Training Log for Kelsey Reed

5/4/08 Claire and Kelsey wormed with ivermectin.

4/28/08 Worked in the indoor. After a warmup, did a lot of work in canter transitions, which went well. Upward transitions are easier than downward transitions for her, but both are improving.

4/27/08 Out for a hack with a fair amount of canter work, focusing on staying relaxed in her neck. The further we went, the better it got, until by the end she was pretty round and relaxed. Very good.

4/24/08 Out for a hack, with more transitions. She did very well. Went about 2 miles and stayed on the aids most times. She has that shy/stutter overreaction in response to minor stimuli around the barn. As she gets more relaxed and more experienced, it is fading, which is a great sign.

4/23/08 Shedding like a snake! Groomed and tacked up and went out for a hack. Worked on the usual, neck down, stay relaxed and on the aids. She did quite well, especially after I allowed her to gallop for a third of a mile or so. I have been looking at her chestnuts for a while and decided today was the day to remove them. They were huge! I took them home and fed them to Peppan and Berniece, our dogs, who thought they won the lottery. Claire is very happy now that she is moved in with Graham and Kelsey. She also has a big black boyfriend gelding that she keeps trying to seduce.

4/17/08 Worked in the indoor on balanced canter after a warmup. She did quite nicely and is very happy that the mud is drying up. She was tired of it.

4/14/08 Road hack on a sunny afternoon. She was the best yet. Starting to get more confident and more moments of relaxation in her neck than not. Went past the shooting range where folks were practicing, past the farm machinery and cows. Only minor tension. Very good!

4/10/08 Nasty horizontal rain and wind that is supposed to continue through tomorrow, with some snow. Blankets on Kelsey and Claire. Much cookies. Day off.

4/9/08 Went for a hack through the woods and then a road hack for about 3 miles total. She is getting better about coming forward in her neck. She was very good in the woods, but needs more experience in her other hacking. Coming along and she did quite well.

4/8/08 Went on a hack and did a lot of canter work after warmup. More about coming down and forward and some discussion about using her hindquarters for downward transitions, which is difficult for her. But she is improving and did a good job.

4/7/08 Rode her in the indoor and did a lot of canter work after warmup. She is becoming better at coming forward and down through her neck and produced some nice work. I put her blanket on when done as the rain/snow mix is supposed to start tonight. I am sure she and Claire thought I was crazy to put on their blankets when it was 40 degrees and sunny, but they will be thankful tonight and tomorrow morning.

4/4/08 Hack, first through the woods and then on the gravel road. She had a lot of stuff to look at with mailboxes and such and shooting at the gun range that we pass, and she did her share of shying, but with reassurance, she got better and better. We went about 2 miles, over bridges and past scary cows and such. Well done.

3/29/08 Rode in the indoor and she was quite suspicious of various items around the outside of the arena. She got over it, with the help of shoulder in. We did a lot of canter work, with emphasis on her carrying herself rather than allowing her self to fall on her forehand. It is difficult for her as she is young and so big, but she tries hard and had some good success.

3/26/08 When I arrived, Claire was lying down, basking in the sun. I fed her cookies and she ate them happily without getting up. She was fine, just nappy. Both horses had their vaccinations yesterday. Out for a hack in the woods with Kelsey and then a hack on the gravel road. She did quite well, even dealing with deer flushing out of nowhere and having to cross some soft spots that used to be spring creeks. Had a nice hack on the road and while she was alarmed at a mailbox, she dealt with it admirably.

3/25/08 Rode in the outdoor today, and after a warmup, did some jumping over small verticals. She was quite good and we both enjoyed it. When she is straight in her body with her hindquarters engaged, jumping is quite easy for her!

3/24/08 Worked in the arena as the wind was really up. The doors were creaking in the wind and she dealt with it well. We did a lot of canter work, focusing on moving her ribcage where I asked and coming down and forward in her neck. She got better and better. Good mare.

3/21/08 Worked in the arena and had some nice stretching in walk and trot. In canter she wants to get on her forehand and rush along, so we discussed that for a bit. She got much better, much praise.

3/19/08 Out for a hack, with a focus on her staying down and forward in her neck and off my right leg. She likes to go to that right leg when she is a little nervous. I'd like her to stand up between the aids and she got better at it as the ride went on. She did very well.

3/18/08 Much improved today. Much softer and more willing, more focused in all gaits. She is starting to come over her back and reach forward in her neck on a more consistent basis. Her canter work is still a little wobbly, but it is coming along. She is such a good girl.

3/17/08 Happy St. Pat's. Cool and drizzly so she was happy to come in for a brushing and to work in the indoor. We had a walk warmup with lateral work, then on to trot work, which was hella unbalanced due to her desire to drop her back and run from anything that looked a little odd (jump rail leaning against the wall, barrels in the corner). She got over herself quickly, especially after she had some canter work. Her canter work was actually quite good and we ended with some nice work in trot, even a little leg yield. Good Kelsey, cookies and blanket when I put her back out. Claire got cookies (as she does every time I am out) and a blanket for the chilly damp night. Probably off tomorrow afternoon when the sun comes out.

3/15/08 Hack in the pasture where lots of deer made for lots of distraction. She can be a little over reactive to stimuli, so I was actuall sort of looking for deer to help her experience more and perhaps become more relaxed about it. Then the trap shooters started shooting next door and she had a minor tiz about that, but when reassured her, she got over it fairly quickly. Good girl.

3/13/08 Worked in the arena with a lot of focus on canter after her warmup. She was coming through her neck nicely and starting to step under and balance herself better. Very good. Blankets off her and Claire due to milder weather. Yay!

3/9/08 Wormed her and Claire with oxibendzole.

3/6/08 Did a lot of canter work today. She was a bit light on her hooves for the first part of the session, happy to go. With some canter work after warmup, she settled nicely. She is starting to come through her neck better and is better in her sidepass and turn on the haunches. Leg yield is coming. She has lips like hands when she takes a cookie. I think I lost my glove in there somewhere. I was delighted to see that Claire has moved back up the pecking order in her paddock. She was in the run in today, the prime spot for the lead horse. I put the blankets back on all of them for the cold weekend ahead.

2/28/08 We worked in the indoor and built very nicely on what we started yesterday. Her trot balance is improving and she is getting less dependent on the left rein for balance. Her canter work is a little loose yet, but it is coming along. We did some walk leg yield, which is coming along. Most importantly, she is coming down and forward in her neck, which is a huge key for her.

2/27/08 Worked in the indoor, asking her to let go to the left, which is hard for her, so we took it slowly. On to trot work where we did a square with a half halt, transition to walk and a turn on the hindquarters and then back up to trot for each side. This is a difficult exercise and she struggled with it the first few times, but improved. Canter work was going along swimmingly until a person happened to be just about entering the arena just at the second I was going past the doorway. It surprised Kelsey and she almost shied herself off her feet in canter. I thought for a moment that she was going down, but she kept her feet. We continued in canter to help her see that it wasn't a big deal and she recovered well.

2/26/08 Not warm enough to ride outside, but I'm sometimes not smart enough to know better. Perfectly good indoor standing there, and Kelsey and I went out to work in the large pasture. We had some discussions during warm up about rushing in trot and staying balanced. She gets better all the time, but can be reasonably well stuck on the left rein. At one poing she got annoyed with me insisting and managed to rear a tiny, but defiant bit. She got over her bad self and then decided it was nicer to get off the left rein and cooperate, which I applauded. We had a nice canter around the flat field and discussed staying soft and connected in canter with some success. Nice walk hack back to the barn.

2/22/08 Warm enough to ride outside. Crazy. Tacked up and went out for some more individual hacking experience. We went out on the trail in the woods, which is packed with deer. She was worried about them at first, but managed well. We discussed the idea that she could balance herself up and down hills rather than speeding up and slowing down, and we also reviewed that she can stretch forward and down in her neck. She did quite well. Then we went out in the big field and had a trot and canter around it. She is wary of footing that looks a little different, and did an acrobatic leap over a tiny snowbank, the goof. She was wary of a cable spool from the neighboring construction site, but managed to keep her head about her going by it. Very good girl.

2/20/08 Twenty-two degrees, but partly sunny, so not a bad day. Tacked up and rode in the indoor. Did walk warm up, including walk leg yield, which is suprisingly easy for her. She is getting better about coming forward through her neck. Trot work was a bit hurried, with non-existant half halts so we re-established the halt and then the half halt and things improved a good deal. On to canter work, in which she was coming forward in her neck and unlocked. Very nice. We did some jumping, which went well. She's not a terribly snappy up front, but she is straight and quiet and happy in her jumping. We'll work on her getting a little more under herself for the jumping, but the basic work is quite good.

2/14/08 Rode Kelsey in the indoor. Started out reviewing all the things we have been discussing (neck down, side pass) and that went well. Introduced walk leg yield, which was moderately wobbly at first, but improved nicely. Then some canter work, which is tight in the neck and back, but coming along. She is just so smart and willing. Cool down with more walk leg yield.

2/13/08 Nasty cold snap has abated somewhat. Nineteen degrees when I went out to ride and it felt downright balmy. Rode in the arena while a person lunged an exuberant thoroughbred and Kelsey handled it better than one would expect, mostly just looked and didn't comment. Very cute. Worked on her stretching down and forward in her neck so that her back would come up, and after a warm up, she was doing quite well. Speaking of doing well, her sidepassing is coming along, no tiny rears to rearrange her legs, and her canter work was really quite good.

2/9/08 I went out to the barn and put their blankets on and administered cookies. It was very nice overnight and 35 degrees in the morning. A front came through, though, and it had dropped to 31 by noon. Wind chills tonight expected to be 30 below zero.

2/8/08 Beautiful day, so out on a hack we go. I intended to do a lot of walk suppling and we did for the first 15 minutes, but then we chose a trot and that went so swimmingly that after a while we were cantering around the 10 acre pasture. She has a few minor issues, but somebody put some wonderful basics on her and she has a very good mind. We worked on sidepassing, with improvement over yesterday. She had a ball and so did I.

2/7/08 Brought her in and tacked up with the longer girth. Rode in the indoor with two other people, one of whom was lunging and having a time of it with her horse carrying on with all sorts of theatrics. Kelsey was wide-eyed, but handled it without comment. We did walk trot and canter and then some work on side passing. When asked to go to the left, she slightly reared a few times, but I should mention that it was mostly to get her legs untangled as she was stepping behind the other leg rather than in front, poor dear. She figured it out and did just fine. Very good first day. She is a peach. Talked to Claire who is doing fine. I might just tack her up and take her for a hack one of these days. She is looking a little bored.

2/5/08 Brought Kelsey in, brushed her and started to tack up. Need a longer girth though! She is not fat, just large! Since I couldn't ride, I did more in hand work and she did very well. I will bring a longer girth tomorrow.

2/4/08 Brought her in and played with her a bit while grooming. She is very sweet. When I lead her to the indoor she was dubious about some of the things she had to pass by, but she trusted me and went right along. I did a lot of in hand work which started out a little rusty and heavy, but she figured it out quickly and became light. For her size she is a very good athlete and I think she is pretty smart too. She certainly has a good attitude. We played all the leading games I know and she picked up on them all quickly. Had a little trouble figuring out backing from light aids on the halter, but she did get it just fine. Good first day. I went out and spent a few minutes reminding Claire how fabulous she is and gave her several cookies and rubbing. She was all good with that.

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