weight 145

Conditions: nice day. good hacking. overall quiet ring until boogaloo

Caddymaster Great ride. Hacked before and after schooling in ring. rode in double

started with Kyra's ABC's much better than yesterday!! Then a bit of heather blitz's walk exercise

Approached warm up differently

1) if he is not good don't go on. i'e if the neck…

After last week's rides I suffered from new pains in my back, the result of trying to change my riding posture. My new way of getting my shoulders in the right place works very well, but I got sore muscles in places that I did not realize I had muscles. Not only my back, but my hips and all of the muscles in front and to the outside of my thighs. After a few days of hobbling around I realized that I was being totally unrealistic about my physical fitness and my body's ability to…

Weight 145 - goal 135

Conditions: fun hacking with fresh slushy snow on the ground.

Caddy: Worked in ring with snaffle. Great hack through the woods before the ride. snow was close to knee deep in places and Caddy was excited and trotted a lot of the way.

 …

Horses day off. Spent quiet evening with dogs, fire and wine - trying to find good instructional video on starting passage piaffe. I watched the Hubertis Schmidt NEDA clinic on dressage clinic the intermediare II rider and didn't find any help for the pi/pa :(

conditions: snowy rainy so no turnout and no hacking before and after rides

Caddymaster "Caddy" My 12 yo swedish gelding by Master out of an Indus mare (same mare line as Minna Tinde's Don Charly) has shown PSG. I've earned both my bronze and silver medal on him. Presently he is coming back after a month of with a mystery illness (Lyme?)

Worked in snaffle still focusing on the connection, straightness and speed…

Conditions: still raining all day so horses with no turn out. Rode after work. Ring very crowded with Caddy one other horse with Tia.

Caddy: rode in snaffle. Focused on speed control. Suppleness in neck and connection. Worked with lots of transitions. Needs to be rounder and more through, but I think I am on the right track. Difficult ride as jumping lesson going on in…

To clarify a bit on last week's post because we received some questions: The only way the horse is allowed into your personal hula hoop space is if you invite him in. And you’ll only invite him into that four foot circle if you know you can get him out of it. Think of how you want your neighbors to treat you. You might like your neighbors, but you never want them to just barge into your house. You always want them to walk up to the door, knock and ask to come…

The point of the warm-up is to take the restrictions away from your horse's body. So depending on the day, your warm-up could be as short as 10 minutes, or it could end up making up your entire ride.

1. Since your horse has probably been standing in the stall, spend the first 5-10 minutes walking around on a loose rein.
2. After walking around "on the buckle" for several minutes, pick up a contact so you can begin your…

Week of February 22nd Through February 28th

February 23, 2002 - Reining stallion Topsail Cody died from colic. Topsail Cody was born in 1977 and would go on to win the 1980 National Reining Horse Association Futurity. In 1996, Topsail Cody was

inducted into the National…

Janet Brown-Foy was teaching a clinic this weekend at the barn where I ride. She had one horse after the next, and during a quick break she was kind enough to remain in a very cold arena and answer a few questions that I thought might be of help to anyone riding and competing in dressage.…

This was a glorious week in that I got to ride two times. The sun was shining, the puddles shrank to invisibility, and a warm wind started to blow. I am sooo glad that spring is coming!

During my lesson I told Debbie that I did not think I would be able to get stable enough to start jumping this winter. Her reaction? She slapped my lower leg and said we would work on getting my legs stronger, and also work on getting Mia strong enough to canter so that when I got…