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Discussion on New to Dressage-Starting year 2
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008 - 3:41 pm:
I thought that since my previous thread was so long that I would start a new one. The weather has not been very cooperative this winter. I entered a schooling show December 2nd and the day before it poured. They had a second show planned for the 6th of January and again it poured through the whole weekend! They are going to plan some more shows and let me know when they are. In the time since I last communicated, our training has continued to progress. Shimmeree is getting more consistent in everything. She is stopping without pushing into the bit, she is picking up the correct lead on her canter departs and doing well on her transitions. We have been working on impulsion, lateral work and flying lead changes. We are happy with her improvement in impulsion and I think we should see some improvement in our test scores as a result. Lyn is working with her on the flying lead change but is only asking for a couple at a lesson so as not to over do it. He says she is a little firecracker and has had no problem doing a lead change. On her laterals she does real well in one direction but is stiffer in the other. We are working on that and making good progress.
For Christmas I got a new helmet just to show in and a hard case to carry it in. It has a compartment to store hair accessories and a mirror as well. I also got 4 books, my son Colin got me Cherry Hill's Horsekeeping Almanac and Complete Riding Manual by William Micklem. I also got the Selecting the Dressage Horse by Dirk Willem Rosie with notes and comments by Anky van Grunsen as well as Horse Conformation by Equine Research. Shimmeree is small but I think that she is fairly well put together. I am hoping that I did well with her daughter, she will be 3 on May 23rd. I liked what Anky said about how she prefers sensitive horses, all of hers have been sensitive and "looky". She said they get easier to manage and are responsive to light aids.
I went to our CDS chapter Christmas party and someone mentioned that the Seat Clinic was canceled. I hope everything is okay Chris, will you have it at a later date? How are you doing Ann with your mare? Have you been able to work with a trainer? I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are having a healthy new year.
Cynthia
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Member:
stevens
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - 9:36 am:
Hi Cynthia,
Maybe you missed my threads on the muscle and tendon disease section; my horse has a severe tendon injury and we're into our 3rd month of rehab. This all started right before the seat clinic along with two other riders having their horses die (long story). I thought I had sent you an email about the cancellation and apologize if I didn't.
My horse won't be back to full work and able to do a clinic until June/July at the earliest. I'm taking things slow to maximize his chances of recovery. Several others have asked me about having a clinic sooner, but it's too much work for me to do and not be able to ride. Amazingly enough, nobody else is willing to pick it up :-)
I'm glad that you're doing well and continuing your dressage journey.
Best Wishes,
Chris
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - 4:19 pm:
Hi Chris,
Yes I did, I am so sorry to hear that. How is he coming along? Is he on stall rest, do you know how it happened? I will see if I can find the threads, I haven't been on HA much the last couple months.
Sincerely,
Cynthia
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 13, 2008 - 8:17 pm:
Feb. 29th I brought home a seven year old thoroughbred mare. She is 16.2+ hds, I didn't find out til I got her home and taped her. The previous owners live in a horse community with 1/2 acre to 1 acre lots and a trail system. She did not do well on the trails but they said that she was fine in the arena and could jump 3'6'. Since I brought her home I am doing ground work, introducing her to the routine and the rest of my horses. She has a dish to her face and so far she is sensitive to my cues. My trainer has agreed to work with me to teach her dressage, I hope that she proves to have the talent to take me further in my dressage endeavors.
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Friday, Mar 14, 2008 - 7:37 am:
Best of luck, Cynthia, with your new mare!
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 15, 2008 - 10:25 pm:
Thanks Fran,
I know that she is not a warmblood or a school master but she needed a home and I think she was too much horse for what they wanted to do or the time they wanted to spend on her. I hope she proves to be willing to learn dressage and so far our round pen work has been excellent. We recently got a new computer so I need to resize the pictures I have taken of her before I can post them.
Cynthia
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 16, 2008 - 10:54 am:
https://pixofthelitter.net/pixofthelitter_007.htm
here are a few dressage tips..  LOL
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 16, 2008 - 5:14 pm:
Ann, don't know if I should laugh or cry looking at the tips...
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Monday, Mar 17, 2008 - 9:27 pm:
Ann, That is crazy funny!! How on earth did you find that site!
Cynthia
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Monday, Mar 17, 2008 - 9:37 pm:
Ah Cynthia,, we dressage queens are ALWAYS looking for answers..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.
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Member:
paardex
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Posted on Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008 - 4:46 am:
You certainly took MY mind of looking anxiously at my two broodmares
Jos
PS Never show this to ponyclubbers unless they are different in the US they will immediately want at least the spurs and half of the beautiful tack!
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008 - 8:29 pm:
I am going to try to post some pictures of the mare that I recently brought home. Her name is Bella, which is funny because a few months ago I adopted a kitten and I named her Bella. This is her old home in Calabases. Their property is surrounded by high slopes.
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008 - 8:32 pm:
This is a picture taken the night we brought her home a week later.
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008 - 8:42 pm:
A couple taken about a week later, after it warmed up enough to give her a bath. The only way to get the mud off without pulling out her hair. In the second picture she is on the right, with her new friends. Shimmeree is behind her then Mystery and Shimmeree's daughter Sea Dancer who will be three on May 23rd.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 - 12:12 am:
Wow! What a difference. Want to come wash some horses in Utah? She's a pretty girl. Nice deep girth,too and long neck. I bet she's pretty to watch move.
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Member:
paardex
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 - 4:52 am:
Ditto to Sara. I think you will have a nice dressage prospect with her as far as the picture shows her shoulder back and hind legs!
Jos
PS When you're done washing horses in Utah, come to France and help me with my fences . Everything really looks perfect at your place.
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 - 2:32 pm:
Hi Sara & Jos,
Thanks, I am not an expert on conformation and when I went to look at her the first time I was unable to take her out of the pen. Her owner had to go out of town unexpectedly and his girlfriend had a young child to care for. I liked the way she showed interest in us and stayed at our end of the pen. I thought that she was uphill by a couple inches and that she has long legs. I also think that she is light in the front but her neck needs improvement. She has a tendency to carry her head high and I started to ask her to DrOp it from the first day. They said that she spooks and after seeing her profile,(the dish) I think she is timid. I have Linda Tellington-Jones book on horse personalities and she says sensitive and sometimes timid. My arab gelding has a dish that is offset by what she calls a moose nose. She says that horses with that nose are confident and he has always been the quickest to get over fear and become curious. Bella's ears however are rather broad and the book says that "denotes steadiness and reliability". Maybe that will help offset the timid part of her nature. I am working with her in the round pen and tomorrow my trainer will also work with her. I am also doing some of the tail work that Linda tells about on pg.112 and I hope it will help. I intend to use what I know about natural horsemanship to desensitize and teach her the calm down cue.
The day I gave her a bath it was in the 70's and the shampoo is Cooper's Best. It's an antifungal that also leaves the coat shiny and soft. I took the picture in the late afternoon and the fences are vinyl. They are great except when they get kicked and after they met over my arena fence, I had to replace a couple rails. After that I kept a metal fence between them until things settled down.
Cynthia
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 12:42 am:
Just thought that I would post an update. Bella is doing great, she improves every time we work with her. After I did ground work on her for a few weeks in the round pen, we started ground driving her. After a couple weeks of that, Lyn has started riding her. At first she wanted to bite him when he mounted and acts angry when he asks for something new. That is much better too as, I think, she realizes that he gives immediate release when she tries. Lyn is also using the mounting block because he thinks that people hung off the side of her while trying to climb on and caused her pain. She did not know how to pick up the right lead at first, we worked on that in the round pen and under saddle. Now she is much more consistent and better balanced. Lyn told me that I will start riding her in a couple more weeks to a month if she keeps on the going way she is. He also said that I will enjoy her as she is light mouthed and sensitive.
Cynthia
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 8:21 pm:
My husband Charlie took a few pictures of Lyn riding Bella and me on my arab gelding Mystery.
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 8:37 pm:
In the third picture she was showing some attitude, she lets you know with her ears and tail how she feels about what you are asking. The pictures were taken April 28th, we worked again on May 2nd. She continues to improve her right lead canter as well as her attitude.
Cynthia
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008 - 9:13 pm:
Hi Chris,
I have been wondering how your horse is doing? Are you progressing to cantering yet?
Cynthia
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Friday, Jul 4, 2008 - 11:57 pm:
Hi everyone
I thought that I would post an update. We are now riding Bella in the dressage saddle and she seems to like it! When I took Bella I thought she was pretty light in the front end and I thought she might tend to come up off her front feet. I was right and when she feels tired, she gets mad and starts to balk. She finally did lift off with my trainer but he handled her and made her keep going so she wouldn't think that she got her way. After that we made a change in our program and now we are spending a lot more time on long and low. I told Lyn that we know she can collect so maybe we should go for more forward! We haven't had any more blowups and her attitude keeps getting better. She hasn't tried to bite for awhile now and rarely lays her ears back during our workouts. When we take some more pictures I will post them.
How is your summer going, Everyone?
Cynthia
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 - 8:28 pm:
Well it has taken us two years but I finally started showing Bella in schooling shows. I have had trouble with her canter depart so we started in Intro A and B. Our first show June 26th was a bit rough, there were 15 entries in Intro alone. In all the shows I have volunteered at I have never seen so many spectators and I have helped at every show our chapter has put on for the last two 1/2 years. Our first class was at 3pm and the judge and spectators were standing in the shade of a row of cottonwoods. Right off I had trouble getting her to walk toward C and forget about the free walk, we "jogged". Finally our last circle we managed to"fairly well maint. rhythm" and end with a balanced halt. We received a 58% and fourth place. Our Intro B was at 4:44pm so to help her relax and keep her occupied I brought along some grass hay but from the time we entered the arena she decided she wanted to go home(we live just down the street). The free walk was trotted, our circle was an oblong in the direction of A and she nearly went out as we passed the opening at A. She tried to evade and even came close to a rear. The judge wrote "A lot of tension" and " well handled". We got a 50% and fifth place.
After that show I realized that she had been getting balky and started wearing spurs. We also spent some extra time at the end of the lesson hanging out in front of the judges stand talking and giving her treats.
The second show on July 24th was a major improvement. The Intro A was at 8:30am and there were a lot less people and the judge was in the sun. She and I were a lot more relaxed, there were no more evasions and she walked! We got a 69.5% and second place. Intro B at 9am also went great, we got all 7s and a couple 8s. We received a 71% and another second place. I know that Intro is usually not as critiqued as the levels above but the difference between the two shows still has me thrilled.
We hope to enter training level test 1 at our September 25th schooling show. She is improving on the left lead but the right is still tense with pinning her ears and sometimes throwing her head. I have started using a german neck stretcher(a bunge with snaps on the ends, goes over the poll, throught the bit rings and attaches at the girth) and it helps. I have also started teaching her in the longe ring to pick up the canter from a walk and rewarding her with treats. She tends to want to jump into the canter and that is part of the problem we have. I wish she was as smooth at the depart as my other horses were, if anyone has any ideas I would appreciate your help. The first picture was taken at the June show, the second at the July show.
 
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 - 8:53 pm:
I think you're doing great! It would be hard to show so close to home imo. You should get extra points! You both look good in the pics, except Bella is a little ahead of the bit, but not much. I'm afraid that close to home, my horses would be calling to their friends and jigging half of the time.
Just wondering, as she is different on the right lead, have you throughly checked all tack and Bella to be sure there isn't some physical reason for her being tense? Stiffness in the shoulder or neck, soreness on that side of her back, a saddle or pad that rubs or cuts into her side/back, being a little off in a foot - all could make her tense up and protest. Before you resort to mechanical means, I'd just want to be sure these kinds of things had been ruled out.
Also, all horses seem to go better off one side than the other and will work through it in my experience. She has a long way to go and sounds like you're both off to a great start.
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 - 9:05 pm:
  
Here are some morepictures of the july show
  
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 - 9:28 pm:
Hi Sara,
Thanks. We have working on the same problem for most of the last two years. She will also do it in the round pen with out a saddle. She has been fitted with a new saddle and has been having a vet/chiropractor work on her every six weeks. Last thursday the chiropractor said that there was not much that needed attention. The trainer that I have been working with for the last six months thinks that it might be emotional memories related to past experience before I got her. Like maybe she was started in race training but never got to a track.
Cynthia
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 - 9:32 pm:
HUGE CONGRATS .. showing is suppose to be fun... you both look great ,,, don't worry about scores... just get out there and have fun... My trainer says to the first year sometimes more are throw away scores for you and horses ( amme's) after you are more seasoned you will relax and the scores will be better.. ! Love your pictures..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 - 9:50 pm:
She is left handed and a bit clubby in her right foot. The farrier has done a great job on it. The pastern has plenty of slope. The german neck stretcher is elastic so it encourages her to keep her head where it should be and then I don't have to pull on her mouth. Since I started using it we have seen the most improvement yet. I introduced it to her in the round pen so she could get used to it. I am going to keep trying, I know once we get past this hurdle we will make great strides. We open and close our gate at home every time we go to a lesson and she stands still to mount. She does great on the trot poles. My trainer says she can really stretch to clear a pole if she needs to and will be able to really extend her gaits.
Cynthia
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