It's mid-December and we have had a very mild winter (so far) but the days that are cold(ish), as in below 40 degrees, J has been really cranky. He acts up in his stall, in the cross ties and under saddle. He is very snarky towards other horses, his muscles are very tight, he is cold backed/saddle sore, he is hesitant to go forward until really warmed up, he is much less tolerant of correction and more spooky. He has been prone to this in the past and a couple of years ago it was suggested that he was magnesium deficient and after being put on a supplement, he got much less cranky. When we moved to White Springs, I was able to gradually take him off all his supplements (except the Adequan for maintenance), as he was getting great turnout, great feed and back on pasture. He has been great all summer, but with this cold weather he has been a bit of a monster. So I decided to put him back on a magnesium supplement, but this time decided to go with MagRestore, made by Performance Equine USA, which touts human-grade supplements. So he is on the loading dose now, started on Sunday night and lasts for 10 days, and then he goes on the maintenance dose. So we shall see if his attitude gets better with the new supplement.
So I have been working hard at keeping him in correct flexion and asking him to bend his back, which has been a trial of patience, for both J and myself. We have some moments of correctness, but we have lots of moments of resistance, which is really trying for me. I want him to be perfect NOW, but in the back of my mind, I know that is not possible. He has to build up the muscles and learn what I am asking for, but it is hard to remember that when I am in the saddle. And it doesn't help when he is obstinate and throws little temper tantrums because I'm actually making him work and use his back! So I try to not "drill" the exercises and take a break once in awhile, by doing canter/trot lengthenings or simple transitions and praising him a lot. It gives both of us a break- both mentally and physically, which definitely makes a difference.
I feel like I am still giving him too many static aids and he gets dull to my aids and doesn't more forward with enough impulsion as he should and does do with Shelley. I get mad at myself and mad at him, which I know is unfair. But I try to take a deep breath and calm things down and then get back to it when we have both relaxed. This is definitely a lesson in patience for me!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
And THAT'S collection!
So Shelley had recently audited a clinic with Cathy Morelli and was reminded of a very important step in teaching a horse collection. While we all strive to ride "inside leg to outside rein" we cannot allow the horse to hog down on the outside rein and use it to lean on, balance himself, etc. And J was doing just that, especially going to the left (so leaning on the right rein).
Shelley was a little late to the lesson, so I had warmed J up prior to her coming in and she was able to hop right on and get to work. First off, Shelley had to get J more responsive and not so slow to the aids- this seems to be the story of my life as J and I tolerate each other, and not in a good way. I know that I have too much "static" going on with my aids and need to be more deliberate when I mean it and not give aids that don't mean anything. Once Shelley reestablished his sensitivity, she started in on the work of getting him truly balanced. She did this by keeping her outside rein away from his neck, not crazy wide, but not snugged up against his neck where it would be easier for him to lean on it. Then she would use her inside rein to turn him and then use her inside leg to ask his inside hind to come up underneath him, all while keeping his neck really straight. He had a couple minor hissy fits, but eventually got with the program and did some really nice work. Then it was my turn!
We started going to the right, which is J's "easier" side (and mine as well, which is NOT a coincidence) as J is much more reactive to turning off the inside (right) rein and bringing his right hind under while keeping his neck straight. Shelley didn't necessarily want me to make this into big movements (ala turn on the forehand) but very subtle but definitely bend through is back, but if I had to make it into something bigger, I could do that. We did pretty well, doing the best in the canter where it's easier to use the natural bend of the horse and the impulsion that is in the gait. I have to learn to start with small aids and train him to be response to those smaller aids instead of having to nag him or beg him, which he can obviously do because Shelley does it every time she rides him.
So then we went to the left, which is a more difficult direction for the both of us. I have a nasty habit of shifting too much to the left, which then takes my right seat bone out of the saddle. This allows his outside shoulder to fall out and create this false bend, so he is not straight. J is also convinced that he cannot possibly bend his back without bending his neck while going to the left. He would love it if I would keep my right rein tight against his neck and steer him all day long off of it- basically neck reining. But he is not straight and balanced when he does this and therefore true collection would be impossible. So I worked on keeping my right rein away from his neck, keeping my right seat bone in the saddle, keeping his neck straight, then asking him for a small turn (though the shoulders) to the left with small aids on my left rein and then follow-up with my left leg, bringing his inside hind underneath him. While going to the right it seemed much more natural and not so chaotic, but going to the left was a completely different story. We both struggled, especially in the walk and trot. J felt like a ping-pong ball- flying from one side to another in his balance- from the right rein to the left rein and back again, while bending his neck at the smallest aid. It took me quite a while to find that "sweet spot" where he was correct. We got it a few times for a few steps, so I was happy that I had at least gotten the feel for it so I could practice it between lessons. Then we went to the canter and as it was in the other direction, it was much easier. And then suddenly, with seamless little effort, J got balanced, bent through his back, round and supple and it felt great! We ended the lesson on that last effort. And with that Shelley said...
"And that's essentially collection!"
I felt so hopeful that we would eventually get there! Can't wait to ride tonight and try to get it again!
Shelley was a little late to the lesson, so I had warmed J up prior to her coming in and she was able to hop right on and get to work. First off, Shelley had to get J more responsive and not so slow to the aids- this seems to be the story of my life as J and I tolerate each other, and not in a good way. I know that I have too much "static" going on with my aids and need to be more deliberate when I mean it and not give aids that don't mean anything. Once Shelley reestablished his sensitivity, she started in on the work of getting him truly balanced. She did this by keeping her outside rein away from his neck, not crazy wide, but not snugged up against his neck where it would be easier for him to lean on it. Then she would use her inside rein to turn him and then use her inside leg to ask his inside hind to come up underneath him, all while keeping his neck really straight. He had a couple minor hissy fits, but eventually got with the program and did some really nice work. Then it was my turn!
We started going to the right, which is J's "easier" side (and mine as well, which is NOT a coincidence) as J is much more reactive to turning off the inside (right) rein and bringing his right hind under while keeping his neck straight. Shelley didn't necessarily want me to make this into big movements (ala turn on the forehand) but very subtle but definitely bend through is back, but if I had to make it into something bigger, I could do that. We did pretty well, doing the best in the canter where it's easier to use the natural bend of the horse and the impulsion that is in the gait. I have to learn to start with small aids and train him to be response to those smaller aids instead of having to nag him or beg him, which he can obviously do because Shelley does it every time she rides him.
So then we went to the left, which is a more difficult direction for the both of us. I have a nasty habit of shifting too much to the left, which then takes my right seat bone out of the saddle. This allows his outside shoulder to fall out and create this false bend, so he is not straight. J is also convinced that he cannot possibly bend his back without bending his neck while going to the left. He would love it if I would keep my right rein tight against his neck and steer him all day long off of it- basically neck reining. But he is not straight and balanced when he does this and therefore true collection would be impossible. So I worked on keeping my right rein away from his neck, keeping my right seat bone in the saddle, keeping his neck straight, then asking him for a small turn (though the shoulders) to the left with small aids on my left rein and then follow-up with my left leg, bringing his inside hind underneath him. While going to the right it seemed much more natural and not so chaotic, but going to the left was a completely different story. We both struggled, especially in the walk and trot. J felt like a ping-pong ball- flying from one side to another in his balance- from the right rein to the left rein and back again, while bending his neck at the smallest aid. It took me quite a while to find that "sweet spot" where he was correct. We got it a few times for a few steps, so I was happy that I had at least gotten the feel for it so I could practice it between lessons. Then we went to the canter and as it was in the other direction, it was much easier. And then suddenly, with seamless little effort, J got balanced, bent through his back, round and supple and it felt great! We ended the lesson on that last effort. And with that Shelley said...
"And that's essentially collection!"
I felt so hopeful that we would eventually get there! Can't wait to ride tonight and try to get it again!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Doing well!
After a week of riding with a major emphasis on stretching his neck, working over his back and getting more swing in his gaits, his work has already showed improvement. I had a lesson with Shelley on Saturday and she rode him first, and now that he is stretching his neck nicely, she went back to bringing his balance point farther back to his haunches (which then results in collection). She mainly did this by keeping his neck stretched and super straight and then asking him to do steep leg yields/lateral movement/half pass. I know that I am biased, but he did look pretty darn good! I love watching Shelley ride him, she really makes him look the best he is capable of!
So then it was my turn to ride and Shelley wanted me to be really aware of his balance point and making sure he wasn't rushing onto his forehand. She told me to think about half steps or piaffe, without losing the stretch or swing, and that seemed to really help me get the feel of what we were trying to do. The canter was especially tough, as J really wants to be crooked and when I ask him to straighten with his balance farther back, he changes leads instead of doing what I ask. But Shelley wasn't too concerned about it and said that it would just take repetition and more strength on J's part.
Interlaken (the chiropractor/acupuncturist) is coming out tomorrow night and I'm having them work on J. He hasn't been worked on in a few months and although he feels really good, I want to make sure he is maintained and it will be good to have him treated before our next show in January.
So then it was my turn to ride and Shelley wanted me to be really aware of his balance point and making sure he wasn't rushing onto his forehand. She told me to think about half steps or piaffe, without losing the stretch or swing, and that seemed to really help me get the feel of what we were trying to do. The canter was especially tough, as J really wants to be crooked and when I ask him to straighten with his balance farther back, he changes leads instead of doing what I ask. But Shelley wasn't too concerned about it and said that it would just take repetition and more strength on J's part.
Interlaken (the chiropractor/acupuncturist) is coming out tomorrow night and I'm having them work on J. He hasn't been worked on in a few months and although he feels really good, I want to make sure he is maintained and it will be good to have him treated before our next show in January.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Stretch that neck!
So last week I was able to do two training sessions, as I didn't have one the week before. So I asked Shelley if she would be willing to ride him on Wednesday (as this was the day before Thanksgiving and would give me more time to prepare for hosting Thanksgiving dinner) and we could do the lesson on Friday. Shelley thought that was a great idea and agreed to it.
So Friday morning I met Shelley at the barn and we got right to work. Her big focus for this lesson was to really teach J to use his back and stretch his neck even more. He is pretty good about keeping a long neck, but Shelley really wanted to emphasize him stretching the 3-4 inches of neck right in front of his wither, which is a difficult area to access. When he does this, he will be effectively using his back and his gaits will get more swing (or schwung!). We did this by keeping a very consistent outside rein, keeping my hand close to the pommel/wither area, gripping with my thumb and forefinger and using suppling actions through my wrist and ring/pinkie fingers. I would ask for him to "yield" to the rein, and once I felt him give, I would soften my reins and push him forward to a bigger gait. At times he got tight, which I responded by keeping consistent pressure on the rein until he softened and then we would go back to work. At first he was pretty belligerent about it, throwing little temper tantrums and stomping his feet, but he soon learned that I would wait until he got good, so by the end of the lesson, he was pretty consistent.
By Sunday he had very few meltdowns and worked really nicely in all three gaits. He gets a little deep at times, but Shelley says not to worry about it right now and that once he is more consistently stretching that area above the withers, it will be easy to get him to a more proper "frame" with small half halts. But she wants to really encourage that stretch and swing, so a little deep isn't horrible. It does feel like he is lifting his back more honestly and his gaits are swinging more. Keith went to my lesson and observed that J's trot was significantly better, as he was using his hind end a lot better and had more articulation in his hocks.
My next lesson isn't until Saturday, so we'll be plugging along until then and hopefully Shelley will be happy with our work!
So Friday morning I met Shelley at the barn and we got right to work. Her big focus for this lesson was to really teach J to use his back and stretch his neck even more. He is pretty good about keeping a long neck, but Shelley really wanted to emphasize him stretching the 3-4 inches of neck right in front of his wither, which is a difficult area to access. When he does this, he will be effectively using his back and his gaits will get more swing (or schwung!). We did this by keeping a very consistent outside rein, keeping my hand close to the pommel/wither area, gripping with my thumb and forefinger and using suppling actions through my wrist and ring/pinkie fingers. I would ask for him to "yield" to the rein, and once I felt him give, I would soften my reins and push him forward to a bigger gait. At times he got tight, which I responded by keeping consistent pressure on the rein until he softened and then we would go back to work. At first he was pretty belligerent about it, throwing little temper tantrums and stomping his feet, but he soon learned that I would wait until he got good, so by the end of the lesson, he was pretty consistent.
By Sunday he had very few meltdowns and worked really nicely in all three gaits. He gets a little deep at times, but Shelley says not to worry about it right now and that once he is more consistently stretching that area above the withers, it will be easy to get him to a more proper "frame" with small half halts. But she wants to really encourage that stretch and swing, so a little deep isn't horrible. It does feel like he is lifting his back more honestly and his gaits are swinging more. Keith went to my lesson and observed that J's trot was significantly better, as he was using his hind end a lot better and had more articulation in his hocks.
My next lesson isn't until Saturday, so we'll be plugging along until then and hopefully Shelley will be happy with our work!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Minor hiccups...
Well, J and I had been (seemingly) back on track to consistent training, but lately I've been having some medical issues that have kept me from the barn more often then I care to admit. But hopefully things are being resolved in that department and we can get back to frequent rides.
I've been able to keep up on the weekly lessons with Shelley and we are really working on shifting his balance to his hind end while keeping his neck long and straight. We've been working on this through a couple of different exercises, doing full passes in walk and trot, counterflexion and spiraling in on a circle at the canter and turn on the forehands in walk and trot. The full passes can be difficult because of his urge to move forward instead of bringing his feet up directly underneath himself. So when he surges forward, I halt him, stretch his neck, back him up, stretch his neck again and ask him to move directly sideways, in either walk or trot. This keeps him from leaning on the bit, his legs underneath him and responsive to my aids. The counterflexion and spiraling-in in the canter is interesting as well, as I have to be super quick with my aids and super quick to put him back to correct flexion as he will throw flying changes, with he is using as an evasion technique.
I don't know if it is the work or the colder weather, but he is wanting to constantly break to the canter. So I have to make sure that he is really "on" the outside rein and stretching through the neck. I make sure my aids are soft and I'm not unintentionally telling him something through my legs or seat. He was also a bit stiff last week- we do carrot stretches (with mints though) before every ride and he was noticeable stiff last week. But each ride it got better and yesterday he was back to full range of motion. I will definitely have the acupuncturist/chiropractor work on him when they come out to the barn next.
J's first level work is getting more and more solid, even the lengthenings. So I'm still aiming for the show at Fields and Fences in January! It will be nice to get a couple of shows out of the way before the hot weather hits!
I've been able to keep up on the weekly lessons with Shelley and we are really working on shifting his balance to his hind end while keeping his neck long and straight. We've been working on this through a couple of different exercises, doing full passes in walk and trot, counterflexion and spiraling in on a circle at the canter and turn on the forehands in walk and trot. The full passes can be difficult because of his urge to move forward instead of bringing his feet up directly underneath himself. So when he surges forward, I halt him, stretch his neck, back him up, stretch his neck again and ask him to move directly sideways, in either walk or trot. This keeps him from leaning on the bit, his legs underneath him and responsive to my aids. The counterflexion and spiraling-in in the canter is interesting as well, as I have to be super quick with my aids and super quick to put him back to correct flexion as he will throw flying changes, with he is using as an evasion technique.
I don't know if it is the work or the colder weather, but he is wanting to constantly break to the canter. So I have to make sure that he is really "on" the outside rein and stretching through the neck. I make sure my aids are soft and I'm not unintentionally telling him something through my legs or seat. He was also a bit stiff last week- we do carrot stretches (with mints though) before every ride and he was noticeable stiff last week. But each ride it got better and yesterday he was back to full range of motion. I will definitely have the acupuncturist/chiropractor work on him when they come out to the barn next.
J's first level work is getting more and more solid, even the lengthenings. So I'm still aiming for the show at Fields and Fences in January! It will be nice to get a couple of shows out of the way before the hot weather hits!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Still alive and kicking!
So it has been ages since my last post... everything got in the way- life, work, laziness, etc. I also lost a little bit of focuse towards the end of our show season, so I cut it short and didn't even go to Regionals, although we had achieved our goal of qualifying and everything. I'm a little disappionted in myself, but ready to move on and get to next show season!
Our last show was in August at Silverwood and it was very hot and humid. Shelley had given us a very strenuous lesson on Thursday night and we went to Silverwood on Friday, where J was uncharacteristically tired and didn't have his normal "show off", big-chested attitude. I didn't work him long while schooling on Friday, hoping that he would recover by Saturday. We had two tests on Saturday and it felt like our hearts just weren't in it- we were both tired and didn't have much motivation. Our scores were low (compared to other scores from the season), but I really didn't feel bad about it, as I knew that we didn't try our hardest. I decided to scratch my class on Sunday, as J was still tired and I didn't want to push him and chance an injury. It wasn't the greatest show to end the season on, but I really felt that I had to take a break from the stress and pressure of showing. And with that, I took a month "off" of training with Shelley and just got back to enjoying my horse and spending quality time with him.
We got back into consistent training in October, and I immediately saw all the holes where I had let J (and myself) slide for that month off. Luckily J remembered a lot of it and once I became more diligent about riding him correctly again, he was back. So we are back to weekly lessons and J is doing really well. We are working the 2nd level movements and J seems to be handling the work well. Shelley rode him once while I was out of town, and taught him flying changes. For the next week, he was doing flying changes everywhere, even though I wasn't asking for them! At the last lesson, we really worked on moving his shoulder over and then asking his hind end to dramatically follow (like a turn on the forehand) in all three gaits. Once he was really responsive to my aids, I would add my outside aids, close up his outside hind and move into a shoulder-in or shoulder-fore. That exercise really helped a lot. Then Shelley rode him last week (as I was out of town for a work conference) and worked on flexion turns with him, so I've been doing both for this week and have my next lesson on Sunday.
I hope to get to the Fields and Fences winter series USDF shows this winter- they are scheduled for January and March- J has much more energy in the winter and if I can do those two shows, then I can do less shows in the heat of the summer and save him for Regionals. So that is the plan for now!
Our last show was in August at Silverwood and it was very hot and humid. Shelley had given us a very strenuous lesson on Thursday night and we went to Silverwood on Friday, where J was uncharacteristically tired and didn't have his normal "show off", big-chested attitude. I didn't work him long while schooling on Friday, hoping that he would recover by Saturday. We had two tests on Saturday and it felt like our hearts just weren't in it- we were both tired and didn't have much motivation. Our scores were low (compared to other scores from the season), but I really didn't feel bad about it, as I knew that we didn't try our hardest. I decided to scratch my class on Sunday, as J was still tired and I didn't want to push him and chance an injury. It wasn't the greatest show to end the season on, but I really felt that I had to take a break from the stress and pressure of showing. And with that, I took a month "off" of training with Shelley and just got back to enjoying my horse and spending quality time with him.
We got back into consistent training in October, and I immediately saw all the holes where I had let J (and myself) slide for that month off. Luckily J remembered a lot of it and once I became more diligent about riding him correctly again, he was back. So we are back to weekly lessons and J is doing really well. We are working the 2nd level movements and J seems to be handling the work well. Shelley rode him once while I was out of town, and taught him flying changes. For the next week, he was doing flying changes everywhere, even though I wasn't asking for them! At the last lesson, we really worked on moving his shoulder over and then asking his hind end to dramatically follow (like a turn on the forehand) in all three gaits. Once he was really responsive to my aids, I would add my outside aids, close up his outside hind and move into a shoulder-in or shoulder-fore. That exercise really helped a lot. Then Shelley rode him last week (as I was out of town for a work conference) and worked on flexion turns with him, so I've been doing both for this week and have my next lesson on Sunday.
I hope to get to the Fields and Fences winter series USDF shows this winter- they are scheduled for January and March- J has much more energy in the winter and if I can do those two shows, then I can do less shows in the heat of the summer and save him for Regionals. So that is the plan for now!
Monday, July 11, 2011
So much to do, so little time!
Yes, it has been awhile since my last post. It's been extremely hectic between getting a new position at work, friends and family outings and of course, riding both J and Radar.
The last show at Silverwood was such an eye opener for me, which resulted in a very positive change in our training. I realized that J was simply not holding up his end of the training "bargain" and he needed to be more accountable for himself in our daily rides. I became extremely focused on keeping proper position in the saddle and insisting that J work to adapt to me instead of him "talking me out of" it and allowing him to be lazy. See, J has a way of making me think that he cannot possible stay forward, round, straight and pushing off the hind end if I am sitting on my seatbones, keeping my shoulders back and a constant elastic connection in the reins. So I start to cave my upper body, lift my hands and round my shoulders, which gives me no power in my core to half halt and remind him to work off his hind end. So since the last show, I have been not giving away an inch in my position and even when J throws a hissy fit, I won't budge and I still keep my position and wait it out, teaching him that no matter how he tries to change the subject, it's not going to work anymore. These hissy fits have become less and less and he has learned that it is now a pointless release of energy for him. I've also been working on positioning him, not being satisfied if he is round and forward, but now asking him to bend through his back and weight his inside hind, which allows for more engagement and push. It seemed like such a huge endeavor at first, leaving me physically and mentally exhausted, but after two weeks of really not giving an inch, the change is nothing short of dramatic. And now my rides have been much less physically tolling on me because he is actually carrying himself and being more responsible in his own movement. It is such a wonderful feeling!
So I had a show at Silverwood this past weekend, showing 1-2 and 1-3 on Saturday and Sunday. Shelley was not able to coach me, but I was confident that I could do well on my own. He had an acupuncture treatment on Wednesday, where the vet was very happy with his progress and stated that he didn't have much work to do on him. Loren (the vet) immediately noticed that I had been diligently doing stretches and leg pulls with J, as he was very flexible and pleasant about the adjustment. J was a little sore in his hind end, but nothing abnormal for a horse doing the kind of work he is doing. On Friday we schooled at Silverwood, I didn't drill anything, just kept it very relaxed and to the point. He did a great job and sauntered around the showgrounds like an old pro. On Saturday we had test 1-3 first, which was a big class of 12 competitors. My goal was to earn my second (and last) qualifying score for championships, so the score had to be above a 62%. Since the class was so large, I wasn't concerned about trying to win the class or anything, as that seemed a bit unrealistic. He was a bit lazy in the warm-up ring, just being TOO relaxed, which I would have never guessed three years ago! I got into the ring and went to work, having to push him harder than I had wanted, but it was still a decent test, capable of earning at least a 62%. I later checked the scores and found that I had indeed gotten my qualifying score with a 63.226%, however I had also won that HUGE class as well! The judge scored fairly low, but was low across the board, so I was happy that it was all fair. I was thrilled to get my qualifying score and to win that class, which went far beyond my expectations. I showed 1-2 later in the day, where I decided to wear my smooth rowels instead of my knob spurs. It proved to be a very wise decision, as J was much more responsive and worked beautifully. The test went well except for a small issue in the free walk where I asked him for more impulsion without half-halting first and he had a couple steps of jog. I wasn't upset, as it was correctable. The judge (a different one then the previous test) had positive comments and scored us a 65.946%, which won us the class. I was so proud of my golden boy!
On Sunday we showed 1-2 first, under a very forgiving judge who tends to score high. I wore my rowels again and J warmed up really nicely. Again, we had improvements that could have been made, the largest being that he threw his haunches to the inside while I was bringing him back from the canter lengthen, so I tried to correct it and while doing that, he broke to the trot. I got him straight back into the canter and finished the test without any issues. J scored a 67.938%, but did not win that class, which was not a disappointment. I showed 1-3 later that day, although I had strongly considered scratching the test for a couple of reasons. First off, I had already earned my qualifying score, so riding that test wasn't truly necessary for championships, secondly, J had been so great all weekend and I didn't want to push him for no real reason behind it and take the risk of ending on a negative note, and thirdly, I had checked the judges scores for the day and couldn't help but notice that she was giving out pretty low scores. Now I know that it is not necessarily the best policy to scratch a test because of the possibility of getting a low score, but when year end awards depend on averages throughout the show season, those things must be taken into consideration. It's the nature of the beast of competition.
In the end, I decided to show him. I felt that both he and I should push ourselves and it would be more practice at a test that I would show at championships. I took J into the warm-up 20 minutes before our scheduled ride time and he was simply amazing- felt like I hadn't stopped riding him since the morning ride and required NO warm-up. I then realized that I had 20 minutes to waste and I didn't want to ride him too much as I didn't want to use him all up in the warm-up arena and have nothing left in the show arena. So I walking him on a long rein for quite awhile, keeping him marching and working over his back, but not doing much more then that. As the last rider was finishing her test, I got him back up on a shorter rein and back into the trot and canter. He had a really nice test, his leg yields were probably the best he had done to date. We did have a couple mistakes, we missed the first attempt at our change of lead through the trot, which was my fault as I didn't change his flexion before asking again. I corrected it though, which was noted on my test. We also had an issue with the second canter bending line, where he tripped, fell out of the canter, but we got ourselves back together and continued on. Keith noted that the lengthened trot was some of the best he had seen us do. So I was a little shocked when I found my score to be a 59%, although more shocked to see that some of the competitors that had scored higher then me were noticeably lacking in correctness. I was most surprised to read the judges comments, which did not seem to match my ride at all and were comments that I had not received all year long from any other judge. At first I was a bit disappointed, but I texted with Shelley and she gave me great advice and helped me to get over it. It's only one judges opinion, and fortunately one that seems to be out of the norm for this season. So we will keep trudging along and doing our best!
J will have today off from hard work, although I will probably walk him around, riding bareback in a halter, as we have terrible thunderstorms in the area today and he did not get to go outside, so I want to make sure he doesn't get stiff. Then we will get back to work tomorrow, getting ready for our next show on July 30th and 31st. Then we won't have another show until regional championships in Mason City, Iowa on September 9th-11th!
The last show at Silverwood was such an eye opener for me, which resulted in a very positive change in our training. I realized that J was simply not holding up his end of the training "bargain" and he needed to be more accountable for himself in our daily rides. I became extremely focused on keeping proper position in the saddle and insisting that J work to adapt to me instead of him "talking me out of" it and allowing him to be lazy. See, J has a way of making me think that he cannot possible stay forward, round, straight and pushing off the hind end if I am sitting on my seatbones, keeping my shoulders back and a constant elastic connection in the reins. So I start to cave my upper body, lift my hands and round my shoulders, which gives me no power in my core to half halt and remind him to work off his hind end. So since the last show, I have been not giving away an inch in my position and even when J throws a hissy fit, I won't budge and I still keep my position and wait it out, teaching him that no matter how he tries to change the subject, it's not going to work anymore. These hissy fits have become less and less and he has learned that it is now a pointless release of energy for him. I've also been working on positioning him, not being satisfied if he is round and forward, but now asking him to bend through his back and weight his inside hind, which allows for more engagement and push. It seemed like such a huge endeavor at first, leaving me physically and mentally exhausted, but after two weeks of really not giving an inch, the change is nothing short of dramatic. And now my rides have been much less physically tolling on me because he is actually carrying himself and being more responsible in his own movement. It is such a wonderful feeling!
So I had a show at Silverwood this past weekend, showing 1-2 and 1-3 on Saturday and Sunday. Shelley was not able to coach me, but I was confident that I could do well on my own. He had an acupuncture treatment on Wednesday, where the vet was very happy with his progress and stated that he didn't have much work to do on him. Loren (the vet) immediately noticed that I had been diligently doing stretches and leg pulls with J, as he was very flexible and pleasant about the adjustment. J was a little sore in his hind end, but nothing abnormal for a horse doing the kind of work he is doing. On Friday we schooled at Silverwood, I didn't drill anything, just kept it very relaxed and to the point. He did a great job and sauntered around the showgrounds like an old pro. On Saturday we had test 1-3 first, which was a big class of 12 competitors. My goal was to earn my second (and last) qualifying score for championships, so the score had to be above a 62%. Since the class was so large, I wasn't concerned about trying to win the class or anything, as that seemed a bit unrealistic. He was a bit lazy in the warm-up ring, just being TOO relaxed, which I would have never guessed three years ago! I got into the ring and went to work, having to push him harder than I had wanted, but it was still a decent test, capable of earning at least a 62%. I later checked the scores and found that I had indeed gotten my qualifying score with a 63.226%, however I had also won that HUGE class as well! The judge scored fairly low, but was low across the board, so I was happy that it was all fair. I was thrilled to get my qualifying score and to win that class, which went far beyond my expectations. I showed 1-2 later in the day, where I decided to wear my smooth rowels instead of my knob spurs. It proved to be a very wise decision, as J was much more responsive and worked beautifully. The test went well except for a small issue in the free walk where I asked him for more impulsion without half-halting first and he had a couple steps of jog. I wasn't upset, as it was correctable. The judge (a different one then the previous test) had positive comments and scored us a 65.946%, which won us the class. I was so proud of my golden boy!
On Sunday we showed 1-2 first, under a very forgiving judge who tends to score high. I wore my rowels again and J warmed up really nicely. Again, we had improvements that could have been made, the largest being that he threw his haunches to the inside while I was bringing him back from the canter lengthen, so I tried to correct it and while doing that, he broke to the trot. I got him straight back into the canter and finished the test without any issues. J scored a 67.938%, but did not win that class, which was not a disappointment. I showed 1-3 later that day, although I had strongly considered scratching the test for a couple of reasons. First off, I had already earned my qualifying score, so riding that test wasn't truly necessary for championships, secondly, J had been so great all weekend and I didn't want to push him for no real reason behind it and take the risk of ending on a negative note, and thirdly, I had checked the judges scores for the day and couldn't help but notice that she was giving out pretty low scores. Now I know that it is not necessarily the best policy to scratch a test because of the possibility of getting a low score, but when year end awards depend on averages throughout the show season, those things must be taken into consideration. It's the nature of the beast of competition.
In the end, I decided to show him. I felt that both he and I should push ourselves and it would be more practice at a test that I would show at championships. I took J into the warm-up 20 minutes before our scheduled ride time and he was simply amazing- felt like I hadn't stopped riding him since the morning ride and required NO warm-up. I then realized that I had 20 minutes to waste and I didn't want to ride him too much as I didn't want to use him all up in the warm-up arena and have nothing left in the show arena. So I walking him on a long rein for quite awhile, keeping him marching and working over his back, but not doing much more then that. As the last rider was finishing her test, I got him back up on a shorter rein and back into the trot and canter. He had a really nice test, his leg yields were probably the best he had done to date. We did have a couple mistakes, we missed the first attempt at our change of lead through the trot, which was my fault as I didn't change his flexion before asking again. I corrected it though, which was noted on my test. We also had an issue with the second canter bending line, where he tripped, fell out of the canter, but we got ourselves back together and continued on. Keith noted that the lengthened trot was some of the best he had seen us do. So I was a little shocked when I found my score to be a 59%, although more shocked to see that some of the competitors that had scored higher then me were noticeably lacking in correctness. I was most surprised to read the judges comments, which did not seem to match my ride at all and were comments that I had not received all year long from any other judge. At first I was a bit disappointed, but I texted with Shelley and she gave me great advice and helped me to get over it. It's only one judges opinion, and fortunately one that seems to be out of the norm for this season. So we will keep trudging along and doing our best!
J will have today off from hard work, although I will probably walk him around, riding bareback in a halter, as we have terrible thunderstorms in the area today and he did not get to go outside, so I want to make sure he doesn't get stiff. Then we will get back to work tomorrow, getting ready for our next show on July 30th and 31st. Then we won't have another show until regional championships in Mason City, Iowa on September 9th-11th!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Getting better and better!
Had to write a quick update- seems that all this hard work of making him more accountable and responsible for his own work is really paying off for J and myself. We had a superb ride last night! J is getting stronger and is more agreeable from the very start of the ride. He is getting better about staying straight and loading that inside hind leg, which is really paying off in our 1-3 test work! We ran through the test yesterday and it was probably the best we have ever done the entire test! So hopefully we can carry this through to the show!
It was definitely a tough commitment to really ride him each and every step while making him carry himself, even through his tantrums, but it is really paying off! I wish I had done this years ago! But we live and learn...
It was definitely a tough commitment to really ride him each and every step while making him carry himself, even through his tantrums, but it is really paying off! I wish I had done this years ago! But we live and learn...
Monday, June 27, 2011
Chugging along!
So one of the biggest lessons I learned from the last show is that J needs to become stronger and needs to be more accountable and not slack off and be lazy. I've been trying to ride every ride with that in mind and pushing his endurance levels farther and farther while keeping everything fair to him. I've been more cognizant of him carrying himself for the entire ride and not using me to hold him up or get lazy.
Shelley and I had a great lesson last week, where we really worked on his connection to the outside rein and I finally had a big light bulb moment where I truly felt my horse be straight and be reliable on that outside rein. It felt wonderful- the connection was spongy, elastic and I could use my outside rein to half halt, get him more round, turn him, etc. I was also able to better control his body parts individually and independently of each other. We worked on a lot of shoulder-fore, where he would slow his tempo when he was correct, which Shelley said was natural due to it being harder for him. So I'd patiently ask him to truck along once his positioning was correct, so that he wouldn't get tight and blow the positioning. And that connection also helped me in keeping a correct position and using my core while keeping my shoulders back. As a result of this work and my consistency in my expectations, J has already become more reliable in his 1st level movements, which makes me very excited for our next show!
I sent in my entry for Silverwood on July 9th and 10th. This time I signed up for 1-2 and 1-3 (qualifying) on both days, as I seem to have issues with 1-1 and remembering the test! LOL! 1-2 seems much more flowing and sensible to me, so hopefully it won't be such a chore in remembering it as I ride it! My goals are: lots of half halts, make him carry himself the entire time and get my second qualifying score for championships. So hopefully we can accomplish that!
I have another lesson scheduled for Wednesday, so hopefully Shelley will have noticed an improvement in our work!
Shelley and I had a great lesson last week, where we really worked on his connection to the outside rein and I finally had a big light bulb moment where I truly felt my horse be straight and be reliable on that outside rein. It felt wonderful- the connection was spongy, elastic and I could use my outside rein to half halt, get him more round, turn him, etc. I was also able to better control his body parts individually and independently of each other. We worked on a lot of shoulder-fore, where he would slow his tempo when he was correct, which Shelley said was natural due to it being harder for him. So I'd patiently ask him to truck along once his positioning was correct, so that he wouldn't get tight and blow the positioning. And that connection also helped me in keeping a correct position and using my core while keeping my shoulders back. As a result of this work and my consistency in my expectations, J has already become more reliable in his 1st level movements, which makes me very excited for our next show!
I sent in my entry for Silverwood on July 9th and 10th. This time I signed up for 1-2 and 1-3 (qualifying) on both days, as I seem to have issues with 1-1 and remembering the test! LOL! 1-2 seems much more flowing and sensible to me, so hopefully it won't be such a chore in remembering it as I ride it! My goals are: lots of half halts, make him carry himself the entire time and get my second qualifying score for championships. So hopefully we can accomplish that!
I have another lesson scheduled for Wednesday, so hopefully Shelley will have noticed an improvement in our work!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Great first show!
So we survived our first show of the season! It was a really great weekend and I learned so much. Last week had started with extremely hot and humid weather, making training very difficult on both J and myself. But thankfully a front came in on Wednesday night and gave way to beautifully cool weather. On Thursday we trailered J up to Silverwood Farm, which is in Camp Lake, Wisconsin. I am incredibly lucky as I live within a one hour drive of three dressage facilities that regularly host USDF shows, and Silverwood is definitely my favorite of these three showgrounds. Shelley brought 2 horses that she was showing herself in training level and second level. J and I were scheduled to show in Rings 3 & 4, which worried me as J has previously had issues where Ring 4 is now placed, but I knew that he would just have to deal with it. I schooled him in the warm-up ring, Ring 3 and Ring 4 and while he was a bit tense, he held it together despite some of the other horses having some pretty spectacular meltdowns. I was proud of my little man! Shelley worked us through the test work and we called it a day.
Friday came with gloomy skies and cool temperatures, but that was great with me as I knew I would be sweating from all the hard work. I braided J up, gave him a quick lunge to assess his "rowdyness" level and set off to the warm-up ring for our first 1-3 test. I had paid for it to be a qualifying test and was in front of Curtis Sage, who has always had positive comments for J and I and has given us very generous scores in the past. Shelley helped me warm-up, but some first-show-of-the-year nerves popped up and I rode my test with way to much conservativeness. We had a few mistakes which resulted in a 60% (62% needed to qualify) score. Curtis was very rewarding on our good movements- several 8's- but we also scored several low scores on different movements. A few hours later I had rode test 1-1 in front of Curtis again, but this time was very different. I decided that I had been a passenger in the first test and I was not going to let that happen again, I was actually going to ride my horse! I sat up, made him half halt and used my aids much more clearly and directly. Our test went really well, despite the fact that I went off course! I had only done this once before, and much to my horror, I did it again! I don't use a reader at the shows, so I was on my own and had a total brain fart. But even with the 2 point errror, we still scored a 66.897% and won our class! It was a major breakthrough and made me remember that I have to ride each and every movement and not to let show nerves get the best of me!
On Saturday, the weather was still gloomy with about the same temperatures. My first test was 1-1 in front of Curtis again. I went into the warm-up with the detemination to ride him well and make him carry himself. The warm-up went really well and the test was smooth, except for ANOTHER mistake on my part!! UGH! I made a mistake on the placement of my downward trot transition! I then decided that test 1-1 is NOT for me! LOL! But despite our mistake, we still scored a 67.931% and won the class! A couple of hours later I showed test 1-3 in front of Kem Barbosa, who is a more conservative judge but has very fair and constructive comments. J was tired for his second ride of the day, telling me that I really need to work on his endurance. He was a bit dull and we had some moments when he was not through or over his back, which made the test very average. We scored a 60% again! Still no qualifying score. But I was still happy- I felt that I had ridden him much better than the 1-3 test the day before and we were making improvements with each and every test.
Sunday we had only signed up for one test- 1-3 and it was in front of Curtis Sage again. Shelley wasn't there, so I was on my own for warm-up, and J was VERY tired. I did my best to keep him forward and have some brillance in his movement, although it was difficult. J tried very hard and I rode every step of that test, and for that we were rewarded with a 67.097%!! I got my qualifying score!! I was so proud of him and myself! Now I just have to get a second qualifying score, which I will hopefully get at my next show on July 9th and 10th. Here are some pictures from the warm-up on Sunday-
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Friday came with gloomy skies and cool temperatures, but that was great with me as I knew I would be sweating from all the hard work. I braided J up, gave him a quick lunge to assess his "rowdyness" level and set off to the warm-up ring for our first 1-3 test. I had paid for it to be a qualifying test and was in front of Curtis Sage, who has always had positive comments for J and I and has given us very generous scores in the past. Shelley helped me warm-up, but some first-show-of-the-year nerves popped up and I rode my test with way to much conservativeness. We had a few mistakes which resulted in a 60% (62% needed to qualify) score. Curtis was very rewarding on our good movements- several 8's- but we also scored several low scores on different movements. A few hours later I had rode test 1-1 in front of Curtis again, but this time was very different. I decided that I had been a passenger in the first test and I was not going to let that happen again, I was actually going to ride my horse! I sat up, made him half halt and used my aids much more clearly and directly. Our test went really well, despite the fact that I went off course! I had only done this once before, and much to my horror, I did it again! I don't use a reader at the shows, so I was on my own and had a total brain fart. But even with the 2 point errror, we still scored a 66.897% and won our class! It was a major breakthrough and made me remember that I have to ride each and every movement and not to let show nerves get the best of me!
On Saturday, the weather was still gloomy with about the same temperatures. My first test was 1-1 in front of Curtis again. I went into the warm-up with the detemination to ride him well and make him carry himself. The warm-up went really well and the test was smooth, except for ANOTHER mistake on my part!! UGH! I made a mistake on the placement of my downward trot transition! I then decided that test 1-1 is NOT for me! LOL! But despite our mistake, we still scored a 67.931% and won the class! A couple of hours later I showed test 1-3 in front of Kem Barbosa, who is a more conservative judge but has very fair and constructive comments. J was tired for his second ride of the day, telling me that I really need to work on his endurance. He was a bit dull and we had some moments when he was not through or over his back, which made the test very average. We scored a 60% again! Still no qualifying score. But I was still happy- I felt that I had ridden him much better than the 1-3 test the day before and we were making improvements with each and every test.
Sunday we had only signed up for one test- 1-3 and it was in front of Curtis Sage again. Shelley wasn't there, so I was on my own for warm-up, and J was VERY tired. I did my best to keep him forward and have some brillance in his movement, although it was difficult. J tried very hard and I rode every step of that test, and for that we were rewarded with a 67.097%!! I got my qualifying score!! I was so proud of him and myself! Now I just have to get a second qualifying score, which I will hopefully get at my next show on July 9th and 10th. Here are some pictures from the warm-up on Sunday-
And here is J looking like Fabio after his braids were taken out
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Crazy busy!
With the pressure of my first show of the season being two weeks away, I have been busy with Shelley preparing for it. We have bumped up our lessons to two per week until the show. So I had a lesson last week on Wednesday, one on Saturday and one yesterday. My next lesson is scheduled for Thursday.
Unfortunately, for the past five years, I have had issues with back pain. This is usually solved by a few visits to the naprapath, but lately the pain has started to become more intense and more frequent. I finally got an MRI done and found that there are are a few herniated discs, a bulging disc, disc degeneration and mild scoliosis. I am not one for pain meds or extensive medical treatment, so I am trying to work with my naprapath to do strengthening exercises and strengthen the areas of concern. I am also going to meet with my general physician about getting muscle relaxers for the particularly difficult days when it is hard to get out of bed. This pain is definitely exacerbated by riding, especially when I do not use my core and use my upper body instead. So I am definitely trying to be more conscious about my position and listen to my body when it hurts, telling me to correct my position.
During the first lesson, Shelley worked on our half halts and suppling, and quickly noticed that J will really slow down his tempo, drop at the poll and onto the forehand if he is not told to quicken the entire duration of the half halt or suppling aid. So she wanted us to GREATLY increase our tempo, to the point of over-tempo, and then ask him for half halts and supple from there. It was very painful on my back, as I was using too much upper body to try to steer and control his tempo. But I stuck through it and by the end of the lesson, J was much more honest.
Our lesson on Saturday was a great one. Shelley got on him first and had no issues with him, she seemed very happy with his work. She commented that J is very uncomplicated when the rider's position is correct. Then I got on and she suggested that we start off with no stirrups, so I could work on my position and using my core in a more effective way. I was a little wary because of my back, but gave it a shot. We started in walk, working on my pulling my shoulders down and back, bringing my elbows in to my body, lowering my hands and stilling my lower back. Shelley had a very interesting analogy- which I had previously seen in a Dressage Today magazine- of thinking that the reins were not connected to just my hands, but connected all the way around me and my lower back. Picturing this definitely helped me use my core and lower back in a more correct way. We then moved to sitting trot work, going around the whole arena, but doing constant voltes, asking him to turn from my seat and then push him back onto the outside rein with my inside leg. We had some really nice work and amazingly my back was not hurting at all! It clearly makes a difference when I am riding correctly! Then we worked on canter work, doing the same small-ish circles, but keeping them at about 15 meters instead of 10 meters, all without stirrups. My position was definitely better throughout the entire lesson and I ended up not using my stirrups at all! I felt really great afterwards- not in any pain, felt very connected to J and did some really nice work. It was very exciting!
On Monday we went back to increasing his tempo, as he was a bit sluggish, possibly due to the extremely humid and hot weather we suddenly found ourselves dealing with. Shelley set up cones in a 20 meter circle and had us ride an accurate circle while really making sure he was on the outside rein. We did this by asking him to move his outside shoulder a hair to the inside and then pushing him back to the outside rein, while controlling the bend with the outside leg being back and keeping consistent contact on the outside rein. At first he was a bit resistant- he was distracted by the barn owner power washing vehicles in the driveway, which was ridiculous for him to even be thinking about. But he eventually came around and his work improved. Once we got good, consistent 20 meter circles at the trot and canter, with lots of transitions throughout, we went to work on our leg yields. J and I really love to overbend in the leg yields, which is very slight (I am told by Shelley) but enough that he is not coming through his inside hind as well as he should be. So we really worked on making the turn correctly by not letting him fall out the outside shoulder, quick half halt on the inside rein and follow up with outside leg to ask for outside shoulder to come to the inside and then straighten him with the outside rein and move him quickly over with the inside leg. All of this happens within 1 or 2 steps, so it is a very quick process. Than he will typically lose his balance after 5 or 6 steps, so I have to ask him again to turn his shoulder to the inside and move over. It was really hard work! And with the temperatures in the 90's with extreme humidity, both J and I were dripping with sweat! We then worked on the 1-3 trot sequence of the leg yield to the voltes, which did not go so well. It made me very nervous that we will not get these good enough by the show next week, but we will try our best. I just have to be very careful to make sure that J is very straight in the first leg yield (which is his toughest way) that goes from left to right, because if he is overbent, our volte really sucks. I will definitely be doing some work on that tonight!
I'm planning on doing some work without stirrups again tonight and work on my position. Then we will do the trot work from 1-3 and hopefully get some more consistent leg yields. I'm so anxious to show next week- I can't wait!!!
Unfortunately, for the past five years, I have had issues with back pain. This is usually solved by a few visits to the naprapath, but lately the pain has started to become more intense and more frequent. I finally got an MRI done and found that there are are a few herniated discs, a bulging disc, disc degeneration and mild scoliosis. I am not one for pain meds or extensive medical treatment, so I am trying to work with my naprapath to do strengthening exercises and strengthen the areas of concern. I am also going to meet with my general physician about getting muscle relaxers for the particularly difficult days when it is hard to get out of bed. This pain is definitely exacerbated by riding, especially when I do not use my core and use my upper body instead. So I am definitely trying to be more conscious about my position and listen to my body when it hurts, telling me to correct my position.
During the first lesson, Shelley worked on our half halts and suppling, and quickly noticed that J will really slow down his tempo, drop at the poll and onto the forehand if he is not told to quicken the entire duration of the half halt or suppling aid. So she wanted us to GREATLY increase our tempo, to the point of over-tempo, and then ask him for half halts and supple from there. It was very painful on my back, as I was using too much upper body to try to steer and control his tempo. But I stuck through it and by the end of the lesson, J was much more honest.
Our lesson on Saturday was a great one. Shelley got on him first and had no issues with him, she seemed very happy with his work. She commented that J is very uncomplicated when the rider's position is correct. Then I got on and she suggested that we start off with no stirrups, so I could work on my position and using my core in a more effective way. I was a little wary because of my back, but gave it a shot. We started in walk, working on my pulling my shoulders down and back, bringing my elbows in to my body, lowering my hands and stilling my lower back. Shelley had a very interesting analogy- which I had previously seen in a Dressage Today magazine- of thinking that the reins were not connected to just my hands, but connected all the way around me and my lower back. Picturing this definitely helped me use my core and lower back in a more correct way. We then moved to sitting trot work, going around the whole arena, but doing constant voltes, asking him to turn from my seat and then push him back onto the outside rein with my inside leg. We had some really nice work and amazingly my back was not hurting at all! It clearly makes a difference when I am riding correctly! Then we worked on canter work, doing the same small-ish circles, but keeping them at about 15 meters instead of 10 meters, all without stirrups. My position was definitely better throughout the entire lesson and I ended up not using my stirrups at all! I felt really great afterwards- not in any pain, felt very connected to J and did some really nice work. It was very exciting!
On Monday we went back to increasing his tempo, as he was a bit sluggish, possibly due to the extremely humid and hot weather we suddenly found ourselves dealing with. Shelley set up cones in a 20 meter circle and had us ride an accurate circle while really making sure he was on the outside rein. We did this by asking him to move his outside shoulder a hair to the inside and then pushing him back to the outside rein, while controlling the bend with the outside leg being back and keeping consistent contact on the outside rein. At first he was a bit resistant- he was distracted by the barn owner power washing vehicles in the driveway, which was ridiculous for him to even be thinking about. But he eventually came around and his work improved. Once we got good, consistent 20 meter circles at the trot and canter, with lots of transitions throughout, we went to work on our leg yields. J and I really love to overbend in the leg yields, which is very slight (I am told by Shelley) but enough that he is not coming through his inside hind as well as he should be. So we really worked on making the turn correctly by not letting him fall out the outside shoulder, quick half halt on the inside rein and follow up with outside leg to ask for outside shoulder to come to the inside and then straighten him with the outside rein and move him quickly over with the inside leg. All of this happens within 1 or 2 steps, so it is a very quick process. Than he will typically lose his balance after 5 or 6 steps, so I have to ask him again to turn his shoulder to the inside and move over. It was really hard work! And with the temperatures in the 90's with extreme humidity, both J and I were dripping with sweat! We then worked on the 1-3 trot sequence of the leg yield to the voltes, which did not go so well. It made me very nervous that we will not get these good enough by the show next week, but we will try our best. I just have to be very careful to make sure that J is very straight in the first leg yield (which is his toughest way) that goes from left to right, because if he is overbent, our volte really sucks. I will definitely be doing some work on that tonight!
I'm planning on doing some work without stirrups again tonight and work on my position. Then we will do the trot work from 1-3 and hopefully get some more consistent leg yields. I'm so anxious to show next week- I can't wait!!!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
My horse, the goof!
So this may be a record- two posts in one day! But I am serious about trying to be more diligent with entries, and knowing that I have a very busy day tomorrow, I thought it would be best to write tonight.
I was not able to get out to the barn yesterday as it was my brother's birthday and we had a family dinner for him (for which I made an amazing blackberry lime cheesecake with blackberry lime curd- YUM!) so J had the day off. I got to the barn today to find that the horses had been inside their stalls yesterday and today due to the terrible storms that have been moving through the area, resulting in flooded pastures and paddocks. My wonderful barn owner and amazing barn help are very good about getting the horses turned out in the indoor, but that also depends on other rider's schedules as well. And my horse getting turned out in the indoor is just not the same- he can be much more distracted when he hasn't gotten the mental release of being outside all day.
So today was decent weather and despite a small pond in one portion of the outdoor arena, I knew I wanted to get J outside and even take advantage of the water- as many times we have to plop through water in the show ring. I got J groomed up, which was no easy task as he has been inside the past couple days and he loves to use his manure has his pillow and mattress! I took him straight outside, mounted off a big rock (isn't that what everyone uses as a mounting block, LOL!) and started to walk him around the outdoor. He was relaxed at first, then seemed to realize that 1) he was outside for the first time in days and 2) he was the only horse out there. He had a couple little temper tantrums, seemingly wanting to burst out the seams and let some hooves fly and after a little while of this, I decided that, after working a couple good circles, I would take him into the indoor to burn off that excess energy. So we made our way inside and I worked him pretty hard, working our corners, 10 meter voltes into shoulder-in, leg yields and a couple of half passes. Also did a few lengthenings in the trot and canter, which were pretty decent. I tried to be sure that he was stretching his neck throughout his work and I was not letting him just sit on the bit. I would throw in random voltes to try to vary the work and not let him get too complacent in whatever we were doing. After working for a while in the indoor, we made our way back to the outdoor, as I was not going to let him off that easy. So back out we went and he tried to be distracted a couple of times, but I was quick to get him back and we worked on transitions while staying soft and supple in the bridle. He did pretty well and I was happy with how our training session ended.
We have a lesson scheduled tomorrow evening, so hopefully it won't be cancelled by either party and Shelley and I can get some good work done!
I was not able to get out to the barn yesterday as it was my brother's birthday and we had a family dinner for him (for which I made an amazing blackberry lime cheesecake with blackberry lime curd- YUM!) so J had the day off. I got to the barn today to find that the horses had been inside their stalls yesterday and today due to the terrible storms that have been moving through the area, resulting in flooded pastures and paddocks. My wonderful barn owner and amazing barn help are very good about getting the horses turned out in the indoor, but that also depends on other rider's schedules as well. And my horse getting turned out in the indoor is just not the same- he can be much more distracted when he hasn't gotten the mental release of being outside all day.
So today was decent weather and despite a small pond in one portion of the outdoor arena, I knew I wanted to get J outside and even take advantage of the water- as many times we have to plop through water in the show ring. I got J groomed up, which was no easy task as he has been inside the past couple days and he loves to use his manure has his pillow and mattress! I took him straight outside, mounted off a big rock (isn't that what everyone uses as a mounting block, LOL!) and started to walk him around the outdoor. He was relaxed at first, then seemed to realize that 1) he was outside for the first time in days and 2) he was the only horse out there. He had a couple little temper tantrums, seemingly wanting to burst out the seams and let some hooves fly and after a little while of this, I decided that, after working a couple good circles, I would take him into the indoor to burn off that excess energy. So we made our way inside and I worked him pretty hard, working our corners, 10 meter voltes into shoulder-in, leg yields and a couple of half passes. Also did a few lengthenings in the trot and canter, which were pretty decent. I tried to be sure that he was stretching his neck throughout his work and I was not letting him just sit on the bit. I would throw in random voltes to try to vary the work and not let him get too complacent in whatever we were doing. After working for a while in the indoor, we made our way back to the outdoor, as I was not going to let him off that easy. So back out we went and he tried to be distracted a couple of times, but I was quick to get him back and we worked on transitions while staying soft and supple in the bridle. He did pretty well and I was happy with how our training session ended.
We have a lesson scheduled tomorrow evening, so hopefully it won't be cancelled by either party and Shelley and I can get some good work done!
Building momentum into show season!
So it has been quite awhile since my last entry, for which I regret and hope to get back on a semi-regular basis again. I feel like much as happened since my last entry, but at the same time, nothing monumental (i.e. my horse hasn't won the Olympics and I haven't been named the next rider for Ravel, LOL!).
J has been doing well, still keeping 4-6 day/week training sessions, lasting about 45-60 minutes each. Really working on his endurance/stamina, honest engagement of hind end and supple contact. I had the acupuncturist work on him two weeks ago, not because J was doing poorly, but felt that he would benefit from a routine tune-up session before our show season starts. Dr. Johnson confirmed that J was still sore in his pelvis, although less so than last time. He stated that he was also a bit sore in his left stifle, so he worked on that area also. He encouraged that I still do adjustments on J's shoulders and rib area prior to each ride. My lessons have not been as regular as I prefer, due to scheduling conflict's, illness, etc. But we still chip away and I feel confident that I know what is correct for the work that we are doing without needing Shelley's guidance on a constant basis.
The weather in Illinois has been tumultuous, to say the least, making it very hit or miss as to when I can get into the outdoor arena and practice my movements in a regulation size dressage arena. Fortunately all of last week was beautiful, so we worked outside exclusively. On Thursday I was able to put up my "white trash" dressage arena (vinyl letters stuck to buckets) and at least get the feeling of riding the movements in correct dimensions. Tawney (my barn owner) is seriously considering putting up a permanent dressage arena, which would be in our 200 X 200 outdoor arena, so that would be really great! But until then, mine definitely does the job. The footing in the outdoor is a little deep, although it is really nice torpedo sand and my barn owner is great with maintaining it. Because of the deeper footing, J can get lazy, so it is actually good for him to have to step it up a little bit and helps to build his endurance even more.
I've been really working on making sure J is turning with his outside shoulder during the turn. Sometimes he can get distracted or lazy, and when he does this, his outside shoulder will not actually turn towards the inside of the circle, even to a small degree. So we've been addressing this by using my inside rein a bit more often but direct and asking him to move his OUTSIDE shoulder with a small contraction on the inside rein. Now sometimes this has to be a large contraction and a large reaction, but the goal is that it will become very small, invisible to the judges, but he will know that means to get his inside shoulder underneath himself and even move it towards the inside. If I ask for a large reaction, I will follow up by asking his haunches to fall to the outside and for a small "wheelie" turn and then continue on our way. I have found this exercise very helpful when he is distracted or not on my aids as well as he should be. It prevents him from falling out the outside shoulder and ignoring my outside aids. This aid is very useful in my leg yields and my shoulder-in's, as I can very minutely turn his front end but keep his hind end underneath and no falling out of the movement.
His lengthenings are getting more consistent and powerful, as long as I make sure to really half halt him through the corners before the diagonal and keep him waiting for me to ask him to move out. Then I make sure to half halt him to bring him back to working gaits, but not hold him up at the same time. As a matter of fact, I am working on our corners in general, using them more efficiently to use them as an opportunity to half halt and get him more engaged. I can tell that I was have been very soft on him in the corners, because he really wants to cheat in the corners- either by getting crooked in the body or neck, slowing down and leaving his hind legs out behind him or throwing his outside shoulder out and "motorcycling" around the corner. So I have to be very diligent and work very hard to make him understand that is not how we ride a corner anymore.
And the exciting news- I have officially entered our first show of the season! It is June 10-12th at Silverwood and I could not be more excited to get out there and show our stuff! Shelley and I are planning on 2 per week lessons to get our work solid before that show and also working on my freestyle, as I plan to show that on June 16th at Sorensen. For the first show, we will just be showing 1-1 and 1-3 (qualifying) on Friday and Saturday and than 1-3 (qualifying) on Sunday. I am really hoping that I can get my regional qualifying scores for 1st level right away that first weekend, but regardless, we will just try our best. Than throughout the season I will show my freestyle and hopefully get qualified for regionals for the freestyle as well.
J is feeling really great right now. He is extremely focused, working hard and has pretty good endurance to hold up to the strains of showing. He also has a great attitude, which is what I love so much about him.
J has been doing well, still keeping 4-6 day/week training sessions, lasting about 45-60 minutes each. Really working on his endurance/stamina, honest engagement of hind end and supple contact. I had the acupuncturist work on him two weeks ago, not because J was doing poorly, but felt that he would benefit from a routine tune-up session before our show season starts. Dr. Johnson confirmed that J was still sore in his pelvis, although less so than last time. He stated that he was also a bit sore in his left stifle, so he worked on that area also. He encouraged that I still do adjustments on J's shoulders and rib area prior to each ride. My lessons have not been as regular as I prefer, due to scheduling conflict's, illness, etc. But we still chip away and I feel confident that I know what is correct for the work that we are doing without needing Shelley's guidance on a constant basis.
The weather in Illinois has been tumultuous, to say the least, making it very hit or miss as to when I can get into the outdoor arena and practice my movements in a regulation size dressage arena. Fortunately all of last week was beautiful, so we worked outside exclusively. On Thursday I was able to put up my "white trash" dressage arena (vinyl letters stuck to buckets) and at least get the feeling of riding the movements in correct dimensions. Tawney (my barn owner) is seriously considering putting up a permanent dressage arena, which would be in our 200 X 200 outdoor arena, so that would be really great! But until then, mine definitely does the job. The footing in the outdoor is a little deep, although it is really nice torpedo sand and my barn owner is great with maintaining it. Because of the deeper footing, J can get lazy, so it is actually good for him to have to step it up a little bit and helps to build his endurance even more.
I've been really working on making sure J is turning with his outside shoulder during the turn. Sometimes he can get distracted or lazy, and when he does this, his outside shoulder will not actually turn towards the inside of the circle, even to a small degree. So we've been addressing this by using my inside rein a bit more often but direct and asking him to move his OUTSIDE shoulder with a small contraction on the inside rein. Now sometimes this has to be a large contraction and a large reaction, but the goal is that it will become very small, invisible to the judges, but he will know that means to get his inside shoulder underneath himself and even move it towards the inside. If I ask for a large reaction, I will follow up by asking his haunches to fall to the outside and for a small "wheelie" turn and then continue on our way. I have found this exercise very helpful when he is distracted or not on my aids as well as he should be. It prevents him from falling out the outside shoulder and ignoring my outside aids. This aid is very useful in my leg yields and my shoulder-in's, as I can very minutely turn his front end but keep his hind end underneath and no falling out of the movement.
His lengthenings are getting more consistent and powerful, as long as I make sure to really half halt him through the corners before the diagonal and keep him waiting for me to ask him to move out. Then I make sure to half halt him to bring him back to working gaits, but not hold him up at the same time. As a matter of fact, I am working on our corners in general, using them more efficiently to use them as an opportunity to half halt and get him more engaged. I can tell that I was have been very soft on him in the corners, because he really wants to cheat in the corners- either by getting crooked in the body or neck, slowing down and leaving his hind legs out behind him or throwing his outside shoulder out and "motorcycling" around the corner. So I have to be very diligent and work very hard to make him understand that is not how we ride a corner anymore.
And the exciting news- I have officially entered our first show of the season! It is June 10-12th at Silverwood and I could not be more excited to get out there and show our stuff! Shelley and I are planning on 2 per week lessons to get our work solid before that show and also working on my freestyle, as I plan to show that on June 16th at Sorensen. For the first show, we will just be showing 1-1 and 1-3 (qualifying) on Friday and Saturday and than 1-3 (qualifying) on Sunday. I am really hoping that I can get my regional qualifying scores for 1st level right away that first weekend, but regardless, we will just try our best. Than throughout the season I will show my freestyle and hopefully get qualified for regionals for the freestyle as well.
J is feeling really great right now. He is extremely focused, working hard and has pretty good endurance to hold up to the strains of showing. He also has a great attitude, which is what I love so much about him.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Such a fine line...
So I rode J on Monday, with the same idea as to the balance point and having him accept my rein aids. He felt pretty good and really getting the idea of balancing back to the hind end and then pushing off strongly when I ask for the lengthen. But suddenly that feeling changed, he wasn't as quick to move strongly off the hind end and got heavier and heavier in my reins. I felt like he was locked up. So I temporarily ditched the exercise and suppled him and moved him forward, it took a few strides, but he did unlock. Then the light bulb came on... I was using WAY to much rein to balance him back! Basically giving him the rein to hang on, which was opposite of what I was trying to accomplish. So I went back to the exercise with more awareness of self carriage and regulating the tempo with my core instead of my rein, and it went much better.
J got Tuesday off due to my work schedule, but I will be back at it tonight, constantly evaluating the reins and not letting him use them against me- by getting too light or too heavy!
J got Tuesday off due to my work schedule, but I will be back at it tonight, constantly evaluating the reins and not letting him use them against me- by getting too light or too heavy!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Moving full steam ahead!
I had another great lesson with Shelley on Saturday. I had worked diligently all week on J following my hands out to the bridle and responding with a quicker hind leg in the half halt. Shelley was happy to feel the difference, but in the process J had gotten a little dull to the rein aids, as I was so worried about shortening his neck, "holding" him and not asking his neck to stretch into my hand, that I had allowed him to become a little complacent in the reins. So Shelley quickly got to work with J, asking him to be more accepting of the rein aids. She did this by taking a shorter rein and using flexions on each rein to position him a little more honestly. He was a little resentful at first and gave her lots of wrong answers, but he eventually understood that it didn't matter what kind of excuse he gave, he was not getting out of it. Shelley also wanted to work on our lengthenings, as she feels that our other work is passable for a decent first level test.
So I got on and Shelley had me ask J to walk very deliberately and slowly, keeping the balance point closer to his hind end while making sure that J is being respectful of the rein. He actually didn't want to do this too honestly- he kept trying to barge over the reins and walk too quickly, which would force him onto his forehand. Then once he would complete a few steps correctly and with the correct balance, I would ask him to march off his inside hind for three or four steps, then ask him to come back to the deliberate walk. It was tougher than it sounds! The aids have to be very quick and close to each other and if the aids got to strong or long, it would allow him to either fall on the forehand, rush or get behind my leg. Then we did the same thing in the trot and canter- eventually turning the marching steps into some lengthenings. The trot was hardest as he kept wanting to either break to the walk or break into a faster trot. If he broke into the walk, I had to bring him immediately back to the slow walk and then ask him to go into the slow trot. It took a lot of patience and very quick ques on my part, but we did get some nice moments. The canter was easiest as it has the most impulsion and easiest to time the aids. It was a very successful lesson and I can see where these exercises will take us in our work.
On Sunday I worked on keeping his balance point farther back and the exercises that Shelley had taught me on Saturday. I also ran through the 1-3 test and felt that it was pretty decent. We will have to work on the canter work some more, but it is tough in a small arena. I'm excited that our outdoor arena is now open, but it weather has become increasingly uncooperative, even deciding to snow last night. But in preparation for building my dressage arena in the outdoor, I ordered the vinyl letters today and will be very anxious to do some test work outside and also get my freestyle worked out. I plan on showing my freestyle on June 18th and 19th, so it must be ready by then!
So I got on and Shelley had me ask J to walk very deliberately and slowly, keeping the balance point closer to his hind end while making sure that J is being respectful of the rein. He actually didn't want to do this too honestly- he kept trying to barge over the reins and walk too quickly, which would force him onto his forehand. Then once he would complete a few steps correctly and with the correct balance, I would ask him to march off his inside hind for three or four steps, then ask him to come back to the deliberate walk. It was tougher than it sounds! The aids have to be very quick and close to each other and if the aids got to strong or long, it would allow him to either fall on the forehand, rush or get behind my leg. Then we did the same thing in the trot and canter- eventually turning the marching steps into some lengthenings. The trot was hardest as he kept wanting to either break to the walk or break into a faster trot. If he broke into the walk, I had to bring him immediately back to the slow walk and then ask him to go into the slow trot. It took a lot of patience and very quick ques on my part, but we did get some nice moments. The canter was easiest as it has the most impulsion and easiest to time the aids. It was a very successful lesson and I can see where these exercises will take us in our work.
On Sunday I worked on keeping his balance point farther back and the exercises that Shelley had taught me on Saturday. I also ran through the 1-3 test and felt that it was pretty decent. We will have to work on the canter work some more, but it is tough in a small arena. I'm excited that our outdoor arena is now open, but it weather has become increasingly uncooperative, even deciding to snow last night. But in preparation for building my dressage arena in the outdoor, I ordered the vinyl letters today and will be very anxious to do some test work outside and also get my freestyle worked out. I plan on showing my freestyle on June 18th and 19th, so it must be ready by then!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Focus is back!
I've had a bit of a dressage lesson hiatus- not because I have wanted this to occur, but unfortunately scheduling can be difficult, especially when my trainer lives over 2 hours away! So it worked out for Saturday morning and I was more than ready for her guidance! She rode J first (as she customarily does) which allows her to figure out quickly where he (we) is (are) lacking and what needs to be worked on for that particular time. She started running through the First Level test 3 trot work and found that he had some holes in his half halts, he was responding too slowly and not responding correctly. Shelley started to ask J to carry himself with a very high poll, not worrying about roundness per say, but instead focusing on him carrying himself, lengthening his neck and quickening his hind feet in response to the half halt. J's typical response to a half halt is to shorten his neck, fall a bit on the forehand and slow his hind end, leaving his legs out behind him, which is not really a half halt at all. So Shelley worked diligently and he was looking much improved after 15-20 minutes of her riding him. She even did a little bit of stretchy circle and free walk and he was noticeably better.
Then it was my turn. Shelley had us work the full arena, always on the second track or the quarterline. She advised me to take a short-ish rein, keep my hands in front of the pommel and leave him alone with my legs/feet (as I have a tendency to nag him). My reins were to be used to keep him relatively straight and my seat was to steer him, I was only to use my legs/spur when I asked him to go forward. So I would ask him to walk, trot or canter, give him a quick half halt through both reins and/or my seat, then stretch my reins forward (just centimeters through my elastic elbows) and give him small aids from my leg and/or whip until he responded by quickening his hind end and following the bit out to meet my hands but WITHOUT going down. It was difficult, especially at the walk because there is not much impulsion in the walk, but it got better as I got the feel for it. I tend to keep my hands up- probably because I want to carry his head- which is a dressage sin! So I would try to keep my hands down and then J would drop onto the bit and I'd have to pick him back up and then try to remember to put my hands back down. It's like trying to rub my belly and pat my head at the same time! I just have to keep diligent about it so it eventually becomes a habit.
Overall it was a great lesson- Shelley was very positive and encouraging, which I greatly appreciated. It gave me renewed focus on our work and more drive to get our work accomplished. We are hoping to have another lesson next Saturday, which would be great. Show season is sneaking up quickly and I want to be as prepared as possible!
Then it was my turn. Shelley had us work the full arena, always on the second track or the quarterline. She advised me to take a short-ish rein, keep my hands in front of the pommel and leave him alone with my legs/feet (as I have a tendency to nag him). My reins were to be used to keep him relatively straight and my seat was to steer him, I was only to use my legs/spur when I asked him to go forward. So I would ask him to walk, trot or canter, give him a quick half halt through both reins and/or my seat, then stretch my reins forward (just centimeters through my elastic elbows) and give him small aids from my leg and/or whip until he responded by quickening his hind end and following the bit out to meet my hands but WITHOUT going down. It was difficult, especially at the walk because there is not much impulsion in the walk, but it got better as I got the feel for it. I tend to keep my hands up- probably because I want to carry his head- which is a dressage sin! So I would try to keep my hands down and then J would drop onto the bit and I'd have to pick him back up and then try to remember to put my hands back down. It's like trying to rub my belly and pat my head at the same time! I just have to keep diligent about it so it eventually becomes a habit.
Overall it was a great lesson- Shelley was very positive and encouraging, which I greatly appreciated. It gave me renewed focus on our work and more drive to get our work accomplished. We are hoping to have another lesson next Saturday, which would be great. Show season is sneaking up quickly and I want to be as prepared as possible!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Getting 2 horses ready for show season!
So things have been pretty hectic- I took a last minute trip to Minnesota with Tawney to a reining show were she did awesome! It also gave me a chance to watch the "green" reining classes to see what I could expect at our (hopefully) first reining show in May at Gordyville. I was very surprised with what I saw- not a lot of fast spins and most of the riders using two reins- it definitely made me less nervous to show so quickly! I just have to get a sliding stop and we will be ready to go! Fortunately Radar is getting his slider plates "installed" in a couple weeks, so I'll have about three weeks to practice before our show. I've got to get a few items before the show- a cowboy hat, show shirts, a blingy belt and boots. I ordered a really cute shirt today- I can't wait to see it in person!
So J had a couple days off due to me attending the show and I was able to ride him last night. First off, he is doing so great at this barn. He is now off his ulcer supplements and calming supplement and just getting adequan joint supplement (as a preventative) and raw apple cider vinegar (natural anti-inflammatory, insect repellent, probiotic, etc.). He gets one cup of Safechoice per day- spread into three feedings. And he gets loads and loads of beautiful mixed hay. He looks better than he ever has in his life- he has gained weight (and "finish" as Tawney calls it), has a gorgeous golden and shiny coat, hooves are strong (has not lost one shoe since being at this barn) and is generally happy and calm! I'm so happy to see him thriving!
So last night J was a little "looky" at the back door, not sure what he was looking at, but he was a good boy and worked through it, never spooking or acting naughty. I have been making sure to start off on a long rein, going two laps each direction being super relaxed and letting J settle in, this seems to really help him get focused in our warm-up and not make him defensive. Then we worked on lots of halt/walk transitions with some rein-backs thrown in there if he got to heavy on the bridle. I made sure to keep him light in the front and ask him to move off quickly and strongly off his hind end. Then we added in some trot work- doing transitions between the gait, and transitions between the walk/trot and halt. I added some lateral work- some sweeping leg yields that got him more responsive off my lateral leg.
Then I started to work on some of the trot work from the 1-3 test- which includes a leg yield away from the wall, a 10 meter volte in each direction at X and then a leg yield back to the wall. J was responsive but seemed to be really lagging and not trying hard. I debated two thoughts- that 1) he has not been ridden in a few days and may need to be gently brought back or 2) he is just being lazy and can do it despite being off. So I went with the latter- I sat up, took better contact on my outside rein and asked him to give me more effort. He was resistant at first- trying to ignore my request, but when I made it impossible for him to ignore, he went with it and did some great work. I felt that he was really pushing off his inside hind and giving me some swing. We worked a little more on the trot work from 1-3 and then did some trot and canter lengthenings and some changes through the trot. I'm going to have to work on J anticipating the changes because he is starting to throw flying changes when I ask for the downward transition. We also worked on some bending lines in the canter. I was very happy with his work and especially his effort after I got on his case about it. J is definitely the type of horse that you have to ride- he is not going to exert more energy than is being asked. I haven't had a lesson in a few weeks and will hopefully have one this weekend! I need some focus! :)
And as for my ride on Radar, it was great as well. This horse has just as much heart as J and seems to really love to work. I've been working on collecting him and making him work off his hind end instead of running around on the forehand. It is tough for him, but he is getting better and better with each ride. He is the king of anticipation and that is something that I've been working very hard on- making sure that I am the pilot and I don't let him take charge simply because he knows what to do. We did lots of transitions, between gaits and within the gait, than worked on some very small trot circles that eventually became spins and then some flying changes. I did a couple of rollbacks, but the arena was pretty busy and I didn't want to run anyone down. I can't wait to get his sliders on so I can learn how to do a sliding stop and have that last piece of the puzzle at our disposal. I have my first lesson with Tawney scheduled for tomorrow night and I can't wait!
So J had a couple days off due to me attending the show and I was able to ride him last night. First off, he is doing so great at this barn. He is now off his ulcer supplements and calming supplement and just getting adequan joint supplement (as a preventative) and raw apple cider vinegar (natural anti-inflammatory, insect repellent, probiotic, etc.). He gets one cup of Safechoice per day- spread into three feedings. And he gets loads and loads of beautiful mixed hay. He looks better than he ever has in his life- he has gained weight (and "finish" as Tawney calls it), has a gorgeous golden and shiny coat, hooves are strong (has not lost one shoe since being at this barn) and is generally happy and calm! I'm so happy to see him thriving!
So last night J was a little "looky" at the back door, not sure what he was looking at, but he was a good boy and worked through it, never spooking or acting naughty. I have been making sure to start off on a long rein, going two laps each direction being super relaxed and letting J settle in, this seems to really help him get focused in our warm-up and not make him defensive. Then we worked on lots of halt/walk transitions with some rein-backs thrown in there if he got to heavy on the bridle. I made sure to keep him light in the front and ask him to move off quickly and strongly off his hind end. Then we added in some trot work- doing transitions between the gait, and transitions between the walk/trot and halt. I added some lateral work- some sweeping leg yields that got him more responsive off my lateral leg.
Then I started to work on some of the trot work from the 1-3 test- which includes a leg yield away from the wall, a 10 meter volte in each direction at X and then a leg yield back to the wall. J was responsive but seemed to be really lagging and not trying hard. I debated two thoughts- that 1) he has not been ridden in a few days and may need to be gently brought back or 2) he is just being lazy and can do it despite being off. So I went with the latter- I sat up, took better contact on my outside rein and asked him to give me more effort. He was resistant at first- trying to ignore my request, but when I made it impossible for him to ignore, he went with it and did some great work. I felt that he was really pushing off his inside hind and giving me some swing. We worked a little more on the trot work from 1-3 and then did some trot and canter lengthenings and some changes through the trot. I'm going to have to work on J anticipating the changes because he is starting to throw flying changes when I ask for the downward transition. We also worked on some bending lines in the canter. I was very happy with his work and especially his effort after I got on his case about it. J is definitely the type of horse that you have to ride- he is not going to exert more energy than is being asked. I haven't had a lesson in a few weeks and will hopefully have one this weekend! I need some focus! :)
And as for my ride on Radar, it was great as well. This horse has just as much heart as J and seems to really love to work. I've been working on collecting him and making him work off his hind end instead of running around on the forehand. It is tough for him, but he is getting better and better with each ride. He is the king of anticipation and that is something that I've been working very hard on- making sure that I am the pilot and I don't let him take charge simply because he knows what to do. We did lots of transitions, between gaits and within the gait, than worked on some very small trot circles that eventually became spins and then some flying changes. I did a couple of rollbacks, but the arena was pretty busy and I didn't want to run anyone down. I can't wait to get his sliders on so I can learn how to do a sliding stop and have that last piece of the puzzle at our disposal. I have my first lesson with Tawney scheduled for tomorrow night and I can't wait!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Not much to add...
So I haven't written in awhile as I feel like there is nothing much to add at this point. I haven't been able to arrange a recent lesson with Shelley due to conflicting schedules. She rode J while I was gone to the reining show with Tawney and Elizabeth and we had a lesson scheduled for today, but unfortunately Shelley is not feeling well, so it was cancelled.
I've been working on all the same things, although probably not as diligent about riding his neck as long as it should be and as Shelley would like. I have been doing lots of transitions, keeping J up off his front end while asking him to stretch and not get locked up in the neck and back. I feel like he is getting stronger and better, but we'll see how it is interpreted in the next lesson. I am getting a little stressed because it is now April 1st and we only have a couple more months to prepare for show season, hopefully that will be enough time to get confident on our work! It will be great when the outdoor is rideable and I can start working on my movements in a larger area that will replicate a standard size dressage arena. So I am definitely looking forward to that!
I have also been working on getting to know Radar and some the reining stuff. I have not taken a lesson from Tawney yet, but am planning on doing our first one next week. Radar is a great mount; super work-man-like personality and a little quirky in a fun way! He definitely knows his stuff and I am working on gradually building up his stamina, muscling and flexibility to the rigors of reining again. He tries his heart out each and every time and I cannot fault this horse for trying! He does like to anticipate and gets short in the neck, so my dressage training is really helpful in getting him to use his body more honestly and have him wait for my aid instead of doing what he thinks I will ask for. We are getting more and more in-sync and I am having a lot of fun with him.
I have decided to go with Tawney to her reining show in Winona, Minnesota today. It was very last minute (on my part) and we'll be back tomorrow, so it will be a really short trip. We are going to be sleeping in the gooseneck of the trailer with an air mattress and tons of blankets! It will be great to watch the green class tomorrow to see exactly what the competition will look like and give me an idea as to what to expect and what is the "norm". I'm hoping to show at Gordyville in May, so it'll be good to see what I'm in for this weekend!
I've been working on all the same things, although probably not as diligent about riding his neck as long as it should be and as Shelley would like. I have been doing lots of transitions, keeping J up off his front end while asking him to stretch and not get locked up in the neck and back. I feel like he is getting stronger and better, but we'll see how it is interpreted in the next lesson. I am getting a little stressed because it is now April 1st and we only have a couple more months to prepare for show season, hopefully that will be enough time to get confident on our work! It will be great when the outdoor is rideable and I can start working on my movements in a larger area that will replicate a standard size dressage arena. So I am definitely looking forward to that!
I have also been working on getting to know Radar and some the reining stuff. I have not taken a lesson from Tawney yet, but am planning on doing our first one next week. Radar is a great mount; super work-man-like personality and a little quirky in a fun way! He definitely knows his stuff and I am working on gradually building up his stamina, muscling and flexibility to the rigors of reining again. He tries his heart out each and every time and I cannot fault this horse for trying! He does like to anticipate and gets short in the neck, so my dressage training is really helpful in getting him to use his body more honestly and have him wait for my aid instead of doing what he thinks I will ask for. We are getting more and more in-sync and I am having a lot of fun with him.
I have decided to go with Tawney to her reining show in Winona, Minnesota today. It was very last minute (on my part) and we'll be back tomorrow, so it will be a really short trip. We are going to be sleeping in the gooseneck of the trailer with an air mattress and tons of blankets! It will be great to watch the green class tomorrow to see exactly what the competition will look like and give me an idea as to what to expect and what is the "norm". I'm hoping to show at Gordyville in May, so it'll be good to see what I'm in for this weekend!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
My horse = my heart!
So I had been gone for five days, cheering on two friends at their reining show, briefly seeing J on the first and fifth day, but no quality time spent. I went out to the barn on Monday, not sure what I would find, half expecting a fire-breathing horse for not have been worked (except once by my trainer) for so long. But it was quite the opposite, J seemed truly content that I was back and was glued to my side, even when I gave him the chance to run like a maniac in the indoor. Unfortunately the past week has been close to a monsoon, so the horses have been inside and a bit full of it, but J was calmer than ever.
This sounds odd, but I swear that he is different than when I left. He seems more assured, more confident and more focused. I know this horse, I know him as I would know my own child. I can just look into his eyes and know when he is not feeling well, when he is tired, when he is excited, etc. And he is just different. More mature or something. And he seems very happy to be back to work and have me around.
He has put in two very solid days of work now, despite showing obvious signs of some loss of stamina, just from the short break. But I just feel like he is really trying his heart out for me and I cherish the relationship that I have with him. I hope to never take that for granted!
This sounds odd, but I swear that he is different than when I left. He seems more assured, more confident and more focused. I know this horse, I know him as I would know my own child. I can just look into his eyes and know when he is not feeling well, when he is tired, when he is excited, etc. And he is just different. More mature or something. And he seems very happy to be back to work and have me around.
He has put in two very solid days of work now, despite showing obvious signs of some loss of stamina, just from the short break. But I just feel like he is really trying his heart out for me and I cherish the relationship that I have with him. I hope to never take that for granted!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The next Anky? (part 2)
So it has been a little while since I have written anything. I had a lesson with Shelley about a week ago and while she was happy with J's response times, she noted that he was too short in the neck. So we really worked on stretching his neck while keeping the response time up. He's forever looking for a crack in the "door" from which to escape having to carry himself correctly, whether it be by throwing a shoulder out a little bit, getting a bit crooked in his hind end, bending his neck insignificantly, getting a hair too deep in the reins or shortening his neck. It is a constant game of "what is J trying to do now and correct it quickly to move onto the next correction". My lesson was a bit disappointing and upsetting because it made me realize that it will never be good enough and it will never be correct. J is not built to do dressage and I'm not the quickest rider with the best skills, so that combination makes it very difficult to get everything correct. Despite my horse having a huge heart and trying as hard as he can for me, it's never going to be enough. But we will keep plowing through and doing the best we can, even if it is not enough.
So... enough of me feeling sorry for myself... a majority of the past week and weekend I attended my first NHRA reining show at Gordyville! It was a whole different experience than dressage and very fascinating to watch the warm-up pen and the show pen. My barn owner (who has now become my good friend) Tawney and another boarder at the barn (who I have become friends with) Elizabeth were both showing. Tawney is making a come back to the reining scene after having some time off and Elizabeth was showing her first NHRA show with her new-ish horse, Jessie. Apparently the top names in reining were present because they were holding a derby on Saturday that had lots of prize money to be won, so the place was packed and had around 400 horses there! Tawney did awesome and won both her classes on Thursday! She won money, jackets, a trophy and a plaque. It was really great! Elizabeth did great too- she rode three times and with each ride her scores got better and better. She even won some money in one of her classes! But most important is that we all had a great time filled with lots and lots of laughing!
So onto the "Anky" part... I had previously taken a reining lesson from Tawney and got to (attempt) the movements like spins, sliding stops, lead changes, roll backs, etc. It was an absolute blast! And I love to show... so Tawney and I had a conversation on the way home and thought that it might be fun for me to do some reining along with my dressage. So we have a plan in the works that may allow me to learn and show reining, but we'll see if it works out. I would really love to have a sport where I can be competitive, but not have the pressure of scores counting for year-end awards and just enjoying it for the friends, adrenaline rush and showing. So we shall see!
And in the meantime, I'm working hard with J, just trying to do the best we can with what we are.
So... enough of me feeling sorry for myself... a majority of the past week and weekend I attended my first NHRA reining show at Gordyville! It was a whole different experience than dressage and very fascinating to watch the warm-up pen and the show pen. My barn owner (who has now become my good friend) Tawney and another boarder at the barn (who I have become friends with) Elizabeth were both showing. Tawney is making a come back to the reining scene after having some time off and Elizabeth was showing her first NHRA show with her new-ish horse, Jessie. Apparently the top names in reining were present because they were holding a derby on Saturday that had lots of prize money to be won, so the place was packed and had around 400 horses there! Tawney did awesome and won both her classes on Thursday! She won money, jackets, a trophy and a plaque. It was really great! Elizabeth did great too- she rode three times and with each ride her scores got better and better. She even won some money in one of her classes! But most important is that we all had a great time filled with lots and lots of laughing!
So onto the "Anky" part... I had previously taken a reining lesson from Tawney and got to (attempt) the movements like spins, sliding stops, lead changes, roll backs, etc. It was an absolute blast! And I love to show... so Tawney and I had a conversation on the way home and thought that it might be fun for me to do some reining along with my dressage. So we have a plan in the works that may allow me to learn and show reining, but we'll see if it works out. I would really love to have a sport where I can be competitive, but not have the pressure of scores counting for year-end awards and just enjoying it for the friends, adrenaline rush and showing. So we shall see!
And in the meantime, I'm working hard with J, just trying to do the best we can with what we are.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Giving up control... and learning to trust!
Dressage is such an interesting juxtaposition of giving and taking, control but releasing. Sometimes in my riding that fine line can get blurred to the point of there is none. The lengthenings are a perfect example of this. J did not have good lengthenings because he did not push off his hind end well, he was crooked, did not properly take a half halt and would flop straight onto his forehand while running himself into the ground, face first. Picture a bulldozer, bucket down into the ground, running full speed on the verge of tipping A$$ over front... and you've got my lengthening.
So the past couple of weeks we have been working on his responsivity to the forward aid, asking him to move off quickly and with power. We have also been working on his honesty of taking a half halt and truly lightening his front end while asking his hind end to power through it. And lastly we threw in the straightness and keeping his neck long and supple. So with all of this in mind, I have been schooling my lengthenings in preparation for the upcoming show season. And I can honestly say that we are on the right path... as long as I remember to TRUST him! This would be our typical attempt at a transition from a lengthened trot or canter to a working trot or canter; half halt with the seat and hhhhhoooooooolllllllllddddddd the rein (yes, for really THAT long) until the transition was felt, then give the rein. Then I would wonder, why the hell was he falling on the forehand? Why the hell was he breaking the gait? Slowly but surely, the lightbulb started to glow and eventually clicked on. When I hold the rein, waiting for a response, it gives J the perfect opportunity to lean on my rein, fall onto the forehand and leave his hind legs trailing a mile behind us, which won't allow him to come back to a working gait, so he's either running like an idiot on the forehand or breaks into the slower gait.
So my big lesson: QUICK HALF HALTS, GET OUT OF THE REIN AND TRUST THAT HE WILL RESPOND. And if he does not respond, just repeat until he does. No more ssssllllllooooowwwww aids that allow him to slow his response time or honesty of carrying himself. He needs to be held more accountable to respond and I need to give him the space to do it. So we worked on a few lengthenings last night with that thought in mind and he responded beautifully. It was like he was saying "FINALLY you get it you stupid girl! Let me do my job! Stop confusing me!" It was very hard for me to not push them and do a million of them because it felt so good, but I limited it and rewarded him with a break after he did really well and then went on to work on something else. I really think that until this aid is ingrained into my brain, body, muscle memory, whatever... I will have to think about this each and every time I swing my leg over a horse's back.
So the past couple of weeks we have been working on his responsivity to the forward aid, asking him to move off quickly and with power. We have also been working on his honesty of taking a half halt and truly lightening his front end while asking his hind end to power through it. And lastly we threw in the straightness and keeping his neck long and supple. So with all of this in mind, I have been schooling my lengthenings in preparation for the upcoming show season. And I can honestly say that we are on the right path... as long as I remember to TRUST him! This would be our typical attempt at a transition from a lengthened trot or canter to a working trot or canter; half halt with the seat and hhhhhoooooooolllllllllddddddd the rein (yes, for really THAT long) until the transition was felt, then give the rein. Then I would wonder, why the hell was he falling on the forehand? Why the hell was he breaking the gait? Slowly but surely, the lightbulb started to glow and eventually clicked on. When I hold the rein, waiting for a response, it gives J the perfect opportunity to lean on my rein, fall onto the forehand and leave his hind legs trailing a mile behind us, which won't allow him to come back to a working gait, so he's either running like an idiot on the forehand or breaks into the slower gait.
So my big lesson: QUICK HALF HALTS, GET OUT OF THE REIN AND TRUST THAT HE WILL RESPOND. And if he does not respond, just repeat until he does. No more ssssllllllooooowwwww aids that allow him to slow his response time or honesty of carrying himself. He needs to be held more accountable to respond and I need to give him the space to do it. So we worked on a few lengthenings last night with that thought in mind and he responded beautifully. It was like he was saying "FINALLY you get it you stupid girl! Let me do my job! Stop confusing me!" It was very hard for me to not push them and do a million of them because it felt so good, but I limited it and rewarded him with a break after he did really well and then went on to work on something else. I really think that until this aid is ingrained into my brain, body, muscle memory, whatever... I will have to think about this each and every time I swing my leg over a horse's back.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Great weekend of great riding!
Despite the lingering freezing temps and the few and far between days of sun and above 40 temps, I am trying to make the best of it and not be obsessed with when the spring weather will finally decide to make a more than one day appearance.
It rained like mad on Friday, including some great lightning and thunder, which made for a sloppy mess all around the barn on Saturday. And while it didn't really rain on Saturday, the heavy clouds were present and the chill was in the air, making it pretty miserable. But I had a great lesson in spite of it! Shelley felt that it was time to take our last lesson a bit further- we had been asking him to speed up the hind end when going forward, but now we wanted him to speed up the hind end while doing lateral work, AND keep a straight and long neck. J was still not happy with the initial work, so I thought it would be interesting to see what he thought of the added pieces. And he didn't disappoint when he decided that he had to get all four feet off the ground, in a very quick manner, while Shelley was on him. Thankfully he is inherently lazy, so while he was resistant nonetheless, it wasn't out of control crazy. But he eventually got with the program, much to my relief.
When I got on J, Shelley wanted me to confirm that the quick forward response was there, but this time more from small movements of my feet than tappings from my whip and confirm that the half halts were present. Then she had me work on the quarterline (which is mostly what we do anyway) and ask him for a quick half halt and then a quick leg yield, only two or three steps of really "scooting over" quickly (that was the official term- LOL!) and then back straight again. All the while trying to keep a very straight neck and long neck. J was very convinced that it was not possible to do all of this at once and would either respond too slowly when his neck was correct or overbend and shorten his neck when his response to move over was quick. But Shelley instructed me to keep at it, not changing the program and not changing the way I request what I want for he will eventually figure it out. And little by little, he did start figuring it out! We went to the left first and we got it down pretty nicely as his shoulder was really easy to keep straight onto the outside rein, but when we changed rein, everything changed. J inherently likes to keep his left shoulder to the right and not fill up my left rein. So Shelley had me think of a haunches in and basically keep his shoulder on the wall and his head pointing towards the wall while keeping his haunches to the inside by maintaining my seat. Once he was more reliable about keeping his shoulder on the wall, we started to straighten him out, a little at a time, until he was going straight but correctly. Then we did a few leg yields, but only from that correct positioning. He got very tired by then, so we did just a few and then let him cool out. It was a very good lesson and I feel like I am understanding the "bigger picture" in a much better way. Those pathways are really opening up and I can move back and forth between the exercises, depending on what I need to accomplish and what J is giving me to work with. I feel more and more confident in my ability to feel what is going on and have the tools to fix it, which is a big part of the battle!
I went to the barn on Sunday with the entire afternoon to putz around, which is a great feeling. And the sun was out, which definitely helped the day feel a little better then the actual 32 degrees that it was. The horses were able to get turned out after being inside for a couple of days, so that was really nice as well. J was very content and mellow when I brought him back into the barn, I could just feel that his mind was very relaxed after being able to get outside. I gave J a good grooming (he is still shedding out enough hair to cover a hairless cat with each grooming!) and tacked him up. He felt a little sore from yesterday- his back was a bit stiffer and he wasn't bending his hocks as well. I took my time to warm him up and then got to work. He got very fluid, soft and swinging after that. I worked on all of the work we did the past two lessons- asking him to quicken his hind feet to go forward and quicken his hind feet to move laterally, changing it up regularly so he never knew what I was going to ask and couldn't anticipate anything. He had a couple of mini-tantrums but nothing too serious and by the end he was doing some real quality work. We finished up with some decent working canter- canter lengthen- working canter transitions, which is tough for the both of us. I have figured out that I am holding him up too much in the transition back to the working canter and I'm holding the half halt too long. I have to ask for the transition and release with the confidence in him that he will respond. And if he does not respond, I have to address that issue. But if I hold the half halt too long and wait for a response too long, he will ultimately hang on my rein and either get on the forehand or break to the trot. So that was my big light bulb moment of the day yesterday!
There is a wonderful barn worker at White Spring by the name of Megan. She is around 17 years old and the must trustworthy, hardworking and appreciative teenager I know. A few weeks ago I had asked her if she rode horses and she said that she wanted to but it never worked out for her to learn. So I offered to teach her on J and she quickly accepted. So yesterday was her second ride and I have her on the lunge so she could focus on her body position while learning to post the trot and to canter. J was a little lazy, as I had worked him pretty hard, but Megan did a great job and was able to get the posting pretty quickly! She also cantered him quite a bit and her seat improved with each time she tried. She is such a great girl and I was happy that she had such a great time on J!
It rained like mad on Friday, including some great lightning and thunder, which made for a sloppy mess all around the barn on Saturday. And while it didn't really rain on Saturday, the heavy clouds were present and the chill was in the air, making it pretty miserable. But I had a great lesson in spite of it! Shelley felt that it was time to take our last lesson a bit further- we had been asking him to speed up the hind end when going forward, but now we wanted him to speed up the hind end while doing lateral work, AND keep a straight and long neck. J was still not happy with the initial work, so I thought it would be interesting to see what he thought of the added pieces. And he didn't disappoint when he decided that he had to get all four feet off the ground, in a very quick manner, while Shelley was on him. Thankfully he is inherently lazy, so while he was resistant nonetheless, it wasn't out of control crazy. But he eventually got with the program, much to my relief.
When I got on J, Shelley wanted me to confirm that the quick forward response was there, but this time more from small movements of my feet than tappings from my whip and confirm that the half halts were present. Then she had me work on the quarterline (which is mostly what we do anyway) and ask him for a quick half halt and then a quick leg yield, only two or three steps of really "scooting over" quickly (that was the official term- LOL!) and then back straight again. All the while trying to keep a very straight neck and long neck. J was very convinced that it was not possible to do all of this at once and would either respond too slowly when his neck was correct or overbend and shorten his neck when his response to move over was quick. But Shelley instructed me to keep at it, not changing the program and not changing the way I request what I want for he will eventually figure it out. And little by little, he did start figuring it out! We went to the left first and we got it down pretty nicely as his shoulder was really easy to keep straight onto the outside rein, but when we changed rein, everything changed. J inherently likes to keep his left shoulder to the right and not fill up my left rein. So Shelley had me think of a haunches in and basically keep his shoulder on the wall and his head pointing towards the wall while keeping his haunches to the inside by maintaining my seat. Once he was more reliable about keeping his shoulder on the wall, we started to straighten him out, a little at a time, until he was going straight but correctly. Then we did a few leg yields, but only from that correct positioning. He got very tired by then, so we did just a few and then let him cool out. It was a very good lesson and I feel like I am understanding the "bigger picture" in a much better way. Those pathways are really opening up and I can move back and forth between the exercises, depending on what I need to accomplish and what J is giving me to work with. I feel more and more confident in my ability to feel what is going on and have the tools to fix it, which is a big part of the battle!
I went to the barn on Sunday with the entire afternoon to putz around, which is a great feeling. And the sun was out, which definitely helped the day feel a little better then the actual 32 degrees that it was. The horses were able to get turned out after being inside for a couple of days, so that was really nice as well. J was very content and mellow when I brought him back into the barn, I could just feel that his mind was very relaxed after being able to get outside. I gave J a good grooming (he is still shedding out enough hair to cover a hairless cat with each grooming!) and tacked him up. He felt a little sore from yesterday- his back was a bit stiffer and he wasn't bending his hocks as well. I took my time to warm him up and then got to work. He got very fluid, soft and swinging after that. I worked on all of the work we did the past two lessons- asking him to quicken his hind feet to go forward and quicken his hind feet to move laterally, changing it up regularly so he never knew what I was going to ask and couldn't anticipate anything. He had a couple of mini-tantrums but nothing too serious and by the end he was doing some real quality work. We finished up with some decent working canter- canter lengthen- working canter transitions, which is tough for the both of us. I have figured out that I am holding him up too much in the transition back to the working canter and I'm holding the half halt too long. I have to ask for the transition and release with the confidence in him that he will respond. And if he does not respond, I have to address that issue. But if I hold the half halt too long and wait for a response too long, he will ultimately hang on my rein and either get on the forehand or break to the trot. So that was my big light bulb moment of the day yesterday!
There is a wonderful barn worker at White Spring by the name of Megan. She is around 17 years old and the must trustworthy, hardworking and appreciative teenager I know. A few weeks ago I had asked her if she rode horses and she said that she wanted to but it never worked out for her to learn. So I offered to teach her on J and she quickly accepted. So yesterday was her second ride and I have her on the lunge so she could focus on her body position while learning to post the trot and to canter. J was a little lazy, as I had worked him pretty hard, but Megan did a great job and was able to get the posting pretty quickly! She also cantered him quite a bit and her seat improved with each time she tried. She is such a great girl and I was happy that she had such a great time on J!
Friday, March 4, 2011
It wasn't pretty, but we got there!
So last night was an interesting ride. But first I will start off with a little background:
J is a paint/quarter horse, J has certain conformational issues when it comes to dressage work, J is lazy. That about sums it up. But I love the dork even so! So J can be lovely supple bordering onto TOO supple... J can get dull to the aids.... J does not like to engage his hind end as much as he should be. Dressage is like building blocks and it always feels like once I master one building block and move onto the next, that previous block (or any and all the blocks before it) would come crashing down and need to be readdressed. I suppose that is my amateurish issue, but I am learning. I want everything to be connected in a smooth and regularly uphill way... but it certainly doesn't work like that. So I am realizing more and more to keep those previous building blocks in place and then work on the new task if only the previous blocks are left in-check. They are all connected, but just not in the way that my OCD brain wants them to be.
So for weeks we had been working on J's commitment to the outside rein and bending him through his back. In this process we asked for him to be deeper, even over-flexed at times, all-the-while keeping his tempo up. I could certainly feel the improvements that were coming from this block, but after awhile I knew that it was time to add more. So that's where last weeks lesson comes in. Shelley identified that J needs to take a half halt more honestly (and seriously) and quicken his hind end much more before, during and after those half halts. J does half halt, but he slows his hind end in the process and his hind legs end up trailing miles away from his front end. So we tossed away all the exercises with suppleness and bending and moved onto the next step. Shelley wanted me to keep his front end lifted, through a series of half halts through my seat and reins and then gentle "annoying" tickles with the whip. Then with that posture, go to a big springy trot (well, springy for the little yellow horse) back to a half step idea, all the while keeping the hind end quick through the whip. Now I fully admit, I am not always the most suave with the whip and when I go to it, it is usually for some sort of "I used my leg a million times so do it NOW" sort of one-time-deal crack, so J has trained me that when I resort to the whip, he is in big trouble. So the process of using the whip to activate his hind end was two-fold, to teach me to be more subtle and deliberate with the whip and to teach him to respond correctly. Rides like this is an interesting paradox... I see the point of the exercise, I can see where this is going and how beneficial it will be, but in the meantime we look like CRAP to any bystander that happens to wander into our craziness. This is very difficult for me... I like to ride well, I like to at least look like I know what I'm doing and I fall into that trap of feeling like people are judging me. I am trying to get past that and just train the damned horse, knowing full and well that I'm doing the right thing. I am getting better, but I still have my moments.
So onto last night. I groom and do our usual routine that J seems to appreciate- stretch his front legs and adjust his shoulders, tack up, do "mint" stretches in the arena, which usually elicit a few "pops" in his neck, tighten his girth and hop on with rein in one hand and walk around the arena, two laps each direction. Then I will pick up both my reins (although still very loopy) and do some figures just off my seat or I do some walk/trot transitions, just depending on if he feels pokey or if he feels that he is not steering off my seat right away. Then we got to work... pick up the rein and keep them rather short, but NOT short enough to get in his way. Keep my leg on, but not pressing. Sit to the inside with whip in the right hand (if whip is in the left hand, he will inevitably throw his haunches to the right and keep going out the right side). I ask him to back from the halt, he can either just shift his weight back or I will actually ask him to take a few steps back and then I immediately send him forward with annoying tickling taps from the whip- keeping my reins out of his way and my seat ready to absorb the forward movement so he is not punished for going forward. Now in the beginning of the ride, J was not too appreciative of the whip. We had lots of legs flying everywhere- cow kicking, bunny hops and bucking. Lots of grunting and squealing in displeasure. But I kept on- never increasing the whip and not changing my seat. When he would give me the correct answer of going forward with a big step off the behind, the whip would immediately stop and he'd get a verbal reward. Then I would ask him to half halt, by stilling my seat and light taking/givings in the reins quickly followed by taps from the whip to keep him from slowing his hind end. Then I would give the reins a few centimeters and he would walk off strong. Before falling on the forehand (about 3-4 steps) repeat the entire process. Now J was not happy about this whole thing... he wavered between kicking out, coming to a dead stop on his forehand, being behind the leg or taking off. It really taught me to sit back because the second that I would get ahead of him in even the slightest manner, he would start going through his bag of tricks. I kept my cool and was patient with him to understand what it was I wanted. It took a while and it wasn't pretty. But soon he started to feel entirely different. His body was quivering, waiting for the next aid as I kept changing things up- transitions between gaits, transitions within a gait, lengthenings for 2 steps one time, an entire long side another time, he never knew what was going to happen. He was carrying himself- no getting stuck in his hole and dragging his hind end out behind him. Sure, we made mistakes, but I did my best to keep my cool, not get in his way and reward him a lot through verbal praises and breaks. In that process I felt the best and most honest half halts we have done to date. I am not saying that they were perfect, but they were better than before in all three gaits.
It was very exciting, despite him looking like a giraffe at times. I can definitely see how this is the next step in the progression of training and after really committing to this exercise and getting him to reliable, it will make our work so much better and more honest. I just have to remember all the previous training blocks that came before this and then, when the time is right, incorporate them all. These blocks are not separated by definite lines and stacked one on top of the other, they are all connected through doors that flow back and forth. So I foresee that the next step will be to open the door between these previous two training blocks- keeping the hind end active, keeping him responsive to the aids but doing it in a more supple manner where he is using his back in a more correct way.
J is a paint/quarter horse, J has certain conformational issues when it comes to dressage work, J is lazy. That about sums it up. But I love the dork even so! So J can be lovely supple bordering onto TOO supple... J can get dull to the aids.... J does not like to engage his hind end as much as he should be. Dressage is like building blocks and it always feels like once I master one building block and move onto the next, that previous block (or any and all the blocks before it) would come crashing down and need to be readdressed. I suppose that is my amateurish issue, but I am learning. I want everything to be connected in a smooth and regularly uphill way... but it certainly doesn't work like that. So I am realizing more and more to keep those previous building blocks in place and then work on the new task if only the previous blocks are left in-check. They are all connected, but just not in the way that my OCD brain wants them to be.
So for weeks we had been working on J's commitment to the outside rein and bending him through his back. In this process we asked for him to be deeper, even over-flexed at times, all-the-while keeping his tempo up. I could certainly feel the improvements that were coming from this block, but after awhile I knew that it was time to add more. So that's where last weeks lesson comes in. Shelley identified that J needs to take a half halt more honestly (and seriously) and quicken his hind end much more before, during and after those half halts. J does half halt, but he slows his hind end in the process and his hind legs end up trailing miles away from his front end. So we tossed away all the exercises with suppleness and bending and moved onto the next step. Shelley wanted me to keep his front end lifted, through a series of half halts through my seat and reins and then gentle "annoying" tickles with the whip. Then with that posture, go to a big springy trot (well, springy for the little yellow horse) back to a half step idea, all the while keeping the hind end quick through the whip. Now I fully admit, I am not always the most suave with the whip and when I go to it, it is usually for some sort of "I used my leg a million times so do it NOW" sort of one-time-deal crack, so J has trained me that when I resort to the whip, he is in big trouble. So the process of using the whip to activate his hind end was two-fold, to teach me to be more subtle and deliberate with the whip and to teach him to respond correctly. Rides like this is an interesting paradox... I see the point of the exercise, I can see where this is going and how beneficial it will be, but in the meantime we look like CRAP to any bystander that happens to wander into our craziness. This is very difficult for me... I like to ride well, I like to at least look like I know what I'm doing and I fall into that trap of feeling like people are judging me. I am trying to get past that and just train the damned horse, knowing full and well that I'm doing the right thing. I am getting better, but I still have my moments.
So onto last night. I groom and do our usual routine that J seems to appreciate- stretch his front legs and adjust his shoulders, tack up, do "mint" stretches in the arena, which usually elicit a few "pops" in his neck, tighten his girth and hop on with rein in one hand and walk around the arena, two laps each direction. Then I will pick up both my reins (although still very loopy) and do some figures just off my seat or I do some walk/trot transitions, just depending on if he feels pokey or if he feels that he is not steering off my seat right away. Then we got to work... pick up the rein and keep them rather short, but NOT short enough to get in his way. Keep my leg on, but not pressing. Sit to the inside with whip in the right hand (if whip is in the left hand, he will inevitably throw his haunches to the right and keep going out the right side). I ask him to back from the halt, he can either just shift his weight back or I will actually ask him to take a few steps back and then I immediately send him forward with annoying tickling taps from the whip- keeping my reins out of his way and my seat ready to absorb the forward movement so he is not punished for going forward. Now in the beginning of the ride, J was not too appreciative of the whip. We had lots of legs flying everywhere- cow kicking, bunny hops and bucking. Lots of grunting and squealing in displeasure. But I kept on- never increasing the whip and not changing my seat. When he would give me the correct answer of going forward with a big step off the behind, the whip would immediately stop and he'd get a verbal reward. Then I would ask him to half halt, by stilling my seat and light taking/givings in the reins quickly followed by taps from the whip to keep him from slowing his hind end. Then I would give the reins a few centimeters and he would walk off strong. Before falling on the forehand (about 3-4 steps) repeat the entire process. Now J was not happy about this whole thing... he wavered between kicking out, coming to a dead stop on his forehand, being behind the leg or taking off. It really taught me to sit back because the second that I would get ahead of him in even the slightest manner, he would start going through his bag of tricks. I kept my cool and was patient with him to understand what it was I wanted. It took a while and it wasn't pretty. But soon he started to feel entirely different. His body was quivering, waiting for the next aid as I kept changing things up- transitions between gaits, transitions within a gait, lengthenings for 2 steps one time, an entire long side another time, he never knew what was going to happen. He was carrying himself- no getting stuck in his hole and dragging his hind end out behind him. Sure, we made mistakes, but I did my best to keep my cool, not get in his way and reward him a lot through verbal praises and breaks. In that process I felt the best and most honest half halts we have done to date. I am not saying that they were perfect, but they were better than before in all three gaits.
It was very exciting, despite him looking like a giraffe at times. I can definitely see how this is the next step in the progression of training and after really committing to this exercise and getting him to reliable, it will make our work so much better and more honest. I just have to remember all the previous training blocks that came before this and then, when the time is right, incorporate them all. These blocks are not separated by definite lines and stacked one on top of the other, they are all connected through doors that flow back and forth. So I foresee that the next step will be to open the door between these previous two training blocks- keeping the hind end active, keeping him responsive to the aids but doing it in a more supple manner where he is using his back in a more correct way.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Chaos!
Today was such a chaotic mess of a day! I arrived at the barn around 9:30am, as the woman who had committed to buy my horse trailer was scheduled to arrive at the barn around 10:00am. Keith and I waited... and waited... and called...left voicemail messages... and waited... and called. This inconsiderate, cowardly woman did not show up and did not even bother to call me. I was LIVID!! I had emailed her several times throughout the week, gotten reassurance after reassurance from her, passed up other offers (one even offering me MORE than my asking price!) and I put them all on hold because I had given this despicable woman my word. So at 10:30am, I called someone else who showed extreme interest in the trailer and had said that he could come out right away on Saturday morning. He answered and stated that his wife needed to finish cleaning stalls and then they would be out.
Shelley promptly arrived at 11:30am for our lesson and hopped right on J. Our lesson today was to quicken my aids for a half halt and get a more genuine response to that half halt. We didn't worry so much about suppleness or keeping him round, just on quickening his hind end and getting a prompt response. Some moments did not look too pretty, but he did get the idea as to what our goal was, as did I. Shelley had me ask him to hesitate, with a very short rein aid, then immediately use my whip with very gentle but annoying taps to get an immediate response, concluding with another short rein aid to keep him from diving on the forehand during the burst of foreword movement that he gave. I had to be very careful not to overlap my rein and whip aids, not use my reins to get in his way or punish him from going forward and get a big push from behind as quickly as possible. It was tough, but I can see where it is heading once he is more consistent and reliable.
In the middle of my lesson, my niece and her mother showed up at the barn, as we are spending the weekend with Jaden since she is moving to California with her mother in less than a month. So Jaden and Laura were waiting around during my lesson, with four year old Jaden chasing cats, jumping off tack trunks and generally not sitting still- LOL!
As I was dismounting from my lesson and Shelley was giving me a wrap-up lecture, the interested buyers in the trailer showed up. I felt like I was rude to Shelley and hurried her to leave, but I later sent an apologetic text. I showed the trailer to the prospective buyers and while the husband was very quiet, the wife expressed interest. They asked if they could call me later today with an answer, which I agreed.
I am still waiting to hear back from the potential buyers, they intially low-balled me, but I am holding out. They only have a few more minutes to decide and then I've got a plan. I am going to email all the people who are interested in buying the trailer and tell them that they have from 12:30pm-2:30pm tomorrow to come out and take a look at the trailer. First one with the cash will take the trailer home. I gave the potential buyers until 5pm to make a decision and of course, they just texted me at 4:59pm and offered me nearly all the asking price. I turned them down- I'm only taking full asking price now. We'll see if they cave or if I'm composing a mass email!
Shelley promptly arrived at 11:30am for our lesson and hopped right on J. Our lesson today was to quicken my aids for a half halt and get a more genuine response to that half halt. We didn't worry so much about suppleness or keeping him round, just on quickening his hind end and getting a prompt response. Some moments did not look too pretty, but he did get the idea as to what our goal was, as did I. Shelley had me ask him to hesitate, with a very short rein aid, then immediately use my whip with very gentle but annoying taps to get an immediate response, concluding with another short rein aid to keep him from diving on the forehand during the burst of foreword movement that he gave. I had to be very careful not to overlap my rein and whip aids, not use my reins to get in his way or punish him from going forward and get a big push from behind as quickly as possible. It was tough, but I can see where it is heading once he is more consistent and reliable.
In the middle of my lesson, my niece and her mother showed up at the barn, as we are spending the weekend with Jaden since she is moving to California with her mother in less than a month. So Jaden and Laura were waiting around during my lesson, with four year old Jaden chasing cats, jumping off tack trunks and generally not sitting still- LOL!
As I was dismounting from my lesson and Shelley was giving me a wrap-up lecture, the interested buyers in the trailer showed up. I felt like I was rude to Shelley and hurried her to leave, but I later sent an apologetic text. I showed the trailer to the prospective buyers and while the husband was very quiet, the wife expressed interest. They asked if they could call me later today with an answer, which I agreed.
I am still waiting to hear back from the potential buyers, they intially low-balled me, but I am holding out. They only have a few more minutes to decide and then I've got a plan. I am going to email all the people who are interested in buying the trailer and tell them that they have from 12:30pm-2:30pm tomorrow to come out and take a look at the trailer. First one with the cash will take the trailer home. I gave the potential buyers until 5pm to make a decision and of course, they just texted me at 4:59pm and offered me nearly all the asking price. I turned them down- I'm only taking full asking price now. We'll see if they cave or if I'm composing a mass email!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The next Anky?
So I took my first reining lesson yesterday and it was the most fun I have had on a horse in a long time! Don't get me wrong- I LOVE riding dressage and love riding J, but it was so much fun to learn something new and not have the pressure of trying to be perfect. Tawney, my amazing barn owner, is a reiner and has an awesome reining horse named Twist, whom she offered to help teach me reining.
So yesterday was the day that I got a crash course in reining and I couldn't get the smile off my face! Tawney coached me through flying changes, sliding stops and spins and Twist was just fantastic about putting up with me! It was pretty difficult for me because many of the cues were exact opposite of dressage- the canter depart is cued by the outside leg and no inside leg and no rein, flying changes are also cued by the outside leg and to do spins and turn the inside leg is taking completely off the horse! I had many "do-overs" fortunately but I eventually was able to get some passable work, although I'm sure it wasn't pretty! Twist is incredibly sensitive to the leg, which made it that much more fun!
Tawney has promised a second lesson, although it might not be for a little while as she has a couple of shows coming up and I would hate for me to ruin Twist before one of her shows! But Keith is going to video the next one, so I'm sure there will be some funny moments to be seen!
So yesterday was the day that I got a crash course in reining and I couldn't get the smile off my face! Tawney coached me through flying changes, sliding stops and spins and Twist was just fantastic about putting up with me! It was pretty difficult for me because many of the cues were exact opposite of dressage- the canter depart is cued by the outside leg and no inside leg and no rein, flying changes are also cued by the outside leg and to do spins and turn the inside leg is taking completely off the horse! I had many "do-overs" fortunately but I eventually was able to get some passable work, although I'm sure it wasn't pretty! Twist is incredibly sensitive to the leg, which made it that much more fun!
Tawney has promised a second lesson, although it might not be for a little while as she has a couple of shows coming up and I would hate for me to ruin Twist before one of her shows! But Keith is going to video the next one, so I'm sure there will be some funny moments to be seen!
My silly horse!
Here are some pics that Keith took on Saturday. My horse cracks me up!
This horse is willing to do ANYTHING for a treat. A simple carrot (well, mint) stretch turned into this. I laugh out loud every time I see this picture!
This horse is willing to do ANYTHING for a treat. A simple carrot (well, mint) stretch turned into this. I laugh out loud every time I see this picture!
Some things stay the same... some things change
So I haven't posted in awhile as things were pretty status quo until the weekend. My lesson for last week was cancelled, so I've been working on the same stuff for awhile now, which has been really working and I notice a big difference in J's work. Between the thaw, rain and then freeze, the horses have been inside for about 4-5 days now, so it has impacted our work in that I've had to spend a lot more time on warming him up, getting him stretching, forward and supple. But he does get there eventually and he is definitely bending his back more reliably and moving into the outside contact with more assurance. This makes a really big difference in his movement! When he is really solid we do some lateral work and I truly feels like he is dancing underneath me- such a great feeling! My back has been bothering me again, and I'm going to the napropath and massage therapist to have it worked on, but in the meantime I've been mostly posting the trot with a little sitting towards the end of the ride when my back is more supple and he is working over his back, giving me a good place to sit. It seems to be working out okay for now.
I have also been practicing the 1-3 test, getting anxious for show season, so playing around with the tests. I've noticed that the first leg yield can be a little tricky as it is moving off the wall and I have to make sure he is really straight through the corner to prepare for the leg yield. I practiced this movement a few times and then realized that while I was asking him to change outside reins through the corner with my legs and my rein, I was not changing my seat- DUH! So when I did this, it made the transition of outside rein much easier and his leg yield was much straighter and honest. So that will definitely be something that we will be diligent about.
So on Saturday we got our trailer ready to sell... took all the measurements, swept it all out and took pics for the ads. It was a beautifully sunny day and a good day to be outside, albeit a bit chilly. So on Saturday night, around 6pm, I posted the trailer for sale on Illinoishorse.com, TackTrader.com and Craigslist. In about 2 hours I had a committed buyer for the full asking price! She is scheduled to come out on Saturday, pay cash and pick up the trailer, so I agreed to hold the trailer for her until then. In the meantime, I have gotten nearly 100 responses for the trailer, most of which seem very serious. So I have told everyone that they would be contacted if the original seller falls through. So it looks like the trailer will be sold and then we will be trailer-less for a few months. My barn owner, Tawney, has a friend who is selling her trailer and we are very interested in it, but Keith and I both agreed to wait until the Midwest Horse Fair (which is in mid-April) to check out their selection and deals. Then we will make a decision after that. I can't wait to have a trailer with a dressing room!
I have also been practicing the 1-3 test, getting anxious for show season, so playing around with the tests. I've noticed that the first leg yield can be a little tricky as it is moving off the wall and I have to make sure he is really straight through the corner to prepare for the leg yield. I practiced this movement a few times and then realized that while I was asking him to change outside reins through the corner with my legs and my rein, I was not changing my seat- DUH! So when I did this, it made the transition of outside rein much easier and his leg yield was much straighter and honest. So that will definitely be something that we will be diligent about.
So on Saturday we got our trailer ready to sell... took all the measurements, swept it all out and took pics for the ads. It was a beautifully sunny day and a good day to be outside, albeit a bit chilly. So on Saturday night, around 6pm, I posted the trailer for sale on Illinoishorse.com, TackTrader.com and Craigslist. In about 2 hours I had a committed buyer for the full asking price! She is scheduled to come out on Saturday, pay cash and pick up the trailer, so I agreed to hold the trailer for her until then. In the meantime, I have gotten nearly 100 responses for the trailer, most of which seem very serious. So I have told everyone that they would be contacted if the original seller falls through. So it looks like the trailer will be sold and then we will be trailer-less for a few months. My barn owner, Tawney, has a friend who is selling her trailer and we are very interested in it, but Keith and I both agreed to wait until the Midwest Horse Fair (which is in mid-April) to check out their selection and deals. Then we will make a decision after that. I can't wait to have a trailer with a dressing room!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
It's definitely shedding season!
Well, my horse has been shedding out for a month now, so it has been a constant battle of little white-ish blonde hairs in my car, on my clothes and even in my house. I keep thinking that one day soon I am going to whip off his blanket and he is going to be bald, but that has not happened yet. I had clipped him in the fall and have not clipped him since as he is really slick! I would imagine that it's because Tawney has him bundled up in nearly every blanket I own and he is in a heated barn. I really enjoy not having to do a second (or even third) clip of the season!
So we have battled through the hair with lots of brushing with both the curry and the "flower" brush and have been able to have some good rides the past two days. I have been really working on keeping him working to the outside rein while staying supple at the same time. I vary between flexing him to the inside (while keeping his head out of that hole), making him straight, both while doing lateral work and straight work. Most importantly I have been keeping his tempo, which makes him very exhausted, but is making a noticeable difference. He is less fussy in the bridle and more honest and reliable about his contact, which feels great. I also notice that he is much easier to sit in his trot, as he is working better over his back and giving me a good place to sit.
I had an exciting ride yesterday as I got to use my new "gadget"- it's portable speakers that are small enough to clip onto my saddle, but loud enough to really pump out some noise without a lot of distortion. I was able to ride to my freestyle music- for the first time since summer- and it was immediately apparent that I was able to keep the tempo better throughout the entire piece! I felt great about our progress since last year and it made me even more excited to be able to show my freestyle this season!
Speaking of show season, the schedule complete with Judges was finally published on the Internet this week. I get a little OCD about planning show season, as it takes budgeting, time management, vacation planning, etc. And while I want to continue showing with Shelley, I'm not sure how it will all work out. So Shelley and I have agreed that while it will be great to show together, I am ready to do some shows on my own and be able to hold my own. So today I took a good look at the schedule and got a rough draft together. Hopefully I'll be able to go to a majority of the shows with Shelley, but we shall see after she gets her schedule worked out.
So we have battled through the hair with lots of brushing with both the curry and the "flower" brush and have been able to have some good rides the past two days. I have been really working on keeping him working to the outside rein while staying supple at the same time. I vary between flexing him to the inside (while keeping his head out of that hole), making him straight, both while doing lateral work and straight work. Most importantly I have been keeping his tempo, which makes him very exhausted, but is making a noticeable difference. He is less fussy in the bridle and more honest and reliable about his contact, which feels great. I also notice that he is much easier to sit in his trot, as he is working better over his back and giving me a good place to sit.
I had an exciting ride yesterday as I got to use my new "gadget"- it's portable speakers that are small enough to clip onto my saddle, but loud enough to really pump out some noise without a lot of distortion. I was able to ride to my freestyle music- for the first time since summer- and it was immediately apparent that I was able to keep the tempo better throughout the entire piece! I felt great about our progress since last year and it made me even more excited to be able to show my freestyle this season!
Speaking of show season, the schedule complete with Judges was finally published on the Internet this week. I get a little OCD about planning show season, as it takes budgeting, time management, vacation planning, etc. And while I want to continue showing with Shelley, I'm not sure how it will all work out. So Shelley and I have agreed that while it will be great to show together, I am ready to do some shows on my own and be able to hold my own. So today I took a good look at the schedule and got a rough draft together. Hopefully I'll be able to go to a majority of the shows with Shelley, but we shall see after she gets her schedule worked out.
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