A spread, some serpentines, and an angle

I started today's jump lesson like I'd never been on a horse in my life, or even seen someone ride one on tv. It was excruciating. My body refused to do all of the things I was telling it to, but also refused to default to - ok, nowhere near perfect, but at least riding - behavior. My right seat bone was jabbing into the saddle, and I have no idea what messed up body thing is going on that causes that. Shannon had me jump a teeny cross rail several times without stirrups, first at the trot (if I had been a watcher on the ground, I would have had to shut my eyes because it was so hideous to look at) and then at the canter (a little better, but still close to making eyes bleed). Even without stirrups, my feet wanted to squish into Charlie's sides and I'd be behind, ahead, sideways - any way but just in balance with him. I was about ready to give up - throw in the helmet and just confess that I'd managed to fake my way this far in life and it'd finally caught up with me. So Shannon walked off and was messing around with the fences - although someone had changed them from last week to little intro level, I assumed she was going to have to make them even easier after my spectacle. Instead, she fixed the distance a bit on what I thought was a 3 stride, and changed its direction, turning the second fence from a vertical into an oxer with about a 3' spread. Then she had us ride two little courses - and lo and behold, all that work we've done on the distances, and riding up close to the fence, has had an effect! It went pretty smooth - with me being able to trust that we could fit in one more stride and not launching Charlie from way out. Then we did it again, but with a tight turn to an angle, and so I rode the first fence, the tight turn, and the angle at a more "collected" (pulled together) canter, then went back to the normal, bigger canter for the last couple fences. And again, we did it! So it's the same old same old - keep working on even hands, not bending Charlie to the right, not digging in with my heels, keeping the rhythm even. But the big difference from when I jumped by myself last week was to get him out in front of me - responsive and light to the aids with a bigger canter than I would pick, and then I could slow him down or lengthen him out, but I had him adjustable instead of sluggish. And - a tiny glimmer of hope of progress. I am learning some of this stuff, even if I'm slow. Then we finally had a chance to watch my DVDs from the first two shows together, and other than my doofus moments that even I can clearly see, Shannon pointed out that I have a few chippers on the cross country fences, and that she's done that too, and when she does it, it's looking down at the fence instead of up and out at the next fence. So that's another one to keep in mind - making sure I don't stare down the fences just because they're big and solid and impressive looking.

A 3/4 empty glass; or 1/4 full

Today's lesson was a big slice of humble pie. I struggled at the start with getting Charlie moving forward off my leg, and then gradually, everything else slowly fell apart. My right hand was pulling back, my left hand was twisting, my right heel was scrunching up and digging into his side, my left leg wouldn't stop twitching, and it just went on and on - it was like I couldn't think of more than one part of my body at a time, and the parts that were habits couldn't remember what to do without my brain actively focusing on them. Shannon's message was: one squeeze. If Charlie blows me off, he gets a tap with the whip. If he blows that off, he gets a belt. Then when he moves forward, he gets a pat. So the big obstacles seemed to be my right hand pulling - it never really gives, so Charlie gets tense and stiff on his right side. So I need to think about making sure that it softens when Charlie softens to it. And then my left hand (mostly, but my right hand too), keeping my fingers closed. Every single time my brain stops focusing on them for a second, blammo, they open up again. Keeping my hands steady and even. Push Charlie forward and then softly stop with my hands. And nice forward into the transitions - don't have that moment of "hanging" that I tend to do. And legs long - no heels in Charlie's side. Now, here's the slightly more sophisticated version from last year. My heels don't need to be in Charlie's side when I get him light and responsive off my leg aids. So the real trick right now seems to be me learning how to do that. I suspect that I have bumbled my way through 1st level, and that if I went and looked at the training pyramid, I would realize that I never did the ground level foundation, and that's why 2nd level is like hitting a wall going full speed. I think that what I need is to go back and learn how to get him light and responsive off my leg - get better control over all four of the basics (right & left hand & leg) - and then 2nd level will just flow. After that excruciating start, we did some shoulder-in and haunches-in, and once again, it was pretty much like I'd never even been on a horse before. Shoulder-in steps are: 1) perfectly straight; 2) moving forward with impulsion and on the bit; 3) then inside leg on; 4) then hands move TOGETHER to the inside, like making a circle; 5) then outside leg keeps him from moving his shoulders back to the rail. Legs on shoulder-in are kind of like the canter aid, but with hands moving together on his neck to the inside. Haunches-in is more natural for me. And turn on the haunches is haunches in, and then turn towards the haunches - so sort of like he's making a C and his nose is going to touch his haunches - turning towards the haunches. After we did that, Charlie got much more responsive and light - just like the last lesson, although I am so behind the 8 ball at this point that I have no idea what I was doing or why it made him responsive - I was just glad to feel it. I have to say - if I'm barely firing on 1 cylinder, I am grateful to all those horses in my life who have put up with my lousy riding up until this point. And to trainers who have had to stand there and watch me suffer through a lesson. The positive side is if I've enjoyed riding this much on not even 1 cylinder, man, I'm going to love it when I really learn how to ride. It's going to be spectacular. And it's got to be pretty much just improvement from here. It doesn't feel like I could go much lower and even sit on a horse at this point.

Shoulder-in is NOT the same thing as leg yield

If I had any pride left associated with my ability to ride, I'd have to swallow it after the humiliating lesson I had today. Ok, so first, I realized dimly that the reason that Charlie has been a bit harder to ride is because Shannon has been really busy, so I'm doing most of the riding. And so Charlie is like a living, breathing exhibit of all of my riding flaws right now. I ride crooked, I pound on his poor sides with my legs, and I scrunch up trying to get him to go. So: #1 - One forward aid. If he doesn't respond, it is the aid with the whip. No more kicking, begging, pleading. And no scrunching up my heel into his side - ride with elegant, long draped legs that have contact, but don't squeeze every stride, and definitely no heels lifting up. #2 - Watch my crooked hands. When we're going left, I should see his left eyelashes. For the right, right eyelashes. No more sloppiness on my end here! To help with this - when we're going left (counterclockwise), my right hand is the outside hand. It stays steady and I ask for the bend and flexion with my left leg and left hand, respectively. Always, I ask for collection and contact with both hands. And it is give and release, give and release. Don't forget the release. Riding on the #3 notch on the reins is about right, but my left hand opens and my right hand pulls back, so I have got to keep a careful eye on them and keep them even - in space and in the amount I pull. #3 - I let Charlie ride kind of heavy, pulling down on the forehand and bracing with his mouth. It took Shannon many, many minutes and a lot of different exercises to get him light in my hands. (The good news is, even though she had to stand there repeating herself like a broken record, eventually I did it. So I can do it - I'm not a limp rag up there completely.) This is hard for me to feel because Charlie is already so light (so pulling and bracing feel light to me), but after a few laps with him carrying himself, I was like, "oh." This took asking him to transition, spiraling in and out, and getting my hands and aids consistent. #4 - Transitions when I ask for them. Not 5 or 10 steps later. Walk to trot to walk should be CRISP! Then, I told her I was working on the 2-1 movements, but suspected I wasn't doing them right. I said the turn on the haunches felt awkward. This led to the realization that I don't know how to do shoulder-in and haunches-in. Shannon said, "Ride him in a straight line and then do haunches in" so I did, and she said "Not leg yield! Haunches in!" so I went the other way, and she said "Not leg yield! Haunches in!" and by the third try she said "Show me haunches in." So no wonder haunches in and shoulder-in have seemed so easy - I just leg yield down the long side and call it shoulder-in or haunches-in. This was great to learn (and quickly filled up my head) but excruciating. Ok, I've never been officially taught 2nd level, but why in the world would I think that the movement was just leg yield on the long side? Obviously, I can't underestimate myself. So a shoulder-in and haunches-in are his body straight, and, for haunches-in, a canter aid position leg placement. It's three tracks, but three tracks with only one part of his body moved (butt or shoulders), not his whole body at an angle like in leg yield. A shoulder-in is easier because you think about being about to ride a circle to the inside. To do a turn on the haunches, you ride straight, power-up like a piaffe, do a haunches in, then turn. So the haunches in sets him up for his hind leg to cross. Now I will re-read the dressage books and see if something "clicks". I always wondered why they said shoulder-in should be like the start of a circle and now it's clear.

New shoe for Willig

Let's hope this is his glass slipper and he turns into a sound fairy princess. Today he got a silicone pad and silicone under his orthotic shoe.

We jumped training level height(ish) again!!

Today in my jump lesson, we worked more on keeping the even rhythm, keeping Charlie in front of my leg (this means having "go" when I use a leg aid), and waiting for that spot - retraining my eye on how close we can get. Shannon inched the fence higher and higher until it was training level height, and it is just AMAZING to jump on Charlie! Even if I was sometimes floppy and ugly, he is so smooth over the fence, and training level is just a blast because you're actually finally jumping and flying. This was a great lesson, and cemented for me that I need to continue to work on retraining my eye and cementing some new habits, but that I understand the basics and just need the hours of practice to get them as habit and not something I have to think about. The big lesson, I think, that is an overlap between lessons and among lessons is getting Charlie responsive. I will kick and kick and kick and scrunch up instead of giving one aid and he better respect it. So that is my #1 goal right now - why do I have a hard time with that, and making sure I don't do it when I ride. My mom is in town and afterwards, I made her walk out and stand next to the fence and admire how big it was. I was very proud.

Poof on Charlie!

Today Mike worked with me on the foundation for the second level movements. He noted that one of the judge's notes was very correct, I tend to allow Charlie's reins to get longer and longer, allowing him to stretch out and eventually fall onto his forehand. We used that to continue our work on Charlie being quick and responsive to the aids (collect/lengthen/collect/lengthen, and to do it very promptly off my aid) and focusing a bit more on not letting the reins slither out (or my heels slither up). Mike also had me tighten my abs at the walk, sitting tall, even, quiet, and elegant, and that made an immediate difference in the "poof" in his shoulders - it lightened him instantly. Until I asked for a transition and threw my hands away. So, oddly, every time I ask for an up transition, I let go of the reins. There isn't a lot to say, but there is tons to work on. It is SO COOL to be able to ride Charlie off of my seat, and while I still have the same things to work on, I really feel like we've made some good progress. Once again, I just need some time to practice it the new way to start to make it a habit. Have I mentioned I looovveeee Charlie? He's a darling, and so patient with me.

Charlie's second 1-3 ride

Me & C thinking; C being handsome