01.04.2019 day 10 - BREAK
02.04.2019 6th time doing GW, day 11
What a great day! First I was unsure if I should take another break, but the weather was so nice, so I decided to get up and out.
We did a quick clean, I wanted to get on the outdoor riding arena before the sun leaves. A few people were at the yard, but no much distraction this time.
We started as always with leading and the first rounds I just walked without greater expectation and he just followed. We changed direction and he responded good to my body language which already made me happy :D
Changing the tempo was a bit stiff, but halt and backing up was good. We did lots of walking before I went to the exercises in stand-still.
The forward down in stand-still is a bit broken. It already was more fluently but a lot better than last session. I decided not to try it too much and ignored nipping and twisting as good as I could and went into the LFS on a circle very soon. He did well with his shoulders and I tried to pay attention on my hands and the reins. Again I used the longer whip but I think the shorter one suits me better. It is a bit hard to tap him for getting more hollow with the long thing.
On the right side the LFS on the circle was ok too, his reaction to the aid was very prompt but it is still hard work on the shoulder. Also I need to pay more attention to my body on this side, because I tend to bend myself a lot into the wrong direction. When he is yielding correctly it is much more easier for me to keep my body arranged. I also noticed that I have to walk forward with more energy, my steps are a bit unsecure and hesitant, maybe this distracts him too.
I also kept an eye or better an ear to my voice cues and changed the language to English, since I always mix up the cues in German to my used words. I think it is not always clear enough if I give a "keep going" or an "almost there" cue. In English it is easier for me to strictly separate the signals, because I am using words I don't use normally. I might stay with english words.
I changed to LFS on the long side and it was very nice on the left. I had the feeling that the twisting got better, I even had the chance to stop it with a few half-halts. I also noticed that he is doing great with half-halts, he nicely shifts his COM. I asked for more stepping under as soon as the bending was good enough.
On the left Mr. P. was very pushy first. We did a few steps, then he fell to the inside and ignored my aid on his shoulder. I turned him to a circle and started new but after a few steps he came inside again. His shoulder pushed against me and I poked back with more effort. Radieserl was outraged and tried to bite the poking whip knob - we both were a bit terrified in this moment but I immediately released the rein as he got off of his shoulder and then he relaxed, but was much more aware of the aid on the shoulder.
I gave him a break and let him think and relax and I was thinking too. :D I was not sure, if I should stop now. It was a good session but not excellent, he did around 70 percent well and 100 % better than last time. Since I had the feeling we were both in a good mood, I tried the haunches-in.
I was a bit afraid of haunches-in, because this exercise brought us into fights for years. I tried thousands methods of teaching it and sometimes he did, sometimes he said "What??? NEVER HEARD OF THAT!" One day he did, next day he refused and I did never know why.
I did not have any expectations. I did not think that it would fail, I did not think it would work. I started with a LFS, stopped him and encouraged him to give me his outside hindleg while touching the "haunches-in-point" on the neck and surprisingly he gave me a reaction in the right direction promptly. I released immediately, praised and pat him, told him he is the best pony ever. I had the feeling he was proud of himself :)
Repetition is the key, so I asked again and the reaction came once more - again I covered him in rewards. The third try was a complete and correct step, he got a mass of rewards and I was happy like hell. I took of the rein and decided to stop the training, since this was a huge step forward.
But he did not leave. He looked at me like asking "And now? What can we do next?" and I just went a few steps and he followed. I went into a circle and he followed in a nice shape. I stopped - he stopped. I walked on - he came with me.
I stopped again, raised loads of energy, gave a voice cue and he jumped into trot with me and trotted next to me. I stopped after a few steps to tell him how great and supercool he is and tried two times more and it worked perfectly. I was very very proud, because he stood with me all the time although there was no rein and no whip.
Then I really stopped the training, before it gets too much. He made the impression to do more and as I sat down on the small stool and relaxed he waited a few minutes there with me before he accepted that the training is really over now. He walked a few rounds, looked around, searched for grass and came back to me.
It was a very cool session with lots of great moments and we were both very satisfied when we came back to the stable. I especially joyed about the haunches-in and he seemed to be proud about him being Mr. Best-Pony-Ever.
Duration: 30 minutes
Exercices: leading, stopping, back-up, forward down and stelling/bending in stand-still, LFS on circle, LFS on straight line, haunches-in, leading and transition to trot in liberty.
Food: Derby Apple Mash + 100 g iWest Magnolythe + 10 g MSM + 70 ml EWALIA
02.04.2019 6th time doing GW, day 11
What a great day! First I was unsure if I should take another break, but the weather was so nice, so I decided to get up and out.
We did a quick clean, I wanted to get on the outdoor riding arena before the sun leaves. A few people were at the yard, but no much distraction this time.
We started as always with leading and the first rounds I just walked without greater expectation and he just followed. We changed direction and he responded good to my body language which already made me happy :D
Changing the tempo was a bit stiff, but halt and backing up was good. We did lots of walking before I went to the exercises in stand-still.
The forward down in stand-still is a bit broken. It already was more fluently but a lot better than last session. I decided not to try it too much and ignored nipping and twisting as good as I could and went into the LFS on a circle very soon. He did well with his shoulders and I tried to pay attention on my hands and the reins. Again I used the longer whip but I think the shorter one suits me better. It is a bit hard to tap him for getting more hollow with the long thing.
On the right side the LFS on the circle was ok too, his reaction to the aid was very prompt but it is still hard work on the shoulder. Also I need to pay more attention to my body on this side, because I tend to bend myself a lot into the wrong direction. When he is yielding correctly it is much more easier for me to keep my body arranged. I also noticed that I have to walk forward with more energy, my steps are a bit unsecure and hesitant, maybe this distracts him too.
I also kept an eye or better an ear to my voice cues and changed the language to English, since I always mix up the cues in German to my used words. I think it is not always clear enough if I give a "keep going" or an "almost there" cue. In English it is easier for me to strictly separate the signals, because I am using words I don't use normally. I might stay with english words.
I changed to LFS on the long side and it was very nice on the left. I had the feeling that the twisting got better, I even had the chance to stop it with a few half-halts. I also noticed that he is doing great with half-halts, he nicely shifts his COM. I asked for more stepping under as soon as the bending was good enough.
On the left Mr. P. was very pushy first. We did a few steps, then he fell to the inside and ignored my aid on his shoulder. I turned him to a circle and started new but after a few steps he came inside again. His shoulder pushed against me and I poked back with more effort. Radieserl was outraged and tried to bite the poking whip knob - we both were a bit terrified in this moment but I immediately released the rein as he got off of his shoulder and then he relaxed, but was much more aware of the aid on the shoulder.
I gave him a break and let him think and relax and I was thinking too. :D I was not sure, if I should stop now. It was a good session but not excellent, he did around 70 percent well and 100 % better than last time. Since I had the feeling we were both in a good mood, I tried the haunches-in.
I was a bit afraid of haunches-in, because this exercise brought us into fights for years. I tried thousands methods of teaching it and sometimes he did, sometimes he said "What??? NEVER HEARD OF THAT!" One day he did, next day he refused and I did never know why.
I did not have any expectations. I did not think that it would fail, I did not think it would work. I started with a LFS, stopped him and encouraged him to give me his outside hindleg while touching the "haunches-in-point" on the neck and surprisingly he gave me a reaction in the right direction promptly. I released immediately, praised and pat him, told him he is the best pony ever. I had the feeling he was proud of himself :)
Repetition is the key, so I asked again and the reaction came once more - again I covered him in rewards. The third try was a complete and correct step, he got a mass of rewards and I was happy like hell. I took of the rein and decided to stop the training, since this was a huge step forward.
But he did not leave. He looked at me like asking "And now? What can we do next?" and I just went a few steps and he followed. I went into a circle and he followed in a nice shape. I stopped - he stopped. I walked on - he came with me.
I stopped again, raised loads of energy, gave a voice cue and he jumped into trot with me and trotted next to me. I stopped after a few steps to tell him how great and supercool he is and tried two times more and it worked perfectly. I was very very proud, because he stood with me all the time although there was no rein and no whip.
Then I really stopped the training, before it gets too much. He made the impression to do more and as I sat down on the small stool and relaxed he waited a few minutes there with me before he accepted that the training is really over now. He walked a few rounds, looked around, searched for grass and came back to me.
It was a very cool session with lots of great moments and we were both very satisfied when we came back to the stable. I especially joyed about the haunches-in and he seemed to be proud about him being Mr. Best-Pony-Ever.
| Mr. Greatness |
Exercices: leading, stopping, back-up, forward down and stelling/bending in stand-still, LFS on circle, LFS on straight line, haunches-in, leading and transition to trot in liberty.
Food: Derby Apple Mash + 100 g iWest Magnolythe + 10 g MSM + 70 ml EWALIA
