Mac and Princess Fancy Pants meet - video!

Here's a video of Mac and Princess Fancy Pants meeting over the fence last week.



I had some amazing rides on Mac last week. I changed up my pre-ride ground work routine a bit and I think it helps loosen him up before I get on. I was able to really be present during our dressage schooling on Saturday. I could really isolate various body parts to give him an aid. For example, to collect his trot I would half-halt with my abs, for lack of a better description. To go forward and lengthen, I would change my seat - I wish I knew how to explain it . . . the only way I can describe it is I sort of sucked up his back with my seat as if I could lift it and move it forward. I'm sure that sounds weird. Anyway, it was really fun and good!

And yesterday we went for a trail ride in the woods and it was just so lovely.



It was just one of those rides where I really appreciate my horse and how good he is. I really feel like we have a good partnership and that he enjoys our outings together.

I think I might try a new saddle on him. I'm waiting to get a Heather Moffett Vogue dressage saddle on trial - I've heard people either love them or hate them - we'll see what camp I fall in! I've had a treeless saddle before (and tried lots of others) and while I found it extremely comfortable for trail riding, I actually found it hard to ride in for arena work. I think with all the special padding that you're supposed to use it creates too much bounce. Mac really seemed to like the last one I tried, but I just couldn't ride in it. Supposedly the HM has a cork panel that you can use that absorbs the excess bounce. We'll see!

Hey there, sexy!

It has been a long while since I've posted about Mac! I haven't been riding because of some tennis elbow problems. I had done a couple of cow play nights but my elbow was hurting so I decided to give myself a couple weeks off to prepare for a clinic. But it still hurt so I gave myself about a month off, missed the clinic, and have been playing with the new pony, instead!

Mac goes into modified stud mode when she's nearby. So far I've kept them separated and they haven't even touched noses over the fence. But when she's near (like if she's in the cross ties and he's in his stall), he starts his "huuuh, huuuh, huuuh" talking to her in a low, Barry-White-type voice and arching his neck. So far she seems interested but not wholly impressed. I'm waiting for her to be so ho-hum that when they do get to meet each other it won't be a big deal.

I've been taking each of them out individually for walks in the arena or down the ditch. When she's gone, Mac calls a few times but she doesn't call back. When he's gone, same thing.

Today I rode for the first time in a long time - probably a month! Mac was perfectly good and not at all distracted by the pony. When I was grooming her outside, though, he did come over for a closer look.



I've got a Harry Whitney clinic coming up in October so it is time to get back in the swing of things with Mac!

Mac has a little sister!

That's what I'm telling him anyway - I'm telling him she is NOT a girlfriend, but a little sister!

I bought myself a pony. An actual pony, not a term-of-endearment pony. "Annwylid D'Lite" is a registered 1/2 Welsh Cob pony (she's actually 3/4 Cob x 1/4 Morgan) by Pro A Resolute out of Cariad Cosmopolitan (1/2 Welsh x 1/2 Morgan). Oh, and she's a two-year-old filly!

I can't believe I bought sight-unseen. I have a friend who just did the same thing, so I was feeling a bit bold and inspired by her adventure. I did see lots of videos and photos of "Dee Dee" and talked to the seller at length, so it isn't like I went in blind. She had a vet check on Friday and is coming home from Arizona hopefully next weekend.

Here she is in her loveliness.







I'm going to start a blog for her so I can track our progress as I've done for Mac. It is fun to look back and see how far we've come!

Bareback and bridleless!

Since I ride at home alone and don't have anyone to really watch (as I used to do in my younger days - I would spend all day at the barn watching people ride), I sat down with a cup of coffee and found some inspiring YouTube videos this morning. Even though I've got some tendonitis in my elbow that I should be resting, I decided a week and a half off from riding was enough and so I went for a ride.

Some of the videos I was watching were of people doing liberty work and also riding bareback and bridleless. Since I rode with a neck rope a couple times before (but not necessarily bridleless) and I've ridden bareback on the trails many times before, I decided to combine the two and ride sans saddle and bridle!

We started with some liberty work which I'm sure would have been better had I a round pen, but Mac sort of cuts the arena in half on his own. I let him have some free WTC in each direction, then decided I might as well hop on! I put the neck rope on but figured I'd leave the bridle off and if I thought I'd need it then I could put it on.

At first I just worked on separating my leg aids - a leg at the shoulder means move the shoulder, a leg back behind the girth area means move the butt, a leg in the center means move the ribcage. We did some small circles and serpentines, some backing, some rollbacks, some TOF and TOH. Then we moved it up to the trot and I tried to do 10 steps walk, 10 steps trot - as we went along we improved as I realized that I needed to prepare a couple steps ahead of time (duh) so that I'd get the transition on the 10th step. This is of course not a new realization, but sometimes I get so focused on one thing that other things fly out my ears.

Once we got sharp with the transitions, I figured why not canter? So we did. And Mac was great! He really gives me such a good place to sit, and he's so comfortable and steady in his tempo that it is easy to stay balanced on him. We did a couple laps, came down to the trot and walk, then back to the canter again. It's always a crapshoot if there are deer lurking in the pine trees that he can't see but hear and that might come running down the hill at any moment, but it wasn't a problem. We did the canter in both directions and I was pleased enough that I called it a day.

Riding like this, though, makes me feel like tack really gets in the way. Bareback I have so much more ease of movement in my legs to direct his body, the communication of energy for forward is so subtle, as are whole body cues. Of course it helps that Mac has a lovely back to sit on and has easy gaits to ride.

I think I'll probably try to do this once a week and see how we can improve. It is fun to just play with your horse and come up with new things to try after being inspired by watching other people!

Cow pictures, too!

Ok, here are some pictures I lifted from the video - this was the squirrely cow, so I only took the good shots and left the rest behind!

Here we are warming up.



And bringing the cows in.



And our squirrely cow.

Videos of cow work!

I had a hoof trimmer come out to do Mac's feet since I hurt my elbow and have tendonitis that is very painful. Oh how I wish I had a wayback-time-machine to go back and not do the thing I did to hurt myself! And it wasn't even horse related. :-(

While I was chatting with the trimmer, I mentioned how I went to a cow clinic a couple months ago and how I'd love to do more cow play time. She mentioned that there's actually a cow play date every Tuesday at our local horsemen's arena. So we went!

Here's the first video - it is quite boring if you're not really interested in watching us move cows around, but too bad! The cows were in a pasture area outside the arena so we had to open the gate and go get them. Then when they came in the arena we decided to move them all the way around the arena along the fence line in one direction, then turn around and go back the other way. I'm in my dressage saddle with the bosal. I'm getting more comfortable with the bosal and we did okay with the slow work, but later when we got a squirrely cow I think I didn't do so great.

Anyway, here's the video of us bringing in the cows:



Once the cows were gathered up in the arena, we took turns going into the herd and picking out a cow and separating it from the herd and then moving it down the fenceline. We went first and had an easy cow and made it look like it was the easiest thing in the world!



Our next go I picked the hardest cow because I knew it would take me a while and we'd have to step our game up. Mac was a good sport but I don't think I gave him the best ride; nevertheless we ended on a good note and while I didn't move the cow down the fenceline, I did move him out from the herd (granted he went back a couple times, but I ended by keeping him out on my terms!)

New video #2 - riding with a neck rope

The past few rides on Mac I've used a neck rope. Just in case I did have his bridle on, but for 95% of the ride I used the rope. I edited out a spook, I kept in one part where I used my reins, I edited out our breaks, and it is still a long video!



We're back in the dressage saddle until our new western saddle is made, and it will be quite a while. I do love this saddle - I'm very comfortable in it and Mac is as well.

Mac seems to really enjoy the neck rope work. Some things we struggle with more than others . . . like turning right. I think I keep my legs in the "left turn" position so our bodies are fighting each other because I'm giving him the wrong cues. That darn left leg of mine that has a mind of its own! Backing in a straight line is a little difficult in some instances because I think he's anticipating backing and turning, which is something we usually do, so he's a bit wiggly there. Upward and downward transitions are good, as is carrying the flag.

Working out the reins was a bit difficult. In the beginning of the video I had them tied to my saddle but then I thought they were tied funny and in the way of the rope so I untied them and just had the end looped around my fingertip as my hand was holding the rope. In the beginning, my other hand was holding the flag so that I could use it to redirect Mac's attention (which you'll see a couple times). It also gave me something to do with my other hand so that I wasn't tempted to grab the rein.

It is a fun schooling exercise and gets your brain and body working in a different way. Mac seemed to think it was okay so I'll add it to our repertoire!

Oh, and at the end I grabbed my longe whip and swung it all around then tried to plant it in the ground and do a circle around it - of course one direction was easier than the other!