Jumping the 4 stride line

We had a quick jump lesson tonight.  John started us over the cross rail, and, for some reason, Duke just kept nailing the distance, whether we were coming from the right or left (and nailing his lead when I asked him to change in the air over the fence).  So John made it a vertical, then an oxer.  Duke, bless his sweet heart, just kept jumping it exactly right.
So then we did the four stride line coming off the right lead, and the first couple times in he had a hard drift left, but then I did a better job lining him up further out and then keeping my left leg and hand on him, but interestingly, we had to really push to get the fourth stride.  Then we did it off of the left lead, and the last time through, I thought we were going to miss the distance, so I gave him a nudge a stride before the first fence, and man, that really helped him cover the four strides (instead of waiting to nudge him until after we landed after the first fence).
John said he really likes that Duke will try his best, no matter what we put in front of him, but that we'll need to keep in mind for shows that if it is a bit of a long distance, and I ride him straight all the way through, he's going to compress a bit when he is going straight, so I'm going to have to push him a little bit harder all the way through.
He said something else brilliant too, but now for the life of me, I can't remember it.
Over the last few days, we seem to have moved past the bit obstacle.  I used little bits of carrots and one day one of his favorite peppermints, as well as putting his bridle on in his stall when we're at home.

Dressage and the bit

Duke and I had issues yesterday when he refused to take the bit, then threw a fit, and then things escalated and escalated.  So my first and most important question for John tonight was what to do.  He said put Duke in his stall to put on his bridle, and turn his head a bit to the left (so there's a bend in his neck) before putting it on.  And not to get mad.  John ran his fingers on his teeth, but couldn't feel anything my vet missed.

I'll probably also try carrots.

Although he also clamped his jaws shut tonight, I did eventually get the bit in, and then he was just as lovely as could be riding for John.  However, it was one of those rides that is feels, not words, and so I'm going to struggle to describe it.

In the trot, we worked on getting the correct bend to the inside.  Then John had me correct my leg aids; I had my inside leg too far back, and needed to put my outside leg farther back.  Inside leg feels like it is forward, up next to the girth; outside leg feels like it is pushed as far back as it can go.

From there, we did some 10 meter circles, using either inside or outside leg to make the circle round.

We did a little bit of counterbend going to the right, and then worked on keeping Duke round in the canter to trot transition.

The canter was similar, correct bend, and not curling my wrist.  When my wrist starts to curl, it means my reins are too long and need to be shorter.  Duke was stiff to the left on the canter, but he also was stiff last night on his carrot stretch (and tonight) so I wonder if in all the jerking around like a jerk face with the bit, he torqued his neck a bit.

It was just the lesson I needed, a quiet and pleasant ride, after the shit day I had at work.  Riding with John is like my way of self-soothing.  I think it's because I get to give up control and just concentrate on whatever he is telling me to do. 

Duke's birthday, first outside jump lesson, and Aspen derby

Duke's 7th birthday was today.  He got two apples and an outside jump lesson at John's.
We jumped the lines that we ended last season with, and much to my surprise (and delight) they were easier to ride!
First we jumped a cross rail and changed direction a couple times.  Sweet Duke obediently switched his leads in the air when I gave the proper aids at the proper time.
From there, we went over a red oxer and came back around to what was now a vertical.
Then we jumped a vertical over a plank, and then our first course.
It was the black and white oxer, around to the right, the two stride black and white vertical to oxer, left hand turn, 4 stride line.
Duke was great, so John changed the course.
It was black and white oxer, right hand turn, four stride line going the opposite direction, then a crazy hard right turn to the red oxer (backwards from how we started).
The first time, I just completely blew past the red oxer, even though I had walked over and looked at the line from the second fence to the red oxer and thought about how I needed to ride it.  The second time, we did it, but only because Duke is a sweetheart.
John said he wanted me to know we could make it, but we should never have a turn that tight on a course (for a while, I assume).
The four stride line was hard (both directions) because I had to push Duke really forward to make it in four, to avoid it being a "5 and a chip", but it was much harder to be thinking about pushing him, leaping in the air, and then making the hard right (because he drifts left) to that oxer.
Duke jumped like a little dreamboat, although we drifted left a few times.  The cure for that seems to be my rein (and left leg) on, several strides out.  If I kind of steer him, like wheelbarrow hands, just before he starts to drift, it is way easier than if I try to correct it once he has already drifted - then we kind of jerk and overcorrect and screw up the line to the fence.
After I'd push him on that long 4, he'd land kind of long and low, like he rode when he first arrived last year, but I could put him back together.  Another thing I noticed - and I noticed this at the derby too - is that time has finally slowed down a little bit again, so I have time to think about what's about to happen, fix it, recollect, and go again.  This seems to happen in spurts, and I expect it means I am finally learning what John has been teaching me at this level, and am getting ready to move back into the stage where I'm an idiot again.
At the derby, we had bad distances a couple of times, and sweet Duke launched himself over the fences, and somewhere in my training, someone drilled into me not to EVER EVER jerk him in the face when he's in the air, so I'd slip my reins.  And even though I'm so.slow. gathering them up again, I was surprised that each time I had plenty of time to pick them up, correct him, look for the next fence, and get him all lined up again.  So my reflexes must be a little quicker or there is one thing that has turned into instinct that I no longer have to consciously think about.
I watched a few rounds (so I could watch Meg), then ran and got Duke and had to do a hurried warm up.  Despite watching, and walking the course, I still made exactly the same mistakes as the people I watched, which was pretty frustrating.  There was one big table (fence 4), which rode just fine, but a couple big overs that I got scared of, and so jumped rushing at them, which screwed up the already 1/2 step off distances.  Duke was great for the bank and the corner and the brush and, well, everything.
He only got a 38.1 in dressage, but I was really happy with it.  I thought it was some of his best work so far, especially for the next level up test.  Plus, he's just so pleasant to be around for a day.  He's a good boy.
After talking to John last week, it took me a few days, but I realized what I am most proud of with Charlie is that I didn't ruin him.  Every year we got a little better together.  And it taught me enough that so far, I appear to not be ruining Duke either, even though he is a very different ride than Charlie.  I am so, so grateful for John.

Plant a seed and water it

Today John taught me the different canter aids to get a lengthening from Duke on each side, since his right canter lengthening is harder to do than his left.  We also talked about the methods of teaching it, and how although many people like to teach canter lengthening on a circle (which is the way it rides in Training test A this year), it is harder to do, because there are more aids needed (the circle aids) in addition to the lengthening aids.  Duke does a better lengthening (and come back) on a straight line, which is what is in the Training 3 Day, but I have been asking him first on the long side, then using the same aids to ask him on the circle, so he puts them together, and he seems to be catching on to that.
John suggested that maybe what I want to care about for the test is having him on the bit as my #1 priority ...
First, the geometry of the circle is important because if I have a weird squashed circle, Duke can't properly lengthen because he is having to lean in or lean out or move in or out or push his haunches in or out because the circle isn't really a circle.  So I need to pay attention to that and not be sloppy on the shape of my circles.
For the right lengthen, I ask for it with my hips instead of so much with my legs.  I put my right leg up at the girth and my left leg a little behind, and then I push him longer with my hips and then bring him back by thinking "slower slower slower" with my hips.  Where the "come back" aid goes wrong is I make my hips go still, he goes to trot, then I kick him with my legs and he's like "What?!" and lurches forward.  So I have to do a gradual slowing with the hips.
For the left lengthen, I ask more with my legs (but same, outside a little back).  Here, I think more about also asking for sort of a leg yield, pushing him out with the inside leg at the same time, to keep the circle shape.
To get him ready for it, when he's stiff, I counter bend, and then keep the outside hand still and ask for bend with the inside hand.  If he just needs a little correction because he's just a little stuck, I can twitch the outside rein instead of counter bending.
John said his method of teaching me is to plant a seed and then water it, and then he can tell I've thought about it, because a few weeks later I'll come back with questions based on the seed he planted.  He said he has some students where they're more instantaneous light bulb, but this way, I get there myself after he plants the seed.  He also said that what he was preventing in the lesson last Wednesday, when I wanted to stop and overanalyze it, was just to ride through it and ride by feel and instinct, which is contrary to my preferred style.
We had a philosophical discussion to start, because on the way down I was thinking about how grateful I am that he is so patient to teach me, even though it must be really frustrating because he has to keep telling me the same thing over and over and over, and that this is the only thing I've really done in life where I have to keep being told the same thing.  And how it's frustrating for me too (and how two years ago, he told me to tell him when I was frustrated), but that I also think that's part of why it's rewarding - I work SO HARD to get a tiny bit better, and I am SO GRATEFUL to have John patiently helping, helping, helping, helping.  When I think about where Duke was a little less than a year ago to now - no, it's not what I want to be going Training level, but it's also so, so much better than our first few months.  And John told me it would take a year to get to know a new horse.  And when I think about where I was the first time John taught me, and just how much fortitude it must take to watch someone who sucks so badly and help them, step by step, suck a little less and a little less.  That made me think that John has been the most stable part of my life the last five years, and out of all the bad decisions I've made, he wasn't one of them.  More than that, he's taught me about myself, and he's taught me how to trust myself - the HUGE lesson in trusting what I felt with Duke, even though what I wanted on paper was a different horse, and how *I* had to know that, I couldn't pass it to him.  It was a great lesson and a great conversation, and I guess the takeaway (and I'm not sure why I'm in such a sappy mood) is that if I die tomorrow, I hope my last thoughts are happy ones (and based on the Charlie crushing me experience, they'll at least be peaceful and ok with it), and most of my happy thoughts have been on horses, in the last few years, thanks to John.  Plus Easy Ridge.  Plus Odin.  Plus Zeb.  And K2.  Maybe a few other rocks, mountains, and wild places.

Two slightly different lines to a Chevron

Today I got to watch another rider's lesson and then ride some of the same fences.  I arrogantly thought that if I watched someone else be taught first, John wouldn't have to tell me any of the same things, but I was wildly wrong about that.  However, it was interesting to watch, to see what I could see in the horse (and rider), what John told her to do, and how much of a difference it made.  It was also, similar to a group lesson, interesting to watch what challenged her and how John worked with her to adjust it.
We did a bit of warm up while she was taking a break, and John's first comment was to make Duke more supple; that I was (my words) basically just puttering around the arena.
He put us right to work when the lesson started, jumping a vertical on the right lead.  I had watched the prior rider and was watching how she made the circle - i.e. where she turned to try to get to the center of the jump.  She frequently cut the circle too short, and would jump the fence at an angle.  I, on the other hand, cut the circle too wide (Duke drifts to the left) and so would end up next to the far standard.  Even though we worked on this last jump lesson, and I put out ground poles and rode to the center of the ground pole from various starting points, I still struggled with getting the turn correct.
John told me to use my right hand to bend his neck, and then my left leg to keep him from drifting out.  Afterwards, he said that this is a good exercise for show jumping in the warm up on Sundays, because just going around and around in the circle helps loosen Duke up and keep him easy, so he doesn't grab the bit and run on the far side of the fence.
From there, we rode a three stride line, which was a vertical to vertical.  Although we were still a bit left, this was easier to line up because I had more space to get to the first fence compared to the circle.
Then John had us do a bounce, that was a cross rail - cross rail.  Duke didn't even bat an eye at it.  John made it a cross rail - vertical and Duke still didn't bat an eye, so then we went down the center line and jumped the Chevron.  No eye batting.
But the next series of fences were a challenge.  John had a narrow green/white over a barrel, four stride, Chevron on the right lead, and then a narrow plank over a barrel, bending line to the Chevron. The plank to Chevron had to be lined up just so from when you started to turn towards the narrow, but the vertical to Chevron was an easy straight line, except it was on the right lead.
So we blew the vertical pretty much every time, but did ok with the plank pretty much every time (instead of making a bending line, we just jumped the narrow plank at an angle, so we had a straight shot).
BUT, I could not turn left after the Chevron.  We'd either skid around on a 10 meter circle, or head straight towards the wall and then suddenly bounce left.  It was frustrating.  John suggested thinking that we were riding on a circle, and I just ripped poor Duke around on two legs.  So then he suggested thinking trot first, and we almost hit the wall.  He had to bring us back to circling over the far vertical (going to the left) because I was just getting frazzled.
Duke, however, bless his little heart, just kept trying, even though we ended up knocking down the standard (with my foot), the Chevron, the vertical, the Chevron again, etc.
What the right turn was ended up being so simple - I wasn't making the correct turn to it, we were drifting left, a narrow is too narrow to drift left, and so we didn't have the line correct to the Chevron. Every damn time until John told me, then we jumped it fine at least twice (maybe three times) in a row.
Why couldn't I figure that out myself?  He told me in the last lesson.  He told me in at least 10 lessons before that.  He told me WHILE WE WARMED UP OVER THE VERTICAL, and yet I immediately reverted to the exact same mistake and never once figured out how to correct it on my own.  I'm a dimwit.
Duke is a sweetheart though.  I was super happy with him.  He just kept trying.
John said his weight is good, that he'll lose his fat as the competition season starts, and that since it took almost 10 months to get the weight on that he lost when he traveled cross country (in the photos of him at Jane's, he looks a lot more like he does now), we don't want him to start losing weight because we won't be able to get it back on.  He said he looks good - more filled out.
It was a good lesson, not because I showed I'd done a great job working on my homework since the last lesson, but because how and where I'm stuck hopefully finally got into my head, so maybe I'll be able to problem solve this for myself (or at least recognize it) going forward.

Voltaire saddles

Duke got a saddle fitting and new saddles ordered today.  Whew.  John recommended Lindsey with Voltaire, and she was in Buckley this morning, so fit us in.
She said that my current saddles were definitely built for Charlie, and his unique shape, and that Duke was far more normal.  She said he had a nice back for a thoroughbred, and that while his back was short, he doesn't need a special short tree.  She did recommend that I have a 17" jump saddle (instead of 17.5") because it was very close.  She said the extra half inch is usually preferred for banks, but I'd rather he be comfortable for everything but the bank and I hit my ass on the back of the saddle there.
We got a Palm Beach (the Beezie Madden saddle) used ($1,000 off), with a matching bridle; and a new Adelaide for dressage.  She had a used one, but it did not have the narrow twist, and if I'm going to use this saddle for the next 10-20 years, I'd rather have the narrow twist.  I also got a shorter and thinner knee block, although set back just a bit to help my leg go straight down instead of curl up.  So we'll see.
I got bridles for both saddles so he'll match and not look like such an orphan at the shows in Charlie's hand-me-downs.
For care:
Ok to use the cleaner with the towel each time to wipe the dust off.
For the new saddle, use the beeswax every three rides for a month.  Put it deep into the twist, and then put the saddle somewhere warm (like the sun).  Use less beeswax on the braided reins, since it gunks up.
Ask John if he needs a belly guard girth, but my stirrups and girth are in good condition, although she thinks he'll need a shorter girth once he's fit (48").
She also aid to try wearing a 5 point with John xc a few times before deciding whether to get one, some horses don't like them and act up.
Use the beeswax after that enough to keep the saddle a deep, rich color; if it starts getting light (brown) then it needs more.
The dressage saddle should take 16 weeks to arrive; the jump will take 1-3 depending on how much work they do to it once they check it.
The billets are easy to replace, and she said she'll check them (they are at Rebecca).  They'll also check fit there, and can do it there (after I ride) or I can send it in (it takes about an hour).  She says that he'll change shape a bit when he's fit, and I figured he'll be fit most of the rest of his life if he's going prelim and above.
For the shoulder movement and cut back jump, she said it had more to do with where the point of the saddle was, and that I needed a more forward flap because when I get up in a two point and gallop, I push my knee a bit forward.
Both saddles were very comfortable to ride in; it was easy to sit in the trot in the dressage and I didn't feel like I was being thrown forward at the canter in either of them.  I jumped a 2'10" or so vertical, and it was easy to stay balanced up and over him.
But man, what a big decision.

Thoroughbred 3-day Long Format Conditioning Schedule

Rebecca is July 22

Monday:  Dressage
Tuesday:  Dressage
Wednesday:  Jump lesson
Thursday:  off
Friday:  Dressage
Saturday:  Dressage lesson
Sunday:  Jump/Condition
Monday:  Dressage (light)
Tuesday:  Dressage
Wednesday:  Jump lesson
Thursday:  Dressage
Friday:  show
Saturday:  show
Sunday:  show

Dressage should be at least 45 minutes of work; 20 minutes to warm up and then 25-35 minutes of work.

April 15:  3 min T/1 min W x 2; 3 min C/1 min W x 2
April 22:  Derby
April 29:  4 min T/1 min W x 2; 4 min C/1 min W x 2
May 6:  5 min T/1 min W x 2; 5 min C/1 min W x2
May 13:  Spokane
May 20:  5 min T/1 min W x 2; 5 min C/1 min W x 2
May 27:  EI
June 3:  5 min T/1 min W x 3; 5 min C/1 min W x 3
June 10:  Aspen
June 17:  5 min T/1 min W x 3; 5 min C/1 min W x 3
June 24:  Inavale
July 1:  6 min T/1 min W x 3; 6 min C/1 min W x 3
July 8:  [Whidbey] 6 min T/1 min W x 4; 6 min C/1 min W x 4
July 15:  5 min T/1 min W x 4; 5 min C/1 min W x 4
July 22:  Rebecca

Training Three Day:
A:  10-16 min T
B:  2.5-3 min @ 500-520
C:  15-25 min T
D:  5-7 min @ 450-470

Dressage in draw reins & delightful canter

We had a great lesson using draw reins today.  I've been too timid to use them since October (?!?) when Duke acted up in them and I had to go down for an emergency lesson.  John asked why I needed them, whether he'd been stiff, and I said no, I just wanted to use them in a lesson again first because I was nervous about riding in them.  They go on from the inside to the outside (first neck to his neck, out of the bit and back to me), and then I ride with them on the outside of my pinkie with a knot in them.
John had me bring them (and the reins) up and up and up and up, and then Duke tensed up just a little bit, but as soon as I asked him to step through, he then moved like an angel pretty much the rest of the lesson.
We worked on 10 meter circles, leg yielding out, haunches in and then neck bent in.  John had me move my legs off set a little more than usual, and also had to caution me several times not to let my inside hand drop down.
Duke's canter felt great, so much better than the last few months, and probably it last felt this good after John had been riding him.  It was easier to sit and his back felt lifted, instead of like he was down and forward on the forehand.
Once during the lesson, I thought about what I should do, and then John said it, which is always a treat, like I'm actually learning to think and ride like him.
When Duke gave with his neck, I had to release with my hand to reward him.  Similarly when he got a little tense, a quick release and then take back let him let off steam and concentrate again.
He got pretty tired and sweaty, and it was a great ride, but I wish I could record the lessons and then watch them again (although really, it is the feeling them again that I need) because this was one where I had to rely heavily on John's instructions and I can't really type them out in words; he had me react as Duke moved, and move him to soften him and push him forward, and the whole thing was, well, a dance.  Not memorizing, but reacting.  This is why I'm struggling with this step so much, it is feelings and moment by moment, not, "sit up, put your heel down, look up".  So maybe that is progress, but I wonder if I will really get past this part or if this is where I max out.  It feels dreamy when John is telling me step by step, but I wonder how much of it I am really successfully repeating at home.  Then again, maybe being aware that this is the next layer is what I needed for the next eureka moment.
Anyway, it felt amazing.
John said that my saddle is tipping up onto his shoulders, and suggested I look at Voltaire.
We also looked at my conditioning schedule, and he said that it is too much; that Duke will be naturally more fit than Charlie, and he is already off my leg, and most of the work for Charlie was to get him moving forward.  He said if I did this schedule, Duke would be too fit and he'd end up being ridden by John.  He said Duke probably doesn't need any speed work.
Brooke was also there and suggested sitting tipping my pelvis forward, so it leads, which is kind of scooping my tail bone underneath.
Man, I wish I had a better vocabulary to describe all the movements we did today... it felt great.

Jump lesson - making the turns

Today's lesson was not as spectacular (riding) as Saturday, which was unexpected, since I did MORE riding, but that meant it was more educational.
We started with some work on the flat (same as last lesson) because Duke was stiff and I couldn't get him round and on the bit.  When we started jumping with a right turn to a cross rail, fine, which John gradually raised, but when I turned in across the center, instead of down the longer side, it was harder to make the turn.
Then John had us do the four stride line, and after a few times through, I started getting really upset and asked him for a break to talk about it.
John said that Duke drifts left, which is just his thing - John doesn't know why, but Duke has consistently done it, and so if he's having a day where he's stiff, and that will certainly happen at some show in the future, it's going to be a harder ride (same as for dressage).
So what do I do?  I use my left leg and my left rein to keep him from going left, I ride a little bit to the right (so if he makes a jig at the last second, we're ok), and I look through the turn.  He said that I only need the left leg and rein until he moves over, and then not to use it, and that he's seen horses who then start going right, and then go in the center for a while, and then go back to drifting left.
It was a really helpful discussion; it isn't that I'm riding him differently from one day to the next, it's that he's less soft some days than others.  He also reminded me what it was like when Duke arrived, and how much he's improved since then, and how much better this is to deal with than a horse who is a nasty stopper.
So we went back to doing the 4 stride line, went down the center to a skinny, and then to the oxer, then back around to the 4 stride and Duke was much improved.
So it was a great insight, and a great learning opportunity, but not quite as pat-on-the-back as jumping that oxer at an angle to the barrel.