Contact Is Not the Enemy

Since there are now three of us riding Halo, there is a fun email correspondence going back and forth regularly between us about our rides. I feel like I've been writing so much email that it has allowed me to neglect my blogging duties! And still, despite all the communication there are things that only become clear in person.

Yesterday I met up with Allegra at the barn. She wanted to try applying some ground work exercises with a rider on board to see if we could help clarify some cues for Halo. We set out to work on two things: leg yields and upward transitions from trot to canter.

Halo doesn't quite have leg yields down yet. The main problem is that she will move her front end over and then trail her hind end, not crossing over in the back. We have front wheel drive and need rear wheel drive instead. As I asked for a yield from the quarter line to the rail, Allegra would push on Halo's hip in addition to my cue. What struck me was how very different it felt when Halo was using her hind end. Now I know what the feeling is that we're searching for, which will hopefully make it easier to achieve without help on the ground. I know what to reward.

Another thing that probably added confusion to the mix is that the leg cues I taught Halo are that leg at the girth means move your front end over, and leg further back means move your hindquarters. From talking with Allegra it sounds like she was using opposite cues - so when going from the quarter line to the rail she would move her outside leg back and keep her inside leg forward. That is one of the many challenges when multiple riders are working with a horse - we might all be doing things slightly differently. Oops.

After we spent some time doing the leg yields, we moved to the outdoor arena to work on canter transitions. There was a ring of cones out there with dressage letters on them that provided a helpful guide. We trotted a circle around the cones, and I would call out to Allegra at which letter I was going to ask for canter. As I cued to Halo, she would reinforce the cue with the familiar longe whip cue from the ground. The results weren't perfect every time, but she definitely got a few nice snappy transitions. She was best when I set her up for it properly with a nice forward trot, and then sat back out of the way of her shoulders as I cued. It was a great exercise and I would definitely like to do it again.

Interestingly, the most important takeaway from our ride turned out to be contact. Allegra showed me how much more contact she has been using on Halo. As a rider in general I tend to err on the side of looseness with the reins. It works fine when all I'm asking of her is to get herself around the arena one way or another, or if we are just poking down the trail. I assumed that if I took up more contact, she would suck behind the bit and we would be back to square one. I was wrong. Halo seems to crave a steadier, firmer contact in addition to a strong leg to support her and push her forward. Of course now my legs are good and sore today! I had to shorten my reins several inches from where I had them, and even then Allegra had to keep reminding me to keep them shortened. The improvement in how Halo carried herself was unquestionable. We got a much more consistent trot, and even some nicely rounded canter. Using more contact also meant I had to work harder at keeping my seat deep so that I didn't get pitched forward. My abs are sore today too. It's a good feeling.

The contact issue may seem like a "duh" moment to some of you, but it's amazing the things we don't catch ourselves doing without a set of eyes on the ground. I haven't had consistent lessons in nearly ten years now, so there are plenty of gaping holes in my knowledge and abilities. I'm grateful that Allegra had time to come out with me, and I'm happy to have some equitation homework to do.

Oregon Vacation!

I've been out of touch for a couple of weeks, and with good reason. Casi and I took a much-needed trip to Oregon, managing to escape yet another week of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Part of that vacation was paying a visit to see my old horse that I've mentioned before on this blog. He's looking healthy and well, though his owner is having tough financial times and is now on self-care. He has a lovely shaded paddock to spend most of his time in, which is great for his arthritic legs since he can move around. It also keeps him much blacker to be out of the sun!

Even though he hasn't been my horse for a long time, it's always good to see him. He'll always be my first horse, the first one I trained from the time he was young. He taught me a lot about what to do, and more about what not to do with a young horse. I know I always go on and on about him, but he means a lot to me and always will. I hope that I can get back to Oregon permanently so that I can see him more frequently, even if it's just to pet his nose and tell him he's a good boy.

I also got to go on a ride with my friend Trish. I got to ride a western pleasure bred solid-paint named Romeo. I rode him last year too, and he definitely lives up to his name. His lope was pure pleasure - Trish was laughing at me because I was grinning so much the first time we loped around the polo field we were riding in.

Another fun thing was seeing a bunch of people I haven't seen in nearly 15 years - a random collection of some of the boarders at the barn where I first took riding lessons and boarded my first horse. It was crazy seeing everyone after all these years, but it was tons of fun, and I hope we can do it again! Everyone is so grown up now, including me.

The Sunny Hill Stables crew:

It was a great vacation, and we were far from happy to come back to the awful weather here. It was already 82 degrees when I woke up at 6:30 on Sunday, so Halo got the day off. I'm sure she doesn't mind, but I am itching to ride.

Recovery and Balance

Halo was a bit witchy this week. There's a gelding new to her pasture in whom she has taken an interest - she's a big girl now and wants to flirt with the boys. Unfortunately, that made for a difficult ride for Allegra earlier this week. From what she said, Halo was acting spooky and was very unfocused. She was also somewhat bratty for Lindsey the next day, but not quite as dramatic. I headed into the weekend thinking I was going to have some rough rides ahead of me. Fortunately Halo decided to have mercy on her poor gimpy mom, and I had productive rides Saturday and Sunday.

Both days we started off with a snack. Because the weather has been so atrociously hot, I've been going out very early in the morning, and sometimes the horses haven't been fed yet. I give Halo a small armful of grass hay while I groom her because she often misses part of breakfast.

She certainly isn't complaining!

Anticipating trouble, Saturday I started off with a little round penning to see how Halo's energy level was. She wasn't too impressed with me, but she behaved perfectly. I didn't keep her at it too long since it was already hot, and she was being good. I got on and we did some warmup. The main thing that quickly became apparent is that I am VERY out of shape. It is amazing what a month off, and a month of having a bum foot did to my fitness level.

I noticed it even more last weekend during my first real post-surgery ride, but at the rising trot, I'm having trouble posting evenly. I feel like my left hip is leading, which makes sense, because my right foot is the bad foot, and I still have some swelling in the ball of my foot that makes it hard to put weight in the stirrup. I've also had to ride in sneakers because I still can't get my swollen foot into a boot. All that plus my loss of fitness means that riding is a much harder workout than usual.

Still, I could tell while trotting that Allegra's hard work paid off. As long as I stay steady with my aids, Halo stays much softer and steadier than she used to. She's more consistent about traveling forward into contact. We still have the occasional counterflexion issue to the right, but that's a mystery I think I partly solved this weekend.

The main scenario in which Halo tends to counterflex is when cantering to the right. What's strange about that is that when I first started riding her, the right was her good direction. She never had trouble with that lead. Now she's the opposite. The left lead is easy, and the right lead is always a struggle to get and maintain.

When we worked on cantering this weekend, my lack of leg strength and pain in my foot meant it was extra difficult for me to put weight in my right stirrup. We repeatedly had trouble getting the right lead, even though I was remembering to sit back and get out of the way of her shoulders. It occurred to me then that the main issue was probably that I was sitting crooked altogether. (I am probably lopsided all the time, but I imagine it is much worse post-surgery). As an experiment, I got a good trot, then sat down, dropped as much weight as I could tolerate in my right hip and stirrup, and away we went. Halo got the right lead every time I asked that way.

As usual, most things that go wrong with the horse are rider error. I've always had pain in my right foot, and I've always preferred to canter on the left lead. Poor Halo has been trying to canter with my weight thrown off balance, so I've effectively trained her to prefer the left lead. Oops. She has the same problem with Lindsey and Allegra, who don't share my foot issues. However, I think she's become used to my crookedness over the past year, so to correct the problem, the aids have to be a little more dramatic than usual. I also noted that when I forced myself to drop more weight into my right hip and stirrup she bent around my leg instead of counterflexing. I'll be interested to see if Allegra or Lindsey finds the same result I did for canter transitions.

I ended both rides a little ouchy on my bum foot, but it was worth the price to figure out the right button to push to get that right canter lead. Maybe my recovery will be good for both of us - it forces me to be more reflective as I'm riding, not just once I get home and am turning things over in my brain in front of the computer. 

Busy Days, Busy Nights

Unfortunately this weekend is turning out to be a little more hectic than I anticipated. I rode Halo this morning and will ride again tomorrow, and I have some thoughts to share on those rides. They're going to have to wait until tomorrow, though. I shouldn't let so much freelance work pile up on the weekends!

In the meantime, here's Halo, not sure about this whole being awake and getting ridden at 8 am thing:

I took her saddle blanket, girth, and fly mask home to wash today. She had a little eye infection a couple of weeks ago, so I'm going to be more proactive about making sure her fly mask is clean in case that was part of what contributed. But without her fly mask nose panel, her nose always burns and blisters. Here she is sporting a nice thick coating of Bull Frog sunscreen.

More to come!

Leasing Can Be a Good Thing!

There are a lot of horror stories in the world about leasing out a horse. People don't pay, or they ride your horse with twisted wire bits and draw reins without permission, or they teach your horse bad habits you get to spend months trying to undo.

I did not expect to put Halo out on lease, though I was open to the thought knowing I would be off for a month from my surgery. I didn't advertise her. The thought of weeding through the masses until I found someone with appropriate experience and goals seemed like a ridiculous task to undertake. As a young horse, she needs someone who is confident and experienced enough to handle her baby moments. Sometimes just keeping her in a straight line is like trying to herd squirrels through an open field. None of that is surprising when you consider that she's only 4, and I've only been riding her 2-3 times a week for about a year.

Also, while Halo is a pretty color, she's also hony-sized with no discipline-specific training. If I were going to lease her, I needed a rider with achievable goals, like working toward a lower-level dressage test or starting her over crossrails. I also needed someone who didn't mind that they weren't going to be riding a big fancy horse.

Boy did I get lucky!

Through a friend, I met Allegra, who happened to fit the bill perfectly. Her background is in eventing, but she also has natural horsemanship experience. Her approach is a good balance between the two, and she has been working to get Halo more comfortable with contact and more consistent in her gaits. She's also great about communicating with me regularly about any issues Halo has and how she is progressing.

While I've been out of commission I've given Allegra free rein to ride as much as she would like without any additional cost, so she has been going out every other day. I finally got to go out and see their progress last weekend, and I was very happy. Halo is starting to muscle up nicely with the regular work, and her consistency has dramatically improved at both the walk and the trot. She's more comfortable with contact and not sucking back behind the bit anywhere near as much as she used to. I took a video last weekend that hopefully Allegra will post at some point.

I get lots of fun picture updates like these:

Round pen at sunset:


Post-ride snack:


Treeeeeeats?


Allegra has been doing a few things differently from me. She always rides with a dressage whip and is also using some very gentle spurs. Both have been a big help in keeping Halo between the aids and moving forward. After all, Halo's favorite evasions are popping her shoulder the wrong direction, stopping suddenly, or refusing to go forward. The extra aids are insurance that if Halo does not respond to the initial cues, Allegra can escalate the request to an order.

From what I understand (and she can correct me if I'm wrong), Allegra approaches Halo's issues by firstly working on forwardness, and then using mini-half-halts to encourage her to stretch down into the bridle. Halo's improvement has been tremendous, and I'm excited to get back on and work to continue applying what Allegra has taught her.

Overall, I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised by the experience of having Halo out on lease, and I hope Allegra continues to work with her for some time to come. They are a great team, and I think the work is good for Halo. It's also a great learning experience for me - both the opportunity to watch someone else ride my horse, and also the ability to discuss how best to further her training.

Visitors and Progress

Well, the foot surgery went well, and I'm back on my feet. Kind of. I still have a pretty significant limp and quite a bit of swelling. I'm definitely not ready to ride, at least not more than just bareback poking around. I was already having horse withdrawals by the end of my first week at home, but luckily I was provided with a convenient excuse to go to the barn. A friend came to visit!

I hadn't met Abigail before, but she is a member of a horse forum I've been on for a long time. We hit it off well, and she got to meet a lot of my friends over the course of her 24-hour stay in Austin. We spent the morning of July 9 at the barn visiting Miss Halo, and got some fun pictures.

It is always fun to see other people ride your horse. Halo is definitely a tester. She makes sure every new rider is going to MAKE her do something. If she thinks she can get away with not listening, she'll try it. She and Abigail had an initial discussion about going forward, but once they got that out of the way (with a rein smack and a couple of little butt hops), Halo was a good girl.

These are a couple of my favorite riding pictures of them from that day:





Abigail also found Halo's special itchy spot:





I was able to ride, but only for a few minutes just walking and a little trotting. Halo figured out very quickly that my right foot didn't really work, so I didn't have much leverage if she wanted to bulge to the right and run through my leg. It still felt great to be on her, though - it was the first time all week that I was able to move faster than a slow hobble.

It was a fun visit, and we had a great time! I have more to post soon about the work that Halo's leaser has been doing with her. They are making tons of progress, and I'm hoping I can get out to watch them work in the next couple of weeks.

Out of the Saddle

My ride this past Wednesday was bittersweet.

It will be my last ride for at least two or three weeks, but probably longer than that. I had surgery yesterday to correct a hereditary bunion exacerbated by a riding injury I got when I was fourteen. My right foot has always caused me some pain, especially in the winter, due to the bunion along with the four fractures and dislocated bone on the top of my foot. I know that surgery is not going to be a cure-all since many of the issues in my foot will still be there, but I think it is a step in the right direction. The bunion has been my main source of pain over the past few years. Additionally, a bunionectomy is a very standard surgery, unlike what my podiatrist called the "hero surgery" that it would take to fix the dislocation and other issues.

So here I am, parked out on the couch with an ice pack on my ankle, thinking back to the ride I had on Wednesday night. Halo has been doing her best to teach me lately. I've been riding bareback some, and occasionally without stirrups. She's been reminding me that if I lean forward or don't drop the correct hip when I ask for the canter, she'll take the wrong lead. She's been teaching me that her ADD is mostly my ADD - if I quit focusing on her, she'll fall apart. She needs me to be there as a steady partner, with consistent cues. I have to keep breathing, keep moving with her.

On Wednesday I braided her mane and tail just for fun, and because I needed the relaxation before my surgery. I'd been getting more and more nervous throughout the day.

I may not be the braider I was ten years ago, but I don't think it's bad for someone as rusty as I am. It felt good to use my hands to create something pretty.

I took a few pictures just for the heck of it, and as a reminder of where we are right now. Maybe it is just me, but I feel like Halo has grown up a lot in the past few months. She's become stockier, and is slowly filling out. It's no wonder we ended up with an XXW saddle.

Mostly though, she's becoming more and more the horse I need her to be. When I got on Wednesday, I just threw on the bareback pad and sidepull. There wasn't much time left to ride. The sun sat low on the horizon, making her seem even more golden in the dying light. We went up to the big arena and walked around to warm up, eventually trotting some and then moving on to canter. Along one side of the arena I wove my hands through her mane and asked her for a hand gallop. She flew down the fenceline, and I could feel the wind stinging my eyes. But the best part about it was how easily she came down from it into a steady lope, and eventually into a smooth trot and then a walk. This is a horse who doesn't make me worry. I don't feel scared on her - I feel free.

Halo helps me remember that what matters is loving to ride. It isn't about blue ribbons or reaching a high level of competition. Of course I still plan to work toward doing more little open shows, and getting her over some small jumps. I'd love to do some more cow work now that she was lightly exposed to it at the SHOT clinic we did in April. All those things will make her a better horse in the long run. Despite all the different things we've worked on since I started her, what I'm most amazed by is that this is a horse I can get on bareback, with headgear that is basically no more than a halter, and gallop around with no trace of fear. Just joy. How lucky am I?

Although I can't ride for a few weeks, I still feel good. I am fortunate enough that someone was introduced to me in late May who is going to be leasing and riding Halo. I've given her free rein to work with Halo in July since I can't ride anyway. She is a thoughtful, conscientious rider who puts the horse first. I can tell from talking to her and watching her work with Halo that she truly cares about Halo's progress and is committed to making her a better horse. Sometimes I can hardly say that about myself, since I'm happy galloping around the arena bareback! Either way, Halo and I are fortunate to have her, and I'm excited to see how Halo improves over the next month while I'm completely out of commission.