# Monty and Hailey Get Fit!



## seabiscuit91 (Mar 30, 2017)

Subbing! 

Looking forward to seeing your journey together! He looks like a super nice boy!


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

seabiscuit91 said:


> Subbing!
> 
> Looking forward to seeing your journey together! He looks like a super nice boy!


Thank you! He's honestly such a sweetheart, doesn't have a mean bone in his body.


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

So, I had a lesson last night that went really well! Well, after a minor “issue” at the beginning. 

I was carrying a crop for the first time last night. Monty has been kinda slow to respond to my aids, which is super not okay with me. So I figured I’d carry a crop so I could use it to reinforce my aids if he was ignoring me. Well, when I first walked up to him carrying it, he flinched away, but I didn’t think much of it. So I’d gotten on and started warming up. He was definitely more forward which was nice, but when I switched my crop to the other hand, he bolted bucked and snorted. I’m not sure if it just startled him, or what, but that’s the first time he’s done ANYTHING like that. He’s normally very level headed and cool. But after I had regained my seat, we kept working and he eventually settled in.

We’ve been working a TON on transitions and long and low lately, and my coach even commented on how nice our transitions were looking and how nicely he was reaching into the contact at the walk and trot (Our canter still needs some serious work). We cantered to the left first, which is not our good direction. The transition was nice, but he kept breaking into the trot. So I need to work on balancing him better and keeping my leg on. But at the same time, he was super quick at the canter. My coach said he just looked like he was having fun, but to me it felt a little racey. Our canter to trot transitions definitely need work, right now we're trotting around like a llama after cantering and that doesn’t work for me. Our walk to canter transition going to the right was FLAWLESS I actually sat back and asked without just throwing my hands away. And we kept the canter the entire time without breaking into the trot, so that was a definite confidence booster!

Over all, definitely had a very promising ride. I’m gonna keep working long and low with him, it’s really helping.

Any suggestions to help him get over these crop issues though? Id like to be able to carry a crop without worrying about him exploding.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

LOVE the Oilers Jersey - I am also a fan. 

Excited to follow your progress with this boy. My horse also gets a little 'flighty' when I carry a crop....I don't carry one very often and hardly ever use it. Might be something you will have to carry more often so he gets used to it??


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

If your horse is afraid of a crop, means you haven't "sensitized, desenitized" them to it. A whip of any kind is only an extension of your hand, it can tap their butt or it can rub their neck. This is basic training, so don't skip it. I am looking forward to your journey, and reading your story.


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

Hey guys!

So, it’s harder for me to update over the weekend, my laptop at home kinda sucks for typing, so I’ve been doing this while at work (shhhh) hence the radio silence over the weekend. Excuse the long post, I’m going to update you allll at once.

Friday evening was wet and rainy, so we couldn’t ride in the indoor, and there was a lesson going on in the indoor. And while we’re still allowed to ride when there’s lessons, I try not to. So while I was waiting for the lessons to end, I decided I was going to work on desensitizing him to the crop. He was super flinchy when I just walked over to him holding it, but we spent about 5 minutes of me petting him while I flung the crop all over the place until he was standing quietly. I’m thinking his minor freak out last week was more that I had just surprised him when I switched the crop to my other hand as opposed to him actually being scared of crops. We haven’t had another issue with it.

So, I got bored of waiting for the lesson to end and decided I was just going to ride. I didn’t really have much of a plan going into this ride, figured I’d see where we we’re lacking and go from there. So we ended up actually spending the majority of this ride at a walk. Just working tons of lateral movement and lots of stretching. He is significantly less flexible on the right hand side than the left, so I’m going to try to incorporate lots of stretches into our ride from now on. We worked side passing, turn on the haunches and forehand, halt to trot transitions and back again. The little amount of trotting we did was soooo nice. He was really reaching underneath himself and stretching down. The instructor that was teaching even commented that “He moves pretty nice considering how round he is!” so I will take that as a win!
The really nice thing about riding every day is that I can take days to work on slow things like this. Where when I was riding only 3 days it was like every ride was crammed with trying to work on everything.

On Saturday I went out nice and early, before it got too hot. I had a friend, who works with our riding coach, come out with me to take some pictures. (I’ll attach my favourite down below). Today I decided we were going to focus on having proper impulsion from the hind end. It was really nice to have another set of eyes on the ground to remind me of the little bad habits I have. “Hailey, stop giving away with your outside hand on the circle” “Hailey, ride less with your calves and more with your thigh”. I had one of the best rides I’ve ever had on him! I think all of the stretching and lateral work I did the day before really helped, as he was much more willing to stretch into the contact. I’m still struggling a little, as sometimes when I have inside leg to outside hand he drifts into the wall. So maybe I need more outside hand to keep him straight? I’ll have to ask my coach in my lesson tomorrow. Our canter transitions have been consistently nice lately too. So now I’ve just really gotta work on keeping him cantering. My friend videotaped me cantering, so I can see what I’m doing. I basically put my hands in my crotch and go rigid. So I definitely need to work on that. But overall, had a lovely ride!

Finally on to Sunday. I had played archery tag for a friend’s birth day the night before, so that paired with all the riding I’d done lately had my legs aching and shaking. I could hardly make it up and down stairs my legs would shake so badly. But, I had committed to riding 6 days a week, so off to the barn I went. I figured even if I rode for 15 minutes at the walk, it still counted! A friend of mine had a lesson Sunday morning, so we went out to the barn together. Well, turns out she was having a lunge line lesson the work on her equitation. Sucker! My original plan was to work at a walk for 15 minutes, and then take pictures for her. So we started doing tons of figure 8’s and circles and changes of direction to get him flexing and responsive. But Monty was being soooo good, I didn’t want to stop! We got some of the nicest trot passes we’ve ever had. It was like riding a cloud. He was light on my hands and just floating. Even my coach commented on how pretty we looked! It’s funny, he’s significantly less flexible to the right, but he comes onto the contact much better in that direction. Our canter transitions we’re nice again, but the canter itself felt kind of like he was scrambling as opposed to actually cantering? I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t normally just canter him on a circle, usually we canter the whole arena, and he was just having a harder time balancing? He settled into it after a couple of circles, but I’m not sure if it was him settling or me actually balancing him. That’s another thing to ask my coach about! Our downward transitions are starting to get much nicer too, he’s not flinging his head up as much through the transition anymore. After cantering we used to trot around like a llama with his head up in the air, but he’s coming right back into a nice balanced trot now. Oh! And Monty got moved into a diet pen on Sunday after I rode. He went from being in a grassy field to being in a dirt private pen with hay being distributed 3 times a day. Poor horse probably thinks his life is over.

I’m honestly so impressed with the improvement this horse is making. I feel like over the last week we’ve really started to figure things out. I’m soo excited to see what kind of progress we can make over the summer!


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

Had a lesson last night! However, earlier in the day Monty’s owner had texted me saying she was going to come out and watch me ride. So I basically spent the entire day a nervous wreck. Like, I know I’m a competent rider, but I was so worried she was going to tell me I was ruining her horse or something like that. She’s actually a lovely lady; I have no reason to be nervous about her.

So, I got to the barn and had Monty mostly groomed by the time she got there, so she helped me finish up and even commented on how it looks like he’s lost a bit of weight already, so that was great to hear! 
Got on and started warming up at the trot. Lots of stretching and turning to get him loosened up. Oh! I remembered to ask my coach about him drifting into the wall when I was using inside leg to outside rein to get him to soften into the contact. She made a really good point; I was asking him to go into the wall. He was just respecting my inside legs aids. She suggested that instead I try equal pressure through my thighs with just a little inside calf to keep him bend slightly to the inside. The second I tried this he stretched out and really started walking out! So that was a super easy fix. We also got some really nice extensions at the walk. He’s starting to get pretty responsive to my legs, which is sooo nice!

However, the second we started trotting, my coach pointed out that I was super crooked. After a few laps we realize that my left hip is out of whack and is twisting my pelvis. So this meant while my right leg was secure and underneath me, my left leg kept drifting back. It was a really weird feeling, like my body was natural trying to cue for a shoulder in or something, but it wasn’t requiring and muscle because my pelvis was that twisted. So I’m hoping to go see my chiropractor soon, but I think Tuesday will be the earliest I can. I did get a couple of really nice trot passes though, where he was really stretching into the contact and coming up underneath himself. My coach and I agreed that cantering probably wasn’t the best idea with how twisted I was, we figured it’d be really hard for me to get the correct leads when I couldn’t get my leg underneath me properly. 

Afterwards, his owner hopped on and even commented on how responsive and soft he’s getting. And she was super impressed with how effortless his walk to canter transitions have gotten. So that was great to hear!

I’m not sure if it’s a great idea for me to keep riding while I’m all messed up like this. Should


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## larissahp (Feb 23, 2014)

Great posts, I'm looking forward to riding your progress because I am in the exact same position as you! I'm a plus sized rider and I'm part boarding (unlimited rides) an out of shape horse too. I've been thinking of starting a journal to document my progress as well.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you better watch out. you're gonna fall in love with that horse! 


just kidding. great journal, and great work on both your parts. you guys are a very nice pair.


carry on!


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

larissahp said:


> Great posts, I'm looking forward to riding your progress because I am in the exact same position as you! I'm a plus sized rider and I'm part boarding (unlimited rides) an out of shape horse too. I've been thinking of starting a journal to document my progress as well.


Let me know if you start one, I always love new journals!



tinyliny said:


> you better watch out. you're gonna fall in love with that horse!
> 
> 
> just kidding. great journal, and great work on both your parts. you guys are a very nice pair.
> ...


Definitely already in love with him! If he was a different color he'd be my dream horse (But Im not gonna tell him that, LOL!)


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

Not too much for updates from the weekend. I rode Thursday, which was a bad idea. My hips are just so out of whack. I'm riding terribly and we're just not accomplishing anything. I also made the mistake of not grabbing a crop for my ride, so he was slow, and pokey, and I couldn't even push him forward properly. It was kind of embarrassing, his owner was out at the barn and watched me just have this terrible ride on him before I eventually called it quits. 

It's honestly so frustrating that my body is failing me right now. I have an old hip injury, but it hasn't bothered me in quite a while. But I can't afford chiro or a massage or anything like that right now. So i spent some time researching different stretches and exercises I can do from home, so I'm going to give that a try and see if it makes a difference.

I opted to just bit lunge him Saturday and Sunday. That was he was at least getting out and burning some calories. I had never lunged him before, but was pleasantly surprised with how nice his manners were. Didn't have to touch the lunge whip, he went perfectly off my voice cues. It was interesting though, under saddle we're having issues keeping the canter. However, on the lunge line, he didn't want to stop cantering. But he was doing his lazy, dragging his feet, hardly moving canter. So I wonder if because he's out of shape and improper canter is easier to hold than a proper, balanced trot. 

I think tomorrow I'm going to lunch him first, then get on and work some walk exercises. My hips seem to do okay at the walk, so we will start there. Can do lots of stretching and lateral work for sure!


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

So of course, just as my hips we're starting to feel better, Monty came up lame. Got the text on Monday evening that he was really tender. His owner is thinking its from getting trimmed and having soft feet because of all the rain we've had.

Either way, I havent ridden in a week and im dying!


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

Finally have an update for you guys!

So it was confirmed that his feet were just sore from being trimmed too short. But then he started getting body sore from "tip toeing" because his feet hurt. Yesterday I FINALLY got the okay to get on and walk him. (Its frustrating, the vet, my coach, and myself all think he would have been fine for me to start riding late last week, but not my horse and his owner is super over protective, so I had to wait). I also saw my chiro yesterday (thank you tax refund!). I had 2 ribs out, my back was so tight we couldn't get it to adjust, and my pelvis was twisted because of how rotated my hip was. So we adjusted my hip and holy crap I was sooore after! But I was so not passing up my chance to ride!

So, got out to the barn, and Monty was super excited to see me. Nickered and walked right up to me, which kind of warmed my heart. Im starting to think maybe he likes me as much as I like him! I took my time grooming him, and spent extra time scratching the itchy spot on his stomach. He makes me laugh, when I get exactly the right spot he twists his neck, tossing his head and makes the most ridiculous expressions. 

I'd decided I was going to work lots of long and low, with lots of stretching to get him loosened up a little. Well, Monty had other ideas. He apparently forgot that my leg was a thing he had to listen to. Of course I hadn't grabbed a crop, didn't think I was gonna need to at the walk. But he was just so unresponsive. I had to boot him to convince him he needed to walk forward, and had to be continuously asking in order to keep him moving. It was super frustrating, we had worked so much on getting him listening to my leg better and I feel like we took 5 steps back. We did lots of spirals and circles and figure 8's, working on getting him to stretch out and bend to the inside. Even finally got a nice extended walk where he was stretching down like I wanted him too. We finished it off with some leg yields at the walk, which he loves, that were actually really nice, so I called it quits after that. (Also because by that point my hip was very loudly protesting).

When I ride tonight, I'm definitely carrying a crop. Even if it's just another walking ride. I'm going to get more stern about the idea that listening to my leg isn't optional. Any time he ignores my aids, I'm going to immediately follow it up with a tap with the crop. I don't even care if he gives me the wrong response, I just need a response. My biggest horse riding pet peeve is an unresponsive horse like that. I just find it so frustrating! I'm hoping to add a little bit of trotting today, just on a loose rein down the long sides of the arena, or maybe around the riding track we have. Just long and low so he can work those tight muscles. Also thinking about getting him a massage. Its funny how I wont spend the money to get a massage for myself, but for Monty the money is worth it


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

I've been putting off this update all day. I had a lesson last night and I'm just not really sure how I feel about it. Monty got shoes put on on tuesday evening, which actually cleared up most of his unsoundness issues. He was a little stiff, but nothing unreasonable. 

So, for my lesson, there was 5 in the lesson, instead of the usual 3. The indoor arena is big enough for this many people, but it's not ideal. There was one girl getting ready for a show next weekend, one girl on her very green horse, one fairly novice rider and then my friend and I who are both intermediate riders. Both my friend and I agreed that we kind of got ignored during the lesson. We did the same exercises as everyone, but neither of us were getting any feedback. And my coach worked us HARD. Basically no walk breaks for the first half an hour. I think she was frustrated with one of the other girls, and decided to push us all. I was exhausted. I'm not in great shape, and when I start to get fatigued like that I find it really difficult to ride correctly. Even when I asked for a walk break, I was denied. So my legs were getting floppy and my heels were up. Not a good look. My friend and I agreed not to say anything this week, but if its the same thing next week we're going to speak up.

So for my actual ride. It wasnt awful, considering how long it had been since either Monty or I had really worked. Our collection and stretching wasn't quite as nice as it had been before I got sore and he got lame, but it was acceptable. However, our canter was absolute trash. Sloppy transitions, all strung out, and he kept breaking to the trot. So needless to say, I'm going to be working a ton of that. The other big thing I noticed was how heavy on the forehand he was during downwards transitions. He did not want to listen to my seat and sit back. Very frustrating. Especially considering I didn't get any help from my coach either. So when I ride sunday, my goal is to not do more than 2 laps at any gait. Going to be doing tons of walk-canter-trot-walk-trot-halt-trot-canter. With a really long walking and stretching warm up. Poor horse is getting a wake up call lol.

We worked a walk/trot test, and did better than I thought we would. Apparently when we have a set pattern, I really ride. I was especially impressed with our straight lines down center line. Need to work on not transitioning too soon though.

And big news! Looks like I might be riding in a dressage schooling show at the end of July! Probably just walk/trot, as our canter needs tons of work, but if we can get our crap together, we might attempt one training level test.


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## HaileyCorr (Jun 1, 2017)

Went out to the barn saturday evening with a friend of mine. She's really good about making little comments about the things I need to work on and when things are looking good. So i figured another set of eyes would definitely be beneficial. I made myself a rule of no more than 2 laps at a gait, and no more than one lap of going straight. So we ended up doing TONS of leg yielding at the walk and trot, tons of transitions, and dozens of circles. Poor horse had no clue what we'd be doing next! One thing I definitely noticed though, with his time off, he's basically forgotten how to stretch down into the contact, so that's what we're working on either tonight or tomorrow!

(Sorry for the short update!)




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