Wild and Crazy mares....ah, not really

Since I missed last weeks lesson I was happy to arrive at the stable and see the mares in the arena.  Little Psylk was the first one to greet me.  She has very soft eyes and is a sweetheart.  I was surprised that Pstar wasn't coming up to me but Sala was right there and since she's the boss mare that may have been why.  I greeted Divine and brought her in to groom.  She was wiggly as usual.  Seems right when I put her in the cross ties she starts to paw a little, she wants to get this over with and done so she can do other things I'm guessing. 

While Laurie and I awaited her girls bringing in the mares we got to enjoy the show of Brownie and Sala galloping around the arena in a mock panic.  Apparently they are usually the first to be brought into the stable and since they were the last left it was quite upsetting!  It is pretty impressive that the mares can run around with such gusto and spirit yet be caught and led away calmly by young girls.  Sala wasn't led into the stable with quite the calmness I describe, she pranced a bit with her head high and her tail arched.  Though she was prancing about she was 100% under control.  I love Arabs! 

Legacy of Roses aka Legs

My lesson was on the lungeline and Laurie had me working on posting trot.  I do lose my leg a bit while posting, and tend to put my toes down, so we worked on that.  I certainly felt the pull in my ankles as I tried to keep the toes pointed in and up with my heels being nice and down...of course all the while trying to remain relaxed with my knees like springs.

When I started off I wasn't do quite as well but eventually found my stride so to speak.  I just need to think about sinking into my heels and feeling the pull on the back of my calves, that helps to find the position.  I seemed to trot forever in lunge circle, as Laurie said building up my endurance.  I can't imagine how long I'll be posting the trot in an endurance race, even just the limited distance at 25 miles seem daunting to me!  I need to get in shape just as much as the horse!

Legs

After I groomed Divine I visited the other mares with carrots.  Brownie has soft gentle lips as does Sala.  For Sala it's amazing how gentle she is given she is HUGE for an Arabian.  She's 16 hands I think, I think I recall Laurie saying that but even though she's a big girl she is still a refined looking Arab.  That's what's nice about this breed.  Pstar and Psylk were in the outer stall together, so I was able to give my beloved Pstar a carrot and say hello since she oddly wasn't the first at the gate this morning.

No Stirrups!! Ack!

Running late for my lesson I was doubly happy that Ushi was riding before me.  As I approached the stable I saw Ushi riding Divine.  Once her lesson was done I joined her and Laurie in the ring.  Divine got a nice rest as we all talked.  Ushi stayed to watch my lesson, I always like watching other peoples lessons, you can learn a lot, so I never mind having her watch mine. 

Brownie- looking cute with Legs in the background

My lesson was all on the lungeline as Laurie was going to have me work on the posting trot.  I know it's a common problem, I've seen it in magazines and at shows but often a rider will turn their leg outwards while posting.  So we worked on the proper position for my legs and the proper movement of my hips as I moved up and down in rythm to the Divines trot.  Then she had me work on sitting trot without the stirrups.  Oh the torture!  LOL.  It really wasn't too bad and actually is quite helpful to get balanced without the stirrups.  In a sense stirrups can be as much a handicap as a helpful tool.

Laurie and Gadiel

Later she had me work on the posting trot without stirrups, now it's been a long time since I've ever done that, talk about Thigh Master!  It was difficult to say the least and my inner thighs were rubbing on the saddle, I was thinking that my new jodphurs were too thin and that was causing the problem.  Laurie insisted that I had tension in my thighs therefore causing rubbing that would not occur if I was relaxed and using my lower legs properly.  I'm still amazed at the vast knowledge she has of how little things in our body can affect our seat and our horse.  She even commented about how much Divine reflected my body.  When I was tensed up she tensed up, once I relaxed she relaxed with her head and neck and the gait became even more smooth.  The lesson ended on a great note with me sitting the trot, still without stirrups and using my seat to bring Divine smoothly into a walk and then a halt.  How awesome that felt when I was in complete sync with her.  Laurie was pretty proud too and made me beam even more!

Divine should be a fly mask model!

After I released Divine back into the arena after her grooming session I loved on Pstar a bit.  Laurie had been talking earlier about a mare she wanted to purchase, potentially, as a second lesson horse but needs to find Eksodus and Mystic Magic (Brownie) a home.  If one of them finds a home she could justify getting the mare.  She seemed pretty smitten.  She also mentioned in passing the difficult decision about selling any of her horses, even Eksodus and Brownie.  It made me really hope that she'd never sell Pstar, I love seeing that mare when I come to the stable.  She's always the first to greet me.  I have no idea how she'd be to ride in the ring or on the trail but her beauty is one that comes from the inside out.  There's just something special about her.  Honestly I think there's something special about all her horses.  I just hope when I get all my ducks in a row and I go horse shopping I can find a mount that's at least half as sweet as her horses!

Gadiel gazing at the beauty of Sala

Patrick Swayze Moves Plus More About Gaits and Gates with Willy

My riding lesson was moved to Saturday since I had to drive Steve to Denver Airport on Friday.  I rode Divine at 10am after Robin, she is another student of Laurie's.  She is quite tall, it was kind of hilarious how short I had to make my stirrups after she rode....I'm such a shorty!  Laurie had me work on the lunge line again, we worked on sitting trot and then posting trot.  Sitting trot went pretty well, I was working on relaxing my mid section and doing what we (Laurie and I) call the "Patrick Swayze move".  This move is referencing Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing and that hip motion he was so good at, drooooool,....hold on, let me take a second, mmm....sigh....okay I'm better!  This reference that came about with Ushi, Laurie and I discussing the sitting trot and Ushi mentioned a "cat sitting pulling its tail between its legs" movement; which of course caused us all some embarrassment and some hilarious laughter.....we'll not dive into that since the cat movement turned out to be much more risque then the sexy dances moves of Swayze in the 80's.  But anyways, the movement helps ones seat follow the motion of the saddle as a horse trots.  So I was trotting, doing the Patrick Swayze move and trying to keep my legs relaxed and stretched downwards to give my seat full security.  I have to mention here the immense loss to the Arabian horse world upon Swayze's death; he was an awesome horseman and a great person.  I wish I could have known him.

So we trotted around each direction then I took up the reins but stayed on the lunge line so I had some control but the security of the lunge line.  This concept worked really nicely since it seems once I work well on the lunge line at trot I tend to lose a little bit of it when 100 % on my own.  The lesson went really well!

After I untacked Divine and brought her back to her hay meal I visited the other mares in their stalls. Mystic Magic, known as Brownie, actually came up to me in her stall and let me pet her for a bit.  This was the first time she's done that, usually she doesn't seem too interested in getting love from me.  Pstar is the one who always comes up to me, her or Psylk.  Of course Sala is the boss mare so she always wants some love or carrots from me.  I enjoyed stroking Brownie's soft neck and cheek but eventually I had to head home.

Brownie (Mystic Magic)

Sunday I headed out to see Willy.  I was planning on taking him on a "trail ride" of sorts.  I got Willy and tacked him up and then mounted up to go on a nice ride in the neighborhood.  I wore jeans.  I'm not sure why, but I could barely get my leg up to the stirrup, the jeans prevented me from flexing my leg!  Never again, jodphurs are so much more comfortable to ride in!  We headed down the driveway of the stable to Meridian road.  I was going to take him down the road to Eggar and ride in that neighborhood to see how he and I did outside of a ring together.  He spooked a little at some plastic tangled up in the weeds.  He turned about and tried to head back to the stable, I calmed him down and tried to push him forward but he ended up going up the steep bank at the side of the road.  I tried to remain calm since I was a little nervous that he'd trip and fall down the bank, and subsequently on top of me.  We got down the bank, past the plastic and then made our left turn up Eggar.  I kept him at a walk for a while.  He was interested in a lot of the sights on the side of the road, a dog here, a donkey there....his ears were going every which direction.  I had to work him with my right leg a lot keep him over to the side of the road instead of the middle.  Luckily we only had three cars drive through the neighborhood.  Each was quite polite and gave us plenty of room.  Willy didn't seem too bothered by dogs running through a yard at him or sheep running around in a pasture. 

We did some trotting.  Willy trots very fast; even posting can be difficult since his stride is quite choppy.  I was having trouble with sitting the trot as well and then when I tried to bring him back to the walk, even with my alternating contact on the reins to slow him down he threw his head up in the air.  Aside from using a martingale I don't know what I can do to prevent the head tossing or to get him to slow down more fluidly and reduce the pace at the trot to something more reasonable.  I'll have to run that by Laurie, maybe she can teach me some things to help me work with him.  The ride went very well, I had a lot of fun seeing the neighborhood, I might be tempted to see what the price range is since the land is pretty horse-friendly; not that Steve and I want to sell our home any time soon but I think the next home we buy will need have acreage for our future horses.  The views were quite nice too, I could see the whole front range.  Some of the houses were very well built and well taken care of, it was a nicer neighborhood than I expected!

On the way back to the stable, I worked Willy in trot and walk transitions trying to get his gait a little more "collected" or at least slowed down to the pace of a "normal" trot.  Fast trots are just so bouncy I'd rather just go up into the canter but I'm determined to get the sitting trot down perfectly.  I'm did the Patrick Swayze move and tried to keep that image in my head when I rode; it seems to help me visualize what I need to do and release my core while in the saddle.  We neared Meridian and Willy picked up the pace but then stopped short for a second when he noticed a cute donkey approaching the fence line.  I wished Steve was with me since the donkey was so adorable he would have just died.  Steve wants a horse sure but once we get property and move our future boarded horses to it, a donkey will be the next pet to arrive.  He loves them!  Willy seemed a bit nervous at the flapping plastic again but didn't freak out quite as much as we passed this second time.  I reassured him and then praised him as we passed the evil entity.


Pyslk Noir



I rode Willy into the arena and tried to work on some circling at the sitting trot.  Willy didn't seem to want to trot, he wanted back in his pen but I was determined to at least get one round of sitting trot at a consistent gait.  We finally did a round and I felt like I wasn't bouncing too much and was really doing that "Dirty Dancing".  Then I walked Willy over to the gate and moved it open a bit, he barged right through and I rammed my left knee hard into the fence post....with a muttered curse word (I tend to have a potty mouth when in pain or fright!), I proclaimed my distaste but not at Willy, I obviously didn't have entire control over the situation.  I'll have to figure out how to open and close a gate while on horseback, never done that before and obviously I have no idea how to begin!  I gave Willy a nice grooming down and then brought him to his pen.  After I took his halter off he spent his time nibbling at his fetlocks, scratching his face with his back hoof and nipping his flank, he was an itchy boy.  Perhaps I should invest in a better fly spray?  I pet the two cute miniature ponies he shared residence with and then went back to Willy, resting my arms and head on his withers as he scratched his front leg.  I scratched his muzzle and said my goodbyes.  It was a fun day.  Lots to still learn as always, even though I've been doing the "horse thing" since I was 9, everyday there's something new.

I learned today that it's harder to keep my toes in on my left leg; something I was working on during the ride was my leg position and that leg wasn't quite as good as the other.  I learned I need to get a lesson on opening gates and perhaps what do do about Willy evading the bit by tossing his head upwards.  All in all though it was a lot of fun to get out of the riding rink.  I'll eventually expand my "trail ride" and go out towards Peyton but for now I'll keep to the neighborhoods.

Boss Mare

I had my riding lesson on Saturday this weekend since Friday I woke up with a horrible headache, great idea to go to Rock Bottom Liz! LOL. Divine had been ridden a couple of times that day so she was pretty calm for grooming and tacking up. I don’t want to say she isn’t “calm” she just moves a little bit and occasionally paws with her front legs, mainly because she wants to get going. Bridling was slow again as per her usually way but I think I’ve found that my thumb is too short to be effective at getting her mouth open, if I use my pointer finger it can go in her mouth deeper and she’s more inclined to open. I’ll have to try that first the next time I bridle her and see if that is the trick.

Psylk Noir

The lesson tired me out today; I was working on sitting trot and circling, again, and trying to sit straight. Things went pretty well but towards the end I was getting tired trying to squeeze my legs and keep her going, and collected. She was getting tired I think so kept trying to get back to the walk….it was a lose, lose, situation so we ended with just a few nice circles at the walk.

After my lesson I talked with Laurie for a while about horse names and renaming horses. Some horses have an odd name that I couldn’t imagine keeping (Hey Girlfriend, Strike a Pose, Special Forces, to name a few!)  I wondered about how one could change a name, whether you have to do it officially or not. It was interesting.  Laurie mentioned that most horses have a barn name anyways so I guess unless it was a terrible name the registry could keep whatever name the horse already had and you could "name" your horse whatever you desired.  There is just something special about naming your own horse!  After I groomed Divine and let her back out into the arena with the other mares I spent some time trying to give carrots to all of them.

Sala, the boss mare

Sala is the boss mare in the herd. She got most of the carrots and prevented me from giving some to the other horses. Pstar got a few, so did Divine but I wasn’t able to coax Brownie (Mystic Magic) or Psylk to come over for a carrot. I felt bad about that. Psylk is a very pretty black mare, she’s about two and since I’ve been riding there has gone through the odd growth spurts that make any “teenager” look awkward. I’m sure my colt friend Eksodus will go through some more; he’s only a yearling but still is very stunning in his looks. I spent a little time with him, giving him some carrots, stroking his neck, smacking his nose when he tried to nibble….seems he does that a lot and Laurie has told me to smack him and then praise him when he lets me pet him without any nipping. He’s not being mean, he’s just a mouthy baby and an orphan as well, and apparently that makes them even mouthier. He’s still a beauty to behold. Honestly all the horses are quite pretty and loveable. Not much else to report….love horses and can’t wait to have my very own!