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
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Monday, July 23, 2018
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.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Jump with Christa and Meg
Too much work for me to write re lesson. Short version is that Duke helpfully showed John exactly what he did at show by stalling at several fences and then taking rails down right and left. John had me kick him and whip him which made Duke pissed, and then he tore around grabbing the bit and I had to reef him around with the reins jerking on his face.
On like the 17th try, we did it sort of ok and John let us stop.
Christa had a little bit of a hard time too, which made me feel a little better; Meg did not.
I thought one of the oxers was gigantic, but it was only belly button (training level, I think).
I don't know why it was so hard; it was good to do it as a course, because putting together a course is totally different than a few jumps, fix, a few jumps, fix, but my hip hurt, I almost immediately fell off (and made sad little animal noises), I got scared, then I felt like a loser who shouldn't be riding at all, and all I could see was a future where I ruin Duke and he just starts refusing and hitting rails and running around with me having to use a pulley rein more and more and more.
Also, today majorly sucked at work. This whole week sucked. I was apparently only a suck plateau, not at the bottom of how bad things are going to get.
My rah-rah was the reminder "Fail. Fail again. Fail better."
On like the 17th try, we did it sort of ok and John let us stop.
Christa had a little bit of a hard time too, which made me feel a little better; Meg did not.
I thought one of the oxers was gigantic, but it was only belly button (training level, I think).
I don't know why it was so hard; it was good to do it as a course, because putting together a course is totally different than a few jumps, fix, a few jumps, fix, but my hip hurt, I almost immediately fell off (and made sad little animal noises), I got scared, then I felt like a loser who shouldn't be riding at all, and all I could see was a future where I ruin Duke and he just starts refusing and hitting rails and running around with me having to use a pulley rein more and more and more.
Also, today majorly sucked at work. This whole week sucked. I was apparently only a suck plateau, not at the bottom of how bad things are going to get.
My rah-rah was the reminder "Fail. Fail again. Fail better."
Sunday, May 27, 2018
EI kind of sucked
Impostor syndrome + perfectionism + destruction of confidence professionally, personally, and riding = pity party for myself
Thursday:
Get up early, drive to EI
Happily unpack and set up
Notice someone wearing shorts and think "it's hot, I should change into my shorts too"
Stand stock still in the middle of the road while vividly visualizing bag of all my clothes, toothbrush, phone charger, etc. sitting in bedroom.
Shift to Plan B.
Freeze again, while realizing that the ONE and only time I've loaned my trailer block to someone is the one and only time I want to unhook my truck and drive away.
Get very very very very angry at myself for being so stupid.
Go to the store finally.
Get back. Half of Duke's muzzle is swollen.
Spend the next three hours trying to find a vet and figure out wtf and eventually John and Anna have to help because the vet never shows, and then 10 minutes later the vet shows. We have treated him like it was a bee sting. Vet thinks it is an abscess.
Friday:
Duke gets most improved on dressage.
His muzzle is still swollen on the side, and the hard knot in his lip is still the same size. The show doesn't have a vet on the grounds until Saturday. The number they have for the vet is a wrong number. I get pissed and make an appointment for Tuesday with my vet, even though I have a fucking two day hearing coming up and like -6 hours of free time.
Even though I didn't get to ride him Thursday because I'm a fucking idiot who didn't have any fucking breeches except for show breeches and since I can barely keep those clean long enough to get into the arena, I certainly couldn't wear them around before trying to get in the arena.
What was different?
I rode him without a whip in the test and just used my little jump crop in the warm up.
John had me ride in draw reins all week (except for Thursday, obviously).
My lesson with John focused on our weak points from the prior test.
I didn't try to overdo it in the lengthening, I tried to lengthen his frame and show a distinct difference bringing him back, but not so much that he lost his balance and then everything spiraled down.
I timed it better, so I rode him up until the rider before me, and then kept him moving until we went in.
Saturday:
Muzzle is a little bit less swollen; hard knot in his lip seems to be a little smaller.
Cross country was a little bit of a surprise; we were double clear, but we had a couple ugly jumps.
Warm up: ho-hum, no big deal, we just jumped each of the four jumps once.
Jump 1: open looking log and post. No big deal.
Jump 2: Gigantic steeplechase; jumped like a dream.
In between Jumps 2 & 3: Duke grabs the bit and runs. I have to use a pulley rein to slow him down before Jump 3. I'm yelling at him and have to steer him off the trail towards a tree to get him to listen (just a step).
Jump 3: Hobbit house. We soar over it.
In between Jumps 3 & 4: down hill and up hill. The down hill slowed Duke down (like last year, it surprised me how easy it was (at least from my side of things) to balance on him, even though it was really steep). But then he went ripping back up the hill, and I had to yell at him again that "A fence is coming up!"
Jump 4: Wide log table. We soar over it.
Jump 5: Very wide chevron, with a little itty bitty downhill and uphill on the way to it. I am still yelling at him to slow down.
Jump 6: I give up and let him tear down the road towards 6. It is much, much shorter than when we walked it. I try to pull him up a little on the way because it is a big wide table. We soar over it.
Jump 7: I let him tear down the road again. It is much shorter again. I don't have to pull him up as much because this table isn't wide. We soar over it.
Jump 8: We go into the woods and around the corner and I just let him jump this one almost out of stride. It is a angled ramp and has a nice sunflower runway to put you in the middle of it. We soar over it.
Jump 9 A/B/C: Here's where we fuck up. I didn't start trying to slow him down soon enough after 8, and so we tear around the corner, and there's a tiny uphill to 9A, and we kind of get on the right hand side of it and he crawls over it. Bless his heart, he didn't run out to the right, but it was hideous. I wasn't even sure if it counted as a jump because it was more of a four-legged crawl.
Somehow, we end up going right afterwards, at a trot, but all crazy out of control, and I'm not sure I'm going to get in between the flags to go into the water at B.
But we do.
So to regroup, I just let him trot through the water to the up bank. I don't even try to canter.
He trots the up bank just fine.
Jump 10: This is the novice sized farm stand. No big deal.
Jump 11 A/B/C: Some kids get in the way in between. A is a log, 2 strides to a ditch, 3 strides to another log. Not the most beautiful jump ever; something is wrong with our strides in between A and B, but it is ok.
Jump 12: Because we land and are able to turn right and take the longer, easier, better route to 12. But there are people fucking EVERYWHERE. I just charge through them. (Meg and Christa said the same thing.) This is the elk feeder. We jump it like a dream.
Jump 13 A/B: But that's so I can fuck up the next fence. Ashley said jump it on the right and make a bendy line to be perpendicular to the down bank on a good stride, and so like usual, I fucking overdo it. Again, bless Duke's little heart for not running out to the right on the roll top and getting us off the bank. I oomph down on his back and we head down the hill.
In between Jumps 13 & 14: I half halt at the places Ashley said to half halt. Duke charges up the hill like he's a god damn stunt man. Two girls have to leap off the road and crouch, with their eyes all big, as we tear past them.
Jump 14: Wine barrels. He does look at the BN and N wine barrels, but just a glance. He jumps these like a dream.
Jump 15: Alyssa's bar. He jumps it like a dream.
Jump 16: Another lady is in our way. Big table. he jumps it like a dream.
Jump 17: corner. I try to remember to half half like Ashley said in between, but I don't know if I really did or not. We jump it fine. It was a tiny angle for the corner and a big long jump, so I'm not really sure what the question was.
Jump 18: This is the final fence, but it came up WAY faster than I expected it to, and I almost missed the turn. It was teeny. It was nothing.
Duke got a lot of icing, but I didn't have as much ice as I wish I did, and then Meg and I watched Intermediate and Preliminary, and then we went with Christa and saw Meg's new house in Ellensburg. It was nice to hang out with people like I had friends, and then really sad because now that I have a friend she is moving away.
Sunday:
It took god damn forever from when I got up (5 am) to when I rode (1 pm). And it went from chilly to hot as shit.
Muzzle is no longer swollen and the hard knot in his lip is gone.
Duke was tense in the warm up because a) there was a napkin blowing around, and b) it was truly amateur hour, and there were like 100 near collisions and so I got more and more and more tense as the four dumb fucks just kept careening around.
Ashley tried to help, but I couldn't even make a circle and I kept hoping they were below me so they would leave the arena so I could actually warm up, but only one of them did.
Duke jumped fine until we took a break. Then he clobbered the oxer when I went to do it again before we went in. Then some bitch got in my way so I couldn't jump it a second time, so I had to ride the vertical instead.
Then the course was a fucking disaster.
Fence 1: a vertical with a lot of crap in front of it. He sort of stopped, like "wtf is this, am I supposed to jump it? why are all those people looking at me? oh, right I am supposed to jump it" and then kind of sprang over it like a deer.
Fence 2: a brown oxer. He over jumped it to make up for not jumping the first fence.
Fence 3 (the first RR): fine, but we drifted way to the left.
Fence 4 (the second RR): not fine at all, it was an oxer, I had to click and use my stick. We got a rail.
Fence 5: the triple bar. Fine, except I lost my right stirrup.
Fence 6: five strides later, fine, but I didn't have a stirrup. I think we got a rail.
In between fence 6 & 7: I am trying to get my stirrup back while turning left, so we overshot the turn.
Fence 7: We had to jump it at a funny angle because of how I overshot.
Fence 8: five strides later, because of the funny angle on 7, this one was goofy too.
Fence 9A/B: fine.
Fence 10: the Area VII oxer. I totally thought this was going to be fine, then he had a hard drift left at the last second and we got a third fucking rail.
I understand the drift left, and I understand the fucked up angle into 7 & 8 because I was rooting around for my stirrup, but I don't understand what happened at 1 and how we got three god damn rails when he normally gets none, especially when the warm up was essentially ok (over fences). He wasn't like grabbing the bit, he just seemed like he didn't have that much power and was kind of fading.
So maybe the lesson is he doesn't do so great in the heat (especially when he's kind of chubby), or maybe he was more tired than I thought from XC, except for that I couldn't feel any tired or stiffness or lack of oomph in the warm up.
That was 7 hours ago, and I'm still pissed about it. He was in 8th place, then 7th, and then ended in 14th. (out of 22?)
It was humiliating, like we shouldn't be there at all. I just keep thinking that everyone watching is thinking "she should have just quit after Charlie died. Doesn't she know he was so good he made up for the fact that she can't ride?"
I did think, though, about John telling me how important it was you like the horse, because of how you'll have to stick with him in the hard times. Sweet Duke's little face when we got home, and how happy he was to have his apple, god bless him, he's a cute little bugger.
I was scared of the fences at Spokane, and rode them better than these.
Duke did not freak out on the flat here, but he did grab the bit and run.
So I clearly don't know him yet and we still have a lot to work out together. I guess if we can just keep improving one thing at a time, it will all come together. And if I can remember fucking clothes. I was hoping we were going to be rock stars, but we most definitely are not. I barely careened us around these courses, there's no way my arrogant fucking asshole self could get us around prelim.
Thursday:
Get up early, drive to EI
Happily unpack and set up
Notice someone wearing shorts and think "it's hot, I should change into my shorts too"
Stand stock still in the middle of the road while vividly visualizing bag of all my clothes, toothbrush, phone charger, etc. sitting in bedroom.
Shift to Plan B.
Freeze again, while realizing that the ONE and only time I've loaned my trailer block to someone is the one and only time I want to unhook my truck and drive away.
Get very very very very angry at myself for being so stupid.
Go to the store finally.
Get back. Half of Duke's muzzle is swollen.
Spend the next three hours trying to find a vet and figure out wtf and eventually John and Anna have to help because the vet never shows, and then 10 minutes later the vet shows. We have treated him like it was a bee sting. Vet thinks it is an abscess.
Friday:
Duke gets most improved on dressage.
His muzzle is still swollen on the side, and the hard knot in his lip is still the same size. The show doesn't have a vet on the grounds until Saturday. The number they have for the vet is a wrong number. I get pissed and make an appointment for Tuesday with my vet, even though I have a fucking two day hearing coming up and like -6 hours of free time.
Even though I didn't get to ride him Thursday because I'm a fucking idiot who didn't have any fucking breeches except for show breeches and since I can barely keep those clean long enough to get into the arena, I certainly couldn't wear them around before trying to get in the arena.
What was different?
I rode him without a whip in the test and just used my little jump crop in the warm up.
John had me ride in draw reins all week (except for Thursday, obviously).
My lesson with John focused on our weak points from the prior test.
I didn't try to overdo it in the lengthening, I tried to lengthen his frame and show a distinct difference bringing him back, but not so much that he lost his balance and then everything spiraled down.
I timed it better, so I rode him up until the rider before me, and then kept him moving until we went in.
Saturday:
Muzzle is a little bit less swollen; hard knot in his lip seems to be a little smaller.
Cross country was a little bit of a surprise; we were double clear, but we had a couple ugly jumps.
Warm up: ho-hum, no big deal, we just jumped each of the four jumps once.
Jump 1: open looking log and post. No big deal.
Jump 2: Gigantic steeplechase; jumped like a dream.
In between Jumps 2 & 3: Duke grabs the bit and runs. I have to use a pulley rein to slow him down before Jump 3. I'm yelling at him and have to steer him off the trail towards a tree to get him to listen (just a step).
Jump 3: Hobbit house. We soar over it.
In between Jumps 3 & 4: down hill and up hill. The down hill slowed Duke down (like last year, it surprised me how easy it was (at least from my side of things) to balance on him, even though it was really steep). But then he went ripping back up the hill, and I had to yell at him again that "A fence is coming up!"
Jump 4: Wide log table. We soar over it.
Jump 5: Very wide chevron, with a little itty bitty downhill and uphill on the way to it. I am still yelling at him to slow down.
Jump 6: I give up and let him tear down the road towards 6. It is much, much shorter than when we walked it. I try to pull him up a little on the way because it is a big wide table. We soar over it.
Jump 7: I let him tear down the road again. It is much shorter again. I don't have to pull him up as much because this table isn't wide. We soar over it.
Jump 8: We go into the woods and around the corner and I just let him jump this one almost out of stride. It is a angled ramp and has a nice sunflower runway to put you in the middle of it. We soar over it.
Jump 9 A/B/C: Here's where we fuck up. I didn't start trying to slow him down soon enough after 8, and so we tear around the corner, and there's a tiny uphill to 9A, and we kind of get on the right hand side of it and he crawls over it. Bless his heart, he didn't run out to the right, but it was hideous. I wasn't even sure if it counted as a jump because it was more of a four-legged crawl.
Somehow, we end up going right afterwards, at a trot, but all crazy out of control, and I'm not sure I'm going to get in between the flags to go into the water at B.
But we do.
So to regroup, I just let him trot through the water to the up bank. I don't even try to canter.
He trots the up bank just fine.
Jump 10: This is the novice sized farm stand. No big deal.
Jump 11 A/B/C: Some kids get in the way in between. A is a log, 2 strides to a ditch, 3 strides to another log. Not the most beautiful jump ever; something is wrong with our strides in between A and B, but it is ok.
Jump 12: Because we land and are able to turn right and take the longer, easier, better route to 12. But there are people fucking EVERYWHERE. I just charge through them. (Meg and Christa said the same thing.) This is the elk feeder. We jump it like a dream.
Jump 13 A/B: But that's so I can fuck up the next fence. Ashley said jump it on the right and make a bendy line to be perpendicular to the down bank on a good stride, and so like usual, I fucking overdo it. Again, bless Duke's little heart for not running out to the right on the roll top and getting us off the bank. I oomph down on his back and we head down the hill.
In between Jumps 13 & 14: I half halt at the places Ashley said to half halt. Duke charges up the hill like he's a god damn stunt man. Two girls have to leap off the road and crouch, with their eyes all big, as we tear past them.
Jump 14: Wine barrels. He does look at the BN and N wine barrels, but just a glance. He jumps these like a dream.
Jump 15: Alyssa's bar. He jumps it like a dream.
Jump 16: Another lady is in our way. Big table. he jumps it like a dream.
Jump 17: corner. I try to remember to half half like Ashley said in between, but I don't know if I really did or not. We jump it fine. It was a tiny angle for the corner and a big long jump, so I'm not really sure what the question was.
Jump 18: This is the final fence, but it came up WAY faster than I expected it to, and I almost missed the turn. It was teeny. It was nothing.
Duke got a lot of icing, but I didn't have as much ice as I wish I did, and then Meg and I watched Intermediate and Preliminary, and then we went with Christa and saw Meg's new house in Ellensburg. It was nice to hang out with people like I had friends, and then really sad because now that I have a friend she is moving away.
Sunday:
It took god damn forever from when I got up (5 am) to when I rode (1 pm). And it went from chilly to hot as shit.
Muzzle is no longer swollen and the hard knot in his lip is gone.
Duke was tense in the warm up because a) there was a napkin blowing around, and b) it was truly amateur hour, and there were like 100 near collisions and so I got more and more and more tense as the four dumb fucks just kept careening around.
Ashley tried to help, but I couldn't even make a circle and I kept hoping they were below me so they would leave the arena so I could actually warm up, but only one of them did.
Duke jumped fine until we took a break. Then he clobbered the oxer when I went to do it again before we went in. Then some bitch got in my way so I couldn't jump it a second time, so I had to ride the vertical instead.
Then the course was a fucking disaster.
Fence 1: a vertical with a lot of crap in front of it. He sort of stopped, like "wtf is this, am I supposed to jump it? why are all those people looking at me? oh, right I am supposed to jump it" and then kind of sprang over it like a deer.
Fence 2: a brown oxer. He over jumped it to make up for not jumping the first fence.
Fence 3 (the first RR): fine, but we drifted way to the left.
Fence 4 (the second RR): not fine at all, it was an oxer, I had to click and use my stick. We got a rail.
Fence 5: the triple bar. Fine, except I lost my right stirrup.
Fence 6: five strides later, fine, but I didn't have a stirrup. I think we got a rail.
In between fence 6 & 7: I am trying to get my stirrup back while turning left, so we overshot the turn.
Fence 7: We had to jump it at a funny angle because of how I overshot.
Fence 8: five strides later, because of the funny angle on 7, this one was goofy too.
Fence 9A/B: fine.
Fence 10: the Area VII oxer. I totally thought this was going to be fine, then he had a hard drift left at the last second and we got a third fucking rail.
I understand the drift left, and I understand the fucked up angle into 7 & 8 because I was rooting around for my stirrup, but I don't understand what happened at 1 and how we got three god damn rails when he normally gets none, especially when the warm up was essentially ok (over fences). He wasn't like grabbing the bit, he just seemed like he didn't have that much power and was kind of fading.
So maybe the lesson is he doesn't do so great in the heat (especially when he's kind of chubby), or maybe he was more tired than I thought from XC, except for that I couldn't feel any tired or stiffness or lack of oomph in the warm up.
That was 7 hours ago, and I'm still pissed about it. He was in 8th place, then 7th, and then ended in 14th. (out of 22?)
It was humiliating, like we shouldn't be there at all. I just keep thinking that everyone watching is thinking "she should have just quit after Charlie died. Doesn't she know he was so good he made up for the fact that she can't ride?"
I did think, though, about John telling me how important it was you like the horse, because of how you'll have to stick with him in the hard times. Sweet Duke's little face when we got home, and how happy he was to have his apple, god bless him, he's a cute little bugger.
I was scared of the fences at Spokane, and rode them better than these.
Duke did not freak out on the flat here, but he did grab the bit and run.
So I clearly don't know him yet and we still have a lot to work out together. I guess if we can just keep improving one thing at a time, it will all come together. And if I can remember fucking clothes. I was hoping we were going to be rock stars, but we most definitely are not. I barely careened us around these courses, there's no way my arrogant fucking asshole self could get us around prelim.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Another draw rein lesson
Duke was a little stiff yesterday, after his hard workout in the draw reins on Saturday, so instead of jumping today, John had us do another flat lesson.
This one was kind of easier and kind of harder than Saturday. It was easier, because it was just a couple days after, so I felt like what John said Saturday was still stuck in my head and he could build on it a little bit. It was harder because I felt like he was mostly having to repeat what he said Saturday, and then I got frustrated, and then I got mad and then didn't ride well.
We worked on leg yielding, lengthening the canter and the trot, and bending.
I had a few really good moments, where I could feel the connection from inside leg to outside hand, and I also had a moment where I realized "wow, John can ride every horse every step with what he is telling me (and probably 1,000x more) and that's why when he rides a horse, even for 15 minutes, it is amazing to get on that horse." But then I was mad because *I* want to be able to do that by myself, not with John having to say an aid every second.
One way I can help Duke is by making my aids more distinctive. The lengthen aid is both legs on/off/on/off, the bring back aid is squeezing my legs and doing a half halt with the outside hand.
I don't PULL him into a down transition, I push him into it with my legs.
I have to give with my hands when he has responded, not just squeeze and hold.
It was a good lesson, and Duke felt really good, and much softer than when I rode him yesterday (by myself). But I had to race there and then race home to work again, and I'm getting burned out by this job and it is undermining my confidence and I just want some tiny amount of control over my own schedule and not a bunch of crises that were completely predictable and yet land on my desk once they're blowing up.
This one was kind of easier and kind of harder than Saturday. It was easier, because it was just a couple days after, so I felt like what John said Saturday was still stuck in my head and he could build on it a little bit. It was harder because I felt like he was mostly having to repeat what he said Saturday, and then I got frustrated, and then I got mad and then didn't ride well.
We worked on leg yielding, lengthening the canter and the trot, and bending.
I had a few really good moments, where I could feel the connection from inside leg to outside hand, and I also had a moment where I realized "wow, John can ride every horse every step with what he is telling me (and probably 1,000x more) and that's why when he rides a horse, even for 15 minutes, it is amazing to get on that horse." But then I was mad because *I* want to be able to do that by myself, not with John having to say an aid every second.
One way I can help Duke is by making my aids more distinctive. The lengthen aid is both legs on/off/on/off, the bring back aid is squeezing my legs and doing a half halt with the outside hand.
I don't PULL him into a down transition, I push him into it with my legs.
I have to give with my hands when he has responded, not just squeeze and hold.
It was a good lesson, and Duke felt really good, and much softer than when I rode him yesterday (by myself). But I had to race there and then race home to work again, and I'm getting burned out by this job and it is undermining my confidence and I just want some tiny amount of control over my own schedule and not a bunch of crises that were completely predictable and yet land on my desk once they're blowing up.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Dressage workout in draw reins
We had a fabulous dressage lesson today. At the start, John said that I am scrunching my leg up to give the aid, instead of leaving my leg long. I'm also pushing it too far back, instead of keeping it up near the girth.
John had us start by doing 20 meter circles and then the long side, and getting Duke bent to the inside. Duke was a little dull (!) to start, so he had me give him one good kick with the outside leg to get him to pay attention, but it only took the one kick.
Then he had us do leg yields to the wall from the quarter line. To get Duke to step under himself, I twisted my inside toe (the one he was moving off of) towards the inside, so that I could use my spur to give him an aid. This also made him perk up and pay attention. I'd bend him to the inside, then open my outside rein (the one on the wall, the direction he was going) off of his neck, and then I'd use some spur, but use the outside rein to keep him from leading with his shoulders.
From there we did some canter on a circle, to canter lengthening and then back. John had me bend him a little to the outside, and then do a little renvers (haunches also to the outside), and then he'd have me adjust my legs a bit to help bend Duke around me. Duke did some lovely lengthening and coming back.
Then John had us do some more leg yields on the quarter line, and then we did lengthen in the trot, going across the diagonal and also down the long side. Duke got better and better at these, but they got harder and harder for me (I felt all floppy) as we both got tired.
Poor Duke was really huffing and puffing. It was another day where I had to wash him off afterwards.
John said that we needed to see how he did at his first show before he really started schooling me on the movements, although we've done them all in bits and pieces. He said he didn't want me to focus so much on trying to get the same lengthening as a lesson that I overlooked just keeping Duke calm.
He said the challenge we're going to have at the show is the balance between having a calm Duke and a neurotic Duke. For now, calm Duke is better. But if I get in a situation again where I'm the first to go and they ring the bell and I haven't had time to warm up, he said to trot, walk a few steps, trot again. If Duke isn't sharp, then walk again, and then trot again. Use the whole 45 seconds if I need it to get him sharp, so that his first few movements aren't frazzled and strung out.
We also talked about the difference in feel from Charlie on cross country - Charlie was easy going but sometimes hardly looking at the fence, and Duke is locking onto the fence and ready to charge. He said Duke's jumping style is going to be a little harder to photo (almost all of the photos of me from Spokane xc were appalling) because he hesitates then jumps. John uses their breathing to tell pace, and he said we're not quite ready to work on pace yet, but we can later. He also said what I need to work on is the difference in feel between Duke stretching over his back and lengthening, not just the pace (so we don't need to do the 5-6-7 on a long side exercise yet, just the feel of him pushing up and over).
He said to ride in draw reins all week, up to EI, and not to use my reluctance as an excuse to not really use them.
John had us start by doing 20 meter circles and then the long side, and getting Duke bent to the inside. Duke was a little dull (!) to start, so he had me give him one good kick with the outside leg to get him to pay attention, but it only took the one kick.
Then he had us do leg yields to the wall from the quarter line. To get Duke to step under himself, I twisted my inside toe (the one he was moving off of) towards the inside, so that I could use my spur to give him an aid. This also made him perk up and pay attention. I'd bend him to the inside, then open my outside rein (the one on the wall, the direction he was going) off of his neck, and then I'd use some spur, but use the outside rein to keep him from leading with his shoulders.
From there we did some canter on a circle, to canter lengthening and then back. John had me bend him a little to the outside, and then do a little renvers (haunches also to the outside), and then he'd have me adjust my legs a bit to help bend Duke around me. Duke did some lovely lengthening and coming back.
Then John had us do some more leg yields on the quarter line, and then we did lengthen in the trot, going across the diagonal and also down the long side. Duke got better and better at these, but they got harder and harder for me (I felt all floppy) as we both got tired.
Poor Duke was really huffing and puffing. It was another day where I had to wash him off afterwards.
John said that we needed to see how he did at his first show before he really started schooling me on the movements, although we've done them all in bits and pieces. He said he didn't want me to focus so much on trying to get the same lengthening as a lesson that I overlooked just keeping Duke calm.
He said the challenge we're going to have at the show is the balance between having a calm Duke and a neurotic Duke. For now, calm Duke is better. But if I get in a situation again where I'm the first to go and they ring the bell and I haven't had time to warm up, he said to trot, walk a few steps, trot again. If Duke isn't sharp, then walk again, and then trot again. Use the whole 45 seconds if I need it to get him sharp, so that his first few movements aren't frazzled and strung out.
We also talked about the difference in feel from Charlie on cross country - Charlie was easy going but sometimes hardly looking at the fence, and Duke is locking onto the fence and ready to charge. He said Duke's jumping style is going to be a little harder to photo (almost all of the photos of me from Spokane xc were appalling) because he hesitates then jumps. John uses their breathing to tell pace, and he said we're not quite ready to work on pace yet, but we can later. He also said what I need to work on is the difference in feel between Duke stretching over his back and lengthening, not just the pace (so we don't need to do the 5-6-7 on a long side exercise yet, just the feel of him pushing up and over).
He said to ride in draw reins all week, up to EI, and not to use my reluctance as an excuse to not really use them.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
A struggle-eureka jump lesson
Today's lesson was frustrating, insightful, and interesting. The interesting part was I got to share it with Katy, and she was having to really ride, and it was interesting and useful to watch how she handled the horse and stayed balanced and calm.
The frustrating part was I - over and over and over again - would get the distance wrong and so slip my reins so I wouldn't grab Duke in the mouth, which would then just snowball because I couldn't get them back in time. Until John said "here's what you do instead" and then it was a lightbulb/eureka moment because after I did what he said, it instantly fixed the problem. It's frustrating because why do I keep making the same damn mistake until he has to step in, why can't I just try something different myself and show some initiative?
What needed to be fixed was balancing Duke further out and away from the jump (usually with a half halt with the outside rein). If I balanced him a few strides out (or, in the turn heading towards the jump, which was a few strides out), we would come to the jump on the correct distance. Then he wouldn't have to stretch to get over the fence, so then I wouldn't have to slip my reins, so then we would stay put together to keep going.
What we were doing was the long four stride line, then a right hand turn 270 degrees around to go over the red oxer, then another right hand turn 270 degrees to go over and black and white oxer, then a four stride (?) bending line to a vertical with a plank. A tiny handful of times, we got it just right. Most of the time, the turn from the red oxer to the black oxer flummoxed me (I also wasn't turning my head around soon enough, because I was looking at the wall past the red oxer sure that this would be the time we wouldn't make the turn), and so we would drift left.
Duke felt a little short and like he didn't have as much power today. The fences felt big, and I felt like we weren't coming up to them with enough power, but if I kicked him, he got long and flat and it felt worse and made the distances in between the fences wrong.
So it was a great reward to get the half halt before the fence and see just how much it helped Duke get over the fence.
The other big insight was, the first time through the oxer/vertical bending line, I just sat there like a bump on a log and waited for Duke to figure it out. John said that I've got to help him, and rebalance him, and so after that, it went a lot better.
John likes that Duke tries to get over the fence, even if the distance is wrong. He's very forgiving and honest.
I also asked John about the show (jump) questions.
We raised my stirrups a hole after he watched me trot and then trot without stirrups. He said we talked about this a few weeks ago but decided not to do it then.
He said that we won't decide on the Rebecca classic until we see how he goes at another show or two, to see if his first show he was just backing off. So we'll see how he is at EI next weekend and see if that helps.
I told him that I had to hit Duke with the stick (for the first time ever) on the first fence on cross country, and he said that first fence was hard because you not only had to come out of a bending line to it, but the horses were looking back at the horses in warm up and not really paying attention. So it was the right thing to do.
Duke rubbed the tables a little, and John said that is good for an eventer; that they jump long and flat and graze the fences, and that helps them make the speed. He said Anna had a horse that jumped up and over every fence, and to make time, she'd have to go 600 mpm in between the fences because of the time she lost while her horse was up in the air over the fence (actually, at 2 seconds per fence, for 20 fences, that's 40 seconds!).
Duke spooking at the lunge arena and ribbon; John said that he doesn't have kids hand out the ribbons, and tucks them under his arm so he doesn't spook the horses. He said a lot of people sneak out of the victory gallop, especially at the upper levels, because the horses are just too hot and conditioned by that point. He said somebody got bucked off in the victory gallop in his class.
He also said that the thoroughbreds tend to be quiet the first time they're at a place (it's new) and then a little more of a handful the second time (it's not new). He said I'm not ruining his ground manners with the shit with the bridle.
I asked him about Brooke's comment that to be ready to ride prelim you need to be 80% accurate. He said his opinion is that it is more about your reaction time and accuracy. Training level is 5 seconds; advanced is 0 seconds. He said it's why A struggles at advanced but can do intermediate - she can make a decision and correct in the 1/2 second, but needs to be a little faster at advanced. That is ominous, since I have terrible slow reaction time. On the other hand, I think I said this a couple months ago, I noticed that I have "more" time when I'm jumping now than I used to, and I think that's some things becoming rote and also - hopefully - maybe a little faster reaction time.
The frustrating part was I - over and over and over again - would get the distance wrong and so slip my reins so I wouldn't grab Duke in the mouth, which would then just snowball because I couldn't get them back in time. Until John said "here's what you do instead" and then it was a lightbulb/eureka moment because after I did what he said, it instantly fixed the problem. It's frustrating because why do I keep making the same damn mistake until he has to step in, why can't I just try something different myself and show some initiative?
What needed to be fixed was balancing Duke further out and away from the jump (usually with a half halt with the outside rein). If I balanced him a few strides out (or, in the turn heading towards the jump, which was a few strides out), we would come to the jump on the correct distance. Then he wouldn't have to stretch to get over the fence, so then I wouldn't have to slip my reins, so then we would stay put together to keep going.
What we were doing was the long four stride line, then a right hand turn 270 degrees around to go over the red oxer, then another right hand turn 270 degrees to go over and black and white oxer, then a four stride (?) bending line to a vertical with a plank. A tiny handful of times, we got it just right. Most of the time, the turn from the red oxer to the black oxer flummoxed me (I also wasn't turning my head around soon enough, because I was looking at the wall past the red oxer sure that this would be the time we wouldn't make the turn), and so we would drift left.
Duke felt a little short and like he didn't have as much power today. The fences felt big, and I felt like we weren't coming up to them with enough power, but if I kicked him, he got long and flat and it felt worse and made the distances in between the fences wrong.
So it was a great reward to get the half halt before the fence and see just how much it helped Duke get over the fence.
The other big insight was, the first time through the oxer/vertical bending line, I just sat there like a bump on a log and waited for Duke to figure it out. John said that I've got to help him, and rebalance him, and so after that, it went a lot better.
John likes that Duke tries to get over the fence, even if the distance is wrong. He's very forgiving and honest.
I also asked John about the show (jump) questions.
We raised my stirrups a hole after he watched me trot and then trot without stirrups. He said we talked about this a few weeks ago but decided not to do it then.
He said that we won't decide on the Rebecca classic until we see how he goes at another show or two, to see if his first show he was just backing off. So we'll see how he is at EI next weekend and see if that helps.
I told him that I had to hit Duke with the stick (for the first time ever) on the first fence on cross country, and he said that first fence was hard because you not only had to come out of a bending line to it, but the horses were looking back at the horses in warm up and not really paying attention. So it was the right thing to do.
Duke rubbed the tables a little, and John said that is good for an eventer; that they jump long and flat and graze the fences, and that helps them make the speed. He said Anna had a horse that jumped up and over every fence, and to make time, she'd have to go 600 mpm in between the fences because of the time she lost while her horse was up in the air over the fence (actually, at 2 seconds per fence, for 20 fences, that's 40 seconds!).
Duke spooking at the lunge arena and ribbon; John said that he doesn't have kids hand out the ribbons, and tucks them under his arm so he doesn't spook the horses. He said a lot of people sneak out of the victory gallop, especially at the upper levels, because the horses are just too hot and conditioned by that point. He said somebody got bucked off in the victory gallop in his class.
He also said that the thoroughbreds tend to be quiet the first time they're at a place (it's new) and then a little more of a handful the second time (it's not new). He said I'm not ruining his ground manners with the shit with the bridle.
I asked him about Brooke's comment that to be ready to ride prelim you need to be 80% accurate. He said his opinion is that it is more about your reaction time and accuracy. Training level is 5 seconds; advanced is 0 seconds. He said it's why A struggles at advanced but can do intermediate - she can make a decision and correct in the 1/2 second, but needs to be a little faster at advanced. That is ominous, since I have terrible slow reaction time. On the other hand, I think I said this a couple months ago, I noticed that I have "more" time when I'm jumping now than I used to, and I think that's some things becoming rote and also - hopefully - maybe a little faster reaction time.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Horse statistics at SSHF
Training:
25/52 were thoroughbreds (48%)
25/52 were 6-9 years old (48%)
Modified:
11/20 were thoroughbreds (55%)
9/20 were 6-9 years old (45%)
Preliminary:
12/23 were thoroughbreds (52%)
6/23 were 6-9 years old (26%)
Intermediate:
7/11 were thoroughbreds (64%)
6/11 were 8-9 years old (54%)
25/52 were thoroughbreds (48%)
25/52 were 6-9 years old (48%)
Modified:
11/20 were thoroughbreds (55%)
9/20 were 6-9 years old (45%)
Preliminary:
12/23 were thoroughbreds (52%)
6/23 were 6-9 years old (26%)
Intermediate:
7/11 were thoroughbreds (64%)
6/11 were 8-9 years old (54%)
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Quick recap of SSHT
Duke and I did our first training level event at Spokane this weekend (which was also my first event at Spokane).
High points - for future comparison - only:
It takes 1/2 of Wednesday, all day Thursday, and all day Sunday for show stuff - it's a much bigger commitment than the other "local" shows.
Dressage: Duke had his lowest score yet (40.0), which was too bad, because he was soft and quiet when I rode him Thursday and during his warm up. He rode at 8 am (the first horse to go) and we had to interrupt our warm up twice - once for the anthem and once for bit check (they weren't there when we got there). He got an 8 for his entrance but a 4.5 for a canter (he was counter cantering). He needs to work on his transitions and lengthenings, but John has already been working with us on those, so I think we're on the right track.
When we left the arena, though, he FREAKED OUT and did his little crazy thing he did last October (?) and caused a big scene. John thought it might be their lunge pen (which is solid, and so you just hear the noise and stuff hitting the wall).
Cross country: Although I walked it FIVE TIMES and knew the minute markers precisely, for the first time ever I got confused about when my watch went off whether I was too fast or too slow. We were too slow. I thought we were too fast. So I just kept slowing Duke down more and more until minute 4, when I finally realized that beeping early means too slow, and we sped up a bit.
Duke handled the huge benches, the double bank up, the log to a downhill drop, the huge drop, the up bank onto a hill, the hard right turns out of the water to a jump on a hill, etc. etc. like a freaking pro. I was super nervous ahead of time (as in, text Judith to remind her what to do if I die), but he was an absolute delight to ride. He also did not freak out even though the horse two horses before us freaked out the entire time he was in the warm up. He charged up the hill, he had plenty of go. He rubbed some of the fences a little, it sounded like, but was so sweet and easy to ride and bring back.
I didn't bring enough ice, so I wish I had iced his legs more (and his feet at all). They had ice there, as it turns out, asking for a $1.50 donation.
Oh, and they had a guy working a stand with super cheap food - $2 for a grilled cheese. $3 for a breakfast sandwich. Free treats for dogs.
Show jumping: Here, I walked the wrong freaking course three times, then couldn't find the map for my course, then the timing was all off because instead of going the order in the book, they went my class first (instead of last), and were a half hour earlier than I estimated, and since we were about the first to go, it was a bit of a scramble to get down there. But, thanks to the derby I knew that I could trot him around, canter him around, go over a couple jumps and, if I had to, go do the course.
But thank god I went and walked at the modified time, I would have been a goner if I'd needed to walk it too.
There was a much bigger crowd, and he got all nervous in between warm up and going in, but once we went in he looked around and got to business. It wasn't the prettiest round, but I rode a little more off my legs than my hands than a year ago, and he was double clear, even though I took the long way to get to the A-B-C line because I wanted to really line him up and settle him down.
But. He freaked out again when we tried to leave, and I had to jump off and walk him around for a while. Which was good, because it turned out we got a ribbon (9th place) even though I thought we were in 13th place (no ribbon).
On the way home we got a flat tire just before exit 93. US Rider and the local tire folks were awesome. The traffic heading back into Seattle was not awesome. It was 80 and Duke was cooking in the trailer and the dogs and I were cooking in the truck. That sucked, but it was the only part of the weekend that really sucked.
He's a delight to have around; he grazes, stands in his stall, doesn't kick, eats his dinner, doesn't make too much of a mess, doesn't chase dogs; I can read a magazine and let him hand graze (which I accomplished twice).
High points - for future comparison - only:
It takes 1/2 of Wednesday, all day Thursday, and all day Sunday for show stuff - it's a much bigger commitment than the other "local" shows.
Dressage: Duke had his lowest score yet (40.0), which was too bad, because he was soft and quiet when I rode him Thursday and during his warm up. He rode at 8 am (the first horse to go) and we had to interrupt our warm up twice - once for the anthem and once for bit check (they weren't there when we got there). He got an 8 for his entrance but a 4.5 for a canter (he was counter cantering). He needs to work on his transitions and lengthenings, but John has already been working with us on those, so I think we're on the right track.
When we left the arena, though, he FREAKED OUT and did his little crazy thing he did last October (?) and caused a big scene. John thought it might be their lunge pen (which is solid, and so you just hear the noise and stuff hitting the wall).
Cross country: Although I walked it FIVE TIMES and knew the minute markers precisely, for the first time ever I got confused about when my watch went off whether I was too fast or too slow. We were too slow. I thought we were too fast. So I just kept slowing Duke down more and more until minute 4, when I finally realized that beeping early means too slow, and we sped up a bit.
Duke handled the huge benches, the double bank up, the log to a downhill drop, the huge drop, the up bank onto a hill, the hard right turns out of the water to a jump on a hill, etc. etc. like a freaking pro. I was super nervous ahead of time (as in, text Judith to remind her what to do if I die), but he was an absolute delight to ride. He also did not freak out even though the horse two horses before us freaked out the entire time he was in the warm up. He charged up the hill, he had plenty of go. He rubbed some of the fences a little, it sounded like, but was so sweet and easy to ride and bring back.
I didn't bring enough ice, so I wish I had iced his legs more (and his feet at all). They had ice there, as it turns out, asking for a $1.50 donation.
Oh, and they had a guy working a stand with super cheap food - $2 for a grilled cheese. $3 for a breakfast sandwich. Free treats for dogs.
Show jumping: Here, I walked the wrong freaking course three times, then couldn't find the map for my course, then the timing was all off because instead of going the order in the book, they went my class first (instead of last), and were a half hour earlier than I estimated, and since we were about the first to go, it was a bit of a scramble to get down there. But, thanks to the derby I knew that I could trot him around, canter him around, go over a couple jumps and, if I had to, go do the course.
But thank god I went and walked at the modified time, I would have been a goner if I'd needed to walk it too.
There was a much bigger crowd, and he got all nervous in between warm up and going in, but once we went in he looked around and got to business. It wasn't the prettiest round, but I rode a little more off my legs than my hands than a year ago, and he was double clear, even though I took the long way to get to the A-B-C line because I wanted to really line him up and settle him down.
But. He freaked out again when we tried to leave, and I had to jump off and walk him around for a while. Which was good, because it turned out we got a ribbon (9th place) even though I thought we were in 13th place (no ribbon).
On the way home we got a flat tire just before exit 93. US Rider and the local tire folks were awesome. The traffic heading back into Seattle was not awesome. It was 80 and Duke was cooking in the trailer and the dogs and I were cooking in the truck. That sucked, but it was the only part of the weekend that really sucked.
He's a delight to have around; he grazes, stands in his stall, doesn't kick, eats his dinner, doesn't make too much of a mess, doesn't chase dogs; I can read a magazine and let him hand graze (which I accomplished twice).
Tuesday, May 08, 2018
Realistic expectations
Thinking about what John said yesterday, I keep expecting Duke to just step into Charlie's shoes. Charlie was already established at training level, I rode him with Shannon for two years, and it took me four years before I was ready to ride him Training level.
Duke has also gone training level, but only for a handful of shows and with a professional. It will probably take us years to be able to ride together the way that Charlie and I could in our sixth year together. I need to be realistic that Duke is a different horse, with different strengths, and it will take us time together to get to be a good team like Charlie and I were. I think he has a lot of potential, but we need TIME, which can only come by dedicating years of work together.
Duke has also gone training level, but only for a handful of shows and with a professional. It will probably take us years to be able to ride together the way that Charlie and I could in our sixth year together. I need to be realistic that Duke is a different horse, with different strengths, and it will take us time together to get to be a good team like Charlie and I were. I think he has a lot of potential, but we need TIME, which can only come by dedicating years of work together.
Monday, May 07, 2018
More sweaty dressage work; sans draw reins
Duke and I had a nice hack out along the road, in the sunshine, before starting our lesson. We worked inside, and it was quite a workout. Duke had a sweaty butt and even a sweaty throat latch. John said that's how hard I need to warm him up before our dressage ride at the show.
We started out working in half the arena; then John had me overbend to the inside, then to the outside, going down the long side. I had to keep Duke moving forward while overbending. From there, we worked on it on 20 meter circles, and then giving a little and then putting back together. We did some leg yields each direction, and the bend there is the opposite of the direction you're going, so if Duke is moving to the right, which is off of my left leg, then his neck is bent to the left (towards the leg giving the over aid), not to the right (the direction he's going).
John said that when Duke gets "stuck" and locked in, the overbending is used until it breaks up his pattern, and then I can go back to regular riding. Yes, it's ugly, and I wouldn't ride it in a test, but it's better than him going around with his jaw and neck all stiff and clamped into place.
We did some lengthening on the canter, and John had me push him much bigger than I ever would do on my own, but Duke stayed really balanced, especially compared to when he arrived last year. Then we brought him back.
By the second canter, he was tired, and it was interesting, because it was the most tired he's ever been when I've ridden him (he's also definitely getting chubby, and it was probably about 70 out), so I had to start using more and more leg to keep him going. He did, though, he kept doing what I asked, even though it was a bit of an effort. I also did his conditioning ride yesterday, plus a few fences outside, and I was surprised how nicely he moved today, since yesterday was conditioning.
The main takeaways from today's lesson are: don't be afraid to ask for more (more bend, more forward, more flexion, more over his back); use my outside rein to make him round and flexed (not the inside); use my outside leg aid a little further back than my inside leg aid; to get him on a nice curve into the corners, think like I'm leg yield aiding into those corners down the long side.
I told John I was a little nervous about Spokane and he told me that no matter what happens - whether it is dressage or cross country or show jumping, we'll learn more about Duke and come back and work on it. It's just a show.
I was having a hard time deciding whether I wanted to jump or ride dressage for my lesson, but I'm glad we did dressage because Duke felt so good, and it was just the right good feeling to think about to try to remember to carry through this week to the show.
We started out working in half the arena; then John had me overbend to the inside, then to the outside, going down the long side. I had to keep Duke moving forward while overbending. From there, we worked on it on 20 meter circles, and then giving a little and then putting back together. We did some leg yields each direction, and the bend there is the opposite of the direction you're going, so if Duke is moving to the right, which is off of my left leg, then his neck is bent to the left (towards the leg giving the over aid), not to the right (the direction he's going).
John said that when Duke gets "stuck" and locked in, the overbending is used until it breaks up his pattern, and then I can go back to regular riding. Yes, it's ugly, and I wouldn't ride it in a test, but it's better than him going around with his jaw and neck all stiff and clamped into place.
We did some lengthening on the canter, and John had me push him much bigger than I ever would do on my own, but Duke stayed really balanced, especially compared to when he arrived last year. Then we brought him back.
By the second canter, he was tired, and it was interesting, because it was the most tired he's ever been when I've ridden him (he's also definitely getting chubby, and it was probably about 70 out), so I had to start using more and more leg to keep him going. He did, though, he kept doing what I asked, even though it was a bit of an effort. I also did his conditioning ride yesterday, plus a few fences outside, and I was surprised how nicely he moved today, since yesterday was conditioning.
The main takeaways from today's lesson are: don't be afraid to ask for more (more bend, more forward, more flexion, more over his back); use my outside rein to make him round and flexed (not the inside); use my outside leg aid a little further back than my inside leg aid; to get him on a nice curve into the corners, think like I'm leg yield aiding into those corners down the long side.
I told John I was a little nervous about Spokane and he told me that no matter what happens - whether it is dressage or cross country or show jumping, we'll learn more about Duke and come back and work on it. It's just a show.
I was having a hard time deciding whether I wanted to jump or ride dressage for my lesson, but I'm glad we did dressage because Duke felt so good, and it was just the right good feeling to think about to try to remember to carry through this week to the show.
Wednesday, May 02, 2018
Sweaty work in draw reins
Today was an absolutely spectacular spring day, and we got to walk around a bit in the sun before our lesson started. But yesterday Duke had his feet done, and although Brent left his toe 1/8" longer than it was last time, AND put on pads, when we walked down the driveway I thought Duke felt a little sensitive, and when we walked down the road, I thought he felt a little stiff, like he wasn't putting his front legs down quite right, so I didn't walk him on the road, just in the outdoor arena. We did get to see a killdeer (?) chasing a snake, so that was pretty cool. A big snake.
When we were warming up inside, Duke felt a little bit stiff - more so to the left, I think - and so I wonder if sometimes when he is stiff and reluctant to bend, it is because his feet hurt. Which would maybe explain also why his stiffness switches sides.
John had us work in draw reins today, and it was a little warm out (but not really inside) and Duke got very huffy and puffy and very sweaty - even butt sweat. So it was a really hard workout for him. I even sponged him off afterwards before we drove home.
John had us start out on a circle, get round, go to 10 meters, and then give with the inside or the outside, leg yield towards the outside, and then bend him and give again. When he softens, the release is to give with that hand, and it's hard for me to feel it fast enough for it to be an immediate reward, and sometimes I can't even tell which hand (or both) I should give with.
So John had us work both directions, then work the full arena, then make circles at other spots along the arena. Sweet Duke did it all.
Then we cantered, made different size circles, and lengthened. Here, John had me put my inside leg a little forward and my outside leg a little back, and at one point, he told me to lean back just a bit - to get tall and then to lean back. He tried having me sit the trot but immediately said to forget it - that the saddle just threw me forward too much for it to be useful. I had a hard time sitting down into the seat today, but that might be because I put air in the panels last night, and they are super full right now.
After we worked for a while, Duke got much softer - when I'd give with my hands, he'd take the bit and chew it down, and then John would let him go for a while in that longer, lower head frame (or that's how it felt to me).
We had a bit of a struggle on the right lead canter, where John was trying to get Duke to sit down on his haunches. This was an outside half halt and ... well ... and ... I can feel it, but I can't think of how to say what the aids were. And Duke wanted to break or move his shoulders out, and it was hard to get him to rock back and sit down, but he did, for a few steps, and I could feel it.
Whenever we did a canter lengthening, I would have to take the reins back up, so when we're lengthening, I'm letting the reins slip out through my fingers. I have a vague recollection I did the same thing with Charlie. So it's good I noticed because, like that one jumping lesson with Charlie when the light bulb went off and I could feel it happen - as soon as I can feel it I can start to fix it.
We also had to do some jiggling on the inside rein, in addition to bending, and bending to the outside then back to the inside.
Anyway, it was a great lesson. Duke worked really, really hard, and he felt really good. I was impressed with him and with how well we're coming along together. Of course, we would be useless without John, so my next big goal is to try to lock in more of these feelings and when I feel them so that I can do more of it on my own.
John said that he thinks we'll ride in the draw reins for a while, because it is a good reset for Duke and reminds him what Jane taught him, and he tends to stay good for a few days afterwards. I'm too chicken to ride him that vigorously alone, with or without draw reins.
When we were warming up inside, Duke felt a little bit stiff - more so to the left, I think - and so I wonder if sometimes when he is stiff and reluctant to bend, it is because his feet hurt. Which would maybe explain also why his stiffness switches sides.
John had us work in draw reins today, and it was a little warm out (but not really inside) and Duke got very huffy and puffy and very sweaty - even butt sweat. So it was a really hard workout for him. I even sponged him off afterwards before we drove home.
John had us start out on a circle, get round, go to 10 meters, and then give with the inside or the outside, leg yield towards the outside, and then bend him and give again. When he softens, the release is to give with that hand, and it's hard for me to feel it fast enough for it to be an immediate reward, and sometimes I can't even tell which hand (or both) I should give with.
So John had us work both directions, then work the full arena, then make circles at other spots along the arena. Sweet Duke did it all.
Then we cantered, made different size circles, and lengthened. Here, John had me put my inside leg a little forward and my outside leg a little back, and at one point, he told me to lean back just a bit - to get tall and then to lean back. He tried having me sit the trot but immediately said to forget it - that the saddle just threw me forward too much for it to be useful. I had a hard time sitting down into the seat today, but that might be because I put air in the panels last night, and they are super full right now.
After we worked for a while, Duke got much softer - when I'd give with my hands, he'd take the bit and chew it down, and then John would let him go for a while in that longer, lower head frame (or that's how it felt to me).
We had a bit of a struggle on the right lead canter, where John was trying to get Duke to sit down on his haunches. This was an outside half halt and ... well ... and ... I can feel it, but I can't think of how to say what the aids were. And Duke wanted to break or move his shoulders out, and it was hard to get him to rock back and sit down, but he did, for a few steps, and I could feel it.
Whenever we did a canter lengthening, I would have to take the reins back up, so when we're lengthening, I'm letting the reins slip out through my fingers. I have a vague recollection I did the same thing with Charlie. So it's good I noticed because, like that one jumping lesson with Charlie when the light bulb went off and I could feel it happen - as soon as I can feel it I can start to fix it.
We also had to do some jiggling on the inside rein, in addition to bending, and bending to the outside then back to the inside.
Anyway, it was a great lesson. Duke worked really, really hard, and he felt really good. I was impressed with him and with how well we're coming along together. Of course, we would be useless without John, so my next big goal is to try to lock in more of these feelings and when I feel them so that I can do more of it on my own.
John said that he thinks we'll ride in the draw reins for a while, because it is a good reset for Duke and reminds him what Jane taught him, and he tends to stay good for a few days afterwards. I'm too chicken to ride him that vigorously alone, with or without draw reins.
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