Monday morning I'd kept my diary free to watch the individual final of the Olympic dressage. At 6am I was in bed, armed with a supply of tea and biscuits ready to watch every test! I was so proud of all our British riders, with their very subtle light aids and all demonstrating the true harmony with which I believe all dressage should showcase! I cried tears of Joy when Charlotte nailed her test and took home the gold once again!!
In the afternoon I worked with Arianna. First we spent time grooming in the tie up area where she was very calm and stood quietly to be brushed and fly sprayed. Then we went to round pen. We played a bit of the friendly game but she seemed very distracted and was calling to her field buddies and seemed to want to move her feet so I let her have a run around on the 22 ft line to burn off some of her energy. When she was ready, I noticed her ear tuning in to me and then her eye, and then I yielded her quarters and let her come back to me. We went back to the friendly game but I still felt quite a bit of 'brace' in her. We practised a few things and finished on a good note and went back to the tie up's. At first she stood quietly but once she noticed another horse in the main arena she had her first little melt down, dancing on the spot, scraping the floor and I had to untie her. All her calm had disappeared and she appeared wild eyed and full of energy and even pushed in to me at one point (which I made very clear was not allowed under any circumstances!). I stroked her and talked to her but she didn't calm until the other horse had left the arena. It wasn't until I was driving home that it occurred to me what had caused the melt down. The horse in the arena was a stallion and now I was thinking she may be in season!
Arianna training day 9
Later in the week my friend Lisa came to visit Arianna at her new home. We again, spent time in the tie up area and she was much calmer and stood like and angel to be groomed. We had a little play in the arena, just practising quarter yields and then doing a lot of leading. She's very happy for me to be out in front of her and to follow but she's far less comfortable with me in zone 3 at her shoulder and girth. We made it fun by playing mirror me and just using forward, halt and backing up to keep her attention on me. She's getting very good at the halt now and I can breathe out as I stop my feet and I can feel her let go and halt next to me in harmony.
Before I put her back in the pasture, Arianna wore her fly mask for the first time! She didn't mind at all! Clever girl!
Arianna training day 10
On Saturday David and I had jobs to do around town, so we stopped by to check on Arianna in the middle. It was nice just to go in to her pasture and hang out without any pressure. We cuddled and scratched and socialised with her and all the other horses in her pasture. It was nice to see her come up the hill when she saw me arrive.
Arianna training day 11
On Sunday I had a bit more time and I worked her in the evening when it was much cooler. Again she didn't much want to stand still to start with the friendly game so I let her out on to the circle to burn off some energy. This was the first time it was cool enough to let her have a canter around which was nice to watch. She came back to me in the centre much more quickly and we played porcupine game with backing up, quarter yields and forehand yields. I also started teaching her to bring her head around to her shoulder.
This is something that is a fundamental part of western riding. The safety mechanism to stop the horse when riding western is to bring the horses nose around to the riders knee. Seeing as I would like to ride her in her halter before I introduce the bit, which is fairly common here, this is part of the ground training to prepare her for that. As always, the aim is to use the lightest of pressure. I'd already taught her to lower her head with a feather light pressure on the loop at the bottom of the halter but this seemed to confuse her much more. We went around in quick a few circles before she understood, but then she licked and chewed and we practised a few more times both ways to finish.
Arianna training day 12
Today I practised a little more of yielding her head around to her shoulder and really worked on throwing the end of the 12ft rope over her neck and back without any brace in her body. It didn't help to start that our new area to tie up is right next to a large hay barn which has 15ft of draping tarp which flaps in the breeze! Actually this was great and once Arianna faced it and took the time to look at it, she was more intrigued than worried. We investigated it together and she sniffed at it and even poked her nose through! I'm very pleased that she isn't afraid of new things and I'm looking forward to nurturing that curiosity!
Then we went back to throwing the rope over her neck and back until there was zero brace anywhere in her body.
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