Had a lesson the other day...

...in dressage naturally. Here's a before and after picture, huge difference in both of us!
The best part was that Nalle really enjoyed it and had as fun as me, now we're gonna play with our new tools and see where it gets us :)

Feels like summer

This years second bath :-)

Feels like summer

Yesterday I met a friend in the stable at 9 in the morning to go for a trailride, we took a 2 hour ride and both the riders and horses really enjoyed it.
Then I went home for a shower and to pick Daniel and the dog up, we were invited to an "easter-dinner", on the way we stopped at Nalle again to hang around for a bit.
We bought icecream and brought two chairs so that we could sit in the sun and relax while Nalle was eating grass and the dog was running around with his toys.
It was a lovely day and it really felt like summer even thou it's only april!

My lovely partner

Nalle har blivit en helt otroligt rolig lekkompis, idag stod han vid grinden och väntade när jag kom men eftersom det regnade och hade regnat hela dan tog jag med honom ner till stallet så han kunde äta och torka i en box. Passade på att snygga till hovarna i brist på annat, Nalle brukar inte vara på toppen-humör när det har regnat länge så planen var att inte göra mer än så.
Brukar ta vägen över ridbanan på väg upp till lösdriften för att ta bort träningsstämpeln därifrån, dessutom kan man passa på att leka lite i liberty på vägen tillbaks utan att riskera att hästen springer till skogs.
"Woho" sa Nalle idag, "äntligen händer det något!". Ställde mig därför på en pall och hade honom lös i circling game runt mig, bad honom komma in till mig sideways när jag tog in honom. Vi har inte tränat på det innan så det blev inte sideways förrän 1-2 meter ifrån mig men det köpte jag såklart.

Varje gång han kom in så "parkerade" han sig perfekt för att hoppa upp, började fundera efter ett tag på om det var det han ville. Han är jäkligt smart så han vet även precis hur han ska stå för att jag inte  ska kunna komma upp.
När jag satt upp var det som att han tänkte att äntligen förstod den där trögskallen vad jag ville... Tänkte game over när jag hoppade upp för att han skulle få en belöning för sin fråga, red mot grinden och började öppna den. Det har vi gjort ett par gånger och Nalle börjar förstå ganska bra vad vi sysslar med, men idag vägrade han helt enkelt... Hängde med på hans idé igen och började be honom om lite kluriga övningar vi har tränat på, idag klarade han alla med bravur! Det var precis som att han gav järnet för att jag skulle förstå vilken bra idé han hade... Backade, gjorde sideways och flyttade framdel utan tyglar eller stick, när det inte kunde bli bättre hoppade jag av och lekte lite liberty igen på väg ut genom grinden (nu gick det bra att gå ut). Han är så rolig min lilla häst! Han börjar verkligen uppskatta våra stunder lika mycket som jag. 





Had the most wonderful day with Nalle today. Been raining the whole day so the plan was to take him to the barn so he could eat and get dry, Nalle usually dont like to do much when it's raining so this day was for undemanding time and cuddling. But Nalle had other plans... I often walk across the paddock on the way back to the pasture to take the pressure of that place, I dont want it to be a place where we train, I want it to be a place where we play or just hang out. It's also nice to be able to do abit of liberty on the way across on days like this one when we havent done anything else. 

Today Nalle told me that he really wanted to play when we got there so I got up on a barrel and sent him around me in circling game. When I asked him to come back to me I asked him to do it sideways, havent done that much so I bought every try. When he came in he "parked" himself like he do when Im getting on his back so after he had done that a couple of times I got on. It was like he thought "finally she's getting it!", I rewared that thought by thinking game over and rode to the gate. We've done that alot this winter so he's starting to get what we are doing, so today he did everything to make sure that I couldnt open the gate... 

"Fine" I thought and went with his idea again, and woho! It was like he wanted to show me what a good idea he had so he did everything excellent, even things he usually "cant". 
We did back up, sideways and moved the front end around without using the reins, when it couldnt be any better I got off and said thank you. Did some liberty on the way back to the gate and this time he was ok with leaving the paddock ;) He's really starting to enjoy our moments as much as I!

How we load our partners... Sorry for the quality, was taken with my mobile.

                            

Great liberty and bareback-session!

Haft en toppenstund hos Nalle! Började stunden på ridbanan med liberty, sen kom en kompis dit med sina två hästar och frågade om det var ok att hon tränade den ena och hade den andra lös. Jag tänker alltid "toppen, ett tillfälle att träna!" och inte "åhnej vad jobbigt" när såna situationer dyker upp.
Började med att testa lite vad jag kunde kräva av Nalle när de var där, hade inte varit konstigt om han ville busa med dem eller iallafall checka ut från vår lek. Men Nalle gjorde precis tvärtom, han gjorde protect your herd of two när de kom i närheten så sen tog jag dem uppgiften istället och vi hade en underbart liberty-stund.
Efter ett tag släppte hon sin andra häst lös också, en liten hingst, han kom fram och ville kolla in Nalle.
De har gått ihop innan så jag väntade en liten stund för att kolla in Nalles reaktion, han var inte alls intresserad av den andra hästen utan gick runt och ställde sig bakom mig så jag kunde jaga bort den andra.
Intressant!

När de hade gått igen la jag på barbacka-padden och hoppade upp, började med att rida med sticken i skritt och trav, övade även på sidförande skänkel med bara kroppen. Han var väldigt alert och med. Sen använde jag istället långa tyglar och la in lite galopp, känner mig inte riktigt så säker ännu att jag avspänt jag galoppera barbacka med bara sticken. Testade lite galoppfattningar och red olika vägar, efter att jag hade fått galopp från skritt tackade jag för mig och hoppade av, vilken pärla! Galopp från skritt har han inte haft några större problem med men det har absolut inte gått barbacka innan för även om jag har bett om det har jag inte egentligen velat/vågat galoppera utan vi har rullat in i galoppen. Nu när jag har börjat bli säker på att galoppera barbacka har han gjort väldigt fina fattningar men jag har bett om dem i trav fram tills nu. Han är så duktig min lilla stjärna!
Sen hoppade jag upp och vi red ut från paddocken, gjorde lite passenger lesson/käkade gräs runt paddock och stallet innan vi red upp till lösdriften.

Started the session today with liberty with pressure, I had two other horses in the paddock at the same time. One of them was working with his owner and the other one was loose walking around on his own. Nalle didnt care about the other two, he was protecting our herd of two until I started to do that instead, he even walked around me so I was in front of him when one of the came to check him out. He really wanted to continue the liberty we were doing before they came and he was brilliant. 
After they had left I put the bareback-pad on him, since the liberty was so good today we started out with riding with the stick at walk and trot. Rode some ways and did some sideways with just the body, then I used the reins instead still at freestyle and added some canter. Im still not that confident riding bareback that I can ride with just the stick and stay relaxed. After asking for and getting canter from walk I jumped off and gave him his dinner as a thank you. He do that easily with a saddle but I havent been confident enough bareback to ask for it before, up 'til now I've been asking for the canter from trot.
When he was done eating I jumped on again and we rode out from the paddock and did some passenger lesson/grasseating around the stable/paddock/pasture.

My horse loves to play

Had an amazing day today, we havent been ablo to do much the last two days since it has been raining alot. Today the weather was better but very windy so we didnt take that trailride I planned, with horses you have to be flexibel every day... ;)
Instead we went to the paddock to do some liberty but after a short while another rider came to train her horse there and I didnt want to be in there with all the negative energy they had so we went for a walk.

We took a walk in the forest with me in zone 5, did some transitions and sideways games.
At first he was very unconfident and wasnt to sure about being the one who walked first but after a while he relaxed and got alot more confident. When we got back to the stable he didnt want to go back to the pasture, he wanted to go inside the paddock again. Since he really didnt like to be there before Im going with his idea every time he wants to go there until the paddock is a nice place to be even when it's not his idea to go there...
So we went inside and did some liberty again, when I thought we were done I opened the gate and started to walk back to the pasture. Nalle joined me but after a few steps he turned and wanted to go back into the paddock...
Again I went with his idea and walked back inside with him, we wasnt prepared to ride but I feel much safer riding him bareback now so that wasnt a big deal. Made some reins out of the long rope and asked him to help me up by standing beside a chair, "woho" he said and he was a dream to ride! He was very light and responded in phase 1 in every game.

After that he was done and it was ok to ride back to the pasture, perhaps the paddock is a nicer place to be in now when I can relax in everything we're doing there now.
Im more relaxed and enjoying it more now when I feel that there's nothing we cant do and I hope he can feel the change to, Im starting to trust him now in the same way that he's trusting me.

More bareback cantering!

Woho! Im really starting to get over my mental scar of cantering. I've started to challenge myself by cantering bareback longer and longer for every day to make my comfort zone bigger, and today it felt really really nice! Rode abit bareback with the stick at trot first to get my seat and balance in order and when that felt good I started to canter, that worked so well today that we even could do a simple lead change. Perhaps getting a flying lead change bareback isnt a too big goal for this year... he's getting good at them online (as long as I can sort out the rope, stick and string...) but we havent done them from the saddle yet.

Oh Im so happy! Abit funny thou that I can get so happy from being able to canter my horse bareback, something I did without thinking about it when I was 12... Mental scars are a powerful thing, both on humans and horses. The good thing about having to deal with one yourself is that it gets easier to understand others who got them, humans and horses.