May 25, 2011 - Posting to two beats



Totally comfortable with me on his back.


Today I asked Rory to canter a few times each way on the longe line.  He did leap into the canter and toss a buck in once, but most of the transitions were pretty quiet.  He still finds the arena a little small to keep his balance at the canter so I don't ask him to go all the way around a circle.  We should have been outside in the big ring (half again as wide as the arena) but it's been a very wet spring here and the dry ring days haven't been the same as my Rory riding days.

When it was time to ride I cut the mounting exercises down to just three or four times up and down before walking on.  We walked a bit to start and I went to the point to point exercise almost immediatly.  He's getting better at going straight to somewhere.  The first couple of times he trotted Rory was a little hesitant and did a short little trot step.  I asked him to trot the long side, walk the corners and short side, then trot across the diagonal, walk the next corners and short side, and then trot up the other long side.  As he trotted more times Rory went forward with a little more confidence and longer step, and went round the corner in trot.  My observer today even mentioned how he was going into a better trot each time.  He was trotting more forward, but I could feel that he was still far from a reasonable working trot.  It's exciting to think about what his gaits will be like when he develops more strength and confidence. 

No I don't have a real contact on the reins yet - yielding his jaw
and bending through his neck was part of the steering training.

When he first trotted I went into a sort of half seat to just stay out of his way while he worked out his balance.  Later I started to post the trot, and though he did turn his ears back to me Rory didn't mind.  My other horse stopped dead with a "what are you doing up there?" reaction the first time I posted his trot.  I asked Rory for a bit more forward in his trot, and to go a bit further before walking, and by the end he managed to trot about one and a half times around the arena.  After that trot I halted him and gave him some carrot and lots of pats.  Rory had swung his hindquarters way over to the right when he stopped so we did a few more walk and halt transitions as I paid attention to keeping him straight in the halt.  By the second halt he was straight without effort. 

I really didn't want to quit at the end of our fifteen minutes, but I behaved and dismounted.    I had it in my mind to ride Rory around outside for a few minutes today, but as it turned out I was enjoying the trot, and Rory was really getting better at trotting with a rider and we ran out of time.

Rory and Totyo enjoying some hand pulled grass.

May 22, 2011 - High energy

There was a lot of activity around the barn today.  Rory was a little up with the distraction, but was listening to me.  I asked for canter on the longeline again today.  Rory had a little trouble understanding what I wanted, but he did go to canter more easily each time. On the right rein we had a little too much energy in one transition and Rory leaped into canter, kicked out and bolted, pulling the longeline out of my hand.  He ran out the big door of the arena and went round to the back of his paddock and stopped.  When I got out there he was trying to figure out how to reach the grass while wearing side reins.  Back in the arena he tried to repeat the bolt out the door every time he turned back towards it on the circle.  He settled in about two minutes, and cantered calmly within five minutes.  I was really happy that he settled back into work so easily.

Cantering brought up Rory's energy

I rode for almost fifteen minutes.  When we first started walking around Rory was still on edge a little bit and I didn't think we'd be trotting today.  I did the point to point exercise - choosing a point, riding straight to it, then choosing another point.  Rory wobbled on the lines to start and then steadied for the second half of each line.  When we went past the big door he would drift towards it, but did turn away or go past as I kept asking for the turn and forward.  As we went along he paid more attention to me, and I decided to try a trot hoping the extra energy would make it easier for him.  He remembered the lesson from last week and went to trot with just my leg and voice aids.  We did a couple of short trots and then a couple of longer ones.  Again the camera missed the best trot - this time due to running out of memory.

May 18, 2011 Doing the two step!

Today was the fifth day I got on Rory.  There was a little wind again, but not as much as on Sunday and Rory was less concerned about going down to the far end of the arena.  He looked a couple of times, once when the sun got far enough over to light the canvas door, and the other time when the canvas bulged in the breeze.  I asked him to canter on the longe a couple of times on the right rein, and he did quite well, managing about two thirds of a circle the second time.

When it came time to mount up I shortened the pre-mounting exercises.  I only leaned over him once before swinging my leg over.  I had decided to use the stirrups today and took the spare leather that tied the irons together under his belly off before starting with the mounting routine.  Rory considered walking off the first time I mounted up, but stayed still.  The first time I picked up the off side stirrups I thought he might take the wiggling around as a go forward aid, but he waited.

Rory was a little slow in his walk again today, but went forward when I asked.  After a few turns and halts I asked him to walk forward more actively.  He was a little uncertain, but then walked with more activity.  I decided to see if he would trot and tried with a little leg and voice.  Twice he almost made it to trot, but wasn't sure I meant it so I asked my friend who was keeping an eye on us to stand in the middle with the longe whip.  With a little encouragement Rory made it to trot.  He got a little quick and I asked him to walk after a few steps.  We ended up stopping in the corner as coming back to a walk took too much concentration for him to manage to turn the corner.  The camera shut off due to low battery power just as he came to a stop in the corner after that first trot so I didn't get the other trots on video.  We walked round the arena and then tried for the trot again as we headed back towards the far end. It took a bit more encouragement to get him to trot again, but he managed it. The next time he made the transition more easily but fell back to walk after only a few steps.  I praised the transition to trot and we tried again.  We trotted four times, and the last one he was much more comfortable making the transition up with very little help from my friend.  I quit after that trot, hopped off, gave him a bunch of carrot chunks and lots of pats.

My friend said she'd be around tomorrow if I wanted to ride Rory again.  I explained that I'd love to, but he's still growing and I don't want to stress his body too much so I'm going to try and ride every third day, but no closer together than every second day for now.  By spreading the rides out, if he's a little sore or strained anywhere his body has time to recover and heal.  Mild stresses with time to recover prompt the body to build strength where it's needed.  Adding stress before the body has time to recover can increase the stress to the point of damage, and the horse can start to move incorrectly in order to protect himself.  Given a few weeks of riding for ten to fifteen minutes twice a week Rory will develop the body strength to handle more work.  We have time.  I don't need to rush things with Rory.

May 15, 2011 - Arena rattles, Day Four under saddle

I was really looking forward to riding Rory again today.  The back door in the arena was closed and it was a bit windy.  The arena was creaking a bit, and the door was banging in the tracks as well.  Rory found it distracting and he didn't want to go down to that end of the arena when I was longeing.  He had more energy today, and he was bouncing and shaking his head when he started to trot.  I just kept pushing him forward until he settled down.  We moved the circle as far down the arena as Rory would go, then I brought him back to walk, shortened the longeline, led him up to the door and asked him to touch it.  Rory touched it easily, but didn't really want to stand still near by.  Once back on the longe circle Rory walked past the door a couple of times, then was willing to trot past.  After changing direction I had him walk past the door a couple of times, then trotted.  I did ask him to canter a couple of times, but didn't want to do too much in case he got wound up before I got on.

Today I started with the reins and skipped the lead rope tied to the halter.  I did the usual run through of the pre-mounting exercises.  Rory was very good and stood calmly.  When I did ask him to walk on he was less forward than last time and I needed to use my leg aids more to keep him walking.  There was some activity outside the arena that we could hear which combined with the noisy arena to divide Rory's attention.  He never totally ignored me, and the one time he needed to stop and listen for a moment I let him stand until his attention came back to me.  As with the longeing Rory didn't want to go down to the far end of the arena so we circled a few times and changed direction before I asked him to go a bit further down the arena.  Rory wasn't sure and he slowed down and wobbled side to side as he tried to turn away, but he went.  I didn't try to go all the way at first, just asked him to go a bit further than he had.  We did get most of the way down using a serpentine approach and Rory didn't get ready to bolt.  I was really pleased with his willing attitude and trust in me.  He got lots of pats and carrots.  

The halts were greatly improved today too.  Instead of using both reins together I used one at a time just long enough to get him to tip his head slightly towards the rein, then switched to the other rein.  By the end of the ride he was stopping very easily.  I'm sure the less forward walk helped.

After I put Rory back out I brought Totyo into the arena and started teaching him about boundaries and handler space.  He was a little distracted by Rory whinnying and running outside, but overall was pretty good for an almost three year old who hasn't had much handling.

May 12, 2011 - Go, turn, and stop

I invited a couple of friends who know Rory to come and see how he was doing today - which gave me a chance to get on him again.  One of my firends operated the camera for me so we have real pictures and decent video from today's session.

We stared with the usual longeing.  Rory was very good and showed off his walk, trot, trot up, out and whoa mastery.

There's something about this picture that I just like.

After the longeing came the usual run through of standing still while I pulled on his saddle and jumped on and off the mounting block.  Then lying over the saddle and patting his other side, and finally mounting up and hopping off.  Rory stood patiently and happily collected his pieces of carrot.

I tied the leadrope to each side of his halter today instead of just the ring under his chin, so when I was ready to ask him to walk away I'd have some steering ability.  Before asking him to walk I sat for a minute, shifted in the saddle, and then eventually picked up the rope reins.  Rory walked off easily, turned when I asked and was a little slow to whoa.  He didn't have the hump in his back that he'd had last week when we walked for the first time.  I hopped off and gave him his carrot, then took him back to the mounting block and climbed up again.

I rode around for a couple of minutes, halting a couple of times, and turning in each direction.  Rory was quite happy to keep walking and didn't need very much leg aid to go forward.  He got distracted by something he could see out the back door and had a tiny little spook which meant he turned a little quicker in the direction I was asking him to go, but he stayed at the walk.  My friend shot video of this part of the session.

Rory was a little resistent to turning with the rope reins and I decided to try the real reins.  I have already taught him to turn with bit pressure, so it wasn't really anything new for Rory.  My friend went back to pictures for this part.  I held the rope with the regular rein in one hand and turned with the other rein, switching the rope to my other hand when I wanted to turn the other way.  Rory responded very well to the reins and I rode a couple of figure eights, and went on a bigger circle around part of the arena.  His whoas were still a little slow - that's something we need to practice on the ground so I can be quick to reward him - but I think were easier than when I used the rope reins.  By the end of that ride I let the rope lie on his neck and just held the regular reins.  I was super happy with Rory's calm acceptance of the whole procedure.  I didn't want to dismount, but I don't want to overdo it either.

Turn the head and keep the feet following just like I
practiced when I was on the ground beside him

"What's next?"

A little loving for a good boy!

May 11, 2011 The Rory Chronicles join YouTube!

I've been setting up my camera to shoot video of almost all of Rory's lessons lately and I decided it was time to add some short videos to The Rory Chronicles blog.  Most of the video is pretty boring, and repetitive, but I'd like To show Rory in action.

The first video is practicing a figure eight over a cavaletti. This teaches Rory to take direction from me without having me walk with him.

April 14, 2011 Rory longeing in the outdoor ring for the second time.

April 18, 2011 In this video I'm preparing Rory for the first time I get on his back. I want him to accept weight in one stirrup, and stand still. First I'm pulling on the saddle, then just on the stirrup leather, and then I put my knee in the stirrup and bounce up and down beside him while putting a little weight in the stirrup. I use my knee so I can stay close to the ground when he starts to move (which he did before this snippet of video). He gets carrot chunks when he gets it right. This was the first day I'd put weight on him.

May 1, 2011 Mounting up - Day one.  In the video are the first and fourth times I got on Rory's back. The first time is just a get on, take foot out of stirrup and jump off process. By the fourth time I can sit there for a bit and start to move my weight around. Rory was very good and quite relaxed about the whole deal.

May 6, 2011 Mounting up - Day two.  I asked Rory to walk with me on him today. Before we got to that point I did the same lying over the saddle, getting on and off that I did last time. Rory easily walked forward when I wiggled my legs against his sides. He was a little uncertain about my weight shifting when I asked him to stop, and the whoa suffered a bit, but he stayed quiet.

More video clips will be in future blog entries as they come up!

May 10, 2011 Polish practice

Today's lesson was about standing on the crossties while I messed around with him.  I groomed him well, braided his tail, mane and forelock, and oiled his hooves.  Rory was pretty well behaved.  He shifted side to side a few times while I was braiding his tail, but accepted the activity. 


They were still wearing their flymasks today, but...


Braiding his mane was another adventure.  I decided to try a new-to-me technique for tying the braids up which meant I could do fewer braids, but also meant I was trying to figure out how to make the technique work while Rory was walking forward and backwards on the cross ties.  He stood at times, but those times got shorter and shorter as we went along.  I wasn't sure I liked the result - the braids were interesting, but there was something that bothered me. 

Once he was polished up I had to take some pictures so we went outside.  Rory stood for a minute or two, then he had to move his feet so I let him walk around me for a few minutes while I took some more pictures. Taking the braids out took only a few minutes and I put Rory back outside with some pats and carrots.

All polished up with nowhere to go.



Top - the illusion of a dip in his neck
Bottom - back lit showing the true topline


When I was looking at the pics later I realized what bothered me about the braids.  A long time ago I read that the line along the bottom of the yarn hunter style braids is what catches the eye, making it more important to get the loops the same length rather than making the bumps on top the same size.  I wasn't sure I believed it, but I started paying more attention to the loop length.  On Rory's pictures the line along the bottom of the braids caught my eye and it made his neck look like the topline dipped down in the middle instead of having a nice arch up to his ears.  I don't think I'll be using this style of braid on Rory again.

May 8, 2011 The bugs are out

It somehow doesn't seem quite fair that we've been freezing and drowning this spring, and the flies are coming out before we get any warm weather.  The horses haven't been out of their blankets for very long and it's time for fly masks already.  I remembered to take Rory's mask out today, but I'd forgotten that I cut the ears off last summer.  Ears make great handles to yank masks off and I had no doubt Totyo would have figured that out very quickly.  Despite the lack of ears Totyo managed to get Rory's mask off often enough that I gave up.  After Totyo left Rory was able to keep the mask on.


Totyo and Rory (in his new flymask)


The little black bugs attack the horses ears at this time of year so Rory really needed ears on his flymask.  I put the old flymask on Rory to check the size - it still fits - and then went off to the tack shop to pick up a new one.  They're on sale right now and all they had left were a couple of warmblood sized masks.  I got lucky because someone had just returned several masks in Rory's size (Arab/Cob).  When I got back to the stable Rory was still wearing his mask and shaking his head as the flies crawled around in his ears.  After I swapped the new mask for the old one Rory shook his head a couple of times, rubbed an ear and then realized the mask wasn't biting him.  Totyo had a mask of his own as well, so maybe he'll let Rory wear the mask this year.

May 6, 2011 - We're walking away!

I asked a couple of my fellow boarders to keep an eye on us today so that I could get on Rory again.  We started with a quick longe as usual.  Rory has gotten stronger and we are moving towards using the longeing exercises to build his strength for carrying some weight.  I'm asking him to trot for longer periods, and for more changes in trot pace (going more forward and slowing down again).  The longe session is still under fifteen minutes, but I can see the changes in him. 

I am fortunate to have had a good teacher who refined my longeing skills.  A mare who was imported from Germany.  Most of the riders I've known who longe tend to use it as a way to get excess energy out either before riding or instead of riding.  Learning to longe is a general idea of standing in the middle of the circle with the longeline in one hand and the whip in the other and keeping the horse out on the circle.  The basic theory seems simple and I had longed occasionally for years.  The mare showed me that I could have a lot more finesse which turned longeing into a more useful tool in my training kit.  Rory is getting the benefit of that training.

After the longeing session I repeated the ususal pre mounting exercises.  Rory started walking once when I was lying over the saddle and I hopped off and stopped him.  I got on and off, and on and wiggled the saddle again and leaned out to each side.  Rory was very unconcerned about it all so I decided to try the next step.  I mounted up and Rory turned his head to nose my right boot.  He grabbed my bootlace and pulled it loose before turning his head straight again.  I picked up the lead rope reins attached to his halter and wiggled my legs against his sides.  Without any hesitation Rory stepped forward into a walk.  I could feel his back come up a little and I asked him to whoa.  My weight shifted back and he wasn't sure about that so it took a bit longer to stop that I expected.  When he did stop I hopped off and gave him a carrot and pat.  We went back to the mounting block and I mounted up again.  This time he started walking before I asked and I let him get a few steps and asked him to halt again.  His front feet stopped first and he turned before coming to a halt.  His back humped a little more than the first time, but he trusted me enough to stay calm.  I hopped off and gave him another carrot and pat.  One of the horses that we could see out the back door of the arena started running around so I didn't ask Rory to walk again, though I did get on and off one more time just to remind him to stand still and wait when I got on.

Before we quit for the day I walked Rory around the arena and practiced some halts off the bit.  The carrot rewards worked their usual magic and he started to respond faster.  We did a short trot in hand before going back to the barn.

Rory eating his dinner while the mini mare watches.

May 3, 2011 Working on the riding basics

I didn't have anyone to keep an eye on us today so I couldn't get on Rory again.  The weather turned to rain again and I brought Rory in before he could get wet.  I remembered to take another set of reins for Rory's bridle out to the barn.

Out in the arena I set a cavaletti on the centreline near one end before starting with his longeing exercises.  It really struck me today just how comfortable Rory is carrying the saddle around, and with the whole longeing deal.  Even when I sent him out far enough to go over the cavaletti he was quite relaxed.  I dared to ask him for a canter once on each rein and he stepped into an easy canter both times.  Going left he didn't make the 20m circle and had to come back to trot before he got across the arena.  Going right I had to push him forward in the trot more before he stepped into canter, but he managed the 20 circle across the arena without any trouble.  I was quite pleased with him.

After the longeing work I set up two cones on the quarter lines between B and E.  I took the side reins and longe line off Rory and put the regular reins on his bit.  We went into the middle of the arena and I started on the "leg means go" exercise - reins bridged in one hand at his withers, the other hand on the stirrup leather just below the saddle flap.  The hand on the reins allows for some steering control while the hand on the stirrup is used to tap the horse's side to simulate a leg aid.  The key to the exercise is to separate the turning and forward aids.  Turn the head, relase the rein and tap the side to keep the horse moving forward.  Generally this means less of a turn than planned, but the turn then forward aids can be repeated until the horse is going in the desired direction.

Rory found it confusing at first.  I set the cones up with plans to do a figure eight around them and we twice ended up at the very far end of the arena having a discussion about going out the big door.  I quickly abandoned trying to halt with the reins as Rory was having trouble with simply going forward and turning in different directions.  He tried pulling against the turning rein, turning his head without following with his feet, backing up, and pivoting on his front feet.  I was a bit concerned, but after I rewarded a couple of tries he started to get it.  We walked around the cones and over the cavaletti with frequent carrot rewards.  By the end Rory walked a little more than half the figure eight without stopping or hesitating and I stepped out to give him a carrot and stop him.  It was a good session for Rory.  He hasn't had to really think about what I've been asking like that for a while, and he did get it right and quickly gained confidence that he was giving the right answer.  Unfortunately the camera turned off before I started the exercise so I don't have any pictures.

Spring has been dragging in reluctantly this year.  Usually the horses are out of their blankets for the summer sometime in April, but they've only managed a day or three here and there.  We've had the highest April rainfall in recorded history this year.  I don't mind wet horses, but I worry about them getting chilled if it's both wet and cold.  My arbitrary number is 10C - if it's going to go below 10C and rain then I want the horses to have their personal, portable shelters.  I put Rory's rainsheet on before I put him out in the rain and he happily went to munch on the hay while his two buddies stood in the shelter.

May 1, 2011 - All aboard!

The weather was nice, the barn was quiet and the barn owner was on the property today.  After grooming and tacking up I left Rory on the crossties for a minute and went and asked the BO if she minded coming to keep an eye on us for a few minutes.  Her son came too, probably hoping for some fireworks.  Rory was a star longeing again today.  This time both big doors in the arena were wide open and although he looked outside he was paying attention to me and responding well.  When I get on a horse for the first time I want it to be a boring, non-event.  If I think the horse is likely to do anything silly for whatever reason, I won't get on that day.  Today looked like a good day.

I reviewed jumping up beside him and leaning on the saddle, and then stepped up to lie over the saddle (with helmet this time, and person watching!)

Rory moved as I put my foot in the stirrup and I walked him around the block just to ease the "strain" of standing still for too long, then draped myself over the saddle again.

First mounting part one:
1) Rory was distracted by the end of the lead rope dangling under his chin after I tied it back to his halter for "reins"
2) Stepping up
3) Lying on the saddle again, but leaving my foot in the stirrup so I can...
4) ...swing my leg over. keeping my body low and close to where he's seen me before.

First mounting part two:
5) The instant my butt hits the saddle I pull my foot out of the stirrup and
6-7) ...jump down
8) Carrot time of course!

Second mounting:
1) Rory turned his head to see what I was doing this time
2) Swinging over with my body a little higher this time
3) Butt in saddle, foot out of stirrup and pause, sitting quietly for a second or two.
4) Then dismounting on the right

Third mounting:
1) Rory's unconcerned and takes a look at the mounting block as I swing up
2) He noses my right foot and tries to untie my boot lace
3) Sitting quietly for a bit and giving him a pat
4) Dismounting

I usually quit after three times mounting up because I'm getting tense waiting for something to happen and I want to quit before transmitting that to the horse, but with Rory I was feeling more relaxed so I did one more.

Fourth mounting:
1)  I'd moved Rory a bit after the third mounting and the block was a little far forward, but he didn't seem to mind my awkward moves to get ready
2) Swinging up
3) Foot out of stirrup and sitting quietly
4)  Wiggling the saddle left and right
5) Slowly leaning out to the left...
6) ... and then to the right
7) Dismounting to the right

Installing the "leg means go" aids

After all the excitement, I started my "leg means forward" exercise.  It's a crappy picture lifted off the video, but I have the reins bridged in my left hand at his withers, and the right holding the stirrup leather above the iron so I can tap his side with my hand/wrist.  Rory seems to already know this - it's very similar to the one-sided steering exercises we've done in the past.  I also started putting a little pressure on both reins when I wanted him to whoa since he was so comfortable about going forward and steering.

On the way out Rory grabbed the cones while I picked up my camera.