some mighty midget videos-CC welcome

Hallo2012

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a few short clips for the HHO massive perusal :)

i do very little in sitting trot, this was just the last little bits of trot i did, to test myself a bit IE have i got the trot good enough that it doesn't vary when i go sitting...............awarding myself 8/10 on that and the plan for friday schooling is to work on the basic canter/trot/canter on a circle which i always finds helps the swing in both.

right canter i can see is tighter than the left and TBH i think that's mainly me-i tighten my elbow going right, so need to think soft arm out in front a bit more and work on some LY as that always encourages him to reach and stretch to my hand :)

overall though i'm chuffed, can't ask much more of a 4yo.... we are off to try our hand at N28 in a few weeks.



 
While he looks lovely, it is a little bit hard to tell as his bandages blend really nicely into your arena surface meaning all I can really make out is a little body bobbing along! As an aside does he really need such huge bandages? That may just be me though as I hate bandaging horses for work I think it does more harm than good.
 
While he looks lovely, it is a little bit hard to tell as his bandages blend really nicely into your arena surface meaning all I can really make out is a little body bobbing along! As an aside does he really need such huge bandages? That may just be me though as I hate bandaging horses for work I think it does more harm than good.

Some of it is fashion i admit, but also i DO prefer to bandage for work (regardless of pretty colours) as its so easy for them to step on themselves or bang a leg and then not be confident in the work. He has air flow bandage pads underneath (bamboo from Rider by Horse) and his legs are no warmer under that than under brushing boots :)
 
I would just like to say that it makes a refreshing change to have the horse within camera range all through the clip! I do sometimes wonder how people expect any-one to make useful comments

I don't like bandages either and unless he is prone to brushing, I wouldn't want brushing boots.

Left canter he goes btv too often for my liking and right canter the energy seems to go up rather than forwards unfortunately your hands and arms get lost against the background so I can't really give any useful advice about why that could be, too much/too firm contact I suppose but not sure why. You do look to 'rock' rather than sit with the canter.
I think your upwards transitions are pretty smooth but downwards seemed to take him by surprise in right canter. That is just one transition though and not necessarily representative of all your/his work.

He is a nice looking horse and is doing well for a 4 yr old but i would want him to take the energy forward more.
 
I'll have a 14.2 version :)

I'm going to be annoying and jump on the bandage bandwagon. I always think they must be bloody annoying to work in and no matter how much air flow they claim to have. There's no way his legs would stay as cool in them as they would a dinky pair of brushing boots.

He goes BTV most of the time but I'm sure he'll work out of that with more experience.
 
he does (duck BTV) however much better than he used to be (profile pic is how i would prefer him to be frame wise) ....all a work in progress as he would like to do the typical welsh pony trot, ie nose firmly curled in and toes flung out in to next county so its all about persuading him to stay soft in his shoulder and take that nose forward.
he is very soft in the hand so any excess energy/loss of balance still tends to roll forward and end up with him curling.

will be working on those transitions friday :)
 
I think he's a cracking pony 👌 I don't know anything about riding ponies as an adult to offer any CC but it looks as if you are on the right lines to me.
 
I think he's a cracking pony 👌 I don't know anything about riding ponies as an adult to offer any CC but it looks as if you are on the right lines to me.

cheers! ive adapted so well to the feeling of belly button on ears than anything over 14hh seems like a giant!
 
I think he is a wee stunner!

I would agree with some of the comments around btv, he's young and therefore still unbalanced so it happens that they go btv from time to time but I would be correcting that straight away and every single time it happens

I like the frame he is working in in your avatar much better.
 
hahaha I wish my welsh would try and go btv :p
pokey nosey a-go-go here! And her neck is so thick it's like trying to supple a rhino. A rhino in each hand. It's my new unit of measurement!
I likes the way he followed the contact each time you released and patted him. Shows that the btv is definitely fixable, with a bit of time and practice, as you say :)
 
cheers! ive adapted so well to the feeling of belly button on ears than anything over 14hh seems like a giant!


It's such a waste of your long slim legs though ☺️. Do you plan on getting another big Warmblood any time? Have to admit I've given them up, they seem so fragile 😕. I'm having a lot more fun with my spotty mongrel and you do look like you're having a ball on that pony!

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I think he is a wee stunner!

I would agree with some of the comments around btv, he's young and therefore still unbalanced so it happens that they go btv from time to time but I would be correcting that straight away and every single time it happens

I like the frame he is working in in your avatar much better.

So do I :) that’s my aim frame wise.

I don’t want to try and fiddle him up,and confuse him (on an older one I would definitely be taking a little upward half half and pushing the hind leg under a bit quicker) so I’m focusing on not dropping the contact when he ducks,keeping the activity and using the bending line and sometimes a few steps shoulder fore to bring him back up to the outside rein :)
 
It's such a waste of your long slim legs though ☺️. Do you plan on getting another big Warmblood any time? Have to admit I've given them up, they seem so fragile 😕. I'm having a lot more fun with my spotty mongrel and you do look like you're having a ball on that pony!

..

Same,no plans any time soon.... having moved and not having so much horsey back up immediately on hand the ponies fit in so much easier....they can be bought in by my elderly inlaws if I’m stuck at work, can be handled by the kids and if they escape they eat rather than try to commit suicide!!!
The thought of backing a huge farty warmblood with only semi horsey OH to help slightly makes me wince too lol!! Raf humours him but I’m not sure a WB would!!!

Besides.... Raf gonna look damn cute with a tailcoat!!!
 
He's such a cutie. Very jealous of you fitting so well on him. Good luck for the novice!
 
a lovely pony and a good rider, as others have said btv quite a bit, canter needs to cover more ground, can i ask why you need to do sitting trot? it is not required in dressage until you reach the higher levels and if you did rising he would probably swing along better, he is a cutie though, bet he is fun to ride....
 
a lovely pony and a good rider, as others have said btv quite a bit, canter needs to cover more ground, can i ask why you need to do sitting trot? it is not required in dressage until you reach the higher levels and if you did rising he would probably swing along better, he is a cutie though, bet he is fun to ride....

I mainly do 99% of his work in rising but do very short periods of sitting on all my youngsters ,like everything introducing a tiny bit makes it less of a big deal so that the work is secure by the time you HAVE to do it (same with changes which I usually introduce as a 4yo and piaffe which I usually start to play with as a 5yo just 3/4 half steps) by the time they are ready to do an elem they are also normally ready for me to sit in the test :)

This was the only bit of sitting trot he did this session and was a little test of how correct the work had been,as I said it’s about 8/10 there bless him.
 
So do I :) that’s my aim frame wise.

I don’t want to try and fiddle him up,and confuse him (on an older one I would definitely be taking a little upward half half and pushing the hind leg under a bit quicker) so I’m focusing on not dropping the contact when he ducks,keeping the activity and using the bending line and sometimes a few steps shoulder fore to bring him back up to the outside rein :)

That's good if you are doing that every time he ducks but these videos show otherwise, youngsters need consistency. Whilst he is btv like this he is too much on the forehand, his hind legs more active than the front so this his driving him further onto the forehand and making him run. So yes, you are keeping activity at one end but not the other, even on a youngster it is the balance that needs to be maintained first and foremost. There are several ways to bring them up and more open and it sounds like you have a method that works for you so I would be using that and correcting him each and every time he goes btv.

I like the way you let him stretch at the end of the second vid, regular transitions between in a medium and open poll (with poll no lower than withers) position and up with open poll can help with changes of balance without dropping the forehand too much and help to get them seeking the contact rather than the rider providing what they think is right
 
i do a lot of work varying the frame :) like you say it helps them seek the hand and also keeps the back up and swinging.
 
I have to say the BTV bothers me less then it seems to everyone else on this thread, you can clearly see he is not being pulled in it just looks like a young horse who doesn't quite have the strength yet to take the weight behind and lift the neck forward and out. Which is fine he's learning, to me this is no different to horses in training that are the above the bit until strength and training allows them to come down, not sure why people are bothered less by the latter. I think it looks as if you are working hard to teach him correctly, I would just love to see a vid of how he goes without the bandages on so I can look properly :)
 
I too am less bothered by the BTV at this stage, it will come with strength and training - at least you can tell up top when it’s at it’s worse as he sounds like a steam train 😂

Personally I’d like to see him slimmer, I think it will make things easier for him, and agree the bandages are a huge visual turnoff for me.

He’s a cute pony mind.
 
after struggling to get his girth up to the normal holes for the first time ever on Tues, i have just cut his grub a bit.........hes a funny one as doesn't look fat when stood up but seems to compress and look rounder when working!

this is the only recent stood still pic of him to gauge condition...ETA just seen ANOTHER lami case pop up on my FB so after that and IHW little nudge i think ill just cut his feed down to a handful (for supplements) he was only getting readigrass and about 10 oats anyway.
stood up.jpg
 
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