Hey Holly,

Raymond did an amazing job with Joey! He worked a lot on lifting the shoulders and suppling the right side. I still have a lot of work to do before I can get Joey to look like he does with Raymond, but he already feels a lot better than he did during the winter.

Overall I'm very pleased with how far he's come in only a month and I can't wait for summer break to get here so I can start working more with him!

Hi Zoe,

Just wanted to touch base to see how things are goin with Joey!  How did he do with Raymond?  I really enjoyed your last pattern and see a big difference in your guiding and your back up!  I hope you'll have a chance to try an IPHDA V-Show this summer.  Looking forward to seeing you at the clinic. 

Cheers,

Holly

I'm back!

Sorry for the lack of posts! I've been having trouble with my internet connection lately, but it is now back to normal.

Joey is leaving tomorrow for some training with Raymond Hache, so I won't get to work with him for about a month, but I just thought I'd give you a bit of an update on how we've been doing.

The excercises you gave us have deffinately helped! His lope transitions are a lot better, and he is a lot more supple. He doesn't brace against me anymore, and it feels great!
The only thing we've had trouble with, is the "circles for the ribcage" excercise. No matter how much leg or voice I use, he always breaks to a walk or even stops. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

I also use the bit you told me and I can see a huge difference. At first he didn't like it, but now he goes great with it.

Here is the video I had planned on entering in the contest (which I wasn't able to do, after all). In that video he has the new bit, and I'm doing the pattern you told me to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym6O_kpO4Ro

I already saved my spot for the july clinic at Sylvette's, and I'm super excited to get to work with you in person again :)

Clinics with Holly MacDonald

Looking to jump start your riding season? Join us for the only 2010 clinic in Nova Scotia with Holly MacDonald! May 1st & 2nd, Squire Hill Stables, River John, NS.  Contact Brittany MacLellan for more information (902)351-2095, or squirehillstables@hotmail.com.

Hi Zoe,

Sure thing, even if you can stick the camera up in the corner and try to work in front of it, I'm sure it'll be fine.  Have a great weekend!


Holly

Thanks for the excercises, I will deffinately try those out!
As for the pattern, I probably won't have anyone to film us, so would it be ok if I just put the camera on a standard or mounting block or something?

Hopefully I'll have new videos to show you around sunday/monday!

Our Plan of Attack

Your pattern was absolutely great, Zoe.  I would really like to see you give this a try in the February IPHDA Show - the deadline is March 8th, so you still have time to get a video in!  You could do Level 1, Pattern #2, and I'm sure you would be very happy with the results.  Throw on a saddle (english or western) and use pylons as shown on iphda.com.  Also, make sure your videographer stands to the left side of the arena if you choose to enter the show.  Go for it! 

We have already covered the tools that I think will help you best with Joey's current performance, so let's see what happens when we put them into action!  To summarize, I would like to see you work on the following 4 exercises:

- Circles for the Ribcage  (Later progressing to #2, Leg Yielding Circle & #3, Double Reverse Counter Arc.  We can tackle those in time.)

- Backing Up in Circles

- Pivot on the Forehand (POTF)

- Haunches In

When you feel ready, video you and Joey doing these exercises, along with you at the walk, jog, lope, stop & back up.   I'm anxious to see how it goes!  It will not come over night, but typically you will see a difference over a course of 3-5 rides.  I think this will make a huge difference in your routine, and will get you really feeling for a reaction in Joey's body.  I would really like to see you using Bit #4 (the D ring with ported Billy Allen style mouthpiece.) 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!  If you'd like, we can also arrange a time to chat on Facebook or MSN.  I have thrown a lot of info at you over the past couple of days, so please take your time and don't feel like there is a rush.  I'm looking forward to seeing another video and I hope you will consider doing this IPHDA V-Show!  You're ready.  :)

Loping Right for Balance and Backing Up Straight

Hey Zoe,

I've got some homework for you this weekend!  haha.  Hopefully you have had a chance to review the article I posted, Body Control for the Ribcage.  These 3 exercises are important for Joey to start developing more core strength so that he becomes more round and balanced with all tasks.  As he builds strength with these, we can work on creating more roundness at the walk, jog and lope!

In our original exchange of emails, you had mentioned that Joey is not as balanced on his right lead.  We can see that at 6:17 on your first video, he gives you a quick, clean transition from walk to lope on the left lead;  very nice work!  At 7:19, we see you move him into the lope on the right lead.  This transition is a little harder for Joey.  He jogs, then he trots, and maintains the lope for a few strides before falling in.  He trots a half circle before he is able to pick up the right lead again.  The left side is, obviously, much easier for him!

In that same set of emails, we had also talked about backing up straight.  In videos it looks as though he starts to back up soft between your legs and hands, and the first few steps look great!  Then, he swings his hip to the left.  Again, he is telling us that he prefers to use the left side of his body.  You can see this each time that he backs up in both videos. 

This is not at all unusual and is common for most horses, just as it is with people.  We are either left handed, or right handed.  Joey is a Leftie!  Sometimes these things are innate for the horse, or other times there is an injury or conformational flaw that makes them more comfortable to one side than the other.  In most cases, it is pretty easy to fix, and there are lots of cool exercises that we can do to help make our horses more ambidextrous! 

When a horse starts the initial step of the lope on the right lead, his back right leg is the first to become engaged in the stride.  That is why when we ask for the lope on the right lead, we use our left leg to push the hip over to bear weight on the right.  If we can loosen, strengthen and build more flexibility on the right hip and back leg, the transition becomes much easier for the horse!  He can push off his back right leg with less effort.  He does not need to scramble from a jog to a trot for momentum compensating for his weakness, so he starts the lope off much more balanced!  Also, he can maintain the lope without breaking down, because the back right leg continues to be the strong driving force through out the gait.  Makes sense, huh?

When we ask the horse to back up, his hind end takes responsibility for the motion.  Joey starts off backing nice and straight, but after a few steps, his right hip gets lazy.  He lets his stronger left hip take more responsibility for the motion of the back up, which effects his steering and makes him go crooked, turning his body to the left!  Just the same as his right hip needs to be stronger to achieve a better right lead lope and transition, his right hip needs to be stronger to help him back up straighter as well!  

(*Disclaimer - Always remember that when you back up, it's important to give direction with your leg just the same as it is going forward.)

Here are some exercises you can do to help strengthen that right hip:

Backing Up in Circles - #1 fix for lead departures, lead changes, backing up straight and evening balance & cadence. It also works on roundness, and strengthening the back muscles for roundness.

Start by walking Joey in a 5 meter circle to the right.  Find a point on the circle where you can stop, and ask him to back up while staying on that same perfect circle.  You will use your outside (left) leg to help push his hip along the circumference of the circle.  Maintain the reserve motion with your rein and body weight.

Do 1/4 of a circle at a time until this feels easy and soft, at which point you can do 1/2 circle, 3/4 circle, full circle - then as many circles as you want!  My one-sided horses do this every ride on their weaker side, before they ever have a chance to lope.

Pivot on the Forehand to Right - Great for building strength in the hip!  This is just like the spin, except for the front end stays stationary and the hind end rotates.  Start by holding steady rein pressure; you may need to guide both of your hands to the left a few cm's to ensure that Joey's shoulder stays steady.  Bring your left leg back to push his hip toward the right. 

Again, a few steps at a time until you can easily do a 180, 360, then full rotations, pushing the hip to the right.  Remember that unlike the spin, the POTF (Pivot On The Forehand) is just an exercise for western horses, so it does not have to be perfect with a pivot foot planted. 

Haunches In to the Right - On the right rein, start by walking a rectangle shape in your arena, staying atleast a meter off the rail.  Keeping light rein contact, place your right leg at the girth and left leg slightly back, pushing Joey's hip toward the inside of the arena. The important part is to focus only on the hip moving. Maintain forward motion, no lateral motion, staying parallel to the fence at all times. The horse should make the letter "J" shape with his body. Start with Haunches In for 2 or 3 steps, then release. Work your way up to more steps, but never more than 10 or 12. When this is easy, do it at a jog, then a lope.

A lot of times, we can mend and improve our horses' performance by learning how to best control their bodies, not necessarily by drilling the same maneuvers over and over and over again!  My horses learn to spin, to change leads, to go round, to back up - mostly by giving me the power to manipulate their bodies in exercises like these!  Add these into your daily routine and you will see lots of improvement. 

Contestant #4

Hi Zoe,

Out of all the bits you posted, I like #4 the best (the D ring with slight port and Billy Allen-style swivel).  Sometimes chewing is part of the horse growing accustomed to a new bit; this one would feel especially different to him as there is a slight port.  It is similar to #3 (the French link) in that the action will not allow the bit to fold on itself - that's the great part about swivels/centre rollers/linked mouthpieces!

I think this style of bit will help you accomplish more balance & roundness, which will in turn help with the transitions we talked about.  If you still have access to bit #4, let's try it in your next video, just for kicks! 

Bits

Here is a list of bits I've tried with Joey so far. :)
(these are in no particular order)

1 2) 3)

1)This is the first bit I tried with him. I had just bought him (he had just turned 4), and this was the only non-shanked bit there was at our local "tack shop". He actually quite liked it, and loved the copper rollers.

2) A trainer recomended this bit to me. I liked the full cheek when Joey was really green, but it started getting in the way so I stopped using it. Joey wasn't a fan of it, but didn't react badly to it, either.

3)This bit I actually bought about a year ago. It's probably one of Joey's favorite bits that I've tried. He still chews on it and plays with it, but I can ride with contact without him throwing a fit.

4) 5) 6)

4)My most recent bit. I haven't used it all that much, but so far Joey seems to be fine with it. A lot of chewing, though.

5)Tried this one once, just to see what he thought of the mouthpiece. He's not the kind of horse who will throw a fit, but he did then. He did not like it at all, no matter how loose my reins were.

6)Again, tried this one once. He didn't seem to like the twisted mouthpiece, but didn't throw a fit, either.

And then there's the one I'm using in the videos, which is just a plain snaffle. You can pretty much see how he reacts to it in the video.

Answers to your questions

Videos!

I managed to get a few videos the other day (one of our warm up and one of a pattern). I know they're dark and pretty bad quality, but I think you can still see what's going on? If not, I can get new ones tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDWDTrgj_ug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLkpoFCMsTc&feature=channel

I'm saddle shopping, and still haven't found one that fits both of us and is withing my budget, so I either have to ride bareback, or with my english saddle for now.

Alright, so here are a few questions:
-When warming up, I never know what to do! I walk around a bit, do a few pivots, stop and then jog and do the same. Do you have any good excercises to do to warm him up, or is what I'm doing ok?

-In our jog/lope transitions he always throws his head up. Is there a reason for this? Should I worry about it, or will he stop once he gets more training?

-He loves chewing and playing with his bit. Is it good or bad? and if it's bad what should I do to get him to stop? (I've tried about 5 bits and he does it with all of them)

That's all I can think of for now :)
Thanks!

Welcome

Hi Zoe & Joey!

It has been a pleasure working with you in a clinic setting; looking forward to keeping in touch through Online Coaching until our next meeting!   Post your video along with any specific questions you may have here.

Cheers,

Holly