Another Expo

Went to another expo today in Cadillac. It was mostly just a consignment tack sale. Yeah, i ended up buying two saddles. One English, one Western. I only spent 230 dollars total on the both of them. I went and tried both saddles on Gunny...even rode her walk/trot in the English saddle. (I'm not a graceful English rider.) I'm kind of excited and proud of myself. I got lucky. Both of them seem to fit okay...but then again I don't know. I think Gunny just acts like a brat no matter what saddle I have on. I've tried like 6 different saddles, and she's always a little cranky about going faster. I don't know what her deal is.

I'll have to get pictures of her in the western saddle, but above is a picture of her in her new English one.

Blizzard.

Freezing cold again today, which made for an empty indoor arena. I focused on keeping Gunny on the rail and letting her keep her head down by herself, but correcting her if she went of the rail or raised her head. She did quite well. There were a few spots that made her want to go to the center, but I tried to catch them with my leg and hold her on the rail, to set her up for success. I also worked on lengthening and shortening her stride (we have a long way to go). But, she was excellent today, very relaxed, very obedient. I got my new Reinsman full cheek sweet iron snaffle bit yesterday so that's what I'm using now. It's a much better quality bit than the stainless steel one I was using.

There's an expo up in Cadillac tomorrow and I might head up there to visit my friend. Maybe I can find a new saddle?

My goal for the next time I ride is to be able to go around the arena twice without having to correct Gunny at all from going off the rail. That'll take some work, but hopefully it can be done. I also want to have the goal of working on her stride length, but keeping her head down in the process. She tends to hollow her back and raise her head when I ask her to lengthen her stride. If the saddle is uncomfortable to her, hopefully the new pad will make a bit of a difference for her, until I am able to afford a new saddle.

It's Freezing!

Rode a little again with Val and Joann. Just working on Gunny's head-down cue, and lengthening/shortening her stride. I think her saddle and my seat does bother her a little bit. Hopefully this new saddle pad will help with that. I want to see if that makes a difference in her carriage of herself. She was a little rusty today from being off for 4 days, but she kept her head nice and relaxed at the walk. I barely had to even correct her. That's a good sign. :) I'll keep on plugging away at it. Her back is MUCH softer now. I see a dramatic improvement there. She remains in frame and flexes.

My goal for the next time I ride is to have her stay on the rail one time around without me having to correct her. And to continue working on her head-down cue at mostly the jog. She carries her head nicely at the walk, but the jog tends to make it go up a bit. Just little steps. I'll keep working hard!

Group Ride!

Rode with 4 other people today, was able to work on socializing and we played horse soccer. It was a lot of fun, although my toes went numb from the cold. Gunny is still doing great. I keep getting all sorts of compliments on her about how relaxed she is and how good of a girl she is. That makes me feel so accomplished. I got to help Lisa again today with her palomino mare. She actually ended on a good note with her horse, smile on her face and all! It was nice to be able to help someone feel like there was some hope and that they CAN do it. :) She had been injured previously and gets very tense when her horse acts up. So I told her to just set small goals for herself...just walk and stop for the day. And I helped her with her cues, and to not "Y" out her hands to steer. She improved immensely even in the 10 minutes I worked with her. Whenever she got tense, I told her to breathe and relax...ease her mare down...she did a wonderful job. I hope that she keeps it up!

Gunny is backing much better now, she's softening up, and staying on the rail. She's standing still a lot better too. I do have to correct her from dropping her shoulder and trying to go to the center, but that's to be expected. I try not to rest her at all in the center now, only on the rail. The rail isn't a bad place to be. I'm working on getting her to go faster by just leg aides...and to lengthen and shorten her stride. Half halts and small circles, flexing at the poll -- or a "head down" cue. Gotta keep working hard! But it's encouraging to see the continued progress.

Helping others

Had another great day. The sun was shining and Gunny was very good. I rode with a friend of mine at the barn, and she was having a difficult time with her horse. I tried to help her with some ground work methods so that she wasn't so afraid of her horse. It was nice to be able to help others. I gave her my contact information so that if she had any questions, she could ask. Gunny is coming along nicely and is giving to the bit more and more. She's collecting herself and staying on the rail a little bit better too. :) I'm proud of her.

Beautiful sunshine!

Had a great day on Gunny. Did a little bit of ground work and working on giving to the bit. She's getting better, slowly but surely. We worked in both directions at the walk and the jog, getting her to put her head down. As long as I'm consistent with my cues, it seems like she's very responsive. Still a lot of work to do, but I'm excited to see that we're both progressing. She's a little stiff on her backup...but I think it's because it's a newer cue to her. I noticed her getting better toward the end of the lesson, though.

Sure was a nice day. Above freezing and the sun was glorious. My car was actually hot from sitting in the parking lot. :)

I feel so blessed.

Lots of Fun

Today, my friends, Joann, Carol, and Val came to work with their horses (and mule) today with me. We had all sorts of dollar store "scary" toys to de-spook our horses with. I opened an umbrella on Gunny's back...and she ended up getting scared of it, so I had to drop it...but she was almost de-spooked with everything else she had. I even shot a noisy, moving, toy machine gun off of her back. :) I was so proud.

I also worked on the walk and jog and getting her head down and keeping her on the rail. Progress is happening slowly but surely! I'm really proud of her. I'm working more on myself and being clear and consistent with my cues. I think that's my biggest downfall. I don't want to fall back into my old habits. I also need to teach her to rest on the rail, and not the center of the arena.

I ordered her a new full cheek snaffle bit and a nice saddle pad, too. I'm excited for both.

Rehab begins

Well, today the rehabilitation began. I switched to a full cheek snaffle bit, and I began teaching Gunny to give to the bit pressure at the walk and the jog. I hold the outside rein steady and lift the inside rein to get her to drop her head and flex at the poll. When she does this properly, I release the pressure. Right now, that's all I'm going to be working on - and consistency with my cues - to teach her to stay in frame and not drop her shoulder. No loping for at least a month. :)

She was a little bit shaky today, but this is all new to her, and it's a slow teaching process. We'll see how she gets over the next couple weeks.

Pictures from the Expo

Ryan on Gunny!

Dana (Ryan's secretary), Me, and Ryan Gingerich

Ryan's Horse, Dillon, and myself.

I wish my photos weren't so large, or else I'd upload more. It takes 5 minutes to shrink one down. All in all, this was a great experience, and Ryan helped me realize what I was doing wrong and how I can fix it. I can't wait to get started. He basically taught me basic dressage moves to help teach Gunny to drop her head and remain in frame. After we master that at the walk and the trot, it can be taken to the canter, but not at LEAST for a while. She has to be able to respond correctly at least 80% of the time in order to "pass" the test. I'm excited to get started! Will keep you posted. :)

Had a great time!

Well, meeting Ryan was incredible. He helped me so much and actually RODE Gunny. He normally doesn't do that. He basically taught me dressage methods, the foundation of all riding, and things to do and build on. He gave me inspiration and said that I can contact him any time for help if need be. I'm really exhausted from the weekend, but Gunny did very well. I was very proud of her progress from the beginning of the demo to the end. She was a different horse.

I'm going to recuperate, but when I have some time, I'll post some photos! :)

Such a success, and a great experience. Now on to the road to rehabilitation and recovery. ^_^

:)

I got the call this morning, at 8:45. Cathy called the vet and got a little bit nasty to them. I guess her coworker is part of the lab at MSU where the testing happens. And she said she was going to have them email it to her, so we could go. Well, I guess the vet stepped it up and had them get the results in, because not 15 minutes after she called, I got my phone call. I'm so incredibly thankful that I get to go. We're leaving at 10am tomorrow, probably a 3 hour drive. It's going to be a long day/night, but hopefully it'll be worth it.

I spent the majority of this morning/afternoon preparing, packing, loading the truck and trailer. I have everything all set and ready to go for tomorrow. I'm so excited! Hopefully I'll get some good pictures and videos. I'll let you know how it goes!

:)

It's getting near, will I be able to go?

I've done everything I possibly can to prepare for the expo this weekend. I had coggins drawn last Thursday, putting it on rush order. I wasn't charged for it, but I was charged 129 dollars total for the vet call (2 miles down the road), health certificate and coggins test. I guess the results still aren't in, and the analysis hasn't even been completed yet. The veterinary assistant that answered the phone and was really rude to me, for expecting results so quickly. She said "Did you ask the doctor to put it on rush order?", like I was an ignoramus. I simply and kindly told her yes, and I had talked to her about it last week. I'd made it very clear that I needed them by Friday. I got the test as soon as I found out that Ryan wanted to work with us. There isn't much more I could do. Hopefully the test results will be in so that we can go. I really don't want to miss this opportunity.

I'm praying.

I've got all my stuff packed as much as I can. I bought a new helmet for the occasion, did my hair and got a hair cut, got some hay bays, etc. I'm not going to go crazy about clipping Gunny or anything, because she's kept outside and I don't want her to freeze. So, she'll just be a fuzzum. I'll just clean her up as much as I can without giving her an actual "bath".

Anyway, I will keep you guys posted!

OH MY GOSH!!

I got a phone call earlier today from Ryan Gingerich's secretary, Dana, whom asked me to be a participant in their expo at Birch Run next weekend! I get to work for an hour and a half with Ryan, one on one with Gunny. It's going to be such an amazing experience! I'm so excited I can hardly breathe!

I have a lot of things to do. I got my friend Cathy to plan on trailering Gunny down there on the 12th, bless her heart. I just have to pay for diesel and for her way in.

I called the vet today because I need to get Gunny's coggins test done. Unfortunately, it was after hours, so I had to leave a message. Hopefully I can get the vet out there tomorrow, or ASAP, and get a rush order and faxed copy of the results, so I can legally travel.

Next, I have to call Dan, my farrier, and get Gunny's feet all trimmed, so she looks nice.

I have no idea what I'm going to wear...I have to pack and organize, but I am so incredibly excited and so thankful that God has blessed us with this opportunity. I hope and pray everything works out and that I am able to learn a lot. :D

I will hopefully post pictures and videos after it happens.

Need to be ambitious!

So, I've started learning about Ryan Gingerich's ground work methods, and how most problems in horses start with a misunderstanding of the "go" and "stop" cue. It seems to make sense, as almost everything bases itself upon these two things. So, I started working again with ground work, as obviously under saddle work isn't going like I've planned. I'm trying to teach Gunny to drop her head when I set a "bit barrier", so that she goes to achieve release from the pressure, instead of bracing against it, which is what she does at the canter.

So far, it's working! I think she was misunderstanding what I wanted with the bit pressure. She found release from the pressure if she braced against it, and I wasn't strong enough to hold the pressure constant...so we're simply working on giving to the bit again, and shortly, we'll work up to the canter and see if it makes a difference.

The weather has been cold and yucky, and I keep making excuses not to go to the barn and work with her. I need to stop that and just get my butt out there. So, that's my plan for tomorrow!

I will try to blog more, I promise.