for me.
just because i'm not going to show you all the vid of me from yesterday, don't mean i haven't learnt from it. and of course i'm reminded of what i'd got wrong again!
I Think i said i'd decided i'd been having my reins too short again, so today i kept em longer, but still with a contact. I also put the mullen mouth back in...partly just to see!
once I was on (you know, she doesn't actually need her head held, she just needs to know she can't get away so when george walked towards her, having been asked to come help, she stood like a lamb. that was my 5th attempt. George doesn't believe i have any trouble at all :-)) she was easy to get into the arena and we started work - i knew it would take a long time to warm her up, i reckon myself it's about 30 minutes before she really starts accepting (and that is of course an improvement on pre december! or any time pre last summer when i started to get it better....).
After about 5 minutes paul turned up with his camera, which i think he'd brought specially, and has taken some video and stills. the still isn't bad - i've told him to email me the lot - but the vids of course we're still not soft in the jaw etc and i'm not fully relaxed into it. i think sometimes it takes me as long as it does her.
BUT i was getting circles much better than i have been (Natasha did a lot of them yesterday) and changes of rein a lot better, and when she did try to say she'd had enough (by walking into the wall, today!) i used the move the head trick which worked.
after about 30 minutes she was coming really soft and not long afterwards i could feel her back lifting under me, it felt really good.
then we got to a point where i got a soft halt, followed by a soft (no head up to resist, she maintained her position!) up into walk, and another soft halt.
That should, of course, have been the good time to stop. the trouble was, had i tried to get off at that point, i would definitely have landed on the fence! which would have been painful and broken something else.
this morning if you'd been listening carefully you might have heard me banging my head for forgetting that the suberpanel is meant to be used damp .....
now i'm off to put up a myler with hooks on ebay, and a stephens half pad (grey/black, if anyone's interested?)
Keeping My Fingers Crossed
8 years ago
4 comments:
Ms. Molly is definitely a difficult ride. I think your bitting problems are largely a result of her not going forward. When she releases her back and steps through to the rein, she is fine. But then, she tightens her gait and up goes the head.
Some of it is, as well, her losing her balance. If she does not step through and under, her legs are not really supporting her body, so she tosses her head trying to keep from "feeling" as if she will fall down. Some horses bear down and rush when this happens, trying to get their legs to catch up. Because Molly is not such a forward horse, she goes up in front instead.
The shut downs are, as I said, far too familiar, except that Tucker does not throw his head around as he is much more respectful of the bit. (Did toss it when I started reinback, but again, that is a balance issue as well.) I'm glad the turning from side to side unlocks her and gets her going again. That is a big plus. Eventually you would like to get her to move off by working her hind end instead. Displacing it to the side will also encourage a forward step.
Natasha is a wonderful rider. She has a lovely seat and a truly nice, encouraging way about her. Of course, she also has the benefit of beautiful rider conformation as well with that long leg and slim body to help her use her aids so effectively.
If you can continue working Molly with these principles in mind you should really start to see some major improvement.
Have you thought of trying the ulcer cure for her as well? I do know Tucker has had a nearly 100% attitude change since his treatments. He's also on the low carb feed. I just get a feeling watching Molly go that she is not entirely comfortable with her body. (Could be memories of the old problems, of course.)
jean, believe it or not, natasha reckons her legs are shorter than mine and had the stirrups up a hole.. i reckon she could have gone down one (natasha, try it next time...really!).
I have been starting to wonder about the ulcer medication as well. Will have a word with Nicola. I certainly can't lose anything, can I! and it's been so successful for y'all ....
she did get stressed in her youth and subsequently, so it might well help.
jean, that reminds me - i started a thread on EE on when to start rein back under saddle? (turned into an interesting debate). what's your view on that? clearly "when balanced" has to be in there - but apart from that?
I start rein back immediately, because I want to hack out and do gates and you need it for that. I've never found any drawback to them knowing reinback early.
C
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