I had hoped to avoid.  I ended up doing a lot of lateral practice to keep her mind occupied.  She is now able to transition quite nicely from shoulder in to haunches in, in any way I ask for.  With all the concern about her left bend, I noticed that the right shoulder in had gotten rusty.  But overall I'm very pleased with Maddie, and with my feel and timing.

Back at the stable I tested her by throwing her in the cross ties and taking my time un-tacking before turning her out.  She took the opportunity to get real fussy.  But I think I need to do this to increase her attention span, and her patience.

Late afternoon bareback session

Interesting and productive second session today.  Maria came with me around 5:30 and we tried Maddie's first bareback ride.  I just put a bit in Maddie's mouth and took her into a grass arena next to her mud lot.  Maria hopped on and I led her around for about 10 minutes.  It took this long to get Maddie comfortable--she started out very nervous about the whole thing.  This was surprising to me, since most horses in my experience seem calmer without a saddle.  But the feel on her back was new and it really took some time for Maddie to get comfortable.

After a while Maria asked me to let go of the rein and I reluctantly let her take over.  After another 10 minutes Maddie started stretching and Maria began feeling more comfortable.  Maria trotted her on both reins and asked me to go hop on Jordan.

I got on Jordan bareback, too, and together we rode over to the cross country course.  Jordan & I led the way, crossing the street and doing a good job of this.  In the cross country course, Maria took the Irish steps a couple of times.  Wow!  Once Maria feels confident, she is just amazing on a horse.  But Maria agreed that Maddie felt very nervous and explosive at the start of this session.  I'm really pleased that she learned this lesson today.  On the way home Maddie really showed a calm walk and even stood still when Chuck drove down the driveway and passed within 2 feet of her.  Amazing.

the great indoors

I rode Maddie directly over to the Schumann's today for some ring work, intending to work around the hay fields and do some arena practice in the outdoor.  But Jane invited me to use the indoor and I was able to work Maddie inside for about 25 minutes.  It was a mental challenge for Maddie--we were along and the arena was full of scary things.  There were all kinds of jumps in different configurations, but surprisingly it was some piles of sand in the corners that caused her the greatest concern.  It took about 15 minutes of circling around the jumps, barrels, etc, before Maddie showed real relaxation.  I did not canter her inside as there was not a good place to circle her if she bolted, but we made a lot of progress.

In walk, Maddie is finally getting to a real haunches in on the left rein.  This is helping out with her canter leads, which were 100% accurate when I cantered her on the trails.  Overall her calmness and control were terrific today.  Can't wait to go out again tomorrow!