Happy Birthday Crispin!

Well, his birthday was on sunday but the weather hasn't been on my side since then and I only managed to take his annual birthday confo shots yesterday.

He's turned 7 on sunday. The changes from last year till now are (I think) less subtle than I'd expected. I think that his front end has changed, filled out during the last year and even though I told people that "No, he hasn't grown over the last year!" I think the pictures show that indeed he did!

It all makes sense now. During the last year I had issues getting him to move forward. He's not a naturally lazy horse but he couldn't move freely because his shoulders/front end blocked the movement comming from that big engine he's got in the back. Thing are much better now. So maybe it was the last bit of growing up that troubled him.

And of course I can't belive that we are already half way through our 5th year together! Time flies...

 Confo left:

 Confo right:

"...things and stuff..."

I really need to write more. Things are going nicely with Crispin. No huge achivements to brag about just the usual small things.

We just started to work with two more instructors. One is "just" for groundwork the other one I'm taking riding lessons from in addition to Jenny.

The "Groundwork Girl" (lets call her that) comes about once a month. With her we worked on our in hand work and a little more on our circus tricks.

The "Dressage Lady" comes in every other week (like Jenny). She pushes us a little more than Jenny does without putting too much pressure on either of us. Just simple things but moving forward more, not striving for perfection in the basics before taking the next step like Jenny does.

I'm not sure either of them wants to hear this but together they are a perfect team! So far I've had the best rides by myself, combining what we've learned from both of them. I really need to get some new videos.

In the meantime:

Last week I wanted to work Crispin on the longe but he was way too excited about the "Chainsaw Massacre" nex door.

So I let him get it out of his system:

Second Clinic with Crispin: A disappointment!

First of all, this clinic took place months ago, at the end of october. At first I didn't post about it because I was too mad at the clinician (who will remain nameless) and later, when I got over it, I couldn't motivate myself anymore to write about it.

And secondly, it was a disaster only because of the clinician NOT because of Crispin. He was a good boy and when things got ugly he was just being himself.

The clinic on the other hand... Let's say I was royally pissed at the clinician. So pissed that, at first, I was thinking about asking for a refund (just to make a point, I don't really care about that or think I'd have a chance for that it actually happen!).

The whole thing was a 3 day clinic at our barn, six participants. Friday, saturday, sunday. One session on friday and sunday two on saturday (30-45 minutes each).

On friday the clinician wanted to get to know us and our horses so we did a 1.5 hour ground work session with all six horses in the ring at the same time. That was actually a nice idea and fun (very basic stuff).

Saturday however continued in the same way. Again groundwork (we sort of agreed to that). All 6 horses in the ring at the same time for 3 (!) hours. Again some basic stuff, some new things. The new stuff were things I haven't done with Crispin because I do not care for them or really do not want him to know them. Besides, the clinician is the kind of trainer who thinks treats are only for really, really big achivements on the horses side and that praising a horse from the ground by petting or rubbing is a sign of submission and should never be done. Fine, I get that but that's not the way I want to work with my horse. Of course Crispin did what he was asked for but barely and without any enthusiasm or excitement. He was pretty much bored with the whole event.

What also annoyed me was that the clinician was reffering to her clients horses as "nags" (pretty much in general). Things like that don't usually bother me but she kept on using that term again and again, like, she would say that she would really love to work on the good stuff, the difficult stuff but all she'd ever get were these "nags" and she would have to work on the basics. Nice.

Saturday afternoon was our first session under saddle and despite everything else she did deliver. It was really good. Great actually! We can actually canter. And for more than just half a round!

(These two lines are basically the only good thing I can say about the whole event!)

Sunday was when it all fell to pieces! I was really excited for another under saddle session. I was last (like the day before). Unfortunately my riding time collided with the time BO brought in the other horses from pasture. Not a problem at most barns but at our place the horses are going through a chute that passes right by our covered but very open arena. The weather was windy and cold and most horses really wanted to go in and came galloping by. There are about 40 horses that come by in groups of 2-5 and the whole thing takes about 20-25 minutes. And of course Crispin got very excited whenever a group of horses came by galloping through the mud.

My time started when the bringing in of the other horses was about half way done. Maybe 15 more minutes to go.

Clinician asked me what I wanted to do. I said if she'd stay close to us and kept us busy, maybe with the leg yield exercise on the circle we did the day before I'd feel fine and that Crispin would calm down again really fast when the whole thing was over (which he did and always does!!!).

Unfortunately by then Crispin had decided that the plan for now was to get more and more excited with every passing horse (while the clinician was talking to the rest of the group about the need to being able to control a horse under challenging circumstances...).

When she finally turned to us the first thing she asked me to do was to trot! WTH! At this point Crispin was totally overexcited and just about to blow up! That's when *I* made the huge mistake of getting off. I told her that MY heart was racing just as much as Crispin's that that we were both in fight or fligh modus and ready to explode and that it made no sense to start working with us before we both had a chance to calm down...

...her answere: "Well, OK then, I think we have to stop here and not do the lesson at all because time is up..." Wait, what?! At that point I'd been in the arena less than 15 minutes! I paid for 45 minutes and the remaining 30 minutes would have been more that enough time to get some work done. BESIDES, she'd already cut short most of the other lessons as well and was WAY ahead of schedule as it was! I think she only worked 45 minutes with a single rider. The others were cut short. For good reasons, tired and achy horses after a 3 day clinic... ...but still.

I should have said something then but was way to messed up at that point to think clearly and to say something usefull. Needless to say that I'm pissed at myself as much as I'm pissed with the clinician!

But still, waiting 15 minutes for a rider/horse to calm down under difficult circumstances was too much to ask? Even though she was ahead of schedule AND is was obvious that the actual cause of the problem would have been history by that time as well?!

Stupid cow!!! Messed up weekend and tainted good saturday lesson!

And needless to say that I hopped on Crispin once the horses were in and had a good ride. Plus he was back in his stall STILL ahead of schedule!!!

I do have some video footage from the clinic but the clinician is in them so I will not post them here.

However, I have only one thing to say about her: unprofessional!!! Never again!

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.