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).

Hello Mary Wanless - meet Gina Fiore

My last lesson with Gina was a revelation. So many things she's teaching me go hand in hand with the reading of Mary Wanless I've been doing. We were flatting at my place and she had me starting in shoulder in- she even told me to point my seatbones so that in S-I to the right, my right seatbone was at 1 and my left was at around 5.I found that I had a tendency to sit on my back (right)seatbone, and left my left one so that I had to concentrate on riding the top edge of the seatbone. Gina also had me be sure to use a strong, supporting outside rein. We talked in depth about the outside rein. Gina suspected that someone along the way had never really told me HOW to use the outside rein. I had to make sure that it was short enough, because if it wasn't, I would curl it in towards my body and then tip over it, especially with my left reiN. I had slightly better control over the right rein.

the canter is still our Achille's heel. gina says that I have to be painfully aware of how quickly his canter will get strong out and build. My core is basically responsible for keepin the canter contained - if I bear down and firm up my core, I hardly have to cue with my outside aid for the canter at all - I just have to think and breathe it. Gina showed me that I was using my things wrong - instead of pointing them so the knees turned out, I had to invision a jockey with his knees turned in to the saddle, so that my entire thigh pointed straight ahead of me, and left my lower leg loose. She got very excited when I tried it and I started to loose my stirrup, because that meant I was taking weight off my stirrup and taking it into my thigh. I also found that this worked well to help me sit the trot better - it kept me from pushing into my stirrups and bouncing out of the saddle. it's harder for me to keep this in the canter, but as long as i feel like I'm limbo dancing with my hips open, i have a good chance of affecting his canter, and if I think "hide the flab" with my thighs so that they turn in and my knees point ahead, I can maintain a solid position up there.

I understand how to do a crest release!!!

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!

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.

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!

Lots of learnin' going on...

Been a while since I posted, but there is SO much information that I cannot possibly cover it all, but I'll do my best to write the highlights.

First of all, possibly the best dressage lesson ever last Thursday. Gina wanted me to keep Oliver quite slow, but keep the impulsion so that at the "up" part of the posting trot, I felt like I was suspended in air for a touch longer than usual. If the trot got flat, it didn't do Oliver any good. I also had to keep him quite round, because when the work got hard, he wanted to disengage by dropping his back or hollowing. Then, Gina had me do haunches in, at the trot. Along the short side, I was to slide my outside leg back and keep him round and ask for just a few steps of haunches in. Gina said that I needed to do haunches in instead of shoulder in because Oliver was so wiggly that he could easily put his shoulder in without loading the inside hind, thus defeating the purpose of the exercise. Haunches in, done correctly with the correct bend, forced him to load that inside hind and start carrying more weight behind. I have never ridden a correct haunches in, since Sam was so arthritic behind that he always pitched a fit when asked. When Oliver was giving me a fairly good haunches in (confirmed by Gina on the ground), Gina wanted me to ask for canter out of it. she told me to picture in my mind how I wanted his body to be, and then when I actually felt it under me, to ask for the canter. it was really incredible - it kept me from leaning at him, or dropping him once he picked up the canter, and it made for a pretty clean depart, coming from behind in a way I haven't felt him do before (except when jumping, when he naturally jumps into the canter because he's revved up).

we've also progressed to jumping skinnies and cantering over some bigger things (around Novice to Training height). I actually successfully cantered the skinny blue box (less than three feet wide) and then cantered on down to the grey box, which is taller and about as wide, and then angled a white gate jump. Oliver is jumping very solidly and paying attention to what he is doing, although after the Kim severson clinic at Southern Eighths, he was back to his old tricks of running at the fence when the jumps got a bit bigger. We had pretty much taken care of that tendency at my last lesson with Gina before the clinic, but then Kim S. wanted me to start "building" to the xc jumps, and now Oliver has it in his head that he builds to a fence, which completely throws off my striding. However, all in all he's coming around quite nicely and is jumping ditches and drops like an old pro.

Oliver and his new jump...

..and it is a BIG ONE. Seems that all the gymnastic work with Gina (and getting him straight in the bridle and between the legs) is really paying off!

After riding like total crap in my group lesson with Faren and Caroline in Marty's wonderful jump field, I realized that I had better do something quickly with being able to stay with him and keep my leg on or else my honest, game little pony will start stopping with me. So, I unearthed an old Stubben hunting breastplate, cleaned it off and oiled it (gotta love Stubben leatherwork), and voila - it fits. It also provides me with a very handy neck strap to grab in case of emergency. I guess what is happening is that when I see a funny stride and I'm a bit nervous about the fence, I tend to take my leg off completely and then Oliver bunny hops over it. It is this bunny hopping, in fact, that showed us what a good jumper he really is, because he really tucks his hind end under him over the jump in a gigantic effort to clear it. It's also this effort he's making that is unnerving to me on the landing side if I'm not "with" him, as it feels like a huge buck. Of course, the way to solve the problem is to ride him up to the jump with leg if he's looking or on a weird stride, and keep the leg, but for some reason if I manage to keep the leg, I lose the hand, and if I keep the hand, I lose the leg. Hence, the neck strap. I did ride some of the fences well, though, and that proved to all watching what a game and good jumper he really is.

So, I've been experimenting with a bit change for him, because in spite of his teeth being done by one of the best (Hubert Davy), he still seems uncomfortable with his bit and tries to spit it out. His tongue does seems a little thick and oozes out the sides of his mouth if you lift his lip and peek inside, so I thought a thin Myler would work. Gina also thought a loose ring would make him happier, so I found my loose ring Myler and put it in. That, combined with the breastplate, made for a VERY successful (though short) jump school on Saturday. He boinged over the little crossrail warmup fence with lots of zest, surprising me and making me very glad I had one hand in the neck strap (not that I thought I needed it over a crossrail, but I was practicing holding on to it). We cantered a few fences and for the first two, he sucked back like he was expecting an uncomfortable jump (don't blame him a bit for being nervous) and once I grabbed the neck strap and added leg, they jumped beautifully and from that point on, he was wonderful. Lots of spring, stayed straight and balanced, and really rounded up over the jump. Totally different feeling than he used to give me even a few months ago, when the jump was rather flat.

So, yesterday I took him for a flat school in my dressage saddle, which I've sadly neglected. I forgot how much I love my dressage saddle, cheapie though it is (Toulouse Aachen). It really opens up my hips and allows me to sit deep, with a much longer leg than my Prestige. I had his new french-link Myler loose ring on, saving the other loose ring for jumping (with bit guards), and he seems so much happier in it. He's frothing gently at the mouth, more on the left than the right, but is softer in it. He doesn't try and spit the bit out nearly as much, and is much more biddable when it comes to half-halts and downwards transitions. His canter work is really coming along. All I have to to is to remember to HOLD MY POSITION, no matter what he's doing, and keep my legs there until he takes the canter, which is coming faster and faster and smoother and smoother. His trot has really opened up and is springier than it was before, too. I'm really excited about Longleaf!

We have a xc school planned for the 27th at CHP. Meagan is coming along and so is Faren, and we're going to see if Gina is free to school us there.

Love it when the trainer rides...

I love having Gina sit on Oliver for me. In about 15 minutes, she's able to put him very straight and even in the reins, which helps me remember exactly what I'm supposed to be feeling when I'm on board. Yesterday was a very quick lesson, since my head felt like the Good Year Blimp due to allergies and I was sneezing every second and couldn't breathe properly. Riding did help clear my lungs, though, so I wish the lesson went longer, but I think Gina was afraid that I was going to pass out. I had a lesson that lasted an hour and a half last week, so I guess that made up for this. While G was up top, Oliver did try a little wiggliness which she nipped in the bid rather quickly, and then he was all business from there. She mentioned that he wasn't trying to "pinwheel" as much, and gave me kudos for riding him much straighter, and when she cantered him, she said, "he finally has a canter!" It was lovely to watch, and even more fun to sit - I don't feel like I have to work quite as hard at the canter and can just sit up there and enjoy myself. Before, I always felt like I was working way too hard and was pretty tired after just a few minutes in canter. She popped him over a few little jumps for me as I mentioned to her that I felt like he was taking off with me on the landing side. Of course, this was all kind of residual from last week's lesson where Oliver was quite fresh and took some time to settle down.

Once on board, I walked him around a little to make sure that I had him evenly in both reins, and then picked up the trot, making sure that he felt very straight and was listening to my leg. G said that if he starts to lean on a rein and get very heavy, to correct it with my leg. If he doesn't listen to my leg, then it's okay to bump him (sort of slap him with my calf) to get him to pay attention. She re-emphasized how important it was NOT to take off my leg when I kicked him, so that I didn't lose my balance and upset him. Since he's so sensitive, all I needed was a little bump with my leg. We ran into a little issue at the canter. On Sunday, I asked for canter and he tried to buck into it, so I lifted the bit in his mouth and gave him a kick with both legs and he stopped it. Yesterday, when I asked him to canter, he protested by kicking out to the leg. G said that I had to use my ENTIRE leg to ask him to canter, not just my heel or my spur, which I think I was doing. She emphasized how important it was that I was sitting properly, with my weight slightly over my outside hip, and to bring the entire leg back and squeeze him into canter. There was that moment where it felt like he was stuck and I had to fight the impulse to urge him on with my leg or my seat - Gina said to wait it out, make sure I was straight and that I didn't do anything extra, and sure enough, he picked up the canter easily. He takes a second longer than I think he will to canter, but I just have to be patient and wait it out, not letting my body start to kink up in an effort to get the canter right away. Once in canter, Gina said that I needed to work on sitting softer with my lower body through my midsection and allowing my hips to just move with him - she said that I was sort of stiff through the hips, soft through the mid section, and then stiff up top - I tended to brace my neck and jut my jaw out. Of course, this caused Oliver to lock his jaw, so when I softened he softened with me.

MacNair's is coming up shortly - I have another lesson with Gina this Friday (hopefully jumping, so I can practice over small courses at the height I need to jump)and then a dressage lesson, in an actual arena, next week before the show.

Oliver manages to jump a full round in months...

Gina had me going over to the neighbor's beeyootiful jump field today for a jump school, which was unexpected and a pleasant surprise. We've been doing nothing but trotting jumps and going through gymnastics, so I wondered what we were doing over there with all the colorful stadium jumps.

Oliver was a bit spooky on the hack over, being very silly about a rolltop in the fenceline (but I guarantee if we had been cantering at it to jump it, he wouldn't have spooked at it) and then spooking at Cathy (I think that's her name - she owns the field) working a lovely bay horse in-hand at the top by the barn, and then spooking one last time at a bright neon green hose coiled up by the entry gate to the field. He hasn't spooked this much in months. I think it's a combination of Gina feeding him more and him being almost completely naked (I think I stripped too much hair off him when I clipped him). He started his warmup by going too quickly in his tempo, wanting to run downhill and not stay soft, and I could tell his neck was elevated and curled in. I halted him and then asked him to bend his neck around to touch my toes, and then asked him to walk off in a straight line with his neck still being bent around, and then asked him to make small circles and push his haunches out. After a few minutes of that, he started to soften and listen to me instead of bulling onto the bit and hauling me around. When Gina finished up her lesson, she had me trot endlessly over a single pole on the ground - I say endlessly because Oliver wasn't paying the least bit of attention to it and was sort of wobbling over it and tripping over it during a few passes. Finally, when I was able to keep him straight, get him to step OVER the pole and lift his feet, and keep him straight on the landing side, Gina had me canter over the pole. Again, I was to keep the same rhythm, keep the canter smaller and contained, and canter over the center of the pole. Gina explained that Oliver wants the canter to get long and quick because then he doesn't have to use his butt. Keeping things slower for him when he wants to run off like that helps keep his body parts in alignment, which in turn keeps him pushing from behind onto the bit.

Gina also told me that I should never, ever start jumping this horse, even out of a trot, until I've done this exercise and kept him straight, or else he'll just push through the reins to the jump or get squiggly. Once we did a few good passes over the fence, all done on a big circle, she had me canter random jumps in the arena. Gina wanted me to really hold him together and not allow him to waggle his head up and down and back and forth, and for the first time in a long time I was able to see just how MUCH he loves to bounce around in the bridle at the canter. If I kept my weight distributed evenly between my feet and my thighs, I could sit down, really TAKE that outside rein (even if he's counterbent in the neck), and then regulate the canter through that. Keeping my weight evenly distributed also helped keep my left foot from falling asleep. Gina and I both think that I tend to put too much weight in my feet, pushing down too hard through the heel, which causes it to fall numb. Supporting myself through my entire leg and concentrating on keeping my thigh closed (not gripped, just closed) enabled me to ride without pain - always a good thing. I also really focused on riding the outside of his body - outside rein to regulate speed, outside rein to turn. I got yelled at once because I turned toward a blue gate too soon - I was heading down a slight inclince, and I thought I gave myself enough room to straighten before the fence, but Gina told me that with Oliver (for now), I had to really give myself at least 5-6 strides of being completely straight before I jumped anything. Keeping him straight helped with seeing a spot.

There were a couple of times I saw a long spot and resisted (somewhat successfully) my inclination to gun at it, which of course makes Oliver leap over it inverted like a stag and then run afterwards. Since I didn't make that bid, I also didn't do anything else, so we sort of barfed over the fence. I got chastised for that by Gina, and I told her that I knew what I was supposed to do, but couldn't seem to make myself do it in time. The next time that happened, I really focused on sitting up but keeping my hips back, hands closed around the reins, and adding leg to support him and we took the jump out of a shortened stride, but no barfing.

Gina said that the reason why he's barfing over the fence when I do nothing is because he is no longer making a bid towards the jump, so he doesn't know WHAT to do when I don't help him. This is progress, because before he'd just grab the bit and run. NOw that he's waiting for me and jumping very quietly (YES!), I have to help him and support him. Very cool. Lucky for me, he's quite honest and willing. G says that he still has to push off more at the base of the fence, since he's "drapey" (good with his knees but hangs below them), but these fences are also only 2ish feet high. He's also fairly new to getting to the base and pushing off, so hopefully the more we do this, and the stronger his canter gets, and the more gymnastic time we spend, he'll push off and round more. Right now, I'm thrilled that he's waiting for me at the fences.

Now, I just have to get into that dressage ring and practice the new, weird tests...

Gymnastic day!!!

I have this mortal fear of any kind of combination. It's very silly, but I envision crashing through a sea of poles and things flying everywhere, including myself. You may call it irrational - I call it self-preservation. Of course, I have never been on a horse that's so supremely talented that they make it seem easy. I tend to ride the uber-green, squirrely ones that wiggle and waggle through anything less than a bounce, which makes it doubly-hard to stay straight through a gymnastic.

Gina knows this. And, she also knows that Oliver's best friend is gymnastics, so she decided that today was Gymnastic Day. We started off by warming up as usual, with Gina warning me to keep feel of both sides of his mouth and keep him absolutely straight, and NOT to let him fuss. Oliver likes to woggle his head up and down and bounce off the bit, which enables him to pop his shoulders one way and then the other, thereby avoiding coming through from behind and pushing evenly into the reins. I have been, up until now, actually TOO quiet with my hands, and G is always after me to "ride both sides of his mouth" so that I can keep him steadier in his neck and head, which allows me to keep him straighter in his body. Today, I was apparently locking my elbows in an attemp to keep my hands low and wide, and G reminded me to bend them - she said that I should think about any rein aids I give coming from the elbow, and not the hand. If I keep my elbows too straight, she said that Oliver will feel it as a jerk in the mouth, rather than a soft, gentle reminder. So, I focused on any time I wanted to do something with my fingers (like flex him right), I did it from the elbow bending and not just my hand squeezing the rein. This seemed to keep him much quieter in front. G also reminded me to take the outside rein, even if it meant that he was counter bent, because O doesn't quite understand yet what stepping into the outside reins means - he simply thinks that when I take the outside rein, I'm just pullling on him. With constant repetition, he'll start to understand that the outside rein means "come back to me" or "straighten your body". The reason for this became crystal clear when I cantered. The canter strike-off was wobbly, as usual, and G said to me, "I don't let him do that, so you shouldn't." She told me to think about everything he did and ask myself, "Would Gina allow this?" and if the answer was "no" (which it always is), not to let him do it, either. So, I had to take that outside rein, sit back, and ask him to canter. Once in the canter, she said that I had to be a bit more "floppy" with my upper body and relax and just go with him - I was working too hard in the canter to maitain it. I'm still trying to find that fine line between just sitting there and being dead weight, and just flowing with the motion. My legs have gotten better in the canter in that I'm no longer pushing with every stride to keep him there, and G said that the I seemed much more comfortable in the new saddle and that I looked more down and around him with my legs, instead of just perched on top. I adore that new saddle, but then, I tend to adore all of them at first - time will tell. At one point, I was feeling myself being pulled slightly forward in the canter. G said that what Oliver was doing was to hollow his back, so that I dropped into it, like a hammock, and then he dropped his head and pulled me out of position, which allowed his hindquarters to trail out behind him. She said that if I felt like he was pulling me, I was to take that outside rein and not let go until he gave in (of course, keeping the leg on). Only then would he figure out how to compress himself in the canter and bring his back up.

Gina put up a simple placing pole, crossrail, then another placing pole, then another crossrail, and a landing pole. This was similar to what we had been doing all week long, except that instead of a whole stride in between each placing pole/crossrail set, there was none - it was placing pole, jump, placing pole, jump, placing pole. The hard work of the week before paid off as he stayed fairly straight over the jumps and landed straight. I'm getting much better about riding every stride to the fence, instead of just taking that first step over the placing pole and then quit riding. It's also ridiculously easy to fold my hips back in this new saddle - all I have to do is think about it and it happens. I didn't realize how much I had to think about and work on this before. G put a pole perpendicular to the first crossrail, one end resting on it, to keep Oliver from even thinking about drifting left. She also turned the second crossrail into a vertical, and put a wide "V" of poles to channel him in, so all I had to do was release over the fence and just keep riding him forwards. Gina wanted me to release much more than I had been doing - she said to think about pushing my hands halfway up his neck over the jump, to give him something to jump up into. The first time through with the vertical, he jumped around the vertical so much that his withers knocked me right in the sternum - it was great! Gina laughed and said, "Well, THAT got his attention!" and we went through several more times, each time with Oliver jumping around the fence with his knees up around his ears. I did get a bit of praise in that the third time through, Oliver let his attention wander (typical of him) and I gave him a quick kick with my leg to get him focused on the crossrail - Gina said that if I hadn't been on top of it and quick to get him back to the job at hand, he would have splatted through the first fence and then scared himself by trying to fix the next two. That felt good, knowing that i'm getting better about staying on top of him and keeping his attention.

Now, Gina wanted to focus on me a bit more. She said that I was opening up too early on the landing side, which prevented him from kicking his back legs free of the jump. She also said that I was allowing my leg to drift slightly backwards over the last, which was easily corrected by shortening my stirrups one hole. She added one last jump to the series, set at about 2'9-3'0, and she said that I was fine with my upper body over the first two, but I opened up too early on the landing from the last, bigger vertical. G said to think about "riding the neck down" and pressing my knuckles into his crest over the first crossrail and just keeping them there throughout the rest of the exercise. So, I went through, jumped the first two perfectly, jumped the last one, concentrated on riding the neck down, and felt totally out of whack on the landing, like I was getting pitched forward. Not in a bad way, like I was going to come off, but in a weird, uncomfortable, "this isn't what I'm used to" kind of way. G said I was staying closed for about two strides after the jump, which was okay for now. I'm sure that eventually I'll want to get back after one stride, but until I get this feeling of going with my horse, I'll have to exaggerate the landing. She explained that while he was very, very good up front now, he was still trailing his hind legs over the fence because he still didn't know how to curl himself up over a jump - he was so used to flinging himself over it with a high head.

Gina turned the last jump into an oxer, which was a bit intimidating for me and immediately triggered my instinct to boot him through the exercise, but I swallowed and rode him straight into it, keeping my eyes focused on a pine tree in the distance, and what do you know - keeping my upper more closed on landing resulted in me feeling him kick his hind legs over the jump. I mentioned this to Gina and she said that he even flipped his tail, which is a good sign that he's using himself. She even yelled to me "see, he isn't a piece of crap over a fence!" and told me that he had a very good jump. He may not be the best jumper in the world, but he was certainly capable - he just didn't know HOW to jump. Gina says that Oliver doesn't know how to go up to a jump, size it up, coil himself, and push off the ground and jump around the fence. She said next time we do this exercise, she will turn it into an oxer to another oxer, to a vertical, to teach him that even he opens up over a spread fence, he's still got to land, compress himself, and then open up again.

Gina said that the biggest mistake she sees people making with greenies is to open up too much distance between jumping efforts - like a crossrail to a vertical, and then two strides to an oxer, which is a really common exercise. She said that the two strides in between gives the greenie too much room to wander, and Oliver too much time to fall back into his old, bad habits. She also mentioned that doing bounces was counterproductive as well because it doesn't teach him to land and then canter and then jump - all he has to do over bounces is yank his feet up out of the way. Once he starts to understand completely how to focus and keep himself straight, she'll open up the distances between the jumps (possibly by removing the placing poles) and then when he figures that out, he can start to canter fences around a course and hold himself together and still jump up and around the fence.

Such a great feeling he's giving me over jumps now. I wish I had a video camera, as Gina said that he's unrecognizable as the same horse who came to her two months ago. I'm glad that I have no money to compete in March, as I'd like to really get this solid before entering our first competition, riding in our "new" way. It all seems so simple, now. First we slow him down and get him straight on the flat, and his gaits immediately improve and he becomes less worried. Now, we slow things down in our jumping,keeping him straight and giving him lots of freedom with his head and neck over a fence, so he learns to push off and jump up and around the fence. It's all starting to make sense to me now!

New barn, new trainer, new results!

It's been forever since I posted anything (not that anybody is actually reading this), but so much has changed that it's hard to wrap my mind around it all. I've moved Oliver to Gina Fiore's place, further in town, and I've been thrilled with the changes.

Gina is wonderful. She's no nonsense, straightforward, and is very quiet withe ponies - I think Oliver loves her. Here are some of the things that we're working on:

GAP: straightness, not coming through
STRATEGIES: Oliver seems to be one of the squiggliest horses I've ever ridden. He's by Oskar, out of a mostly Trak mare who was successful at Intermediate. He's got his daddy's long, long legs and mother's compact body, so that makes him feel like Bambi on ice. He doesn't have one consistent trick to get out of work - he has many, and they all involve various body parts popping all over the place. I get one shoved in, and another falls out, and that results in him not coming through and over the back. My former trainer blamed a lot of this on some old injury that he must have sustained while a baby (falling in the pasture with his back legs out behind him is the best guess), but we also tried to solve it by really pushing him forward to get him to engage his hindquarters. All that seemed to do was to worry him, and make the body parts fly faster out of line. I had come to the acceptance that he just wasn't as good a mover as his daddy and probably would never be all that great a jumper as well.

SOLUTION: Gina has me changing quite a few things. Keep the shoulders straight by keeping a feel of both reins, especially the outside rein. My hands are apparently TOO quiet and "dead" and that just let Oliver hover on the bit, faking it, which he can do very well as he has a lovely neck and it's set high on his withers. I need to keep the rein moving slightly so that he's constantly searching for the bit and not allowed to curl his chin in. The legs are also apparently doing too much, and not enough - I'm holding him up too much, especially in the canter, so that he's learned to rely on the constant leg, leg, leg, which makes me exhausted and makes him dull. Gina tells me to just keep the leg lightly there and just SIT there, enjoying the ride. Once he breaks, ask him to canter on again. You'd think that this would mean a lot of breaking and a lot of fixing at first, but no,it has the opposite effect. Because I'm quietly fixing the break and asking him to canter on, he doesn't get upset (as opposed to whacking him or booting him as before), so he stays rounder. Now he can canter quietly and when he feels like breaking, a subtle reminder with the leg keeps him on, and I get to enjoy it and just concentrate on keeping him straight in the reins, so I no longer feel like I'm juggling too many balls in the air.

GAP: no balance in his gaits
STRATEGIES: previously, they involved a lot of pushing him with the leg and whip to get him to come into the reins, with a slightly higher hand to elevate his balance. This resulted in a slightly frantic, unbalanced horse (see above) that would not be straight and not be truly pushing through from behind.

SOLUTION: sloooooow things down so that he can balance. Keep him straight while he's slower, so he can relax through the rhythm of the gait. Keeping him straight, even in the slower pace, helped him come through from behind so that his gaits have actually improved, and he's quite a cute mover now. Also, Gina has me keep my hands lower and wider to get him to come into the rein. Once he's stronger through his back, we can elevate the hands to match the elevated carriage. Keeping them higher before just resulted in a horse that faked it. Also, she has me ride the neck down to a fence, at the trot, so that he jumps up and around instead of jumping with a high head land reaching front legs. SUCH a difference in the jump, now, which makes me quieter as I feel like I can be pushed into place, instead of trying to make things happen.

So, I think I might have the horse I've been looking for all this time! Oliver has always been a total sweetheart, so it's wonderful to see more talent and ability there than I thought there was. It's very exciting to see the progression in the short time I've been with Gina (since late December of 2009), and to see what's to come! Probably going to go to MacNair's CT in March, since I can't afford to go to Southern Pines HT, but definitely Longleaf is going to be our recognized debut.

Oliver rocks his division at FenRidge!

We won our division, with a 27.9. That’s including a missed lead. What I’m most thrilled about, though, is how Oliver went stadium and xc. He was a blast to ride and barely looked at a thing, and took everything out of stride.

We got mostly 7s and 8s on our test. We did get a 4 on our canter lead, so if you think about it, I probably would have gotten at least a 7 on our lead, so that would mean that I would have gotten a 24 on our test if I hadn’t screwed up. Unbelievable. The only negative comment the judge made was that she thought the test was a bit rushed, but she did give me lots of “very active” comments, and mentioned that I needed to slow the tempo down so that I could develop more swing. However, after talking it over with Christan (who saw the test as she was warming up and said that the score was well-deserved), she said that if I slowed him down at this point, he would just mince along and then I’d get comments of “not enough push from behind”. So, that’s what we’re working on – getting him to push from behind, and THEN we can slow it down and see if we can maintain it. Still, I’m thrilled, and that just means that I have something to look forward to. The weather was miserable. It was spitting rain and about 45 degrees, even though the forecast said “sunny in the 60s”. I was extremely tempted to go home after dressage, since there was a long wait before xc (dressage was at 8:50, xc was at 12:45, and I had been up at 4am to get there). I didn’t bring any cover and didn’t relish the idea of going xc in the pouring rain, which is what the sky was threatening to do, and plus Oliver didn’t have studs and the xc course was full of clover, so I was worried about him slipping. I stuck around for some perverse reason – I guess I was fearing the wrath of Christan if I didn’t – and I’m glad I did, because even though it didn’t warm up a lot (the wind was really blowing), the sun did start to peek out and it warmed up to about 55 or so. Perfect xc weather. Plus, I had the benefit of riding Oliver, who was a bit fresh but definitely manageable.

Stadium was next – it was a bit hilly. First jump was a birch oxer, which he peeked at, but rode well and then a bending line left to an orange vertical. Then, about a 90 degree turn to a largish pink oxer, very bright, and then downhill and to the left at about 7 o’clock over fence 3, uphill and to the right for a bending line that rode about 3 strides, vertical to oxer, going downhill, and then back around to the right to a domino jump, which was getting a lot of horses. Oliver didn’t care at all – he was in a good, solid rhythm. Back around to another oxer, downhill over the Liverpool, and then back over the Nemo jump. It rode incredibly well, if you balanced them through it. That was his best stadium round ever. I was so excited with his progress. On to xc from stadium.

I swore I wasn’t going to do it, but I peeked at the scores (I had nothing else to do). Since I was sitting in first place, Christan told me to play it safe xc and not take the harder ditch option in the woods. XC was pretty long – 17 jumps, which is on the long side for BN. Right out of the starting box there was a hay bale jump, so you didn’t really have a lot of time to get them in front of your leg. Oliver gawked at it but I took it from the canter and he landed galloping, so that he took a longish spot at the next, which was a steeplechase sort of brush fence side perpendicular to a slope, so that you had to jump it at a slight uphill angle. The footing wasn’t good until after the second fence, which was a long gallop into the woods, downhill to a skinny log, and then, quick left to avoid the spooky ditch and go over the log option to the left. Oliver slid twice in the woods, even though I had him balanced, so I was thinking about studs for sure at Novice. He didn’t seem rattled by it, so we galloped out of the woods, down the woodline, left over a cabin with stuffed scarecrows to either side, and then still along the fenceline, swoop left and over a cutout rampy thing going uphill. Back into the opposite side of the woods for a largish cordwood pile with pine brush in front, which rode beautifully, then back down to the water. He peeked at the water but you can see from the pictures that he had no issue with it. If only he could trot in the dressage like he did in the water! Check out that engagement behind! Out of the water, downhill a ways to a cabin. That rode well – Oliver has gotten to the point of where all I do is sit up, close my entire leg, especially my upper thigh, and he just comes right back to me and balances himself on a soft rein. From the cabin, back uphill over the required ditch. Back uphill and a 180 to a narrow green cabin with orange fall leaves. Then, downhill again and a right turn to the drop – I went over the smaller one just because I wasn’t sure how it was flagged and didn’t want to risk a technical elimination for jumping the wrong side, although Oliver would have had no problem with it – he likes drops, and so do I. About 6 strides to a ramp, then uphill again to a bench, and then a long gallop around to the picture frame jump, bending line to a couple of logs, and back to the start box for the final table. He was a bit tired towards the end, but we only trotted the drop and the ditch, so I felt like we made good time, even though I wasn’t wearing my watch. That was a deliberate choice, since this was really his first BN (I don’t count Foxtrack as they’re so tiny and short).

Then there was a LONG wait for the scores. For some stupid reason, they waited until the ENTIRE BN division was finished before placing anybody. Half of the show was doing BN, so that meant that we waited about 2 hours for scores. I didn’t know if I had any time penalties or not, so I stuck around. When they finally posted them, I had 10 time penalties for going too slow! 2nd place had 8.8, and the rest of the division had higher penalties than I did. That wasn’t right, so Christan went to investigate. Turns out that Patricia had forgotten a section of the course when she wheeled it, so you had to be going Training speed to make the time. She (Christan) actually lost her 1st place on Bella’s sister, Das Belladonna, because the girl who got 1st actually MADE the time. That girl must have been going like a bat out of hell. Everybody else in BN didn’t make the time. However, since Patricia had already given out some ribbons (namely, to the girl who placed above Christan and already took hers and went home), Patricia said that the scores would stay. Grrrr. Still, I consider myself going double-clear as it was obviously a stupid mistake. That meant that Trainor Eventing (myself, Christan, and Marissa) all won our divisions on our horses. All of us scored below a 30,too, which is even more impressive. First place was a very nice ribbon, with a blue bucket filled with a over-the-wall tack hook, a body brush (blue), a sponge (also blue), a leadrope (yup, blue again), and a few gift certificates to a feed store and such.

The one thing I regretted during the show was wearing those damn Sit Tight breeches with my long johns – I felt like I was sliding in my own skin. I haven’t felt that insecure going xc in a long, long time. You’d think that with the rubber seat on the Sit Tights, I’d be stuck like glue, but I slid INSIDE the breeches – I didn’t even know that was possible! I’m tempted to burn the damn thing, since I hate them.

So, the show photographer must have loved Oliver (everybody else did – I got compliments on how adorable he was from just about everybody, and not just little girls), because she took a TON of pictures of him, especially his face. There are only a few other riders who got as many shots as I did. There is one from dressage where his mane is flying everywhere and he’s got this LOOK on his face which makes me laugh – I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but it’s not too positive from his expression. I guess he feels the same way about dressage that I do. Anyway, I had to buy that one because it makes me laugh every time. I actually bought 4 of them, since they were only $8 a piece. That’s the best deal for pictures I’ve ever seen since I was riding Tanner.