Laney (*filly* 4/10-Tinkerbelle) *New pics pg 187*

[MeganH]

Cant wait for Laney to be up on camera.

Great pictures of Jake and Austin, they both look very happy.

Just one thing - has Austin been instructed to ride 'English' by pushing his heels down? The 'grip with the knees and push the heels down' way of teaching went out of the window years ago here in the UK. To grip with the knees makes the lower body stiffen up and pushes you up out of the saddle so that you 'bounce', especially at the canter, but worse still, to push your heels down stiffens the ankle and forces the lower leg forward in front of the vertical and therefore your weight to the back of the saddle, making it much more difficult to do the rising trot. In the late 1940's and 50's (when I was taught and regularly riding with the local Pony ahd Horse Clubs) this was the style of riding taught, But by the 60's things had moved on to the balance and relaxation way of modern riding and, boy, did I fid it dificult to change and relearn!! Just wanted to make sure that Austin moves in the right direction while he is young enough to adapt - but perhaps that will also depend upon what Jake is used to in style from his rider and how he has been taught the aids?

More pictures of the sweet Laney and that pickle Ricky when you have time please.

This is so interesting because they do teach you to always push your heels down here (at least at this riding barn). I started back in the english saddle last year taking a few lessons and it was HARD to post a trot and keep my heels down. It almost hurt- but I am also out of shape lol. If I am right I think they said with your heels down your feet will not go into the stirrup (and get stuck) if things get out of hand. But they do teach heels down here. Jake was initially trained as a Western pleasure horse- and this is what we want to keep riding him as. They used him for both English and Western in the end and began to jump him- but I want to keep him Western. We are shopping for saddles right now so we borrow our fellow riders and last night the one that fit Austin best was our friend's english saddle. The western one we use is a big one. We'll get him a smaller Western saddle soon.

I'd like to see how they teach riding over in the UK

 

[AnnaC]

"if you push your heels down it will stop your foot sliding into the stirrup and getting trapped"..............and if you have any sort of dampness on the sole of your boot which also makes the stirrup wet, then when you push your heels down the stirrup can fly off your toe, up into the air and hit you in the face!!

LOL!! Megan - there are many dangers in horse riding as you well know! Actually I wouldn't let Austin ride without safety stirrups anyway, or, if they dont make safety ones for western saddles, then get his strrups fitted with 'toe caps' for his size of foot as this will stop any chance of his foot travelling forward.

Actually there is very little difference between 'correct' English and Western riding. Dig out some of those old Western movies and watch the riders there. You will see the 'good' riders appear to sit relaxed but 'poised' on their horses, legs long in the stirrups, bodies upright with that virtually straight line from shoulder through the hip and down to the heel. They seem to be completely 'at one' with their horse, both moving fluidly together. However the 'bad' riders are often the film 'extras' or those with lesser parts who have simply said that they can ride to get the chance of a part! These 'riders' sit back in their saddles with their legs thrust forwards, they bounce about, have no appearance of 'one to one', are often off balance and generally look very 'untidy' in their efforts to guide and control the poor horses they are 'abusing'!

So you see Megan, there is very little actual difference between good English and good Western, it is just the question of correct balance and relaxation which is all to the good of both horse and rider. I used to love giving private lessons to really keen and interested pupils during the 1970's and 80's when I was teaching, not only because it was so good to see them reach understanding and improvement, but also because as they improved so did their horses, and yet we were not schooling the horses. The difference was often amazing!

 

[MeganH]

"if you push your heels down it will stop your foot sliding into the stirrup and getting trapped"..............and if you have any sort of dampness on the sole of your boot which also makes the stirrup wet, then when you push your heels down the stirrup can fly off your toe, up into the air and hit you in the face!!

LOL!! Megan - there are many dangers in horse riding as you well know! Actually I wouldn't let Austin ride without safety stirrups anyway, or, if they dont make safety ones for western saddles, then get his strrups fitted with 'toe caps' for his size of foot as this will stop any chance of his foot travelling forward.

Actually there is very little difference between 'correct' English and Western riding. Dig out some of those old Western movies and watch the riders there. You will see the 'good' riders appear to sit relaxed but 'poised' on their horses, legs long in the stirrups, bodies upright with that virtually straight line from shoulder through the hip and down to the heel. They seem to be completely 'at one' with their horse, both moving fluidly together. However the 'bad' riders are often the film 'extras' or those with lesser parts who have simply said that they can ride to get the chance of a part! These 'riders' sit back in their saddles with their legs thrust forwards, they bounce about, have no appearance of 'one to one', are often off balance and generally look very 'untidy' in their efforts to guide and control the poor horses they are 'abusing'!

So you see Megan, there is very little actual difference between good English and good Western, it is just the question of correct balance and relaxation which is all to the good of both horse and rider. I used to love giving private lessons to really keen and interested pupils during the 1970's and 80's when I was teaching, not only because it was so good to see them reach understanding and improvement, but also because as they improved so did their horses, and yet we were not schooling the horses. The difference was often amazing!

I have never heard of safety stirrups so I will have to look them up. But I have seen the stirrups with caps on your toes. When I was Austin's age I was riding a BIG beautiful show horse at a farm and had lessons with groups of kids. A horse kicked my horse and made him rear and buck- my foot slid straight through the stirrups and it got caught. He ran clear across the very large arena dragging me behind. I was very lucky not to be hurt- and they told me if my heels had been down I may not have been stuck. They also let me ride in tennis shoes with no heels.. which we don't ride now unless we have boots with at least a 1 inch heel. When my son rides they say the same thing about why to keep your heels down.. and I haven't heard another reason. lol I have been watching lots of riders and I can see exactly what you are saying about the good and bad riders. I'll have to keep watching just to pick the good from the bad

I do know as we have been riding and worked with several different trainers they don't all say the same things. It can be so confusing lol

Also- is posting a trot only for English riding? With Jake he knows how to walk, jog, trot, lope and canter... but we are working with him on his walk, jog and lope right now. I don't want to mix the 'styles' of riding and have him trot and post (which is what we have been taught to do in both English and Western in lessons) if we shouldn't be.

 

[cassie]

ver yexciting about Laney!!!! yippee can't wait to watch her... just so I know... what is the time for you right now?

Great advice Anna, I find it hard keeping my heels down in the stirrups too, partly due to the fact I snapped all the ligaments in my ankle and it doesn't like to sit properly for me LOL

your little boy is very brave getting on such a big horse!!! good on him, I would be scared out of my brains if it was my son LOL but he seems a good rider and so I'm sure he can handle it

Take care Austin!!!

 

[MeganH]

Right now for me it is 6:46 pm

 

[MeganH]

Pictures from today. Laney is 285 days.

 

[MeganH]

And

 

[a mini dream come true]

And

View attachment 6363

Too cute! He is such a ham

:rofl

 

[MeganH]

Ricochet and his ball!

And I will throw in a picture with Laney since this is HER thread after all.



This weekend we will be getting Ricky's pen ready for Laney to move in and playing around with the cameras to find the best spots for them. About twelve more days til the cameras are streaming!

I am going out to ride Jake this afternoon (or at least that is the plan) so maybe I can get a few pictures to share

 

[Eagle]

What a cutie, when are you going to decide to post him to me

 

[MeganH]

What a cutie, when are you going to decide to post him to me

LOL He is so cute I just want to squeeeeeeeze him

He can nip at his ball all he wants and won't get in trouble

That video of him playing with his ball I posted last week has been viewed over 6,000 times! I must not be the only one who thinks he's adorable!

 

[AnnaC]

Awe Megan he is just so very cute - and he seems to get more gorgeous every time you post pictures!

OK I just typed one of my long rambling responses to your post about Engish and Western riding, plus a note fo Diane, BUT...................................I then hit the wrong button and the whole lot flew off into space!

Well I'm not rewriting it all tonight!! Hope your ride on Jake went well - you did manage to get some pictures??????

 

[MeganH]

blaahh... no pictures

We rode him a bit and he seemed to be bothered by something so we checked him over and the saddle was pushing down on his withers.

It is a little too wide for him. It had sat and not been used in a while until we borrowed it so I guess it is starting to relax and isn't a good fit for him anymore. We'll have to find another one.

 

[Eagle]

What a shame but good for you for being so attentive.

 

[a mini dream come true]

Sorry your ride didn't go so well, but as Renee said good your so attentive. Ill fiting saddle can really make them sore. Here's hoping you can find a better fit soon.

 

[cassie]

I agree with the girls, good job being so attentive megan!I hope you are able to find a nice fitting saddle for him

Ricky looks gorgeous n loves his ball lol

 

[MeganH]

So glad I caught it too! I found a saddle that is much better fitting (semi QH bars) so I think we will be good. We are having a trainer come out though to help because he doesn't want to work and we need more guidance since we aren't very experienced with riding. He is not bad he just will go where he wants not where we want sometimes.

The cameras are all set up!

I am watching them right now to see how they do through the day.night. She will start streaming at the very beginning of March!! About 10 more days!! We have to switch her and Ricky around so we will do that this week

 

[cassie]

So glad I caught it too! I found a saddle that is much better fitting (semi QH bars) so I think we will be good. We are having a trainer come out though to help because he doesn't want to work and we need more guidance since we aren't very experienced with riding. He is not bad he just will go where he wants not where we want sometimes.

The cameras are all set up!

I am watching them right now to see how they do through the day.night. She will start streaming at the very beginning of March!! About 10 more days!! We have to switch her and Ricky around so we will do that this week

yippee so very exciting!!! about Laney and about Jake!!

 

[AnnaC]

Roll on March - cant wait to view Laney and watch her on the run up to foaling!

 

[MeganH]

One of our cameras night vision is not working. We bought the system back in November and threw the box away and all. The same cameras night vision didn't work at the old spot we had it hung and we thought it was because there was a light shining towards it but now we know the actual camera is not right. We will call the manufacturer to see if they will send us a new one and if not we'll rig a light in the stall because it helped us see last night when we put a lantern flashlight in there. The cam that isn't working points into the stalls so we want the night watchers to be able to see clear!

I am also upping Laney's food/hay again. Her bum is still looking too thin.

I am watching Ricky on the cam now because we haven't switched him to the other paddock yet. Once he is moved you will be able to see him in the distance on one of Laney's cams

But Laney of course is the star of this show

For the first week the cam is on we may still be letting them out together during the day but we will separate them soon as she gets closer.