August 2, 2009
I did more HTF, which can be pretty difficult! It is definitely a feel thing (hence the “Horsemanship Through FEEL”!) and not anything with a formula, which can make it difficult and yet rewarding. I just sort of practiced going forward, switching directions, LF, stopping, etc. Sometimes I (have to?) use a lot of energy and other times it is a very quiet and subtle thing.
While lunging I really focused on using my body language and subtle whip cues and not voice cues for everything – single-gait transitions (walk-halt), double transitions (halt-trot), and transitions within the gait. It really worked well and she got very in tune to me, to the point of getting many relatively quick canter-trot transitions and really nice halts – way better than with vocal-then-BL cues. Will definitely keep that up.
In crossing I focused on if she rushed ahead and didn’t stop on a light bit cue, lifting her neck until she became light. It worked great and she got much lighter.
She was a little powerhouse under saddle! Just flying off all over the place. I worked a lot on turning w/out reins, which she kind-of-not-really understood, and walk-trot-walk transitions on body only. She definitely doesn’t need voice anymore (except sometimes to help her whoa) but I do need light reins usually to do a downward transition. For upward, I “pedal” more and squeeze my seat and lean forward slightly; for downward I straighten and raise my chest and slightly brace my back. She was starting to get it!
When I started asking for SI we ran into some sticky stuff for sure. She was getting quite hyper and making fast turns – I think she’s feeling quite comfortable with me up there – but I realized the problem was that we couldn’t bend. So I went back to LF at the halt asking for full, soft bend and slowly started introducing it at the walk, at first letting her halt to flex and then asking her to keep moving. Very soon she was getting a relatively correct bend (just on reins, no body) and as I’d turn my shoulders and ask her to keep the bend, she’d start playing around and would start giving some crossing on feather-light rein touch. I’d praise and totally loosen the rein, and soon both ways when I asked for extended bending in movement she’d start playing with a steep SI. Good girl!!
When I was done I put her in the cross ties for a while (where she always is when I tack/groom) while I finished some barn chores. She stood very well!
August 3, 2009
I had little ambition today but worked her since my lesson on her is tomorrow, although I wonder if she didn’t want a break – she came up to me, then left and came back. The leaving part was odd.
Anyway, did a short bit of lunging, both directions, all gaits. She was in tune to my no voice cues lunging but it was much better to use my voice in up/down canter transitions. I also introduced the “medium speed” cue of “get up” which confused her at first but we will work on it. Her canter transitions going right were WONDERFUL! I didn’t even have to make my circle big first and give her a “running start”!
Crossing was much better (I didn’t even really use the whip I carried) and I pretty much only used the inside rein. Instead of trying to contain/hold her with the outside rein, if she rushed I’d just lift her neck with the inside (sometimes supporting with outside rein) until she slowed. I’m trying to simplify all the cues, so that seemed to work.
Under saddle I rode her in the opposite side of the arena since Mrs. Webb was working another horse in the other half. She was very hyper – the most she’s been – often breaking into trot as soon as she got the least unbalanced (or just felt like trotting…) with a lot of crazy turning and fussy head/mouth and stiff counterbending. However, we just quietly worked on lots of turning with the lateral flexion and soft bend, I helped with my body, and we started getting through the really sticky spots (like the middle of the arena where we just… kind of… kept going sideways to the other end without turning… 
) through better impulsion and bend. Finally we could turn with relative softness and kind of stay on the track. I did a few long(er) sessions of trotting each direction where we did maybe half a dozen laps. She really did great with that.
Up transitions are great, down required rein/voice cues although they were light. When I was playing with rein back I noticed when she really “gave” to the lifted neck I could feel her neck really rise and I think her back come up and she’d really balance well. So I started looking for that and rewarding it in the rein back, and will try to transfer it to regular transitions.
We got multiple SI steps both ways! Her bending is better so that helped, and then I’d try to keep it extremely simple – only body position and inside rein – and she did start crossing (although there was head throwing in there).
Overall quite good. Even in her really wild moments today she still kept herself together, so that was encouraging.
August 4, 2009
Had my lesson with Maia today. Her lunging has improved SO MUCH! She was able to keep multiple circles at the canter and going left her halts were like BOOM, FULL STOP, instantly, perfectly straight! I think it had a lot to do with the body language lunging I’d been doing. Mrs. Webb continues to want us to work on consistent rhythm, so to keep me from checking out she had me count the number of strides Maia made each circle and try to keep it the same. That REALLY helped me.
Her crossing didn’t seem as good, a lot more tense, but maybe that’s because I’m asking for more correct work with Mrs. Webb coaching me and by myself I kind of let her slide?
I rode and she was definitely NOT scared of the opposite side of the arena as she was two sessions ago. After working in it yesterday, instead of spooking away from it she tried to go in it. 
It challenged me to keep her straight. Counting her strides really helped keep our rhythm, so that worked well. SI was okay, it felt like I was pulling on her mouth, but when she bent (with the help of taps on HQ with whip) she did lighten up. Part of me gets a little indecisive, trying not to pull but then never giving enough direction to get where we can be light, so always in this never-never land.
Mrs. Webb put me on the lunge (I’d started without it for the first time today!) and we got into a good trot tracking left and gradually made it faster and faster until… canter! Just for a few strides and then back down to walk. She did great, very smooth, no problems at all.
Going right was much more fussy today, more head bobbing and weaving around. Definitely lack of impulsion.
I do get the sense that we’re both getting a little burned out. I sort of just want to play for a while and I think she does too. I only have one more lesson on her, and then we go home; probably a good break for both of us. But boy have I learned a lot!
On another note, I rode a little pony named Poko today. I’ve ridden her a few times before and she really has taught me a lot about lightness. She’s one where I almost don’t even think of taking up contact; even though she’s in a double the reins are looped and just picked up for guidance, then looped again. The last time I rode we were having troubles and so I just sat there and started clicking to see what would happen and she went into this gorgeous walk pirouette. It was then I realized how LITTLE I need to do up there; I mean, I was just sitting there, no aids, just CLICKING, and she did this beautiful pirouette. Today I watched a lesson where Mrs. Webb reminded the rider over and over to do less, be light, just change your body position and let it happen, and so I rode Poko with that in mind. “Airy-feathery-bubbly” were words I wanted to emulate. So I tried being ultra ultra light, not doing the same cues but lighter, but doing FEWER cues and doing THEM in total lightness. We had a few bobbles but in general it was WONDERFUL. So much came so very easily.
I was riding bareback and then could really feel how I needed to sit to stay in balance. Mrs. Webb has been telling me to sit to the inside of the pirouette and I didn’t really “get” it until I had Poko pirouette and suddenly I could feel myself HAVING to sit to the inside or pretty much sliding off. And I have had troubles keeping the horse on the wall in SI. Mrs. Webb says, you need more bend, need to keep that HQ crossing, then they won’t come off. Right. Sure. Yes. Bend. But suddenly today as I was playing with Poko, I got it! I could feel when she was truly bent and when I could ask for SI and know she wasn’t coming off the wall, and when she wasn’t and we would come off the wall. It was a remarkable feeling.
Riding that little pony bareback for a short time, just twice, has done more than hours upon hours of other riding. What a spectacular teacher, and somehow we just clicked together. It was a remarkable feeling; I want to remember that and remind myself of that. Some horses teach certain riders better than others, and that’s okay. When I am looking for a horse for myself, remember that “clicking” feeling of me and Poko.
August 6, 2009
She came up to me (from eating grass), got a treat, and immediately left, so I left, too. Then I went back when she’d stopped and purposely avoided her, walking roundabout around her and giving treats to Poko instead, all of which got her very curious and she came over.
Did lunging w/out the side rein, body language with some vocal. Also did the crossing, where I’m continuing to try to use fewer and fewer cues. This time I just held the inside rein (no outside unless I needed to grab it to lift her head) and stayed farther away from her, which made it easier to see her and then I wasn’t in her bubble, and I could tap her hind legs better. It went fine.
Got on and had a somewhat chaotic but fun riding session. We kind of careened around the entire arena (she was quite excited) and I tried hard to not correct her for things like turning too sharply when I asked for a gradual turn – I don’t want to correct for her doing too much, ever! I just need to ask better. I rode on much looser reins today and tried to use my seat a lot. She would sometimes jump off into trot when I meant turn, but she kind of felt the difference and could turn on seat/leg to a point. Upward transitions are quite smooth but downward still requires some lifted reins.
I really emphasized the lightness and lifted back in the lifted reins today, and it was excellent. She got so that I could pick up on the reins at the trot and she would come to a full halt, in lightness, within just a few strides – almost trot-halt! Her SI was not bad both ways either, and she only shook her head a few times, both having to do with SI, either in it or coming out of it (therefore that means we’re losing impulsion in SI and/or I’m too pushy).
And I made perhaps a sitting trot breakthrough!!!!!! I was thinking about what Bent Branderup said on one of his DVDs that he doesn’t like rising trot and even on young horses sits the trot, although he does it with a “light seat” taking up weight in his knees and stirrups some. Anyway, it got me thinking and instead of trying to “absorb” the movement in my seat or “relax” or “pedal my hips” or any other number of things I have tried before, I really, really stretched down in my leg with a touch more weight in my stirrup and a lot of weight in my heel. I felt like I had a way more secure seat in general, and then I tried sitting trot… ohohohoh!! Lovely!!!! I could sit it! Granted, Maia is pretty smooth but taking up that weight and growing those roots in my legs allowed me to use my core and move my hips/seat with a much more unhindered feel. So I was still moving with her/absorbing the bounce as I’ve tried to do before, but the huge difference was that instead of doing it through gripping or totally relaxing, I had this really long growing leg with a touch of weight in my stirrup which somehow really freed up my seat. I also didn’t think about what was “correct” and so allowed my back to hollow slightly. When I looked in the mirror I was leaning a TOUCH too far forward but actually the hollow wasn’t nearly as pronounced as I would have thought. My seat was not perfectly still but by George if it wasn’t one of the best seats I’ve ever had, because in the sitting trot my leg was still beautifully long with heel down – not normal for me AT ALL. And I could keep it for quite a long time, only losing it when Maia REALLY started flying around, and then I maybe could’ve kept it but rising trot was much easier then.
She’s really understanding “whoa” on the ground so that we have a passable ground tie now. Cross ties are good too.
On a different note, I was thinking. Aids should always mean something, get it, and be done with. Instead of playing with the fingers to keep a horse slow, it would be much easier on everyone if you just had a cue or aid or whatever that meant SLOW, and you did it and the horse thought, aha, the “slow down cue,” and slowed and you released and kept going. I guess that is nothing new, “liberty on parole” as Racinet calls it, with the release of the aids as a fundamental part of French dressage, but it struck me the other day. For example, as you’re leading your horse and he’s rushing, instead of vibrating the lead or holding up your whip to keep him back, you gave your slow-down cue (a whistle for me, for example) and it lasted less than a second. That’s just it. An aid/cue shouldn’t last longer than a second, otherwise you’re holding the horse or he doesn’t understand (obviously when training the cue things are different). I guess that’s another Racinet principle; perhaps I’m trying to re-invent the wheel. It’s just I’ve been thinking about it lately.
August 7, 2009
Well, I had my last lesson on Maia with Mrs. Webb today. She has come so far in a month! She can walk, trot, and canter without pulling on the rope (although in canter she still uses the walls for support and has a larger circle), and is learning to stretch down in w/t/c with a single side rein. Her transitions are prompt (even into canter is quite quick, though not instant) and she will halt square and STRAIGHT (not swinging out). In crossing tracking left she didn’t hit herself or get her forehand stuck once (which was all she did at the beginning), although going right is still kind of rushy.
We walked, trotted, cantered, and did SI at walk under saddle. She is keeping a better rhythm and can do all her transitions (save canter) without vocal cues. Her canter we just speed the trot until it becomes canter, which takes only about half a circle now, and she can steer around the circle in canter. No lunge line at all today!
There were only a few head shaking episodes when I didn’t have her hind end engaged enough; they were far less than she used to be.
I am happy with her progress – it’s what I wanted when I came. Whew! What a lot of work! But a good girl.
