Bareback Pad Comparison

A while ago, before I found a saddle for Crispin I got myself the Christ bareback pad "Iberica" so I would have something to ride him in. And even though the feeling of riding in a sheepskin pad is great, at that point in our training it wasn't a perfect choice for us. It was a very slippery and unballanced combination and after a few month I was really, really glad when I finally got my real saddle.

I kept the Christ bareback pad, rode in it now and then and used it mainly as a longing surcingle. The main problem I had with it was, that the placement of the girth straps and in consequence the placement of the stirrups was a bad fit for Crispin. I could not use it with stirrups and since I still did not sit his trot "real" riding without them was no option.

Since I liked the idea of riding in a sheepskin bareback pad but just wasn't happy with the Christ I decided to sell the Christ Iberica and give a similar sheepskin pad from another company a shot.

The bareback pad I choose is from a company called "Grandeur", the modell is called "Barock".

So far I really, really like it! I only rode in it about 3-4 times WITH stirrups and so far, all is good. At this point there is only one thing I liked better on the Christ and that is the pads bottom side. The Christ was a lovely sheepskin while the Grandeur ist only wool fleece. I'd never use a saddle pad with the Christ but I feel like I have to use one with the Grandeur. No big deal really.

Comparing both, I'd describe the Christ as being closer to a bareback pad and the Grandeur being closer to a treeless saddle. The grandeur is much stiffer and therefore much more stable on horseback. The placement of the girth staps on the Grandeur is better for Crispin (thought not perfect) and there are no rings attached to the Pad to fix the stirrups on. You need to buy a velcro attachement for that. Grandeur offers one but I decided to go with another option: I bough a stirrup attachment from Barefoot to use with the Grandeur.

For those of you who don't remember, this is the Christ bareback pad "Iberica":

 

Here you can it without the seat. You can see how the D-rings for the stirrups are attached to the girth:

 

The lovely sheepskin bottom side:

And now the Grandeur "Barock":

 

You can see that, while the Christ is basically one piece, the Grandeur is divided into two seperate parts allowing for some real spinal clearence:

The not quite as lovely bottom side of the Grandeur:

The Grandeur without the seat and the stirrup attachment from Barefoot. You can see there are no rings attached to the Grandeur itself, just some velcro to which you can either attach D-rings or velcro stirrup leathers (Grandeur sells both):

The Grandeur has three pockets for extra padding, each filled with a different kind of padding material. One is on the bottom the other two under the seat:

Four years already!

After a long, exciting but lovely trail ride on thursday, Crispin deserved a lazy day today. Then I checked the calender and realized it is our aniversary. On the 27th of september four years ago Christina droped Crispin off at the old barn. I can not belive it has been four years already! And not a single day of regret.

So, I decided it was a good time to try something new, something we haven't done before. Something that included lots of cookies and very little work for Crispin. I hopped on and rode Crispin without saddle or bridle (ok, I did cheat a little, I used the neck strap).

I even have a silly little clip to prove it:

What I like most about it is how completely unconcerned he is about the whole thing. This is the very same pony that just four years ago was very much a sceptic about anything! The backing up at the end was also a spur of the moment thing. I haven't really tried that under saddle yet and just wanted to see what happend if I just ask him for a couple of steps.

Boot camp for Crispin

Well, it’s probably not going to be half as bad as it sounds, but I think Crispin needs to graduate and go from “young horse” to “riding horse”. He needs to work a little more and in order to do that, we need to work on his strength and condition. Both will probably go hand in hand.

Over the summer he’s had an easy life, lots of excuses on my part not to ride plus a little injury that kept me from riding for 3 weeks. What I’m planning to do is just a little more of everything. In the past I did not ride the day before or after a lesson, I did not really ride more than two days in a row, and I have given him many “lazy” days with just some extra paddock time, 30 min in the hotwalker or just a little lunging on the rope halter.

The idea is to:

- ride more (and ask for more under saddle)
- start jumping under saddle
- go out more (on trail rides or to our little track)
- longline or ground drive
- free jump

...and try to go for a run myself on the days I do not ride.

First Clinic

Last weekend we rode in our first 3 Day clinic. Lucky for us we could organize the clinic with Klaus Werzinger at our barn. So, no trailering no unfamiliar arena. Just perfect for a first.

Klaus Werzinger is Jenny's trainer (and Jenny is ours). Klaus mixes up classical dressage training (SRS and  Philippe Karl) with the theories of  Feldenkrais. The idea seems to be to train along the lines of classical dressage but helping the horse achieve that through keeping a close eye on the biomechanics of riding.

At the start of our first ride I'd said that in the past couple of months Crispin had been kind of lazy and that I'd had the feeling, that at the trot I have to basically "kick" every step out of him. An unpleasant feeling and something I really needed to fix.

Klaus let me ride for a couple of minutes and quickly came to the conclusion, that even though Cripin pushed nicely from behind, he seemed to be blocked somewhere, making it impossible for him to let the movement through. The solution would be to find a way to help Crispin lift and open his schoulders to give him more room to let the movement from behind all the way through and out.

The fix for that and our goal throughout the clinic was to focus on Crispins lateral bend. Bending him from head to tail, ribcage through poll.

Our most powerful tool was the "Bügeltritt" (step into the stirrup). We spend most of the four sessions on the Bügeltritt. Klaus said, that the Bügeltritt is a very powerfull but also a very blunt aid. You basically "throw" your horse out of ballance in a controlled way. It can not introduce bend but it can help enhance it especially the bend through the ribcage. I had used it in the past but only at the trot, posting. At the trot there is no right or wrong way to use the Bügeltritt, since you only can use it at one point, when getting up to post. At the walk on the other hand is a right and a wrong way to use it. You step forward into the stirrup when the hind leg comes forward. This, however, is also the moment you'd usually put the leg one in a driving aid at the walk. I have to admit, it took me a while. Though, actually, it is really easy to feel the right moment for the Bügeltritt once you know what to feel for, and once you get over the urge to put the leg on the horse instead of forward and out. At first I had to think about the right moment a lot but it got better, especially once Klaus said to feel for when my knees were going down and that that was the right moment.

Once I got the Bügeltritt right our sessions consisted of using it to help with the bend. I was supposed to counter bend Cripin along the long sides of the arena, and use the Bügeltritt to really enhance the bend, feeling the ribcage move away and making room  for my inside leg. On the short sides I was supposed to let him stretch out long, low and forward at first and later on try to change the bend and try to bend him around my inside leg on the short side and counterbend him again on the long sides. Let me say, there was a lot going on. Inside bend, straight, outsinde bend, letting go of the reins, picking them up again and back to the start... Klaus kept an close eye ont not overwhelming Crispin or me by letting us take a lot of brakes, which he used to explain the whys and whens of this methodes.

We did the exercises at the walk and trot on both hands. It really helped Crispin to straighten out! Usually our right and the left hand sides are very diffenerent. The right side works quite well already while the left is awful sometimes. Within one session with Klaus (and without me really noticing it) both hands felt much  the same and much better!

But Klaus wasn't quite satisfied with Crispins effort yet. So he asked me to come to him and he checked Crispin for additional blockage. He felt that Crispin was still holding back at the poll, so he did some Philippe Karl inspired flexing excrcises. It took a little time but in the end Crispin gave in and I managed to finally bend him from tail to poll.

I think the difference in the two pictures below is amazing. The first one was taken at some random ride in the last couple of months. The second one at our last ride with Klaus. And even though Crispin is basically in the same frame in both pictures, you can really tell the difference. His shoulders are up, he isn't as heavy on the forehand anymore and his haunches lower and more under him than in the first pic.

I really enjoyed the whole weekend. Klaus was always very focused on the rider (any rider/horse, no matter the breed or state of training) always very polite and friendly, good at explaining the ideas behind his technique and training. Just overall a very nice person who made this clinic a fun and very usefull experience for me and Crispin.

...just some pretty pictures...

A couple weeks ago another boarder was taking pictures of one of her sales horses in the indoor while we were riding.

She also took some of Crispin as well and they turned out beautifully! Here are some of my favourites (Picture overload ahead!):

She also took some of me riding. These are the two that aren't too awful (awful because of me not because of Crispin or the photographer!)

He almost made it...

Yesterday, after more than three years I finally measured Crispin again.

Well, he almost made the 16.0hh mark. He is 162cm high (+/- 0.5cm).

Big Boy.

6 years old and a lesson clip

I can not believe how lazy I've become. Only one blog entry in 6 months. That's bad!

All is well. Dressage is progressing very slowly but very nicely. We addded a little bit of baby jumping, more trail rides and did a "Zirkuslektionen" clinic. And of course Crispin turned 6 years old.

The "Zirkuslektionen" were fun. I really need to take a video of the tricks we've learned.

The jumping also is fun, he is such a good boy about it. Unfortunately our first jumping lesson resulted in a badly strained ankle for me. Not Crispins fault at all. He overjumped big time (which was expected) but since I was in a dressage saddle (in which I have never jumped before) he not only jumped me out of the tack, my leg also slipped back and I think he got scared and took of bucking. Since I already was basically up on his neck at this point, I couldn't hold on and he trew me. It happens...

I also finally got s short clip from one of our dressage lessons with Jenny. We are still doing ridiculously boring "baby" stuff, but I do like the video a lot. He looks so happy and content with what we ask of him. I never took myself as someone who'd go classical dressage, but Jenny's approach (or Klaus Werzinger's approach to classical dressage, to be more precise) seems to be the perfect choice for Crispin.

Crispin Lesson with Jenny May 1st

Like I said, not much to see. The last year we've been working on his balance and straightening him out. The idea was to make him understand that streching out long and low (lifting his back in the process) is what we want from him. Just now we added two new ideas. I will now ask him into a higher frame with more contact (still baby contact) alternating with asking  him to go "all by himself", meaning that he's supposed to find his rhyhtm, ballance and stretch by himself without my interference.

Fun in the Snow!

It's been a while, but well, no news are good news, right?!

There isn't much to report. It's cold, it's winter, it's mostly dark when I arrive at the barn.

We did have some minor breakthroughs in november and Crispin is progressing nicely. Still not much to brag about but I am happy with where we are. I did choose this slow path and I'm sticking with it! (I'd love to get someone to video us in a lesson, but usually my rides are around 8pm, too dark for filming by then.)

I did take some pictures of Crispin in the snow a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it started to snow again, so the light isn't perfect, but here they are:

Checking out the ladies in the next paddock:

...off he went *wheeee*

...showing off some more...

...and...

...done for the day!