In Hand Work

Introduced Sig to working in hand today.  I wanted to start working on turn on the forehand and begin confirming the leg yield, both of which are good to do in hand.

Overall he was really super.  Did a quick refresh of the turn on the forehand cue on the ground, really focusing on his inside hind leg stepping under.  After that, I began teaching him how to walk with me at his side in the in hand configuration.  Initially he was very unsure about me walking behind his shoulder, but he only needed a little encouragement and praise and he got the idea very quickly.  It was good to see how nice his walk can be when he starts coming through and lifting his back.  He was soft in the bridle and was definitely picking up on the concepts quickly. 

We then did an easy flat school.  I cantered a littler earlier in the ride and it definitely resulted in a softer, more willing horse in the trot afterward.  Overall it was a super pleasant day and full of nice little moments for this guy.  So smart!

I just found this video about three minutes ago, but this is an excellent demonstration of good, basic in hand work:

First Dressage and Jumping Lessons

Last Sunday I rode with FEI level trainer, Sharon Vander Ziel.  Sharon comes to the farm periodically to offer dressage lessons, which is super handy.  We had a private lesson, and primarily worked on preventing him from popping out through the left shoulder and staying soft in upward/downward transitions.  Sig was fantastic, earned lots of nice compliments from Sharon for being so correct and through at times, and we came away with lots of homework.  He and I are going to work more on leg yields and turn on the forehand to start isolating his hind end and asking for the hind legs to step over/under on cue.  His tendency, like most young horses, is to blow through the outside shoulder in the leg yield.  He is very smart and picked up on the concepts in the lesson very quickly.  He really felt very fancy and I had a fun ride.  I was absolutely thrilled with him!

Dressage is hard but apples are yummy

A few days later I had my first jump lesson on Sig (ever).  While I popped him over a few fences back during my short visit in May, I really haven't jumped seriously since before Soon died.  I had jumped Sig in December 2017 when I tried him, and once more in Maryland (probably in February 2018), but that's it.  So we're just starting from square one together.  That said, I felt better and more secure in the tack, and while my base is still loose, I feel like it's coming back.

For not having jumped in a month or so since I've been back, and not having done a ton of cantering, Sig was pretty fantastic.  He was strong and being in a group of four+ horses in the ring was very exciting, but he did settle and got focused.  We had to use the wall to stop only because he'd dive through that left shoulder.  Both Ashley and I agreed that halting in the corners to get him to expect that and set himself back, which worked. 

Next time I jump I plan to use the two-ring gag on him just to have a little extra control, and I expect with more jump lessons, more exposure to riding in/around groups, and just overall a better understanding of each other, Sig won't need that and can go back to his usual loose ring oval mouth.  I rode him in that usual set up around one of Ashley's jump lessons on Thursday (busy ring with five horses in it), and he was quiet and very good.  So I think the gag will just be an occasional reminder.

Overall I'm happy where we're at and while we have a lot of work to do, I'm exciting to see where we go from here.

First adventure at the Kentucky Horse Park!

The Liftoff clan was off horse showing at the "B" rated Robert Murphy Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park the last few days.  They had an extra stall available yesterday so I hauled Sig over to spend the day at the show.  Always a good opportunity to increase mileage and exposure!

"Dis is bullshit."

He's been to the horse park a couple times now, but this was my first time actually getting to ride there, and I was so excited.  He stepped right on the trailed, hauled over well, and settled pretty much immediately.  We went for a quick hand walk and spent 20 minutes just grazing by the side of the warm ups and taking in some of the atmosphere.  He was quiet the entire time. 

I got on and headed to the warm up to do a quick flat school.  Sig walked up fine and seemed pretty chill just walking around, but was a little tense when we started trotting.  Ashley had told me he needed to get more accustomed to horses in his space, and as warm up rings can do, there were a lot of horses coming at him or from behind that got under his skin in the beginning.  He tried to throw a few bucks, but that and the tension only lasted a few minutes before he settled and actually had a really nice flat school in the walk, trot, and canter.  It was 90 degrees so his excess energy was zapped pretty quick, but he got lovely and soft, forward, and was working well over his back. 

Overall I am so happy with where he's at and how he feels.  I really think he'll be able to play in the hunter, jumper, and dressage ring.  He's very soft in the bridle and gives me a very nice feeling in the saddle.  Today I half expected a giraffe and a fight, but he was really round, came forward off my leg well, and settled very nicely into the work.  Whenever he got distracted we did some leg yields and he went right back to work.  I was so happy with him and how he worked in the warm up ring!

Afterward we went hacking around the immediate area of the horse park and enjoyed the scenery.  Again, he was perfectly quiet and willing, was walking around on the buckle and seemed content to just mosey around.  There were people, announcers, golf carts, water trucks, tractors, and none of it bothered him in the least.  We visited the jumper ring and hung out there briefly, then made out way out toward the cross country course, where I was totally blown away by the property and took about 50 photos. 

After all that, he got a nice, cool bath and I let him hang out in the stall for a bit.  He's grown up a lot since I've been gone, and Ashley has done such a nice job making him a civilized individual.  He is so much better and more comfortable in stalls now.  He settles right into his hay, and I even caught him taking some naps in the corner under the fan.  Droopy lip and everything.  Made me feel good to see him so overall relaxed about the entire experience!

"You give me cookies yes?"

Chilling by the rings.  Eating his grass.

HIS FACE!!  XD

After another handwalk and getting to enjoy his dinner at the horse park (and more nap time in the stall afterward), we loaded up and drove the 25 minutes back home.  I love that everything is so close here!  So convenient, and it's a relatively easy drive with (mostly) civilized drivers that know about horse trailers.  Sig was happy to get back to his field and enjoy the rest of his night.

This morning I rolled up to just go for a hack, and I was very pleasantly surprised when Sig saw me coming down the driveway and whinnied.  Oh yeah...that made me smile and my heart turn to mush.  I figured after yesterday he wanted nothing to do with me, LOL.  And let's be real, it's probably because I always bring a carrot with me to catch horses.  But regardless of the motive, he gave me a very enthusiastic good morning and walked on over from the other side of the field.  We had an easy hack today, just walked around the farm for about 20 minutes and called it a day.  Lots of snuggles and carrots.  This was a great weekend.

He does the same goofy pose with his hind legs as Soon did, LOL

"Easy like Sunday morning..."

Sunday Funday and a Clean Start

Spent a quiet, productive Sunday at the barn.  All day.  Got a lot of stuff done too:

- Hacked Sig
- Cleaned out/reorganized my grooming tote
- Inventoried/reorganized my entire tack trunk
- Inventoried additional tack trunks/medicine cabinets in my trailer
- Reordered all medical supplies (threw out old medications, needed to restock other supplies like gauze pads, etc)
- Cleaned ALL THE TACK

"All the tack" officially consists of the following:

1. Four bridles
2. Two saddles
3. Three breastplates
4. Two martingales
5. Five halters
6. Five girths (...when did I get five girths??)
7. Washed two laundry loads of saddle pads (that's just the every day rotation, there are two more additional loads waiting in the horse trailer to be done)

...I just have the one horse.

This is the one horse, and he is afraid of the round bales across the street

 It really was a nice, quiet day.  There was minimal traffic, only a handful of people there, so I wasn't in a busy environment all day.  I didn't start out thinking I was going to do all that, I knew it needed to be done, but it felt good to get it all accomplished before dinner.  It's good because after dinner was my meeting with Tack Hoarders Anonymous so....

All of this is mine, and this is only some of the tack I own.

Some of that tack dates back to Triple.  And most of it hasn't been cleaned since Soon died, so in a way, it was like giving myself a fresh start here in Kentucky.  It felt good.

Sunday morning barn vibes

This happened and I couldn't help but do a comparison pic.  These two were/are too funny!