Training Log for Fancy Ramsbottom

5/7/08 Quite muddy in the outdoor, so rode in the indoor. She was mostly relaxed right off the bat. Did some trot work, with some issues in relaxation, but coming along. Lots of canter work. She is becoming more balanced and her halt is great. Upward transition to the left is easier than right. Coming along.

5/5/08 Rode in the outdoor, with a lot of work on transitions and a fair amount of canter work. She is getting more balanced all the time, but she is young and it takes some time. She is getting better in her relationship to the bit. She is feeling less likely to buck all the time. Confidence coming up.

4/30/08 Rode in the indoor when a dressage lesson was going on with two little girls doing all sorts of stuff. Fancy was very good. We did walk, trot and canter work without one moment of buck suggestion. Sidepassing is coming along. Word of warning, if you are cantering and say whoa and just quietly sit still, she will REALLY stop. Handy skill, but could unseat a rider if not prepared. She was very good today.

4/29/08 Rode in the indoor. After a warmup in walk and trot, moved on to canter transitions. The last few times I have ridden her, she has gotten her back up as if to buck when she has had an opinion other than what her rider would like. It takes a few moments to get her through it and she is much better on the other side. She's definitely a young horse in that regard.

4/27/08 Worked her in the outdoor. She was a little distracted, but not too bad. We did a lot of work on transitions in trot and canter and some work on backing, all of which went well. She did throw a minor fit when I asked her to canter past the spot where we had been stopping before. Bucked a few times, but we came to an agreement that forward was a good idea. Did some more canter work and some figures in trot. Coming along.

4/24/08 Worked in the arena, with a lot of walk warm up while I coached a student and then, after the lesson, I did a lot of trot work, with much bending to help her get her balance developed. Then on to canter work, which is unbalanced, but improving. Very good.

4/23/08 Worked in the indoor. After lunging, did walk trot walk transitions to help her learn to balance. Then on to canter trot canter, with halts and backs in the mix. She said it was a lot of hard work, but she did fine.

4/17/08 I lunged her in the indoor, with a lot of work in canter, after a warmup. I wanted to give her a chance to work on balancing her canter without a rider on her back, as she is quite tight and a bit nervous about canter under saddle. It was quite a bit easier for her to go to the right, but she did improve quite a lot to the left when left to figure it out for herself. When longeing, she likes to lie on the line, so that the longeur can help hold her up. I encouraged her to balance herself today, which at first disappointed her, as it is much easier to let the handler hold her up for her, but she got steadily better.

4/14/08 Warmed up with lungeing and she was pretty relaxed. Got on and the first few moments she was quite tight and suggesting a buck, so we did some flexibility things to get her relaxing. Then on to trot work and stretching down and then a fair amount of canter work. She wants to drop her shoulder in and wobble at canter, but it is coming along.

4/8/08 There was a pony on the lunge line in the arena when we went in, and he was throwing occasional fits of bolting. Fancy was a bit scared of it. After observing a few moments, I got on. Fancy was very tight in her back and suggested she might buck. I asked her to bend and let go in her back, and after a few minutes, she did. We did a lot of trot work, which is unbalanced, but willing. In canter she had some moments of suggesting she would buck and one actual buck. Part of it being a little cheeky, and a lot of it is being a little worried about being unbalanced. She ended up well, with some reasonable canter work. Cookies.

4/7/08 Lunged in the indoor and then got on and rode. She was a little smart at first, suggested she might buck, but came around with some bending work. On to trot which went well, not balanced yet, but these things take time. On to canter which was unbalanced and had a few moments of buck suggestion, but is getting better. I find that when horses get balanced and confident, the bucking thing goes away. It is mostly nerves. She did fine.

4/4/08 Rode in the indoor where there was another horse. We lunged first which went quite well. They were constructing the hut outside and at one point when we were trotting along, a circular saw started, which startled her and she took a short bolt. Also had a moment when one of the flaps on the structure moved in the wind. She did a nice spin and bolt. All in a day's work for a young horse. Just needs to experience more. We're working on it. We also did some more work on sidepass and back. It is coming along.

3/31/08 We worked on lungeing in the indoor. She was a little light on her feet, but probably due to being in her stall all day due to the nasty weather. I got on and we did some work on neck reining, letting go in her poll, sidepassing (left is a little tougher for her) and some canter work. She did very well. Her primary difficulty is that she is unbalanced, but at her age and riding experience level, that is to be expected.

3/25/08 Fancy was in her stall when I got there in the afternoon, so I worked with her first, to give her a break from being in relatively alone. She seemed happy for the attention. I brushed and tacker her up (I used the snaffle) and then lunged her. She was more energetic on the lunge today then yesterday, with a few moments of good-natured sassiness, but she was reminded to stay within the range of polite and she did. I got on and she was a little dead to the leg, but she got over it. We did a lot of neck reining work for warm up, which went well. Then on to trot work and transition work and discussed backing. I got off and showed her from the ground and then asked from the tack and she offered a step. Much praise and then on to something else and then back again for the same exercise. She offered a better step the second time. Much praise. By the end of the session she was calmly backing 4 steps whenever asked. Smart girl. Then did some canter work which is quite unbalanced, but need to start somewhere. Very good.

3/24/08 Met with the Ramsbottoms about Fancy. Tacked up and went to the indoor where Nile lunged her. They did well together. The mare is not as comfortable to the right, but not egregiously so. We can help her with that. We discussed that the curb bit is a little narrow for her face and the option of moving her to a french link snaffle. Nile rode her which went well. I rode her in walk, trot and canter. She is young and reasonably unbalanced and somewhat tense, but a willing and generous participant. She let out a minor buck in canter. We decided that I am going to work with her to help her develop into a relaxed and steady trailriding partner for Nile and I am looking forward to it.

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