Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in big_man_jules' LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006
7:20 pm	I finally reached my goal! Jules was a prince today. The weather looked like shit, and our pasture is really wet, so I didn't want to really ride. Instead, I hopped on with a barnmate's bareback pad. I figured I'd just walk around, loosen him up. Then I thought, enough warmup, I could probably go straight to some reasonably round trotting (I cannot for the life of me ride bareback on his loose trot). We got some really nice trot, and I rode pretty well. I sat everything pretty nicely, and while he was looky at all the wet spots (the entire pasture), he was good. SO I attempted the canter. That's been my goal for the year I've had him.. to canter bareback. However, we just never had the transitions/collection. It took a few attempts for the transition, but when we got it, did we ever get it. We cantered only twice, but it was as glorious as I had imagined it would be. I was very happy with our mini work session :) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 13th, 2006
8:26 pm	I LOVE my horse... ... and he loves me! The last few weeks, I've been neglecting the poor guy. He's been getting lunged maybe once a week, and generally just been out to pasture. Of course, he's not upset about that, but I haven't been giving him the one on one attention. Friday I popped out and rode him, and it was pretty good. Yesterday I gave him a good lunge, alternating side rein positions and whatnot. Today I went out, and for the first time in a while, just fucked around. For the last month or so, everytime I went out, it was business. I went out to groom, exercise, etc. I hardly said hello. Whenever I pull Jules out, he always turns his head around for a greeting, and wants a minute or two of face time... a "hello" of sorts. I groomed him, and then painted his feet. Left him groundtied so they could dry, and went about rearranging my stuff. The tack room had been rearranged, and so my stuff was quite disorganized. Not to mention, both my bridles were dirty, and nothing was organized to begin with. Jules stood there, probably for close to an hour and half, watching me through the tack room door, while I cleaned his stuff and reorganized. Then I hung his bridles on the door to start cleaning them, my back turned to him. Next thing I know, throughout the 20 minutes I spent cleaning both bridles, I'd feel little snuffles on the back of my neck where he was nuzzling me. Or I'd turn around, and he was too far away to reach, so his neck was outstretched and his head cocked to one side like "heeellllllllo!" And during that whole time, he never moved his feet. I love how my barnmate, Carol (Echo's owner) won't shut up about how mellow jules is, and how well he stands, etc. Her horse won't stand even on crossties :) So today I realized just how lucky I am to have Jules (not that I ever forgot), but how much I miss doing the things I used to do. The whole time, he was totally intent on watching me, and curious about me, and wanting to touch me/nuzzle me/snuffle me. After he'd been standing for over 2 hours (groom time plus my cleaning time), I finally tacked him up. Same deal as the other day under saddle. Long time to supple up, and not terribly forward. I'm posting on the wrong diagonal tracking right again, as this seems to cause less resistance. At the end, I did a long sequence of sitting work.. sitting all my trot, the transitions into and out of the canter, more trot, and then more canter. I was quite pleased, as I normally alternate my sitting posting work. I <3 my pony. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 12th, 2006
10:08 pm	Jules! I went out and rode last night. A little resistant, but expected I haven't ridden in like, 2 weeks, aside from hopping on for 10 minutes in a strapless bra and dangly earrings on sunday night. He hasn't had any work. He took a lot of work and time to get supple, but we made some progress. We got a few really nice canter transitions, and I called it a night. Tonight I went out and lunged him. Played around with siderein settings. Got some good work, some lameness. As always, nothing new. I'm quite pleased with the little guy :) He's nice and fat right now. He gained weight, and he's been incredibly sweet. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 26th, 2006
5:09 pm	Lesson.. Also posted over at normandy_shores We weren't round or forward today. We were, however, more sound than last week. Not nearly as progressive a lesson as last week, but we had a better starting point. I don't feel like we accomplished much, and he was a weenie, especially tracking right. He just would NOT soften. Grrr. Oh, and my video camera didn't work, and my bro only took 41 pics -- he did my walk warmup, and the last 10 minutes (which is always the WORST). We actually had maybe 10 minutes of good work in the middle where we had VERY nice trot, and while our canter transitions sucked, Verna was very impressed with his work within the canter. ( pics from today's lesson ) (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 25th, 2006
10:04 pm	Update... not much to update on. Jules is good. Seemed a little off Monday, and of course, after emailing the trainer with said info in regards to wednesday's lesson, he seemed pretty good today. Granted, it's KILLER hot (it was 80 when the fucking sun came up today), so things aren't going to be great, but he moved better. I guess he needs a few minutes on the lunge more than just 2-3 times a week with this lack of turnout. He really needs to move out way more. I hate limiting his turnout like I am, but I have to. So, lesson tomorrow at 10:30. I've conned my brother into coming to my lesson and videoing. Will also try and have him take pics with the digital camera. Probably no room on the camera, but might do a short digital camera video clip so I can share. Not likely, but whatever. Will spend tomorrow night taking pictures of the tv while watching the video. Won't be great quality, but then I can at least share stuff with you guys :) In regards to Colleen's post about bit rotation: I need more bits. I currently rotate two bridles.. one is the dressage flash bridle with a loose ring snaffle (thin). The other is a plain snaffle bridle with eggbutt snaffle, slightly thicker. Looking for another bit or two to mix it up.. maybe a french link? He's a 5", so if anyone has any extras, or even just suggestions. Should have pics soon! (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 19th, 2006
1:59 pm	in other news.. .. I don't hate my wintec with the same fiery passion as before. Now I only dislike it. (Comment on this)
1:47 pm	Real update! I've kind of been doing a whole lot of nothing with Jules lately. His feet have crumbled and fallen apart over the last month, and it's too damn hot. And we hit a serious roadblock in riding, so I just took some time off and lunged him 2 or 3 days a week instead. Plus, he really needs to develop that canter to the right. Monday he had an acupuncture appointment. He was a total doll, and walked on the trailer, no chain or anything. Just "whoop, there's a trailer, I should get on that". He unloaded, walked into the barn he doesn't normally go into, and stood 100% still while we waited for our turn. Got acupunctured, and not really a whole lot of soreness going on. Yay. Loaded to go home the same way. Tuesday was the farrier appointment, FINALLY. Bob tested his feet, and because of the loss of the pads a month ago, both his front feet were slightly sore. Still better than he ever was before pads. After shoeing, he looked fabulous, and Bob even commented that he "stands very nice". Bob even got to working some shoes with the machinery, with sparks flying everywhere (Even at us), and jules just stood there groundtied. He really is incredibly patient. Today was our lesson. I've been dreading it since it's really hot and I haven't been riding. Still, Jules hoped on the trailer, and we were on our merry way. I was trying to turn the trailer around when they came out and stopped me. Apparently the ground can be soft, so Verna wanted her husband to do it. I felt like a little kid being yelled at. However, Jules walked of the trailer (nicely), and I immediately tied him and tacked up. No questions asked on his part. Hopped on and did a long walk warmup before our lesson (Verna told me 10 but meant 10:30). lesson began, and I wanted to cry. Verna has always told me where she wanted my hands, and I've always disagreed. We really worked on them last time. Well, today, she suddenly wants my reins to be like 4 feet shorter and way way up and forward. WTF? Then again, I have to remember that the rest of my position has changed since i lowered my stirrups, I'm sitting up, and my leg is under me instaed of behind me. At first, it was so frustrating. She wants my thumbs to be able to touch.. if my thumbs are open and sticking out at each other. That wasn't specified at first, and i was like "WTF". Then she told me she wanted me to ride like that, except that no, I can't hold the damn reins without my thumb closed, and i spent years teaching myself to actually close my hands on the damn reins. After about 10 minutes of fumbling with that, I got jules more up and collected and thoroughly round than ever. And I felt the same way; straight, up, effective. It was nice. No more nit picky with the hands, use the shoulders/elbows. So after we fixed me, we went to do some canter. At first he ignored my aids, so I popped him one, and *boom* nice transition, stepping off the inside hind. Verna was impressed :) The transition wasn't nice the first few times, but the canter itself was. Switched directions, and same thing.. very good. Then we worked on 4 loop serpentines. We can turn very nicely to the left, but not right. Keep in mind, to the right I don't use that shoulder. I'm retarded, but whatever. We finally got a decent one or two, and quit at 45 minutes. I was happy, Jules worked hard, and it was HOT. How can I start a lesson wanting to cry, and end up feeling like I rode like a champ? It's not that I mind the criticism, it's that I get frustrated when I'm not sure wtf she wants. Still, all turns out well.. as it always does when you ride with Verna. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 13th, 2006
12:04 am	ARGH. Damn, Jules has sucked this week. Acupuncture next Monday, new shoes Tuesday. Hopefully, new attitude and better riding late Tuesday. Lesson cancelled this morning due to sloppy ring at trainers. Fuck. Must ride through this "I'm a not a fucking dressage horse I'm a nag" phase. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
11:11 am	Last night I trailered down to Heatherwood to ride with nadine. Her horse (Zarina, Freisian), has some allergies and alittle cough, so no riding for them. Jules was ignoring my leg, not forward, etc. Crappy. However, I'm as proud as I could be. We parked at the house, and walked around back (the barn is next door), so we just walked in the back way. Jules walks in like a champ, I turn him out (while i go adjust the truck, etc), and he goes straight to grazing. When being tacked, he walks right into the barn, even ground tied while I had to grab something. He was looky in the arena, but not bad. I left him there overnight, turned out. I get there this morning, only to discover the lawn service has come. He's the only horse outside, and there's mowers everywhere. I sees me, and makes my day with a HUUUUUUGE whinney and comes trotting over to me. he stops short of the fence by a few feet and just stands there like 'oh yea, I'm cool... hi". I was preparing the trailer when I caught one of the lawn service men ready to move him (his pasture was the last to be mowed). I stepped in and offered to move him, but he stood patiently and behaved while the guy haltered him (Jules would've been 100% fine). He then loaded like a champ, and unloaded like a champ as well (Both yesterday and today.) of course, I still rode like shit, but he's a good boy, and I'm very pleased with how cool he can be in a new situations. I've really gotta give him credit. If we make it to sound enough and good enough equitation to show, he's going to be very fun, since he's mostly stress free. (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 9th, 2006
10:04 pm	Jules apparently forgot what "forward" "submissive" and "obedient" mean. He also felt off. Grrr. Lesson Wednesday morning if Verna's ring dries up. Also, weather pending, I'm trailering down to Heatherwood to ride with Nadine (and her Friesian) (Comment on this)
Friday, July 7th, 2006
12:06 am	Oh, it's makes sense! Trainer things Jules is lame on RH. Fair enough.. he always looks stiff behind, even though he shows no soreness/tightness back there. Also, RH flexed the same (crappy) as the LF, and so it's no surprise it would show up there. Shoulder-in on the left lead canter has him really utilizing his LH. No problem. Leg yielding at the trot off the left leg has him really using his RH. That could be the issue. hmmm... maybe I'm wrong. Still. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 6th, 2006
11:39 pm	can't wait to move him! Less than a week into this shoeing, he lost both pads. Now we're 1.5 weeks away from being due, but he's lost a chunk of hoof and a clincher. Just a little patch on the inside of the LF, so the clincher has nothing to hold to, but it won't come out. It's pulled as far out as possible, and won't rotate (so it won't rotate into the hoof structure) and is hammered over so that it won't get pushed in/pulled out. It's as secure as a useless clincher not attached to anything can be, I guess. I can't wait to move somewhere with a better horse climate. I can just imagine Jules' feet in 6 months. This is them now (raggedy, and not the best they've looked, but growth wise, they don't get much better than this here) Of course, with the pads, his heels are a little more up and supported. Not much, but a touch. I've really really gotta get my hands on some keratex. And must reorder his New Xiang Ru San through the vet. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
10:56 pm	Notes on our ride. Did a lunge warmup. He looked pretty sound today (especially before the sidereins). He came out, and as always, I let him trot around sans side reins, and he was tracking up first thing. That's a nice improvement. He was pretty good with the side reins, considering I was operating the camera. Went back inside to unsurcingle, and to say hello to Rachael and Gregg (they both just showed up). Rachael just bought herself a trailer (who knows why), so I had her give me the "tour". Got back on Jules. Again, no spurs, wearing my dress boots and breeches, and 2 whips. He was fabulously forward, and my leg only slipped back a few times. This 2 whips thing is really helping with my posture, as well as with Jules' forwardness. I can actually sit his trot now for more than 3 or 4 strides at a time (still not a LONG time, but getting there). We worked on curvy figures of all sorts, and just staying forward and responsive. I did sitting trot, lots of change of direction, canter transitions.. the usual. Started mixing in some leg yeilding and whatnot. Jules' leg yields to the left (off of the right leg) are significantly better than those to the right. To the right, he's super stiff, and fakes it. Also loses all forwardness and impulsion (whereas to the left, he only loses MOST of his forwardness and impulsion). I don't know how much of this is discomfort or underdevelopment/needs work. We attempted a second one after some more work and it went much better. Our canter to the left is FABULOUS. Transitions, the gait itself, as well as what I can do within the gait. Again, tracking left on the left lead, I got a very nice shoulder-in at the canter, and he responds very nicely to my leg if I ask him to move left or right (yes, we're talking baby baby baby half pass and yielding to my inside leg at the canter). However, right lead.. we've got NOTHING. Our transitions are significantly less improved (both up and down), our gait is more difficult to maintain and the quality is poor, and I have zero horse on the right lead. He won't respond to anything, refuses to maintain forward and is generally really sucky. Again, not sure if it's discomfort, lack of development, needs work, or all of the above. At the end, I dropped both my whips. Now I'm sans whips and spurs. And yet, I had a very forward and responsive horse. I did give him a touch more rein (since today and yesterday I've picked up my reins another inch or two), which encouraged forward of course, but I got canter transitions. Yes, it was our first time doing a canter transition successfully without a whip or spurs. Just did a 5 minute trotting and cantering stint, and he was very very good. I'm considering this work with the whips to be a success. Not to mention, even sans whips, my position stayed decent, and my leg didn't revert to going back (except in my right lead canter transitions, I'm still using my heal?) Somehow though, how does stiffness and difficulty moving off the left leg at the trot relate to difficulty moving of the right leg at the canter? I can't keep my mental images of what's being used during both movements straight to figure it out. The switch to Ultium is almost complete. 2 more days of 3/4 ultium 1/4 platform. Then he'll be on 3/4 ultium (with no platform) for 3 days, then up to a scoop of ultium. We'll leave him at that for a little while and see how he does with his weight (which is drastically improved in the last week or two). Also, I can no longer use the lite pads. We used to barely get them damp. Now, they are SOAKED THROUGH. As in, not efficient to use for anything except a short lunge session. Fan-fucking-tabulous. I WILL have updated riding pics in the next week or so. And hopefully, a 20-30 second clip of me riding. Should video our trot-sitting trot-canter tracking left, or maybe our issues tracking right? After those crappy pics from February, i want to prove I can actually ride! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:43 pm	Picture post.. ( Lots from February ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
10:37 pm	Big picture post :) These are from today... ( + almost 20 ) (7 Comments |Comment on this)
10:36 pm	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5EcQLbqkhI It's like a 10 second trot video, and clucking at him the whole time :( Hard to operate the line, the whip and the camera (as you can see by the steadiness of my camera). :) How lame does he look? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
10:10 pm	forgot... I've been desperately searching for my camera (with pics from march on it). Wasn't where I left it. karmen has been listening to me promise pics and then bitch about the missing camera. I found it, in my brothers room, sans my expensive batteries. Found batteries, the whole ranting about how if he deleted those pics, I would go through his cell phone and delete every phone number in there. Luckily the pics are still there (not that they're much to look at). Except my computer won't recognize my camera, and my brother has password locked him computer (all the porn, I'm guessing). *sigh* (Comment on this)
9:51 pm	New technique. Jules got Tuesday (my birthday, the 4th) off, since I slept away the perfect weather. (crap!) Today, I commited to a good hard ride. I got there a little later than planned, and spent a good deal of time dicking around with my spurs (I needed a new hole to wear them with my dress boots). I'm making an effort to ride in my dress boots, since i'm significantly less effective in them. Got on, and had an average ride. Started to get frustrated with my reliance on my heels, so I hopped off and ditched the spurs. And grabbed two whips. See, Jules needs spurs. And because he's so big, my whole leg is against his barrel, so it's very easy to cheat and just use my heels. I have zero effectiveness with my calves, and Jules isn't exactly responsive. We're working on having him lurch forward at my touch and to freaking respond, and to get me to ride correctly. So the whips helped. Having no spurs made using heels very ineffective, so it stopped quickly. Jules got the idea very quickly, and I didn't really have to use the whips. It also helped with my hands, since having the handles of two dressage whips up in front of you and touching keeps you very conscious of your hands and their height/distance from each other, etc. My eq improved a fair bit today. I really sat back quite a bit, my hands behaved, and my leg didn't slip back nor was I relying on my heel quite so much. I'm very pleased. We worked on the same stuff... sitting trot, transitions (i'm really sitting back during them, sometimes I get left behind, but better than before), and of course, me. He started getting worn on the canter work (it's too hot), so I started trying some leg yielding. Not so good (never has been). I really feel that leg yielding at the trot is uncomfortable for him (you can tell what things are, I can anticipate what canters are going to be uncomfy, etc), so we really worked on him just being obedient and doing 45 degrees (he either doesn't go side to side, or he overdoes it with no forward, or, he leads or trails the haunches, etc). We made a handful of attempts, and then went back to the canter work. Funny enough, after doing the leg yielding, we were more forward in our trot, and our canters got better. So I shifted, and *boom*, shoulder in at the canter on the left lead. I don't even know how to RIDE a shoulder in. I mean, I guess I do, because it's what I was intending, and it just happened, but holy crap. It was nice. Got just a few beautiful strides (we can't do shoulder in at the trot, I don't think?), and then we quit for the day (we were tired, and he was drenched in sweat, DOUBLE YAY!). Can anyone think of any reason why this two whip technique might be a bad schooling/training tool? I want to get him to a point where he just responds to my leg, and I don't have the whips for reinforcement. Obviously, I ask nicely, and if no immediate response, I ask not-so-nicely. The only problem is, Jules knows when I'm not wearing spurs or when I'm not carrying a whip. After our ride, he got a nice hose down and dried while I mixed his liniment and his new fly spray combo. We've got a good concentrate, skin so soft, water, and the regular fly spray. Couldn't get my hands on the permectrin this time. He got thoroughly linimented and cleaned up, and his tail got a nice coat of skin so soft. As he continued to dry, I unloaded my bedding. Jules pees an excessive amount and all in the same spot. Only when he's inside a lot is it a problem, but it's getting ridiculous. He has a lake. So I bought some pelleted bedding to try and dry it up. Jules finally dries, so I decide it's time to reassess my saddle fit, since he's seeming a little resistant. He's evened out SO much. His right side was the narrow tree (left is a wide), and was very very very undeveloped all the way through the lumbar. He has a mattes corrective half pad with zero padding on the left and double padding on the right. Up by his shoulders, he's nearly even. How, I don't know. He still needs a touch of padding , but not much. Throug his lumber you could see a slight disparity at the back of the panels, right under the cantle. I ended up pulling out one layer of padding in the mattes pad. Tomorrows ride will see how it goes. Actually, hoping to see a difference over the next week or so. After that, threw him in his stall to give him his lunch. Bugger decides that pelleted bedding IS lunch. Jules: "pellets... food?" *chew chew chew* *spits out* Jules: ...."well.. they are pellets?" *chew chew chew* *spits out* Chew, spit, repeat. Then he decides that yes, it is pelleted, but no, it's not food. Good boy, retard. Then he heartily munched down his new grain and his hay :) He's really filling out muscle wise, and a bit with the weight. I'm very very pleased with his development. Ok someone slap me. I passed up a $650 Albion Original Comfort (17.5" Wide tree). yea, it was on ebay, no bids. I was going to just let it run out, and then email and make an offer (because come on, you can't pass my perfect saddle). I knew damn well I shouldn't spend money, considering the impending move. Luckily, it didn't work out (someone actually won the saddle, for $650). The new dover came today, and there was a 17.5" wide tree griffin for $250. I very much prefer the griffin/thorowgood over the wintec. I would trade it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it was a closeout, and sold already. Damnit. I could sell my wintec and probably get $200-250 out of it, so I wouldn't even be out the money. Still keeping my eyes peeled. If anybody sees any really good deals on nice saddles, wide tree, keep me posted. 17-17.5" seat, preferrably a deep seat, but really, anything but this fucking wintec. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 3rd, 2006
7:43 pm	I was feeling ambitious... ... and rode both boys today. Started with Nick, and had a great ride. Not terribly long (maybe 35 minutes?) but got some good trot work. Did some cantering (though really, I'm not even going to try to get him round at the canter, nor try to sit it too much). When I sit, he goes ZOOOM. I've tried to not drive, I've tried blocking my seat quietly while sitting, but he just has a funny canter to sit. He also gets weirded out by sitting it too much in a dressage saddle (versus "sitting" in a huntseat saddle). Anyways, so we did some hand galloping and good cantering around the ring, and did a flying change or two (it's been a few weeks). I really enjoyed riding him today. Went and got to Jules around 1. it was freaking hot, but I figured some exercise was better than none, even if we got little performance. Of course, they'd just been turned out about an hour earlier, so he'd ROLLED in the mud. So I just brushed as much sand off as I could, and tacked up quickly to beat the inevitable weather. Hopped on, good long walk warmup, with some loose rein forward trotting. Then got down to business. He was pretty good, though the little divets in our riding area are now wet and mushy, so he wants to hop over them. We already had to stop riding in the small pasture and now ride exclusively in the large one (no problem). Jules was pretty good, considering it was REALLY fucking hot. Tracking right however, he's getting more and more resistant and less and less willing. I'd have to really work him on that, and any excuse would do to avoid relaxing. We got a few decent canter transitions, and a few really shitty ones. I'm really really doing well at sitting back through my transitions and at the canter... actually very very well. Didn't do so well on the hands/shoulders today, but improvement none the less. REALLY need to focus on keeping that leg forward and under me, and sitting back at the trot. Gave him a quick hose, and a nice little lunch. He seems to be gobbling up the new food, even with the stinky sweat supplement added (sometimes he's picky about that). Jules is really starting to look fabulous. His coat is nice, he's starting to really fill out (even if he's still a *touch* ribby), and he's perky and happy. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 2nd, 2006
7:52 pm	In other news... Jules was cute today (the other news refers to my regular journal, normandy_shores). It poured rain as soon as I showed up, so I just stayed in his stall and groomed him. And *gasp*, he looks a hair fatter than yesterday! I did switch him to Ultium (the purina feed that has everything but the kitchen sink). It's a 12% fat diet, so hopefully that'll help. He's of course being switched over the next week or so, so he's only up to a 1/4 scoop of it at each feeding, but I'm hoping it'll continue the "jules is slightly fatter" trend. I did ride Nick yesterday.. mediocre. Twenty minutes, then thunder rolled in. I was pinching my right knee, have a slight blister. Damn. (Comment on this)