Guess What We Did?!

After our super awesome breakthrough on Wednesday, I was curious to see how everything would go on Saturday on our own. Surely Wednesday's success couldn't be replicated without Ann's magical presence. Boy was I wrong- Kwik was great! We longed a little with side reins first, and then I hopped on. Since he was mostly warmed up from the longeing, we did a quick walk warmup, and then I put him straight to work at the trot. He was very obliging and happily responded to my request for connection. He was light in my hands and maintained a steady rhythm. We did some circles and serpentines, and we even practiced a little leg yielding coming down the centerline. We finished off with some fee walk across the diagnoal and called it a day. Winning!

We had another lesson with Ann on Sunday, and I'm totally regretting not bribing Adam to come out and video/take pictures. It was that good. Why you ask? We CANTERED! Ann watched me longe this time, giving me pointers along the way. When I got on, we really worked the trot. When he wanted to overbend or travel crooked, we practiced sending him forward and straight. Now that I'm able to keep my horse underneath me, I'm really able to adjust and correct, and as a result, he's become very light in my hands and the quality of his trot has improved. He feels wonderful, and I was having the time of my life trotting around out there. Then Ann walked me through the best places to ask him for the canter, and I asked. He took a few quick steps, but once I found my seat, we found our rhythm and went around in the most balanced canter we've ever had together. We had some difficulties picking up the left lead afterwards, but we finally managed to pick it up, and the quality of that canter felt amazing. Kwik was completely focused, all-business the entire ride, and I felt like I put in a pretty good effort as well. What a fun ride! I trimmed up his fetlocks and his whiskers and stuffed him full of carrots. I'm so proud of my handsome boy!

In other fun news, Kwik will have his first training ride on Friday! I had asked Ann a while back if she had any students that she thought would be a good fit for him and whether or not she thought weekly training rides would be beneficial for Kwik. She immediately suggested one of her long-time students, A. A has worked with several OTTBs and is a very capable rider. She's also small like me and rides like me, which is great for consistency-sake. We chatted for a bit last week, and I'm going to meet her on Friday afternoon. A is going to work with him on the flat, over fences, and out on the trails. I'm hoping we can start doing some conditioning work in the fields/XC course in the summer, and I think A can really help me get him there. Maybe if A can help me get him comfortable working in open fields, we'll be able to participate in the Mock Hunt in early December! Each year my farm and the local Pony Club puts on a mock hunt at the farm. An upper-lever Pony Clubber is chosen to be the fox and there are Tally Ho wagons for the non-riders- the whole thing just looks like a blast. Let project Mock Hunt begin!

March Goals

Yay! March is here, and hopefully that means Spring is on its way to Georgia! This weekend was full of non-horsey obligations so I didn't get to ride. I did think a lot about what I want to work on this month, and here's what I've decided:

Work on encouraging Kwik to seek contact with the bridle. This is the foundation for asking him to lift his back and connect the front and back ends. Obviously this is a concept that takes years to fully develop, but he's starting to understand the idea and I want to keep the ball rolling. I love this video (http://www.art2ride.com/blog/how-to-engage-your-horses-back/) from Will Faerber's Art2Ride blog- such a great explanation of concept and why we want to acheive it in the first place. My plan is to free lunge him in the round pen on Tuesdays and Thursdays w/t/c for warm-up, and then do some w/t work with side reins to reinforce the idea of seeking contact before we begin our work under saddle. If I feel like he's balanced enough and ready, we may do some canter work as well. I'd also like to start incorporating ground pole/cavaletti work.

My second "action item" for the month is trail riding. After each flatwork school in the arena, I've been taking Kwik on a hack on a very short trail that loops around the paddocks and ends up back at the barn. The barn stays in sight the entire time, and all of our trips so far have been relaxed and incident-free. My plan is to start on the short trail and instead of taking the loop around the paddocks, we'll take the longer trail away from the barn and add a little bit more each time before turning around and heading home. I also want to schedule Saturday trailventures (walk only) with a good, steady buddy. I'm hoping we'll be able to take the trail to the schooling show arenas and xc course solo by the end of the month.

What are your March goals?

Bring on 2013

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's goals for 2013, and it really got me thinking about what I'd like to accomplish this year with Kwik.

1. My number one goal for this year is to really get to know Kwik and lay the foundation for the bond I hope to create with him in the years to come. I'm definitely smitten, but I haven't spent near as much time with him in the four months I've had him as I'd like. Moving to Ashland will allow me to ride more often, and more importantly, spend quality with him. I can't wait!

2. I want to trail ride! Ashland has over 400 acres of beautiful trails, and I mean to explore every inch of them. By the end of the year, I hope Kwik will be a solid trail horse.

3. I want to be BRAVE. By the end of this year, I don't want to be nervous about cantering and galloping Kwik out in the open. He's never ever given me a reason to be anxious, but my bad experiences with Finn have really shaken my confidence. Trust isn't built over night, and my goal is to really trust Kwik and for him to trust me. I WILL be a completely different rider in 2014.

4. I want to get my dressage on. I met a boarder at Ashland's Christmas party (J) that owns a green OTTB mare. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about her dressage coach, P, and she invited me to watch her lesson the following weekend. I met and chatted with P, told her all about Kwik, and even got to watch her ride! P is a lovely rider, a very effective teacher, and overall just a very nice person. My first lesson is scheduled for February 3, and I'm really looking forward to working with her.

5. Taking a page from Klein and Mocha's mom over at The Jumping Percheron, I want to work our way through Ingrid and Reiner Klimke's Cavaletti: Schooling of Horse and Rider Over Ground Rails. I got the book from Santa for Christmas, and I think this kind of work will do wonders for the both of us.

6. I'll continue with Kwik's training over fences. Each time we jump, I'm amazed that this is all new to him. His honesty and willingness to please are what makes this horse so special. I'm hoping we can accomplish some 2' courses this year and begin schooling some of the small questions on our cross country course.

7. I want to ride in one of Ashland's small schooling shows. A combined test sometime this fall/winter will be our pie in the sky goal for this year.


Let's see how we do!