CEASAR RIP

Ceasar was euthanized 9/10/07 due to a neurological virus, possibly west nile. Perhaps the saddest day of my life. Loved you buddy!

Bad Blogger

Time to get back to the blog. Ceasar has been doing well with his stifle. Been conditioning. Rode the last 5 days. Yesterday out on the track I had a flying Lipazan. We leave Sunday for Hilltop. Very excited.

Riding for stifle health

Rode Sun.-Thurs. had Friday off. Rode 60 minutes today on the track, up the hill, thru the forest. He was excellent. Show this weekend.

REHAB the stifle

Had Sunday off.
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs. walking 30min, then some trot work, hill work, cavaletti, working to strenghten the stifle. Will be away Fri, Sat, Sun. Will be handwalked over cavaletti.

Lesson Time

Rode with Chris at Brennas. Ceasar was inattentive and runny, just like at the shows. We worked thru it. I need to work on half halting ahead of time instead of waiting for him to run. Also keep him off inside leg, keep outside rein contact even when I over bend to one side. At the end of the lesson had a left stifle lock up.

Beautiful Weather

Sat. - conditioning ride
Sun.- schooling show, 58 and 59 had submission problems but pretty good in the warm up
Mon.-rest day
Tues- conditioning ride

It's all about riding the base of the neck

Had a lesson with Doris worked on keeping C round at the base of his neck, Leg yields, lengthening, Trot canter trans.
Really need to Lay off the left rein going to the left. Better outside rein connection. Flex to outside to get him better on the outside rein. Shoulder fore to leg yield left, flex right to leg yield right.

Beautiful day

Basic conditioning ride with alittle leg yield thrown in.

Good work out today

Worked on head to wall LY, bit grumpy. Trot canter transitions on a circle. SI, HI, Trot Halt trot transitions, regular leg yield at walk and trot, cavalettis long and low at the end.

Windy and Rainy

Yesterday: lunge and cavaletti
Today: Head to wall LY, canter trot transitions

Clinic Report (con"t)

Ways to collect:
frequent transitions skipping a gait, 5 strides canter, 5 walk, also trot halt transitions

Tension- don't do transitions do suppling ex.

Tipping head- blocked in poll
+1.-1 at walk, flip crest at halt with turnkey wrist
So +1 and uberst. to see if stays flexed at both rising trot and canter

Jane Savoie Clinic

Rainy and cold today , day off, so I'll write up my clinic report.

Suppling: Do 3 (+7) w/ key turn hand, hold outside rein and straighten with outside rein. Go 7 strides and repeat. Can do to outside too.

3 test of suppleness during exercise:
1. weight of rein stays the same
2. finish with 3 supplings and neck is down
3. haunches don't swing during suppling

Head to Wall LY
use outside rein like side rein, open inside rein for x-ing and put back quickly

Need connecting 1/2 halts to prevent disconnection

connection 1/2 halt- 3 secs close legs, outside rein, vibrating inner hand

ride 20M circle and accelerate on 10 M circle within

Flexion at the poll, turning key in lock

Exercises to bend hind legs:
Ride walk and trot in first position (baby SI)
Must be straight before collection, gets inside leg to engage and bend. Be ready with inside leg

Collection:
1. withers up, croup down with bending of joints
2. shorter frame
3. More weight on hindend

Conditioning Ride

Rode outside today, will have rain the next few days.
10 min walk
10 min trot
10 min walk
5 min canter
10 min walk
also walked around the new dressage arena and Ceasar was great.

Next time will use the heart moniter
resting HR 35-40
Walk 60-70
canter 170-200
don't go over 220

walk after trot work, HR should be 50% of trot within 30 sec.

Lesson today

Really worked on fixing our crappy LY.
Head to wall to walk then to traveling turn on the forehand
Canter leg yield, just a quick out and back
Watch right hand
LY on the diagonal at the walk, keep parallel to wall
Do transitions within the LY
Work on quick hind legs, and reaction to the aids
trot canter transitions, keep forward into trans. up
Keep round in up and down

Cold and Rainy but Rode

Having a lesson tomorrow so I had to ride. Worked on canter lengthenings, SI to HI, LY, Canter trot transitions, trot lengthenings. Pretty good boy. Rode TIKI after.

Beautiful day!

Rode outside and did a conditioning ride. 10min walk, 10min trot, 5min walk, 5min canter, 10min walk. Then I walked around the track. He was awesome.

Ride report

Yesterday was a day off and today we rode inside. Worked on some movements from the 1st level test. Hard time with LY, really need to work on it. Lengthenings were good. CC, SI, HI getting better. Hopefully will ride outside tomorrow.

Fun ride and Ari rode too!

Ceasar was very good. Slightly distracted by Chelsea that was being ridden by Ari but got over it quickly. Did SI, HI, LY, forward and back on the canter circle, Walk canter walk trans. Also worked on centerline halts. Then Ari rode him. He was playing hard of hearing at first and then she got him going at all gaits. We all had fun. We also took the dogs for an exercise walk on the track, a very nice relaxing Easter.

Light conditioning ride

Rode C-Z out in the driving arena for a light conditioning ride. Walked 10 minutes then trotted twice around in each direction and cantered once in each direction. Then walked. He was relaxed yet forward. A nice light relaxing day.

COLD......

Rainy cold crummy day. Rode C-Z this morning. Did some SI HI LY C-W-C . He was a little cranky but no stopping. Changed my knee rolls and didn't really like them. I moved them back a bit and will try tomorrow.

Easy day

Yesterday was on off day, so today I lunged over cavalletti. Nice work out. Sprayed some conditioner on his mane. Also received my new thigh rolls for my saddle. Can't wait to ride in them tomorrow.
I've decided to start myself on an excercise program. Today I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes. I hope to do this 3-4 times a week. Time to get in shape.

Another great day

We got to ride outside again. He was a good boy. We worked on SI, LY, CC, Canter Walk Canter and medium trot. Walked for 10 minutes at the end. I then trimmed his extra winter hairs around his legs, neck and throatlatch. He looks very handsome.

Outside!!!

Finally got to ride outside today. He was great. No spooking, bolting. Worked on the basics and then did a 10 minute free walk. We really had an enjoyable ride. Hope for good weather tomorrow.

My old C-Zee is back

Had a great ride today. Had the indoor arena doors open. No spooking. Just worked on the basics. What a good boy!

Rides are Improving

Worked on SI, LY,CC,transitions, Medium trot.

Snow almost all melted

Had a nice ride tonight. Only stopped twice, no bucking. Did SI-LY-SI exercises. Walk trot trans. Med. walk to free to med. Overall I was happy.

Getting better

Lunged first , then rode. Worked on walk trot transitions, walk canter walk transitions, leg yielding from the wall to CL. Only two stop and buck, then he was fine.

Too busy

Lunged tonight over cavalletti. Good boy. Just too busy with office renovation. Will ride tomorrow if there is no snow on the roof. Supposed to snow tonight.

Trying to be a good Boy...

Lunged first, did cavaletti , and then rode. He only stopped twice, no rearing just a buck. Just worked on going forward . Lots of transitions. Finished on a good note. Shedding alot and so is Chelsea.

Back to Work you lazy boy!

Well after 2 snow storms and snow falling from the roof, we are finally back to work. We lunged today. WTC and cavalettis. He was very good. Went to dinner with horsey friends to discuss the kids dressage show this summer.

BAD BAD PONY

First 10 minutes were ugly then he settled down into his usual self. SI,HI,CC. Going to try and lunge before I get on tomorrow.

I am dressage obsessed

Brownie points for me. I rode at 9:30 at night after working all day and taking Ari to Brimfield for her lesson at night. Ceasar was very naughty in the beginning and then settled in to work. Just worked on basics. Tomorrow should be a good work day.

Back to work

We came home from Florida today and I rode my frisky beast. We worked on going forward and being submissive and then did some cavaletti. The trip to Florida was awesome check out the report on ariness.blogspot.com

FLORIDA..........................

No riding, down in Wellington for the weekend. Going to the grand prix challenge tomorrow night. Weather is lovely! Wish I could spend the whole winter here. Off to some tack shops..

Too Freaking windy and cold

Looks like a few days off for baddddddddd weather....................

Bad boys shouldn't get cookies

...but did anyhow.
Bad pony. Problems with the go button. Worked on forward, at the end did some SI, LY,SI.

Finally back on track

3/3/06 After a week off and lunging yesterday I am back to riding. Worked on shoulder-in to leg yield head to wall, back to SI. Also did LY and canter foward to collected back to forward.

Chris lesson last week: SI-LY-SI, work on Haunches in, SI to half pass to quarter turn on haunches at walk, keep right hand down, stay off inside leg. Don't rush the medium walk.