Trailer and week 4 (?)

Today the trailer got its twice annual bath; this time at the I-5 truck wash at exit 88.  Thanks to the truck ahead of me, I asked them to clean the inside too, and it came out gorgeous and sparkling.  (For $50)
Then I cleaned under the mats, and much to my dismay, the slight "rust" in the aluminum floor got much worse over the summer.  There is one tiny (not even dime sized) hole and two others forming.  I don't think the trailer is even 4 years old and has been cleaned twice a year (and sprayed with rust protector at least once).
In better news, this week's exercise was three bikes (one outside, about 10 miles, to 14.5, in 50 minutes), one at spin, one for 30 minutes.  Two weights.  And yet I continue to get fatter.

Figure 8 verticals and a corner

We started with some flat work with Brooke.  Mom videoed yesterday, and I noticed Charlie's left lead canter was a bit stilted, with his haunches in down the long side.  Before I even told John, he fixed it by having me bend Charlie to the right both directions.  For the left lead, it was a counter bend, and it shifted his weight so he couldn't keep his haunches in.  But for the right lead, it was to the right to soften his stiff side.  It was interesting how well it worked, but was counterintuitive to what I would have tried to do (a counterbend both directions).
John also had me keep Charlie a bit more active, and that meant a lot more adjustment than I normally do.  For example, he'd have me push him to the outside with the inside leg, then do a half halt with the outside rein with a tap with the whip at the same time, and follow that by closing both legs and asking him to step forward.  We got some really nice trot out of it, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready yet to put all those steps together (or know when to use each one) on my own.
We started with a figure 8, which John gradually raised to be not very big fences.  We had a much harder time with the fence that was a change to the left off of the right lead, even though there was a lot more space to make the turn.  We spent a while making circles each time trying to get the lead, although it wasn't anywhere near as bad as last year.
I had one very pukey jump, and John said that at the last minute, I tried to fix it, but was too close.  He said that at the beginning of the ride, I'm not going to have the flexibility that I do after I've got him going, so I can't make changes at the last second.
We jumped the corner three times.  The first was ok, the second was perfect but we totally knocked it down, and the third was good.  John said not to worry about the knocked down one, it just happens sometimes and there was nothing about the jump he would have changed.
Charlie got quite forward to the fences, and John said the thing he liked the most today was Charlie's willingness to be responsive and to try.  I said it was him being forward, but I think it was the same thing.  I didn't really have to battle him all the way around to just go.
I did need my right heel down more, but in the videos mom and dad took, my form actually looks pretty decent.  My hands and lower leg seem to be pretty still, but there does look like a lot of motion in my upper back, like a vertical see saw going back and forth.
John also had us do some trot lengthening, right in the middle of the fences, which Charlie did absolutely brilliantly.
I asked him why my form last lesson was so bad over the big fence.  He said that Charlie rounds up really high, and I am having to kick him, tighten him, through the combination, so it doesn't really set me up to ride right.  He said because Charlie doesn't knock rails, we don't have to work much on his form, and his bascule is a big pop.  Well, that's the best way I can summarize it.
He also told me not to "curl" my left hand, which when I looked down, I was totally doing.  I think what I need instead are shorter reins.
We also did some haunches in, but I have (surprise) been doing them wrong.  His neck stays bent to the INSIDE, and then haunches come in.  So it is not just sideways, but with a bent neck. For example, if we're going right, his neck is bent right, and then the haunches come in to the right, so his body makes a C shape.  It is not an "I" or lowercase "l" stuck out from the wall, but a curve of his nose towards his tail.

Week 3 of the John Camlin Prelim fitness program

3 days of biking (2 spin; 1 outdoor) - 45 minutes each
Bike is about 4 minutes/mile (so 72 minutes to do 18 miles)
Went to cross road with "103" (102?) on Western Chehalis pulling dogs
Two days of weights (had to travel for work)
3 (?) days of core at home
Rode only 4 days (3 dressage; 1 jump) - no lesson, John in Fresno

Jumping a behemoth

We started today over a stack of three cavaletti, and then John put us straight to work going through the grid.  He then alternated the grid with the corner, from both directions.  If I looked up and over the corner AND counted strides, I could get the right distance (mostly), but if I looked down at it or forgot to count, we'd come in at an odd distance.
John had me put the reins in one hand and the whip in the other, and then smack Charlie and cluck at the same time through the grid twice.  After that, Charlie got a LOT more respectful for the cluck or the whip.  (Although he gave little "screw you" bucks through the grid.  Little ones.)
Then John made the oxer on the end of the grid ginormous.  I asked him at the end how big and he said "not that big" but I think it was over 4'.  (Which probably means it was like 2'9".  Ha ha.)
Charlie jumped like a champ, but my position was pretty bad over the huge grid.  I had to look ahead and watch the back rail from the first corner, or else we drifted.
It was awesome.  We were in the air SO LONG and it was so easy - even with terrible form - to get up and over Charlie's back because there was so much time in the air.  Charlie is so great.

Then we ran through my questions:
- 4 poles on the ground 9' apart, why did Charlie goof it up?  Even if he kicked the one on the end, it was no more than 1' off.  John said the purpose of the exercise is to make it easy for Charlie, and so yes, he "should" be able to adjust that 1', but that's not the point of the exercise.  He said pile some dirt around the base so they don't move so easy.
- 10 meter circle; we spent a lot of time on how I wanted a perfect circle but the measurement wasn't right.  John said to just walk to half way and then go up and down.  He said it is better to work off one cone (in the center) and not make the four.
- Charlie's weight; John said he will tell me if Charlie gets too fat, and if he is cleaning up all his hay, give him more to eat.  I increased it.  He said when Charlie goes into hard work with him (in Dec/Jan), he'll lose 150 pounds that week.  He said Charlie needs the weight to put the muscle on top and that his neck is already starting to fill out a little.  I increased it to 1 1/2 scoops strategy am & pm; 3 flakes Timothy am & pm; and he gets 2 flakes local pm.
- I asked him why my left leg sticks out all the time.  He said it is probably coming from my hip.  He said try to think of clamping the dollar bill - not under my knee, but on the part of my calf that connects to the knee.  He said you can ride without your knees touching (and made me do it at the trot, then in a two point), and in fact, it kind of prevents you from pivoting around your knee when you jump because when you close your leg, it closes the whole leg instead of just the knee.

Charlie got quite sweaty.  I haven't clipped him yet, but hope to tomorrow or over Thanksgiving.

Dressage in draw reins

Jessica hauled out with us and had a jump lesson before our dressage lesson.  When John came out with the draw reins, I assumed they were for her, but lo and behold, they were for me and Charlie.  And good lord they were a good choice.  John wanted to see how Charlie was doing without me having to fight with him about his frame (he told me after the lesson ended) and how Charlie was doing was moving like a dreamboat.  We did 8 meter circles, 10 meter circles, and 12 meter circles, leg yield at the trot and canter, and shoulder-in.  We did "medium" (not lengthened) trot, and Charlie lifted up like a motorboat taking off and just soared down the wall.  He got a lot of "good boys" from me during the lesson.
At the end, John told me that he could tell that when he rode Charlie (around September 3, the lesson before Aspen), I obviously was watching him, watched what he did, and watched how Charlie reacted, and then tried to incorporate it.  Which is true, but I think he is giving me too much credit for doing it successfully.  He said that at the canter, I've been behind the motion - trying to get Charlie to step up or go faster and then - eventually - going forward when Charlie is going backwards and not helping him with his legs.  But he said this time, I figured out the driving forward seat, and was using it properly.  I was glowing with the compliment, even though I felt like I totally didn't deserve it.  I thought it was just dumb luck that Charlie was moving so great during a lesson.
Jessica said after it looked like I had a dressage seat, and I said yeah, that's how it felt.  Like I was riding and thought "oh, this is why dressage riders look like this when they ride."
Next week I have to miss Thursday, so John said we'd jump on Saturday.  I asked didn't I need dressage more than jumping, and he said jumping was the reason the son shone.  I agree completely.
I am so, so, so lucky in life to have a great horse like Charlie and a great trainer like John and the means to be able to go down there and ride with him.  He is such an incredible instructor.

Man, I love being in a jump saddle

We had a jump lesson tonight.  Charlie was his usual fantastic self, after the first trip through the grid which sounded like he just decided to blast straight through as if there were no fences there.
First we did a line of three (?) ground poles that were 9-10' apart.  Then John turned them into a cross rail, then a vertical, and my job was to just stay in my two point and let Charlie figure it out.  I would send him forward on the long side, then look up to my fence, then use my outside leg to balance him, then look up and out to go over the line, regardless of whether it was ground poles or a fence.
The last couple, John said I was drifting to the left (which I could feel) but once he said it, I could focus on it and fix it.  And I did fix it!
That was to the right, so then we did grid work to the left.  This was easier because it was a nice grid - a ground pole, tiny cross rail, pole, vertical, pole, and then a vertical that ultimately became an oxer.
The three takeaways were:
- Keep my back flat; apparently I like to round it over the third fence (I don't know why)
- Keep my head up - keep looking down the line.  Charlie likes to plummet down after the last fence, and it keeps my head from slamming down towards his neck.
- Keep my legs forward.  Instead of rolling forward at the end, make sure to think about my legs being in front of me so they don't flip up after the last fence.
The last few fences we worked on Charlie landing to the left lead.  John put a ground pole out and so I'd land (looking left and with the whip in my right hand) and try to do a flying change over the ground pole.  Charlie didn't, but after a few rounds he voluntarily switched leads by the back door instead of having to go around in a circle.  John thinks he'll get it again as we go back to work.
John said the vertical exercise was a good one to do at home because it makes Charlie think about his feet and keeps me out of the way.
Charlie was soaking wet at the end, so I guess I'm going to have to go ahead and clip him (and he's out of shape).
I forgot to mention from the last lesson that John also suggested using the whip next to my leg, instead of back on his rump, with the leg aid, to intensify it.  He also suggested I try standing up for an hour or so a day, like when I'm reading, as a way to kind of get up and out of my chair but not have to spend an extra hour away from work.
I love lessons with John.  And I got the trailer parked successfully back in its spot, which is what I was the most anxious about.
I felt very - solid and tight - in the jump saddle.  A nice strong sort of feeling.  And John had me start working in a two point, trying to think of the maximum pressure being my upper/lower leg just below the knee - not pinching with the knee, but that spot right below the knee being the primary pressure point.  I was pleasantly surprised with how long it took for my thighs to burn (really my hamstrings), especially after hitting the gym so hard on Tuesday night.