Transitions! (Saturday, February 26)

On Saturday, I went out to ride Savy and despite my plans for conditioning, I’ve decided to hold off until I can start going out during the week to ride so I can keep her conditioning process continual. So on Saturday, Savannah and I worked on transitions and a little cantering. I have a horrible habit of keeping my legs way too long whenever we canter, so that was something I worked on, along with trying to get her to slow her canter down, because for those of you who know Savannah, she doesn’t really know the word “slow”. I was able to get into the correct cantering position for about two seconds before I stopped her haha. But I think it was definitely a step towards the right direction! :)

After a few rounds of cantering, Savannah and I did some MAJOR transition work. Whenever I’m usually trotting, it takes about 14-16 steps to get from a trot to a complete halt. So I needed to change that. First I worked on walk to halt, and halt to walk. Which went really well. Then I worked on trot to halt, and at the beginning, we were around 14 steps from trot to halt. I worked on trotting only short distances and by the time we were done, we were down to 4! yay! I would definitely call that a huge accomplishment! After working on trot to halt, I tried halt to trot and halt to canter. She did about 5 steps of walking in between each transition. But she’s definitely getting there! I was so proud of her! We also worked on trot poles some more and she’s starting to do them perfectly. I’m so happy! :)

After I was done riding, I took my saddle off and rode Savy backwards around the arena. This normally isn’t a stunt you should try unless your REALLY comfortable with your horse. Plus, my friend and I were the only people in the arena. After riding backwards(which definitely helps improve balance and trust) I worked on kneeling on her and she did really well. Never even moved a hoof :) Definitely a day full of accomplishments!

 

++Bec N Savy++

Conditioning Step 1

Well, spring is almost and here and while I THOUGHT I was conditioning Savannah all winter, I came to find out I was wrong last week. So…its back to where we started again. But I’m gonna do it right this time! :) Here’s my idea for conditioning:

I’m planning first and foremost to start riding twice a week instead of just once. I’m plannin on doin every Wednesday and Saturday.

Wednesday:

Walk, Trot, Break some bad habits and Natural Horsemanship.

Saturday:

Walk, Trot, Trot Poles and One lap around the arena of Canter.

I can’t wait to get back into this! I really wanna take lessons at some point. I’m eager to get back to jumping at some point in time. I will definitely keep everyone updated on our progress!! :)

 

I recently bought Whole Heart, Whole Horse by Mark Rashid. Let me tell you, if anyone is interested in learning about more about how their horse really feels, that is THE book to get! It’s extremely interesting and I’m learning SO much! I’ve realized that although I don’t always need personal space from my horse cause I personally love to cuddle, she needs personal space from me. She’s definitely not a very affectionate horse, unless you have treats. Then she’ll do anything(including run you down) to get them. Last week she came close to ripping the cross ties out of the wall. I realized that the amount of treats she’s getting now(which aren’t really very many in the first place) are way too many anyway. So I’m not totally cutting back. Just a little bit. But I’ve learned all of this from Mark Rashid so far and I can’t wait to read more and learn even more! I definitely encourage everyone to read it! It was recommended to me by my best friend, Lea(her blog is here.)

If anyone else has good books by great horsemen(or women) please leave me a comment with the title and author. I’m always eager to learn more and I can’t wait to continue this journey Savy and I have been on :)

 

Here are some pictures of Savannah and I and what we’ve been up to!

Cantering :)

Panoramic View of us Jumping :)

 

I’ve been doing lots of NH with Savy too but unfortunately I haven’t gotten any pictures. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some soon!

 

++Bec N Savy++

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Psalms 1:3