Picked up Wofford's book again last night - Training the Three-Day Event Horse and Rider - an oldie but goodie. He strongly recommended keeping a journal (not the kind I've been doing already) of training timetables and schedules, especially when it comes to doing trot and canter sets. This advice is quite timely as it actually means something to me now that I'm looking at bringing Sam back into a conditioning program to prepare for Five Points in September.
Yesterday was a double-whammy with both horses, as we have rainshowers/thunderstorms predicted on and off all week and weekend, and there was no guarantee that I was going to be able to fit in all the work that I needed to do.
So, here goes:
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Oliver: flatwork day
Stretching through the walk and trot, leg yields both on and off the rail, solid and light transitions from walk-halt, walk-trot, and shortening and lengthening the trot, canter transitions. Total time: 45 minutes.
There were a ton of people in the arena yesterday. Carolyn (the vet tech at the barn) brought over a couple of trailers full of horses to school - mostly western - and her daughter, a student, and other sundry people. Added to that was myself, and the new beginner boarder on his broke-to-death buckskin QH gelding, and we had a pretty full arena. It was good, though, for Oliver to get used to maneuvering around other people and horses and staying focused on me. Surprisingly, Sam had more focus issues than Oliver, but both boys were good. He's starting to really understand the whole stretching thing and even managing to keep his balance while stretching down at the trot, which is a huge improvement over just a week ago. I also did not ride with a whip, and put a pommel pad under the seat of the Fhoenix to see if that would help with the balance, so I wasn't feeling like I was playing "catch-up" with him the whole time (and being a sensitive horse, it was probably causing him to scoot out from under me). It seemed to work - the balance was so much better for me, and he wasn't shooting around and skittering all over the ring. I'm definitely going to sell the Isabell and get a riser pad for the Fhoenix. Our transitions within the trot was pretty good. I would start with a normal, working trot, then slowly bring him back and think about bouncing him up underneath me to shorten the stride, and then allow him to go back to the working trot, and quickly ask for some lengthened strides. I found that if I let him go into a working trot for too long before asking for a lengthening, he would rush and fall flat. If I asked for the lengthening from a shortened, more "collected" trot, he would give me some very nice lengthened strides (or so I can only assume, since I couldn't see them but only feel them) before falling flat on his face. The canter transition was much better today, too. The transition to the right was accurate and prompt, but he was a bit sprawly at the canter itself. I am experimenting with how much to sit down and back, and how much to lighten my seat. He gets hoppy behind if I sit on him too soon, so I guess it's more of a timing thing. The left canter lead took a couple of tries, but he's getting so much better at it. No more bucking in the canter, either, which is why I'm sold on the Fhoenix saddle.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Sam: flatwork day
Stretching through the walk and trot, small circles at the walk to get him bending off the leg and not the hand, canter transitions. Total time: 30 minutes.
Not a real intensive day for Sam, as he is stil relatively unfit from his "vacation". I really am convinced now that when Sam is a pighead, it's because he is having difficulty breathing. I also used the pommel pad as a riser under the Fhoenix saddle, because I was wondering if the balance would be better for me, and it really was. So, both boys have a tendency to travel uphill - Sam because of his training, and Oliver because he's built that way - and I need to rise the back of the saddle to compensate. Luckily, it's treeless so I don't have to worry about it pinching at the saddle tree points. In fact, with the pommel pad underneath it, my leg falls behind the knee roll where it should, which makes my seat aids far more effective. Sam was happily stretching around today, and when I brought him back and shortened his frame, he was quite happy to do so. His canter transitions, especially to the right, were very smooth and he didn't hollow, and I played around with really lifting him through my seat in the canter itself and was amazed at how light and springy he got. In addition to that, he was willing to stretch down in the canter itself, which is something we've been struggling with on and off for about a year now.
No comments:
Post a Comment