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.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Monday, April 30, 2007
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.
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