big small differences

We've been laying low in the heat, keepin everybody as cool as reasonably possible... But mostly just taking it easy. Which is kinda nice, not gonna lie!

brace yourself for unrelated gratuitous charlie photos <3 <3 <3

I don't really have any "big plans" for Doozy at the moment, let alone anything requiring any significant preparation or 'stepping stones' along the way. 

Which is probably a good thing, bc we've slowed down considerably since moving to the new farm. I remain extremely pleased with how well the mare coped with the move... But she's still Doozy lol... She still challenges me basically every time I swing a leg over.

charles, in his indoor wash stall with warm and cold water!

She's grown up so much in subtle, easy-to-miss ways. Like standing at the mounting block, for example. Or traveling alone on the trailer. Or basic riding stuff like accepting leg aids, and even just like, trotting. I say "easy to miss," tho, bc realistically it's natural to obsess on the weak spots, the problems, the "holes."

charles, looking cute in his new outdoor ring <3

My tendency is to get frustrated when the horse frantically rushes, yet again, through a ground pole exercise, rather than recognizing and praising her clever footwork as she organizes her legs into a right lead canter transition, her notoriously more tricky lead.

happy to be riding with friends!

This mare absolutely thrives off praise, tho. So... Right now, basically everything we work on is designed to be "easy" and "boring," routine recognizable exercises from which I can tell Doozy just how amazing she is. From which she can learn the feeling of being "petted and praised" down to walk after a job well done.

the humble plastic curry, my #1 must-have grooming tool. naturally had to buy a second so each horse has one!

Doozy was a super star at Jenny Camp last month, growing in confidence, experience and strength through each phase of the event -- ultimately finishing cross country in beautiful form. She walked away strutting like a newly minted champion, convinced that she is Queen Of Jompies, Knower Of Everything.

we desperately need more rain, but there's still a little grass out there!

Except, lol, she obviously does not know everything...   

In particular, she doesn't have an answer yet for tricky distances --- doesn't quite know how to use or adjust herself. And while she has a very good eye naturally, and good footwork, her default is to speed up and rush the fence -- launching and lurching flatly at it, vs stepping up and under for a strong push off from behind.

doozy, lookin uncertain in the cross ties at TM for a recent dressage lesson

So that's been our focus area ever since getting back to work post-quarantine at the new place. I promise we are still working on getting regular lessons. Coaching relationships take time and I've been spoiled by having some really really excellent past trainers. I'm also learning that not every approach will work for Doozy.

back at doozy's new farm, indoor wash stall also has hot and cold hydrants omg!

Specifically, relaxation must remain sacrosanct, IMO. Twice now, I've worked with trainers who could coach us into very good work in the moment --- but at the expense of increasing tension in the horse. Which, in my experience with this mare, makes that good work increasingly difficult to reproduce in future rides -- and takes us backward in the quality of my solo schooling rides.

ground poles until death or boredom, whichever comes first!
plus, peep all this cute jump fill we get to play with!

So we carry on in our independent #privateer style. Which lately involves revisiting the basics with ground poles and footwork. Utilizing poles spaced at 9' -- like in the picture above. I like this distance for Doozy bc it works for both trot and canter, and is generally forgiving. 

We work on the same or similar exercises in every ride, with slight variations in method and no ride lasting more than about 20min in this heat. One entire ride was spent trotting up to the poles, walking just before them, then trotting away after them, until we could actually trot the line in rhythm with soft contact. Until it was boring.

simple footwork exercises like pole to X to pole, 18' distances

Each ride has built on that exercise, until we were trotting into the ground poles -- and now picking up the canter at the first. Carrying that canter around on the circle, then back to trot into the poles, pick up canter, rinse repeat. 

Aiming for hyper soft contact. Letting Doozy make mistakes like lurching awkwardly or stepping on the poles. And showing her the mistakes aren't a big deal, aren't reason for panic.

sensitive red mare started going a little bald

Also aiming for "boring." For both of us. If she got too amped, then back to trotting up to the poles, then walking instead of cantering. Trying to make it feel easy, quiet. Nbd. 

Next we progressed to holding canter the whole way around the circle and through the poles. Working on holding the correct lead, finding a balance, waiting. And again, interspersing walk and trot as needed to regulate the excitement lol.

new fuzzy gifth from consignment! replacing the old ovation gel form, that was actually a hand-me-down from isabel if you can believe it!

Next we started re-introducing small jumps. Little X's, like the one pictured earlier, and also that flowery lattice gate from an earlier picture and other flower box filled small jumps, always with placing poles at takeoff and sometimes on landing too. 

it's a simple style girth but i quite like them!

The more fill, the better, IMO. While "building up" the jump might make Doozy more excitable, the ground poles and flower boxes also help encourage her to get more "up and over" vs "through." My takeoff poles are generally at the 9' distance, to replicate the same exact question as our ground pole exercise, and we experimented with landing poles at both 9' and 18'.

 

lady got new shoes with a new farrier too!

Doozy definitely gets more excited at the actual jumps, and wants to rush at them. It's really really hard for me to keep my hands soft when she does that, but catching her in the mouth just makes her even more inverted and awkward, reinforcing exactly the wrong feeling. So I hold the neck strap and let her make her mistakes.

he recommended putting her in bell boots to protect some of his shaping plans

But this is where all that praise comes in to play: Doozy knows when it doesn't feel good. She knows when she clobbers a rail and steps on the landing pole. I don't need to explain that to her, ya know? But I can use the ground pole exercise to show her the difference, and praise every single moment of softness or patience.

also at doozy's farm, another cat! this one might be a house cat, tho - i've only seen him once

We had a really great moment in our last session, with the flowery lattice gate jump, with takeoff pole at 9' and landing pole at 18', to be ridden on a circle. Her first time through was heinously frantic - including scrambling all over the landing pole (considering her natural step is def 12'+!).

he has beautiful eyes but wouldn't show the camera lol

But we just went right back to the ground poles like nbd, which she did very nicely, then held the circle right back to the actual jump. And wouldn't ya know it, right from the takeoff pole, it was apparent that she "got it." Like, absolutely aced the trot up to the pole, stepped up perfectly to actually jump the gate (instead of essentially hurdling it), and balanced through the 18' distance to the landing pole. 

Perfect! Good girl! I'm an absolute junkie for that feeling haha, not gonna lie. When it "clicks" for the horse, like she really understood the exercise <3 <3 <3 

doozy, with field friends

In a weird way, this season's intense heat has maybe been beneficial in forcing me to stay efficient and economical in these rides. Like, we need the consistent repetition --- but in short sweet and boring doses. I'm reminded of a lesson years ago with former trainer Dan C, and a very green Charlie, with instruction along the lines of:

"Don't take forever to get there. This work is exhausting - don't lollygag around waiting for him to soften up before we can do the exercise. Do something, change something. Make a difference. Slow him down. Soften him."

 

her grass is similarly parched, but still there!

That's been a useful mantra to keep in mind while we work on our ground poles and footwork exercises. No endless circling -- Only good productive repetition, aiming for clear positive stopping points, knowing that we can keep slowly building in the next session.

So we're making the most of the nasty weather, one simple boring ride at a time, with the hope that maybe once things cool off we'll be ready for anything!