Lotsa Lope

March 14, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

We had another beautiful day today. It feels so good to go out and spend some time in the sun. The boys were ultra relaxed during grooming, and the footing on the strip was much better.

I started out with loping figure-eights pretty early and my first session of this was fantastic. Almost every loop around Steen picked up the lope on the same stride I asked, and when it came to switching leads, we got it after one beat of trotting. Then we took a little breather and we did it again in the other direction, and that didn't go quite as well. Steen was a lot more jazzed up and not as keen to come out of the lope. He gave me another half flying lead change, though, so that was at least a try. I kept him at it until we got a decent simple change.

After that Brian and I switched to working on the routine. We did one circuit at the trot, but after that we switched to thr...

Venturing Forth

Robin

March 13, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We had some rain last night and this morning, so footing on the strip was going to be mushy. Also, our boys have had a couple hard rides recently and they aren't in super good shape. We don't want to over-do it. But it's spring break and the weather is fantastic, so while Brian and I wanted to ride today, we didn't want to ride hard.

We decided the thing to do was to go into "new" territory. That is, after a brief warm-up, we headed over to the "second strip." This is a long grassy area between to fields that is similar to the strip we normally ride on but longer and wider and farther away. Our plan was to have a slow ride, and in this way challenge our horses' minds if not their bodies.

Steen was mellow heading out. He was actually walking slower than Bear. We got to the second strip and things continued in this vein for a while. Brian and I separated and...

Simple Lead Changes

Robin

March 11, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We had such success with our work at the lope yesterday I was keen to get back to that exercise today. Steen was in a good mood from the start. I think he is more comfortable without his blanket on. It has warmed up here and I've been able to leave it off the last couple of nights. They also have new bales and he's put some of his lost weight back on, so even if he gets a little chilly for a few hours here and there, he should be fine. Bear was in a funny mood today and Brian started out his ride pretty hard and demanding. Steen and I started with leg yields and whirlygigs, but I moved pretty quickly into our figure-eight exercise. After a few laps, Steen was paying a lot of attention, moving both into and out of the lope really well. So I changed my plan and started loping the entire figure-eight, with a simple lead change in the middle. This is far more than I've ever asked of...

Refining the Lope

Robin

March 10, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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When I was a younger, more fearless rider, I loved loping in almost any circumstances. I didn't care if the horse was borderline out of control. I didn't mind if I knew I couldn't do more than contribute nominally to where exactly we ended up running. Since getting Steen, my relationship with the lope has changed. Steen clearly had some anxiety about the canter. I spent a lot of time trying to help him relax while loping with only nominal success. Even years into having him I still never knew exactly how he was going to pick up the gait, and if he was going to listen to me once he got going. I found I don't love the experience of being on a pseudo runaway horse nearly as much as I did in my younger years. But more than that, recently I've just feel like Steen and I should be past this. The last few weeks I've been working on leg-yields with Steen a ton, and he's figured out that...

Shaping Up

Robin

March 10, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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As much as there is a part of me that likes to think I should be capable of riding all year without any lulls, I do sometimes think when the forced breaks come along, they yield benefits. Brian and I rode on Wednesday, and because it was super windy out we rode indoors. Steen started out fine, but over the course of the ride he transitioned into being pretty excellent. We worked on all our usual stuff, and the ride just gradually and almost imperceptibly got better until after a while I realized things were going really well. It was mostly little stuff. Steen would stop really well, or hold collection and give me some really energetic half-passes. Brian and I worked on the routine, and Steen was tuned in to how fast I was asking him to go to keep pace with Bear. At the end I worked on a figure-eight pattern and had Steen loping a short circle, then coming down to a trot and trottin...

Hot and Bothered

Robin

March 6, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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With the lull we've had in our riding, I'm trying to maintain a pretty relaxed attitude as both Steen and I get back into the swing of things. Today it was in the 70's, and the ground was mushy and the wind was blowing. I wanted to ride my horse but I didn't want to push either of us. Steen is not in the best form just now. His white areas are shedding already (they always start to fall of first, shed for longer and produce approximately a thousand times more hairs than his brown parts) and his coat has that spring-time raggedy look. He's lost weight recently, too. But mostly today he was hot. He was a little sweaty under the blanket when I pulled it off and his entire attitude while I groomed and led him to the strip one was of lethargy. If I didn't know he has always gotten really sluggish in the heat (even back when he was super skittish and reactive), I'd have been worried abo...

The Spring Skinnies

Robin

March 4, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Yesterday was so windy and damp, and we're so out of the habit of riding, we somehow let the day go by without ever making it to the barn. So today we were determined to go right after breakfast so we couldn't talk ourselves out of it. It was cold and we had a light dusting of freezy snow on Friday. The pasture is in a horrible state of half frozen mud and shallow pools with a thin layer of ice over them, all under a dusting of snow. Not very inviting, and clearly the horses have hardly been moving. Also, the hay they've been getting lately doesn't seem to be very exciting or something, because all the pasture horses are losing weight. Not so much that it is worrisome at all, and they are all clearly eating, but truth be told the pasture herd has been on the chubby side all winter. Not so much now. Even Bear is looking thin, which is kind of good actually because we would like to g...

Dog Days

Robin

March 3, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We delivered Elsa to her new home on Tuesday. After having her for two weeks, it was definitely a bit hard to say good-bye. But the home we found seems like it will be perfect for her. She'll have another Border Collie to play with, and a person who did herding with her previous Border Collie and might get some sheep again to keep the dogs entertained. We decided not to keep her mainly because I was having a lot of eye irritation after her introduction to the house. We tried it for a week but after that I concluded I was just too uncomfortable. Maybe if I didn't work from home it would have been different, but not only is she a house dog, but the sort of dog that wants to be as close to you as possible every minute of the day. Her constant presence left me without any escape from the hair and dander. We will miss her though. It's amazing how quickly you can get attached to a good d...

A Mellow Ride in the Sun

Robin

February 19, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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It's been a sort of harrowing few weeks for me. It's not that anything bad has happened. It's just been busy. I should be (and am) grateful that my little business is booming to the point that it is keeping me really, really busy. I am glad we are close enough to our nephew that a trip out to his first birthday party is possible. And of all the dogs you could conceive of finding yourself randomly living with, the one that landed on our doorstep is pretty exceptional.

But still, having a dog in the house is a lot to adjust to, particularly since I'm here trying to work all day and we don't have a dog-proof yard. Factor in the fact that the dog is one of the most highly intelligent, energetic br...

This counts as work, right?

Robin

February 17, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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I saw a bunch of these on Facebook and couldn't resist making my own:

On a side note, the "mom" here is meant as the royal mom. (Like the royal we.) My real mom and mother-in-law both pretty much knows what horses are all about.