Look ‘Ma! No Adreneline! July 20, 2008
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
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Adreneline is highly overrated for me. I hate the shaky amped-up feeling you get from it. The only time I ever really appreciate it is after a fall off a horse and I need it to forget whatever body parts I’ve injured to get right up and mount up again. So you can understand my elation when there was no adreneline rush whatsoever when I got on Tigger today.
For the first time since I fell off in March I was calm and relaxed while getting on. No knees were shaking. My heart wasn’t racing. I didn’t have the urge to puke. It was good. It took FOUR MONTHS to finally get over just one fall. Good heavens.
But here is the funny thing: After the ride started he was the spookiest he’s been in a long time. We had three significant shies and about two itty-bitty ones. But instead of worrying about that, I had on my sh*t-eating grin singing “Zippity-Doo-Dah” because my heartrate didn’t spike to 180 during the mounting process.
Isn’t life funny?
So the ride went very well. I worked on what I learned at the clinic on Friday and tried to tie that in with Paige’s lesson on Thursday. At the foundation of all of this was the work I’ve been doing with my hands thanks to Cindy. So in a nutshell, here’s what I worked on:
1. Hands quiet, calm, and giving. (Cindy)
2. Leg on when he inverts, even when he’s rushing. (Paige)
3. Tempo and directional control no matter what. (Henrik)
I’m so remedial I need three instructors. 
Did I have a soft, round, gorgeous, ready-to-do-second-level-work horse because of this? Heck no. But what I had was a horse who is starting to trust me, who is becoming eerily obedient (I’m beginning to think he’s just lulling me into a false sense of security), and who seemed to enjoy himself. As the above three things become more habit than conscious thought, I’ll move more into re-stablishing his frame. At this point I feel they are the base that I was missing.
I’m so jazzed about having a plan with Tigger. He’s been so much fun to ride lately. I can’t wait to do it again!
How to Make Your Horse Melt June 30, 2008
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
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It was not quite as hot as yesterday, but still pretty toasty. I had my lesson on Tigger today. It was interesting.
I opted not to lunge first as I was afraid it would just completely drain him. He seemed mellow and relaxed, so I took the chance. I went about our little process slowly, and got on. He stood still, but I could tell he was tense. I patted him. We waited. Then he took a step forward. Then he ran.
I was REALLY hoping we were over that, but apparently not. There were two things I had going for me: 1) My new saddle fits me really well, so I am better balanced for moments like this, and 2) I had a plan. I put him on a tight circle. When he relaxed, the circle got bigger. When he started racing again, the circle got smaller. Today he was going to discover that there is freedom in relxation. The “squirt” was over in less than a minute. I’ll take that.
The rest of the lesson was mostly spent with him fighting me. Not sure why as there were several things different about our ride (new pad, his buddies were out on pasture, still jazzed from his initial sprint). More than likely this was a symptom of our lack of consistent work. There was lots of head tossing and turning upside-down that he doesn’t usually do. We had two kind of cute shies at objects that have been there for MONTHS. Overall he was just being silly. I decided to ignore it and continue on.
About 30 minutes into the lesson he cried uncle. He was soft, relaxed and AWESOME. During the lesson we had re-introduced leg yields. His last one was the best he’s ever done. Seriously, it felt like we were floating.
So all-in-all it was a good ride even though he wasn’t perfect. We worked through our issues, ended on a success, and enjoyed some time with each other. Now I just need to do that more than once a week.
Now THAT’S my horse! June 23, 2008
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
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I had an AWESOME ride on Tigger today. I think I’m finally getting the hang of working with him…
I started off by grooming him slowly and deliberately. I’m noticing that he really enjoys grooming when you use the curry and brush with long methodical strokes. Normally he’s alert and fidgety when we’re getting ready to go. Today he took a nap.
I lunged him without incident. He went well both ways. Even with the canter transition he was more relaxed. I’ve been giving him time to get into the canter (he still has to kind of run into it on the lunge line because I still don’t have him balanced).
Then came the mounting. This is where we have been having our problems with his tendancy to bolt. We narrowed the problem down to soreness in his back and have switched saddles, seen a chiropractor, and gotten a few massages. And you know what? Today was no big deal. He stood still like a statue while I got on. The best part was no one was holding him. It was bliss.
It continued to go well as my lesson started. We simply focused on bending and having a conversation with him about where he needs to be. I also got a reality check on how crooked I am. Going to the left Tigs and I had a good connection. I even sat the trot for a while, which I don’t do very often (probably because I suck at it). Eventually we had “moments of brilliance” where we had self-carraige. That truly is an amazing feeling.
Then we went to the right. Total train wreck.
Now, there is a very good reason why it was a train wreck. Well, actually two really good reasons: I collapse right and he’s stiff to the right. Couple that with the fact that it’s REALLY hard for me to ride with independent hands and it’s just really hard to put things together. Eventually I was able to at least get some of my body positioning sorted. It’s so cool, because when I get organized in the saddle there’s an immediate relaxation in Tigs. He’s the perfect barometer.
We finished the day with a little massage behind the poll (he’s been a little sore there) and some treats. He was an angel. It was a good day.
I RODE MY HORSE! June 16, 2008
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
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Woo-hoo! I rode my horse, I rode my horse, I rode my horse, I RODE MY HORSE!
Can you tell I’m excited?
It felt SO good to get back in the saddle. I really missed it. Tigger was great today. I lunged first to get a few sillies out then REALLY took my time mounting. After a few antsy moments, he stood perfectly still, even when I picked up my right stirrup. When I put my leg on, he calmy walked off. Yahoo!
We had a great lesson, and spent the time making a string of basic successes for him. We started off with some gentle bending at the walk, then worked on some small spirals at the trot. Finally, we capped off the lesson with canter both directions. He’s lost some of his strength in his topline, but did give it some honest effort. I had a really good time.
The rest of the day pretty much sucked, but my ride from the morning kept a smile on my face. *sigh* What’s a world without horses?…
A Very Hot Ride May 18, 2008
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
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One thing a 7-mile run will do is completely remove any anxiousness someone might have about some specific event. I have had a lot of trouble with getting on Tigger. I’d say about 75% is my nervousness and fear of what could happen, and 25% is what he actually does. Today I really wasn’t nervous. I was just too damn tired.
I haven’t ridden him in two weeks. I checked his back (totally fine) and his demeanor was, well, sleepy. It was 80 degrees today and everyone was moving a little slow. Given those two things, I opted not to lunge him. I honestly felt that I didn’t have anything to lunge.
I set him up at the mounting block and he started getting antsy. Sherene was at the ready to hold him for me. It took me about 5 minutes, but I just took it one step at a time. The goal was to show him that it was no big deal. Eventually, he was standing still at the block while I applied weight in the left stirrup. Sherene came over and took hold of a rein. I got on. Nothin’. I picked up my right stirrup. Nothin’. Needless to say Tigger got TONS of praise. Sherene walked with us for a bit and it was clear that he was going to be totally fine. I let the rein to the buckle and let him stretch out and relax as we walked around the arena. I was VERY happy.
The rest of the ride wasn’t fabulous, due to the heat and my lack of energy. We focused on just getting settled again after taking so much time off and keeping a somewhat consistent frame. We finished up with some lateral work at the walk: counterbend on a circle and leg yields. I knew we were done when I could smell hot sweaty horse.
Overall, I was very happy with my time with Tigger today. It was just awesome to spend some quality non-rushed time with him. It was a good day.
