First jump lesson of the year

During the dark, dreary days of winter, Willig was mostly jump-free. I can only think of two times I jumped him (though there could have been a couple other efforts that I forgot) - once inside over a simple vertical (2'), which he did consistently with no hitches, which led me to take him outside last weekend, where he was a total jerk-face and tried to buck me off several times. I already had a lesson for January and a lesson for February with Shannon scheduled - as much as I can squeeze in because of a big vacation in March and a little too much going on, so his misbehavior and my massive, massive disappointment and frustration, was well timed to talk with Shannon at the first lesson.
We chatted a bit, then she set up two jumps (two of the plastic blocks that become 2' when vertical) with ground lines on either side, the "usual" distance apart (which I need to look up from a prior lesson). So I rode him in a circle, first over just one, then over both, then she converted one from a cross rail to a vertical, then the other, then one turned into an oxer; and of course, both directions.
While it wasn't perfection, it was pretty smooth, and kind of the "same old same old" instructions - stop jumping ahead & just wait for him; keep my reins shorter and my hands farther up his neck; sit deep and up when approaching the fence; and if he's on the wrong lead, that's his own problem - it's a circle and I'm looking, so he needs to figure out how to land.
Then, against my desire, we went outside, where Shannon set up exactly the same exercise, and we did it outside. Again, without a hitch. Towards the end I got a bit tired, and it was a bit uglier than inside, but it wasn't a big deal.
So the take-aways:
- Don't push him where I want him to be instead of where he is. Ride him inside - if he's good - end with a few minutes outside of the same thing, after he's tired. Build his confidence by successfully doing little challenges instead of making him stressed.
- Shannon pointed out that we're better to the left, because my outside hand is my right hand (the dominant one). Interestingly, that's started to show up cantering also, so I must be doing something with my right hand going to the right (or my body) but I have no idea what.
- Do NOT let him get away with his ping-pong head. He doesn't get to decide where to look, and even when we're just standing there or I'm leading him, I need to be consistent with "pay attention to me and watch scary things out of the corner of your eye".
Overall, it was a nice lesson, a good confidence builder for both of us, and gave me the structure that I need to start working him over fences again.
Another post (I'm so tired, all the time), I'll talk about my "plan", which is to put him up for sale while concurrently working him much harder and more consistently over fences, to see if he can make the same kind of progress there that he did with the dressage. (We don't think it's the fences or the jumping, just the stimuli outside.) Also, Shannon said I can ride her horse to be reminded what it's like to jump where it isn't a terrifying sweat-fest.

Blanket Temperatures

In October, Practical Horseman had an incredibly useful (and missed by me until January) blanket guide.
For a horse like Willig who is in the barn at night, turned out during the day, and has a partial clip:
60 F - Turnout sheet if rainy or windy
50 F - Turnout sheet
40 F - Lightweight turnout
30 F - Midweight turnout
20 F - Midweight turnout
10 F and below - Heavyweight turnout & hood

And here's the blanket insulation and how it translates:
0 grams - Sheet
100 grams - Lightweight
200 grams - Midweight
300 grams - Heavyweight

I suspect I have been WAY overblanketing him.
Due to his sensitive skin, I also try to use high neck or hood as much as I can for rain.

Saddle ranking upset

Yesterday I rode in an Albion SLK Ultima, MW 17 1/2". It was divine. It was almost as great as Mike's Regal. I didn't have quite the soft, cemented seat that I did in the Regal, but it was pretty close.
So the ranking is now, well, it doesn't matter - Albion and Regal are basically neck and neck.
The downside I'm seeing with the Regal is that the used ones are almost impossible to find, and since they are all custom, would need to be adjusted and might not feel like Mike's, depending on the specifications of the person who first bought it. And the Albion is cheaper new than a custom-made Regal, but about the same price and almost as hard to find used.
There are some lower Albions - the Ultima I think is the grippy leather, and the SLK is another feature, so it might be interesting to try to find some of the other Albions and see how they compare.
Of the three Washington tack stores, there are only a handful of 17.5, MW, and none in the Albion and no Regals at all.
This could be a long, long process.

First three saddle test ride results

Holding steady in first place, not surprisingly, is the Regal saddle of my trainer's:
http://www.regalsaddles.ca/saddles.htm
http://www.horsetackreview.com/review-display/11243.html
I have found one for sale used.
As I described in the post below, the heavens opened up and angels sang when I rode in this one. Everything about it was perfection. That may have been because Mike broke it in? I found a bad review online and heard about a similar experience for the customer service.

Second place, the Anky Euro XCH saddle:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/anky-euro-xch-dressage-saddle/p/X1-15645/cn/1707/
http://www.horsetackreview.com/review-display/9422.html
This one was a much closer second than I expected. I could not sit quite as well and the saddle didn't hold me effortlessly in exactly the right position so that I could use all my aids by just breathing what I wanted. It was a 17.5" MW, and my knee didn't quite make it to the front roll, so maybe I need a 17"?
A very close second though. I really want to try it in 17".

Third place, the Niedersuss Symphony:
http://dressagestars.com/symphony__6.html
http://www.horsetackreview.com/review-display/4222.html
I loved what this one did with my seat - especially in the walk, I could really feel him respond to my hip bones and forward motion. But I had to keep pushing my knee back really hard to keep it from riding up on the knee roll. It also kept my lower leg really stable and still.

Fourth place, my existing saddle, the Dover's Circuit:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/circuit-dressage-saddle/p/X1-15012/cn/91/
When I got this two years ago, I had to buy two new saddles because neither of my existing saddles fit Willig (but fit the thoroughbred), and sadly, it appears that I ignorantly bought the wrong size. It was a screaming deal (I did some math today and it has been about $1.67/ride!), but now that I have tried the other saddles, it is like riding around on a greased bouncy ball. While it has probably taught me some extra super duper awareness of my legs, it has also made my life that much harder. This may be because it is a wide, and the other saddles have all been regular or medium or medium-wide (whatever the makers call "regular"), and so this saddle has never fit Willig properly.

Fortunately, two more of the delightful wonderful fellow boarders have offered to let me try their dressage saddles, and I am going to go by the tack store and sit in a bunch this weekend to see if any others leap out at me like Mike's did.

Ba-da-bing!! Your saddle fit really does make a difference (duh).

On the 19th I had one of my (best efforts) twice-a-month lessons with Mike. I wanted to cancel, because from the last lesson to this one, I only got to ride about 5 times (about half what I wanted). All I can say is thank goodness I didn't.
It was the best lesson and quite likely, the best ride of my life.
Five key points:
1. Straighten my leg now, not push my lower leg back. I have to think about making my knee and thigh straight, but it is pretty amazing how straight and how far back they go. It is still taking some getting used to with my seat though, when they hang directly under me. But from the beginning (knee bent up in front of the saddle flap) to now - wow.
2. Rein pressure is "cradling a baby". It is both heavier than I am capable of remembering in between lessons, but if this makes any sense at all, with a soft hand. I pull back (thinking the classic elbows to hips) and when he gives with his head (which I can feel! yay!) I praise him.
3. Keep improving my position from my last lesson: butt wipes the saddle in the canter, and the slightly different but similar for the sitting trot. I also need to lean back a little more. Work on sitting the trot with 1/2 the finger strength (which is, entirely, Dumbo's feather).
4. Ride a stretchy circle - play with my reins as I let them out so the contact stays there.
**5.** (What made this the best ride of my life.) Mike had his saddle out (a custom-made Ryder (?) for his super nice horse, Pablo) for the lesson before mine, and we had been doing quite well and I had finally proven that I am capable of actually practicing what he is telling me in between lessons (like keeping my &*#&* heel down), and so he said that I was doing well, let's see if the saddle was holding Willig back any (he said, in the very first lesson, that it didn't fit him properly). I'm not sure it was holding Willig back, but let's just say it was - fireworks - stars in my eyes - a 100x improvement - and oh, uh, yeah - the best ride of my life. I just SAT in Mike's saddle and was like "oh". I have never - in my entire life - sat in a saddle that fit properly before. The light bulb went off. The saddle was comfortable. It helped me. I didn't have to fight it to ride.
As a result, we could do anything. I could sit the trot. I could lengthen and shorten his stride with just my seat. I could bend him. I could get him up on the bit. I didn't have to fight my legs or my heels or my hips. It was completely eye-opening.
And of course, now I have to come up with the money (we are definitely going to have to do used) and find the right saddle for Willig, because I don't even want to ride again in my sucky non-fitting saddle and lose the feeling of riding in Mike's. I could have ridden in it all day. I don't even know why I'd jump - it was so amazing to just ride in it. I wish I had one for work, to sit at my desk.
Oh yeah, and Willig? Once I quit flapping around up there, he just responded beautifully. Like a Ferrari.
Why in the world would I have been making something I'm not particularly gifted at, on a horse who is relatively sensitive, doing things slightly above my level, mostly by myself, 500 times harder by poorly fitting tack?
So Step 1 - new dressage saddle.
Step 2 is tied between the new (light weight) trailer or a new jump saddle - because if it even makes 1/2 the difference, it will be totally worth it to feel solid over the fences.
Mike has my undying devotion now. He has been right on about everything (like to just wait to jump until we reached a certain point in dressage, and lo and behold, that worked too once I quit jumping for a couple months and focused like he suggested), and has, in 6 months, made me a better rider than all my experience in my life so far.

Misc

From my last lesson - more transitions = more listening to my aids. Willig responds really well to this.
And Mike has an article about judging dressage in the January Flying Changes:
http://www.flyingchanges.com/

Sheath cleaning

For my records - Willig's sheath, tail, and lower legs got cleaned during the surprise nice weather we had yesterday. His tail was pretty dandruffy and his sheath had a surprising amount of gunk - no big beans, but still, a fair amount.
I jumped him today over a little 2' vertical, and he was just as great as could be. I woke up in the middle of the night last night - out of nowhere afraid to jump him - and one of the other evening riders was there with me tonight so I just set up the one pole and jumped it both ways from the trot, canter (2x each, each direction) and then a trot, canter, trot. Not a blip.
Also, we have a "new" boarder at the barn, and she was the prior boarder I heard about who had a horse with hives too. Not good news - she tried pretty much every single thing imaginable and nothing worked.

Out of order - my December lesson with Mike

December was not my greatest month for riding. At the beginning we were still working on the hives, and then work and the holidays actually resulted in less riding, rather than more, like I hoped for.
So I am about to do something novel, and compare a lesson with Mike to the Biggest Loser. But trust me, it makes sense.
So this lesson, what I heard Mike say during the lesson was: "Do not make me tell you one more time to put your heels down. I know you can do it." This is in a very mild, slightly reproachful tone of voice. One that I know *I* wouldn't be able to keep if I was telling someone something obvious for the oh, 200th time in 5 months.
So the way I remembered it was like this:
http://vodpod.com/watch/1302442-trainer-bob-harpers-meltdown-biggest-loser-joelle
Now, I apologize, the link is very long, but two minutes in you have the full impact of every single time I got on Willig and I thought "put those f**&*ing heels down" (to myself).
What else was this lesson about? Well, that was all I really walked away with. But it turns out, I'm capable of working on one thing at a time.
Mike agreed that the alfalfa diet may be helping Willig, although most of the stuff I read said "no alfalfa-only diets".
He also said to think of Willig as an introvert, who needs me to be assertive about what we're doing. This was hugely helpful for me, instead of thinking of him like an asshole who is willfully disobedient.
I spent the two really cold weeks and another hivey week teaching Willig on the lunge line not to sproing his head up like a giraffe every time we went past the door to the outside. While it was interesting how quickly Willig learned (and applied his new knowledge), especially with the simple addition of treats, my error in this was that I ... taught Willig to run around on his forehand. So thankfully, Mike saw me lunging and corrected that too.
We also "graduated" from draw reins all the time to draw reins when he's having a bobbly head-idiot day. Mike pointed out when it's cold and rainy, sometimes they need that 20 minutes to be an idiot and get it out, then get down to work. (This was also a huge success for the rest of the month before my next lesson.)
We continued to work on a "20 meter" size arena - off the rail instead of going right along the wall.
Mike also suggested that we continue to work our way down to the scary zone, not just shoot right down there, but wait until I've got Willig controlled and bending and working properly, then get a little closer and a little closer. Again, who knows what it is, but most horses develop a fear of it, and Mike said he's been here 10 years and sees them scared of it all the time. It's actually, I can't believe my negative personality is saying this, kind of a good thing, because it is helping me know what to do and how to react, how big to react, how to feel a reaction coming, etc., which will apply really well in a scary show situation. Willig is learning to trust me too. Amazingly, every time I have asked him to go past it, nothing has killed him. It may yet, but he's getting a tiny, tiny bit more comfortable.
Did I mention lots of this lesson was about my heels? Go back to the basics and focus on this because it's very important.
We worked a bit on his eye to the inside and momentum, and me asking for it, not just waiting for him to offer it, and bending and looking ahead and me just ignoring the scary side. (Me looking ahead was also a huge success. Another one from my more recent lesson that I forgot to write about in that post was punish (smack with whip) but REWARD (!!!) when he responds. I am a terrible rewarder.
Finally, at the canter, keep thinking about that bike wheelie. I throw the contact away, which was true. I feel the slight lean forward, and I need to think lean back.
My take away message was more consistency, assertiveness, and back to focusing on some basics. I was happy though that I got permission to graduate from the draw reins.

Lacey rider looking for horse

If you go back a few posts in the comments, a local Lacey-dweller introduced herself to me, and is interested in looking for a fun, challenging horse for a partial lease. While I think this will be a great idea for Willig maybe next year, when I am working harder and riding better myself, for this year I decided for now we'd stick with our system.
However, we exchanged several emails and she sounds very experienced, knowledgeable, and looking forward to something a little more challenging than a regular school-horse type.
If you live in the greater Olympia area and read this blog, feel free to read her comment. She's got references, and sounds like she'd be a great addition if you know of a quality horse who could use some extra hours in the saddle.

Willig's hives - what worked

Unfortunately, I can't say exactly what worked, but we are hive free and haven't seen one for at least two, and maybe three, weeks.
Willig is eating 1 flake of alfalfa for breakfast, 1 flake of local for lunch, and 2 flakes of alfalfa and 1 flake of local for dinner.
He's also gaining weight - he weighs the most in the whole time I've owned him, and he actually looks quite good with the weight on.
Then, for supplements, he is getting: Platinum Performance, Platinum Skin & Allergy, Riva's Remedies Equi-Derm (an herbal blend), Probiotics, and Strongid 2X daily wormer, only I stupidly was giving him a double dose for most of the last month.
He gets those am & pm, with a small amount of cob and oats.
I don't know if one of those things is working, or if it's the combination of all of them, but I don't care. He looks good, his skin is shiny, his tail is still dandruffy but not as bad, and he has less smegma on his sheath.
My plan is to keep him on it through early spring, and then let them all run out and see what happens. Next November, when the new hay comes in, I'll probably go ahead and try all of them, but at half-dose, to see if we start early if it keeps them from getting bad.
Also, he's been a much happier horse lately, and I think this spring he'll be ready to try turn-out in the grass!

Another baby step forward!

I'm a bit behind in the blogging. Yesterday was another really amazing lesson with Mike. After the unblogged December lesson (next post up!) I spent my rides working really hard on the basics: heels down.
And it paid off! Mike commented on the difference between 6 months ago when I took my first lesson with him and this ride.
The only downside is now that I have mastered (ok, kinda sorta tamed) Monster #1, it opened the doors to lots and lots of stuff that I have not done before, so while the ride was completely amazing and felt great - it was so new that even if I'd been able to record it all while it was happening, I still probably couldn't get it all down.
First, I have been riding about every other day. Because of Willig's alfalfa-intensive diet (another post to come), he's been a wee bit on the hot side. Not hot like a TB, but hot for him. So I've been doing some lunging and less riding, but trying to get back to riding every day so I can quit the lunging. For the lesson, I got ready a bit early, so I tried riding the hotness out instead of lunging it out. It worked. Yay us.
Second, so we started with looking at the heels - I was worried I was bracing too far forward, so we did some position in the halt.
- Lesson #1: I have been standing up over the pommel. This is balanced, but now I need to start working on moving my leg farther back (towards his butt), which is a very different feel. When my leg is farther back and I stand up (sinking my heel), it is still balanced, but I am over the deep part of the saddle instead of the pommel.
- Lesson #2: To drop my heel, I know it is "lift the toe" but that doesn't really work. What I think about is straightening my leg in the back of the knee. I still have to keep reminding myself.
- Lesson #3: One reason why my heel is always up is because I am always asking Willig to move forward. He is kind of lazy. So we worked next on giving the command - briskly - and then backing it up with the whip. Willig gets very responsive very quickly if I am consistent. If I am confusing with my aids, he stops being responsive. Sounds simple, hard to do when I'm also trying to keep him working in a circle instead of looking at the new horse who walked in the end of the barn.
- Lesson #4: This one is for the future, but I'm doing something funky with my right side (and yes, it is me), that makes him bend right, even when going to the left, and move left if I don't actively stop it. I have no idea what this is yet.
So I demonstrated the heel a bit, we improved balance, and:
- Lesson #5: The proper standing trot position for practice purposes is also, by the way, jump position. It isn't riding around standing over the pommel, but putting your butt back like in a 2 point. This helped quite a bit as well.
- Lesson #6: I am getting better at pushing down, but I still need to work on my toes. They rotate out (especially the right one), and so when I think "down down down" they are rotating around like chicken wings. They need to push forward-down not around-down. This is hard to describe, but it helps me to think to point my toes in. This is one I'll need later when one day I am ready to use spurs.
Which brings me to the next part of the lesson.
Ok, so we monitored my lower leg. It's improved but needs continuous thought and some "clean-up" details still. But it was good enough to move on.
To moving off my aids. Again, not new, but being more consistent, more assertive, and understanding it is ok to ask every 5-10 strides, "no, keep going". As the lesson went on, instead of getting tired, Willig got better and better at this.
Even at walk, we used the thumping side to side legs to get a nice forward walk. I need to stop letting him drag around so his regular walk moves toward the forward walk.
After moving off my aids, we worked a little bit on bending to the inside. Again, this has something to do with my right side and moving off the aids.
Then we worked on canter, where I had made some good progress on my own. So Mike found ways to improve it more.
Canter Lesson #1: Wipe the saddle. Think of sitting on a swing and pumping it up. It's leaning back a bit farther than I do, and really thinking about pushing the swing forward. Willig did really great on this.
And lesson #2: Heels pushing down and forward, not around like chicken wings.
Canter was so improved we went on to sitting trot:
For this, it is a similar movement to canter, where it is sitting on your jean pockets. Mike gave me a good visual with his fingers making four points - your two seat bones, the pubic bone and the tail bone. You sit more on the pubic and tail, but for sitting trot, a bit further back on the tail bone.
It was helpful because another rider was working on the sitting trot when we started to work, so I got to watch her do it well.
I am catching a few steps, and then I lose it again.
Sitting trot lesson #1: This is counter-intuitive for me, but I do "triangle legs" where I lift my legs off and away from the saddle. This makes my legs softer and helps me get deeper in the saddle. (Otherwise, I clench up and perch up on top of the saddle.) Even though I'm lifting my legs off and away, it makes my seat more solid.
lesson #2: We went back to working with a couple fingers on the pommel, working in a small circle, and just thinking of the wiping/bounce but on my jean pockets. Mike says just to practice every day until I feel it.
Actually, that's a good point with the odd right-hand side too. Just like he didn't know I was clamping with my upper thighs until a few lessons ago (when he was talking about a cougar clamped on Willig's back and I thought "Huh" and then relaxed), whatever I'm doing, he can't see, so I need to learn (terrible drum roll) to feel it. Ugh.
So my take-aways:
Keep being conscious of those heels because they're not ready yet to behave without some thought.
Improve them a bit more - thinking toes in and legs farther back. I need to think of some new things for this one and also fix the standing/sitting exercise to be farther back and in posting position.
Work on canter with the heels and legs pushing down and forward. Also work on my up and down transitions. This was a 1-2-3-go, both up and down transitions are a controlling the "wiping" with my seat and then pushing him into it. (We actually slow down to go up and slow down to go down.)
Work on the sitting trot - continue to try to get the feel and use fewer fingers.
It was a great lesson. A bit too much to take away, but really a delightful ride and a really positive experience to look forward to working on.