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glenatronGuessing game: Guess who was the first member of the class to hit the dirt today. Next up, guess who was the second...
This morning we got to ride our first set of young horses, putting a little more time on some of the colts they started last month. These were horses that had been sat on before but maybe not often.
Jake bringing some of the colts up to the working pens.
I was paired up with a little mare called Cookie, who was small and bay and not entirely certain of me but willing to give me a chance. We saddled up and then took their halters off and Martin moved them through from the indoor arena to the outdoor one so he could let them run loose for a while and get any excessive excitement out of their systems.
Martin moving Cookie along
When they had got a bit of movement out of their systems we brought them in and got to mounting. Unfortunately certain people didn't judge their horse well enough and didn't respond to Martin's clear instruction of "Do not get on that horse!" fast enough so they ended up on their back in the dirt collecting sand in their ears. I won't say who that happened to, but the horse was called Cookie.
Having rectified that and with me much more tuned in to when my horse was ready for me to get on, and when she was most definitely not, we went on to some basic work on moving around, turning circles and so on. Martin had us working with a bridge in the rein and the hand holding it forward on the horse's neck, then reaching up on the side with the other hand to create a really clear directing rein ( literally reaching beside the horse's head ) so they could really feel what was being asked of them.
We got from working indoors out into the outdoor school and went to working on some straightness exercises ( choosing objects on the horizon and nearer ones and then moving down the line where they were lined up with each other ) which went fairly well- Cookie kept bending the wrong way because I kept leaning the wrong way- these sensitive horses certainly show you up. Then on one run I asked for a trot, which I had done before fine, and something happened that got me bucked right off. Martin said it looked like she stumbled so I think that one really was bad luck, but it still was a bit sore and it broke my bridle. It was a cheap and poor quality bridle from the spares box, but I was surprised how easily it went. Fortunately my reins ended up around Cookie's neck and I still had the get-down rope so I was able to get her back and lead her in. It was near the end of the session anyways so we stopped there and I gave her back to her pen.
Then a couple of new colts arrived for starting and Martin decided to get them saddled and ridden right then and there. He does all of this from horseback, flagging the horse out to show them that they can be still in an anxious moment, offering them a bridle and bit and then getting one of the experienced students in to put the saddle on them and sit on board while he gave them a brief lead around. Once that was done, he turned the first horse loose and worked the other in the same round pen, finally turning both of them loose and showing them that they could be comfortable without having to be together the whole time. He makes a distinction between giving to pressure and seeking relief, working towards the second,where the horse actively looks for the thing you are asking for rather than just following instructions exactly.
After lunch a couple of other new horses had arrived and Martin went through the same work again. There is so much going on in this work that you could watch it hundreds of times and see something new on each occasion. Again these horses were saddled and carrying riders very quickly indeed.
Hard to believe these two had been saddled for the first time a few minutes before. Also, what absolutely bless ponies! I got told off for taking this picture instead of listening to what Martin was telling us at this point apparently "but they're so cute" does not hold water as an argument.
Then we went out to find our second horse of the day, which in my case I did with a little trepidation following on from my first experience. It turns out I didn't need to worry-the little dun horse I was working with was as sweet as anything and Martin suggested rather than my Treefree I used one of their Wade saddles, which is kind of the opposite extreme, but it's nice to have a big flat platform to disperse your weight when you're checking a horse out for rideability. Of course it did need a 15 minute remedial "how to put on a western saddle" session for me. Suffice it to say that whoever invented the term "it's a cinch" and suggested it should mean something was easy was clearly a sarcastic scumbag.
Once again, after saddling we turned them out and away they went...
The dun near the middle there was my horse.
Once they were a bit calm we mounted up and ( with a lot of support from Jennifer, Martin's wife and a tremendous horseman in her own right ) I did some rather less traumatic riding. I still wasn't really getting how much I need to leave the reins alone with these guys - they really do need to be almost totally slack and every change is meaningful to them. Martin talks a lot about how we tend to bring the horses down to our level when we should be lifting us up to theirs. After today's riding I can see exactly what he means, but it's going to be a hell of a climb for me, Probably with many more falls on the way...
The herd gets to run out together again- a picture I wish I'd been closer to take...
This morning we got to ride our first set of young horses, putting a little more time on some of the colts they started last month. These were horses that had been sat on before but maybe not often.
Jake bringing some of the colts up to the working pens.
I was paired up with a little mare called Cookie, who was small and bay and not entirely certain of me but willing to give me a chance. We saddled up and then took their halters off and Martin moved them through from the indoor arena to the outdoor one so he could let them run loose for a while and get any excessive excitement out of their systems.
Martin moving Cookie along
When they had got a bit of movement out of their systems we brought them in and got to mounting. Unfortunately certain people didn't judge their horse well enough and didn't respond to Martin's clear instruction of "Do not get on that horse!" fast enough so they ended up on their back in the dirt collecting sand in their ears. I won't say who that happened to, but the horse was called Cookie.
Having rectified that and with me much more tuned in to when my horse was ready for me to get on, and when she was most definitely not, we went on to some basic work on moving around, turning circles and so on. Martin had us working with a bridge in the rein and the hand holding it forward on the horse's neck, then reaching up on the side with the other hand to create a really clear directing rein ( literally reaching beside the horse's head ) so they could really feel what was being asked of them.
We got from working indoors out into the outdoor school and went to working on some straightness exercises ( choosing objects on the horizon and nearer ones and then moving down the line where they were lined up with each other ) which went fairly well- Cookie kept bending the wrong way because I kept leaning the wrong way- these sensitive horses certainly show you up. Then on one run I asked for a trot, which I had done before fine, and something happened that got me bucked right off. Martin said it looked like she stumbled so I think that one really was bad luck, but it still was a bit sore and it broke my bridle. It was a cheap and poor quality bridle from the spares box, but I was surprised how easily it went. Fortunately my reins ended up around Cookie's neck and I still had the get-down rope so I was able to get her back and lead her in. It was near the end of the session anyways so we stopped there and I gave her back to her pen.
Then a couple of new colts arrived for starting and Martin decided to get them saddled and ridden right then and there. He does all of this from horseback, flagging the horse out to show them that they can be still in an anxious moment, offering them a bridle and bit and then getting one of the experienced students in to put the saddle on them and sit on board while he gave them a brief lead around. Once that was done, he turned the first horse loose and worked the other in the same round pen, finally turning both of them loose and showing them that they could be comfortable without having to be together the whole time. He makes a distinction between giving to pressure and seeking relief, working towards the second,where the horse actively looks for the thing you are asking for rather than just following instructions exactly.
After lunch a couple of other new horses had arrived and Martin went through the same work again. There is so much going on in this work that you could watch it hundreds of times and see something new on each occasion. Again these horses were saddled and carrying riders very quickly indeed.
Hard to believe these two had been saddled for the first time a few minutes before. Also, what absolutely bless ponies! I got told off for taking this picture instead of listening to what Martin was telling us at this point apparently "but they're so cute" does not hold water as an argument.
Then we went out to find our second horse of the day, which in my case I did with a little trepidation following on from my first experience. It turns out I didn't need to worry-the little dun horse I was working with was as sweet as anything and Martin suggested rather than my Treefree I used one of their Wade saddles, which is kind of the opposite extreme, but it's nice to have a big flat platform to disperse your weight when you're checking a horse out for rideability. Of course it did need a 15 minute remedial "how to put on a western saddle" session for me. Suffice it to say that whoever invented the term "it's a cinch" and suggested it should mean something was easy was clearly a sarcastic scumbag.
Once again, after saddling we turned them out and away they went...
The dun near the middle there was my horse.
Once they were a bit calm we mounted up and ( with a lot of support from Jennifer, Martin's wife and a tremendous horseman in her own right ) I did some rather less traumatic riding. I still wasn't really getting how much I need to leave the reins alone with these guys - they really do need to be almost totally slack and every change is meaningful to them. Martin talks a lot about how we tend to bring the horses down to our level when we should be lifting us up to theirs. After today's riding I can see exactly what he means, but it's going to be a hell of a climb for me, Probably with many more falls on the way...
The herd gets to run out together again- a picture I wish I'd been closer to take...
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Date: 5 Feb 2009 03:53 (UTC)