A Little Lesson Report--JC's Line
Carl
with me and Belles, then with Carl and Baby. I decided to drag the
ring and tidy up my course a little first thing in the day. There was
a funny line JC set up which I have not jumped since my lessons were
with Rain and I am keeping jumping in my ring to a minimum until I add
new footing. It was soft enough for a real ride with Belles since we
had so much rain recently, though, so that was good. (JC, I moved that
white flower ox from the corner--it was too hard for Rain to make the
turn after it--now it is part of a nice little diagonal line with the
black gate).
We did a warm up using the outside lines; Belles was a little lazy at
first, but livened up as the heights went up and the turns got harder.
Once we got up to 3' and 3'3" she was very sharp! We had a lot of fun,
nice sweeping lines, working on forward and straight. JC had set up a
kind of funny line with the brick wall--you could go wall to an oxer
down the outside; to get to the one stride on the diagonal I had to
just graze the edge of the wall and kind of tuck in (a good
straightness challenge in a small space of time). Jane immediately saw
the line JC was after and walked it, hmmmmed, put the fences up and
said "go deep, be forward immediately out of the turn because she
walked it a long two, and to make a straight line you have to jump the
right side on the angle, not the center on the angle."
So, JC will be happy to know that we did the Swedish oxer in the
center on a right diagonal, swooped around the short end and came back
down on the left turn over green in and out two stride, landed and
went to the right around the short end, went down the edge of the
arena, made the sharp turn and lined up the red triple and cantered
down it like a stroll along the pond. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Put
together one more course and rolled around it again, foot perfect, and
that was plenty for her fitness level and the warmth of the morning.
Carl and Baby had another good lesson, even better than last one, lots
of short canters, and then making her keep going past the spot he
usually stopped was the order of the day.
I popped on Dancer and did a bending at walk and trot schooling,
hopped on Moonlight and decided she was lame and not her loosen out of
it arthritic stuff. :-( I think she may be brewing an abscess in that
leg that had the mystery swelling, because she's very sore on that
foot but has no external woes or anything obvious higher up the leg.
Now, off to school!
Anyone else do anything nice? I am enjoying our warm spell--it won't
last!
Eileen Morgan
The Mare's Nest
http://www.themaresnest.com
Emily Brooks
"Carl" <ca...@silverstein.com> wrote in message
news:9aab152a-b5d9-43c5...@w19g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
>
> Anyone else do anything nice? I am enjoying our warm spell--it won't
> last!
>
> Eileen Morgan
Does cleaning out the gutters in anticipation of maybe 5" of rain count?
Watered the stuff in the greenhouse (so I won't be out in the pouring rain
dragging a hose around the soggy yard), cleaned and emptied the birdbath,
filled the bird feeder. Blew off the patio and sidewalk.
I got to ride Fri-Sat-Sun. Had to convince a new-ish mare that I am bigger
and badder than she is, despite the gelding on my arm, so I could lead
through that area to The Beach. The new boarder's pair didn't take much
convincing not to hang around the round pen while I was riding there - in
this case, the gelding underneath was a help not a hindrance.
Good rides, all three days. The usual DQ stuff - straight, response to the
leg, nothing fancy.
Emily
Dawn J-L
(snip great report of rides/lessons)
> Now, off to school!
> Anyone else do anything nice? I am enjoying our warm spell--it won't
> last!
>
I got on my dear mare, Amira, for the first time in four years
yesterday. She was incredibly good; especially considering she is an
insecure horse by nature. If she trusts her handler/rider she is
(usually) solid as a rock. Since it was her first time carrying a
rider after having had some foals, I kept the ride short (less than 20
minutes--all at the walk). I have been lunging her lightly for the
past few weeks to help her be ready for a rider.
The neighbor's white cat who was hunting rodents from atop a fence
post garnered a few nervous glances and prompted less than a handful
of brief transitions to trot, but otherwise, Amira was relaxed and
seemed quite content to be back in "work". This mare enjoys contact
with people and always seemed to like being ridden so I was not
surprised that she did so well. I did note that her natural carriage
is much more down and out like a classic hunter than any of the other
three of mine that I have been riding (Tawny, Joy, and Legend).
I am also continuing to ride Tawny to get her fit enough to be solid
training schooling 1st again so that she can be best presented for
sale. She is doing well, but she is rather "let-down" from the 10
months off due to my surgery and would benefit physically and mentally
from a bit of consistent work. She's a darn nice mare, but is more
prospect than confirmed in her current shape.
Today I am scheduled to shoot some video and stills of Legend and
Robin. I am hoping to have the time and energy to do some groundwork
(lunging, getting accustomed to tack) with three youngsters--Obie (3
year old stallion), Tide (5 year old mare), and Stardust (3 year old
mare). I have lined up a trainer to come help me since my energy
levels are still lagging where I want them to be.
That's what I'm doing with my horses. (plus back to hosing mud off
legs)
Dawn
Nancy DeMarco
stiff behind. I don't know whether to blame the two days off (I was
in a class all weekend), or the warm day with her long coat, or lack
of bodywork (too busy to fit her in), or another outbreak of sores
from the probable threadworm thing. Maybe all of the above.
We did have a nice little hand gallop up the RR bed, and for the first
time ever, she switched leads without adding a buck/leap/scoot. It
wasn't a clean change, but it was well-behaved. The hilly trails were
mostly done at a walk, and even so, she got pretty sweated up. I hit
her with ivermectin when we got home, and hopefully she'll be feeling
more herself in a few days.
I took Louise for a walk in hand. The guinea fowl were no issue. The
wind blowing leaves all over the place was just fine. Jim running the
chipper got a teeny glance. But the deadly guinea pig poking her nose
out from under the pigloo as we went by almost got me run over. I did
get stuck for a while coming back up the driveway. The guinea fowl
were in the driveway between me and the road, and I didn't want to
drive them into the street. So Louise got to graze while I waited for
them to go elsewhere.
The didn't end up going elsewhere, so I asked Jim to circle around and
stand between them and the road. He did. Louise and I advanced. And
they fled to the ring. They only hollered about it for about 5
minutes. :)
Then I longed Louise over single trotting poles (two caveletti at the
lowest setting at opposite ends of the circle), then got on and worked
at the trot on the same circle incorporating the two trot poles. She
jumped them the first time, slowed down and picked her way over them
carefully a few times, then got them coordinated and trotted over very
well with just a little lift to show their presence.
A few more times with singles, and I'll do doubles, then a line. She
does seem to have some subtle coordination issues which don't show up
just running and bucking - this really makes her think, and hopefully
hook up new lines.
That's it for me today. :)
Nancy