Banner and I are gearing up for our last local HT of the year! If I'm being totally honest, I was 100% going to wimp out on doing the dressage/XC part of this show, and just do the show jumping. Since B was so tightly wound at our last outing, I felt like we needed some more schooling in order to make XC a positive experience for us. But Trainer sent me a text a few days after our last lesson and asked if I wanted to go cross country for our next lesson instead of another show jumping lesson (I had told her my thoughts on likely not doing cross country at this show), and I thought about it for a moment before deciding why not! I'd like to end the year on a more positive note than our last experience was (tense dressage, wild XC, lost shoe in SJ).
In order to make for a (hopefully) nice, civil outing tomorrow, I have been doing lots of schooling rides at home this week focusing on brakes and reminding him he has a brain and he has to use it! He has been checking in really well this week so I am hopeful for a good schooling session on XC and hopefully a reasonable horse this weekend in all phases.
On Saturday evening, I managed to rope husband into taking some photos of our ride, which was awesome! I've been warming Banner up with about 5 minutes of just basic, loose walking to get his muscles warmed up and his brain tucked into his skull. Then we do somewhere between 3-5 minutes of purposeful walking, including lots of laterals. He was not particularly schooled in lateral work before I got him, and unfortunately I was a bit lax on really focusing on those earlier in the year.
In the last few months, we had some lessons and moments that really highlighted how much Banner was ignoring & blowing through some of my leg cues. He's a horse that has been crooked for a lot of his life, and he is quite comfortable jumping, flatting, and just generally living life a little crooked. Obviously I do not think that life is quite as fun.
His ignoring my leg became extra apparent in a lesson about 2 months ago where I literally did not once get a jump out of him that was straight. He always landed a little to the right (or a lot to the right) of where we took off. It was a wake up call for me that I really needed to fix! Especially because when I attempted to correct by putting some right leg on, he would simply speed up instead of moving over. Classic evasion.
Now laterals are super important in all of our rides and it has drastically improved his flat & jump work! Walking and basic lateral work, however, do not make for super fun photos. So I didn't make hubs take photos of that because boring. Important work, yes. Tedious? Also yes.
All of the lateral work is also there to keep improving the quality of Banner's gaits. Always working to keep getting him lifting up through his withers and staying light and soft in the front end! Once our warmup was done, I called hubs out to take photos! I wanted to get a visual aid as to how he was looking in our rides since sometimes you just can't totally tell if what you are feeling actually looks any different!
It is subtle, but I do think I'm noticing a bit more even pushing behind out of him, and he is uphill in 90% of the photos which feels like a really good accomplishment! I've been working on some walk to canter transitions as well, and I definitely noticed I was able to get a really uphill, collected canter out of him when we did those transitions vs just a normal trot to canter transition.
We got a good 10 minutes of photos of the ride, and then I decided to have a little fun with Banner. He had been super soft in the mouth for my whole ride and being very light so I decided to do one of my favorite things with him (which I haven't done in a long time!). Bridleless!!
Bridleless work may not be everyone's cup of tea, and it is not something I've been able to do much of with Charmer, but it is something that I feel quite safe doing on Banner, and its super fun when he is listening!
I tested my brakes a couple of times, and they were there. A bit rusty but we haven't done bridleless in probably 6+ months! We wandered around the arena once at the walk and Banner stretched out and enjoyed his freedom. Then we picked up the trot, and I really began to notice how well he was carrying himself without any help from me and the bridle.
It was awesome to realize how his fitness level has improved and that his way of going has changed so much even without the aid of the bridle!
We picked up the canter, and while he got a bit excited and forward, I just got up in 2-point and allowed him to cruise along underneath me. He settled right into a beautiful rhythm with a nicely uphill push.
Tested my brakes again and he came right back down for me, and we picked up the canter the other way. By this point he had settled in a little more and didn't even consider being silly. Just enjoying a lovely, happy canter. I couldn't help but smile with joy the entire time. He is just so much fun.
Just for kicks I asked for a flying change and he obliged kindly, with just 2 little strides of porpoising because life is just so much fun you guys! He got all the scratches and all the treats and all the love after being such a good boy!
Tonight, I'm going to try a ride in a waterford to see what he thinks since I'll probably try that on XC tomorrow! Hopefully he is a sane, good pony for me and we find his new XC bit!
In order to make for a (hopefully) nice, civil outing tomorrow, I have been doing lots of schooling rides at home this week focusing on brakes and reminding him he has a brain and he has to use it! He has been checking in really well this week so I am hopeful for a good schooling session on XC and hopefully a reasonable horse this weekend in all phases.
On Saturday evening, I managed to rope husband into taking some photos of our ride, which was awesome! I've been warming Banner up with about 5 minutes of just basic, loose walking to get his muscles warmed up and his brain tucked into his skull. Then we do somewhere between 3-5 minutes of purposeful walking, including lots of laterals. He was not particularly schooled in lateral work before I got him, and unfortunately I was a bit lax on really focusing on those earlier in the year.
In the last few months, we had some lessons and moments that really highlighted how much Banner was ignoring & blowing through some of my leg cues. He's a horse that has been crooked for a lot of his life, and he is quite comfortable jumping, flatting, and just generally living life a little crooked. Obviously I do not think that life is quite as fun.
His ignoring my leg became extra apparent in a lesson about 2 months ago where I literally did not once get a jump out of him that was straight. He always landed a little to the right (or a lot to the right) of where we took off. It was a wake up call for me that I really needed to fix! Especially because when I attempted to correct by putting some right leg on, he would simply speed up instead of moving over. Classic evasion.
Now laterals are super important in all of our rides and it has drastically improved his flat & jump work! Walking and basic lateral work, however, do not make for super fun photos. So I didn't make hubs take photos of that because boring. Important work, yes. Tedious? Also yes.
 |
| Walk quality improving all the time! |
All of the lateral work is also there to keep improving the quality of Banner's gaits. Always working to keep getting him lifting up through his withers and staying light and soft in the front end! Once our warmup was done, I called hubs out to take photos! I wanted to get a visual aid as to how he was looking in our rides since sometimes you just can't totally tell if what you are feeling actually looks any different!
It is subtle, but I do think I'm noticing a bit more even pushing behind out of him, and he is uphill in 90% of the photos which feels like a really good accomplishment! I've been working on some walk to canter transitions as well, and I definitely noticed I was able to get a really uphill, collected canter out of him when we did those transitions vs just a normal trot to canter transition.
We got a good 10 minutes of photos of the ride, and then I decided to have a little fun with Banner. He had been super soft in the mouth for my whole ride and being very light so I decided to do one of my favorite things with him (which I haven't done in a long time!). Bridleless!!
 |
| Lowkey love this photo |
Bridleless work may not be everyone's cup of tea, and it is not something I've been able to do much of with Charmer, but it is something that I feel quite safe doing on Banner, and its super fun when he is listening!
I tested my brakes a couple of times, and they were there. A bit rusty but we haven't done bridleless in probably 6+ months! We wandered around the arena once at the walk and Banner stretched out and enjoyed his freedom. Then we picked up the trot, and I really began to notice how well he was carrying himself without any help from me and the bridle.
It was awesome to realize how his fitness level has improved and that his way of going has changed so much even without the aid of the bridle!
We picked up the canter, and while he got a bit excited and forward, I just got up in 2-point and allowed him to cruise along underneath me. He settled right into a beautiful rhythm with a nicely uphill push.
Tested my brakes again and he came right back down for me, and we picked up the canter the other way. By this point he had settled in a little more and didn't even consider being silly. Just enjoying a lovely, happy canter. I couldn't help but smile with joy the entire time. He is just so much fun.
Just for kicks I asked for a flying change and he obliged kindly, with just 2 little strides of porpoising because life is just so much fun you guys! He got all the scratches and all the treats and all the love after being such a good boy!
Tonight, I'm going to try a ride in a waterford to see what he thinks since I'll probably try that on XC tomorrow! Hopefully he is a sane, good pony for me and we find his new XC bit!
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