Abbey the eventer!

I joined the Mildura Adult riding club yesterday in their rally and we had a wonderful time exploring the cross country jumps.  Having never seen  cross country jumps before, Abbey did a fantastic job and just took it all in her stride. We had an absolute ball. 

July 2011 Sunraysia Quantum Weekend

When: 14th - 17th July 2011

Where: Riverbend Vet Clinic, Buronga

Daily Programme:

Morning 9.30am - 1.00pm
Level 1 Advanced: Level 1 Overview
Combine skills learnt in Level 1 - Build your Confidence in all gaits - Prepare for Level 2

Afternoon 2pm - 5.30pm
Level 2 Primary: Lessons 5 & 6
Advance on our Basic Skills with Positive Reflexes— Work on longer lines—Go looking for the truth at Liberty—Gain an independent seat with Bareback Riding


I think everyone at this Quantum Weekend made lots of progress with their horsemanship this month!  The Level 1 Overview group started getting well prepared for finishing their Level 1 with a look at how the ground work relates to our ridden tasks and there were lots of discoveries about really getting their focus up in their direct reins (both on the ground and in the saddle).

We had some newies for the Level 2 Primary lessons as well as some students revisiting this lesson and what a group they made!  With everyone keen to get started on their lessons at liberty, we worked on developing & strengthening the connection between horse and rider, by being clearer with their communication through the rope first.  There were lots of 'ooh's & aahhh's' when the halters came off (some for their first time) and the horses remained connected with their leaders!

To top the weekend off, we were all invited to Dr Debs house for Spaghetti on the Saturday night.  A fabulous place to spend a chilly winters evening and we all had a chance to watch some of the previews of the new Harmony In Motion DVD's whilst we ate.  Thanks Dr Deb, the spaghetti was delicious!

A Huge thank you to everyone who came along to make this weekend such a special one and especially to those who traveled all the way from Melbourne and surrounding areas, just to be there.

Student Ta-Dah's!
Tigger went backwards in a figure of 8!
McLeod surprised me with contact with rope
Dream went well being sent on the circle
Grace put her front and back feet in a hoola hoop and did yields around the hoop!
Nice spirals and changes of direction.
I had my first canter on McLeod!!
I loaded my pony by myself!!
Dream - trotting circles with 1 rein trough 5 obstacles & then cantering.
Grace went sideways a  step.
Grace stood up on the box in the arena with her front feet on the box then put all 4 feet on the box.  She stopped when I asked and went forward when I asked!!
I saw Jen do some fantastic sideways down the fence with Clancy.
I saw Alexa establish her personal space with Anki and as a result, Anki did a beautiful spiral in.
I saw Karen create a lovely connection with Tigger and had him circle her at liberty for the first time.
I saw Maggie working to help Gracie to become more comfortable with standing over a pole.
I saw Sally help Dream in her short range circles and then put her calmly over the jumps.
I saw Chris steer her horse around the cones beautifully with 1 rein.
I saw Samara achieve a nice flex through Grace's body in her bend to a stop.

Lindy & Rocky, Level 1 Grad

Congratulations Lindy Fullarton and Rocky for completing your Level 1 Assignmnets!!

You have had a few bumps along the way, but now you have your RED STRING!! Woohoo!! Well done Lindy

Congratulations Sue & Phoebe!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Sue Wright and her fantastic horse Phoebe for completing their Level 1 Assignments!!

Well done Sue, you put in a huge effort with Phoebe and really deserve your RED STRING!!

Meet Daigo - my new horse!

Hi Everyone,
I am really excited to introduce to you all my new horse Diago and share with you our first Ta-Dah.

Diago is nearly 10 Years old, he was originally sold as a 3 year old (just broken in)to a beginner rider and....well...apparently it didn't go so well and after the owner was bucked off Diago was given to the lady that I purchased him from, who is a Level 2 Dressage Instructor. She had done a little bit of low level dressage with him but did not think he would go much further and did not want to keep him on. She also found him to be a bit girthy after having a spell and would want to buck and after one or two sale prospects that didn't go so well, she knew he needed to go to someone who had some skills to be able to help him through this. Thanks to Lindy who put me in touch with her, Diago is now in my possession.

I started working with Diago nearly two weeks ago and found him to be extremely scared of the stick & String and any sort of rhythmic pressure. As soon as I would pick up the stick, Diago would start running....and running....and running I knew I would not be able to move on until I could sort this out so every day, I would spend no yielding him... and he kept running, and going backwards, and rearing up and trying to kick me I tried to release at the very slightest of tries and even with no tries but the only way I could get him to stop was if I pushed him sideways or yielded his hind. We were getting some slight improvements, but I was not happy about having to make the decision to stop for him - it seems as though Diago has lived his life without having any sort of thought process at all. So a couple of days ago, I made the decision to be prepared to take as long as it takes to get a try from him. We went around and around until finally, he spun around and stopped and looked at me It was a bit braced and tense but it was his decision!!

We were then able to move on and going to our circles, Diago got a bit surprised when I had to touch his hind with the string to ask him to yield, so I went straight to no yield again. Of course he acted as though I was going to kill him but when he realized that nothing had happened to him, he stopped . Again his decision.

The next day, we started our session, I picked up the stick, and Diago stood still. I rubbed him with it and he still stood still, so then I threw the string over his back and he remained standing. I went to the other side and started moving the string, his head went up and he took a couple of steps then trotted a couple of steps, but I could see him thinking (yes thinking!!) should I run or should I stop? And then he made the decision to stop After a week and a half, Diago has started to use the left side of his brain.

Gold Coast June 2011

QUANTUM WEEKEND

Mudgeeraba Pony Club, QLD

 June  9th - 12th

Daily Programme:
Morning 8.30am - 12.00pmLevel 1 Secondary: Lessons 3 and 4 COVERS - Safe & Practical Saddling and Riding techniques—To have your horse going forward Confidently & Easily—Sideways and Backwards—How to stop you horse with just your body energy and one rein (level 1 almost full)

Afternoon 1.30pm - 5.00pm
Level 2 Advanced : Lessons 8 & 9 Positive Patterns for Galloping - Flying Lead Changes -
Jumping - Contact Riding with Soft Feel - Rebounds -
Impulsion in Sideways - Support Rein

Wow! What a weekend! We had quite a diverse range of students getting together on the Gold Coast, who all wanted to better their horsemanship skills - the main focus was on building confidence both in the saddle and on the ground and helping to build a better relationship with their horses. Everyone put in a huge effort, taking a good look at getting good hindquarter yields to soften their horses and putting their newly learned skills into action on the last day by getting out there and riding in the rain! Good on you guys- nothing will stop you now!
A huge thank you to Belinda Bass for organizing the weekend.

Student Ta-Dah's
Linzi - Dixie softer, calmer and not as pushy
Julie - Respecting my personal space more
Denise - Release at correct time
Kylie - Respecting my personal space - walking! Going slower!!
Karen - Me understanding more - horse is getting the message now.
Belinda - learn't a real understanding for position & softness of rein positions
Belinda - Try for a canter Once!!
Bec - learn't to move with my horse, use softer pressure.
Ta-Dah!!!!! - Cantered softly with one rein and stopped!!! YEAH YEAH
Jen - Maintaining softness in lateral flex through indirect rein.
Keeping HQ soft while stepping forward into direct rein.
Keeping softness through changes of direction & changing rein in motion.
Building impulsion in trot & staying soft.

Allora QLD June 2011

When 4th - 7th June

Where Allora Showgrounds QLD

Daily Programme:

Morning 8.30am - 12.00pm
Level 1 Primary: Lessons 1 and 2
Learn how to communicate more effectively with your horse – Have a more willing, cooperative horse with much more positive ground manners – How to Float load safely and easily

Afternoon 1.30pm - 5.00pm
Level 2 Primary: Lessons 5 & 6
Advance on our Basic Skills with Positive Reflexes – Work on longer lines – Go looking for the truth at Liberty – Gain an independent seat with Bareback Riding

We had a magnificent time at Allora, meeting a wonderful group of new and very keen students doing Level 1 Primary Lessons and of course seeing some of the more experienced students once again in the Level 2 Primary Lessons. With the venue being at the local showgrounds, we had ample room to get out there and practice our skills and by the end of the weekend, we even had 2 horse floats out on the oval to practice our float loading skills. Some of the level 2'ers I think were very surprised at how easily their horses loaded from the end of their 22' ropes!

Thank you Ruth and Renva for inviting me to Allora and doing such a fabulous job of organising the weekend and ensuring everything ran smoothly.

Student Ta-Dah's
Got Moselle out of my space on the 22' rope
Red got softer in his Forequarter yields from the first day to the second day.
I got Red to do a change of direction on a 22' Line!
Blue was responding well to the hindquarter contact yield.
I have also taught Blue to stay out of my space at feed time and wait for his food. He is such a good boy and I love him very much.
I saw a huge increase in softness on circles when students were using body life instead of sticks.
Wills was going softly circling and looking for signals and comfort. His calm attitude is lovely.
Got "B" to go backwards yesterday and 'touch of skin' phase for 3 steps.
Got Orion to move forward no contact on phase 2.
I was able to move the hindquarters - 2 steps- Hind quarter yield.
Cisco was lovely on long 22' Lead circles. Transitions were nice too!
Cherry has been amazing on her first outing in 8 years. QS has helped her settle in with no problems.
Abbie has been really well behaved and when she had some separation anxiety I worked her through it. She was pretty excited but was still listening to me and calmed down pretty well again.
Red & Mel cantered and uploaded her 1 Rein Assignment!!!
Getting Wills attention from eating grass at a phase 1 or 2 rather than not all - and getting the sequence of phases right.
Getting Orion to go sideways.
Cisco went sideways over a pole - Good Boy!
Got Blue to do a circular Trot and stay out of my Space!
Had Abbie's first group passenger lesson and she coped really well
Cherry loaded straight onto 2 strange floats with no hesitation.
She also stood calmly and waited to be asked before backing out.