Introductory Level Horse

1/12/2016

Something sort of clicked this weekend while I was riding Izzy. I've been looking over my show schedule wondering if he'll ever be ready to officially head down center line in front of a judge. All of a sudden, it hit me like a ton of bricks: he will never be ready if I continue to think of him as a green bean.

If I want to show Izzy, I need to get him ready for the level at which I want to show. I would prefer to start out at Training Level of course, but given how unconfirmed the canter is right now, I should probably aim for a few walk/trot classes first, and then ease him into the canter work at Intro C.

The Green Bean doesn't ground tie very well.

On Saturday, I continued to work on installing a right lead. He picks up the left lead fairly consistently, but it's still rushed and zoomy. It doesn't take too long before I can balance him though. I played around with spiraling in, spiraling out, and cantering the long sides. Straightness on the long side is still an issue, but I am thrilled that we can now canter in a somewhat organized fashion - to the left.

Getting the right lead is still troublesome, but in better news, he has a spectacular flying lead change. Izzy is not as bendy to the right which makes tracking right a challenge, especially at the canter. Once he can get an edge on me by shifting his hind quarters even slightly out, the shoulder starts to blow out and then he can't turn right. This is when he does a lead change to the left.

Dragging his head to the right does nothing but shoot his hindquarters even farther to the outside. Putting him in a counter bend works sometimes, but then he falls on his inside shoulder. The most effective tool I have right now is to try and catch his hindquarters before I lose them. When this fails, and he's already made the lead change, I simply counter bend him and asked for the flying change by re-asking for a right lead canter (outside leg back/inside hip forward).

Panic!!!! Introductory Horse doesn't ground tie very well either.

The first time he lost the left lead and I asked for a change to the right, he blew me off completely and tried to bolt for the gate on the left lead. We had just ridden the neighborhood a day or so before so I was still feeling uber confident about riding out at any Oh, sh#t! moments. I sat up asked for the right lead while I smacked him in the outside shoulder with the whip. He gave a HUGE flying lead change along with some fancy airs above the ground. I laughed in complete delight - silly boy!

Don't misunderstand, he didn't get smacked because he wouldn't change leads. Instead, he had grabbed the rein and was ignoring all of my aids indicating he should either slow down or turn right. His number one evasion is to grab the right rein from me and bolt to the left. The whack on the shoulder comes after I have asked with my seat, legs, and rein aids. When all else fails, I whack his shoulder to say get off of my outside leg.

The next time he swapped to a left lead, I again asked for the right lead with a gentle reminder with the whip to not run through my outside aids. Before long, he was holding the right lead. It was wild and wooly and I had to ride it in two-point, but he held the lead and let me get some inside bend.

It's just a photo, Dude!

I rode him again on Sunday, but I decided to leave the canter for another day and focused on the movements at Introductory and Training Level: 20-meter circles and long trots across the diagonal. I had him trot down the long side with a 20-meter circle at B and then crossed the diagonal for another 20-meter trot circle at E. I did this a few times and then changed it up by not crossing the diagonal but doing another 20-meter circle at B/E.

Now that I am competing at First Level and schooling Second Level, I am so grateful for the thinking behind the Introductory and Training Level tests. The slow changes of direction, large circles, and long lines are just what green beans need.

I was really, really happy with how well he worked, I could put him anywhere I wanted without any shenanigans. I can now see what we need to work on. He needs to be steadier in the bridle, he needs to be better balanced in the corners with more effective half halts (quit running through my aids, Mister!), and we need a much better trot to walk to halt transition.

After running through the trot work, I finished up by doing a million walk to halt transitions followed by a few minutes of trot to walk. By the end of the ride, he was doing a much better job with the downward transitions.

If I am not careful, I may end up with a Training Level horse before I know it!

Hillary link

1/12/2016 06:12:05 am

Baby steps - I can relate to your calling yourself out for calling him a green bean. I called Houston green forever when really he might have been green about some things but a horse that's doing some 2nd level movements isn't entirely green.

Excited to read about more progress from you all.

Bakersfield Dressage link

1/12/2016 04:25:41 pm

I think that we we have higher expectations (green bean to intro horse), our horses are more likely to achieve more. I hoe anyway. :0)

jenj

1/12/2016 06:33:39 am

Afraid of the camera, eh? So naughty about the lead changes and leaning on your aids. Do you longe him at all? I've found it can help them find some balance in the canter. Taran can canter right on a 15 m circle all day, but he can barely make it through 1/2 a circle left before he falls apart. He's getting stronger, and a little longing is definitely helping him with that.

1/12/2016 04:28:39 pm

I am not a huge fan of lunging, so I rarely do it. I lunged Izzy a fair amount before I felt that he was "broke" enough to ride. He struggled with the correct lead on the lunge line as well. He does the motorcycle lean while on the lunge which is harder for me to correct from the ground than it is from the saddle, but I am going to ask my trainer what she thinks about the idea of lunging him to teach him to balance.

1/13/2016 06:39:24 am

I hear you, I'm not a big fan of longing endlessly either! I try to use it occasionally for very specific targeted tasks - like balance while cantering. Hopefully you can find something that works for Izzy!

Tracy

1/12/2016 07:14:15 am

I like thinking about practicing at the level you plan to show. Hopefully it will help Izzy step and DO IT!

1/12/2016 04:30:30 pm

To me it's a no brainer to practice the movements from the tests that you plan to ride, but Izzy hasn't been broke enough to do a lot of changes of directions. Just this weekend, I realized that he has gradually become broke enough, so I need to start getting to work!

emma link

1/12/2016 08:52:44 am

eh the nicest thing about intro (in my very limited experience and understanding) is that even if you could mayyyybe probably make the canter happen well enough for training, it still gives you a safe and "easy" place to work on all the other things that come with shows - the atmosphere and the more strict adherence to geometry etc.

1/12/2016 09:00:00 am

I started showing at Intro with Speedy because neither of us had ever shown ... at anything. We had done a ton of endurance races (me more, him less), but dressage was new to both of us. I loved the Introductory Level tests because they were safe and gave the horse and rider an opportunity to see a show ring and a judge without the pressure of doing anything more than walking and trotting a 20-meter circle. When I started, there was no Introductory C, and the A test was a little harder than it is now. Like everyone else, my goals will be to get him in the ring, stay in the ring, and hopefully walk and trot as directed. :0)

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Not-So-Speedy Dressage