Yes, after 10+ years of riding, I finally figured out how to do a crest release. I wanted to jump somewhere other than at my place or Gina's (which is practically home to us, too) so she booked us some time in Charlie's arena down the road from me - yay! I could have hacked there, but it requires some riding along Lake Bay and I wasn't totally comfortable with that. I'll have to find a back way into there. He had some nice wide oxers set up, I guesstimate at about 2'9 or possibly 3', a dark red aqueduct, and some verticals. Oliver's eyes were bugging out of his head at being somewhere new, and was super-impressed with everything there, but being very good and controlling his impulse to get-the-heck-out-of-dodge. After walking him around and putting him in shoulder-in to get his brain thinking of something other than the New Arean, Gina came out and started us over a little crossrail, which he proceeded to jump as if it were the Rolex. It was pretty funny, though, to see him putting that much effort into a little jump, so G had me going back and forth over it until he settled. When he is sproingy like that, I have a tendency to tip my shoulders forward because I'm afraid of being left behind, so I had to concentrate on keeping my hand low, giving him a couple of tugs before the jump but leaving him alone about two strides out, and waiting for him to jump. That settled him very quickly, so we trotted the aqueduct - again, power leaping it so that he cracked his back and it felt like his knees were wrapped around his ears. After settling over that, we trotted the crossrail, cantered on around a curve and took the little aqueduct. Next, we incorporated the single blue oxer - of course,I got a little nervous coming in, so I picked my way into it, which caused him to jump from a dead spot. Gina said that she predicted that would happen, and told me to get the canter from further out, then leave him alone and just wait for him to jump. In an effort not to pick up my hands, I (for some reason) decided to put them together, thumbs touching each other, in front of me, which kept them lower and then when we jumped, it was a piece of cake to press them into his crest over the fence. It was also easier to keep my upper body back because I could press my hands down and push my upper body away from him - something which came in very handy through the two stride. When I see a long spot, I have a bad habit of leaning at it and sort of gunning him through, which causes him to dump his front end and get very flat.
Gina told me that when I see a long spot, I need to sit still, put my leg on, and HELP HIM THROUGH IT, instead of abandoning him and gunning him at it. he doesn't like the longer spot any more than I do. So, using my new found technique of keeping my hands together, I jumped the vertical in, then saw that it was going to be long so I pressed my hands down and sat up, keeping my leg on, and the out over the oxer worked out perfectly. Yay!
The last thing I took from yesterday was that the minute, and I mean the instant, Oliver's head starts to drop and he lugs around, I need to lift his head up and kick him on. When he starts to get deep and drag me around, we get very flat and on the forehand and then everything afterwards just sucks. Gina says that Oliver's canter changes so much and so rapidly that I always have to be on the ball with him and manage the canter. Once the canter is good, the jumps are quite good. I also have to get used to jumping from a bit more pace, so I don't worry him into charging at the jump at the last second by holding him back. That's going to take getting used to as we've been keeping the canter a bit more quiet in the past to keep him rocked back over his hocks. Now that the pace has "upped", I have to resist the urge to pick my way to the jump - instead, if i pick a spot above the jump to stare at, I can usually do a pretty good job of riding the canter and not the fence.
Wonderful lesson, because certain things Gina has been telling me all along have started to click because I've figured a way to do it in my own body. For example, when he starts to charge at a jump, I have to think "bear down and pinch" because that causes me to sit up, hold my core steady, and keep my thighs ON instead of flapping around off the saddle, which stabilizes my lower leg. That whole discovery of pressing my thumbs together also worked great for keeping my hands from coming up. All I know is that I'm so thrilled to have found Gina - if she hadn't helped me with Oliver, he probably would have been sold long ago. Now, because I trusted her methods, I have a horse that jumps and moves much better than we thought he could!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Flatwork ruminations...
It's so much more fun to post about jumping lessons, but we've been making huge strides in our flatwork lately that I'd better post about it before I hit a snag and get frustrated and forget how much better we've been getting.
We've (meaning Gina and I) have been playing around with a lot of shoulder-in and lateral work lately, to get Oliver to engage more behind. However, the trick is doing it correctly, since Oliver is rubber-band-man and can fake a shoulder-in (three tracks and everything) without truly engaging behind and bending. so, after a lot of walking around to warm up, I start him doing S-I at the walk down both long sides. The right S-I seems so much easier than the left. To the right, it's like he just floats into it - I come off the short side of the arena, switch my seatbone placement so that my left hip points towards his inside ear, make sure that I'm "pinching" with my seatbones so that they're narrower and I can feel both of them, and make sure that my left thigh doesn't float away from the saddle (which, surprisingly, it tends to do. Surprising in that my left leg is stronger than my right, so you'd think that the left leg would be easier to keep snugly against the saddle.)I can tell when I'm losing it when I forget about "riding the withers", because he loses the bend. If I think about turning his withers to the inside with my outside leg, and leading him down the long side with my right leg, he does a very nice S-I. The left S-I is much more difficult because a) I have a weaker right leg and it's harder for me to draw the left seatbone backwards to allow the right seatbone to come forward (left at 7 o'clock, right at 1 o'clock). I think that Oliver's left hind is weaker than the right and he subsequently has difficulty stepping under himself that direction. When he starts to resist, he also tends to bulge against the left leg and not want to move. Gina also has difficulty moving him off her left leg, so I know the problem isn't wholly me, although I probably caused it in the first place.
The canter is still coming along. Oliver is picking it up quite well from the walk, especially if we've done S-I first, but he sort of plunges into it with the first stride and we have a fast, strung-out canter. I can look into the mirror and see that his legs are taking these huge, bounding strides. If I concentrate on NOT LETTING HIM MOVE ME by firming up my core, bearing down, and keeping my seatbones arranged correctly (outside seatbone at 8, inside at 2), and think of lifting him into the canter, he is starting to step into it and keep the light, airy, soft feeling. It's still not as adjustable as I would like, but it's coming along. I have to keep thinking of using my thighs to lever up his withers, and keep my upper body "small/short" by thinking of pressing down, and that really helps keep the canter smaller.
His trot work is really becoming lovely and more expressive. I've got him in a new bit (Baucher Myler with the barrel mouthpiece) and after one ride, I'm still on the fence, as he seems quite fussy in the jaw with it - he's mouthing it a lot - but he doesn't appear to come behind the vertical as much in it, either. he's also a lot more adjustable in the canter. it's freezing out right now (around 30) but I'm off to ride in about half an hour, and we'll see how he continues to like this bit.
We've (meaning Gina and I) have been playing around with a lot of shoulder-in and lateral work lately, to get Oliver to engage more behind. However, the trick is doing it correctly, since Oliver is rubber-band-man and can fake a shoulder-in (three tracks and everything) without truly engaging behind and bending. so, after a lot of walking around to warm up, I start him doing S-I at the walk down both long sides. The right S-I seems so much easier than the left. To the right, it's like he just floats into it - I come off the short side of the arena, switch my seatbone placement so that my left hip points towards his inside ear, make sure that I'm "pinching" with my seatbones so that they're narrower and I can feel both of them, and make sure that my left thigh doesn't float away from the saddle (which, surprisingly, it tends to do. Surprising in that my left leg is stronger than my right, so you'd think that the left leg would be easier to keep snugly against the saddle.)I can tell when I'm losing it when I forget about "riding the withers", because he loses the bend. If I think about turning his withers to the inside with my outside leg, and leading him down the long side with my right leg, he does a very nice S-I. The left S-I is much more difficult because a) I have a weaker right leg and it's harder for me to draw the left seatbone backwards to allow the right seatbone to come forward (left at 7 o'clock, right at 1 o'clock). I think that Oliver's left hind is weaker than the right and he subsequently has difficulty stepping under himself that direction. When he starts to resist, he also tends to bulge against the left leg and not want to move. Gina also has difficulty moving him off her left leg, so I know the problem isn't wholly me, although I probably caused it in the first place.
The canter is still coming along. Oliver is picking it up quite well from the walk, especially if we've done S-I first, but he sort of plunges into it with the first stride and we have a fast, strung-out canter. I can look into the mirror and see that his legs are taking these huge, bounding strides. If I concentrate on NOT LETTING HIM MOVE ME by firming up my core, bearing down, and keeping my seatbones arranged correctly (outside seatbone at 8, inside at 2), and think of lifting him into the canter, he is starting to step into it and keep the light, airy, soft feeling. It's still not as adjustable as I would like, but it's coming along. I have to keep thinking of using my thighs to lever up his withers, and keep my upper body "small/short" by thinking of pressing down, and that really helps keep the canter smaller.
His trot work is really becoming lovely and more expressive. I've got him in a new bit (Baucher Myler with the barrel mouthpiece) and after one ride, I'm still on the fence, as he seems quite fussy in the jaw with it - he's mouthing it a lot - but he doesn't appear to come behind the vertical as much in it, either. he's also a lot more adjustable in the canter. it's freezing out right now (around 30) but I'm off to ride in about half an hour, and we'll see how he continues to like this bit.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The joys of Mary Wanless
It's been forever since I last posted, mostly due to lack of interest in sitting in front of my computer. However, Joe's home and he's given me his brand new laptop, so now I can watch True Blood and update my blog all at the same time! Joyous!
anyway, as the title of this states, I've rediscovered Mary Wanless again. I was first introduced to her on the flight to Ireland many years ago, played around with it, and then gave it up as my instruction at the time didn't lend itself to going with her methodology. After a recent thread on the COTH BB, I picked up the book again, had many more "ah-ha!" moments, and then proceeded to buy two other Mary Wanless books (because, typical of me, if I like something, then of course i've got to have ALL of it!). I've been struggling with juggling all of the basic tenements of MW, such as bearing down, pinching, making sure my seatbones are properly aligned, and keeping that push towards the front. Usually what happens is that I forget the pinch and start to obsess over the seatbone placement, which of course has been lost because I've forgotten the pinch. Then, if I get the pinch, I forget to bear down. Oh, and to top it off, I need to focus on my thigh keeping close to the saddle, as my right thigh wants to wander off. I know that I have a weakness in my right hip - I can feel it sort of aching right now as I'm sitting here, typing. I have very little difficulty moving my left hip around, but the right one seems "stuck".
So, I had a jumping lesson with Gina today. Fabulous. There were icy patches still in the arena, so G thought it would be a good idea to run Oliver through a grid. It consisted of a placing pole, double crossrail oxer, placing pole, double crossrail oxer again, and then two strides to an oxer. We warmed up over the blue plastic box vertical with placing poles on both sides. When the jumps are this little, Oliver tends to drop behind my leg and then barf over the fence, adding a funny little shuffle stride right after the placing pole, which makes me barf over the fence, too. Gina told me that as I'm crossing the pole on the ground, to add leg and then keep the leg all the way over the fence, while I float the rein like I was riding a hunter. I also need to keep my upper body from folding too quickly because that just gives him reason to dump his front end. G told me that we need to run through a grid with no reins so that I can realize that I don't need my reins at all with this horse. If he needs something, he needs leg. He sets himself up before the fence, so as long as I sit up and keep my leg on, I can float the rein at him and he jumps well. We went through the grid, and I thought it went well, except that G told me that I had my thighs too open throughout, even though my lower leg was on. Damn - that is a leftover from the way I was taught before for MANY years. It's hard for me to keep my thigh on because I'm scared that I will pinch with my knee and then pivot over it. So, a la' Mary Wanless, as I approached the first fence, I had to think of "hooking" my knees over that imaginary iron bar and using my lower leg over the placing pole, while keeping my rein soft. That worked quite well - he really jumped up and over and I felt much more effective through the grid. The last thing to work on was that between the second crossrail oxer and the two stride to the last oxer, I had this tendency to keep in a huntery half-seat, which rendered me ineffective and also flattened his jump. I had to make a conscious effort to sit up and keep my leg on. Gina said that Oliver tends to do what Errol does when you lean forward to ask for a lengthened stride - they sort of drop backwards out behind you. I have to concentrate on sitting up and then sending him forward. Gina raised the last oxer, and then we went over it, and although it was really hard, sitting up and pushing with my leg made for a much straighter jump. She then raised the middle element, and we went over it again, jumping really round and cracking his back. Gina said that the coolest thing was that from behind, she could see how much he lifted his back over the oxers, but that since my leg was so tight, I just stayed with him. She then put up the first crossrail oxer to a regular oxer, and we went through again. This time wasn't so good as he dropped behind my leg, so I went through again and revved him up a little before, and he sprang on through. G said that there are times when i look like a Novice rider, like the last time through, and then there are times, like this one, where I look like an Intermediate level rider. yay! That was quite a compliment! we went through the gymnastic again after a short break, and then landed, turned left, and galloped down to a regular square oxer on the fenceline, landed, re-grouped (because he got in quite deep to the oxer), galloped down to the rolltop which we jumped backwards (and this time left a little long), down the hill, and then turned to the vertical with black barrels under it. not too bad, especially since I barfed through the turn and didn't sit up and use my outside rein. The next time through, Gina wanted me to jump down the line, which started with a single grey brick box, one stride to a vertical with a grey brick box under it, and then three strides to a vertical out. The first time through, I didn't pull him together enough, and he wobbled towards the brick box, and I took my leg off and he stopped. i got chastised for that one - Gina told me that i'm a much better rider than that and when I feel him raise his head and look, that is my cue to sit back and really drive him from the back. So, we went through again, and I really collected him through the turn and drove him on, which resulted in a huge jump over the single wall, and a hurried jump over the vertical, and then three flat strides out. Not bad, not good. This next time I went through, sat him down, let him flow forward over the single wall and we had a very nice jump through. As a finale, gina wanted me to go through the natural in and out - oxer first, then the vertical. Oliver took a huge jump over the oxer, which practically jumped me out of the tack, but I quickly sat down and we jumped out in a semi-organized fashion. I got complimented on my stick-ability and Oliver's honest nature by our audience of one (the new boarder at Gina's). We went through again and it was perfect, so we called it quits on that.
My right leg is still weaker than my left, so I've got to work on that. Also, my Antares monoflap isn't cut quite forward enough for my leg in jumping length, so that I slam against the block when Oliver jumps really big. I think I'll sell it and save up for a Devoucoux with a 2AA flap - this one is a 2A flap. Oliver is trying so hard these days. I'm so proud of him. He and I have come a long, long way.
next lesson - hopefully a flat on Oliver this week, if the weather cooperates!
anyway, as the title of this states, I've rediscovered Mary Wanless again. I was first introduced to her on the flight to Ireland many years ago, played around with it, and then gave it up as my instruction at the time didn't lend itself to going with her methodology. After a recent thread on the COTH BB, I picked up the book again, had many more "ah-ha!" moments, and then proceeded to buy two other Mary Wanless books (because, typical of me, if I like something, then of course i've got to have ALL of it!). I've been struggling with juggling all of the basic tenements of MW, such as bearing down, pinching, making sure my seatbones are properly aligned, and keeping that push towards the front. Usually what happens is that I forget the pinch and start to obsess over the seatbone placement, which of course has been lost because I've forgotten the pinch. Then, if I get the pinch, I forget to bear down. Oh, and to top it off, I need to focus on my thigh keeping close to the saddle, as my right thigh wants to wander off. I know that I have a weakness in my right hip - I can feel it sort of aching right now as I'm sitting here, typing. I have very little difficulty moving my left hip around, but the right one seems "stuck".
So, I had a jumping lesson with Gina today. Fabulous. There were icy patches still in the arena, so G thought it would be a good idea to run Oliver through a grid. It consisted of a placing pole, double crossrail oxer, placing pole, double crossrail oxer again, and then two strides to an oxer. We warmed up over the blue plastic box vertical with placing poles on both sides. When the jumps are this little, Oliver tends to drop behind my leg and then barf over the fence, adding a funny little shuffle stride right after the placing pole, which makes me barf over the fence, too. Gina told me that as I'm crossing the pole on the ground, to add leg and then keep the leg all the way over the fence, while I float the rein like I was riding a hunter. I also need to keep my upper body from folding too quickly because that just gives him reason to dump his front end. G told me that we need to run through a grid with no reins so that I can realize that I don't need my reins at all with this horse. If he needs something, he needs leg. He sets himself up before the fence, so as long as I sit up and keep my leg on, I can float the rein at him and he jumps well. We went through the grid, and I thought it went well, except that G told me that I had my thighs too open throughout, even though my lower leg was on. Damn - that is a leftover from the way I was taught before for MANY years. It's hard for me to keep my thigh on because I'm scared that I will pinch with my knee and then pivot over it. So, a la' Mary Wanless, as I approached the first fence, I had to think of "hooking" my knees over that imaginary iron bar and using my lower leg over the placing pole, while keeping my rein soft. That worked quite well - he really jumped up and over and I felt much more effective through the grid. The last thing to work on was that between the second crossrail oxer and the two stride to the last oxer, I had this tendency to keep in a huntery half-seat, which rendered me ineffective and also flattened his jump. I had to make a conscious effort to sit up and keep my leg on. Gina said that Oliver tends to do what Errol does when you lean forward to ask for a lengthened stride - they sort of drop backwards out behind you. I have to concentrate on sitting up and then sending him forward. Gina raised the last oxer, and then we went over it, and although it was really hard, sitting up and pushing with my leg made for a much straighter jump. She then raised the middle element, and we went over it again, jumping really round and cracking his back. Gina said that the coolest thing was that from behind, she could see how much he lifted his back over the oxers, but that since my leg was so tight, I just stayed with him. She then put up the first crossrail oxer to a regular oxer, and we went through again. This time wasn't so good as he dropped behind my leg, so I went through again and revved him up a little before, and he sprang on through. G said that there are times when i look like a Novice rider, like the last time through, and then there are times, like this one, where I look like an Intermediate level rider. yay! That was quite a compliment! we went through the gymnastic again after a short break, and then landed, turned left, and galloped down to a regular square oxer on the fenceline, landed, re-grouped (because he got in quite deep to the oxer), galloped down to the rolltop which we jumped backwards (and this time left a little long), down the hill, and then turned to the vertical with black barrels under it. not too bad, especially since I barfed through the turn and didn't sit up and use my outside rein. The next time through, Gina wanted me to jump down the line, which started with a single grey brick box, one stride to a vertical with a grey brick box under it, and then three strides to a vertical out. The first time through, I didn't pull him together enough, and he wobbled towards the brick box, and I took my leg off and he stopped. i got chastised for that one - Gina told me that i'm a much better rider than that and when I feel him raise his head and look, that is my cue to sit back and really drive him from the back. So, we went through again, and I really collected him through the turn and drove him on, which resulted in a huge jump over the single wall, and a hurried jump over the vertical, and then three flat strides out. Not bad, not good. This next time I went through, sat him down, let him flow forward over the single wall and we had a very nice jump through. As a finale, gina wanted me to go through the natural in and out - oxer first, then the vertical. Oliver took a huge jump over the oxer, which practically jumped me out of the tack, but I quickly sat down and we jumped out in a semi-organized fashion. I got complimented on my stick-ability and Oliver's honest nature by our audience of one (the new boarder at Gina's). We went through again and it was perfect, so we called it quits on that.
My right leg is still weaker than my left, so I've got to work on that. Also, my Antares monoflap isn't cut quite forward enough for my leg in jumping length, so that I slam against the block when Oliver jumps really big. I think I'll sell it and save up for a Devoucoux with a 2AA flap - this one is a 2A flap. Oliver is trying so hard these days. I'm so proud of him. He and I have come a long, long way.
next lesson - hopefully a flat on Oliver this week, if the weather cooperates!
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