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.