May bank holiday weekend plans

CanteringCarrot said:
Saturday was the holiday here, Monday normal. The relaxation work done on Saturday paid off. Yesterday canter half pass felt great. Popped in a few flying changes, and played with the gears in the canter a bit. Will bring out the double again soon and get going on on passage work again. He needs to get stronger before that though.

I took the noseband off of my bridle to accommodate this large bump (that actually is never going away) from the tooth abscess, and I kind of like it. Less to clean ? really makes no difference to him whether it's off or on.

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What saddle is that, CC?
 
for me as much as her, the counting - I found counting tempis very natural but having to count and also prepare the changeover was a bit more mental spaghetti - say you set off on the right rein coming off the wall, 5 strides half pass then the 6th stride is spent preparing your change so you land in left half pass going left, and repeat.... in my case that means pushing the quarters away so the shoulders are ready to slightly lead the new half pass but without drifting the wrong way in the change. essentially I am riding half pass but almost making the quarters tend to lead in the last stride.

i find it very hard on the centre line to get the first *3* of the 3,6,6,6,3... it's all over in a flash. though I have read that judges can't always quite tell when you intended to start...but of course you must go equally each side of the centre line and finish there, so you can't dither around for more than a stride!

For her... not taking over, being submissive enough to let me do all the above instead of just going "yes, i know this, off we go"!

I had intended to play with the I1 zigzag but it wasn't happening today, not good enough turn onto the centre line as she's not supple enough for square turns yet and then the half pass left becomes a bit rushed. So i'd thought to just do shallow HPs off and on the track, but muscle memory kicked in and we went straight to 6 strides ;) I ride them towards the mirror so I can really assess the quality of my changeovers, that's where it's made or broken for us.
 
the theory is the same as the PSG and I1 half passes... nowt new under the sun... but I find the PSG one esp more forgiving with the changeover, if you've got to the CL in good time you can almost afford to ride the change to the right a bit straight and then begin HP right as a separate exercise without losing too much flow, in the others that changeover is more critical, i find.
 
Maddie and I are not long home from a little road trip to AM Dressage along with j1ffy and Danny. It was meant to be a calm, stress free experience for our first overnight stay. Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious, but I am so pleased with how Maddie coped with it all - arriving in rain and wind, which then proceeded to get worse all afternoon. resulting in a very noisy session, but thankfully in the indoor arena. After a night where I felt I had been on a boat as the lorry swayed from side to side, it was lovely to see sunshine this morning and our second session was a little more peaceful! I am so happy with Maddie - lots of new experiences for us as a partnership, horses coming and going in the arena, plus a new location with plenty to look at. I think we are both going to need a few days off to recover. :)

A couple of fuzzy screenshots, and two HHO horses in the same shot.....

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CC while I'm rambling, people who know more than me have suggested practicing in leg yield, I actually find that harder to coordinate but it should be easier on the horse. and there are obvious stepping stones which begin like... an unspecified number of strides off the track, ride straight, organise change, HP back to track, ride straight and repeat, and then specifiying your number of strides in and gradually reducing your straight lines in between sets. I saw Gareth Hughes demonstrate the progression brilliantly at the BD convention a few years ago, there may be videos kicking about.
 
milliepops said:
CC while I'm rambling, people who know more than me have suggested practicing in leg yield, I actually find that harder to coordinate but it should be easier on the horse. and there are obvious stepping stones which begin like... an unspecified number of strides off the track, ride straight, organise change, HP back to track, ride straight and repeat, and then specifiying your number of strides in and gradually reducing your straight lines in between sets. I saw Gareth Hughes demonstrate the progression brilliantly at the BD convention a few years ago, there may be videos kicking about.
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Prior to the tooth ordeal, I was starting with those stepping stones. I've got a lesson this week and hopefully next week with an outside trainer as well. So I should have a good amount of supervision so I don't mess it up too badly ?
 
Went on a very soggy and windy sponsored ride yesterday. Henry was a star, loving life and striding out in front all the way. Made me happy and sad, cemented in my mind that selling him is the right thing. He'd love a home where he could do more stuff like that, not eventing, he just doesn't enjoy it. Though now I'm starting to dip my toe into a bit of horse hunting, which is exciting!

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iknowmyvalue said:
Went on a very soggy and windy sponsored ride yesterday. Henry was a star, loving life and striding out in front all the way. Made me happy and sad, cemented in my mind that selling him is the right thing. He'd love a home where he could do more stuff like that, not eventing, he just doesn't enjoy it. Though now I'm starting to dip my toe into a bit of horse hunting, which is exciting!

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Ahh its sad that u are thinking about selling him , does he not enjoy eventing ? Mine absolutely hates the dressage x
 
racebuddy said:
Ahh its sad that u are thinking about selling him , does he not enjoy eventing ? Mine absolutely hates the dressage x
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It is sad, I love the bones of this horse, and if I could afford to buy another and keep him I 100% would!!

No, he doesn’t much enjoy jumping away from home (above 75cm anyway). I think it’s the competing/new venues more than anything else. I’ve had him 5 years, and I just think that what he enjoys and what I enjoy are different, and he deserves to be perfect for someone, he’s just not quite perfect for me (he is in all ways but the competitive jumping)
 
Posting a bit late but as I have a week off work, my weekend is carrying on ?

Saturday was great, I hacked Chilli all the way around the village with another livery and he was lovely. Not at all worried by bikes coming up behind him, rattling vans and dogs. Was a bit unsure about someone strimming their lawn and a digger behind a hedge but he went past with no drama. Love him! Then had a really good schooling session on Danny, including a successful attempt at a flying change (something I am clueless about so left it there until we start doing them in lessons).

Nice hack on Danny on Sunday, then off to AMD with Nikicb and a friend from the yard. It was great despite the weather and resulting lack of sleep!!

Here’s my FB video from the two lessons. We attempted half steps for the first time and the feel afterwards was a revelation - much more active, uphill and in front of the leg. Danny has a SJ build with a fairly flat hind-end so it’s not easy for him to ‘sit’. There’s still a long way to go but his hind leg was definitely improved by the exercise.

https://www.facebook.com/503614042/posts/10159075397174043

Back there in a few weeks, when we might look at those changes!
 
he's looking great jiffy, come on quite a bit since the last time I saw him :) hopefully work won't scupper me next time you're back :rolleyes:
 
milliepops said:
he's looking great jiffy, come on quite a bit since the last time I saw him :) hopefully work won't scupper me next time you're back :rolleyes:
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Thank you!
We’re back for the next May BH. I’ll have to shoot off straight after my 8.15 on the Tuesday morning but hopefully it’s not blowing a gale and we can catch up on the Monday...
 
iknowmyvalue said:
It is sad, I love the bones of this horse, and if I could afford to buy another and keep him I 100% would!!

No, he doesn’t much enjoy jumping away from home (above 75cm anyway). I think it’s the competing/new venues more than anything else. I’ve had him 5 years, and I just think that what he enjoys and what I enjoy are different, and he deserves to be perfect for someone, he’s just not quite perfect for me (he is in all ways but the competitive jumping)
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Ahh bless him xxxx ???
 
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