Lesson on 9/23 and show tidbit

I either forgot to write this in the show summary, or I like it so much I want to write it again. When Bob and I were driving the course (except for we were on the wrong course), he asked, in his typical Bob way, if he could ask me something without making me mad. I said it depends, and he said that he talked to Alice after my last lesson about whether he was doing something wrong and why I got so upset during lessons. I said "oh, it's not you, it's ..." and he said "good." He said that he wondered if he expected too much from me and pushed me too hard because he expected more from me than his other students. I took that as praise and glowed in it.
Then of course, I rode like I've never jumped a horse in my life. It actually didn't look so bad on video, but that's because Debbie did an excellent job taping, but I'm so far away in everything that you can't see me noodling around.

My lesson this week was on the lunge line. We were supposed to talk about my goals, but I forgot them at home, so we talked in general about goals. Bob said I can't have a goal of "winning at beginner novice" because it is too variable. He said my goals need to be like "In 60 days, be able to do two laps in the sitting trot with Mercury on the bit." So I said next week I'd bring my goals and he could help me modify them.
He also said, again, that it is Mercury who needs work now, and we need to bring him up to my level. I rode him bareback yesterday (well, with a saddle pad because I'm old now), and his back is so bony. I wonder if he needs more muscling before he can move better.
The problem is, I don't know how to train Mercury, and Bob said just to be consistent, which I've tried so hard at, but clearly isn't working miracles.
It's not going to help with Kevin moving out, because I have to cut back on my lessons and the number of nights I ride. And I can't afford a truck. Or a second horse. Or more lessons. Or more shows.
Anyway, once we started working in the lesson, we worked on long legs (heels to the ground), not pinching with my knee, not dropping my inside shoulder, and still seat. We did some two steps sitting, two steps rising; and then two steps sitting, two steps rising while twisting back and forth. That was hard because my brain couldn't do everything at once. We also worked on picking up the canter and then going back down to trot without me leaning forward. I have to think "sit back" before I ask for the down transition, but when it is smooth, it feels really good.
We need to focus mostly on dressage, but Bob said every few lessons we'll do a jump lesson to keep things interesting because dressage can be boring.
I've taken it pretty easy with Mercury last week and this week. I was giving him some time off after the show, and this week I'm feeling pretty down, so I'm just having a hard time getting motivated to go work him. Hopefully the chiropractor is coming tomorrow, but I'm not sure.

Photos from 2-day event

Goals for this winter

Dressage:
1. Still hands
2. Smooth, crisp transitions
3. Bend
4. On the bit
5. Impulsion
6. BN & N tests - 7's & 8's
7. Round circles
8. Straight lines
9. Posture
10. Sitting trot

Jumping:
1. Still legs
2. No overjumping (superman)
3. No mouth jerking - keep hands forward
4. Increase height and spread of jumps
5. Jump at canter
6. Correct lead when landing
7. Multiple jumps in a row
8. Head up
9. Heels down - no pinching with knee/lower leg swinging
10. Begin counting strides (5 to 8)

General:
1. Increase fitness
2. Increase speed
3. Balance for Mercury
4. Learn to braid mane
5. Increase leg health & condition
6. Bravery - less herd bound

We'll see what Bob says this weekend, how much he modifies these.
I'd like to ride Beginner Novice next year. If he places in the top 3 in three consecutive shows, then maybe move to Novice or start doing recognized shows. I think I need some new clothes for recognized though.
Odds are I will lose for a while, because there's a lot more competitors in Beginner Novice, and the winning dressage scores tend to be in the low 30's. So I need to work on all 7's with some 8's in my scored tests.
I think one reason I only got 3rd in this last show was because the caliber of the competitors was higher. It wasn't as many people out schooling their 4 year olds. Even though Mercury is 12, he acts like a 6 year old and he has gotten a little set in his ways.
What I really hope is next year (2007) BN; (2008) N; (2009) N rec & unrec; (2010) big maybe Training. Then Mercury will be 16 - if he could go to 18 that'd be fabulous, but I hope I can lease him (keep him at Edelweiss) and get a new horse to start. Maybe a horse who is already Novice, though if I work him up and he is good, that's ok too because there's more to learn.
The beginning novice course looked like so much fun, although intimidating. I was both relieved and disappointed when it turned out Hopeful was smaller and shorter.

Modified 2-day Event - unrecognized - Lincoln Creek

This weekend (9/16 & 17) was the modified 2 day. It had a lot more complexity than the derby.
Friday started with a heavy downpour. I had planned to drive back and forth, but changed my mind, drove home, and drove back down and slept in the car the first night. I had tried to walk Roads & Tracks before dark, but I somehow got into a pasture with cows, which started following me, which made my already present fear of cows much more intense, so I tried to get away, only to find the next pasture over didn't have an exit and I had to go back through the cows.
Saturday was a nice day while I watched Prelim and Training level do dressage and show jumping. When I got Mercury out to groom him, I got 1/2 of him curried before it started to rain. Then I put him back in the stall, cleaned up all the stuff, and finished getting him ready in the stall. After I worked up a good sweat in my raincoat warming up, it quit raining. Mercury was excellent in the warm-up, but some things fell apart during the test. It was a longer test than last time, but in some ways easier. His transitions weren't very smooth, and a lot of the judge's comments were about him being lazy, even though he was on the bit better, bent better, and more responsive. We got more 7's than last time, but also 4's, which we didn't get last time, and some 6's & 5's. My score was a 41.5.
Show jumping was clear. It turned out it was timed, so I got a little panicked about being late, and I cantered some of the fences. My position was not good. I kept asking him to jump long and throwing my body forward. But he was good and didn't get too excited. We trotted some too.
At the end of dressage we were in 4th place, but actually 5th because a woman with a broken finger rode Hopeful instead of Beginner Novice. Out of 9, I think. Then I think I moved up to 3rd or 2nd in show jumping.
Saturday started with Mercury busting through his stall guard and taking a tour of the property with me chasing him.
Sunday drizzled most of the day. I didn't ride until 1:18, so I watched Prelim (only 1 rider by now), Training (also several scratches), and some of Novice. Their courses looked fun.
Phase A of Roads & Tracks was mostly trotting. Mercury got nervous about all the horses going different directions and being so far away. Phase B was steeplechase without the jumps, and he started making himself spook at things. Phase C was supposed to be a walk, but we had to trot almost all of it to finish in time. He passed his vet check after 7 minutes.
I warmed him up, then cross country was only 9 fences, no water, and flew past. He jumped well, and I think I did ok too. He got a little spooky at some grass, and he was eyeballing some huge jumps like "you've got to be kidding me". He did everything clear, but we were a little slow because I made him trot all but the last jump. The huge hill (for us) we cantered up but walked down because of his weak back legs, and then I pushed him really hard to the end. We did the last jump at a slightly awkward canter, and then I asked him to run for the finish line, and like a little angel, he did. It was great.
At the end of Sunday, we were in 3rd place. I had been in 2nd for a long time, but then someone complained about their time, and they went into 1st. Broken finger got 2nd. 4th was pretty far below me. I had 3 time penalties for being late in xc.
I think next year we'll move to Beginner Novice, but we have a lot to work on. That's the next blog. I had a really good time.

Lesson on 9/10 - another bad jump lesson, on video

1. Reins shorter in 2-point, so I don't lose contact
2. My head up!
3. When approaching a jump, think (and do): half-halt, half-halt, squeeze
4. Mercury isn't respecting the poles. He ran right through one set about 6" above ground.
5. I need to work on not bringing my hands back too fast.
6. I got really frustrated (and started to cry at the end) because I couldn't even do 2 out of original 5 poles on hte ground
7. Bob said not to work on poles or fences except in lessons for a little while
8. After I got frustrated, he said to think about how far I've come since I started, and Mercury's good qualities - that he never refuses at a fence.
9. In the combinations, we worked on a different approach (with the squeeze and half halt), which is lots more set-up than I've been doing on my own.
Leftover from the last dressage lesson:
1. I need to keep the noseband tighter (flash & nose)
2. I need to work on wiggling my fingers up and down the reins to adjust.
3. I need to switch my whip so it's on the inside for corrections.
4. I wish I was Bob's star student.

Mercury thinks he's Mr. Ed

Kevin's attempts to jog my memory from last lesson

One thing Bob said was that now I've gotten above what Mercury knows, so I have to train him up.
Bob thinks Mercury might be physically limited to novice level.

Lesson on 9/2/06 - Bending

I spent the end of this lesson talking about the training level jumps at the show from last weekend, and only the first part riding. I wanted to ride outside because Mercury has been spooking at the gate every time we go past it and driving me crazy. All the things I normally try to do (talk to him, make him do something, go past 100 times in a row) don't make him consistently stop shying. So Bob watched me ride and his very first observation was that it's not Mercury - it's me - that Bob is my security blanket, and when he's there, the reason Mercury is better is because I'm relaxed because he's there.
Later, when Mercury finally acted up, Bob said to be more gentle with my hands, to give him space and push him past, and to talk quietly. He said definitely don't make a big deal out of it, because it just gets Mercury's tiny little brain more wound up.
We worked a lot on bending - on seeing the inside of Mercury's eye in the direction I want him to bend. I need to hold the reins a little shorter - between "2" and "3" on the inside rein and between "3" and "4" on the outside rein. I don't give enough outside rein for him to bend his neck. I also need to practice scooting my fingers up and down the reins.
Bob said I'm still making things too boring for Mercury by just going around the outside of the arena (he's said this one enough now that it's like a broken record, and it's such an easy thing to change). He said make more circles, serpentines, change of direction, and change of speed. The reason I can't is because I'm so busy thinking of the other 50 things, moving him around is just beyond my grasp. Bob said it will get easier with time - the new things will become habits, opening up room for the other new things.
Part of why I just talked the last half of the lesson was because I felt like I had enough to work on for a week, and I wasn't going to absorb more anyway. It doesn't sound like it - typing it out, but it really felt like a lot to handle - wiggling my fingers, keeping him bent, keeping him moving forward, not letting him spook at the gate.
We had the same conversation we always do when I'm feeling insecure. Bob pointed out that the kids riding Training Level probably take 3-4 lessons a week (he named a couple names who do most of the lessons). He said some people benefit from that, and that while I don't need more than one lesson a week, I might benefit from it because what I tend to do is focus so hard on the one thing we worked on that I forget to work on other things. For example, at this lesson I concentrated so hard on bending that I would forget to move him forward.
What I really want Bob to tell me is how good I could be. I know he won't, and I understand why, but I still want to know if my talent combined with hard work is going to get me to Novice and keep me there, or if I can work above that.
I'm writing this too late to capture as many details as I'd like. Some of the stand-out points were:
Don't look down.
Ugh. Hopefully I'll remember when I ride next. Unfortunately Mercury got three days off with the show coming up because we were in Oregon, on the road for 13 hours instead of 8, and then tonight I completely forgot the locker combination and couldn't get in. It makes me want to tear my hair out. I spent a long time today trying to get organized and planning out how to juggle horses and levels and time and lessons and money, so it is frustrating to not remember more of my lesson to get it written down.