The great oat experiment

When I got Odin, he was on the Ultima feed from Purina, a high protein/fat performance feed. When the prices rose the summer, L. and I discusses putting him on alfalfa pellets and see how he did (alfalfa & oats are included in board price). So we tried, and we didn't see any change. Saving cost and bother for barn manager (who had been so kind and pick up my special feed when he went to feed store).

So, the only difference was that Odin ate his pellets a lot slower than the Ultima, he always eats his hay first, but it is not as if he doesn't eat, its just clearly not his favorite stuff.

However, recently we talked about his energy level, and it seems very low. He has never been an energetic horse, but he feels so tired after 30-40 min work with me, and 20 min work with L.
So she suggested we try and feed him oats, just 1/2 scoop on top of the pellets. We will be trying the whole of this week, and evaluate Saturday.

I don't think he will get 'hot', but it will be interesting to see if his energy level is higher. He is also lazy, but L. reminded me that it is a training issue, you can have a hot and lazy horse. His whole 'I'm done, just end it' attitude (he runs and hangs on the bit (more) in the last part of my lessons) might be lack of energy, though.

I don't know if the Ultima fed him more calories, or were better for him and it just took a while to really discover, or if I work him a bit harder now, or if it is cold (for this area) and he has been worked little the 2 weeks prior and doesn't move around when there is lots of snow outside and thus got out of training ( I know I can feel 2 weeks not going to the gym!).

lots of things to consider, but it will be interesting to see how he feels on the oats. I know some of my TB owning barn mates feed oats in winter.

On another note, I had a few awesome downwards transitions in my lesson yesterday, from canter to trot and canter to walk. Both I think because I really tried to make him not hang on bit, do a decent forward half-halt before, and then align my seat bones and legs correctly in the downward transition. I had problems communicating the difference between a half-halt and a transition, but that last part with alignment helped.

I also got one nice upward transition into canter, where I could really feel the push behind. It is great to feel how it always should be!

transitions with suppleness

Besides starting out with a lot of forward (Odin was lazy after a weekend off), we did the usual no stirrups thing in the lesson. Getting better all the time!

Then we went on to transitions. Which were supposed to happen forward, and result in a more upright, collected horse. Which really wasn't what was happening, more like a strung out falling on his forehand horse.

L. then had me leg yield him into the transition, and drive him forward during it. The leg yielding should keep him more supple, and not let him hand on the bit, together with the forward.
It was hard for me to do this. I had to steer and leg yield, and wrap my head around what the end result should be. I tended to let go of my outside aids too much, so he became crooked instead of bending. In the end I think we got one nice transition from canter to trot, where the trot was forward and Odin was in a nice frame. But more practice needed!

On the fungus side of things, it seems to be almost gone. Only his skin is still full of bare patches, so waiting for that to heal. There were some flaky stuff still, but it looked like it might be the mikrotek stuff, it looked like a film of inorganic material and not like fungus crust. Hmm. We will see.

Ouch, my seatbone(s)!

Tuesday and Wednesday I had lessons, more stirrup less riding.

Tuesday we started off with a bunch of trot-canter-trot transitions, to get Odin a bit more round. We practiced the correct canter aid again, not just running into it. It is quite hard for me, and a bit frustrating. I ended up getting one or two good one, and he did get rounder.

Then I did lots of trot with no stirrups, as I did Monday. L. was noticing that I was working too hard, Odin needs to go more on his own. I think part of it is that I get mentally exhausted from sitting with no stirrups, it wears me out. I have a hard time concentrating on riding, using my aids, and stay upright in the saddle.

Wednesday we started out with an aid sensitivity exercise. I would very, very lightly tap Odin with me legs, and if he didn't immediately scoot forward, a BIG correction would follow. Rinse, repeat. In the beginning L. would ask me to say now when I used my legs, and then she would correct so I could see how quickly she timed it. She then asked me to do it, and it was OK, but I had to practice not pulling back when using the whip, deliberately letting go.
It actually didn't take that many corrections before Odin got it, he moved off nicely from a light aid. Added benefit: When he is in front of my legs, he is a lot lighter in my hand. Just like the theory tells!

The problem is of course that I need to be 100% consistent to make this work. After a minute of going forward promptly, he gets more and more sluggish again. I, of course, don't notice since it gradual (he still moved forward), and I am concentrating on whatever else I am doing. Then we go back to using bigger and bigger aids, and then it goes back to nagging every stride...

Something to continue to work on. The whole concept of having enough mental surplus to train the horse 100% of the time you ride is hard, it does take a lot of effort just to sit up.

It was a very useful exercise, a step on the way.

Then we did trotting with no stirrups again, this time also 10m circles and more serpentines and leg yields. This prompted the seatbone soreness! My right seatbone especially was sore - and one of the things we worked on was me sitting straight, L. said I was not sitting in the middle of the saddle, and collapsing the right hip. Well, I guess the soreness proves it - it was also way harder for me to do 10 m circles to left, even if this is Odin's 'good' side. So we worked on sitting in the middle of the saddle.

Riding without stirrups is getting so much easier, I feel a lot more confident, so while there seem to be an endless list of corrections to make, I do feel a lot of progress.


Also: stupid fungus, I can't get rid of it. Every day there is lot of scabbing to scrub off. I took away his flymask, my theory was that he was sweating under it aggravating it. I also made sure to disinfect his halter with an alcohol wipe, and make sure all the sweat is off his face after we ride. Hopefully there will be less fungus soon!

Lessons again

L. was back about one and a half week ago, and I am happy to be back in full training. I must admit that I find it hard to motivate my self and be consistent, and not just jog around.
I would love to blame it on the hot weather, but the truth is that cold or wet weather doesn't make my any more motivated :P.

What was really nice was that even though I might not be 100% consistent, I could feel an improvement in our downward transitions, which I had been working on. It felt like we were communicating a little better. It was nice to feel that I could get a bit progress on my own, I not regress while I am riding on my own, as it sometimes feels like.

Most of our lessons have been partly without stirrups. The lessons yesterday I actually felt OK with it, not panicking, and relaxing a bit. L. makes me ride him and do leg yields and serpentines, the hardest part is not to hang on the reins, and the next thing is not to clamp.

Next step will be to not stand in the stirrups when I take them back, I relax more when I have the stirrups, but I sit worse.

We also worked on transitions, as I said they feel better, but there is still much work to make them forward, both up and down. Again I need to not hang on the reins, and stop clamping.

Yesterday we worked on canter transitions, it was frustrating, since Odin basically ignored me until I ran him forward while leaning forward and letting go of him mouth. One strung out crappy canter follows that, of course. L. had me correcting him when he didn't respond to my light canter aid, but it is hard for me to think about, instead of just 'doing what works'- aka running. I also need to sit to give the aid with my seat bones.

We did manage one nice trot-canter and one nice canter-trot, but it was tough. L.'s comment was that if I just sit and give the correct aid and keeps hims on the bit it looks great! Do that every time! hmm...

forward on our own.

With L. out of town I have been trying to keep everything in mind while riding.

I have ridden a lot forward, with very little rein, and it feels good. Probably not as much forward as we could go, but still a lot more movement. I think Odin really enjoys it, and he seems to be easier have forward now he has gotten into the habit of doing it. In fact, he now expects us to rush down the long side, and he does in almost on his own! Maybe I am dreaming, but I feel I need to apply less driving aids, and while he may not be more in front of my legs or on my aids, he does feel like he is more forward from the legs.

we have also done a lot of transitions where I try to use my seat and not my hands. It is still hard for me, but I feel our communication has become better.

Oh, and another thing. When we canter around the arena and attempt to speed, we just canter across the diagonal and does a change in the middle, like a jumper ^_^. Very fun, big changes.