I have always felt like I've had trouble capturing Bailey's shoulder while riding. When I got her, she was (or so it seemed) about as wide as a piece of paper, especially compared to the behemoth
of a Thoroughbred I was used to. This is an awful picture, but a) PICTURES and b) you can kind of see how narrow BB is here - she's slim and deep, and sometimes its hard for my legs (MY LEGS, all 35 inch inseam of them) to find flank.
Bailey was pretty good for our ride last night, despite a 17 year old in a bobcat buzzing all over the farm (seriously, I didn't know bobcats went that fast) and even doing a very scary drag back from the arena door which about gave both of us a heart attack. It snowed a few inches, and the roads were a mess, so I didn't ride long. I'm also being sympathetic and lusting after the new girth, in hopes that it allows me to be more precise in my saddle fitting. Mostly I wanted to fart around in the arena so BB could stretch her legs, switch the horses back to their heavy blankets before it got down to -9 and go home.
I was frustrated because she wanted to bend out and stare at the walls (because she could hear the bobcat buzzing and needed to, I don't know, make sure it didn't come through the wall?) and even when I got her to give and bend in - because she holes up her mouth when she's staring at something - I still felt like I was posting on the wrong diagonal because her body was bent out. It got better when I got very proactive about holding my outside rein, and therefore her shoulder, straight with contact. Shes' so sneaky about talking me into letting go of the rein, and I finally took the rein, and wrapped it forward and back through my fingers like a loop to force me to HOLD it. Then, of course, I had a horse going straight, but with no impulsion (alas, I forgot my whip!) and very heavy in my hands. I'm wondering if a school in the pelham would give me a flavor for a bit I can school in for a few weeks to get her light in my hands. She's not Foxie, by any means (20 lbs of pressure to get her to think about yielding her mouth) but she's frustrating because if my reins are short enough to handle the looky moments, she curls under, and if they're long enough that I can even her head out and lift her poll with my hands, she's behind the leg, and can blow me off when she chooses to look at whatever.
I think part of her issues are that she's finally discovering that she's not very strong. She falls out of the canter like she's green broke because she can't/won't sit down and push through the transition, and she's particularly badly balanced when she's straight and isn't allowed to motor through turns.
Thursday, I'm tempted to start her in side reins and either get on and ride, or long line her to see if I can work on the issue from the ground, and then ride Foxie. And then, once we're moved, it will be back to regularly scheduled riding programming. I'd love to get more jumping in as I feel like that is a place we're making progress, and also I feel like it's a good, tiring reward for doing all the dressage we've been doing.
So, I at least have a plan, pending freezing temps and general exhaustion. So I will leave any readers with this lovely photo:
The saddle is up against her shoulder blade. Billets are unfortunately curved since, ya know, I've been trying to mask a problem. Now we see why my saddle slips forward. SIGH.
of a Thoroughbred I was used to. This is an awful picture, but a) PICTURES and b) you can kind of see how narrow BB is here - she's slim and deep, and sometimes its hard for my legs (MY LEGS, all 35 inch inseam of them) to find flank.
Bailey was pretty good for our ride last night, despite a 17 year old in a bobcat buzzing all over the farm (seriously, I didn't know bobcats went that fast) and even doing a very scary drag back from the arena door which about gave both of us a heart attack. It snowed a few inches, and the roads were a mess, so I didn't ride long. I'm also being sympathetic and lusting after the new girth, in hopes that it allows me to be more precise in my saddle fitting. Mostly I wanted to fart around in the arena so BB could stretch her legs, switch the horses back to their heavy blankets before it got down to -9 and go home.
I was frustrated because she wanted to bend out and stare at the walls (because she could hear the bobcat buzzing and needed to, I don't know, make sure it didn't come through the wall?) and even when I got her to give and bend in - because she holes up her mouth when she's staring at something - I still felt like I was posting on the wrong diagonal because her body was bent out. It got better when I got very proactive about holding my outside rein, and therefore her shoulder, straight with contact. Shes' so sneaky about talking me into letting go of the rein, and I finally took the rein, and wrapped it forward and back through my fingers like a loop to force me to HOLD it. Then, of course, I had a horse going straight, but with no impulsion (alas, I forgot my whip!) and very heavy in my hands. I'm wondering if a school in the pelham would give me a flavor for a bit I can school in for a few weeks to get her light in my hands. She's not Foxie, by any means (20 lbs of pressure to get her to think about yielding her mouth) but she's frustrating because if my reins are short enough to handle the looky moments, she curls under, and if they're long enough that I can even her head out and lift her poll with my hands, she's behind the leg, and can blow me off when she chooses to look at whatever.
I think part of her issues are that she's finally discovering that she's not very strong. She falls out of the canter like she's green broke because she can't/won't sit down and push through the transition, and she's particularly badly balanced when she's straight and isn't allowed to motor through turns.
Thursday, I'm tempted to start her in side reins and either get on and ride, or long line her to see if I can work on the issue from the ground, and then ride Foxie. And then, once we're moved, it will be back to regularly scheduled riding programming. I'd love to get more jumping in as I feel like that is a place we're making progress, and also I feel like it's a good, tiring reward for doing all the dressage we've been doing.
So, I at least have a plan, pending freezing temps and general exhaustion. So I will leave any readers with this lovely photo:
The saddle is up against her shoulder blade. Billets are unfortunately curved since, ya know, I've been trying to mask a problem. Now we see why my saddle slips forward. SIGH.
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