Inspiration: Heather Blitz + Paragon

BEAUTIFUL video - Heather Blitz training Paragon. Just gorgeous. Going to refer back to this for inspiration. YouTube is being weird so I'll just do a screen cap and a link. Bummer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S8nNGHOWwI&feature=player_embedded#at=308

Also another of Heather and Paragon, this time with 'Ride with your mind' author Mary Wanless. I haven't read Mary's book but loved Tanja Mitton's, which I think is quite similar. I follow Tanja's blog, in the sidebar to the right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PuAQKwWOSA&feature=related

Riding solo :)

This morning was our first solo, unassisted ride.

It's exciting because...

1. I rode Kadey and in no way did he attempt to kill me :)
2. I rode before work, proving that my master plan to train, work, succeed is actually possible :)
3. I rode Kadey without my trainer holding my hand (or his hoof) :)

My trainer gave me a riser pad she isn't using the bring the saddle up - it wasn't secure on his back and the seat was tilting down, which caused me to lean back. With the riser in place he's moving forward happily and isn't having the bucking/rearing fits that marked our earlier sessions.

I'll have to remember to take my camera tomorrow to document the process for posterity :)

Lots of smiley faces - Sunday's lesson was great and the better-fitting saddle has opened things up to me again where I can train, ride and be happy :)

My trainer asked me to work on suppling him by asking him to bend his neck and flex his head to the inside of the circle without coming off the track. One side is MUCH easier but I'll work on it until our next lesson.

Now I can start doing training plans and looking to ride out in the open to improve his fitness, rather than riding him in the arena on sand which isn't a great start to bringing him into work. This morning his fetlocks were a bit warm post-ride so I'll have to check it out tomorrow. So far we've only ridden in the round yard aside from a small ride in the full arena; but I'm thinking tomorrow I might start in the round yard then take him over to the arena or for a walk around the property.

Yay for progress!

Verkade previously known as Very Canny

I'm WAY behind on posting and have progressed to two successful rides and a sound horse now :)

In the meantime, I'm FASCINATED by following up Kadey's racing history. His racing name was Very Canny, he's out of Canny Lad and a NZ mare Hedgehog out of Sir Tristram. So.... he has some pretty cool lines!

He had 29 starts, 9 wins and 5 places (and 2 shows... not sure what that means?). I'm loving the amount of info i'm finding - for example he was raced in blinkers and a norton bit. That bit apparently helps for horses who pull, which is interesting given he's so heavy in the hand now.

Actually (just did a little Google-Fu), it's stated as one of the most severe bits going.... poor Kadey :( I just found a photo of it... HOLY BEJEEBUS! No wonder they were riding him in a rubber gag when I got him, after that horrid bit it was probably the only thing he could handle as part of his retraining!

The torture device bit in question:

In fun news, Kadey seems to be related to many of the big winners in Australia - Black Opal, Makybe Diva, Grosvenor, Sir Tristram (grandsire on dam's side), Canny Lad (sire) and a number of others including many Melbourne Cup winners. He looks A LOT like his Dad Canny Lad but I can see a bit of Sir Tristram in his foxy ears - it makes him look a little feminine and with a name like Kadey has been mistaken for a mare (sorry boy!). The middle pic below looks a loy like him in the face.

Other fun facts: Sir Tristram was a tad clumsy and his progeny are sometimes the same. Kadey always trips over his hooves, particularly in the fore so maybe that's where he got it from!

Kadey is 95% sound!!!

Kadey is 95% sound!!!

I visited him on Saturday morning - he met my boyfriend, they got along well :) - and he seemed a lot less tender when I led him down to the washbay to treat his hooves.

So today (Sunday) I gave him a light lunge to see how he went. He limped a teeny bit at the start of his trot work but was SO MUCH better! Last week he was visibly limping at the walk and clearly uncomfortable; this time he was fine and just limped a touch initially which disappeared after a minute or two. I even asked him for a canter in both directions and he had enough in him to do his usual 'lunge canter = bucking spree' moves.

I concentrated on a lot of transitions - walk/halt; walk/trot and just one trot/canter in either direction - to both give him some light work but also to get him used to listening to me and obeying commands. The 'stop' command is great now and we also seem to be speaking the same language now when it comes to the lunge aids for transitions.

Yay!

Going to spend much of this week lunging him and will try to book an evening or weekend session with my trainer for later this week as I think he's going to be a bit of a rocket under saddle! So much time off and full feed but no work = excitable horse!

But yay! I'm almost a bit shocked and scared - I've gotten used to just lunging and handling him; actually riding him, particularly given how silly he was last time, is a bit scary but I'm working on my mindset to change that. I'll blog later about a great motivational book I'm reading that has an interesting perspective on managing your fears and getting a better outcome and relationship with your horse when riding :)

Kadey was also really affectionate tonight. When I saw him on Saturday I hadn't seen him for two days and he was a bit standoffish. But tonight he was lovely, very affectionate and playful :D

Easiboots to the rescue?

The agistment owner suggested easiboots to help Kadey. And woo hoo! I found a pair of easiboots on eBay! Now to cross fingers that they're the right size. I'll measure Kadey when I see him on Friday :)

Yayyyyy!!


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