#114 - Had a wonderful ride last night!

I rode the horse named Dick last night and it was one of my better rides, particularly as I am finally starting to overcome this cold and I didn't feel as bad as the last time I rode.

I saddled up around 4.45pm and it was a beautiful night with a red sky so I felt like I was riding into the sunset! And all the horses on the property, about 50 of them, were being fed around me so they were all frisky. It was nice watching foals leaping in the distance while I cantered along.

Most importantly I learn that not only do I need to use my outer leg as an aid to canter but also that I must keep it there and have my inner leg forward. This is really important and is something that I wasn't aware of as it tells the horse that you want it to keep going in the canter. It could explain why Teddy stops so abruptly when I set him off into canter. I have been using the leg aid to start him and he would go straight into canter like a legend but then he would just stop. I thought it might be due to the position of the reins but when we ride tomorrow, weather permitting, I will see if its due to my leg aid not remaining at his side.

It will be interesting to see what the result is and how he responds. At least I now feel like I've got everything coordinated.

#114 - still too sick to horse around

This damn cold has got me so good that I haven't been able to do much with Teddy. My last ride was lopsided due to having blocked ears so until I'm better I will stay out of the saddle and have my feet firmly on the ground - not as far to fall!

Teddy Log: #113 - How to steer a horse with your butt!

Teddy Log: #113 - How to steer a horse with your butt!: "Yep it's true, today I learned how to steer a horse using nothing but my butt cheeks and the slightest tilt of the hips. I am supposed to ..."

#113 - How to steer a horse with your butt!

Yep it's true, today I learned how to steer a horse using nothing but my butt cheeks and the slightest tilt of the hips. I am supposed to master this new technique over time at a walk, sitting trot, rising trot and a canter! It appears to be that as a dressage rider you need to be a contortionist as well!

On a cuter note, the pictures above are of a newborn foal from the shetland pony stud down the road from Aurum. The owners are away so these two are being cared for my Kim at her property. Aren't they just gorgeous!

I wish you could see the scale of these two. The mum is a full grown shetland at a height of about 9 to 10 hands high or approximately 90 - 100 cm, so as you can see from the footage below the filly can walk under her mum's belly! I'd guess that she is about 40 - 50 cm tall! Too cute! She was having a dream while I was watching her and must have been going for a little gallop as she had her little legs going! I wanted to put her in my car and take her home with me!

#112 - Look where you're going Teddy!!!!

I took Teddy for a ride after work today and he was very well behaved. He was pretty good with mounting and on the ground he was near perfect. The moment we got into a canter he started head tossing and this made him not look where he's going and he stumbled in a small ditch. I managed to stay on! Yay me!

What I really want to do now is have my lessons on Teddy but not having a float is preventing me from doing so. I am trying to get the money together to get one but in the meantime I have contacted Amber Smeenk as Steve got me two lessons with her for Christmas. She has agreed to come around here and have those lesson with me riding Teddy across the road at the arena . I hope she has some ideas about how to tackle this head tossing.

Later when I have my float I will take Teddy to Kim's or find out if the girl from Bendigo is still interested in coming to Kyneton so Kim can come here too. I hope it's soon than later.

#111 - Oh how I missed you Teddy Bear!

After work today I saw Teddy for the first time since Saturday and it made me realise how much I love that horse! We had a chat and I told him about my work trip to Cairns while he ate his tea and the sun started to set. I was meant to go to a dressage lesson after work but seeing as I have my own horse who I missed so much it wouldn't have made sense to be with another horse so I came home instead. I hope the rain stays away so we can go for a ride this weekend.

#110 - riding in the autumn sunshine

I had a lesson on the horse named Dick this morning and it was a challenge. I don't know if it's because I haven't ridden him in a month or the new arena had gotten him out of sorts but he was trying everything on. We concentrated mainly on the canter and stretching out his legs at a trot to lengthen his stride. It was interesting but difficult getting a horse that just wasn't into the ride to go through witch hats and sticking to the 12 metre markers that I was being instructed to do paces at when called out.

I'd love to try and practise a modified version of these exercises on Teddy but I have to go interstate on business tomorrow morning and will be gone for a few days so Steve will be left on farm duty. When it comes to Teddy I think this will pretty much be Steve looking out the window to make sure nothing terrible has happened to him and that's it.

So it looks like I wont be back in the saddle until Thursday (late meeting Wednesday night). Wouldn't it be great to not have to work! I can dream all about it because that's as close to retirement that I'm likely to get for quite a while.

P.S. I like the pic of Teddy with the sun behind him.