Hands up and out

February 26, 2013 1 Comment

derby trot

Working it out on the longe.

We’ve continued to have some seriously variable weather lately – last week we started with pouring rain and temperatures in the 50’s,  only to have  a 40 degree drop over one 24 hour period, plunging us back into the deep freeze.   We’ve had some silly equine behavior to contend with, but for the most part, Derby has been fine, despite the fact that he and Remy aren’t moving around much at all in their turn out.  They’re smart boys – there are some slick spots out there.

Our rides have been similarly up and down. We’ve had some really great ones, and then some others that were marked by tension.  Saturday I didn’t ride at all, because he had a case of bats in his belfry.  Between lack of exercise and sharply cooler weather, my usually cool cucumber was totally wired, spooking on the longe line the ice falling off the roof and the barn doors opening.  Though I was disappointed that I didn’t get to ride, I did take the opportunity to do groundwork.  Here’s a video clip of some of the longing.  I was pleased that despite his enthusiasm, Derby was also listening, allowing me to half-halt him with my voice, and doing nice upward and downward transitions.  However, midway through the video, you see one of the spooks, and he takes off in a spectacularly awful canter, with different leads fore and aft.

Sunday was a weird day, marked by a sad turn of events when an elderly retiree died suddently in his pasture.  Though it appeared that he went quickly (not 45 minutes after I had walked by him and said hello on my way to fetch Derby), it was still upsetting, and then there was the unsavory task of moving the deceased from his paddock to the front drive for the livestock removal folks.  I didn’t want to be mounted while all that was going on next to the arena, so Derby enjoyed a flake of hay after I tacked him up.  We ended up having a pretty decent ride, but nothing earth-shattering.   I still rode tentatively and Derby was offering bucks when I touched him with the whip or my pencil-eraser sized spur.

Before my lesson last night, I had Christy check his back, because I was getting to the point where I didn’t trust myself anymore.  He’s seemed a bit back sore at lately, and I tried a variety of pad and saddle combinations on him to little avail.   I’ve been waffling back and forth, wondering if some of the issues around resistance and cooperation were a symptom of some saddle fit issues, or a symptom that would be best remedied by some wet saddle pads and a good thwack on the rump every now and then.   Christy removed my doubts. She poked and prodded, and as she increased the pressure, he yawned and stretched his neck.  He thought he was getting a massage.

Wonderful.  I got on, feeling much better now that some uncertainty had been removed.  And Derby sensed it right away, setting of in a marching walk, and offering no foolishness. While we warmed up, we worked on my position and my bad habit of letting my reins get long and then pulling them toward my hips.  The issue du jour for me is carrying my hands properly.

As we warmed up, we worked on getting Derby to come through at the walk, which improves when I sit up, engage my core, use my inside leg and stay out of his mouth.  When I get it right we go from this:

starting walk

To this – a much nicer, more engaged walk.

nice walk

We then moved to trot, still focusing on throughness and activating Derby’s hind legs, while requiring me to keep my hands where they belong.  As I’ve witnessed before, the horse is absolutely willing to meet you halfway when you get your position right.  Derby was moving happily and was nicely over his back.  It’s in moments like these that I really understand what we’re talking about when we refer to harmony in dressage.  Suddenly, things become easy when you’re in balance and harmony with the horse.

Hands forward, over the withers, where they belong.

Hands forward, over the withers, where they belong.

It was a really nice ride, and I hope to build on it tonight.  However, we have whiteout conditions today, with high winds and snow.  Awesome.  I can’t wait for spring!

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Old love, new love.

February 17, 2013 Leave a comment

My wonderful old Stubben Romanus. Love this saddle.

My wonderful old Stubben Romanus. Love this saddle.

Just in time for Valentine’s day, I fell back in love with something old, and had a brief flirtation with something new. Lest anyone’s imagination run wild, I’m speaking of my old old Stubben saddle and Christy’s newest horse, respectively.

First, the saddle.  Despite my lack of posting, I’ve been keeping fairly busy with Derby, between business trips and incredibly foul freezing weather. His abscess is healed and I’m trying to get us back on a schedule. However, as I noted in previous posts, he threw my some curve balls in the form of unusual resistance to going forward and intermittent back soreness.

All of this points to saddle fit, so despite the fact that he’s not changed much at all since I got a new saddle a bit over a year ago, the fact remained that he was telling me loud and clear that something was bugging him.

So I hauled out my old Stubben Romanus.  I bought this truly ancient saddle for a song a few years ago.  I loved its minimal construction – flat seat and blocks that are barely larger than a pencil.  It has a narrow twist and long flap.   Despite the rock hard seat and ice-slick leather, I. LOVE. this. saddle.  It’s thirty years old if it’s a day, and it’s faded to a weird green hue but I don’t care. I love how balanced an unconstrained I am in this saddle.

While it appears to be nicely balanced on Derby, it also appears to be too wide.  There is worryingly spare clearance twixt gullet and wither.  Still, I tried it.  Tacked up, checked the clearance.  Two fingers.  Got on.  Checked the clearance. One finger.  Sweated a bit.

And then proceeded to have the nicest, roundest, happiest horse I’ve had in a while.    Who was also quite responsive to light leg aids for basic lateral requests (bend, a bit of leg yield).

Tooling along in the Stubben. We both liked it.

Tooling along in the Stubben. We both liked it.

All righty then.

The Stubben isn’t the answer, because it is not a good fit for Derbs.  However, after having a couple nice rides in it, I put the Albion back on Derby today, and he went nicely.  It didn’t seem to be quite the quality we’ve had in the Stubben but relative to other rides, he was good.

So what is going on here?  Was Derby being a cow due to lack of work?  Was the soreness the product of turnout goofiness, a slip on the ice or lack of movement?  Who knows.

He’s on a schedule, and I’ll alternate saddles this week to try to get a fix on what’s what.

In other news, I am making progress on making truly independent hands my habit, though I’m not there – I still need to remind myself.  I’m also working hard on getting rid of the bad habit of pulling the reins back toward my thighs rather than riding the horse out into the contact.   When I get it right, Derby lets me know, as the quality of our contact and his roundness improves immeasurably.

I’ve also been working on my seat and leg, dropping my stirrups each ride, and some two-point work, at both trot and canter.

Austin, with Christy up.

Austin, with Christy up.

I also had a really fun lesson on Austin, the latest addition to Christy’s herd.  He’s a super cute paint that is also pretty fancy and responsive but super comfortable to ride.  She’s put quite a bit of training into him and he’s developing beautifully, both in terms of muscle and in terms of talent.   Riding him was very affirming, but a great experience, because I’m trying to pick up additional rides here and there when I can, on different horses.

Riding Austin was also a reminder for me how responsive a horse can/should be.   When I asked correctly, Austin immediately complied with my aids, bending,  using his hind end and lateral movements – promptly and with no fuss.  It was such a pleasure riding him.I hope I can talk her into another lesson on him again soon. And I need to work on developing similar responsiveness in Derby.

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Roller Coasters

January 30, 2013 2 Comments

cute jumpYesterday the Chicago area flirted with record high temperatures, reaching 66 degrees.   Wind and lots of rain also visited the area.  But what a difference a day makes.  Right now, temperatures are headed down to 10 degrees, and snow is covering the ground.

The horses have been in for a few days, and between the chaotic weather and being trapped inside, they’re starting to get a little loony. I was traveling Monday and Tuesday, and Derby wasn’t well behaved either day for the girl I had lined up to ride him.  She’s a lovely rider (much better than me,) and normally they have great rides together. However, Monday he would not go forward – refusing to do anything but a shuffling jog, and Tuesday he had a puffy leg and a nick just above an eye, so he just got a hand walk.

This morning I got up early to visit Derby before starting work.  I suspect his puffy ankle is from an aggravated bed sore on the front of the fetlock. He’s sound and there’s no heat.   The eye looks fine too, it’s superficial.  I was relieved.

In anticipation of riding tonight, I put Derby’s boots on for a little early morning exercise.  Once we were in the arena, I set up a little X for him.  He started taking himself over it even before I asked, and had a lot of fun jumping it both ways.  Not wanting to make himself sore, I took the X down before Derby was really ready to be done with it, turning it into trot poles which Derby then trotted and cantered.  Afterwards, he got a long walk, a good currying and some cookies in his haynet to help him pass the time.

When I went to tack him up tonight, however, I noticed that his wither area was a bit sore.  Not super bad, but not great, and given that he’d had some issues over the last few days, I left him in his stall, and went to fetch my good buddy Manny.

During our lesson, Christy noted that my hands were staying nice and quiet, and I told her that I believe I finally have the “feel” for carrying my hands independently.  Riding Tucker a couple weeks ago, I had a bit of an epiphany, and for the first time could really feel what I was doing in terms of following the movement with my seat but keeping my upper body and hands quiet.  Since that ride I’ve been able to replicate it, so I hope this means that it’s officially a new habit.

What produced this epiphany?  It’s hard to nail down.  I have been doing the work, riding different horses and working on my seat, including dropping my stirrups.  And I have been diligent about doing my homework, practicing what we work on in my lessons, and looking to the horse for feedback on how I’m doing.   Ultimately, I think that I’ve become a good student, able to synthesize and apply what I learn from Christy.

So yay.  Progress! Just in time for some wicked cold that is threatening to keep us grounded tomorrow.  We’ll see.

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Tweaks, Adjustments & Redemption

January 17, 2013 3 Comments

1 18 stretch

Last night I had an uncharacteristically bad ride on Manny.  His normal enthusiasm felt more like resistance – I couldn’t get him to soften his braced neck.   We worked half halts and transitions, but I couldn’t get him through.  I was disappointed, and the ride really bugged Christy too.

Tonight I gave it another shot. After I warmed up, things were better but still not great. At Christy’s suggestion, I shortened my stirrups a hole.  Presto.  I felt solid and balanced, and Manny appreciated it.   We got our act together, and I was able to practice riding him out to the contact, while keeping my hands above his wither, where they belonged.

While the ride was going better, my ankles were feeling the effects of the shorter leathers.  My ankles are stiff, and I don’t seem to have much shock-absorbing flexibility in them.  When I’m in two-point, Christy often asks me to relax my ankle downward – and I can’t.  My heel doesn’t go much lower than my irons.  Anyway, I was really feeling the burn, so I dropped my stirrups and took a break.  Then I looped them across Manny’s withers for some no-stirrups torture.  To my delight, I was actually able to hold myself in decent carriage this time around, and I was able to encourage Manny to reach for the bit a little, and round.

I was feeling solid in my position, so I did something that I haven’t done for about 5 years. I cantered with no stirrups!  Christy was sufficiently stunned.  And I’m happy to report that it felt wonderful.

1 18 canterGoing left, we picked it right up.  Going to the right, I had to work a bit more.  Manny’s a bit stickier to that direction, and so am I.  Our first transition didn’t happen – I just got a racing standardbred trot, but I was feeling so good in the saddle that it didn’t bother me at all.  I was able to half halt, put him back together and ask him again.  On the second try, I got the canter, but I didn’t successfully ride it as long as I wanted to, because by this point, I was getting tired.  Manny dropped to a trot before I asked, but at that point, I needed a breather.  We walked a bit, and then gave it another try.  The third time was a charm. The transition was fairly prompt and I held it until I was done.

The tweaks did the trick, and Christy told me we redeemed ourselves from last night’s yukko effort!

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Unfinished business

January 15, 2013 5 Comments

My plans with Derby have come to a halt for the time being, as he’s busy brewing an abscess in his right front.   The hoof is warm, and getting warmer, and it’s clearly tender.  So as that situation resolves, I’ve been riding Manny and Tucker, and they’ve been giving me invaluable feedback on a bad habit of mine – allowing my hands to creep downward and back, instead of keeping them up over the horse’s withers.   It turns out that Manny and Tucker, with their shorter, higher-set necks, are the perfect schoolmasters for this particular problem.  They also helped me do a better job of using my inside leg to ride the horse out into the contact, another sticking point for me.

I started tackling the problem while riding Manny in a lesson.  Christy caught me pulling his head in, instead of riding him out to the contact, so she had me focus on sitting up and carrying my hands correctly, keeping them quiet, while at the same time using my inside leg to encourage Manny to bend and soften.  As I did so, Manny responded positively.  His back came up and he really engaged for me. The lesson for me was “less is more, but ‘less’ has to be correct.”

I also had a very redemptive ride on Tucker recently.   He’s well trained but he is really hard for me to ride.  However, using some of the tactics from my lesson on Manny, I was finally able to have a decent ride on Tucker.   What both rides really showed me is that I am very hands-y, and am over reliant (and flat out incorrect).  I have rides on both slated for later this week – I’d like to get this bad habit fixed for once and for all before I get back on the Derbster.

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Moving forward … literally

January 10, 2013 3 Comments

Enjoying some treats after a good ride tonight

Enjoying some treats after a good ride tonight

It’s been an interesting couple days at the ranch.  Wintec Isabel #5 arrived safe and sound to its new forever home with me.  I swear I will never sell this saddle. I put the medium narrow (green) gullet in, and we had our first ride in it on Sunday.  It was a nice ride with pretty much none of the resistance I had experienced last week.   Great, I thought.  The other saddle didn’t fit well and we’re back in business.

Ha.

Unfortunately the resistance returned in my lesson on Wednesday.  So I had some behavior I had to deal with.  Awesome.

Last night, the ride went well for about 30 minutes until a walk break. When I asked Derby to march forward in a working walk, he resisted, hollowing, throwing his head and even getting a little light in front, like he was thinking about going up. He was so far behind my leg it wasn’t funny, and when your horse won’t go forward, it’s not fun.   I tried to work through it, but simply put, I wasn’t ready to escalate.  I told Christy of my trepidation, and we struck off at the trot.  It’s easier for me to ride assertively at the trot, if only because I have more forward momentum.   Christy had me ride Derby through some tight serpentines, to get his braced neck unlocked and to get more control over his hind legs.  I had to ride it but it worked well – I got him more forward and we did some quality work.   But I left the walk alone, doing breaks and cooling down on the buckle.

I went home and hit the books, which all reinforced what Christy had told me during the ride – that (among other things) I have to keep control over the hind legs, asking the horse to step under himself.   So I resolved to not tolerate the resistance, and to correct it when when it first appeared.

Tonight we had a better ride.  A couple times when Derby thought about throwing his head up, I spun him around, with a strong kick from my inside leg.  His resistance disappeared for the most part.  I got very good contact and he was enthusiastically forward, which was nice because Derby was evading the bit in addition to being behind my leg earlier in the week.  The ride was fun and afterward, Derby got lots of cookies!

This is my creation and my problem to fix.  I think we’re headed in the right direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cold day, cold back?

January 3, 2013 7 Comments

Really?

Really?

I’ve had a few nice rides on Derby since switching to Christy’s Isabell, good enough for me to pull the trigger when I found one for sale – cheap – online last week.  It arrives tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to putting a medium-narrow gullet in it and seeing how Derby goes, and I hope the results are better than what I experienced today.

Who knows if it was the cold (possible). some sore muscles (unlikely) or (more likely) an attitude issue, but Derby was a bit of a cow today.  He was very resistant, head tossing and inverted.  He *could* go nicely when I really rode him into it, but we spent an inordinate amount of time being ridiculous.   He felt very tense, and a bit explosive – a far cry from the sedate creature of last week.  He was way behind my leg, and unwilling to go forward freely.

At Christy’s suggestion, I hopped up into  a two point, to get off his back.  While we had been working for about a half hour at that point, we hadn’t accomplished much, and he didn’t seem to be improving.

Ridiculous.

Ridiculous.

After about a lap, the quality of the trot started to improve.  Christy reminded me to use my core – even in the two point – to improve my balance, and the horse registered a little approval, relaxing a bit more.  I was able to put him together then, but he still resisted a bit.

It was a bit colder tonight, in the low 20’s by the time I mounted up.  It didn’t feel like cold weather silliness (he’s quite forward in those cases.) This was something different, and I think it was a cold back.  I didn’t detect any soreness after my ride, so who knows.  I’ll put a quarter sheet on him next time, and will do my warm up in two-point to see if that does the trick.

A bit more relaxed.

A bit more relaxed.

 

 

 

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There’s Something About Manny

December 22, 2012 4 Comments

12 19 canter

I’ve been having the best time riding my friend Amy’s magnificent horse, Manny.  A hunter/jumper by trade, Manny has lovely, correct gaits and is a forward and fun ride.   And for some reason, I’ve been having fantastic rides on him, producing what Christy says is some of my best work … ever.

Aside from Manny’s general awesomeness,  I’ve spent some time wondering why it’s been relatively easy for me to put Manny together, getting him connected and through,  and then maintaining that.   While he doesn’t have a lot of dressage training, he is responsive, so that’s part of it.  And conformationally speaking, his neck is placed on the shoulder higher than Derby’s and I’m pretty sure Manny is level if not uphill, versus Derbs, who is, to tell the truth, built a bit downhill.

On my most recent ride on Manny, as I was fairly effortlessly holding a nicely connected trot together and successfully managing to keep Manny’s preferred evasions (going through the outside shoulder, ignoring half-halts, going onto his forehand) in check, it dawned on me that it could be the saddle.  I’ve been using one of Christy’s saddles on Manny – an earlier-model Wintec Isabell – and I suspect that as comfy as my Albion is, the Wintec allows me to stay in better balance, and in a more effective position.   I don’t have to fight to find and hold my position – I can simply go here and keep it in the Wintec.

So I tried it on Derby on my next ride, and the resistance and fussiness I’ve been experiencing lately pretty much disappeared and the quality of our work improved.   A look at the two pictures below. comparing my position in the Albion and the Wintec, reveals the difference in my position these saddles make.

My position on the downbeat of the post) in the Albion.

My position on the downbeat of the post) in the Albion.

wintec

The same point in the stride (downbeat of the post) but in the Wintec. I’m sitting more upright, my hip angle is more open, and my horse is rounder.

The rich irony here is the fact that I have, over the years, bought and sold four 18″ Wintec Isabells.  FOUR.  I’m going to give it a few more rides in Christy’s saddle,  but I’m afraid there may be a new saddle in my future!

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Spotting new challenges

November 30, 2012 1 Comment

I’ve been riding different horses when I can, and last night I had a lesson on my friend Amy’s big Appy, Manny.  This boy is darling and such a character, I just love him.  He’s also a saint and I had a great time riding him – he’s much easier for me than Tucker.  Riding these different horses is making me appreciate the feedback they offer to the rider who listens.  All of them “tell on me” when I’m out of whack.  Adding the fact that each has their own set of evasions and habits to the mix creates a real challenge for me as a rider.

Manny has done a lot of everything, including dressage, but for the last few years, he’s been a hunter.  His owner Amy is a lovely rider who can make this big boy move very nicely, so I knew that he had the goods, even if it takes some coaxing to get him to deliver. I put a dressage saddle of Christy’s on him and off we went.

For Manny, last night’s lesson had to feel like a challenging yoga class.  I asked him to remember his dressage training, come onto the bit, round and bend throughout his whole body.   Manny made it clear that he preferred not to bend and instead offered to go around braced in a counter bend.

Don't WANT to bend! Manny was bracing in a counter bend (or trying to) for a lot of the ride.

Don’t WANT to bend! Manny was bracing in a counter bend (or trying to) for a lot of the ride.

This was actually a great situation for me, because I don’t use my inside leg effectively enough.  I’m happy to let it hang and imagine that I’m getting the response I desire.  Copious video evidence suggests that this method doesn’t work.

Christy had me work on spiral in/leg yield out and at the beginning it as a struggle.  In addition to the the counter bend, Manny had a couple other evasions he threw at me constantly – popping his outside shoulder out, and when that didn’t work, cantering.  We did quite a few inadvertent trot-canter transitions until I figured out how to regulate (and hold) the trot tempo with my seat.

manny nice

The spiraling worked, however, and as I got my act together, Manny came right to me.    As I sat up and rode,  the evasions lessened and he became focused and soft. I had to work to keep him there, but it’s easier to make minute corrections than to fix a braced neck.

manny canterWe finished up with some canter work, which was easy and fun.  I loved riding Manny, because he let me work on myself.  Riding Tucker is a different story.  I find him devilishly hard to ride, which is probably a combination of his fancy gaits, short wheelbase, substantial training and responsiveness.  Tucker reveals and amplifies mistakes I make.  He requires his rider to have their act together.  He’s a real challenge for me.  Come hell or high water, I’m really determined to ride him will some day.

In other news, I’ve had to resort to some chemical help for Derby, as we go into our third week of stall rest.  He’s starting to exhibit his pent-up energy when we’re handwalking, so I asked his vet for some help.  She left us a big bottle of Ace, which is doing the trick nicely.  The ring is getting crowded and from a safety standpoint, I can’t have a Thoroughbred kite on the end of my lead rope when we walk.  He is going to be re-scoped on Dec. 10, and will be hopefully cleared for turnout that same day.  Fingers crossed!

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The Outside Rein

October 30, 2012 Leave a comment

I commented to Christy last night that over the last few weeks, I’ve added a lot more blocks to my foundation, but as I’ve done so, I’m aware of even more gaps in my fundamentals.

“Welcome to dressage!” Christy replied.  She went on to note that the changes we’ve made in my leg (un-pinching my knee, among other things) and seat (more awareness/use of seatbones) has improved my posture in the saddle and Derby’s gait quality. In particular, she said, I’ve got more throughness, better connection and more hind end engagement.  This was music to my ears.  It often feels better – I’m glad that the improvements are visible, too.

Last night we worked on my feel for getting the horse into the outside rein.  I noticed that I ride fairly correctly, with good “feel” and response, going to the right. However, going left – the direction in which I fight my physical crookedness and a stiff hip – is another story.

We repeated an exercise I’ve done before – turning the shoulders with the outside rein, while giving the inside rein.  Christy diagnosed one of my problems – an “eh” response from the horse, and reminded me that I can’t accept that from him.  He *can* step under himself with his left hind.  He can leg-yield nicely to that direction.   And I can’t let him get away with saying “eh, don’t really wanna.”   So my take away was that I need to think as much about what I’m training Derby to do in every ride, as well as my own riding.

“Bad habits are compensation for no response,” Christy noted.  I am paying attention to correct response. The horse is not allowed to ignore the rider.

So, back to the outside rein.  Getting the horse into the outside rein also requires two things that I need to work on – using my inside leg, and giving my inside rein.  While we worked on giving the inside rein, I also paid attention to what I was (or often, wasn’t) doing with my inside leg.  When I put it together, the cause and effect is pretty stark:

A braced neck. We’re hanging on each other.

 

A stride later. I give with the inside, hold the outside, and apply my inside leg.

Voila. Round. Rinse and repeat. Continually, for the rest of my life.

So, in addition to honing Derby’s response, I need to be aware of and hone my own, whether it’s giving the inside rein, or issuing a swift correction when necessary.

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