Summer Stuff

It's been so nice to spend time at the barn this summer and just get to chill. I've been working mornings, riding Duncan, riding Socks, helping out with other horses, and trying to find time for friends. Petty busy, but I like it! Duncan is a tough horse. We will have days that I'm like wow, this horse is am amazing, and then days where I could give him away. I think it's funny because it reflects my personality. I feel like I can be spot on some days, and the next be a bit of a mare. Duncan needs me to be good whenever I work him. He depends so much on me, and I need to be his rock. After a few rough days of me being frustrated and him not responding well I went to get him today with a positive attitude. The ride turned out so much better than the last one, and I was really happy with him. It is still a long, hard road, but it seems manageable on days like today. I have to trust in tvhe power at be that there will be more like this. Still walk trot under saddle, as I gave him a week off to recuperate and chill. Getting bettewr trot. I want to canter soon, I think it will help him get off my leg a lot. Socks is a constant kind game. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I dont. She is so forward, and needs to relax, but when she relaxes she isn't through her back. Bt when she is forward and through her back and you try to channel the energy into leg yielding or something, she just gets tense. A lot of walk seems to help. I have also learned I need to be fair to her. There are times when she needs a good tap, but there are also times when she needs to think things through and decide she wants to do it. I hope it becomes more clear soon, it is frustrating working for months and not seeing any results. I wonder if I am pushing too hard, or she is just not good at dressage. I think both play a part. She loves trails and galloping, so it's really fun when we get to do that. Hopefully more trails in the future :)

Progress!

Haven't posted in a few days, but things have been going really well. As always, Duncan is making progress, but slowly. I can not walk and trot him under saddle, but we mainly do it with glo there-she has a super calming effect, and I don't want to disrupt the flow. It is working, I am riding, and all is good. Had an awesome bonding time with him tonight. I love when you and your horse just kind of meet on the same level. It doesn't happen all that often, especially with a horse as guarded as Duncan, but I went in his paddock and he was laying down, and I just sat with him. When he got up (stupid Xavier chased him away, so I made Xavier leave) he usually runs away, but this time he stood there waiting for me to come back over, and didn't seem mad that I was there. He let me pet him and didn't even flinch! And he rested his head on me and kinda fell asleep. It was super cute, and really let me into his world. After that tranquil experience i moved onto socks. She has been bratty about the canter lastly and it seems she's gotten it in her mind that she can avoid stuff she doesn't like. She is totally not s dressage horse, and the fact that she is in lessons totally sucks. We finally get some place and some random kid gets stuck on her and it's like minute by minute i see my progress slipping away. I think the only thing to help her is if she is taken out of lessons and is ridden by one person who continuously works with her, until she gets better. But unfortunately she needs to earn her keep somehow, so it is what it is for now. I have been frustrated with her, and how she thinks she can just blow me off. I was lunging her today and when I asked her to canter she would face around and then pick it up. She has been doing that far too long, so when she did that I would make her trot slowly and then tell her to canter, and if she did not I would immediately tap her. We repeated this process about 20 million times, until she was about half dead and finally decided when I said canter it meant now. I hoped on and her head flew to the floor in a stretchy walk. We did lots of stretch and when I asked for the canter she picked it up right away. Ater a good canter in each direction with reasonable stretch and collection I cooled her out on the drive way. We will see how this process works tomorrow.

A bit of scary, but a lot of happy.

So I officially took Duncan out of training. I'm so thankful that I had people to help me with him from the first day he was there. I was way in over my head and did not have a clue what I was doing. If I hadn't had those people to help me I know I would be one of those horse people who have crazy horses that they just pay board for and are too scared to touch. I am so fortunate that I had help in training him those initial months. Thanks to Gloria, Robyn, Kristin, and Emma!

I made the realization the other day that everything from here on out is up to me. It is kind of a crazy feeling when you realize that your horse's future is in your own hands. Up until now it has been me doing the easy stuff and just having fun with him, and the trainers working him and doing the hard stuff. No longer do I have anyone to fall back on, and even if I am scared, I need to work him, because no one else will. I got a big dose of reality when I got him in from the paddock and he was scared of everything. We could barley get around the arena. I lunged him for awhile, but a welsh cob mare was in the ring, and they were trying to desensitize her. I soon realized Duncan needed a little desensitization of his own. I managed to grab a big scary grain bag and walk him to the round pen. We were both just getting really frustrated because he wasn't getting used to it, and I was getting mad at him. I took a second to reset and put the bag on the ground. I grabbed some treats and came back into the round pen. Duncan was looking a little better about it so I tried having him step on it. He did a little and I made sure to give him lots of reward. After that it turned into a really positive experience, and he kept walking on it and let my rub it on him. He relaxed after that and we walked in the arena and he was a bit calmer. It gave me reasurance that I can do it, and well I think I just scared him.