# Return to Riding



## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

After a month long break while I've been doing exams, I've brought Bella back in and started to ride again. Going to keep a journal in here and maybe it'll motivate me to do some productive schooling instead of dandering round the fields and the road every day.

*1/06/11*
Brought Bella in from the field and spent about two hours grooming and pulling her mane. It hasn't been pulled since last August and was about a foot long. I actually started yesterday, then ran out of time and had to put her back out with half a short mane, and half a long mane. But it's short and tidy now, so all's good.
Didn't do a whole lot, riding wise. It got really warm so I went out on a hack up the road and walked most of it on a long rein. Met a medium sized truck type thing at one point, which would usually send Bella flying in the other direction but she just jumped about a bit then stopped to watch the other horse who was with us dance about and try to throw his rider into the middle of the road. Didn't get that far, fortunately.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*2/06/11*
I actually had a surprisingly productive schooling session. When I first started, Bella was really lazy, and after a bit of a warm up Bella was more energetic but she put that energy into grabbing hold of the bit and tanking when I asked her to go forward. A lot of circles and transitions later, she started to lighten up slightly on the forehand. I've started doing a bit of canter work and have been having trouble getting her into that light, impulsive counter needed for jumping. She tends to either bomb off and pull a lot or lope along in a rocking horse like movement. By the end of the ride, however, she started to shorten up and go a lot better, so hopefully it's just a fitness thing. Or something.

*3/06/11*
I intended to give Bella a decent workout on the lunge today, but it was ridiculously warm - for once - and neither I nor Bella particularly wanted to spend a long time out in the sun. So I did about fifteen minutes of walk, trot and lots of transitions on both reins. I'm working her in side reins at the moment - I hate the things, but nothing else works - in hope that it will help improve her outline. I've heard about horses being ruined when side reins are over used so I only lunge her with them twice a week max. and even when I do they are as loose as they can be. They seem to have worked in building up her neck muscle nicely, if nothing else.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*4/06/11*
More flatwork. Not the most exciting of exercises, but it must be done. Started off in the yard/arena (it's actually a yard, 'cause the trailer's parked in there and the stable's in one end but it's surfaced for riding on) and did more transitions/circles and stuff 'til Bella was going reasonably well. After that, I moved out to the field since it's dry at the minute and there's not a lot of room to do much in the yard. She hasn't been ridden out there in ages and was initially pretty tank-ish, particularly in a canter. My fingers are red and raw from all her pulling - note to self: buy gloves - but with lots of half halts and transitions she began to lighten up. It was the hardest she's worked all week, but I wanted to keep at it until I was reasonably satisfied with her way of going. Towards the end, she was even starting to work in something like an outline, so score. Am going to do some polework tomorrow for a bit of variation, and will probably start jumping next weekend. My first "big" (ie, more than a training league) show is Saturday 18th June and I'd like to be jumping 90cm in order to ride in the qualifier for the class at the National Balmoral Champs that I did last year, but I'll have to see if she's fit enough.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*6/06/11*
So, I didn't actually get to ride yesterday because of the torrential rain. This country seriously sucks. Instead I'm hoping to do my polework tomorrow. I had an exam today so I only had time to lunge for half an hour in the morning before heading into school. That said, Bella went really well. She's starting to relax and carry herself a little more in walk a trot anyway. She's still all over the place in canter and leans hard on the reins/side reins/lunge line, whatever she can lean on when possible, but hopefully with a bit of work her balance will improve and she'll start to neaten up.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*7/06/11*
Well, my plan to do some productive polework didn't go quite... to plan. I actually forgot I was supposed to be doing poles until my dad came out and offered to set them out for me so I didn't have to get off. Even then I only rode over them four or five times. However, my "polework" session actually ended up being a shockingly successful flatwork session. Towards the end she stopped leaning on the rein altogether and rode in a really nice outline for a good five or ten minutes. In trot, that is. Like yesterday, cantering is still a bit of a messy topic but we'll worry about that when the time comes. I was really pleased with her, so I decided not to push it with the poles and end on a good note instead. On the downside, it is only towards the end of riding that she seems to lighten up. It takes well over half an hour of work to get her going really nicely, but I guess that's something that should sort itself out over time as well. So, all in all, it's taken me the good part of two and a half years, but at last I'm starting to see (small) results in the outline and way of going department.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*8/06/11*
Much the same as the day before. I did more flatwork, with pretty much the same results. 

*9/06/11*
I intended to go on a hack to give Bella a bit of a break from schooling, but I would have had to go on my own which isn't all that fun, particularly as the roads are overrun with tractors these days. Figured I'd be better off waiting until I can go out in company, so I got the week's second lunging session out of the way instead. I'm starting to focus a bit more on canter work now, but Bella's still pretty fat and unfit so I can't do a whole lot.

*10/06/11*
Jumped for the first time in ages. It's hard to tell how well Bella's jumping in our arena because it's that small, getting turned into the jump is actually more of an issue than the jump itself. I stayed small, a couple of crosspoles amd a 70/80cm upright. I'm going for a riding lesson next week, so that's my next jumping session - in bigger arena I should be able to do more and get a better idea of how Bella's going. Our first show's schedules for next Saturday, and I found out that I actually can't do the Jumps Ahead class I had planned to do because I haven't been to any rallies. Ah well. I was looking forward to the chance to qualify for Balmoral again, but at least it means there'll be less pressure next Saturday.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*14/06/11*
I'm getting lazy about this thing. Whatever.
Today I went on a hack, at long last. I tend to just ride with a long rein and let Bella chill out and have her head. 
Yesterday I lunged, quite successfully, and the day before that I didn't ride. I can't actually remember why. Possibly because it was raining, possibly because I couldn't be bothered. The day before that Bella was forced to give pony rides to my younger cousins. It's quite funny watching tiny kids ride her; she just plods about donkey style. Never seen a more adaptable horse in my life.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*15/06/11*
I did, yet again, more flatwork. Bella wouldn't do much with the outline, but her canter was a good bit less rocking horse after a bit of work. I only had time to school for 20 mins, so didn't do a whole lot.

*16/06/11*
I had my first lesson of the comeback today. It was well worth all the sweat, aching muscles, getting soaked in the rain and 25 quid. We started off, like always, with a good hard warmup. When my instructor pointed out something I haven't noticed, which has probably been having a big effect on Bella. I have a tendency to go very rigid in my wrist and lower arms and 'lock' my hands into place, so Bella's reaction is to fight me and go stiff in the neck. Once I was aware of this it was just a matter of loosing up and relaxing my hands, and there was a huge difference in Bella's way of going. After our warm up we focused on jumping out of trot to encourage Bella to put the energy into impulsion rather than just bombing off into the fence as she tends to do. We also did some bounces and grids, all out of trot. I've also got a problem with my jumping position in that I sit up too quickly after the fence. Now, this is something other instructors have taught me to do, thus I've come to do it instinctively, but in actual fact sitting up immediately after the fence doesn't allow the horse to get their back end up enough to clear the fence, so that's probably a lot of my fallen poles explained. My instructor's pretty fussy with details, if there's any little thing wrong, whether it's the leg slipping back ever so slights over a fence or a shoulder dropping forward on a turn, she will notice it, and she will keep on about it until the problem is fixed.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*18/06/11*
Didn't ride yesterday due to downright miserable weather. I discovered today that it was a slightly bad idea, because Bella was really fresh. As in, difficult to ride fresh, which is saying something because usually Bella's easy enough to ride.
Anyway, first show of the summer! I intended to jump the 80 and 90cm horse classes, but in the end pulled out of the 90 because the 80cm consisted of two round, first one fences 1-10, second, 1-7, which is seventeen fences, it was a pretty spread out course, and fence 6 was a triple, so actually that's 21 fences overall. Bella was sweating a lot by the end, but it was mainly because she wasted so much energy spooking, prancing about and generally being a typical TB.
She seemed pretty sharp when we arrived, and initally, was going quietly in the warmup but as she started to waken up more she became more forward to the point where she would try to break into a trot when I walked and a canter when I trotted, and when I asked her to canter she just grabbed the bit and tanked. I ride her in a snaffle at home but a dutch gag at shows because once she gets into a jumping ring it's as if she is connected to a switch that someone has turned to high voltage. I hate the gag but it's the only thing I can hold her in, because when she wants to be strong she is, and even more so now that all her neck muscle has built up from lunging. 
Once she realised she couldn't tank and take off, she started spooking and making a fuss out of everything, but actually, when I could get her through this and make her concentrate it turned out to my advantage because her "prancey canter" that she does when she'e excited makes for a lovely jumping round.
When we got into the ring and started to canter she was going pretty fast, and I couldn't let her go as she wanted or she would have gone flat out and demolished the course, but I have to be careful holding her back or she just gets irritated and will not jump. I managed to keep a medium-fastish sort of canter for the first ten fences, and we had a lovely clear first round. I think I let myself get overconfident after this and let my concentration slip a little for the second part, because it was visible less controlled, the turns were a bit dogdy, and we had four faults. The course had a lot of strange turns in it, as well as two dog legs. In the first dog leg of the second round, after the first fence, I forgot - don't ask how - to take her out wide until I was right up at the fence, then I rather idiotically tried to pull her out when I didn't have enough space to come back in, and I rode straight past the fence. It was totally my fault, and I could practically feel Bella's confusion, she kind of slowed down as if to say, "Hey, why did you tell me not to jump that?"
So, since it was my fault, I was really pleased with Bella, especially considering that it was out first time out to jump - also out first time to jump a full course - since the beginning of March. The only problem I did have was that she was a pain to warm up due to all the dancing about but that's just down to freshness and excitement.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*20/06/11*
Yesterday I only had time for a quick fifteen-twenty minute bit of flatwork, so I didn't have a lot of time to get Bella working particularly well and she seemed to be going full out with the giraffe impersonation. 
Today, we headed out to the beach with a friend, and had a rather fun morning. Bella got her much needed gallop up the beach, and I even managed to get her into the sea up to her knees without too much persuasion, which is a first. She wasn't even tired when we left, she just wanted to run again. She seems to like releasing that inner racehorse.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*21/06/11*
I thought that lunging after the beach would be a good idea, just so that Bella doesn't think she can go racehorse/giraffe style from now on. She lunged well, and I'm starting to see a difference in her canter with the side reins. When I ask her to move up to a canter, rather than throwing herself forward, bombing round the circle and losing her balance, she takes her time. But still manages to loose her balance somewhere along the way.

*22/06/11*
I had a shockingly good schooling session. Bella was working in a lovely outline for the first half; she even started to tuck her nose in when I asked her to in canter for a change. I let her have a walk on a long rein halfway through, and she stretched her nose right down to the ground - guess the felt the impact of that 20 mins of work. When I asked her to shorten up again she put up a bit of fight but after about ten minutes was going nicely again. 

*23/06/11*
We had another lesson this afternoon, and like yesterday, Bella went well almost right from the start. Her canter was a complete mess, but that was momentarily forgiven considering the lovely trot I had her doing.
After a lot of flatwork, my instructor put up a crosspole and had me trot over it a few times, then set up a one-stride double consisting of two large crosspoles to do in canter. The first time, Bella refused - probably remembering how hard she had to work last week when we jumped - but I took her round again with a good strong leg and she popped over it without any bother.
The second fence in the double was then put up to quite a large upright, around 90cm-1m, and my instructor set up a small course; the double, an oxer of about 90cm and a decent sized upright. The first time we jumped it Bella rushed both the oxer and the upright; second time round she was much more steady. Then the oxer and upright went up a hole - neither were higher than 1m but it seemed pretty high to me, since I havn't jumped anything that big since about October. It was a little unnerving, and my overly-strong leg didn't help the fact that Bella was already trying to rush, but we got over them both easily.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*24/06/11*
I lunged again, but had to cut it short for some reason that I have now completely forgotten. 

*26/06/11*
Feeling rather lazy, I decided I couldn't be bothered putting on a saddle so I rode bareback, and after warming up for aabout ten minutes, tied up my reins and decided to try riding using just my legs and body language. I was able to walk, trot and canter easily, and do the transitions without much bother - although in trot it took a while to get Bella to slow down to walk - but I didn't get very far in terms of steering except in walk. Bella's very sensitive to the aids without a saddle and anytime I applied leg pressure in trot to ask for a bend she cantered. I guess I'll have to work on making it more clear what I want her to do.

*27/06/11*
I lunged again, mainly because I don't know when I'll get another chance to do it this week. Bella point blank refused to tuck in her nose for the majority of the time, but on the upside, her paces were lovely and her transitions smooth and balanced.

*28/06/11*
My friend was over today, and I intended to get a decent bit of gridwork done, however the day dawned with shockingly warm weather and we both decided it would be better to scrap any ideas of a hard workout and just have a bit of fun. We both did a bit of flatwork on Bella to warm up, then I put up some crosspoles and small uprights for my friend. After that, I got on a did a couple of bounces. Like yesterday, Bella's nose was firmly out the whole time but she is still going reasonably well, and either way, I tend not to be as fussy about head carriage when I'm jumping as long as whatever way she does decide to carry her head doesn't interfere with getting over the fences. She was doing lovely pops over the fence; not rushing them too much and clearing them all well, particularly the two parts of the bounce.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

*29/06/11*
My fingers are slowly dying... Bella's muscular neck is great for teaching her to carry herself, not so great when I'm on the receiving end of a strong pull. I really need to buy gloves; otherwise the reins are going to rip my fingers to shreds.
On a more pleasant note, after about 15 minutes of a warmup/struggle Bella started to go really well, carried her head reasonably well - in beteen leaning hard enough to pull me out of the saddle - and her paces have improved beyond belief. Her head is a mess in canter but she is starting to lighten up and work off her back end. 
I wasn't expecting today to be particularly easy, since it was the first proper flatwork session I've had since last Thursday at the start of my lesson.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

I disappeared for a while, but I'm back. I can't even remember what I've been doing recently, I lunged after the last post, methinks, then we went to stay on the farm and brought Bella, so I hacked out for three days in a row. Very little/no schooling, mostly walking along lanes, up rivers and cantering (or, according to Bella, galloping) across fields.
Since coming home, I have only been out to her twice; once to lunge which went surprisingly well considering our hacking break, and today to ride, which seems a good place to pick up:

*7/07/11*
I went and got a Waterford bit with full cheeks today to try instead of the Dutch gag/bubble bit, because even though the gag works, I hate using it and Bella hates being ridden in it even more than I hate using it. I didn't think she would take to the Waterford considering that all she ever does is lean, but actually she seemes to like it. She didn't kick up a fuss, anyway.
At first, I was riding in the yard, and it didn't seem all that different to the snaffle, except that I couldn't ask for an outline as effectively because I've been told that any kind of "sawing" action in a Waterford is quite severe. All the same, she did respond to pressure and leg and occassionally carried herself quite nicely.
To give the bit a proper test, after warming up, I headed out into one of the big fields across the road to canter. She was A LOT easier to hold back than she had been on the farm (when I had her in the snaffle), so it looks like this bit is a keeper.
After that, my dad set up some fences and I practised jumping up to 90cm out of a trot, before doing some work on bounces. All in all, quite a successful workout.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

I haven't been doing a whole lot recently, the day after I last posted I went on a hack, and Bella had a heart attack when she spotted a while barrel in a usually empty field that we always ride past. I don't remember her ever causing such a fuss on the road before. When she saw it she jumped then skipped to the other side of the road and all but sprinted past it, and when I turned back to go home she started all that walking backwards business for a good five minutes. It didn't help that I was near a junction off a very busy main road either. I got her to go eventually, though, and walked her past the offending barrel several times until she calmed down.

On Monday, a chiropractor was doing a clinic at my instructor's yard so we took Bella over, and it turns out she had quite a lot wrong with her, and has had for a long time. We've had physios out before to work with her but it's always been a temporary fix because it was the bone, not the muscle, causing the problem. Anyway, he worked his magic - with some cringeworthy cracks - and told us to leave Bella out for three days, start riding again but walk and go easy for a few days, and if she doesn't seem right, just give her an extra day off.

I rode yesterday for the first time, and there wasn't a whole lot of difference but Bella kept acting up on the left rein, so I've given her the day off today both because of that and because the weather is dismal.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

Due to a mixture of terrible weather, loose and missing shoes and my being out, I've only ridden twice since I last posted; yesterday and today. 

*19/07/11*
I had one of those days where my arms started to ache 5 minutes into riding and I really didn't have the motivation to try too hard. I did a bit of walking, with Bella leaning hard the whole time, and when I moved up to trot the nose went right into the air. It wasn't really a great ride; I was fighting with her a lot, the result being she just went dead in the mouth and threw her head up. In between these outbursts though, she started to show some promise.

*20/07/11*
In comparison to yesterday, today was brilliant. We had the same trouble as yesterday at the start; hard leaning, a bit of fighting, but I found that when I relaxed my hand, Bella began to soften. When she started to raise her nose I was able to "tweak" at the reins a little until she lowered it and then relax again. Fifteen minutes in she was trotting in a lovely outline, my dad stopped to watch for a while and was quite impressed.
Usually, if I return to walk and give Bella her head for a break mid-way through a ride, it's near impossible to get her to carry herself again, but today it was shockingly easy. I was really pleased with her, haven't cantered yet though, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes.


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## Sapphire (May 31, 2011)

The past few days have been a bit up and down; some really good bits, some moments when my patience was pushed to the limit. Mainly, I've been doing lots of experimentation regarding the best way to ask Bella to soften, hold my hands and what not. Her trot has come on beautifully; after a good warm up she carries herself reasonably well. Her walk isn't great; but that's completely my fault. 
Over the past couple of years I've fallen into the bad habit of letting her "go to sleep" when I come back to walk - hang her head, trudge along at no speed. She has also picked up on the fact that when I shorten my reins, it's nearly always followed by asking her to move up to trot. So, when I shorten my reins and try to walk her in an outline, naturally, she slows right down at the pressure, but as soon as my leg goes on, breaks into trot. It's going to take a bit of work to break that habit.
I've also started a little bit of canter in something of an outline, which was the highlight of today's ride.

*23/07/11*
I warmed up on a long reins; just a quick walk, trot and canter. Bella seemed kind of surprised, I could almost hear her going "Huh? Why aren't you making me look all posh?" as she pulled her head in, then realised that I wasn't holding her there and let it out again.
I started working on the outline in a walk, which was just as choppy and awkward as usual. It was something of a relief to move up to trot, and at one stage about half way through the ride she even engaged her hindquarters - a little. 
When I began to canter it was a little uncomfortable, and Bella put up a bit of a fight but soon she started to soften and lower her head. It turns out that with a bit of effort on both of our parts, she actually has a canter that doesn't ressemble the movement of a rocking horse - a proper, bouncy, impulsive canter, the kind I need for jumping.
I think it'll only take a little more work before we've nailed the trot, and hopefully the canter will continue to improve. Aside from that, I just need to get this walk - or trawl, as it is at the moment, sorter out.


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