First of all, my parade got a little rained on because Christan told me not to get too disappointed at the next show if I scored higher than this last one. I sort of expected that, and told myself that I would be happy with a score in the low 30s (like 30-33), but I didn't expect her to allude to the idea that the judge was a wee bit more than generous at MacNair's. Sigh. I guess sometimes you get really lucky and the judge just loves you and your horse, and sometimes you get a judge that you cannot please on any given day, and most of the time you fall in-between. Guess this was my lucky day. I've got to look at the bright side of things and remember that it just gives me something more to work on (not like I was going to sit on my laurels and take it easy), but still! So, I'm feeling a tad grumpy right now.
These were the phrases of the day: "Don't pull with your hands - use your leg and push him into the contact." "Up and out". "Keep that outside rein." "Elbows over hips." "If he wiggles into the halt, immediately trot on." "Shoulders back through the turn." "Hands up". "Throw your reins away like you're finished with your ride." "He's so used to you using your rein to correct him that he over-reacts to your leg." "Correct him with your leg, not the rein."
So, we did flatwork during my lesson today. Oliver felt a bit sticky, but then, I wasn't wearing spurs. Christan had me lengthen my stirrups one hole to really get me to wrap my legs around him. We started off by trotting and keeping my leg on, hands up with thumbs up, and not giving away my right rein going left, and keeping the bend going right. Oliver was dropping his inside shoulder coming off the rail on the right rein, and also popping his shoulder to the outside on the open side of the arena. I think I was letting him fall off the rail because I was trying too soon to catch that shoulder and keep it from popping on the open side. Again, I need to ride every single stride. I flexed him to the inside, used my inside leg, and then when we finished the turn, I thought "counter-bend" to catch that shoulder. Apparently, he was also dropping behind my leg because Christan told me "Leg!", so when I added some leg coming out of the turn, he straightened up pretty much on his own. To the left, it wasn't nearly the problem, except that I very badly want to open my outside (right) rein and push it forward. I could really see it on the video that Joe did for me last week, and boy, is it ugly when I do that. Christan said, "elbows over hips", so I concentrated on pressing my upper arm to my side and keeping that elbow over my right hip, and that seemed to straighten him.
During the canter, Oliver felt pretty heavy in the bridle, especially to the right, so maybe next time I will wear my spurs to boot him up. However, to the left, we had some very nice canter work. He is still wiggly in the transition, so the draw reins might need to go back on. Christan looked over my test and decided to work on free walk and halt. We started the halt work by doing it on a circle - trot a 20 meter circle, then halt. The first few times, he was pretty darn good, so Christan had me turn up the center line and then halt. The minute he turned up the center line, he threw his hips to the left and wobbled into the halt, leaning on my hands, so Christan had me immediately trot off. Of course, I had to tap him with my whip to get him to hop off my leg, so he trotted off, and we took a few strides in trot, then halted again, concentrating on shoulders back, hands steady, and leg on. It only took one more try and he was halting square consistently. I love the fact that you can correct him and he doesn't get emotional about it. So, we worked on free walk next. Christan had me trot down the long side, get a good, uphill walk transition, and then free walk across the diagonal. As we turned down the diagonal, Christan had me basically throw away the reins "like you're finished riding". This was totally against everything I was taught in the free walk (let them take the reins out of your hands), but I did it, and he marched on but I had to really check him with my left leg as he wanted to wander to the left. We did this a few more times and Christan said, "There's your free walk". I always thought that the free walk was more about them putting their head down and stretching across their backs, but Christan said that when I keep a contact, he curls and his stride doesn't get as long as it could. She said that if I free walked like that, I could get an 8 on it instead of the 7s I've been getting.
We ended by turning down the centerline one last time, and halting. Bam - he was perfectly square and straight, so we called it quits on that.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
We break the 30 mark!
So, my news is that Oliver and I got a 27.9 on our dressage test at BN this Sunday. He had never been to MacNair’s before, and their lakeside arena can be a bit scary, so I didn’t know what to expect. The warmup arena was CRAZY – people weren’t steering or looking where they were going at all, so it was quite frustrating and I didn’t get the warmup I had planned on. Christan had three horses going that day, so she wasn’t able to help me much. I was also riding in my jumping saddle since I didn’t think there was much time between dressage and when they opened up stadium – my ride was at 9:15 and they started BN stadium at 9:30. He warmed up nicely, given the commotion – I started off my stretching him long and low, and then brought him up and really focused on keeping my upper body back and my hands higher. My friend, who’s not a horse person (in fact, she’s scared of them, but for some reason loves Oliver and I think the feeling is mutual), was there watching, and I think the little booger was showing off for her. We went in and put in a rather nice test – there were some moments where he sort of dragged me forward in the canter and I could feel him tipping onto his forehand, so I had to sit up tall and really keep my leg on and just drive him up into my hands – but all around I thought it was a decent test. I figured we would have scored in the md 30s, like around 35 or so, and I would have been happy with that since we scored a 39 last time, both times, and had fits of bucking in the departs. No bucking this time, and he stayed fairly steady in the bridle. Milanne told me he looked very steady – of course, she’s not a horse person so I didn’t give that much credit, but it did feel pretty darn good to me. There were still definitely areas for improvement, and I think that if I had been in my dressage saddle, he wouldn’t have been able to pull me forward like that.
We went into stadium, which was a bit twisty, and fence 1 was a brand new brick wall, and two was a yellow and purple V plank. I watched horse after horse prop or stop at those two jumps, especially the V plank. I couldn’t see anything especially terrifying about the plank . In fact, it was pained pale yellow and lilac, so it wasn’t even much of a contrast, and there were no fillers at the plank. Still, it told me to ride very strongly towards it, and sure enough, Oliver peeked at the stone wall and propped in front of the plank, but then we landed and had a nice, flowing round over the rest. He rolled a rail with his hind feet over jump 6, which was off a bending line and I still don’t know why he rolled it, but we were clear. He obviously needs to see more colorful stadium fences, since he was rather impressed with what was out there. He doesn’t look at flowers or anything, so I still don’t know what was scary about the planks, but the other horses were scared, too.
When I went to check the scores, I couldn’t believe my eyes. 27.9. I thought it was a mistake and that it was maybe a 37.9, but they put the “pure” dressage score by the penalty points and sure enough, it was a 72.1%. First place had a 26.8, and Christan told me later that it was a Grand Prix dressage rider on her 4th level horse. So, here’s my score sheet:
Enter – down centerline 7 little tilt in head
Short diagonal, change rein 7 same
A circle left 7 slightly short in neck
Canter left lead 7 balanced
Circle left canter 8
Transition to trot 8
Half diagonal 7
Circle right trot 8
Canter right lead 8 uphill
Circle right canter 7 Mouth open; against hand slightly (this is where he was pulling me a little)
Trot transition 8 uphill
Walk transition 6 unclear; almost early (I forgot where the transition was supposed to happen)
Free walk/medium walk 7 could stretch more but you have the right idea
Trot; turn up centerline 7 little crooked
X halt salute 6 haunches right
Gaits 7 for an 8, need uphill scope ?
Impulsion 7 nicely forward
Submission 7 behind vertical and mouth open at times, but uphill
Rider 8 Nice job. Skillful riding. Some loss of balance at times.
Can you believe it?!?!? An “8” on rider position? I’ve never, ever had an 8 on rider position. The halt obviously needs work, which I know, and the 7s could have been 8s if he hadn’t pulled me forward a titch, which I also knew. I hate it when they give you 8s, then switch to 7s, and then back to 8s, but don’t tell you what you did to lower it a point, or raise it a point. Of course, I’m thrilled with all the 8s, so I’m not complaining.
Finally. All the hard work is paying off. I’ve been so incredibly frustrated with my riding in general because I feel like I’ve been starting over from scratch. I’ve also seen very few results at the shows, and then we’ve had that weird problem with Oliver and him stepping short behind early last spring. I think those hypnosis CDS are working a treat, since this time I was able to realize when I was doing something, like tipping forward, and do something about it. It has also made me realize that just because you buy a Warmblood, doesn’t mean that you can RIDE one :^P. I think that it’s harder in many ways to ride a horse like Oliver than Sam, or even Bella.
We went into stadium, which was a bit twisty, and fence 1 was a brand new brick wall, and two was a yellow and purple V plank. I watched horse after horse prop or stop at those two jumps, especially the V plank. I couldn’t see anything especially terrifying about the plank . In fact, it was pained pale yellow and lilac, so it wasn’t even much of a contrast, and there were no fillers at the plank. Still, it told me to ride very strongly towards it, and sure enough, Oliver peeked at the stone wall and propped in front of the plank, but then we landed and had a nice, flowing round over the rest. He rolled a rail with his hind feet over jump 6, which was off a bending line and I still don’t know why he rolled it, but we were clear. He obviously needs to see more colorful stadium fences, since he was rather impressed with what was out there. He doesn’t look at flowers or anything, so I still don’t know what was scary about the planks, but the other horses were scared, too.
When I went to check the scores, I couldn’t believe my eyes. 27.9. I thought it was a mistake and that it was maybe a 37.9, but they put the “pure” dressage score by the penalty points and sure enough, it was a 72.1%. First place had a 26.8, and Christan told me later that it was a Grand Prix dressage rider on her 4th level horse. So, here’s my score sheet:
Enter – down centerline 7 little tilt in head
Short diagonal, change rein 7 same
A circle left 7 slightly short in neck
Canter left lead 7 balanced
Circle left canter 8
Transition to trot 8
Half diagonal 7
Circle right trot 8
Canter right lead 8 uphill
Circle right canter 7 Mouth open; against hand slightly (this is where he was pulling me a little)
Trot transition 8 uphill
Walk transition 6 unclear; almost early (I forgot where the transition was supposed to happen)
Free walk/medium walk 7 could stretch more but you have the right idea
Trot; turn up centerline 7 little crooked
X halt salute 6 haunches right
Gaits 7 for an 8, need uphill scope ?
Impulsion 7 nicely forward
Submission 7 behind vertical and mouth open at times, but uphill
Rider 8 Nice job. Skillful riding. Some loss of balance at times.
Can you believe it?!?!? An “8” on rider position? I’ve never, ever had an 8 on rider position. The halt obviously needs work, which I know, and the 7s could have been 8s if he hadn’t pulled me forward a titch, which I also knew. I hate it when they give you 8s, then switch to 7s, and then back to 8s, but don’t tell you what you did to lower it a point, or raise it a point. Of course, I’m thrilled with all the 8s, so I’m not complaining.
Finally. All the hard work is paying off. I’ve been so incredibly frustrated with my riding in general because I feel like I’ve been starting over from scratch. I’ve also seen very few results at the shows, and then we’ve had that weird problem with Oliver and him stepping short behind early last spring. I think those hypnosis CDS are working a treat, since this time I was able to realize when I was doing something, like tipping forward, and do something about it. It has also made me realize that just because you buy a Warmblood, doesn’t mean that you can RIDE one :^P. I think that it’s harder in many ways to ride a horse like Oliver than Sam, or even Bella.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The incredible complexities of a simpe in and out...
Just goes to show you how incredibly humbling this sport is, and how you never stop learning. I think I'm understanding just why it is that people play golf....
Had my lesson today, and we started off with flatwork, since that is (was?) my Number 1 Nemesis lately. A little harder to sit up and not tip forward in a jumping saddle, but easier to put my leg on. I've switched to little hammerhead spurs so that I'm not afraid to really put my leg on, and it seems to be working. I had a lightbulb moment the other day schooling xc at the Secrists - Oliver took off with me on the landing side of a fence and I really sat back, dug my spurs in, and lifted my hands in a half-halt, and I really felt him tuck his butt underneath, raise his withers, and sit DOWN. Wow. So, that's what Christan means by leg-to-hand! Anyway, I've been using that visual a lot when I've been flatting - at first, I had to use draw reins to keep Oliver from just bullying through my hand and accept the contact, but I've taken them off recently and he seems to still understand that when I leg him up into the contact, he must sit down behind and not hollow and grab the bit and run. Which, of course, makes it easier to ride leg to hand, since he's responding correctly. We worked a little on transitions - while I can get a lovely upward transition now, uphill and into the bridle, the trot-to-canter is still a little tough as I want to tip ever so slightly forward and drop my hands into it. When I think of really pressing him into the contact and then asking for the canter, thinking about lifting my hands (so they don't drop), he tends to strike off correctly and stay round. I also have this bad habit of riding the canter to the left a bit under the pace, so I've got to sit back, ride him UP, and keep my leg on, even if it's faster than I think I need to be. We also worked on the halt transition - coming around the turn, Christan noticed that I tip just a tiny bit forward when coming down from the trot, and then he swings his butt to the right and doesn't halt straight (or square). If I come around the turn, think "up" and keep my legs pressed into him, he halts squarely.
So, Christan had me trot a vertical 2'6, one stride to another 2'6 vertical. I came in at a spanking good trot, and then Christan told me that I was coming in too fast, so we sort of blew through the exercise with him falling on his forehand. I was to think about keeping the trot exactly the same, keep my hands up, and not goose him at the last stride and tip forward. It was bloody hard to do because I felt that the trot was underpowered and at the last second, I had this need to do something and I inadvertently goosed him with my leg, which resulted in a scrambling through the exercise. Then, I went the opposite extreme - instead of goosing him, I held onto him too much, so that he felt the need to pull his way through, resulting in a jump that was over his forehand. Christan told me to ride the first jump and not worry about the second - she even had my close my eyes over the first. I closed my eyes, felt him jump the first, panicked, opened my eyes, and LEANED at the second. I haven't leaned that badly at a jump for years! Christan told me that if I were riding a trot lengthening, I wouldn't goose him with my leg or drop my hands, so I was to think "dressage frame" up to the fence, and then on take-off, soften and allow him to jump up and around the vertical. Over and over and over we did this - at the last second I'm still leaning at the first jump (just a tetch, but enough to rotate my hands backwards and take my leg off), or I gun him over it without any support from my hands. We had ugly, two scrambly stride jumps, once where I completely threw my upper body at him and he went left and didn't jump the second jump (not that I blame him - there was no way he could jump it with me hanging around his ears), a lot of jumping the first jump and then plopping over the second, but at the end I finally got it (I think) - I did NOTHING except keep my leg softly on, even if everything in my body was screaming that I needed more speed, more leg, moreSOMETHING, softened my hand, kept my chest lifted, and we landed over the first jump beautifully, sat up, put leg on, and while the second jump still wasn't perfect, it was so much better than the previous attempts. The biggest and most obvious improvement was that on the landing, I sat up, closed my leg and hand, and lifted him into a lovely, balanced canter and then down to a walk, each and every time - yay! Before, I would be so happy with finishing the exercise that I would allow him to pull me forward, tipping onto the forehand, and sprawling to a walk or trot.
At the close, I asked Christan if I could canter a simple fence, and she agreed with the condition that even if I messed up, I had to call it quits. Of course that put the pressure on, so I picked up a lovely canter, cantered toward the crossrail, the whole time thinking "dressage canter". He did try and speed up a few strides out (probably relieved that he was no longer trotting through the grid), but I kept my leg on, half-halted him, and it rode beautifully. Now, I know I should correct the speeding up, but Christan said I handled it very well.
It is soooo frustrating. The easy way out would be to allow him to pick up some speed, and then just breeze through the in and out. It's so hard to keep riding all the way up until the last stride, and then soften without tipping forward or clamping on your leg. I wish I had another horse I could ride that I could work on this, because I could tell Oliver was getting tired towards the end, and he was being a Saint and putting up with me getting left behind, hitting him in the mouth (only did that once, but had to slip my reins a whole bunch), putting him at a bad spot, etc.
Bella seems to be improving slightly. Greg did a quickie adjustment on her and she walked out much better afterwards. She is out in a bigger paddock with grass, and seems to be content walking around.
Had my lesson today, and we started off with flatwork, since that is (was?) my Number 1 Nemesis lately. A little harder to sit up and not tip forward in a jumping saddle, but easier to put my leg on. I've switched to little hammerhead spurs so that I'm not afraid to really put my leg on, and it seems to be working. I had a lightbulb moment the other day schooling xc at the Secrists - Oliver took off with me on the landing side of a fence and I really sat back, dug my spurs in, and lifted my hands in a half-halt, and I really felt him tuck his butt underneath, raise his withers, and sit DOWN. Wow. So, that's what Christan means by leg-to-hand! Anyway, I've been using that visual a lot when I've been flatting - at first, I had to use draw reins to keep Oliver from just bullying through my hand and accept the contact, but I've taken them off recently and he seems to still understand that when I leg him up into the contact, he must sit down behind and not hollow and grab the bit and run. Which, of course, makes it easier to ride leg to hand, since he's responding correctly. We worked a little on transitions - while I can get a lovely upward transition now, uphill and into the bridle, the trot-to-canter is still a little tough as I want to tip ever so slightly forward and drop my hands into it. When I think of really pressing him into the contact and then asking for the canter, thinking about lifting my hands (so they don't drop), he tends to strike off correctly and stay round. I also have this bad habit of riding the canter to the left a bit under the pace, so I've got to sit back, ride him UP, and keep my leg on, even if it's faster than I think I need to be. We also worked on the halt transition - coming around the turn, Christan noticed that I tip just a tiny bit forward when coming down from the trot, and then he swings his butt to the right and doesn't halt straight (or square). If I come around the turn, think "up" and keep my legs pressed into him, he halts squarely.
So, Christan had me trot a vertical 2'6, one stride to another 2'6 vertical. I came in at a spanking good trot, and then Christan told me that I was coming in too fast, so we sort of blew through the exercise with him falling on his forehand. I was to think about keeping the trot exactly the same, keep my hands up, and not goose him at the last stride and tip forward. It was bloody hard to do because I felt that the trot was underpowered and at the last second, I had this need to do something and I inadvertently goosed him with my leg, which resulted in a scrambling through the exercise. Then, I went the opposite extreme - instead of goosing him, I held onto him too much, so that he felt the need to pull his way through, resulting in a jump that was over his forehand. Christan told me to ride the first jump and not worry about the second - she even had my close my eyes over the first. I closed my eyes, felt him jump the first, panicked, opened my eyes, and LEANED at the second. I haven't leaned that badly at a jump for years! Christan told me that if I were riding a trot lengthening, I wouldn't goose him with my leg or drop my hands, so I was to think "dressage frame" up to the fence, and then on take-off, soften and allow him to jump up and around the vertical. Over and over and over we did this - at the last second I'm still leaning at the first jump (just a tetch, but enough to rotate my hands backwards and take my leg off), or I gun him over it without any support from my hands. We had ugly, two scrambly stride jumps, once where I completely threw my upper body at him and he went left and didn't jump the second jump (not that I blame him - there was no way he could jump it with me hanging around his ears), a lot of jumping the first jump and then plopping over the second, but at the end I finally got it (I think) - I did NOTHING except keep my leg softly on, even if everything in my body was screaming that I needed more speed, more leg, moreSOMETHING, softened my hand, kept my chest lifted, and we landed over the first jump beautifully, sat up, put leg on, and while the second jump still wasn't perfect, it was so much better than the previous attempts. The biggest and most obvious improvement was that on the landing, I sat up, closed my leg and hand, and lifted him into a lovely, balanced canter and then down to a walk, each and every time - yay! Before, I would be so happy with finishing the exercise that I would allow him to pull me forward, tipping onto the forehand, and sprawling to a walk or trot.
At the close, I asked Christan if I could canter a simple fence, and she agreed with the condition that even if I messed up, I had to call it quits. Of course that put the pressure on, so I picked up a lovely canter, cantered toward the crossrail, the whole time thinking "dressage canter". He did try and speed up a few strides out (probably relieved that he was no longer trotting through the grid), but I kept my leg on, half-halted him, and it rode beautifully. Now, I know I should correct the speeding up, but Christan said I handled it very well.
It is soooo frustrating. The easy way out would be to allow him to pick up some speed, and then just breeze through the in and out. It's so hard to keep riding all the way up until the last stride, and then soften without tipping forward or clamping on your leg. I wish I had another horse I could ride that I could work on this, because I could tell Oliver was getting tired towards the end, and he was being a Saint and putting up with me getting left behind, hitting him in the mouth (only did that once, but had to slip my reins a whole bunch), putting him at a bad spot, etc.
Bella seems to be improving slightly. Greg did a quickie adjustment on her and she walked out much better afterwards. She is out in a bigger paddock with grass, and seems to be content walking around.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
King of the Hill (umm....pasture)
So, little Oliver is testing me….
We went to the dressage show (Antares) this past weekend, and he warmed up like a superstar. We went in, proceeded to have a very relaxed test, and then I asked for the first canter transition – buck, buck, buck. Luckily, they weren’t that big of bucks and I was able to stuff him forward out of it and we were okay to the next canter transition – more bucky bucky. Argh! I was surprised at how well I handled it, though – I just sat down, and rode him through. So, Christan came and watched me warm up for my next test (Novice A) and she watched as he bucked in the warmup arena for those canter transitions, too – now I was getting really irritated because he has NEVER done this before. It’s not like I was tense and digging my spurs into him, for Pete’s sake. Christan told me that I didn’t have him connected enough, and that I needed to ride him more “up” and “out”, especially in the canter. We had a lovely warmup – C said that if I rode the test like that, I would be in the 70% range. Of course, that didn’t happen. He tried to buck into his first canter transition – I nailed him, and he was okay. The next canter transition, he fell in around the turn, picked up the wrong lead, and I couldn’t bring him down until we almost completed half a circle. The rest of the test was okay, except that he fell in around the last turn down the centerline and we had a sprawly halt.
OK. I wasn’t expecting great scores, due to the disobedience, but he got the exact same score for both tests – a 39pp. Which, oddly enough, was enough to earn him 2nd place in both classes. I guess the judge was scoring rather high that day, as Christan won one of the classes with a 36pp. I guess there was some improvement as normally there would be no way I could get a 2nd place finish with lots of bucking J. So, now we need to work on connection – we’ve obviously got the relaxation. The judge’s comments were all along the lines of “get better balance and you’ll get higher scores”, blah blah blah, which all mean that he needs to be more connected. As least he’s not getting pinged on “tight back” or “tight neck” anymore.
Christan told me that when I get into the arena, I start to tip slightly forward, and my hands drop and allow him to fall behind my leg a bit. I don’t realize it’s happening, so I decided to download a hypnosis for the eventer MP3 online. It seems to be working – the first one I downloaded was on concentration and focus, and I’ve noticed that even my riding at home has gotten so much better. I had a flat lesson on Tuesday and it was probably one of the best ones yet. C told me that there was nobody in the world who could get their horses through by holding in front and kicking them up behind. She said that the only way to get them to soften over the back was to ride inside leg to outside rein, which meant lots of leg yielding to start. She said that she doesn’t do a lot of lateral work with her horses because she’s ALWAYS riding them from inside leg to outside rein, but when they get stiff, she incorporates it. So, to start, she had me leg yield from quarter line to long side, really focusing on keeping him straight and not allowing him to pop his head above the bit. We did this several times to each side, also concentrating on keeping him forward off the leg, and then we cantered. C had me canter as small as a circle as I could without losing the impulsion, and then allow him to spiral out into my outside rein, again keeping his body very straight. This worked wonders for keeping him solid in the outside rein, and also helped me realize when he fell behind my leg or got crooked. It was pretty intense work, but not once did C have to tell me to keep my shoulders back or to lift my hands – yay! I understand more than ever now why he’s not getting good marks in dressage – I’m too happy with allowing him to stay light in the contact and just passively ride him, instead of riding him every stride. C says that when she rides the little Appy mare she has in training, she is riding EVERY SINGLE STRIDE. She’s probably going to always have to ride this mare this way, whereas I won’t always have to do it with Ollie because he’s built more uphill. He just needs to be ridden that way until he gets strong enough to hold himself there. As far as jumping goes, he’s coming along really, really well. He’s allowing me to half-halt him back onto his haunches without him inverting, and we almost always get a perfect spot as a result. I took him for a hack today to ride the hills out back and to go over the biggish ditch back there. He needs more work on the hills, for sure, but it was really humid and hot and I don't blame him for running out of steam before the top. We jumped a few little Maiden/BN jumps, and then I cantered him up the hill and aimed for the grey bench at the top. Well, I made a mistake - first, that jump is much bigger than it looks at first glance, and second, I need a lot more impulsion up the hill if he's going to be able to rock back and jump it. We came in a little crooked, I took my leg off and leaned, and of course he ran to the side. No biggie - all my fault. I took him back over a little BN ramp a few times, and then attempted the grey bench again, this time with more impulsion and I really focused on keeping my leg on, sitting back, and framing him with the reins. He popped over it, but it was awkward and that tells me that it probably was too big for him. Afterwards, I walked him up to the ditch. Predictably, he stopped and tried to run out to the side, but I popped him on the right shoulder ( he naps to the right), made him face it, and within 20 seconds he went over it without too much fuss. I brought him around, trotted it, and he went right over. Went around the other way, and he did gawk and stop, but I stuffed him over it from a walk and then next time, he went right over, and landed so balanced that I hopped over the Novice grey ramp afterwards. He's such a good boy!
I think I’ve discovered why he’s acting naughty lately. C told me that she’s had to turn on the wire tape around the pasture, because Oliver apparently thought it would be a great idea if he grabbed it in his teeth and pulled it, post by post, off the fence. Not only was he doing that, he also decided to play “King of the Mountain” by climbing his front feet on top of the big Training level rolltop we have in the fenceline (it’s definitely max height, and it’s made of round timbers). He’s also trying to hop his hind feet up there, but it’s too slick. We were afraid he’d get tangled up in the wire – it’s mostly tape, but the jumps have wire across them so you can unhook them easily when you want to jump in and out of the pasture. Oliver is being really cheeky, and I think it’s because he’s out in that pasture with three other young horses, all younger than he is. He’s definitely King of the Pasture, and I think he’s testing his dominance by testing ME. He’s been sort of wiggling one step forward, inch by inch, in the grooming area (he’s ground tied), and so when I realized what he was doing, I had to nail him for it. He’s been much better since then.
We went to the dressage show (Antares) this past weekend, and he warmed up like a superstar. We went in, proceeded to have a very relaxed test, and then I asked for the first canter transition – buck, buck, buck. Luckily, they weren’t that big of bucks and I was able to stuff him forward out of it and we were okay to the next canter transition – more bucky bucky. Argh! I was surprised at how well I handled it, though – I just sat down, and rode him through. So, Christan came and watched me warm up for my next test (Novice A) and she watched as he bucked in the warmup arena for those canter transitions, too – now I was getting really irritated because he has NEVER done this before. It’s not like I was tense and digging my spurs into him, for Pete’s sake. Christan told me that I didn’t have him connected enough, and that I needed to ride him more “up” and “out”, especially in the canter. We had a lovely warmup – C said that if I rode the test like that, I would be in the 70% range. Of course, that didn’t happen. He tried to buck into his first canter transition – I nailed him, and he was okay. The next canter transition, he fell in around the turn, picked up the wrong lead, and I couldn’t bring him down until we almost completed half a circle. The rest of the test was okay, except that he fell in around the last turn down the centerline and we had a sprawly halt.
OK. I wasn’t expecting great scores, due to the disobedience, but he got the exact same score for both tests – a 39pp. Which, oddly enough, was enough to earn him 2nd place in both classes. I guess the judge was scoring rather high that day, as Christan won one of the classes with a 36pp. I guess there was some improvement as normally there would be no way I could get a 2nd place finish with lots of bucking J. So, now we need to work on connection – we’ve obviously got the relaxation. The judge’s comments were all along the lines of “get better balance and you’ll get higher scores”, blah blah blah, which all mean that he needs to be more connected. As least he’s not getting pinged on “tight back” or “tight neck” anymore.
Christan told me that when I get into the arena, I start to tip slightly forward, and my hands drop and allow him to fall behind my leg a bit. I don’t realize it’s happening, so I decided to download a hypnosis for the eventer MP3 online. It seems to be working – the first one I downloaded was on concentration and focus, and I’ve noticed that even my riding at home has gotten so much better. I had a flat lesson on Tuesday and it was probably one of the best ones yet. C told me that there was nobody in the world who could get their horses through by holding in front and kicking them up behind. She said that the only way to get them to soften over the back was to ride inside leg to outside rein, which meant lots of leg yielding to start. She said that she doesn’t do a lot of lateral work with her horses because she’s ALWAYS riding them from inside leg to outside rein, but when they get stiff, she incorporates it. So, to start, she had me leg yield from quarter line to long side, really focusing on keeping him straight and not allowing him to pop his head above the bit. We did this several times to each side, also concentrating on keeping him forward off the leg, and then we cantered. C had me canter as small as a circle as I could without losing the impulsion, and then allow him to spiral out into my outside rein, again keeping his body very straight. This worked wonders for keeping him solid in the outside rein, and also helped me realize when he fell behind my leg or got crooked. It was pretty intense work, but not once did C have to tell me to keep my shoulders back or to lift my hands – yay! I understand more than ever now why he’s not getting good marks in dressage – I’m too happy with allowing him to stay light in the contact and just passively ride him, instead of riding him every stride. C says that when she rides the little Appy mare she has in training, she is riding EVERY SINGLE STRIDE. She’s probably going to always have to ride this mare this way, whereas I won’t always have to do it with Ollie because he’s built more uphill. He just needs to be ridden that way until he gets strong enough to hold himself there. As far as jumping goes, he’s coming along really, really well. He’s allowing me to half-halt him back onto his haunches without him inverting, and we almost always get a perfect spot as a result. I took him for a hack today to ride the hills out back and to go over the biggish ditch back there. He needs more work on the hills, for sure, but it was really humid and hot and I don't blame him for running out of steam before the top. We jumped a few little Maiden/BN jumps, and then I cantered him up the hill and aimed for the grey bench at the top. Well, I made a mistake - first, that jump is much bigger than it looks at first glance, and second, I need a lot more impulsion up the hill if he's going to be able to rock back and jump it. We came in a little crooked, I took my leg off and leaned, and of course he ran to the side. No biggie - all my fault. I took him back over a little BN ramp a few times, and then attempted the grey bench again, this time with more impulsion and I really focused on keeping my leg on, sitting back, and framing him with the reins. He popped over it, but it was awkward and that tells me that it probably was too big for him. Afterwards, I walked him up to the ditch. Predictably, he stopped and tried to run out to the side, but I popped him on the right shoulder ( he naps to the right), made him face it, and within 20 seconds he went over it without too much fuss. I brought him around, trotted it, and he went right over. Went around the other way, and he did gawk and stop, but I stuffed him over it from a walk and then next time, he went right over, and landed so balanced that I hopped over the Novice grey ramp afterwards. He's such a good boy!
I think I’ve discovered why he’s acting naughty lately. C told me that she’s had to turn on the wire tape around the pasture, because Oliver apparently thought it would be a great idea if he grabbed it in his teeth and pulled it, post by post, off the fence. Not only was he doing that, he also decided to play “King of the Mountain” by climbing his front feet on top of the big Training level rolltop we have in the fenceline (it’s definitely max height, and it’s made of round timbers). He’s also trying to hop his hind feet up there, but it’s too slick. We were afraid he’d get tangled up in the wire – it’s mostly tape, but the jumps have wire across them so you can unhook them easily when you want to jump in and out of the pasture. Oliver is being really cheeky, and I think it’s because he’s out in that pasture with three other young horses, all younger than he is. He’s definitely King of the Pasture, and I think he’s testing his dominance by testing ME. He’s been sort of wiggling one step forward, inch by inch, in the grooming area (he’s ground tied), and so when I realized what he was doing, I had to nail him for it. He’s been much better since then.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Oliver goes XC schooling!
We went xc schooling at Mari Secrist's (here in Southern Pines) this afternoon, and we had a BALL! I’ve never been to her place before (apparently, you have to be a friend of hers, or be with your trainer who is a friend) but I’m impressed - it's a little gem. Nothing too fancy, but there are all sorts of questions, from BN on up, and a lovely, LOVELY water complex and several different sized ditches and banks, with a great big hill for those balance/terrain questions. And everything is immaculately groomed. You should see her barn – it’s nicer than a lot of people’s houses. TONS of land, all beautifully fenced with split rail, and all rolling hills.
I think all the flatwork with draw reins has paid off. We started by walking through the lovely water jump, back and forth, and Oliver apparently doesn't have an issue with water as he was threatening to paw and roll on me, so I had to keep him moving. Warmup in a slightly undulating field went well - he was listening to my half-halts, staying in front of my leg, and really listening. We started by trotting back and forth over a small log pile, then cantered it, staying uphill and balanced and really concentrating on getting and keeping a good canter up to and away from the jump. From there, we did the little ditch between the two feeder trees, which Oliver barely looked at, and then came down to the bigger ditch. Not sure why he planted the brakes on this one, but I guess it was wider than he's used to and deeper, but after a bit of coaxing he went over, and we trotted and then cantered over it several times. I think if I had been more insistent, he would have gone over sooner, but I'm trying not to make a big deal about things. We started to string some jumps together - pick up a right lead canter, over the ditch, right turn over the big log in the field, gallop out and then rollback to the little log pile, and then canter on into the water. He was lovely, just like a hunter, loping along and nailing his spots. After we got bored with the water jump and ditch, we walked up the steep hill to the top, where there was a picture frame (very small, but Ollie's first!). We trotted the picture frame, but I forgot to keep my leg on and we wobbled on landing, which brought us in a bit unbalanced to the bending line over the shale wall, which he's never seen before. He gawked, but I booted him over it, and then he did a lovely "out" over the hanging log. We cantered into this little combination, which is bending line question, a light-to-dark-question (from a sunny field into a copse of trees), and a slight downhill question - whew! Oliver had a beautiful jump over the hanging log in, saw the "out" (the shale wall), and then grabbed the bit and barreled down over it, which resulted in a chip. Argh. Christan had me do it in reverse, which rode very well, and then reversed it. We cantered in - again, lovely spot - I sat up, put my leg on, half-halted and got his butt underneath him, and although it wasn't pretty, we stayed balanced and then next time, I was able to give a slight half-halt with my shoulders and leg, and he rebalanced himself and jumped it like a pro. Yay! We finished with a bank question. Oliver cantered up and down a little bank, and then Christan had me canter up the bank, one stride over a hanging log, and then down the hill and left turn and drop into the water. Oliver has never done a one-stride like this, but I kept my leg on, sat back and the one stride rode beautifully, then gathered him back up and we trotted into the water. I love how he just locks on to the jump in front of him – he did the same thing at the Horse Park over the Novice bank complex. It felt like he sort of scrambled in, but he did go in without hesitating - such a brave boy - and the next time (just trotting into the water), he was brilliant. He trotted down, saw the water, and picked up a bouncy canter of his own accord and just popped in. I was pretty happy with that! So, two little bobbles (ditch and shale wall), but totally greenie moments. The best thing was that he was so rideable throughout the whole thing, so I guess all that flatwork is paying off!
I think all the flatwork with draw reins has paid off. We started by walking through the lovely water jump, back and forth, and Oliver apparently doesn't have an issue with water as he was threatening to paw and roll on me, so I had to keep him moving. Warmup in a slightly undulating field went well - he was listening to my half-halts, staying in front of my leg, and really listening. We started by trotting back and forth over a small log pile, then cantered it, staying uphill and balanced and really concentrating on getting and keeping a good canter up to and away from the jump. From there, we did the little ditch between the two feeder trees, which Oliver barely looked at, and then came down to the bigger ditch. Not sure why he planted the brakes on this one, but I guess it was wider than he's used to and deeper, but after a bit of coaxing he went over, and we trotted and then cantered over it several times. I think if I had been more insistent, he would have gone over sooner, but I'm trying not to make a big deal about things. We started to string some jumps together - pick up a right lead canter, over the ditch, right turn over the big log in the field, gallop out and then rollback to the little log pile, and then canter on into the water. He was lovely, just like a hunter, loping along and nailing his spots. After we got bored with the water jump and ditch, we walked up the steep hill to the top, where there was a picture frame (very small, but Ollie's first!). We trotted the picture frame, but I forgot to keep my leg on and we wobbled on landing, which brought us in a bit unbalanced to the bending line over the shale wall, which he's never seen before. He gawked, but I booted him over it, and then he did a lovely "out" over the hanging log. We cantered into this little combination, which is bending line question, a light-to-dark-question (from a sunny field into a copse of trees), and a slight downhill question - whew! Oliver had a beautiful jump over the hanging log in, saw the "out" (the shale wall), and then grabbed the bit and barreled down over it, which resulted in a chip. Argh. Christan had me do it in reverse, which rode very well, and then reversed it. We cantered in - again, lovely spot - I sat up, put my leg on, half-halted and got his butt underneath him, and although it wasn't pretty, we stayed balanced and then next time, I was able to give a slight half-halt with my shoulders and leg, and he rebalanced himself and jumped it like a pro. Yay! We finished with a bank question. Oliver cantered up and down a little bank, and then Christan had me canter up the bank, one stride over a hanging log, and then down the hill and left turn and drop into the water. Oliver has never done a one-stride like this, but I kept my leg on, sat back and the one stride rode beautifully, then gathered him back up and we trotted into the water. I love how he just locks on to the jump in front of him – he did the same thing at the Horse Park over the Novice bank complex. It felt like he sort of scrambled in, but he did go in without hesitating - such a brave boy - and the next time (just trotting into the water), he was brilliant. He trotted down, saw the water, and picked up a bouncy canter of his own accord and just popped in. I was pretty happy with that! So, two little bobbles (ditch and shale wall), but totally greenie moments. The best thing was that he was so rideable throughout the whole thing, so I guess all that flatwork is paying off!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Bella's first post!
I've had so much to write about Oliver and breakthroughs that I've been rather neglecting the Bellasaurus (as Joe calls her). Friday I was reminded of why I didn't want another greenie; today, I'm reminded of why I bought her in the first place.
On Friday, we warmed up in the arena and she was going along very well. She has this new thing where she charges around in the trot on her forehand, going as fast as she can go, and I just have to sit it out and wait patiently for her to come back to me and rebalance herself, because if I try and put her together right away, she tends to screech to a walk - she's got some GOOD brakes on her. So, I am just thrilled with how forward she is off my leg and allow her to truck on forward until she feels like settling down, which usually doesn't take long at all. She is starting to get so much steadier in the contact and carry herself. I can feel glimmers of this light, uphill canter, and I'm very excited when I do because it's going to be LOVELY, just like her daddy's. We jumped a few fences in the arena to warm up, and she stayed nice and light and forward to them, so I headed out for the xc field. The first thing we attempted was the little baby up bank - the larger one (so it was about 1 foot high, as opposed to 6 inches). She sort of noodled towards it, popping her left shoulder, so I tapped her up it and she was fine. Don't know why she was gawping at it. Then, I picked up the canter, and headed straight for the BN hanging log. About four or five strides out, she started to look, pop that left shoulder, and then we piddled to a stop in front of the jump. I probably shouldn't have cantered her towards it, but I guess I took her for granted and forgot how green and young she actually is. I brought her around again, with the same result, so we trotted it and managed to get a silly heap of a jump over it. THen, I took her around to the little red dog house, with a similar result - pop that left shoulder, and then piddle to a stop. I was getting very irritated with myself and with her - she wasn't scared, just testing me. So, I smacked her hard, once, and brought her back around to the trot and we had a lovely jump, landed in canter, and then turned for the BN hanging log again, which we jumped both ways, twice, and the second time was much straighter than the first. I took her over the ditch, which she gawped at, and smack - she went over it. I went back to the barn feeling a bit discouraged and of course, blowing things out of proportion to reality. I mean, really - this is a four year old that I just tried to stuff over a BN fence, in the shadow, at a canter. I would never have dreamed of doing such a thing with Oliver so early on, but then, he was rather spooky. Bella has such a level minded brain that I just forgot that she hasn't been jumping all that long.
So, today, I took her out with Marissa and Goody. We did a quick warmup in the arena, with a beautiful uphill canter towards the jumps, where I could half-halt, sit back, and float the rein at her three strides out and she jumped right out of stride. We even cantered over the rolltop - I thought there was an extra stride there (and Marissa agreed with me), but Bella didn't think so, so we left a tad long, but it was a nice, round, gorgeous jump. Yay! Off to the field. We stepped up over the little bank without a hesitation (good girl), and then trotted the red dog house downhill. Bella started to wiggle on the approach and pop that left shoulder, so we had another stop and a smack on that left shoulder, and then I took her a little ways back, not giving her enough time to wobble, and trotted the dog house - she jumped it well, and then trotted back over it, this time uphill, which she did beautifully, even cantering the last few strides. I think it was the downhill approach that gave her time to wiggle out of it. We went back towards the Hitchcock pen, where they had the Maiden/BN and Novice bike racks. I went down the hill towards the woods, picked up the trot, and then Bella sighted the bike rack, cantered the last few stride, and popped it like a pro. Yay! that was enough for us, so the four of us wandered out towards the field in the back.
I had noticed that Denny had taken down the Weldon's Wall option over by the fenceline, so I decided to take her over the ditch. Since the grass is a bit overgrown, I didn't realize how wide and deep the ditch really was (wide for a greenie, and quite deep), since I had only seen it with the Weldon's Wall behind it. Of course, it was too late to turn back, since Bella was practically on top of it. She predictably spooked at it, planted her feet, and stared, but after a little encouraging, she pitched a mini-fit, which was good because I knew she was going to go. She planted her front feet as close to the edge as she could get, and then leaned as far as she could (it was hilarious), and then jumped it quietly. Such a good girl. We repeated this on the other side (sans mini-fit, but with much leaning), and she popped it again. That was enough; Marissa and I finished our trail ride without incident. I was so happy. She really is quite brave, and I remember now why I bought her. She can be such a fun ride, and it's only going to get better and better the more "broke" she gets.
Oh, and I've decided to call her Bel Canto, which means "beautiful song". it's also the name of my favorite book by Ann Patchett, so it's totally appropriate. I just can't seem to call her Bella Sera -it doesn't mean anything to me. Luckily, I have lots of time before I register her with the USEA so I can change my mind any time I want until then.
On Friday, we warmed up in the arena and she was going along very well. She has this new thing where she charges around in the trot on her forehand, going as fast as she can go, and I just have to sit it out and wait patiently for her to come back to me and rebalance herself, because if I try and put her together right away, she tends to screech to a walk - she's got some GOOD brakes on her. So, I am just thrilled with how forward she is off my leg and allow her to truck on forward until she feels like settling down, which usually doesn't take long at all. She is starting to get so much steadier in the contact and carry herself. I can feel glimmers of this light, uphill canter, and I'm very excited when I do because it's going to be LOVELY, just like her daddy's. We jumped a few fences in the arena to warm up, and she stayed nice and light and forward to them, so I headed out for the xc field. The first thing we attempted was the little baby up bank - the larger one (so it was about 1 foot high, as opposed to 6 inches). She sort of noodled towards it, popping her left shoulder, so I tapped her up it and she was fine. Don't know why she was gawping at it. Then, I picked up the canter, and headed straight for the BN hanging log. About four or five strides out, she started to look, pop that left shoulder, and then we piddled to a stop in front of the jump. I probably shouldn't have cantered her towards it, but I guess I took her for granted and forgot how green and young she actually is. I brought her around again, with the same result, so we trotted it and managed to get a silly heap of a jump over it. THen, I took her around to the little red dog house, with a similar result - pop that left shoulder, and then piddle to a stop. I was getting very irritated with myself and with her - she wasn't scared, just testing me. So, I smacked her hard, once, and brought her back around to the trot and we had a lovely jump, landed in canter, and then turned for the BN hanging log again, which we jumped both ways, twice, and the second time was much straighter than the first. I took her over the ditch, which she gawped at, and smack - she went over it. I went back to the barn feeling a bit discouraged and of course, blowing things out of proportion to reality. I mean, really - this is a four year old that I just tried to stuff over a BN fence, in the shadow, at a canter. I would never have dreamed of doing such a thing with Oliver so early on, but then, he was rather spooky. Bella has such a level minded brain that I just forgot that she hasn't been jumping all that long.
So, today, I took her out with Marissa and Goody. We did a quick warmup in the arena, with a beautiful uphill canter towards the jumps, where I could half-halt, sit back, and float the rein at her three strides out and she jumped right out of stride. We even cantered over the rolltop - I thought there was an extra stride there (and Marissa agreed with me), but Bella didn't think so, so we left a tad long, but it was a nice, round, gorgeous jump. Yay! Off to the field. We stepped up over the little bank without a hesitation (good girl), and then trotted the red dog house downhill. Bella started to wiggle on the approach and pop that left shoulder, so we had another stop and a smack on that left shoulder, and then I took her a little ways back, not giving her enough time to wobble, and trotted the dog house - she jumped it well, and then trotted back over it, this time uphill, which she did beautifully, even cantering the last few strides. I think it was the downhill approach that gave her time to wiggle out of it. We went back towards the Hitchcock pen, where they had the Maiden/BN and Novice bike racks. I went down the hill towards the woods, picked up the trot, and then Bella sighted the bike rack, cantered the last few stride, and popped it like a pro. Yay! that was enough for us, so the four of us wandered out towards the field in the back.
I had noticed that Denny had taken down the Weldon's Wall option over by the fenceline, so I decided to take her over the ditch. Since the grass is a bit overgrown, I didn't realize how wide and deep the ditch really was (wide for a greenie, and quite deep), since I had only seen it with the Weldon's Wall behind it. Of course, it was too late to turn back, since Bella was practically on top of it. She predictably spooked at it, planted her feet, and stared, but after a little encouraging, she pitched a mini-fit, which was good because I knew she was going to go. She planted her front feet as close to the edge as she could get, and then leaned as far as she could (it was hilarious), and then jumped it quietly. Such a good girl. We repeated this on the other side (sans mini-fit, but with much leaning), and she popped it again. That was enough; Marissa and I finished our trail ride without incident. I was so happy. She really is quite brave, and I remember now why I bought her. She can be such a fun ride, and it's only going to get better and better the more "broke" she gets.
Oh, and I've decided to call her Bel Canto, which means "beautiful song". it's also the name of my favorite book by Ann Patchett, so it's totally appropriate. I just can't seem to call her Bella Sera -it doesn't mean anything to me. Luckily, I have lots of time before I register her with the USEA so I can change my mind any time I want until then.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Trying to find the brighter side of things
I haven't posted about the show because, well, I'm trying very hard to see the brighter side of things. It's funny - 9 or so years ago, when I first started off in this sport, I considered dressage my strength, then cross country, and finally stadium. Now, I feel like dressage is my weakness, and it seems to be a never-ending battle of frustrating, some highs, and a lot more lows. Sounds rather like golf, eh? Guess that explains why golf as a sport has never interested me all that much.
I think part of the problem is that I had it relatively easy with Miles, my carriage horse turned eventer draft cross. He naturally had that gorgeous high set neck, with the arch, and he was so freakin' steady that he got good scores even though he really didn't deserve them. Yes, I worked my butt off with him, but since he was so steady and consistent, the bobbles didn't show as much. His canter was ever a work in progress, but the judges consistently loved him and we usually ended up 1-3rd after a show, finishing on our dressage score (did I mention my strength was in the jumping portion? How bizarre. I seem to remember a time when I didn't think it was possible to teach me how to jump.) I don't think I truly learned how to ride from back to front, and a score of successive teachers/coaches before Christan haven't helped me a whole lot in that regard. There are SO many people teaching the incorrect way - how to fiddle your horse's head down, etc. etc. etc.. I wonder how people get away with it and still manage to score well in dressage? Do they just have the right "type" of horse at the lower levels, where you can fake it? Do they somehow have this epiphany during all the instruction of "sponge the inside rein" and "keep his head down during the transition" that they realize how to ride from leg to hand?
It all started with Christan watching me for about five minutes ride Della in the dressage arena. She was sort of leaning on me and lugging me around, especially in the canter. I was allowing this to happen, as I was thinking that she was only four and didn't know any better. Christan told me to use a lot more leg into the canter, instead of trying to contain it with my hands. I asked her what I should do if she got quick - just allow it until she found her own balance? - and Christan said that if she sped up, to hold a little with my hands (not by pulling!) until she softened, and then keep my leg on. Ah ha. Lightbulb moment #1. Although I KNEW this cerebrally, it took me all these years to finally be able to put it into action.
My lesson today was epiphany after epiphany. Small ones, to be sure, but they were definitely lightbulb moments. We started off sloshing through the wed, red arena sand, and all the while I concentrated on keeping my hands ABSOLUTELY STILL and keeping my leg on. If he resisted against the bit, more leg and a squeeze of the hands until he softened, and then kept the leg on. Christan immediately got after me for allowing him to drop a shoulder in, or ignore my outside aids and push a shoulder out, and said that this kind of allowance tends to build and escalate, until you have a real issue on your hands. I felt that it was pretty slight, and was mildly annoyed because I really didn't feel Oliver drop that shoulder to the inside, but when I concentrated on it (after Christan pointed it out to me and told me to bend him WITH MY LEG to the inside), I did definitely feel a slight pushing against my inside leg, mostly to the right, which is his stiff direction anyway. In addition to having to concentrate on feeling him drop to the inside, I had to really focus on using my leg only to lift that shoulder, instead of using my hand to artificially create the bend (which is sort of what I've been taught to do in the past). Of course, I also had to keep that outside rein firm so that he had somewhere to take the bend, and keep it lifted so that he didn't drop behind the vertical.
Canter was the first big obstacle. Before we started, I confessed to Christan that I had been thinking a lot lately and came to the conclusion that I really didn't know how to ask for the canter, since none of my horses seem to be able to transition from trot to canter without throwing their heads, which leads me to attempting to pin their head in place with my hands, and then that leads to me throwing my upper body around in a vain attempt to get the canter, which they can't do because I've pinned their head in place. Urgh. Christan asked me what the aids were that I was using. I told her that I got the inside bend, then kept the outside rein, slid my outside leg back and then used both aids together, the outside leg a bit more than the inside. Since that was all checking ok, she asked me to trot and then when I felt that I had a good trot and inside bend, slide my outside leg back and canter. It wasn't too bad of a depart, as far as Oliver goes, but Christan pointed out that it took me two strides to get a canter, during which Oliver managed to throw his shoulder to the inside, lose the bend, and then hollow and stagger into the canter, as opposed to leaping into it. She said that the minute I felt that the trot was good, I needed to get the canter right away, instead of one or two strides later. So, of course the correction was to use the whip, once, smartly behind the leg. I got the trot, went about three strides to establish the bend, slid my leg back and asked for the canter. I could feel him drop down onto his forehand and start to sprawl, so WHACK went the whip behind my leg, and he immediately jumped into canter. No, it wasn't pretty. However, it was an instant response, so I brought him down to trot after a few strides, got the trot, and asked again. Bam - I got it right away, and without any hollowing, either. Christan also told me that it was very important to make sure that after the correction, I needed to ride like nothing happened - keep the reins soft until he gave me reason otherwise. So, that was the key. He needed to canter when I said canter, and not a stride or two later. As long as I didn't make a huge deal of it, he didn't get rattled and we got some very nice trot-canter transitions. In the canter itself, he was leaning on me and pulling me down onto the forehand, so Christan emphasized that the minute he got heavy, I was to ask him to lighten by squeezing that rein and using leg, and if he ignored me, I was to yank on that rein, HARD, and then immediately soften and go back to riding like nothing had happened. It was important that I yanked only on ONE rein, instead of both (a concept I had difficulty executing), and keep the leg on so that he raised his forehand and sat down more behind, instead of just hollowing. I hated the idea of yanking, but then I thought about it and realized that if I wasn't consistent about demanding lightness, and only yanked when it really irritated me (which I was guily of doing), then it was even more cruel to him because he would never know when the abrupt punishment was coming and be taught that ignoring me was perfectly acceptable. That made it easier to bear. Christan apparently demands this level of lightness and self carriage even from the babies, which means that I need to keep on insisting it even from Bella (who naturally carries herself this way anyway, but I need to reinforce it regularly). So, the minute it felt like he was taking me down and forward, I was to sit up, close my leg and hand, and if he pushed at the bit and ignored me, YANK on one rein, and then throwing the rein I just yanked back at him, still keeping my leg on, and allow him a chance to be light. It actually only took a couple of tries before he was listening to me and light as a feather.
Jumping was the next hurdle. Christan and I had an interesting discussion about how horses really don't rush to the jump because they're eager to jump - they only rush to the jump because they are nervous about something, like losing their balance. She said it was this way even with the upper level horses, and told me that she evented Teddy at Advanced in a huge, rubber snaffle. Christan said if I didn't have my horse as light as I wanted coming into a fence, I was to yank him to a stop immediately (keeping the leg on!) even if that meant right in front of a jump. Her reasoning behind this was that it was actually making the horses braver, because even though common belief is that you will teach a horse to stop if you stop them or circle right before a jump, it actually makes them more nervous because if you half halt and they ignore you, they tend to have a bad jump, and bad jump after bad jump leads them to not trust you anymore. If they know that you will never let them get a bad jump, they will trust you more and more and the jumps get better and better and start to build their confidence. They cannot reason that they had a bad jump because they ignored you - they can only reason that the jump was a bad one, so it's up to us to make sure that they have the best jump possible. Made perfect sense to me. So, we circled at the canter, getting a good canter depart each time (yay!), and jumped a little 2'6 plank vertical. Oliver started off by ignoring my requests to sit down and back and consequently, jumped the vertical like sh*t, so I sat him down hard on his butt on the landing side, got the canter back, and asked again, but this time, I made sure that I half-halted quite a few strides out and maintained the canter to the fence, and when he ignored me, YANK and then leg on, circle, soften, and reapproach. That led to some very nice jumps, but he was still sort of careening about on the landing side. Christan said that I was sort of nagging him with my half-halts and not really insisting on obedience, so she got on. What a revelation. She looped the rein at him in the canter, and when he blew her off, she sat him down on his butt HARD, and then cantered off softly. He learned quite quickly, especially when she took him down the line and he tried to run through her hands. After the third reprimand or so, he finally softened and went down the line like a hunter. I realized that if he landed and then proceeded to drag me around, he was never soft in the first place and didn't jump up and around the jump in balance. I didn't get back on afterwards, but it left me with quite a bit to ruminate on during the drive home.
I think part of the problem is that I had it relatively easy with Miles, my carriage horse turned eventer draft cross. He naturally had that gorgeous high set neck, with the arch, and he was so freakin' steady that he got good scores even though he really didn't deserve them. Yes, I worked my butt off with him, but since he was so steady and consistent, the bobbles didn't show as much. His canter was ever a work in progress, but the judges consistently loved him and we usually ended up 1-3rd after a show, finishing on our dressage score (did I mention my strength was in the jumping portion? How bizarre. I seem to remember a time when I didn't think it was possible to teach me how to jump.) I don't think I truly learned how to ride from back to front, and a score of successive teachers/coaches before Christan haven't helped me a whole lot in that regard. There are SO many people teaching the incorrect way - how to fiddle your horse's head down, etc. etc. etc.. I wonder how people get away with it and still manage to score well in dressage? Do they just have the right "type" of horse at the lower levels, where you can fake it? Do they somehow have this epiphany during all the instruction of "sponge the inside rein" and "keep his head down during the transition" that they realize how to ride from leg to hand?
It all started with Christan watching me for about five minutes ride Della in the dressage arena. She was sort of leaning on me and lugging me around, especially in the canter. I was allowing this to happen, as I was thinking that she was only four and didn't know any better. Christan told me to use a lot more leg into the canter, instead of trying to contain it with my hands. I asked her what I should do if she got quick - just allow it until she found her own balance? - and Christan said that if she sped up, to hold a little with my hands (not by pulling!) until she softened, and then keep my leg on. Ah ha. Lightbulb moment #1. Although I KNEW this cerebrally, it took me all these years to finally be able to put it into action.
My lesson today was epiphany after epiphany. Small ones, to be sure, but they were definitely lightbulb moments. We started off sloshing through the wed, red arena sand, and all the while I concentrated on keeping my hands ABSOLUTELY STILL and keeping my leg on. If he resisted against the bit, more leg and a squeeze of the hands until he softened, and then kept the leg on. Christan immediately got after me for allowing him to drop a shoulder in, or ignore my outside aids and push a shoulder out, and said that this kind of allowance tends to build and escalate, until you have a real issue on your hands. I felt that it was pretty slight, and was mildly annoyed because I really didn't feel Oliver drop that shoulder to the inside, but when I concentrated on it (after Christan pointed it out to me and told me to bend him WITH MY LEG to the inside), I did definitely feel a slight pushing against my inside leg, mostly to the right, which is his stiff direction anyway. In addition to having to concentrate on feeling him drop to the inside, I had to really focus on using my leg only to lift that shoulder, instead of using my hand to artificially create the bend (which is sort of what I've been taught to do in the past). Of course, I also had to keep that outside rein firm so that he had somewhere to take the bend, and keep it lifted so that he didn't drop behind the vertical.
Canter was the first big obstacle. Before we started, I confessed to Christan that I had been thinking a lot lately and came to the conclusion that I really didn't know how to ask for the canter, since none of my horses seem to be able to transition from trot to canter without throwing their heads, which leads me to attempting to pin their head in place with my hands, and then that leads to me throwing my upper body around in a vain attempt to get the canter, which they can't do because I've pinned their head in place. Urgh. Christan asked me what the aids were that I was using. I told her that I got the inside bend, then kept the outside rein, slid my outside leg back and then used both aids together, the outside leg a bit more than the inside. Since that was all checking ok, she asked me to trot and then when I felt that I had a good trot and inside bend, slide my outside leg back and canter. It wasn't too bad of a depart, as far as Oliver goes, but Christan pointed out that it took me two strides to get a canter, during which Oliver managed to throw his shoulder to the inside, lose the bend, and then hollow and stagger into the canter, as opposed to leaping into it. She said that the minute I felt that the trot was good, I needed to get the canter right away, instead of one or two strides later. So, of course the correction was to use the whip, once, smartly behind the leg. I got the trot, went about three strides to establish the bend, slid my leg back and asked for the canter. I could feel him drop down onto his forehand and start to sprawl, so WHACK went the whip behind my leg, and he immediately jumped into canter. No, it wasn't pretty. However, it was an instant response, so I brought him down to trot after a few strides, got the trot, and asked again. Bam - I got it right away, and without any hollowing, either. Christan also told me that it was very important to make sure that after the correction, I needed to ride like nothing happened - keep the reins soft until he gave me reason otherwise. So, that was the key. He needed to canter when I said canter, and not a stride or two later. As long as I didn't make a huge deal of it, he didn't get rattled and we got some very nice trot-canter transitions. In the canter itself, he was leaning on me and pulling me down onto the forehand, so Christan emphasized that the minute he got heavy, I was to ask him to lighten by squeezing that rein and using leg, and if he ignored me, I was to yank on that rein, HARD, and then immediately soften and go back to riding like nothing had happened. It was important that I yanked only on ONE rein, instead of both (a concept I had difficulty executing), and keep the leg on so that he raised his forehand and sat down more behind, instead of just hollowing. I hated the idea of yanking, but then I thought about it and realized that if I wasn't consistent about demanding lightness, and only yanked when it really irritated me (which I was guily of doing), then it was even more cruel to him because he would never know when the abrupt punishment was coming and be taught that ignoring me was perfectly acceptable. That made it easier to bear. Christan apparently demands this level of lightness and self carriage even from the babies, which means that I need to keep on insisting it even from Bella (who naturally carries herself this way anyway, but I need to reinforce it regularly). So, the minute it felt like he was taking me down and forward, I was to sit up, close my leg and hand, and if he pushed at the bit and ignored me, YANK on one rein, and then throwing the rein I just yanked back at him, still keeping my leg on, and allow him a chance to be light. It actually only took a couple of tries before he was listening to me and light as a feather.
Jumping was the next hurdle. Christan and I had an interesting discussion about how horses really don't rush to the jump because they're eager to jump - they only rush to the jump because they are nervous about something, like losing their balance. She said it was this way even with the upper level horses, and told me that she evented Teddy at Advanced in a huge, rubber snaffle. Christan said if I didn't have my horse as light as I wanted coming into a fence, I was to yank him to a stop immediately (keeping the leg on!) even if that meant right in front of a jump. Her reasoning behind this was that it was actually making the horses braver, because even though common belief is that you will teach a horse to stop if you stop them or circle right before a jump, it actually makes them more nervous because if you half halt and they ignore you, they tend to have a bad jump, and bad jump after bad jump leads them to not trust you anymore. If they know that you will never let them get a bad jump, they will trust you more and more and the jumps get better and better and start to build their confidence. They cannot reason that they had a bad jump because they ignored you - they can only reason that the jump was a bad one, so it's up to us to make sure that they have the best jump possible. Made perfect sense to me. So, we circled at the canter, getting a good canter depart each time (yay!), and jumped a little 2'6 plank vertical. Oliver started off by ignoring my requests to sit down and back and consequently, jumped the vertical like sh*t, so I sat him down hard on his butt on the landing side, got the canter back, and asked again, but this time, I made sure that I half-halted quite a few strides out and maintained the canter to the fence, and when he ignored me, YANK and then leg on, circle, soften, and reapproach. That led to some very nice jumps, but he was still sort of careening about on the landing side. Christan said that I was sort of nagging him with my half-halts and not really insisting on obedience, so she got on. What a revelation. She looped the rein at him in the canter, and when he blew her off, she sat him down on his butt HARD, and then cantered off softly. He learned quite quickly, especially when she took him down the line and he tried to run through her hands. After the third reprimand or so, he finally softened and went down the line like a hunter. I realized that if he landed and then proceeded to drag me around, he was never soft in the first place and didn't jump up and around the jump in balance. I didn't get back on afterwards, but it left me with quite a bit to ruminate on during the drive home.
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