Barefoot Saddle Update
Tried my barefoot again last night, rode for just a few minutes, but with the pommel piece in. WOW!! What a HUUUGE difference having the pommel piece made!! That, and positioning it further forward than I thought it could possibly be, which turned out to be just right.
It felt very cushy & comfortable, but no longer felt like a vast sea of foam miles above my horse. I am still sitting at the very back of the saddle, right up against the cantle, so maybe some further adjustments are needed, but I really liked it. Sage was being a spoiled child who hasn't been worked with enough in weeks, and he was having an absolute hissy about being ridden while the other horses ate their hay. And, it was getting dark. So I didn't ride with the saddle on for very long.
After I took it off though, I did some ground work focusing on Sage lining himself up with the mounting block, rather than swiveling his butt away every time I line him up. As is true with everything else these days with Sage, as soon as I showed some leadership and level-headed persistence, he was much better, and got his questioning 2 eyes look, and the last time, lined himself up for me, without me having to direct him.
So then I got on, and its weird, the first time I used the muck bucket as a mounting block for bareback a few weeks ago, I just about died. I gouged Sage in the ribs, nearly fell over him, it was disaster. This time, it was all very smooth, one motion, and there I was, up on my horse, feeling tall and balanced. I hadn't dug him in the ribs at all, and he stayed very still throughout me getting on. (Then he tried to walk off, but I was ready.) What a great feeling!! Perhaps my coordination is getting better...
Riding bareback felt awesome, as I was no longer worrying about the saddle slipping, so I just rode. Sage needed some pretty strong direction, as we battled through Round 2 of "Yes I am going back to the barn" vs. "nope, actually we're just going to keep right on circling until you're headed back the way *I* pointed you the first time."
We did a lot of circling. :-)
Finally I got 2 good trips around the pasture in the general direction I was asking for, and left it at that. (By then it was really just about pitch black.) I was really pleased with how well I felt riding him bareback, how confident I felt, and ready to just wade right in and take on the fight (in a non-escalating yet persistent kind of way). I wondered afterward if riding in the barefoot for a few minutes beforehand, with the fenders/stirrups so far back had somehow set me up to ride so well bareback??
Riding tonight
Tonight I rode Sage again, after grooming him, fighting our way through picking out his hooves, and then saddling him with help from Mom. One of his latest games is to walk off while I'm picking out his hoof. If I hang on he hops and hops. If I let go he looks smug. The parelli thing is to simply let go and then start bugging him again right away to pick up that hoof. Last time the farrier came out, Sage played this game with her, and she just laughed at him, and said "what a goof!" and held onto his hoof. I asked her if she thought he was having trouble keeping his balance. She said it was pretty obvious he was just playing, and she felt comfortable just hanging onto his hoof until he stopped hopping around. She said it was obvious he could balance himself if he could hop around so energetically like that and not fall down. Sooo...I've done some of both...the parelli way and my farrier's way. I have to say he seems to knock it off a lot faster when I hang on...then he licks and chews and is very polite. Arghhh@dominant game-playing horses!!
Did some groundwork with him, just enough to get past the bored "I'm sooo not impressed with you" look he had while being groomed & saddled, and into the 2 ears, 2 eyes "what's next?' look that bodes well for riding.
Both yesterday and today I rode Sage with just the halter & lead rope and what a B**ch he is to ride that way! He has ZERO lateral flexion right now (or did right up until the last 5 minutes of our ride tonight). OMG we did circles and circles and circles, with me "being a post" but not pulling like Susan taught me in the clinic...and with Sage just hanging on, pulling against me as he spun around...and around...and around...NOT flexing AT ALL! It was taking me a good 3 or 4 circles to get even the slightest release from him, at which point I was totally releasing the pressure in the one rein, and rubbing him a lot on the neck and saying good boy!!! But still...half an hour went by with us just circling and circling and circling. Arghh! Finally, I halted him with my seat, not with flexion. Then I very carefully reached down and asked him quite gently to flex his nose around...nothing happened, nothing happened, I got to the point where I was a post, putting a LOT of pressure on the rein...and then something moved, Sage turned to look at it, and I released and made a big fuss over him. Then I asked him again, very gently, and I could see the light bulb going off in his head, and he realized I was asking him from the saddle for the same goddamned thing I ask him for from the ground ALL THE FRICKIN' TIME!! After that, he was touching my toe with his nose, and even nibbled on my boot. Once we had it down pat at a halt, we tried it at a walk. Road block, back to loads of rein pressure...and then suddenly he got that too. So we did a few more, with him actually bending to a halt, and then tada! We were done. I decided to end on a good note before my arms gave out...
We did some trotting too, which is still a little scary and out of control at the trot using just one rein. Not to mention my ability to switch the rein to the other side still kinda sucks unless we're at a halt. Sage's big idea at the trot is to turn around, pick up speed, and hammer towards home. That was his idea at every speed tonight, so there was loads more circling and being a post for me. Again, where I am in the parelli system right now sort of preaches to be really calm and patient with your horse...and I found with Sage tonight that he really wasn't listening until I got much bigger and really PUSHED. He was deadset on heading back to the barn every 2 seconds while I was riding, until I spun him in a circle 3 and half times and then pointed him away from the barn and across the pasture. THEN he was willing to walk away from the barn. (If at any point he'd actually stopped resisting the rein, I would have stopped spinning him.)
I don't think how I am handling him is necessarily against parelli doctrine, I just think its maybe parelli I haven't gotten to yet. Just like my instinct was often to go straight to a phase 4 with a horse that knew what I was asking...but I was told that was wrong right up until I did the advanced level 1 clinic, where I was told that now it was right...ergh arghh @ frustrating expensive clinics that are only available once or twice a year. I really wish I could take clinics as fast as I can learn...
Sort of off-topic but...
Sage is being a very dominant horse lately, and much more of a challenge than he used to be. My mom's horse is behaving similarly as well. I had kind of predicted that we might have a mutiny on our hands letting our 2 very left-brained dominant thinky ponies live together, and that has very much become a reality over the past few months. The good news is that I am feeling up to the challenge of being more of a leader for him, and its not upsetting me in any way. I'm not questioning whether or not I'm being 'mean' to him...his whole face changes as soon as I win back his respect, and I have a much happier pony.
After we were done riding, I took care of some odds and ends like picking his hooves out again as they are soft right now (probably need to dress them in betadine). Put the saddle away and noticed there was a lot more dirt in the back, and a deeper imprint sort of, right under where I sat. Not sure exactly what that means...maybe I was sitting too far back? Anyways, it wasn't on his loins, which is good.
Oh...riding the trot in the barefoot, I couldn't post very well. Not sure if my stirrups are too long, but I think the saddle was higher in the front and lower in the back, which I think is why I ended up sitting so far back too. Posting did not feel very secure, although with Sage doing his super fast trot, I couldn't really tell if me being off-balance was making him fast, or if he was just boogeying for home.
Also, new billets suck rocks!!! With my carpal tunnel situation, Mom did the girth for me, and BOTH she and Sage were grunting trying to get it tight enough. The billets are just so stiff. Then I got on and she tightened it again...much easier once someone's in the saddle.
I felt secure, could put weight in either stirrup without the saddle tipping at all after she tightened it, and Sage and I were first walking around. But...by the time I trotted, I was not so sure the girth was tight enough. I just don't trust it yet as it is such a new set-up for me. Which was one of the reasons I stopped trotting...
Anyhow, put Sage's MTG in his mane, which he hates, because it smells like hot dogs rotting in the sun (I think its gross too Sage). We went through some antics around that, I did loads of approach and retreat, which I do *every* time we use this stuff (can't be applied more than once every two weeks, and after 2 weeks, sage is upset about it all over again), and he was easier than he's been on some occasions. But when I went to put it on his tail...I noticed his tail was clamped. :-(
Don't know if it was too much circling with me riding him, or maybe just expressing upset about me 'attacking' him with the MTG. It upsets me a little though. Anyways, played with his tail lots and eventually he unclamped it some, so I have hope he was feeling defensive, as opposed to it being a sign he's lame.
Very interested to see how he reacts to me tomorrow...not that I really have time to go to the barn, but...one can hope.
It felt very cushy & comfortable, but no longer felt like a vast sea of foam miles above my horse. I am still sitting at the very back of the saddle, right up against the cantle, so maybe some further adjustments are needed, but I really liked it. Sage was being a spoiled child who hasn't been worked with enough in weeks, and he was having an absolute hissy about being ridden while the other horses ate their hay. And, it was getting dark. So I didn't ride with the saddle on for very long.
After I took it off though, I did some ground work focusing on Sage lining himself up with the mounting block, rather than swiveling his butt away every time I line him up. As is true with everything else these days with Sage, as soon as I showed some leadership and level-headed persistence, he was much better, and got his questioning 2 eyes look, and the last time, lined himself up for me, without me having to direct him.
So then I got on, and its weird, the first time I used the muck bucket as a mounting block for bareback a few weeks ago, I just about died. I gouged Sage in the ribs, nearly fell over him, it was disaster. This time, it was all very smooth, one motion, and there I was, up on my horse, feeling tall and balanced. I hadn't dug him in the ribs at all, and he stayed very still throughout me getting on. (Then he tried to walk off, but I was ready.) What a great feeling!! Perhaps my coordination is getting better...
Riding bareback felt awesome, as I was no longer worrying about the saddle slipping, so I just rode. Sage needed some pretty strong direction, as we battled through Round 2 of "Yes I am going back to the barn" vs. "nope, actually we're just going to keep right on circling until you're headed back the way *I* pointed you the first time."
We did a lot of circling. :-)
Finally I got 2 good trips around the pasture in the general direction I was asking for, and left it at that. (By then it was really just about pitch black.) I was really pleased with how well I felt riding him bareback, how confident I felt, and ready to just wade right in and take on the fight (in a non-escalating yet persistent kind of way). I wondered afterward if riding in the barefoot for a few minutes beforehand, with the fenders/stirrups so far back had somehow set me up to ride so well bareback??
Riding tonight
Tonight I rode Sage again, after grooming him, fighting our way through picking out his hooves, and then saddling him with help from Mom. One of his latest games is to walk off while I'm picking out his hoof. If I hang on he hops and hops. If I let go he looks smug. The parelli thing is to simply let go and then start bugging him again right away to pick up that hoof. Last time the farrier came out, Sage played this game with her, and she just laughed at him, and said "what a goof!" and held onto his hoof. I asked her if she thought he was having trouble keeping his balance. She said it was pretty obvious he was just playing, and she felt comfortable just hanging onto his hoof until he stopped hopping around. She said it was obvious he could balance himself if he could hop around so energetically like that and not fall down. Sooo...I've done some of both...the parelli way and my farrier's way. I have to say he seems to knock it off a lot faster when I hang on...then he licks and chews and is very polite. Arghhh@dominant game-playing horses!!
Did some groundwork with him, just enough to get past the bored "I'm sooo not impressed with you" look he had while being groomed & saddled, and into the 2 ears, 2 eyes "what's next?' look that bodes well for riding.
Both yesterday and today I rode Sage with just the halter & lead rope and what a B**ch he is to ride that way! He has ZERO lateral flexion right now (or did right up until the last 5 minutes of our ride tonight). OMG we did circles and circles and circles, with me "being a post" but not pulling like Susan taught me in the clinic...and with Sage just hanging on, pulling against me as he spun around...and around...and around...NOT flexing AT ALL! It was taking me a good 3 or 4 circles to get even the slightest release from him, at which point I was totally releasing the pressure in the one rein, and rubbing him a lot on the neck and saying good boy!!! But still...half an hour went by with us just circling and circling and circling. Arghh! Finally, I halted him with my seat, not with flexion. Then I very carefully reached down and asked him quite gently to flex his nose around...nothing happened, nothing happened, I got to the point where I was a post, putting a LOT of pressure on the rein...and then something moved, Sage turned to look at it, and I released and made a big fuss over him. Then I asked him again, very gently, and I could see the light bulb going off in his head, and he realized I was asking him from the saddle for the same goddamned thing I ask him for from the ground ALL THE FRICKIN' TIME!! After that, he was touching my toe with his nose, and even nibbled on my boot. Once we had it down pat at a halt, we tried it at a walk. Road block, back to loads of rein pressure...and then suddenly he got that too. So we did a few more, with him actually bending to a halt, and then tada! We were done. I decided to end on a good note before my arms gave out...
We did some trotting too, which is still a little scary and out of control at the trot using just one rein. Not to mention my ability to switch the rein to the other side still kinda sucks unless we're at a halt. Sage's big idea at the trot is to turn around, pick up speed, and hammer towards home. That was his idea at every speed tonight, so there was loads more circling and being a post for me. Again, where I am in the parelli system right now sort of preaches to be really calm and patient with your horse...and I found with Sage tonight that he really wasn't listening until I got much bigger and really PUSHED. He was deadset on heading back to the barn every 2 seconds while I was riding, until I spun him in a circle 3 and half times and then pointed him away from the barn and across the pasture. THEN he was willing to walk away from the barn. (If at any point he'd actually stopped resisting the rein, I would have stopped spinning him.)
I don't think how I am handling him is necessarily against parelli doctrine, I just think its maybe parelli I haven't gotten to yet. Just like my instinct was often to go straight to a phase 4 with a horse that knew what I was asking...but I was told that was wrong right up until I did the advanced level 1 clinic, where I was told that now it was right...ergh arghh @ frustrating expensive clinics that are only available once or twice a year. I really wish I could take clinics as fast as I can learn...
Sort of off-topic but...
Sage is being a very dominant horse lately, and much more of a challenge than he used to be. My mom's horse is behaving similarly as well. I had kind of predicted that we might have a mutiny on our hands letting our 2 very left-brained dominant thinky ponies live together, and that has very much become a reality over the past few months. The good news is that I am feeling up to the challenge of being more of a leader for him, and its not upsetting me in any way. I'm not questioning whether or not I'm being 'mean' to him...his whole face changes as soon as I win back his respect, and I have a much happier pony.
After we were done riding, I took care of some odds and ends like picking his hooves out again as they are soft right now (probably need to dress them in betadine). Put the saddle away and noticed there was a lot more dirt in the back, and a deeper imprint sort of, right under where I sat. Not sure exactly what that means...maybe I was sitting too far back? Anyways, it wasn't on his loins, which is good.
Oh...riding the trot in the barefoot, I couldn't post very well. Not sure if my stirrups are too long, but I think the saddle was higher in the front and lower in the back, which I think is why I ended up sitting so far back too. Posting did not feel very secure, although with Sage doing his super fast trot, I couldn't really tell if me being off-balance was making him fast, or if he was just boogeying for home.
Also, new billets suck rocks!!! With my carpal tunnel situation, Mom did the girth for me, and BOTH she and Sage were grunting trying to get it tight enough. The billets are just so stiff. Then I got on and she tightened it again...much easier once someone's in the saddle.
I felt secure, could put weight in either stirrup without the saddle tipping at all after she tightened it, and Sage and I were first walking around. But...by the time I trotted, I was not so sure the girth was tight enough. I just don't trust it yet as it is such a new set-up for me. Which was one of the reasons I stopped trotting...
Anyhow, put Sage's MTG in his mane, which he hates, because it smells like hot dogs rotting in the sun (I think its gross too Sage). We went through some antics around that, I did loads of approach and retreat, which I do *every* time we use this stuff (can't be applied more than once every two weeks, and after 2 weeks, sage is upset about it all over again), and he was easier than he's been on some occasions. But when I went to put it on his tail...I noticed his tail was clamped. :-(
Don't know if it was too much circling with me riding him, or maybe just expressing upset about me 'attacking' him with the MTG. It upsets me a little though. Anyways, played with his tail lots and eventually he unclamped it some, so I have hope he was feeling defensive, as opposed to it being a sign he's lame.
Very interested to see how he reacts to me tomorrow...not that I really have time to go to the barn, but...one can hope.