GOT IT...

I watched Leading Behind again.  We practiced it at a walk.  The trot wasn’t happening for us. 

Soooooo, I took that as a starting point and we practiced LB at the walk for two days.

To get the trot, Clinton Anderson says to move their feet in a circle then just turn and start jogging and let him come out of the circle behind your jog while his feet are still moving.

We walked with LB then I leaned forward and jogged – no trot from Max, so I spun around and moved him off into a lunge then changed directions, then changed directions again – then while his feet were moving I jogged off.  He stopped. 

Right away I moved him into a lunge, changed directions, then changed directions again. While his feet were still moving I turned and jogged off and lo and behold he trotted right behind me!  Hallelujah!  I kept trotting so he would get the idea that this is what I wanted then we stopped and rested. (I more than he.)

We rubbed and Good Boyed! 

Then, we did it again – Hallelujah! He trotted behind me.  We kept it up.  Whenever I led him around we practiced first walking then trotting. 

WE GOT IT!

Just let me tell you right now – If you weren’t in shape before you started teaching this exercise, you’ll be in shape after a few days of the LB exercise.  It is definitely exercise. 

I rode for an hour.  We trotted and posted lots, and cantered several times.  He got a little snarky and tried to get all crazy and show me he was ready to stop.  So I ORS-ed him and then turned him in circles one way then the other –then rode for 15 more minutes.  It was the best ride I’ve had since the new year!!  GID-DEE-UP!!

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn

Leading Behind...

We're Back!  Click back to the first few posts to see how I came to use Clinton Anderson's DownUnder Horsemanship method in order to train me to handle Max on the ground and to gain confidence in the saddle.

Leading Behind…

Max and I kept practicing through the holidays.  Yesterday we started on the Leading Behind lesson.  Max is fine with the walking and stopping, but he is refusing to trot when I jog.  At first I tried bump, bump, bumping the rope (This is not what I learned on CA’s dvd.)  I don’t know why I did it.  It didn’t work.

I abandoned the trotting part and went back to reinforcing the walking and stopping part.  He did very well.

Then, we practiced side-passing down the fence line.

Moving down the fence to the right (left foot crossing over right foot) he did pretty well.  Moving down the fence to the left (right foot over left foot) was not smooth or pretty.  We had lots of corrections to make all down the fence.  We practiced each way a few times.  It did get better each way with practice.

Max is now doing Lungeing for Respect Stage 2 pretty darn well.  We have come a long way on this one.

I need to work on getting him to roll back on his hind feet and make that 180 degree turn.  He’s almost there but he keeps trying to come forward about halfway through the change of direction.  I’ll watch that LFR-2 segment again this week.

But tonight I’m watching that Leading Behind segment again...

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn

Last Post of the Year Unless...

**********Click back to the first few posts in August to see how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship method to train me in handling Max on the ground and to regain my confidence in the saddle.

LAST POST OF THE YEAR UNLESS... 

            We’re still practicing Lungeing for Respect – Stage 2.  We’re getting pretty good at it.  Max understands what to do.  He turns better when changing from clockwise to counter-clockwise.  He is reluctant to make a smooth turn and change to going clockwise.  We keep working on it.

            We’re also still practicing side-passing.  Here again, he’s better at it going to the left than going to the right.  We’ll keep working.

            Due to weather and Christmas activities, I haven’t ridden much.  I’m still getting in at least one ride a week.  That isn’t helping me in making progress in the saddle, but it keeps my confidence up.

            Max and I will keep practicing our groundwork until after January first, and then start making progress again.

            So, this will be the last post of the year unless….........we somehow make big progress between now and January 1st…

            Have a good ride

            Greenhorn

Keeping Up...

 ***Click back to the first few posts in August to read how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship method to train me to work with Max on the ground and to help me regain confidence in the saddle...

KEEPING UP...

I’m way behind.  Thanksgiving and Christmas activities are tops on my list until the new year, so I’m working in short sessions with Max when possible.  Most days we can get in a bit of practice.  We’re not learning new skills, but we’re practicing the ones we know.  And…we can both use the practice.

            We’ve had some interesting sessions practicing lungeing for respect-stage 2 this week.  Some days I think he’s got it, then we go out the next day, and we’re all but starting over.  Other days he seems to remember right away what we’re trying to do.  I think that’s a product of just flat not having long enough sessions to practice doing it the right way after the concept is gotten.  But… we’ll get it, eventually, even through our short sessions.

            I have not watched disc 4 in Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground–Series 2 yet.  I’m really shootin’ for watching that this weekend.  If I get to it, fine.  If not, that’s okay, too.  We’ll just keep improving on our previously learned skills.

            We’ve also been practicing side-passing down the fence.  Again, we’re coming along slowly.  But there’s small improvement week to week. 

            I’ve only gotten in one ride this week.  I plan to ride a couple more times before the end of the week.  It was a good ride.  We didn’t do anything but walk and trot.  He acted like he’d forgotten how to back up.  So, we worked on that a little.  He remembered.  It was only about a forty-five minute ride. 

            If I can watch the last disc on GRCG-2 this coming weekend, we’ll be able to add  some new skills to work on before the end of the year.

           

If not, we’ll be just practicing our skills and keeping up…

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn

How Did We Get to This Point...?

New Post coming later this week...

Meanwhile...

To read how Max and I got to this point in our training with Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship method click back to the first few posts...

Back to Short Sessions...

***Click back to the first few posts to read how Max and I started using RFD TV’s Clinton Anderson and his Downunder Horsemanship training method.  We've made great progress! 

BACK TO SHORT SESSIONS…

For the last couple of days I’ve returned to short sessions for my training.  Like I mentioned in the last post, Max and I are still on Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground – Series 2 – disc four.  We have three more exercises to go in this series:  leading behind, leading beside and turn and go.

We’ve been practicing side-passing and lungeing for respect-stage 2 in the afternoons this week.  We’ve had short sessions each day of 30 minutes to an hour.  It seems to work well for us like this. 

I’ve only had one ride this week though.  That won’t do.  I like to ride four to six days a week.

This week Max was reluctant to begin lungeing when I pointed and clucked, especially to the right for some reason.  So, we worked on it.  It took many tries, over a period of a few days for him to remember to "go" when I point and cluck.  But we’re getting it now about 90-95% of the time.  The other 5-10% of the time he gets it with slight encouragement.  So, that’s progress.

Clinton Anderson says you probably shouldn’t be doing lungeing for respect-stage 2 if your horse doesn’t “go” when you point and cluck in stage 1.  Max used to “go” when I pointed and clucked.  He just needs a refresher.  We had that couple of weeks in which we weren’t able to work, so he got a bit rusty.

We are working, slowly but steadily, on lungeing for respect-stage 2.  We’re really sloppy at it, but we’re correcting mistakes as they happen, then trying again. 

For example, Max and I are having a hard time with when we want to change direction, him stopping and getting his front end around quickly enough.  He wants to ignore me and the whole quick change of direction thing, so he keeps on in the same direction just trotting a little bit slower, and looking at me the whole time like he knows what I want, but wants to see if I’ll do it his way this time.  

Of course, I won’t, so I stop him, back him up by wiggling the rope because by this time he’s moved in closer to me, yield his hindquarters and start him in the other direction while keeping his shoulder out and away from me.

Like I said, we’re really sloppy, but we’ll keep practicing.  We’ve both got the time. 

Side-passing is going a little more smoothly than before.  We’re still on the fence and he’s still moving up to the fence frequently so that we have to back up and then continue the side-passing to the right.  To the left, he’s doing quite well.  Again, we’ll practice a little everyday.

I need to watch disc 4 to see how to do the last three exercises.  Hopefully, we can start those next week.

The short sessions are working for us again…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Training Takes a Back Seat...

** To read how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship training methods click back to the first few posts…

TRAINING TAKES A BACK SEAT...

For the last three weeks other commitments have moved to the front of my activities forcing mine and Max’s training to take a back seat.

Looks like my plans for longer training sessions won’t be realized until after Christmas.  Until then, I’ll be doing short training sessions to keep Max and me in practice.  We’ll learn some new skills along the way, but our progress will probably not be very fast paced. 

We still need to complete disc four of Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  We were there three weeks ago when other activities began to take my time. 

Since then, I haven’t had many rides, so no progress in the saddle.  We haven’t progressed on the ground either.  But we are doing just enough groundwork so we don’t get totally out of practice.

We’re going to begin working on the exercises on disc four of GRCG-2 next Monday. 

We’re experiencing some snags in lungeing for respect – stage 2.  Max is not rotating around on those hind feet and taking off in the other direction.  But we’re working on it. 

Hopefully, training will be taking a back seat for only a few more days…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Happy Thanksgiving

To read how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship method click back to the first few posts...

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Post coming after Thanksgiving...

Good, Long Session...

If you're new, click back to the first few posts to see how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's training methods.


GOOD, LONG SESSION...

As of today we’ve made it to disc 4 of Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  There are only four more exercises in this series, so we’ll be starting Series 3 soon.  YEE-HA!!

We flew through desensitizing with the plastic bag, body, face and head.  We had no problem with throwing the rope to stop either.  It only took a couple of times throwing the rope and he stopped.  I totally forgot about see-sawing the rope.  We’ll work on that another day.

We practiced side-passing.  Max is getting pretty good.  Not perfect, but okay so far.  He tends to keep moving a little bit forward while side-passing so that he’s right up to the fence after a few steps.  I need to watch the segment again on side-passing to see what the correct correction is for that.  He’s really trying though.

We also worked on Lungeing for Respect – Stage 2.  CA is right about getting the steps down before you try this with the horse trotting or cantering around.  He’s also right about taking your time between each step until you get them down.  I took it really slowly at first.  It helped tremendously.  After a few slow times I sped it up just a little.  Here again, Max and I aren’t perfect with this exercise.  He’s not rotating around on his hind feet like Clinton Anderson wants them to.  But… he kind of does, sometimes.  We’re working on it.

We ended our groundwork with a walk through the woods.  We walked back and forth down a short trail about three times.  He did great.  No spook.

We worked about three hours today.  It was a good, long session…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Another Long Session...

We had another long session on Sunday. 

On the ground we worked on backing, yielding forequarters, side-passing down the fence-line and we lunged a little.

I’m going to move on and introduce the next exercises on Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-2.  We’re not perfect at the exercises we’re doing now, but with practice we’ll get better.  We need to work on something new so things don’t get stale. 

So, I’m going to introduce throwing the rope and stopping, and see-sawing the rope this week.  We’re also going to do desensitizing with the plastic bag.  I don’t think Max will have a problem with it since he’s pretty laid back.  

I’ll let you know how we did.

We had an hour-long ride again.  We worked on yielding hindquarters at the standstill, backing, trotting and posting and cantering.

Max is really tossing his head when we yield hindquarters at the standstill and I’m not sure why.  He gets very irritated, tossing his head and chomping on the bit.  I put a chin strap on his bridle after I read about it keeping the bit from sliding through his mouth, but after this ride I took it off to see if there will be a difference. 

He wasn’t doing all that anxious behavior when the strap wasn’t on the bridle, so we’ll see if there is a difference tomorrow when I ride without the chin strap.  And I don’t think the bit was really sliding through his mouth anyway.  I was just trying to be pro-active.  I don’t think we need it. 

Also, it’s a chain strap because that’s all I had.  I think Clinton Anderson only uses leather chin straps.  Leather probably feels better than the chain, and probably does the job just as well as a chain. 

I’m not progressing quickly with the riding exercises at all.  And it’s me, not the exercises or Max or anything else.  I canter now, but still need to canter more to get super comfortable with it.  Once I get really okay with it, we’ll move forward.  I’m not going to push it. 

Another long session tomorrow…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Longer Sessions...

            See how Max and I got to this point using Clinton Anderson's methods by reading the first few posts.


LONGER SESSIONS...

             Max and I had a good, long session on Saturday.  On groundwork, we’re well into Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2. 

We worked on backing with me lifting the clip under his chin and him backing.  He’s doing well with it.  We also backed with the touch and rub on the nose exercise.  He’s doing well with that one, too.  They’ll both require steady practice to get near perfect, but we’ll do the practice and make the grade.

We did changing eyes, we lunged a little.  We practiced side-passing slowly, slowly along the fence all the way down, then the other side all the way back.  (My arms were killing me half-way down the fence line.)  Again, it’s not perfect, but it’s a start.    

We practiced the touch and rub on the ground.  I’ve got it now.  I’m glad I stuck with it.  I was feeling so awkward in the beginning with this exercise.  No wonder Max wasn’t getting it.  But I’ve got it now and we’ve made great progress.

Our groundwork session lasted a litttle more than an hour.

Then, we had an hour-long ride.  It doesn’t sound very long, but it was for us.  I’m trying to slowly increase our training time both on the ground and in the saddle.  It'll take us a while to get into better shape and do really long sessions.  When under saddle, Max has a tendency to want to stop before I’m ready to stop, so we’re going to have to get over that.  And right now I'm thinking slowly increasing riding time is the way to work on that.

We practiced trotting and posting, we cantered and we practiced backing. 

We also yielded hindquarters at the standstill.  Since we’ve been doing the touch and rub at the hindquarters on the ground, we’re making much better progress with it in the saddle.  It's definitely worth doing on the ground.  The connection from the ground to the saddle is happening. 

While he usually gets it to the left, he doesn’t want to yield his hindquarters to the right when I’m in the saddle.  He tosses his head like crazy.  (It’s a bit unsettling.)  I’m not exactly sure what’s causing him to toss his head so much.  I try to make my signals clear and direct so there’s no confusion about what he’s expected to do.  I’m hoping this is just one of those examples of, “sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.” 

We both could use more long sessions…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn 

More Time To Work...

If you're new, click back to the first few posts to see how Max, my first horse, and I came to use Clinton Anderson's methods so I could get control on the ground and re-gain my lost confidence in the saddle after an incident last autumn.

MORE TIME TO WORK...

Yes!  Today we made more progress on the ground and good progress in the saddle.  Our groundwork is coming from Clinton Anderson's Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  Our work in the saddle is from Riding With Confidence-Series 1.

We had quite a workout on the ground first.  We backed.  We yielded forequarters.  To the right we’re doing great.  To the left…still not so great.   We lunged just a few circles each way.  (We’re still not ready for Lungeing for Respect-Stage 2.)  Then, we sidepassed all the way down the fence, turned around and sidepassed back.  It’s still rocky.  But we’re getting there…slowly.

In the saddle, we backed, trotted and posted and cantered. 

We also yielded hindquarters at the standstill.  I had forgotten to practice this on the ground today, so I really wasn’t expecting much in the way of Max remembering our practice yesterday. 

But he did remember. 

We yielded a couple of steps on both sides.  Good Boy!  This was major for me because, if you remember, I’ve had such an issue with the teaching of it on the ground.  My problem with it was that I was slow to catch on to the movements I needed to do to teach it, which made it confusing for Max.

I guess it just goes to show, when I got over myself and just did it exactly like Clinton Anderson said to do it, it works.  Anyway, now that I have these small results, I’ll be practicing it consistently until we’ve got it down.

We definitely need to get back to more nice, long workouts…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Things To Remember...

Make sure your signals are black and white, no gray areas.  Don’t nag.  Success is usually right around the corner.  The problem is that most people quit right before the turn.  Sometimes things get worse before they get better.  Reward the slightest try.  These are all things Clinton Anderson says when discussing horse training.

These are all concrete instructions to remember as I’m working with Max. 

Today we made new progress in two areas.  First, the touch and rub exercise continues to improve.  We got two steps with Max crossing that hind foot over.  We kept at it for quite some time today and it was worth it.  We’ll try for three steps tomorrow.

We did a lot of backing today.  He’s backing much better in his new halter.  We practiced the four methods of backing, plus we practiced touch and rub on his nose.  He was reluctant at first, but got the hang of it.  He tried tossing his head and lowering it to get rid of my pressure on the halter knots, but I stuck with him, and we were successful.

We also practiced sidepassing on the fence.  This is out of order according to the presentation of the exercises in Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series2, but I wanted him to cross those front feet over in a new exercise.  And he knew both the steps involved in the exercise.  There was no nagging.  No gray areas.  He’s not perfect at it, but we worked our way slowly down the pasture fence line.  Both ways.   The slightest try was rewarded.  And it showed up again that he was not as fond of crossing his feet over to the left.  But we kept it up anyway.

We had a short ride again.  We mainly practiced backing, trotting and posting and cantering.  It went well, just brief.  After practicing touch and rub on the ground, I flat forgot to practice yielding hindquarters in the saddle.

I’m going to work on increasing our riding time little by little.  We both need longer rides…

All of the above…worth remembering…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Progress After Katy...

After the trip to Katy for Clinton Anderson’s Walkabout Tour, I was re-pumped, ready to get home and make progress with my groundwork and riding.

I bought his halter and 14’ rope while I was at the show.  I was thinking that I can really use the extra control that this halter is supposed to give.  It uses stiff rope and four knots across the nose.

I liked the 14’ training rope because it had a nice big clip that’s easy to open.  The one I have been using is a pain in the neck.  It’s the kind of fastener that’s not even a clip.  You have to twist it around to open it.  Most of the time it won’t twist.  I finally had to clip another clip that opens easily to it so I can get it open and off and on the halter quickly.  It made a really heavy, bulky hunk of metal under Max’s chin, and it was hard to manage.  It worked, but it was far from ideal.

I began using my new halter and rope this week.  It works great.  I do think I’m getting better results with the stiffer, knotted halter.  The clip on the rope works easily.

Max and I, again, have taken a step backwards in yielding forequarters to the left.  I know I said I was going to leave it alone for a while, but it’s hard to leave alone.  One thing Clinton said at the tour was, “Sometimes things get worse before they get better.”  He said many people quit when they get worse and don’t work through to the “better”.  So, I’m going to keep working on it.  I’m not leaving it alone…yet… 

We are making good progress with the touch and rub exercise.  We worked on it for a couple of days this past week.  I’m still a little awkward with it every once in a while, but most times I’m giving clear signals and we’re getting it. 

We’ve got one step across pretty consistently.  Now I’m working on more steps.  Max doesn’t like to cross his feet over, so it’s always a challenge.

I had a very short ride today.  I needed to ride though, no matter how briefly, to keep my confidence going.  It was a good ride.  We trotted, backed, cantered a couple of times, practiced the one-rein stop and that was about it.  I need to get some long rides going again to make real progress in the saddle.

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

More Short Sessions...

            If you’re a first time reader, I’m a “beginner all over again.”  After being absent from the horse world for a number of years, I have my first horse ever.  And, because of a  riding incident last November, I’m seeking to gain control on the ground and re-gain confidence in the saddle.  I’m using RFD TV horse trainer, Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship method to train me in handling and riding my first horse, Max.  Look back at the first few posts to see how Max and I got together, and how we came to use Clinton Anderson’s method.

(The following sessions with Max happened right before my trip to Katy.  I should be just about caught up to real time now.)

MORE SHORT SESSIONS…

We reviewed backing, yielding forequarters, changing sides, slap and tap, run up and rub, helicopter and walk and slap.  We lunged just a bit. 

Then, there came a big rain.  So…no ride. 

But… we needed the rain more than I needed the ride.

Next Day:

Good ride.  Steady progress with cantering! 

I remembered to do the touch and rub exercise today, on the ground with the bridle on.  I feel more comfortable doing it with the bridle on.  I’m not sure if that’s the way it’s supposed to be done.  I’ll have to watch that part again.  I’m sloppy at the cues because this exercise it makes me… uneasy. 

              Everything about it makes me uneasy.  Pulling his head around right by me.  (I just remembered I should keep my elbow up.)  Standing more towards the middle of his body instead of up by his shoulder, changing my hands like you’re supposed to do in the exercise isn’t natural to me yet, and keeping up with him on the ground while he’s moving his hindquarters around while I keep his head tilted toward me all need work.  (Whew-) 

I’m just real uncomfortable with it so far.  I’m going to need to get over it and stick with it.

We’ve been doing groundwork right in front of the barn this week.  Clinton Anderson says to work where he wants to be and rest where you want him to be, (or something about like that) and it’s another great idea.  So, we’re working at the barn since we had our disagreement about when to go back to the barn a few days ago.

Next Day:

We had a short evening session.  We’re not really able to have a good teaching session on these short evenings.  We’ve really only had time to practice skills I’ve already introduced.

Next Day:

No ride today-just a short groundwork practice session this evening.

Next Day:

By the time we could practice it was getting to be early evening.  I wanted to make sure I got a ride in so we barely did groundwork.  We just backed and lunged a little to warm up and to remember that I’m the leader.

Then, we had a good ride.  Still cantering – Still need to practice cantering.  It was a short ride but it was excellent.

We’re not progressing as quickly as I’d like through these first couple of discs on Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  We got kind of stuck reviewing these past couple of weeks.  I gotta step it up.

Hopefully, next week we’ll be able to get back to longer sessions…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Back From Katy...

If you're a first time reader, I'm a first time horse owner using Clinton Anderson's training methods to train me in handling my horse.  After an incident last November I'm seeking to gain control on the ground and re-gain confidence in the saddle using his techniques.  Look back to the first few posts to see how Max and I got to this point...

BACK FROM KATY...

I’m really glad I made the trip to Katy, Texas, and I had a great time Saturday and Sunday at Clinton Anderson’s Walkabout Tour.  I enjoyed two days of horses, horses, horses.  I got a refresher on what it looks like, live, to do the exercises the right way.   Most of all, I got an infusion of inspiration and energy which will keep me enthused about making steady progress both on the ground and in the saddle.  So, my goals for the trip were definitely accomplished.

Clinton used his Downunder Horsemanship techniques to solve different types of problems on local horses.  He did it using direct instruction, clear physical demonstration, and flavored it with lots of humor.  He reached his training goal each time. 

Boo-coos of prizes were given away. 

I enjoyed looking at all the products during the breaks.  (I made a couple of purchases.)  I didn’t experience, or hear, any high-pressured sales going on.  I did experience, and hear, sales people answering questions about products.  They were all knowledgeable about the products, all helpful, all nice.

I observed Mr. Anderson as he talked with the folks during breaks.  He was polite and generous with his time.  He stayed after his show on Saturday and Sunday evenings as long as it took to get to everyone in the long line who wanted to speak with him.

Even I stood in that Sunday afternoon line.  (I’ve never stood in line to talk with a presenter.  But I really wanted him to know how well he was training me.)  He politely listened to my longer-than-short story and smiled and encouraged me to stay with it.   Very nice.

All in all, I’m glad I went...

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

New Post Coming Tomorrow...

               New post about my trip to Katy, Texas, to Clinton Anderson's Walkabout Tour coming tomorrow...

Road Trip...

            I’m taking the trip to see Clinton Anderson’s Walkabout Tour in Katy, Texas, this weekend. 

            I’m hoping to get a good dose of inspiration, to re-visit live what the training looks like when it’s done right and to have a good time being in a situation that’s all about horses.

            I’m going to write about it when I get back...

           

            Have a good ride

            Greenhorn

I'm a Lopin' Lady!

***To read how Max and I came to use RFD TV's horse trainer Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship methods, click back to the first few posts...


I'M A LOPIN' LADY!

               I’m a lopin’ lady!!  We had a terrific ride!  We walked, trotted and cantered all over the arena!  I tried out the cruising exercise a little.  I didn’t really get the exercise going for as long as I should have, but we got a good taste of it. 

He’s getting into the canter right off, and a few times he was on the correct lead.  Now, I know in cruising, Clinton Anderson says you don’t even worry about things like correct leads, and I wasn’t worried about it.  I just happened to notice that a few times he was correct.

I’m really excited about this whole cantering thing.  His canter was noticeably slower and smoother, and I had all kinds of control.

WOO-HOO!  It’s definitely a breakthrough for me. 

I'm a LOPIN' LADY!!

Two Days Later:

Good groundwork –all review and practice -  

Good ride –

We “cruised” at the canter some.  Max’s canter was still nice and relaxed until he decided “riding time” was over.  He was ready to quit and sped up going toward the gate.  I closed it down with a one-rein stop.  

We rode outside the arena, and he was all about quitting and getting back to the barn.

I didn’t let him, and it was a little scary at times.  He was tossing his head and fighting me about which direction to go. 

I made us go back into the arena, ride slowly for just a minute or two, and then I dismounted deep in the middle of the arena, away from the gate.

I’m going to have to increase our riding time slowly each day.  Also, we need to ride outside the arena more.  Clinton Anderson says you really shouldn’t do that until you have control.  I think I have control, but then today, for example, I was having a hard time having him stand still outside the arena when he was ready to quit and go to the barn.   

 I kept pulling him around to a one-rein stop when he took a step that I didn’t ask for.  He didn’t seem to mind and kept taking that step.  I was definitely uneasy. 

Why do I still count it as a good ride?  It was good because I learned from it.  I learned that I clearly do not have the control I need…yet…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Great Day...

            Hi – If you’re a first-time reader, I’m a “beginner all over again” in the horse world.  And I like to watch the horse training shows on RFD TV.  I have a “lost confidence” issue that I’m addressing while using Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground and Riding With Confidence series.  The first few posts tell how I lost my confidence due to a fall, and came to use Clinton Anderson’s methods.  Feel free to comment.

Great Day…

We had a great session today, on the ground and in the saddle.  We didn’t work a long time at either one, but our time spent was excellent!

On the ground we did backing, yielding forequarters and lungeing at the trot and canter.

He’s still heavy on his front end, when yielding forequarters, but he’s trying.  I think I’m getting a little sloppy with my instruction on yielding forequarters.  We only did each direction a couple of times.  Maybe I’m getting sloppy because we practice it so much. 

I know something needs to change.  Maybe I should back off of yielding forequarters for a few days, then go back to it.  I need to insist on quality yields and maybe I just need a break from it myself.  Then, take it up again with sharp cues and insistence on quality.  I know it will take several days at that intensity level to get yielding forequarters to a B or A grade level.

His backing seemed slow and heavy today, too.

So, how could my session today have been so great with these flaws?

When I got into the saddle, I could tell both of us had made progress.  When I cued Max to canter, he did, and it was definitely slower and smoother.

And…since it was slower and smoother, I was able to stay with it and have control at the same time.  I see “cruising at the canter” from the Riding With Confidence series in our very near future.

I really believe the work we have been doing on the ground at the canter is directly responsible for the progress in the saddle.  His canter seemed more relaxed.  Therefore, I was relaxed. 

My confidence level skyrocketed.  And I just loved it.  I have missed that feeling.

Only one time did he resume that fast-paced, kind of frantic-like, canter.  I shut him down with a one-rein stop. The rest of our canters today were much easier feeling. 

Yep.  It was great…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn