Thoughts.com

This summer seems to have flown past & we are looking at autumn already , the hedges are groaning with ripe red fruit , hips & haws , crab apples cherries & damsons, sloes & blackberries . Hopefully the local wildlife has had some sense & are busy storing hoards of  juicy winter supplies or gorging themselves to put on a good layer of fat, I know we are !.
We have just moved the boys into our big summer field , rather late this year as there just hasn't been the grass in it .Indeed we have been rather bereft of grass as our fields have been fenced in with rabbit proof fencing by the neighboring farmer . Which has had the effect of fencing all the rabbits in to our fields. In past years the rabbits diced with death & exited our fields to graze on the farmers growing crops , he regularly used to shoot them missing most but keeping the numbers under control , not so this year ,safe behind the new fence the rabbits have made do with grass & have stripped the fields whilst breeding rampantly .I have never before seen so many rabbits , the dogs chase them but they are so used to this daily occurrence they gaily skip into their nearby burrows whilst blowing raspberries at the dogs.
Sadly with so many rabbits he dreaded disease myxomatosis has again reared it ugly head & we have found several suffering bunnies , it is a horrible disease , one which I wouldn't wish upon anything  let alone defenseless rabbits .consequently with little or no grass we have been feeding hay all summer & hard feed to Min & Gallante , the conditions actually suit Indy who has managed to maintain a rather more sylph like figure this year although I have been exercising him a lot more regularly & Rich lunges him whilst I school G.His cough has gone now & he is feeling well for his 18 years .
When we let the boys into the summer field last week I was a little worried at the abundant produce available in the field , there are 2 apple trees several crab apple trees numerous blackberry sloe & various berried bushes around the perimeter of the field not to mention a Victoria plum tree overhanging our side laden with juicy fruit . Gallante has taken to each new delicacy with enthusiasm & dedication ,his appetite is prodigious & nothing seems to upset him , he quickly learned to pick his own blackberries after Min & Heds showed him how it was done & yesterday Rich was dismayed to find the plum tree ( of which he is extremely fond ) stripped to Gallante height ,the big boy crunching stones & all plum juice dripping down his chin eyes closed in pleasure . 
In  Portugal we often fed the horses oranges , melon skins & of course shared the  apples we were provided with in our saddle bags by CDA  , G must have developed a taste for different fruits as the other horses have not to my knowledge ever tried the plums .

When I started to use the field at our yard to work Gallante in ,it was with some trepidation as the back hedge of the field has houses behind it & the occupants are wont to suddenly slam a door or run out with washing or a lawn mower / start up hedge trimmers clang dustbin lids etc. etc. all of which have unseated various people at various times on various horses .
I need not have worried Gallante is as steady as a rock , pigeons fighting in the trees , dogs barking wind rustling the undergrowth , other people riding in the field Rich lunging Indy he takes no notice & hasn't put a hoof wrong I am so pleased with him.
I thought I would take some time to write down our warm up exercises which work well on most horses & just need to tailored to the level of experience & fitness of different horses.
Firstly don't walk about aimlessly telling yourself you are warming up , warm up in walk by all means but use an exercise to do it in . a good one for me is a 4 loop serpentine each loop to go from side to side of the school, This effectively changes the rein for you & then can be repeated to change back again. What you are looking for is to get your horse listening to you & going straight even though you are constantly changing direction.. then go large & turn down the 3/4 line ( still in walk ) & leg yield to the track staying on the same rein repeat this a couple of times & then change the rein by a 1/2 circle & change of bend & leg yield to the track , repeat the turn down the 3/4 line & leg yield to the track. What you are trying to achieve here is quite a lot , you need to be able to get your horse to move over away from your leg to stretch his muscles rather like an athlete stretching before exercise & to accept the leg & relax the topline .You cant get correct bend with resistance & tension ,I have watched good riders get on good horses & proceed to "yaw " at their mouths immediately whilst flicking with the schooling whip & using back & leg . You can see immediately how this produces tension even aggression & much tail swishing & teeth grinding & it is something I personally do not want to teach G to do .
Next in my warm up I pick up trot & go straight on to circles at AEC& B changing the rein & repeating , I may then go onto a 20 m circle in the center of my area & spiral in to a 10 m circle & spiral out again, change the rein with either a halt & a turn on the 4 hand or walk & a turn on the haunches , repeat the spiral ling in & out .Then I will pick up canter keeping on the circle , doing several transitions in & out changing the rein & repeating . Only then is G ready to accept more contact & is beginning to soften & carry himself & become light . I have found he is very responsive to praise , me sitting still & minimal aids, I have learned from him that he needs me to sit back not grip with my thighs & let him move under me , I watch him & try to listen to what he is saying to me , & we do seem to be communicating well. He is willingly now offering me lightness & roundness with a flexed topline & I can feel him tuck himself up underneath me .
Once he is going " on the bit " I can then go on to work on what I am going to do that day, more later & photos of him working as Jess brought a friend down for the weekend who had a superb camera & took loads of great action shots.
G is so laid back schooling that R can get on him & poodle around whilst I work Minnie .Or this w/end Jess got on him after working Indy & he went beautifully for her even though she does not as yet  know how to do some of the exercises.It is great to see someone else ride him & she looked really good on him.

This year flies by & Rich & I are looking to move to Wales & have been scouting for property . We have found some fab places & 1 in particular which we both love & fits the bill for both us & our animals . Land stables menage , barns nice house ,stream , wildlife ,nearly all our many boxes are ticked .Back home from the depths of Wales I have been concentrating on Gallante & working him every morning I can in the field whilst Rich lunges Indy , I want to progress now to a higher level of dressage with him & am following a fairly strict pattern of exercises to strengthen his topline & get him more supple & active .
First though I had to get him going forward from my leg & this is not as straightforward as it sounds after one or two sessions where I finished red in the face & tired , he had hardly broken into a sweat !
I realised it shouldnt be so hard & adopted the less is more strategy, ie; less leg sit stiller & tap with my schooling whip. this produced instant results & I feel I am now on a roll. We are going forward in outline now , starting off each session with a pattern of progressive exercises to help us both stretch & warm up interspersed with  trot  , & canter transitions to keep the back end working. After 10 - 15 mins of lateral work at walk & trot he starts to concentrate & indeed with each session he comes to hand quicker each time . we have had moments of collection which have been freely given & have felt wonderful , each time quicker to find as we recognise what we want & he becomes part of me in tune to my aids & then I lose it ,for some reason or other , but we are getting there & I am reading Sylvia Loch & Carl Hesters articles & books for tips & words of wisdom both riders I admire greatly & can understand how they put things across, so watch this space for updates , I shall perhaps take time to write my schooling program down for anyone who may be interested. It worked on Minnie the other day as there was a lot of big machinery thundering about ( one reason we want to move ) up & down our lane we decided to ride in the field yesterday Rich on G & me on Min ,who has only been going in straight lines for the last few years ever since I won our last riding horse class & decided to quit whilst we were on a roll . So he was not impressed to be in the field doing schooling , but I have to say that he was very good , after spooking at some logs At the side of the school he loosened up & went very sweetly.Bless him, he's 22 now & still sound & looking fab.

At last we are allowed to ride & school in our field at our livery yard ,it has been so wet /hard /cold//windy slippery/ etc that our landlord wouldn't let us use the field to ride in but had 2 horses in it instead . It was doubly annoying as several people in the yard would wait until they were sure he was not around & ride or lunge in the other empty relatively flat field regardless .
Any way last weekend we went in together ,after a trot around the village to loosen up, myself & 2 of the girls on their mares.Gallante was quite distracted though & called out for his mates & felt quite tense & powerful but he was well behaved considering he has not done any serious work since the autumn when he was at the dressage yard .
This morning I took him in on his own with R. hand grazing Indy nearby ,just so he was around for reassurance , G went like an old Portuguese donkey but was very well behaved , he does take a while to get going so I need to ride out 1st I think & school last when he has loosened up, we didn't do much but circled at walk trot & canter . He needs shoeing at the moment which I have just booked so his feet are slightly too long & shoes worn  so he will go a lot better with new shoes & a trim.
I am always aware what a powerful horse he is but this morning I had no feeling of power at all in fact he was sluggish & reluctant to work . He was obedient enough though to go where I asked him but I remembered from riding him in the menage at the dressage yard how particular he is about how you use your legs & seat , most horses are very forgiving with their riders but Gallante has been ridden & trained a certain way & if for instance you keep using your leg ( nagging ) he will in fact slow down & can even stop , if you get in Front of the movement he takes that as a signal to stop he has obviously been trained to rein back as if I do the wrong thing in halt he immediately reins back , I need to think very carefully when riding him as some of the aids we use here work differently with him .Canter for instance you need to ask with your outside leg quite far back & then keep him going with the inside leg just guarding his hindquarters with the outside ,he slowly falls onto his forehand in canter also so needs 1/2 halts before a corner or you come out flat & lose the canter on the straight . leg yielding he will as a lot of horses do, try to lead with his shoulder but once a gain a 1/2 halt & a good supporting outside rein will help this .
I am going to try schooling most mornings now 1st thing & get him more supple working on getting him going forward more freely .I will be using various exercises to get him supple & more obediant such as spiralling in on a circle from the outside leg , then spiralling out again from the inside leg, lots of transitions & changes of direction, leg yielding ,quarters in /out shoulder in /out ,before progressing to more advanced movements, as he starts to go forward better & gets into the swing of working again.I will also make it enjoyable for him by lots of positive encouragement ,always finishing with dismounting & several treats & a lot of praise  .
We may even try some jumping who knows but I will keep you all posted .

It doesnt seem like only last October since Gallante came home ,he has settled in so well , not that we havn't had a few "moments" with him but we are always very aware that firstly he is a BIG Boy & secondly he doesn't speak our language. Now that may sound a little strange but if an animal is from a different country it is going to have become accustomed to hearing commands & suchlike not so much as different words but as different sounds. I was lucky enough to be over in Portugal a lot before I bought Gallante & heard how they spoke to their horses Sheila & Robert both used to say Gallante's name very softly with the accent on the "Ante  "their voices would go up on "gal" & down on "ante"so it sounds sing song like.He recognizes this & also a soft 2 note whistle sometimes with "Ola "which he also responds to .I often use this when talking to him & always call out his name when approaching him in the field , he now whinnies back in greeting .
We have set pretty strict ground rules with him as he is so big & powerful , we always tie him up to pick out his feet & always give the command "feet " followed by "good boy "& a pat , we try never to rush this process with all of our horses , I feel very strongly that no matter how busy you are you should not rush your horse as they have no concept of time & interpret your rushing them as a sign that something is amiss , & can get agitated quite quickly.our blacksmith is wonderfully patient with all the horses in our yard & even the tetchy ones soon come round to being handled by him  so considerately & gently .
I found out quite quickly that if I spoke sharply to Gallante he would flatten his ears & react strongly , I soon found that he is very willing to please if he only understood what it was that I wanted , so we take our time & are firm but patient with him & it is paying off in dividends now .For instance getting him in from the field is a daily occurrence since he is stabled at night but we have a routine which we stick to & all the boys understand & wait for their turn.Gallante is usually 1st at the gate waiting but Hedworth will try to chase him away , G just stands his ground  so H will wait a little way off watching , Indy knows he is led in with G but its not his place to wait by the gate so will wait behind G till I have his head collar on & then send him to Rich who by then has G's head collar on & I have already got H's on & will put Minnies on last . We have also had to establish ourselves as the field bosses & the horses must be respectful of our space , to do this we use the command "back " with a firm but gentle push on the chest , if one is crowding we will walk firmly towards it with arms open which signals "go away" very strongly but with out scaring or being aggressive , its just what they would do & they understand . So Rich leads G & Indy through the gate which he then swings wide open & I follow with the 2 old boys at a safe distance as they have been known to spook through the gate at some horse eating sparrow or suchlike & we all go into the yard as a herd .
This is all fine & good until Rich is unable to come down & help me get them in I was a little worried when this 1st happened until I realised that the horses when seeing only 1 person to come to fetch them in immediately realised that it would be different & all stood waiting to see how the routine would go .I decided that I would have to get  the 1st 2 in 1 by one as I couldnt risk swinging the gate wide open to accomadate 2 horses & letting the other 2 out in the time it would take to turn Indy & Gallante round back to the gate to shut it as there is not much room for manovering. Now if I got G in 1st then came back for Indy leaving the 2 old boys til last G would be in the yard by himself & get stressed  which is not what we want ,so I get Indy 1st  who doesn't mind being left alone for a bit & just  toss a bit of hay into the field for the others so there no crowding in the gateway , G is next then the 2 old boys are happy to lead together & I can safely swing the gate wide open to accommodate the 2 horses which I couldn't do on my own with the 1st 2.
I have found with horses a little time spent thinking through something as simple as the order in which you get them in from the field saves you time in the long run & results in calm happy confident horses it also results in less accidents & frayed nerves to us when handling .