Yes, after 10+ years of riding, I finally figured out how to do a crest release. I wanted to jump somewhere other than at my place or Gina's (which is practically home to us, too) so she booked us some time in Charlie's arena down the road from me - yay! I could have hacked there, but it requires some riding along Lake Bay and I wasn't totally comfortable with that. I'll have to find a back way into there. He had some nice wide oxers set up, I guesstimate at about 2'9 or possibly 3', a dark red aqueduct, and some verticals. Oliver's eyes were bugging out of his head at being somewhere new, and was super-impressed with everything there, but being very good and controlling his impulse to get-the-heck-out-of-dodge. After walking him around and putting him in shoulder-in to get his brain thinking of something other than the New Arean, Gina came out and started us over a little crossrail, which he proceeded to jump as if it were the Rolex. It was pretty funny, though, to see him putting that much effort into a little jump, so G had me going back and forth over it until he settled. When he is sproingy like that, I have a tendency to tip my shoulders forward because I'm afraid of being left behind, so I had to concentrate on keeping my hand low, giving him a couple of tugs before the jump but leaving him alone about two strides out, and waiting for him to jump. That settled him very quickly, so we trotted the aqueduct - again, power leaping it so that he cracked his back and it felt like his knees were wrapped around his ears. After settling over that, we trotted the crossrail, cantered on around a curve and took the little aqueduct. Next, we incorporated the single blue oxer - of course,I got a little nervous coming in, so I picked my way into it, which caused him to jump from a dead spot. Gina said that she predicted that would happen, and told me to get the canter from further out, then leave him alone and just wait for him to jump. In an effort not to pick up my hands, I (for some reason) decided to put them together, thumbs touching each other, in front of me, which kept them lower and then when we jumped, it was a piece of cake to press them into his crest over the fence. It was also easier to keep my upper body back because I could press my hands down and push my upper body away from him - something which came in very handy through the two stride. When I see a long spot, I have a bad habit of leaning at it and sort of gunning him through, which causes him to dump his front end and get very flat.
Gina told me that when I see a long spot, I need to sit still, put my leg on, and HELP HIM THROUGH IT, instead of abandoning him and gunning him at it. he doesn't like the longer spot any more than I do. So, using my new found technique of keeping my hands together, I jumped the vertical in, then saw that it was going to be long so I pressed my hands down and sat up, keeping my leg on, and the out over the oxer worked out perfectly. Yay!
The last thing I took from yesterday was that the minute, and I mean the instant, Oliver's head starts to drop and he lugs around, I need to lift his head up and kick him on. When he starts to get deep and drag me around, we get very flat and on the forehand and then everything afterwards just sucks. Gina says that Oliver's canter changes so much and so rapidly that I always have to be on the ball with him and manage the canter. Once the canter is good, the jumps are quite good. I also have to get used to jumping from a bit more pace, so I don't worry him into charging at the jump at the last second by holding him back. That's going to take getting used to as we've been keeping the canter a bit more quiet in the past to keep him rocked back over his hocks. Now that the pace has "upped", I have to resist the urge to pick my way to the jump - instead, if i pick a spot above the jump to stare at, I can usually do a pretty good job of riding the canter and not the fence.
Wonderful lesson, because certain things Gina has been telling me all along have started to click because I've figured a way to do it in my own body. For example, when he starts to charge at a jump, I have to think "bear down and pinch" because that causes me to sit up, hold my core steady, and keep my thighs ON instead of flapping around off the saddle, which stabilizes my lower leg. That whole discovery of pressing my thumbs together also worked great for keeping my hands from coming up. All I know is that I'm so thrilled to have found Gina - if she hadn't helped me with Oliver, he probably would have been sold long ago. Now, because I trusted her methods, I have a horse that jumps and moves much better than we thought he could!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Flatwork ruminations...
It's so much more fun to post about jumping lessons, but we've been making huge strides in our flatwork lately that I'd better post about it before I hit a snag and get frustrated and forget how much better we've been getting.
We've (meaning Gina and I) have been playing around with a lot of shoulder-in and lateral work lately, to get Oliver to engage more behind. However, the trick is doing it correctly, since Oliver is rubber-band-man and can fake a shoulder-in (three tracks and everything) without truly engaging behind and bending. so, after a lot of walking around to warm up, I start him doing S-I at the walk down both long sides. The right S-I seems so much easier than the left. To the right, it's like he just floats into it - I come off the short side of the arena, switch my seatbone placement so that my left hip points towards his inside ear, make sure that I'm "pinching" with my seatbones so that they're narrower and I can feel both of them, and make sure that my left thigh doesn't float away from the saddle (which, surprisingly, it tends to do. Surprising in that my left leg is stronger than my right, so you'd think that the left leg would be easier to keep snugly against the saddle.)I can tell when I'm losing it when I forget about "riding the withers", because he loses the bend. If I think about turning his withers to the inside with my outside leg, and leading him down the long side with my right leg, he does a very nice S-I. The left S-I is much more difficult because a) I have a weaker right leg and it's harder for me to draw the left seatbone backwards to allow the right seatbone to come forward (left at 7 o'clock, right at 1 o'clock). I think that Oliver's left hind is weaker than the right and he subsequently has difficulty stepping under himself that direction. When he starts to resist, he also tends to bulge against the left leg and not want to move. Gina also has difficulty moving him off her left leg, so I know the problem isn't wholly me, although I probably caused it in the first place.
The canter is still coming along. Oliver is picking it up quite well from the walk, especially if we've done S-I first, but he sort of plunges into it with the first stride and we have a fast, strung-out canter. I can look into the mirror and see that his legs are taking these huge, bounding strides. If I concentrate on NOT LETTING HIM MOVE ME by firming up my core, bearing down, and keeping my seatbones arranged correctly (outside seatbone at 8, inside at 2), and think of lifting him into the canter, he is starting to step into it and keep the light, airy, soft feeling. It's still not as adjustable as I would like, but it's coming along. I have to keep thinking of using my thighs to lever up his withers, and keep my upper body "small/short" by thinking of pressing down, and that really helps keep the canter smaller.
His trot work is really becoming lovely and more expressive. I've got him in a new bit (Baucher Myler with the barrel mouthpiece) and after one ride, I'm still on the fence, as he seems quite fussy in the jaw with it - he's mouthing it a lot - but he doesn't appear to come behind the vertical as much in it, either. he's also a lot more adjustable in the canter. it's freezing out right now (around 30) but I'm off to ride in about half an hour, and we'll see how he continues to like this bit.
We've (meaning Gina and I) have been playing around with a lot of shoulder-in and lateral work lately, to get Oliver to engage more behind. However, the trick is doing it correctly, since Oliver is rubber-band-man and can fake a shoulder-in (three tracks and everything) without truly engaging behind and bending. so, after a lot of walking around to warm up, I start him doing S-I at the walk down both long sides. The right S-I seems so much easier than the left. To the right, it's like he just floats into it - I come off the short side of the arena, switch my seatbone placement so that my left hip points towards his inside ear, make sure that I'm "pinching" with my seatbones so that they're narrower and I can feel both of them, and make sure that my left thigh doesn't float away from the saddle (which, surprisingly, it tends to do. Surprising in that my left leg is stronger than my right, so you'd think that the left leg would be easier to keep snugly against the saddle.)I can tell when I'm losing it when I forget about "riding the withers", because he loses the bend. If I think about turning his withers to the inside with my outside leg, and leading him down the long side with my right leg, he does a very nice S-I. The left S-I is much more difficult because a) I have a weaker right leg and it's harder for me to draw the left seatbone backwards to allow the right seatbone to come forward (left at 7 o'clock, right at 1 o'clock). I think that Oliver's left hind is weaker than the right and he subsequently has difficulty stepping under himself that direction. When he starts to resist, he also tends to bulge against the left leg and not want to move. Gina also has difficulty moving him off her left leg, so I know the problem isn't wholly me, although I probably caused it in the first place.
The canter is still coming along. Oliver is picking it up quite well from the walk, especially if we've done S-I first, but he sort of plunges into it with the first stride and we have a fast, strung-out canter. I can look into the mirror and see that his legs are taking these huge, bounding strides. If I concentrate on NOT LETTING HIM MOVE ME by firming up my core, bearing down, and keeping my seatbones arranged correctly (outside seatbone at 8, inside at 2), and think of lifting him into the canter, he is starting to step into it and keep the light, airy, soft feeling. It's still not as adjustable as I would like, but it's coming along. I have to keep thinking of using my thighs to lever up his withers, and keep my upper body "small/short" by thinking of pressing down, and that really helps keep the canter smaller.
His trot work is really becoming lovely and more expressive. I've got him in a new bit (Baucher Myler with the barrel mouthpiece) and after one ride, I'm still on the fence, as he seems quite fussy in the jaw with it - he's mouthing it a lot - but he doesn't appear to come behind the vertical as much in it, either. he's also a lot more adjustable in the canter. it's freezing out right now (around 30) but I'm off to ride in about half an hour, and we'll see how he continues to like this bit.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The joys of Mary Wanless
It's been forever since I last posted, mostly due to lack of interest in sitting in front of my computer. However, Joe's home and he's given me his brand new laptop, so now I can watch True Blood and update my blog all at the same time! Joyous!
anyway, as the title of this states, I've rediscovered Mary Wanless again. I was first introduced to her on the flight to Ireland many years ago, played around with it, and then gave it up as my instruction at the time didn't lend itself to going with her methodology. After a recent thread on the COTH BB, I picked up the book again, had many more "ah-ha!" moments, and then proceeded to buy two other Mary Wanless books (because, typical of me, if I like something, then of course i've got to have ALL of it!). I've been struggling with juggling all of the basic tenements of MW, such as bearing down, pinching, making sure my seatbones are properly aligned, and keeping that push towards the front. Usually what happens is that I forget the pinch and start to obsess over the seatbone placement, which of course has been lost because I've forgotten the pinch. Then, if I get the pinch, I forget to bear down. Oh, and to top it off, I need to focus on my thigh keeping close to the saddle, as my right thigh wants to wander off. I know that I have a weakness in my right hip - I can feel it sort of aching right now as I'm sitting here, typing. I have very little difficulty moving my left hip around, but the right one seems "stuck".
So, I had a jumping lesson with Gina today. Fabulous. There were icy patches still in the arena, so G thought it would be a good idea to run Oliver through a grid. It consisted of a placing pole, double crossrail oxer, placing pole, double crossrail oxer again, and then two strides to an oxer. We warmed up over the blue plastic box vertical with placing poles on both sides. When the jumps are this little, Oliver tends to drop behind my leg and then barf over the fence, adding a funny little shuffle stride right after the placing pole, which makes me barf over the fence, too. Gina told me that as I'm crossing the pole on the ground, to add leg and then keep the leg all the way over the fence, while I float the rein like I was riding a hunter. I also need to keep my upper body from folding too quickly because that just gives him reason to dump his front end. G told me that we need to run through a grid with no reins so that I can realize that I don't need my reins at all with this horse. If he needs something, he needs leg. He sets himself up before the fence, so as long as I sit up and keep my leg on, I can float the rein at him and he jumps well. We went through the grid, and I thought it went well, except that G told me that I had my thighs too open throughout, even though my lower leg was on. Damn - that is a leftover from the way I was taught before for MANY years. It's hard for me to keep my thigh on because I'm scared that I will pinch with my knee and then pivot over it. So, a la' Mary Wanless, as I approached the first fence, I had to think of "hooking" my knees over that imaginary iron bar and using my lower leg over the placing pole, while keeping my rein soft. That worked quite well - he really jumped up and over and I felt much more effective through the grid. The last thing to work on was that between the second crossrail oxer and the two stride to the last oxer, I had this tendency to keep in a huntery half-seat, which rendered me ineffective and also flattened his jump. I had to make a conscious effort to sit up and keep my leg on. Gina said that Oliver tends to do what Errol does when you lean forward to ask for a lengthened stride - they sort of drop backwards out behind you. I have to concentrate on sitting up and then sending him forward. Gina raised the last oxer, and then we went over it, and although it was really hard, sitting up and pushing with my leg made for a much straighter jump. She then raised the middle element, and we went over it again, jumping really round and cracking his back. Gina said that the coolest thing was that from behind, she could see how much he lifted his back over the oxers, but that since my leg was so tight, I just stayed with him. She then put up the first crossrail oxer to a regular oxer, and we went through again. This time wasn't so good as he dropped behind my leg, so I went through again and revved him up a little before, and he sprang on through. G said that there are times when i look like a Novice rider, like the last time through, and then there are times, like this one, where I look like an Intermediate level rider. yay! That was quite a compliment! we went through the gymnastic again after a short break, and then landed, turned left, and galloped down to a regular square oxer on the fenceline, landed, re-grouped (because he got in quite deep to the oxer), galloped down to the rolltop which we jumped backwards (and this time left a little long), down the hill, and then turned to the vertical with black barrels under it. not too bad, especially since I barfed through the turn and didn't sit up and use my outside rein. The next time through, Gina wanted me to jump down the line, which started with a single grey brick box, one stride to a vertical with a grey brick box under it, and then three strides to a vertical out. The first time through, I didn't pull him together enough, and he wobbled towards the brick box, and I took my leg off and he stopped. i got chastised for that one - Gina told me that i'm a much better rider than that and when I feel him raise his head and look, that is my cue to sit back and really drive him from the back. So, we went through again, and I really collected him through the turn and drove him on, which resulted in a huge jump over the single wall, and a hurried jump over the vertical, and then three flat strides out. Not bad, not good. This next time I went through, sat him down, let him flow forward over the single wall and we had a very nice jump through. As a finale, gina wanted me to go through the natural in and out - oxer first, then the vertical. Oliver took a huge jump over the oxer, which practically jumped me out of the tack, but I quickly sat down and we jumped out in a semi-organized fashion. I got complimented on my stick-ability and Oliver's honest nature by our audience of one (the new boarder at Gina's). We went through again and it was perfect, so we called it quits on that.
My right leg is still weaker than my left, so I've got to work on that. Also, my Antares monoflap isn't cut quite forward enough for my leg in jumping length, so that I slam against the block when Oliver jumps really big. I think I'll sell it and save up for a Devoucoux with a 2AA flap - this one is a 2A flap. Oliver is trying so hard these days. I'm so proud of him. He and I have come a long, long way.
next lesson - hopefully a flat on Oliver this week, if the weather cooperates!
anyway, as the title of this states, I've rediscovered Mary Wanless again. I was first introduced to her on the flight to Ireland many years ago, played around with it, and then gave it up as my instruction at the time didn't lend itself to going with her methodology. After a recent thread on the COTH BB, I picked up the book again, had many more "ah-ha!" moments, and then proceeded to buy two other Mary Wanless books (because, typical of me, if I like something, then of course i've got to have ALL of it!). I've been struggling with juggling all of the basic tenements of MW, such as bearing down, pinching, making sure my seatbones are properly aligned, and keeping that push towards the front. Usually what happens is that I forget the pinch and start to obsess over the seatbone placement, which of course has been lost because I've forgotten the pinch. Then, if I get the pinch, I forget to bear down. Oh, and to top it off, I need to focus on my thigh keeping close to the saddle, as my right thigh wants to wander off. I know that I have a weakness in my right hip - I can feel it sort of aching right now as I'm sitting here, typing. I have very little difficulty moving my left hip around, but the right one seems "stuck".
So, I had a jumping lesson with Gina today. Fabulous. There were icy patches still in the arena, so G thought it would be a good idea to run Oliver through a grid. It consisted of a placing pole, double crossrail oxer, placing pole, double crossrail oxer again, and then two strides to an oxer. We warmed up over the blue plastic box vertical with placing poles on both sides. When the jumps are this little, Oliver tends to drop behind my leg and then barf over the fence, adding a funny little shuffle stride right after the placing pole, which makes me barf over the fence, too. Gina told me that as I'm crossing the pole on the ground, to add leg and then keep the leg all the way over the fence, while I float the rein like I was riding a hunter. I also need to keep my upper body from folding too quickly because that just gives him reason to dump his front end. G told me that we need to run through a grid with no reins so that I can realize that I don't need my reins at all with this horse. If he needs something, he needs leg. He sets himself up before the fence, so as long as I sit up and keep my leg on, I can float the rein at him and he jumps well. We went through the grid, and I thought it went well, except that G told me that I had my thighs too open throughout, even though my lower leg was on. Damn - that is a leftover from the way I was taught before for MANY years. It's hard for me to keep my thigh on because I'm scared that I will pinch with my knee and then pivot over it. So, a la' Mary Wanless, as I approached the first fence, I had to think of "hooking" my knees over that imaginary iron bar and using my lower leg over the placing pole, while keeping my rein soft. That worked quite well - he really jumped up and over and I felt much more effective through the grid. The last thing to work on was that between the second crossrail oxer and the two stride to the last oxer, I had this tendency to keep in a huntery half-seat, which rendered me ineffective and also flattened his jump. I had to make a conscious effort to sit up and keep my leg on. Gina said that Oliver tends to do what Errol does when you lean forward to ask for a lengthened stride - they sort of drop backwards out behind you. I have to concentrate on sitting up and then sending him forward. Gina raised the last oxer, and then we went over it, and although it was really hard, sitting up and pushing with my leg made for a much straighter jump. She then raised the middle element, and we went over it again, jumping really round and cracking his back. Gina said that the coolest thing was that from behind, she could see how much he lifted his back over the oxers, but that since my leg was so tight, I just stayed with him. She then put up the first crossrail oxer to a regular oxer, and we went through again. This time wasn't so good as he dropped behind my leg, so I went through again and revved him up a little before, and he sprang on through. G said that there are times when i look like a Novice rider, like the last time through, and then there are times, like this one, where I look like an Intermediate level rider. yay! That was quite a compliment! we went through the gymnastic again after a short break, and then landed, turned left, and galloped down to a regular square oxer on the fenceline, landed, re-grouped (because he got in quite deep to the oxer), galloped down to the rolltop which we jumped backwards (and this time left a little long), down the hill, and then turned to the vertical with black barrels under it. not too bad, especially since I barfed through the turn and didn't sit up and use my outside rein. The next time through, Gina wanted me to jump down the line, which started with a single grey brick box, one stride to a vertical with a grey brick box under it, and then three strides to a vertical out. The first time through, I didn't pull him together enough, and he wobbled towards the brick box, and I took my leg off and he stopped. i got chastised for that one - Gina told me that i'm a much better rider than that and when I feel him raise his head and look, that is my cue to sit back and really drive him from the back. So, we went through again, and I really collected him through the turn and drove him on, which resulted in a huge jump over the single wall, and a hurried jump over the vertical, and then three flat strides out. Not bad, not good. This next time I went through, sat him down, let him flow forward over the single wall and we had a very nice jump through. As a finale, gina wanted me to go through the natural in and out - oxer first, then the vertical. Oliver took a huge jump over the oxer, which practically jumped me out of the tack, but I quickly sat down and we jumped out in a semi-organized fashion. I got complimented on my stick-ability and Oliver's honest nature by our audience of one (the new boarder at Gina's). We went through again and it was perfect, so we called it quits on that.
My right leg is still weaker than my left, so I've got to work on that. Also, my Antares monoflap isn't cut quite forward enough for my leg in jumping length, so that I slam against the block when Oliver jumps really big. I think I'll sell it and save up for a Devoucoux with a 2AA flap - this one is a 2A flap. Oliver is trying so hard these days. I'm so proud of him. He and I have come a long, long way.
next lesson - hopefully a flat on Oliver this week, if the weather cooperates!
Monday, June 7, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, March 15, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, February 19, 2010
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...
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...
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