A Breakthrough

May 15, 2013 1 Comment

Himself.

Himself.

I finished last season a more than a little frustrated with myself.  Despite managing to qualify for my local GMO’s championships, we didn’t make it to the ring – Derbs had a meltdown that I couldn’t manage.   There were some other failures – let’s just go ahead and use this word – too, including my inability to get Derby past a couple culverts on the way to the forest preserve trails near the barn.

There’s a common element in these failures, and it was this – I was abdicating most of the ride to Derby.  I wasn’t riding him forward, round, into contact and on the bit.  I wasn’t using a shoulder-in strategically, I wasn’t keeping control of the inside hind leg.

On paper, I knew all of this but for any combination of reasons I had never executed the theories in a real-life situation.

At the same time, I’ve continued to observe lots of Christy’s rides, and (since she’s the cerebral sort) we’ve talked through these issues as well.  Numerous times I’ve heard her how she can feel when the horse she’s riding is going to spook, and instead of simply riding it, she manages it – and capitalizes it, channeling the energy into even more powerful forward movement.

Tonight – at the end of a ride that I was planning on shortening due to my still painful knee, I had the unexpected (aren’t they always) opportunity to test my learning.

I had given up on really riding and hopped up into two point to get a bit more work into Derby while also working a bit on my lower leg. We were in the outdoor ring, and as we came around the short side closest to the barn, Derby spooked and took off across the arena.  Secure in my two-point, I went right with him, almost effortlessly.

Instead of being discombobulated by the abrupt change of course, I was able to ride it.  I kept him cantering and then put him on a trot circle.

“Wow,” said Christy as we looped around her.   It was a nice trot – he was through and connected.  I pushed him off the circle and headed toward the other end, keeping him connected.   He spooked again, and I caught sight of the source of his willies – a fly sheet left on the ground by another friend who was off hand grazing her horse.   Sheesh.

I kept him at that end of the arena, and put him on another circle, insisting on bend and that he step under himself with his hind leg. Going back around, he tried to spook again but I was able to catch him and manage it.  On the next go-round, he didn’t bat an eye.  on the next go round, we stopped near the offending fly sheet, and Derbs stood nicely as I treated him to all manner of scritches up and down his neck.  Then we walked off, turn around the other way, and I put him into a shoulder-in.  Sure enough, he wanted to give the sheet the hairy eyeball but I was able to keep that inside hind where I wanted it.  We maintained the bend, and walked by with little fuss.  I asked for the trot, and we went by the sheet in an energetic shoulder in.  I was holding him together, and helping him keep his marbles in their bag.  We went by again.  No problem this time.  On the next pass, I stopped him again, and again he stood sensibly, and was the recipient of more scritches.

There was a time when I could ride the spook,  but I wasn’t managing it.  Tonight, finally, I felt effective.  Derby was connected nicely, and I could feel the behavior coming and I could do something other than just let it happen.  Which is kind of the whole point of dressage, when you get down to brass tacks.  Those war horses of old had to gallop headlong into some scary situations.

As we walked a bit, Christy and I chatted.  She said – and I agreed – that this was the best riding I’ve produced in terms of effectiveness.  I was able to use the tools she’s given me, and apply them correctly to the situation.  My instincts – and reactions – were correct.

“Now, we just have to get that kind of riding from you all the time,” Christy said as I dismounted.   Which means she has some ideas brewing…

Filed under dressage lessons Tagged with ,

Core muscles, meet the half-halt

May 9, 2013 6 Comments

We had another nice ride last night, and another incremental improvement. In my lesson, I worked on getting Derby’s hind legs more active and pushing, rather than pulling himself along on the forehand. To do this, Christy introduced my core to my half-halt, and pretty quickly I was able to get the feel of rebalancing the horse.  It was one of those lightbulb moments in which you consciously do something, and feel the results.  Cause and effect – it’s powerful stuff.

Compare to yesterdsy's effort

Last night

righthind

Yesterday

Here’s a still from last night’s ride (pink t-shirt).  There’s a big difference in hind end engagement when compared to my ride the night before (blue saddle pad.)

The differences are subtle but clear visually – Derby is more up, off his forehand in the picture from last night, and he’s pushing more with his hind legs – you can see he’s stepping more forwardly with his hind legs, rather than trailing them behind (as he does when he’s on the forehand.)

The difference in feeling between the trots is more stark.  The connected trot last night feels so powerful.  The less-connected trot from last night just feels fast.

Christy had me work on channeling our forward energy and controlling it with my seat, core and half-halts.  One thing I have to work on is using the half halt correctly – to rebalance – rather than slow down.  I generally allow Derby to lose energy in the half halt.  And I remember what Robert Dover said about half-halts – they’re additive, you gather and coil the energy in the half halt.  Now, to put that into practice and make it a habit.

Screen Shot 2013-05-08 at 11.25.50 PMWith Christy coaching me about every other step of the way, I worked on half-halting with my core and then immediately putting my leg on to say “Go!” while increasing my post to get a bigger (not faster) stride.  And we were able to start to generate more of a trot – one that someday could be suspended and fancy.  We have a long way to go, though, in terms of fitness and muscling of both horse and rider.  Still, it will be fun to put a dressage neck on Derbs – he’s pretty burly as TBs go already and tends to carry heavy muscle. He’s a big handsome critter already but with good dressage muscling, my plain bay will be a standout!

Filed under dressage lessons Tagged with

Weak right side

May 7, 2013 1 Comment

righthind

Working the right legs – all three of them

I’ve not had much to report, since I’m continuing to slowly recover from problems with my IT band.  My right knee still hurts but I can feel it growing stronger, and most happily, I’m able to do more than perch desperately in two-point, clutching handfuls of mane and gritting my teeth. In retrospect, this downtime has in fact been a bit of a gift – I’ve been doing work on my seat and engaging my core.  I’m finally able to put things back together on Derby, and am reasonably happy with how things are going. 

Through the different tests they put me through at physical therapy to benchmark my progress, I’ve learned that my right side is significantly weaker than my left – probably due to my protecting the leg as the IT band became more and more of a problem over the winter.  Derby’s right side is weaker too -that’s the side the chiro really has to work on, and we know that he has to build up more strength. So working our right legs is very much on the agenda for Derbs and me. 

canterleftThe PT I’m doing for the injury is focusing on strengthening my hips and glutes.  Needless to say, my hips especially are working hard, and the muscles are tight.  I’m not even bothering to try sitting the canter – my seat just isn’t following at the moment.  So when I needed to wake Derby up today, I ended up back in two point and let him roll a bit.  We got solid trot work both directions, and I left the lesson a happy camper. 

Anyway, it’s not terribly much to report, but for us, at the moment, it’s pretty good, given the weaknesses in our right legs.  

 

Filed under dressage lessons

Downtime

April 15, 2013 2 Comments

Upper level dressage and event prospect for sale.

Kisses from Derby’s pasturemate, Remy. If you’re looking for an athletic dressage horse (or eventing prospect) you should check out my buddy Rems. He’s for sale.

Well, as you’ve undoubtedly surmised, I’m taking a bit of downtime to help my knee recover.  Interestingly, I was diagnosed with a tight (and angrily inflamed) iliotibial (IT) band.  I say “interestingly” because if you’ve read a few of my posts, you know that I kvetch about tightness in my hips – and that’s where the IT band starts.

The physical therapy is focused on loosening that band, improving its strength and flexibility, and the prescribed exercises concentrate on the hip.  As I work through them,  I can feel the entire band working, down to my knees, which is interesting.   Needless to say, in addition resolving the pain, I’m interested in seeing the benefits that accrue from this work when I’m back in the saddle and really riding. Right now, when I do get on, I’m riding very defensively, protecting the knee.  Which pretty much means hanging out in two point and getting off when it hurts too much.  I’ve actually taken the last few days off, and have a call in to the doc to clarify exactly what I should/shouldn’t be doing during this time.

In other news, I thought I’d take a second to write about my good buddy Remy.  Remy is Christy’s fancy young horse.  He’s also Derby’s pasture mate.   Remy didn’t get the memo that he’s a horse.  He thinks he’s a Golden Retriever, albeit a 17-hand one.  I have never met such a friendly, goofy horse.  Whenever I go to get Derby out of the field, I have to first receive welcome kisses from Remy.  I don’t mind, he’s such a sweet and gentle fellow. The goodbye kisses, on the other hand, I am not looking forward to.  Doe anyone else fall in love with their trainer’s sale horses?   And no, don’t look at me.  Remy is a big, fancy, athletic horse with powerful gaits that I am certain I could not ride.   Personally, I am dreaming of the day that I see him at Rolex.  He’s doing most of the dressage needed for a 4-star already.  He also loves jumping and has a big, ground-eating stride that seems suited for long-format three-day events.   Anyway, Rems is for sale.   You can see fancy pictures and video of him over on his sale page.  As nice as those are, though, I think I like the one of him kissing me best!

Filed under off track Tagged with ,

Full body effort

April 8, 2013 2 Comments

I’m back in the saddle, but as I mentioned earlier, am dealing with a very painful knee that is limiting my riding.  However, I discovered tonight that my Albion saddle, with its thigh blocks, aggravates the knee.  I jumped on Manny in my Isabel after  a meh lesson on Derbs in the Albion. I was much more comfortable in the Isabel.  Derby is going to give that saddle another shot tomorrow night, needless to say.

Anyway, over the weekend we had our first ride outside. It was lovely to get back out in the sunshine, and Derby comported himself like a gentleman.

Tonight in my lesson we did some nice work, but I was focused mostly on continuing to strengthen my position while not killing my knee.  We had a few nice moments but it wasn’t much of a ride, though we did have a bit of a breakthrough, when I was going around on a loopy rein, concentrating on keeping my hands still, and my right leg back a little.  It wants to creep forward on turns which works against my attempts at balance and bend.  I was struggling but finally managed to align myself, and engage my core.

“There it is!” said Christy, who had watched numerous fruitless attempts.  I continued on, bug-eyed from the full body effort of keeping hands still hip open heels down legs draping hips to hands outside  shoulder and leg back where they belong and core engaged.

I finished up by doing a little no stirrup work but everything was uncomfortable and I didn’t give it my all

Things were different on Manny, though.  I was much, much more comfortable in the Isabel with no blocks, and actually could ride him forward. We did four laps of the arena with no stirrups, we cantered around and we did some good trot work.  IT was a much better ride.  So tomorrow we’ll see how Derbs goes in the Isabel, because goodness knows it works better for me.

Filed under dressage lessons

Getting back in the swing of things

April 4, 2013 2 Comments

It was a gorgeous evening!

It was a gorgeous evening!

I’m back home (for a few weeks at least) and am getting back onto my daily schedule. I’m creaky, my bad knee is playing hell with me and I feel like a soup sandwich up there in the saddle, but nonetheless, enough good things are happening that I feel encouraged.

In my lesson tonight we were able to diagnose what I was doing that was causing some problems with left bend.  I love the fact that Christy makes “headroom” in lessons, taking time to think rather than just yelling “Bend! More bend! Come on, bend him!” as I’ve seen other trainers do.  At the walk, as we talked, I was moving Derby all over the arena, doing little serpentines, small circles and changes of direction from my seat and legs.  However, at the trot, I was a mess going left. We picked at it, and I realized that I was allowing my outside leg to creep forward, which pretty much negated my aids.  Once I repositioned myself, and made a point of keeping that leg long with the hip open, placing it a bit further back than my inside leg, things improved quickly for us.

My endurance is for crap at the moment but it’s getting a bit better each ride.  I’m hoping to be back at full strength soon.

In other news, over the last month, Derby has also had two chiro visits. Remember the awful canter video from a couple posts ago, in which he was swapping behind? I had Dr. Heinze of Fox Valley Equine see him, and he adjusted him, with immediate results.  The very next day Derby cantered comfortably both directions.  However, a few weeks later, he started showing signs of discomfort again.  I had Dr. Heinze back out,  and we’re hoping that Derbs will be able to go longer between adjustments, especially as he builds strength on his right side.

It should be pretty nice this weekend.  If I have time, I know two stinky horses that are at risk for bubble baths!

I ended the evening watching Christy ride Austin bareback.   She was having a great time – his gaits are smooth and very comfy, and according to her, his back is soft and comfy too.  Both definitely enjoyed themselves.

We also found out this week that this cute red boy can jump like the dickens.  He’s a cute and versatile horse and looks like he could be a cute children’s hunter, pony club wonder horse or a fun mount for an ammy who wants to dabble in everything.  He’s also for sale, but I get the sneaking feeling that Christy wouldn’t mind to much if he hung around for a while. ;)

Filed under schooling Tagged with , ,

My Schoolmaster

March 17, 2013 2 Comments

derby and me

He’s as good as Christy at diagnosing what I’m doing wrong.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and since I’ve ridden for that matter.  Between travel for work, and a nasty cold, it’s been more than a week since I last rode.   And when more than a few days passes between rides, I tend to fell pretty out of whack.

“Out of whack” has been a recurring theme for me lately, as we’ve been doing more work on my position.  We also determined that my hands have become unsteady, causing Derby to object stridently. So regaining some semblance of independence in my hands has been at the top of my list.

For my first ride back (yesterday) I spent a lot of time in two-point, reawakening my riding muscles (and garnering a protest from them this morning.)  Then, once I was warmed up, I started to build some connection by not shortening the reins, but by working on riding Derby out and down into contact.  By keeping my hands where they belong, above his withers, I was able to create contact that Derby could start to trust not to jab him in the mouth.

Any time I erred, and started to draw my hands back to my hips, my schoomaster would let me know immediately, by inverting and flinging his head.  As soon as I would push my hands forward, back to where they belong, Derby rewarded me by rounding and moving nicely.

Today I was able to accomplish more.  I could feel things clicking into place and we had some nice work.  Best of all, the work on my position has paid dividends, in the form of more effective aids.  In addition to moving forward nicely, Derby is also responding very well to my requests for lateral movement.  Christy has commented that it’s our job to create the space we want the horse to fill, and I’m starting to experience that first hand.

I have one more ride tomorrow night before heading out of town for a few days, and I have more travel coming up over the next couple weeks.  Things will be spotty for a while, but the feedback from my schoolmaster makes getting back on track easier!

 

Filed under schooling Tagged with ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 46 other followers