Winston and Mufasa make Progress

...and so do Brett and I.  Gayle came up this morning to give us lessons.  The early morning was foggy and cold but by the time Gayle arrived, just before 9:00, the sun seemed to be winning the battle.  The fog never completely burned off, it just retreated to haze and by noon we were back to fog.  It stayed cold and wet outside for the remainder of the day and we may get some thundershowers tonight.

Winston and I were up first.  At my last lesson we worked on getting bend in the corners, keeping the forward and getting Winston's hind inside leg to really reach on a 10m circle, and we introduced leg yield.  Winston and I have been doing our homework so we were able to kick it up a notch.

Warm up on a long rein; working on getting a marching relaxed walk.

Winston had to focus on keeping forward and responsive to my leg, reaching over his back, moving in a supple way, and keeping steady contact with the bit.

I had to keep my elbows bent, but relaxed, at my side; carry my forearms; keep my hands above his withers and close together; shoulders back; and look up and around the circle.  In general, I can keep track of three things.  This was way more than three and I was huffing and puffing keeping the forward supple energy going with Winston while leg yielding on a circle.

Gayle had us spiral into a very small, tight circle around her without losing energy.

Then we had to spiral back out by leg yielding.  We were to gradually make the circle bigger by stepping sideways and forward, staying bent, and reaching under.  We had a tendency to go straight sideways but we had a couple good gradual circles by the end.  And then I was toast.

Doing pretty well here

Going sideways without bend through Winston's body. 

Brett wasn't sure how his lesson was going to go.  He tweaked his bad knee at work yesterday and this morning was having trouble walking without significant pain.  He loaded up on Aleve and got Mufasa ready.

When Brett first got Mufasa he (Mufasa) didn't understand contact on his mouth and he was very unbalanced.  Brett has been working on taking a light contact and Mufasa is accepting that.  The balance is getting better but Mufasa tends to fall in on a circle.  Gayle worked with getting Brett more evenly balanced (he was favoring the leg with the bad knee so he didn't have equal weight on both sides) and that helped tremendously.

They worked on keeping an even tempo.  Mufasa can move forward at a nice clip but when he is unsure or feels unbalanced, he tries to stop.  Right now, there is a lot of trust and confidence building that they are doing together.  They take care of each other and the bond is developing.

Once Mufasa had a balanced trot on a 20m circle, Gayle had them doing serpentines.  They finished up with some canter work.  It was the very best canter we have seen from Brett's big red dun.  In the video below you can see the trot work, the serpentine and a bit of canter.  It's a short video but it gives you an idea of how they are moving together.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Early this morning, Gayle came up to give us lessons.  Winston and I were up first.  Because we are just getting back to work after three weeks off, Gayle gave us a long warm up at walk.  We worked, though.  We worked on my position.  Gayle said that I was slouching forward with my shoulders.

So while Winston warmed up by walking on a loose rein, I had to lift my shoulders and lean back.  More. More. There.  I felt like I was leaning over backwards; like I was going to be laying across Winston's butt if I went another inch.  But, I wasn't.  I looked like this.  The camera doesn't lie.

Gayle told me that if I keep my shoulders up and back and stay centered over my body, Winston will be able to balance easier and carry me.  Otherwise, I'll have to work too hard to keep him together.  Of course, getting there is going to take some work.  My body likes slouching.  Sigh.

Next we worked on corners; starting with 15m circles and working down to 10m voltes.  Winston needed to stay active, reaching under with his hind inside leg, and bending around my leg. 

I had to press with my inside leg so he didn't fall into the middle of the circle; I had to sit tall; and I had to not pull him around with my reins.  

When he was moving with energy, we did pretty well.  When he slowed down, I had to work harder and steering was difficult.  I felt like I was pushing a 50 lb bale of hay sideways with my calf.  Making faces helps.

We got it done but it wasn't easy.  Keeping Winston forward and active is key.  I get that.  I really get that now.  Gayle worked us for close to an hour.  Walk and then the same thing at trot.  We finished with some leg yield.  After getting a good 10m circle in the corner, I would straighten onto the center line and then push him sideways to the rail.  He wasn't quick enough or reaching under far enough for Gayle (this is not a new exercise for us).  I had to tap him with the whip to get good effort.  I said a Hail, Mary first.  He fussed but he didn't buck.  Phew.
 

Happy team! 

While we were working on leg yield, Brett was busy getting Mufasa tacked up and ready to go.  Brett tweaked his back the other day while riding Mufasa in the arena.  Mufasa spooked at the cat, scooted sideways, and Brett stayed securely in the saddle but he got a good jerk sideways and that hurt.  He loaded up on Aleve, crossed his fingers, and mounted up.

Gayle told Brett not to worry about Mufasa's frame at this point.  They worked on getting an even tempo, especially in the corners, and getting Mufasa used to light contact on his mouth.  Mufasa steadily improved as the lesson progressed.

There were also moments where he got discomboobalated.  Brett stayed steady and consistent on his back which wasn't always easy.  There were times when Mufasa got a bit strung out.

Mufasa has a lovely, forward trot.  The balance will come.  This horse tries hard.  After working on trot, they moved onto canter.  Unfortunately, canter hurt Brett's back so they didn't do it for long.  Their lesson wasn't long, but they accomplished a lot.

Lesson Day

Gayle came up to give us, and our neighbor, lessons this morning.  The weather was supposed to be sunny and warm.  Instead it was overcast and cool.  It was perfect for riding, but a bit chilly for sitting around watching.

Brett spent a couple of hours yesterday getting the arena perfect.  He shoveled all the sand that had mounded up close to the rail back into the center.  Then he groomed it with the tractor.  It looked gorgeous; almost too pretty to ride on.  Almost.

Gayle hit some traffic on her way up so was delayed.  I used the extra time to practice braiding Winston's mane.  I got about half of it done, experimenting with fat braids and skinny braids.  Fat braids definitely look better. 

Gayle worked us hard.  I was up first (on the pristine arena footing: woo-hoo!) followed by Brett.  Here's some video with pieces of our lessons.

Jeanine and Calibar went last.  They worked on lunging technique.  Calibar is a bit out of shape after being off a few months so they took it easy on him.

After the lessons were over, Brett fired up the BBQ.  Gayle stayed for lunch and my friend, Heather, was up for the day as well.  We ate our burgers and tried to decide if the weather was getting warmer or colder. 

Brett and I were both very pleased with our lessons.  We learned a lot, we progressed, our horses progressed, and we are all tired and sore.  That includes the horses who rolled in the dirt after we hosed them off.  They stood, heads down, covered in mud, dozing.  Brett's asleep in his recliner and I'm headed to the couch.

Lesson Day

Gayle came up to give us lessons this morning.  I was up first since it was another scorcher and I do not deal well with the heat.  It was 85F with a slight breeze and I wore my wet vest so I did fine.  Gayle stood in the shade under a sycamore tree.  Brett was up second and planned to see how he held up with the pain and fatigue from his shingles.  Flash took care of that -- he was noticeable off at the trot so his lesson ended before I had finished taking off Winston's tack.  Jeanine was up last.  Her farrier came this morning and she wanted to ride after he was finished.  It was 94F when she finished her lesson. 

Winston and I had a great lesson.  Gayle was very pleased with how I was riding (said it was the most effective she has ever seen me!  Grinning!!)  Winston was forward, in front of my leg (responsive) and willing.  We talked about a local schooling show on Septemeber 29 and agreed that Winston can do Training Level 1.  I asked her to help with the geometry of a 20m circle at A -- I am not used to doing circles there and I have three of them in the test at that location.  She incorporated circles at A, C and E/B (each end of the arena, and the center) into the lesson. 

When we trotted on the circle she wanted Winston to bend and reach under with his hind.  As we came to the rail, she had me leg yield over a few strides before continuing on.  This got him nicely wrapped around my leg and gave us the feel of bending deeply.  He caught on quickly.  Winston is a quick study.

Passage had a prime seat.

Here's a two minute video Brett took of my trot work.  This was before we started doing leg yield on the circle. 

Canter work was the best we've ever had.  No protests, easy smooth transitions, and lots of jump.  Winston even lifted his back and gave me some bend - a relatively new development in our work. 

Of course, it wasn't all beautiful.  We did have a few moments like this (but they were the exception):

By the time Jeanine and Calibar arrived, it was noon and very hot.  I lent Jeanine my wet vest and they decided to introduce Calibar to lunging with side reins.  He knew how to lunge, but Jeanine had not used side reins before so her lesson was spent on the finer points of lunging.   Gayle was off to the side, under a tree giving Jeanine instructions.  They worked on teaching him voice commands and insisting that he be forward.  He tried, a few times, to do his own thing and that didn't work out too well for him.  Jeanine did a great job of keeping him honest and respectful. 

Clinic with Gayle: July

Saturday morning we had lessons with Gayle.  Although I wasn't able to produce her minimum requirement of four riders, she still came up.  I paid her extra for gas -- she is coming from 60 miles away -- and we called it good.

Brett was first up since he had to leave immediately following his lesson to meet his daughter in Utah where he will collect the three grandkids who live in Colorado.  He will spend the night in Utah, and drive back tomorrow with them.  They will spend a week here with us.  We are very excited. 

Brett and Flash started out a bit sluggish.  Flash had been sound asleep at the tie rail while Brett tacked him up.  As soon as they went into the arena, Gayle put them to work.  No shuffling trot allowed; Flash had to be forward and he had to carry himself.  The change was dramatic. 

Next up was Winston.  I filled Gayle in on how longeing had been going and about the sporadic schedule for working with him.  My foot STILL can't handle me walking around or sitting with it down for more than an hour a day without hurting.  As a result, if I have to go into the office or we have friends up to visit or some other activity I don't work Winston.  It had been over a week since the last time he was longed. 

He started out behind the leg and argumentative. 

Gayle kept a soft, but steady, contact and insisted that he be forward.  He had to respond to her leg immediately, he had to push with his hind, and he had to be honest.

He got the message and eventually gave up the five year old fighting.  They were flying around the arena.  I am tasked with getting him that forward on the longe and getting him prompt with transitions from the ground.  Then, when I am finally able to get back on, we will have established the obedience piece. 

The finished up a bit early, due to Winston's lack of fitness, so Gayle got a break while we waited for Jeanine to arrive with Caliber.  Passage was working on her beauty rest.

Last month, Jeanine worked on Caliber's spooking and how to deal with his hot Arabian blood.  They picked right up where they left off last time.  She started out a bit tentative, waiting for Caliber to spook I think, and Gayle put her focus on getting Caliber forward and listening.  They looked awesome.  The change was spectacular.  Caliber went from very high headed, sluggish, foot dragging and slow to accepting the bit, to tracking way under, and listening.  Caliber did spook once but she ignored it and kept on working.  He didn't do it again. 

I'm hoping next month I'll be taking a lesson in the saddle instead of watching but it was really fun to see Winston flying around with Gayle.  And, I have homework. Of course.