Rhegan is Back in the Saddle!

Hello friends,

Well it has been an eventful few weeks,  with some dramatic developments...

Furst Love has been going from strength to strength under Genevieve Edwards and is getting stronger, fitter and happier by the day.  Genevieve is a very talented rider especially with young horses and I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone who wants their young horses brought on in a gentle but firm manner.

As I mentioned before,  I am a great advocate of one rider bringing along young horses to keep them clear about aids and trusting their rider.  On Friday though,  Genevieve had a tumble off one of her naughtier wards and will not be able to ride Furst Love for a few months.  She broke some bones but is on the mend as we speak and expects to be teaching on crutches by next week!

Meanwhile,  I have taken back the reins on my youngster and I am happy to say he is behaving so well for his Mummy.  I notice that he is much more forward and willing to move off the leg without too much effort.  This makes riding him much more fun as I do not feel I have to "nag" him to keep him moving.

I put this new and more positive attitude he has down to his wonderful surroundings and comfortable routine which Genevieve and I have pieced together for him.  Flat work 3x per week,  jumping a few cross bars and roads and tracks the other 2 days.  Of course he is out all day with his playmates in the glorious Georgia sunshine so he is never agitated at being in all day, day after day.

Yesterday,  I practiced our transitions and noticed that he is very receptive to my voice commands on the lunge so I tried them under saddle,  and ...Presto....when I said "trot" in my Lunge voice he responded immediately so I could time my voice command with a gentle leg aid re-inforcing the voice command. I am trying hard to avoid intensive negative re-inforecement techniques such as too much whip or spur. I want Furst Love to be happy to do his job and not be switched off and resigned....we have all ridden horses like that and they are hard to turn around.

The canter transition was much the same with a little "canter" voice  command and he was away.  This time I sat deep in the saddle a few strides out and timed the command so that he understood my seat and voice aid mean canter.  It worked like a charm and after a few transitions,  he was waiting like puppy for me to ask!  What a joy to ride such a sweet natured horse and what a change from the bucking bronc who wouldn't move forward 3 months ago!   No bullying, no coercing, just common sense and a good, healthy routine to bring him to this great new head space!

Furst Love and "the Contact" continue to be a little challenging.  I am forgoing consistent contact in effort to cement his desire to move forward.  Once he relaxes into a forward rhythm then I ask for a more consistent contact.  Some horses like to poke their noses out and above the vertical,  Furst is a "diver" and likes to park his snozz between his knees.  It is harder for him to do this when he is forward so I try to get momentum in the trot so he is pushing more from behind  into the contact in front.  Again, I am
not stressing about getting this achieved in any period of time... I know that as he grows and strengthens
all the things I am asking him will become easy for him and then, and only then,  will I start putting more pressure on him.  I have the luxury of lots of time to get him where I want him and I am taking the time.

I am also riding another dressage horse at Echelon called Wyland.  He is a Weltmeyer gelding and an absolute poppet owned by Natasha in the barn.  I am working him while Genevieve is off and concentrating on switching him "on" again.  Natasha wants to do lower level dressage and he is trained to PSG but really doesn't want to be bothered to do much requiring excessive energy!.  It is an interesting challenged and I am starting with just getting his fitness level up and making him a little sharper of the leg with lots of strengthening transitions and bending through his frame.

Gen on Furst

My new website is being launched tomorrow....I will update my blog the minute it is live with a link - I dare not do that now because I might jinx the launch date as it has taken a few months to get here . I think you will all enjoy it - lots of information about dressage, events, trainers, etc. and LOTS OF PICTURES and Videos!

Over and Out - send your positive thoughts to Genevieve !

A Fantastic Clinic in Toronto

Greetings faithful followers...are you out there?

Furst Love is going from strength to strength at Echelon Farm in Guyton, Georgia  under the saddle of
Genevieve Edwards.  I have been travelling a great deal and still unable to get a regular rhythm going
with him so for the time being Genevieve is his rider.

YOUNG HORSE ETIQUETTE
I have learnt a great deal about my superstar Furst Love in the past few months.  He is a generous, talented horse....when he wants to be.  I decided to take a step back,  take the pressure off and let him be a youngster for another 6 months at Echelon Farms.  The good news is,  it seems to be working!
His temper tantrums a la bucking bronc are less and less,  he is more forward in his flatwork now and he
loves his new life of sleeping out in the paddocks at night (think cub scout camping) and lounging about in
his air conditioned stall in the day.

I train Genevieve on him every week,  just focusing on forward and consistent contact.  Genevieve is
working on keeping her seat more engaged and the forward impulsion while not putting too much
pressure on him.  He has become a show jumper also,  a specialist in demolition of a 2 ft course ....not
seeing Hickstead or Spruce Meadows in his future....but maybe he will be a late bloomer.
He is the happiest I have ever seen him and long may it last.  Mummy hacks him out on the weekend
and concentrates on not pressurizing him with anything more than he can handle.

We are planning our first show this fall - just a baby class with walk, trot and canter.

TORONTO EQUESTRIAN DREAMS COME TRUE
I recently spent a most wonderful weekend teaching Debbie Dobson's lovely clients at
Equestrian Dreams in Campbellville, (Toronto), Ontario
I can't thank the organizers,  Debbie, Gemma and Jim,  enough for making me feel so welcome and
the amazing riders and horses I had the pleasure to teach.
In three days the progress and results were truly astounding and the spectators who came to observe
heartily agreed.  Great facility, great audience and great riders-I can't wait to come back in April (22-25).

There were laughs aplenty in the Dobson household which has an abundance of white cats with varying degrees of handicap issues.  My first evening was spent in full terror of pending feline allergies so I
hid in my room to avoid any straying cat hairs...but the "puddy cats" had other ideas.  While Debbie and JIm where out checking on the horses,  I was holed up in my room which it seems had once been their
favorite meeting place.  There was meowing and howling in unison at my door with a spray of white
paws under the door...trying to find the handle or key, I believe.  I yelled at the cat to be quiet only
to realize that she was deaf and blind....I have renamed her Helen Keller kitty.

My website will be launched in a few days...www.rheganwhite.com.  Thanks for staying in touch.
Your comments are welcome.

A Change of Scenery

Hello again,  I am back from my travels and what adventures I have had.

Before I left for my trip in August,  Furst Love and I had our first argument,  or should I say,  parting of ways!  He decided after 15 minutes of work in the arena that he had had enough, and bucked like
a rodeo bronc horse, depositing me soundly, and with a thump, on the ground.  He raced back towards
the barn (a good 1/2 mile) before he was tagged and brought back to me.

I must say I was quite bruised and battered ( I am not 21 anymore) but I creaked back on and finished
some quiet work and a hack.  The next day,  I could barely move and headed straight into the Doc who warned that riding should be avoided for at least 3 weeks.  Ordinarily,  I would have been fine with this as he was due a holidy but I felt strongly that Furst Love needed more work after his naughtiness and looking at my calender, I realized I would be away almost 12 weeks  before Xmas.  I needed to find a "bouncy, brave" rider.

A client  recommended Genevieve Edwards of Eschelon Sport Horses, in Guyton, Georgia as a young, talented rider who could pick up the slack for me.    After a few phone calls with Genevieve and her successful  first ride on Furst Love,  I decided to move him to Guyton where he is now happily residing until I have more consistent blocks of time here in Savannah.  This 28 year old lady has experience as a Grand Prix Show Jumper and Basic IV dressage rider and loves to ride young horses. She instantly fell in love with Furst Love and saw the opportunity for her to ride a horse of this calibre.


Furst Love seems to love his new surroundings in Guyton.  He has acres of beautiful pasture to chill out in, spends the night outdoors with his buddies and his days in Genevieve's fabulous barn.
Training has changed tack somewhat as I felt it was important for Genevieve to bond with him so she
is riding him regularly now, with my help on the ground though I get on and have a hack or last minute schooling if he still has gas in the tank.  We are mixing up his routine to include lots more hacking, a bit of jumping and flat work every other day.

The Terrible Teens....FOUR-FIVE Year olds!
Young horses are always a test to one's patience especially as they start to get stronger.  What they willingly accepted as a 3 year old and early in the fours,  they begin to question as they head towards 5.
Depending on their temperaments,  there are many ways to approach their challenges to authority.
Routine is extremely important, as I have already expounded on at length, but also adding fun to their work.

Furst Love comes from a very "hot" blood line,  his sire,  Furst Piccolo, is a re-known for his expressive nature.  However,  in my experience, that hot blood is what is needed to get that extra lift and impulsion in the more advanced dressage training.  So we want to contain the brat but encourage the impresario!

I asked Genevieve to mix up Furst Love's routine so that he would get different ways to express his
athletic creativity.  I don't want him getting bored with circles and finding ways to dump his riders - that
is definitely a habit we don't want to encourage.  He has tried it on with Genevieve a few times,  and the one time he did get her off,  she bounced back up like a rubber ball.... I felt really old at that moment remembering my winded carcass hobbling along to grab the loose horse!

So we will be experimenting with a mix of hacking, jumping, lunging and flat work.  We will try
to improve his strength,  develop his character and keep him happy to do the work.  It is a challenge
but I am hopeful we are on the right track.  Meanwhile,  I am away again next week for 2 weeks teaching in England.  I will report back at the end of September with how our new regime is working.

Where's the Forward Button?

July 31, 2010

Trouble in Paradise!

ITs  been a challenging week with Furst Love.  I have had some real issues when asking him to move forward and through a process of elimination, I have finally figured out where the Forward Button is...or where I had hidden it!


Last weekend, July 24 /25 I had 2 wonderful rides with him.  He was forward, getting a bit of balance on the tricky right 20 meter circle, even in canter,  moving off my leg nicely - I was really pleased with the progress.  What I wasn't pleased with was the frequent twisting of the neck and grinding of the teeth.
I decided to change the bit on the Monday to see if that would make a difference. 

Monday, Monday
I arrived at the stables on Monday, excited that I had found my favourite brass single link that I have trained many young horses with.  It is soft and friendly and I felt it would suit Furst Love much better .
So,  I replaced the double linked loose ring stainless steel snaffle I had been using with a thicker, single link bit which I hoped might be a bit kinder to him.  In addition I found my new  bridle buried in a box in our garage, which was smaller, softer  and would  fit his beautiful head more snugly.  So off we went on the lunge, new bridle, new snaffle bit, improvised flash nose band loosely fitted but enough to keep his mouth from opening too much.




Houston, We Have a Problem
He was really  tricky on the lunge,  twisting his head and diving here and there with lots of kicking out, bucking and general dissatisfaction.  I called Lazaro over and we decided to change the bit back to the original stainless steel link but keep the new bridle on.  He seemed quieter with that so I got on after another 5 minutes on the lunge.  Lazaro stands beside the mounting block which we put fairly closely to the fence to keep Furst Love straight and quiet.  On I got and off we went. Well actually we stopped and he began pawing the ground!



 I asked him to move forward and once again, he said no!  I kept the reins loose and continued to ask - sadly not wearing spurs that day or carrying a whip so really it was a little like being up a river in a canoe without a paddle!  I managed to get a walk moving forward but as soon as I asked for trot, FL stopped and bucked.  Ok, I was thinking to myself, something is seriously wrong.
Of course I ran through the whole list of options:  sore back,  soured on the work,  a horse fly under his stomach, tricky German bloodlines (though I know they are not), etc.  I decided to re-adjust my requirements for the session drastically and settled for a 20 meter circle in trot and canter on each rein.
I took 20 minutes of arguing but we did finally get there!  We finished the session with a lovely short hack, FL willing and sweet as he always is on his hacks.

A Glimmer of Hope
As I washed took of his tack and washed him down I felt for sore back, swollen legs, sore mouth, etc.
and could find nothing.  Mildly concerned at this tricky juncture in the road I ran through all the possibilities in my mind and went back to what I had changed.  The bit - ok I had changed that back,  and ...the bridle.  I checked the bridle for anything that might have been making him sore and suddenly it dawned on me that the improvised flash was pinching him and he obviously has very sensitive skin around the nose band area and he was letting me know that it hurt!   I could have slapped myself for not figuring that out sooner but I reasoned that there are so many possible answers to what causes "forward" issues like that, that the rider must eliminate all the variations to try to find the solution.  So I merely kicked myself and felt much better after.

Houston, We Have Landed
The next day, I kept the new bridle on him (very determined that this lovely hand crafted  piece can be a part of our equipment) with the original stainless steel bit, no improvised flash or indeed any flash and presto....my beautiful, forward Westphalian superstar emerged again and we had a great ride.  He couldn't wait to go forward and expressed his appreciation that his "thicko" mother had finally clued into his discomfort. He surged ahead, leaping, bounding and bucking (but very forward bucks) with glee!
So...we found the forward button and he stopped with the winding his neck this way and that and the grinding...so NO MORE FLASH NOSE BANDS!


Happily Ever After
The moral of this slightly embarrassing confession is that all riders run into problems of some sort with young horses.  IT IS THE UNWRITTEN EQUINE LAW FOR ALL HUMANS!  Particularly prone to challenging behaviour are well bred, energetic and athletic specimens like Furst Love.  It is important to stay calm and go through the list of things that are different with your routine.  So you see,  keeping a regular routine can really help short cut the process of elimination.

Furst Love is having 3 weeks off now because I am going back to the Douglas Lake Ranch in British Columbia  where I grew up, for a family reunion, some range riding with cowboys  and some mother/daughter time with my gorgeous Emily who is at this moment flying over here from the UK.  FL is still growing and changing shape and it is important that he is allowed to have time off to let his muscles develop, his attitude stay sweet and take the pressure off for awhile.
Lazaro will turn him out into a 2 acre field for 3 hours every day and lunge him 3 times a week.

See you in September!

Getting the Routine Just Right

July 22, 2010 - Thursday

This past week I concentrated my efforts on creating a routine for Furst Love that I can use every day that I ride him.  A routine is important for all horse training as it gives the horse consistent handling and training methods thereby making the learning process less stressful.  Young horses are particularly influenced by regular training regimes which will help regulate their temperaments and strengthen their bodies in the right way.  Furst Love is only 4 and perhaps now is a good time to give a brief history of his life on planet earth so far!

History of Furst Love

I first met Furst Love in 2 July of 2006.  My trainer and dear friend, Emile Faurie (Olympic Dressage Team rider for Great Britain 3 times) and I decided to do some young horse shopping at an auction in Westphalia, Germany.  Udo Harlemaart, long time dealer and top breeder in Germany,  escorted us to the event.

After many Lots in the Auction ring,  we still hadn't seen anything that suited our purposes (athletic, well bred, well priced) Udo pointed out a young colt in the program by Furst Piccolo,  (Fidermark/Florestan line) which Udo rated as one of the top breeding stallions in Germany.  He pointed out the extraordinary hind leg action of the 3 month old bay colt which trotted alongside his mother with purpose and poise!
His full brother had been recently successfully graded at the Stallion Grading so it seemed like a reasonable investment.  Besides,  Emile wanted the bottle of champagne successful bidders get when they buy a horse so....I became the new mummy of Furst Love.

We sent Furst Love to a famous Stallion Training yard in the north of Germany where he lived for the next 3 1/2 years.  "Little Man"  handled my young stallion with such finesse and professionalism until he was backed that the backing process was very straight forward.   We considered sending him to the grading however he was 1/2 inch too short to pass so even though all other boxes were ticked his life as a stallion was to end.  I did not want to ride or handle a stallion particularly if I could not breed with him.
 He was well mannered and accepting almost immediately under saddle and 2 months after his backing,  I flew from the UK to Germany to ride him for the first time.

I had not seen my protege for almost 8 months so when I caught sight of how he had grown into such a beautiful horse,  standing in the stables,  neck arched, shoulders square with a most beautiful head I was quite simply,  blown away!   Riding him was even more of a thrill - he was soft in the mouth, athletic with 3 good paces, gentle and quiet and exactly what one would want in a 3 year old.

I returned again in the spring to ride Furst Love one more time before we flew him to the USA.  He was a little stronger and more forward moving but still a well mannered gentleman.  I was thrilled and excited to start my new project in Savannah, Georgia!

Sticking to my Routine
I reviewed my routine last week so this week I will comment on how things are progressing.
Throughout my sessions with "Fursty"  I am concentrating on 2 specific goals:

1)  That he stays in front of my leg at all times.  That means he moves off my leg immediately (not 10 seconds after I give the aid) and that he stays going forward even if the contact is not always consistent.
The contact will improve as he get stronger and more balanced but the strength and balance will only improve from his ability to move and stay forward.

2) That he learns to understand and obey my commands.   The first challenge we have is me getting
on Furst Love.  He moves about,  is inattentive and restless when I get near the mounting block.  The second challenge is halting and immobility which he finds very tiresome and annoying!

Moving Forward
All horses, young or old,  should move forward and stay forward of their own volition! That means Fursty has to go without the constant nag of my spur in his flank.  I use a few methods to keep him forward including rising to his trot at a brisker rhythm and taking my leg away and giving him ONE firm kick with both legs (I use very small spurs) to remind him we are moving.  Fortunately,  he is a forward thinking horse to start with so it is not so hard to get this result.  If his contact varies and he pokes his head out this way and that,  I keep a gentle contact, wait until he is balanced then ask for the contact again.  I don't chase after the contact at the risk of the the forward rhythm but I am always gently seeking it.  To me, the most important goal with a young horse is... MOVING FORWARD.  The contact will get more consistent as he gets stronger.

Successful Forward Canter work at last! 

Getting On
In Germany I know that he was mounted in the stable with 2 people helping the rider.  I have to hand walk him to the menage, lunge him and then get on, sometimes without the help of someone else so I need to quickly establish who is boss on the ground and how he must stand still while I get on.   To start with I move the mounting block about 1 yard away from the fence.  I move him through so he is sandwiched between the fence and the mounting block with a bit of room to move.  It makes it harder for him to move side to side.  Lazaro,  the wonderful head groom at my stables, holds him firmly, still with the lunge line attached and feeds him a mint or carrot to keep him occupied while I get on.  This way,  Fursty associates me getting on his back with treats = pleasurable experience!
I do this same routine every time I get on to establish a easy learning pattern for my horse.

Halting and Immobility
In my many years of training with Conrad Schumacher,  I have learnt the value of standing in the halt position to achieve a consistency in the contact (more on this halt contact later) For young horses who want to go, go, go...this is an challenging exercise but I want to be able to have immobility so that if I need to I can get his attention and get him listening to me.  In each working session I will practice about 5-6 halts and I set time frames to achieve.  Early in the session I will aim for 4 seconds of immobility and by the end of the session 10 seconds.  Over the last 2 months I have gotten up to 15 seconds and then asked him to move on so he now comes in and out of halt without too much resistance.




I am 6 weeks into my training regime and I feel that we have made some good progress with various aspects of the training including the halt,  mounting block, and hacking (he is a gem to hack).  I would like to have him a bit stronger so that he can balance himself better, particularly on the right rein, and I would like the canter work to be more balanced also.  Until next week!

Love at Furst Sight

Welcome Dressage Enthusiasts, especially those who are in the process of training a young horse.
This is the first entry of my blog which will detail the trials and tribulations of training my 4 year old, "just backed" Westphalian gelding which  I think has the talent to become a Grand Prix competition horse.
Before you start thinking....oh yeah, another broad who thinks their baby is special when really it should be pulling a cart...I do have some credentials, have trained lots of youngsters, a few to Grand Prix and taught lots of young horse/rider combinations.

So I think I have a shot at teaching my boy some GP tricks and I will be teaching them through the Classical German Training method which I have learnt from Grand Master Conrad Schumacher (trained with him for over 10 years) and Olympic rider Emile Faurie -almost 15 years my trainer.     Oh yeah,  and I made a Dressage DVD with Conrad Schumacher, Preparing to Win, Volume 1. ..  so I am not just talking "cobblers" as they say in the UK (actually they would really say bollocks but that is a bit rude for these early entries). Please join me on this, my last Dressage Voyage from    Basic 1 or Preliminary to Grand Prix.

Each week I will recount my experiences with you from setting out from the stables on foot with my young charge (r) -(LOOSE HORSE!) to the arena, lunging (whoah there silver!) to Mounting Block episodes (ie can we get near one) to basic work under saddle.   I will try to inject some much needed humor into my monologues because we all know that dressage, as beautiful a sport as it is....can be deadly boring and take itself just a little bit too seriously.

Along the way I will meander through my history which is unusual and a bit quirky - I started my passion for riding as a Cowgirl on Douglas Lake Ranch in British Columbia, Canada - and try to use such tales to amuse but more importantly, enlighten.  I have trained under some incredible horsemen from Cowboys to Olympic coaches so I have a unique perspective on working with young horses.

I want to share my knowledge with others who are treading down this sometimes perilous path of
training a young horse - its a lonely trail with few welcoming campfires along the way (corny analogy but strangely fitting, n'est pas?)  Except for your trainer and a few loyal friends, you are pretty much on your own at the end of a lunge line!

OK so here is my first diary entry:  

DAY 1 -  Furst Love arrived in Savannah, Georgia where my husband and I now live after emmigrating from the UK.  It was a 6 day plane/lorry/trailer  journey from Germany where he has been living for the past 4 years.  He was exhausted so we let him rest for 4 days.

TRAINING SESSION 1:  I always believe that lunging is the safest (for you) and friendliest way to start your sessions with a young horse.  They get a chance to see you on the ground, hear your voice, read your body language and observe you at the centre of their universe.  This is important positioning for the herd mentality.  YOU ARE THE BOSS!  Furst Love, who has been trained beautifully at a Stallion Grading yard in Northern Germany, was a prince and responded beautifully to all my voice commands on the lunge.
I opted for no whip in our first session to get him more tuned into my voice but that doesn't work for everyone.  More on that later....

THE ROUTINE:   It is important to ensure that day one sets the tone for your daily training routine so I am careful to time all my working sections and break them up into quadrants of 10  minutes.  The Lunge Session then is 10 minutes, 5 minutes on each side,  more if he is bucking out of his skin and not attentive.  I try not to do exceed that time because the small circles for too long can damage tendons and suspensory ligaments.  On a positive note, working in a smaller circle strengthens their inside hind legs and gets their body bending and more supple.   I ALWAYS PUT SIDE REINS ON to create a contact, long at first but so their is an outline and he is not galloping about with "windmill head" which unbalances him and does not help develop those important back and neck muscles.

The next quadrants are ring work.  With help from the wonderful Lazarus, Head Groom where I keep my horse (more on this amazing horseman later)  I got on Furst Love at the end of a lunge line.  We circled round several times until I felt him settle.
Then off came the lunge line and we were flying SOLO!  He was a good boy, green and surging forward or stopping for no reason but sometimes listening to my leg... I made a note to wear spurs next time as he was a bit dead off the aids.  I walked , trotted  and cantered  just to feel the paces for 10 minutes  then finish in walk with some serpentine exercises and a hack round the ring for 10 minutes.

Final  section is hacking round the property so he can get used to trucks, other horses, scary fences, etc.
He is tired so no protest from him so a good time to do this.  Install Bravery traits as early as possible so that riding at shows, entering rings, etc don't become too problematic later on.   No roads yet - he is too green but I am planning that for the fall.

So those are my 4 Quadrants - I will expand on those and change their contents throughout the next few months but that is my base and structure and that routine will help Furst Love learn things more quickly and happily and strengthen in the correct way on his way to becoming a superstar.  

NOTE:
My primary concern over the next 6 years will be working my horse in the correct frame and way in order to keep him strong and sound.  Lameness can often come from overworking young horses, stressing their joints and tendons.  THIS I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE and I am determined to
try to avoid the pitfalls of overzealous work routines and pushing a horse beyond its physical limits.


Speak to you next week!

Rhegan