Tearing myself away ….

November 6, 2011 1 Comment

Just when things were getting really good, I have to take a (very) short break from riding.  Short, as in two days.  And really, I’m only “losing” one day, since Derbs gets his fall shots and dentistry on Monday, and would have the day off due to the vet work, whether or not I was in town.   That said, the day is dawning sunny, and promises to be warm (for November.) It would be an awesome day to ride, but I’m on the way to the airport this morning.

While I don’t want to give the impression that all of my problems are solved – far far from it! – it has been a gratifying week.   The work we did in my lesson (see “Tightening the Screws“) awakened me to the fact that I have been letting Derby steal rein – when I’m not just flat out throwing the reins at him – and I was putting him on his forehand.  Since that lesson, I can feel when this is happening, and while I still need a few strides to organize, think, take hold, half halt and close legs and engage core and hold contact and go now, horse! go! …. the good news is that I can get remedy the situation.

Our last couple rides have been really nice.  On Friday, the highlight was a nice, relaxed, rolling canter that felt balanced, and that I was able to influence.  Yesterday, the highlight was more canter work – transitions on a 20m c ircle.  We had a couple crap transitions that I knew were my fault, not Derby’s.  So I put him on a circle, got a nice, balanced trot going, and then rode some transitions.  As long as we stayed organized, they felt effortless.   Clearly, I need to work on managing and maintaining quality and balance through and between gaits – obviously, since this is really kind of a key component to a successful test.  I’m really happy with the quality of the gaits recently.   My rides this week have been really fun – it’s tough to get on a plane to leave, even if it is just a short trip.

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Tightening the screws

November 4, 2011 4 Comments

Christy has figured out an important fix to my position, and we’re working on developing my muscle memory for keeping my core really engaged, my legs softly back, my calves gently against the horse, my knees relaxed, my hips angles open and swinging and my leg long and draping.   I’m definitely in the “hard’ phase of the “Hard, Easy, Habit, Beautiful” progression described by George Morris. It’s worth it, though.  When I do manage to balance myself and get my knees off the saddle blocks, Derby’s gaits improve dramatically.

We might have been happy with this moment a month ago, but not now.

Tonight Christy upped the ante on me a bit, asking me to hold my contact and really push the horse into the bridle from behind, creating more uphill movement.  In doing this she took dead aim at a bad habit of mine – I tend to give the reins when the horse pulls into contact, and I wind up dumping him on his forehand.

Here’s a stellar example:  You can see clearly here how I’ve totally pushed my shoulders forward and straightened my arms, so even though my fingers are closed, I’ve given him a ton of rein.  Derby has eagerly accepted, and has gone onto his forehand.

So while the trot quality is nice and the contact is solid, I’m failing miserably here to give Derbs the support he’s seeking, and I’m losing the opportunity to gather power an energy when I give away the reins like this.

Correcting ourselves and getting the horse off his forehand

At this point, Christy was most likely howling “Hold your reins! PIN YOUR ELBOWS TO YOUR SIDE!”     I scrambled to put things back together.  First, I half-halted,  bringing my elbows back to where they belonged as I rebalanced the tolerant creature beneath me.   I sat myself up straighter, and opened my hip angles, and started to lengthen my legs again by dropping my knees.  You can see how the changes I made in about 3 strides have improved Derby’s carriage.

Once I had fixed the big issues, I was able to ask Derby to move forward, while (this time!) holding the dang contact. I’m still struggling with staying straight (and keeping the hip angles open) as you can see, but overall, the balance was much better and I finally, finally, finally got him fully connected, producing the nice moment you see at the very top of this post.

It’s the most amazing feeling, and gives me hope for our future in the ring!

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George Morris schooling grand prix …. dressage

November 2, 2011 Leave a comment

 

I consider the George Morris clinic I audited last fall to be one my top 5 equestrian experiences.  He is an amazing horseman, period.

His emphasis on the importance of correct fundamentals -correct bend, working the horse over its back, suppling and use of the outside rein – also made an impression on me.  Because in his sessions schooling high level jumpers, he talked about dressage a lot – directly and indirectly. Christy echos him when she says that dressage can improve any horse, and any rider.  So does Liz, when she says that she wouldn’t be able to have Cloud out on the trails if she didn’t have the tools she acquired learning dressage.

Dressage – with its foundation in the cavalries of yore, and with its application in the jumper ring and elsewhere today – is about pinpoint, precision control of every aspect of the horse and rider.  It’s about immediate response, and cultivating balance and power.

The video above, of George Morris having a fun ride on Catherine Haddad’s fantastic firecracker Winyamaro, is so fun to watch.  Obviously, George knows his dressage and is an extremely sensitive and tuned-in rider.  And Winyamaro is a fully fledged GP horse, and he’s a hot one, right up George’s alley.   Piaffe, passage and a line of 16 one-tempis are no problem for George.   I’d love to see him in a dressage ring! Who’s with me?

Catherine Haddad & Win hauling in a 74.8% in the Kur at last year’s World Cup:

 

George Morris suppling a horse (and doing quite a bit of basic dressage along the way)

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