Much to my disappointment, we did not jump a million times better today than we did at the derby last weekend. Although maybe I should be glad, because it gave us another chance to work with John.
We started with a little cross rail which became a vertical. These were fine.
Then we did a bending five stride line, which was a hard right turn to a vertical and then four strides towards E and then the last stride was the turn to an oxer. Christa rode it beautifully every time. I couldn't make the turn correctly to save my life. We launched, we chipped, we flailed.
Once - ONCE - we got it right, immediately after John told me to focus on the top rail, but I felt it as we came in that we had the distance right.
From there, we added a left turn to oxer to vertical, and then John added a line down the center of three angled jumps. Then he switched the direction (instead of turning left to them, we turned right), and then a couple other combinations of those same fences.
I'd say about mid-way through the lesson Duke quit flying around and we started riding a bit more controlled, although one left turn I tried to wrestle him around and it made his hind legs buckle. John said I need to give a little and although it felt contrary to all instinct, when I did, it made a huge difference.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Dressage in draw reins
We had our first dressage lesson in several weeks and it was a great one, with Duke getting a frothy butt.
John had us put on draw reins from the start (although he got to watch us warming up), and he said it was just to remind Duke that he needed to work over his topline, since he's been running around with his head in the air.
Duke was instantly very obedient, and worked hard on 20 meter circles, down the long side, and 10 meter circles. I needed to sit up and back more, but I am doing much better about not dropping my left hand.
Mostly John wanted me to get him more bent, and then we would go bigger. After a while, he had us do these tiny bends - turn right, turn left, turn right, turn left - which got Duke very soft and then helped him lengthen a lot.
We did a slightly less extreme version at the canter as well, and even a bit of canter lengthening.
John said that the difference between the Oregon derby and the Freedom Run derby was that Oregon was inside and the jumps weren't maximum height. He said it was also that I got nervous about the Freedom Run fences. Duke, however, was eager.
He said for my back hurting, to bring the stirrups up one hole.
We also did a few leg yields off the quarter line, which Duke did quite nicely.
John had us put on draw reins from the start (although he got to watch us warming up), and he said it was just to remind Duke that he needed to work over his topline, since he's been running around with his head in the air.
Duke was instantly very obedient, and worked hard on 20 meter circles, down the long side, and 10 meter circles. I needed to sit up and back more, but I am doing much better about not dropping my left hand.
Mostly John wanted me to get him more bent, and then we would go bigger. After a while, he had us do these tiny bends - turn right, turn left, turn right, turn left - which got Duke very soft and then helped him lengthen a lot.
We did a slightly less extreme version at the canter as well, and even a bit of canter lengthening.
John said that the difference between the Oregon derby and the Freedom Run derby was that Oregon was inside and the jumps weren't maximum height. He said it was also that I got nervous about the Freedom Run fences. Duke, however, was eager.
He said for my back hurting, to bring the stirrups up one hole.
We also did a few leg yields off the quarter line, which Duke did quite nicely.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Jumper Daze at Freedom Run
Duke and I did Training level and two Prelim rounds, with John coaching. He was a little strong at Training, and then we had to wait a while to ride Prelim, where he was super strong. When I said "whoa" (after John yelled at me to say it), Duke would slow almost to a trot.
The first round, my reins slipped around fence 5, but the turns were so tight I couldn't get them back, so I had to ride with my hands pulled back to my waist. John had us canter/trot/canter/trot and bend him for a while, until he got soft, and then we rode it again. The second time was better, but he was still strong.
The "nice" thing about it was we still made it (although with some rails and it was kind of sketchy) but we finished, and I had to RIDE him and not think but just react (although it helps when John is yelling).
The other interesting part was that the two girls from my clinic yesterday and some new folks also rode Training before they rode Prelim, so it wasn't me sucking that led to John's recommendation. (Although we did kind of suck, but we did finish, so I'm still going to be proud.)
Also, when I loaded Duke, the trailer window hit my lip and busted it. It's gross. I went to the show instead of getting stitches.
The first round, my reins slipped around fence 5, but the turns were so tight I couldn't get them back, so I had to ride with my hands pulled back to my waist. John had us canter/trot/canter/trot and bend him for a while, until he got soft, and then we rode it again. The second time was better, but he was still strong.
The "nice" thing about it was we still made it (although with some rails and it was kind of sketchy) but we finished, and I had to RIDE him and not think but just react (although it helps when John is yelling).
The other interesting part was that the two girls from my clinic yesterday and some new folks also rode Training before they rode Prelim, so it wasn't me sucking that led to John's recommendation. (Although we did kind of suck, but we did finish, so I'm still going to be proud.)
Also, when I loaded Duke, the trailer window hit my lip and busted it. It's gross. I went to the show instead of getting stitches.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Clinic at Freedom Run
Duke and I rode with two girls in the prelim level clinic with John at Freedom Run (which is next to Reber Ranch and has a racetrack!).
Duke was pretty good, especially considering he had all of last week off, was in his stall all week this week, and didn't get ridden two days. He was a little strong and excited, but he did his best to get over every fence. We were definitely not the best of the three, but I was just happy that we didn't totally embarrass ourselves (that I know of).
We started by trotting and cantering both directions. My main instruction in the trot was to bend him more to the inside and to get him more round. On the right lead canter, we had kind of a funky turn around a fence, and John said to use the outside rein to balance him.
From there, we trotted a cross rail, then a vertical, then cantered it. Well, it was actually a gate. I jumped it once while John was fixing it. :(
This one was pretty easy, Duke didn't think much of it, he just sometimes landed a little strong on the far side, and I had to use the outside rein to push him around the corner because the ground was so sloppy.
From there we started a course - an oxer off the left lead, to a four stride line, then a triple (2 strides, 3 strides). On this one, I knocked a couple rails, and John said what we needed was to do the half halt earlier - after I landed - not just before the fence. And the first time through I didn't have enough go to the oxer, but he wanted the other girls to see the difference between that first fence outside after you've been schooling inside all winter.
We did that one again, then added a triple (2 stride, 1 stride) along the outside fence. Duke was ho-hum.
Then John had us do left lead over the roll top, then angle/angle an oxer to a vertical. Duke handled it great, but I had a hard time trusting the first angle. The second time through, Duke drifted left and I hit the standards with my foot, we were so close. But Duke was like "just be confident in me and I'll get us through this".
The last one we did was the oxer to the Liverpool, then angle/angle two verticals, then back through the original triple (2 strides, 3 strides). Duke was a sweetheart.
John said that I let him lose power after the second angle, and didn't put my leg on because he had kind of pushed through the angle/angle, and then he was on the wrong lead so I didn't feel it. He said if I had put my leg on earlier, I would have felt the lead and then had more time to switch it.
I'm super proud of Duke. I thought he did a great job, and I loved being in a clinic with riders I didn't know and getting to watch them ride the same lines and hear what John had to say to them. They both had really nice form.
Duke was pretty good, especially considering he had all of last week off, was in his stall all week this week, and didn't get ridden two days. He was a little strong and excited, but he did his best to get over every fence. We were definitely not the best of the three, but I was just happy that we didn't totally embarrass ourselves (that I know of).
We started by trotting and cantering both directions. My main instruction in the trot was to bend him more to the inside and to get him more round. On the right lead canter, we had kind of a funky turn around a fence, and John said to use the outside rein to balance him.
From there, we trotted a cross rail, then a vertical, then cantered it. Well, it was actually a gate. I jumped it once while John was fixing it. :(
This one was pretty easy, Duke didn't think much of it, he just sometimes landed a little strong on the far side, and I had to use the outside rein to push him around the corner because the ground was so sloppy.
From there we started a course - an oxer off the left lead, to a four stride line, then a triple (2 strides, 3 strides). On this one, I knocked a couple rails, and John said what we needed was to do the half halt earlier - after I landed - not just before the fence. And the first time through I didn't have enough go to the oxer, but he wanted the other girls to see the difference between that first fence outside after you've been schooling inside all winter.
We did that one again, then added a triple (2 stride, 1 stride) along the outside fence. Duke was ho-hum.
Then John had us do left lead over the roll top, then angle/angle an oxer to a vertical. Duke handled it great, but I had a hard time trusting the first angle. The second time through, Duke drifted left and I hit the standards with my foot, we were so close. But Duke was like "just be confident in me and I'll get us through this".
The last one we did was the oxer to the Liverpool, then angle/angle two verticals, then back through the original triple (2 strides, 3 strides). Duke was a sweetheart.
John said that I let him lose power after the second angle, and didn't put my leg on because he had kind of pushed through the angle/angle, and then he was on the wrong lead so I didn't feel it. He said if I had put my leg on earlier, I would have felt the lead and then had more time to switch it.
I'm super proud of Duke. I thought he did a great job, and I loved being in a clinic with riders I didn't know and getting to watch them ride the same lines and hear what John had to say to them. They both had really nice form.
Sunday, February 03, 2019
Dressage yesterday; jumped (with a stop) today
Yesterday was our first dressage lesson in a few weeks. I've been riding with my stirrups a couple (?) holes longer, which makes my leg look correct in the mirror but feels weird. John measured it with my foot first, and said it looked ok, and he didn't say during the lesson to shorten them.
We did a lot of work getting Duke round, which is still squarely in the realm of feeling rather than describing. It was a lot of inside leg to outside hand, using outside hand to half halt but inside hand to bend (with leg), and then using my outside leg a little bit back on the circles to keep Duke from moving too far out. It was challenging, but I could feel when Duke rounded up over his back (which I think is actually tucking his tailbone and stepping underneath himself with his hind legs. John showed me at the end that Duke got quite sweaty in his butt, and he said that's how I can check at home whether he's just flopping around or if he's really working. He said to accept what he gives me at home, but then to ask for a little bit more.
It seemed like it actually made Duke a little tired (not sore) for today's lesson, where we had a stop. We rode with Christa, and he was doing great over the ground rail, vertical, ground rail, and we were doing a pretty good job with lead changes (or landing on the correct lead) and then the fence got so enormous that I couldn't look away from it, and we were coming in at a trot, and it didn't feel like enough power, and Duke stopped in front of it. John lowered it several holes, and we did it a few more times, gradually raising it up, but not to the super height it had been. John described it perfectly - it felt like we didn't have enough power at the trot, it was so huge to my eye, and so at the last second I flung my body forward instead of using leg. I ended up on Duke's neck and had to hop backwards into the Seattle.
After that, we did the grid, with a reasonable small oxer, and then John took away the ground pole, cross rail, and vertical, and it was just four (?) ground poles at the canter to the oxer. We did that for a while, and Duke was really consistent.
I asked John at the end if we could jump the gigantic one again, and he said no, Duke was too tired, but sometime in the future we can.
I feel like we're doing better after we land, like I'm not tilting as far forward, so that I can get him around the corner better, and he does a pretty decent job offering the lead changes on his own once he realizes which way we're going.
Afterwards, he napped tied to the trailer, so I guess he was pretty pooped.
Duke is a good horse. John's a great teacher. I feel really fortunate.
We did a lot of work getting Duke round, which is still squarely in the realm of feeling rather than describing. It was a lot of inside leg to outside hand, using outside hand to half halt but inside hand to bend (with leg), and then using my outside leg a little bit back on the circles to keep Duke from moving too far out. It was challenging, but I could feel when Duke rounded up over his back (which I think is actually tucking his tailbone and stepping underneath himself with his hind legs. John showed me at the end that Duke got quite sweaty in his butt, and he said that's how I can check at home whether he's just flopping around or if he's really working. He said to accept what he gives me at home, but then to ask for a little bit more.
It seemed like it actually made Duke a little tired (not sore) for today's lesson, where we had a stop. We rode with Christa, and he was doing great over the ground rail, vertical, ground rail, and we were doing a pretty good job with lead changes (or landing on the correct lead) and then the fence got so enormous that I couldn't look away from it, and we were coming in at a trot, and it didn't feel like enough power, and Duke stopped in front of it. John lowered it several holes, and we did it a few more times, gradually raising it up, but not to the super height it had been. John described it perfectly - it felt like we didn't have enough power at the trot, it was so huge to my eye, and so at the last second I flung my body forward instead of using leg. I ended up on Duke's neck and had to hop backwards into the Seattle.
After that, we did the grid, with a reasonable small oxer, and then John took away the ground pole, cross rail, and vertical, and it was just four (?) ground poles at the canter to the oxer. We did that for a while, and Duke was really consistent.
I asked John at the end if we could jump the gigantic one again, and he said no, Duke was too tired, but sometime in the future we can.
I feel like we're doing better after we land, like I'm not tilting as far forward, so that I can get him around the corner better, and he does a pretty decent job offering the lead changes on his own once he realizes which way we're going.
Afterwards, he napped tied to the trailer, so I guess he was pretty pooped.
Duke is a good horse. John's a great teacher. I feel really fortunate.
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