Well, that didn’t go as planned.

December 5, 2011 3 Comments

After working so hard yesterday, I was eager for my lesson today, and I arrived at the barn early to deal with the very muddy horse I assumed I would find.  Derby, however, was pretty much pristine, despite the soupy conditions out in the paddocks.  He had been alone today, as his pasture mate Remy had to have a shoe replaced, and evidently he didn’t move around much.  There were no spatters on his tummy, he was just dirty from the fetlocks down.

As pleased as I was to not be confronted by a horse that was liberally coated with goo, in retrospect, it would have been better if he moved around a bit more today.  Once we got going – barely going – in our lesson, it was evident that something was wrong. I hopped off, and fetched a longe line.   As I came back into the arena, Christy handed me the reins and palpated Derby’s rump.  Gentle pressure caused him to really flinch.  Derbs was afflicted with a very sore patootie.

I was pretty surprised by this.  Yes, we worked hard yesterday.  But I wasn’t doing a lot of transitions, and we are so not anywhere close to doing anything collected.   However, Christy reminded me that we have upped the ante, and both Derby and I are doing a lot more these days.

On the longe Derby loosened up, and promptly surprised us both by flashing some really fancy trot – by far the nicest we’ve seen from this horse.   As I was standing there slackjawed, Christy said, “Well, your horse definitely isn’t broken!”

I got back on, and Christy decided to give the horse a bit of a break, and to torture me instead.  I had told her that Iwas having problems keeping my lower leg still – I’m still carrying too much weight on my stirrups, and as a result, my lower leg moves around a lot when I post.   On Sunday when I encountered this, I alternated posting  with standing a couple beats, then posting a couple, then standing …. doing so helps me “feel” the correct spot for my leg.  However, since I was squarely in Christy’s cross hairs, and because this is a problem caused by lack of strength on my part, Christy had  me get into two point, keeping my weight on my inner thighs. My test for whether or not I’m doing this correctly is letting my stirrups “rattle” on the bottom of my boot – they can’t rattle and move around if I’m really leaning on them.  I did a lap of that before calling uncle.  Christy then had me post from a half-seat, keeping my legs engaged and butt out of the saddle.    This is my homework for the next few days.  We’re going to move to posting without stirrups in short order.  It’s not fun but I’m going to bear down and get it done.

We did have an interesting moment right at the beginning of the ride, as I was just starting to warm up.   Christy wasn’t happy with what she saw, and had me drop my stirrups and stretch.  Fortuitously, she grabbed :51 of video which illustrated something pretty important about the problems I’m having.  Here it is:

At the beginning of the video, watch me carefully.  Do you see my hips moving?  No. You don’t.  Instead, I’m moving my shoulders.  The horse’s movement is not being absorbed by my seat. It’s “coming out” my shoulders.  My body is essentially acting like a lever.  Now, look at Derby’s walk.  It’s tending toward lateral. (Nice.) His back isn’t swinging.  Other than his cute lime green saddle pad and clean shiny self, there’s not a lot to like.

At about the :28 mark, I start to make the adjustments Christy suggests.  I still my shoulders, and start to let my hips really follow the horse’s movement.  Almost instantly, you can see Derbs take a larger stride with his hind legs.  His back comes up a bit, and he develops a nice, 4-beat cadence.     I think Christy caught kind of a profound moment in this little clip, and I’m glad she did.  That little change made a big difference for the horse!

So, onward and upward.  Tomorrow we’ll do some nice stretchy work, and I will spend some quality time in two-point.

Filed under dressage lessons Tagged with ,

Creating the space for the movement you want

December 4, 2011 Leave a comment

Hey now. (He's a sensitive guy.)

I’m so tired.  Exhausted, to-the-quick tired.  I worked on a lot of things during today’s ride – but most of all, I worked. Well, I wasn’t alone.  Derbs worked up a sweat too.  The horses have been in for the last two days, so I wanted to give Derbs a long ride to get his blood pumping and alleviate the crushing boredom of being stuck inside.  I’ve also been musing on a conversation Christy and I had on Friday, and was freshly motivated to get back to work.

I took the afternoon off on Friday, and scampered out to the barn to watch Christy ride and sneak in an extracurricular lesson.   I got to watch her on Remy, and during her ride, she asked him some questions she’s not posed to him previously, and he answered with aplomb, elevating his carriage and gaits well beyond Training – or First, for that matter.

After her ride, Christy and I talked about how she produced this dramatic new way of going.  The first thing she said was, “I was working really hard.” And I could see that as she rode – her posture and shorter reins were creating a different framework for Remy, and she had to hold it together –  and keep him through –  while he figured out how to configure himself to fit. “You were creating a new space for the horse,” I concluded.

“That’s a really good way to think about it,” she said, “And you should keep that in mind for Derby, too.”

So I went away thinking about how the rider’s position dictates the horse’s way of going.

I know that Derby is very sensitive to how his rider – whether it’s me, Liz or Christy – is sitting and how they’re balanced. Changes that you could consider fairly slight to the rider’s seat produce dramatic changes in his gaits.   So now I’m thinking a little differently about creating desirable gaits.  It’s less about doing things to the horse.  It’s more about creating the space with my seat that encourages the horse’s back to come up and his shoulders to move,  and framing that space with my legs and hands to further define the movement more exactly.

So after giving the horse yesterday off, today I was ready to ride.  And “creating the space for the movement I want” was top of mind. I was also thinking about something else Christy and I had discussed on Friday, which was the ongoing management from the saddle, conscious or not, that dressage requires.  I still remember the day I realized (as silly as this sounds now) that the horse is never going to magically put himself on the bit and round his back – whether or not that happens, and the degree to which is maintained, is up to the rider. You have to ride almost every stride.  Literally.

So those still reading this post who’ve also made it through my other recent ramblings know that “multitasking” as I call it is still a challenge.  Creating forward gaits, maintaining bend, softening this, half-halting, applying leg, and constantly, constantly checking (and correcting) my position makes for a grueling and intense ride – like today’s.   We had some really nice moments, but they weren’t luck.  I was working hard – to still my lower leg, keep my hips open, feel my seatbones and my balance and adjust accordingly, hold my core and hold the reins, and make all the myriad adjustments along the way.   When I got it right, Derby stepped right up to the plate.  I could feel his back coming up, his back legs pushing, and that magical connectedness when you actually can feel the inside hind and the power that it drives held in the reins.

Afterward, I was surprised at how wiped out I was.  My hair was soaking under my helmet, and my t-shirt was wet – despite the fact that it was in the 30’s this afternoon.  My legs were shot and when I finally got into my car, fired up the seat warmer and started to drive away, I felt like pulling over for a nap before continuing my 25 minute ride home.

It’s just after 6 pm as I’m tapping out this post, and I’m determined that I will NOT crawl into bed before 9 pm.  I’m *still* whipped from today’s ride.   No complaints, though!

Filed under schooling Tagged with

Momentus moments.

December 1, 2011 4 Comments

I can die happy. A moment of suspension, on the bit. Thank you, Lord. And Derby. And Christy.

Tonight as I warmed up for my lesson, Christy and I talked about what Liz had captured when she shot some video (unknown to me) a few nights ago.  For your reference here it is – three minutes of fairly uninspired riding.

A few things are apparent from this video.  First and foremost, I’ve lost the position I’ve been working on – my hip angles are closing a bit, and I’m pitching forward, which on Derby is like stomping the brakes.  Secondly, the contact is really inconsistent –  we’re only round and on the bit oh, maybe 30% of the time. At about 2:00 I do manage to correct myself (somewhat) but at this point it also becomes apparent that I’m acceptng a pretty ho-hum trot from Derby.  Forward is still an issue.

Argh.

So Christy set some new priorities for us, starting with forward, which will help with both the consistency of our content and gait quality. She also threw trot poles into the mix, to encourage a more dynamic trot.   We got some good work going to the left and got some fancy footwork over the poles. Then we took walk break, talking through a few things, and I picked up the reins to go back to work.  Derby, on the other hand, was checked out.  He was done, or so he thought.  Bless his furry little soul, he was wrong.  We still had a good 20 minutes to go in our lesson.

To say that forward was a problem would be an understatement. After getting no response when I asked him to move forward, I booted him into a canter.  As you can see in the video above, I had to pop him with the whip a few times to keep him going.  After that canter interlude, however, we got some really good work, right before the 3 minute mark.  From that point onward, I was able to keep Derby forward with consistent contact.

Uphill trot.

What was different?  A few things.  First and foremost, I rode proactively, making corrections, half halting – essentially managing every stride. Secondly, I really tried to maintain a balanced position.  And finally, I really kept my core engaged.  Wow, what a difference. Around 2:55 in the video, we start to get some of our best work ever.  Derby is uphill – we even generate some suspension.

“THAT is your working trot!” Christy exclaimed. “That’s the show ring trot!”   I have to make this the new normal.

PS: This is for those who say that riding isn’t hard work. Look at the steam roll off me after living through my lesson with Christy!

Filed under dressage lessons Tagged with , ,

Putting a few pieces together

December 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Derby looks smashing in bright red, but I think we may be over-doing it a bit with this ensemble.

Riding bits and pieces of tests – a little stretchy trot here,  free walk there, etc. – is far different that putting a whole test together.I’m just barely starting to string together movements with deliberation.  Tonight we had a couple important firsts.

The big news was that I actually rode a canter transition.   I had Derby in a really nicely balanced canter – he was on the bit and it felt great.  As we rounded one end of the arena, I closed my fingers, half halted, engaged my core and kept it together as Derby transitioned to a trot.  I kept the trot going, and it wasn’t a bad trot – he was still on the bit, in fact, the contact was really good.  Still trotting, I decided to test my contact.  I fed him a little rein, and a little more, and still more.  Stretchy trot! Legit stretchy trot with contact! I rode half a lap like that, then picked him back up, and then invited him to stretch again.  Wow.  That was a great moment!

I also watched some video Liz shot a couple days ago.  She quietly got about three minutes of trot work that I didn’t know she was shooting.  We had a few nice moments but watching that video, I can clearly see that I”m still closing my hip angle.  I have to sit up and engage my core if I want that horse to move!

So, a nice win tonight, but much remains to do.

Filed under schooling Tagged with , ,

Four leaf clover

November 30, 2011 1 Comment

Good news, we're not broken, nor have we taken leave of our senses

I squeezed another lesson into Christy’s schedule to deal with the issues that cropped up on Monday night.  I’m happy to report that we had a nice ride, Derbs thought about looking at nothing once but we dealt with it, but that was it.

I suspect two issues contributed to my right-lead difficulties on Monday.  First, I need to do a better job of producing good bend.  I’m simply not asking for it.  I need to practice generating bend whilst maintaining my new-and-improved position – which is kind of hard for me – Christy noted that I was letting my knees creep up, effectively closing my hip angle.  Hmm.  No wonder my forward gears were petering out.  Christy observed that Derby is a ‘seat ride’ and is very responsive to little things – such as when I close my hip.  On the up side, this does give me instant feedback, so I am alerted that there’s something I need to fix.

The other issue is actually horse-related.  I’ve really upped my riding recently, and Derbs is working harder.  He was getting tired on Monday night. I need to build his fitness, and respect the fact that as I up the ante, I need to work him within that context.    We need to get those sadde pads wet.

For last night’s lesson, Christy had me ride a big four-leaf clover.  It was an ideal exercise to practice bending one direction, especially for where I’m at, because it includes moments of straightening which I needed to reorganize.  To ride the clover leaf, I essentially rode a loop in each corner.  So to start, you’d ride from A to C, turning right at C, and then turning right again at B, bisecting the arena and riding straight to E, turning right and doing a loop in that corner, turning right again at C, riding straight to A, turning right at A, doing a loop, turning right at E, riding straight to B, turning right … you get the idea.  It rides nicely and affords lots of bend/straighten/bend practice.   Rinse and repeat going the other direction.

One other thing came to the fore last night – I’ve been letting Derby sucker me into a less good-quality trot.  Christy got us back on track last night, telling me to ride like I was doing a lengthening.  “Now that’s your trot!” she exclaimed as we powered down the long side.  My challenge here is to keep my knees down and hips open, to guard against losing that forward impulsion.

 

Filed under dressage lessons Tagged with , ,

Wrong lead? Nah! It’s counter canter!

November 28, 2011 2 Comments

Counter canter! Yeah! That's what we're doing! Counter canter!

Well, tonight’s ride only went partially as planned.  I was looking forward to my lesson, and showing Christy what I’ve been working on for the last few days.  We did earn some nice kudos – the left lead canter was really good – we had a decent transition, and I was able to show Christy how I’m getting better at really riding the gait – keeping the horse forward, getting him to step out and under himself, and holding the contact and getting him to move forward into it.   We got a gold star on our homework for that chapter, but we turned around and flunked the next one.

The weirdness started when we switched direction.  I had been getting some nice work this direction recently and felt that I was making real progress on the canter depart … but tonight wasn’t the night.  I was doing something new and strange – we couldn’t pick up the right lead to save our souls.

 

Okay, we did get it a couple times, including an unscheduled walk-canter depart (seriously, where’s the fruitbat?) but more often then not, I was putting him onto the wrong lead with alarming consistency.

We had some decent moments. I'm pretty happy with this canter attempt.

We worked at it, and revisited bending, and Derby grew more and more resistant on the right rein.  I knew then that somewhere, something was wrong with how I was riding, and I got confirmation of that fact when Derby started to resist naughtily, spooking at a corner and refusing to to bend.  I put him on a small circle, and doubled back, inching him back towards the corner – but I was getting tired and didn’t have the strength to really kick him over.  Then he tried to pull some of the same crap on the long side.  I smacked him with the whip, sent him forward, and we did some small 10M figure 8’s at the other end of the arena, and then headed for the end where he had spooked, bending on a serpentine.  No avail, he did it again.  I turned him in tight circles, keeping his feet moving, and was furious with myself and I’ll admit it, with him.  At this point, I was almost exhausted, so after he walked and halted nicely I called it a day.   However, ideally, that wasn’t the right time to end.  I have squeezed myself into Christy’s schedule tomrrow night, and we will revisit these issues!

Filed under dressage lessons Tagged with ,

A Grand Prix TB

November 28, 2011 1 Comment

He’s my favorite kind of horse – a plain bay thoroughbred gelding.  However, once he gets moving, Sea Lord is anything but plain, or average.  You see, he’s a confirmed Grand Prix horse, and has been winning (with very good scores) under Sliva Martin.

I’m constantly surprised that TBs don’t find more favor with ammy riders.   Those that have raced are the ultimate BTDT horses – vetting, trailering, bathing, shoeing are not a problem, nor are golf carts, goats, dogs, loud speakers and crowds.  They do need to be re-trained when they leave the track – OTTBs strongly associate being ridden with running, for example, and things like standing for mounting are foreign concepts.  But TBs are fast learners and are eager to please.  A few months with an adept trainer who understands OTTBs will produce a really nice horse.  My trainer, Christy Rettger, recently detailed the progress of her current young project, and he really has transformed in the short year she’s had him.

Generally speaking, thoroughbreds are real athletes, and have great work ethics and forward gears that are conducive to higher level work.  True, they are not purpose bred for dressage – you will have to do some work and ride the horse correctly to get it through and over its back.  You can’t “fake” it with a TB like you can with a warmblood that has higher natural head/neck carriage.  But they are budget-friendly, willing and beautiful partners – I love how elegant a TB looks in the ring, compared to a heavier horse.

Anyway, this seemed like a good day to plug Thoroughbreds for dressage.  Did I mention that Sea Lord is for sale?  If you have the ability and the cash, you could be gracing a GP ring near you on this refined and elegant creature.   And if you’re in the market for your next mount, consider a Thoroughbred.  At least go ride a few.  I bet you’ll be glad you did.

Filed under off track Tagged with

Incremental improvements

November 27, 2011 Leave a comment

New red duds for December.

I’ve been working hard since my last lesson, in which Derby was dull and the ride was generally uninspired.   Developing Derby’s forward gears and maintaining engagement and roundness in the transitions have been my primary foci.  However, as part of the working on forward equation, we’ve been doing more work at the canter.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the quality of my homework and am looking forward to my lesson tomorrow.  Derby was good yesterday and really good today – we had some very nice trot work including some bending serpentines in which we maintained impulsion and had good bend.

In the back of my mind today was also the imperative to start working in more correct bend.  When I remembered, I rode bend going into corners, and given the traffic in the arena today, I also had to do changes in direction and line.  We did lots of circles and the quality of that work was some of our best.

Early in the ride, I put Derby into a canter, keeping transition quality in mind.  I also wanted to start doing a better job of riding the canter – holding the contact, pushing the horse into it. and also engaging his hind legs.  Today was – I think – our best canter ever.  Derbs was enthusiastic – he didn’t peter out but instead held the tempo – and I was able to sit up and ride circle that felt balanced.  I also got the horse to move out from that circle – I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call it a leg yield , but it was in that vein.

We’ve also schooled transitions ( trot / walk / trot) over the last few rides.   First I had to develop more responsiveness from Derbs – you need energy to maintain engagement.  The transitions have improved incrementally from ride to ride, as I do a better job of riding them – using my half halt and getting the horse to soften while staying in the bridle by holding the reins, engaging my core and closing my legs going into the transition.  You have to ride downward transitions forward – which is really counterintuitive for me and something I struggle with. It’s not great yet but we’re doing better, which is enough for me!

 

 

Filed under schooling Tagged with , , ,

Bwahahaha. The indoctrination has begun.

November 26, 2011 2 Comments

I’m out to dinner with Mr. CollectingTBs. It was pouring and we were sharing an umbrella as we walked from the parking lot to the restaurant.  He kept pushing into me, and I kept stepping away.

“Stop moving!” he said as I sidestepped once again. “I’m trying to get my head under the umbrella!

“Sorry! I was moving over when you pushed me!”  I retorted.

“Like a dressage horse, you mean?” he scoffed.

My uuber non-horsey husband is learning!

Filed under off track

Two steps backward, one step forward

November 23, 2011 Leave a comment

I’ve had some interesting rides recently – not great, but interesting and productive.  The good news is that while our canter work lacks grace, I’m growing more and more proficient in that gait. It’s comfortable, I no longer need to work myself into cantering, and I’m starting to actively manage the gait, asking for more a more forward canter, and correcting Derbs when he breaks to a trot before I ask for the downward transition.

Getting the horse forward and into the bridle is still a work in progress.  The key here is getting Derby in front of my leg.  I know that I need to stay on this and not accept a sluggish response.   Today I felt the canter petering out, and reached back and gave him a crack with the whip.  He surged forward, I said “Good boy!” and stayed out of his mouth, letting him go on.

We had kind of a crappy ride in my lesson yesterday – Derby was dull and almost rank – he felt very resistant and we had numerous discussions – about walking, about halting, about transitions.  We abandoned work on transitions in favor of working on getting the horse forward. Christy had me reinforce my aids with whip and spurs and pretty soon, I had some good responsiveness.   But, across the board, the ride wasn’t great.

Today was much better.  Whatever was stuck in Derby’s craw yesterday was absent today.  We had a nice ride, he was nicely in the bridle, and we drilled trot-walk-trot transitions with good results – the horse stayed round and connected.  We also had  nice canter work both ways, and high-stepped over poles, staying round and without ever trying to add a stride (seriously) between poles (a symptom of his being behind my leg, I was told.)

Derbs earned himself a couple days off.  We have family coming over tomorrow and Friday.  It’s going to be warm and sunny, and the paddocks are full of lovely squishy mud that I”m sure I’ll have to chisel off on Saturday.  He’s earned it however.  Good boy!

Filed under schooling Tagged with , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →