# A Balancing Act



## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Abandoned my other thread because of some stuff happening at Pony Club. But, when I was updating it I found it really helpful in being more regular with what I did with Ninja. That’s why I’m making this! 

I’m not sure if it’s come across in my posts yet, but I am terrible at time management. Seriously, it’s a problem ;^; As I mentioned earlier, it improved when I was tracking everything (well…it helped with the horse stuff. Let’s forget about school for now xD)

I suppose I’ll start this off with some goals of mine. Some of the short-term ones first:

1)	I want to introduce clicker training. I wasn’t really planning on, because I feel like it would make him very grabby. But I watched a video where the lady had tought her horse to move his head away, and in general the horse looked really respectful towards her, so I thought I’d give it a go. In addition, it usually doesn’t take very long – I believe you’re supposed to start with around 10-15 minutes per session? So I can just do it after he’s done with dinner.
I will just use it for tricks though, because I prefer the natural horsemanship methods for the more ‘serious’ stuff
2)	More regular riding & work. I’ve been slacking off these past few weeks, what with how rainy and terrible it was, but the days have been getting longer so it’s the perfect time to do some more work. 
3)	Learn to vault. Just cos’, really.
4)	Clean up our presentation. We look kind of scruffy. Nothing too extreme, I don’t think. Just clipping the long hairs off his legs and jaw/neck, keeping his mane out of the way, plus whatever I have to do for my uniform and all that.
And for the long-term goals:
1)	Tackless riding…but who doesn’t lol. I have a lot to work on before I can even think about it but, it’s one of my biggest goals. 
2)	All of those fancy tricks! I follow this guy on Insta who does shows and his horse is so cool. He does vaulting (like the flippy stuff and all that, not just getting on) and bowing and rearing and lying down and it’s SO cool.

I’m really excited to start working on that clicker stuff now. I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it, but it looks really fun! 

Also, here are some photos that I’ve been ITCHING to show off. A fancy show person came and helped pretty him up and he looked so good.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Good luck! I don't think you look scruffy at all.

Clicker is a blast, and horses usually learn it very quickly. Make sure you have a list of things to teach -- my horse ran through my whole lesson plan and then was like, okay what next? I could only say, um, I'll go do some more reading ...

But please don't get overly wedded to Natural Horsemanship. In many cases it causes behavior problems that cannot be solved within its philosophy. At least, 90% of the threads about NH are about problems that only seem to occur with it, and then the posters won't do anything to solve the problems because they don't want to go outside the NH guidelines. Frustrating to read. A big training toolbox is the sign of a good trainer.

Tackless riding is a romantic dream of a lot of younger and/or inexperienced people. What they do not understand is that firstly, it is not something that anyone does as a regular thing, but more of a demonstration of how their horse is trained to understand leg and weight-shift cues instead of bridle cues. Off camera the horses are usually ridden in regular tack. There really are good reasons why tack has been a standard part of the very highest quality horsemanship for thousands of years.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Avna said:


> Good luck! I don't think you look scruffy at all.


Haha, you should see us compared to the other girls in my group! One of them is the showy type, and she always looks immaculate. Plus her horse is just gorgeous...he has that _massive_ trot you see in the dressage horses.



Avna said:


> Clicker is a blast, and horses usually learn it very quickly. Make sure you have a list of things to teach -- my horse ran through my whole lesson plan and then was like, okay what next? I could only say, um, I'll go do some more reading ...


I actually have like, a whole page in Word of tricks I want to teach. But I have to say, I won't be mad if he learns them quickly!



Avna said:


> But please don't get overly wedded to Natural Horsemanship. In many cases it causes behavior problems that cannot be solved within its philosophy. At least, 90% of the threads about NH are about problems that only seem to occur with it, and then the posters won't do anything to solve the problems because they don't want to go outside the NH guidelines. Frustrating to read. A big training toolbox is the sign of a good trainer.


Oh, I'd never heard of those sorts of issues. I'll look up some natural horsemanship threads on here and see what they say. I do work with a trainer though, and he's worked with a lot of different types of horses. And from what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem like he just does the same cookie cutter stuff for every horse.
Edit: Maybe we're not doing NH??? I'm really confused as to what it actually is now. I always thought it was using your body language in a way the horse understands, but in a couple of these threads they're saying that NH is all about positive reinforcement, which I don't do any of. I guess it doesn't really matter, it's just confusing lol.



Avna said:


> Tackless riding is a romantic dream of a lot of younger and/or inexperienced people. What they do not understand is that firstly, it is not something that anyone does as a regular thing, but more of a demonstration of how their horse is trained to understand leg and weight-shift cues instead of bridle cues. Off camera the horses are usually ridden in regular tack. There really are good reasons why tack has been a standard part of the very highest quality horsemanship for thousands of years.


Aww, spoil my dreams >.< Joking, joking, but yeah. I know that it's not an everyday thing, but just as a goal, I think it's okay? Just like, one day I want to be able to jump a metre, or do grade 1 dressage, but I wouldn't expect to ride iike that every day.
Dunno if that makes sense...but thanks for your feedback! I'm actually surprised someone made it all the way through haha.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

28/7/19
Whoops! It's been a while. I'll update with everything that happened this week quickly, lol! >.<

Ok, so Sunday was a Pony Club rally at my Pony Club's partner. First, we had groundwork, which was pretty cool. 
We did 3 exercises. The first was getting the horse to move 90 degrees around you, with its head facing you. I was a bit wishy-washy with the whip (I apologized out loud when the instructor got me to hit him a bit harder, which was embarrassing, to say the least). The next was similar, except to have them continue walking around you with their body parallel instead of facing you. That was a bit harder, my whip was too long so I had to have it facing upwards, and I wasn't coordinated enough. The third was lunging, and I didn't think his method really worked for us, but I gave it a go anyway.

The next session was dressage, and Ninja was the only one who kept getting the wrong lead, even when the instructor pulled us aside and worked with us. But, he did really well after that. Super relaxed.

The third was jumping. We started out in the jumping lane, and that was really fun! We were working towards doing it with no reins, and I got that in trot, and I had the reins loose in canter. I couldn't drop them completely though, because he was starting to run at the people at the end of the lane and I was worried he'd turn quickly and throw me.
After that we switched to a jump course, which went well as well. We did a dazzle (is that what it's called? The wiggly thing) and he had a bit of a look but went over it eventually.

I'll put some photos here. And I think I'll update the rest of what I did in a separate post. There was the cutest little white pony called Midnight, she was the FLUFFIEST little puffball ever :loveshower:


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

If you have a good rapport with your horse and an enclosed arena, you can start doing tackless riding right away.

When I was 14, I was working as a chore girl at a snooty riding camp. The campers looked down on me because I wasn't rich and my horse was a Wyoming cowpony unlike their elegant thoroughbreds. One day, the kids were talking about riding without tack, and I said I did it regularly with my horse. I didn't have an arena but I rode him in our pasture like that, and I knew he'd be good. Their mouths dropped open when I did a figure 8 course of jumps on him without a saddle or bridle. After that, the kids and instructors had a lot more respect for me and were much nicer to me. They asked me to teach some of the older girls to ride tackless, and we did a demonstration at their end of the year horseshow.

Just last year I got to spend a weekend with Alycia Burton, who does amazing things tackless, and she did a tackless clinic for 2 evenings. One cool thing she does which I did not think to do, was she touches her horse on different places on his neck and shoulders depending on what she wants him to do. Also, she said that her horse Goldrush is actually not a good candidate for free riding. He's very forward and hard to control. But he's what she had, so she trained him to ride tackless because she loves it. Besides being an incredibly talented rider, I discovered she is a truly caring and charismatic person. She takes the time to listen and talk to every single person who wanted to be near her. She makes each person feel like they really matter. If you get to see her, or even watch a lot of her videos, you will be quite inspired.
https://www.littlethings.com/alycia-burton-horse-trainer/


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

knightrider said:


> If you have a good rapport with your horse and an enclosed arena, you can start doing tackless riding right away.
> 
> When I was 14, I was working as a chore girl at a snooty riding camp. The campers looked down on me because I wasn't rich and my horse was a Wyoming cowpony unlike their elegant thoroughbreds. One day, the kids were talking about riding without tack, and I said I did it regularly with my horse. I didn't have an arena but I rode him in our pasture like that, and I knew he'd be good. Their mouths dropped open when I did a figure 8 course of jumps on him without a saddle or bridle. After that, the kids and instructors had a lot more respect for me and were much nicer to me. They asked me to teach some of the older girls to ride tackless, and we did a demonstration at their end of the year horseshow.
> 
> ...


I love Alycia Burton! She's actually why I got into tackless riding (well, watching other people do it). 

I think I'll teach him to neckrein in the arena first, and then do bareback, then start just using a neckstrap with a bridle there just in case. He's only 5, so he doesn't know a lot yet. I did try getting on bareback right off the bat once, with no tack warmup, and he bolted when I was getting on >.<


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

29/7/19

Had the first private lesson in a while (my brother got a detention, the loser) - godDAMN was it hard!! He was using his hindend and really pushing, especially in the trot. We covered so much ground, it felt like 3 strides for the entire longside! We were struggling in the canter though...he was still picking up the wrong lead on the left rein consistantly, and he wouldn't turn! Had to run him into the fence, and I got my leg crushed against it (( But all in all, we learnt a lot! I definitely want to do more private lessons - just maybe in a couple more weeks lol.

4/8/19

It was the camp! We went to a different place (forgot the name, lol). I didn't actually get to camp, but I went to the rally on the second day. First we had dressage in the indoor arena, and he was great. He picked up the right lead after only one or two tries, and he turned really well! I think it was because I was anticipating the turn, plus there was other people down the end, so I was more insistant. Wouldn't want to run anyone over!! 

After that we had cross country, aaaaand that's not _really_ my thing. If I'm being honest, it scared me crapless and he definitely picks up on that. It's weird, because cross country is the only place he'll actually misbehave. Like, he gets nervous other places, but never like he does on cross country. I think he picks up on the fact that I'm scared of it, and I don't get scared about other stuff, like trail rides or whatever. He was pretty funny though. He picked up a branch and was munching on the leaves. He also did this weird thing, where we were walking to the next jump all relaxed, loose reins, no stirrups, and out of no where he just LEAPS forward. And then he just stops and keeps walking...like yeah, I'm good now, just had to get that outta my system. 
I want to do cross country on my little brother's pony, who is really chill about it, to gain confidence, but my parents say I have to work through it on Ninja first so...I dunno.

And last we had show jumping, and Ninja was an absolute STAR There were poles set out on a twenty metre circle, but only on one side. And a jump, so you'd go over the poles and then turn to the jump. He did so well!!!! The instructor kept going 'wow!!' and stuff. He was tucking his legs in like a fancy show jumper!! (apparantley, my dad didn't get any photos so I couldn't see). We jumped the highest we've done so far - around 75cm. And we did an A-frame! He turns into some kind of seasoned veteran in the show jumping ring, I swear. He's just like, hang in there, I've got this. 

5/8/19

Mum said I should give Ninja a break, so I rode someone else for the lesson. I started out on Paris, who's a little Australian pony we're bringing back into work after a 6month break - she tore a muscle. She's SO fun to ride!! And after that I moved onto Splash, who has ringbone and is on-and-off lame. She's really sensitive! And she's got the best trot to sit to, it's so smooth. I think if she was easier to stop and not lame, she'd be great to trail ride. You can trot all day on her, it's great.
I really enjoyed riding different horses - it's nice to see how the skills I'm learning on Ninja apply to everyone else.

I probably won't ride til' Saturday, cos ah...I may have procrastinated on some schoolwork a bit too much. But, on Sunday Riders Without Horses are doing some horse soccer, and I want to do that on Ninja, so I'm gonna try and bring him along. We'll see how it goes.

And some more photos!!


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## thedartmoorlover (Jul 23, 2019)

He's so lovely. You're really lucky. I don't do pony club, though I would love to. We don't have our own transport nor the money to get a trailer/box. Neither do we have the money to actually sign up to it. Who knows what they'd think of my home trained, spoilt, scruffy little pony! Maybe one day I'll get to do it. My mums gotten a new job recently, it's a lot better pay so maybe next year! You're doing great with him. Keep it up! 🙂


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

thedartmoorlover said:


> He's so lovely. You're really lucky. I don't do pony club, though I would love to. We don't have our own transport nor the money to get a trailer/box. Neither do we have the money to actually sign up to it. Who knows what they'd think of my home trained, spoilt, scruffy little pony! Maybe one day I'll get to do it. My mums gotten a new job recently, it's a lot better pay so maybe next year! You're doing great with him. Keep it up! 🙂


I know, I love him :mrgreen:

You definitely should! I don't know how it is where you are, but here it's loads of fun! Not competitive, and super supportive  At my pony club, we've got everything from mounted games people, to Grade 1 eventers, to showies, to open dressage, to pleasure riders. So everyone fits in!

And thank you very much! (^○^)


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## CopperLove (Feb 14, 2019)

The two of you look good together  I wanted to chime in after I read your first post...

If you are having trouble with time-management, look up "calendar blocking"!

It's all about visually planning your week out and putting it down somewhere, preferably in literal colored-in blocks. You can do it in a paper planner, a bullet journal, or a digital calendar like Google Calendar (I tend to do mine this way now since I sit in front of a computer most of the day for work, but I did it in an hourly paper planer before I started this job.)

If you want to try it and go the paper planner rout, I highly recommend the "Passion Planner", it has additional space for recording your monthly and weekly goals. But, any daily planner that sections out days by the hour will work. I never liked regular journaling but I LOVE visually taking my life-schedule into my own hands. I think since you've already lined out specific goals for yourself, and you mention that your journaling here helps you keep track of horse-related things but not school, it would help you keep track of things, balance your time, and I think you'd enjoy it too!


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

CopperLove said:


> The two of you look good together  I wanted to chime in after I read your first post...


Aw, thank you!



CopperLove said:


> If you are having trouble with time-management, look up "calendar blocking"!
> 
> It's all about visually planning your week out and putting it down somewhere, preferably in literal colored-in blocks. You can do it in a paper planner, a bullet journal, or a digital calendar like Google Calendar (I tend to do mine this way now since I sit in front of a computer most of the day for work, but I did it in an hourly paper planer before I started this job.)
> 
> If you want to try it and go the paper planner rout, I highly recommend the "Passion Planner", it has additional space for recording your monthly and weekly goals. But, any daily planner that sections out days by the hour will work. I never liked regular journaling but I LOVE visually taking my life-schedule into my own hands. I think since you've already lined out specific goals for yourself, and you mention that your journaling here helps you keep track of horse-related things but not school, it would help you keep track of things, balance your time, and I think you'd enjoy it too!


Thank you for the suggestion! I've tried normal diaries and stuff before; my problem is that I never check them. I think that your idea would work well though, because I like colouring stuff in and making it all pretty. I just looked up Passion Planner as well, and they're super cute. I'll definitely look into getting one! Thank you again D


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## CopperLove (Feb 14, 2019)

@duskexx Oh I also forgot to mention! (I was just looking on their website because telling you about them reminded me how much I love them :lol: ) They have a "Free Downloads" section on their website where you can download your choice of interior, totally free. You can then print it off and hole-punch it to put in a binder, or if you have a local print shop they can probably spiral bind and put a cover on it for you a lot cheaper than you can buy one off the site. That's what I did when I was using one constantly... I would download the interior, print it and spiral bind it with a laminated cover of my own artwork and whatever backing the print-shop had. So don't think you HAVE to spend $35 to get the planner. You can download the pages for free and try it out first and make whatever cover you want.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

> I want to do cross country on my little brother's pony, who is really chill about it, to gain confidence, but my parents say I have to work through it on Ninja first so...I dunno.


How much do your parents understand about fear and riding? Most of the time when you are anxious about doing a certain activity with a certain horse, it does not work very well to just keep trying to do it. I'm not saying it can't be done, but for most people, it works better if they can do that activity with a quiet safe calm horse. They keep doing it with the calm horse until they feel really confident, then they can try again with the horse that worries them. Do your parents know this?

Making you continue doing cross country with Ninja might not be the best way to overcome your fear. It tends to make the fear worse for many people.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

@CopperLove , I just got the free 3 month one in the emails! I'm gonna print it off at school tomorrow (well, some of it, I'd look weird standing there printing 50 pages!) 
@knightrider , I'm not sure. I think they might be overestimating how confident I am? Or maybe they don't know how different he is? I guess they might not want me to ruin the horse either...I suppose I should just ask them again. I think if I got a lesson on Ninja at a cross country course with my instructor, even if it was normal schooling, it would help a lot. Because most of it is that I don't actually think I can stop whatever he throws at me - especially when there are other horses. He ran up another horse's butt, and I didn't stop him in time. I'm really lucky that horse didn't double barrel him.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll speak to them. Thank you both!


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## Jolly101 (Jul 2, 2018)

> I think I'll teach him to neckrein in the arena first, and then do bareback, then start just using a neckstrap with a bridle there just in case. He's only 5, so he doesn't know a lot yet. I did try getting on bareback right off the bat once, with no tack warmup, and he bolted when I was getting on >.<



That's a good plan to start. Keep in mind what Avna mentioned about riding tackless being a finishing act. There is quite a bit of training under tack before one can successfully ride without. Not just neck reining, but your horse should be able to stop, go and turn with seat, as well as be able to bend and perform lateral without the help of any rein. Train so that your horse is moving off the smallest possible cue you can make. If he moves off X amount of leg, try getting him to move sideways off an even smaller amount of pressure. if he is moving well off leg, see If he will move off seat alone etc. 





> Had the first private lesson in a while (my brother got a detention, the loser) - godDAMN was it hard!! He was using his hindend and really pushing, especially in the trot. We covered so much ground, it felt like 3 strides for the entire longside! We were struggling in the canter though...he was still picking up the wrong lead on the left rein consistantly, and he wouldn't turn! Had to run him into the fence, and I got my leg crushed against it (( But all in all, we learnt a lot! I definitely want to do more private lessons - just maybe in a couple more weeks lol.



Has he always had difficulty in turning in the canter? have you investigated if this is a physical issue?



I ask this because It reminds me of what has happened with my horse in the past. he started having subtle difficulty turning to the left (wouldn't turn with only my seat), then it very slowly became worse and worse. He'd do everything else okay and never looked off, so my trainers thought he was just stiff. However, I had the suspicion that it was something else as he was never a horse to fight against me. I went through a few vets until we finally found out his coffin bone on the left was tipped and unlevel due to shoeing! Once that was fixed, that problem went away. Of course, It could also just be training, but I thought I'd mention It just in case. 





> Clean up our presentation. We look kind of scruffy. Nothing too extreme, I don’t think. Just clipping the long hairs off his legs and jaw/neck, keeping his mane out of the way, plus whatever I have to do for my uniform and all that.



You two already look good, but here are a few ideas to polish up your uniform for shows and events:


Tuck in your polo shirt and add a belt
Add a pair of clean half chaps
Add a pair of black gloves
french braid hair. For a show: french braid your hair and then run the end of the braid up and underneath the french braid and secure into place. Then, add a hairnet.
secure the extra nylon material from your helmet out of the way. I do this by using black braiding elastics as extra keepers, then twist the left over material around the harness, so that It is not hanging down.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Jolly101 said:


> That's a good plan to start. Keep in mind what Avna mentioned about riding tackless being a finishing act. There is quite a bit of training under tack before one can successfully ride without. Not just neck reining, but your horse should be able to stop, go and turn with seat, as well as be able to bend and perform lateral without the help of any rein. Train so that your horse is moving off the smallest possible cue you can make. If he moves off X amount of leg, try getting him to move sideways off an even smaller amount of pressure. if he is moving well off leg, see If he will move off seat alone etc.


Thank you for the other steps! I've been trying to get him to halt off of just seat - and I guess turning would be putting your weight on different sides? Some instructors have been teaching that, and he actually does move off of it a bit. I think I could be giving him rein and leg queues as well subconsciously. 



Jolly101 said:


> Has he always had difficulty in turning in the canter? have you investigated if this is a physical issue?
> 
> 
> 
> I ask this because It reminds me of what has happened with my horse in the past. he started having subtle difficulty turning to the left (wouldn't turn with only my seat), then it very slowly became worse and worse. He'd do everything else okay and never looked off, so my trainers thought he was just stiff. However, I had the suspicion that it was something else as he was never a horse to fight against me. I went through a few vets until we finally found out his coffin bone on the left was tipped and unlevel due to shoeing! Once that was fixed, that problem went away. Of course, It could also just be training, but I thought I'd mention It just in case.


Yeah, it's been there since I first started riding. In the beginning, he couldn't do a circle at all because of how unbalanced he was. Now he can, but there are times he's great and other times he goes back a few steps. He went really well last ride though. If it's irregular, would that just be training, or how he is feeling on that day?

I did get the massage person out, and the only place he was stiff/tense was in his jaw and neck - maybe that could have affected it? And I'm getting the saddle fitter out, but I think it would fit fine cos' his back wasn't sore.



Jolly101 said:


> You two already look good, but here are a few ideas to polish up your uniform for shows and events:
> 
> 
> Tuck in your polo shirt and add a belt
> ...


Thanks! I'll use your tips. Time to go to the shops again, haha!


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## Jolly101 (Jul 2, 2018)

> Thank you for the other steps! I've been trying to get him to halt off of just seat - and I guess turning would be putting your weight on different sides? Some instructors have been teaching that, and he actually does move off of it a bit. I think I could be giving him rein and leg queues as well subconsciously


Yes and no. It's harder to describe, but I think the video below does a good job of It. It's really the whole upper body + hips that influences the weight. So as she describes, when you look in your direction of travel, your shoulders turn and hips, which puts more weight on your inner seat bone. When you become aware of It and only use as much as needed, then your horse becomes more attune to It. 

Since everything is all related, your weight cue can mean different things, depending on what your legs and shoulders are doing. Leg yielding sideways can be a direct shift in weight to the outside, but your upper body and both legs stay as if you are travelling straight. You can use the same weight cue in order to widen a circle (spiraling out), but your upper body and legs ask the horse to stay in a bend. 








> Yeah, it's been there since I first started riding. In the beginning, he couldn't do a circle at all because of how unbalanced he was. Now he can, but there are times he's great and other times he goes back a few steps. He went really well last ride though. If it's irregular, would that just be training, or how he is feeling on that day?
> 
> I did get the massage person out, and the only place he was stiff/tense was in his jaw and neck - maybe that could have affected it? And I'm getting the saddle fitter out, but I think it would fit fine cos' his back wasn't sore.


It could be a matter of training If he has done It since the beginning, but I'd keep an eye on It just in case. I like to keep a log for health and training. Anytime I have difficulty in a certain exercise or direction, I jot it down. I also write down If the vet, farrier or chiro mention something in particular and If I personally notice If the horse looks sore. That way, you can compare notes and see If there is a reoccurring pattern If something does come up in the future.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Jolly101 said:


> Yes and no. It's harder to describe, but I think the video below does a good job of It. It's really the whole upper body + hips that influences the weight. So as she describes, when you look in your direction of travel, your shoulders turn and hips, which puts more weight on your inner seat bone. When you become aware of It and only use as much as needed, then your horse becomes more attune to It.
> 
> Since everything is all related, your weight cue can mean different things, depending on what your legs and shoulders are doing. Leg yielding sideways can be a direct shift in weight to the outside, but your upper body and both legs stay as if you are travelling straight. You can use the same weight cue in order to widen a circle (spiraling out), but your upper body and legs ask the horse to stay in a bend.


Neat, I'll check out that video! I want to learn how to use subtler queues, so I think it'll be really good to learn this stuff 



Jolly101 said:


> It could be a matter of training If he has done It since the beginning, but I'd keep an eye on It just in case. I like to keep a log for health and training. Anytime I have difficulty in a certain exercise or direction, I jot it down. I also write down If the vet, farrier or chiro mention something in particular and If I personally notice If the horse looks sore. That way, you can compare notes and see If there is a reoccurring pattern If something does come up in the future.


That's a good idea! I'll start writing down all that - I have the notes from the massues and my mum is an equine padaeotherapist, so she can tell me anything that's wrong with his feet. Plus all the riding and behaviour stuff.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Finishing up a school project & waiting for something to finish downloading. Figured I'd put a quick update in here while I'm waiting!

Haven't managed to ride since Monday, though I wasn't expecting to, honestly. This rotation is finishing up so all of the assignments and tests are due this week. But, I'm hoping to get Ninja out tomorrow and give him a good groom. I should probably ride, but I'm not really feeling up to it. Plus, his tail is looking disgusting so I want to fix it up. 

I am going to ride on Saturday though! I'm taking Ninja to the Riders without Horses program, so we can play with the soccer ball. I'm really excited, I haven't done anything fun like this since we did polocrosse months ago.

Anywho it's done now, so I'll update tomorrow after the grooming.

Also I printed off the first couple of sheets for the planner, and I'm gonna fill them out after I've done with this D


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Well this had to be the most inconvenient time to start storming! Seriously, it hasn't so much as drizzled in weeks and it decides to do this now? D:<

I got a day of school, at least, cos a tree fell at the gate. But there's nothing I can do at home because it's raining so much. Hope it clears up soon at least.

Oh, and riders without horses is going to be canceled. No soccer for us! 

Oh well. I'll stop complaining now. Was just kinda annoyed. It's easing up now a bit.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Yesterday I got him out and gave him a groom. Washed his legs, trimmed his mane, and gave him a good curry (and an arm workout for me). It started raining just as I was putting him away, which was good timing. I was going to ride Paris last night, but my mum's pony started colicing. It was freakin' terrifying. She kept trying to lie down while I was leading her around and I was flipping out internally. She's fine though, but it was still an experience, to say the least.

Anyway, I have a lesson tonight, unless it starts raining. I'm really excited, I haven't ridden Ninja in over a week. He was being pretty nervous/reactive when I got him out yesterday, which is a bit odd. My fault for leaving him alone for a week though, so I'll just deal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Had a pretty good lesson. It was really hard for me though, cos' apparently it only takes a week to lose literally all of your fitness. Seriously, I was dying.

He got the right canter leads every time, on both sides this time though. His canter in general was pretty good - no mucking around. Well, at the end he was drifting but I was flopping around like a sack of potatoes so I don't blame him.

My instructor is going away for a month this week though, so I won't have any more lessons for a while. I want to get a jumping lesson with an instructor from Pony Club, mostly for Ninja cos' he's loving it. Plus, said instructor was really impressed by how well he was jumping so it would be good to do some more of it, I think.

Anyway, onto my goals. I'm kind of conflicted, because on one hand I want to start doing some more stuff with turning using seat, legs, eyes, etc, but on the other, I should probably get him working well with reins as well. But on the other other hand, it would probably help with the rein work as well, because as the video said, you have to be really clear with what you want the horse to do. And that's definitely something I can improve on.

Maybe I can do the 'reinless' (reins still there, just trying not to use them) stuff for warm-up and cool-down, and just work on other stuff for the rest of the time? Depending on how he is.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

I've got a jumping lesson on Saturday with Saph! I'm really nervous, because jumping is HARD and I'm super unfit. But excited too! I hope Ninja enjoys it 

Anyway, tomorrow I want to do a trail ride, if the parents are home. If not, I might take him on a walk. I think that'll be fun. I mean I'll look like a complete weirdo, but whatever lol. I have ukulele that night and two assignments due on Thursday though, so maybe I won't have enough time...although I could just do them now.

Also weirdly I really want to ride the ponies again. We did a pony swap a while back and I got to ride this little black pony and he was so fun. I have to lose some weight first though. I'm pushing it on Paris, I think. She's 13hh.

Short update but I didn't do much lol. I've been sleeping in, which mucks up the whole day.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Was originally planning on going for a trail ride tonight on Ninja, but mum's gonna be out and we decided that it was best to go another day. Instead, I'm going to take my little pony for a walk. He's getting stifle lock, and my mum says that it will be good to walk him. I'm also going to try and teach Ninja to yield his shoulders on the ground, if I have time.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

I had a jumping clinic yesterday!

We started with poles & grid. The first exercise we did was with 4 poles set out in a square, and we had to trot over two connecting ones. I had to change how many steps he got, from 4 steps to 1. She had two squares set out, so another exercise we did as trotting over the points of each square in a straight line. Ninja did very well, he went super straight and the instructor was very impressed. I think Ninja goes straight and works nicely when he's got something to focus on, like the poles. I say that because when we were trotting or cantering large he was drifting quite a lot.

The next exercises we did were a couple of grids. There was one trot pole grid and one canter pole grid. We did the trot one first, and Ninja tried to canter over it. I focused on half-halts next time though, and he did a lot better. We moved onto the canter one next, starting in trot first then moving to canter. I was so proud that he went through the whole grid without dropping out of canter pretty much every time. When I first got him, he couldn't canter a single pole without trotting.

That's when we finished the first session. 

Next session was jumping. I was in a group with the highest girls at our Pony Club, and to be honest I thought we were going to be falling behind. I was definitely the most inexperienced there, and 14.2hh Ninja looked so small next to all the 16hh horses! But he kept up with everyone else and did just as well if I say so myself.

Anyway, for the trot grid, she put up some cross-rails and a couple of straight bars in bounces and one to two strides. At first, we had to trot in and canter through the grid, but we couldn't pick up the canter like that. Once she took away the trot poles at the start and we could canter through the whole thing we did a lot better though. He was the straightest leading out of the grid out of everyone . 

For the canter grid, she made the canter poles at the start a bit longer, to open up the horses' canter. She put the end canter poles into a cross rail and then a straight bar. His canter was really big too, especially once the jumps got bigger. 


Also, kind of random, but his walk was so good. He was really stretching down and everything, and it's nice that he can chill out when doing something he gets excited about. We also walked around the cross-country course before the clinic, and he was so chill. Whoever said that singing helps with nerves was so right too - my brother was trotting back home and I felt Ninja getting a bit keyed up, but he didn't do anything and I could ask him to turn back without a tantrum.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

Oh and I've been trying to teach him to yield his shoulders on the ground and then riding, cos' I'm hoping it'll help with his drifting problem. He gets it sometimes, but mostly he just goes sideways. It's hard because I'll reward him for moving his front legs, then he'll move his hind ones and I don't know how to tell him "You were right with just your front legs, keep the back ones still". My dad said he would come and help next time though.

Tiny rant as well: My mum asked if I could ride Bobby yesterday morning, to see if he was okay to use for the program. I rode him and he wasn't lame, but he seemed lethargic and was stumbling quite a bit and just didn't seem like himself. I told her that I didn't think he was up to it today, and she ignored me and used him anyway. Surprise! He wasn't up to it. He bit my mum when she was trying to tighten his girth for the second session, he was being really lazy (not like him) and a lot more argumentative than he normally is. At least she'll listen to me next time.

Anyway. Some photos.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Congratulations on the successful jumping clinic! You are really making progress with Ninja! Maybe your parents will start respecting your opinions? You are showing everyone you can do it!


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

knightrider said:


> Congratulations on the successful jumping clinic! You are really making progress with Ninja! Maybe your parents will start respecting your opinions? You are showing everyone you can do it!


Thank you!! He's been going so awesome recently, I can't wait til' summer so we get to do more without the rain and wind!! And I'm hoping they will...though to be fair on them, I do tend to be more wishy-washy with the horses then I should, haha.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

I was looking at bareback pads. I was thinking that doing trail rides bareback would be good because we've got a lot of hills around our place. Obviously, that'll be really good for Ninja and building muscle, but for me, learning to balance and all that without a saddle I think would help. And I think bareback encourages you to be looser and more relaxed, which I think is the biggest issue I'm having right now. This is the pad I was looking at: https://www.amazon.com/Intrepid-Int...0062JMKYC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8. It only had 2 negative reviews, and those were that the buckle rubbed the horse, but we have long girths we can use, so I'm hoping that won't be an issue.

ALSO I worked out which is pretty shocking honestly :grin:. I'm already sore though, and it was only 30 minutes. We have to do 75 minute workouts at school soon :shock: Not looking forward to that, to say the least.

More photos!! These are from last year. Tiger (the cat) is so photogenic.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

We did circuit training yesterday in schools and I'm SO SORE. I finished the circuit and was like, hey that's not too bad! Maybe I'm not as unfit as I thought. Then my body was like haha PSYCHE! 

Anyway, I got Ninja out today for a ride. It was just a short one with mostly walking and a bit of trot. It was getting a tad dark, and I'm still not terribly confident in the arena alone. 

We worked on moving off of my leg and seat a bit more. I tried getting him to go over some zig-zag poles with just seat and legs and we got a couple of poles before he drifted off. He's really good on one side, I don't even need leg, but on the other, he sometimes won't turn even when I use the whip - just starts trotting. We also did some leg yielding and he was pretty good with that too.

I hopped off afterward and did some groundwork. I wanted to try yielding shoulders again, and we got it!! Standing in front of him instead of to the side was what worked. I'm hoping eventually I can just wiggle my finger at his shoulders from anywhere and he'll move them, like with his hindquarters. We also did some liberty. He was actually following me! He looked at me like I was crazy for a couple of steps, then he walked after me. He's such a good boy. I also did some of that free lunging, and he didn't wander off! He went in a circle around me on one side really well, and on the other, he was moving laterally instead of just straight around me. But I'm still really happy with how that went!

Tomorrow I want to go on a trail ride, and then go to the arena and do some groundwork. I'm kind of tempted to do some bareback in the arena. There are horses in the round yard, so I can't use it right now. 

Oh, and I have rock-climbing tomorrow! I'm kind of scared of heights and have no arm strength to speak of, so it might be a disaster...or maybe not, who knows haha.


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

I ended up just giving him a groom because the parents were out and it was too windy for me to bring him out alone.

I washed Ninja's tail, which was getting quite disgusting, and plaited it below the tail bone. Poor sod was getting so scared over the buckets flying everywhere. He dealt with it like a champ though, I couldn't have gotten a calmer horse! He's just outside the house now, since we've got jump club tomorrow and need to get him out early. They're also going to be using him for the practical session of Riders Without Horses, under my supervision. That sounds so professional, haha, I'm just walking next to him so he doesn't run over the little ones.

Adding more things to the list of Stuff I Want to Learn: Driving! I was looking at the Friesian youtube channel and they were taking their horses out on a drive, and it looks so fun! I don't know where you would take them to drive around where I am though...or even how to learn. Mum said to join a carriage driving society and look for instructors there. I think I'll do it this holidays though (28 more days), because it'll be better weather and I'll have more time.

Rock climbing went well too! My arms are crying but I went pretty high on a difficult level so I'm kind of proud of that! Letting go was the worst part, you would go spinning around and knocking into other people's ropes. So stressful, haha!


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## duskexx (May 8, 2019)

I had a really great trail ride today. 

I haven't ridden in about a week. After polocrosse on Saturday, I noticed the right side of his mouth was hard and had a red mark. We're guessing it was an insect bite, but I gave him some time off to let it heal anyway. He had been really difficult to bridle then, and I was worried it was going to become a habit. Today he was a lot easier though, so I'm glad. 

We switched his single jointed snaffle to a Myler bit, and he seemed to go really well in it. I have Pony Club tomorrow though, so that will be the real test, I think.


I went on the trail ride with one of my friends, who is on her first horse who is called Myler ironically. She's only had her for a month or so now, and has already started riding after a 2-year break. She walked up to meet us on our road, and we walked around the block (4km). Ninja was really good, we had to trot to catch up and he didn't muck around at all. He did try to take off a few times, but he wasn't properly bolting or anything. I think he just wanted to make sure Myler didn't get too far ahead. I also wasn't nervous when he did that, which I'm quite happy with. Before, I would have crapped myself.

After that, we walked with them back to their property. There were a lot of sprinklers, and Ninja was completely fine with them. He used to be very scared of them, but this time he just looked at them and kept walking! I was really proud of him, he didn't spook for the whole trail ride. Except for one time when he got his hoof caught in some bark.

He was really good on the way back as well. He knew the way, and all I had to do was hang on, haha. I kept the reins on the buckle and he didn't try to eat much.


Tomorrow at Pony Club we have groundwork, flatwork, and polocrosse, which will be a lot of fun. Poor Ninja doesn't like going near other horses though, as they always try to kick him, and I don't have the heart to make him. We're not going to win any polocrosse competitions in other words.


In other news, I took a one-day clinic with the Barefoot Blacksmiths to learn how to do maintenance trimming. I did a cadaver's hoof and Ninja's, though I admit I may have cheated a bit, as he had already been trimmed only a couple weeks from then. We're also going to get some hoof boots for his back feet, as he toe-drags a bit and is grinding the toe off.

My instructor has come back from her holiday as well, so I'm getting lessons with her again. I also got lessons with the show person I mentioned earlier, who helped make Ninja look pretty. We're going to go to some dressage competitions soon. Unrelated, but I also did my school assignments ahead of time for the first time ever. The longer days are helping my productivity I reckon D.


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