For the first time (?), Duke did his bit chomping thing at John's and stayed pretty tense all the way through his lesson. It was good, because John got to see it, but I'm not sure what caused it. There were other horses finishing their lesson when we started, but he stood calmly and didn't seem to care much that they were there (or that they left). Maybe he was just crabby from finally getting a day of turn out and it only lasted an hour.
We worked on different sized circles, with John helping me again with each aid (each hand, each leg, and sitting up) timed to match what Duke needed. There was a bit of a eureka moment, where I could feel the connection from outside leg to inside hand, and then could feel how to keep Duke between my legs, and that my legs really could direct his line of travel, and I didn't need my hands (as much). That was pretty cool, but only lasted for a moment and was gone. However, I felt it, so now I know what it feels like.
John had us do several short transitions - he'd say "trot", we'd trot just a few steps, and he'd have us go back up to canter. Our transitions weren't that great, but John said Duke did better about not flinging his shoulders so far out, like he was doing last week.
It was a great lesson, but frustrating that I am so slow to pick up on these fast aids. It is going to take me a while to be able to ride Duke every step like John can have me do in the lesson. Hopefully it's not an impossible task. It's great, because he's so nimble and reactive, but man, when I am riding at home, I am basically a dullard compared to what happens in the lesson.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Hooray for jumping - 7 pole start
It snowed Christmas Eve, so Duke has been inside for the last two days while we wait for it to melt (and the ice to go away). Yesterday he was a little spooky, but full of energy, but tonight at John's he was perfectly well behaved, although a bit stiff going to the right despite John freeing him up on Saturday.
John said that it was good that he could tune him up so quickly, but that I should be prepared for needing to ride him with lots and lots of aids in his dressage tests like we did in the flat lesson Saturday, and also will need to try to do that subtly.
We started with some trot work, going from a 20 meter circle to a 10 meter circle, but asking for the circle with my legs instead of with my hands. Here's how frustrating it must be to teach me:
John: Now make a 10 meter circle, but ...
Me: Rips Duke's face around into a 10 meter circle
John: ... using your legs and not your reins, it's ok to ...
Me: Lets go of the reins and smashes Duke all around with my legs
John: ... use some rein, don't let go of them completely ...
Me: Picks back up reins, makes a weird hexagon, looks satisfied and proud that I am using both legs and reins.
We also picked up the canter while on the 10 meter circle, but then immediately let the circle go a bit bigger. Duke still seems really tuned up from John's ride on him, so we went from both sides to "trying" to go down a line of poles (7 of them, all 6' apart). My ear immediately heard the word "try" and poor Duke went in, was all "holy shit look at all these poles!" started trotting, tried valiantly to canter, and so we basically hit most of the poles and then tried - tried - tried again.
Duke got more confident as we went through them, and my job was to not launch him to the first one or try to hold him back, so I would start counting on the far corner (1-2-3-4) and just try to keep that rhythm as we went in and let Duke do the rest.
Duke was switching leads around the middle pole, so then I tried keeping my left leg on (he was switching from right lead to left lead) but it made no difference.
So then John turned the middle rail into a tiny vertical, and the first time through we miraculously stayed on the correct lead, but it was a fluke. So with that, it was 3 ground poles, vertical, 3 ground poles.
From there, John added the far pole into a vertical (3 poles, vertical, 1 pole, vertical, 1 pole), then the first fence (pole, vertical, pole, vertical, pole, vertical, pole).
Then he raised the center vertical up to what looked like a very decent height (gradually) but I measured afterwards and I think it was only 3'9".
I still couldn't get the lead, though, and then I started trying too hard, and ducking over Duke's right shoulder.
When John made the center jump big, in between the first and second (high) jump, I thought about opening my chest. I also thought about getting my leg down, and giving him a half halt at the corner before the turn to the fence, but then getting out of his face and letting him do his job once we made the turn to the fence.
Then we turned around and did it the other direction, and I couldn't get Duke's lead on that direction either! At first, we were going right, but we'd come out the far side on the left lead, so I thought for sure when we turned around we'd be on the correct lead, but instead, we'd come out on the right lead.
It was a very satisfying lesson because it had great build up, but I didn't have as much to think about once we were in the final approach, and could just ride through it staying out of Duke's way. He sure can get nice and round over the higher fence, and he's very easy to stay balanced on (at least, I feel balanced, I don't know if he'd agree that I am).
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Riding Duke after John
Since Duke had his (second) stall rest, I've had a really hard time working him to the right (clockwise). It is like his neck bends, but his left shoulder isn't moving on the proper track. John rode him first today - we haven't had a lesson I think since mid-November - and the good news was that I was feeling that correctly, but the bad news was that I wasn't describing it correctly. John described it as stiff on the left rein - Duke won't give or bend to the left, so he is just blowing off left rein aids. They got in a little bit of a spat, which John said was when he asked Duke to work harder. That was interesting too, because maybe that's what was going on with that incident in the indoor arena.
He got quite sweaty from his work with John, but when I got on, he was like a different horse. He had spring in his step, was light and nimble to the aids, and it was easy to do each aid John told me to do. The half empty side of this, though, was that while I could follow it (mostly - my reaction time is not as fast as John can talk) - I am not skilled enough yet to ride him step by step. Which was also a good lesson because I am not even trying to ride step by step at home. I thought I was, but compared to a lesson, I am just cruising around the arena in cruise control.
He was not off at all with John, though, and I trust John would feel it and let me know, vs the kind of crazy I have been making myself, worrying that I am riding him when he doesn't feel 100%. Ashley said that thoroughbreds generally don't jump on the day they have their shoes done, that their hoof walls are thinner and more susceptible to a hot nail, and that some even need more than a day off after their shoes are done.
The big takeaways that I can work on at home are - using the outside leg to stop him from moving out (and vice versa, in) on a circle. If I know that he is about to try to bulge out through his shoulder, I can put the outside leg on at the girth and minimize it.
The other easy takeaway was not pulling steady on the rein, but more of a squeeze/release to move it around. It is not always a pull back - sometimes it is just jiggling it in Duke's mouth.
We did 20 meter circles, then 10 meter circles, at the trot and canter. I could feel that he was better balanced - his shoulders felt more square and even. John had me use my leg with the steps (now-now-now-now) and then, when Duke wanted to rush, slow my posting to slow him down. He also reminded me at the canter to sit down, not to tilt forward like I am prone to do.
Both legs and the outside rein were a half halt, to balance him.
I kept contact with the outside rein so he had somewhere to reach to, and mostly used the inside rein.
If we were on a circle, and he was bulging his shoulder out, the first aid was a half halt with the outside rein. If that didn't work, then counterbend to the outside. As soon as he gave, bend (slowly) back to the inside.
I think John can see the shoulder about to pop, so he has me start giving aids just before it happens, to try to prevent it. I don't always feel that it is about to happen though.
It was one of those lessons that was great, in that John figured out what my issue was, then told me how to fix it, and I could feel the difference after John's aids, how much better Duke could move. But it was also a lesson where I realized just how much I still don't know and how much there is to learn. With a few weeks without riding or lessons, I feel like I regress years backwards, and it is frustrating - by 41 I'd like to be a little more confident that I know what I'm doing.
He got quite sweaty from his work with John, but when I got on, he was like a different horse. He had spring in his step, was light and nimble to the aids, and it was easy to do each aid John told me to do. The half empty side of this, though, was that while I could follow it (mostly - my reaction time is not as fast as John can talk) - I am not skilled enough yet to ride him step by step. Which was also a good lesson because I am not even trying to ride step by step at home. I thought I was, but compared to a lesson, I am just cruising around the arena in cruise control.
He was not off at all with John, though, and I trust John would feel it and let me know, vs the kind of crazy I have been making myself, worrying that I am riding him when he doesn't feel 100%. Ashley said that thoroughbreds generally don't jump on the day they have their shoes done, that their hoof walls are thinner and more susceptible to a hot nail, and that some even need more than a day off after their shoes are done.
The big takeaways that I can work on at home are - using the outside leg to stop him from moving out (and vice versa, in) on a circle. If I know that he is about to try to bulge out through his shoulder, I can put the outside leg on at the girth and minimize it.
The other easy takeaway was not pulling steady on the rein, but more of a squeeze/release to move it around. It is not always a pull back - sometimes it is just jiggling it in Duke's mouth.
We did 20 meter circles, then 10 meter circles, at the trot and canter. I could feel that he was better balanced - his shoulders felt more square and even. John had me use my leg with the steps (now-now-now-now) and then, when Duke wanted to rush, slow my posting to slow him down. He also reminded me at the canter to sit down, not to tilt forward like I am prone to do.
Both legs and the outside rein were a half halt, to balance him.
I kept contact with the outside rein so he had somewhere to reach to, and mostly used the inside rein.
If we were on a circle, and he was bulging his shoulder out, the first aid was a half halt with the outside rein. If that didn't work, then counterbend to the outside. As soon as he gave, bend (slowly) back to the inside.
I think John can see the shoulder about to pop, so he has me start giving aids just before it happens, to try to prevent it. I don't always feel that it is about to happen though.
It was one of those lessons that was great, in that John figured out what my issue was, then told me how to fix it, and I could feel the difference after John's aids, how much better Duke could move. But it was also a lesson where I realized just how much I still don't know and how much there is to learn. With a few weeks without riding or lessons, I feel like I regress years backwards, and it is frustrating - by 41 I'd like to be a little more confident that I know what I'm doing.
Friday, December 01, 2017
Coffin joint injection (left front) & adjustment
Duke stayed ever so slightly off after John took out the nail, so I took him down to see Dr. Revenaugh and was able to combine it with a visit from Dr. Salewski while we were in Oregon.
Dr. Revenaugh said his flexion was fine, and that he was off in the left front but it was "subtle" (making me feel less like a nut because I could hardly see it or feel it but it was there). He stayed the same on the lunge line, but lunging on a small circle on the hard ground it was very obvious.
We did x-rays, and had his old (May) x-rays to compare (although it wasn't necessary). His x-rays were very clean, great looking bones, nothing obvious going on. Dr. R had a very awesome tool where he could zoom in on any part of the X-ray and make sure there was nothing there.
Dr R said that sometimes, particularly after a shoeing, the foot just gets "p-o'ed" but if you don't get it settled down and keep them working, it starts being a chronic problem, and six months from now, when competition season starts, we'll still be messing around with it. He doesn't know what part of the soft tissue is irritated, and because it's so subtle, he thought that a nerve block or MRI wouldn't be helpful. Nerve block because you won't be able to tell if it really blocked a sore spot or if it's just a moment when the subtleness isn't showing up. MRI because there might not be enough damage to show up (yet).
He said what he tends to see is if I keep going and start doing my gallop sets, Duke is likely to bow a tendon in the other front leg.
So we did an injection in his coffin joint, to try to calm down the "p-o'ed" part of his hoof. He has three days of stall rest with bute, then two weeks of very light work. If he is still lame at the end of that two weeks, he'll go back down for an MRI to see if we can find any soft tissue damage.
Dr R also said that Duke's feet look good and balanced, he wouldn't recommend any changes to his shoeing. While every thoroughbred would like to have feet a size or two bigger, there wasn't anything off in the shape of his feet or the type of shoes we're using.
Next up was Dr. Salewski, who said that Duke was locked up in his right sacroiliac joint, which would make him heavy on his front left and bulge out on his left shoulder, also making him stiff in his poll. All of those are the things that John has noticed under saddle! He gave Duke a very vigorous adjustment (Duke can lift his back in a "sit up" very, very high!) and said while he isn't a train wreck, he needed several pretty big adjustments. He was able to do it, but he said that in ex-racehorses, it's common for them to get that right side locked up (presumably because they race on the left lead), and so this has probably been going on for several years. He said Duke will probably forget how to canter when he goes back to work, because he's been compensating for years about not using that right hind, and he'll be all discombobulated at first.
So the hopeful part of all of this is that Duke is so young he hasn't done permanent damage to that left front, he'll be even and balanced now and the injection will let the irritation clear up, and this will have been an early warning that let us solve the problem before it was permanent.
Dr S said he comes up to Legacy Hunter Jumpers pretty regularly (next up is February), so I emailed them to try to get on his list.
The not hopeful part is that this will be a chronic problem he'll deal with his whole life, and he won't be a reliable competition horse and won't be able to compete at upper levels because I won't be able to keep him sound long enough to get fit, or getting him fit will make him not sound. This last bit is my thoughts, not anything Dr R or Dr S said. But there are those fancy stem cell/regenerative therapies and stuff, and we'll see if those are an option.
Both Dr R and Dr S said Duke had a great personality. He was so sweet and quiet through all the treatments and loved Dr S's adjustment. He yawned several times, looked at what Dr S was doing, then ate some hay.
Dr. Revenaugh said his flexion was fine, and that he was off in the left front but it was "subtle" (making me feel less like a nut because I could hardly see it or feel it but it was there). He stayed the same on the lunge line, but lunging on a small circle on the hard ground it was very obvious.
We did x-rays, and had his old (May) x-rays to compare (although it wasn't necessary). His x-rays were very clean, great looking bones, nothing obvious going on. Dr. R had a very awesome tool where he could zoom in on any part of the X-ray and make sure there was nothing there.
Dr R said that sometimes, particularly after a shoeing, the foot just gets "p-o'ed" but if you don't get it settled down and keep them working, it starts being a chronic problem, and six months from now, when competition season starts, we'll still be messing around with it. He doesn't know what part of the soft tissue is irritated, and because it's so subtle, he thought that a nerve block or MRI wouldn't be helpful. Nerve block because you won't be able to tell if it really blocked a sore spot or if it's just a moment when the subtleness isn't showing up. MRI because there might not be enough damage to show up (yet).
He said what he tends to see is if I keep going and start doing my gallop sets, Duke is likely to bow a tendon in the other front leg.
So we did an injection in his coffin joint, to try to calm down the "p-o'ed" part of his hoof. He has three days of stall rest with bute, then two weeks of very light work. If he is still lame at the end of that two weeks, he'll go back down for an MRI to see if we can find any soft tissue damage.
Dr R also said that Duke's feet look good and balanced, he wouldn't recommend any changes to his shoeing. While every thoroughbred would like to have feet a size or two bigger, there wasn't anything off in the shape of his feet or the type of shoes we're using.
Next up was Dr. Salewski, who said that Duke was locked up in his right sacroiliac joint, which would make him heavy on his front left and bulge out on his left shoulder, also making him stiff in his poll. All of those are the things that John has noticed under saddle! He gave Duke a very vigorous adjustment (Duke can lift his back in a "sit up" very, very high!) and said while he isn't a train wreck, he needed several pretty big adjustments. He was able to do it, but he said that in ex-racehorses, it's common for them to get that right side locked up (presumably because they race on the left lead), and so this has probably been going on for several years. He said Duke will probably forget how to canter when he goes back to work, because he's been compensating for years about not using that right hind, and he'll be all discombobulated at first.
So the hopeful part of all of this is that Duke is so young he hasn't done permanent damage to that left front, he'll be even and balanced now and the injection will let the irritation clear up, and this will have been an early warning that let us solve the problem before it was permanent.
Dr S said he comes up to Legacy Hunter Jumpers pretty regularly (next up is February), so I emailed them to try to get on his list.
The not hopeful part is that this will be a chronic problem he'll deal with his whole life, and he won't be a reliable competition horse and won't be able to compete at upper levels because I won't be able to keep him sound long enough to get fit, or getting him fit will make him not sound. This last bit is my thoughts, not anything Dr R or Dr S said. But there are those fancy stem cell/regenerative therapies and stuff, and we'll see if those are an option.
Both Dr R and Dr S said Duke had a great personality. He was so sweet and quiet through all the treatments and loved Dr S's adjustment. He yawned several times, looked at what Dr S was doing, then ate some hay.
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