# Squiggy and I have been off for almost a year!



## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Crazy, I know.

I could write a whole novel, but long story short, life happened and the horses at home got left behind.

Buuut now I'm home and back at it!

We are both a little sticky and rough, and very out of shape (for riding anywho).

I've rode a couple horses since I got home and my riding muscles are killing me.

But, anyways, here we are:



I love my fat horse, even though she's acting like she was started a week ago! Bahaha.

I'm working on a video too....


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSvyHiGm3z4&feature=youtu.be


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

if she goes much slower she might fall over sideways.

you got snow already?????

you'll get your riding legs back. good to see you again!


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

She is so out of shape she isnt herself... 

Hopefully the snow goes away for a bit before real winter sets in.....


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

the cows are good background singers lol

woooh i love squiggy lol looking forward to seeing more


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Shoot, i thought i had them muted. We weaned on Monday so its just been constant bawling lol


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## Gossalyn (Sep 12, 2013)

lol.. that trot made me smile. At times it almost seemed like an extended walk at times. Giving it the old college try though!  

I'm sure you'll both get back in shape.. !


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

I know both you and her are getting back into shape and it will take some time to get the muscles efficient again, but make sure you use your rein "contact" to actually make her _give_ with her nose (instead of sticking it out into the air) and don't let her go to her old bad habit of swinging her butt around. 


She sure has a nice little jog going on!


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## danny67 (Nov 27, 2012)

Nice vid on a pretty girl. You can keep the snow!


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## horseTraining (Jun 22, 2014)

Your horse looks very uncomfortable throughout the video...


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

^^^^ not really....IMO

She looks like she's just trying to sham as much as possible lol. Charlie tries the same thing when I go home to ride once a year lol
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Roperchick has it lol my horses have all be turned out since last January. Her feet also got trimmed the other day and that helped a lot. 
And shes on a diet now as well... It will be a while till she is feeling herself again.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

New stuffs from today


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you aren't going to like to hear this, but that saddle, (from just the angle of those photos) seems rather high in front, as if it's too narrow . h m m . . .


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

It probably is right now because she's **** fat, and if I take the riser out it sits too low. 

She is also standing up hill which isnt helping... 

Let me find a screenshot that is more level and normal....


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

riser? you mean under the seat, or under the front?


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

In the front.

From another ride today...


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

She needs to be more forward; she's barely trotting and not even close to tracking up. Riding her more forward will also help her burn some serious calories


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

I'm in the process of uploading the videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z1ng2cNl7M&list=UU2Tf1SNwUTfYaXLyN0MLPEQ
I would have cantered her, but the area is too small for her big stride


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

if you dropped rein contact , to the point of just drooping reins, would that horse trot with more energy?


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Very much so, but she has this problem that when you take up any sort of rein contact she tosses her head and is a real cow about it, so when i ride her i try to help her out with that issue.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

by doing what? 

I think getting her more forward is always number one. then, you can experiement with building her tolerance to rein contact. 
I am riding a hrose that will react to sometimes the very softest of rein conatct by coming behind the bit and curling over and down, and not just with me, but with any rider. my trainer will disallow this with a short little tug, upward and on only one rein, to say , "no, not there" and when the horse raises his head, we continue on a very light contact. but him diving behind the contact means that I can either put more leg on him to get him to go forward more, or, if he's already going forward pretty decently, I let him know that going down like that is not the answer.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

She is naturally forward all the time, being forward on a loose rein is normal for her, but being rode with some contact is odd. She also is hardly rode in a pen that small. Either out in the open or a roping arena.

I also apologize for my 2 point and no stirrup riding for being so bad.


Here is Squiggy's video.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

that's a long video, with a lot of trotting, and I thought i wasn't going to see any change, but after the midway point, she got a bit looser and you started to find her mouth and I saw some moments of connection where she seemed willing to relax a bit in her neck and lower her nose a bit, and she didn't lose her impulsion , what she has of it. 

I know she's a qh and it's her natural stride to trot like that, and you don't want to push her out of that, but you want her to settle into it a bit more, too, before you do anything with her head. kind of envision her wanting to go somewhere, like home, and having a long way to trot, so though she is moving out with energy, she's not rushing. that kind of feeling where the hrose really wants to get somewhere but not exhaust themselves, and has no feeling of panic. that's how you want her trot to feel. 
you might try completely putting both hands forward, or, put the reins in one hand, the other on your thigh, look out somewhere in the distance, and see if you can't get her energy to cue into yours which is all about movingforward with loose energy .

Also, posting with the reins in only one hand will verify if you are using them in any way to balance off of.

at the canter, sit back a bit more. 
I have the same problem , so though I might say this as a bit of advice, it's what I need to do, too. I'd sit back on her, hold the reins in one hand for a bit and aske her to canter on. then try taking up more contact.

also, in a general sense, do more changes; speed up/down within the gait, stop/start, change gait, change directions, stop and drop the reins, hug, then go on. 

she is growing up and has been offering you a much more cosistent trot rythm, which is good, and your lower leg is getting really steady and quiet.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks tiny! 
I did ride the snot out of her the day before chasing cows in the riverhillls for a friend. Negotiating coulees is tough stuff, so is long trottingor loping from place to place. The moment the bridle was off and the halter was on at the trailer she had a nap lol. 

I tried to get more oomph out of her, even got after her with my legs quite a bit at a trot but no bueno. 

She finally grew up enough to figure out her legs at a canter without getting flustered... As you can see in the video. 


I'm also starting to feel more comfortable with my riding in English tack. My leg feels more solid but relaxed and I just feel like I can be more effective.


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## jumanji321 (Dec 1, 2010)

Nice job with your fatty. Sorry I couldn't go and ride them myself. Even with you offering to have your mom cook for me.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

My mom only really cooks when dads home on weekends so it was a bad deal anyways lol


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

So I kicked my fat horses in the butt today and pushed and pushed until my poor legs were too tired or I got a reasonable response. 

Anywho... I think it went fairly well.



On Squiggy today, I figured out that to get her to move out and go like a normal horse I had to let my reins go fairly loose and have my hands rather wide and just let her go and get all of her nerves out of her system. We ended up burning circles for quite a while before she quit trotting like a little shetland and trotted half decently for me. Even thought about stretching her topline a bit.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

I got even more out of Squiggs today.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Bumping this up


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)




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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

I'm uploading a video right now as well.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

yeah , Squiggy! I love her look!


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Here ya are... Its about a month and a half old though


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Friendly little bump


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