Draw rein lesson with John

Today we had a dressage lesson, but after Charlie refused to bend his neck (and quit tilting his head), even after I rode around with my inside hand up and back for FOREVER, John got the draw reins and a whip and made Charlie work his buns.  Charlie had the nerve to kick out at John when he used the whip.
Peaches rode Charlie the last two days, and I could totally feel the difference when we got on, but I just could not make Charlie bend or engage his hind end.  Peaches said that the first day was a stretchy ride, but the next day she really made him work, and he kept his ears back and under protest until the last five minutes when he finally softened and she could ride with a loose rein.  She said she just kept pushing him into it until he did the work himself and then worked him for just five minutes and quit.  She said some horses (not all ?!?) are lazy like that about dressage.
When John put the draw reins on, Charlie's shoulders suddenly lifted and he got easy to sit, but it was still a struggle to keep him going.
John suggested that he needs a couple rides in draw reins just before the show, and Peaches said that draw reins are an aid until I learn how to coordinate the leg/seat/hand aids and don't need the draw reins to help me with it.
It was a good lesson, but I was in a mood, and so I feel really frustrated.  I'm ready to start getting it instead of just pounding my head against the wall.

John did say that organizers can split open classes however they want, and that it is usually "experienced" and "less experienced".  So it wasn't an accident that all the pros were in one class, or that I was in that class (with other amateurs).  I am going to try to take it as a sign that Charlie and I are doing well since it is still our first year riding Training level, and we didn't get in the class with the regular peeps.

XC at Lincoln Creek; winter projects

Cross country was fun.  Charlie was a bit of a dud in warm up again, but once we got galloping on the course, he perked up.  Like last time though, he seemed to be looking at the sidelines a bit more than the fences.  I'm wondering if his right hip is bothering him and that's why he seems to be missing his usual zest.
The course was fun.  It was a good course for Charlie because it had long stretches of gallop, so we could do those and make up some time, and then slow down for the trickier combinations.
There were several wide tables, which were fun because we had that "hang time" in the air.
Charlie did great on the trickier elements.  There was a log with a left turn up the hill to a log on top and down the hill.  We lost some momentum on the way up and trotted the first few steps down, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would feel.
He did great on the skinny with a hard C to another skinny and a mound under the hard C.
The roll top to a down bank into the water with a left hand turn out over another skinny, we had the same problem as at Inavale - going into the water I flopped up and over his left shoulder, but we recovered and he didn't go all crazy so we got out ok.  I know the water was really deep, but now that it has happened twice, it is probably one we should work on.
The up bank was no problem, and he rode the rail, two tight downhill strides to a ditch, several strides bending left to a shark tooth like it was a cakewalk.
We were a little fast, so we did a gentle canter to the last fence and across the finish line, and were still about 20 seconds fast.
In my class, we ended up 10th (from 15th).  All nine riders ahead of me were professionals.  The seven or so riders who weren't all ended up below me.  So I guess that is good, but I need to get better at dressage so I can start holding my own if from now on I have to compete against the professionals.

I started thinking about what we need to work on during the drive home:
1.  Flying changes
2.  Faster response to the leg aid  (which means I also have to keep my aids OFF except when I want to give one)
3.  More "oomph" coming from the hind legs (for lengthenings and for the "jump" in the canter)

I thought of a lot more than that, but I got up at 4 am yesterday and 4:30 today, so am not on my A game.
I also want to talk to John about how to school the technical stuff that shows up at Prelim.  I don't even know what it looks like, let alone how to ride it, and how much we need to school before we're ready to compete.
This year was an "off" year - training level for experience, with next year the training level to win.  But for the shows we did, we did pretty well.  I think next year is definitely starting at Training, maybe doing some derbies at Prelim, doing the Rebecca 3 day at Training, and then maybe finishing the season at Prelim.

I am so lucky to have Charlie.  He is just such a great horse.

Dressage and SJ at Lincoln Creek; dressage practice with John

Yesterday John and I practiced my Training A test.  He had several suggestions which were easy to remember and made a huge difference in my test.  Which was good because as I'll write in a minute, I got clobbered today, even with the tips.
First, when I enter, bend Charlie just a tiny bit to the right, to make up for his tendency to go left.
In the 15 meter circles, I push him out with inside leg for the first half of the circle, then he will try to fall in for 1/4, then I push him out again for the last quarter.  This is trying to go to the wall in horse logic.
I had one perfect lengthening out of four tries, so it's really a 25% gamble at the show.  And after the perfect one, I got greedy and totally blew the next one.
For the stretchy circle, do a half halt before I go back to regular trot and another half halt just before the walk.  This makes for a nice down transition instead of plummeting down into walk.
Then the final canter on the left lead, after the 15 meter circle, do just a touch of shoulder in and half halt before the trot transition.
For the halt transition, just as I finish, bend him to the right to prevent him from swinging his haunches out to the left.

Charlie was much more responsive to my aids after his two days of being ridden by the working students (I didn't have to nag-nag-nag each stride) but he was also a bit stiff in the jaw, and I think he was a little confused by the aids.  I wonder if his "head tilting" comment in the judge's comments was what I call him stiff in the jaw.

The show was a little disappointing.  I felt like we had a really good ride, pretty consistent with the rest of this year, but we were in 13th place (out of like 16!).  The comments were fair, but still felt harsh compared to our other tests.  Then for show jumping (same day), Charlie was a total slug.  I had to kick him, with the jabby end of the spurs, and whip him, and yell at him, just to get around the course.  We went double clear, but it felt like riding a heaving sack of oats.
Then when I got home, I looked up our class.  9 professionals, and the other 7(ish) of us regular people.  The other training class is all regular people.  And both classes didn't have any really good scores, even for the professionals.  Our class had like three people with rails down; other training had like 9.
So I am going to go with my gut was right, and it was a decent ride for us - one that would have had us in about 4th if we weren't in a class of professionals.
But is that something that happens in training and up?  Do we not have amateur/horse/rider classes anymore?
Cross country looks fun tomorrow.  A couple new things, but nothing that looked too intimidating.
We're up to about six people asking when we're going prelim.  I'll have to ask John when he thinks we'll be ready.

Two-point and jumping lessons with John

Sunday we had our first lesson while Charlie is in half-training at John's.  We did a grueling amount of two-point.  When I got tired, I would hunch my back and tuck up my legs, and today the outside of my lower legs (both of them) are sore.
We did everything in the two-point:  20 meter circles, leg yields, transitions up to and down from canter, bending to the outside …
John said it was for fitness, balance, but also to show me that I could do all kinds of things without needing to sit down in a dressage position; that Charlie is quite responsive from the two point if I need it while we're on course.

Yesterday was his first day being ridden, which I completely forgot to ask about today.  But Charlie had nice svelte lower legs and no goop in his eye, and his coat looks shinier, and he seems relaxed coming into and going out of his stall (although he is a bit grass crazed).

So today we jumped.  I could NOT get a three fence line right (vertical - one stride - oxer - two strides - vertical), and John said I was looking too long at the first fence, but it didn't matter how many times we did it, I kept flubbing my way through (Charlie, bless his sweet soul, just kept saving the day).
But before that, we did a couple lines to a couple fences, and they were basically no problem.  On the long stretch, I needed to get Charlie back on his haunches, and the way John had me do that was to bend him to the outside and then give him a half halt.  I also sent him forward in between the fences and then sat up around the corner and to the fence.  John said I needed to be able to launch or come close, and I needed to be able to pick which one.
However, Charlie had decided a monster was in the woods about 5 minutes before John got there (he was all giraffe neck and blowing) so he was actually quite peppy to ride, which was nice in a way.
It wasn't my greatest riding, but it was pretty smooth.  Charlie is so great.

A second day of amazing insights with Beth; moving day

Charlie started out a little fresh today, but by the time we worked on the walk, he decided he wasn't anymore.  We worked on the "next layer of the onion" at the walk, with more focus on me not nagging with my legs, and more focus on keeping the "two plates" (one in front, one in back) in place so that I don't have as much forward and back movement.  We also worked on feeling when each of Charlie's hind legs is coming under him, so I can give prompt, precise aids based on when the hind leg is working.  His leg pushes his barrel out to the other side, so when his left hind leg comes forward, his barrel goes to the right.  Once Beth explained that, I had no problem knowing when the hind leg was moving, at the walk or trot, and it helped a lot with timing the leg aids.
Charlie has trained me to slip the reins, and to let him slow down in the corners.  The way around this was to give a "tap-tap-tap" timed with the hind leg (the inside hind leg on a 10 meter circle, because it is the one doing the work) as we approach the corner where he's going to slow down.  Also, I need to think each step and when I feel him do it, ask him for more.
Then we worked on shoulder-in and lengthening the trot.  For the shoulder-in, for some reason I turn him way too far to the inside when we're tracking right, but can't turn him at all to the left.  I need to twist my shoulders (gently) to the inside when we're going left.
For lengthening, I kind of launch him forward, like a flat rocket onto his forehand.  The secret to the lengthening is to connect my shoulder blades into my back.  For some reason that I don't fully understand yet, that prevents me from letting him shoot out in front of me, and so he rises like a motor boat taking off instead of puking down.
I also have to concentrate very very hard on not using the leg aids to nag.  It took me 10 times around a 20 meter circle to walk energetically, but eventually that time will get shorter and then I will be well served by having Charlie with a lightning fast response to the leg aid.
It was a great lesson; a little harder than yesterday but with a lot of great tips that I could feel and apply myself, and like always, Charlie was a champ who responded instantly so that I could feel when I did it right.
He's at John's starting today for six weeks, while we close on the new house.  Exciting!

Amazing lesson with Beth - all kinds of things clicked!

I started my first clinic ride with Beth telling her that although I needed to keep working on all the things, I also felt like I was at the next step - a step that is so far out of my grasp that I don't even know what it is we'll be working on.
Beth told me.  :)  She said that it is beginning collection - getting Charlie to begin to step high underneath himself, and not go forward, but up.  And amazingly enough, that's what we started to do!
Beth was on fire with excellent descriptions of what was going on and how to adjust my body and what to feel, so it was just like:  Pow! Pow! Pow! with me "getting it".
We started with a walk (that marching walk that she doesn't call a march).  Tip #1:  If I lean a little more forward than I think is normal, the movement from Charlie switches from making me have a snaking back to hula hips.  Too far forward and I go back to snaking, but just a wee bit forward from normal, the movement goes left right left right in my legs and hips.  Once that happens, then I can squeeze/release (sometimes tap), and so long as I keep my hands firm so Charlie doesn't "leak out" the front, he starts rounding up and marching.  He is very good at getting me to open my fingers and let him stretch his neck out, though.
From a walk where I can halt or trot at any step - once it is at that walk but not while I'm still messing around with it - we can go to a trot.  Tip #2:  the crazy sashay I have in the posting trot?  Well, it is there in the sitting trot too.  I was in denial, but if I "tighten" my left side (easiest to do by putting my left elbow on my hip), *AND* let my right hip move (by thinking about it being equal with my left hip), then I quit sashaying so much.
Tip #3:  I can't feel it in my hips, but I can feel it in my legs.  So when I start trotting, if I check in on how each leg feels, I can even them out.  Generally, my left leg feels long and flappy (Beth says it kind of moves in a little circle but we'll fix that later) and my right leg is still all curled up tight like a tick.  If I think about making them feel symmetrical, then like a miracle, Charlie's shoulders balance up and he gets nice and fluffy to sit on.
We did some leg yields, and Beth says I am working too hard.  This was actually a theme throughout.  I give an aid every stride, so she made me lift my legs off and hold them off until I needed to give an aid again.  Especially to the right (off the left leg), I clench so tight I start lifting my heel.
An aid needs to have a beginning - middle - end, and most importantly, a purpose.  Charlie needs to react to it.  I can't get away much longer with my sloppy aids.  He was being bad today too, ignoring the trot aid the first time like he had no idea what I was asking for.
When I sat balanced and did a leg yield without lifting my heel, I could feel Charlie's whole body lift and move sideways instead of us just slouching sideways across the arena.
Charlie is a great horse to learn on because he makes you ask for it correctly, but once I do, he instantly rewards me by showing me how different it feels to do it the correct way.
Then we worked on canter.  Tip #4:  I need to close my knees and not let them flap on and off the saddle.  I'm not sure why (I was too busy concentrating on keeping them down to ask) but when I would rest them on the saddle, Charlie kept trying to use it as an excuse to trot.  Same thing with my aids too - I need to not ask every stride to keep him going.  He has to learn to keep himself going.
I also need to tuck my pelvis just a little, but that little bit helps me kind of root into his back.
Tip #5:  Then we worked on Charlie on a smaller circle at the canter.  This was pretty cool.  First, he would stick his neck up in the air, and my job was just to keep him on the smaller circle and not let him break.  Eventually, he would round his neck, and go from a hollow back hard to sit on horse to a round frame delightful to ride horse, and then we would make the circle bigger and then give him a break.  It was much more difficult for both of us to do going to the right.  His weak left hind leg, my crookedness.  (Although!  Tip #6:  if I turned just a tiny bit to the outside, I suddenly got balanced and everything got easier - it was a "eureka" feeling for what is happening with the sashay at the trot)  Anyway, what happens is he is figuring out that he can step under himself with his hind legs instead of shooting them out behind him (like that lesson with Asia), and when he tucks them under, he automatically gets round and soft in his back.
All in all, it was an amazing lesson.  Beth showed me exactly what I needed to start looking for and how to get it and how it felt.
There are probably a zillion other tips that were in the 45 minutes, but this feels like enough to work on for the next couple months!

Stitches out; dressage lesson

I took Charlie's stitches out today in his shoulder.  It was a few days early, but it looks good.  I accidentally knocked off the scab on the left shoulder, so it isn't looking as great.
I had a dressage lesson with John.  He gave me three jump exercises for homework while he is in Montana and then the next week, my Tuesday and Friday both have conflicts.
We worked on getting "more" of everything - more round, more connection, and more impulsion.  He said while he is gone, the most important thing I work on is getting that feeling of being on a 20 meter circle and then asking for more of everything.  He said if Charlie is stiff and won't bend at all, then I lift the inside hand (the direction he's not bending) until he gives, then put my hand back down.
We worked on 10 meter circles, leg yielding, and changing from canter to trot through the diagonal.  John said he was trying to get Charlie to use that inside leg.  Every few moves, we would get it right and it would all click, but I'm not at that point where it's reliable yet.
John also said he thought it progress from last year that I could see what was being tested on the courses at Whidbey (at least, I thought I could see it), and that now that I can see it, he can help me get faster at responding.  But I couldn't get faster until I could see what the test was.
The ride felt really good; it feels to me like we are much better connected and I have many more tools in my toolbox than last year.
I am jealous that we're not going to Rebecca, but only one more qualifying ride and we can go next year!

Flying change success!

During today's jump lesson, on approximately our third (but possibly 10th) try, we finally got a right to left flying lead change!!  Without any leaping, just a regular old, "oh, you wanted a change, ok here it is" kind of thing!  John clapped.
We also rode a few lines (a six stride, a five stride to a one stride, and a long four) quite well and forward.  When Charlie took off, I could feel my hips close like they are supposed to, instead of jumping ahead.
It wasn't perfect, but somehow I got him nice and forward and he was eager to jump also.
Then we went on a nice long walk on John's uphill trail to cool off.
Charlie is such a great boy.
The secret to the change was the 3-10 tries before that, the lesson earlier in the week, but most (?) importantly, I took a breath, I'd ask him to bend right, I'd do a half pass right (on a circle), then I'd change his bend to left, lift my right hand, and ask with my legs for the new lead.  I had to do each step and do each one precisely and calmly.
He did a little better too, after we jumped a fence and landed left, he'd remember left and be more likely to land on the left lead (instead of his usual 90% on the right lead no matter what) - but I am also doing a much better job looking, bending a bit a few strides out, but I still need work on my leg aids for the correct lead when we are taking off.
I also walked the lines when we were done, and the 6 walked one step short (4'), the 5 walked perfectly, and the 4 walked one big step long (4'+) so I can now apply that to walking the SJ course at the shows for when I need to ride big into one vs. ride regular vs. ride tight.

Progress on flying leads!

Today we worked again on our flying lead changes.  We took a break from it the last few months, but pretty much everyone I watched at Training and above for show jumping could do them, and I just can't see how I will be able to get around a prelim show jumping course without them.
It was great!  First, Charlie caught on to the concept almost instantly (where he started offering them), which was a huge difference, because that seemed to be a mental hold up for him for years.  He got the idea of doing them from left to right, but it was like he couldn't even wrap his head around the concept from right to left.
He was trying to do them, but in this huge lunging, kicking way, where he would leap up all gigantic and forward (actually, that is what I saw him doing with Shannon over a ground pole in a lesson with Mike several years ago), and so sometimes he would get the change during the huge leap, but sometimes he wouldn't.
As we kept working, he quit needing to do the huge leap, and could do them a bit more reasonably.
John felt that I was a lot stronger and more balanced, so I could sit up and give something to Charlie to press into.  We also added in the detail of using my inside hip to press down, like if we were on the right lead and changing to the left, I would press down on my left seat bone, and put my right leg back, and use the whip, as well as have him bend to the left.
We worked on this with a couple of exercises.  We would half pass from the corner to the center line, and then turn the opposite direction (so if we half passed in the canter from K to X on the right lead, then I would bend him left at "G" so that at C, in theory, we would be on the left lead heading back towards H).  We also turned on the diagonal, then half passed starting at X, so if I was on the left lead, I would go pass A, turn left at F, at X start half passing to the left, turn his head right, and ask for the change at H, so by C we would be on the right lead.
Charlie was soaking wet (it was also hot out) so I walked him on the trail afterwards.  It was a really great lesson.  It's too much for me to try to do on my own, because John said he has a couple ways to try to evade the work (and it took me a while to get him really half passing).  When he does the carousel horse, John says we have to nip that in the bud immediately.  At one point, Charlie got really frustrated and wouldn't listen to anything or bend left at all, so John had us halt, then bend him left, then do a turn on the forehand, then go back to work, and it seemed to reset Charlie's brain.  When he was doing the carousel horse, John had us quit working on the flying leads and work on some trot work and transitions instead.
I liked that there was a pattern that set Charlie up for success, and also helped him figure out what we were asking him for, and I also like that it is a pattern I will never do in a dressage test, so he won't get too exuberant and start trying it willy nilly.
I also asked John about my two flops where Charlie saved my bacon at Inavale.  He said for the water, that it starts out at about 6", but within one stride, is like 2' deep.  He asked Peaches, and she said pretty much every rider had issues in the water.  So that's why the jump felt fine, and then I flopped, it was the footing and Charlie scrambling in it.  He also said everyone had trouble with the triple, because when they removed the first hibiscus, it took the "round" out of the turn, and everyone ended up making an angled turn, where we drifted right toward the judge's stand, and didn't come in nice and straight.  He said if they had left that fence up, it would have helped make the turn more structured.  So it wasn't just me, but I was lucky to have good boy Charlie (and all those grids) work through it.
Charlie got a puncture wound on Tuesday.  Diane said his stall gate seemed to have gotten half shut, and then there was a bolt on the "inside" that Charlie could have done it on.  It was the only thing they found (and they took the gate out).  He seems to be doing ok.  I talked with her (and Bre) about whether Charlie was too much for them.  They said he is more than they are used to, but they have that young horse that isn't ridden and Kevin …
She also told me that on Wednesday (?), Deb Stevens came by looking for a place to board.  She said that Deb said that she used to be at Forest Park.  I told her I had never met Deb.  She said Deb wanted to hug Charlie, but so far as I know, the only time she would have met him was when he was a baby.

Inavale was hot!

95ish Friday and Saturday, maybe only 85 on Sunday.  Despite the searing heat, it hailed from minutes 4-6 of my cross country ride (with a 0% chance of rain) and just before I show jumped (2% chance).
The negative is we got 4th, after being tied for 5th after dressage and cross country.
The positives were:
- I felt that our dressage was much, much stronger than last year, even if the score didn't reflect it.  I think the pictures showed it too.  I could tell it was a picture of a trot lengthening and a canter lengthening just by Charlie.
- Charlie saved my bacon once in cross country and once in show jumping.  He is an honest gentleman.
- I was very, very, very nervous about cross country after the first time I walked it.  After the second time, I was still pretty nervous.  The third walk was with John, and that made me feel a lot better.  The fourth walk was a half walk and it was just to cement what John had told me.
- I watched the upper level riders and it was surprising how difficult a time they had.  It made me feel better that even they make mistakes.
- Charlie was an absolute rock star in show jumping.  I did pretty well (there is a photo of my head looking at the next fence from the center of the air over the fence - go me), until the triple, and then somehow I just completely fell apart over the first fence, stood straight up to get out of Charlie's way over the center over, and then Charlie the champ finished up on his own with me hanging on his mouth.  Thank god for all those grids with John and Charlie just dutifully doing his job, unlike some of the bad horses we saw.
- The cross country had a big wide table (fence 5), then an angled three log into the water, out a ramp, to an angled ramp, two strides, down bank.  I was on Charlie's neck in the water, and so again, like a true workhorse, he just took us through the ramp and down bank as smooth as could be.
He is a super, duper horse.
Then we had a HUGE trakhener, a few giant log piles, a "lion trap", and then an uphill with a hard left turn to an up bank, one stride, log pile.  He did them all like he just loved his job.
I can't say enough good things about what a good boy he was.  He is an amazing horse.
I wore my dressage jacket even though they were waived, and we messed up the halt, but he did really well for 8 minutes of warm up.  I did a super light warm up for cross country and I was worried about the heat, 420 mpm, and 6 minutes, but then we were fast!  5:23 instead of 6:01.
I hung up a fly sheet for shade the end of the second day, and had a little battery powered fan going.  He got sweaty just standing in the stall and didn't eat as much as normal, but peed and pooped pretty well.
It was fun.  I think I'll need to do training again next year, but that was my original thought anyway.  1 year BN, 2 years N, 2 years T, and then 3-4 years P.
The good part was I had even more time to think between the fences and in the dressage movements, I had a little better working knowledge about what the course was asking for and how to work it, and I felt like we did a really good job together, even with the hiccups in getting started with the show season this year.

Dressage with draw reins

In preparation for Inavale (fingers crossed), we rode in draw reins today.  It was 84 out, and Charlie was a bit of a slug again.  I feel bad - I should have him skinnier and in better shape before asking him to work in this heat, but I never expected it would get this hot this early in the season, and the last couple months got away from me.
We worked on 10 meter circles down the centerline, changing direction.  Then we did quarter line to quarter line 10 meter circles.  Wait - those are the same thing.
Then we picked up the canter from the quarter line, which was really, really difficult to do.  John said he expects in warm up, in a big grassy field with no wall, Charlie will kind of ignore my aids and not really pay attention.  So he recommended that kind of precision in picking up the correct canter when it sort of surprises him.
Then we did some lengthening, at both trot and canter.  At first, this was difficult to really get Charlie going, but after the 10 meter circles, we got the most amazing lengthened trot yet, and then some really nice canter as well.
The draw reins really help, although I tend to let them slip.
We also worked on a 10 meter circle on Charlie's bend.  It is asking with the inside leg (next to the girth!) and then at the same time, half halting with the outside hand.  There is also asking him to leg yield to the outside while on the 10 meter circle, except for then the outside hand holds him and he doesn't really leg yield out.
John said it was a bit overdone, so that the show will feel like less.
As we were leaving, he talked a bit about the styles of showing, how 4* horses average competition lifespan is now 2 years, but the average age of an Olympic horse is 17 and it used to be 9.  He said it used to be very difficult to get a 9 in dressage, and then suddenly it got much easier.  He said it is also much more difficult for the horses going advanced and above because they have to have considerable collection for dressage, but then they can't collect like that to get over the cross country fences, so they have to know to listen to the collection for dressage but the same aid means something different for cross country.  It was really interesting.
He said again not to warm up for 15 minutes - to get out there, get immediately to work, and then stop so I don't wear him out.  He said check on how many riders are ahead, because sometimes they get really far behind and in the heat, I do not want to overwarm up Charlie.

Jump lesson with a quindrille (?)

I was fortunate enough to have two lessons with John this week; one dressage and one jump.  It was pretty warm today, and warm up was like riding a hunk of concrete.  Not only could I not get Charlie to bend, but he was essentially utterly non-responsive to my leg as well and heavy on my hand.
John had us do work on a circle, with a bend to the outside, make the circle smaller, bend to the inside while keeping everything else the same, and then leg yield back out.  What this does is get Charlie bending around my leg, and then lifting through his shoulders, without just going around the ring fighting with him.  Charlie and I are both stubborn, I think.
But jumping felt the same - it was like riding a downhill sled with no gas in it towards each fence.  John had an oxer with a left turn to a brick wall with a right turn back to the oxer.  I rode him to each fence whomping my legs on and off.  I was pouring sweat and panting, but it felt like I was riding a sack of potatoes.  I don't know if it was the heat or what.
Then we added in the row of five fences with a single stride between each.  These were a bit more interesting because the first couple were a little bumpy, but the last two were always great regardless of how the first two started.  (the one in the middle was just the middle)  John said I was looking too long at the first fence, but sometimes I would also get us on a bit of an angle, but Charlie the champ would get us through anyway.  The last two were really nice - he would round up and it just felt correct.
We did this a couple directions, and he finally whacked the brick wall oxer pretty good, and after that, he was a little less casual about picking up his own legs.
For the lead change, John says I get the front pretty consistently if I remember to turn my head the way I want to go.  The back isn't changing, and John says to try to remember to put my outside leg on.  As I type this, I'm pretty sure I'm putting my inside leg on, so I'll have to try to watch that next time.
I was also riding with my short crop, after months and months of riding with the super long crop.  I hated it, so it was good to practice with John because I probably won't jump again before the show (fingers crossed we make it to this one).
It is supposed to be 101 next Saturday on cross country day.
I put standing wraps on Charlie when we got back to the barn, but I got too anxious about them sagging, him getting tangled in them, and then panicking and killing himself in the night, so we went back out and took them off.  They were on for about four hours, but I didn't really see any difference.
John says for the heat, give electrolytes and cut the warm up in about half.  (15 minutes instead of 30)  I figure we also won't worry so much about making the time cross country because I don't want to fry him for show jumping.
It was a good lesson because I'd way rather ride with John in the heat before I ride in the show at the heat, but it was also kind of frustrating because I just didn't feel like I had him going.
John also said to keep his head up more.  He said Charlie was actually coming into the jump ok, but I'd let his head drop.  I need to follow up with him on that one.  I thought I understood it at the time but now that I'm writing it, I'm not sure I do.  He also wanted to know where my list of questions was, which was hilarious.  If I hadn't had such an incredibly terrible bad start to the day, I probably would have had one, but I was wiped out and just grateful to be riding outside in the sun and not at work.
John reminded me he doesn't like to jump them unless they've done dressage the day before, which I try to do, but I had a meeting last night and there wasn't any way to squeeze in a ride too.

3 loop serpentine at trot and canter

We didn't get to compete at Aspen because Charlie was ridiculously lame on Friday.  By Monday, he was back to normal.  No heat, no swelling, nothing I could find.  Per Dr. W's instructions, I gave him standing wraps, bute, stall rest, and cold hosing for three days, and the fourth day was just stall rest and then I got on him.
Then today we went to John's, where I still couldn't feel anything.  After my lesson, we watched a couple others, and Charlie did feel a little stiff as we walked off, so I'm wondering if it is not a foot but like a pulled muscle?
I asked John to look at his wind puffs and he said yes, indeed, they were wind puffs.  I told him I was anxious because Charlie never had them before and he said Charlie was never really working before.
During our lesson, we worked on more exercises that I can do at home.  They are designed to avoid frustration, where I am asking Charlie for the same thing in the same movement and not getting it.  They are supposed to keep Charlie sharp and responsive, making him naturally engaged instead of me trying to force him into it.
The exercises were:
10 meter circle to quarter line, leg yield to wall
4 loop serpentines (10 meter half circles), then deep into corner, outside rein, inside rein, then forward down the long side
3 loop serpentine to quarter line, leg yield to X, leg yield back to quarter line (and vice versa, leg yield to B or E, then back to quarter line)
3 loop serpentine at canter
By the end, Charlie was naturally lifted (although it helped that he has had essentially five days off).
John said that unless there is swelling, from now on he goes to the show and if he is lame, he gets bute. He said that some abscesses can come and go, so the foot is tender if they step on a rock, but then they get over it, and it ebbs and flows until the abscess is done working its way out.
Then we watched one of his students on her young former racehorse.  There were some antics from the horse that made me realize how much I am lacking in the control and balance department.  Then I watched a novice rider's jump lesson, and her horse lacked forward, so it was very helpful to watch her working on that.
As always, a great lesson with John that made my entire day.
I volunteered at Aspen for 1 1/2 of the days.  I worked mostly show jumping, and it was helpful to see the variety of riding styles (and personalities).  I walked the cross country course, and that was a huge relief.  There was a hard left turn to a roll top with a few strides to a log with a down bank into the water (first water combination) and I think one other slightly tricky combination, but other than that, I knew what the course was asking for and at least technically, I knew how to ride it (I think).  Nothing looked too scary or too hard, so Training is probably exactly right for this year ... if we can just get going.  I am very anxious that I am such a horrible horsekeeper that I am ruining Charlie.  Thank god for having John around to check in on him.

Show prep dressage lesson with John

Today we practiced Test A in the proper size arena.  John had a handful (exactly the number I could handle) of really great suggestions for improvement:
First - wait to turn left until "G" (between H & M) - I have been starting to think about it closer to X.
Second - use some inside leg (almost a bit of leg yield) on the 15 meter circles to keep them from being square.
Third - to get the deep corner, which comes out into the lengthened trot, warm up with bent to the outside on the corner, bend inside on the short edge, bend outside on the corner.  Do this a few times, then just hint at bend to the outside while keeping the inside bend.  After a few times of this, Charlie could go deep in the corner and it gave me so much extra space to come out of it and start lengthening.
Fourth - it isn't a "progressive lengthening", just lengthen.  So once I have it, don't keep stretching it out, otherwise I haven't done the movement.
Fifth - at the end of the stretchy trot circle, leg yield a couple of steps back to the short side before coming back to trot to walk.  Otherwise, the combination of lengthen, stretch, trot, walk, free walk makes Charlie sluggish - more sluggish - most sluggish.
Sixth - use a bit of inside hand to try to keep Charlie from tilting his head so much.
Seventh - in the warm up, do a canter, lengthen, trot, immediately lengthen the trot.  Do this down the long side just before we go in.  It gives Charlie a jazzed up trot to start out.
Eighth - I can either sit or post (yay!  I can sit!) but don't switch half way in a movement.  Definitely post the first trot lengthen.  If Charlie is sluggish, sit the second one.  A few of the movements are kind of obvious, like lengthen the trot, stretchy circle, trot, walk - that is all posting.
John had us do a few more exercises, lengthening the canter to lengthened trot and doing some leg yield at the trot and canter (!).  Charlie actually felt really great to me, and I'd be really happy if he felt that good at the show.

Jump lesson with John

We had a mid-morning lesson in our unseasonably warm weather.  Marc Grandia and some of his students (including Triangle) were also at Caber schooling.  We got quite sweaty, even though we were done by 10:30!
It was a good lesson.  To begin with, yesterday when I practiced the dressage test, I noticed that our stretchy circle was much improved (without me actively working on it!).  Charlie's balance is better, so the "ball" that is the center of balance is staying under his shoulders instead of going forward under his nose when he stretches down.  Half way around the first circle, I realized he wasn't racing forward on his forehand like we've been battling.  I also noticed that our canter to trot transition at X - while not perfect - is now a canter to sitting trot transition and not a canter to flying in the air posting trot transition like it was last year.  Those two things made me feel a lot better for about 10 seconds, until my second thought was that maybe we were doing something so much worse than last year that they feel better when they're actually quite worse.  I'll know by next Friday. 
In my lesson with John, he suggested that during the trot warm up, I do some small serpentines, just to get Charlie used to working off of my leg each direction and paying attention.
Our main takeaway from the fences was twofold:
First, use the outside rein to steer him to the fence.  If I hang on it, and we drag around the corner, we don't have enough time to get the "go" back to the fence.
Second, use that "go".  If I have enough forward energy, we can add a short stride or launch, but if I don't have the energy, it is a flat launch that risks a rail.
I could NOT get the lead changes at all, and John said to try once (use outside rein in a half halt) and then just ignore it and focus on the go, during the show jumping part of the test.  This was kind of depressing because I spent a lot of time this winter working on changes, but I haven't done it recently.
Although it was a pretty good ride, I was also then immediately down because I use my big long whip - the non-regulation dressage whip - and I got a lot of my forward "go" from that whip.  This is so I don't lock on with my legs, and I've been working myself off of my legs onto the whip.  But that whip does me NO good in a jump test, when I have my little jump bat.  I have to ask John about that on Wednesday.
It was only a pretty good ride because I felt all discombobulated and jerky, unlike how I felt when we went and rode at Rainbow last weekend.  I think it is nerves, especially with all the people around.
We started with a little cross rail and then a vertical.  Then John went straight to what is hardest for me, a hard right hand circle - an oxer and a vertical, each maybe on a 30 meter circle.  I bombed it several times in a row, with Charlie scooping his legs up to deer leap over the fence while I kept missing the lines, and then John told me to use my outside rein to steer and it all cleared up.
Then we did a few small courses, and the same thing - as long as I kept him forward, especially out of the turns, we did ok, even if he had to deer jump a couple.  It made me really appreciate Charlie - he is definitely the better of the two of us.
John set up a few 3'3" but nothing bigger I don't think.  We also did a couple combinations at an angle - coming in over the first fence and staying on a straight line so the second fence was an angle (or vice versa) - one show jump, one cross country combination like that.
I realized part of why I like John's lessons so much are he lets me make the mistake, tells me what to fix, lets me feel how the fix worked like magic, then explains why the fix works magic.  It cements using the fix in my head so much better than if he told me ahead of time how to ride it because I can feel it working.
I asked him if he'd tell me if I wasn't ready to go training, and he said yes.
I also asked him about the wind puffs and he said when I've given Charlie a hard work out, that night to wrap his legs to help with that. 

Lesson with Beth - riding every step, keeping the contact

Today with Beth in the studio we focused on two areas:  hamstrings and trapezius?  (center of back and just below arms on back).  It turns out I have even been able to "relax" incorrectly.  For the exercise on the foam roller with scarecrow arms, I should start with my arms crossed so that my back doesn't pop too high up (in the sway back arch) so that my shoulders can open in the front.
The hamstrings seemed a little easier to focus on than they have in the past.  It does really help to take the breath and center, and then do the movement.  We worked on egg beaters with my tailbone on a ball at the end, which I need to incorporate into my at home routine.  My legs had different ability to make the "D" shape, so I need to pay attention to that.
Then we also did a few exercises on the reformer which I think I can mimic at home, where I focus the lift from the spot between my shoulder blades instead of from my neck or from my lower back.
For some reason, today I also did a better job being able to feel this when I was on Charlie as well.  It was helpful because when we were sitting the trot, I could think of that spot and "anchor" my shoulders down into my waist.
I got a better appreciation for how to do scarecrow properly - it is much more difficult than the way I have been doing it - so that will be good to see if I improve by next time with this new appreciation for the nuances.
The studio lesson once again fit really well into my riding lesson.  We started with getting Charlie to "march" forward (Beth doesn't call it marching).  I needed the feeling of being able to halt or trot from the walk, and when he had enough forward coming from the hind end, his neck would more naturally round and he would feel heavier in my hand but softer in his shoulders.  I had to either use legs on-off-on-off or use the whip rhythmically.  He would get a little anxious after about five whip taps, so then we would give him a break from the whip but he had to keep moving forward.
From the walk, we did sitting trot with the same rhythmic tapping so that he was a bit more jazzed up than usual.  Then I took the energy (with shorter reins) and thought about his hind legs stepping under him and my seat giving a bigger bounce but with the same tempo. 
From there we worked on transitions, with the emphasis on thinking about the transition a few steps ahead.  For the up transitions, I kind of slip the reins (or push my hands forward) and so I had to really think about not pushing forward.  This confused Charlie (who is used to the release and the plunge downwards) so then I had to think "transition - transition" and give the aid twice.  Then I gave the aid too strong in too quick a succession so he lunged forward, but a lunging forward was a better response than a puking downward.
Then we worked on canter to walk transitions.  We started on a 20 meter circle, then did a 12 meter circle, then Beth would say "1-2-3" and I would think "halt" but we would "walk".  I thought these were pretty good because he almost came to a halt each time.
Beth said that the topline muscle exercises I'm doing are the correct exercises, but the reason we worked on these specific exercises were to ensure that I was practicing quality exercise to help develop the topline.  She said it naturally develops from the engagement.
Charlie's left lead canter was a little hoppy in his left stifle.  I could feel it and Beth could see it, so that is definitely something to watch.
I'm not doing the best job describing the lesson, but essentially, I was able to ride him rounder and with more activity coming from his hind end, and I could take that energy and channel it into being potential energy for an up or down transition instead of it leaking out the front.  This was by riding with more consistent contact, but also by using my aids (on-off) and using my core.  Beth said to pull my legs off his side, feel how deep my seat got, and to try to get that seat.
It was a really great and helpful lesson, and we were able to do most of it sitting too!

Home exercises and observation of other lessons with John

Nine horribly long days after stupidly riding Charlie on a road with big rocks (= stone bruise on right front foot - 7 days of epsom soaking and bute later - 1 horse show scratched (EI) - and this year's Montana dream crushed), I rode him for the first time today in a lesson with John.  Charlie was a dreamboat.
He then, extremely patiently, waited 5 hours while I watched John give 6 more lessons.  My takeaway?  I ride about as well as a beginner novice Pony Clubber (on a good day), I will never go Intermediate (he had a 6' spread and a show jump on the top of the standards!), and a lot of the "basics" that I hear from him apply to everyone.  I was blown away by the excellent position of the Pony Clubbers - none of them jumped ahead and they had lower legs locked in place.  I was jealous.
In my lesson, we worked on a series of different shapes and transitions.  John said it was work I could do at home, so I'm not just doing the same old 15 meter circle over and over.
We did 20 meter circles, deep into the corner and across the diaganol (on a short side), then 15 meter circles.  We did 10 meter circles, and then we did 10 meter half circles back onto the rail (so a 10 meter half circle between H and A, then back to the rail at B, then the lead change at first at M, but then later at C).  We did lengthenings in between on the long side or across the diaganol, and then did a 4 loop serpentine (in the small arena!) down the center line by alternating 10 meter half circles.
Charlie was an absolute champ.  He just went to work and popped around like it was no big deal without a single step off.  I feel guilty for the time in the trailer (John said next time to check with him and put him in a stall - which is good because that means I get to keep doing this!), so hopefully tomorrow he'll still be ok and today won't have been too much work.
The other great thing about the timing for watching the lessons was that I just read two of Jane Savoie's books over the weekend (while sulking about not being at EI because of my own stupid lack of common sense), and so it was really nice to be on the ground and watching and looking for some of the things she described in the book - especially the legs going out behind, which Asia had said but I did not understand until I saw the drawing in the book.
John has pony club lessons every other week February - September (?), and right now they do four lessons, from a teeny tiny adorable (but rascal) pony to the training level kids, one of whom is working on her first prelim horse.

Aspen derby

We had amazing weather (80!) and so I didn't warm Charlie up much so he wouldn't overheat.  Our first round, we had a disappointing rail down and run out, but it was actually quite good because:
1)  the course was far more technical than what we've been doing (fence 2 was a hard right to a long line to fence 3; fence 4 was several strides to an up bank/down bank which depending on where you jumped in and how you bent the line, was a 2 1/2 or 3 stride; then a downhill canter to a very hard right over a very big table, then a log one stride water, up bank out of the water, one stride, show jumping fence, hard left; but the one we had a rail down was a vertical show jump at an angle to a corner; then a hard left to a line with an oxer and vertical slightly off set.
The good news is that I could feel things coming up and had time to think.
The bad news is of course the rail down and run out despite that.
On the second round, we did better, but the second to last fence Charlie jumped in funny so I slid the reins, then couldn't get them back in time, so I pulled my elbows back and stood up over the last fence and then Charlie's right bell boot came sailing past over the top of our heads.  Charlie and I both looked at it and I yelled "woo!" as it passed us.
I'm pretty happy with it.  I could feel what I was doing and was thinking for myself while things were happening!  Not fast enough to fix them, but fast enough to feel them a stride or two out.  That's progress, I think.

Draw reins with John

I had a dressage lesson with John today and it was amazing.  I told him how Charlie felt all bouncy from the hock injections, but I never noticed it before.  He said it's because I never rode him engaged before, so I couldn't tell.  He said to feel for when it peaks, and then figure out how long it was between the injections and the peak, and then get his hocks injected that many weeks before a three day.
Then he explained the difference between a collected canter, and a working canter with some lift - he said even for advanced horses, a collected canter is very difficult to do.
The first eureka moment was when he told me how Charlie was tilting his head to the right (we were going left, counterclockwise) and said that when Charlie does that - i.e. when I can't see his jaw but only his eyelashes - to lift up with my left hand.  That straightens Charlie's face out and doesn't let him evade the bend.  But then he tries to evade other ways, so I have to keep my leg on and keep him going - I had to use the whip.
Then John put on the draw reins.  I haven't used draw reins sinceWillig, so there was an incredibly horrible period where I couldn't figure out how to get them in my left hand, but then I gripped like there was no tomorrow so we wouldn't have to go through that again.
It was AMAZING.  All of a sudden, Charlie's shoulders were lifted, and I didn't have to fight with him, and it was just divine.  We worked on 20 meter circles, 15 meter circles, 10 meter circles, leg yield, and trot and canter. Our first canter was like that eureka heavenly moment with Mike - the sky opened up and angels sang and I was just riding on a cloud on top of Charlie's back.  It was amazing.
At the 10 meter circle, Charlie tried to get out of work again, and so I had to sit tall, and then put my butt down on him, and then use my hips to swing him up and forward (and leg and whip, of course), but I had to really keep him going.
John said I can use the draw reins by myself sometimes, but not all the time, because I am extremely unlikely to ever ride with them too short (he had to keep telling me to shorten them - again - again - again), and that is their risk.
Charlie's butt was so sweaty afterwards!  Even though I sponged him off, when we got back to the barn, he had that caked on sweat look and needed to be curried.
John also showed me a ground exercise for Charlie's topline.  He said that Charlie has never been a muscley horse through the topline, and that he is on the skinny side right now.  He showed me how to squeeze just behind his hunter's bump and at the same time push up under his ribs.  He said to get him to round up, hold it a few seconds, and then let him relax.

Riding for Simpletons

That's basically the book I need.  Are you a nimrod with no common sense who doesn't think for herself?  Then this book is for you!
Seriously - today John had me jump the same oxer on a line to the vertical that we did on Friday, and then asked me why I jumped the oxer fine but was off for the vertical, and I was all "dunno", and he was like "Which leg did you use for the oxer?"  - Answer - right leg, because it was the outside leg (we turned left to get to it).  Then I was turning right after the vertical so which leg should I have used?  Answer - left leg - because the outside switched.  Guess which leg I was using?  Correct!  The right leg.  Because he told me to use it on the first fence, so I just kept using it.  Seriously - I want to hit myself.  And it never, ever would have crossed my mind if he hadn't asked me.
He said I have to start thinking about that, keeping Charlie between my legs and that means thinking about where I'm going and which leg I need to use.
Charlie was an absolute trooper.  After hauling down there Friday, then Saturday PC and Major Beale, then Sunday a long PC and Major Beale day, then I pulled him off the grass and hauled him down again, to work HARD.  He didn't seem stiff or sore or mad about working either.
Mostly I just asked John to answer all the questions I had with Major Beale.  John mostly agreed, although he characterized things in a different way, creating a new realization, which is that I trust John and am comfortable asking him dumb questions.  Like "why am I so dumb and not getting this?"
Which is actually a good question.  Because am I dumb and not getting it?  Have I been working on the same thing for the last three years?  There's an easy way to find out - read back in my own blog.  This one.
On the other hand, are my expectations wrong?  John pointed out he rarely gives me dressage lessons (in fact, he has given me exactly two I think), and so why in the world would I think I would know it perfectly?
He also said Charlie isn't a pulling horse, he's a lazy horse, so I have to use a lot of leg.  On a pulling horse, I'd have to use a lot of arm.
I asked him whether I shouldn't go to EI, whether I was a Triangle and didn't know it, why wasn't I getting it, and whether he hated teaching me because I was his dumbest, slowest student.  He said I might lose at EI and so what?  And I said worse, I might fall off, and he asked whether I had come anywhere close to falling off the last two lessons (no) so why would I even think that?
So the dumb common sense thing I hope gets corrected by Pony Club, because the learning the "why" behind the reasons (today John asked me why I kept the noseband so loose and I said "because Shannon told me to" and he said "what is it for?" and I was all "dunno.  To hold his mouth shut?" and thinking to myself "read the chapter on bridle fit, dummy"), and the thinking through the ride and explaining it - I think those two things will hopefully help me get off my reliance on other people kick.
Which was John's final takeaway - I said "yes, this is all well and good that I can ride when you are telling me at each step what to do, but I can't do it by myself" and John said that was the problem.  I have to figure it out for myself.  I have to pause, think back to my lesson, and then do the pieces one at a time by myself.  He said the most important thing is to GO.  Then after that, to half halt on the outside, but use my go aid.  Then to bend to the inside but know that he's going to bulge out to the outside, so use my outside half halt and go aid.  And just to think it through and put them together one at a time by myself.
It was interesting how he did say the same things as Major Beale, but in a different way, and it was easier for me to understand, and easier for me to think "ok, I can break it down in these steps and do this by myself" whereas with Major Beale, it just feels like magic that Charlie is doing amazing things with me on him, and then I am totally at a loss how to replicate it by myself.
So when I get up the nerve, I will look back at my blog entries and see if I am a moron and still working on the same old things.  I don't think I am, because two years ago I couldn't sit the trot, my main lesson was to keep my heels down, and to stop my hands from pulling back.  Now it is turning him from the outside so he doesn't bulge through the outside shoulder.
But it is still so, so hard to get the lift instead of the speed.  I don't know if that is core or hands that stops it.
Anyway, our lesson was to warm up on the circle, and then working on that same thing, where Charlie bends to the inside (sometimes first to the outside, then holding the connection to the outside, change his bend to the inside), then I use one leg at a time then both legs together to get him poofing up.  It is a lot of outside half halts, bend, and one leg or the other then both legs.  I am going to really buckle down and work on it.  John said that my leg was pretty sloppy when I got back from Belize, but that my jump lesson last Friday was pretty good and he was surprised because he hadn't seen me in a while and he thought I'd just puke around.  So there's that.
So we just jumped the two lines a few times, but mostly we worked on the circles trying to get Charlie round.  John showed me with his hands how hard it is to get Charlie to flex to the right (but he's stiff to the left on a circle) and how I have to get him to FLEX and then I release.  And he also showed me how the aids vary, a steady push, vs. a tap tap tap, vs. a tap tap tap down low and up high (the crop), and then just a spastic tapping with both, which is too much and Charlie tunes it out.  John thinks I get frustrated and just tap both at random and it doesn't make any sense to Charlie.  He said to make it as simple and clear as possible (hence the simpleton).
Also, the noseband is to keep his jaw from opening.  Since I don't jerk on Charlie's mouth, I can tighten it up a lot.  Shannon rode with it on 1, I ride with it on 2, and he put it on like 5!
As always, it was a tremendously helpful lesson.  I would just about give my right arm to be able to ride with John every day, but I guess then I wouldn't learn to do it myself.