Dare I might say we could be getting there...

Before I started having lessons again I was struggling to cope with Ceaser's ever-changing moods. One day he would work perfectly, the next I would struggle to get him focused and instead he would be looking at what was going on around us rather than concentrating on work. I've mentioned before he has always been like this and as a 10-year-old was branded simply a "naughty pony" when we got him checked over by the vet to ensure nothing was causing his behaviour. Not many can say they have a big fat "naughty pony" written in red on their vet's records.

Right from day 1 of owning him we had good days and bad days. Some days he would be an absolute darling for me, others it seemed he had devil horns rather than ears. I went through instructors like they were going out of fashion, none of them seemed to listen to me that he wasn't "naughty", he just needed to do something that kept his brain ticking all the time. Every time I tried a new instructor we ended up doing the same thing of trotting around the arena, doing the occasional circle and then going large. I knew it wasn't enough to keep his mind busy. If I incoporated changes of reins, some leg yield, lots of halts and transitions then he behaved. It's almost as if he didn't have time to even think about being naughty because he was too 'busy'. If I schooled at home he could be a nightmare, if I went out and did a competition he was perfect. Why? Because he had to be focused. Before moving to Lincolnshire an old riding instructor told me he was a horse trapped in a ponies body and when riding him I should be more sensitive towards him, like many would be when riding a big fizzy 16.2h rather than a 14.1h pony - okay so that made sense.

Last winter

After a particularly bad winter last year of struggling to keep four feet on the ground I was beginning to feel my confidence taking a knock. I tried bit changes, various nosebands, lowering feed, everything. My saddle fitter suggested I look at changing my dressage saddle as she felt that could be causing a problem but it wasn't definite. I also contacted my feed company and we decided to lower Ceaser's feed and then a livery offered me a trial of her Neue Schule bit. I needed something to work as I wanted to be well prepared for this winter where he wouldn't get out too much due to the weather.

So, when someone suggested I try Amy I was looking forward to finally seeing if there was someone local that could help and give me weekly tasks to keep him focused. When Amy first met him he did an impressive show of bucking and spooking a few times, but as soon as we got working he stopped. She told me she didn't think he was naughty, but I always needed to be one step ahead of him and keep his mind on work rather than what is going on the other side of the arena fence. If he spooked or tried to buck she told me to simply do nothing but kick on and keep him going forward. For the first time in quite a long time my lesson was filled with lots of different things to focus and work on. Maybe mentally I was kept occupied as well, so it took my mind off the attitude that "was he going to behave or not?".

Amy commented that he appeared stiffer on one rein quite a lot compared to the other which could be why he bucked so much, so recommended I get him checked out by a physio. She said there was lots to like about him but we just needed to keep him busy rather than allow him to get bored.

Slowly, but surely after a few lessons I began to notice improvements. If Ceaser tried to misbehave I kicked on and changed what we were doing so he didn't have time to think. Before long the bucking almost stopped and for the first time in 6 months I was able to use the whole of the arena without having to worry that he would get to the top end and bolt back down because he had noticed something out the corner of his eye.

I like that at the beginning of a lesson we give ourselves objectives and if I tell Amy there is something I want to get right she addresses this. I have noticed a small improvement in our dressage scores and up to now they are a lot more consistent than last year.

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This week was the first lesson I had since going to the BD clinic. I spent a few minutes telling Amy what we had gone through and once again we looked at my aims for the spring time and what level I want to qualify at and what for.

A much happier pony!

When warming up she said she couldn't believe the change in our work and as an overall picture we looked much more in tune and like we were working together. Additionally she said the trot seemed a lot better and he looked to be relaxing into the contact much better rather than being a little reluctant or stiff. He now works almost evenly on both reins and barely struggles on one rein more than the other.

We worked on the counter canter a little more ready for my first BD novice test next week and although we
had a buck initially due to dad working on some fencing in the next field, he was fabulous. Amy feels the counter canter really helps lift our correct canter lead and makes it more bouncy.

Next we worked on some traver and shoulder in, flipping between the two. Initially we struggled to get either correct and I got a little annoyed that last week we had got it first time. Amy suggested using my arena mirrors to help and working towards them to do the lateral work rather up the long side. Funnily enough upon doing this we did shoulder in and traver first time, so she then said try using the quarter line to do the lateral work as he may pin himself against the arena fence and struggle to bend correctly. Again, this worked perfect and he did some lovely work. It's funny how a simple change of where you ask for something can make all the difference. Of course we will go back to doing this on the track, but for now if it all feels easier on the quarter line then that is not a problem. We worked on some of the movements that may come up in my Novice test next week and before long it was time to finish again.

Looking back at the videos Mark took I can see a huge difference in our way of going if we compare back to June time. Mark also agrees every thing seems to look more fluent and 100 times better. This week I will be hacking him twice and then schooling Friday and Saturday before our two tests on Sunday. Can we get our first BD point? I'll let you know!

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An update on Ceaser!

Wow, it seems ages since I blogged about Ceaser and how we are doing, but in reality it really wasn't that long ago at all!

I don't know if you remember, but the last time I blogged about him was after I had a dressage lesson with our new instructor. I must say I ached so much for a few days after so I must have worked hard.

As a recap, Sharon said she could see exactly why I was being told Ceaser wasn't uphill enough and what he was doing to avoid giving me all of his attention. I have been having a few problems with him spooking a lot lately and generally being very fizzy, so I also wanted Sharon to tell me what he was doing when spooking and taking off!

She told me he was very cheeky and when he spooked at something he was locking his (very thick!) neck and taking a hold of the bit so I had absolutely no chance of stopping him doing what the hell he liked. To overcome this I had to push him on a lot using my legs to stop him over bending but stop him from rushing with both my seat and hands. That didn't mean pull him back and yank on his mouth like a child, but half halt every so often to remind him "excuse me, I am here!".

We also made the decision that for Elementary tests he isn't sitting back on his hocks enough and allowing me to collect him as much as I need to in order to get the higher scores. Sharon thought this was going to be almost impossible in a snaffle bit as he just wasn't listening to me. Which isn't entirely his fault, but he is shown in a Pelham and ridden everyday on the second ring of a gag, so a snaffle to him must feel like nothing! So, I went trawling on ebay for a weymouth, bradoon and a double bridle to try and thankfully I managed to pick it all up for less than £7! Bargain!

This week we tried it on him, not knowing whether he would take to it or not as some horses simply just do not like the feel of a double in their mouth. Of course Ceaser was out of to surprise and took to it like a duck to water, probably wondering what all the fuss was about. I walked around for 10 minutes with it on and after absolutely no problems got off feeling quite smug it had all gone fine!

Sharon also noted that he looked a lot better in the double for dressage as it just finished the picture of nicely. Despite only being 14.1hh Ceaser has a very horse type head and I have been told before he rides like a horse. The double suites him a lot better than the snaffle and also will give me that bit of extra control to ask him to sit back a bit more and use his back end when doing a test.

Our first real go in the double is this weekend for a dressage clinic. I am hoping to do Elementary 50 as it has a lot of tricky movements in so the bridle will be put to the test straight away. That's if the weather doesn't stop play anyway!

I'll let you all know how it goes - wish us luck! 

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First lesson in a while!

Well, the past two weekends have been absolutely disastrous in terms of getting out competing. Last weekend I had every intention of doing an Elementary test with Ceaser to prepare us for our first affiliated event in a couple of weeks, but unfortunately a day before the competition I somehow managed to get the dreaded 48 hour sickness bug. So, whilst I should have been competing I was stuck in bed listening to others from the yard trotting past my window as they went out on a lovely hack.

That knocked me out for a few days and after work and university it was suddenly Thursday and I hadn't had chance to ride once, which meant Ceaser had ended up having 10 days off - not something I wanted. After endless internet searching I found a local dressage competition that I could enter just to get him out and booked us in.

I knew he would be a little hyperactive when I went to get back on after his time off but little was an understatement! After five minutes of spooking, planting all four feet firmly on the floor and then spinning around at 5 o clock Thursday evening after a full day at university I accepted defeat, got off and went in search of someone to lunge him for me! I work Mondays and Tuesdays and then have university Thursdays and Fridays so if I want to ride those days it means I can't do so until 4/5 o clock when its pitch black and Ceaser thinks its dinner time, not work time.

Thankfully, a livery kindly offered to lunge him for 10 minutes for me on Friday so he would at least be a little more prepared for dressage on Sunday. Apparently he was as good as gold and didn't put a hoof out of line.

Saturday I had every intention of riding, then plaiting - until about 11am I got a text saying the dressage was cancelled due to predicted high winds. Just my luck, you can tell its winter again! So, I quickly popped down to the arena where our riding instructor was teaching some of our riding school clients and asked for a lesson. If Ceaser was going to be a pain like he had been recently then he may as well do it in front of a crowd!

Sharon, our instructor sussed Ceaser out instantly and why I have been having a few issues with him taking off and spooking a lot recently. Just 2 minutes in to trotting she noticed he is tending to over bend and locking his neck and taking hold of the bit when I'm asking for something, meaning that I have no control over what he is doing.

So for the first 10-15 minutes we spent time on getting him moving forward and working from behind a lot more. If he went behind the vertical and sped up without me asking then I was to half halt him whilst pushing him forward. It worked and after a little while he was working a lot better.

When Sharon asked me to canter on Ceaser wasn't as up-hill, which we have been having problems with in our dressage tests. She noticed that he is quite forward and referred to him as a "coil spring waiting to go pop!" which he definitely felt like! So we worked on getting my legs correct and pushing my bum into the saddle more to try and keep him up-hill so he couldn't take a hold of the bit and pull me forward out of my seat. It was definitely easier said than done as I was only riding in my snaffle bit but eventually after some leg-yielding in and out of a 20 meter circle on both reins he began to listen and respect my aids more.

I always find that once we have a had a canter in a dressage test he clicks on and gets strong. Sharon said he definitely gives this impression and because of his thick set neck and shoulders he would be strong if he wanted. It was quite funny that within just a few minutes Sharon spotted exactly what Ceaser does to try and test me and make me work twice as hard - which makes me feel even more confident about her as an instructor. She gave me some homework of doing lots of transitions and keeping him busy so he doesn't get bored and have time to think about being a challenge. We need to work on keeping his brain ticking the whole time I am riding as if I switch off for a slight second he finds something to look at and spook at!

Obviously for an Elementary test where you need to do lots of collections and give the impression of being a lot more up-hill, so I have now ordered a double bridle to use to see if it makes a difference in getting him more up-hill and just that little bit less strong. He is simply too strong in the snaffle so we need to look at other options.

Overall I had a fantastic lesson and have already been practicing the pointers Sharon told me to work at today. It just goes to show that what she said to work at actually works as we only had one spook at some pheasants today despite it being very wet and windy. I have taken him off his electrolytes and cut his high energy feed down whilst he is spending more time stabled during the winter as I am pretty sure that is not helping matters!

Hopefully we will get out competing soon, but if not I have a dressage clinic in two weeks so that will have to do! I hate winter, roll on summer!

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