Well, Skate's good streak was finally broken. I couldn't be too mad, he had 3 days off while I was out of town.
There's really not much to say about the ride except that it was all at mach 10 and accompanied by constant btv, bit gnawing, and tail swishing. So annoying. I just did loads of circles and hoped for the best : ) Once he gets it in his mind he's gonna book it around as fast as he can, nothing is gonna stop him! If I do a ridiculously strong half halt, which throws me off balance, he will slow for a stride or two. The barn owner remarked that I was getting some nice extended trot. Great...don't have to teach him that one in the future!
Anyhoo...unfortunately, he gets another two days off before I can ride again. 20 meter circles, here we come.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Poofy Pro
Well, it finally stopped raining so I got to ride yesterday. :) Kate had a horrible weekend so it'd been awhile since he'd been ridden but I was pleased with how he went. I worked on trying to repeat the feeling from Tuesday and it seemed to work pretty well. He felt rounder under me and he had lots of foam between his butt-cheeks when we were done so hopefully that means he was using his butt ;). Since he's starting to get his winter-woolies he sweated up despite not getting worked that hard. I'd say we're round probably 75-80% of the time now, with some of that non-roundness being me needing a break. It was hard to tell since I was cantering in 2-point, but it felt like he stayed roundish in the canter. I've been fighting to keep my hands up since when he rounds up he drops his head and neck, which makes me want to follow with my hands.
Nothing super exciting in the ride, but overall I was happy with it. :) We have a lesson scheduled for Friday so my goal for this week is to just try and get our good moments more consistent so we can maybe work on new stuff in the lesson.
Nothing super exciting in the ride, but overall I was happy with it. :) We have a lesson scheduled for Friday so my goal for this week is to just try and get our good moments more consistent so we can maybe work on new stuff in the lesson.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Some days I wish I'd gone to vet school...
It's been a rough week at An Otherwise Perfect Farm...
Last weekend, Julia (trainer/owner of Huey/Surf/Barn) took her Intermediate horse to the CCI** at Plantation. Calvin was a superstar on XC and was cleared by the vets to return to stabling, but started having problems walking back to the barn. They scratched from stadium, came home, and the next day found out Calvin tore his butt muscle away from the bone and is on 4months of stall rest...and full recovery is still up in the air. This comes on the heels of Julia's Advanced horse sustaining a career ending injury earlier this year. The same day, the farm's resident wonder pony was permanently retired due to nagging stifle issues, and his lessor was heartbroken. Julia offered to teach a jumping lesson that for Huey and I to make herself feel better, as we'd been planning to schedule a lesson for his first jumping session since his injury...and I said she could be the first to jump him (hey, what else did I have to offer that could cheer her up...other than the fact that I made cookies and brought them out to the barn). I did about 30min of flatwork with Huey -- including canter legyields in his bad direction, then she hops on, and heads for a x-rail...Huey perks up his ears and I swear he smiled as he hopped over the x...and then landed taking funny (as in funny = bad) steps with his Left hind.
It is not good when your super-tough upper level rider trainer gets off your horse and starts crying.
Fast forward to Hannah putting on her psychiatrist hat and attempting a little supportive psychotherapy while attempting to assess the foot situation. Trotting him around, it definitely looked like a foot issue...and on exam, his heel had cracked open where we'd recently been treating for thrush. No pulse, no swelling, and just a little tenderness over where the heel meets the frog...nothing a little rest, some ToMorrow treatment, and a good sole pack can't fix in a few days.
The fun and excitement with Huey was followed by a scheduled jog-up for Surf, who'd felt NQR over the weekend while J had been gone. He was passed by the ground jury of J, J's husband, the barn manager, and myself...just looked stiff from being in...so he got his (overdue...bad hannah) Map-5 IV shot and an easy flatwork session. But, Surf's hind shoe got loosened up by jogging on the pavement, so I've been using every trick I know to keep the shoe on as the farrier couldn't come until Wed...then rescheduled for Fri, then saturday...and had an emergency so will be out tomorrow. I hope. We've been doing short, light workouts this week in an attempt to keep stiffness away (Surf's arthritic self does better with daily work or he gets super stiff)while not losing that shoe...as we've had a TERRIBLE time keeping shoes on this summer. Terrible to the point we've had custom pads, custom shoes, 3 week shoeing cycles, and all kinds of various and sundry supplements and topical agents for helping his TERRIBLE TERRIBLE SHELLY TB FEET! My regular "hoof care" routine takes as long as the rest of my post-ride cool out and grooming :P After ever ride, surf gets his feet picked out, wiped down, the soles painted with a terrible smelling mixture of pine tar and fish oil, and the tops painted with keratex...along with daily farrier's formula in his supplements. Trying to get ahold of some reducine for the coronet bands too.
But...it gets better! Surf has a quarter crack in the L hind...a BIG crack that was through the coronet band, that ended up causing the lymphangitis/puffy leg/lameness earlier in July/august. Well, the crack was opened up in august when I got my new farrier, and showed evidence of old infection. The thurs before my Jimmy lesson, Surf came out for my lesson with J LAME LAME LAME on that L hind, and we worried that the crack was infected again. My farrier came out, drilled out the crack and cut away the damaged hoof below...and surf was off for 4 days until he got a new shoe on (which meant he'd had no riding for 10 days b/c of a lost shoe, then the lameness and subsequent hoof removal). During that 4 days I was soaking the foot in epsom salt solution, then packing with Icthammol/epsom salt goo, cotton, and wrapping with vetwrap/duct tape. Now that surf has a shoe on that foot (held on by 2 nails on one side...and with no actual hoof below the crack...hard to describe...I need to take a picture) we're trying to keep the crack clean and the shoe on. So...after ever ride, I have to clean out the crack and the hoof really well, dry it, pack the crack and the area below (where the missing hoof would go) with goo and cotton, then pack the sole with goo/cotton, wrap and turn the horse out...and repeat after every ride (I'm buying vetwrap in cases of 100 rolls now!) On the plus side, I'm much much faster at wrapping feet than I used to be...goodness knows I'm getting enough practice. Oh...and don't forget the bell boots up front to keep the giant-strided horse from ripping off his front shoes :P
All this combined with the Map-5 shots (I'm way better at IV injections in horses than people!), cosequin, standing wraps for the boys if they're going to be in for any long periods of time, still occasionally sweating surf's fetlock hematoma (another story for another time), sole packing, poulticing, icing, helping J with magnetic blanket treatments and lasering...oh, and joint injections. Don't forget the injections! Huey's getting hocks and perhaps ankles done tomrrow...hopefully just hocks!
Needless to say, I am learning an immense amount of knowledge about how to maintain the high level competition horse or the aging eventer!
Huey has aparently become a dressage horse during his vacation...I'm not sure what happened to the old "I hate dressage" red horse, but I'll keep this one thankyouverymuch! Surf has 3 lessons in the week to make up some lost ground before we head up to PA for the Radnor Hunt HT held on the grounds of the Radnor Hunt Club, site of the old Radnor CIC***. We're doing training, and will be hanging out with the Phillip Dutton/Boyd Martin crew up there, so I need to make up for some lost time!
Last weekend, Julia (trainer/owner of Huey/Surf/Barn) took her Intermediate horse to the CCI** at Plantation. Calvin was a superstar on XC and was cleared by the vets to return to stabling, but started having problems walking back to the barn. They scratched from stadium, came home, and the next day found out Calvin tore his butt muscle away from the bone and is on 4months of stall rest...and full recovery is still up in the air. This comes on the heels of Julia's Advanced horse sustaining a career ending injury earlier this year. The same day, the farm's resident wonder pony was permanently retired due to nagging stifle issues, and his lessor was heartbroken. Julia offered to teach a jumping lesson that for Huey and I to make herself feel better, as we'd been planning to schedule a lesson for his first jumping session since his injury...and I said she could be the first to jump him (hey, what else did I have to offer that could cheer her up...other than the fact that I made cookies and brought them out to the barn). I did about 30min of flatwork with Huey -- including canter legyields in his bad direction, then she hops on, and heads for a x-rail...Huey perks up his ears and I swear he smiled as he hopped over the x...and then landed taking funny (as in funny = bad) steps with his Left hind.
It is not good when your super-tough upper level rider trainer gets off your horse and starts crying.
Fast forward to Hannah putting on her psychiatrist hat and attempting a little supportive psychotherapy while attempting to assess the foot situation. Trotting him around, it definitely looked like a foot issue...and on exam, his heel had cracked open where we'd recently been treating for thrush. No pulse, no swelling, and just a little tenderness over where the heel meets the frog...nothing a little rest, some ToMorrow treatment, and a good sole pack can't fix in a few days.
The fun and excitement with Huey was followed by a scheduled jog-up for Surf, who'd felt NQR over the weekend while J had been gone. He was passed by the ground jury of J, J's husband, the barn manager, and myself...just looked stiff from being in...so he got his (overdue...bad hannah) Map-5 IV shot and an easy flatwork session. But, Surf's hind shoe got loosened up by jogging on the pavement, so I've been using every trick I know to keep the shoe on as the farrier couldn't come until Wed...then rescheduled for Fri, then saturday...and had an emergency so will be out tomorrow. I hope. We've been doing short, light workouts this week in an attempt to keep stiffness away (Surf's arthritic self does better with daily work or he gets super stiff)while not losing that shoe...as we've had a TERRIBLE time keeping shoes on this summer. Terrible to the point we've had custom pads, custom shoes, 3 week shoeing cycles, and all kinds of various and sundry supplements and topical agents for helping his TERRIBLE TERRIBLE SHELLY TB FEET! My regular "hoof care" routine takes as long as the rest of my post-ride cool out and grooming :P After ever ride, surf gets his feet picked out, wiped down, the soles painted with a terrible smelling mixture of pine tar and fish oil, and the tops painted with keratex...along with daily farrier's formula in his supplements. Trying to get ahold of some reducine for the coronet bands too.
But...it gets better! Surf has a quarter crack in the L hind...a BIG crack that was through the coronet band, that ended up causing the lymphangitis/puffy leg/lameness earlier in July/august. Well, the crack was opened up in august when I got my new farrier, and showed evidence of old infection. The thurs before my Jimmy lesson, Surf came out for my lesson with J LAME LAME LAME on that L hind, and we worried that the crack was infected again. My farrier came out, drilled out the crack and cut away the damaged hoof below...and surf was off for 4 days until he got a new shoe on (which meant he'd had no riding for 10 days b/c of a lost shoe, then the lameness and subsequent hoof removal). During that 4 days I was soaking the foot in epsom salt solution, then packing with Icthammol/epsom salt goo, cotton, and wrapping with vetwrap/duct tape. Now that surf has a shoe on that foot (held on by 2 nails on one side...and with no actual hoof below the crack...hard to describe...I need to take a picture) we're trying to keep the crack clean and the shoe on. So...after ever ride, I have to clean out the crack and the hoof really well, dry it, pack the crack and the area below (where the missing hoof would go) with goo and cotton, then pack the sole with goo/cotton, wrap and turn the horse out...and repeat after every ride (I'm buying vetwrap in cases of 100 rolls now!) On the plus side, I'm much much faster at wrapping feet than I used to be...goodness knows I'm getting enough practice. Oh...and don't forget the bell boots up front to keep the giant-strided horse from ripping off his front shoes :P
All this combined with the Map-5 shots (I'm way better at IV injections in horses than people!), cosequin, standing wraps for the boys if they're going to be in for any long periods of time, still occasionally sweating surf's fetlock hematoma (another story for another time), sole packing, poulticing, icing, helping J with magnetic blanket treatments and lasering...oh, and joint injections. Don't forget the injections! Huey's getting hocks and perhaps ankles done tomrrow...hopefully just hocks!
Needless to say, I am learning an immense amount of knowledge about how to maintain the high level competition horse or the aging eventer!
Huey has aparently become a dressage horse during his vacation...I'm not sure what happened to the old "I hate dressage" red horse, but I'll keep this one thankyouverymuch! Surf has 3 lessons in the week to make up some lost ground before we head up to PA for the Radnor Hunt HT held on the grounds of the Radnor Hunt Club, site of the old Radnor CIC***. We're doing training, and will be hanging out with the Phillip Dutton/Boyd Martin crew up there, so I need to make up for some lost time!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Kate & Pro - Braaaaaaatty...
So apparently it was time for another "let's test Mom" ride. I guess the combination of riding at dusk and the cool weather made for some frisky attitude. He was doing his tight neck routine where he braces his jaw and neck muscles and insists on gawking at everything. Not the bench this time, but the water trough in the pasture. Yes, the pasture where he lived for many months. Idiot. I think he was also pissy about my hands being up (thanks to Andrea for making that extra super salient lately! I needed a good solid reminder).
Anyway, Pro got some good solid kicks in the butt. Hugely anti-listening. He started to throw some tantrums next to the bench and he was getting into his "I don't care if I hurt myself, I'm going to tell you I'm mad!" mode...rather than allow him to maim himself on the bench, I got off and worked him intensely in-hand with the whip. Head DOWN, he walks off immediately on voice command, stops immediately on voice command. We did this all around the arena, and then I hopped back on. He was a bit better after this, but it was seriously about 45 min of warmup before he was listening to me at all. At least I persisted, so I "won" but I wish he wouldn't be so awfully pig-headed about it.
Oh and the videos are coming...Andrea has them on her camera so she's trying to get them to me on a CD. :)
Here's a pic to keep you all quiet for now! ;)
Anyway, Pro got some good solid kicks in the butt. Hugely anti-listening. He started to throw some tantrums next to the bench and he was getting into his "I don't care if I hurt myself, I'm going to tell you I'm mad!" mode...rather than allow him to maim himself on the bench, I got off and worked him intensely in-hand with the whip. Head DOWN, he walks off immediately on voice command, stops immediately on voice command. We did this all around the arena, and then I hopped back on. He was a bit better after this, but it was seriously about 45 min of warmup before he was listening to me at all. At least I persisted, so I "won" but I wish he wouldn't be so awfully pig-headed about it.
Oh and the videos are coming...Andrea has them on her camera so she's trying to get them to me on a CD. :)
Here's a pic to keep you all quiet for now! ;)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Manhandling Skate
I had a lesson Saturday morning and a few rides since. Skate has been a good boy, as usual. He actually came trotting up to me in the pasture the other day : ) Nevermind that it's because I am now his treat-dispenser...let me just pretend its because we're bonding! Now, if I can just get him to come to the gate when I call. I've always wanted a horse that would do that.
As a result of that video and my flapping reins, I decided that I would try taking much stronger contact and see how Skate responds. I tried it during my lesson and voila, there's our solution! He didn't like the featherlight contact I had been using...by taking a strong (to me) and steady contact, he settled down quite a bit. He's still not magically through and using his butt/back, but he is no longer giraffing his head...he has limited his evasion to moments of btv. That's easily cured by pushing him forward, as every time he comes btv, his rear motor stalls.
Now, I feel like I'm practically hanging on his face, but that's because I've always used such a light contact...of course, I've always ridden hunters, too. Hey, whatever makes Skate happy makes me happy, so I'll keep the contact.
As a result of that video and my flapping reins, I decided that I would try taking much stronger contact and see how Skate responds. I tried it during my lesson and voila, there's our solution! He didn't like the featherlight contact I had been using...by taking a strong (to me) and steady contact, he settled down quite a bit. He's still not magically through and using his butt/back, but he is no longer giraffing his head...he has limited his evasion to moments of btv. That's easily cured by pushing him forward, as every time he comes btv, his rear motor stalls.
Now, I feel like I'm practically hanging on his face, but that's because I've always used such a light contact...of course, I've always ridden hunters, too. Hey, whatever makes Skate happy makes me happy, so I'll keep the contact.
Lessons in Lunging
Oh my what an afternoon! The weather was PERFECT!
I get to the barn and find out that my lesson has cancelled at the last minute without telling me........parents like this make me not want to teach at ALL. This student is the one I posted pictures of a while back and she is going to her first dressage test in Oct!
I wanted to make sure that Desi was 100% better from her abcesses so I haven't been doing anything with her other than hoof care and making sure she is getting ALL of her anti-biotics.
I got her out and brushed her and did her feet. I wanted to see how she was moving but the roundpen is just..........a mess. So I grabbed a flat halter and lunge line and headed to the arena. She was very tracking left. She was soft and responsive and SOUND! Tracking right......we had a few big bumps. She wanted to pop that outside shoulder and go sideways instead of forward and pull me towards her boyfriends. That was NOT going to happen. When she would pull I would drop all my weight and push the line down towards the ground. When she would stop and come off the pressure I would send her forward again. After 3-4 times of doing this she was just as good as her left and SOUND!!
I am going to get her fat butt in shape with more lunging and then start riding this tank. She needs the work and I need something to ride.
I get to the barn and find out that my lesson has cancelled at the last minute without telling me........parents like this make me not want to teach at ALL. This student is the one I posted pictures of a while back and she is going to her first dressage test in Oct!
I wanted to make sure that Desi was 100% better from her abcesses so I haven't been doing anything with her other than hoof care and making sure she is getting ALL of her anti-biotics.
I got her out and brushed her and did her feet. I wanted to see how she was moving but the roundpen is just..........a mess. So I grabbed a flat halter and lunge line and headed to the arena. She was very tracking left. She was soft and responsive and SOUND! Tracking right......we had a few big bumps. She wanted to pop that outside shoulder and go sideways instead of forward and pull me towards her boyfriends. That was NOT going to happen. When she would pull I would drop all my weight and push the line down towards the ground. When she would stop and come off the pressure I would send her forward again. After 3-4 times of doing this she was just as good as her left and SOUND!!
I am going to get her fat butt in shape with more lunging and then start riding this tank. She needs the work and I need something to ride.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Good Pro!
Today was not a day I expected to have a good ride. I got on around 7, so at the tail-end of dusk. The arena has lights, but only on one side and that throws the bunny tree into shadow. So I opted to stick to the unlighted end near the bench for most of the ride. I started out trying to do the outside rein turning thing, which seemed to go a bit better for me tonight. Then did some quarter-pirouettes before really working on using my muscles properly.
I find I ride a lot better if I tense all of my muscles between my knees and my rib cage. That sounds bad, but it's not like I lock up, but more like those stretches/exercises where you workout against your own muscles so you can't injure yourself. So I do that with my upper thighs/abs and that really seems to anchor me in place. Not to mention doing the butt-squeeze helps keep me lifted up and distributes my weight better so Pro can round up his back more. He did ok at the walk, but the trot was the fun part. If I kept my muscles tight and did the light posting, he would start to round up into his "hunter pony" frame. If I managed to pull my shoulders back and open up the angle from my hip, his head and neck lifted and he got off his forehand. We did that in both directions and then called it a night because the metal doors of the barn were getting shut and the horrible grinding noise kept me from being able to focus.
So, it wasn't really a breakthrough type ride, because I know I should ride like that all the time, but it was a lot of fun (except for the fact that now I feel like I did a 30 min long crunch). I have a lesson scheduled a week from Friday, so hopefully Gayle can help me play catch-up. Oh, and thanks to whoever suggested keeping less of my feet in my stirrups, I think that helped. So now they're on the toe part of the ball of my foot, not on the arch part of the ball of my foot. I also think riding in blue jeans helps (dunno why, my theory is it lets me slide to the deeper part of the saddle easier).
I find I ride a lot better if I tense all of my muscles between my knees and my rib cage. That sounds bad, but it's not like I lock up, but more like those stretches/exercises where you workout against your own muscles so you can't injure yourself. So I do that with my upper thighs/abs and that really seems to anchor me in place. Not to mention doing the butt-squeeze helps keep me lifted up and distributes my weight better so Pro can round up his back more. He did ok at the walk, but the trot was the fun part. If I kept my muscles tight and did the light posting, he would start to round up into his "hunter pony" frame. If I managed to pull my shoulders back and open up the angle from my hip, his head and neck lifted and he got off his forehand. We did that in both directions and then called it a night because the metal doors of the barn were getting shut and the horrible grinding noise kept me from being able to focus.
So, it wasn't really a breakthrough type ride, because I know I should ride like that all the time, but it was a lot of fun (except for the fact that now I feel like I did a 30 min long crunch). I have a lesson scheduled a week from Friday, so hopefully Gayle can help me play catch-up. Oh, and thanks to whoever suggested keeping less of my feet in my stirrups, I think that helped. So now they're on the toe part of the ball of my foot, not on the arch part of the ball of my foot. I also think riding in blue jeans helps (dunno why, my theory is it lets me slide to the deeper part of the saddle easier).
Kate & Andrea & Pro (and the BENCH and TREE!!!)
Alright, let's get this out of the way. Here's the infamous bunny tree, and the bench:
So, THOSE are the big scary demons that annoy Andrea and me each week. ;)
Andrea and I decided to "tag team" Pro on Saturday. I'm sure he was delighted to see us both drive up. Andrea thought it would be nice to have us both ride when he wasn't being a total brat, which ended up being good. She reminded me about my hands (I know! :)) and I was better able to describe the "outside rein turning" in person rather than through a blog post. He was quite nice by the end. Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to take pictures and talk at the same time, so there are only pictures of me.
Excuse the horrendous tipping going on with my upper body...I think I'm doing some light posting and my inside hand is scratching his neck ;) but he does look nice!!! Andrea also got some videos of him being nice...AND one video where he got mad that I was telling him where to put his hind end, and let loose with a buck to tell me so. Plus she almost got a shot of him sinking back on his HQ to then bounce up and sort of do a levade/capriole-like leap?! Who knows.Anyway, Andrea's ride was beautiful, so next time we'll get more pictures of her. :)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Hanging out with Jimmy W. & the Big Kids
I wish I could get time to post about things closer to when they happen...but I'm usually too busy working or riding :P
Last week Surf and I had our first lesson of the season with THE Jimmy Wofford. For those of you who may not be total eventing nerds like me (or read his column in PH) Jimmy is to eventing what George Morris is to Hunters...right down to writing one of the bibles of eventing (Training the Three-day horse and Rider) that is the eventing counterpart to Morris's Hunter Seat Equitation. I could go on and on about Jimmy's accomplishments...but I think a few old photos speak for themselves :)
I still find it weird that I'm on a first-name basis with Jimmy...but kind-of cool :) I rode with him for the first time in NC - took Sprite down to SoPines for a 2-day clinic. When I came up to Maryland, I found out he comes down to teach at my barn every 4-6 weeks in the "off season"...so I jumped at the chance to become a "regular". He teaches group lessons since he's so popular...and I did 5-6 lessons with him last fall while riding Huey. It was so cool the first time I rode Huey with Jimmy...he walked into the ring, where there were 6 horses waiting, smiles, walks over to Huey, pats him on the head and says "Ladies, this old gentleman co-wrote my book on gymnastics."
Well, when I was arranging my lesson this time, I must have momentarily lost mind, as I said I'd join the "Big Kids" group -- the 3'6" group -- which is always composed of my trainer on her latest UL horse, a local MFH, and a couple of steeplechase jockeys. I was starting to have some second thoughts when Surf and I headed up to the ring for our lesson and saw fences set up that were definitely 3'6"...with cups set on the standards to make them even bigger :0 The lesson, as often is the case, was focused on gymnastics...Jimmy is a big believer in using gymnastics because the horses can figure out the exercise on their own, and it becomes a good chance to focus on the rider. The first exercise was x-rail, 1 stride to a vertical, 1 stride to an oxer, 2 strides to an oxer. He started with just the x, then gradually added 1 element at a time, getting it raised to 3'6" or higher, then lowering it a bit to add the next element before raising all the fences. Trotting into that line just looks like a sea of polls...with a GREAT BIG oxer looming at the end. Jimmy always gets on me about the fact that I lean at my fences when I get tense and stop breathing. Those are things that I've really been working on with Julia and he could see some improvement. He laughed at the fact that I've gone back to something he made me do with Sprite -- count the strides on my approach to every fence from the time that I turn onto my line and start to even begin to get nervous or tense (even if that means I'm counting frmo 5-8-10-12 strides out). He also picked up on the fact that Surf is an excellent teacher to correct my tenseness and leaning habits, since he will not reward me with a nice jump (or any jump sometimes) if I'm not sitting up, relaxed and flexible in my contact while supporting with my leg on the way in. The second exercise involved trotting a fence on a circle to the left, then cantering around to the same fence, landing, coming back to a trot, rolling back to jump a single trot fence, canter away, trot, canter back on the other lead to canter the same single fence. The first fence in this exercise (on the circle) was placed among the other gymnastic fences so that you had to stay out on the circle and jump the fence at an angle to get the best approach. Next we had to trot a fence on a circle to the right, canter around to the same fence, then land cantering right off the centerline of the ring, down the long side, then making a 90-degree Right hand turn, 2-strides to jump a single vertical parallel to the long side. Surf and I have worked on jumping on a circle with Julia, so he was definitely the superstar of this exercise. The third exercise started off as a single bounce, 1 stride to an oxer, then 1 stride to another single bounce...and was then increased to double bounce, 1 stride, oxer, 1 stride, double bounce -- YIKES! Let's just say that when your horse has a 16' stride, this gets pretty dicey...but gave surf a chance to show off that he can jump a 3'6" oxer from the walk :O The last exercise was 2 x-rails set at the far end of the ring, at 45-degree angles to the short side, maybe 2 strides from the end of the ring. You started out cantering to the left-hand x-rail (from the middle of the ring, towards the short side), jump, land on left lead, roll back around to the Right-hand x-rail, land on the right lead, roll back to the left-hand fence, and keep repeating on a figure-8. Very very tough for my very big, very one-sided TB. Left to his own devices, Surf would canter everything on the right lead...and I mean EVERYTHING! I swear this horse is more balanced counter-cantering on the R-lead going Left than most horses are on their left lead going left!
I think the biggest thing that I took away from this lesson was that I could survive a lesson with BIG FENCES...without totally freaking out. Usually when things hit 3'3" I start to get a little tense and start throwing myself at the fences. However, having someone like Jimmy, who had no qualms about having you hold your reins backwards like driving reins, carry your whip under your thumbs, flip the reins over the horse's head and have you hold them like driving reins, or threaten to tie your stirrups to your girth is pretty good incentive to be spot-on in your riding!
Jimmy's teaching again on the 30th, but I have to work...but I'm set to do an xc lesson with him in october, so that should be great fun! My goal is to jump the BIG trakhaner out in our back field...so maybe we can do that with Jimmy :)
Last week Surf and I had our first lesson of the season with THE Jimmy Wofford. For those of you who may not be total eventing nerds like me (or read his column in PH) Jimmy is to eventing what George Morris is to Hunters...right down to writing one of the bibles of eventing (Training the Three-day horse and Rider) that is the eventing counterpart to Morris's Hunter Seat Equitation. I could go on and on about Jimmy's accomplishments...but I think a few old photos speak for themselves :)
I still find it weird that I'm on a first-name basis with Jimmy...but kind-of cool :) I rode with him for the first time in NC - took Sprite down to SoPines for a 2-day clinic. When I came up to Maryland, I found out he comes down to teach at my barn every 4-6 weeks in the "off season"...so I jumped at the chance to become a "regular". He teaches group lessons since he's so popular...and I did 5-6 lessons with him last fall while riding Huey. It was so cool the first time I rode Huey with Jimmy...he walked into the ring, where there were 6 horses waiting, smiles, walks over to Huey, pats him on the head and says "Ladies, this old gentleman co-wrote my book on gymnastics."
Well, when I was arranging my lesson this time, I must have momentarily lost mind, as I said I'd join the "Big Kids" group -- the 3'6" group -- which is always composed of my trainer on her latest UL horse, a local MFH, and a couple of steeplechase jockeys. I was starting to have some second thoughts when Surf and I headed up to the ring for our lesson and saw fences set up that were definitely 3'6"...with cups set on the standards to make them even bigger :0 The lesson, as often is the case, was focused on gymnastics...Jimmy is a big believer in using gymnastics because the horses can figure out the exercise on their own, and it becomes a good chance to focus on the rider. The first exercise was x-rail, 1 stride to a vertical, 1 stride to an oxer, 2 strides to an oxer. He started with just the x, then gradually added 1 element at a time, getting it raised to 3'6" or higher, then lowering it a bit to add the next element before raising all the fences. Trotting into that line just looks like a sea of polls...with a GREAT BIG oxer looming at the end. Jimmy always gets on me about the fact that I lean at my fences when I get tense and stop breathing. Those are things that I've really been working on with Julia and he could see some improvement. He laughed at the fact that I've gone back to something he made me do with Sprite -- count the strides on my approach to every fence from the time that I turn onto my line and start to even begin to get nervous or tense (even if that means I'm counting frmo 5-8-10-12 strides out). He also picked up on the fact that Surf is an excellent teacher to correct my tenseness and leaning habits, since he will not reward me with a nice jump (or any jump sometimes) if I'm not sitting up, relaxed and flexible in my contact while supporting with my leg on the way in. The second exercise involved trotting a fence on a circle to the left, then cantering around to the same fence, landing, coming back to a trot, rolling back to jump a single trot fence, canter away, trot, canter back on the other lead to canter the same single fence. The first fence in this exercise (on the circle) was placed among the other gymnastic fences so that you had to stay out on the circle and jump the fence at an angle to get the best approach. Next we had to trot a fence on a circle to the right, canter around to the same fence, then land cantering right off the centerline of the ring, down the long side, then making a 90-degree Right hand turn, 2-strides to jump a single vertical parallel to the long side. Surf and I have worked on jumping on a circle with Julia, so he was definitely the superstar of this exercise. The third exercise started off as a single bounce, 1 stride to an oxer, then 1 stride to another single bounce...and was then increased to double bounce, 1 stride, oxer, 1 stride, double bounce -- YIKES! Let's just say that when your horse has a 16' stride, this gets pretty dicey...but gave surf a chance to show off that he can jump a 3'6" oxer from the walk :O The last exercise was 2 x-rails set at the far end of the ring, at 45-degree angles to the short side, maybe 2 strides from the end of the ring. You started out cantering to the left-hand x-rail (from the middle of the ring, towards the short side), jump, land on left lead, roll back around to the Right-hand x-rail, land on the right lead, roll back to the left-hand fence, and keep repeating on a figure-8. Very very tough for my very big, very one-sided TB. Left to his own devices, Surf would canter everything on the right lead...and I mean EVERYTHING! I swear this horse is more balanced counter-cantering on the R-lead going Left than most horses are on their left lead going left!
I think the biggest thing that I took away from this lesson was that I could survive a lesson with BIG FENCES...without totally freaking out. Usually when things hit 3'3" I start to get a little tense and start throwing myself at the fences. However, having someone like Jimmy, who had no qualms about having you hold your reins backwards like driving reins, carry your whip under your thumbs, flip the reins over the horse's head and have you hold them like driving reins, or threaten to tie your stirrups to your girth is pretty good incentive to be spot-on in your riding!
Jimmy's teaching again on the 30th, but I have to work...but I'm set to do an xc lesson with him in october, so that should be great fun! My goal is to jump the BIG trakhaner out in our back field...so maybe we can do that with Jimmy :)
Dare and Mandros
I rode Mandros yesterday and he was really good. At first I could feel him not pushing from behind (and he was tight when my husband stretched him) so I did lots of laterals and transitions. We did this at the walk and trot. Once he was warmed up, I sat the trot and did the laterals and transitions then and he was great. I really felt him pushing from behind and still light in the bridle. I really worked on keeping the same tempo in the laterals, I tend to let him slow down and not realize it Im not asking him to stay forward.
Then we practiced the canter and he took it right away each time. Im trying really hard to keep my weight to the inside. Thats a huge fault of mine, my left side is so much weaker than my right. This is why he kept changing leads at the show. I have to consisantly think about putting my weight in my left stirrup. I forgot about that at the show. I also practiced the leg yeild to the canter, and he took the canter right away.
Then we practiced the canter and he took it right away each time. Im trying really hard to keep my weight to the inside. Thats a huge fault of mine, my left side is so much weaker than my right. This is why he kept changing leads at the show. I have to consisantly think about putting my weight in my left stirrup. I forgot about that at the show. I also practiced the leg yeild to the canter, and he took the canter right away.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Kate & Pro - working on the "poofy"ness
Like he was for Andrea, Pro gave me a slight bit of attitude on the crossties tonight. It was as I was brushing his foreleg so I have no idea...anyway, he got Mom's full wrath so I'm pretty sure he got the message. He may not be the best horse under saddle, but I'm at least mostly pleased with his ground manners so I like to keep those sharp, if possible.
I'm pleased that he's gotten SO much quicker to respond to outside aid cues, especially when I give slightly on the inside rein. As soon as my outside leg and rein comes on, he turns!! It seems so subtle, but it really is significant. Gayle's new mantra for me is "When you control the outside of the horse, you control the horse." I try to repeat that in my head everytime I apply my outside aids to make him turn. And also gently wrap around my inside leg at the same time, rather than counterbending. Counterbending is okay, says Gayle, at this stage, as he's learning that it's now the OUTSIDE aids that turn, not the inside. But we gradually want to introduce straightness, then true straightness, which means slightly bent to the inside. So we're working on it.
Within a few minutes of doing the outside aid turning at the walk, including a few quarter-turns at the walk, he was quite contemplative and chewey on the bit. We had a scooty walk by the bunny tree but then he settled down to business. He's also back on the Magnesium since last Friday so maybe that's helping. :) The trot followed the same way, especially because I was concentrating on my light posting (or I like Alex's term, hot potato posting!!!) and keeping my legs off of his sides to get him to lift his back. He was pretty content to swing along and start engaging that topline. I tried bridging, but he really wasn't in a bridging mood tonight, so I just tried to imagine that I had them bridged...that worked.
We also did some light cantering. Last week's lesson was one of the rare lessons where Gayle's actually had us canter. And true to the whole "Restarting Pro" project...we literally ARE restarting him. Because this whole honestly using his back thing (key word, honestly) is new to him, we're cantering in half-seat, using a wide opening inside rein to guide him. It's exactly like when I helped start Sadie and we taught her to canter.
The only glitch tonight was when I asked for some sitting trot. His ears were tuned back to me as I played at the walk, and then asked for the trot. Then I gave him a light bump-bump with my legs and he actually pinned his ears (he NEVER pins them, EVER), I tried again and he kicked out. Whoa! What was that?! I re-gathered him up at the walk, posted for a few circles, he seemed okay but slightly annoyed, then gradually started sitting again. Hmm. I checked his back and it wasn't sore, so maybe he's just going through some general pissy-ness? He was fine the rest of the ride and his usual sweet self on the crossties after, so it was just that one moment.
Andrea comes to visit tomorrow while I ride so we'll get PHOTOS. :)
I'm pleased that he's gotten SO much quicker to respond to outside aid cues, especially when I give slightly on the inside rein. As soon as my outside leg and rein comes on, he turns!! It seems so subtle, but it really is significant. Gayle's new mantra for me is "When you control the outside of the horse, you control the horse." I try to repeat that in my head everytime I apply my outside aids to make him turn. And also gently wrap around my inside leg at the same time, rather than counterbending. Counterbending is okay, says Gayle, at this stage, as he's learning that it's now the OUTSIDE aids that turn, not the inside. But we gradually want to introduce straightness, then true straightness, which means slightly bent to the inside. So we're working on it.
Within a few minutes of doing the outside aid turning at the walk, including a few quarter-turns at the walk, he was quite contemplative and chewey on the bit. We had a scooty walk by the bunny tree but then he settled down to business. He's also back on the Magnesium since last Friday so maybe that's helping. :) The trot followed the same way, especially because I was concentrating on my light posting (or I like Alex's term, hot potato posting!!!) and keeping my legs off of his sides to get him to lift his back. He was pretty content to swing along and start engaging that topline. I tried bridging, but he really wasn't in a bridging mood tonight, so I just tried to imagine that I had them bridged...that worked.
We also did some light cantering. Last week's lesson was one of the rare lessons where Gayle's actually had us canter. And true to the whole "Restarting Pro" project...we literally ARE restarting him. Because this whole honestly using his back thing (key word, honestly) is new to him, we're cantering in half-seat, using a wide opening inside rein to guide him. It's exactly like when I helped start Sadie and we taught her to canter.
The only glitch tonight was when I asked for some sitting trot. His ears were tuned back to me as I played at the walk, and then asked for the trot. Then I gave him a light bump-bump with my legs and he actually pinned his ears (he NEVER pins them, EVER), I tried again and he kicked out. Whoa! What was that?! I re-gathered him up at the walk, posted for a few circles, he seemed okay but slightly annoyed, then gradually started sitting again. Hmm. I checked his back and it wasn't sore, so maybe he's just going through some general pissy-ness? He was fine the rest of the ride and his usual sweet self on the crossties after, so it was just that one moment.
Andrea comes to visit tomorrow while I ride so we'll get PHOTOS. :)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Can someone teach me to ride WITH my stirrups?
I know, I know, everyone says they ride better without their stirrups and it's normal, but it's driving me insane. Ok, now, to back up a bit ;).
Pro got an unscheduled vacation (hadn't been ridden since Saturday) but he'd been out for about 48 hours thanks to the nice weather so I wasn't expecting any real problems with him. He was somewhat passive aggressive during his grooming so I lowered my expectations for the ride before I even got on. On the plus side, he didn't really care about the bench from hell. He didn't even pitch a real fit about the bunny tree. Instead he was just apathetic about everything (while sticking his nose in the air). I tried walk-halt-walk transitions, walk-almosthalt-walk, leg yields, serpentines, serpentines with halts, small circles... NOTHING made a dent in his head-up, hollowed-back disconnectedness. I was about to just give up on the ride, but I decided to make one last effort and ditched my stirrups.
Poof, instant dressage pony. Want to trot around soft and connected with a swinging back? No problem. Leg yields? Just hold your position and look (seriously, I just looked and he went straight and laterally across the arena). Extended trot to collected trot? Ok. Extended canter down the long side and come back with just an ab tightening for the turn? Sure (well, the coming back wasn't super fast, but he did shorten some...). So, how do I ride with stirrups like I ride without them? One of my trainers back when I was like 12 or 13 told me I rode better without stirrups than with them (this was huntseat) and I said "thanks" and she gave me this dirty look and said "That's not a good thing" so it's always been a problem for me. But how do I fix it? Am I deluding myself that it could be a saddle fitting issue? I feel like Kate's is a little big for me so I end up with my feet about 2-3" further forward if I pick up my stirrups, but that just feels like making excuses.
Pro got an unscheduled vacation (hadn't been ridden since Saturday) but he'd been out for about 48 hours thanks to the nice weather so I wasn't expecting any real problems with him. He was somewhat passive aggressive during his grooming so I lowered my expectations for the ride before I even got on. On the plus side, he didn't really care about the bench from hell. He didn't even pitch a real fit about the bunny tree. Instead he was just apathetic about everything (while sticking his nose in the air). I tried walk-halt-walk transitions, walk-almosthalt-walk, leg yields, serpentines, serpentines with halts, small circles... NOTHING made a dent in his head-up, hollowed-back disconnectedness. I was about to just give up on the ride, but I decided to make one last effort and ditched my stirrups.
Poof, instant dressage pony. Want to trot around soft and connected with a swinging back? No problem. Leg yields? Just hold your position and look (seriously, I just looked and he went straight and laterally across the arena). Extended trot to collected trot? Ok. Extended canter down the long side and come back with just an ab tightening for the turn? Sure (well, the coming back wasn't super fast, but he did shorten some...). So, how do I ride with stirrups like I ride without them? One of my trainers back when I was like 12 or 13 told me I rode better without stirrups than with them (this was huntseat) and I said "thanks" and she gave me this dirty look and said "That's not a good thing" so it's always been a problem for me. But how do I fix it? Am I deluding myself that it could be a saddle fitting issue? I feel like Kate's is a little big for me so I end up with my feet about 2-3" further forward if I pick up my stirrups, but that just feels like making excuses.
Yay! Videos of Skate!
Boo! He wasn't so good tonight!
So...here's a super short video of Skate doing his best giraffe impression. He managed to get his tongue over the bit tonight and was just generally fussy after that.
Some things that came from the video: I had no clue my reins were flopping in the wind! Geez. And I knew my shoulders weren't back, per say, but I had no idea I looked like a hunchback. Oh, and can I get any less bend in my elbows? And...I think I could stand to shorten my stirrups a hole, what do y'all think?
On a good note: we were discussing show names for him - basically coming up with anything related to skating - and we stumbled upon the best name ever:
Pony Hawk!
hee hee...that's only funny if you've heard of the skateboarder Tony Hawk!
So...here's a super short video of Skate doing his best giraffe impression. He managed to get his tongue over the bit tonight and was just generally fussy after that.
Some things that came from the video: I had no clue my reins were flopping in the wind! Geez. And I knew my shoulders weren't back, per say, but I had no idea I looked like a hunchback. Oh, and can I get any less bend in my elbows? And...I think I could stand to shorten my stirrups a hole, what do y'all think?
On a good note: we were discussing show names for him - basically coming up with anything related to skating - and we stumbled upon the best name ever:
Pony Hawk!
hee hee...that's only funny if you've heard of the skateboarder Tony Hawk!
Gabby needs a Game Plan!
I rode Skate last night...it was about 7:15pm (shorter days suck!) so I turned the lights on to slowly get him used to riding under lights. He might have done this before, but I don't know, so I erred on the side of caution. As it got dark, he didn't seem to really care that he was riding through lots of shadows and stuff. That's good, because I ride under the lights all winter. One funny part..when we were done and we were walking to the various switches to cut the lights off, I reached up to rub his nose and must have tapped his side with my whip: all four of his hooves went straight up in the air in surprise. When they came down, he looked embarrassed about his overreaction. Funny pony.
Other good stuff:
I think he's really liking the mullen mouth snaffle. He actually accepts and even asks for contact on his own. The only time he inverts now is when I really boot him forward and I think that's a reaction to my leg, not the bit. I think I should start relying more on my whip and less on a strong kick when he gets a little behind me...
He walks willingly through the big puddles in the ring...it took a bit of coaxing at first, but now he splashes on through. This is important, as he will be a trail pony much of the time. He already walks easily over the fake bridge.
Only bad stuff:
I only rode for about 30 minutes last night. He did so well at everything I asked him to do that I didn't want to keep drilling. I really need to have some sort of game plan for when this happens...right now its just to quit! I almost decided to ask for the canter since he was so good, but I decided to wait until my instructor is there to tell me what NOT to do and avoid a meltdown : )
Other good stuff:
I think he's really liking the mullen mouth snaffle. He actually accepts and even asks for contact on his own. The only time he inverts now is when I really boot him forward and I think that's a reaction to my leg, not the bit. I think I should start relying more on my whip and less on a strong kick when he gets a little behind me...
He walks willingly through the big puddles in the ring...it took a bit of coaxing at first, but now he splashes on through. This is important, as he will be a trail pony much of the time. He already walks easily over the fake bridge.
Only bad stuff:
I only rode for about 30 minutes last night. He did so well at everything I asked him to do that I didn't want to keep drilling. I really need to have some sort of game plan for when this happens...right now its just to quit! I almost decided to ask for the canter since he was so good, but I decided to wait until my instructor is there to tell me what NOT to do and avoid a meltdown : )
Monday, September 15, 2008
Dare, Mandros, and the SHOW
Thanks for the pictures Kate!! It was SOOOO nice to have you and Erik there!
this is the halt at A, the judge said it was late!? It looks exactly at 'A' to me. 'A' is in the middle of the entrance (the gap in the white fence)
First off, I dont have pictures yet :( my husband took video of both tests, but a girl at my barn took pictures, and so did Kate, so Im waiting to get those.
Before we got on the trailer, he was acting up. He didnt want to have his shipping boots put on. The last time we put the boots on, he went to the vet school, so we figured he was thinking he was going back. Poor guy. Once we got to the show, he was still being naughty and dragging me around. Jennie, his owner, actually told me I could put the chain over his nose. He heard the threat and quit pulling on the lead. We carried the whip the rest of the day, and he behaved. I tacked up by myself (my husband somehow became the video guy for everyone) and Mandros was freaking out. Once I got up to the warmup ring, Kate and her man were there, so they were able to help me get on.
The warmup wasnt great. He was zooming around but finally calmed down. We practiced the canter transitions and then we went in for our first test. Once we got in the ring, we both calmed down and went to work. I was pleased with how he acted during the test. There were some unexpected flying changes but other than that, the test went well. It really did seem like a bug was on him or something, because the changes werent clean. Its hard to tell whats going on in the video, but Im not moving my legs or hands. He kinda hops twice, and then changes behind. I can hear a horse by the arena call out right before this, maybe that messed up his concentration?
The 2nd test also went pretty well. We did have trouble with one of the canter departs, and once I got it, I forgot where to go (and yes, I even had a reader for the test) so I went down the long side to do a circled at B (which is the movement in the other test) and went off course. I came down to a trot and listened to the judge tell me where I went wrong and then I picked the canter back up where I was supposed to and everything after that went fine. I didnt get good marks for the lenghtening in the canter. She said there was no difference shown between the working canter and lenghtening. There WAS a difference, I have video! Its hard to tell from that angle though.
Anyway... I got a 2nd place in the first test (out of 5 people). The PONY that won is amazing and is a champion pony. I received a 62.67% in that test. The 2nd test I got 1st out of 1, but you have to receive a 60% or above to get a 1st. I got exactly a 60%, haha. Mandros did great, he was better than I thought he would be.
Oh, and I forgot to say, on both my tests, the judge said I need to sit the trot better. If she only knew how hard he was to sit.
I tried to upload the video on youtube, but I think my computer is just too old, it didnt work last time either. We ordered a new one today. Ill try and upload it through blogger. ok, it wont load. I let it upload for 3 hours, so it must be too big. Im going to try and get it on youtube soon.
this is the halt at A, the judge said it was late!? It looks exactly at 'A' to me. 'A' is in the middle of the entrance (the gap in the white fence)
First off, I dont have pictures yet :( my husband took video of both tests, but a girl at my barn took pictures, and so did Kate, so Im waiting to get those.
Before we got on the trailer, he was acting up. He didnt want to have his shipping boots put on. The last time we put the boots on, he went to the vet school, so we figured he was thinking he was going back. Poor guy. Once we got to the show, he was still being naughty and dragging me around. Jennie, his owner, actually told me I could put the chain over his nose. He heard the threat and quit pulling on the lead. We carried the whip the rest of the day, and he behaved. I tacked up by myself (my husband somehow became the video guy for everyone) and Mandros was freaking out. Once I got up to the warmup ring, Kate and her man were there, so they were able to help me get on.
The warmup wasnt great. He was zooming around but finally calmed down. We practiced the canter transitions and then we went in for our first test. Once we got in the ring, we both calmed down and went to work. I was pleased with how he acted during the test. There were some unexpected flying changes but other than that, the test went well. It really did seem like a bug was on him or something, because the changes werent clean. Its hard to tell whats going on in the video, but Im not moving my legs or hands. He kinda hops twice, and then changes behind. I can hear a horse by the arena call out right before this, maybe that messed up his concentration?
The 2nd test also went pretty well. We did have trouble with one of the canter departs, and once I got it, I forgot where to go (and yes, I even had a reader for the test) so I went down the long side to do a circled at B (which is the movement in the other test) and went off course. I came down to a trot and listened to the judge tell me where I went wrong and then I picked the canter back up where I was supposed to and everything after that went fine. I didnt get good marks for the lenghtening in the canter. She said there was no difference shown between the working canter and lenghtening. There WAS a difference, I have video! Its hard to tell from that angle though.
Anyway... I got a 2nd place in the first test (out of 5 people). The PONY that won is amazing and is a champion pony. I received a 62.67% in that test. The 2nd test I got 1st out of 1, but you have to receive a 60% or above to get a 1st. I got exactly a 60%, haha. Mandros did great, he was better than I thought he would be.
Oh, and I forgot to say, on both my tests, the judge said I need to sit the trot better. If she only knew how hard he was to sit.
I tried to upload the video on youtube, but I think my computer is just too old, it didnt work last time either. We ordered a new one today. Ill try and upload it through blogger. ok, it wont load. I let it upload for 3 hours, so it must be too big. Im going to try and get it on youtube soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)