Lessons From A Lesson

Jumping Diary

 

 
I haven’t yet established Jumping Friday posts. I’ve gotten as far as Falcon Hill Fridays. At least I’m going to the place that has the jumps. Turtle steps.

More Canter
I’ve forgotten how to canter fast. Saddlebreds go in a slow, collected, teacup canter. Sam has an excellent one. If they don’t canter this way, they are supposed to. Slow is the goal. The last time I cantered at a decent pace was probably when Roberto and I ran around the show ring at ProAm.

Saddle seat judges expect a horse to execute a contained, dynamic canter, not to gallop flat out as if making up time during the run-in after the last jump on cross-country. [Show Report]

In the FHF lesson, we cantered several times (go me!). It was too slow. Coach Molly said Milton looked as if he was about drop back into the trot. Milton is a Work Smarter, Not Harder kind of horse. If I don’t specify, he will gravitate to the lowest use of energy. I didn’t need to do anything more complicated that just plain let him go faster.

I asked him to canter on. No problem.

More Hand
Didn’t do as well here.

I have a bad habit of floating the reins at the horse, especially if I am trying achieve acceleration. Drop the reins, kick hard, and say Go Horsie! All this does is allow the horse to flop around on the forehand. If you want the horse to use his ass end, you have to pick up the snoot and request that he do so.

I know this. I can’t feel this. Instead, I feel that if I put the slightest pressure on the reins, the horse will dump even the tiny amount of momentum we have collected.

After several uninspired run-thoughs (runs-though?) of my dressage patterns, my ground crew suggested that I actually shorten my reins and take hold of Milton’s mouth. I knew it wouldn’t work. Determined to prove them wrong, I did this thing. Milton didn’t grind to a halt. Surprise.

Instead, Milton stuck his nose up in the air and said, ‘Ooooooh, that sounds like work.’ I made the mistake of getting frustrated because now it wasn’t working in a different way. Every so often, the nose would come down and he’d say okay and we would get a step or two of something that resembled a correct horse. Then we’d turn a corner and lose it again. Half a dozen good strides in a 2-3 minute dressage test. That’s not a bad place to start.

What did I expect from a green horse? One who is also a drama queen?

More Horsemanship
I need to dial my expectations way down so that I am rewarding every small effort Milton makes.

I need to dial up my belief in what I am asking. If the horse does not do X correctly and immediately, that does not automatically mean that you, the rider, asked for the wrong thing. Maybe he’s learning. Maybe it will take him a minute. Maybe I need to smile and wait for my horse to sort it out.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

It Touched Me! It Touched Me!

Overcoming Obstacles in Our Way

 

 
This clever design uses string instead of dowels to attach the pool noodles to the standard. No dowels, no potential pointy sticks to skewer horse or rider.


 

Under saddle, we are walking through the wider version.

In hand, we are learning about the narrower version. The standards are moved together so that edges of the loops are less than a horse-width across. Rodney is not at all sure about pushing the noodle loops aside with his chest. Nor is he at all pleased when he passes thru and the loops impinge upon his person. He does it, but he scoots.

Upon reflection, we will be cutting the loops in half so that they stick straight out. The lovely, curving design could catch a rider’s toe. Wouldn’t that be fun. Not. Obstacle design requires imagination, ingenuity, and an obsession with safety.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Driving Into Spring

View From The Back Seat

 

Day 1 of Milton’s Ride & Drive Weekend


 
Milton stepping out on a beautiful spring day – finally! – with Coach Courtney at Stepping Stone Farm.

Second drive with new cart [First]. Even better. Adjusted harness & cart balance per directions by Coach Kate. While I’m still a bit twitchy on the whole idea, Milton was so calm during hitching that he calmed me down. Had brief moments of brilliance with both drivers.

What a star.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Milton SitRep, Saddle & Supplements & Success


 
Saddle
Friends have kindly loaned me a second Wintec while we shop for Milton’s fancy saddle. It fits him, he goes well in it, and I feel more comfortable riding him in a narrower saddle, at least for n=1. The photo was my first time aboard Milton since the dressage show two weeks earlier. Between the abscess and his driving revival, I didn’t really miss too many riding opportunities even if I’d had a saddle. #horsesharing

Supplements
We have bumped up his Cimetidine [Feed Scoop] to the therapeutic dose of 12 pills. At some point, he will go down to a maintenance dose. We have also added Cosequin. Previous Horse was on it for years. Mathilda never thought much of it.

So far, so good. Milton is moving well and doesn’t hate being brushed quite as much. I think it’s the Cimetidine; my co-feeder thinks the Cosequin. While we disagree on the cause, we agree that Milton seems happier in his body.

Success
This was the second day of a ride & drive weekend for Milton. He kept stopping to tell me how hard he had worked the day before. I bought into the performance. He had a valid point.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Rodney SitRep, Saddle & Soreness

Rodney’s saddle situation is not as dire as I had first thought [Evil Twin]. Things seldom are.

We switched to the second & third girth straps instead of the first and third. This changes the balance of the saddle enough that the wither clearance is just on the correct side of acceptable, instead of just under.

First and third straps are traditional. Then you have the middle one to use in case either of the other breaks while you are out foxhunting. In most saddles, the three straps come from the same attachment. Switching doesn’t make that much difference. On the Wintec, the first strap comes from a more forward attachment.


 
We had been using the 2-3 configuration with this saddle and the narrower gullet plate. It is also what the saddle fitter had recommended [Finding One That Fits]. I thought the new bar might change the saddle dynamics. Nope.

Now that it is wide enough for his back, it doesn’t fit as well along his completely underdeveloped topline. Homeboy needs him some fitness. I tried my nice, fuzzy, deluxe sheepskin half-pad. Previous Horse used it to great effect. Rodney didn’t like it any more than Milton did [Hop]. We stopped much earlier in the complaint process. It has been demoted (promoted) to a cat pad.

And finally, we have not be able to test these various theories because Rodney went lame shortly after we adjusted to the wider saddle. Blacksmith has now seen the foot and thinks Rodney hit himself on something or someone.

It’s been an impressive lameness. Maybe 0.5 on the lameness scale. Just enough change in his gait to put him on injured reserve without causing inconvenience to himself.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Logo Study, Descending Capitals

On My Mind, Miscellaneous Visuals

 

 
After rereading/reskimming* Pretty Much Everything by Draplin, I was inspired to take another stab at a blog logo [Letter Art: Logo]. It would be cool to have personalized t-shirts or stickers. If only for myself. If I come up with something I really like. Color from book blurb on the DDC website.

*What is the word when you look through a book for the artwork?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott