The clouds were amazing tonight, and the angle of the fall light lit up the changing leaves on the trees. There was even a rainbow against a black cloud for a while; it was pretty amazing.
What else was amazing was how round John got Duke, but that part was kind of just magic. I struggled the last couple days with Duke bulging out through his outside shoulder on circles, and on crappy canter and canter transitions.
John had us ride in a circle around him, and then he gave me explicit instructions for each moment (outside leg back a bit and aid now- now- now), had me bend Duke to the inside and outside, change the size of my circles, and had me work the bend whenever Duke got stiff.
I could feel it when we made the improvement, but I could barely keep up with John giving me the aids step-by-step. The idea of being able to feel what is going on, think how to respond, and give the correct aid(s!) is like - I don't know - light years away from me.
What was cool was that *I* can ride it, what was not cool was that a lot of what John said I feel like he's been saying for at least a year (probably 7) and even though I swear I am trying in between lessons, it must be so discouraging to just keep saying the same thing every week for years.
What was a bit of a light bulb to me, however, was his emphasis on the half halt. He said to make Duke weight his hocks, and I did that by squeezing (and holding) with both legs and giving the half halt aid with the outside hand at the same time. The first time took a lot of pressure; the next time, Duke was like "oh!" and just did it right away.
This would work for a while, but then he'd just quit and John would have to work us back to that point again.
I bet that Duke is going to be sore tomorrow (probably me too), so this was a great lesson in that it let me really feel just what the two of us are capable of, memorize that feel, and help me hold us to a higher standard while we work alone this summer.
John had us, after working on the circles for a while, jump a few fences, from what felt to me like crazy small circles. When we switched to jumping, Duke wanted to pop his head up, so I had to really work to try to keep the same round feel we had on the flat. Maybe because he was so round, if I remembered to look up and over the fence in the direction we were going, we got the correct lead about 90% of the time.
I had a rough day at work, so just getting to Caber, getting on, and then watching the sky while I warmed up was like - I don't know, like a warm blanket on a chilly day.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Tuesday, October 02, 2018
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Soften the gristle
We had a jump lesson on Friday followed by a dressage lesson on Saturday. Although a change from normal, this had some benefits. John noted that Duke would be stiff for dressage, following his hard work jumping, and that gave us an opportunity to work on how to soften the stiffness. This will be something I'll want to do on show jumping, following cross country.
John said to start with 10 extra minutes of quiet walking around, away from the hustle and bustle of the show ring. Follow that with some big neck bends - a big wide open inside hand, and giving with the outside hand to give him enough room to bend his neck. Use inside leg to push him round and let him bend around it. Duke could bend easier to the left than the right, so keep working with him until he gives in the neck. John said this will help him loosen up the stiffness he carries in his front shoulders, and in his hind leg - his right hind, I think, mostly.
This took me opening my hand far wider than I was comfortable with and then opening even further. I know it will be hard for me to trust that process at a show, so it was good to feel it in a lesson.
Duke was good, but it was easiest to feel his stiffness at the canter, where he wanted to stick his neck up, rather than move over the top of his back, so that will be another clue to me that he's feeling stiff and uncomfortable, and needs the time to soften up.
John said that Duke is like gristle; he's wiry underneath, and needs to soften up those kinks to move more freely.
We worked on 20 meter circles and leg yields off the quarter line. Some of these, Duke crossed nicely, and others we kind of drifted at an angle sort of towards the wall. I think the difference had to do with the outside (wall) hand, although I'm not sure if it was using it as a wall (a half halt) or giving a little that helped Duke square up his shoulders and cross. He popped his head a bit on the down transitions, but I was thinking in both lessons how much better balanced and even he feels than when he got here a year ago, and how well he tries to communicate with me.
John had me change my leg aids (more on the inside; forward and more on the outside), but this part is still beyond my grasp. I can (mostly) do it when John is telling me, but I can't feel it well enough to know when I should do it on my own.
John said to start with 10 extra minutes of quiet walking around, away from the hustle and bustle of the show ring. Follow that with some big neck bends - a big wide open inside hand, and giving with the outside hand to give him enough room to bend his neck. Use inside leg to push him round and let him bend around it. Duke could bend easier to the left than the right, so keep working with him until he gives in the neck. John said this will help him loosen up the stiffness he carries in his front shoulders, and in his hind leg - his right hind, I think, mostly.
This took me opening my hand far wider than I was comfortable with and then opening even further. I know it will be hard for me to trust that process at a show, so it was good to feel it in a lesson.
Duke was good, but it was easiest to feel his stiffness at the canter, where he wanted to stick his neck up, rather than move over the top of his back, so that will be another clue to me that he's feeling stiff and uncomfortable, and needs the time to soften up.
John said that Duke is like gristle; he's wiry underneath, and needs to soften up those kinks to move more freely.
We worked on 20 meter circles and leg yields off the quarter line. Some of these, Duke crossed nicely, and others we kind of drifted at an angle sort of towards the wall. I think the difference had to do with the outside (wall) hand, although I'm not sure if it was using it as a wall (a half halt) or giving a little that helped Duke square up his shoulders and cross. He popped his head a bit on the down transitions, but I was thinking in both lessons how much better balanced and even he feels than when he got here a year ago, and how well he tries to communicate with me.
John had me change my leg aids (more on the inside; forward and more on the outside), but this part is still beyond my grasp. I can (mostly) do it when John is telling me, but I can't feel it well enough to know when I should do it on my own.
Friday, September 28, 2018
Some big ass oxers in a lesson with Christa
John started the lesson by talking about what happened at Aspen. The easy explanation: when I think a fence is big, my childhood lesson ("don't catch him in the mouth!") kicks in, and I throw my hands forward to save Duke's sweet face. John says we can retrain my hands, but it is the idea of a big fence and that seminal lesson.
For Aspen, I was partly right - the two right hand turns I was probably still making the turn instead of squaring him up to the fence - still using my inside leg to move him instead of getting him perpendicular. John said I should have used counterbend (I thought I was, but maybe I wasn't, or maybe Duke was ignoring me). For the left hand turn (the stall), he probably felt forward, but really needed to be pushed forward and then a half halt, and he just didn't have enough go to get through the fences.
Then he showed us how Duke goes over a fence - if he's balanced and not stiff, he touches the pole on top of the cups; if he's stiff, he drags his hind legs over and rolls the rail out of the cups.
It is me - in the sense that I'm nervous at a competition, so I'm riding him stiff, so he gets stiff.
He said for cross country, the fact that I could think about the fences going wrong (seeing it was another long distance coming), then think about warm up, then apply it, was good. He said on cross country a lot of people can't even think, they're just reacting. (On the other hand, it might be nice if I could just feel and react, instead of having to think it through.)
So he had us start over a little vertical, that he raised, and my job was to go to it with looped, loose reins. It was ... hard to do. Duke jumped it like a steady eddy, but as it got bigger, it got harder and harder for me to leave his face alone and just let him jump it. John said to warm up like that, let him figure it out for a few fences, then when I pick him up and I ask him to do something in front of the fence, he's going to listen.
From there, we did the vertical, left hand turn to plank and rail, right hand turn to huge oxer, and then eventually the long four stride vertical to monster oxer from last week.
The big lesson for me was to have him forward enough - when we hit a rail it was because he stalled out in the turn and I didn't push him forward again, and to keep him soft. If he got stiff on the way to the fence, he was more likely to rub it. I kept him soft by riding him forward and with a bit of counterbend on the turn on the way to the fence.
It was a great lesson, and Duke's a great horse, but I feel like we've moved to the next stage of learning - the part where it makes sense when he says it, but is just slightly over my head so I can't repeat it at home (or here) - and somehow we skipped the part where I get to feel cocky and confident for a month or two.
For Aspen, I was partly right - the two right hand turns I was probably still making the turn instead of squaring him up to the fence - still using my inside leg to move him instead of getting him perpendicular. John said I should have used counterbend (I thought I was, but maybe I wasn't, or maybe Duke was ignoring me). For the left hand turn (the stall), he probably felt forward, but really needed to be pushed forward and then a half halt, and he just didn't have enough go to get through the fences.
Then he showed us how Duke goes over a fence - if he's balanced and not stiff, he touches the pole on top of the cups; if he's stiff, he drags his hind legs over and rolls the rail out of the cups.
It is me - in the sense that I'm nervous at a competition, so I'm riding him stiff, so he gets stiff.
He said for cross country, the fact that I could think about the fences going wrong (seeing it was another long distance coming), then think about warm up, then apply it, was good. He said on cross country a lot of people can't even think, they're just reacting. (On the other hand, it might be nice if I could just feel and react, instead of having to think it through.)
So he had us start over a little vertical, that he raised, and my job was to go to it with looped, loose reins. It was ... hard to do. Duke jumped it like a steady eddy, but as it got bigger, it got harder and harder for me to leave his face alone and just let him jump it. John said to warm up like that, let him figure it out for a few fences, then when I pick him up and I ask him to do something in front of the fence, he's going to listen.
From there, we did the vertical, left hand turn to plank and rail, right hand turn to huge oxer, and then eventually the long four stride vertical to monster oxer from last week.
The big lesson for me was to have him forward enough - when we hit a rail it was because he stalled out in the turn and I didn't push him forward again, and to keep him soft. If he got stiff on the way to the fence, he was more likely to rub it. I kept him soft by riding him forward and with a bit of counterbend on the turn on the way to the fence.
It was a great lesson, and Duke's a great horse, but I feel like we've moved to the next stage of learning - the part where it makes sense when he says it, but is just slightly over my head so I can't repeat it at home (or here) - and somehow we skipped the part where I get to feel cocky and confident for a month or two.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
I'm a sore loser
John warmed us up for dressage and we had what I thought was Duke's best dressage test so far. I'm not sure it was his worst score, but it was pretty close. I think he might have gotten a better score the time he bolted into the arena. He did have two blips - he thought about trotting in the medium walk (but didn't) and his halt was al little crooked - not his fault, something about the way I ride makes him (and Charlie) swing their haunches to the left. The rest of it he was steady, calm, and obedient. He did his free walk as slooowww as he could possibly go, but he stretched down to the bit and kept going, just slowly.
So, ok, fine, I can live with that. He's a thoroughbred, not a flashy mover. And I'm not that great at dressage.
In warm up, I felt like we were on the edge of a break through - something about the inside leg and outside hand and holding it steady, but then my brain got all panicked about the show and it slithered away. But hopefully the next dressage lesson it will come back and hit me.
Cross country was fun. We warmed up, he was jumping perfect, so we walked again (again, with John's help), then a rider to go we went over the table again and it was just crap. So we had to do it three times before it was slightly less crap. John said not to hang onto his face, so I tried not to, but then he got all strung out - there were a few fences where I felt us coming in at the wrong distance, and it took me maybe three of them to remember what John said and then do it (sort of successfully) but that meant the last two fences were fine. At least they felt fine to me. Some of the ones that felt fine possibly weren't, like Christa said we left a stride out at the trakehner. I would not have thought that at all.
Our up bank/down bank was crap, but he kind of lurched up (the too long and flat thing), then had one stride to get down, and I had slipped the reins to keep from grabbing him in the face in the lurch up, so he had to steer himself off, and bless his little heart, he did it.
John said that he's kind of an asshole about day to day stuff, but when the chips are down, he comes through.
Except for at show jumping. Like every fucking lesson we've ever had, he warmed up like a fucking rock star. And so we walked, and then did a couple more fences and they were crap. (Theme). And so I went in to ride and I thought I was riding exactly the same way I ride in lessons or at home, but instead we got three fucking rails.
We hit the top of the wall on fence 4, which apparently no one else in the history of the show hit. John said that was not enough outside rein. It was a right hand turn, so it needed left rein to keep his left (drifting) shoulder in line, so, ok, maybe. We made it on the bending line through the one stride, but then the ridiculously easy vertical got clobbered. Brooke said we came in too close. But there's nothing I could fucking do about that - I made the turn big and wide and gave him plenty of space. It was - however - also a right hand turn that needed left hand outside rein. Then when we made the LEFT hand turn to the two stride combo, he just utterly and completely failed to take off at the first fence, had to spring straight into the air to get over it (which, of course, he did, because why would he risk a rail) but then the striding was all fucked up for the two stride, so on the way out, he hit the fence. So that one, ok, I get why he hit the second fence, but why didn't he jump the first fence? I gave him a long approach, it was one he's jumped before, ...
I don't know if we need to go back down to Novice instead of up to Prelim. It was just embarrassing and it reflects poorly on John and it pisses me off because I don't know what I'm doing wrong to work on it and fix it and get better and improve.
I didn't even want to write this, but I'm hoping that someday a few years from now I look back and remember "oh yeah, ha ha, I didn't know anything then and look how much better I am now."
So, ok, fine, I can live with that. He's a thoroughbred, not a flashy mover. And I'm not that great at dressage.
In warm up, I felt like we were on the edge of a break through - something about the inside leg and outside hand and holding it steady, but then my brain got all panicked about the show and it slithered away. But hopefully the next dressage lesson it will come back and hit me.
Cross country was fun. We warmed up, he was jumping perfect, so we walked again (again, with John's help), then a rider to go we went over the table again and it was just crap. So we had to do it three times before it was slightly less crap. John said not to hang onto his face, so I tried not to, but then he got all strung out - there were a few fences where I felt us coming in at the wrong distance, and it took me maybe three of them to remember what John said and then do it (sort of successfully) but that meant the last two fences were fine. At least they felt fine to me. Some of the ones that felt fine possibly weren't, like Christa said we left a stride out at the trakehner. I would not have thought that at all.
Our up bank/down bank was crap, but he kind of lurched up (the too long and flat thing), then had one stride to get down, and I had slipped the reins to keep from grabbing him in the face in the lurch up, so he had to steer himself off, and bless his little heart, he did it.
John said that he's kind of an asshole about day to day stuff, but when the chips are down, he comes through.
Except for at show jumping. Like every fucking lesson we've ever had, he warmed up like a fucking rock star. And so we walked, and then did a couple more fences and they were crap. (Theme). And so I went in to ride and I thought I was riding exactly the same way I ride in lessons or at home, but instead we got three fucking rails.
We hit the top of the wall on fence 4, which apparently no one else in the history of the show hit. John said that was not enough outside rein. It was a right hand turn, so it needed left rein to keep his left (drifting) shoulder in line, so, ok, maybe. We made it on the bending line through the one stride, but then the ridiculously easy vertical got clobbered. Brooke said we came in too close. But there's nothing I could fucking do about that - I made the turn big and wide and gave him plenty of space. It was - however - also a right hand turn that needed left hand outside rein. Then when we made the LEFT hand turn to the two stride combo, he just utterly and completely failed to take off at the first fence, had to spring straight into the air to get over it (which, of course, he did, because why would he risk a rail) but then the striding was all fucked up for the two stride, so on the way out, he hit the fence. So that one, ok, I get why he hit the second fence, but why didn't he jump the first fence? I gave him a long approach, it was one he's jumped before, ...
I don't know if we need to go back down to Novice instead of up to Prelim. It was just embarrassing and it reflects poorly on John and it pisses me off because I don't know what I'm doing wrong to work on it and fix it and get better and improve.
I didn't even want to write this, but I'm hoping that someday a few years from now I look back and remember "oh yeah, ha ha, I didn't know anything then and look how much better I am now."
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Jumping on bending lines
I have to work all night tonight, so this post is brief.
We jumped jumps that looked big, over lines that took a lot of concentration.
For warm up, John told me to let Duke figure out the spot - so give him a bit with the rein on the approach. The other big impact was to make sure I looked up and over the fence instead of down at it.
Then we did some lines that either needed an angle/angle or a carefully timed bend or turn to get the distance right. Duke did very well with these, even though I had a couple where my reaction time was a little slow. We also went from a regular four to a long four to a regular but even even four, and so I had to think to adjust in between for each one.
My two big corrections were to let Duke do his job on the fences where he could figure it out, but help him get to the next fence on the correct striding - in particular for the long four that was a vertical to an oxer. And then to pick the line and commit to it.
It was one of the classic John lessons where I looked at the fences when I got in and thought "that's crazy, I can never jump any of those" and then felt all confident and successful at the end.
We jumped jumps that looked big, over lines that took a lot of concentration.
For warm up, John told me to let Duke figure out the spot - so give him a bit with the rein on the approach. The other big impact was to make sure I looked up and over the fence instead of down at it.
Then we did some lines that either needed an angle/angle or a carefully timed bend or turn to get the distance right. Duke did very well with these, even though I had a couple where my reaction time was a little slow. We also went from a regular four to a long four to a regular but even even four, and so I had to think to adjust in between for each one.
My two big corrections were to let Duke do his job on the fences where he could figure it out, but help him get to the next fence on the correct striding - in particular for the long four that was a vertical to an oxer. And then to pick the line and commit to it.
It was one of the classic John lessons where I looked at the fences when I got in and thought "that's crazy, I can never jump any of those" and then felt all confident and successful at the end.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Jumping between rain squalls
We had a great jump lesson today, and managed to only get drizzled on at the very end of the lesson. It poured on the drive down and back.
John had us start over a cross rail, then over the vertical heading towards the barn (uphill). From there, he had me make a right turn after going through the fences, so I had to use left rein to get Duke lined up with the fence. Using this left (outside aid) was key to getting Duke lined up, and then it helped with the entire rest of the lesson. Duke was gung-ho, and John had me ride him a bit more forward than I would have chosen on my own, and let the fence back him off.
After doing the vertical and oxer a few times, he made a course. It was right hand turn to oxer, right hand turn to vertical, left hand turn to a vertical, four stride, oxer, and then after we did that a couple times, we added a triple combination (vertical, one stride, vertical, two stride, oxer) to the end.
The lesson was to change the way I rode the fences to adjust for each fence. So the challenging right turn to the first oxer needed a lot of outside rein, but keeping him going forward. The right hand turn to the vertical was a little uphill, so I needed to look up and keep him forward. But then it was an open canter down a long side, and then give him a bit of a half halt but let him really go forward to make the four strides in between, and depending on how we came to the first fence, adjust what I was doing in between to make the four strides. I flubbed it the first time but did better after John explained it. Then to get into the combination, it was get in, one stride, then a quick half halt in between.
From there, we did a corner, first going uphill (twice), then downhill. The first time uphill Duke thought about bobbing out to the left, but I thought he might since that it is his side he likes to go out on, so I was ready and put my left leg on and we made it over (although knocked the first rail down). The second time was better. He seemed to be equally surprised by it when we changed directions though, but thankfully, because he'd given me a heads up he might bulge the first way, I knew to be ready for it the second time.
John said in the warm up at the shows, use that outside rein to control his shoulders, and that should help with the rails, because he doesn't need as much adjustment on the distances as he does on not drifting left.
A jump lesson was just what I needed. Work has been frustrating.
John had us start over a cross rail, then over the vertical heading towards the barn (uphill). From there, he had me make a right turn after going through the fences, so I had to use left rein to get Duke lined up with the fence. Using this left (outside aid) was key to getting Duke lined up, and then it helped with the entire rest of the lesson. Duke was gung-ho, and John had me ride him a bit more forward than I would have chosen on my own, and let the fence back him off.
After doing the vertical and oxer a few times, he made a course. It was right hand turn to oxer, right hand turn to vertical, left hand turn to a vertical, four stride, oxer, and then after we did that a couple times, we added a triple combination (vertical, one stride, vertical, two stride, oxer) to the end.
The lesson was to change the way I rode the fences to adjust for each fence. So the challenging right turn to the first oxer needed a lot of outside rein, but keeping him going forward. The right hand turn to the vertical was a little uphill, so I needed to look up and keep him forward. But then it was an open canter down a long side, and then give him a bit of a half halt but let him really go forward to make the four strides in between, and depending on how we came to the first fence, adjust what I was doing in between to make the four strides. I flubbed it the first time but did better after John explained it. Then to get into the combination, it was get in, one stride, then a quick half halt in between.
From there, we did a corner, first going uphill (twice), then downhill. The first time uphill Duke thought about bobbing out to the left, but I thought he might since that it is his side he likes to go out on, so I was ready and put my left leg on and we made it over (although knocked the first rail down). The second time was better. He seemed to be equally surprised by it when we changed directions though, but thankfully, because he'd given me a heads up he might bulge the first way, I knew to be ready for it the second time.
John said in the warm up at the shows, use that outside rein to control his shoulders, and that should help with the rails, because he doesn't need as much adjustment on the distances as he does on not drifting left.
A jump lesson was just what I needed. Work has been frustrating.
Saturday, September 08, 2018
Draw reins after a flat tire
I got another flat tire on the trailer; this one just a few miles after leaving the barn. It took a couple hours to get fixed, so I was quite late for my lesson.
John had us ride in draw reins, and Duke was sweet. We did a bit of lateral work, a couple leg yields and then some canter serpentines (just to the quarter line and back). John said that he was surprised by how quiet Duke has been, and me too, for how consistent we were all winter and how erratic my schedule has been for the month of August. It's kind of a relief, so that if my work life gets crazy in the future, it might be easier on Duke than I thought it was going to be. On the other hand, he was NOT happy about being in the trailer during the flat tire, and then scraped his nose up on the drive home.
During the lesson, John mostly had me work on making him more round, using half halts, an inside bend, and keeping the connection with my outside hand.
John had us ride in draw reins, and Duke was sweet. We did a bit of lateral work, a couple leg yields and then some canter serpentines (just to the quarter line and back). John said that he was surprised by how quiet Duke has been, and me too, for how consistent we were all winter and how erratic my schedule has been for the month of August. It's kind of a relief, so that if my work life gets crazy in the future, it might be easier on Duke than I thought it was going to be. On the other hand, he was NOT happy about being in the trailer during the flat tire, and then scraped his nose up on the drive home.
During the lesson, John mostly had me work on making him more round, using half halts, an inside bend, and keeping the connection with my outside hand.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
My job is to help Duke out
My main takeaway from Young Riders is that I'm not helping Duke enough; this has something to do with half halts; but I'm not quite sure what I'm not doing. And I think I need to figure it out to be able to ride prelim.
He was ok in dressage; some of our scores were quite good and a few were quite low (but different than the other low scores). He got tense when it started raining, and I didn't have quite enough time to get him to relax again. I thought his lengthenings didn't show enough difference, but the judge was ok with the up, just not with the back down. His trot lengthening was almost nonexistent because I was so afraid of what happened at Whidbey, which of course didn't happen again at all.
For show jumping, he was a little crabby about being ridden again, and then again about the rain. John said the heat is his delicate skin, I think the rain is the same thing. When it was raining he stood in the trailer with his nose only just barely aligned with the side, so the rain drops wouldn't get on him. It was funny and pathetic.
So for show jumping, the course was set funny (John said 9' strides) so the distances were either long or short, but all just a bit off. John - god bless him - told me just before I went in to get him round and on the bit and to shorten him. And it made perfect sense, but hadn't occurred to me. All that I thought of was go long or short. So that helped tremendously. We got two rails, but that was still better than at Rebecca, and the ride felt pretty good, AND watching prelim it was just a massacre of rails, so I was pretty happy with that.
For cross country today, Duke was a bit of a pistol in the warm up, just kind of crabby. I think - maybe - his hind legs are feeling just a wee bit tight. John worked us a bit, and had us do a gallop so we could come back from it. Duke LIKED galloping. For the course, we rubbed several of the fences pretty hard, but he jumped everything on the angle I put him on, and it rode pretty much like I wanted it to. The sticky fence was #14 (out of the water) and it was just a funny angle in deep footing, and although Brooke told me how to ride it, I didn't get him turned quite as much as I planned, but bless his heart he jumped on out of it. So this makes every show except Spokane I've felt ok about the fences, felt like I was seeing the lines and tricks and knew what to do, and not getting too nervous.
John said that we were a little too fast and flat at the start, and that I need to work on getting him back on his haunches (not slowed down, just rocked back), especially in the combinations. He also said that Duke is going to get aggressive and racehorsey after he starts going faster, and so when I'm going back to the barn, take my time and lollygag around so he doesn't get quite so worked up about it.
I'm happy with Duke. He tried his little heart out, and although we're still figuring each other out, and the being [this close] is kind of frustrating, I think he and I are going to be a good team.
It did not help that I only got four hours of sleep Friday night and had to work Fri, Sat, and Sun instead of being able to focus or do the other 1 million things that need doing. So that was pretty irritating and frustrating.
Thank god for John. He just reads me and knows Duke and knows the fences and the course and tells us what we need to hear at the time we need to hear it. He's awesome.
He was ok in dressage; some of our scores were quite good and a few were quite low (but different than the other low scores). He got tense when it started raining, and I didn't have quite enough time to get him to relax again. I thought his lengthenings didn't show enough difference, but the judge was ok with the up, just not with the back down. His trot lengthening was almost nonexistent because I was so afraid of what happened at Whidbey, which of course didn't happen again at all.
For show jumping, he was a little crabby about being ridden again, and then again about the rain. John said the heat is his delicate skin, I think the rain is the same thing. When it was raining he stood in the trailer with his nose only just barely aligned with the side, so the rain drops wouldn't get on him. It was funny and pathetic.
So for show jumping, the course was set funny (John said 9' strides) so the distances were either long or short, but all just a bit off. John - god bless him - told me just before I went in to get him round and on the bit and to shorten him. And it made perfect sense, but hadn't occurred to me. All that I thought of was go long or short. So that helped tremendously. We got two rails, but that was still better than at Rebecca, and the ride felt pretty good, AND watching prelim it was just a massacre of rails, so I was pretty happy with that.
For cross country today, Duke was a bit of a pistol in the warm up, just kind of crabby. I think - maybe - his hind legs are feeling just a wee bit tight. John worked us a bit, and had us do a gallop so we could come back from it. Duke LIKED galloping. For the course, we rubbed several of the fences pretty hard, but he jumped everything on the angle I put him on, and it rode pretty much like I wanted it to. The sticky fence was #14 (out of the water) and it was just a funny angle in deep footing, and although Brooke told me how to ride it, I didn't get him turned quite as much as I planned, but bless his heart he jumped on out of it. So this makes every show except Spokane I've felt ok about the fences, felt like I was seeing the lines and tricks and knew what to do, and not getting too nervous.
John said that we were a little too fast and flat at the start, and that I need to work on getting him back on his haunches (not slowed down, just rocked back), especially in the combinations. He also said that Duke is going to get aggressive and racehorsey after he starts going faster, and so when I'm going back to the barn, take my time and lollygag around so he doesn't get quite so worked up about it.
I'm happy with Duke. He tried his little heart out, and although we're still figuring each other out, and the being [this close] is kind of frustrating, I think he and I are going to be a good team.
It did not help that I only got four hours of sleep Friday night and had to work Fri, Sat, and Sun instead of being able to focus or do the other 1 million things that need doing. So that was pretty irritating and frustrating.
Thank god for John. He just reads me and knows Duke and knows the fences and the course and tells us what we need to hear at the time we need to hear it. He's awesome.
Thursday, August 09, 2018
Jumping in an oven
It was hot today. Hot and still, so the air was heavy and thick. Duke doesn't care much for heavy, hot, still, thick air. He suggested, as we warmed up, that we should take one of the exits out of the jump arena, each time we went past. I told him it would be worth it to wait and jump in the lesson and it was.
John had us start with just a bit of trot and canter, and he said to work more on getting the inside leg to outside hand connection, and then work on the inside bend. When I used the diagonal aids, Duke got much more round than when I just used one.
We jumped a cross rail, then went right away to a vertical that had two ground poles and two guiding rails, making a chute. Duke kind of clobbered his way through it the first few times, but when I didn't help him out, he decided to figure it out himself, and then we rode through it like it was a breeze. Afterwards, John said that was a good decision to make, but it really felt like the only decision I could make - I'm not good enough to help him with each foot step, and I'm willing to go down with him if he doesn't figure it out on his own. I'm glad he does though, because it felt great once he got it.
My job was just to count and try to keep the rhythm - 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 - although I did do a little bit of counterbend before the first turn and some teeny tiny half halts on the way in to balance him and keep him uphill and light, instead of letting him dive down and long and flat.
From there, we did a little oxer off the left lead, which rode pretty well. But when we got a funny distance, John said keep the rhythm but make the canter bigger, and then you can add or you can go long. So first we went long and then we added. As much as I prefer to go long, adding felt a bit more comfortable.
From there we did a course - left lead over red oxer, right hand turn to black vertical, decide 7 or 8 to oxer (John made this because of the issues with the 5/6 line at Rebecca), left hand turn around the cross rail to plank vertical, three tight strides to an oxer (the best line we rode), right hand turn back to the ground poles and the chute (Duke scrambled through it again), right hand turn to a roll top with a vertical on it.
John said not to chase him. That I can use leg and make his strides longer, but don't chase him into a long flat jump, because he likes to dive down and its unpleasant to ride compared to when he's uphill. It's ok to adjust strides when I see the distance is wrong, but keep the rhythm. It was so easy to tell that John had been riding him because it felt the nicest I've ever ridden him over fences.
He said when Duke was there last week, and what I've experienced this week - he just really doesn't like the heat and gets uncomfortable. John thinks it's his thin skin, like when you're a kid with the sweat and salt dried on you but you're wearing a shirt so you think the shirt is itchy. Duke kept stomping his left front foot, which I've never seen him do before.
Man, that was some nice jumping. It made my whole week.
John had us start with just a bit of trot and canter, and he said to work more on getting the inside leg to outside hand connection, and then work on the inside bend. When I used the diagonal aids, Duke got much more round than when I just used one.
We jumped a cross rail, then went right away to a vertical that had two ground poles and two guiding rails, making a chute. Duke kind of clobbered his way through it the first few times, but when I didn't help him out, he decided to figure it out himself, and then we rode through it like it was a breeze. Afterwards, John said that was a good decision to make, but it really felt like the only decision I could make - I'm not good enough to help him with each foot step, and I'm willing to go down with him if he doesn't figure it out on his own. I'm glad he does though, because it felt great once he got it.
My job was just to count and try to keep the rhythm - 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 - although I did do a little bit of counterbend before the first turn and some teeny tiny half halts on the way in to balance him and keep him uphill and light, instead of letting him dive down and long and flat.
From there, we did a little oxer off the left lead, which rode pretty well. But when we got a funny distance, John said keep the rhythm but make the canter bigger, and then you can add or you can go long. So first we went long and then we added. As much as I prefer to go long, adding felt a bit more comfortable.
From there we did a course - left lead over red oxer, right hand turn to black vertical, decide 7 or 8 to oxer (John made this because of the issues with the 5/6 line at Rebecca), left hand turn around the cross rail to plank vertical, three tight strides to an oxer (the best line we rode), right hand turn back to the ground poles and the chute (Duke scrambled through it again), right hand turn to a roll top with a vertical on it.
John said not to chase him. That I can use leg and make his strides longer, but don't chase him into a long flat jump, because he likes to dive down and its unpleasant to ride compared to when he's uphill. It's ok to adjust strides when I see the distance is wrong, but keep the rhythm. It was so easy to tell that John had been riding him because it felt the nicest I've ever ridden him over fences.
He said when Duke was there last week, and what I've experienced this week - he just really doesn't like the heat and gets uncomfortable. John thinks it's his thin skin, like when you're a kid with the sweat and salt dried on you but you're wearing a shirt so you think the shirt is itchy. Duke kept stomping his left front foot, which I've never seen him do before.
Man, that was some nice jumping. It made my whole week.
Monday, August 06, 2018
Week with John
Duke spent almost a week at Caber while I was in Florida with the family (and the rain). I had a lesson before bringing him home, and he felt like he was moving with his back lifted and more quietly on the bit - more forward, I think, because my legs felt like they just had to hang there, not nagging him.
He was good at the trot, but a little bit tense, chewing on the bit and not quite going round and deep (as round and deep as I know John can ride him). His canter surprised me (and him) - we both went shooting off, and I was grateful John was there to explain his aids, which are not as much leg slamming on as I do. So Duke is now a delicate Maserati, who can spring forward (or back) without me having to lug on him. It was pretty cool, and a nice reminder that I should not be as casual and sloppy with my aids.
I asked John what he could feel about the way I ride when he rode him, and he said that it feels like I give up just before Duke gives what I ask him to - as in, I ask him to get round, and he starts to go round, and then I think "good enough" and quit asking, although Duke is ready to give the last little bit. Super useful.
He also said that as soon as Duke gives with his jaw, I need to immediately soften my hands - reward him immediately. He said that Saturday they worked on a lot of walk/trot/walk/halt, and Duke got crabby about it (I am betting John's version of crabby is pretty different than mine), and that he also was a bit - I forget the word he used - snarky (?) in the heat.
I thought Duke felt great, and it was amazing to be able to send him forward and back so easy. I'll ride again on Thursday, after I get my "sea legs" back.
The important difference in the canter aid was a) the sequence (inside bend, outside hand, inside leg, go) and b) the intensity (I slam both legs on casually and ignore his head). To bring the canter back, all I had to do was a tiny bit of light outside rein.
He was good at the trot, but a little bit tense, chewing on the bit and not quite going round and deep (as round and deep as I know John can ride him). His canter surprised me (and him) - we both went shooting off, and I was grateful John was there to explain his aids, which are not as much leg slamming on as I do. So Duke is now a delicate Maserati, who can spring forward (or back) without me having to lug on him. It was pretty cool, and a nice reminder that I should not be as casual and sloppy with my aids.
I asked John what he could feel about the way I ride when he rode him, and he said that it feels like I give up just before Duke gives what I ask him to - as in, I ask him to get round, and he starts to go round, and then I think "good enough" and quit asking, although Duke is ready to give the last little bit. Super useful.
He also said that as soon as Duke gives with his jaw, I need to immediately soften my hands - reward him immediately. He said that Saturday they worked on a lot of walk/trot/walk/halt, and Duke got crabby about it (I am betting John's version of crabby is pretty different than mine), and that he also was a bit - I forget the word he used - snarky (?) in the heat.
I thought Duke felt great, and it was amazing to be able to send him forward and back so easy. I'll ride again on Thursday, after I get my "sea legs" back.
The important difference in the canter aid was a) the sequence (inside bend, outside hand, inside leg, go) and b) the intensity (I slam both legs on casually and ignore his head). To bring the canter back, all I had to do was a tiny bit of light outside rein.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Rebecca wrap up, "capable but anxious"
I should be happy with how Duke did at Rebecca, but I'm not, and I'm really struggling with why not.
He was 3rd to last after dressage, with a 39.8. (First was a 26.9, so it wasn't like we were even close.)
however, it was absolutely amazing we even got through the test, because the first two days on the show grounds, he was completely overwhelmed. I didn't ride him the first day (although with hind sight, I should have).
Let me back up. Sunday I had to be in Eugene. I spent six hours (instead of three) driving home, gave him the world's fastest bath, and showed up at Meg's in Ellensburg close to 11 pm. Monday morning I got up early (before 5 am) and drove to Kalispell. This would have been genius, had I known about the construction, which took almost an extra two hours in the cooking hot sun (over 90 degrees).
So that's why I didn't ride Monday. I just felt bad that he rode in the trailer and just cooked all day.
So when I got on Tuesday, he'd had two days off, which is very unusual for us.
And although things were only just getting started, he was overwhelmed and tense and scared and nervous.
So John told me to ride him twice a day, but only briefly.
Well, on our second ride, I ran into Jessica who told me about the cows out on Phase A of roads and tracks, so the next day I wanted to walk past them on one of our rides, and that blew his mind as well. All I could think about was how we were going to get eliminated on Phase A because we couldn't trot past some cows.
We went and practiced the jog on the track - I thought he'd be scared of the big white tent, but he didn't care about it at all.
So instead of working a few hours every day, I spent that extra few hours riding him a second time and walking him around and trying to get him used to the show grounds and atmosphere.
He was fine for jog 1, even though a few horses ahead of us, a horse got loose and ran away (and Brooke said ran into another horse, which then didn't pass inspection).
We got to do the steeplechase practice that afternoon, which was awesome. He took off like he was shot out of a cannon and just got faster and faster and was SO EASY to ride over the fences (we got to do the first one, then the first and second one). We walked back on Phase C of roads and tracks and he was ho-hum about the cows.
For dressage, John helped us a lot with warm up, and watched the test, which I thought was pretty ok, although his face said "meh" and our score was meh. Given that I didn't think he'd be able to halt or even remotely be obedient, I was just glad we didn't eliminate. Until we got the score and saw our place, and then I was pissed we didn't do better.
Allison and Andrea suggested he might have ulcers - at least stress ulcers - and suggested I try omeprazolone (to take the edge off) and maybe give him one of the two months (?) of treatment, just in case. That would make sense, with him being girthy, although I thought it was just the badly fitting saddles. So I got him some ulcerguard and some nerve cookies, and I'm going to up his smartpak to put more gut health supplements in and see if that helps him. It's not fair to him unless I give him every opportunity to do his best.
For cross country, Duke was a little nervous about Phase A (he trotted with his head straight up, looking for something to spook at), but once we started steeplechase, he was like "oh, ok, fun" and we shot around the steeplechase. The time said 1:01, but I think it was 2:01 (instead of 2:29). It was FAST.
He settled a bit in Phase C, and although he was pretty sweaty after steeplechase, the trotting was obviously less work and we cruised into the 10 minute box* almost dry. And his temp was only 101. Brooke's crew went to town on him, and I just stood around. So he did great in the 10 minute box.
He was kind of difficult on cross country. After steeplechase, he just wanted to grab the bit and go, and the course was a little more technical than our other training courses, so it was kind of a jerky ride. I had to battle with him the first three fences to listen, and then he screeched to a halt at the big hill and then again at the weird water. Thankfully, neither of those were flagged, and after the two screeching halts, he started listening a little better.
I felt like we got the most technical moves done only by the skin of our teeth - the big table on a bending line to the corner (fences 9/10) and the coffin followed by a hard left to the bears (13 a/b/c?). He had no problem making up the time from the screeching halts and the slow down for the technical parts on the wide open parts, and he jumped every fence like a dream boat. Brooke's mom said they were watching and he took off long, but I thought he was great.
When we got finished, his temp was only 102, so he didn't have to do a third check. Also, the vet was a hottie.
For show jumping, I did not go out way ahead of time, and he was just a little stiff. He got loosened up, and jumped the cross rail twice and the vertical once close to perfect, so I planned to walk five minutes, then do the vertical and oxer a couple times before we went in.
And then the fucking water truck came into the arena next to us and watered the entire rest of our warm up time. Because the water truck was giving him conniption fits the first three days, I stayed on the far side of the arena, just walking, just trying to keep him calm, and maybe that was a mistake, but I didn't have enough time to try to get near it, have him freak out, and then calm him down again. So we didn't get to jump again, just walk for 10 minutes, and when we went in to do the test, he clobbered the first rail, fourth rail, and seven a and c. Four fucking rails, out of 12. It was humiliating.
Brooke said he was long and flat, and I don't know if that was from the big long walk or if he was flat before. He was smooth, consistent, and obedient; he just doesn't give a shit if he hits a rail. I don't know if he would have perked up if we'd done the warm up oxer a few times, or if I would have even noticed he was flat. So this part was really really really disappointing. The only silver lining is we were already in 13th place, so it wasn't like we had a ribbon and then lost it.
He ended in 12/25, but if we hadn't gotten four rails ...
He did a lot of things very well, and it was better than the last time I was there (eliminated in steeplechase) and better than Whidbey (eliminated in dressage) and I felt like I was the least prepared I'd ever been for a show, and I wanted to scratch because I was so unprepared, so I don't know why I'm so mad about how we did. He did a good job. I just wanted to do better.
And more than that, I guess I don't know what I did wrong and what we could have done better. I think he did the best he could.
One of the judge's comments was that we were 'capable but anxious' which is so accurate about me it kind of gives me the heebie jeebies.
After show jumping, I finally went and talked to Devocoux. I rode in two demo saddles, which seemed to fit both Duke and I perfectly (poor guy got ridden two more times, I swear he has the patience of a saint), and my Jete went to Schleese on consignment. I started crying, because it was custom made for Charlie, and then couldn't stop.
I hope that saddles that actually fit him will help us push through this phase and gear up for the next. I think he is a sweet, generous horse who is trying hard, but is saddled (har har) with idiot me. And the only cure for idiot me is more time with John.
10 minute box details:
Duct tape, halter with number, extra shoes (and studs), two buckets, two sponges, two scrapers, mounting block, human water
Set up 1 hour ahead
Come in, they want to see him trotting to make sure not lame
Put halter on over bridle, loosen bridle and girth
Get temp, resp, pulse
102-103 is hot - sponges and scrape multiple times
Look for cuts and scrapes
At 6 minutes, vet will ask to trot in lane
At 5 minutes, tighten girth and bridle back up
At 4 minutes, get back on and start walking over to start box
At finish, he'll be checked when he comes in
Take tack off
Check again at 10 minutes (Duke didn't need)
Be careful with studs if you take boots off
Put in stall, let him pee and drink and have some down time to himself
He was 3rd to last after dressage, with a 39.8. (First was a 26.9, so it wasn't like we were even close.)
however, it was absolutely amazing we even got through the test, because the first two days on the show grounds, he was completely overwhelmed. I didn't ride him the first day (although with hind sight, I should have).
Let me back up. Sunday I had to be in Eugene. I spent six hours (instead of three) driving home, gave him the world's fastest bath, and showed up at Meg's in Ellensburg close to 11 pm. Monday morning I got up early (before 5 am) and drove to Kalispell. This would have been genius, had I known about the construction, which took almost an extra two hours in the cooking hot sun (over 90 degrees).
So that's why I didn't ride Monday. I just felt bad that he rode in the trailer and just cooked all day.
So when I got on Tuesday, he'd had two days off, which is very unusual for us.
And although things were only just getting started, he was overwhelmed and tense and scared and nervous.
So John told me to ride him twice a day, but only briefly.
Well, on our second ride, I ran into Jessica who told me about the cows out on Phase A of roads and tracks, so the next day I wanted to walk past them on one of our rides, and that blew his mind as well. All I could think about was how we were going to get eliminated on Phase A because we couldn't trot past some cows.
We went and practiced the jog on the track - I thought he'd be scared of the big white tent, but he didn't care about it at all.
So instead of working a few hours every day, I spent that extra few hours riding him a second time and walking him around and trying to get him used to the show grounds and atmosphere.
He was fine for jog 1, even though a few horses ahead of us, a horse got loose and ran away (and Brooke said ran into another horse, which then didn't pass inspection).
We got to do the steeplechase practice that afternoon, which was awesome. He took off like he was shot out of a cannon and just got faster and faster and was SO EASY to ride over the fences (we got to do the first one, then the first and second one). We walked back on Phase C of roads and tracks and he was ho-hum about the cows.
For dressage, John helped us a lot with warm up, and watched the test, which I thought was pretty ok, although his face said "meh" and our score was meh. Given that I didn't think he'd be able to halt or even remotely be obedient, I was just glad we didn't eliminate. Until we got the score and saw our place, and then I was pissed we didn't do better.
Allison and Andrea suggested he might have ulcers - at least stress ulcers - and suggested I try omeprazolone (to take the edge off) and maybe give him one of the two months (?) of treatment, just in case. That would make sense, with him being girthy, although I thought it was just the badly fitting saddles. So I got him some ulcerguard and some nerve cookies, and I'm going to up his smartpak to put more gut health supplements in and see if that helps him. It's not fair to him unless I give him every opportunity to do his best.
For cross country, Duke was a little nervous about Phase A (he trotted with his head straight up, looking for something to spook at), but once we started steeplechase, he was like "oh, ok, fun" and we shot around the steeplechase. The time said 1:01, but I think it was 2:01 (instead of 2:29). It was FAST.
He settled a bit in Phase C, and although he was pretty sweaty after steeplechase, the trotting was obviously less work and we cruised into the 10 minute box* almost dry. And his temp was only 101. Brooke's crew went to town on him, and I just stood around. So he did great in the 10 minute box.
He was kind of difficult on cross country. After steeplechase, he just wanted to grab the bit and go, and the course was a little more technical than our other training courses, so it was kind of a jerky ride. I had to battle with him the first three fences to listen, and then he screeched to a halt at the big hill and then again at the weird water. Thankfully, neither of those were flagged, and after the two screeching halts, he started listening a little better.
I felt like we got the most technical moves done only by the skin of our teeth - the big table on a bending line to the corner (fences 9/10) and the coffin followed by a hard left to the bears (13 a/b/c?). He had no problem making up the time from the screeching halts and the slow down for the technical parts on the wide open parts, and he jumped every fence like a dream boat. Brooke's mom said they were watching and he took off long, but I thought he was great.
When we got finished, his temp was only 102, so he didn't have to do a third check. Also, the vet was a hottie.
For show jumping, I did not go out way ahead of time, and he was just a little stiff. He got loosened up, and jumped the cross rail twice and the vertical once close to perfect, so I planned to walk five minutes, then do the vertical and oxer a couple times before we went in.
And then the fucking water truck came into the arena next to us and watered the entire rest of our warm up time. Because the water truck was giving him conniption fits the first three days, I stayed on the far side of the arena, just walking, just trying to keep him calm, and maybe that was a mistake, but I didn't have enough time to try to get near it, have him freak out, and then calm him down again. So we didn't get to jump again, just walk for 10 minutes, and when we went in to do the test, he clobbered the first rail, fourth rail, and seven a and c. Four fucking rails, out of 12. It was humiliating.
Brooke said he was long and flat, and I don't know if that was from the big long walk or if he was flat before. He was smooth, consistent, and obedient; he just doesn't give a shit if he hits a rail. I don't know if he would have perked up if we'd done the warm up oxer a few times, or if I would have even noticed he was flat. So this part was really really really disappointing. The only silver lining is we were already in 13th place, so it wasn't like we had a ribbon and then lost it.
He ended in 12/25, but if we hadn't gotten four rails ...
He did a lot of things very well, and it was better than the last time I was there (eliminated in steeplechase) and better than Whidbey (eliminated in dressage) and I felt like I was the least prepared I'd ever been for a show, and I wanted to scratch because I was so unprepared, so I don't know why I'm so mad about how we did. He did a good job. I just wanted to do better.
And more than that, I guess I don't know what I did wrong and what we could have done better. I think he did the best he could.
One of the judge's comments was that we were 'capable but anxious' which is so accurate about me it kind of gives me the heebie jeebies.
After show jumping, I finally went and talked to Devocoux. I rode in two demo saddles, which seemed to fit both Duke and I perfectly (poor guy got ridden two more times, I swear he has the patience of a saint), and my Jete went to Schleese on consignment. I started crying, because it was custom made for Charlie, and then couldn't stop.
I hope that saddles that actually fit him will help us push through this phase and gear up for the next. I think he is a sweet, generous horse who is trying hard, but is saddled (har har) with idiot me. And the only cure for idiot me is more time with John.
10 minute box details:
Duct tape, halter with number, extra shoes (and studs), two buckets, two sponges, two scrapers, mounting block, human water
Set up 1 hour ahead
Come in, they want to see him trotting to make sure not lame
Put halter on over bridle, loosen bridle and girth
Get temp, resp, pulse
102-103 is hot - sponges and scrape multiple times
Look for cuts and scrapes
At 6 minutes, vet will ask to trot in lane
At 5 minutes, tighten girth and bridle back up
At 4 minutes, get back on and start walking over to start box
At finish, he'll be checked when he comes in
Take tack off
Check again at 10 minutes (Duke didn't need)
Be careful with studs if you take boots off
Put in stall, let him pee and drink and have some down time to himself
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Halt is beyond us right now
The training test A has one halt, at the end. The three day test has three halts, spread pretty evenly throughout. Yesterday, Duke could barely manage the halt at home, but during warm up at John's, he was ok. I told John, and we started, and Duke was pretty ok, but a few halts in he started to panic.
So the silver lining is John was sitting right there, and worked us through it, but the cloudy part is that we spent our last lesson before Rebecca working on the halt. (Instead of on the "hard" moves in the test.)
John had us do lots and lots and lots and lots of boring transitions of varying lengths. One gait difference only - so halt - walk - halt - walk - trot - walk - trot - walk - halt - etc. NOT trot to halt or walk to canter.
He said to do that in warm up at the show. Just make it not a big deal. If Duke is starting to get wound up - afraid of what is about to happen next - just be like "dude, chill, you've got this".
And if he gets wound up in the arena, then blow the move and let him relax.
John also said to give him a bit of leg yield if he's wound up. Even if it's the middle of the test, move him over.
John also had me give a lot with my hands, at trot and at canter.
He said Duke did better than he expected (since last November, when this happened, it took me a month to teach him to halt again), but still, this blows. I feel like we're going into an exam for a class I never attended and naked.
By panic, I mean he spun, stepped sideways, smashed my leg into the wall, stuck his head straight up in the air, and twisted around.
What's the worst that happens? we get eliminated in dressage again (and so I'm eliminated 2 out of 3 times at Rebecca). What's better than that? We finish the show. Jesus, the bar is low.
But a year ago, I could hardly steer him around a show jumping course and he was so unbalanced at the canter he was hard to ride going to the right. So this is progress, Martha, try to remember that.
So the silver lining is John was sitting right there, and worked us through it, but the cloudy part is that we spent our last lesson before Rebecca working on the halt. (Instead of on the "hard" moves in the test.)
John had us do lots and lots and lots and lots of boring transitions of varying lengths. One gait difference only - so halt - walk - halt - walk - trot - walk - trot - walk - halt - etc. NOT trot to halt or walk to canter.
He said to do that in warm up at the show. Just make it not a big deal. If Duke is starting to get wound up - afraid of what is about to happen next - just be like "dude, chill, you've got this".
And if he gets wound up in the arena, then blow the move and let him relax.
John also said to give him a bit of leg yield if he's wound up. Even if it's the middle of the test, move him over.
John also had me give a lot with my hands, at trot and at canter.
He said Duke did better than he expected (since last November, when this happened, it took me a month to teach him to halt again), but still, this blows. I feel like we're going into an exam for a class I never attended and naked.
By panic, I mean he spun, stepped sideways, smashed my leg into the wall, stuck his head straight up in the air, and twisted around.
What's the worst that happens? we get eliminated in dressage again (and so I'm eliminated 2 out of 3 times at Rebecca). What's better than that? We finish the show. Jesus, the bar is low.
But a year ago, I could hardly steer him around a show jumping course and he was so unbalanced at the canter he was hard to ride going to the right. So this is progress, Martha, try to remember that.
Sunday, July 08, 2018
The poor man's rear
John explained everything.
Duke gets nervous when he hears noises and he can't see the source (what we thought was going on in November), so it probably was the horse behind the hedge.
Two things I could have done:
First, when he started getting tenser and tenser, on the long side, going away from the judge, give him the reins a little and let him relax his neck down. And then, if he's still tense, just give up on the lengthening and just ride the canter (or trot) normal and take the hit on the score.
Second, when he goes backwards, bend my hands - JUST A TINY BIT - and steer him around in a curve. John said that sometimes when their hip has to move under them, it breaks up the panic.
He said that thoroughbreds do this - they feel trapped and they panic and they freeze and they plant their feet. It's fear, that's why I could feel his little heart beating under my leg - not being naughty. And that smacking/kicking will not ever work, and might eventually make him rear, because the running away backwards was "the poor man's rear" which made me laugh for way too long.
Then he told me and Meg about his first Rolex, when his horse got afraid of the motor in a camera, and he did a gallop lap around the inside of the dressage arena before going back to his test (then going home, and buying one of the motors to make the noise at home).
He told me not to use reins/kick because he had three thoroughbreds in a row that reared and flipped on him - he said they're so frozen they just throw themselves down on the ground.
The other silver lining here is that until my lesson, I had completely forgotten that after the November incident, it took me months to get Duke to stand still in the halt again. John had said I might just have to - really fast - halt-salute-be done, and so he's actually done quite well this whole show season for what we were starting with.
The whole thing made me feel SO much better, and I was so afraid that John was going to tell me I was a fuck up, which he's never done, so I don't know why I was so anxious about what he would say. I guess I was afraid he was going to say that it wasn't a fixable problem, but instead, he knew just how to fix it, and - I hadn't been that far off in thinking about it. I *knew* he was getting tense, I just didn't do anything about it earlier, and just knowing that will help us a lot in the future.
I thought jumping would be a good idea, and John said that if I had my dressage saddle, he was going to make us do easy circles out in the field. We kept it low key and fun for Duke, so it was just going over a little plank a few times. John said if he stopped I'd be in trouble, but Duke just popped over it like it was not big thing.
Then we did a vertical that had two poles angled on it, and each lap John pushed the tops of them (on the rail) closer together, so that we had to get more and more and more precise. Duke also jumped this like it was no big thing.
Then we did a five stride plank to gate, and we rode this just fine so John had us stop there. He said what he liked about that fence was that on stride 3, I saw the distance, and put my leg on so that we would make it. He said he also would have been ok if we jumped in short and on stride three, I sat up so that we made it a six stride.
Then he showed the levels of riding, and he said the first level is that you just ride through the fences on whatever you've got. The next level he said is the hardest, at this one, you see the distance but you don't ride it correctly, so you're just flailing. He said this one is hard on everyone, and it's where I was about two years ago (I vividly remember the months of flailing, and how frustrating it was, and how he told me then that it was part of the process and to trust that we would get through it and then suddenly it would be so much easier). The next level is being able to adjust about 6' out - you have some adjustability and can fit in that last stride in that six foot window.
From there is about 3', then 2', then 1', then you're at the Olympics. He said at 1', you can put the horse in place for every fence so that they never knock down a rail. You just get better and better at seeing where you want to put the horse.
So then I walked Duke around the cross country field where he got scared of a weed blowing in the wind, but other than that, was pretty relaxed.
We leave in a week for Montana, which is a day earlier than I thought, so it's going to be a tight week, and the next week, my timing was bad with the farrier, so he's going to have a couple days off the weekend before Montana, and then a few days off when we get back (!!).
I told John I didn't want to go to Montana and get eliminated and he asked what would Duke learn from NOT going to Montana. (Nothing) And what does he need? (Experience) So he said the whole thing was why we definitely should go to Montana. Good points.
I'm so, so, so lucky to be able to learn from John. Good lord.
Duke gets nervous when he hears noises and he can't see the source (what we thought was going on in November), so it probably was the horse behind the hedge.
Two things I could have done:
First, when he started getting tenser and tenser, on the long side, going away from the judge, give him the reins a little and let him relax his neck down. And then, if he's still tense, just give up on the lengthening and just ride the canter (or trot) normal and take the hit on the score.
Second, when he goes backwards, bend my hands - JUST A TINY BIT - and steer him around in a curve. John said that sometimes when their hip has to move under them, it breaks up the panic.
He said that thoroughbreds do this - they feel trapped and they panic and they freeze and they plant their feet. It's fear, that's why I could feel his little heart beating under my leg - not being naughty. And that smacking/kicking will not ever work, and might eventually make him rear, because the running away backwards was "the poor man's rear" which made me laugh for way too long.
Then he told me and Meg about his first Rolex, when his horse got afraid of the motor in a camera, and he did a gallop lap around the inside of the dressage arena before going back to his test (then going home, and buying one of the motors to make the noise at home).
He told me not to use reins/kick because he had three thoroughbreds in a row that reared and flipped on him - he said they're so frozen they just throw themselves down on the ground.
The other silver lining here is that until my lesson, I had completely forgotten that after the November incident, it took me months to get Duke to stand still in the halt again. John had said I might just have to - really fast - halt-salute-be done, and so he's actually done quite well this whole show season for what we were starting with.
The whole thing made me feel SO much better, and I was so afraid that John was going to tell me I was a fuck up, which he's never done, so I don't know why I was so anxious about what he would say. I guess I was afraid he was going to say that it wasn't a fixable problem, but instead, he knew just how to fix it, and - I hadn't been that far off in thinking about it. I *knew* he was getting tense, I just didn't do anything about it earlier, and just knowing that will help us a lot in the future.
I thought jumping would be a good idea, and John said that if I had my dressage saddle, he was going to make us do easy circles out in the field. We kept it low key and fun for Duke, so it was just going over a little plank a few times. John said if he stopped I'd be in trouble, but Duke just popped over it like it was not big thing.
Then we did a vertical that had two poles angled on it, and each lap John pushed the tops of them (on the rail) closer together, so that we had to get more and more and more precise. Duke also jumped this like it was no big thing.
Then we did a five stride plank to gate, and we rode this just fine so John had us stop there. He said what he liked about that fence was that on stride 3, I saw the distance, and put my leg on so that we would make it. He said he also would have been ok if we jumped in short and on stride three, I sat up so that we made it a six stride.
Then he showed the levels of riding, and he said the first level is that you just ride through the fences on whatever you've got. The next level he said is the hardest, at this one, you see the distance but you don't ride it correctly, so you're just flailing. He said this one is hard on everyone, and it's where I was about two years ago (I vividly remember the months of flailing, and how frustrating it was, and how he told me then that it was part of the process and to trust that we would get through it and then suddenly it would be so much easier). The next level is being able to adjust about 6' out - you have some adjustability and can fit in that last stride in that six foot window.
From there is about 3', then 2', then 1', then you're at the Olympics. He said at 1', you can put the horse in place for every fence so that they never knock down a rail. You just get better and better at seeing where you want to put the horse.
So then I walked Duke around the cross country field where he got scared of a weed blowing in the wind, but other than that, was pretty relaxed.
We leave in a week for Montana, which is a day earlier than I thought, so it's going to be a tight week, and the next week, my timing was bad with the farrier, so he's going to have a couple days off the weekend before Montana, and then a few days off when we get back (!!).
I told John I didn't want to go to Montana and get eliminated and he asked what would Duke learn from NOT going to Montana. (Nothing) And what does he need? (Experience) So he said the whole thing was why we definitely should go to Montana. Good points.
I'm so, so, so lucky to be able to learn from John. Good lord.
Friday, July 06, 2018
Whidbey's lesson was why John said to get a horse you like
Duke freaked out in dressage and we got eliminated.
We got there Thursday, I rode him around, he was a little tense, particularly around the hedges.
So I gave him a Thursday evening walk and a walk this morning through the hedges, eating and having a good time.
He was fine in warm up, but got more and more tense as the test went on. When we got to the third to last move (F to H trot lengthening) he broke to a canter then froze in place. Then he did the idiot thing where he turns his head only, but won't move his body. After I tried to move him a bit, I kicked him and he ran backwards out of the ring.
Anne Appleby was our judge, and bless her heart, she didn't honk the horn while he was frozen.
I jumped off once we were out of the ring, because he was getting ready to bolt, and I didn't want him to screw up someone else's test.
This is the same thing he did back in October, when I went to see John the next day, in a panic.
I think - but do not know - that the person warming up in the cross country field, whose head was barely visible bobbing above the hedge - freaked him out. But even if it did, he should have still listened to me.
(SIGH)
We had one of the corrals, and I got this rock star parking place, but for future reference, my trailer did not fit out, and the roses scratched the shit out of it on both sides. I had to creep out past people, but it couldn't have made the turn with or without people.
We got there Thursday, I rode him around, he was a little tense, particularly around the hedges.
So I gave him a Thursday evening walk and a walk this morning through the hedges, eating and having a good time.
He was fine in warm up, but got more and more tense as the test went on. When we got to the third to last move (F to H trot lengthening) he broke to a canter then froze in place. Then he did the idiot thing where he turns his head only, but won't move his body. After I tried to move him a bit, I kicked him and he ran backwards out of the ring.
Anne Appleby was our judge, and bless her heart, she didn't honk the horn while he was frozen.
I jumped off once we were out of the ring, because he was getting ready to bolt, and I didn't want him to screw up someone else's test.
This is the same thing he did back in October, when I went to see John the next day, in a panic.
I think - but do not know - that the person warming up in the cross country field, whose head was barely visible bobbing above the hedge - freaked him out. But even if it did, he should have still listened to me.
(SIGH)
We had one of the corrals, and I got this rock star parking place, but for future reference, my trailer did not fit out, and the roses scratched the shit out of it on both sides. I had to creep out past people, but it couldn't have made the turn with or without people.
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
Dressage lesson with John (first lesson in County)
Today's dressage lesson was awesome. I had an enormous list of questions for John. He looked at my dressage test from Inavale, said "maybe" we can do the 1* at Rebecca next year, the powder on his gloves is from his baseball days, yes, Duke can stay two times in August but he doesn't know how much he can ride the week before his show, he thinks I can adjust midstream between fences (I said I couldn't, and we talked about how time is going slower and I can think more and react more and make decisions in between fences, which he says I couldn't do as much even a few months ago), for lengthening with my seat, that's fine, but I should also try to use my leg (use BOTH) because to lengthen (or shorten) before a show jumping fence, I need Duke to know the leg aid as well as the seat aid because there isn't time to sit down and then give the leg aid, for cross country at Inavale, the fences he saw were fine (and then we talked about the flow of courses and how fun it is to have just a minute of gallop with some inviting fences), how much Kaitlyn liked Ashley's lesson and why (and then we looked out the door and Kaitlyn was walking around so she had just fallen off), the next shows (Young Rider, he says is ok; Spokane three day he says no, too much to do two in a row and he is not crazy about Rebecca because he doesn't want Duke to get all strung out and crazy; and for California, maybe, we'll see), lessons next week (Brooke is there for camp end of the week), and my job. John said the difference between Duke and Charlie is that when Charlie got going, he got on the forehand, but when Duke gets going, he is more on his hindquarters, which makes it easier to push him forward to the fence - and more comfortable to push him and ride over those fences too.
THEN we rode.
We started by shortening his stride at the walk, and then trotting with just a tiny bit of outside bend. From there, we got him bent to the inside, and then John had us do a lot of lateral work. First we came down the centerline, changing direction each time. John said to line up with the judge, and then use the judge to stay in the same line, so we block A and from the judge's view A is blocked the entire ride. Then we did a quarter line to the wall, then lengthening on the long side, then we did canter lengthenings on the long side. About mid-way through the lesson, a light bulb went off for Duke, and then he really tried to lengthen, and it was kind of amazing. I rode around grinning, because I'd just ask him a little bit and he'd stretch out and then compress back.
We did some 15 meter circles, 10 meter circles, and turning at E then turning again at B. Duke was sweet and compliant and tried and generous the whole lesson, and he was just an absolute delight to ride.
The takeaway, unfortunately, is that I can ride awesome when John is there, but I don't have enough of a grasp of it yet to be able to articulate everything we did. It was a lot of feel and not as much step-by-step memorization like I've been doing. Sweet Duke got sweaty, and afterwards, we walked down the road to cool off, and even then he still had a foamy butt.
Man, I love lesson days.
THEN we rode.
We started by shortening his stride at the walk, and then trotting with just a tiny bit of outside bend. From there, we got him bent to the inside, and then John had us do a lot of lateral work. First we came down the centerline, changing direction each time. John said to line up with the judge, and then use the judge to stay in the same line, so we block A and from the judge's view A is blocked the entire ride. Then we did a quarter line to the wall, then lengthening on the long side, then we did canter lengthenings on the long side. About mid-way through the lesson, a light bulb went off for Duke, and then he really tried to lengthen, and it was kind of amazing. I rode around grinning, because I'd just ask him a little bit and he'd stretch out and then compress back.
We did some 15 meter circles, 10 meter circles, and turning at E then turning again at B. Duke was sweet and compliant and tried and generous the whole lesson, and he was just an absolute delight to ride.
The takeaway, unfortunately, is that I can ride awesome when John is there, but I don't have enough of a grasp of it yet to be able to articulate everything we did. It was a lot of feel and not as much step-by-step memorization like I've been doing. Sweet Duke got sweaty, and afterwards, we walked down the road to cool off, and even then he still had a foamy butt.
Man, I love lesson days.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Jumping in young rider's camp course
John squeezed me in after young rider's camp, so I got to ride with an audience (yech) and in an arena with a big full course set up (yay). Even better, Ashley rode Rambo part of the ride with me, so that was nice.
John had me start on a circle, getting him round.
From there, we rode a circle with two ground poles. This was as hard as it was with Christa a couple weeks ago, and John suggested a counter bend around 1/4 of the circle, then, a few strides before the next pole, go back to regular bend. That helped a lot.
From there, we went around the circle, over the pole, then down the line to a plank. Around the 4th time, John asked me how many times I was going to jump it over on the left hand side, so from there I fixed it.
But for the love of god, it never occurred to me to fix it on my own (or notice).
Then we were supposed to ride it as a six stride line, but I rode it as five (twice) and then finally the. third time got it in six (I had to say "whoa" with my mouth) and then we rode it in four. four was the easiest.
Then we rode a similar line going the other direction.
Then we rode a triple, which was a vertical, two stride forward, oxer, one stride, vertical. Duke tripped between the oxer and vertical, and then heaved himself into the air and I swear levitated over the second vertical so that he wouldn't touch a rail, which amused John, since he just blows around hitting rails at the shows.
John said (about the drift) that I need to set up like 7 cardboard cutouts of him around the arena, which I agree with. I think Duke respects John.
It was a great lesson - once I was riding I quit thinking about all the kids watching me, and the main takeaway was John said to balance him before I start the turn - that if I do a little bit of counterbend and then balance, I come into the whole line correctly, but it's when we puke over the first one unbalanced that I can't really get it back.
Even though it was drizzly and cool, Duke got pretty sweaty. I was thinking on the way down it's probably good that John is an hour away, because I leave work so wound up and tense and upset and I don't want to do anything but be mad, but by the time I get there, I've calmed down some. And then after I ride with John, I always feel better. But damn, I am tired of how much work drains me.
John had me start on a circle, getting him round.
From there, we rode a circle with two ground poles. This was as hard as it was with Christa a couple weeks ago, and John suggested a counter bend around 1/4 of the circle, then, a few strides before the next pole, go back to regular bend. That helped a lot.
From there, we went around the circle, over the pole, then down the line to a plank. Around the 4th time, John asked me how many times I was going to jump it over on the left hand side, so from there I fixed it.
But for the love of god, it never occurred to me to fix it on my own (or notice).
Then we were supposed to ride it as a six stride line, but I rode it as five (twice) and then finally the. third time got it in six (I had to say "whoa" with my mouth) and then we rode it in four. four was the easiest.
Then we rode a similar line going the other direction.
Then we rode a triple, which was a vertical, two stride forward, oxer, one stride, vertical. Duke tripped between the oxer and vertical, and then heaved himself into the air and I swear levitated over the second vertical so that he wouldn't touch a rail, which amused John, since he just blows around hitting rails at the shows.
John said (about the drift) that I need to set up like 7 cardboard cutouts of him around the arena, which I agree with. I think Duke respects John.
It was a great lesson - once I was riding I quit thinking about all the kids watching me, and the main takeaway was John said to balance him before I start the turn - that if I do a little bit of counterbend and then balance, I come into the whole line correctly, but it's when we puke over the first one unbalanced that I can't really get it back.
Even though it was drizzly and cool, Duke got pretty sweaty. I was thinking on the way down it's probably good that John is an hour away, because I leave work so wound up and tense and upset and I don't want to do anything but be mad, but by the time I get there, I've calmed down some. And then after I ride with John, I always feel better. But damn, I am tired of how much work drains me.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Jump lesson with Christa - full course
Christa and I had a jump lesson before it got really hot today. First we got to walk around the cross country course, which was nice; then I watched the end of the prior lesson, so I got to see what the course was going to be.
John had us start with a little plank (which I, stupidly, completely missed for like three circles, inexplicably), but it was what felt like a really tight turn. So this made us have to ride off the outside rein and leg to get the bend right to get to the fence, and after we got it, he switched direction, and then raised the fence. This was a genius way to warm up for the course; it got Duke listening and soft and bent in just a few circles.
From there, we went down a four stride line, which was kind of a forward four. We did this a few times - I never felt like I got it quite perfect - and then we went onto the course.
The course was a black & white oxer off the right lead heading uphill (to the barn), left hand turn around to the four stride line, left hand turn up to an angled yellow & white oxer, with a six or seven stride bending line to the plank (which was the first fence of the four stride line), then a right hand turn to another angled oxer, on a straight line to angle over a gate/red vertical, then five strides on that line, then left hand turn around to a triple, which was a vertical, one stride, oxer, two strides (with a whoa!), vertical.
The first time through Duke did it, but I made a lot of little yelpy noises because it was ugly.
What was interesting though, was that after I rode it the first time, I kind of figured it out. So the next time through I didn't get my first fence like I wanted it, so I asked John to start over. He said that's fine, but that at the show, if Duke is just pulling the bit and not listening, halt, make a little circle, and then start again. Make him snap to attention before we go over the first fence, when it's too late to really have enough space to fix it. So I did, I had him bend to the outside, go a stride or two forward, then come back, THEN we went over the first fence, and it was MUCH better. Not perfect, but much better.
I had to say "whoa" between the final oxer and vertical, which surprised Duke and made him whoa, which helped us get out of the vertical very nice. Duke touched one fence, like once, so John said he doesn't know wtf is going on at the shows. He said he thinks that I am more relaxed in my lessons probably.
It was also great to watch Christa. Her mare was rubbing several fences, just getting lazy with her feet, so John had her bump a rail, and then, when she went back to doing it, he put a ground line after the oxer before the vertical, and that made her snap to attention.
Duke was a little peckish after yesterday's work (he ran away when he saw me coming to get him this morning), but he perked up a bit for the fences. I'm not sure he could have done a whole lot more though, without getting sloppy. He was glad to get home early and stretch back out in the pasture, I think.
It was a great confidence building lesson. When I was looking at the course, it looked busy. John said he should never ride a course this complex at a show, so he "should" be able to go clear at the show (eventually ....).
Christa and I did another lap afterwards, and she said we should make a team with Meg with a goal of the 1* at Rebecca next year. That would be so awesome.
John had us start with a little plank (which I, stupidly, completely missed for like three circles, inexplicably), but it was what felt like a really tight turn. So this made us have to ride off the outside rein and leg to get the bend right to get to the fence, and after we got it, he switched direction, and then raised the fence. This was a genius way to warm up for the course; it got Duke listening and soft and bent in just a few circles.
From there, we went down a four stride line, which was kind of a forward four. We did this a few times - I never felt like I got it quite perfect - and then we went onto the course.
The course was a black & white oxer off the right lead heading uphill (to the barn), left hand turn around to the four stride line, left hand turn up to an angled yellow & white oxer, with a six or seven stride bending line to the plank (which was the first fence of the four stride line), then a right hand turn to another angled oxer, on a straight line to angle over a gate/red vertical, then five strides on that line, then left hand turn around to a triple, which was a vertical, one stride, oxer, two strides (with a whoa!), vertical.
The first time through Duke did it, but I made a lot of little yelpy noises because it was ugly.
What was interesting though, was that after I rode it the first time, I kind of figured it out. So the next time through I didn't get my first fence like I wanted it, so I asked John to start over. He said that's fine, but that at the show, if Duke is just pulling the bit and not listening, halt, make a little circle, and then start again. Make him snap to attention before we go over the first fence, when it's too late to really have enough space to fix it. So I did, I had him bend to the outside, go a stride or two forward, then come back, THEN we went over the first fence, and it was MUCH better. Not perfect, but much better.
I had to say "whoa" between the final oxer and vertical, which surprised Duke and made him whoa, which helped us get out of the vertical very nice. Duke touched one fence, like once, so John said he doesn't know wtf is going on at the shows. He said he thinks that I am more relaxed in my lessons probably.
It was also great to watch Christa. Her mare was rubbing several fences, just getting lazy with her feet, so John had her bump a rail, and then, when she went back to doing it, he put a ground line after the oxer before the vertical, and that made her snap to attention.
Duke was a little peckish after yesterday's work (he ran away when he saw me coming to get him this morning), but he perked up a bit for the fences. I'm not sure he could have done a whole lot more though, without getting sloppy. He was glad to get home early and stretch back out in the pasture, I think.
It was a great confidence building lesson. When I was looking at the course, it looked busy. John said he should never ride a course this complex at a show, so he "should" be able to go clear at the show (eventually ....).
Christa and I did another lap afterwards, and she said we should make a team with Meg with a goal of the 1* at Rebecca next year. That would be so awesome.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Let Duke do his job
We had an excellent dressage lesson today, which was a surprise since poor Duke only got ridden one other day this week. He had Monday off for the Neiders hearing, Tuesday off (surprisingly) because I was so wiped out from the hearing, Wednesday off for the farrier (which I probably should have ridden him), Thursday I rode him and he was stiff and downhill, and Friday he had off because the black bear hearing was surprisingly stressful.
John suggested that this was one of Duke's good qualities - he knew I needed him to step up, so he did. He thinks Duke might be more likely to offer things than to be forced into them, and that when I've had a rough week and I'm fried (like at my jump lesson with Christa), just let Duke do his job.
Duke was a little stiff to start, so John had us bend a little, and then do turns on the haunches. From there, Duke softened right up. A turn on the haunch was to bend him to the inside, then use the outside rein to start to turn his shoulders around (keeping the bend to the inside), then when he stepped over let him go forward, then change the bend.
John also had us do this movement at the trot, where I would come in on the circle and once he started crossing over, leg yield back out to the full size circle.
My dressage test from Aspen had a comment about not helping the horse enough, and John said he thought that it was probably the last 10% - that Duke is going around and he feels nice to me, but then John says "now do x" and then all of a sudden he feels amazing. John said he thinks probably the judge was looking for that last little bit.
So we did some leg yields, the bending to soften him, some nice transitions up and down, and a lot of bending not just through his neck but his body. Duke felt really great, and just showing up at John's after not being there for two weeks was like a load lifted off of me. We didn't ride with draw reins.
John also answered my huge list of questions:
Devoucoux is his second choice saddle, but he thinks I'm cutting my nose off to spite my face (I am, I know it, and I'm doing it anyway)
Show jumping he thinks when Duke is that flat in the warm up, we need to let him be calm, rev him up, then calm him down again. he thinks that it kind of surprised him, what was going on in the sj, compared to the warm up arena. He also said we could do more tight turns to the jumps, to kind of get him to perk up.
For cross country, he said he teaches all his students how to turn off the outside rein, so we didn't have problems with the slippery grass, but people who tried to turn off the inside rein slid out and then got scared.
For forging, he said that one of Duke's qualities is he steps underneath himself instead of having his legs 50' behind him. He wasn't bothered by it.
Tilting forward in the dressage photos he said is probably my saddle launching me forward.
For body pumping at xc, he'd have to see it, but he said that if I was sending him forward, then it was normal to be moving a little bit more with him.
He said he can help at dressage warm up because I'm less likely to push Duke into the bigger canter unless John is there to see it and help me with, what I'll call, the boundaries. I get timid.
For our last jump lesson with Christa, he said that everyone slows down with the half halt. And that's ok, so long as it is a slowing down where he's rebalancing onto his back legs, and not a slow down where he's tilting forward onto his forehand. He said it is trying to remember to keep some leg on when you are asking for the half halt.
And for turning from the leg instead of the hand, he said it is leg and hand. But that we tend to just use our inside hand, and we need to use the outside leg and hand to help round around the turn.
I think that was most of it. It's been a long couple weeks, and from my calendar, I don't even seem to have hit the half way mark. I go full speed all the way to Rebecca, and then get to breathe a little bit while I am there.
John suggested that this was one of Duke's good qualities - he knew I needed him to step up, so he did. He thinks Duke might be more likely to offer things than to be forced into them, and that when I've had a rough week and I'm fried (like at my jump lesson with Christa), just let Duke do his job.
Duke was a little stiff to start, so John had us bend a little, and then do turns on the haunches. From there, Duke softened right up. A turn on the haunch was to bend him to the inside, then use the outside rein to start to turn his shoulders around (keeping the bend to the inside), then when he stepped over let him go forward, then change the bend.
John also had us do this movement at the trot, where I would come in on the circle and once he started crossing over, leg yield back out to the full size circle.
My dressage test from Aspen had a comment about not helping the horse enough, and John said he thought that it was probably the last 10% - that Duke is going around and he feels nice to me, but then John says "now do x" and then all of a sudden he feels amazing. John said he thinks probably the judge was looking for that last little bit.
So we did some leg yields, the bending to soften him, some nice transitions up and down, and a lot of bending not just through his neck but his body. Duke felt really great, and just showing up at John's after not being there for two weeks was like a load lifted off of me. We didn't ride with draw reins.
John also answered my huge list of questions:
Devoucoux is his second choice saddle, but he thinks I'm cutting my nose off to spite my face (I am, I know it, and I'm doing it anyway)
Show jumping he thinks when Duke is that flat in the warm up, we need to let him be calm, rev him up, then calm him down again. he thinks that it kind of surprised him, what was going on in the sj, compared to the warm up arena. He also said we could do more tight turns to the jumps, to kind of get him to perk up.
For cross country, he said he teaches all his students how to turn off the outside rein, so we didn't have problems with the slippery grass, but people who tried to turn off the inside rein slid out and then got scared.
For forging, he said that one of Duke's qualities is he steps underneath himself instead of having his legs 50' behind him. He wasn't bothered by it.
Tilting forward in the dressage photos he said is probably my saddle launching me forward.
For body pumping at xc, he'd have to see it, but he said that if I was sending him forward, then it was normal to be moving a little bit more with him.
He said he can help at dressage warm up because I'm less likely to push Duke into the bigger canter unless John is there to see it and help me with, what I'll call, the boundaries. I get timid.
For our last jump lesson with Christa, he said that everyone slows down with the half halt. And that's ok, so long as it is a slowing down where he's rebalancing onto his back legs, and not a slow down where he's tilting forward onto his forehand. He said it is trying to remember to keep some leg on when you are asking for the half halt.
And for turning from the leg instead of the hand, he said it is leg and hand. But that we tend to just use our inside hand, and we need to use the outside leg and hand to help round around the turn.
I think that was most of it. It's been a long couple weeks, and from my calendar, I don't even seem to have hit the half way mark. I go full speed all the way to Rebecca, and then get to breathe a little bit while I am there.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
AFHT: 1/3, a brief moment of glory, 1/3
Duke was great in dressage. I rode him again without a whip, and although it was only our third best score (32.6), I felt like it was the most polished ride we've done so far. John saw it from a distance and said that our right lead canter was good but a little stiff transition.
I had to miss both lessons before the show because of two cases at work, which was distressing, so I was a bit anxious about jumping. And I only got to walk xc twice, again, because of work. But it looked pretty straightforward to me - there were three "challenges" and I thought I knew how to ride them all.
In warm up, John told me that I could use the long straightaways to make up the time from slowing him down so he didn't slip in the grass, and if it was really slippery, just to get time penalties. He said it was a course that rode with your hands low and in front of you. Duke felt good to me, and John watched us do the oxer and then agreed, just leave it alone and go. Here's how it went:
Fence 1 - roll top: Jumped beautifully
Fence 2 - small table: As expected, Duke skidded a little around the flower box, but I wanted him to feel the course was slippery early on so he'd self correct later. He jumped this nice.
Fence 3 - roll top: This was the first kind of challenging turn, and he skidded a little, so I was glad I'd used the flower box earlier to let him know to watch his feet. This one is on video.
Fence 4 - short upright with fake plants on top: I let him go forward on the road between #3 and #4, so we were a hair behind the time as we came out of the road, but I had him go really slow fences 1-3, so we made up a lot of the time in this one stretch. Jumped beautifully.
Fence 5 - saw: He was scared of it, and so I had to kick him and we jumped it at a bit of an angle. Scared isn't right; he was just looky and kind of weaving around a bit on the approach.
Fence 6 - very long log to downhill: Duke was mad that I kicked him, so he went charging up the hill and then was trying to ignore me turning him to this fence. So our approach wasn't quite what I would have liked.
Fence 7 A/B - smiling log, two stride, ditch: We jumped this pretty ok given our wrestling match to get to Fence 6 and then down a little hill. He over jumped the ditch just a little.
Fence 8 - trakehener: Nice canter up the hill to the trakehner. Just hopped over it. Here, I start to felt comfortable, like "we've got this".
Fence 9 - corner: Duke went charging off down the hill and along the side of the big hill, and so we did a little bit of wrestling to bring him back because 9 kind of zooms up after a bit of a turn in the path. He jumped it like it was no big thing.
Fence 10 - table: No big deal.
Fence 11 - steeplechase: I didn't get the line quite right; I wanted us to be going a little more right, but no big deal.
Fence 12 - log out of water: Duke got uppity when we went between the two rocks, just like I expected, but didn't hesitate at all going into the water. So we jumped this one out, where I wanted, to give us more space for the right hand turn.
Fence 13 - log with fake plants: This was a hard right turn through some trees. He was a champ.
Fence 14 - log to a downhill: We ran up the hill, and I had to tell him to sit up because there was a hill after. He didn't care, he was ready to go. Jumped it great.
Fence 15 - A frame (?) on top of a hill: He looked a little at the two prelim fences we had to go between, but no problem with the fence.
Fence 15B - A frame on right hand turn after hill: He had no problem going down hill, making the right hand turn, and getting over the next one.
Fence 16 - whale tail: We had a nice gallop across the grass, past a tree. Approaching the whale tail, he hesitated, like he thought we were through, but when I gave him so leg he re-energized. Jumped it like it was no big deal. Didn't even blink at the tree in the middle.
Fence 17A/B - up/down bank: He hesitated again on the way to the bank, but then moved on. He had no issues with jumping up, one stride, jumping off.
Fence 18 - sushi: This was down a hill, a left turn, and the jump was mid-way up an easy hill but sort of in the trees. He felt like he was hesitating again here, like he wasn't sure if we were finished. Maybe it was all the ropes and people?
Fence 19 - down bank into the water: He didn't bat an eye, just lept into the water like he does it all the time.
Fence 20 - very wide table: Soared over it. He's a pegasus.
We were about 15 seconds faster than optimum time, and I was a lot more comfortable with the speed (450 mpm) than the other shows. He wasn't grabby with the bit like he was at EI.
We moved from 8th (21) to 3rd because other people had trouble with cross country.
Then we blew it at show jumping.
He was a little stiff, so I spent warm up focused more on leg yields and counterbend in circles to get him loosened up. I was having trouble with the timing (the class was fast, as it turns out), so I would move him, then walk, then move him, then walk, and he doesn't like that much.
We jumped three of the warm up fences fine (cross rail, vertical, little oxer). Then I thought that I was way ahead of time, so I walked him, but it turns out I was just a rider away, so I did the big oxer, and he rubbed it a bit.
John got there just as we were about to go in, and he said to ride him assertively, not wait for him to do stuff.
Coming in: he looked at the fences; I tried to let him see a bunch of them.
Fence 1: Brown oxer; fine.
Fence 2: Wishing well. Rail.
Fence 3: White vertical; puked?
Fence 4: Big Aspen oxer; scramble because of puke on 3?
Fence 5A/B: Tribal fence; fine.
Fence 6: Halt cancer, yuck. I don't know what happened, but the line was wrong and we puked over it.
Fence 7: Seattle skyline, yuck. We were scrambling to get back together and I made the angle to the fence wrong.
Fence 8 A/B: Seahawks, meh. I swooped us way out next to the rail to get back together after 7, and then we came in weak. He got us out.
Fence 9: Safari oxer, rail. This seemed like it was going to be fine. John says we got the rail because I saw the distance, but didn't commit to one more half halt, which would have been all we needed.
John said the first rail was just Duke not picking up his feet, but the second rail was his hind leg dragging over from the missing half halt.
We still came in 7th/21 but we would have been 2nd, so I'm disappointed. I guess show jumping is his weakest, which will make me anxious every show because it'll be down to the wire.
I also thought his feet were a little too long (farrier kept them long last time, he's due for a shoeing on Wed, he's been forging a little bit for a couple weeks).
I guess given my distraction with work, this was pretty good for a little 7 year old and doofus me.
I had to miss both lessons before the show because of two cases at work, which was distressing, so I was a bit anxious about jumping. And I only got to walk xc twice, again, because of work. But it looked pretty straightforward to me - there were three "challenges" and I thought I knew how to ride them all.
In warm up, John told me that I could use the long straightaways to make up the time from slowing him down so he didn't slip in the grass, and if it was really slippery, just to get time penalties. He said it was a course that rode with your hands low and in front of you. Duke felt good to me, and John watched us do the oxer and then agreed, just leave it alone and go. Here's how it went:
Fence 1 - roll top: Jumped beautifully
Fence 2 - small table: As expected, Duke skidded a little around the flower box, but I wanted him to feel the course was slippery early on so he'd self correct later. He jumped this nice.
Fence 3 - roll top: This was the first kind of challenging turn, and he skidded a little, so I was glad I'd used the flower box earlier to let him know to watch his feet. This one is on video.
Fence 4 - short upright with fake plants on top: I let him go forward on the road between #3 and #4, so we were a hair behind the time as we came out of the road, but I had him go really slow fences 1-3, so we made up a lot of the time in this one stretch. Jumped beautifully.
Fence 5 - saw: He was scared of it, and so I had to kick him and we jumped it at a bit of an angle. Scared isn't right; he was just looky and kind of weaving around a bit on the approach.
Fence 6 - very long log to downhill: Duke was mad that I kicked him, so he went charging up the hill and then was trying to ignore me turning him to this fence. So our approach wasn't quite what I would have liked.
Fence 7 A/B - smiling log, two stride, ditch: We jumped this pretty ok given our wrestling match to get to Fence 6 and then down a little hill. He over jumped the ditch just a little.
Fence 8 - trakehener: Nice canter up the hill to the trakehner. Just hopped over it. Here, I start to felt comfortable, like "we've got this".
Fence 9 - corner: Duke went charging off down the hill and along the side of the big hill, and so we did a little bit of wrestling to bring him back because 9 kind of zooms up after a bit of a turn in the path. He jumped it like it was no big thing.
Fence 10 - table: No big deal.
Fence 11 - steeplechase: I didn't get the line quite right; I wanted us to be going a little more right, but no big deal.
Fence 12 - log out of water: Duke got uppity when we went between the two rocks, just like I expected, but didn't hesitate at all going into the water. So we jumped this one out, where I wanted, to give us more space for the right hand turn.
Fence 13 - log with fake plants: This was a hard right turn through some trees. He was a champ.
Fence 14 - log to a downhill: We ran up the hill, and I had to tell him to sit up because there was a hill after. He didn't care, he was ready to go. Jumped it great.
Fence 15 - A frame (?) on top of a hill: He looked a little at the two prelim fences we had to go between, but no problem with the fence.
Fence 15B - A frame on right hand turn after hill: He had no problem going down hill, making the right hand turn, and getting over the next one.
Fence 16 - whale tail: We had a nice gallop across the grass, past a tree. Approaching the whale tail, he hesitated, like he thought we were through, but when I gave him so leg he re-energized. Jumped it like it was no big deal. Didn't even blink at the tree in the middle.
Fence 17A/B - up/down bank: He hesitated again on the way to the bank, but then moved on. He had no issues with jumping up, one stride, jumping off.
Fence 18 - sushi: This was down a hill, a left turn, and the jump was mid-way up an easy hill but sort of in the trees. He felt like he was hesitating again here, like he wasn't sure if we were finished. Maybe it was all the ropes and people?
Fence 19 - down bank into the water: He didn't bat an eye, just lept into the water like he does it all the time.
Fence 20 - very wide table: Soared over it. He's a pegasus.
We were about 15 seconds faster than optimum time, and I was a lot more comfortable with the speed (450 mpm) than the other shows. He wasn't grabby with the bit like he was at EI.
We moved from 8th (21) to 3rd because other people had trouble with cross country.
Then we blew it at show jumping.
He was a little stiff, so I spent warm up focused more on leg yields and counterbend in circles to get him loosened up. I was having trouble with the timing (the class was fast, as it turns out), so I would move him, then walk, then move him, then walk, and he doesn't like that much.
We jumped three of the warm up fences fine (cross rail, vertical, little oxer). Then I thought that I was way ahead of time, so I walked him, but it turns out I was just a rider away, so I did the big oxer, and he rubbed it a bit.
John got there just as we were about to go in, and he said to ride him assertively, not wait for him to do stuff.
Coming in: he looked at the fences; I tried to let him see a bunch of them.
Fence 1: Brown oxer; fine.
Fence 2: Wishing well. Rail.
Fence 3: White vertical; puked?
Fence 4: Big Aspen oxer; scramble because of puke on 3?
Fence 5A/B: Tribal fence; fine.
Fence 6: Halt cancer, yuck. I don't know what happened, but the line was wrong and we puked over it.
Fence 7: Seattle skyline, yuck. We were scrambling to get back together and I made the angle to the fence wrong.
Fence 8 A/B: Seahawks, meh. I swooped us way out next to the rail to get back together after 7, and then we came in weak. He got us out.
Fence 9: Safari oxer, rail. This seemed like it was going to be fine. John says we got the rail because I saw the distance, but didn't commit to one more half halt, which would have been all we needed.
John said the first rail was just Duke not picking up his feet, but the second rail was his hind leg dragging over from the missing half halt.
We still came in 7th/21 but we would have been 2nd, so I'm disappointed. I guess show jumping is his weakest, which will make me anxious every show because it'll be down to the wire.
I also thought his feet were a little too long (farrier kept them long last time, he's due for a shoeing on Wed, he's been forging a little bit for a couple weeks).
I guess given my distraction with work, this was pretty good for a little 7 year old and doofus me.
Saturday, June 02, 2018
Great dressage lesson
We rode in draw reins today. Duke got pretty sweaty and worked hard.
At first, John had me smack him a couple times on the shoulder, because he wasn't forward. Duke got huffy, but also got very forward.
We worked on a bunch of different circles (20 meter, then 15 meter, then 10 meter, then 12 meter), and then we did leg yield at the trot on the quarter, line, leg yield at the canter on the quarter line, and then a Swedish leg yield (?) which was a leg yield when going across the diagonal.
For the leg yield, we struggled for a big, and then John had me put my inside leg up forward (it felt like it was way in front of me (but I looked down and it wasn't) enough to feel my hip get tight), and then Duke moved over much easier.
This is just day 3 of the horrible 14 day (hopefully only 14 day) with work, so I don't have time for a full blow by blow of the lesson. It was good though. I was really glad to ride, and it was also helpful to drive down there and back because I had some ideas about the case both ways.
At first, John had me smack him a couple times on the shoulder, because he wasn't forward. Duke got huffy, but also got very forward.
We worked on a bunch of different circles (20 meter, then 15 meter, then 10 meter, then 12 meter), and then we did leg yield at the trot on the quarter, line, leg yield at the canter on the quarter line, and then a Swedish leg yield (?) which was a leg yield when going across the diagonal.
For the leg yield, we struggled for a big, and then John had me put my inside leg up forward (it felt like it was way in front of me (but I looked down and it wasn't) enough to feel my hip get tight), and then Duke moved over much easier.
This is just day 3 of the horrible 14 day (hopefully only 14 day) with work, so I don't have time for a full blow by blow of the lesson. It was good though. I was really glad to ride, and it was also helpful to drive down there and back because I had some ideas about the case both ways.
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