Hard work – Tuesdays ride and some other news

Tuesdays ride was a bit more work for Sarah this week. Tio really had a mind of his own and Sarah had her hands full getting him to listen. In fact, Tio kept running up (and in one case into) on other horses during the class. Sarah handled it well though and got through his attitude (although she was quite sore afterwards).

I worked with Vegas and will be keeping him at the trot for a while. I am working on collection and position and will continue to work him at trot until we can get him consistently staying in frame and working off his back-end. We had moments where everything seemed to fall into place – my position, his position, and his collection / frame. I think I’m going to look at some different bits and see how far I can get him.

Other news… I am working behind the scenes here at NickerTown and will be bringing some Photo Gallery functionality to the site. I’ve even got my eyes on creating a photo contest so that others can join in.  Keep an eye out for more details on that in the coming weeks.

Until next time,

Tuesday Update

Tuesday was another night out at the barn and this week was a little more work than last week. We were running just a touch later than we typically are, but we got out to the barn in time for our class. After getting everything together, we brushed out the brothers (Vegas and Tio) and tacked them up. The horses had been worked a little harder than they typically are in the class before ours and both Tio and Vegas has a few sweat marks. I took a couple of minutes and grabbed a couple of photos before riding. Here is Sarah with Tio.

I guess Tio didn’t want to have his hooves picked, but Sarah got him together and got through a little stubbornness. We got the boys out to the arena and they both were in a mood and definitely required a bit more work to handle this week (not wanting to trot or canter), but they just needed a little persuasion and we got them moving.  Sarah tried riding Tio without spurs this week, but with the horses being a little ornery, Sarah dismounted after a short time and went and put her spurs on. She’ll continue to work on getting Tio moving without the need for spurs in the coming weeks – building up her muscles and working on her seat and leg cues.

Vegas has a few moments of not wanting to move out as well (must have been something in the air this week). I stuck with it and we had a good ride. I’m still working on my seat and developing my riding muscles (and boy do I need more work – I was beat after this ride). My back, thighs, and hips were pretty stiff on Wednesday – but I’ll take sore muscles from riding any day.

Thanks for visiting,

2 days in a row

Having received a day off on Monday (not a typical day that I get off for a vacation day), we wanted to see if we might be able to sneak in some time for a ride. Our son still had school, but Sarah and I wanted to take advantage of the time we had to get out in the nice weather and out to the barn. I made a quick call, and it didn’t look like anyone would be out early enough for us to make it out and ride before we had to pick up Gabe from school. Fortunately though, we received a call from Capricorn that indeed someone had made it out to the barn and we could come out and ride.

When we arrived at the barn, none of the horses were in and we had to go out and pick up the boys (Vegas and Tio – who are actually brothers) out in the field.  All of the horses were at the round bales, so we didn’t have to go very far to get them. Of course, one of the other horses who loves to come in met us half way and then stuck to me like glue. We haltered Vegas and Tio and headed in. I had to keep Colonel at bay to keep him from walking with me through the gate, but all of the horses would be coming in soon enough to be fed anyways – so I didn’t feel too bad about leaving Colonel out there.

We’ve had a bit of rain lately and the path through the gate is quite muddy. The horses all have mud up their legs (I call it clay boots) and it really irritates their skin. Our soil around here is clay and it doesn’t take much rain to make a big clay mess. That being said, Sarah and I took the horses over to wash them up a bit and knock off the clay around their feet. Vegas was a real trooper and stood fine with me holding him while Sarah washed his feet. Tio was another story…. Tio does not like to have his feet washed and was a bit jumpy. We stuck with it though and got him cleaned up.

After grooming and tacking up, we only had about 40 minutes of ride time. Sarah had forgotten to put her spurs on and she really had to work with Tio to get him moving. It was good for her to see how far she’s progressed in using her seat and leg pressure to ride. In fact, she’s going to be riding without spurs more often to keep her riding development going (without having to rely on the spurs). She did great, but did end up going to get her spurs for about the last 15 minutes of our ride. Vegas and I had an ok ride, but he was reluctant to backing for some reason. I worked on my seat during the ride, but really just wanted to enjoy the time I had.

Last night, we got to go out to Capricorn again. Of course, the horses were a mess again, but not nearly as bad as the previous day. Barbara was there before us and had cleaned up Harry. However, Harry had a bit of a limp going on, so Barbara let him be and selected a different horse to ride (Booger). Sarah and I were with Vegas and Tio – as usual. The kids class that ends just before we ride on Tuesday had used both Vegas and Tio, but neither of the horses had really worked and had just a bit of attitude. Apparently, Alex had mentioned to Sarah that she wanted Sarah to really work Tio and to canter him for the rest of the night…, and did she ever. Sarah had Tio going from the first minute on. It was really neat to see Sarah getting Tio going as I remember that when we first started riding, it was difficult to get any of the horses moving at a canter (our lack of experience – not the horses).

I guess Sarah really found Tio’s “go button” because after some time cantering, Tio through down the gauntlet and said… ok, you want to go, let’s go and he took off at a gallop. Sarah handled him well and fell into her experience and rode it out. Chad had everyone else stop while Sarah brought Tio down to a trot and then a stop. Chad had Sarah back Tio up a bit and then had her go back to trotting. Sarah stayed with the trot the rest of the night.

I worked with Vegas on frame and collection. I am developing my thigh muscles and using them to drive Vegas forward while maintaining the collection. I have to get to the point where I am not managing the horse, but maintaining myself. I had some brief moments where everything was correct, me with my riding position and Vegas managing his own collection based on my position. I know I need to practice my body position and cueing more, but I will get there.

So, it’s been a nice couple of days.  Sarah can hardly stop talking about her ride and is excited about riding more. I look forward to riding more as well and furthering my experience.

Thanks for stopping by – talk to you later,

A little warmer – a nice night for a ride

Last night we went out to the barn for our weekly riding class. The weather had turned slightly warmer so we didn’t need to bundle up as much.  We tacked up our usual horses, Sarah with Tio and myself with Vegas. I think the horses were enjoying the warmer temps as well because they didn’t seem as stiff. I watched Sarah working on Tio for a bit and she is doing wonderfully. Sarah is working on riding with collection at walk, trot, and canter and I must say that she is making huge progress. Sarah is riding with more confidence and looks more relaxed (less stiff) while riding.

I was thinking about my ride afterwards… I felt like I had a good ride last night, and was also working on collection with Vegas. I could tell that I am progressing, but sometimes – it doesn’t necessarily feel like progress. One thing for sure from my ride last night – I am sure I worked harder than Vegas did. I think I need more time in the saddle in the coming weeks where I can stop and focus on what I am doing, before doing it.

All-in-all, it’s just good to get out with the horses and into the saddle.

Talk to you later,

Classes starting – A cold evening

We had our first horseback riding class of 2010 and it was nice to get back into the saddle. The weather has been getting colder this week and I’m not sure, but the temp may have been below freezing when we got to the barn. I know many of you ride in sub-freezing weather regularly, but for us here in Texas, it is usually just a bit warmer. As I’ve mentioned several times, we ride at Capricorn Equestrian Center in Sachse Texas. We ride in a large covered arena most of the time, but we occasionally ride in one of the outdoor arenas‘ (not last night though). I had dressed appropriately for the weather, (thermals, long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, and gloves) and after tacking up I was warm. In fact, after riding for a few minutes, I was ready to ditch the sweatshirt.

Sarah was riding Tio (whom has put on some winter weight. Sarah affectionately nicknamed him Tio-Gordo after riding last night) and he needed a little work to get going. He was likely stiff from the cold weather and didn’t really want to work, but Sarah worked through his attitude and ended up having a really good ride. I worked with Vegas and I really didn’t have any issues with him (with the slight problem of him wanting to back up – avoiding me as I was trying to get mounted). Vegas and I had a really good evening. One thing I still need to work on his getting Vegas to keep from dropping his inside shoulder when I cue to canter. I also need to work on getting him collected to keep him from sticking his nose out at canter (it allows him to avoid the bit – although I’m not sure that is the correct terminology), but it keeps me from speeding up his canter.

All-in-all, we couldn’t have asked for a better ride after a 3 week break from riding. We look forward to getting out there again soon.