Chat Group TrainingTip: 2 Point Position

I started a chat group, Horses Are Our Lives, to talk about Centered Riding and Training Tips. I would like to talk about what we are doing with our horses and what we hope to do. And we’ll talk about our rides, our achievements and our troubles.

If you would like to join the chat group, Horses Are Our Lives, go here:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/horsesareourlives/

and ask to join. If you don’t get an invite, than email me at horsesareourlives@yahoo.com

Last week we talked about the 2 point position as a Training Tip discussion. We also talked about the Centered Riding topic of Dancing Knees, which I will share tomorrow.

Normal body alignment while riding at the walk, is sitting with a straight back, with a straight line from the back of the ear, through the shoulders, in line with the hip and heel. A straight line from ear-shoulders-hip-heel. You maintain this line while posting. (Remember that I have been taught the QH English Equitation on the flat for shows, and I'm sure that you jumpers out there will have more suggestions to help achieve a balanced 2 point. I welcome all suggestions!)

In 2 point position, the body lifts out of the saddle slightly, and you lean slightly forward, keeping your back straight. You raise your hands slightly up the horse's neck to help maintain balance. You keep your feet on the "bubbling spring" of the foot, which is slightly behind the ball of the foot. I will talk about how to find this spot this week. The alignment in the body is a straight line from shoulders-knee-toe. Ear-shoulder - knee-toe.

Once again, as you raise up into 2 point, raise your hands slightly forward and up, to maintain balance. If this is difficult, hold the gullet at the front of the pommel with one hand and a shorten rein with the other hand. When things get out of control, sit down gently, pick up both reins, get control of your body and your horse, and start over.
Let me know if this helps, and where you are having trouble. Keeping the body relaxes is easier said than done, sometimes, but the dancing knees will help that.

Have fun practicing!

After some discussion on the chat group, here were some additional thoughts.

I tend to have too long of irons when I ride, but I think shorter irons help moving up in to 2 point. With your legs out of the irons, your irons should hit at the back of your ankle joint, maybe slightly higher. With western stirrups, you just lift your toe and that is the length of stirrup.

If you feel too short, try 1 hole longer, and remember that when we post or go in to 2 point, we do not need to come out of the saddle a lot, just enough so that there is a little air under us. The alignment should stay the same. You may have to go back to practicing with leather lengths if you wonder if your leathers are too short. I also goggled "English riding 2 point position", and try doing that also and reading a few descriptions on position and leg length.

Jumping position is 3 point (I said that wrong on the chat group and Sara corrected me). I will look through the books again, and see what I can find on position, and get back to you about where they talk about it in the book. The trouble I had when I goggled position is that they go in to jumper mode, and the rider is up and over the horse's neck, getting ready for the jump. Yes, the jumper has a shorter leg, and jumping is not my expertise at all, lol.

I'm probably using 2 point to a lesser degree than the jumpers. We won't lean up and over the horse's neck, as Jumpers stay parallel to the neck as they go over the jump. We will not be that far forward, unless you are going over jumps!

Another discussion that popped up last week was about the feel of different bridles with the same or different bits attached. My thoughts:

I get the same feel with any type of bridle, but I do have different feels with different bit (It doesn't matter if that bit is on a different type of bridle).

THIS IS MY OPINION: I have only heard a few old trainers say this: I have always believed that a snaffle bit isn't always a kind bit. Both my daughter Sara, who is on this chat also, and myself have seen the effect of taking a snaffle out of a horse's mouth and put a light curb in the horse's mouth, and the head tossing is gone! I know some horses have too sensitive mouth for a snaffle, as the snaffle "bites" the tongue. The curb gives relief to the tongue. The snaffle may hit the roof of the mouth at a point, where the curb may hit in in a gentle arch or not at all, depending on how high the curb is. Yes, checking the teeth is always a first thing to do. I would change to a mild low port curb. There are snaffle bits that are curbs, the kimberwicks, and I would try on of those on the English headstall.

Let me know if a different bit helps!

On the Horses Are Our Lives chat group, there was more discussion on the feel and use of Snaffle bits, Kimberwicks, and Curb bits with loose and solid shanks!

I hope you can come and discuss some ideas with us!

Hope to see you on the trail, and on a journey with your horse.

“Embrace the journey!”

Brenda

Happy Mother’s Day

Sunday, May 9, 2010

This was to be posted yesterday! Sorry! Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. And to the horsey mothers! None of my mares are having babies this year, but I plan on breeding 2 mares for next year. And to the Doggie mothers. Especially Beagles.

Hubby and I went away for a few days. But we shouldn’t have gone. Our son’s beagle was suppose to have pups earlier in the week, and she waited until the day we left. Our beagles usually have a lot of puppies, and a few larger ones, and always seem to have trouble. My son, Micah, came up to stay at the house and be with her all day. In the afternoon, she was straining, so off to the vet at about 3 pm. They pulled a puppy that didn’t make it and gave her a shot of oxytocin. He came home and she had another puppy that didn’t make it. Micah was to give her another shot of oxytocin later that evening, which he did. After another hour, she started straining, but no pups.

So now, on the phone on a Saturday night, at 8 pm looking for a vet who would do a C-section. The one that finally answered a message, said he wasn’t on call and it wasn’t his night. His suggestion to Micah was to keep trying to call the clinic and the partner. That vet wouldn’t even help to get hold of his partner. I understand that these vets probably get calls all the time, especially on the weekends, but I would have thought he could have found out who was on call at the clinic and where he was. Maybe the other vet was in an emergency already, but it would have been nice to find that out! I think how this vet handled the situation stinks!

Luckily, about this time, our friend, Traci, came to help Micah. She knew of a vet about 45 minutes away. And that vet was willing to open up the clinic. Now, it’s 10 pm, and Micah is driving Daisy to the vet. (Sounds like the movie, Driving Miss Daisy!)

On the way, Daisy had a pup that is healthy. With the C-section, we made the decision to spay also, as this would be Daisy’s last litter. She delivered 5 more healthy pups! That would have been 8 pups! Beagles are to only have 4-6 pups. Our litters are usually this large. We are glad to have 6 healthy pups!

Micah got home about 1, stayed awake to make sure all pups were nursing. The anesthesia keeps them a little sluggish for awhile. He had to pamper one puppy, who wanted to nurse, but the more active puppies were pushing it away from the teats. Luckily, Daisy’s milk came in before the surgery, and we didn’t have to wait for her milk to let down.

Later yesterday, Micah took Daisy and the pups back out to the barn. He had a little area lined with hay bales and a soft straw bed for Daisy and the pups. All is fine!

Can’t wait to get home tomorrow to see them. I’ll post pics later tomorrow night!

The FBMDR Trail Ride

May 7, 2010

Friday was a large trail ride, the FBMDR, the Friday Before Mothers Day Ride, that my friend Tammy has organized at the Oak Creek Trail in Valparaiso. This ride was the 10th anniversary for the ride. Tammy has a detailed description of the ride on her blog, Horsetrailriders.com .

Did any one tell the weatherman that this is May? We are not suppose to have to dress for winter. The day started with 45 degrees and 25-35 mile per hour winds. The day ended at 53 degrees, and throughout the day, the wind gusted to 45 mph. Brrr

I thought about wearing winter breeches, but it couldn’t be that cold! I did look for my windproof pants that I could have put on over my jeans, and couldn’t find them in the trailer! I always feel like I forget something from home, when I don’t have the trailer fully pack with everything! I did have my good rain coat in the trailer, and a fleece jacket that had a headband and gloves in the pockets. I did have plenty of gloves in the trailer though!

I wore layers! Long sleeve t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, light windproof jacket, fleece lined jacket, and the rain coat! Geez, you would have thought it was winter! And I was not too warm except for the few times that the sun peaked between the clouds. But then you felt the wind, and you hunkered back down into those layers of clothes!

I didn’t take a horse to the ride. My friend, another Tammy, brought a mare for me to try out. She sounded like she would make a great lesson horse. Chick was a little ansy on the trails, but by the end of the ride, we bonded really well. I felt like she was a mix of our pole bending mare, Misty, that we had sold and our little reining/working cow horse, Chick. This Chick was very responsive, a little touchy on the sides, and alert and watching. Tammy says she settles right down when she gets into the arena though. I plan of trail riding her this summer, and be a replacement lesson mare next summer, as I plan on breeding Startlet this month.

Hope to see you on the trails soon!
Come along on the ride with me!

Chiropracter

May 5, 2010

The vet chiropractor came out on Wednesday. He watched the training horse walk and could tell by the gait that he was not moving freely.

The vet started at the poll and slowly checked his head and neck to see if it was out of alignment. He said all horses are not symmetrical and it is difficult to have them in exact alignment. Feeling the horse’s neck, he could feel a stiffness in the neck muscles, even though the neck wasn’t out of alignment. He thought that the horse didn’t bend easily. Actually the horse is a wiggle worm when I ride, and I have to hold him straight, so I really haven’t had to bend him much. I’m wondering if holding him straight - something he isn’t used to - tired his neck muscles and made them sore or stiff. Holding him straight is not what he is used to do, and by doing so, he had to work his neck muscles, that he doesn’t normally use, to keep his neck straight.

The vet felt back along the spine the horse had no reaction. I told the vet that the horse wants to kick out when he goes in to the lope. The vet felt around both hips and the horse instantly pinned his ears. That was an instant change in his personality. The vet said that the pelvic bone has 2 parts that move independently but at the same time. When the hip is out, one part doesn’t move as the other part moves, causing discomfort and pain. The horse would have a hard time using his hind end to lope.

The vet applied pressure to the area around the hip bone, making sure to only apply hard, steady pressure, without and jerky motions. He held the steady hard pressure for about 3-5 minutes on each side. Doing so, he felt the pelvic bones slowly change position. He didn’t want to try for any longer length of time, as doing so could actually cause the horse more discomfort. He doesn’t want the horse to be sore, which would take longer for the horse to stay sound.

After the adjustment, the horse licked and chewed, and seemed content. He walked fine, and I put him in to a stall, and would put him back outside. The vet said to only give him a light workout the next few days. He said not to do a lot of lope departures while I free lunged him, as working the muscles and hips too much could cause them to be sore again. Also, there is memory in the joints and muscles, and he wants the hip joints to stay where they are and not to try to go back to where they had been.

The training horse was lightly worked in the outside arena on Thursday. I wanted him to get used to being outside around logs and cones, with horses in the lot beside the arena. Next week, I will ride him out there, as I need to get him to work and ride well when other horses are near. I did ask him to lope off once in each direction, and he did so easily, without kicking out.

I’m glad that I saw something in his gait when I free lunged him. I knew he shouldn’t be kicking out with ever lope departure, especially after being lunged for a week with a saddle on. I’m hoping to start loping him when I ride him, if he continues to free lunge without kicking out.

Shaggy had sharp points on his teeth and had his teeth floated. I gave him Thursday off. I had blood pulled to do a Coggins test on him, since we need a Coggins report on health certificates to take horses out of state. I plan on taking him to Colorado with me in June when I do the Centered Riding update clinic.

It's Wednesday already

Training has continued into the 2nd week. Today is Wednesday. Where has the beginning of the week gone?

Monday started a little rough with the training horse. He didn't want to be in training mode. He had 2 days off and he seemed like he wanted a 3rd day off. But we had to get back to work. A little bit more free lunging, and a little bit more lunging with the saddle on, and he was ready to go to work. He wanted to throw his head more and refuse to listen, which confirmed my thoughts that he had a problem somewhere, especially in his hips.

The vet was scheduled on Monday for a Wed time. More on that tomorrow.

Tuesday, the training horse rode better, but I could tell that I was not moving ahead. I was at a spot where something needed to happen. I was glad that the vet was coming on Wed afternoon, as I knew something wasn't quite right. He was still kicking out, especially when he went to the left.

Shaggy was shaking his head more. He was evading the bit by lowering his head. I knew he wanted to listen, but his mouth hurt. More on that in the morning.

I don't know why this is Wednesday already. My parents left on Sunday, and I went to an auction Sunday and sold 4 youth saddles. I'm not sure what happened to Monday - jet lag, worked the training horse, chores, storm with loud booming, lesson got cancelled! Wouldn't you know it, it was beautiful weather after 5:30/6! I needed a free evening.

Tuesday, cell phone went through an update, and my internet wouldn't work on my laptop. So... spent almost 2 hours at Verizon telephone store, as I wouldn't get a new phone and leave. I wanted to make sure my computer email would work. And it does! Now I am wireless, AND my hubby can get on his computer too. We are in a dial up area and it stinks. I NEED to be on internet through my phone service! This is important if you rely on internet for your business, and I do. I really need to upgrade my website!

I went on a PRR trail ride tonight, and it is late. I'll email tomorrow about what the vet said.

Good night...