I lunged Willig, then Bob rode him about 15 minutes to "prep" him (my parents were here watching), then I rode him. About 10 minutes in, I was pouring sweat and exhausted. We went about 10 more minutes, but then I had to ask Bob to stop the lesson early because I was getting so tired. It's weird, because he's so smooth to ride, but I still get tired. Bob said it's because I'm tense and holding my muscles rigid.
Anyway, we worked on the same stuff: head bent to inside, ask for bend with outside rein half halts, ask ahead of the corners, add inside leg and keep impulsion and consistent movement through corners, don't lift my heels and squeeze as I get tired, sit in the canter, yell at him if he's bad.
I had a few questions, and Bob taught me a new fabulous trick. The trick was to hold onto the saddle pad with my inside hand to prevent it from moving around. It made a huge, immediate difference in the way Willig moved, but also in how I felt. I am relying a LOT on that hand, which shouldn't be moving.
My questions were about my back hurting when I ride (becuase I slouch and bend forward, and his big movement jars my back - I need to improve my posture), and I have been wrapping the lunge line around my hand (bad, I know) and when he jerks, how do I keep it from squeezing my hand (tie a knot in the end instead so it slides through my hand and stops at the knot).
It felt like a really good lesson, and I'm really looking forward to working him again. I have learned a lot the past couple weeks with the lunge line, but we're both getting bored.
The dexamethazone cleared up the hives right away. He has a couple tiny spots, but looks fabulous.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Willig and the Mystery of the Hives
I have been reading the Harry Potter books, which I can not wait to finish (I am not really a Harry Potter fan, though to the fans' credit, they're probably a lot less repetitive read one per year.) Anyway, hence, the title of this entry.
Willig has hives. Mysterious hives. They started with a couple bumps on Monday the 10th. Wednesday the 12th I started taking his temperature. Saturday the 15th I quit riding him because they looked like they would be uncomfortable under the saddle and girth. About Wed the 19th they started going down. Friday the 21st they were mostly gone on his body (with some "ripples") but a lot on his neck and some edema on his belly. Then on Thursday the 27th the small bumps reappeared, like they did on the 10th. The progression was small soft bump, hard small bump, flat round bump, bump with a depression in the middle, then spreading bump (for each one). They started on his butt and moved up to his neck, with only a few on his face and none on his lower legs. They never oozed or anything gross like that.
The vet came out last night, said she had no idea, and this is our approach:
Friday the 28th - 2 packets of dexamethazone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexamethasone) - I am mixing it with water (today I'll try oil) and syringing it since he doesn't eat grain, and to make sure he gets it all
Sat 29th - 2 packets dexamethazone
Sun 30th - 2 packet dexamethazone
Dec 31st - Jan 4th - 20 tablets twice a day for five days of prednisolone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prednisolone)
Jan 5 - 9 - 10 tablets twice a day for 5 days of prednisolone
Jan 10 - Feb 10 - 10 tablets once a day for 30 days of prednisolone
Then we tackle the environment:
Alice ordered different sawdust; we did have fir, which is supposed to be the least allergenic, and I think now it's aspen. This started last night.
Feb 11 - 18 - soak his hay
Feb 19 - 26 - buy new (presumably more expensive) hay
Feb 27 - March 4 - no hay - give him equine senior
March 5 - 12 - new sawdust (probably the bagged stuff)
March 13 - 20 - no blanket
March 21 - 28 - no carrots
Beyond that, I don't know what we'll try.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
12/8/07 - Dressage lesson on Willig
We are making baby steps forward.
Earlier in the week, I boasted that I no longer needed my magic circle, like Dumbo realized he no longer needed his magic feather. However, I was the dumbo, and was simply reverting back to my old patterns.
Alice spent some time with me Thursday, then Bob spent some time working on lunging at the start of my lesson. It's very hard and frustrating, and right now, Willig isn't respecting me, and I end up following him, rather than pushing him forward. I got overwhelmed with the tips, so this week I am working on a couple more things, then next week I'll add a little more to my lunging repetoire.
Under saddle we made some more inching progress. Bob let me canter, which put my body in "fear" mode- locked up and rigid. Bob said I looked like someone from the special olympics - I was so excited but bouncing up and down in the saddle. It was another humbling, yet amazing, experience.
This week I am working on tiny canters (half circles), and then the same as last week - being consistent and working on improvements to position for both of us.
Riding Mercury now feels so weird. He feels so, so, almost unbearably slow, yet he has some ways he is so much better than Willig so it's kind of a relief not to have to think of so much while I ride.
Willig is playing with his jolly ball. He likes to throw it outside his stall into the aisle. Today he threw it into the pasture.
Earlier in the week, I boasted that I no longer needed my magic circle, like Dumbo realized he no longer needed his magic feather. However, I was the dumbo, and was simply reverting back to my old patterns.
Alice spent some time with me Thursday, then Bob spent some time working on lunging at the start of my lesson. It's very hard and frustrating, and right now, Willig isn't respecting me, and I end up following him, rather than pushing him forward. I got overwhelmed with the tips, so this week I am working on a couple more things, then next week I'll add a little more to my lunging repetoire.
Under saddle we made some more inching progress. Bob let me canter, which put my body in "fear" mode- locked up and rigid. Bob said I looked like someone from the special olympics - I was so excited but bouncing up and down in the saddle. It was another humbling, yet amazing, experience.
This week I am working on tiny canters (half circles), and then the same as last week - being consistent and working on improvements to position for both of us.
Riding Mercury now feels so weird. He feels so, so, almost unbearably slow, yet he has some ways he is so much better than Willig so it's kind of a relief not to have to think of so much while I ride.
Willig is playing with his jolly ball. He likes to throw it outside his stall into the aisle. Today he threw it into the pasture.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
12/1 - Dressage Lesson on Willig
I will be riding Willig this week, and focusing on only a few things:
1. Keep him moving forward - don't lose impulsion
2. Keep him bent to the inside - because he's young, he wants to throw his head to the outside to keep his balance, and we don't want that habit to develop
3. Keep him paying attention to me - talk to him, half halts on the outside, lots of changes
And everything else: head set, legs off, no following hands, etc. etc.
Next week Bob thinks he should start jumping him, so he doesn't get bored.
Bob lunged him for me because I was afraid of making my shoulder hurt again (Thursday and Friday I suffered from what may have been a pinched nerve). Willig was acting up because it was cold (it's snowing!) and he had Friday off, and at one point, in slow motion, and very gracefully, he fell down. He got right back up and kept cantering like nothing happened.
We also talked about next season for shows. Bob thinks we should do a couple dressage shows, and that he should ride him Training level at the recognized Lincoln Creek show. I said that was fine, if he's ready. There are a lot of registrations I need to do. I'd like to take him to some day Dressage shows and ride him Training and have Bob ride him 1st or 2nd level in the spring. Then, if he's progressing, we'll go to the local unrecognized shows and derbies, and I'll ride Mercury and Bob can ride Willig at Novice or Training - whatever is appropriate.
Then Bob told me the story of German Christmas, which was very unlike American Christmas. From the web:
Also, in Germany Knecht Ruprecht and his helpers come on the 6th of December. German version of Santa who carries a switch to beat the bad children.
1. Keep him moving forward - don't lose impulsion
2. Keep him bent to the inside - because he's young, he wants to throw his head to the outside to keep his balance, and we don't want that habit to develop
3. Keep him paying attention to me - talk to him, half halts on the outside, lots of changes
And everything else: head set, legs off, no following hands, etc. etc.
Next week Bob thinks he should start jumping him, so he doesn't get bored.
Bob lunged him for me because I was afraid of making my shoulder hurt again (Thursday and Friday I suffered from what may have been a pinched nerve). Willig was acting up because it was cold (it's snowing!) and he had Friday off, and at one point, in slow motion, and very gracefully, he fell down. He got right back up and kept cantering like nothing happened.
We also talked about next season for shows. Bob thinks we should do a couple dressage shows, and that he should ride him Training level at the recognized Lincoln Creek show. I said that was fine, if he's ready. There are a lot of registrations I need to do. I'd like to take him to some day Dressage shows and ride him Training and have Bob ride him 1st or 2nd level in the spring. Then, if he's progressing, we'll go to the local unrecognized shows and derbies, and I'll ride Mercury and Bob can ride Willig at Novice or Training - whatever is appropriate.
Then Bob told me the story of German Christmas, which was very unlike American Christmas. From the web:
Also, in Germany Knecht Ruprecht and his helpers come on the 6th of December. German version of Santa who carries a switch to beat the bad children.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Getting to Yes - in riding
I was reading the famous Getting to Yes book today in preparation for a big negotiation. Towards the end of the book, interestingly, in the section about risk, there were some sentences that really seemed applicable to the current situation with Willig. I'm quoting them below.
"Make an investment. Some people play tennis all their lives but never get better. Those people are not willing to take a fresh look at what they do or to consider changing it. Good players recognize that getting better often means making an investment in new approaches. For a while they may get worse as they wrestle with new and unfamiliar techniques, but eventually they surpass their old plateau. The new techniques offer more long-term potential."
"Review your performance. Schedule time to think about how you did after each significant negotiation. What worked? What did not? What might you have done differently? Consider keeping a negotiation journal or diary, which you can reread periodically." (Or a blog!)
"Prepare! In many ways, negotiation is like athletics: Some people have more natural talent, and like the best athletes, they may gain the most from preparation, practice, and coaching. Yet those with less natural talent have more need for preparation, practice, and feedback, and much to gain by it. Whichever you are, there is much to learn, and hard work will pay off. It is up to you."
"Make an investment. Some people play tennis all their lives but never get better. Those people are not willing to take a fresh look at what they do or to consider changing it. Good players recognize that getting better often means making an investment in new approaches. For a while they may get worse as they wrestle with new and unfamiliar techniques, but eventually they surpass their old plateau. The new techniques offer more long-term potential."
"Review your performance. Schedule time to think about how you did after each significant negotiation. What worked? What did not? What might you have done differently? Consider keeping a negotiation journal or diary, which you can reread periodically." (Or a blog!)
"Prepare! In many ways, negotiation is like athletics: Some people have more natural talent, and like the best athletes, they may gain the most from preparation, practice, and coaching. Yet those with less natural talent have more need for preparation, practice, and feedback, and much to gain by it. Whichever you are, there is much to learn, and hard work will pay off. It is up to you."
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Dave's photos of Mercury playing
If these were in focus, they would show that Mercury is both athletic and graceful.
Instead, he looks slightly like a terrifying monster.
Two more Willig lessons - 11/23 & 24
Thanksgiving has so far been very educational, but extremely frustrating. After my big night with Alice and the lunge line, I got some things, but other, bigger, more obvious things (like getting him to trot) escaped me.
So my first lesson, Friday, we started out with Bob watching me lunge. I learned two huge things (in addition to everything Alice taught me). First, today when I lunged, I drew a circle in the center of the arena where Bob's feet were yesterday when he lunged Willig. Then I stayed inside the circle when I lunged Willig, which helped so much because it was one less thing I had to think about. (I mean, I still had to watch and stay in the circle, but I didn't have to think about where I was in the arena in relation to Willig). That helped a huge amount. Second, when he is bad - I step outside the magic circle and pop him on the butt with the whip. That usually puts him back in an obeying frame of mind for several minutes. I was able to do walk, trot, and canter successfully both directions. Then, when I warmed up Mercury for Dave's lesson, I was able to lunge Mercury very well. So that felt tremendous.
But yesterday, after struggling around, I asked Bob to ride. Today, 5 minutes in, I started crying and refused to ride the rest of the lesson. So Bob rode and made Willig look amazingly fabulous. I've been all weird and easy to set off all week, but it was irritating to me (and probably Bob too).
What set me off is that Bob said that Willig is not "maintaining" at his current level. In the two weeks I've had him (most of which has been walking or lunging), he has started to develop an awful lot of bad habits. Bob is worried that he is going to be hard to fix if we use him as my "learning" horse, and he thinks he has the potential to go Intermediate or maybe even Advanced. He said he's my horse and I get to choose what to do with him, but I don't know what's best, and I have a pretty limited budget until Mercury sells.
Mercury, by the way, had a beginner lesson for Dave, and both Bob and I were very impressed with how patient he was during it.
Anyway, to help me think about it, here are the options I can see:
A. Sell Willig now. Buy a horse that is more "in between" Willig's potential and Mercury. (i.e. not so much potential but already trained)
B. Pay for a couple months of training with Bob working Willig only (or me riding lessons on Willig), and then if Bob feels he is more consistent, start riding again in the spring. Practice on Mercury.
I think this was Bob's choice, but I could ride other times if he or Alice was watching me. He also suggested that I take him to some dressage shows in the spring to get him used to show grounds. He said he's not ready to jump without learning bad habits because he's scared to be off the rail and doesn't know how to balance himself in the canter, so he'll get scared of the fences. He already said he'll need studs for the xc because our ground is clay.
C. Pay for a couple months of 1/2 time training with Bob working Willig, and me lunging and working my way up in lessons. I don't mind lunging and walking a couple more weeks while Bob gets him tuned up.
What I am afraid of is that with either B or C, I'll have to learn that I can't ride. Maybe I am good enough on Mercury, but just not going to cut it on a "real" horse. I know that the road is steep, and it's even harder to work with a youngster instead of a school master, but in the long run, if I can do it without ruining him, I'll be a lot better rider.
But Bob seemed to think there's a chance my bad habits will ruin him - will turn him into another Mercury, or keep him at the Novice level. Then again, Mercury has come a long way from where I got him, but he never had the potential Willig does.
So I'm not sure what to do. I'm leaning towards C, but remaining open to adjusting. I think if things haven't improved for me after a few months, I'll have to sell him, but if I quit riding or try to find a more suitable horse, I don't know.
So it's another week where Bob kept me humble, I learned a lot, but I didn't learn what I wanted to (i.e. that I'm a natural and totally fabulous).
So my first lesson, Friday, we started out with Bob watching me lunge. I learned two huge things (in addition to everything Alice taught me). First, today when I lunged, I drew a circle in the center of the arena where Bob's feet were yesterday when he lunged Willig. Then I stayed inside the circle when I lunged Willig, which helped so much because it was one less thing I had to think about. (I mean, I still had to watch and stay in the circle, but I didn't have to think about where I was in the arena in relation to Willig). That helped a huge amount. Second, when he is bad - I step outside the magic circle and pop him on the butt with the whip. That usually puts him back in an obeying frame of mind for several minutes. I was able to do walk, trot, and canter successfully both directions. Then, when I warmed up Mercury for Dave's lesson, I was able to lunge Mercury very well. So that felt tremendous.
But yesterday, after struggling around, I asked Bob to ride. Today, 5 minutes in, I started crying and refused to ride the rest of the lesson. So Bob rode and made Willig look amazingly fabulous. I've been all weird and easy to set off all week, but it was irritating to me (and probably Bob too).
What set me off is that Bob said that Willig is not "maintaining" at his current level. In the two weeks I've had him (most of which has been walking or lunging), he has started to develop an awful lot of bad habits. Bob is worried that he is going to be hard to fix if we use him as my "learning" horse, and he thinks he has the potential to go Intermediate or maybe even Advanced. He said he's my horse and I get to choose what to do with him, but I don't know what's best, and I have a pretty limited budget until Mercury sells.
Mercury, by the way, had a beginner lesson for Dave, and both Bob and I were very impressed with how patient he was during it.
Anyway, to help me think about it, here are the options I can see:
A. Sell Willig now. Buy a horse that is more "in between" Willig's potential and Mercury. (i.e. not so much potential but already trained)
B. Pay for a couple months of training with Bob working Willig only (or me riding lessons on Willig), and then if Bob feels he is more consistent, start riding again in the spring. Practice on Mercury.
I think this was Bob's choice, but I could ride other times if he or Alice was watching me. He also suggested that I take him to some dressage shows in the spring to get him used to show grounds. He said he's not ready to jump without learning bad habits because he's scared to be off the rail and doesn't know how to balance himself in the canter, so he'll get scared of the fences. He already said he'll need studs for the xc because our ground is clay.
C. Pay for a couple months of 1/2 time training with Bob working Willig, and me lunging and working my way up in lessons. I don't mind lunging and walking a couple more weeks while Bob gets him tuned up.
What I am afraid of is that with either B or C, I'll have to learn that I can't ride. Maybe I am good enough on Mercury, but just not going to cut it on a "real" horse. I know that the road is steep, and it's even harder to work with a youngster instead of a school master, but in the long run, if I can do it without ruining him, I'll be a lot better rider.
But Bob seemed to think there's a chance my bad habits will ruin him - will turn him into another Mercury, or keep him at the Novice level. Then again, Mercury has come a long way from where I got him, but he never had the potential Willig does.
So I'm not sure what to do. I'm leaning towards C, but remaining open to adjusting. I think if things haven't improved for me after a few months, I'll have to sell him, but if I quit riding or try to find a more suitable horse, I don't know.
So it's another week where Bob kept me humble, I learned a lot, but I didn't learn what I wanted to (i.e. that I'm a natural and totally fabulous).
Monday, November 19, 2007
There's even a lot to learn in lunging!
I had to stop by stores for my final T-giving shopping tonight, so Willig was going to get lunged, and Mercury was going to get off scot-free. Tomorrow the kittens get spayed (and are way, way overdue by their behavior), so tomorrow night both horses get the night off while I protect the kittens from Kappa the bounty hunter.
Fortunately for me, but not fortunately for my ego, Alice was out. I asked her to let me know whenever she saw me do something wrong. Turns out - after all these years - I have no idea how to lunge a horse, and tonight I just learned how little I know. I knew I was missing something, from watching Bob lunge and lunging Mercury, but I couldn't figure out what I wasn't doing. Turns out - almost everything, and certainly all the same things I do on their back.
I'm going to make an analogy to the law, which probably most people will be fortunate enough not to get. But all lawyers - no matter how brilliant - face a steep learning curve when they start to work. For some people, it might only be a few months; for others, a few years. But it is frustrating, steep, seemingly impossible at times, and it turns out, just as I am beginning to level out just a tiny bit in the law, I am now facing that same learning curve with Willig.
My ferrari/beetle bug analogy, my riding a rainbow vs. a 2x4 analogy - all those still apply. Willig is so nuanced.
This is what one minute of the 30 painful minutes I'm out there is like:
Willig: (turns head towards me) What the hell are you doing?
Me: Why is he looking at me? Did I just do something wrong? Oh shit!
Willig: Well, now she's yanking on my mouth and popping the whip at the same time. Which one should I do?
Me: Why isn't he responding? Did I just do something wrong? Oh shit!
Willig: I guess I'll just stop until she figures it out.
Me: Why is he stopping? Did I just do something wrong? Oh shit!
So - Alice taught me to keep my hands down low and still. Move towards him (this one was hard) but don't push him into the walls. Don't ever pull on my hand and tell him to go forward at the same time. React quicker - when he is about to hesitate, push him forward. Use my voice - use my voice - use my voice. Face his middle - not in front of him and not totally behind him. Move with him, but don't shove him into the walls or make a square "circle". Use a half halt. Make him obey. If he doesn't whoa, make him whoa. Don't let him walk into me in the center. Don't follow him (I lead, not him). Don't ever, ever chase him. Repeat commands if he doesn't do it the first time.
And, horrors, when he goes crazy, make him whoa, put him back to what he was doing, and then whoa him and calm things down. And then do it again, properly.
There are probably like 100 little steps I have already forgotten, and this was just Alice watching me for a little while. My lunging improved so much, just from that little bit of help.
For a few precious steps at trot, we got good movement. But it was like being on every second I was out there. And everything happened too fast for me because there were too many bad habits to change at once. And Willig got frustrated.
He is going to be a great teacher if we can make it through this steep part of the learning curve. He is so amazing. I know so little and have so many bad habits, and it is just repeat, repeat, repeat 100 times and then add something new and start over.
Alice and Bob know so much. I am just in awe all the time. I just hope I can adapt and learn and live up to Willig's potential.
Fortunately for me, but not fortunately for my ego, Alice was out. I asked her to let me know whenever she saw me do something wrong. Turns out - after all these years - I have no idea how to lunge a horse, and tonight I just learned how little I know. I knew I was missing something, from watching Bob lunge and lunging Mercury, but I couldn't figure out what I wasn't doing. Turns out - almost everything, and certainly all the same things I do on their back.
I'm going to make an analogy to the law, which probably most people will be fortunate enough not to get. But all lawyers - no matter how brilliant - face a steep learning curve when they start to work. For some people, it might only be a few months; for others, a few years. But it is frustrating, steep, seemingly impossible at times, and it turns out, just as I am beginning to level out just a tiny bit in the law, I am now facing that same learning curve with Willig.
My ferrari/beetle bug analogy, my riding a rainbow vs. a 2x4 analogy - all those still apply. Willig is so nuanced.
This is what one minute of the 30 painful minutes I'm out there is like:
Willig: (turns head towards me) What the hell are you doing?
Me: Why is he looking at me? Did I just do something wrong? Oh shit!
Willig: Well, now she's yanking on my mouth and popping the whip at the same time. Which one should I do?
Me: Why isn't he responding? Did I just do something wrong? Oh shit!
Willig: I guess I'll just stop until she figures it out.
Me: Why is he stopping? Did I just do something wrong? Oh shit!
So - Alice taught me to keep my hands down low and still. Move towards him (this one was hard) but don't push him into the walls. Don't ever pull on my hand and tell him to go forward at the same time. React quicker - when he is about to hesitate, push him forward. Use my voice - use my voice - use my voice. Face his middle - not in front of him and not totally behind him. Move with him, but don't shove him into the walls or make a square "circle". Use a half halt. Make him obey. If he doesn't whoa, make him whoa. Don't let him walk into me in the center. Don't follow him (I lead, not him). Don't ever, ever chase him. Repeat commands if he doesn't do it the first time.
And, horrors, when he goes crazy, make him whoa, put him back to what he was doing, and then whoa him and calm things down. And then do it again, properly.
There are probably like 100 little steps I have already forgotten, and this was just Alice watching me for a little while. My lunging improved so much, just from that little bit of help.
For a few precious steps at trot, we got good movement. But it was like being on every second I was out there. And everything happened too fast for me because there were too many bad habits to change at once. And Willig got frustrated.
He is going to be a great teacher if we can make it through this steep part of the learning curve. He is so amazing. I know so little and have so many bad habits, and it is just repeat, repeat, repeat 100 times and then add something new and start over.
Alice and Bob know so much. I am just in awe all the time. I just hope I can adapt and learn and live up to Willig's potential.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
First two Willig lessons - 11/17 & 18
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Willig is completely different to ride than any horse I have ever ridden before. His movement is huge (and it's only around 60% of how he should move, according to Bob), and it is so soft and comfortable. He is truly a ferrari compared to beetlebug Mercury.
However, because he's so far out of my league, I am once again learning how to ride again. Alice said I have to learn eventually, but today, during the second lesson, it was really frustrating. He gets bored easily, frustrated if I don't do things exactly right, and irritable about me trying the same thing over and over. All we did yesterday and today was walk and trot (after the lunge line), and today the trot just slipped further and further from my grasp.
I don't even want to relive the agony of the lesson by typing it - I just want the message that there's nowhere to go but up, and it is a big, steep hill ahead of me - to get through.
It was the same problems I have with Mercury, only going a lot faster (with bigger steps) and with far more delicate controls. I overcompensated many times.
I love Willig. He is amazing, and I am going to learn so much, and it is going to be so cool to be able to learn so much more from Bob, but I am completely humbled and awed and the task is going to be arduous.
Wow.
Wow.
Willig is completely different to ride than any horse I have ever ridden before. His movement is huge (and it's only around 60% of how he should move, according to Bob), and it is so soft and comfortable. He is truly a ferrari compared to beetlebug Mercury.
However, because he's so far out of my league, I am once again learning how to ride again. Alice said I have to learn eventually, but today, during the second lesson, it was really frustrating. He gets bored easily, frustrated if I don't do things exactly right, and irritable about me trying the same thing over and over. All we did yesterday and today was walk and trot (after the lunge line), and today the trot just slipped further and further from my grasp.
I don't even want to relive the agony of the lesson by typing it - I just want the message that there's nowhere to go but up, and it is a big, steep hill ahead of me - to get through.
It was the same problems I have with Mercury, only going a lot faster (with bigger steps) and with far more delicate controls. I overcompensated many times.
I love Willig. He is amazing, and I am going to learn so much, and it is going to be so cool to be able to learn so much more from Bob, but I am completely humbled and awed and the task is going to be arduous.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I bought a new horse!
Bob went to California to look at him. He should be here on Thursday. I am so excited.
His owner has some other horses for sale: http://thedressagearena.com/
Saturday, October 13, 2007
10/13/07 - Another great dressage lesson
I had a few questions for Bob to start off the lesson.
First, when I give Mercury a few days off, then ride him, he's all peppy and easy to ride. I wanted to know if this was mental or physical, i.e. if I rode him harder, would he get in shape and then be peppy more often when I ride him, or is it that he needs a longer "mental" break between rides. Bob thinks I should ride him longer and longer, but continue to give him one or two days off a week.
Second, I had a dumb question about switching the whip from side to side and what you do in a show since you can't switch the whip. Bob said you carry it on the side that gives you the most trouble.
Third, this week when I worked on having relaxed, moving hips, I could feel Mercury take big giant swinging steps. Since there was such an immediate, "feelable" response, I figured I must be doing something wrong. Bob said nope, that's how much your hips can put the brakes on your horse.
Fourth, Mercury likes to put his head to the outside, especially when we're going counterclockwise. Bob said to check his teeth, and possibly he needs the chiropractor again. He's due for a teeth floating anyway.
I had a few others, but I've forgotten them now.
Today we continued to improve my position. We worked in a nice frame in the trot, not quite enough impulsion, but a good effort from Mercury. Then Bob had me sit up a little bit more straight and upright (which to me feels like crazy leaning back with my legs out in front of me, but when I looked down, my heels/hips/shoulders were still in line) and wow - what a difference it made. I rode him in sitting trot and canter in this "new" position, and it was so easy to keep my butt down in the saddle. It wasn't an effort at all.
It seems like a little bit, but it's definitely going to take some work to retrain my body for this position. Then again, everything Bob has told me has worked wonders, even when it feels weird to me at first, and after enough time, it starts to feel normal, and my old, comfortable way feels weird.
This one, from the feet up, is, light contact and weight in my heels, toes pointed straight forward. Knees closed, but not gripping so tight it lifts my lower leg. Hips open and moving with Mercury. Shoulders rolled back (straight up and down, not bent over with a rounded belly). Head looking 40' in front of Mercury, not down.
We also talked about hands following Mercury's mouth, because this is one I still can't feel. That's because I'm looking for the wrong thing. By following, I thought it meant backwards and forwards, but it also means up and down, like a piston pumping. And another trick is (now I'm wearing grippy gloves), to close my thumb on the reins, but not clamp down so hard it makes my arm tense (and thus, my shoulders, and then they round, and then I do the round belly again).
My old trainers also taught me to follow the horse's mouth, but I think it is maybe the style of riding. In dressage, you don't want to follow the horse's mouth, though there is a tiny amount of movement in each gait. Jumpers, you need to keep your contact, but you've got some more room. I don't think I give my lessons justice - some of this is really hard to put into words, and "follow the mouth" is one of those examples. Then again, my earlier trainers also taught me to ride with my toes pointed at 45 degrees, which opens my knees and lets my lower leg swing all around.
As always, I learned a lot more that I'll remember when I practice riding, and once again, I am floored by how much Bob knows and how well he conveys it during a lesson.
First, when I give Mercury a few days off, then ride him, he's all peppy and easy to ride. I wanted to know if this was mental or physical, i.e. if I rode him harder, would he get in shape and then be peppy more often when I ride him, or is it that he needs a longer "mental" break between rides. Bob thinks I should ride him longer and longer, but continue to give him one or two days off a week.
Second, I had a dumb question about switching the whip from side to side and what you do in a show since you can't switch the whip. Bob said you carry it on the side that gives you the most trouble.
Third, this week when I worked on having relaxed, moving hips, I could feel Mercury take big giant swinging steps. Since there was such an immediate, "feelable" response, I figured I must be doing something wrong. Bob said nope, that's how much your hips can put the brakes on your horse.
Fourth, Mercury likes to put his head to the outside, especially when we're going counterclockwise. Bob said to check his teeth, and possibly he needs the chiropractor again. He's due for a teeth floating anyway.
I had a few others, but I've forgotten them now.
Today we continued to improve my position. We worked in a nice frame in the trot, not quite enough impulsion, but a good effort from Mercury. Then Bob had me sit up a little bit more straight and upright (which to me feels like crazy leaning back with my legs out in front of me, but when I looked down, my heels/hips/shoulders were still in line) and wow - what a difference it made. I rode him in sitting trot and canter in this "new" position, and it was so easy to keep my butt down in the saddle. It wasn't an effort at all.
It seems like a little bit, but it's definitely going to take some work to retrain my body for this position. Then again, everything Bob has told me has worked wonders, even when it feels weird to me at first, and after enough time, it starts to feel normal, and my old, comfortable way feels weird.
This one, from the feet up, is, light contact and weight in my heels, toes pointed straight forward. Knees closed, but not gripping so tight it lifts my lower leg. Hips open and moving with Mercury. Shoulders rolled back (straight up and down, not bent over with a rounded belly). Head looking 40' in front of Mercury, not down.
We also talked about hands following Mercury's mouth, because this is one I still can't feel. That's because I'm looking for the wrong thing. By following, I thought it meant backwards and forwards, but it also means up and down, like a piston pumping. And another trick is (now I'm wearing grippy gloves), to close my thumb on the reins, but not clamp down so hard it makes my arm tense (and thus, my shoulders, and then they round, and then I do the round belly again).
My old trainers also taught me to follow the horse's mouth, but I think it is maybe the style of riding. In dressage, you don't want to follow the horse's mouth, though there is a tiny amount of movement in each gait. Jumpers, you need to keep your contact, but you've got some more room. I don't think I give my lessons justice - some of this is really hard to put into words, and "follow the mouth" is one of those examples. Then again, my earlier trainers also taught me to ride with my toes pointed at 45 degrees, which opens my knees and lets my lower leg swing all around.
As always, I learned a lot more that I'll remember when I practice riding, and once again, I am floored by how much Bob knows and how well he conveys it during a lesson.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
10/6/07 - Dressage lesson
This lesson started off with Bob asking me what I'm going to do with Mercury. I said I didn't know. I haven't made much of an effort to sell him, and I don't really want to in case things work out with the current boyfriend and I can keep him as my second (trail) horse. Bob offered to get one of his horses ready for me to ride, and then I can keep saving my money for a nice horse until I find one, which is really generous of him.
This lesson we focused on just a few things, but the same old: my position (more on this in a second), keeping my hands still (not following his mouth), and getting him to move right out and respond right away to transitions.
What I'm supposed to practice this week is my position and snappy transitions.
My position needs a lot of work. What I don't do is move my hips - I move my upper body and think I'm moving my hips. But when I do relax and open them and move with Mercury, my upper body goes all crazy. I have to think of it like this: above my waist is a statue, including my hands; below my knee is a statue (and I need to point my toes more straight ahead (90 degrees) and not at an angle (45 degrees).) This alone felt weird enough to be worth a few weeks work, though I could immediately see how it would make a difference because it opens my knees and lets things flop around. It is also yet another repeat of the I need to FEEL it, not rote do it.
Bob said it's a good idea to keep him fit and keep him working and not worry too much about the future right now. He doesn't want me to get in a rush and buy another problem horse, then burn out and get frustrated and stop riding.
This lesson we focused on just a few things, but the same old: my position (more on this in a second), keeping my hands still (not following his mouth), and getting him to move right out and respond right away to transitions.
What I'm supposed to practice this week is my position and snappy transitions.
My position needs a lot of work. What I don't do is move my hips - I move my upper body and think I'm moving my hips. But when I do relax and open them and move with Mercury, my upper body goes all crazy. I have to think of it like this: above my waist is a statue, including my hands; below my knee is a statue (and I need to point my toes more straight ahead (90 degrees) and not at an angle (45 degrees).) This alone felt weird enough to be worth a few weeks work, though I could immediately see how it would make a difference because it opens my knees and lets things flop around. It is also yet another repeat of the I need to FEEL it, not rote do it.
Bob said it's a good idea to keep him fit and keep him working and not worry too much about the future right now. He doesn't want me to get in a rush and buy another problem horse, then burn out and get frustrated and stop riding.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Mercury is for sale
Bob and I talked at the last lesson, and agreed that I should start looking to move up, and it would be more efficient to have Mercury in a home that was planning on staying Novice or lower longer. I want to maximize learning from Bob, though I'm sorry that I can't afford to have two horses.
If anyone reading this blog is interested in him, or knows someone who might be, please drop me a comment and I can email copies of the ad. I do not have a video.
16.1 hand Thoroughbred
1994 Bay Gelding
Two years of eventing; consistently places 1st – 3rd, good with water, ditches, and banks;
doesn’t refuse, easy to handle, well-behaved, good-natured, trailers, bathes, sweet & willing
Suitable as dressage or trail horse
Needs attentive home
Good for Beginner Novice or Novice rider; not suitable for higher competition
I also figured I might as well sell the horse trailer at the same time.
Horse trailer for sale - $1,000
If anyone reading this blog is interested in him, or knows someone who might be, please drop me a comment and I can email copies of the ad. I do not have a video.
16.1 hand Thoroughbred
1994 Bay Gelding
Two years of eventing; consistently places 1st – 3rd, good with water, ditches, and banks;
doesn’t refuse, easy to handle, well-behaved, good-natured, trailers, bathes, sweet & willing
Suitable as dressage or trail horse
Needs attentive home
Good for Beginner Novice or Novice rider; not suitable for higher competition
$4,500
I also figured I might as well sell the horse trailer at the same time.
Horse trailer for sale - $1,000
2 horse straight load
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Dressage lesson - 9/12/07
Bob is busy the next few weekends, so I switched my lessons to Wednesday evenings. The chiropractor was out first, and he worked on my dog, Odin, and then Mercury. They both had some of the same areas tight, which was interesting. It always makes a big difference after he works on them - I can feel it in Mercury and see it in Odin. Poor Odin was really out of whack, which probably explains why he's been so slow and down in the dumps.
On Monday, Mercury pulled a shoe while I was riding him (he stumbled, lost his balance, and felt like he twisted his legs up), but the farrier was out this morning and got it back on.
My lesson was good. I had another "duh" moment. I told Bob about two simple things that are turning into big problems - reins slipping through my fingers and use of the whip. The rein thing is so simple I feel like an idiot for even typing it. Your thumb is your stopper. I always use my fingers, but I naturally hold them kind of loose, so I'm always having to tighten the reins back up. Thumbs tight. The whip is a little different - it is too long and heavy, so it doesn't balance properly in my hand. When I used Bob's whip last week, it was so easy to use. So quality matters.
We did the regular old walk/trot/canter, focusing on transitions and not letting Mercury lift his head (into canter) or plummet down (into trot), and trying to keep the impulsion coming from behind instead of hauling himself forward with his front legs.
For me, it is roll my shoulders to pull them back, lean back, and think about moving only my hips, not my upper body. I'm also pulling up my heels and my hands still move too much.
We did Beginner Novice Test A a couple of times, and I tried to correct things as fast as Bob saw them.
I can feel the difference from three lessons ago to now with the half halts, but I still don't do them enough. It's improving though, and I can feel better when Mercury is doing it properly.
On Monday, Mercury pulled a shoe while I was riding him (he stumbled, lost his balance, and felt like he twisted his legs up), but the farrier was out this morning and got it back on.
My lesson was good. I had another "duh" moment. I told Bob about two simple things that are turning into big problems - reins slipping through my fingers and use of the whip. The rein thing is so simple I feel like an idiot for even typing it. Your thumb is your stopper. I always use my fingers, but I naturally hold them kind of loose, so I'm always having to tighten the reins back up. Thumbs tight. The whip is a little different - it is too long and heavy, so it doesn't balance properly in my hand. When I used Bob's whip last week, it was so easy to use. So quality matters.
We did the regular old walk/trot/canter, focusing on transitions and not letting Mercury lift his head (into canter) or plummet down (into trot), and trying to keep the impulsion coming from behind instead of hauling himself forward with his front legs.
For me, it is roll my shoulders to pull them back, lean back, and think about moving only my hips, not my upper body. I'm also pulling up my heels and my hands still move too much.
We did Beginner Novice Test A a couple of times, and I tried to correct things as fast as Bob saw them.
I can feel the difference from three lessons ago to now with the half halts, but I still don't do them enough. It's improving though, and I can feel better when Mercury is doing it properly.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
9/08/07 - Jump lesson
I accidentally posted this on on the dog blog:
We had an outside jump lesson today which went really well.
The big thing I have to keep in mind is to **ride** Mercury.
I get lazy or nervous or distracted, and I forget to tell him what to do, and then something falls apart.
Other than that, it's pretty easy:
Sit before the fence
Keep my legs down and closed
Hands forward; don't jerk back too soon
Ride defensively (knees closed, lean back, don't throw reins away)
Half halt before the fence
Keep his impulsion going
Trot after the fence
I think that's pretty much jumping 101.
We had an outside jump lesson today which went really well.
The big thing I have to keep in mind is to **ride** Mercury.
I get lazy or nervous or distracted, and I forget to tell him what to do, and then something falls apart.
Other than that, it's pretty easy:
Sit before the fence
Keep my legs down and closed
Hands forward; don't jerk back too soon
Ride defensively (knees closed, lean back, don't throw reins away)
Half halt before the fence
Keep his impulsion going
Trot after the fence
I think that's pretty much jumping 101.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
9/1/07 - Dressage and Lunge Lesson
This was a great lesson, but had a very frustrating beginning. We started on the lunge line. Bob did a few minutes, where Mercury stretched and had impulsion and just zipped around in a perfect circle. Then I got out there and wanted to fall down crying because I couldn't get him to move forward, or stop, or stay on his circle. So this needs lots and lots of work. Bob says until I get him to respect me on the ground, he's not going to respect me under saddle. The difference between his reactions to Bob and me were amazing - from outside the arena Bob would tell Mercury what to do and he'd do it!
Then I rode him, for my three problem areas from this week: bend, lack of movement forward, and spooking at things.
Spooking was the easiest to resolve, with keeping him so busy he doesn't have time to pay attention to the scary thing. And for me to stay calm and not anticipate.
Bend was fairly easily resolved. I bent him to the inside, kept him on the rail with inside leg, moved him forward with outside leg and crop, and half halted on the outside rein. We were good at the walk and trot to the left (counter clockwise), but not as good to the right, and it turns out that's because I'm right-handed.
Moving forward took some effort. I have to consciously think about leg at the same time as each half halt, and then we went back to riding with the crop for reinforcement when he ignores my leg. And every once in while I yell and surprise him.
It seemed so simple while Bob was out there. We did a little bit of canter, and it was the same, keep the bend, half halt and leg at the same time, sit, sit, sit.
It actually felt really satisfying and good at the end - he was really moving in a great frame.
Then I rode him, for my three problem areas from this week: bend, lack of movement forward, and spooking at things.
Spooking was the easiest to resolve, with keeping him so busy he doesn't have time to pay attention to the scary thing. And for me to stay calm and not anticipate.
Bend was fairly easily resolved. I bent him to the inside, kept him on the rail with inside leg, moved him forward with outside leg and crop, and half halted on the outside rein. We were good at the walk and trot to the left (counter clockwise), but not as good to the right, and it turns out that's because I'm right-handed.
Moving forward took some effort. I have to consciously think about leg at the same time as each half halt, and then we went back to riding with the crop for reinforcement when he ignores my leg. And every once in while I yell and surprise him.
It seemed so simple while Bob was out there. We did a little bit of canter, and it was the same, keep the bend, half halt and leg at the same time, sit, sit, sit.
It actually felt really satisfying and good at the end - he was really moving in a great frame.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
8/25/07 Lesson - first lesson in almost three months!
We finally made it through my job being crazy, Bob training, Mercury's injury, and Bob training again - all leading up to the spectacular culmination of my first lesson in three months. And in contrast to my hopeful dreams - that all I needed was someone else to train my horse - it still hinges on me.
First - the amazing changes! I could feel how round Mercury was. It was like sitting on top of a rainbow instead of on a swing. He also moved in these big sweeping steps, and amazingly, it made him easier to ride. In the trot, he pushed me up and out of the saddle, and it was so much less work than posting up, trying to pull his back up with me. He was so balanced in the corners and on circles. No more 8' 2x4 going around a corner, this was a well-oiled machine. I didn't have to lean, or lift my shoulder up, or look down - we just coasted around the corners. And at the beginning, he was "coiled" - I could feel how the impulsion was coming more from behind, and how he was on the bit and not fighting me with his head. He's also riding with his flash two holes looser because it turns out my hard hands pull all the time.
Mind you - all of this is a mere two weeks of work with Bob - the first few days of which he only lunged! I am awed.
Ok, so our theme is "a new beginning." I'm pretending like I don't know anything, in an attempt to not start back up with my bad habits again. This pretension utterly failed.
My right leg flopped around like a wet noodle. I had almost no control over it. I even lost my stirrup once.
I leaned forward, I stuck my arms straight out in front of me like they were the arms of a wheelbarrow. We zoomed around the ring, and within seconds my legs were screaming, and they were useless little sticks to kick him forward.
I am not going to detail every single thing that felt wrong with me. It was a lot. It was depressing and discouraging and frustrating. I thought I would get on Mercury and we would just sail around and I would give up on ever doing the work myself and just cave in to always having a trainer clean up my horse. Instead, once again, it's the hard way for me.
This week I am working on walk, trot, peppy transitions, and a crisp halt.
I need to:
Hold my shoulders back - don't round them or slouch
Keep my upper body still - move with my hips, not my shoulders
Keep my elbows next to my hips - not like I'm waterskiing
Keep him bent to the inside
Half halts, half halts, half halts. Half halts coming into corners. Half halts when he starts to feel stretched out. Half halts to keep him on the bit. Half halts before we circle. Half halts for the hell of half halting.
Keep him MOVING. When I ask for a trot, he needs to leap out into a trot. Our new count for the beams in the barn is 16. 15 is just flying. 16 is our maximum.
Don't let him stretch out. This is going to be the hardest.
Don't hang on my hands. Half halt, let go.
In the transition from walk-trot, put my hands forward for a step so that I don't pull on his mouth and make him jerk his head in the air.
Let him rest a few minutes every 10-15 minutes of work.
Pet him while I'm working him so I don't knot up my hands.
Talk to him (nicely) and yell at him when he's bad.
Bob says he's definitely going to be able to do novice, but he's not sure it's worth the time to ride him up to training. He's worth at least what I paid for him. He said he's a good horse to keep the next couple years because I can keep learning a lot from him.
I don't think I'm going to show him again this year. I was thinking the final Happ's derby, but I'm too scared to ride Beginner Novice again, and I don't want to go back down to Hopeful.
Bob also said that his left hind leg does not move as far forward as his right. He said that we need some natural anti-inflammatories. However, Alice pointed out that he had almost three months off, then got ridden intensely for two weeks.
Alice suggested maybe the next lesson should start with a lunge. I need to learn how to lunge him better, and it might help me to ride on the lunge to concentrate on maintaining the feeling instead of going back to our lazy ways.
First - the amazing changes! I could feel how round Mercury was. It was like sitting on top of a rainbow instead of on a swing. He also moved in these big sweeping steps, and amazingly, it made him easier to ride. In the trot, he pushed me up and out of the saddle, and it was so much less work than posting up, trying to pull his back up with me. He was so balanced in the corners and on circles. No more 8' 2x4 going around a corner, this was a well-oiled machine. I didn't have to lean, or lift my shoulder up, or look down - we just coasted around the corners. And at the beginning, he was "coiled" - I could feel how the impulsion was coming more from behind, and how he was on the bit and not fighting me with his head. He's also riding with his flash two holes looser because it turns out my hard hands pull all the time.
Mind you - all of this is a mere two weeks of work with Bob - the first few days of which he only lunged! I am awed.
Ok, so our theme is "a new beginning." I'm pretending like I don't know anything, in an attempt to not start back up with my bad habits again. This pretension utterly failed.
My right leg flopped around like a wet noodle. I had almost no control over it. I even lost my stirrup once.
I leaned forward, I stuck my arms straight out in front of me like they were the arms of a wheelbarrow. We zoomed around the ring, and within seconds my legs were screaming, and they were useless little sticks to kick him forward.
I am not going to detail every single thing that felt wrong with me. It was a lot. It was depressing and discouraging and frustrating. I thought I would get on Mercury and we would just sail around and I would give up on ever doing the work myself and just cave in to always having a trainer clean up my horse. Instead, once again, it's the hard way for me.
This week I am working on walk, trot, peppy transitions, and a crisp halt.
I need to:
Hold my shoulders back - don't round them or slouch
Keep my upper body still - move with my hips, not my shoulders
Keep my elbows next to my hips - not like I'm waterskiing
Keep him bent to the inside
Half halts, half halts, half halts. Half halts coming into corners. Half halts when he starts to feel stretched out. Half halts to keep him on the bit. Half halts before we circle. Half halts for the hell of half halting.
Keep him MOVING. When I ask for a trot, he needs to leap out into a trot. Our new count for the beams in the barn is 16. 15 is just flying. 16 is our maximum.
Don't let him stretch out. This is going to be the hardest.
Don't hang on my hands. Half halt, let go.
In the transition from walk-trot, put my hands forward for a step so that I don't pull on his mouth and make him jerk his head in the air.
Let him rest a few minutes every 10-15 minutes of work.
Pet him while I'm working him so I don't knot up my hands.
Talk to him (nicely) and yell at him when he's bad.
Bob says he's definitely going to be able to do novice, but he's not sure it's worth the time to ride him up to training. He's worth at least what I paid for him. He said he's a good horse to keep the next couple years because I can keep learning a lot from him.
I don't think I'm going to show him again this year. I was thinking the final Happ's derby, but I'm too scared to ride Beginner Novice again, and I don't want to go back down to Hopeful.
Bob also said that his left hind leg does not move as far forward as his right. He said that we need some natural anti-inflammatories. However, Alice pointed out that he had almost three months off, then got ridden intensely for two weeks.
Alice suggested maybe the next lesson should start with a lunge. I need to learn how to lunge him better, and it might help me to ride on the lunge to concentrate on maintaining the feeling instead of going back to our lazy ways.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Mercury goes back to work today!
After what feels like agonizing months (oh wait, it was) of not riding, Mercury is heading back to work today. He's got two weeks of his month in training left with Bob, because he only made it two weeks before he pulled a shoe and then hurt himself. Alice said Bob will probably lunge him the first few days to get him listening and also why fight when you don't need to (a very good point that wouldn't have occurred to me).
He had no bandage last week, but turn out, and the wound closed up completely. You can hardly tell it was there now.
Yesterday, when I turned him out, he decided to act like my great dane (Stampy, who is just over one, and who goes crazy when we get into the wide open pasture and tears around with his lips flapping).
He reared straight up about 5 times and kicked his front legs out in the air in front of him. He did a 90 degree turn in the air with all four legs off the ground. He lept over things unnecessarily. He tore around and skidded to a halt. He jumped up and down in the air. He bucked about a million times. He'd be running and a leg would shoot out behind him.
Alice said he's showing off for Zenith (one of Kim's horses), who isn't interested in him. He only does it for about 5 minutes, then he eats grass until you put him back inside. He's a bit of a doofus.
I am still hoping we can make it to the final Happ's Derby (end of September), even if we have to go down a level and ride Hopeful again. But what might be more useful is if Bob will ride him that entire show. I've got to see how the next couple weeks go, then ask Bob about it. I've been taking a summer class, so my schedule actually stays pretty booked the next couple weeks until it ends. I think if I can get back into regular riding (and who knows how far I will have backslid with over two months off and only intermittent riding before that - I am definitely very, very out of shape), then we just need next season to get him used to the showing. That's what's got me nervous though - he gets excited, and the only way to practice is to take him places that get him excited.
Stay tuned! Hopefully fascinating progress coming soon. I have "cabin fever" from not riding so long ....
He had no bandage last week, but turn out, and the wound closed up completely. You can hardly tell it was there now.
Yesterday, when I turned him out, he decided to act like my great dane (Stampy, who is just over one, and who goes crazy when we get into the wide open pasture and tears around with his lips flapping).
He reared straight up about 5 times and kicked his front legs out in the air in front of him. He did a 90 degree turn in the air with all four legs off the ground. He lept over things unnecessarily. He tore around and skidded to a halt. He jumped up and down in the air. He bucked about a million times. He'd be running and a leg would shoot out behind him.
Alice said he's showing off for Zenith (one of Kim's horses), who isn't interested in him. He only does it for about 5 minutes, then he eats grass until you put him back inside. He's a bit of a doofus.
I am still hoping we can make it to the final Happ's Derby (end of September), even if we have to go down a level and ride Hopeful again. But what might be more useful is if Bob will ride him that entire show. I've got to see how the next couple weeks go, then ask Bob about it. I've been taking a summer class, so my schedule actually stays pretty booked the next couple weeks until it ends. I think if I can get back into regular riding (and who knows how far I will have backslid with over two months off and only intermittent riding before that - I am definitely very, very out of shape), then we just need next season to get him used to the showing. That's what's got me nervous though - he gets excited, and the only way to practice is to take him places that get him excited.
Stay tuned! Hopefully fascinating progress coming soon. I have "cabin fever" from not riding so long ....
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Mercury got injured
I had a lot of work stuff going on, then on my one week vacation, Mercury cut his fetlock open. Just below the place it bends, so it's taking forever to heal. He's on his third week of stall rest, with at least one more, possibly two or more, to come.
That knocks us out of the next three or four shows, and I'm not even sure we'll be ready by the end of September, when the last couple end.
It feels like it has been months since I've ridden. I'm starting to go a little crazy, because I'm supposed to get busy again next week at work until November, and it's a bummer that my three weeks "off" (with a normal work schedule), all I do is take Mercury out and watch him eat grass.
That knocks us out of the next three or four shows, and I'm not even sure we'll be ready by the end of September, when the last couple end.
It feels like it has been months since I've ridden. I'm starting to go a little crazy, because I'm supposed to get busy again next week at work until November, and it's a bummer that my three weeks "off" (with a normal work schedule), all I do is take Mercury out and watch him eat grass.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
June 9 - Bob Rides Mercury
Bob is an amazing rider. He's so still - everything is still - and then everything moves in harmony. It is just so fluid.
He rode Mercury today - a real challenge. Last week after the jumping lesson and the head tossing and the new hole in the flash, I rode Mercury on Sunday. I don't remember it being particularly exciting, but I was trying to be careful until I had another lesson. Little did I know that fate would conspire to keep me from creating more bad habits by drowning me in work all week.
So Bob got to ride Mercury today after a week of no riding at all (not even lunging), and with his new bad attitude. Of course, Mercury looked better (at his worst) under Bob than he ever does with me. Bob said he has really severe problems bending to the left, and that he breaks because he feels unbalanced. He is also naughty and tested Bob frequently.
What Bob said he needs is to be ridden consistently so that he feels secure - so that he knows he can go 10 laps around the arena (into the corners, not racing around with his nose out) and know that it's ok - he doesn't fall down when he comes out of the corner.
Bob said we're getting stuck because I'm not patient (and don't know how to fix this stuff anyway), and Mercury is "green" for all practical purposes. He said he'd put it at 60% Mercury's fault and 40% my fault.
Tomorrow I'm going to take a lesson, but I suspect that I can't replicate what Bob was doing today because I simply don't know enough. And I am guessing that the next two weeks I am going to continue to log an extra 30-40 hours each week. So I'm going to ask Bob to do a month of training (until after my week off in July), I'll take a couple lessons and watch whenever I can, and then the Happ's Derby (scheduled now), Bob can ride Saturday and I'll ride Sunday. I don't know if that's allowed.
Otherwise, I don't know if I'll be ready to take him to the Derby (almost certainly not) and maybe not even the shows after that.
As much as I want to know how to fix every problem, the thing is I'm never going to be good enough to be a trainer. That's what trainers are for.
He rode Mercury today - a real challenge. Last week after the jumping lesson and the head tossing and the new hole in the flash, I rode Mercury on Sunday. I don't remember it being particularly exciting, but I was trying to be careful until I had another lesson. Little did I know that fate would conspire to keep me from creating more bad habits by drowning me in work all week.
So Bob got to ride Mercury today after a week of no riding at all (not even lunging), and with his new bad attitude. Of course, Mercury looked better (at his worst) under Bob than he ever does with me. Bob said he has really severe problems bending to the left, and that he breaks because he feels unbalanced. He is also naughty and tested Bob frequently.
What Bob said he needs is to be ridden consistently so that he feels secure - so that he knows he can go 10 laps around the arena (into the corners, not racing around with his nose out) and know that it's ok - he doesn't fall down when he comes out of the corner.
Bob said we're getting stuck because I'm not patient (and don't know how to fix this stuff anyway), and Mercury is "green" for all practical purposes. He said he'd put it at 60% Mercury's fault and 40% my fault.
Tomorrow I'm going to take a lesson, but I suspect that I can't replicate what Bob was doing today because I simply don't know enough. And I am guessing that the next two weeks I am going to continue to log an extra 30-40 hours each week. So I'm going to ask Bob to do a month of training (until after my week off in July), I'll take a couple lessons and watch whenever I can, and then the Happ's Derby (scheduled now), Bob can ride Saturday and I'll ride Sunday. I don't know if that's allowed.
Otherwise, I don't know if I'll be ready to take him to the Derby (almost certainly not) and maybe not even the shows after that.
As much as I want to know how to fix every problem, the thing is I'm never going to be good enough to be a trainer. That's what trainers are for.
Thich Nhat Hanh and Positive Thinking
Through a series of small conversations, I had a delightful insight last week.
I was reading Thich Nhat Hanh (a Buddhist monk), and came across the story of a young man who wanted to take the civil service exam in Vietnam. Even though he scored very well, the heads of the school did not accept him because he was so young. Here's what the book said:
"People need to have a strong aspiration before they can become a bodhisattva who can liberate beings from suffering or someone skilled in helping the people and the nation. The young man in this case could have raged and complained. He could have given up. But he kept studying. When the young man took the exam three years later, he passed. He then ... went on to serve his country very well."
"When he failed the first time, he may have suffered. He did not know that all this was to help him grow up and do better. It is the same when we pray. We think that we did not receive what we prayed for, but we don't realize that we might have received somethign else, perhaps something greater or less than what we asked for. Our Buddha nature knows us better than we know ourselves, knows more clearly what is best for us."
My mom has told me this each time I've felt like life has dealt me a poor hand or I've suffered a blow. I did not get the owl field job I wanted one year, but then the next month got a wonderful job doing field work for a great zoologist. I did not join the Peace Corps, but I got the best dog in the world. A series of loser boyfriends break up with me, and there isn't a happy ending to this one yet. I did not keep my colt, but I met Bob, who is as close the perfect trainer for me as I will ever find.
So thinking these types of thoughts, I suddenly had a flash of positive thinking. It may or may not be true, but the buoyancy of the thought was enough for me:
Bob always makes those jokes about how I’m his retirement (his steak and lobster). I’ve always taken it to mean that I have so many problems, he will never run out of things to fix. I never once, until last week, thought of it as being that I have so much talent and potential, that he will be able to keep helping me improve. What helped me piece it together (the new way of looking at it) was something Alice said a week or so ago, about how Bob is so good that he doesn’t have to stop teaching his students or deliberately keep them at a lower level, because he always knows more to teach them. And so maybe what Bob has meant is that I have the potential that he can really help me develop into a high level rider, because he himself used to be a high level rider. (This matches with his small statement “I finally have a student who can win”.)
I was reading Thich Nhat Hanh (a Buddhist monk), and came across the story of a young man who wanted to take the civil service exam in Vietnam. Even though he scored very well, the heads of the school did not accept him because he was so young. Here's what the book said:
"People need to have a strong aspiration before they can become a bodhisattva who can liberate beings from suffering or someone skilled in helping the people and the nation. The young man in this case could have raged and complained. He could have given up. But he kept studying. When the young man took the exam three years later, he passed. He then ... went on to serve his country very well."
"When he failed the first time, he may have suffered. He did not know that all this was to help him grow up and do better. It is the same when we pray. We think that we did not receive what we prayed for, but we don't realize that we might have received somethign else, perhaps something greater or less than what we asked for. Our Buddha nature knows us better than we know ourselves, knows more clearly what is best for us."
My mom has told me this each time I've felt like life has dealt me a poor hand or I've suffered a blow. I did not get the owl field job I wanted one year, but then the next month got a wonderful job doing field work for a great zoologist. I did not join the Peace Corps, but I got the best dog in the world. A series of loser boyfriends break up with me, and there isn't a happy ending to this one yet. I did not keep my colt, but I met Bob, who is as close the perfect trainer for me as I will ever find.
So thinking these types of thoughts, I suddenly had a flash of positive thinking. It may or may not be true, but the buoyancy of the thought was enough for me:
Bob always makes those jokes about how I’m his retirement (his steak and lobster). I’ve always taken it to mean that I have so many problems, he will never run out of things to fix. I never once, until last week, thought of it as being that I have so much talent and potential, that he will be able to keep helping me improve. What helped me piece it together (the new way of looking at it) was something Alice said a week or so ago, about how Bob is so good that he doesn’t have to stop teaching his students or deliberately keep them at a lower level, because he always knows more to teach them. And so maybe what Bob has meant is that I have the potential that he can really help me develop into a high level rider, because he himself used to be a high level rider. (This matches with his small statement “I finally have a student who can win”.)
Sunday, June 03, 2007
XC Lesson - 6/2/07
Well, this lesson was extremely educational, although it was one of the "three steps back" lessons.
I was warming up Mercury outside, where he was continuing his ear --> sideways head --> stiff, quivering neck --> full on jump. When Bob got out, he asked us to canter each direction, first with a defensive seat (sit up very straight and deep, keep your knees closed, legs close), then in a two point (where I immediately just throw away all contact, which is not correct). Mercury was fine, but he kept stumbling.
So we talked about the stumbling. Bob said it's permanent. Unlike in my head, where I have made up excuses for it for a year and a half now and how it will surely get better, Bob says he's just not ever going to pick up his own feet and move them. He said there is absolutely nothing that I can do to fix it (over the course of the next hour, I kept coming up with ideas which he kept saying no, like "what about if I smack him really hard with the stick when he stumbles?" and Bob pointed out it would just make him lurch away really quickly afterwards, not stop doing it). He also said that watching him move, his back left leg crosses over and that's the source of the other stumble, and why he can't move out. His right leg kicks his left leg. I believe Bob phrased it as "one of Mercury's many problems."
So we went out to jump the cross country jumps, and did some riding around in the field so Mercury could look at everything.
We started with a little log, and immediately after the first jump he stuck his head way up in the air and started charging around.
So in case my evil mean hands were punishing him by coming back too soon, I was thinking about keeping them way forward after the jump, and he did it again. I think this time a horrible scary crow/raven (I can't ever tell which) went flying off from the other side of the fence, so he also used that as an excuse to freak out. We jumped it from the other direction (headed towards the barn) and then we tried me deliberately giving him his head when he was tossing it. That worked once, then the second time he just took off. We moved to a couple other jumps and a couple combinations, but the head thing was getting worse and worse. When I finally yelled "I AM giving half halts!" Bob said, wait a minute, come over here.
Here's this lessons revelation: the flash noseband was too loose. Because the leather has stretched since the last time I poked a new hole in it. And Bob said there's no point in going on, he's just going to continue to fight, you're going to continue to develop new bad habits that need to be fixed (i.e. his head tossing), and you could make it much worse if he starts doing it in front the jump.
And I said "Well, what if you rode him?" and he said "It won't help" but got on him, and although Mercury looked better, he was still really, really naughty and Bob didn't even try to jump him. It was really interesting to watch from the ground, because I could see him open his mouth to be bad (then lift his head), and I could see when Bob gave a half halt, it was correct for a second, then he would open his mouth so he could move his head forward.
So I put new holes in the flash, and Bob says we have to go back:
1) Bob rides him a couple times for an attitude adjustment
2) Then we go back to dressage
3) Then we start working him in running martingales over poles
4) Then stadium jumping (he said he wasn't as bad two weeks ago inside because he doesn't have room (or as many excuses) to stick his head up and run)
5) Then cross country
I basically don't have time to do all this before the next show, so I'm not sure what will happen.
This is frustrating because he's been fighting me (and spooking at everything) the last couple weeks, and I noticed the flash was loose, but didn't think anything about it. I could have avoided all of this by thinking to tighten it myself.
Oh yeah, and Mercury has a fat neck, so he needs to lose weight. His neck balls up when his head is in the proper position, making it uncomfortable for him to maintain it. That's the purpose of those neck sweats (I always thought it was to keep their hair short), but you also achieve it by working on the bit (with the uncomfortable neck).
I was warming up Mercury outside, where he was continuing his ear --> sideways head --> stiff, quivering neck --> full on jump. When Bob got out, he asked us to canter each direction, first with a defensive seat (sit up very straight and deep, keep your knees closed, legs close), then in a two point (where I immediately just throw away all contact, which is not correct). Mercury was fine, but he kept stumbling.
So we talked about the stumbling. Bob said it's permanent. Unlike in my head, where I have made up excuses for it for a year and a half now and how it will surely get better, Bob says he's just not ever going to pick up his own feet and move them. He said there is absolutely nothing that I can do to fix it (over the course of the next hour, I kept coming up with ideas which he kept saying no, like "what about if I smack him really hard with the stick when he stumbles?" and Bob pointed out it would just make him lurch away really quickly afterwards, not stop doing it). He also said that watching him move, his back left leg crosses over and that's the source of the other stumble, and why he can't move out. His right leg kicks his left leg. I believe Bob phrased it as "one of Mercury's many problems."
So we went out to jump the cross country jumps, and did some riding around in the field so Mercury could look at everything.
We started with a little log, and immediately after the first jump he stuck his head way up in the air and started charging around.
So in case my evil mean hands were punishing him by coming back too soon, I was thinking about keeping them way forward after the jump, and he did it again. I think this time a horrible scary crow/raven (I can't ever tell which) went flying off from the other side of the fence, so he also used that as an excuse to freak out. We jumped it from the other direction (headed towards the barn) and then we tried me deliberately giving him his head when he was tossing it. That worked once, then the second time he just took off. We moved to a couple other jumps and a couple combinations, but the head thing was getting worse and worse. When I finally yelled "I AM giving half halts!" Bob said, wait a minute, come over here.
Here's this lessons revelation: the flash noseband was too loose. Because the leather has stretched since the last time I poked a new hole in it. And Bob said there's no point in going on, he's just going to continue to fight, you're going to continue to develop new bad habits that need to be fixed (i.e. his head tossing), and you could make it much worse if he starts doing it in front the jump.
And I said "Well, what if you rode him?" and he said "It won't help" but got on him, and although Mercury looked better, he was still really, really naughty and Bob didn't even try to jump him. It was really interesting to watch from the ground, because I could see him open his mouth to be bad (then lift his head), and I could see when Bob gave a half halt, it was correct for a second, then he would open his mouth so he could move his head forward.
So I put new holes in the flash, and Bob says we have to go back:
1) Bob rides him a couple times for an attitude adjustment
2) Then we go back to dressage
3) Then we start working him in running martingales over poles
4) Then stadium jumping (he said he wasn't as bad two weeks ago inside because he doesn't have room (or as many excuses) to stick his head up and run)
5) Then cross country
I basically don't have time to do all this before the next show, so I'm not sure what will happen.
This is frustrating because he's been fighting me (and spooking at everything) the last couple weeks, and I noticed the flash was loose, but didn't think anything about it. I could have avoided all of this by thinking to tighten it myself.
Oh yeah, and Mercury has a fat neck, so he needs to lose weight. His neck balls up when his head is in the proper position, making it uncomfortable for him to maintain it. That's the purpose of those neck sweats (I always thought it was to keep their hair short), but you also achieve it by working on the bit (with the uncomfortable neck).
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Some numbers
During my lesson, Bob was telling me some numbers, that will no longer be accurate, but I will do my best to repeat them for a rough idea:
98% of event riders are single women ages 35-42, who make more than $100,000/year.
An average novice horse now sells for $15-20,000;
A training level horse for $20-30,000;
and a Prelim horse for $35,000 and up.
I'm not 35 yet, but I'm not going to be making $100,000/year unless I switch to private practice and then don't ride anymore but pay Bob to ride. (He has offered, numerous times now, to take Mercury at training level if I pay for the shows. I can't really tell if he's joking because I don't see how inexperienced Mercury, even in Bob's very capable hands, could do some of those jump combinations.)
Bob also said that a lot of those "riders" are actually rich women who pay trainers to ride.
And I'll go ahead and post this - Mercury only cost $3500. Even if he's "green", what a bargain for a horse who will hopefully one day go training level (since it will take both of us many years to get there - though it's a race against Mercury's age since he's 13 this year).
The other thing Bob said was that a lot of riders don't learn how to "train" the horse, so they have to get new horses every 2-5 years when the new horse starts to exhibit the same problems as the old horse (rider-source). One reason why the horses cost so much is it takes a lot of time to train them.
He said we were in the "fine-tuning" stage with Mercury this year - that last year was the big stuff, and now we're focusing on details. It doesn't feel like details to me, it feels like a plateau. But I see his point - if he teaches me how to train Mercury, then I can sort of work with the next horse too. It's just frustrating and time consuming. And I never want Bob to leave.
He said I just need to be patient - now Mercury just needs experience for the next couple years.
98% of event riders are single women ages 35-42, who make more than $100,000/year.
An average novice horse now sells for $15-20,000;
A training level horse for $20-30,000;
and a Prelim horse for $35,000 and up.
I'm not 35 yet, but I'm not going to be making $100,000/year unless I switch to private practice and then don't ride anymore but pay Bob to ride. (He has offered, numerous times now, to take Mercury at training level if I pay for the shows. I can't really tell if he's joking because I don't see how inexperienced Mercury, even in Bob's very capable hands, could do some of those jump combinations.)
Bob also said that a lot of those "riders" are actually rich women who pay trainers to ride.
And I'll go ahead and post this - Mercury only cost $3500. Even if he's "green", what a bargain for a horse who will hopefully one day go training level (since it will take both of us many years to get there - though it's a race against Mercury's age since he's 13 this year).
The other thing Bob said was that a lot of riders don't learn how to "train" the horse, so they have to get new horses every 2-5 years when the new horse starts to exhibit the same problems as the old horse (rider-source). One reason why the horses cost so much is it takes a lot of time to train them.
He said we were in the "fine-tuning" stage with Mercury this year - that last year was the big stuff, and now we're focusing on details. It doesn't feel like details to me, it feels like a plateau. But I see his point - if he teaches me how to train Mercury, then I can sort of work with the next horse too. It's just frustrating and time consuming. And I never want Bob to leave.
He said I just need to be patient - now Mercury just needs experience for the next couple years.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Dressage Lesson on 5/28 and Volunteer at Happ's
I am ashamed to admit it, but I think I volunteered for the first time ever at a horse show. I've gone and watched a lot, but I don't think I've ever helped out. It was interesting. There is a lot of work that goes into keeping things flowing and organized, and I have a whole new appreciation for how much effort that takes. I also had no idea that people talked to the dressage judge. Bob told me he's told me to say thank you, but it never registered because I think it's rude to talk to the judge. He says its common courtesy. It's also interesting to observed the attitude of the riders. I witnessed one really rude altercation (and that was an hour and a half after the actual rude event), and it turned my ears red. Bob's course, by the way, looked super, super fun.
So today I had my dressage lesson. It was ok. I was crabby from watching the other beginner novice riders because Mercury can't jump at a canter yet (he can, but it is considerably less well than at the trot) and there's no way to make the time at a trot.
Bob said to sit up more, don't post so high, and to be careful my legs don't move at the trot.
Around corners keep him balanced and keep the tempo consistent.
Don't let him hang on my hands (or the martingale, but I can't feel when he's on the martingale).
Change things - never go two laps doing the same thing because he checks out.
We worked on transitions - trot/canter, trot/walk, and then trot/halt.
This is pretty blah - I'm sure Bob told me lots more, but I was busy being pissed that we're not better than we are and I don't feel like trying to remember it all right now.
The other thing that stunned me from the horse show was that a basic novice horse now sells for around $18,000.
So today I had my dressage lesson. It was ok. I was crabby from watching the other beginner novice riders because Mercury can't jump at a canter yet (he can, but it is considerably less well than at the trot) and there's no way to make the time at a trot.
Bob said to sit up more, don't post so high, and to be careful my legs don't move at the trot.
Around corners keep him balanced and keep the tempo consistent.
Don't let him hang on my hands (or the martingale, but I can't feel when he's on the martingale).
Change things - never go two laps doing the same thing because he checks out.
We worked on transitions - trot/canter, trot/walk, and then trot/halt.
This is pretty blah - I'm sure Bob told me lots more, but I was busy being pissed that we're not better than we are and I don't feel like trying to remember it all right now.
The other thing that stunned me from the horse show was that a basic novice horse now sells for around $18,000.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Simple jump lesson, 5/19/07
I set up two jumps for today's lesson. But to back up, Thursday I rode Mercury outside because we were having nice weather. He was an idiot. After he spooked at a chicken two fences away (a chicken!), and then spooking at the chicken scared him into spooking at a cone on the ground we'd been past, oh, 200 times, I went in and put him on the lunge line in side reins, brought him back outside, where he proceeded to: 1) not make a round circle - ever - in the next 45 minutes; 2) not transition or consistently move his feet, including lots of stumbling like he had jello-Gumby legs; 3) not be able to not bend to the outside; and 4) not run around with his head up in the air like a giraffe. It was agonizing. I was so mad I was ready to sell him, and Friday I called and meekly asked what kind of lesson Bob wanted on Saturday since I can't even lunge my own horse.
So I set up these two jumps, because I wasn't even sure we'd jump, given my Thursday humilation (Bob was out mowing, so he got to watch the whole horrible thing). I set ground poles on either side, 3' away, and Bob thought that was hilarious because it would make Mercury jump a 6' spread. Note to the inexperienced, do not set your ground poles at trot distance.
We actually had a great lesson. Bob laughed at me for a while about Thursday and said that I need to do two things: 1) calm down - I get so worked up and that doesn't help because then Mercury just gets more upset; and 2) get help - if something is going wrong, and I know it's going wrong, then ask for help. He said it doesn't do me any good to wait and ask on Saturday because then the problem is over with, more problems have developed because I couldn't handle the first problem, AND I don't listen to the actual solution to apply it, I just hear "that was so simple" and then beat myself up for not thinking of it. Bob said it's good I can identify there's a problem, but that it's normal that I can't think of the solutions (and normal that if you don't fix it, one problem turns into 2, then 3, then 4 ....) He said you have to learn the solutions from a trainer.
We worked on the same old things, only over different jumps (because of the ground poles):
1) Head up - do not look down
2) Nice impulsion coming in, but don't race to the jump
3) Sit a few strides out
4) Hands forward a couple strides out
5) Half halts a few strides out
6) SQUEEZE all the way through
My legs just completely disappear most times.
And suddenly, today, after all these times Bob has said it, it finally made sense. I don't RIDE the jumps. I sit on Mercury and wait for him to do it. I don't do those 6 things. I just sit there, like a passenger. When I actually ride him, he says "oh, ok" and then we both do it.
When Bob put three poles after the jump, and Mercury jumped around, I said "why is he doing this?" and then realized, as Bob was saying "well, how many times has he done this before?" I keep forgetting Mercury is a green horse. I expect him to act like a trained horse.
I could feel the difference between when he jumped but I hung on his mouth or jumped ahead and was heavy on his neck, and when he made a round arch because I gave him space and the impulsion to do it. The round arch was sooooo smooth!
Oh yeah, and think sit up straight. I begin tilting forward pretty far out, to go into my showjumper position.
He got tired because he's fat and out of shape.
For next week - I am supposed to lunge him before I ride him to get some of the attitude out. I can lunge him over jumps to help him learn where to take off from and how high he needs to jump. He is lazy about knocking his legs (that is not just me messing him up). And I need to make my side reins progressively tighter during the lunge (about every 10 laps).
I need to ride him more often, which is hard because work is heating up and I am stressed out at home because of the dogs and work being done on my house.
If I get mad, call Bob.
Ride dressage up to a stride away from the jump.
I think that was it. It was a great lesson - lots of progress, but also a lot of the same messages. I felt good afterwards.
So I set up these two jumps, because I wasn't even sure we'd jump, given my Thursday humilation (Bob was out mowing, so he got to watch the whole horrible thing). I set ground poles on either side, 3' away, and Bob thought that was hilarious because it would make Mercury jump a 6' spread. Note to the inexperienced, do not set your ground poles at trot distance.
We actually had a great lesson. Bob laughed at me for a while about Thursday and said that I need to do two things: 1) calm down - I get so worked up and that doesn't help because then Mercury just gets more upset; and 2) get help - if something is going wrong, and I know it's going wrong, then ask for help. He said it doesn't do me any good to wait and ask on Saturday because then the problem is over with, more problems have developed because I couldn't handle the first problem, AND I don't listen to the actual solution to apply it, I just hear "that was so simple" and then beat myself up for not thinking of it. Bob said it's good I can identify there's a problem, but that it's normal that I can't think of the solutions (and normal that if you don't fix it, one problem turns into 2, then 3, then 4 ....) He said you have to learn the solutions from a trainer.
We worked on the same old things, only over different jumps (because of the ground poles):
1) Head up - do not look down
2) Nice impulsion coming in, but don't race to the jump
3) Sit a few strides out
4) Hands forward a couple strides out
5) Half halts a few strides out
6) SQUEEZE all the way through
My legs just completely disappear most times.
And suddenly, today, after all these times Bob has said it, it finally made sense. I don't RIDE the jumps. I sit on Mercury and wait for him to do it. I don't do those 6 things. I just sit there, like a passenger. When I actually ride him, he says "oh, ok" and then we both do it.
When Bob put three poles after the jump, and Mercury jumped around, I said "why is he doing this?" and then realized, as Bob was saying "well, how many times has he done this before?" I keep forgetting Mercury is a green horse. I expect him to act like a trained horse.
I could feel the difference between when he jumped but I hung on his mouth or jumped ahead and was heavy on his neck, and when he made a round arch because I gave him space and the impulsion to do it. The round arch was sooooo smooth!
Oh yeah, and think sit up straight. I begin tilting forward pretty far out, to go into my showjumper position.
He got tired because he's fat and out of shape.
For next week - I am supposed to lunge him before I ride him to get some of the attitude out. I can lunge him over jumps to help him learn where to take off from and how high he needs to jump. He is lazy about knocking his legs (that is not just me messing him up). And I need to make my side reins progressively tighter during the lunge (about every 10 laps).
I need to ride him more often, which is hard because work is heating up and I am stressed out at home because of the dogs and work being done on my house.
If I get mad, call Bob.
Ride dressage up to a stride away from the jump.
I think that was it. It was a great lesson - lots of progress, but also a lot of the same messages. I felt good afterwards.
Monday, May 07, 2007
No lesson this week
Mercury somehow pulled his right hind shoe half way off between Saturday night and Sunday morning. He wears trailers on the back feet to help his legs move straight, so he gimped around the arena kicking himself when I lunged him. However, when I turned him out 15 minutes later (after he shedded all over me when I groomed him), he raced off doing flying lead changes and canter pirouttes. He's smarter than me.
Horse Trailer for Sale
If anyone is reading this blog who lives in Washington, my boss and his wife are selling their horse trailer. It is a 4-horse LQ. 2006 Bison Stratus 8410 (aluminum) with removable stalls. Ramp, tack room, 2 stud panels, hay rack & ladder, electric power jacks. 6' slide out, awning, A/C, 3 burner stove, microwave, fridge, bathroom w/shower, AM/FM/CD (I think with surround sound). $65,000 OBO. Post a comment and then I'll post their phone and email.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Me Sucking on a Lemon
Bob's right. I look like I'm sucking on a lemon. One more thing to practice now when I ride is smiling. Usually, I feel stupid, which then makes me smile for real.
The photos are by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon Photography. Her website is: www.printroom.com/pro/qualityponies
Mercury's Ewe Neck and a Funny Halt Photo
Looking down on him, I don't see the ewe neck that often. The halt photo is funny because his eyes are half closed like he's already finished and asleep. The photos are by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon Photography. Her website is: www.printroom.com/pro/qualityponies
Mercury Jumping at Happ's Derby
I should have done this on the last one. The photos are by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon Photography. Her website is: www.printroom.com/pro/qualityponies
Monday, April 30, 2007
Gabby lesson on April 28
I mostly wanted to talk about the show and upcoming shows during this week's lesson, so there's not much to report. Bob said about 90% of riders will come off when a horse "ejects" by jumping too high with his butt. Alice said that Kim Severson got ejected at the water jump at Rolex this year. He said that it wasn't a fluke that I did so well, but that the problems are that Mercury is green (and needs a couple years experience under his girth, so to speak), and I keep expecting him to act like he already knows it. The other thing Bob told me at the show was that I need to smile during my dressage test. I try to, but it turns into a grimace pretty quickly. Then I saw the pictures, and Bob nailed it when he said it looks like I've been sucking on a lemon. Today I rode Mercury around smiling and felt like an idiot. The smile plastered to my face made it one step easier to laugh at myself. He also said my legs are still swinging back a little over fences, and again, the pictures proved him right.
We're going to switch to alternating lessons dressage and jumping. Now I'm worried that we only did so "well" because I didn't ride Mercury. That *I* make things worse.
Also, Bob said I need to quit being so negative. That Mercury has a good heart and I am a good rider.
Oh, and Mercury probably has narcolepsy. The vet was out, and they talked about the symptoms, and the vet agreed. I read a bunch of stuff on the web, and that seemed to confirm it. I'm kind of upset about it, but not ready to type it out yet.
We're going to switch to alternating lessons dressage and jumping. Now I'm worried that we only did so "well" because I didn't ride Mercury. That *I* make things worse.
Also, Bob said I need to quit being so negative. That Mercury has a good heart and I am a good rider.
Oh, and Mercury probably has narcolepsy. The vet was out, and they talked about the symptoms, and the vet agreed. I read a bunch of stuff on the web, and that seemed to confirm it. I'm kind of upset about it, but not ready to type it out yet.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Happ's Spring Derby - all or nothing
This weekend was the Happ's Spring Derby. Happ's is a great place - it is very professionally run, has excellent facilities, and I had a great time. Here's their web site: http://www.happs-inc.com/
They have a recognized show coming up in May, a summer and fall derby, and some driving shows still to come this season.
We drove down on Friday, so that Mercury could settle in (and I could unwind from work). Friday was pretty uneventful. I rode him a little while, though with Bob there (he was the course designer), I of course learned something. I rode him until he felt calm and responsive, then walked him until other people came out in the field so he'd know other horses could be in the same area. When I came back in the barn, Bob asked if I timed how long it took for him to calm down (hadn't even occurred to me) then told me it was 20 minutes, so I needed to plan on a little longer for the warm up before the dressage test Saturday. He also suggested I braid Friday night because horses get cranky when you wake them up early then don't let them eat in the morning before the show.
Friday Bob walked the course with me (twice). The first time, I just gaped at how huge the jumps were. The second time, (after I had walked it twice by myself), I was receptive to Bob's useful tips, such as to look up (and what to look at), and when to slow him down (since I am still trotting the jumps, but cantering in between).
Saturday's dressage ride felt really together. It was the beginner test A (the easier one), and we got a 31. On the long rein walk, Mercury rubbed his leg with his nose (which I have forbidden him from doing since about a month ago when Bob saw me let him do it in a lesson and said don't let him do that because he'll do it in the middle of a dressage test), but we actually did really well other than that. The main comment, like last year, was more impulsion. I also rode without a whip.
Saturday's jumping warm up was horrible. Mercury ran sideways and reared. I think he was nervous. Riders were eliminating on the course right and left, and the first (very impressive) jump was getting refusals. (We looked afterwards, and it was about half the riders, but at the time it seemed like almost everyone.) When we did the warm up jumps, he was racing around afterwards with his head in the air. (After Sunday Bob said we need to start jumping him in a running martingale.) But after a lot of trot work and some more jumping, he settled down. Bob was there ahead of time to give me a couple tips - tighten my girth (he said that after dressage too, when it visibly slipped back - he also told me after the test that he didn't want to say anything before, but my braids were pitiful (which they were)), don't jerk on his mouth by not releasing or coming back too soon (but don't let go completely either), and to hang on to the breastplate strap (foreshadowing there).
Mercury loves jumping, but I was really nervous about the first jump since it looked big (2'7" slant), and the second jump (2'6"? triangle thing). We did it at a trot, and his butt jigged sideways just before, but I was sitting, looking at the next jump, and squeezing, and he trusted me and went over. A few jumps later was the "ditch", which I found out later had even more problems for all the riders than the first jump. He stopped at it, looked down, and I said "uunnnggghhh" while I squeezed, and then he stepped over it. (It counted as a refusal because he came to a dead stop.) We had a stadium, then a ramp up a bank and off the bank. Bob was standing at the bank, so he saw the ditch refusal, then we got to the bank, and Mercury stopped again and looked down. The rest of the course was fine, but because we trotted all the jumps (cantered in between) and had the two stops, I also had time penalties. I had total penalties of 17.
I placed 3rd on Saturday, more to luck and the problems the other riders had than to my own skill. (I think about 20 riders.)
Sunday they moved the dressage arena inside because the ground got slippery in the rain (oh yeah, it rained most of Saturday). We did test B which felt worse to me, but our score was a 34. (With a pitiful 4 on the long rein walk, which is embarrassing.) I thought it was worse because he broke at the right lead canter in the circle, did his own down transition from the left lead canter (too early), and I lost a stirrup at one point. However, a lot of things were better, like he stayed in his frame, he moved better, and things felt more together.
This put me in 1st place, which made me incredibly nervous. (1st place of like 25 riders.)
During our warm up, Mercury was better behaved, but he wasn't listening well. I trotted him a long time, with some intermittent jumps, which he jumped better, but he was harder to stop afterwards (not so much with the head tossing though). I think Saturday he was nervous, but Sunday he was excited. Bob had added option jumps (which were just as big (1st) and almost as big (2nd)), but we were the second riders for BN, and the first rider had refusals. We jumped them fine, accidentally jumped the ditch and the stadium after it at a canter, jumped off the bank "fine" (it was ugly and bumpy, but we made it off), and then came around the corner to the plant box ...
This was a sturdy, wood filled box about 2' wide and maybe 2'6". It had grass growing out of the top of it. There was a long canter between the bank and the plant box, and I slowed him down early so he didn't slip in the corner because it was so slick. He jumped it kind of big, and we were flying, and then I felt a second bump, and then I was flying off. I went over his right shoulder and landed right on top of my head like a pogo stick. Somehow I also hit my left shoulder (on the back), my right knee, and maybe some other places. I looked up in time to see him running at Bob (and I thought, thank god, I can get back on and do that again), then according to Bob, Mercury gave him the finger and took off. He ran past all the jumps (the observers said they thought he was going to jump them), ran past all the warm ups, ran past the barn, and ran past the trailers. He didn't quite make it the road, but he made sure there was no chance of me getting back on and finishing the ride, and also made sure I'd have to walk past every single person so they'd all know I fell off. The jump observers told me they gave me a 9 for the fall. It was fairly spectacular.
So that was it. I was eliminated. I went and looked at the scores after, and even with time penalties (not a fall penalty), I would have stayed in first. Bob had told me not to worry about the time because he'd rather we lost 1st than Mercury slip and get scared and not enjoy it.
What he told me afterwards was that the second bump I felt was Mercury's back end, and that the only thing I could have done to avoid falling off was to hang on to the breastplate strap. Since I never ride hanging onto it (despite his advice on Saturday), and I didn't know there was going to be a second bump until I was already in the air, I'm counting this as not my fault. Bob said what was good to learn from it was that Mercury can really, really jump. He said he was already way overjumping before the second bump (which was his butt coming up higher than his head; that's why I went off over his shoulder and why it took me by surprise). He said he looked like Hercules; with his legs tucked up tight and just jumping for the moon. He also said that I need to learn to not look at the placing and not care, because he thinks part of it was I was also nervous about keeping 1st place and trying to make the time.
I'm disappointed, and made it past everyone ok, cooled him down, then sat in the car and cried. When I went back out to watch the rest, Bob and his crew (Ken, one of the owners, and a couple other guys) made a lot of jokes. Like about rockets and booster seats.
We've got a lot to work on. There's no way we could go to Novice yet (even though it's only a couple inches higher) because we're not ready for the speed, combinations, and need to be more consistent. It surprised me how well we did in Dressage. Saturday two people scored higher than me (27s), but one of them had trouble on the jump course.
Some other miscellaneous observations: there were a huge number of humongous trailers (with apartments), camping vans (not just trucks with campers on the back), and full blown RVs. I was in awe since it was just a derby. I was the only tent camper.
I learned more watching the other riders with Bob than from lots of my lessons (because I could actually see what was happening instead of trying to ride at the same time). Most everyone who had problems on the ditch and the bank were looking down, so their horses stopped. Several riders had a "go faster" approach, which just made me cringe. It was really useful to listen to his comments while looking at the same thing he was.
At the same time, sitting out on the course then hanging out with Bob, I learned a lot of behind the scenes things. I have an entirely increased appreciation for the volunteers and I'm going to try to volunteer at some of the events I don't ride in (it actually is fun to watch other people). I also have less appreciation for some of the self-centered riders who complain about things instead of taking responsibility. I'd, personally, rather know I need to learn how to do a ditch at a derby (and early in the season), than blame the course. I was also surprised by the number of people who didn't know the rules, then complained because they didn't win. And at the end of the day, tons of people went out and schooled, which really surprised me. I took Mercury out to eat some grass and stretch his legs during a break in the rain, but I wouldn't have dreamed of riding him again.
One more interesting thing was that other than the jump off the bank (which felt jerky) and my inability to get him to trot the two jumps before the bank (which should have clued me in something was wrong), our jumping actually felt really solid and together. I wasn't jumping ahead or getting left behind, my legs felt really, really secure, and the sitting before each fence meant my body bends at the right time. We really feel improved from last summer. Bob said my legs still swing, but not as bad, and that Mercury is starting to look really good. He's said a couple times now Mercury is a good horse with a big heart. I'm not perfect all the way around, but I think I can feel the mistakes, and sometimes feel them just before they happen (though I'm not always fast enough to make corrections).
By the way, his Sunday braids looked a lot better. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture. And no, no one took a picture of my spectacular fall. We probably could have won something on a funniest video, with the ping pong head replayed over and over to the laugh track.
If the next show (for me) isn't until the end of July, that gives us a lot of time to work on dressage and jumping. I think a lot of improvements can be made just from ground pole work (Mercury needs to learn where to take off and how high to jump). It will be interesting to see how consistent we are the rest of the season.
This was better than I expected (especially for the number of competitors), but not as good as I hoped. Which says more about me and what I hope for (especially with my tiny amount of riding because of work all winter), than about reality. I think it was good for me to finally "lose" and as Bob says, Mercury keeps me humble. And I guess it's better to have a good story than just be average, though I'm ashamed because Bob wants consistency and I wasn't consistent.
They have a recognized show coming up in May, a summer and fall derby, and some driving shows still to come this season.
We drove down on Friday, so that Mercury could settle in (and I could unwind from work). Friday was pretty uneventful. I rode him a little while, though with Bob there (he was the course designer), I of course learned something. I rode him until he felt calm and responsive, then walked him until other people came out in the field so he'd know other horses could be in the same area. When I came back in the barn, Bob asked if I timed how long it took for him to calm down (hadn't even occurred to me) then told me it was 20 minutes, so I needed to plan on a little longer for the warm up before the dressage test Saturday. He also suggested I braid Friday night because horses get cranky when you wake them up early then don't let them eat in the morning before the show.
Friday Bob walked the course with me (twice). The first time, I just gaped at how huge the jumps were. The second time, (after I had walked it twice by myself), I was receptive to Bob's useful tips, such as to look up (and what to look at), and when to slow him down (since I am still trotting the jumps, but cantering in between).
Saturday's dressage ride felt really together. It was the beginner test A (the easier one), and we got a 31. On the long rein walk, Mercury rubbed his leg with his nose (which I have forbidden him from doing since about a month ago when Bob saw me let him do it in a lesson and said don't let him do that because he'll do it in the middle of a dressage test), but we actually did really well other than that. The main comment, like last year, was more impulsion. I also rode without a whip.
Saturday's jumping warm up was horrible. Mercury ran sideways and reared. I think he was nervous. Riders were eliminating on the course right and left, and the first (very impressive) jump was getting refusals. (We looked afterwards, and it was about half the riders, but at the time it seemed like almost everyone.) When we did the warm up jumps, he was racing around afterwards with his head in the air. (After Sunday Bob said we need to start jumping him in a running martingale.) But after a lot of trot work and some more jumping, he settled down. Bob was there ahead of time to give me a couple tips - tighten my girth (he said that after dressage too, when it visibly slipped back - he also told me after the test that he didn't want to say anything before, but my braids were pitiful (which they were)), don't jerk on his mouth by not releasing or coming back too soon (but don't let go completely either), and to hang on to the breastplate strap (foreshadowing there).
Mercury loves jumping, but I was really nervous about the first jump since it looked big (2'7" slant), and the second jump (2'6"? triangle thing). We did it at a trot, and his butt jigged sideways just before, but I was sitting, looking at the next jump, and squeezing, and he trusted me and went over. A few jumps later was the "ditch", which I found out later had even more problems for all the riders than the first jump. He stopped at it, looked down, and I said "uunnnggghhh" while I squeezed, and then he stepped over it. (It counted as a refusal because he came to a dead stop.) We had a stadium, then a ramp up a bank and off the bank. Bob was standing at the bank, so he saw the ditch refusal, then we got to the bank, and Mercury stopped again and looked down. The rest of the course was fine, but because we trotted all the jumps (cantered in between) and had the two stops, I also had time penalties. I had total penalties of 17.
I placed 3rd on Saturday, more to luck and the problems the other riders had than to my own skill. (I think about 20 riders.)
Sunday they moved the dressage arena inside because the ground got slippery in the rain (oh yeah, it rained most of Saturday). We did test B which felt worse to me, but our score was a 34. (With a pitiful 4 on the long rein walk, which is embarrassing.) I thought it was worse because he broke at the right lead canter in the circle, did his own down transition from the left lead canter (too early), and I lost a stirrup at one point. However, a lot of things were better, like he stayed in his frame, he moved better, and things felt more together.
This put me in 1st place, which made me incredibly nervous. (1st place of like 25 riders.)
During our warm up, Mercury was better behaved, but he wasn't listening well. I trotted him a long time, with some intermittent jumps, which he jumped better, but he was harder to stop afterwards (not so much with the head tossing though). I think Saturday he was nervous, but Sunday he was excited. Bob had added option jumps (which were just as big (1st) and almost as big (2nd)), but we were the second riders for BN, and the first rider had refusals. We jumped them fine, accidentally jumped the ditch and the stadium after it at a canter, jumped off the bank "fine" (it was ugly and bumpy, but we made it off), and then came around the corner to the plant box ...
This was a sturdy, wood filled box about 2' wide and maybe 2'6". It had grass growing out of the top of it. There was a long canter between the bank and the plant box, and I slowed him down early so he didn't slip in the corner because it was so slick. He jumped it kind of big, and we were flying, and then I felt a second bump, and then I was flying off. I went over his right shoulder and landed right on top of my head like a pogo stick. Somehow I also hit my left shoulder (on the back), my right knee, and maybe some other places. I looked up in time to see him running at Bob (and I thought, thank god, I can get back on and do that again), then according to Bob, Mercury gave him the finger and took off. He ran past all the jumps (the observers said they thought he was going to jump them), ran past all the warm ups, ran past the barn, and ran past the trailers. He didn't quite make it the road, but he made sure there was no chance of me getting back on and finishing the ride, and also made sure I'd have to walk past every single person so they'd all know I fell off. The jump observers told me they gave me a 9 for the fall. It was fairly spectacular.
So that was it. I was eliminated. I went and looked at the scores after, and even with time penalties (not a fall penalty), I would have stayed in first. Bob had told me not to worry about the time because he'd rather we lost 1st than Mercury slip and get scared and not enjoy it.
What he told me afterwards was that the second bump I felt was Mercury's back end, and that the only thing I could have done to avoid falling off was to hang on to the breastplate strap. Since I never ride hanging onto it (despite his advice on Saturday), and I didn't know there was going to be a second bump until I was already in the air, I'm counting this as not my fault. Bob said what was good to learn from it was that Mercury can really, really jump. He said he was already way overjumping before the second bump (which was his butt coming up higher than his head; that's why I went off over his shoulder and why it took me by surprise). He said he looked like Hercules; with his legs tucked up tight and just jumping for the moon. He also said that I need to learn to not look at the placing and not care, because he thinks part of it was I was also nervous about keeping 1st place and trying to make the time.
I'm disappointed, and made it past everyone ok, cooled him down, then sat in the car and cried. When I went back out to watch the rest, Bob and his crew (Ken, one of the owners, and a couple other guys) made a lot of jokes. Like about rockets and booster seats.
We've got a lot to work on. There's no way we could go to Novice yet (even though it's only a couple inches higher) because we're not ready for the speed, combinations, and need to be more consistent. It surprised me how well we did in Dressage. Saturday two people scored higher than me (27s), but one of them had trouble on the jump course.
Some other miscellaneous observations: there were a huge number of humongous trailers (with apartments), camping vans (not just trucks with campers on the back), and full blown RVs. I was in awe since it was just a derby. I was the only tent camper.
I learned more watching the other riders with Bob than from lots of my lessons (because I could actually see what was happening instead of trying to ride at the same time). Most everyone who had problems on the ditch and the bank were looking down, so their horses stopped. Several riders had a "go faster" approach, which just made me cringe. It was really useful to listen to his comments while looking at the same thing he was.
At the same time, sitting out on the course then hanging out with Bob, I learned a lot of behind the scenes things. I have an entirely increased appreciation for the volunteers and I'm going to try to volunteer at some of the events I don't ride in (it actually is fun to watch other people). I also have less appreciation for some of the self-centered riders who complain about things instead of taking responsibility. I'd, personally, rather know I need to learn how to do a ditch at a derby (and early in the season), than blame the course. I was also surprised by the number of people who didn't know the rules, then complained because they didn't win. And at the end of the day, tons of people went out and schooled, which really surprised me. I took Mercury out to eat some grass and stretch his legs during a break in the rain, but I wouldn't have dreamed of riding him again.
One more interesting thing was that other than the jump off the bank (which felt jerky) and my inability to get him to trot the two jumps before the bank (which should have clued me in something was wrong), our jumping actually felt really solid and together. I wasn't jumping ahead or getting left behind, my legs felt really, really secure, and the sitting before each fence meant my body bends at the right time. We really feel improved from last summer. Bob said my legs still swing, but not as bad, and that Mercury is starting to look really good. He's said a couple times now Mercury is a good horse with a big heart. I'm not perfect all the way around, but I think I can feel the mistakes, and sometimes feel them just before they happen (though I'm not always fast enough to make corrections).
By the way, his Sunday braids looked a lot better. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture. And no, no one took a picture of my spectacular fall. We probably could have won something on a funniest video, with the ping pong head replayed over and over to the laugh track.
If the next show (for me) isn't until the end of July, that gives us a lot of time to work on dressage and jumping. I think a lot of improvements can be made just from ground pole work (Mercury needs to learn where to take off and how high to jump). It will be interesting to see how consistent we are the rest of the season.
This was better than I expected (especially for the number of competitors), but not as good as I hoped. Which says more about me and what I hope for (especially with my tiny amount of riding because of work all winter), than about reality. I think it was good for me to finally "lose" and as Bob says, Mercury keeps me humble. And I guess it's better to have a good story than just be average, though I'm ashamed because Bob wants consistency and I wasn't consistent.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
"Dressage" Lesson on 4/14/07
I planned to have a dressage lesson, but I have been having a lot of problems with trot poles, and we ended up working on those instead. Last week, Bob said that it would be good to strengthen his back to work him over the trot poles a couple of times a week, even on the lunge line. Mid-week I lunged Mercury with a trot pole at 12 and 6, and it was a disaster. He dragged his feet over them and would knock them out of the holders OR he'd leap them from 5 feet out. It was agonizing. Then on Friday I lunged him with two poles end to end (so he couldn't run around them) just on one end and it was equally bad. Earlier in the week I had ridden him over three poles on the ground at 3' apart, and it was so bad I only tried it twice.
I saw Bob mid-week and he told me it was probably the rider's fault, and I thought "no way", but sure enough, he was right.
And it was a pretty simple solution: we weren't going fast enough. It took a while to catch on, and what I ultimately had to do was ride a 2-point (in my dressage saddle) with my reins bridged, so other than controlling his speed and pointing him at the middle of the poles, I basically stayed out of the way. Once we got the correct speed (which is about 17 steps down the long side of the arena), he just glided right over them.
There were a couple good take home lessons from this. One is that he just doesn't know. I keep forgetting and expecting more from him than he knows how to do. He gets frustrated, and I do too. He just didn't understand what I wanted him to do. Second is how many things that seem little I do wrong, and how something I do wrong somewhere else (don't make him work hard enough on the lunge line) can affect something that seems unrelated to me. For example, when he finally does the big, moving trot, I can barely post it. It throws my whole body out of whack and I boing around on my toes with my upper body flopping around like a noodle.
We worked our way up to 6 poles in a row, about 3' apart, and he might touch a couple of them, but he did really well compared to the difficult week.
I saw Bob mid-week and he told me it was probably the rider's fault, and I thought "no way", but sure enough, he was right.
And it was a pretty simple solution: we weren't going fast enough. It took a while to catch on, and what I ultimately had to do was ride a 2-point (in my dressage saddle) with my reins bridged, so other than controlling his speed and pointing him at the middle of the poles, I basically stayed out of the way. Once we got the correct speed (which is about 17 steps down the long side of the arena), he just glided right over them.
There were a couple good take home lessons from this. One is that he just doesn't know. I keep forgetting and expecting more from him than he knows how to do. He gets frustrated, and I do too. He just didn't understand what I wanted him to do. Second is how many things that seem little I do wrong, and how something I do wrong somewhere else (don't make him work hard enough on the lunge line) can affect something that seems unrelated to me. For example, when he finally does the big, moving trot, I can barely post it. It throws my whole body out of whack and I boing around on my toes with my upper body flopping around like a noodle.
We worked our way up to 6 poles in a row, about 3' apart, and he might touch a couple of them, but he did really well compared to the difficult week.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Jump Lesson - April 7, 2007
The Happ's derby is just a couple weeks away, so I had another jump lesson after the last jump lesson's horrifyingly embarrassing fall. This time I put up baby jumps (not that many of them), but with enough twists and turns that we would work on skill, since we clearly don't need to work on height.
It was actually a very good lesson. I have to keep looking up, not down, and push him forward to each jump instead of just thinking he'll go over it (he doesn't stop, or even hesitate, he's just lazy). There's actually not that much to report that isn't the same old: sit a few steps before, give him half halts and squeeze him on, think head up, hands forward the whole way over, look where I'm going ...
There are three main exercises to do before the show: conditioning (gallop him out in the pasture - this should be interesting given he tends to spook out there and the other time I fell off of him was out in the pasture when he spooked at a bird); ground poles on the lunge line and riding (to condition him with leg lifting exercise), and practicing the dressage tests without the martingale on.
I was going to do a gallop conditioning today (since it's Sunday), but work and homework took too long and now it's raining, so I guess today will be a ground pole day.
It was actually a very good lesson. I have to keep looking up, not down, and push him forward to each jump instead of just thinking he'll go over it (he doesn't stop, or even hesitate, he's just lazy). There's actually not that much to report that isn't the same old: sit a few steps before, give him half halts and squeeze him on, think head up, hands forward the whole way over, look where I'm going ...
There are three main exercises to do before the show: conditioning (gallop him out in the pasture - this should be interesting given he tends to spook out there and the other time I fell off of him was out in the pasture when he spooked at a bird); ground poles on the lunge line and riding (to condition him with leg lifting exercise), and practicing the dressage tests without the martingale on.
I was going to do a gallop conditioning today (since it's Sunday), but work and homework took too long and now it's raining, so I guess today will be a ground pole day.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
3/25/07 - Dressage lesson - another month break!
A series of things went haywire so I missed a few lessons. I was out of town for a week. Then Mercury was acting lame, so one lesson Bob lunged him, then floated his teeth and adjusted him a little. The next week I was all anxious about stuff going on at work and I just talked to Bob the whole time.
But this week - Eureka! Mercury stayed kind of lame, so I was riding him easy, and when the chiropractor came out, it turns out he had his normal ribs out, but his shoulder was doing something a little funky. (His hips were finally good, and we suspect the shoulder went out because of the risers and the change in his leg posture.) I gave him two days off (one day on purpose, one day because of work), then when I rode him Saturday he felt totally normal again. In fact, better than normal. He almost floats and seems more energetic after a visit with the chiropractor.
Today's lesson was a dressage lesson, and I was complaining about how he drags his feet, so Bob got a lunge whip and had me ride him in a circle around him, and then he smacked the whip. Wow! Mercury can really move! He moved so fast I could hardly ride him. (I had to post on my toes.) And not just fast, but big reaching steps. It was really cool. And then when I got off the circle and rode him around the arena, we lost a little bit, but it still felt really big and moving.
Then we cantered, and Bob focused on the air between my butt and the saddle. He said it is coming from my hands. I have hard hands and I lock them in place, which means I lock my shoulders, which means the whole top half of me tilts forward, which means my butt comes out of the saddle. I have to think the same thing that I do for the sitting trot, about having my belly ride out in front of me, which feels and looks weird, but feels good in my seat.
I am also opening my knees with the constant squeezing trying to make him go forward, so I am doing now Bob's routine - one kick, a yell, and a smack with the whip. And more notice that I'm about to ask him for something.
Then at the end, because Mercury was huffing and puffing, we worked on a nice calm walk on the bit. Mercury gets nervous when I pick up the contact, so we walked and walked and walked and walked until he relaxed and didn't do a little jig. Bob said to try to do one lap without the jig, then two laps, etc.
The big things to work on this week are: hands soft but still (lots and lots of half halts); NO leaning on my hands by Mercury (Bob took the reins and showed me what leaning is. I thought leaning was heavy pulling my arms out of the sockets, but leaning is also much lighter than that. My shoulders have been getting sore in the front, and that's why.); nice quiet walk with contact - no matter how long it takes and doing it in between all other gaits. Bob said I need to be patient and teach him this because it's about trust and no one else is going to teach him. Finally, impulsion! He said that every ride should be the same as today's big steps, and also in the canter.
Next week we're jumping. I think then it's two more weeks then the show. I'm kind of nervous. Bob's been giving me motivational talks. He says I'll be a much better rider once I stop thinking and controlling and analyzing and just feel. I asked why I can't feel yet and he said it's because I'm too controlling, which is extremely insightful.
At the end Bob said good job, which is rare praise.
But this week - Eureka! Mercury stayed kind of lame, so I was riding him easy, and when the chiropractor came out, it turns out he had his normal ribs out, but his shoulder was doing something a little funky. (His hips were finally good, and we suspect the shoulder went out because of the risers and the change in his leg posture.) I gave him two days off (one day on purpose, one day because of work), then when I rode him Saturday he felt totally normal again. In fact, better than normal. He almost floats and seems more energetic after a visit with the chiropractor.
Today's lesson was a dressage lesson, and I was complaining about how he drags his feet, so Bob got a lunge whip and had me ride him in a circle around him, and then he smacked the whip. Wow! Mercury can really move! He moved so fast I could hardly ride him. (I had to post on my toes.) And not just fast, but big reaching steps. It was really cool. And then when I got off the circle and rode him around the arena, we lost a little bit, but it still felt really big and moving.
Then we cantered, and Bob focused on the air between my butt and the saddle. He said it is coming from my hands. I have hard hands and I lock them in place, which means I lock my shoulders, which means the whole top half of me tilts forward, which means my butt comes out of the saddle. I have to think the same thing that I do for the sitting trot, about having my belly ride out in front of me, which feels and looks weird, but feels good in my seat.
I am also opening my knees with the constant squeezing trying to make him go forward, so I am doing now Bob's routine - one kick, a yell, and a smack with the whip. And more notice that I'm about to ask him for something.
Then at the end, because Mercury was huffing and puffing, we worked on a nice calm walk on the bit. Mercury gets nervous when I pick up the contact, so we walked and walked and walked and walked until he relaxed and didn't do a little jig. Bob said to try to do one lap without the jig, then two laps, etc.
The big things to work on this week are: hands soft but still (lots and lots of half halts); NO leaning on my hands by Mercury (Bob took the reins and showed me what leaning is. I thought leaning was heavy pulling my arms out of the sockets, but leaning is also much lighter than that. My shoulders have been getting sore in the front, and that's why.); nice quiet walk with contact - no matter how long it takes and doing it in between all other gaits. Bob said I need to be patient and teach him this because it's about trust and no one else is going to teach him. Finally, impulsion! He said that every ride should be the same as today's big steps, and also in the canter.
Next week we're jumping. I think then it's two more weeks then the show. I'm kind of nervous. Bob's been giving me motivational talks. He says I'll be a much better rider once I stop thinking and controlling and analyzing and just feel. I asked why I can't feel yet and he said it's because I'm too controlling, which is extremely insightful.
At the end Bob said good job, which is rare praise.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Jump lesson on 2/24/07
I started with my leftover questions from last week. I confirmed the counterintuitive idea that you half halt on the outside, constant rein to get the horse to turn his head to the inside (away from the hand that is half halting). Mercury wouldn't turn his head, but Bob said yes, that's how it works.
A turn on the forehand has the head turned to the right if you're going left.
The moving sideways that's not a half pass that I am totally blanking on the name, head goes opposite the way you're going so that the horse can counter balance (like a baby horse who turns his head to the outside of the lead he's cantering on). So if I'm going right, his head bends left. (Half-pass is more advanced because the head goes the same direction as the body.)
Hips. To shift hips when asking for canter, for the right lead, you shift down into your right hip (so you free up your left hip) because he is pushing forward with his left hind leg. For the not-quite-a-half-pass thing, it is shifted to the outside - not the way you are going. So if you're moving left, it's your right hip that is pushing down and your left hip that is light, so he can step left. It is like pushing your leg straight, not bending over. This feels weird, so I need to practice it.
So I set up the jumps for a jump lesson today. It was a big test to see if I could go Beginner Novice at the upcoming derby (end of April), or if I needed to ride Hopeful again. I don't want to be all egotistical and arrogant, but I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I think it's for riders who are more beginner than me and for horses who are not as eager about jumping as Mercury. We certainly have tons to work on, but I think it's a special entry level category. We might have to stay in Beginner Novice a long time, but I don't think we should stay in Hopeful.
So Beginner Novice is 2'7" at this show, and that is a big change from 2'0" that we were doing last summer. So I set up two big jumps (3'2"), three medium jumps (2'3"), and one small. We ended up not using my line of 3 (24', 48'), and just using the 2 (48') for a line. There was also one oxer that was not that broad or high.
Mercury was good again. The immediate problems were the same as last year - I launch forward, pinching with my knees and letting my legs swing way up, OR I flop over and don't give him any release and then punish him with my hands by jerking on his mouth. I also tend to slam back into the saddle on his poor back. More often I launch forward, but since he doesn't really know where to take off, I sometimes get left behind.
So we did jumps at the trot, then little combinations, then jumps at the canter. What really helped was if I do a 2-point for several steps, then sit before the jump. That makes my legs stay heavy (no heels lifted which means no leg swinging up behind me). The difference is amazing, I feel totally solid and comfortable, it allows me to bend over properly (not flop forward and flop back into the saddle), and it lets me do a normal release.
My homework this week, which is unfortunately a low riding week and a missed lesson because I have to travel for work, is to practice my 2 point and pushing my heels down. If on the flat my leg is swinging, put rubber bands between the stirrups and girth (something frowned upon for legal reasons) to help hold the stirrups in place so my legs feel the proper place to be. Next lesson will mostly be dressage/flat, but Bob said we'll do a couple jumps at the end.
Unlike last week, which was apparently just my brain not working because what seemed impossible on Saturday during the lesson was doable on Sunday, I did much better with riding dressage between the jumps. I talk or count (1-2-3-4 or head-hands-heels) on the way to the jump, think: "deep, half halt, half halt, half halt, GO", and keep my head up and looking ahead. I have a very bad habit of looking down at the jump as we go over it - I don't realize I'm looking down even, but I can feel the difference in Mercury and me if I concentrate on looking at the wall on the other end of the arena.
So it wasn't perfect, but was a reassuring lesson, and then Bob raised the jump, and I was talking about the show, and saying "What if I can't jump 2'7" and I fall off?" and Bob said "If you fall off over 2'7", you don't deserve to be jumping yet anyway." He switched one of the jumps to be bigger, said Mercury would probably be nervous about it so to talk to him and ride him strongly to it (he had tried to canter a couple times and I had pulled him off the jump which Bob said to just let him canter over it because it looks big to him), and I fell off. Bob said Mercury jumped like 5', but that I was falling off while we were over the jump. I had his neck with my arms, but I couldn't get my legs around him, so I rolled off, and he just stopped and looked at me, confused becuase I was on the ground. Bob lowered the jump just a little, we did it again (really big and afterwards he put his head in the air and ran), and then stopped for the day. He said it was actually a 3'2" jump, to make up for me just asking about 2'7".
Mercury has a good heart. He is kind of lazy, but he tries hard, he doesn't refuse, and once he figures something out, he will do it again without you have to repeat every single little detail.
A turn on the forehand has the head turned to the right if you're going left.
The moving sideways that's not a half pass that I am totally blanking on the name, head goes opposite the way you're going so that the horse can counter balance (like a baby horse who turns his head to the outside of the lead he's cantering on). So if I'm going right, his head bends left. (Half-pass is more advanced because the head goes the same direction as the body.)
Hips. To shift hips when asking for canter, for the right lead, you shift down into your right hip (so you free up your left hip) because he is pushing forward with his left hind leg. For the not-quite-a-half-pass thing, it is shifted to the outside - not the way you are going. So if you're moving left, it's your right hip that is pushing down and your left hip that is light, so he can step left. It is like pushing your leg straight, not bending over. This feels weird, so I need to practice it.
So I set up the jumps for a jump lesson today. It was a big test to see if I could go Beginner Novice at the upcoming derby (end of April), or if I needed to ride Hopeful again. I don't want to be all egotistical and arrogant, but I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I think it's for riders who are more beginner than me and for horses who are not as eager about jumping as Mercury. We certainly have tons to work on, but I think it's a special entry level category. We might have to stay in Beginner Novice a long time, but I don't think we should stay in Hopeful.
So Beginner Novice is 2'7" at this show, and that is a big change from 2'0" that we were doing last summer. So I set up two big jumps (3'2"), three medium jumps (2'3"), and one small. We ended up not using my line of 3 (24', 48'), and just using the 2 (48') for a line. There was also one oxer that was not that broad or high.
Mercury was good again. The immediate problems were the same as last year - I launch forward, pinching with my knees and letting my legs swing way up, OR I flop over and don't give him any release and then punish him with my hands by jerking on his mouth. I also tend to slam back into the saddle on his poor back. More often I launch forward, but since he doesn't really know where to take off, I sometimes get left behind.
So we did jumps at the trot, then little combinations, then jumps at the canter. What really helped was if I do a 2-point for several steps, then sit before the jump. That makes my legs stay heavy (no heels lifted which means no leg swinging up behind me). The difference is amazing, I feel totally solid and comfortable, it allows me to bend over properly (not flop forward and flop back into the saddle), and it lets me do a normal release.
My homework this week, which is unfortunately a low riding week and a missed lesson because I have to travel for work, is to practice my 2 point and pushing my heels down. If on the flat my leg is swinging, put rubber bands between the stirrups and girth (something frowned upon for legal reasons) to help hold the stirrups in place so my legs feel the proper place to be. Next lesson will mostly be dressage/flat, but Bob said we'll do a couple jumps at the end.
Unlike last week, which was apparently just my brain not working because what seemed impossible on Saturday during the lesson was doable on Sunday, I did much better with riding dressage between the jumps. I talk or count (1-2-3-4 or head-hands-heels) on the way to the jump, think: "deep, half halt, half halt, half halt, GO", and keep my head up and looking ahead. I have a very bad habit of looking down at the jump as we go over it - I don't realize I'm looking down even, but I can feel the difference in Mercury and me if I concentrate on looking at the wall on the other end of the arena.
So it wasn't perfect, but was a reassuring lesson, and then Bob raised the jump, and I was talking about the show, and saying "What if I can't jump 2'7" and I fall off?" and Bob said "If you fall off over 2'7", you don't deserve to be jumping yet anyway." He switched one of the jumps to be bigger, said Mercury would probably be nervous about it so to talk to him and ride him strongly to it (he had tried to canter a couple times and I had pulled him off the jump which Bob said to just let him canter over it because it looks big to him), and I fell off. Bob said Mercury jumped like 5', but that I was falling off while we were over the jump. I had his neck with my arms, but I couldn't get my legs around him, so I rolled off, and he just stopped and looked at me, confused becuase I was on the ground. Bob lowered the jump just a little, we did it again (really big and afterwards he put his head in the air and ran), and then stopped for the day. He said it was actually a 3'2" jump, to make up for me just asking about 2'7".
Mercury has a good heart. He is kind of lazy, but he tries hard, he doesn't refuse, and once he figures something out, he will do it again without you have to repeat every single little detail.
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