it was magical

I rode Shyloh in the walk/trot class today at the Draft Club show!!!

After our ride! Go us!

She was amazingly as perfect as she could be. I mounted her from the ground and she didn't move a muscle. Then me and Jaime, on Notch, walked around the grounds a little bit. I warmed Shy up and tested her brakes. They worked!

Our class was called and in the arena we went. Since this was our first time and I am still working with her on her trot, we walked the class. But to me, that is not the point. The point is that we rode, we were away from home, we were with a bunch of other horses, and Shy was awesome!

She set her head and had such a relaxed, beautiful, and forward walk. I was able to do all the things we practiced, like moving her to the rail with my leg and using my seat to control her speed. When it was time to trot, we moved off the rail and stayed on the inside, to be out of the way. 

Getting ready for the obstacles

The only teeny, tiny hiccup was when all the horses were trotting and I thought to myself, Gee I am glad Shy doesn't want to pick up the trot when everyone else is trotting. . .and at this point she trotted about five steps. I was not expecting it and even though it was a smooth transition and an nice trot, I brought her back to the walk. I toyed for a mili-second about keeping up the trot, but I think the fact that she went into the trot without me asking was a more important thing to correct. She went right back into the walk. We lined up and Shy even backed up up for me! It was a magical day!

Halter and showmanship were. . .eh. But the judge provided useful feedback that I will work on next time. For the line driving obstacle course, Shy refused to go on the tarp (ugh! She does tarps!) but she did cross the bridge. Again, the judge gave me some pointers to work with her on, like keeping more contact.

And for the magical finale. . .

I had my first cart ride! Jaime let me ride with her and Notch in the cart class. It was so different, but fun. Notch was such a good boy.

Again, we did not win anything, but I think we are taking away a lot more from the shows than ribbons. Experience, friends, fun. . . can't be beat!

hobby horse blog hop #16

Here are the rules:

Answer one or all of the prompts. Link back to Living a Dream's post. Visit other blogs. And don't forget to ask a question of everyone else!

1. What is something that has startled you (or your horse) that probably shouldn't have caused any reaction?

When I first got Shyloh, everything startled her. She would jump a mile high if I dropped a grooming brush. So I started becoming a real klutz around her dropping all kinds of things and making lots of noise. Now she could care less about most things.

2. Injuries are really tough with animals, since they can't tell us about it. Have you struggled with a lameness or injury in the past?

Fortunately, Shy has been sound since I got her, with the exception of heat in her hoof one day. The next day it was magically gone. 

3. What makes you, or your horse, sad?

Shy has a ton of emotions. . .you can see it in her eyes. So far, I am not sure I would classify anything I have seen as sad. Happy, sassy, mad, stubborn, silly, but not sad. 

My question: How do you cool your horse off in the heat? It is over 80 degrees and not even noon yet here. Hot!!

nursery rhymes

There was a little girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead;

And when she was good,
She was very, very good

But when she was bad she was horrid

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This pretty much sums up Shyloh. Ugh. Actually, I can't be too mad. . .I did not fall off and I learned a bunch of things from today's ride. But I am kinda mad at myself, I set my video camera up and forgot to push play. It would have been nice to see footage of our lesson.

So today. . .Shy really had a bug in her butt. I got on and we walked really well. Beth wanted to start out with having a solid whoa using seat and legs. We started out pretty good. Shy has a decent whoa with the verbal command and the reins, but it is essential to be able to stop her in multiple ways. She did stop each time I asked, but she clearly had her own agenda for today, which was basically get to the arena doors and back into her stall.

If I stopped her facing away from the doors, she would turn herself toward the doors. So it became a battle of the arena doors. Beth suggested we work on disengaging the back end. Okay. . .

For some reason, Shy will step around with her rear end, but then want to walk forward a few steps before stopping. Beth was trying to solve this mystery by getting me to use my hips, thinking maybe she was off balance and trying to center herself, or Shy was just taking advantage of me because she does not do this when Beth rides. Beth helped me with the reins to stop forward movement. . .

And it worked. But now Shy only wanted to walk backwards. Ask for a whoa, she stopped and walked backwards. Ask for a forward walk, I got a backward walk. What the heck? So now I had to fight to move her forward. It is always something with this horse.

Next, Beth gave me instructions to think what I wanted. Think a nice slow walk. . .Shy walks nice and slow. Think a faster walk. . .she walks faster. This was in preparation for trot work. After I would get in her in nice bouncy walk, I was to ask for the trot, but immediately think slow walk. This actually worked quite well and I did a lot of slow walk, fast walk, slow walk, fast walk, trot (or attempt to trot). But then Shy got it in her head that she did not want to do this anymore and became scooty. On one of her scoots, I almost came off! It was heart pounding, but I learned that I can control her. Even though she scoots that butt and those short little legs move so super fast, she will stop for me. Whew!

After a few scoots, Beth got on Shy and trotted her around. Shy was scooty with Beth, but Beth is able to ride more confidently and handle it a lot better than me. Then I got back on. . . hey, we have to end on a good note right? I got no more scoots and we ended on a few steps of a nice trot after a couple attempts.

Little Shy with her Big Attitude. . .maybe she was not horrid, but she defintely was not the dream pony from this ride or this ride earlier this week!

why now brown cow?

Wow. All I have to say is wow. I must have brought another Haflinger home from the show on Sunday because the one I have now is super fantastic! 

But, no, the Haflinger I have IS Shyloh. Shyloh, who has had pretty consistent lessons since March. Shyloh, who doesn't swing her rear end when being mounted or walk off during the dismount. Shyloh, who hasn't scooted or spooked in quite a few rides. Shyloh, who listens to cues and pays attention to the rider. Shyloh, now knows legs have other meanings besides go forward as fast as possible. And Shyloh, who learns from Beth and is able to tolerate me, who is learning, as a rider.

I rode her again today, outside. I started out inside and did a few laps at the walk. Beth commented that Shy has a nice bouncy walk; she is using her rear end! She is very dressage-y. Her walk was very forward. It felt so comfortable. 

But then Louise came in the arena. Shy does fine with other horses, but I was a little nervous. Louise would be practicing her sliding stops and spins and all that reining stuff. So we went outside. 

Beth walked her around real quick and Shy was great, so I hopped on. I even got on without the mounting block! I usually use one, but mounting has become easier and easier, so I decided to try without the block. She prefers being mounted from the ground anyway. At first, Shy knew I was on her and that I am not like Beth. Shy tried to eat grass. But I didn't let her. Then she refused to moved forward. You could tell she was debating with herself if she wanted to try to go for grass or listen to me. She decided to listen!

We did a bunch of walking and circles and I had Shy moving over off my leg. Awesome horse! But then her ears started pointing forward and her head went up. At first I thought it was from a car in the distance, but nope. It was the cows. And the bull was mooing. The same bull that hates me. He was mooing his awful, hateful moo. Shy knew he was mooing at me. 

So I kept moving Shy in circles and she would be fine, until we faced the cows again, then her ears went forward. So we kept doing circles and I kept her moving. And she was listening to me! She was concerned about the cows, but she was not tense and not ready to do anything evil. 

I was going to trot, but I opted not to, mostly because of the cows. We had a great ride and I wanted to keep it at that. Small successes to build her confidence and mine. I hope she keeps up her awesomeness! I just know she will throw a wrench in the plans somewhere. . .but I will be prepared for it.

I really can't say enough great things about Beth and all she has taught Shy and me. I am so thankful and I am pretty sure Shy is just as thankful. 

monday musings by shyloh #40

Ohio grass sure is tasty. . .not sure why Allie won't let me eat it. I keep trying to tell her I am hungry and I want to eat it, but she never lets me. So, to help feed a hungry, hungry Haffie, please send donations of hay to Moonlyte Equestrian Center. 

I had another show. Show days are rough. I get waken up so early in the morning and I have to stay awake all day. And I get no grass to eat in the process. Here we are waiting in line for our turn at showmanship.

Look at us!

Isn't my butt pretty? So many Haflingers!!

I was so tired today, but I saw Allie was coming to get me. I just knew I was going to have to work, so I figured I would make Allie work, too. I went to the very furthest corner in the very back of the pasture. And then I made her come all the way to the back to get me.

I'm just a speck on the horizon

Guess what happened today? Allie rode me and not Beth! I was sooooo good, too! I could tell Aliie was real relaxed, so it made me feel at ease and relaxed. I took Allie all around the arena, over poles, and through cones. And I was really listening to Allie when she was steering me. At first I was really sleepy and just plodding along, but after a while, I got into the ride and had a more forward walk. Beth called it my bouncy walk and said I was using my rear end. I was just waiting for Allie to ask me to trot. . . I was really into our ride, but she didn't. I like when Allie rides me, I don't have to work nearly as hard as when Beth rides. 

Think I will keep being this good for Allie when she rides?

~Shyloh