We were able to get in TWO rides this weekend. Saturday's ride was out to the development. The temperatures were cool and the horses were frisky. We did a lot of trotting to warm up. Once out, we found a place to lope the four leaf clover exercise. We did that for about five minutes in each direction, then loped in a big rectangle. From there we walked over to the "big square" area and loped around that a couple of times. We would cross through the middle and try a lead change. Jessie would change leads, but it is still pretty ragged. From there we went a little farther out and loped and trotted over some berms that some dirt bikers had built up. We had worked up a sweat by then. It wasn't too hard to do as their winter coats are coming in. We walked home and gave them a bath.
On Sunday we started off in the other direction by going out to the alfalfa field. The recent rains left the ground soft and it was nice loping around there. After warming up we fooled around trying to get some flying lead changes. (We really don't have any idea on how to do this other than what we have read and seen, but it's fun to try, and every once and awhile we get one). We headed out to what we call the "quarry" where there is some flat ground with good footing. I found an old piece of pvc pipe to use as a baton and we tried Craig Cameron's pass the baton exercise. We lope side-by-side in a circle and toss the baton back and forth. Jessie is a bit faster than Dusty so we were on the outside. The horses stayed in their circle nicely despite that fact we were out in the open with no fences anywhere.
Jessie's lope is slowly come down in speed and she is getting better at letting me steer as well. More importantly, it is a much more comfortable lope and I actually have time to think about seat and leg position. It's not a rocking chair lope just yet, but we might get there.
We talked about next weekend's ride. On Saturday we are going to try a long ride out to the arena about 6 miles away. Then on Sunday we are going to switch horses for a ride and see how that goes. We'll let you know.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
I'm Feeling Old
It was a beautiful fall weekend here with temperatures in the mid-80s. Ranae is out of town so it was up to Jessie and I to go it alone. I charged up the GPS and we headed out on Saturday afternoon. Once on the canal I put her into a trot and we went for about a mile. Hers is not quite the sitting trot, although it has improved. I alternated trying to sit it and posting. When she got to fast, I asked for a lope then brought her down to a trot again.
Once we were past Panama Rd. we loped and trotted all the way out to the development. I had the ipod in and the music cranked and she was doing most of what I asked. We loped around the square, then trotted down the road, then loped backed through the development. We loped some circles, we loped some squares. It felt good to see I was get her to sweat a little bit. When we got back we had ridden for 90 minutes with an average speed of 4.4 mph. Our top speed was 11.2 mph. Our usual rides are around the 3.3 mph range. The 11.2 top speed was much slower than she usually goes too.
Sunday we started out around 11am and rode out to the city farm. We had to wind our way through more residential areas and traffic was busy on two roads we had to cross. Once out in the open I put her into a lope and we went for about half a mile. The ferrier had come on Wednesday and some of the roads are quite rocky so I put her into a trot and we trotted for about two miles. There was an area where we did trot-lope-trot transitions. We worked on our stops over by a cotton field and then trotted to the canal. From there it was an easy walk home. The GPS total were almost the same except she loped faster. She had a top speed of 13.4 mph and our average was 4.1mph.
This morning I am feeling it. My lower back muscles are sore, my shoulder are sore, and my legs are sore from the posting. What happened?!? Geesh, it's not like I spent all day in the saddle, but it sure feels like it.
Once we were past Panama Rd. we loped and trotted all the way out to the development. I had the ipod in and the music cranked and she was doing most of what I asked. We loped around the square, then trotted down the road, then loped backed through the development. We loped some circles, we loped some squares. It felt good to see I was get her to sweat a little bit. When we got back we had ridden for 90 minutes with an average speed of 4.4 mph. Our top speed was 11.2 mph. Our usual rides are around the 3.3 mph range. The 11.2 top speed was much slower than she usually goes too.
Sunday we started out around 11am and rode out to the city farm. We had to wind our way through more residential areas and traffic was busy on two roads we had to cross. Once out in the open I put her into a lope and we went for about half a mile. The ferrier had come on Wednesday and some of the roads are quite rocky so I put her into a trot and we trotted for about two miles. There was an area where we did trot-lope-trot transitions. We worked on our stops over by a cotton field and then trotted to the canal. From there it was an easy walk home. The GPS total were almost the same except she loped faster. She had a top speed of 13.4 mph and our average was 4.1mph.
This morning I am feeling it. My lower back muscles are sore, my shoulder are sore, and my legs are sore from the posting. What happened?!? Geesh, it's not like I spent all day in the saddle, but it sure feels like it.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Yes, it's me
It's been a little bit. You know how life is, circumstances sometimes get in the way of riding time. Jessie is enjoying her break, although she got a short little ride and some groundwork last weekend.
A quick update on the puppy, Maddie, that we found. Our friend picked her up (well, really, wrenched her from our arms) after we had taken care of her for 6 days. She is at her new home and settling in nicely. I haven't seen her, but hear she is growing quickly. She is surrounded by toys. She has two cats to play with and an owner who loves her. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and offers of help. They were appreciated.
We have shot some new video. I haven't looked at yet, let alone edit it. I hope to get after that in the coming weeks....
A quick update on the puppy, Maddie, that we found. Our friend picked her up (well, really, wrenched her from our arms) after we had taken care of her for 6 days. She is at her new home and settling in nicely. I haven't seen her, but hear she is growing quickly. She is surrounded by toys. She has two cats to play with and an owner who loves her. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and offers of help. They were appreciated.
We have shot some new video. I haven't looked at yet, let alone edit it. I hope to get after that in the coming weeks....
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Vacation Weekend
We got to go to Las Vegas for the weekend. It was weird being there so soon. I hadn't been there for ten years before seeing Clinton Anderson earlier in June. We went to relax and see the Cirque De Solei show Zumanity. The trip seemed a bit rushed and in doing the math we were only there for 43 hours. After you factor out the sleep, shower, eat, show, driving and walking around there wasn't much time to actually relax. It was fun, though and good to get away.
We stopped at the Southpoint on the way out of town and I got to show Ranae the arena and the horse facilities which were open oddly enough. As for our gaming adventures, let's just say the lights are still on in Vegas ;>)
Now it's back to work both here and with Jessie..
We stopped at the Southpoint on the way out of town and I got to show Ranae the arena and the horse facilities which were open oddly enough. As for our gaming adventures, let's just say the lights are still on in Vegas ;>)
Now it's back to work both here and with Jessie..
Monday, September 20, 2010
How long do we lope before it gets slower?
Saturday afternoon we went out for a ride to the usual haunts. It was still fairly warm...in the nineties I would guess. We did some warm up trotting and loping in the big alfalfa field. Jessie was a bit hard to steer (as most always) and we got through the warm up and trotted down the canal for about a mile. When we got out to the development we saw this little gem that had been dumped. She was cuddled next to the carcass of a cat (I thought it was a stuffed animal) who I assumed would be her food supply for a day or two.
We rode for about two hours and then went back to pick up the pup who assured me she was okay and that once her owners realized she had "accidentally" fell out of their vehicle they would be coming back for her.
I don't know why, if it's the heat, or the extra trotting and posting, or if it's because I'm trying to sit more balanced in the center of the saddle with my feet under my hips, but I've been getting some saddle sores the last month or so. Sunday, I wanted to do a lot of loping to see if I could get Jessie to go slower. She has slowed down from the 16-18 mph she had when we started, but she is still too fast most times. We started our loping about a mile ahead of Ranae and then doing some circles and figure eights until Ranae trotted up to us. We walked about another mile where we found a lot that was about the size of a football field, maybe 100 yards by 60 yards. The track around it was smooth dirt so we started off in our loop. We probably went around that thing six times and she was huffing and puffing but she never showed a sign of "wanting" to slow down. On the way home we talked about ways to improve the exercise like going around a couple of times in one direction, then circling and go the other direction. That fast lope isn't the easiest to sit however, I'll have to toughen my butt up for the next session.
In the meantime, if you know anyone who wants the sweetest little black dog you've ever seen...
We rode for about two hours and then went back to pick up the pup who assured me she was okay and that once her owners realized she had "accidentally" fell out of their vehicle they would be coming back for her.
I don't know why, if it's the heat, or the extra trotting and posting, or if it's because I'm trying to sit more balanced in the center of the saddle with my feet under my hips, but I've been getting some saddle sores the last month or so. Sunday, I wanted to do a lot of loping to see if I could get Jessie to go slower. She has slowed down from the 16-18 mph she had when we started, but she is still too fast most times. We started our loping about a mile ahead of Ranae and then doing some circles and figure eights until Ranae trotted up to us. We walked about another mile where we found a lot that was about the size of a football field, maybe 100 yards by 60 yards. The track around it was smooth dirt so we started off in our loop. We probably went around that thing six times and she was huffing and puffing but she never showed a sign of "wanting" to slow down. On the way home we talked about ways to improve the exercise like going around a couple of times in one direction, then circling and go the other direction. That fast lope isn't the easiest to sit however, I'll have to toughen my butt up for the next session.
In the meantime, if you know anyone who wants the sweetest little black dog you've ever seen...
Monday, September 13, 2010
A Nice Weekend
Even though I haven't been posting with my usual regularity, we have been working. Jessie and I have been doing more groundwork and working at liberty. The initial reason for moving to groundwork was essentially a time factor. The days are getting shorter and it was a way to get our work in "quicker", if you will. The surprise is, that even though we do many of the same exercises, I think this has improved my timing and feel. Because I'm working on refinement instead of the basic concept, groundwork offers me more time to think about what I''m asking for, giving the consistent cue, and sharpening my release time. Just spending time with Jessie is helping me to learn better horsemanship...imagine that!
We did get to ride on Sunday. We rode out to the City Farm with it's big wide roads in between alfalfa crops. We did a lot of trotting (with posting to stay in shape). On the way home we found a place to work on our "whoa". Jessie stops in one direction just great. The other direction, if you watched the horse h-o-r-s-e game video, not so much. We had to work on it for about 15 minutes before I got two consistent stops in the bad direction.
Ranae rode without her spurs and she got to work with Dusty on trying to work off leg pressure with the 10 thorn berry-bush as backup. At first Dusty noticed the lack of reinforcement, but by the end of the ride he had improved.
We did get to ride on Sunday. We rode out to the City Farm with it's big wide roads in between alfalfa crops. We did a lot of trotting (with posting to stay in shape). On the way home we found a place to work on our "whoa". Jessie stops in one direction just great. The other direction, if you watched the horse h-o-r-s-e game video, not so much. We had to work on it for about 15 minutes before I got two consistent stops in the bad direction.
Ranae rode without her spurs and she got to work with Dusty on trying to work off leg pressure with the 10 thorn berry-bush as backup. At first Dusty noticed the lack of reinforcement, but by the end of the ride he had improved.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Horse H-O-R-S-E
We've been staying busy at work. I've also have a couple of other projects going on that keep me from my weekly blogging. We continue our riding three times a week. We recently had some fun playing an old fashioned game of h-o-r-s-e. You know, the backyard basketball game where you call your shot. Here's our latest video:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)