Things I've learned

Three days until my first lesson on the horse I'm leasing!!!  I have my first real ride on him on Friday and I've arranged my coach to give me a private lesson. I'm hoping this will help get me started on the right foot and give me some confidence that completely left me in the test ride. I still find it interesting that I completely blamed myself for the test ride not going super well.  While I think it's important to always look to how I am influencing the behaviour of any horse I ride but I also think it's important to be able to recognize when it's something else. It's not always a good thing to blame yourself when it means that you are missing what is really going on. Food for thought.

I had another "duh!" moment last night in my lesson.  The horse I usually ride, the beautiful black gelding, has a very hard time going round. I have learned that I have more success when I don't even think about that at all but just ride him as best I can. Of course, that makes sense because if I am riding properly, well balanced etc., it makes it easier for him. Still, he rarely is truly round but I wouldn't say he is hollow either. Last week, we had some moments that I felt were truly indicative of progress in this regard. We were both so much more balanced and soft. Then, last night, I was having difficulty with a particular exercise. We were cantering 10m circles and then through poles set up in a half-square. The circles were ok but I just wasn't getting the square as balanced as I wanted. He even broke to trot once. Eek.  I stopped to re-group and talk to my instructor. I was asking about my legs, I suspected that was where things were going wrong.

You know how sometimes the things that people say in passing actually ends up being spot-on?  Yeah. I had asked about my outside leg and my instructor commented that she wouldn't use outside leg because that would be confusing to the horse. Oh. ... OH!  I realized I've been way too active with the outside leg. It started because this horse is so long and stiff he tends to bend with his front end only, so I do a little extra stabilizing with the outside leg to keep those hips from swinging out. But there is a big difference between a supportive leg and an active one! I didn't even realize I had started to over-use it. We did the exercise again and it was so much better.  I felt pretty stupid and I am actually a little embarrassed to be admitting it on the internet :)  But what the hell, it's all about improvement, right?  I wish I had photos, but my husband (aka photographer) is out of town again. Oh well, we are back in the indoor and photos don't look very nice in there anyway. A very worthwhile lesson, I'd say.

I also never followed up with some thoughts about Edgar. It's quite simple really. So simple, I didn't really think that it would be something to pass along. Edgar is pretty green and doesn't work under saddle very often. Therefore, he is still learning to balance a rider. On top of that, the riding area is a field with uneven footing. So it's important to go slow and build his balance and strength.  Occasionally at the trot Edgar will start to lose his balance which is evident by the way he starts to rush and get even more on the forehand (yes, it's possible, lol). In the very beginning, it went from increasing speed to bolting pretty quickly. I think the bolting was mostly an evasion of sorts - he would get unbalanced and anxious and bolting was a way out.  (Side note: he also used bolting to try to get out of work. I noted the difference back in the spring but didn't blog about it specifically. You might remember when I made him keep running after a bolt, beating him at his own game, if you will. I didn't do that until I was sure he was simply being a brat, as opposed to me pushing too hard, and I think that is why it worked so well. That was the last time Edgar bolted with me. I do not think it would have worked so well if I did that while the balance was still the root cause.)

All that to say that you need to be patient. I did a lot of walk-trot-halt transitions, varying the order and duration of each. I had worked up to short canter sessions just before I broke my arm. I always made sure to transition down from canter while he was still balanced so that he could stay calm and build both strength and confidence. I suspect that the riders his owner had out to replace me weren't as patient and likely rushed him to trot and canter when he wasn't ready and/or balanced. So, he bolted with them. I honestly think it's that simple. Of course, part of it could have just been his Fjord brain knowing what he could get away with ;)

I also think it's interesting that he didn't try anything like that last weekend, even though I hadn't ridden him since early June.  I was also (again) careful to pay attention to when he started to come undone.  Hmmm, I guess I'm not terrible at distinguishing some rider issues from horse issues. Then again, even my husband could tell when he started to come undone, lol.

Well, that was much longer than I intended!  Tonka has found the container of catnip and is batting it around the house. Guess I'd better give him a little. Off to "drug" the cat and walk Hazel.

Search for Lease, continued.

I had pretty much decided not to lease the big boy I talked about in my previous post on lease-hunting. His owner was looking for a more advanced rider and basically a co-trainer. I know I didn't ride all that well that day for a number of reasons but I am sure I wouldn't disappoint her if she watched me a few more times. It was worrying me so much...what should I do??...and finally, after my lesson on Monday, I came to a decision. I was talking to a couple other women I ride with about my dilemma. One made it clear - if you are that stressed and worried, move on! It's clearly not the right situation. It really could be that simple! I made up my mind to keep looking. I felt so relieved.

But then...

I didn't have a chance to email the owner right away, so I waited until the next day. I got home from work, walked the dog, and made dinner. I finally sat down in front of the laptop with the sole purpose of emailing the owner to say I was going to pass due to different wants/needs.

But there was an email from my instructor waiting for me. Turns out, the horse's owner just figured out in the last week that her boy was reacting to the saddle! Turns out he's been progressively getting worse in some ways with respect to behaviour but she thought it was a combination of the current leaser and having new people try him out. I've read enough about saddle fit issues to know that they can be incredibly subtle, yet serious, but very hard to identify as the saddle. This saddle "fit" by all reasonable standards but still was pinching him. It took some time before the owner was able to see real evidence pointing to the saddle. Of course, she feels terrible but is happy that she can now do something! I like this owner :)

So, we've agreed to try things out for October and then re-assess. I feel 100% better about the situation and am very excited for the opportunity. It looks like my riding is about to change considerably!

Alright, you guys with nice horses --- any tips, stories or anything really, that you can tell me about the transition from school horses to privately owned, nice horses? I'm told it will help my riding immensely. I have a hard time seeing how it's different, in a way. I know the horse will likely respond better, but people seem to tell me a fairly big transformation occurs.

I hope to update on Edgar (the Fjord I haven't really talked about since I broke my arm in June) soon. I've been putting off blogging about him! I am hoping to see him on the weekend so I might even have new pictures.

Reality check...but for who?

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was considering leasing a particular horse. I've actually been thinking about it for awhile, not only that particular horse but leasing in general. I was especially interested in that guy because I think we would both benefit and he is just one of those horses you feel a special affection for. Unlike my other love Justine , who needs someone more skilled at training than I am, this boy needs regular work, thoughtful exercises and refining. I can do that.

I got a quote for half-leasing (3 rides/week) at the stable where I take lessons. It varies depending on the horse but I was given an initial estimate (minimum). I was very surprised at how high the amount was. I've also been looking at other stables, on the internet etc., so that I know what is out there. I am a researcher, it's what I do. To me, it seems high when compared to other available leases too. To be fair, I haven't seen a perfectly comparable situation so it's hard to say if it's fair.

I would like your opinion! I know it will be hard with different countries etc. but I would like to know if I am being unreasonable, or if it really IS a lot to ask for a lease.

The main base price is (at minimum) half the price of board. That's $350 Canadian.

That doesn't include lessons and I would want to do at least one/week. Add $176.

That's $526/month for 3 rides/week, one in a lesson. On top of that, I would have to pay half of all farrier costs AND vet costs! So I'd be looking at at least $550/month but likely more. Ok, seriously, to me one reason to lease a horse is that you can ride more without the commitment and worry over vet bills!

Consider also that if I were to take 3 lessons per week at the same barn it would cost me $528/month. So it actually costs less to have qualified instruction for the same number of rides! I find that seriously odd.

What do you think? Am I just naive?

Now, some photos just for fun.

Hazel loves to run
around the jump fields.

My pretty girl.

Warming up.

Silly Horses and How Far is Too Far?

The horse I posted about last week now has a shoulder full of stitches :( It seems he was kicked by another horse, poor guy (or, maybe he was being an ass, who knows?). So, no riding and no turnout for him for a little while. I feel so bad for him, with all the wet weather we've had the bugs are still in full force. It must be so annoying!

On another note:

I just recently heard back from someone who advertised a lease for their horse. It is a different stable from where I ride but the price is very good and he sounds like a nice horse. I would have the opportunity to come out and go for a trail ride with him first. They are having a new indoor arena built which should be finished this week. Also trails. Sounds really great.

The only catch is it will take almost an hour to get there, which will make it difficult to go during the week. My question to you guys is: How far do you or would you go to ride? I know, most of you have your horses at home! My lesson barn is only about 20-25 minutes away and it's great. I'm not sure how reliably I could do a 1 hour drive after work.