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Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
Not all US lessons are like that. In fact I've never even heard of anything working like that. Most of them are like what you describe with everyone riding together and taking turns to jump and stuff. Most lessons I did were half hour of flatwork and then a half hour of jumping.

I used to be one of those "pshaw, dressaaaaage" :rolleyes: people but it really does help with jumping to have a really good flatwork base before you jump. Having your horse go into a frame isn't just a dressage thing, it makes them use their back end more and helps them balance back so they're not launching themselves over the jumps and it ends in a more smooth and pleasant ride.

IMO there's also a greater sense of satisfaction that comes with doing dressage, everyone can point a horse at a jump and go over it (probably not very prettily, but he'll still go) but getting the nuances of horse to finally bend and adjust his stride to do what you want is something different and it's more difficult so when you finally get it it's all gently caress YEAH. Once you get that sorted out and get a really good connection to the horse and THEN go jump the difference is night and day. It also puts more tools in your toolbox for when your horse is being a butt since you'll have a greater understanding of what his body mechanics are doing and how you can fix it.

My riding coach growing up used a lot of car analogies for riding which didn't make sense until I started driving. I remember being shouted at YOU CAN'T STEER A PARKED CAR endless times to remind me to leg leg leg leg into turns.

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Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Enelrahc posted:

That donkey's flexural limb deformity upsets me.

Well, there's good news on that front. Our awesome farrier says the frog may have received enough for him to trim the hoof back enough that Don can have something somewhat flat that's not his god drat ankles to walk on.

Video showing poor Don here

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l6JNiqd7hwE&feature=youtu.be

We will be consulting with our excellent equine (and small ruminant) vet, Dr. Julia Deitz, beforehand. It's gonna cost, but Don is worth it.

His and Nugget, the mini's official diagnosis seems to be "holy poo poo that's hosed up how are you alive"

Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Sep 20, 2015

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Going to do shopping for my trip tomorrow.

I have gaiters, gloves, and a hat; I'm going to be buying some actual jodphurs (my mum was going to send me her old classic style ones, but I guess she couldn't find them), and a sheepskin saddle pad thing. Any other horsey stuff I should consider? It's going to be about 6 hours of riding a day with a break for lunch.

Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns

Angrymog posted:

Going to do shopping for my trip tomorrow.

I have gaiters, gloves, and a hat; I'm going to be buying some actual jodphurs (my mum was going to send me her old classic style ones, but I guess she couldn't find them), and a sheepskin saddle pad thing. Any other horsey stuff I should consider? It's going to be about 6 hours of riding a day with a break for lunch.

I swear by these, and I'm slowly converting everyone who hacks out with me to do the same :



Wear it around your neck to be snuggly and warm. If it starts raining, you can pull the front up over your nose without taking your hat off, to keep your face dry, or keep sand out of your eyes. If anyone happens to fall off and cut themselves on a tree / stone / barbed wire, it can wrap around pretty tight do stop the bleeding, and won't slip off.

They're called Buffs, and you can get them from any outdoor / camping shops, and most sports shops. I think Poundland sell knock-off ones that I've bought before because I liked the designs, but they're nowhere near as warm when it drops below zero in the winter :{

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Well, I'm hoping it's going to be nice and dry, but you've reminded me that dust might be a problem. Will take my motorcycling neck-tube-scarf. (which looks like a baby one of those)

Nondevor
Jun 1, 2011





catposting

Tyma posted:

I swear by these, and I'm slowly converting everyone who hacks out with me to do the same :



Wear it around your neck to be snuggly and warm. If it starts raining, you can pull the front up over your nose without taking your hat off, to keep your face dry, or keep sand out of your eyes. If anyone happens to fall off and cut themselves on a tree / stone / barbed wire, it can wrap around pretty tight do stop the bleeding, and won't slip off.

They're called Buffs, and you can get them from any outdoor / camping shops, and most sports shops. I think Poundland sell knock-off ones that I've bought before because I liked the designs, but they're nowhere near as warm when it drops below zero in the winter :{

Supporting buying these; they're great. One benefit is that unlike scarves and such, the material used in Buffs is thin (but still quite warm!) and easy to wash.

I'm rather sensitive to the cold and my face freezes easily, so I wear mine in the balaclava style - keeps both my ears and nose warm :). Another benefit is that they look nice! Mine is a blueish pattern.

On another note, my lessons started back up earlier this week yaaaay. We got to ride in the outdoor ring for once, so that was fun. I was a little worried I would have forgotten how to ride, but fortunately that wasn't the case. (I did forget some parts of the tacking process, but I never had much experience in that in the first place...)

Nondevor fucked around with this message at 16:14 on Oct 2, 2015

Nondevor
Jun 1, 2011





catposting
Well, today was a new experience! I fell from my horse today. First time that's ever happened to me.

The horse I was riding was a new addition to the barn I went to, Dusty. He's a horse that likes a soft rein (or so the instructor said), and he was an absolute dear during the first 3/4 of the lesson. We were doing walk/rising trot [not too advanced :shobon:], and Dusty was trotting fine first time around.

The next time though, when I went after the other people in the group, he kept speeding up while I was trying to find my diagonal. So it was a combination of a) not being used to a horse that did that b) had my stirrups a little too high... c) trying to find the right posting rhythm while simultaneously slowing him down.

So yeah, the awkward length of the stirrups caused me to lose grip and surprise, there was a jump beam right there! Luckily nothing was hurt (except a somewhat throbbing middle right finger) since I kinda rolled when I landed.

Got back right on the horse after since it wasn't a big deal, though I was a little wobbly haha. I feel sorry for the horse! Though he was acting up.

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Nondevor posted:

I fell from my horse today.

I feel sorry for the horse!
Hmm. Yes, you will fit in just fine :v:

If you don't know Dusty well then it could have been anything causing him to speed up. If you're sitting for a diagonal then he might take that as a prelude to a canter signal, it could mean you're gripping with your legs more while you're sitting (I did this a lot), you could be concentrating on your diagonal and putting more tension than he likes on his mouth etc, so I wouldn't attribute it to him "acting up" just yet. Very sorry you got so unlucky as to come off though! Get well soon finger :h:

Falling off is something you also have to practise, what if you never fell off and then one day you really need to roll towards the centre of the arena and bounce back up immediately while staying calm and not making any fuss (despite any and all injury in case you spook someone) and you haven't practised any of it?!

Also I won my first ever rosette on a grumpy little skewbald pony called Dusty, it's a good name :3:

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

And then you have horses like Tinker who get upset when people fall off them and behave oddly the lesson after.

Also, only three more days until I fly out on my holiday!

Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns

Nondevor posted:

The next time though, when I went after the other people in the group, he kept speeding up while I was trying to find my diagonal. So it was a combination of a) not being used to a horse that did that b) had my stirrups a little too high... c) trying to find the right posting rhythm while simultaneously slowing him down.

Welcome to horses! :D

Did he just sort of stumble over the beam, or did you get a free jump? I'm sure your riding instructor gave you a better analysis of what went wrong, but it sounds to me like he just wanted to catch up with his friends, and anticipating Dusty doing something like that isn't exactly the first thing on your mind, when you're trying to focus on your timing, and at least three other things, to get into the right groove to rising trot?

quote:

Falling off is something you also have to practise

In all the time I've been riding, I've never been taught to fall, because riding schools over here all have stipulations in their insurance policies that prevent it. I've asked a few, because I have a really messed up back, and I'm scared of wearing a Body Protector, but they're all "NOPE!". I might just go to a judo class or something ^^;

Angrymog posted:

Also, only three more days until I fly out on my holiday!

This is just a guess, but are you going to a very cold country, to ride the greatest breed of horse in the world?

Nondevor
Jun 1, 2011





catposting

Tyma posted:

Welcome to horses! :D

Did he just sort of stumble over the beam, or did you get a free jump? I'm sure your riding instructor gave you a better analysis of what went wrong, but it sounds to me like he just wanted to catch up with his friends, and anticipating Dusty doing something like that isn't exactly the first thing on your mind, when you're trying to focus on your timing, and at least three other things, to get into the right groove to rising trot?

He did jump, but I decided I'd rather roll off and hit the ground instead of, y'know, landing directly on the beam...

Results are in from my x-Ray, and unfortunately I broke my middle finger. I forget the specific names of the regions, but it involves some fractures and none displacement. Fun! Perfect time for all the writing I have to do for my tests, though I'm given specific instructions to not write anything until I see the specialist...

Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns

Nondevor posted:

Results are in from my x-Ray, and unfortunately I broke my middle finger.

Oh poo poo, um.. welcome to horses :{

Nondevor
Jun 1, 2011





catposting
It's on my right hand too, so now I can't write for the next couple of days. Welcome to horses indeed :v:

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Bummer :( you were right to try and not hit the jump though, I've done that and it hurt a lot though I guess I didn't break anything...

Tyma posted:

In all the time I've been riding, I've never been taught to fall, because riding schools over here all have stipulations in their insurance policies that prevent it. I've asked a few, because I have a really messed up back, and I'm scared of wearing a Body Protector, but they're all "NOPE!". I might just go to a judo class or something ^^;
Well that's not ideal. I've never fallen off on purpose like but I've done it a lot and it's sometimes better to come off cleanly rather than hang there for ages freaking the horse out and yourself and that's hard to do if you're scared of falling :(

Why would the body protector hurt your back? I never rode without one tbh and my back is the one bit of me I never really hurt (except the time I mentioned above when I landed on a pole)

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Bad luck on the finger. And no, I've never been taught to fall either. I guess Judo or an acrobatics or parkour class might be your best bets for learning something like that.

Tyma posted:

This is just a guess, but are you going to a very cold country, to ride the greatest breed of horse in the world?
Nope. (Hopefully) no more than moderately-warm country to ride a different sort of greatest horse in the world across Mars*

*The Wadi Rum in Jordan

Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns

teenytinymouse posted:

Why would the body protector hurt your back? I never rode without one tbh and my back is the one bit of me I never really hurt (except the time I mentioned above when I landed on a pole)

I have Spina Bifida, so they're not just painful to wear, but potentially a lot more dangerous than just falling normally, and taking a blow on the point of impact. I own one because British Eventing require one to be worn when jumping over fixed jumps, and don't make any exceptions for disabled riders, but it completely messes with my riding when I wear it :(

If I was a normal rider, I'd probably wrap one over the top of another one, and ride in them both.

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Oh that sucks. I didn't realise there wasn't like, other options for people who can't wear them :(

I know people who just don't like wearing them, it's crazy. Mine actually maybe saved me from some cracked ribs in a stable once too when a mental pony decided I did such a bad job on his feet that I needed to be squished.

x1o
Aug 5, 2005

My focus is UNPARALLELED!
huh, I didn't know that teaching people how to fall correctly was a thing, never had that taught to me. Although an instructor did mention I generally had more memorable falls than most people.

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

TheHeadSage posted:

huh, I didn't know that teaching people how to fall correctly was a thing, never had that taught to me. Although an instructor did mention I generally had more memorable falls than most people.

This was literally the first thing taught to me, past "This is your helmet wear it always"

Writer Cath
Apr 1, 2007

Box. Flipped.
Plaster Town Cop

Suspect Bucket posted:

This was literally the first thing taught to me, past "This is your helmet wear it always"

My instructor once asked me why I still had my helmet on, even though my horse was in his stall.

Horse started weaving, knocked me in the head, sent my helmet flying a couple of feet.

:3: I miss that ridiculous horse.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

It's happening! I'm air side at Heathrow terminal 5. Will hopefully be able to get on wifi and post photos of nice horses before we head into the desert

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Have survived desert. Have terrifying horse videos to share once I am back home.

Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns

Angrymog posted:

Have survived desert. Have terrifying horse videos to share once I am back home.

You know the rules of the thread. Don't you dare come back without pictures of pretty poinies.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Did have some horse pictures on the phone rather than the camera so here's a taster.





This horse is called Sadia and was my first mount. I swopped to another one after a day and a bit because I really didn't get on with her.

On our first trot she shied at a big rock, and then bolted across a stony field that also contained large thorn bushes. I stayed on and got her back under control despite losing stirrups and her trying to both buck and rear. But after that we were not friends.

The guide was with me but I didn't have time to tell him that I wasn't happy with cantering back to the group before she was off.

Second horse was still forward going and able to take off like a rocket, but overall a bit saner.

We were worried about them standing in the sun, but they really didn't seem to mind and would often choose to be in the sun even when their tether would let them get to shade. Also they were well watered at lunch.

Will talk about the trip and the guides in detail once back in the UK.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

In case you were wondering, one or two of them had slightly dish shaped faces and held their tails high, but these aren't pedigree arabs. They seemed to have the personality though.

The guides aid that as well as the ones the stable owns they also lease them from poor families as it keeps the horse well looked after and gives the family money.

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Just to tide us over till Angrymogs picture dump of exotic horses and beautiful scenery, here is something completely different

Spud and myself are coming up on 20 years of acquaintance and I heard he had a slip in the field and twisted his pelvis (???) so I visited to give pets and mints. He was grumpy because of flies and sneezed in my face.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Poor guy. We had fly problems except for the day we spent going over the mountains

x1o
Aug 5, 2005

My focus is UNPARALLELED!
I attended my first horse show in about 10 years, when I helped my sister with her Mini's.


This handsome fellow and I won several of our classes by default and managed to snag Reserve Champion in the led exibit. Which has been my best show experience since winning 3rd in the team dressage comp a decade ago.

Haji
Nov 15, 2005

Haj Paj
For you crazy peeps that aren't being taught how to fall (OMG that's stupid - I'm sorry), my family made us do this weird stretching exercise before we were ever allowed to ride. I've taken to calling it "falling yoga". Essentially, sit like a frog on the ground and then lean forward and touch your forehead to the ground without lifting your butt off the ground.

I found a picture on the internets! Sit like this kid and then plant your head on the ground without lifting your butt up.


We weren't allowed to ride any horses until we could do this and keep the entire front of our bodies flat to the ground. Every day before we went riding, we had to do this stretch for 10 to 15 minutes. I don't know if it's this particular stretch, but I am drat good at falling. There were a couple other stretches that we had to do, but this was the big one.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Still sorting the pictures, but here's some video. Not the best quality due to being taken with a handheld camera rather than something fancy like a Go Pro.

https://youtu.be/U4SCohrGmpI

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Imguur album

http://imgur.com/a/lCvTl

Highlights



Mushroom rock

Bonding moment with horse whilst sharing the emergency apple in the shade of the mushroom rock. Never underestimate the importance of an emergency apple.






The guide's horse with some traditional-style decorations added to her tack.




Petra in the early morning before the rest of the tourists got there. We returned later on foot and it was insanely busy. There are horse carriages that travel at a fair clip up the Siq (the canyon leading to the treasury).


Multi-coloured sand of the Wadi Rum


Guide #2, Abdul, let us ride around bareback in this little sandy river bed.

We started as a full group of 10 with the main guide, Hasheem, who honestly wasn't very good, and I don't think people were having much fun; he was very by the book and seemed to be suscribing to a sort of cargo cult health and safety.

On day 4 we split the group due to one of the vehicles that was transporting the horses back to Petra* breaking down, and I was put with what I shall term the Swiss-Family-Hivemind (4 of them, spoke only swiss and german and spoke constantly to each other) with a chap called Abdul as our guide.

I think that he said he trained Hasheem**, and he was generally a lot more relaxed. Didn't make every change of pace a big deal like Hasheem did, let us canter and gallop as a group (either slow canter in a file or when it was really clear letting us go off at a gallop line abreast) and on the whole was more relaxed and gave the impression of trusting us more as riders.

On the whole Jordan is beautiful, though the desert is a lot more populated than I expected it to be - you can't go more than an hour without seeing either a full bedouin tent or at least a goat herder. There's an awful lot of garbage, which is a shame. In terms of hotels, services and the like - I think that it's a lot like India - go 5 star or resign yourself to arguing about a lot of little details. Our pickup from the airport was shambolic, and on the hotel we stayed in for the last two nights everyone found out that their sheets and pillows weren't super-clean, though only two of us took it up with the management. ****

* Normally we camped with the horses, but we spent night 3 in a hotel in Petra.
** His English wasn't great*** and things like tenses and word order sometimes got lost in translation.
*** Perfectly good for communicating the important stuff to us though
**** I don't think the others stayed in enough hotels to realise that your hotel room not being up to spec is one of the things in life you have an absolute right to complain about and expect to be fixed asap

Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns
Glad you enjoyed. Are you sick of riding walk and trot yet? :D

What happened to both people and horses when the sun went down, and you were done travelling for the day?

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Horses were tethered either to metal spikes or just tied to the plants - you can see them in some of the camp pictures. Sometimes you'd wake up in the morning and see that one or two had pulled themselves loose, but they never strayed away from the others.

We had the option of putting up pop up tents in the vinicity of the camp or just finding a nice place to put our sleeping bags. I slept in a tent but with the door open (I don't like not knowing what's going on outside) for all except the last night, where I joined a couple of the others tentless. Also, the Stars! I haven't seen stars like that since India. It makes the night sky where I am look very very sad. Thanks, London. Thlondon.

The support staff seemed to all sleep in the vincinity of the kitchen tent.

The only trotting we really did was when my horse had bouts of wanting to catch up with the others (I let her dawdle in walk because there was no point keeping up with the Swiss-family-hivemind) or a few seconds before breaking into canter when we were in single file. It was either walk or canter/gallop the rest of the time - those things want to run.

Angrymog fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Oct 21, 2015

Haji
Nov 15, 2005

Haj Paj
That's looks so wonderful! How beautiful. How hot was it though? How did you stay cool and keep from getting completely burnt?

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Haji posted:

That's looks so wonderful! How beautiful. How hot was it though? How did you stay cool and keep from getting completely burnt?

It was hotter than it was supposed to be for the time of year - up to high 30s in the Wadi Rum, mostly mid 30s everywhere else. As for staying cool and not getting burnt - in my case, very little exposed skin and factor 50 sunblock - other people just lathered on the sunblock. Some people left off their helmets and used scarves or baseball hats, but my insurance wouldn't cover me without one, so I just wrapped a scarf around it to keep the sun off and protect my neck. The scarf around my neck was for both sun protection and to pull up against dust. We also carried a lot of water - 2-3 bottles in saddlebags, refilled at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also kept an emergency apple with me for a quick sugar and hyrdration boost, which I was very glad off a couple of times.

We had long lunches timed to coincide with it getting really hot.

Grandmother of Five
May 9, 2008


I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.
i meant to write an update on the super skinny horse at the faire thing, but forgot. apparently quite a lot of people reported animal abuse at the faire and an animal taskforce (sounds cool, but probably a couple of officials with clipboards and not like a flying horse in a cape) did a sweep of the faire and wrote out some tickets. some goats and horses were confiscated/seized, too (wonder what they do with these, auction them, i guess, but they're in such lovely condition that i'm not sure anyone would want 'em) lovely story on one hand, but at least some people got punished for animal cruelty

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

They might go to local rescues? I know that a rescue near me will take animals from those kind of situations. There's no way to know I guess but there's a chance they're happy and being rehabilitated somewhere :unsmith:

There were two very sweet little donkeys and a tiny tiny pony in a field by my bf's dads house and their poor feet were really overgrown. I was thinking of making a call about them but I couldn't get the nerve up to potentially cause any bother (I'm the worst). This week though someone came to bfs dads house from the rspca asking about them and he was able to give them the address of the person who owns the field so hopefully they will see a farrier soon.

Angrymog I'm so jealous of your beautiful holiday I'm sick with it :3: I'm glad you had a good time and I know Sadia wasn't nice to you but I think she's very beautiful and she sounds like exactly my kind of girl. What was your other horse friend called? He is very beautiful too :swoon:

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

teenytinymouse posted:

Angrymog I'm so jealous of your beautiful holiday I'm sick with it :3: I'm glad you had a good time and I know Sadia wasn't nice to you but I think she's very beautiful and she sounds like exactly my kind of girl. What was your other horse friend called? He is very beautiful too :swoon:
I was given several names for Horse #2, none of which I really heard clearly, so I just settled on Horse. She was a good horse though. I am the worst at names.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

I don't know what to do about my loan.

Ed is lovely and the loan is cheap, but the yard he's in now is really poo poo (it belongs to a friend of Ed's owner rather than being a proper livery yard), and whilst she (yard owner) seems okay, her other half really freaks me out. He's loud, he's rough with the animals (not cruel, but rough) and I just don't like him. Also, hacking isn't great, and if I want to go to a sand school I'll need to look at hiring one.

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Tyma
Dec 22, 2004

Chwyldro Dawnsio Dawns

Angrymog posted:

I don't know what to do about my loan.

I'd get out now, before you become sentimentally attached to Ed, and it gets harder to leave.

There are hundreds of thousands of horses to choose from, and you can mould most of them into your 'dream horse', but you can't change the yard into something it isn't. If isn't

a) Somewhere you feel completely comfortable, full of cool people who can help you get more out of your horse.

AND

b) Already set up with a school big enough for you, with all the equipment you need, close to good hacking spots.

Then I'd definately take a step back, and look for other horses, who are tied to yards you'd rather ride at. I've seen so many people end up paying to loan at terrible yards, because they think 'Oh, this will be good enough. At least I can ride a horse every day!", and then both horse and rider just sort of trudge through a daily routine, without realising how much more fun and productive every day of riding would be, if they were in a better enviroment, with [literally any horse].

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