It finally happened, just when I thought I would live in 90+ weather that never rains and was always muggy. But today, today it's 78 out with a high of 81. Tonight lows down to 58. The next ten days call for low to mid 80s.
Yesssss!
So Dino got worked this morning. Poor, poor Dino. Lunged in side-reins on the girth, 10 minutes in each direction. The first five minutes were slow to warm-up and then I asked him to step it up. He was fantastic going to the left, but weak to the right; which is typical. It was July 10 that he was really worked, so right now we are re-conditioning and will be for the remainder of the month.
Dino was fresh this morning and I did anticipate that, which was why he was lunged. I haven't formed a plan for tomorrow, whether it be ride or lunge...probably ride. And on Wednesday we'll just walk, I haven't ridden him to music yet. I think Wednesday would be a good day to introduce that.
A few years ago, my trainer told me to pickup A Gymnastic Riding System Using Mind, Body, and Spirit: Progressive Training for Rider and Horse by Betsy Steiner and Jennifer Bryant. Chapter Two deals with rhythm as the first building block, and it lists starter songs that work well with the gait of a horse. One of the songs is The Beatles 'Yellow Submarine' as a great walking song - a good four beat rhythm for the horse to march to, and it allows the rider to get a feel for a good walk. Too many times the rider allows the horse to lag behind their leg, while both rider and horse zone out. Not good. When ever you are on the horse, whether a show or pleasure mount, is an opportunity to work on something. It can be contact, supplying, bending, a good walk, etc. Now I don't mean Dino is never given his head, he is. When we cool out I drop to the buckle and encourage him to reach down into the bridle (contact) and engage his hindquarters and stretch over his back. He's cooling out, but we're still doing something. I don't believe training opportunities should ever be passed up.
In other Dino related news, he's still stall walking. :*(
Monday, August 16, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Stall walking
Some barn managers and owners don't allow certain bad habits in their barn: cribbing, weaving, stall kicking, stall walking..., etc. Dino has turned into a stall walker and I'm not sure exactly why....was he bored?....did he have anxiety?....was he hurting in some way? The more I let it go on to observe him, the worse it got in he was losing weight and I had growing concerns with him over loading his left front. I was starting to feel helpless and knew I couldn't help him if I don't know the reason(s) behind it. So I started looking back at our short history to see if anything jumped out at me.
When he was boarded last winter at Sandy's Lilly Bug Farm, he didn't stall walk. He was in the first stall next to the tack room, the walls were solid and there were no windows.
Then Dino came home where he was again placed in the first stall, closest to the barn door. My walls are solid for four feet and then have bars another four feet. All three horses can see each other and it increases air flow. My stalls have windows. I use to have the typical small barn windows that I hated. You had to crank them open and close, and one cold day Angel's window got stuck. I went outside to see if I smacked the window frame if it would help close. Nope. My hand went right through the glass and I had an awful mess with the shattered glass outside the barn in snow and inside the stall with Angel, not to mention my bleeding hand. That spring we were replacing the windows in the house, so we took the top half of the windows, which are roughly three feet by two feet, and placed those in the stalls. In the winter time, the windows are in, a bar frame is placed in front of the windows to protect the glass from flying hooves and plastic weatherproofing for insulation against drafts. In the spring/summer/fall all is removed and the horses can literally hang their heads out their windows.
Left to right: Dino, Angel, & Sancho
Shortly after Dino came home, he started walking. He'd walk to the front stall to look out the big door. He'd walk to the back of his stall to look out his window. This went on and on and on. At first I thought he just wasn't use to having so much to see and he would settle in as he got used to it all. At first yes, now not so much.
In early July Dino went to the University of Findlay's western campus for dressage camp. He had a stall right in the middle of the aisle against the wall with solid sides and no windows. He didn't stall walk. Shortly after we returned home, the stall walking increased ten-fold. But his workload suddenly decreased, due to the weather and his banged knee.
I have taken this all into consideration and when I started searching the internet into the whys and ways as to help him. I found a great article off of The Horse in which Dr. explains that while many people think "[stall walking] is brought on by boredom [...] evidence has shown that this behavior is caused more by confinement, lack of interaction with other horses, and the lack of grazing."
I immediately thought to myself, "No way can it be caused by lack of interaction with other horses in Dino's case. He can see both Angel and Sancho, touch noses with Angel and he's turned out (weather permitting) with them both daily." And then I finished the sentence, "lack of grazing." Bingo. This summer has been unreasonably hot and humid with very little rain. The large pasture in the back, never even got open. The small one in the front that Angel and Sancho have access to, they ate down and has pretty much died. The even smaller one, with better fencing, that Dino gets, had the same problem. So unless they are being hand grazed for 10-15 minutes in the morning, they are all turned out together in the dry lot where they receive a bale of hay (roughly 60-lbs) a day. Days when it's too hot and humid, they stay in all day and are turned out at night.
In the article, Dr breaks stall walking into two categories, "the first one being frantic stall walking, where the horse is walking around rapidly and probably defecating. This indicates that the horse is extremely upset, commonly caused by separation. Separation anxiety is characterized by the horse neighing, which is an isolation call."
Nope, not Dino.
"The second type of stall walking is classified as a stereotypic behavior. This is generally a response to a poor environment, which some horses can cope with and others can't. This is seen with the horse walking slowly around the stall leaving a worn-down trail."
Yep, that's Dino. It's like he's taking a stroll. When he's outside walking, he's never in a hurry and drags his hind toes. He just has this look of indifference, he'll get there when he gets there and he knows you'll wait. He has the same walk in his stall.
Dr does little to aThese behaviors generally do no harm to the horse. However, the horse may excessively wear the floor of the stall or may wear his shoes or hooves abnormally." All my stalls have mats and my farrier hasn't mentioned any abnormal wear of Dino's shoes. Yet I still worry about the filling in Dino's left front. When my vet, Dr Henninger, came out for shots last April, he thought he could have a bone chip in there, some wearing of the cartilage, or just some normal wear and tear of being a racehorse. Dr H said I could get x-rays, if I wanted, but it was probably really just nothing. My trainer has assured me if Dino were to have soundness issues, we'd know by now. But I don't want to add more stress with his stall walking. I did place Dino on a supplement, Devil's Claw Plus, just as a precaution. In my mind, I couldn't help thinking that with all his racing and training, Dino's body must have aged much like that of a human marathon runner. You put that kind of strain and stress on your body, you're gonna be achy.
As I continued with the article, Dr Houpt suggests adding more than one type of roughage, like beet pulp. I can do that, I keep it on hand. I've also been considering getting some more timothy/alfalfa hay cubes, which Dino LOVES. She also mentions feeding more than once a day, I already feed three times a day and I don't know if I could feed more than that, and she talks about changing bedding type. Right now I have corn cob pellets in Dino's stall, having switched from wood pellets and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I don't want to use straw as bedding, so that's automatically out.
In the end, Dr Houpt does not believe stall walking cause "harm to the horse, and if he doesn't destroy the stall floor or his feet, then you may want to consider just leaving him alone. There are some horses which only exhibit these behaviors when people are around. So the horse may not be stall walking or weaving except when you are present. Other horses will only stall walk when they become anxious."
I know that Dino stall walks when no one is around, he's stabled at home and I see the walking ring in his stall. But maybe he does do it when he's anxious. Like he knows its getting close to feeding time or turn out time.
Dr Houpt closes with, "All breeds are susceptible to stall walking or weaving. The occurrence is more closely associated to the horse's use rather than other factors. Dressage competitors and racehorses exhibit these behaviors more often than do trail horses. It has not been studied yet why different uses make a difference in these behaviors, but it may be tied to feed, amount and type of exercise, and pasture time. Without further studies, there is no way to know if certain breeds are more susceptible than others."
And there went any hope that I could stop this from continuing. Dino's in dressage training, he's a retired racehorse, and he's not lacking interaction with other horses. My only hope lies in adding beet pulp and/or hay cubes to his diet.
And maybe do a rain dance.
When he was boarded last winter at Sandy's Lilly Bug Farm, he didn't stall walk. He was in the first stall next to the tack room, the walls were solid and there were no windows.
Then Dino came home where he was again placed in the first stall, closest to the barn door. My walls are solid for four feet and then have bars another four feet. All three horses can see each other and it increases air flow. My stalls have windows. I use to have the typical small barn windows that I hated. You had to crank them open and close, and one cold day Angel's window got stuck. I went outside to see if I smacked the window frame if it would help close. Nope. My hand went right through the glass and I had an awful mess with the shattered glass outside the barn in snow and inside the stall with Angel, not to mention my bleeding hand. That spring we were replacing the windows in the house, so we took the top half of the windows, which are roughly three feet by two feet, and placed those in the stalls. In the winter time, the windows are in, a bar frame is placed in front of the windows to protect the glass from flying hooves and plastic weatherproofing for insulation against drafts. In the spring/summer/fall all is removed and the horses can literally hang their heads out their windows.
Left to right: Dino, Angel, & SanchoShortly after Dino came home, he started walking. He'd walk to the front stall to look out the big door. He'd walk to the back of his stall to look out his window. This went on and on and on. At first I thought he just wasn't use to having so much to see and he would settle in as he got used to it all. At first yes, now not so much.
In early July Dino went to the University of Findlay's western campus for dressage camp. He had a stall right in the middle of the aisle against the wall with solid sides and no windows. He didn't stall walk. Shortly after we returned home, the stall walking increased ten-fold. But his workload suddenly decreased, due to the weather and his banged knee.
I have taken this all into consideration and when I started searching the internet into the whys and ways as to help him. I found a great article off of The Horse in which Dr. explains that while many people think "[stall walking] is brought on by boredom [...] evidence has shown that this behavior is caused more by confinement, lack of interaction with other horses, and the lack of grazing."
I immediately thought to myself, "No way can it be caused by lack of interaction with other horses in Dino's case. He can see both Angel and Sancho, touch noses with Angel and he's turned out (weather permitting) with them both daily." And then I finished the sentence, "lack of grazing." Bingo. This summer has been unreasonably hot and humid with very little rain. The large pasture in the back, never even got open. The small one in the front that Angel and Sancho have access to, they ate down and has pretty much died. The even smaller one, with better fencing, that Dino gets, had the same problem. So unless they are being hand grazed for 10-15 minutes in the morning, they are all turned out together in the dry lot where they receive a bale of hay (roughly 60-lbs) a day. Days when it's too hot and humid, they stay in all day and are turned out at night.
In the article, Dr breaks stall walking into two categories, "the first one being frantic stall walking, where the horse is walking around rapidly and probably defecating. This indicates that the horse is extremely upset, commonly caused by separation. Separation anxiety is characterized by the horse neighing, which is an isolation call."
Nope, not Dino.
"The second type of stall walking is classified as a stereotypic behavior. This is generally a response to a poor environment, which some horses can cope with and others can't. This is seen with the horse walking slowly around the stall leaving a worn-down trail."
Yep, that's Dino. It's like he's taking a stroll. When he's outside walking, he's never in a hurry and drags his hind toes. He just has this look of indifference, he'll get there when he gets there and he knows you'll wait. He has the same walk in his stall.
Dr does little to aThese behaviors generally do no harm to the horse. However, the horse may excessively wear the floor of the stall or may wear his shoes or hooves abnormally." All my stalls have mats and my farrier hasn't mentioned any abnormal wear of Dino's shoes. Yet I still worry about the filling in Dino's left front. When my vet, Dr Henninger, came out for shots last April, he thought he could have a bone chip in there, some wearing of the cartilage, or just some normal wear and tear of being a racehorse. Dr H said I could get x-rays, if I wanted, but it was probably really just nothing. My trainer has assured me if Dino were to have soundness issues, we'd know by now. But I don't want to add more stress with his stall walking. I did place Dino on a supplement, Devil's Claw Plus, just as a precaution. In my mind, I couldn't help thinking that with all his racing and training, Dino's body must have aged much like that of a human marathon runner. You put that kind of strain and stress on your body, you're gonna be achy.
As I continued with the article, Dr Houpt suggests adding more than one type of roughage, like beet pulp. I can do that, I keep it on hand. I've also been considering getting some more timothy/alfalfa hay cubes, which Dino LOVES. She also mentions feeding more than once a day, I already feed three times a day and I don't know if I could feed more than that, and she talks about changing bedding type. Right now I have corn cob pellets in Dino's stall, having switched from wood pellets and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I don't want to use straw as bedding, so that's automatically out.
In the end, Dr Houpt does not believe stall walking cause "harm to the horse, and if he doesn't destroy the stall floor or his feet, then you may want to consider just leaving him alone. There are some horses which only exhibit these behaviors when people are around. So the horse may not be stall walking or weaving except when you are present. Other horses will only stall walk when they become anxious."
I know that Dino stall walks when no one is around, he's stabled at home and I see the walking ring in his stall. But maybe he does do it when he's anxious. Like he knows its getting close to feeding time or turn out time.
Dr Houpt closes with, "All breeds are susceptible to stall walking or weaving. The occurrence is more closely associated to the horse's use rather than other factors. Dressage competitors and racehorses exhibit these behaviors more often than do trail horses. It has not been studied yet why different uses make a difference in these behaviors, but it may be tied to feed, amount and type of exercise, and pasture time. Without further studies, there is no way to know if certain breeds are more susceptible than others."
And there went any hope that I could stop this from continuing. Dino's in dressage training, he's a retired racehorse, and he's not lacking interaction with other horses. My only hope lies in adding beet pulp and/or hay cubes to his diet.
And maybe do a rain dance.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
More than five months...
WOW, I can't believe it has been more than five months since my last post. I truly need to keep this updated more and promise to do so.
Dino six months after I got him, May 2010.
I guess a quick recap is in order. On March 2, Dino met my trainer, Mandy, for the first time. It was a lunge lesson to evaluate him and assess where we would go from there. We dropped the side-reins onto the girth and passed the lunge line through the bit ring to the lowest ring on the surcingle. Dino needed to learn about going forward into contact and to bend. We used this method because Dino had a habit of pulling on you in one direction, running you over in the other and choosing what speed to work. Within three weeks, Dino was staying out on the line and no longer pulling. It was also vital to put a "whoa" on him before we proceeded to anything under-saddle. It would take a few more months before Dino could regulate his speed on the lunge, mainly because he was so unbalanced and leaning heavily on the side-reins for balance.
On March 9, Dino moved home. :)
From r to l: Dino, Angel, & Sancho.
It was more than two months before my trainer saw Dino again. During this time I continued to lunge him and work on increasing his flexibility, moving forward, and perfecting our voice commands. Dino's schedule was, and has remained, off Sunday and Thursday, work the rest of the week with one day devoted to only walking for 40-60minutes to encourage relaxation. At this point Dino was still jigging into a trot and not truly walking at any time during our works.
May 13 was our first under-saddle lesson. Mandy put up four cones on a 15-meter circle for us to ride through. The corresponding cones were set up just wide enough for us to pass through. This was a tough lesson because Dino just locked onto the left rein and would not give to the pressure. He kept his nose rooted in one position and kept popping out his left shoulder. I was truly discouraged.
May 18 and I brought my spurs with me. During the five days between lessons I lunged Dino like crazy and got him to unlock on his left, I foolishly thought I had won the war. Same exercise, accept this time Dino locked onto the right rein and kept popping his right shoulder. Too bad for him that I had spurs and this was probably his first experience with these nifty little training aids, because he promptly turned around and bit my right foot when I applied them.
June 1 was probably our best lesson. We did a whole slew of changing directions while remaining balanced and connected. By the end of the lesson we had a new motto: rhythm + balance + connection = harmony. The reason we were so on our game for this lesson was because we had worked like crazy during those two weeks on everything we had learned. I'm the type of rider that I take the tools given to me in a lesson and apply them at home on my own, this way at my next lesson I/we are ready to move on to the next task. I personally feel like I don't want to waste my time, money, or energy if I don't work and I would feel horrible to waste my trainers time. She's there as my eyes on the ground and gives me the tools to succeed.
June 10 was a bit of a break down, but we were able to get through it and for the first time we experienced reaching over his back and down into the bridle. For Dino to do this, he had to have a completely loose back. It also seemed as if Dino and I are still struggling with connection going to the left and this is something that we will probably always struggle with. Like humans horses are also right-handed and left-handed, Dino is probably right handed...or right hooved. Another great experience about this lesson, the barn was holding a schooling show two days later and the arena was already set-up. Even though we haven't shown in an *official* dressage arena, we have at least schooled in one - yay!
June 30 was a monumental lesson for Dino and I -- we cantered for the first time under-saddle. Okay, an experienced horse person is thinking to themselves, "Why'd you wait so long to canter?" It's very simple, Dino needed to unlock, bend, develop some self-carriage, and he didn't have the strength to hold himself in a rhythmic canter. "But he was a racehorse, how could he not have the strength?" Dino has the strength to run full out and run faster when I pull on him. He needed to become balanced and develop the strength to hold himself in a trot before cantering. There were lessons that my lower back, shoulders, and upper arms just killed me after a lesson -- because I was carrying him. Not exactly how it works. By cantering sooner, I would not have been doing Dino any favors by allowing him to canter badly, or myself for that matter. It was not the prettiest canter, by far, but we cantered and now we have a new goal to work towards. Oh, and pick up the right lead...but he does does have a nice flying change. ;)
July 7-10 Dino and I participated in the Flatlanders Dressage & Combined Training Association's camp. We hauled in the night before, really too late to school or do anything, but I was still confident that Dino would handle the change well. For the most part he did.
Day 1 of camp it was hot and muggy. This was just a day for the instructor's to evaluate you and your horse, as well as get an idea on where you were in training. Lucky for me, my trainer was one the trainers as was her trainer, so I felt like I already knew what to expect in the instructions. As opposed to someone knew who didn't know my riding style or my horse's inexperience. Everyone also all had a 30-45min private lesson that first day. Our private lesson went okay, we worked on counter-flexion and for the first time leg-yielding, we also started preliminary work on haunches-in. The goal was to work on Dino's suppleness, improve his impulsion, and strengthen his hindquarters.
Day 2 it was hotter and muggier, if that was possible. The day started with a 45min semi-private and ended with an hour group lesson of five or six. My semi-private went well. We were again working on a 20-meter circle with the cones, which was difficult because there were two of you and you had to regulate your horse to keep equal distance at all times. This was also our second time cantering and it was so much better than before. I felt going to the right that I was gripping with my thighs and not relaxing, but going to the left I was able to sit into the saddle. This was probably more mental on my part. I was happy that I could flex Dino and maintain the canter without him running off with me. My trainer told me then that, "Dino has a natural canter, so we have to work on getting his trot to that level." The hardest part of this semi-private was when we worked on downward and upward transitions. As of right now, Dino still has a hard time coming down off his "high" when cantering. He doesn't relax and constantly jigs. So after our canter work, asking him to halt within three strides was nearly impossible - he would just root me down his neck and start jigging into a trot.
After lunch we had our group lesson and that went from bad to horrible. After our semi-private earlier that morning, Dino started acting colicky and I wasn't sure what was going on with him. I took him for a walk and he perked up, so after talking with my trainer and my trainer's trainer, Janet, it was decided I would ride him and he was probably just experiencing ill-effects from the weather. The lesson prior to ours was running over, so we all gathered outside the arena to wait. Dino started fidgeting, getting anxious and breaking out in a sweat. When we got into the arena, Dino and I were last in line to mount. It took 20mins to get on as Dino just would not stand. Even Janet, who came over to assist, couldn't get him to stand. Dino would almost just head-butt her. Finally I was able to get on and Dino wouldn't walk. It nearly came to a confrontation between us and I could feel Dino was on the verge of a massive meltdown/explosion. Janet saw this and told me to go ahead and trot him, he wouldn't even trot out just did a "bunny-hop" trot. When I applied my leg to him to push him out, he would root down and try breaking into a canter. Within a few minutes Dino was pouring from sweat and Janet told me to just hop off, but I couldn't because he wouldn't stand still. It was more like a moving dismount. As I left the arena, close to tears, I asked Janet why were we moving backwards. Janet assured me these things happen.
Day 3 of camp had my trainer out and Janet handling all 17 riders. The lessons were reworked to private, semi-private or group. I had a semi-private towards the end of the day. This was also the first day where the weather was finally cooling and less muggy. I really didn't want to ride in the large indoor again and wanted to ride in the small indoor. Janet told me on to lunge Dino in the large indoor and see how things go, if he's bad then we'll move to the smaller indoor where he was comfortable with my trainer the previous two days. In my mind I had already decided that if Dino was bad, we were pulling out that night and going home. I just felt like maybe I was asking too much of Dino too soon. Surprise-surprise Dino was good, it took me a few minutes but I was able to mount him on my own. This lesson really focused on supplying and flexing the jaw, as Janet had setup cones that we had to leg-yield around or to if they were placed on the quarter line. We also worked on straightness and coming down center line. At the end of the lesson, Dino was on the buckle walking. I felt so good that we had worked through this, together.
It also turns out Janet had an idea as to Dino's poor behavior the day before. Janet pointed out everything I did was reminiscent of a racetrack. I brought Dino to the ring to wait with a bunch of other horses, i.e., a saddling paddock. Dino was last in line for the mounting block, i.e., a starting gate. Janet held Dino as I attempted to mount, i.e., a walking ring. My trainer pointed out that Dino has never been in a group lesson before, i.e., warming up before a race. Maybe it was true, maybe in Dino's mind he thought he was going to race again.
Day 4, and last day, of camp, we had the best weather yet. This time I had a semi-private right after lunch. I didn't want to differ from the day before, so I again lunged Dino in the large arena and got on immediately afterward. This lesson was the toughest by far. Janet had setup cones to form two 15meter circles back to back of each other and out of the second 15meter circle, she had five or six cones evenly spaced heading on a diagonal toward each corner. It was all about flexion of the jaw and suppleness of the body. We started on the first circle, developing a rhythm and connection, we then moved to the second circle were it was a change of direction and again working on rhythm and connection. When that was established, we'd come out of the second circle and weave through the cones working on flexion and suppleness. The first few times through the cones was difficult, but as we continued to work Dino kept loosening up. Janet then moved the cones we had been weaving through closer together, Dino became so supple and attuned to me that I could literally move him through the cones off my thighs. It was definitely a moment for us. We ended the lesson by working on impulsion, which Dino is already a forward moving horse, he'll just fall heavily on to his front end and loose the connection. So Janet had us push a stride, flex and supple the next, push a stride, flex and supple the next, etc. We did this all the way around the arena and then across the diagonals. It was an amazing feeling!
In the end, camp was fantastic! It was Dino and I's first real outing together in a strange environment with strange horses, we survived and next year will be even better! I already have a plan in my head on how to work on our cantering issues: loosen up with trot work and then canter. Everytime we come down from the canter, we walk a good 15mins and then we start over; trot work and then canter. Just like how Dino needed to learn to walk and not jig into a trot, he'll need to relearn to walk after cantering. This will probably take a while for Dino to grasp and completely relax into to.
Now while I have a plan for the cantering, I don't have one for the halting. It is something I really need to sit down and contemplate. The halt probably has more to do with me than Dino, where I need to work on my half-halt and really plan on the halt, not just ask and immediately expect it. Remembering to open up my shoulders and not allow Dino to haul me down his neck would also really help.
So this is where we are at, we are beginning work on training level and this time next year I hope to be schooling first level. After camp Dino must have sweated off 50-lbs so he was originally given a week off to rest and recoup. Sadly Dino has remained on "vacation" as the weather turned unbelievably hot and muggy again and the population of horse and deer flies multiplied. I've seen him buck, it's one of those jaw breaker bucks, so I'm now on a mission to find a spray to keep us both in one piece. Dino also had a feed change, he is now on timothy/alfalfa hay, roughly 20-lbs a day, off of the straight alfalfa, and Purina's Ultium, where he gets about 3.5-lbs a day. I do feed less than the recommendation, mainly because I don't like feeding a lot of grain, I'd rather feed more hay but so far I just LOVE this feed!
Dino six months after I got him, May 2010.I guess a quick recap is in order. On March 2, Dino met my trainer, Mandy, for the first time. It was a lunge lesson to evaluate him and assess where we would go from there. We dropped the side-reins onto the girth and passed the lunge line through the bit ring to the lowest ring on the surcingle. Dino needed to learn about going forward into contact and to bend. We used this method because Dino had a habit of pulling on you in one direction, running you over in the other and choosing what speed to work. Within three weeks, Dino was staying out on the line and no longer pulling. It was also vital to put a "whoa" on him before we proceeded to anything under-saddle. It would take a few more months before Dino could regulate his speed on the lunge, mainly because he was so unbalanced and leaning heavily on the side-reins for balance.
On March 9, Dino moved home. :)
From r to l: Dino, Angel, & Sancho.It was more than two months before my trainer saw Dino again. During this time I continued to lunge him and work on increasing his flexibility, moving forward, and perfecting our voice commands. Dino's schedule was, and has remained, off Sunday and Thursday, work the rest of the week with one day devoted to only walking for 40-60minutes to encourage relaxation. At this point Dino was still jigging into a trot and not truly walking at any time during our works.
May 13 was our first under-saddle lesson. Mandy put up four cones on a 15-meter circle for us to ride through. The corresponding cones were set up just wide enough for us to pass through. This was a tough lesson because Dino just locked onto the left rein and would not give to the pressure. He kept his nose rooted in one position and kept popping out his left shoulder. I was truly discouraged.
May 18 and I brought my spurs with me. During the five days between lessons I lunged Dino like crazy and got him to unlock on his left, I foolishly thought I had won the war. Same exercise, accept this time Dino locked onto the right rein and kept popping his right shoulder. Too bad for him that I had spurs and this was probably his first experience with these nifty little training aids, because he promptly turned around and bit my right foot when I applied them.
June 1 was probably our best lesson. We did a whole slew of changing directions while remaining balanced and connected. By the end of the lesson we had a new motto: rhythm + balance + connection = harmony. The reason we were so on our game for this lesson was because we had worked like crazy during those two weeks on everything we had learned. I'm the type of rider that I take the tools given to me in a lesson and apply them at home on my own, this way at my next lesson I/we are ready to move on to the next task. I personally feel like I don't want to waste my time, money, or energy if I don't work and I would feel horrible to waste my trainers time. She's there as my eyes on the ground and gives me the tools to succeed.
June 10 was a bit of a break down, but we were able to get through it and for the first time we experienced reaching over his back and down into the bridle. For Dino to do this, he had to have a completely loose back. It also seemed as if Dino and I are still struggling with connection going to the left and this is something that we will probably always struggle with. Like humans horses are also right-handed and left-handed, Dino is probably right handed...or right hooved. Another great experience about this lesson, the barn was holding a schooling show two days later and the arena was already set-up. Even though we haven't shown in an *official* dressage arena, we have at least schooled in one - yay!
June 30 was a monumental lesson for Dino and I -- we cantered for the first time under-saddle. Okay, an experienced horse person is thinking to themselves, "Why'd you wait so long to canter?" It's very simple, Dino needed to unlock, bend, develop some self-carriage, and he didn't have the strength to hold himself in a rhythmic canter. "But he was a racehorse, how could he not have the strength?" Dino has the strength to run full out and run faster when I pull on him. He needed to become balanced and develop the strength to hold himself in a trot before cantering. There were lessons that my lower back, shoulders, and upper arms just killed me after a lesson -- because I was carrying him. Not exactly how it works. By cantering sooner, I would not have been doing Dino any favors by allowing him to canter badly, or myself for that matter. It was not the prettiest canter, by far, but we cantered and now we have a new goal to work towards. Oh, and pick up the right lead...but he does does have a nice flying change. ;)
July 7-10 Dino and I participated in the Flatlanders Dressage & Combined Training Association's camp. We hauled in the night before, really too late to school or do anything, but I was still confident that Dino would handle the change well. For the most part he did.
Day 1 of camp it was hot and muggy. This was just a day for the instructor's to evaluate you and your horse, as well as get an idea on where you were in training. Lucky for me, my trainer was one the trainers as was her trainer, so I felt like I already knew what to expect in the instructions. As opposed to someone knew who didn't know my riding style or my horse's inexperience. Everyone also all had a 30-45min private lesson that first day. Our private lesson went okay, we worked on counter-flexion and for the first time leg-yielding, we also started preliminary work on haunches-in. The goal was to work on Dino's suppleness, improve his impulsion, and strengthen his hindquarters.
Day 2 it was hotter and muggier, if that was possible. The day started with a 45min semi-private and ended with an hour group lesson of five or six. My semi-private went well. We were again working on a 20-meter circle with the cones, which was difficult because there were two of you and you had to regulate your horse to keep equal distance at all times. This was also our second time cantering and it was so much better than before. I felt going to the right that I was gripping with my thighs and not relaxing, but going to the left I was able to sit into the saddle. This was probably more mental on my part. I was happy that I could flex Dino and maintain the canter without him running off with me. My trainer told me then that, "Dino has a natural canter, so we have to work on getting his trot to that level." The hardest part of this semi-private was when we worked on downward and upward transitions. As of right now, Dino still has a hard time coming down off his "high" when cantering. He doesn't relax and constantly jigs. So after our canter work, asking him to halt within three strides was nearly impossible - he would just root me down his neck and start jigging into a trot.
After lunch we had our group lesson and that went from bad to horrible. After our semi-private earlier that morning, Dino started acting colicky and I wasn't sure what was going on with him. I took him for a walk and he perked up, so after talking with my trainer and my trainer's trainer, Janet, it was decided I would ride him and he was probably just experiencing ill-effects from the weather. The lesson prior to ours was running over, so we all gathered outside the arena to wait. Dino started fidgeting, getting anxious and breaking out in a sweat. When we got into the arena, Dino and I were last in line to mount. It took 20mins to get on as Dino just would not stand. Even Janet, who came over to assist, couldn't get him to stand. Dino would almost just head-butt her. Finally I was able to get on and Dino wouldn't walk. It nearly came to a confrontation between us and I could feel Dino was on the verge of a massive meltdown/explosion. Janet saw this and told me to go ahead and trot him, he wouldn't even trot out just did a "bunny-hop" trot. When I applied my leg to him to push him out, he would root down and try breaking into a canter. Within a few minutes Dino was pouring from sweat and Janet told me to just hop off, but I couldn't because he wouldn't stand still. It was more like a moving dismount. As I left the arena, close to tears, I asked Janet why were we moving backwards. Janet assured me these things happen.
Day 3 of camp had my trainer out and Janet handling all 17 riders. The lessons were reworked to private, semi-private or group. I had a semi-private towards the end of the day. This was also the first day where the weather was finally cooling and less muggy. I really didn't want to ride in the large indoor again and wanted to ride in the small indoor. Janet told me on to lunge Dino in the large indoor and see how things go, if he's bad then we'll move to the smaller indoor where he was comfortable with my trainer the previous two days. In my mind I had already decided that if Dino was bad, we were pulling out that night and going home. I just felt like maybe I was asking too much of Dino too soon. Surprise-surprise Dino was good, it took me a few minutes but I was able to mount him on my own. This lesson really focused on supplying and flexing the jaw, as Janet had setup cones that we had to leg-yield around or to if they were placed on the quarter line. We also worked on straightness and coming down center line. At the end of the lesson, Dino was on the buckle walking. I felt so good that we had worked through this, together.
It also turns out Janet had an idea as to Dino's poor behavior the day before. Janet pointed out everything I did was reminiscent of a racetrack. I brought Dino to the ring to wait with a bunch of other horses, i.e., a saddling paddock. Dino was last in line for the mounting block, i.e., a starting gate. Janet held Dino as I attempted to mount, i.e., a walking ring. My trainer pointed out that Dino has never been in a group lesson before, i.e., warming up before a race. Maybe it was true, maybe in Dino's mind he thought he was going to race again.
Day 4, and last day, of camp, we had the best weather yet. This time I had a semi-private right after lunch. I didn't want to differ from the day before, so I again lunged Dino in the large arena and got on immediately afterward. This lesson was the toughest by far. Janet had setup cones to form two 15meter circles back to back of each other and out of the second 15meter circle, she had five or six cones evenly spaced heading on a diagonal toward each corner. It was all about flexion of the jaw and suppleness of the body. We started on the first circle, developing a rhythm and connection, we then moved to the second circle were it was a change of direction and again working on rhythm and connection. When that was established, we'd come out of the second circle and weave through the cones working on flexion and suppleness. The first few times through the cones was difficult, but as we continued to work Dino kept loosening up. Janet then moved the cones we had been weaving through closer together, Dino became so supple and attuned to me that I could literally move him through the cones off my thighs. It was definitely a moment for us. We ended the lesson by working on impulsion, which Dino is already a forward moving horse, he'll just fall heavily on to his front end and loose the connection. So Janet had us push a stride, flex and supple the next, push a stride, flex and supple the next, etc. We did this all the way around the arena and then across the diagonals. It was an amazing feeling!
In the end, camp was fantastic! It was Dino and I's first real outing together in a strange environment with strange horses, we survived and next year will be even better! I already have a plan in my head on how to work on our cantering issues: loosen up with trot work and then canter. Everytime we come down from the canter, we walk a good 15mins and then we start over; trot work and then canter. Just like how Dino needed to learn to walk and not jig into a trot, he'll need to relearn to walk after cantering. This will probably take a while for Dino to grasp and completely relax into to.
Now while I have a plan for the cantering, I don't have one for the halting. It is something I really need to sit down and contemplate. The halt probably has more to do with me than Dino, where I need to work on my half-halt and really plan on the halt, not just ask and immediately expect it. Remembering to open up my shoulders and not allow Dino to haul me down his neck would also really help.
So this is where we are at, we are beginning work on training level and this time next year I hope to be schooling first level. After camp Dino must have sweated off 50-lbs so he was originally given a week off to rest and recoup. Sadly Dino has remained on "vacation" as the weather turned unbelievably hot and muggy again and the population of horse and deer flies multiplied. I've seen him buck, it's one of those jaw breaker bucks, so I'm now on a mission to find a spray to keep us both in one piece. Dino also had a feed change, he is now on timothy/alfalfa hay, roughly 20-lbs a day, off of the straight alfalfa, and Purina's Ultium, where he gets about 3.5-lbs a day. I do feed less than the recommendation, mainly because I don't like feeding a lot of grain, I'd rather feed more hay but so far I just LOVE this feed!
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