The Mysterious Pony Club

The United States Pony Club, Inc....an organization cloaked in mystery, shadowed by intrigue, comparable to other notable secret societies and organizations exposed in class B- movies, such as

Priory of Sion

Illuminati and Freemasons

Skulls and Bones Yale Society

Yes, indeed, we have -in our nation- a reclusive and exclusive organization of....little girls and horses.
They even have a elite logo:

 

Intriguing.  

Due to happenstance/fate/kismet/the four winds/whatever, I grew up doing the fairly uncommon discipline (for Southern California) of saddleseat. My not-horsey-whatsoever parents signed me up for lessons at the barn that happened to be closest to our house - an American Saddlebred showing and training barn. As such, I did not even hear about Pony Club until I got to college. I thought it was some small local club out in Arizona that one of my barn-mates participated in. 

Slowly I came to realize the breadth and depth of this club - a national (possibly even international?) syndicate of locally based charter organizations. Like the mafia. 

Information trickled in. A mention here, a comment there. Whispers in the wind...

I keep my ear to the ground and learn that there are levels. Policies. Ratings. Rules. And by-invitation-only rallys. This is getting more secret-society-ish by the second.

Okay, okay, they have a website...but they pull the classic trick of hiding information by providing too much information. Exactly what are the levels and what do they mean? How does one get invited to a rally? The answers are either not on the site or are buried in the pages upon pages of politically correct mumbo-jumbo about youth equine education. I will continue to research...

Also, there seems to be some sort of extremely complex executive hierarchy - with Commissioners, Supervisors and other fancy titles. From what I can gather there are alpha-numeric rating systems, with D being the lowest level like academic grading. But there also are silver and bronze levels. And "H" levels. But there also seem to be quizzes and grades - like a private horse academy. It's getting more complicated by the minute!

The idea of a systematic, organized, community-based education system for young people about horses is quite exciting - something I absolutely would have loved to be involved in when I was younger. My barn had summer camps for kids and I learned about how to ride and how to tack up. But there were definitely horse-care stumbling blocks along the way that only Google could help me with (what is a sheath? how do I clean it?) back when I was 12 years old. 

Plus, I'm the kind of person who wants an A+ in everything. Including in horses. ;)  Another reason the Pony Club is so interesting. Its the only mechanism I've heard of that tests general horsemanship knowledge. Fabulous concept.

I'll continue to research and report back. 

More jumping, less ribs showing

I'm considering renaming Bohemian to "Mr. Feisty Pants" since he's been feeling his oats so much lately. On Tuesday he got turned out and longed before I showed up, so I decided to just hop on him instead of longe him again (I mean, really, what horse needs to get out 4 times in one day?). Well I won't say I regretted the decision, but next time I'll strongly consider the extra longe! He was as feisty as summer salsa, but we got plenty of work done and had fun. Lots of cantering. And the forward kind, not the up-and-down kind.

So, it's been almost a month since I've had Hemie, and we are making strides in his physique. Picture taken after Tuesday's ride.

To compare, here is a photo of him the day we brought him home: 

As you can see, the ribby situation is well in hand. Laurie and I joke that one whole rib has been covered. But really, it's more like 5 or 6.   ^_^

Last night's lesson was jump-tastic. Hemie was hot (again! sheesh!) but very willing to get down to business. We are now trotting into the arena to prevent stuck-ness at the gate (apparently common with racehorses), and he's respectful of it. First we did a circle with poles at the quadrants. We went over them or around them, changing it up so he had to pay attention. Worked on that tough right bend, and on moving forward to avoid getting stuck. All went very well. 

He already knows how to change leads, and is very flippant about his lead in the hind legs. In the canter if I ask for bend, or do a half-halt, or shift my weight, he switches leads. Very responsive. A little *too* responsive, but that will get figured out in time.

By the time I thought the lesson was over, Laurie got a mischevious look in her eye and said "he's been so good, let's let him pop over a jump or two."  Turned out to be 4 different jumps, several times each. Here they are.  =)

Small crossrail up to ground pole - working on straightness after jumping. 

We had a mini-run-out at this crossrail - he was eyeing the placing pole *after* the jump (first time we introduced that - not in picutre). I corrected by halting him immediately and turning him towards the jump. We walked over the jump and over the placing pole, so he could get a good look. Then we jumped it fine several times.

White gate, this time one notch higher than the last time we did it.

He was nervous over these plastic thingys, but a little grumbling got him over. Downhill too.

Green gate. 

 I was nervous about the green gate - definately larger than anything we'd done, and more solid-looking. She had us circle it closely for him to get an eye-full, then she had us approach at the walk and turn left (before the jump), then approach at the walk and turn right. As we approached his ears perked up, he had ZERO wiggle in his body, and a little spring in his step. Laurie and I both giggled - he wanted to jump it from the walk! We trotted up to it and he flew over it like a pro. Well, he added like an extra 6" for good measure, but he'll soon learn where the jump is relative to his legs and feet.

On a random tangent, here is a photo of my tack storage area at the barn. Everyone know's its mine by the sheer number of pink buckets. Its a nifty little set-up, large enough to hold my stuff but small enough to encourage being organized.

First XC Outing

This Sunday was Hemie's 7th birthday! To celebrate he got extra carrots in his feed. But to be honest he worked really really hard on Sunday so he more than earned it.

I tacked up and longed, an especially forward longe given Saturday's antics, then Laurie decided to hop on first. Fine by me. Kind of already answers my question from a few days ago about whether to start having training rides put on him. Answer is yes.

Hemie was a bit sassy. He got stuck several times, and was googly-eyed several times as well. Still feeling his oats, I believe. After getting stuck for like the 3rd or 4th time, I asked Laurie if she thought he was evading. She made it clear in no uncertain terms that he is not evading, as that term implies that the horse knows what to do and is being naughty. Rather, he is doing what he was taught. Racehorses are not asked to do a fast walk nor an extended trot. They slow walk, jig, trot for a little bit, then canter and gallop. IE, Hemie is interpreting cues to increase speed and motion as cues to upward transition. Okay, that makes sense. I was interpreting his frustration and confusion as naughtiness. Nope. I stand happily corrected.

Well by the time Laurie did her training ride, he was covered in sweat. We hosed him down (with saddle on >.<) then loaded him on trailer (again with saddle on >.<) for the 1/4 mile down the road to the Meadows. It was time for Hemie to meet nature - logs and ponds and hills and such.

Hemie was a little nervous at the new facility all by himself, but was a true gentleman and was very well behaved. We started off in the facility's warm up arena, and I had a mini lesson there, including a small stadium jump. Here are my main takeways:

• Do not combine the bending-right school with any other lessons, such as getting past googly-eyed things. Tight turns are okay. Make sure I can feel the bend in the body, not just a hip swing (which he is good at).
• USE OUTSIDE REIN for turns. Outside, not inside. Square and straight = balance (for now).
• When approaching jump, use DIRECT REIN. Do not "close the door" on the drifting side. Laurie would rather me turn him directly and have to jump sideways than see me "neck rein" for directing him. I learned this the other day but needed to learn it again, apparently. Sheesh, self!

Then we moved into the XC area. We went directly to the pond to teach him about water. Walking through the field to get there, he was definitely tense and googly-eyed. It was mildly entertaining that he thought the flowers and trees and solid jumps were all potential threats. Guess they don't have much of those at the track!

I'm truly blessed to have a trainer with so much OTTB experience. I've read books and articles, but I really need her to tell me the same stuff in a lesson, when the actual ride is happening. Laurie has been emphasizing that he is a trained horse and that those jockeys and exercise riders do not tolerate shying or disobedience. Therefore, it is important that I keep that up - force him past those objects, just as a jockey would force him past a hot-dog vendor for the first time.

Okay, back to the water. There were swarms of bees and I was a tad nervous about getting stung (I'm allergic), but more concerned about Hemie getting stung (he hates bugs), but luckily we avoided any pest trouble. Hemie was a tad nervous, but he never got light up front and with a helping hand from Laurie and a "lead in" from her dog Zen, Hemie was soon tromping around like a pro. In fact, after a minute or so, he even liked it!

We were feeling quite accomplished for the day, but one of the owners of the Meadows reminded us that we could school stadium jumps that are out in the field. We picked a tiny little one with wooden slats so it looked a little more cross-country-ish than the standard white jumps. Unfortunately Hemie was getting nervous and trying to exit stage right. We worked on it for a bit, but there were some younger gals riding and we were kinda disrupting their flow, so Laurie just had us pick a different jump out of their way. Actually, it was a small little log, so it was technically a cross country jump. =D

We had to jump it from a walk the first time, then he tried to exit stage right again (towards home). My instinct was to try to keep in straight, but Laurie told me to turn him LEFT. She stressed that when he wants to go one way, I need to tell him to go the exact *other* way instead of trying to keep to my original course. Must keep in back pocket for future use.

We circled back and did the log 2 or 3 times at the trot. =) I'm counting it as our first cross country jump. Hooray for us!

Hemie had Monday off but I'm gonna go see him tonight, then a lesson tomorrow. 

First Fall Off

My goodness, this weekend was Bohemian-tastic! Unfortunately I don't have any new photos, but I've got stories. Boy, do I have stories.

Saturday I had a mid-morning lesson. I was excited to see what Laurie would come up with next for us following our great jumping lesson Wednesday evening. Longed Hemie and he was relaxed and obedient. Hopped on and went into the arena - he was feeling good, maybe a tad lazy. 60 seconds later he started freaking out, hopping up and down like a deer. Then he started doing a bit of a spin. Kinda like Booker T's "Spinaroonie":

Okay, maybe not exactly like that. But you get the drift. In that moment, I really only had 2 options I could think of:
1. Relax, stay cool, and hope he calms down.
2. Use some aids and try to get him to stop.

Well, I picked option #1. Yeah, I picked wrong. For whatever reason, in that moment I thought that touching is mouth or his sides would activate racehorse mode, and I didn't want to do that. Instead I felt my balance start to shift forward....then a little too far forward. Then I had another 2 options:
1. Just slide off.
2. Cling like a monkey (nod to SprinklerBandit terminology here).

Yep. I picked #1 again. For some reason I thought monkey cling might activate racehorse mode. So I slid right off and landed on my back in the dirt. I was wearing my vest so it was no big deal. Hemie promptly stopped and looked at me like "What are you doing on the ground, Mom?"  (Funny enough, I was planning to try a flying dismount at the trot today to see how he'd react. He passed the test.)

What the heck just happened? look on my face.


Laurie yells "You must have girthed him way too tight!" We check the girth - nope, not tight at all. In fact, a little loose. We were kinda stumped. Bee sting? Some other tack irritation?

Laurie hopped on and at Hemie's first sign of trouble she whipped him into a tight little circle (that horse can CROSS his hinds!!!). The verdict: he's feeling fresh, but was too obedient to "let it out" in the round pen the first time. We put him back in the pen and asked for a very forward canter. Then I got on and we proceeded to have a very interesting lesson. Here's the main points:

• We are now implementing an ever higher level of contact, especially with outside rein. 
• We are not tolerating head tossing - head tossing results in stronger contact until he stops, then a release. 
• Right bend was challenging for us in one corner-pit area of the arena. Need to work on more.
• When feeling frisky, Hemie gets "stuck" going up and down and needs to be told to move forward.
• Interestingly, he gets annoyed maintaining the trot, and it is OK for us to canter around until he relaxes. At least for now. Picking our battles here. (Good thing trainer told me this, because otherwise I would NOT have allowed canter when he's frisky. Again, don't want to activate racehorse mode!)
• He's not allowed to move quickly past obstacles he googly-eye-looks at. Stopping him is allowed, as is bending his neck away while also moving his shoulders towards it, but absolutely no increase in speed.
• Ask him for more forwardness in the longe. Possibly consider trying to elicit bucks, etc. He's too good to offer them up on his own.

Hemie got some new shavings and another huge bucket of feed. I've got lots of things to meditate on and to practice!

Next post I'll tell you about our first XC schooling which took place on Sunday. =)

Pictures

Here are those pictures from this past Saturday that my fabulous husband took. This is before we introduced any real level of contact with the bit. The goal was to move forward, keep a good tempo, and stay relaxed. Can you tell he was a TV star horse? I think he's rather photogenic and knows where the camera is, but then again I'm quite biased. =]

Our First Stadium Course

I've had Bohemian for 2-and-a-half weeks, and we've successfully completed our first jumping course (trotting). Yes, there were only 3 jumps, and yes, they were so small he could have tripped over them (and he did). But it counts. And more importantly, everyone had a blast!

So here is the course. Jump 1 is the black and yellow crossrail. Then left turn to cavaletti with green flower box, then down and around to orange vertical. After we got around a few times, we did our first quasi-solid jump, a small white gate.

Jump 1

Jump 3 vertical, disassembled. No standards.

White Gate (stand alone fence after course). Jump 2 cavaletti and flower box in distance.

Words really can't do justice to just how proud and impressed I am by Hemie's willingness and attitude. He's simply a natural.  He's still googly-eyed at flower boxes and the plastic jump boxes, and we had another spook at a horse-eating bunny scuttling around in the orchards, but he is so willing to just keep going and get right back down to business. 

We are working on straightness during the last few strides to the jump. He likes to bend his neck one way, bend his body another, and cock his head. I feel like I'm riding a pretzel. With Spirit, when I felt her squiggle it meant a run out or refusal was coming and I would need to "shut the door" - ie, if she drifted right (normally accompanied by bending left), I stop it by adding right leg and half-halt on right rein to make her straighten up. Well it turns out this method (and habit at this point) is *not* appropriate for teaching an uber-green horse straightness. To get him to move his body left, I need to pull his left rein. Amazing. I'll have to work on that. Kind of embarrassing to say!

After each jump Hemie picked up the most lovely, light, uphill canter and carried himself with a bit more pride and perkiness. He understood from the pats and coos that he is just the best boy ever. 

Before jumping, we worked on him moving off the leg in both directions. He moves off my left leg much more actively than he does my right leg. Something to keep working on. We also tried seeing if he would keep his tempo when I went from solid outside rein contact to releasing both reins, then picking up the outside again. He did pretty good, but its an exercise we will need to continue. He has a good tempo and we're teaching him to keep it even with change in contact. He is naturally responding to half-halts quite impressively. 

This weekend we will have another lesson on Saturday and hopefully our first cross country outing on Sunday! I'm not saying "schooling" because I don't think we'll be jumping - just walking around out in the terrain, introducing him to water and hills and such. So far I haven't taken him on a trail ride. Not even hand-walking. The time has come for Hemie to meet nature!

Our First Vertical

I didn't get a lesson this past weekend (although I did do some riding and my husband came and took pics - will upload soon!), so I took an extra lesson Monday night to make up for it.

Hemie was a bit fired up in the round pen. New procedure from commander Laurie is to be a bit less concerned with keeping him calm and more concerned about him not cutting corners in the round pen, and ensuring he respects my body language to force him to stay out in the circle. We are also working on keeping tension on the longe line at all times - a light but steady contact.

I hopped on and he was a good boy. First we did flat work, and we are also changing this up as well. Instead of just a very light but steady contact, I'm now asking for solid, direct contact with the outside rein. Its okay if his head is pointed outwards, though tugs on inside rein are okay to prevent him from getting too crooked. Hemie is no longer plunging his head downward or shifting his head around wondering where to put it - he found a comfortable place to put it, accepts light contact, although at this point there is no "shape".

He was really good about accepting a firmer contact with the outside rein. It took me a few minutes to figure out that Laurie was giving me *new* instructions, but  then we all got on the same page. For some reason its difficult for me to keep such a firm hold of his outside rein: (A) it feels crooked, and (B) it feels mean. I just have to keep telling myself that we're teaching him to hold it, but I have to show him how to do it first by holding it for both of us. He's not insulted by it, so I shouldn't be. And even if he was, that's part of training.

We also worked on on me keeping some contact during downward transitions, so as to not let his nose get even further from his body (it's already quite far - again, no shape yet at this point). He was very willing, and automatically kept his body uphill and light as a result of it. He is responding to half-halts, but I still need to work on getting him moving forward off of leg contact. I'm still clucking and bouncing my legs, although I'm using the whip to tap his shoulder a bit more. I just need to stop nagging and start telling.

We did some trot poles and he was a rockstar from the first. It wasn't long before we had a crossrail, then moved up to the vertical. At first I was very light on the reins, but then straightness became an issue, as he wanted to bend his neck and wiggle his body. We got over it with more contact, and I'm sure we'll find a better flow and balance of contact with releasing over the jump (not my strong suit - normally I either hold on too long or let go too soon).

Regularly scheduled lesson is tonight. I'm wondering if I should starting having Laurie put training rides on him in lieu of a lesson every so often. I never really did that with Spirit, but mostly because she wasn't my horse and I cared more about us both participating than in her training in general. With Hemie, I want it done *right*.  Thoughts?