Dolly is loving good weather and our little outside set up! She’s still looking for someone to on site care lease her as well!
Balance is one of the first steps toward collection which, believe it or not, everyone needs to some degree. Ripley is “not conventionally built for it”, long backed and downhill. But if a horse can be taught to move pieces side to side and move freely forward, eventually the horse will also be able to be rocked back with more lift in the wither just by closing in the aids and asking with your body for more push and lift. This stretchy frame is where dressage starts! And should be utilized often by all riders for horse health and fitness. Not sure how to attain it or want your horse to learn? Send me a message, I have spaces for training and lessons available.
We did it! Long format camps are over for the year and it’s time to settle back in to a regular schedule. Which means I can begin to post all this content I’ve had sitting around! Nothing like a beautiful sunny day dancing with one of my favorites ☀️
Happy Friday everyone! Need something to work on over the weekend? Give this exercise a try!
Hot humid days are great opportunities for low intensity work. You can see Ripley figuring out how to maneuver the ball and learn to follow!
It’s pony camp week here at the barn! So while we are busy making memories, enjoy a little Dolly getting some scratches. I love their pursed up noses when you get that good spot 😌
Only a few rides in being back and she doesn’t skip a beat! She’s good fun, a fantastic mix of whoa and go. Easy easy easy! She will be coming available for on farm l.ease.
A familiar face! Ginger (now known as LaDeDa) has come back to visit! She will be added to our lesson program and available for lease!
Changes! In dressage we speak of the idea of “confirming” changes. That means that when asked the horse obliges the riders request! This shows a little bit of the process you may see while a horse is learning this concept. This horse really wants to add in the “flying” part of the change!
If you want to get somewhere in a hurry, ride a mare!
Horses like Ripley are incredibly cautious, they have a hard time trusting and allowing themselves to let someone take the lead. This does tend to happen when horses are left alone without consistent human interaction. It’s why trainers often say they won’t take on older horses. This moment in time, Ripley enjoyed a small jump school so immensely that she gave a bit of her trust to me and wanted to join in being in my presence! What a truly amazing gift. These kind of horses can be won over with time and patience! #horses #horsetraining
Collection is a really interesting and challenging state of body to create! We have been experimenting with more collected exercises to increase the flexion of the hocks and rounding of the back. While not perfect (what is?) there’s a lot of cool things happening here worth noting! Soft reins, soft leg and limited use of spur. And the overall mobility developing in the back. So. Much. Fun. All the pretty geldings work piaffe like this 😘 #dressage #crosstraining