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Navigator's Progress

47K views 794 replies 16 participants last post by  NavigatorsMom 
#1 ·
I thought keeping a journal of what I work on with Nav would be a good way to track our progress and keep in mind that even if we have bad rides, we also have a lot of good going for us. So here we go!

Started our work today by lunging in sidereins. This is something I used to do more frequently last fall/winter, but stopped in the summer. I felt it really helped Navigator figure out how to carry himself so decided to start it up again as a supplement to our riding.

He did very well, reaching forward and pushing from behind. We didn't do too much because I didn't want to tire him out when I was going to ride. During the ride he was very attentive (aside from a small buck when he got excited about seeing the barn cat - he loves cats, silly horse!) and pretty soft, though he did get heavy at times. The main thing I'm working on with him is getting him to carry more weight on his hind end and not lean and pull into the bit.

We did some trot poles and he finally figured out how to place his feet, which was a nice small accomplishment. Afterward I had two very clear moments of trot during which he was definitely lifting his back and had his weight shifted back, and so we ended on that note. I was so happy with him though! It's always hard since we don't take lessons or have a trainer, so I have to do a lot of self-teaching and self-evaluation (when I can get someone to come out and record me). Things are a little slow going but at least they are going forward!

I think for next ride I will again do a bit with the sidereins, and then work on our turns on the haunches to shift his weight back.

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#181 ·
Thank you all for the kind comments!

Since it's a new year and almost one year on this journal, I thought I'd take a minute to reflect on the past year and Nav's progress.

I started this journal with the intention of keeping better records of what I accomplished with Nav, and how he's improving. He's a bit of a tough horse to ride, at least for me, and a little green, and I just really wanted to keep track of the goods so I didn't focus on our bads. I think this journal has been really helpful in that aspect. I realize I never set a super specific goal, and mostly just wanted to "get better" in general, and I think we have.

Nav has gotten much stronger and is able to carry himself much nicer than he did a year ago. He's become softer in the mouth and more sensitive to my leg and seat. He's also become much less spooky (though he still is a bit looky!). We went to our first show together and did extraordinarily well - so much better than I expected, in both performance and behavior in a show setting. We had a few lessons and are in the process of trying to continue that more regularly. Nav has become such a gentle and steady horse that my good friend was able to regain riding confidence on him and canter for the first time in years with him.

There was that setback with basically two months lost due to whiteline, and I so wish I hadn't lost that time to work him. But I am meticulous with his hooves now and they are stronger and sturdier than they've been in a long time. (pictures of the back left to compare: late summer to mid December. Still some things to work on but so much better!)


And another comparison, first ride of 2016:


Versus final (documented, in mid November) ride of 2016:


No, not the same moment of canter, but I feel like he's definitely lifting more and carrying himself better than in the first one.

It was a good year, but I think 2017 will be even better. I'm hoping to start regular (monthly at least) lessons, and go to a couple more dressage shows at least! Can't wait to see what happens!
 
#182 · (Edited)
First ride of 2017!!

Today I went out to see Nav and have our first ride of the new year! It was a bit cold, just above freezing, but the sun was out and I bundled up. It was so good to see my pony!

We did a pretty short ride in the big field. Nav was super fresh. I should have expected it all, after over a week of no riding. Overall the ride was alright, with some bad at the end where our bend went out the window. It felt worse than it looked though, when I watched the footage.

Mostly just did some trot and canter work. His bending was much better for the most part, and even at the canter to the left he transitioned easily and didn't lose the bend much. Still need to get stronger but it will happen. I'll just post the video. Unfortunately it is a bit blurry (darn auto-focus), and not super close but I think it's a good representation of the ride.

0.00-2.25 - initial trot work
2.30-4.50 - canter work, starting with a nice left lead canter
4.50-end - more trot and I think a bit of canter, with more contact

(mute if you don't want music!)


Overall pretty happy with the first ride of the year. Hopefully we will just get better from here! I have a lesson tentatively scheduled for Tuesday so I think that will be good for us. :)
 
#183 ·
Yesterday we had a dentist come out to work on all of the horses. Not necessarily a fun day for them but it needed to be done. Nav was pretty overdue and I'm wondering if his teeth were causing part of his undersaddle issues? Probably unlikely but it will be interesting to see how he goes today.

In other news, we have a lesson today! With a woman I used to take lessons from about 2 or 3 years ago. Nav and I improved a lot with her and I'm excited to see what her take is on our bending problem. Hopefully she will ride him a bit so I can see how he does for someone other than me.
 
#184 ·
So, lesson went really well!! I really like her teaching and I am sad that this was kind of a one time thing, but we got a lot figured out and I have something concrete to work on now.

First thing she did after I explained what I've been working on, was check Nav from behind and right away she noticed that his left hindquarter is less developed than right. Our hypothesis is that since he was off on the right front with white line, his left hind became weak too (since horses work in diagonals, and he was likely favoring those two and putting most weight on front left/back right). He hasn't been tracking up with the left hind and his left hip was a bit sticky. She suggested a chiropractor who could take a look at him, so I'm considering that. Really though, (and these were her words too) it seems to be an issue of muscle development. Once he gets back to working the left hind that muscle will develop and he'll become straighter.

Apparently also it's not that he's not bending to the left, it's that he's not straight. She described it as if for him "straight" is more like a normal horse's shoulder in left. And that's what feels normal to me, so it will take some time to get used to a true straight. Once he strengthens that left hind and becomes straighter the bending should work itself out. He is very supple in the poll and shoulders too, in spite of how broad he is.

So now that we figured out what the problem is, she got to work giving me a bunch of exercises to use.

The first thing she had me doing was a haunches in to the left. This is hard work for him since he hasn't been using that hind, and he wanted to fall out onto his shoulder. She had me going just a couple steps at a time and then letting him rest. The other exercise was a shoulder in to the right. Again, pushing the left hind out and making him put more weight onto it and use it more.

Another exercise we did with cones in a square, though later she told me to do it with a triangle for more of a turn. I started by walking along one side of the square circle. When we got to a cone, did a turn on the forehand (to move the hinds and supple it) and then continue. Eventually we did this at the trot as well. Then change direction and do it again, but with a turn on the haunches instead, to keep him thinking. I'll insert a clip of that here. No music this time, so you can hear my instructor's commentary, though I don't think she said too much. We have a little bit of right canter in it, and while it's not bad, I know it will be better when he is stronger and able to push off with the left hind better.



The other exercise we did was called the Snowman. It was a twenty meter circle and at the end of it, change direction and do a ten meter circle. The goal was to keep him from falling onto his shoulder, and also pushing the left hind out. That was the main goal of all of the exercises, just getting the left hind to work.

By the end he was tracking up and over with his left hind and was much more loose in the back!

One other thing we talked about was how smart Nav is. He begins to anticipate so she showed me ways to change up those exercises. When he begins to rush instead of move away from my leg I need to either half halt and slow him, or come down a gait. And when he gets grabby and heavy on my hands I need to ignore it, keep my hands light and forward so he has nothing to bear down on, and get him working. He knows that getting heavy is easy for him and that if he fights me there then I'll ignore his hind end - which is exactly what I need to be focusing on!

I'm so thankful I was able to have this lesson. While I won't be able to do any more with her, she did mention to me some clinics coming up and said I should come and audit since that's free (which is my price range, haha). So I'm looking into going to one in a couple weeks.
 
#186 ·
@tinyliny , I wish I had your eyes! I'm not able to see the offness you're seeing, but I suspect that if he was favoring it at all, it would be because we were at the end of a long lesson where he had been using it much more than normal and might have had some soreness? I haven't ridden since then (been stuck at home with an awful cold) but I'll try to see if he's stiff or anything when I ride again.
 
#188 ·
Well, unfortunately after my amazing lesson I spent the rest of the week getting over a bad cold, and wasn't able to ride again until yesterday! And yesterday of course, I only had a small window of time to ride. I made it out there though and we had a really good ride!

We did basically the entire ride at walk, since that's the easiest gait to do those exercises I learned at the lesson, and I had some really nice moments with Nav. We did a ton with the haunches in to the left, and some shoulder in right to get him working the left hind, and then a lot of turns on the forehand. He did wonderfully! Kept wanting to trot, but I expected that.

It was a short ride but it was good. I feel much more confident having these exercises to use with Nav.
 
#189 ·
I think I had one ride in between this one and the last but I forgot to write about it.

Anyway, today I got Nav a new bit. The same as what I had been using, a loose ring French link snaffle, but in six inches, as recommended by my instructor at my lesson. Hard to find a bit that big! Used it today when I rode and Nav seemed fine with it, though the mouthpiece is a bit thicker and this one is "sweet copper" instead of just steel or whatever the old one is. He was good about accepting contact with it and didn't seem like it was a problem. Since it's a bit thicker it is probably even softer than the old one!

I didn't want to do much today, so I just took Nav on a long (for us!) trail ride. Just about two miles, along roads and bike trails near us. I did have him working on some of the haunches in left/shoulder in right at the same time, so it wasn't a complete break, but it was a lot less than I typically do. It was just nice to go out and relax and not think too much. In spite of the wind an not having done this trail in a long time Nav was pretty calm, so I am happy with him. :)
 
#190 ·
Bit of a break from writing. I didn't do much riding in that span though, I think all I did was a bareback hack one afternoon.

Yesterday I went with the woman I had a lesson with up to a dressage clinic hosted by the dressage club that I'm planning to get involved with. It was a really good time! The instructor is semi-local (I think), she does clinics pretty regularly at the farm we went to yesterday, but also travels between a few other states nearby. She was a bit intense but seemed very knowledgeable. The big thing she focused on was straightness, which is the base of the "training pyramid" so a good starting point, and it was interesting to see how she worked on similar things with such a wide range of rider abilities. I didn't ride, but it was good to watch and I think I will ride in one if I save up some money and have someone to haul me. My friend I went with was very generous and offered to haul for me to any of the club events she's going to, and I think I'll take her up on that! I also have a potential regular lesson instructor lined up, so fingers crossed that that will work. Yesterday was a good day for networking. :)

Today I went out to ride and was very motivated to make it a good ride after yesterday's clinic. I haven't had a real working ride in a while, so I wanted to make some good progress. Beginning of our ride in the arena went really well. I used an exercise that I got at my lesson a couple weeks ago but also saw in action at the clinic yesterday. After a bit of warm up, at the trot whenever Nav would speed up and get hollow, I circled him on about a 10 meter circle. After a few minutes Nav really settled and loosened up and had some nice round trot. It was harder to get him going left, but he did it eventually. Then I did a bit of work on haunches in and shoulder in to get the left hind working, and we ended with a turn on the forehand exercise.

I thought we had a nice ride so I headed back to Nav's pasture. We follow a road to get to his pasture and at one point, on the opposite side of the road, there is a field that sometimes has cows. This is where things got extremely frustrating. When we got within sight of the field Nav became super tense, neck up, trying to spin. He has always been afraid of cows, but there weren't any there and he was fine walking up at the beginning of the ride so I'm not sure what triggered this. I tried getting him to flex, leg yield, turn on the forehand, anything to get him focused on me but while he was responding hyper-sensitively, he was not relaxed and was still trying to stare at the field. This is all happening near a road so I was trying to not let him get too excited. I got off at one point and walked him back and forth along our side but he still didn't really settle. I got back on and walked him some more, he was not relaxed at all and kept trying to trot, which I responded to by halting him and making him stand. He kept letting out huge sighs/snorts, not the relaxing calm kind. When we were a bit past it in a field within sight of the cow field I did some trot work with lots of circles to try to get him focused but he just kept trying to run. It was so frustrating, I just gave up and took him back to his pasture.

I'm not sure why he acted like this today. It almost seemed like he was looking for something to spook at. Cow related spooks aren't the same as normal looky behavior for him though. If he's scared of something, like a sign blowing or something, if I ignore it he typically calms down, but with cows, no matter how much I ignore it he panics. I want to fix this but I have no idea how. Anyway, this led to a very frustrating end of ride, which was discouraging after all the good he did earlier. :(
 
#191 ·
Yesterday I went out with the intention of riding if I had time, but unfortunately wasn't able to. I had to work on Nav's feet, since that was priority. They are actually self trimming pretty well, so I didn't have to do too much, but they were overdue so it took some work. When I was done I didn't have enough time to tack up, ride, untack, get home in time to change and leave for a flute lesson, so instead I just led him up to the area across the road from the cow field to walk him back and forth a couple times.

He didn't seem too worried, though he's usually a lot better with scary things when I'm on the ground leading him, so it was a bit expected. I also brought treats along to use as a distraction and reward for any turns on the forehand I asked him for. He was really good! Only looked toward the (empty) cow field a couple times but I was able to bring his attention right back. By the end I was able to walk him all the way past without him even turning an ear toward the field! I think this is just something I need to be aware of and keep working on with him.

Here's a little extra. A video from my good ride two days ago, just our cone turn on the forehand exercise. I left the beginning in because it was super cute, Nav followed me all around as I set up the cones. :) Music, so mute if you aren't interested.
 
#192 ·
Went for a ride yesterday and Nav had to face his arch enemies/worst fear: The Cows.

They were actually out in the field this time, only two of them, but Nav spotted them before we even made it to the corner diagonal from their field. He stared for a moment and let out a big huffy snort, and I asked him to do a turn on the forehand and then cross the road.


If you look closely you can kind of see the two terrifying cows... they were completely ignoring us but Nav was convinced they wanted to eat him!

So now we were across the road from them on the shoulder. Nav was prancy and kept trying to trot and also look over at them. When he tried to turn his head I brought him back facing away and asked for a couple steps of leg yield or shoulder in/haunches out. We passed them and then I had him turn around and go back again. Still a bit nervous. When we finally came back up the third time, he had relaxed his neck and while still walking a little faster than normal I was able to let him go on a looser rein. From there we went up to the arena and had a really nice productive ride! Hopefully the more we see the cows the less he'll be afraid. I talked with my barn owner and she said that she knows her neighbor with the cows and will ask about us bringing some of the horses along the driveway fence line. We actually have three on the property, all siblings from the same sire, who are afraid of cows. So she knows what a hassle it is to deal with.

It's colder today and I'm pretty busy with thesis work, but hopefully will find some more time to ride this week!
 
#193 ·
Good ride yesterday. We had unseasonable but lovely 70 degree weather so I had to take advantage of that!

Passing by the cow field was not an issue! I don't know if Nav could see them, they were laying down in a shadow, but I was happy that he didn't react. While we worked in the arena we did a lot of trot/trot poles and lateral work (mostly at walk). I did try a little canter over some poles and Nav decided to go way too fast. Brought him down, got a nice canter and then just did a ton more trot. His canter was not very balanced, just rushy, so we definitely need work. I didn't feel like fighting him with that though so we will save that for another day.

And a quick end of ride picture of the pon. He was super interested in what his herdmates were up to.
 
#194 ·
It was super awful windy today but made myself go out and ride - I can get discouraged way too easily and am trying to work past that!

Nav did nicely today, in spite of all of the gusts. He didn't act too spooky at all, didn't look for cows as we passed the field. We did have one moment on our way back to his field when a huge gust kicked up and caused something to make a noise behind him, but other than that very good. :)

We rode in the arena and I tried to work on getting him to slow down whenever he decided to get rushy. It was a little rough but he did get it eventually. Just at the trot. I did a lap and a circle of canter during our warm up and he wasn't too rushy but I can tell he is pretty unbalanced and going crooked. We did some turns on the forehand and Nav is getting very good at it. All I have to do is place my leg back and barely touch and he moves away. He does sometimes fall out on the opposite shoulder, and I'm working on keeping my leg and knee on to stop that, but it's getting there!

During my lesson a month ago one thing that we talked about instead of going straight Nav kind of goes perpetually in a haunches in to the left/shoulder in right. Today while taking him on a trail I really felt that much more than I have before. It felt like he was not going straight at all. I have to hope that this is because I'm getting him to go straight at least some of the time now, and I can just feel the crookedness more easily now.

Progress, just very slowly I guess.
 
#195 ·
Had a nice, short ride on Nav today.

It was super warm today, close to 80 which is crazy! I didn't ride as long as I wanted to because it was so hot and Nav still has a heavy winter coat (since it is only February!), and I didn't want him to overheat. We did a lot of trot work as usual, and some straightness work. I can definitely feel his crookedness, and today I really focused on staying on top of his left shoulder, which he really likes to drop onto. I'm glad that I'm able to feel it now and correct it quickly as it happens. I also know that it's hard for him to carry correctly, because those muscles aren't quite developed, so I know it will take time before he is able to go straight.

So handsome


He was so funny though, he definitely thought I was asking him for too much and when I gave him a break to walk he relaxed his neck and just groooaaannnned. Wanted me to know that he was not happy with the amount of work I wanted from today. I usually don't ride two days in a row, so he probably was a bit tired, and I'll be giving him a rest day tomorrow. :)
 
#197 ·
Thanks @PoptartShop ! :)

No real updates at the moment. It's rainy today, and I just got an email from my thesis adviser with a timeline for my thesis project - every meeting and rough draft, and when they're due, leading all the way up to my oral defense in May! :O So that definitely stressed me out a bit, and lit a bit of a fire under me. I'm likely going to be spending a lot more time working and less time at the barn...
 
#198 ·
So, even though I should have spend more time today working on my project, I decided to take some time off to go visit Nav and ride. I figured it would be better to lose a couple of hours of work than to lose my mind!

Look at the little grumpy face!


We did a pretty short ride, and almost all of it at the walk. I was trying really hard to get him to use his left hind. He is getting better at it, and shoulder ins to the right are getting pretty easy for him. Haunches in left are more difficult, and he doesn't want to bend much unless I bring him into it out of a small circle. It's getting there though! We also did a lot of our snowman exercise, and even at the walk I could tell he was working hard for me. We did a little bit of trot work at the end but he wanted to get spooky in one corner (of course he hadn't been spooky the entire 20+ minutes we had been working prior) so we did a lot of little circles to get him focused. Ended with a short trail ride back to his field.

One thing I was hoping to get some input on, is there a way to cue for or practice haunches in from the ground? I would like to go out and just lunge and do groundwork on days when I really don't have time for a long ride, but I want to be able to do some of the things I've been working on with him like that.
 
#199 ·
So, today was the complete opposite of everything we've been working toward lately. Nav was just fighting me on absolutely everything!

He would not step over and do the haunches in, he tried to trot off any time I put leg on him - and he knows what a single leg means so he was just ignoring it. We worked on turns on the forehand a bit and he started anticipating and turning way too quickly, just throwing his haunches over, and so when I asked him to just halt and not move he got antsy and tried backing up, turning on the forehand anyway...

When we finally started to trot he decided it was time to just run run run and not listen to my half halts or asking him to bend around my leg. I tried doing small circles with him any time he rushed and he just kept rushing or trying to canter instead. I had him go back to walk/halt transitions to get him focused on me but when we went back to trot it was back to rushing. SO frustrating. :( I eventually just got off and walked him back to his field because I was so fed up. Nav had worked himself so sweaty too.

Just a very bad ride. I feel like I would have been better off not riding, there was nothing that felt productive about it.
 
#201 ·
Awww...don't feel too bad or be too hard on yourself- we all have days like that! I had that day on Wednesday. It was crazy windy though, Redz was just super antsy. Wasn't the best ride nonetheless, but we ended on a good note, kinda. I ended up feeling super tense because of it.
Try not to feel discouraged. :) It's okay, tomorrow is a new day! Sometimes they get in weird moods, you never know how they're going to be or how their day went.

I hope your next ride turns things around. :)
 
#202 ·
Thank you @Zexious and @PoptartShop. I know it's normal to have ups and downs, I just tend to fixate on the downs, and yesterday's ride felt *really* down. Thankfully today was better!

I went with the intent of having an easy ride, mostly trails and just a tiny bit of arena work. Trails were great, Nav was quite calm and we did some easy leg yielding to keep his mind working.


In the arena, I set up poles for a cloverleaf exercise that was supposed to keep him very focused but also used small circles to work on pushing the haunches inside and keeping the inside shoulder up. We mostly did it at the walk but Nav really had to think and focus so I think it did good for him.

There was one moment that seemed bad, but in hindsight it really wasn't awful. I tried doing a little bit of canter with Nav and he just took off with me. Not like running away or bolting, but he ran through my half halts, was super strung out and on the forehand, and he didn't want to even come down to the trot. I had to lean back, sit and close so strongly and close my hands to get him to stop. It was frustrating, as this is something that we really overcame last spring/summer, but since he had so much time off late last summer he lost that fitness and is weak at the canter now. I know it will just take a lot of time and transitions to fix, but it's disappointing.

I think part of the problem also is that since I don't canter very often lately, Nav thought it was an exciting thing (and easier than the trot exercises I've been putting him through) so he wanted to just run with it. Hopefully the more I canter him the less excited and fast he'll be with it.

I did some transitions between walk and trot and then when he was light at the trot I asked again for the canter, and he gave me a somewhat light, upright and straight canter. I only let him go 3 or 4 strides before bringing him down and ending on that good note. It will just take time.
 
#203 ·
Ear photos are my favorite! <3

To be fair, I think it's normal for us to focus on the bad. It's so easy to look back on a ride that was overall very good, but to dwell on the 3% of the ride that wasn't so good. I'm definitely guilty of it!

I'm sure it says somewhere in the thread, but do you have access to trails where you keep your horse? Or do you trailer out?

Maybe focus more on canter work? Practice makes perfect, after all!
Looking forward to more updates :D
 
#204 ·
@Zexious thanks, ear pics are some of my favorites too and I have entirely too many saved on my phone, haha!

We have some trails in the area surrounding the barn and horse fields, but they are mostly road shoulders and a bike path. There is one trail that actually goes through a woodsy area but so many people go out there and dump trash that it's a huge mess and the horses are spooky about it. Used to be more but things are getting developed more and more out there. I am thankful for having some at least though!

I am thinking more canter work will do him some good, as long as it's gradual. It's pretty clear when I do canter him that he's weak and can't canter balanced or straight very well for very long, but I think transitions with just short amounts of canter would help.

Today was very nice but I decided against going out for a fourth day of riding. I think Nav would have been ok if we took it easy, but I needed a day to rest my legs! (funny enough, I did go for a long walk though) Last ride I took my AP saddle since all my dressage pads were getting washed, and I thought I'd practice some two-point but now my legs are killing me! The saddle is really not the best fit for me either, so I'm thinking I need to try and sell it and save up for something that fits us better. I don't jump much so it's not priority, but riding in it yesterday made me realize how much nicer and better fitting my dressage saddle is!
 
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