Oh gymnastics, how I used to loathe thee

When Melissa told me that my next lesson would consist of gymnastics, I was likeGymnastics are not my friend. Actually, anything with a related distance is not my friend - I like to keep my friends at a comfortable distance away, and usually gymnastics are set at fewer than two strides apart (um, bounces, anybody?) and that's too close for comfort, in my book. I have also thought of gymnastics as being for starting babies (equine and human) over jumps, to get the feel of jumping out of rhythm. So, it's been a while since we did them, the last time being at G's when she had a xrail, one stride, oxer, one stride, oxer set up, and told us to go through them without taking anything down or building up first, and that was Not Good. Oliver skidded out when he saw the "sea of poles" and I was leaning forward (as usual) and nearly popped off, which of course did not add to my confidence level.

However, Melissa must have seen my face when she mentioned gymnastics because when I got out there, she asked me what was a comfortable distance for me - one, two, three, or four strides? I told her that two was ok - one was too tight and made me clench up inside, and anything more than two was too easy.

I'm still getting the hang of warming Oliver up - I still have trouble remembering that he's not lazy, just needs a long, leisurely warmup, because I tend to think that if I warm up too much, my quarter will run out that much sooner. In the canter, Melissa noted that it was interesting that he snorted and blew to the right, but not to the left - that indicated that the left side needed a bit more time to stretch and relax.

We started over an X, with a pole two out from the landing, where the second jump would be. Melissa wanted me to go over the X from both directions, and to be sure to sit lightly a few strides before so I don't influence the lead that he lands on, and not push or do anything - let him figure it out. That was hard to do - my instinct is to squeeze/kick if I feel that he's a bit sluggish going in, and Melissa said not to because all that meant was that he's still warming up. Sure enough, Oliver was a bit too quiet over the crossrail, which meant that he barfed over the pole on the landing side. After a few more times over the pole, Melissa rolled it in and had me cluck on the landing to encourage him to stretch over the pole. The pole then became a little vertical. The first time through, he barfed it big-time - came in under pace, didn't stretch to make up the lost distance, and then chipped it from practically a standstill. I, of course, slipped my reins and it was Awful. Well, at least to me, it was awful. M said no, not to think like that, it was the short chippy distance that he gets to a jump sometimes and wasn't he a good boy for jumping it, and wasn't I a good girl for staying with him and slipping the reins? Hm. Next time, he was great and stretched a little, because he was still coming in underpowered over the X. After one more time, he was stretching and the 2nd vertical was riding a bit short, so Melissa rolled it out and we went over that a few times, and finally the vertical ended up where it should have been, and he stretched over that beautifully. That, M said, was the longer reachy distance.

This was the whole point behind the exercise. To learn to deal with the choppy and reachy distances and find out that they're ok. I KNOW this in my head, but when it happens on course, it feels like this is going to happen:











Which it sometimes does when Oliver has gotten his fill of me being up his neck with no leg on.

We have decided to not go to the Pipe Opener in a couple of weeks, mostly due to the fact that I really don't need to jump yet another BN round the exact, same way, and the stuff that I'm addressing now hasn't been ingrained in my head and body as habit. We will be doing the gymnastic again this weekend, but making it higher and more complicated, and I'm actually looking forward to this!

Glorious start to 2012!

This is going to be a good year - I can feel it in my bones. According to the ancient Mayans, this is also going to be our last year on earth, so why not make it a good one? Lol - I subscribe to the theory that the ancient Mayan who created the calendar just ran out of space after 2012.

I've taken two lessons with Melissa Andersen. After a long discussion with her about confidence issues and fear, and how your subconscious is actually telling you something, I decided to give her a try. The first lesson went pretty well, although she made a few adjustments to my position that were hard to get used to (elbows in front of body, outside leg back in the turn and keep ticking away with it, sit lighter in the saddle), the jumps themselves stayed very small. Then I had a lesson with Gina and it went pretty well, but again, the jumps weren't very big (a little under Novice height).

I had another lesson with Melissa today and it was fantastic. We went for a hack afterwards, which was the perfect ending to the first day of the New Year. So many things to remember that I must write them down. So, here they are:

~ Lots of counter-bending in the warmup. Get the bend off the leg and not the hand. Be sure to keep the size of the circle the same, no matter if you are on true bend or counter bend. Stay off his back in the canter and work long and low to stretch him out, even in the counterbending exercise.

~ Oliver is not lazy - he needs a lot of warmup so that he feels comfortable using both sides of his body equally. If he was lazy, he would get worse as the lesson progressed, not better. Since he gets better and better, he is probably just stiffer on one side and needs more time to settle in. Time spent on suppling and trot poles is time worth spent.

~ Trot poles are your bestest friend! Use even number of trot poles, so that they must use both sides of their body evenly. Odd number of trot poles allows them to be uneven in the use of their body. Everything they would do in front of a jump, they do to some small degree over a trot pole. For instance, Oliver will suck back over trot poles the first few times if I let him, because he isn't warmed up yet. That is the same as him sucking back over a jump. Fix it now and add both legs, staying tall, and riding a straight line over the poles. After you have done both sides evenly, start to angle your poles. That will show you which side is stiffer than the other, and which side he is favoring today.

~ With the idea that everything that happens in trot, happens in canter - Melissa noticed that Oliver shortened his stride just slightly when I sat to change diagonals. He also shortens his stride when I sit through a turn, to a greater degree. In the warmup, stand a beat to change diagonals, instead of sitting. Be aware that his right side, although more "connected", also steps just a bit shorter, so that in a turn, I need to keep opening the step to the right. The left is a tad too open and not connected enough, so I need to keep my left side lifted (because I drop it), and step into the outside stirrup to keep him from falling in.

~ Always work both sides evenly. If you work the stiffer side more than the other side, you run the risk of forcing the horse to relax, which is an oxymoron. Working both sides evenly will encourage the horse to relax, as opposed to forcing it.

~ Over a small cavaletti, crossrail, or vertical, sit the trot a few steps out and just notice what he does. That will tell me if he needs more time in the warmup. Be sure my focus is where it needs to be - if I'm going to land and turn right, I need to be looking right, and vice versa. When he lands evenly on both leads (again, work both sides evenly), I can canter the same jump.

~ In canter, start off in the direction that seemed easier for him when trotting the jump. Today, I felt like I could get more success to the right. In the turn, I have to keep the step open, my seat light, but shoulders back and tall. Look where I'm going. To the left, it's much harder for me, so I have to think of keeping my right left slightly back to keep the haunches from falling out, left hand shorter and slightly raised, step into my outside stirrup to help lift the left side of my body, and voila' - the jump just happens. Lots more to remember cantering a jump off a left turn.

We raised the jump incrementally, and the thing I noticed most was that as long as I kept my seat close to the saddle, but not sitting in it, through the turn, and my shoulders back, my elbows in front of me, I didn't have to a) drive, b) "kick and pick" his head up (like Gina wants me to), and no matter what the distance was to the jump, Oliver just flowed over it like a hunter. I also noticed that everything seemed to happen much more slowly, so I had time to think "push my heels down and forward" over the fence, and actually accomplish this. I told Melissa that I felt like I had more "control", and she said, "not control - awareness". Saying that you have more control implies that when things go wrong, you lose control, which is a negative thing and induces fear. Saying you have awareness is neutral. Gina and I have talked about how horrible it feels for me when I don't know where I am on the way to a jump, and I think what this really means is that I don't have awareness of what's going on and therefore, I don't know what to do to help it be better. Oliver and I know each other so well that we can practically read what the other is going to do. When Oliver stops at a jump, it's because I probably came in with too closed a stride and when he got to the jump, he didn't think he could push off from such a deep distance, so he stops. Melissa says a dishonest horse, a stopper, will come through the turn looking for a way out of jumping. Oliver doesn't do that. He just needs to be presented to the jump in a canter that has adjustability - if I ask him to compress and get in deep, he needs the confidence that he can do something to push off. When I get that feeling that I am not liking what is about to happen to the fence, it's probably Oliver telling me that his balance is not where it needs to be - I'm reading those little body signals he's giving me. When I'm not sure where I am regarding the fence, or balance, I tell him that I'm not sure, and I quit riding. Melissa is giving me some very valuable tools to help me get past this mental block I have about briding the gap between BN and Novice.

This was probably the first lesson I have had in a long time where I feel supremely confident that I am going to get over this!

The pony can ruuuuuuunnnn!!!

Optimum time: 5:45. My time? 4:15. Oops. Good thing the timing didn't count for speed faults, as I would have had boatloads of them. But the pony can RUN!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a sleepy pony for the dressage. I dunno - must have been the weather, which was unseasonably warm, even for NC, in November, with an average hovering around 70. Good thing Lizzie Snow did such a great job clipping the Red-Headed one, or he would have melted. I didn't bring along my dressage whip, which proved to be a big mistake as he was almost impossible to energize for dressage. it was rather funny - the stadium warm-up was right next to the dressage rings, so I pointed him inside there and galloped (sort of) around to wake him up. He did perk up once inside the warmup area, but then when he went back into the dressage area he slowed right back down. Silly boy. Anyway, after a couple of smart transitions, in we went, for a (what I thought was a so-so) test. A tad sluggish, but steady and consistent, minus some scootching around in the saddle and some flailing in a near-panicky attempt to get the canter BEFORE X on both lead, but surprisingly the judge didn't either a) notice me slinging my body around and losing a stirrup in the process or b) was so overawed by the fancy-schmancy clip that she gave us a 7 on both departs. Weird. We scored 7's all down the line, with one 6 for a "poll too low" trot circle (again, a sympton of being behind my leg) and a 6 for the final halt-salute, where I think he staggered sideways and crossed a leg behind. However, we did have a lovely turn up the centerline, which has historically been my bad movement, and that gained us an 8. We also got an 8 on gaits - wheee!!! - and 7's for all the collective marks.

You like me; you really, really like me! Ok, no more allusions.

Stadium was blech. I had such a wonderful school the week before, and then the day before, with Gina, with Oliver powering around and taking everything out of stride, over some much bigger jumps than what I was jumping at the show. He was behind me leg and we sort of crawwwwled around stadium, resulting in a couple of helicopter jumps and one reaaally bad move on my part where Oliver saved my a$$. Good pony - lots of StudMuffins for you. I tried to avoid catching Gina's eye on the way out, but she caught me anyway and was surprisingly nice, and chalked it up to Oliver being behind my leg. Off to XC.

I really galloped him around the warmup in an attempt to wake him up. Either his balance has gotten really, really good or he really likes the slower gears, because even at a flat-out gallop, all I have to do is breathe out and sit up and he tucks his butt under and slows down and stops like a reiner. Coming out of the start box, I headed towards Fence 1, the Hobbit's Hut, and bridged my reins, reached back, and slapped him once on the tush to get him going. Nice jump over that one. However, we landed and raced madly down the hill, and I didn't get him back well enough so we hiccuped over 2, the brush-thing at the bottom of the hill, and then galloped up to 3, which rode fairly well, and then through the trees into the open field, where I reached back and tapped him again because this was the Pheasant Feeder, which has been spooky in the past. That did the trick because he landed and took off. I guided him around the Prelim ski jump and then back to the BN 5, which was a log pile on the slope. Argh. I would far rather jump either the Training or Novice ski jump, as they are both easier than trying to rate a horse that's been spanked down a hill and over a blip of logs. I gave up three strides out, sat back and prayed he would pick up his feet, which he did, and we ran down the hill in surprisingly good balance to 6 and 7, a bending line which rode great. Up and a nice long gallop to the Hollow, which he wanted to jump the Novice out, and then a reaaaallly long gallop past the ditch complex, up the hill, and then a shortcut through the woods to 8, a smallish rolltop thing. Into the water, great gallop through the water, and then into the infield over the red barn with the shiny black roof - ugh - and then a good gallop on down over the the biggest fence on course, a half a rolltop, four strides over the ditch, which I almost missed because I was looking too far left, and thank God he jumped it well because I nearly missed the rolltop OUT and then the finish flags. SUCH a good pony, and I knew I made good time, but I didn't realize how fast we were until the timer commented on it. Oh well, that's ok, because we were too slow last time. Had a blast! I think Oliver did, too.

Ended up in 6th because I was tied for 5th with Kicki Norlander, sister of the (in)famous Peter Norlander and Dressage Diva Extraordinaire, which made me quite happy. There was a tie for 1st with a 27.1, 2nd place with a 28 something, and then Kicki and me with a 30. The competition was quite tough. Of course, since I was too fast, Kicki was closest to optimum time, something I didn't quite consider when I went riding hell-bent-for-leather XC. I still can't believe that I was only in 5th place after dressage with a 30, but there's a lot of hope as next time, I will bring a whip to the sandbox.

Upon reflection, my biggest problem seems to be that I tend to ride too slowly in stadium. I think it's just a bad habit, as obviously I don't have any trouble with speed when I jump xc. At Gina's, we're in a wooded field, so it feels like xc to Oliver. I think I need to practice in a sand box that is more similar to a show. Other than that, Novice, here we come!

In which Oliver goes moonlighting in SC and gets to jump some steeplechase fences

We (Faren, her mare Dharma, Oliver, and I) headed down to Southern Eighths for the weekend. They apparently have an on-site trainer now, Dom (and his wife, Jimmie), a three star rider from Australia, and I thought it was worth trying once, especially for a chance to school xc at the lovely facility there. Plus, it was only a little over an hour away, so why not? The facility is absolutely gorgeous - Brad has done such a nice job with making things lower-level (Training and under) for us to school. Plus, he has a new indoor arena (well, covered) and new guest stabling completed, which is even nicer than some facility's permanent stabling. The only problem is that it's about a mile away from the main barn, the main grounds, and arena.

We had stadium scheduled first on the agenda, so Faren and I got our stalls fixed up (nice ones with rubber matting and these nice half-doors (more on those later). We then hacked on down to the main barn's arena, where the stadium jumps were set up. We had to go behind the guest barn, down a wooded path and over a wooden bridge (over running water), and then back up into a plowed area which was going to be the future Maiden xc field, and then finally out into the xc area, and then across the vast xc area to the main jump arena. A mile hack, total, and I'm glad Dom showed us the way via Gator or we'd never have found it. Why am I being so detailed? You'll see why, later.

So, Dom asked us what we wanted to work on - Faren said that she wanted to go Training next spring, and wanted to work on riding forward to fences, and I wanted to go Novice at the November Starter Trial, and wanted to work on pace as well. I must have undersold Oliver's ability (or oversold his green-ness), because Dom kept lowering the fences for us - I had to tell him that I was perfectly comfortable jumping the height that he was having Faren jump, which turned out to be Novice height after all. Dom really emphasized straightness over a jump, and he praised the two of us for being so good at looking where we were going (I know this sounds elementary, but Dom said it's surprising how few people do this). He fixed a few minor position things with me - he wanted to me to engage my core better, and think about bringing my shoulder blades together and down, especially on the approach to a jump. He also wanted me to carry my hands higher and shorten my reins - he said that I had a tendency to bury them at the base of Oliver's neck. I've been working on my core on the flat, but was surprised at how stable it made me feel on the approach to a fence - I guess I was collapsing a bit over the jump. The shorter hands thing made me feel uncomfortable because in the past, I had a tendency to pull when my hands were up (and as a result, Oliver would stop). However, as long as I kept thinking "forward" with them, it seemed to be not a problem.

They (Jimmie and Dom) were really impressed with the Redheaded One. They kept remarking on how cute he was, and how much presence he had (Dom called him a "corker"). Dom also said that I needed to think of adding about 8 inches more step to his canter stride - I loved this image, because if I merely think about riding him more forward, I tend to push him past his balance point, but if I think of having 8 inches more stride, I engage the hindquarters and his step just gets bigger. Dom said that at the last stride, I needed to be careful not to hold him, but to really keep my leg on and ride him across the jump to prevent the deep spot hover thing that Oliver and I seem to be so fond of. Dom mentioned that he thought this might be why I was losing time xc and stadium - our stride was too short and compact, and that we wasted time in the air instead of jumping and landing out of stride. I realized, too, that I have to think "lengthen the last three strides" because if I don't, he automatically shortens too much and we lose time. We finished by adding an little corner to the exercise - again, we had to pick our line and really RIDE to it. Oliver and I had a little trouble with landing on the right lead - he definitely prefers his left lead over the right. Dom tried several things, including raising the right of the jump - his theory was that because the right side was loaded, Oliver couldn't free his right lead, so that's why he landed left. That didn't work at all - Oliver couldn't care less about the raised pole, so Dom had me ride a leg yield at the trot, from left to right, and then at the last stride, straighten and jump the vertical. That didn't work - Oliver still kept landing on the left, so Dom had me leg yield left, and then over the vertical open my right rein to "free" the right side - bingo! Worked beautifully. So, I have to think "get him off my right leg" and then open the rein over the jump - I think "free the right side" and then I get my lead. We really should get our changes - would make our lives so much easier, I think.

We bedded them down, had dinner, did a last minute check, and then I headed off to the hotel in Cheraw (about 20-25 minutes away) while Faren stayed in her living quarters in her trailer. At 3:30 that morning, Faren called me in a panic because she woke up to banging, and found a very distraught Dharma atempting to kick her way free of her stall, and Oliver's stall empty. No sign of distress, and the gate is hanging open. The funny thing is that the gates swung INTO the stall, so that if a horse presses up against the gate, it can't get out because it only opens one way. The gates were fastened shut with a zip tie and a double-ended clasp. I distinctly remember seeing Faren wind her lead rope around the door to keep it shut, along with the clasp, and thinking "I should do that, too", but then forgetting. Oliver must have pulled at the gate and snapped one of the zip ties, and then discovered he was free and took a walk. Since it was pitch black outside, we couldn't see a thing and it was pointless trying to look for him in hundreds of acres of black, so I told her that we should wait until morning. Of course, I didn't sleep at all because of worry, but what could we do?

That morning dawned thick and grey with fog, so I had to wait until 8 am before looking for him. I drove all around the roads, trying to see if a particular chestnut horse in the field was him. I didn't know chestnut was that popular a color. Finally, I took the road into the xc field, and there he was - grazing by the little cemetary they have in the middle of the gallops. Luckily, I had a halter and lead in my car, so I parked the car there and hand walked him back, along the same route we took the day before to get to the gallops from the guest barn. Dom drove me back to get my car, and we both noticed that he went the exact same, winding way - we could see his hoofprints clearly in the wet sand of the path, and he was obviously walking along, in no hurry, even across the bridge, in the dark. Such a strange horse. We don't understand why he left Dharma and went exploring by himself, especially through the woods and across a bridge, but he did. God love him. Anyway, he was back, apparently no worse for the wear, which Dharma was exhausted from fretting all night long (along with Faren and I), but Oliver looked quite chipper despite his nocturnal wanderings.

We walked to the gallops and saw that Dom had set up a (what looked to me) large steeplechase fence. It was green, and made of a sort of vinyl material, which was padded, on top of sort of a half rolltop, about 3 feet tall, with about 3 inches of brush sticking out the top. The brush was laid out in sections, so you could remove the middle and then replace it later. Dom had removed the middle section, so it was a TAD smaller, but not by much. Needless to say, it made me nervous. I saw Faren letting Dharma walk up and smell it, so I took advantage and did the same. Dom told us he wanted us to trot up to it, and in the last few strides, really put our leg on and make them move up to it, even if they cantered. The reason for the trotting was that a) almost all of the horses have spooked at it and b) going more slowly allowed the horses to see the question and assess it. Dharma gawked at it, and went, and Oliver also gawped at it but I managed to stuff him over. Dom put the middle brush up, and then had us canter over it a couple of times, and then continue around in the canter around the steeplechase track to the other side, where another brush awaited us, with the middle pieces in place. I let Faren go first, and as I finished the first jump and was rounding the bend, I saw that Dharma had run out and I let her circle and represent, and then I came for it, only to have the same thing happen to me - grrrr. I think Oliver was genuinely worried about it, but since I didn't slow down and let him assess the question first, he chickened out. Dom said that if we needed to slow to trot and then canter the last few strides, we could do that, but of course I didn't realize that and just gunned him at it instead, with predictable results. Second try was a success, and we cantered around and increased speed until we took them both as a "fly" fence. Fun! It was a tad nerve-wracking to take them at speed - Dom told us not to rate them, but just keep our leg on and keep galloping. I concentrated on keeping that "8 inch bigger gallop stride" and I think Oliver found a new gear. This is when I miss my TBs - they just know how to gallop, and I've had to teach Sam and Miles and Oliver how.

We went down to the main xc field, where Dom had us canter over the first BN fence, which was a new one - a U shaped log on a pedestal, with carvings on the front side, the carvings painted black. Oliver took advantage of the run out at the steeplechase fence, and I was riding nervously, so he ducked to the side, and Dom had me represent and keep my right rein open, and I slowed down the canter and he popped over it easily. Dom had me do it once more, to "make sure it wasn't a fluke", and then canter on down over the BN cabin (perfect) and then loop back and slow down to a walk and go over the ditch. It was a very shallow ditch, revetted with round timbers on either side, so it was very inviting. Dharma had some issues, but after a couple of tries, went over it. Oliver actually peeked, but then walked THROUGH it. Dom wanted me to do it several more times because Oliver seemed worried about it. I told Dom that Gina had us sort of "gun" them at the ditch, and that has worked for me, but Oliver is obviously worried about it and it would bite me later on if I didn't relax him over it. Dom said to keep him pointed at the ditch and ride my line, but not to keep legging or smacking with the whip - just keep our legs hugging the side unless they tried to step backwards (and then we could use our leg more strongly), and keep our hands wide to keep them from turning away, and just let THEM take us over the ditch. The idea, Dom said, was that you wanted to feel that they wanted to take you over the ditch, not that you were pushing them over it. We did this on quite a soft rein, and by keeping my eyes up and not looking into the ditch, we could feel with our bodies what the horse was going to do - some gawked into the ditch and then took an almighty leap over it, some almost fell over it, and some would just rush and try to get it over with (Oliver). The next circuit consisted of the Novice U log (easy), over the Novice table, loop back and do the more difficult (deeper) ditch - again, we walked and then trotted over it several times to make sure the horses were relaxed. Oliver is braver than Dharma over these - instead of flat out refusing, he just rushes, but it's still not ok and Dom said that after a few more times, he'd be jumping them quietly.

We took them to the banks next, and Dom asked us what everybody has told us was most important about jumping off a drop - I volunteered the information that everybody says "keep your shoulders back." Dom said that yes, this was important, but the problem is that too many people are taught to lean back off a drop, and then they get slingshotted on the landing because their bodies are leaning back, the horses drop off, and then they hit the saddle and get chucked forward, which causes most people to dislike drops - myself included. I have forever been told to lean back, lean back, and every time this results in me slamming into the saddle and then getting chucked forward on landing, which causes the horse to scoot, which makes the slingshot effect even worse. I have, on my own, observed videos of riders going off drops, and the one that made the biggest impression on me was a working student of Denny's a few years back - she went off the double-drop, and her upper body went slightly FORWARD, and then back as the horse's front feet went down. I tried this on my own and it worked so much better - I landed in balance, over my legs. Most trainers, when they see me not leaning back, panic and tell me to, and then realize that I can go off the drop just fine my way. Dom had us walk off the drop and he said my technique was perfect. We did the small drop, then the bigger one, and then the double-drop, and each time it rode well. Dom complimented us on our solid positions and our good, tight lower legs - yay! We then went and had a splash through the water jump. The footing is so incredible in there that Oliver had no trouble cantering through and popping the wide table on the "out", and then we cantered around, slowed down to a trot, and then popped the small ditch. After that, we were finished - it was a very successful school.

I really like Dom's quiet, methodical approach. Oliver is so willing that he will do anything, even if it scares me - he just goes faster over it. Taking the time to slow things down really seemed to help his confidence (and mine!) and it was wonderful to see that my position is finally stable and secure, and that I think Novice shouldn't be a problem for either of us! I can't wait to go back and have another lesson - it was well worth the $150 for the weekend.

In which Kim gets her head out of her a$$ and puts it back between her shoulders where it belongs...

I'm afraid there are going to be far too many posts titled like the one above, but it is soooo incredibly true. I haven't had time to ride since my last so-so lesson Tuesday until my lesson today. Faren had to pick me up due to the fact that my trailer is STILL in the freakin' shop - latest scoop is that the body shop isn't entirely sure they want to handle putting on the awning to my trailer, because of the fiberglass roof. Risa (from Happy Trails) shipped them the brackets, but I think that right now, the bodyshop is running scared about liability with the awning. Argh! How difficult it is to get an awning put on my trailer? Anyway, I digress. Faren came and picked me up for the lesson because she was sharing it with me, and since she hasn't ridden her mare in a month, the jumps were on the lower side. Part of me was disappointed as I REALLY need to practice jumping Novice sized fences, but the other part of me was relieved as I'm still prone to panicking when I meet a bad distance at a three foot jump.

We warmed up on our own, and he felt fantastic. Greg Wilder (the magic bodywork guy) had adjusted him right after my lesson on Tuesday, and said he was steadily improving. I could definitely tell when he lifted into cater from the walk - very light, balanced, rhythmic, and in front of my leg. He was also wearing his Micklem with the slow-twist french-link full-cheek, and felt very solid in the bridle. Those clips let me use that particular bit without him being afraid of it, so I can use it and have breaks. Gina had us start the same way I did on Tuesday - placing pole on either side and trot in over an X. Again, Gina had to admonish me for letting me get my shoulders ahead of his withers when I felt him fall behind my leg, instead of staying behind his withers and pressing him on. I was carrying a dressage whip instead of a regular jumping bat so that I could flick him behind my leg when I felt him drop behind, instead of having to go one-handed to tap him. So, I went over it again, and then when I felt him falter over the first placing pole, I flicked him and he had a very nice jump, and from then on he was very responsive to my leg and I didn't have to touch him with the whip afterwards. Gina put it up to a 2'6 vertical, we trotted it both ways, and then rolled out the poles so we could canter over it. I found that after I approached the placing pole, and didn't meet it perfectly, I would either not do anything at all, or I would try and hold for a better distance, which inevitably led to burying him at the base and resulting in an awkward jump. After realizing this, I tried pressing him forward when I felt that icky feeling - I had overheard Gina telling Trish (who had her lesson before me) to keep "riding his hind legs to the jump" and I kept that in mind - and what do you know - instead of reaching over and jumping weakly, it turned out that it pressed his hindquarters to take a bigger step underneath him, and the pole and jump compressed him, so that we had a great jump. It took a leap of faith to do this, to soften the rein, sit a little deeper, and close my leg, but it worked. Oliver has gotten so careful about jumping that he backs himself off the jump, so all I have to do is keep my leg on and let the jump rebalance him. Gina then put it up to three feet, a little bigger perhaps, and we jumped it both ways - perfect! The first time was perfect, and then I came around the corner and didn't straighten him, nor did I ride him forward out of the jump, so we had a sticky jump. Since I knew what I had done, I came around the corner, straightened him and kicked him on, and we had a brilliant jump. I heard Gina turn to Faren and say to her, "isn't it amazing how careful he's gotten over a jump?". I also found something else interesting: before, when I would ride forward out of a turn and then try to sit on him before the jump, I found that I couldn't - his balance was so downhill that he would pull me forward so that I couldn't sit down. Today, after I made sure that he was straight coming out of the turn, I put my leg on, he stayed in front of my leg, and then I tried to sit down and found that I could - that there was a place for me sit for the first time, ever. That carried over to jumping courses - I'm not saying that I had a perfect distance to every jump, but I didn't bury him and he jumped beautifully over everything, which led me to be more confident in him so I could ride him more positively, which led him to being more confident in me. Yay! I guess this is what they call the "spiral of increasing ease" vs. the "spiral of increasing tension".

Faren didn't have such a good go of it - Dharma was giving her the same sort of ride that Oliver gave me on Tuesday, and she was getting similar results, with Dharma skidding to a stop in front of a jump if she wasn't completely straight, or got buried, or Faren pulled. Gina told us that since we were riding horses that could, and would, stop, we had to make double sure that we never, EVER got in front of their withers - we had to sit behind them at all times. Not a heavy, driving seat, but making sure to keep our upper bodies backwards of the withers so we could press on if needed. Since I'm more comfortable back there anyway, it wasn't hard for me to do, but I do have to remember that when I feel that icky feeling that I don't like my distance, I need to soften my hand and press him forward instead of trying to pick for a better spot or better balance.

Gina had me jump just a few more fences to finish, testing me by ending with a tight rollback turn downhill to a 3 foot white gate that I usually bury Oliver to. Also, Joe was sitting next to it with his camera and tripod, so Gina told me that I had to keep Oliver's attention on the jump and not gawking at Joe. She said that if I finished and didn't bury him at the jump, I could stop on that. I cantered up over the oxer, bending line to the blue oxer on the fenceline, turned downhill sharply to the right around the mounting block and jumped the sailboat vertical, and then left inside turn downhill to the white gate - nailed it. As a matter of fact, I yelled, "I got it! I can stop now!" as I was leaving the ground, and luckily Gina thought that was funny and agreed with me, so we ended on that. So, even though we didn't jump a whole course of Novice sized fences like Tuesday, we did do a few and nailed them, so my confidence (and obviously Oliver's) is soaring high now. I also think that Greg's bodywork helped to make him feel a lot better, too.

I have a dressage show next Sunday. It's at Antares, and it's a schooling show, but they do something funky by lumping all the Training level/Beginner Novice/Novice tests together, including some first level, and then give out ribbons according to the scores, but at least you get a scored test back. I also found out that at Foxtrackd, I had the second lowest score (35) - the lowest was a 32, so even without any warmup, I was doing quite well. The judge was a hard one. I think she's going to be at Five Points as well.

In which a former hunter rider-turned eventer learns to ride like a hunter again.

It turned out that maybe scratching from Foxtrack wasn't such a bad thing after all. To recap, we had a monsoon that Saturday so I did dressage and scratched from the rest. I had a lesson with Gina today, and it started off pretty shaky. Gina had us start over a crossrail with placing poles on either side, and Oliver was quite blase' about it, especially when it came to jumping it as a vertical. Gina told me not to "help" him over it by kicking, so he basically crashed through it. He jumped the snot out of it the next time, which shows that he is, at least, a quick learner. We cantered over it next, and Gina knows how much I hate doing an exercise like this because of the "sea of poles" feeling I get. What I need to do is to keep my leg on to the placing pole, instead of trying to hold him to the placing pole. After jumping it out of a forward stride, Gina told me to jump it "normally", which meant not to ride it like a XC jump. This worked on the first try because he was in front of my leg and straight to the jump.

Gina then set a little course for me. Start by cantering over the vertical/placing pole exercise, turn left and go down over the black barrel vertical, then canter aaaaalll the way down the field and then back up over the rolltop, right bending line over the blue oxer set parallel along the fenceline, back down to the right over the white 3' panel, gallop down and circle back to a 3' gate, bending line to the right (about 3-4 strides) up over another Novice size vertical, and then another 3-4 strides to a funky looking oxer (a diagonal pole set behind and in front, at a different angle), also Novice sized. That line made me nervous. From where I was standing near the mounting block, that line looked huge. I knew then that Gina was trying to stretch my comfort zone. So, the vertical was fine, of course, and then he was uncharacteristically spooky over the black vertical barrel - Gina said that the horses had been spooking at it all day - and then was fine over the rolltop, got buried at the blue oxer, and then then ran out over the panel. Gina asked me why I was pulling on the left rein, and I realized it was because I was holding on to the neckstrap with my left hand. Either I had to hold on with either my right hand or with both hands, or I had to just let go. Holding on with the right hand felt awkward, and with both hands even more so, so I let go. It worked. He jumped it beautifully, and even rode the bending line well - the first one at least, because I didn't realize that the vertical came up that quickly, so I missed it. I came around again, jumped the first two, and then got a little too deep to the last oxer and got a sticky jump. Gina said that i was going right-left-right-left to it because there was a tree in the way, which confused poor Oliver and caused him to be crooked. She told me to go left around the tree and to try it again. This time, I focused on keeping the rein soft and light, keeping my leg on, and not fuss with the balance too much, and then it rode perfectly and he jumped it very well. A lightbulb went off in my head. I have been so focused on riding the balance that I haven't been riding forward to the jump. It worked fine when the jumps were BN size, but not at Novice size. I have to ride him like a hunter- I have to float the rein and ride him forward. If I am insecure about the distance, I need to ride forward to it instead of trying to compress his stride in an effort to get a better distance. Kicking him forward helps him get more confidence in me, and when he jumps better as a result, I gain confidence in him. We had such a great ride up the line once I figured this out that I went on and finished off over the blue oxer on the fenceline. We did it several more times, doing it better and better each time, so I quit on that.

I thought that I was being soft in the rein, but I think that I wasn't comfortable with riding forward to the fence and mistaking it for being on the forehand, so I tried to fix it by holding the canter smaller and smaller and then I would bury Oliver at the jump. He would get sick of being put in an impossible place to jump and then start stopping, because he was getting scared with me. His canter is so much better and balanced than it used to be, more like a Warmblood who just ticks along, so I can just let him jump and not micro-manage everything. Can't wait until my next lesson!

In which Kim finally learns what "ride every stride" means...right before a move-up and a show.

Oliver and I are moving up to Novice at Foxtract this weekend. I know, I know - it's FOXTRACK, so the XC will be on the easy side but the stadium will be regular Novice height. For some reason, I get a little nervous thinking about it, which makes no sense as I regularly school Novice at Gina's with absolutely no issues.

I've jacked the jumps up in the field to Novice height (well, one I think was actually Training height) to practice for the weekend to come. We've been jumping quite well these days, so I thought I was safe practicing on my own. Plus, Gina was supposed to come and give me a lesson, but she spaced it and left me hanging out there in the sun, so I decided to jump anyway. Couldn't hurt, right? Wrong. For some reason, I tend to start worrying about all sorts of stupid things. Yesterday, Oliver was in his Micklem bridle, which is giving me a fabulous feel in the rein (for once!) but with the clips, it seems to be too little bit for him. He was tanking around, getting all sorts of stupid spots and either getting too deep to the base or going for the long one, which left him standing on his head (leaning on the bit and falling on the forehand) on the landing side. A tug of war ensues, which I lose, and today I can feel the strain in my shoulders and biceps - not good. In fact, I kept buying him to the base because I couldn't seem to get a good balance to the fence, and the one I jacked up accidentally to 3'3 is the one he stopped. Three times in all, I think. I probably should have just quit while I was behind, but being the mule-headed idiot that I am, I plugged away and we finally had some good fences over that damn gate, but we were both quite unhappy about it, and not liking each other too terribly much. Poor Oliver. I know that I wasn't giving him the best ride to the jump, but to be fair to me, he wasn't trying terribly hard, either.

Enter Gina, the WonderWorker. Because she was feeling sorry that she had forgotten about me and I begged, she consented to give me a lesson today (thank God it was cooler - only - ONLY! - 95, but there was a nice breeze blowing) before she headed off to Maryland with Caroline. She found the problem immediately - I wasn't riding him when we got to the base - I was sort of giving up. I have this issue that when I get him to the base and I dig my spurs in and make him go over it, we have this horribly awkward jump and then I feel that that is taking away his confidence in me. Of course, the alternative is to either 1) be perfect so that doesn't happen, ever, or 2) let him stop or run out. Option 1 is never, ever going to happen unless I can somehow channel Mark Todd in my riding, and Option 2 will make me lose confidence in him and him in me. Of course, I couldn't figure this out on my own- Gina had to be my sounding board for this. So, as I rode, I had to count out loud, and I mean LOUD (counting softly to myself really doesn't work for some weird reason), and then when I saw an icky spot, I had to sit back, dig in, and really ride him over the jump. Gina said that when I did that, he would know that he would always get to the other side and gain confidence in me when he did safely, however awkward it may be. That worked fairly well, but the distances still stucked, until Gina started yelling at me for not riding him through the turn. Ah-ha! I was letting him fall behind my leg in the turn, and not really turning him so that he was straight to the jump, which is why we had such weird distances. Gina said that I can't allow him to get his head down in the turn, because he pinwheels then on his head and he's still turning as we get to the jump, which throws off our distance. I have to turn, and raise my hands and kick him up, and then I can soften and ride forward to the jump. At last, success. I have to set up the turn early enough so that I can put my hands back down (another weakness of mine - high hands to the jump), and then use my hand to grab the neckstrap and then kick him to the fence, and then, even if he gets a long spot, he still lands in balance because he approached in balance and then jumped in balance.

So, what seemed to happen yesterday was that I was allowing him to pinwheel through the turn, which caused him to run toward the fence on his head (and in my hands), and because I didn't fix it soon enough, he would pull and I would pull to the jump, and because I was worried about giving him an awkward jump, I wouldn't ride assertively enough ACROSS the fence, which resulted in terrible spots. Gina said that because Oliver has gotten so careful he doesn't want to hit the jump, so that if I get to a bad distance (read: deep) and don't ride my way across, he freezes and reverts back to thinking that I'm going to pull, and then doesn't want anymore of it and opts out. Gina says that we know each other too well, and don't entirely trust each other to do the right thing, so it tends to snowball downhill. She says that she and Errol are the same way, so I feel a bit better about that. Maybe, after Five Points, it might be nice to have Gina ride Oliver for me for a couple of weeks so that we can break this cycle. I hate to do it, because I like to do the work myself, but I also know how busy the beginning of the school year can be and it won't do to have Oliver sitting around, getting fat (a visitor at the barn today thought he was a pregnant brood mare! :^O).