The wretched heat wave is over at least for the time being.  The car thermometer registered 82 degrees as I arrived at the barn on Monday – 20 degrees less than Sunday.  It was also cloudy for most of the day as well.  Amazing what 24 hours can do for the weather around here.   You would think that the horses would rejoice and want to spend all day outdoors.  Sure there was still humidity, but the cooler temperature appeared to keep the bugs at bay…or was it the new sweatproof fly spray?  Anyway, most of the other horses were quite content and then there was Ike.  Weenie still only made it outdoors for a couple of hours on Monday and then acted the fool until Ms. C came to rescue him.  My big, handsome man is a homebody.

Today was a gorgeous day for my dressage lesson. We are continuing to school the Training Level canter transitions.  Thankfully, the horse and rider are better all the way around and the correct lead happens 9.5 times out of 10.  We still occasionally get disunited, so we get partial credit.  The down transitions are also improving.  Six months ago, Ike’s legs would flail about and I’d have the reins too loose to be of any help to him.  Now, I am more help and it is much less “herky-jerky.”  Really hoping that we can see some better scores for the canter movements.  Just clearing the 60% margin would be thrilling.  Ms. C tells me that my reins are still too long in my canter-to-trot transitions…aarrrgghhh.  Can I blame sweaty reins?  Yeah, I know, I need to do better.  Here here is another photo of Ike’s right lead canter:

We also spent time working on getting Ike to come up into the bridle.  Lots of half halts to get him to lift up and out of those withers and really push from behind.  When he does – wow – that is that feeling of connection that you read so much about but can be so very elusive.  Ike doesn’t have the strength to maintain it for long, but we know it is in there.  Here is our attempt:

We have a long way to go, but I can’t wait to see where this ride takes us!

Hi everyone!  It’s Ike again.  I’ve taken over the blog for the day.  It is hard to believe that I’ve been in Virginia for almost a year now.  Mom says that our one year anniversary will be on August 10th.  I’m not sure how we will celebrate, but I have told her that I would like an air conditioner for my stall as an anniversary gift.  It was hot in Florida before I moved here, but this Virginia heat is brutal.  How can anyone be expected to do anything outside when the temperature is over 100 degrees day after day?

I have learned to recognize the sound of Mom’s car.  It makes me very happy when she comes to see me.  She waved when she got out of the car.  I made sure that she knew I wanted her attention as soon as she arrived at the barn.  I ran to the gate to wait for her.  Do you know that she had the nerve to stop and visit with my brother BEFORE she came to get me?  I started pacing and running faster and faster – that made her get a move on and rescue me from the sun.

I was grateful that Mom hosed me down before we went into the barn.  The cold well water feels really nice.  I was hoping that we’d just visit today, but when I saw the grooming stuff come out, I knew that she was going to put me to work.  Shucks, I really just wanted to eat that nice timothy hay in the corner of my stall.  Luckily Mom was kind and only made me work for 20 minutes.  I think she is a bit of a wimp in this heat.  She kept complaining about the sweat in her eyes and on her glasses.  I was a trooper and didn’t even put up a fuss today.  I knew that the more cooperative I was, the sooner we’d be done.  I nailed my canter transitions today and worked hard to keep my balance on the circles and in the down transitions.  Mom is doing a better job with her aids and helping me stay balanced.  They tell me that my topline is getting more developed and that will help my work.  Since I don’t know what a topline is, I will guess that it is a good thing.

Mom took my saddle off right outside the barn and hosed me down right after we finished.  I really just wanted to get back into the barn so I was a bit fidgety.  I guess I was standing too close to that mean chestnut mare because she squealed really loudly and pinned her ears at me.  Mom yelled at her to be nice, but she just gave Mom a mean look.  Man, she is a moody girl.  I still don’t understand why she doesn’t like me.

Mom took this photo right after she rode…That was some serious heat and it was only 11:00 in the morning.  Glad that she left me in my stall with the fan running.  Now I can enjoy that hay that’s calling my name.  Stay cool everyone!

Conditions at 6:30 this morning:  75 degrees, 94% humidity, dew point 73, no wind.  I was fully expecting sauna like conditions for my lesson today.  By 9:00, it was already in the mid-80’s, but a slight breeze showed up which made the air somewhat “breathable.”  My dear friend Ms. CS came along with me today so that she could meet the big boy in person.  Ike was immediately smitten with her…the Peppermint Plops probably sealed that friendship.

Ike was heavy in my hands this morning and was a bit flat to start.  Maybe the heat and humidity were getting to him as well.  My arms are sore this afternoon from all the half halts I did to try and pick him up.  Ms. C ended up having me bring him back to the walk and had me think of piaffe to try and generate some energy and join the front and hind ends.  (I always need to remind myself that I needs me in that middle section to help connect the front and back over his back.)  It was amazing to see how well that exercise worked.  He came up out of his withers, into his bridle, and the trot transition was seamless.  I could actually sit that rudimentary attempt at a collected trot; I’d then start my rising trot and have much better connection and throughness.  We’d never be able to progress without Ms. C’s watchful eye and insights.

Canter was okay today.  We tried centerline, short diagonal, to canter transition at the rail.  The rider had Ike’s weight in the wrong place for the right lead transition, but bless his heart, he shuffled for a stride or two, and still picked up the correct lead.  Sometimes he is smarter than his rider…we are starting to introduce shoulder fore at the canter.  Ike is ready for it.  he can maintain it for a few strides – it is a start.  Left lead was spot on today.

Had to take numerous water breaks today.  Ike had a hose break and let Ms. C spray the water into his mouth.  He then tried to eat the end of the hose.  That’s my four year old.

Ugh and double ugh.  This mid-Atlantic heat wave continues and the thermometer hit 99 degrees even before you factored in the humidity.  Since the earliest I could get to the barn today was lunchtime, Ms. C and I opted to wait until tomorrow to have my lesson rather than have Ike and I turn into puddles of salty water…and then I look at the forecast for tomorrow.  Excessive heat warning.  Code Red Air Quality.  Very little breeze.  105 degrees.  What the??  Are they serious?  It will be a challenging lesson tomorrow even in the morning.

Ike, Cigar, and the other horses were all having their mid-day barn break when I arrived today.  Lots of bucket banging, whinnying, and nickers when I arrived.  I guess I was a welcome distraction.  Ha!  Who am I kidding?  Sadly, the truth is that the horses probably think  I’m a giant, walking Kong that they can nudge and have treats fall out.  Even more sad, I am always happy to oblige and provide a special treat for each of the horses along with a pat on the neck.  Perhaps I can be a Kong for Halloween this year.

Ike had obviously been in the barn longer than the other horses.  His coat was dry, and he looked like a salt-crusted beef tenderloin.  Everyone else was still damp from the recent cold hosing.  Such a Weenie boy.  Too Hot!  Too many bugs!  I love the sanctuary of my stall!  Most horses hate being in the barn alone.  Aren’t they supposed to be herd animals and seek out the company of other horses?  Ike is an enigma, but what can I say, I love my neurotic boy.  One could say that all my animals belong on the Island of Misfit Pets, but that is okay with me.

Happy Fourth of July!  Hope everyone has a great holiday.  Please be careful if you have the heat and humidity that we have here in Virginia.  It doesn’t take much to become overheated in this weather.  Ike and I celebrated with an early morning ride to avoid the mid-day sun.  I opted not to ride yesterday and gave Ike and Cigar cold sponge baths to remove the crusty salt layer from their coats.  One odd note from the sponge baths…Ike decided to drink the salty water in my bucket.  Silly pony.  He does love his salt block, so maybe he figured he was replacing the lost electrolytes.

There were no residual issues from the temper tantrum the other day.  Ike’s work today was solid.  I started with walk-halt transitions since that is where we had issues on Monday.  Today – perfect, so I tried some turn on the haunches.  Turns to the left are better than those to the right.  It is still a new concept for Ike, but he is trying to comprehend what I want.  Trot work was also good today.  We are getting better with our connection (read – the rider is getting better at maintaining the connection and throughness.)  I can tell when we are not completely connected – Ike’s head waggles from side to side.  It stops as soon as I reconnect.  He makes me ride rather than cruise.  I’m still focusing on our rhythm on our circles and not losing the forward as we ride the arc of the circle.  Ike has definitely improved his balance and the hind end drifts less frequently on the arc.

Our canter work today was brief, but why overschool when the work offered is solid.  Ike nailed all the transitions and our circles actually resembled circles rather than eggs.  Progress!  I do like that the canter transitions in Training Level Test 2 are in the corners rather than on a circle.  We are less likely to lose the hind end and pick up the wrong lead or be disunited.  I can use the corner to help set up Ike for success.  Now I just need to learn and memorize the rest of the test.  I’ve got 25 days – piece of cake.

p.s. Please remember to keep your animals safe tonight when the fireworks start.  They don’t realize that it is a celebration.

Think back to your elementary school days.  Imagine if the teacher told everyone else that they would get to go outside and relax and play on the playground, but you would have to stay back and have another math lesson.  What?!  No way!  That isn’t fair!  Well today was Ike’s day to throw himself on the floor and declare that he has the meanest teacher/mother ever!

I arrived at the farm after work – after the horses had been fed and had a chance to cool off in the barn.  The other horses were headed back to their paddocks for some late afternoon grass munching, but poor Ike had to stay behind to be groomed and tacked.  Sigh, how awful.  It isn’t like this was the first time that I’d ridden him later in the day, but he wanted none of it today.  He did not want to stand at the mounting block.  Usually, he will stand quietly while I adjust put on my gloves (which for some reason, I don’t do until after I mount).  Today, he decided to march with purpose over to the gate of his paddock.  Nice try, please keep marching past that gate and prepare to work.

My plan for the day was an easy workout since he’d just eaten and it was another hot day.  I read an article with Christopher Hess in my newest Dressage Today magazine where you would ride a square and perform a quarter turn on the haunches in each corner to start the next side of the square.  The exercise would be performed in each direction.  Sounded simple enough, but the exercise assumes that your horse will halt and wait for the rider’s aids to make the turn.  Halts were challenging today.  I’d ask and Ike would giraffe his neck and pull on the reins with those powerful “underneck” muscles.  Pppllbbbttt (the sound of Ike sticking his tongue out at me).  Ike would stomp his hooves, back up, push into my leg with the hind end, walk forward, back up again, anything to avoid halting.  I sat quietly and repeated my request until all movement would stop.  I abandoned the idea of any turns and concentrated on halts – obedient, quiet halts all while being patient and waiting for my next aid.  After 15 minutes of fuss, we had our first halt.  Phew, that was the hardest I have EVER worked for a halt.  Ike finally relented and we made progress.  We then trotted on and tried some centerline halts; Ike’s tantrum was over and Mr. Cooperative returned.  The boy can nail those halts when he sets his mind to it.

Everything else today was adequate – I’d have given us lots of 5’s and 6’s, maybe a 7 for some of the trot work.  We still have miles to go, but I marvel at how far we have come.  Time for me to do my final halt for the day.  Good night!