I mostly wanted to talk about the show and upcoming shows during this week's lesson, so there's not much to report. Bob said about 90% of riders will come off when a horse "ejects" by jumping too high with his butt. Alice said that Kim Severson got ejected at the water jump at Rolex this year. He said that it wasn't a fluke that I did so well, but that the problems are that Mercury is green (and needs a couple years experience under his girth, so to speak), and I keep expecting him to act like he already knows it. The other thing Bob told me at the show was that I need to smile during my dressage test. I try to, but it turns into a grimace pretty quickly. Then I saw the pictures, and Bob nailed it when he said it looks like I've been sucking on a lemon. Today I rode Mercury around smiling and felt like an idiot. The smile plastered to my face made it one step easier to laugh at myself. He also said my legs are still swinging back a little over fences, and again, the pictures proved him right.
We're going to switch to alternating lessons dressage and jumping. Now I'm worried that we only did so "well" because I didn't ride Mercury. That *I* make things worse.
Also, Bob said I need to quit being so negative. That Mercury has a good heart and I am a good rider.
Oh, and Mercury probably has narcolepsy. The vet was out, and they talked about the symptoms, and the vet agreed. I read a bunch of stuff on the web, and that seemed to confirm it. I'm kind of upset about it, but not ready to type it out yet.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Happ's Spring Derby - all or nothing
This weekend was the Happ's Spring Derby. Happ's is a great place - it is very professionally run, has excellent facilities, and I had a great time. Here's their web site: http://www.happs-inc.com/
They have a recognized show coming up in May, a summer and fall derby, and some driving shows still to come this season.
We drove down on Friday, so that Mercury could settle in (and I could unwind from work). Friday was pretty uneventful. I rode him a little while, though with Bob there (he was the course designer), I of course learned something. I rode him until he felt calm and responsive, then walked him until other people came out in the field so he'd know other horses could be in the same area. When I came back in the barn, Bob asked if I timed how long it took for him to calm down (hadn't even occurred to me) then told me it was 20 minutes, so I needed to plan on a little longer for the warm up before the dressage test Saturday. He also suggested I braid Friday night because horses get cranky when you wake them up early then don't let them eat in the morning before the show.
Friday Bob walked the course with me (twice). The first time, I just gaped at how huge the jumps were. The second time, (after I had walked it twice by myself), I was receptive to Bob's useful tips, such as to look up (and what to look at), and when to slow him down (since I am still trotting the jumps, but cantering in between).
Saturday's dressage ride felt really together. It was the beginner test A (the easier one), and we got a 31. On the long rein walk, Mercury rubbed his leg with his nose (which I have forbidden him from doing since about a month ago when Bob saw me let him do it in a lesson and said don't let him do that because he'll do it in the middle of a dressage test), but we actually did really well other than that. The main comment, like last year, was more impulsion. I also rode without a whip.
Saturday's jumping warm up was horrible. Mercury ran sideways and reared. I think he was nervous. Riders were eliminating on the course right and left, and the first (very impressive) jump was getting refusals. (We looked afterwards, and it was about half the riders, but at the time it seemed like almost everyone.) When we did the warm up jumps, he was racing around afterwards with his head in the air. (After Sunday Bob said we need to start jumping him in a running martingale.) But after a lot of trot work and some more jumping, he settled down. Bob was there ahead of time to give me a couple tips - tighten my girth (he said that after dressage too, when it visibly slipped back - he also told me after the test that he didn't want to say anything before, but my braids were pitiful (which they were)), don't jerk on his mouth by not releasing or coming back too soon (but don't let go completely either), and to hang on to the breastplate strap (foreshadowing there).
Mercury loves jumping, but I was really nervous about the first jump since it looked big (2'7" slant), and the second jump (2'6"? triangle thing). We did it at a trot, and his butt jigged sideways just before, but I was sitting, looking at the next jump, and squeezing, and he trusted me and went over. A few jumps later was the "ditch", which I found out later had even more problems for all the riders than the first jump. He stopped at it, looked down, and I said "uunnnggghhh" while I squeezed, and then he stepped over it. (It counted as a refusal because he came to a dead stop.) We had a stadium, then a ramp up a bank and off the bank. Bob was standing at the bank, so he saw the ditch refusal, then we got to the bank, and Mercury stopped again and looked down. The rest of the course was fine, but because we trotted all the jumps (cantered in between) and had the two stops, I also had time penalties. I had total penalties of 17.
I placed 3rd on Saturday, more to luck and the problems the other riders had than to my own skill. (I think about 20 riders.)
Sunday they moved the dressage arena inside because the ground got slippery in the rain (oh yeah, it rained most of Saturday). We did test B which felt worse to me, but our score was a 34. (With a pitiful 4 on the long rein walk, which is embarrassing.) I thought it was worse because he broke at the right lead canter in the circle, did his own down transition from the left lead canter (too early), and I lost a stirrup at one point. However, a lot of things were better, like he stayed in his frame, he moved better, and things felt more together.
This put me in 1st place, which made me incredibly nervous. (1st place of like 25 riders.)
During our warm up, Mercury was better behaved, but he wasn't listening well. I trotted him a long time, with some intermittent jumps, which he jumped better, but he was harder to stop afterwards (not so much with the head tossing though). I think Saturday he was nervous, but Sunday he was excited. Bob had added option jumps (which were just as big (1st) and almost as big (2nd)), but we were the second riders for BN, and the first rider had refusals. We jumped them fine, accidentally jumped the ditch and the stadium after it at a canter, jumped off the bank "fine" (it was ugly and bumpy, but we made it off), and then came around the corner to the plant box ...
This was a sturdy, wood filled box about 2' wide and maybe 2'6". It had grass growing out of the top of it. There was a long canter between the bank and the plant box, and I slowed him down early so he didn't slip in the corner because it was so slick. He jumped it kind of big, and we were flying, and then I felt a second bump, and then I was flying off. I went over his right shoulder and landed right on top of my head like a pogo stick. Somehow I also hit my left shoulder (on the back), my right knee, and maybe some other places. I looked up in time to see him running at Bob (and I thought, thank god, I can get back on and do that again), then according to Bob, Mercury gave him the finger and took off. He ran past all the jumps (the observers said they thought he was going to jump them), ran past all the warm ups, ran past the barn, and ran past the trailers. He didn't quite make it the road, but he made sure there was no chance of me getting back on and finishing the ride, and also made sure I'd have to walk past every single person so they'd all know I fell off. The jump observers told me they gave me a 9 for the fall. It was fairly spectacular.
So that was it. I was eliminated. I went and looked at the scores after, and even with time penalties (not a fall penalty), I would have stayed in first. Bob had told me not to worry about the time because he'd rather we lost 1st than Mercury slip and get scared and not enjoy it.
What he told me afterwards was that the second bump I felt was Mercury's back end, and that the only thing I could have done to avoid falling off was to hang on to the breastplate strap. Since I never ride hanging onto it (despite his advice on Saturday), and I didn't know there was going to be a second bump until I was already in the air, I'm counting this as not my fault. Bob said what was good to learn from it was that Mercury can really, really jump. He said he was already way overjumping before the second bump (which was his butt coming up higher than his head; that's why I went off over his shoulder and why it took me by surprise). He said he looked like Hercules; with his legs tucked up tight and just jumping for the moon. He also said that I need to learn to not look at the placing and not care, because he thinks part of it was I was also nervous about keeping 1st place and trying to make the time.
I'm disappointed, and made it past everyone ok, cooled him down, then sat in the car and cried. When I went back out to watch the rest, Bob and his crew (Ken, one of the owners, and a couple other guys) made a lot of jokes. Like about rockets and booster seats.
We've got a lot to work on. There's no way we could go to Novice yet (even though it's only a couple inches higher) because we're not ready for the speed, combinations, and need to be more consistent. It surprised me how well we did in Dressage. Saturday two people scored higher than me (27s), but one of them had trouble on the jump course.
Some other miscellaneous observations: there were a huge number of humongous trailers (with apartments), camping vans (not just trucks with campers on the back), and full blown RVs. I was in awe since it was just a derby. I was the only tent camper.
I learned more watching the other riders with Bob than from lots of my lessons (because I could actually see what was happening instead of trying to ride at the same time). Most everyone who had problems on the ditch and the bank were looking down, so their horses stopped. Several riders had a "go faster" approach, which just made me cringe. It was really useful to listen to his comments while looking at the same thing he was.
At the same time, sitting out on the course then hanging out with Bob, I learned a lot of behind the scenes things. I have an entirely increased appreciation for the volunteers and I'm going to try to volunteer at some of the events I don't ride in (it actually is fun to watch other people). I also have less appreciation for some of the self-centered riders who complain about things instead of taking responsibility. I'd, personally, rather know I need to learn how to do a ditch at a derby (and early in the season), than blame the course. I was also surprised by the number of people who didn't know the rules, then complained because they didn't win. And at the end of the day, tons of people went out and schooled, which really surprised me. I took Mercury out to eat some grass and stretch his legs during a break in the rain, but I wouldn't have dreamed of riding him again.
One more interesting thing was that other than the jump off the bank (which felt jerky) and my inability to get him to trot the two jumps before the bank (which should have clued me in something was wrong), our jumping actually felt really solid and together. I wasn't jumping ahead or getting left behind, my legs felt really, really secure, and the sitting before each fence meant my body bends at the right time. We really feel improved from last summer. Bob said my legs still swing, but not as bad, and that Mercury is starting to look really good. He's said a couple times now Mercury is a good horse with a big heart. I'm not perfect all the way around, but I think I can feel the mistakes, and sometimes feel them just before they happen (though I'm not always fast enough to make corrections).
By the way, his Sunday braids looked a lot better. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture. And no, no one took a picture of my spectacular fall. We probably could have won something on a funniest video, with the ping pong head replayed over and over to the laugh track.
If the next show (for me) isn't until the end of July, that gives us a lot of time to work on dressage and jumping. I think a lot of improvements can be made just from ground pole work (Mercury needs to learn where to take off and how high to jump). It will be interesting to see how consistent we are the rest of the season.
This was better than I expected (especially for the number of competitors), but not as good as I hoped. Which says more about me and what I hope for (especially with my tiny amount of riding because of work all winter), than about reality. I think it was good for me to finally "lose" and as Bob says, Mercury keeps me humble. And I guess it's better to have a good story than just be average, though I'm ashamed because Bob wants consistency and I wasn't consistent.
They have a recognized show coming up in May, a summer and fall derby, and some driving shows still to come this season.
We drove down on Friday, so that Mercury could settle in (and I could unwind from work). Friday was pretty uneventful. I rode him a little while, though with Bob there (he was the course designer), I of course learned something. I rode him until he felt calm and responsive, then walked him until other people came out in the field so he'd know other horses could be in the same area. When I came back in the barn, Bob asked if I timed how long it took for him to calm down (hadn't even occurred to me) then told me it was 20 minutes, so I needed to plan on a little longer for the warm up before the dressage test Saturday. He also suggested I braid Friday night because horses get cranky when you wake them up early then don't let them eat in the morning before the show.
Friday Bob walked the course with me (twice). The first time, I just gaped at how huge the jumps were. The second time, (after I had walked it twice by myself), I was receptive to Bob's useful tips, such as to look up (and what to look at), and when to slow him down (since I am still trotting the jumps, but cantering in between).
Saturday's dressage ride felt really together. It was the beginner test A (the easier one), and we got a 31. On the long rein walk, Mercury rubbed his leg with his nose (which I have forbidden him from doing since about a month ago when Bob saw me let him do it in a lesson and said don't let him do that because he'll do it in the middle of a dressage test), but we actually did really well other than that. The main comment, like last year, was more impulsion. I also rode without a whip.
Saturday's jumping warm up was horrible. Mercury ran sideways and reared. I think he was nervous. Riders were eliminating on the course right and left, and the first (very impressive) jump was getting refusals. (We looked afterwards, and it was about half the riders, but at the time it seemed like almost everyone.) When we did the warm up jumps, he was racing around afterwards with his head in the air. (After Sunday Bob said we need to start jumping him in a running martingale.) But after a lot of trot work and some more jumping, he settled down. Bob was there ahead of time to give me a couple tips - tighten my girth (he said that after dressage too, when it visibly slipped back - he also told me after the test that he didn't want to say anything before, but my braids were pitiful (which they were)), don't jerk on his mouth by not releasing or coming back too soon (but don't let go completely either), and to hang on to the breastplate strap (foreshadowing there).
Mercury loves jumping, but I was really nervous about the first jump since it looked big (2'7" slant), and the second jump (2'6"? triangle thing). We did it at a trot, and his butt jigged sideways just before, but I was sitting, looking at the next jump, and squeezing, and he trusted me and went over. A few jumps later was the "ditch", which I found out later had even more problems for all the riders than the first jump. He stopped at it, looked down, and I said "uunnnggghhh" while I squeezed, and then he stepped over it. (It counted as a refusal because he came to a dead stop.) We had a stadium, then a ramp up a bank and off the bank. Bob was standing at the bank, so he saw the ditch refusal, then we got to the bank, and Mercury stopped again and looked down. The rest of the course was fine, but because we trotted all the jumps (cantered in between) and had the two stops, I also had time penalties. I had total penalties of 17.
I placed 3rd on Saturday, more to luck and the problems the other riders had than to my own skill. (I think about 20 riders.)
Sunday they moved the dressage arena inside because the ground got slippery in the rain (oh yeah, it rained most of Saturday). We did test B which felt worse to me, but our score was a 34. (With a pitiful 4 on the long rein walk, which is embarrassing.) I thought it was worse because he broke at the right lead canter in the circle, did his own down transition from the left lead canter (too early), and I lost a stirrup at one point. However, a lot of things were better, like he stayed in his frame, he moved better, and things felt more together.
This put me in 1st place, which made me incredibly nervous. (1st place of like 25 riders.)
During our warm up, Mercury was better behaved, but he wasn't listening well. I trotted him a long time, with some intermittent jumps, which he jumped better, but he was harder to stop afterwards (not so much with the head tossing though). I think Saturday he was nervous, but Sunday he was excited. Bob had added option jumps (which were just as big (1st) and almost as big (2nd)), but we were the second riders for BN, and the first rider had refusals. We jumped them fine, accidentally jumped the ditch and the stadium after it at a canter, jumped off the bank "fine" (it was ugly and bumpy, but we made it off), and then came around the corner to the plant box ...
This was a sturdy, wood filled box about 2' wide and maybe 2'6". It had grass growing out of the top of it. There was a long canter between the bank and the plant box, and I slowed him down early so he didn't slip in the corner because it was so slick. He jumped it kind of big, and we were flying, and then I felt a second bump, and then I was flying off. I went over his right shoulder and landed right on top of my head like a pogo stick. Somehow I also hit my left shoulder (on the back), my right knee, and maybe some other places. I looked up in time to see him running at Bob (and I thought, thank god, I can get back on and do that again), then according to Bob, Mercury gave him the finger and took off. He ran past all the jumps (the observers said they thought he was going to jump them), ran past all the warm ups, ran past the barn, and ran past the trailers. He didn't quite make it the road, but he made sure there was no chance of me getting back on and finishing the ride, and also made sure I'd have to walk past every single person so they'd all know I fell off. The jump observers told me they gave me a 9 for the fall. It was fairly spectacular.
So that was it. I was eliminated. I went and looked at the scores after, and even with time penalties (not a fall penalty), I would have stayed in first. Bob had told me not to worry about the time because he'd rather we lost 1st than Mercury slip and get scared and not enjoy it.
What he told me afterwards was that the second bump I felt was Mercury's back end, and that the only thing I could have done to avoid falling off was to hang on to the breastplate strap. Since I never ride hanging onto it (despite his advice on Saturday), and I didn't know there was going to be a second bump until I was already in the air, I'm counting this as not my fault. Bob said what was good to learn from it was that Mercury can really, really jump. He said he was already way overjumping before the second bump (which was his butt coming up higher than his head; that's why I went off over his shoulder and why it took me by surprise). He said he looked like Hercules; with his legs tucked up tight and just jumping for the moon. He also said that I need to learn to not look at the placing and not care, because he thinks part of it was I was also nervous about keeping 1st place and trying to make the time.
I'm disappointed, and made it past everyone ok, cooled him down, then sat in the car and cried. When I went back out to watch the rest, Bob and his crew (Ken, one of the owners, and a couple other guys) made a lot of jokes. Like about rockets and booster seats.
We've got a lot to work on. There's no way we could go to Novice yet (even though it's only a couple inches higher) because we're not ready for the speed, combinations, and need to be more consistent. It surprised me how well we did in Dressage. Saturday two people scored higher than me (27s), but one of them had trouble on the jump course.
Some other miscellaneous observations: there were a huge number of humongous trailers (with apartments), camping vans (not just trucks with campers on the back), and full blown RVs. I was in awe since it was just a derby. I was the only tent camper.
I learned more watching the other riders with Bob than from lots of my lessons (because I could actually see what was happening instead of trying to ride at the same time). Most everyone who had problems on the ditch and the bank were looking down, so their horses stopped. Several riders had a "go faster" approach, which just made me cringe. It was really useful to listen to his comments while looking at the same thing he was.
At the same time, sitting out on the course then hanging out with Bob, I learned a lot of behind the scenes things. I have an entirely increased appreciation for the volunteers and I'm going to try to volunteer at some of the events I don't ride in (it actually is fun to watch other people). I also have less appreciation for some of the self-centered riders who complain about things instead of taking responsibility. I'd, personally, rather know I need to learn how to do a ditch at a derby (and early in the season), than blame the course. I was also surprised by the number of people who didn't know the rules, then complained because they didn't win. And at the end of the day, tons of people went out and schooled, which really surprised me. I took Mercury out to eat some grass and stretch his legs during a break in the rain, but I wouldn't have dreamed of riding him again.
One more interesting thing was that other than the jump off the bank (which felt jerky) and my inability to get him to trot the two jumps before the bank (which should have clued me in something was wrong), our jumping actually felt really solid and together. I wasn't jumping ahead or getting left behind, my legs felt really, really secure, and the sitting before each fence meant my body bends at the right time. We really feel improved from last summer. Bob said my legs still swing, but not as bad, and that Mercury is starting to look really good. He's said a couple times now Mercury is a good horse with a big heart. I'm not perfect all the way around, but I think I can feel the mistakes, and sometimes feel them just before they happen (though I'm not always fast enough to make corrections).
By the way, his Sunday braids looked a lot better. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture. And no, no one took a picture of my spectacular fall. We probably could have won something on a funniest video, with the ping pong head replayed over and over to the laugh track.
If the next show (for me) isn't until the end of July, that gives us a lot of time to work on dressage and jumping. I think a lot of improvements can be made just from ground pole work (Mercury needs to learn where to take off and how high to jump). It will be interesting to see how consistent we are the rest of the season.
This was better than I expected (especially for the number of competitors), but not as good as I hoped. Which says more about me and what I hope for (especially with my tiny amount of riding because of work all winter), than about reality. I think it was good for me to finally "lose" and as Bob says, Mercury keeps me humble. And I guess it's better to have a good story than just be average, though I'm ashamed because Bob wants consistency and I wasn't consistent.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
"Dressage" Lesson on 4/14/07
I planned to have a dressage lesson, but I have been having a lot of problems with trot poles, and we ended up working on those instead. Last week, Bob said that it would be good to strengthen his back to work him over the trot poles a couple of times a week, even on the lunge line. Mid-week I lunged Mercury with a trot pole at 12 and 6, and it was a disaster. He dragged his feet over them and would knock them out of the holders OR he'd leap them from 5 feet out. It was agonizing. Then on Friday I lunged him with two poles end to end (so he couldn't run around them) just on one end and it was equally bad. Earlier in the week I had ridden him over three poles on the ground at 3' apart, and it was so bad I only tried it twice.
I saw Bob mid-week and he told me it was probably the rider's fault, and I thought "no way", but sure enough, he was right.
And it was a pretty simple solution: we weren't going fast enough. It took a while to catch on, and what I ultimately had to do was ride a 2-point (in my dressage saddle) with my reins bridged, so other than controlling his speed and pointing him at the middle of the poles, I basically stayed out of the way. Once we got the correct speed (which is about 17 steps down the long side of the arena), he just glided right over them.
There were a couple good take home lessons from this. One is that he just doesn't know. I keep forgetting and expecting more from him than he knows how to do. He gets frustrated, and I do too. He just didn't understand what I wanted him to do. Second is how many things that seem little I do wrong, and how something I do wrong somewhere else (don't make him work hard enough on the lunge line) can affect something that seems unrelated to me. For example, when he finally does the big, moving trot, I can barely post it. It throws my whole body out of whack and I boing around on my toes with my upper body flopping around like a noodle.
We worked our way up to 6 poles in a row, about 3' apart, and he might touch a couple of them, but he did really well compared to the difficult week.
I saw Bob mid-week and he told me it was probably the rider's fault, and I thought "no way", but sure enough, he was right.
And it was a pretty simple solution: we weren't going fast enough. It took a while to catch on, and what I ultimately had to do was ride a 2-point (in my dressage saddle) with my reins bridged, so other than controlling his speed and pointing him at the middle of the poles, I basically stayed out of the way. Once we got the correct speed (which is about 17 steps down the long side of the arena), he just glided right over them.
There were a couple good take home lessons from this. One is that he just doesn't know. I keep forgetting and expecting more from him than he knows how to do. He gets frustrated, and I do too. He just didn't understand what I wanted him to do. Second is how many things that seem little I do wrong, and how something I do wrong somewhere else (don't make him work hard enough on the lunge line) can affect something that seems unrelated to me. For example, when he finally does the big, moving trot, I can barely post it. It throws my whole body out of whack and I boing around on my toes with my upper body flopping around like a noodle.
We worked our way up to 6 poles in a row, about 3' apart, and he might touch a couple of them, but he did really well compared to the difficult week.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Jump Lesson - April 7, 2007
The Happ's derby is just a couple weeks away, so I had another jump lesson after the last jump lesson's horrifyingly embarrassing fall. This time I put up baby jumps (not that many of them), but with enough twists and turns that we would work on skill, since we clearly don't need to work on height.
It was actually a very good lesson. I have to keep looking up, not down, and push him forward to each jump instead of just thinking he'll go over it (he doesn't stop, or even hesitate, he's just lazy). There's actually not that much to report that isn't the same old: sit a few steps before, give him half halts and squeeze him on, think head up, hands forward the whole way over, look where I'm going ...
There are three main exercises to do before the show: conditioning (gallop him out in the pasture - this should be interesting given he tends to spook out there and the other time I fell off of him was out in the pasture when he spooked at a bird); ground poles on the lunge line and riding (to condition him with leg lifting exercise), and practicing the dressage tests without the martingale on.
I was going to do a gallop conditioning today (since it's Sunday), but work and homework took too long and now it's raining, so I guess today will be a ground pole day.
It was actually a very good lesson. I have to keep looking up, not down, and push him forward to each jump instead of just thinking he'll go over it (he doesn't stop, or even hesitate, he's just lazy). There's actually not that much to report that isn't the same old: sit a few steps before, give him half halts and squeeze him on, think head up, hands forward the whole way over, look where I'm going ...
There are three main exercises to do before the show: conditioning (gallop him out in the pasture - this should be interesting given he tends to spook out there and the other time I fell off of him was out in the pasture when he spooked at a bird); ground poles on the lunge line and riding (to condition him with leg lifting exercise), and practicing the dressage tests without the martingale on.
I was going to do a gallop conditioning today (since it's Sunday), but work and homework took too long and now it's raining, so I guess today will be a ground pole day.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
3/25/07 - Dressage lesson - another month break!
A series of things went haywire so I missed a few lessons. I was out of town for a week. Then Mercury was acting lame, so one lesson Bob lunged him, then floated his teeth and adjusted him a little. The next week I was all anxious about stuff going on at work and I just talked to Bob the whole time.
But this week - Eureka! Mercury stayed kind of lame, so I was riding him easy, and when the chiropractor came out, it turns out he had his normal ribs out, but his shoulder was doing something a little funky. (His hips were finally good, and we suspect the shoulder went out because of the risers and the change in his leg posture.) I gave him two days off (one day on purpose, one day because of work), then when I rode him Saturday he felt totally normal again. In fact, better than normal. He almost floats and seems more energetic after a visit with the chiropractor.
Today's lesson was a dressage lesson, and I was complaining about how he drags his feet, so Bob got a lunge whip and had me ride him in a circle around him, and then he smacked the whip. Wow! Mercury can really move! He moved so fast I could hardly ride him. (I had to post on my toes.) And not just fast, but big reaching steps. It was really cool. And then when I got off the circle and rode him around the arena, we lost a little bit, but it still felt really big and moving.
Then we cantered, and Bob focused on the air between my butt and the saddle. He said it is coming from my hands. I have hard hands and I lock them in place, which means I lock my shoulders, which means the whole top half of me tilts forward, which means my butt comes out of the saddle. I have to think the same thing that I do for the sitting trot, about having my belly ride out in front of me, which feels and looks weird, but feels good in my seat.
I am also opening my knees with the constant squeezing trying to make him go forward, so I am doing now Bob's routine - one kick, a yell, and a smack with the whip. And more notice that I'm about to ask him for something.
Then at the end, because Mercury was huffing and puffing, we worked on a nice calm walk on the bit. Mercury gets nervous when I pick up the contact, so we walked and walked and walked and walked until he relaxed and didn't do a little jig. Bob said to try to do one lap without the jig, then two laps, etc.
The big things to work on this week are: hands soft but still (lots and lots of half halts); NO leaning on my hands by Mercury (Bob took the reins and showed me what leaning is. I thought leaning was heavy pulling my arms out of the sockets, but leaning is also much lighter than that. My shoulders have been getting sore in the front, and that's why.); nice quiet walk with contact - no matter how long it takes and doing it in between all other gaits. Bob said I need to be patient and teach him this because it's about trust and no one else is going to teach him. Finally, impulsion! He said that every ride should be the same as today's big steps, and also in the canter.
Next week we're jumping. I think then it's two more weeks then the show. I'm kind of nervous. Bob's been giving me motivational talks. He says I'll be a much better rider once I stop thinking and controlling and analyzing and just feel. I asked why I can't feel yet and he said it's because I'm too controlling, which is extremely insightful.
At the end Bob said good job, which is rare praise.
But this week - Eureka! Mercury stayed kind of lame, so I was riding him easy, and when the chiropractor came out, it turns out he had his normal ribs out, but his shoulder was doing something a little funky. (His hips were finally good, and we suspect the shoulder went out because of the risers and the change in his leg posture.) I gave him two days off (one day on purpose, one day because of work), then when I rode him Saturday he felt totally normal again. In fact, better than normal. He almost floats and seems more energetic after a visit with the chiropractor.
Today's lesson was a dressage lesson, and I was complaining about how he drags his feet, so Bob got a lunge whip and had me ride him in a circle around him, and then he smacked the whip. Wow! Mercury can really move! He moved so fast I could hardly ride him. (I had to post on my toes.) And not just fast, but big reaching steps. It was really cool. And then when I got off the circle and rode him around the arena, we lost a little bit, but it still felt really big and moving.
Then we cantered, and Bob focused on the air between my butt and the saddle. He said it is coming from my hands. I have hard hands and I lock them in place, which means I lock my shoulders, which means the whole top half of me tilts forward, which means my butt comes out of the saddle. I have to think the same thing that I do for the sitting trot, about having my belly ride out in front of me, which feels and looks weird, but feels good in my seat.
I am also opening my knees with the constant squeezing trying to make him go forward, so I am doing now Bob's routine - one kick, a yell, and a smack with the whip. And more notice that I'm about to ask him for something.
Then at the end, because Mercury was huffing and puffing, we worked on a nice calm walk on the bit. Mercury gets nervous when I pick up the contact, so we walked and walked and walked and walked until he relaxed and didn't do a little jig. Bob said to try to do one lap without the jig, then two laps, etc.
The big things to work on this week are: hands soft but still (lots and lots of half halts); NO leaning on my hands by Mercury (Bob took the reins and showed me what leaning is. I thought leaning was heavy pulling my arms out of the sockets, but leaning is also much lighter than that. My shoulders have been getting sore in the front, and that's why.); nice quiet walk with contact - no matter how long it takes and doing it in between all other gaits. Bob said I need to be patient and teach him this because it's about trust and no one else is going to teach him. Finally, impulsion! He said that every ride should be the same as today's big steps, and also in the canter.
Next week we're jumping. I think then it's two more weeks then the show. I'm kind of nervous. Bob's been giving me motivational talks. He says I'll be a much better rider once I stop thinking and controlling and analyzing and just feel. I asked why I can't feel yet and he said it's because I'm too controlling, which is extremely insightful.
At the end Bob said good job, which is rare praise.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Jump lesson on 2/24/07
I started with my leftover questions from last week. I confirmed the counterintuitive idea that you half halt on the outside, constant rein to get the horse to turn his head to the inside (away from the hand that is half halting). Mercury wouldn't turn his head, but Bob said yes, that's how it works.
A turn on the forehand has the head turned to the right if you're going left.
The moving sideways that's not a half pass that I am totally blanking on the name, head goes opposite the way you're going so that the horse can counter balance (like a baby horse who turns his head to the outside of the lead he's cantering on). So if I'm going right, his head bends left. (Half-pass is more advanced because the head goes the same direction as the body.)
Hips. To shift hips when asking for canter, for the right lead, you shift down into your right hip (so you free up your left hip) because he is pushing forward with his left hind leg. For the not-quite-a-half-pass thing, it is shifted to the outside - not the way you are going. So if you're moving left, it's your right hip that is pushing down and your left hip that is light, so he can step left. It is like pushing your leg straight, not bending over. This feels weird, so I need to practice it.
So I set up the jumps for a jump lesson today. It was a big test to see if I could go Beginner Novice at the upcoming derby (end of April), or if I needed to ride Hopeful again. I don't want to be all egotistical and arrogant, but I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I think it's for riders who are more beginner than me and for horses who are not as eager about jumping as Mercury. We certainly have tons to work on, but I think it's a special entry level category. We might have to stay in Beginner Novice a long time, but I don't think we should stay in Hopeful.
So Beginner Novice is 2'7" at this show, and that is a big change from 2'0" that we were doing last summer. So I set up two big jumps (3'2"), three medium jumps (2'3"), and one small. We ended up not using my line of 3 (24', 48'), and just using the 2 (48') for a line. There was also one oxer that was not that broad or high.
Mercury was good again. The immediate problems were the same as last year - I launch forward, pinching with my knees and letting my legs swing way up, OR I flop over and don't give him any release and then punish him with my hands by jerking on his mouth. I also tend to slam back into the saddle on his poor back. More often I launch forward, but since he doesn't really know where to take off, I sometimes get left behind.
So we did jumps at the trot, then little combinations, then jumps at the canter. What really helped was if I do a 2-point for several steps, then sit before the jump. That makes my legs stay heavy (no heels lifted which means no leg swinging up behind me). The difference is amazing, I feel totally solid and comfortable, it allows me to bend over properly (not flop forward and flop back into the saddle), and it lets me do a normal release.
My homework this week, which is unfortunately a low riding week and a missed lesson because I have to travel for work, is to practice my 2 point and pushing my heels down. If on the flat my leg is swinging, put rubber bands between the stirrups and girth (something frowned upon for legal reasons) to help hold the stirrups in place so my legs feel the proper place to be. Next lesson will mostly be dressage/flat, but Bob said we'll do a couple jumps at the end.
Unlike last week, which was apparently just my brain not working because what seemed impossible on Saturday during the lesson was doable on Sunday, I did much better with riding dressage between the jumps. I talk or count (1-2-3-4 or head-hands-heels) on the way to the jump, think: "deep, half halt, half halt, half halt, GO", and keep my head up and looking ahead. I have a very bad habit of looking down at the jump as we go over it - I don't realize I'm looking down even, but I can feel the difference in Mercury and me if I concentrate on looking at the wall on the other end of the arena.
So it wasn't perfect, but was a reassuring lesson, and then Bob raised the jump, and I was talking about the show, and saying "What if I can't jump 2'7" and I fall off?" and Bob said "If you fall off over 2'7", you don't deserve to be jumping yet anyway." He switched one of the jumps to be bigger, said Mercury would probably be nervous about it so to talk to him and ride him strongly to it (he had tried to canter a couple times and I had pulled him off the jump which Bob said to just let him canter over it because it looks big to him), and I fell off. Bob said Mercury jumped like 5', but that I was falling off while we were over the jump. I had his neck with my arms, but I couldn't get my legs around him, so I rolled off, and he just stopped and looked at me, confused becuase I was on the ground. Bob lowered the jump just a little, we did it again (really big and afterwards he put his head in the air and ran), and then stopped for the day. He said it was actually a 3'2" jump, to make up for me just asking about 2'7".
Mercury has a good heart. He is kind of lazy, but he tries hard, he doesn't refuse, and once he figures something out, he will do it again without you have to repeat every single little detail.
A turn on the forehand has the head turned to the right if you're going left.
The moving sideways that's not a half pass that I am totally blanking on the name, head goes opposite the way you're going so that the horse can counter balance (like a baby horse who turns his head to the outside of the lead he's cantering on). So if I'm going right, his head bends left. (Half-pass is more advanced because the head goes the same direction as the body.)
Hips. To shift hips when asking for canter, for the right lead, you shift down into your right hip (so you free up your left hip) because he is pushing forward with his left hind leg. For the not-quite-a-half-pass thing, it is shifted to the outside - not the way you are going. So if you're moving left, it's your right hip that is pushing down and your left hip that is light, so he can step left. It is like pushing your leg straight, not bending over. This feels weird, so I need to practice it.
So I set up the jumps for a jump lesson today. It was a big test to see if I could go Beginner Novice at the upcoming derby (end of April), or if I needed to ride Hopeful again. I don't want to be all egotistical and arrogant, but I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I think it's for riders who are more beginner than me and for horses who are not as eager about jumping as Mercury. We certainly have tons to work on, but I think it's a special entry level category. We might have to stay in Beginner Novice a long time, but I don't think we should stay in Hopeful.
So Beginner Novice is 2'7" at this show, and that is a big change from 2'0" that we were doing last summer. So I set up two big jumps (3'2"), three medium jumps (2'3"), and one small. We ended up not using my line of 3 (24', 48'), and just using the 2 (48') for a line. There was also one oxer that was not that broad or high.
Mercury was good again. The immediate problems were the same as last year - I launch forward, pinching with my knees and letting my legs swing way up, OR I flop over and don't give him any release and then punish him with my hands by jerking on his mouth. I also tend to slam back into the saddle on his poor back. More often I launch forward, but since he doesn't really know where to take off, I sometimes get left behind.
So we did jumps at the trot, then little combinations, then jumps at the canter. What really helped was if I do a 2-point for several steps, then sit before the jump. That makes my legs stay heavy (no heels lifted which means no leg swinging up behind me). The difference is amazing, I feel totally solid and comfortable, it allows me to bend over properly (not flop forward and flop back into the saddle), and it lets me do a normal release.
My homework this week, which is unfortunately a low riding week and a missed lesson because I have to travel for work, is to practice my 2 point and pushing my heels down. If on the flat my leg is swinging, put rubber bands between the stirrups and girth (something frowned upon for legal reasons) to help hold the stirrups in place so my legs feel the proper place to be. Next lesson will mostly be dressage/flat, but Bob said we'll do a couple jumps at the end.
Unlike last week, which was apparently just my brain not working because what seemed impossible on Saturday during the lesson was doable on Sunday, I did much better with riding dressage between the jumps. I talk or count (1-2-3-4 or head-hands-heels) on the way to the jump, think: "deep, half halt, half halt, half halt, GO", and keep my head up and looking ahead. I have a very bad habit of looking down at the jump as we go over it - I don't realize I'm looking down even, but I can feel the difference in Mercury and me if I concentrate on looking at the wall on the other end of the arena.
So it wasn't perfect, but was a reassuring lesson, and then Bob raised the jump, and I was talking about the show, and saying "What if I can't jump 2'7" and I fall off?" and Bob said "If you fall off over 2'7", you don't deserve to be jumping yet anyway." He switched one of the jumps to be bigger, said Mercury would probably be nervous about it so to talk to him and ride him strongly to it (he had tried to canter a couple times and I had pulled him off the jump which Bob said to just let him canter over it because it looks big to him), and I fell off. Bob said Mercury jumped like 5', but that I was falling off while we were over the jump. I had his neck with my arms, but I couldn't get my legs around him, so I rolled off, and he just stopped and looked at me, confused becuase I was on the ground. Bob lowered the jump just a little, we did it again (really big and afterwards he put his head in the air and ran), and then stopped for the day. He said it was actually a 3'2" jump, to make up for me just asking about 2'7".
Mercury has a good heart. He is kind of lazy, but he tries hard, he doesn't refuse, and once he figures something out, he will do it again without you have to repeat every single little detail.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Dressage lesson on 2/17/07 - miracle lessons are over
Well, my lesson luck has run out. After the three (or so) excellent lessons where I made huge leaps in understanding, I am back to lessons that feel like I am slogging up a hill I have been up a hundred times before. (A hundred times a month.) While I did learn a lot this lesson, it was one of those lessons that showed me just how much I still have to learn. I started out with my usual questions. I've been doing some of the exercises from the 101 dressage exercises book, but I've had problems with some of them and can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. It turns out, almost everything. First of all, a lot of the skills required to just do the exercises are way beyond me and Mercury. The example I used with Bob was the exercise where you have to halt for 6 seconds at A at the walk, trot, and canter. You leave from a halt into the walk, trot, and canter. We can barely leave from A into a trot, and no way can we do a canter. It also has you stopping on a dime there at A, and after we come around a corner, we're lucky to stop at the next corner. Bob said it is a fine exercise for warming Mercury up, but not to stop at A each time. Instead, stop at random spots. What frustrated me was I already knew that. I know not to do the same routine at the same place each time because he memorizes it, and poor Mercury, bless his little heart, gets confused and frustrated once he's figured out the routine and then I go and change it on him. It made me mad that I didn't think to apply that to this exercise in the book.
Then I got all whiny and complained how all we ever do is walk, trot, and canter, and yet there's still so much to learn just about those three and how I'm never going to progress. Bob asked to what, big fences? and I said no, even simple things like turn on the forehand we can't do. So Bob asked me to show him what I was doing, and then laughed and laughed and said Mercury was doing exactly what I asked him to do, which was only in the vaguest sense (like an apple and a cherry are both fruits), a turn on the forehand.
It turns out it has 45 steps, and I didn't understand the first one. Here they are:
1. Take up contact with the bit, flex his head opposite the direction you're turning. (I think.) The interesting, and shocking part about this, was that you flex him to the right (for a left turn), by having his nice inside right rein contact, longer outside steady contact, and by doing half halts with the outside rein. Opposite of what I've thought for, oh, 15 years.
2. Then you shift your hip. I was already lost at step 1, so I can't even begin to explain this. It is different than leaning your shoulder.
3. Then you tap, tap, tap (not constant pressure) with your right leg (to push him left).
4. But at the same time, you use a magical, unknown amount of pressure with your left leg to keep him from stepping back.
5. Then voila! You are doing a turn on the forehand. (Not exactly 45 steps, but it felt like it during the lesson.)
Hint: It is better to start with his nose against the arena wall, because then there is one less direction other than around his forehand we can move.
So after this, we tried to do half pass and leg yield, which is close to the same, but with a couple more steps.
You start by walking forward, and you do all 4 steps above, but going in a straight line, and using your whip on his rump if he is moving at an angle. We got this one at a walk and a trot, after a few false starts. Mercury caught onto this one pretty fast. But his neck was bending too much, and he forgets to bring his back end, and he starts going just sideways instead of forward and sideways, so there is still a lot to work on.
I think around this point I started crying. I was in a bad mood, and I just couldn't get things to work, and all the steps felt complicated, and I felt like an idiot for having ridden all these years and not even being able to do a turn on the forehand.
So then we tried to do ground poles, which I wanted to practice to prepare for next week's jumping lesson (the first jumping since last September). What I had expected, which was foolish of me, was that all our hard work on the flat would magically translate into effortless ground poles, and instead, they were just as much a disaster as when we quit doing them last September. We smashed through, with Mercury alternating leaping and stomping on them, and me lurching around on top of him like I was a noodle. It was totally, horrifyingly humiliating. And I got really mad, really frustrated, and really upset. We were trying to do 4, so Bob took away 2 of them, leaving the two end ones, then said just do one, and we did that one so pitifully I just quit.
Today I put one pole in the middle of the arena and we did that one at walk, trot, and canter, and it was mostly ok, and the difference was this. I had expected yesterday we would have a magical connection, and I would do nothing except point Mercury at the poles, and we would glide over them. Poor Mercury hasn't practiced a pole since then, and neither have I, so I don't know now why I would have expected that. Anyway, today went better because I actually did half halts up to the pole, and there was just the one pole on the ground.
Then I got all whiny and complained how all we ever do is walk, trot, and canter, and yet there's still so much to learn just about those three and how I'm never going to progress. Bob asked to what, big fences? and I said no, even simple things like turn on the forehand we can't do. So Bob asked me to show him what I was doing, and then laughed and laughed and said Mercury was doing exactly what I asked him to do, which was only in the vaguest sense (like an apple and a cherry are both fruits), a turn on the forehand.
It turns out it has 45 steps, and I didn't understand the first one. Here they are:
1. Take up contact with the bit, flex his head opposite the direction you're turning. (I think.) The interesting, and shocking part about this, was that you flex him to the right (for a left turn), by having his nice inside right rein contact, longer outside steady contact, and by doing half halts with the outside rein. Opposite of what I've thought for, oh, 15 years.
2. Then you shift your hip. I was already lost at step 1, so I can't even begin to explain this. It is different than leaning your shoulder.
3. Then you tap, tap, tap (not constant pressure) with your right leg (to push him left).
4. But at the same time, you use a magical, unknown amount of pressure with your left leg to keep him from stepping back.
5. Then voila! You are doing a turn on the forehand. (Not exactly 45 steps, but it felt like it during the lesson.)
Hint: It is better to start with his nose against the arena wall, because then there is one less direction other than around his forehand we can move.
So after this, we tried to do half pass and leg yield, which is close to the same, but with a couple more steps.
You start by walking forward, and you do all 4 steps above, but going in a straight line, and using your whip on his rump if he is moving at an angle. We got this one at a walk and a trot, after a few false starts. Mercury caught onto this one pretty fast. But his neck was bending too much, and he forgets to bring his back end, and he starts going just sideways instead of forward and sideways, so there is still a lot to work on.
I think around this point I started crying. I was in a bad mood, and I just couldn't get things to work, and all the steps felt complicated, and I felt like an idiot for having ridden all these years and not even being able to do a turn on the forehand.
So then we tried to do ground poles, which I wanted to practice to prepare for next week's jumping lesson (the first jumping since last September). What I had expected, which was foolish of me, was that all our hard work on the flat would magically translate into effortless ground poles, and instead, they were just as much a disaster as when we quit doing them last September. We smashed through, with Mercury alternating leaping and stomping on them, and me lurching around on top of him like I was a noodle. It was totally, horrifyingly humiliating. And I got really mad, really frustrated, and really upset. We were trying to do 4, so Bob took away 2 of them, leaving the two end ones, then said just do one, and we did that one so pitifully I just quit.
Today I put one pole in the middle of the arena and we did that one at walk, trot, and canter, and it was mostly ok, and the difference was this. I had expected yesterday we would have a magical connection, and I would do nothing except point Mercury at the poles, and we would glide over them. Poor Mercury hasn't practiced a pole since then, and neither have I, so I don't know now why I would have expected that. Anyway, today went better because I actually did half halts up to the pole, and there was just the one pole on the ground.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Dressage Lesson - Feb 10 2007
I had another long stretch in January with very little riding. It was a total surprise when I had another great lesson. We spent some time talking at the beginning, which really helps me. And I had another huge breakthrough in understanding. I've been working on moving my hips - trying to relax them and let them move with Mercury instead of riding all rigid and stiff (but in one, proper position) on top of him. With my big "get out of shape" kick the past few months because of my workload, it's actually felt easier to move with him, because I'm kind of a big mass of jello sitting on top of him. And I was trying to explain that to Bob, and he realized that I didn't understand what it meant to move my hips. I was trying to melt into him, but it is actually the driving seat (which I have never understood) that is the hip moving. He stood next to me and pushed my hip waaayyyy more forward than I have ever moved, and it made Mercury take big long steps. It was pretty cool, and also felt awkward and hard to do, like all the other new things that end up being really great.
We worked on the trot and crisp transitions up to canter. I tend to lurch forward (both leaning and pushing) and so it's hard for him to pick up the canter on the step I ask for it. Now I am thinking lean back and ask quietly, and he just picks it up right away. The change, when I quit leaning and lurching, was pretty much instantaneous.
So we did that for a while, and then we worked on circles, me not looking down, riding the canter with the proper seat (hips go back and forth, everything else stays still), then some simple transitions on a figure 8. A few steps of trot, then pick up the other lead. Then we did some cantering across the diagnol, a few steps of trot along the rail, then picking up the other lead. It was fun, and it felt really good.
I have, in the last month, been feeling really comfortable and secure when Mercury canters. I didn't feel uncomfortable before, but I could tell a difference in the past few weeks. It certainly wasn't because I got in better shape or improved my training, so I asked Bob about it. He thinks it is the chiropractor. He thinks Mercury was just so out of alignment that it took several visits, and then the pieces started moving better. It really is a noticeable difference.
Bob is the course designer for the derby coming up in April at Happ's, and he suggested that we go. I'm not sure I'll be ready to jump, but in the next few lessons I'll do a jump lesson to see if we can get through Beginner Novice. I think our dressage has improved tremendously, and I hope that translates to over fences. I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I feel too old and experienced, but I'm actually not sure about 2'6".
After that great lesson, though, I went to do an easy, conditioning ride today because the sun was out. Of course after we made it once around the pasture, it started raining, and we went inside. But Mercury got all scared from being outside, and so he was a total nutcase inside and the ride was horrible. It is just like Bob says, he is just doing his best to keep me humble.
We worked on the trot and crisp transitions up to canter. I tend to lurch forward (both leaning and pushing) and so it's hard for him to pick up the canter on the step I ask for it. Now I am thinking lean back and ask quietly, and he just picks it up right away. The change, when I quit leaning and lurching, was pretty much instantaneous.
So we did that for a while, and then we worked on circles, me not looking down, riding the canter with the proper seat (hips go back and forth, everything else stays still), then some simple transitions on a figure 8. A few steps of trot, then pick up the other lead. Then we did some cantering across the diagnol, a few steps of trot along the rail, then picking up the other lead. It was fun, and it felt really good.
I have, in the last month, been feeling really comfortable and secure when Mercury canters. I didn't feel uncomfortable before, but I could tell a difference in the past few weeks. It certainly wasn't because I got in better shape or improved my training, so I asked Bob about it. He thinks it is the chiropractor. He thinks Mercury was just so out of alignment that it took several visits, and then the pieces started moving better. It really is a noticeable difference.
Bob is the course designer for the derby coming up in April at Happ's, and he suggested that we go. I'm not sure I'll be ready to jump, but in the next few lessons I'll do a jump lesson to see if we can get through Beginner Novice. I think our dressage has improved tremendously, and I hope that translates to over fences. I don't want to ride Hopeful again because I feel too old and experienced, but I'm actually not sure about 2'6".
After that great lesson, though, I went to do an easy, conditioning ride today because the sun was out. Of course after we made it once around the pasture, it started raining, and we went inside. But Mercury got all scared from being outside, and so he was a total nutcase inside and the ride was horrible. It is just like Bob says, he is just doing his best to keep me humble.
Monday, January 15, 2007
January lesson - 1/15/07
Well, it's continued to be crazy with work, and I have had no time to ride (or get normal exercise either). Since my only lesson in December, I only rode twice: pitiful. I keep thinking my schedule will change by the next week, and then it just stays crazy. Despite all that, I decided to go ahead and have a lesson this week, and I'm so glad I did. It was a great lesson!
First we talked about work. Then I had my two measly questions from my two measly rides. (He leans on my hands and pulls me forward; bending)
My inside hand is still moving too much, so I looped my pinky finger through the breast strap (that holds the saddle forward). That made an immediate difference. Bob also tightened Mercury's noseband and flashband, which is probably what made the biggest difference. He said he can see Mercury open his mouth every time I ask him for anything.
So we started working in a circle with him on the bit with his poll as the highest point (instead of flat neck that I did for so long). Then we worked in trot. Then we started doing serpentines, which is where I started to fall apart. Things happen too fast in a serpentine (and sometimes in a circle) and even though I know what I'm supposed to do, I'm too slow, and so by the time I start his new bend, we're already on the other side of the arena (even though Bob's arena is huge). Bob said I just need to practice - as soon as I come off the rail, think bend to the new direction. Because when I'm three steps behind and then tell him what to do, that makes him even more behind.
He started acting up after we started really working, which I totally understand because I was also panting from the exertion. He started hanging on my hands, when that didn't work, tossing his head, then jumping up and down, then holding his head sideways, and when none of that worked, he just worked beautifully. Bob said when he starts the jumping up and down, to let my hands go forward and move him forward so it doesn't enter his mind to start rearing.
Then Bob gave me the highest praise ever - he said that if I kept riding him like that, we could ride Training level this summer. Which is an exaggeration, but was nice to hear. It really was an amazing improvement. Still plenty to work on, but a huge difference from the end of last summer, even with low riding the past couple months.
So I'm supposed to practice doing the hard serpentines and circles to get my reaction time up. Look ahead where I'm going. Hands steady. Same old, same old but with his poll high and moving forward.
And my gloves are just cheap $1 cotton gloves, and the reins slip out. Even with my skin or sticky gloves, the reins still slip, so I need to be faster at adjusting and not wear stupid cotton slippery gloves.
Mercury sees the chiropractor tomorrow. His roof blew up like a burrito in the windstorm last month, and it's been in the 20's, so we've had weird weather. He's actually been quite good though, despite all that.
First we talked about work. Then I had my two measly questions from my two measly rides. (He leans on my hands and pulls me forward; bending)
My inside hand is still moving too much, so I looped my pinky finger through the breast strap (that holds the saddle forward). That made an immediate difference. Bob also tightened Mercury's noseband and flashband, which is probably what made the biggest difference. He said he can see Mercury open his mouth every time I ask him for anything.
So we started working in a circle with him on the bit with his poll as the highest point (instead of flat neck that I did for so long). Then we worked in trot. Then we started doing serpentines, which is where I started to fall apart. Things happen too fast in a serpentine (and sometimes in a circle) and even though I know what I'm supposed to do, I'm too slow, and so by the time I start his new bend, we're already on the other side of the arena (even though Bob's arena is huge). Bob said I just need to practice - as soon as I come off the rail, think bend to the new direction. Because when I'm three steps behind and then tell him what to do, that makes him even more behind.
He started acting up after we started really working, which I totally understand because I was also panting from the exertion. He started hanging on my hands, when that didn't work, tossing his head, then jumping up and down, then holding his head sideways, and when none of that worked, he just worked beautifully. Bob said when he starts the jumping up and down, to let my hands go forward and move him forward so it doesn't enter his mind to start rearing.
Then Bob gave me the highest praise ever - he said that if I kept riding him like that, we could ride Training level this summer. Which is an exaggeration, but was nice to hear. It really was an amazing improvement. Still plenty to work on, but a huge difference from the end of last summer, even with low riding the past couple months.
So I'm supposed to practice doing the hard serpentines and circles to get my reaction time up. Look ahead where I'm going. Hands steady. Same old, same old but with his poll high and moving forward.
And my gloves are just cheap $1 cotton gloves, and the reins slip out. Even with my skin or sticky gloves, the reins still slip, so I need to be faster at adjusting and not wear stupid cotton slippery gloves.
Mercury sees the chiropractor tomorrow. His roof blew up like a burrito in the windstorm last month, and it's been in the 20's, so we've had weird weather. He's actually been quite good though, despite all that.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Lesson on 12/30 - only December lesson
December remained just as hectic as November, and I only had one lesson (today) and very few rides. Mercury's behavior stayed pretty good until this week, then he started to really act up.
However, like usual, Bob explained everything. First, he said that Mercury has also been bucking and acting up when they turn him out - so he's hyper. Second, when he acts up about "mid-way" through my ride, it's because he's gotten tired. I have never heard this before, but when he explained it, it made sense. He said that Mercury usually does his work out in kind of a dull frame of mind (which is my fault - I should be making it interesting by doing a lot of transitions, changes of direction, circles, etc.); and so when he gets tired, he is easily surprised by things - like the wall that has always been there.
He said if I have to keep my riding time low (which I do for the next few weeks), to focus on working with him, just for a shorter period of time. He said in the winter all horses get like this.
So that was huge for me to understand.
Then we worked on putting him on the bit, and my top three things to keep in mind: inside hand short and steady; outside hand half-halts; outside leg pushing whenever I give a half-halt. And Mercury made his neck all round and beautiful and just looked great, until he started getting tired, then he started pulling on my hands and being really hard in his mouth and throwing his head around. Bob said it's because he's had too much time off and he's forgotten he's supposed to work. I definitely don't work him even close to hard enough. I feel guilty that I haven't been out, so I don't make him go on the bit at all anymore. I just ride him around the arena for 45 minutes.
Bob said even with limited time, here's what to work on: bend in his neck; on the bit; crisp transitions; and to work on the bit for 10 minutes, then take 3-4 minutes off (even at the walk); to work him 30 minutes then do 10-15 minutes of walking on the bit; and then gradually, when I can get out more often, increase the 30 minutes.
I asked him about shows, and he said Mercury is a lot better than last summer, and we need to focus on dressage and getting that score up becuase we don't have to worry about Mercury because he loves to jump. I said yes, but it's embarrassing that I can't jump, and he said we'd just tie a hay string around his neck for me to hang onto. He thinks the four unrecognized Lincoln Creek shows will be good for this year (I have limited funds) and that I should plan on Beginner Novice.
Anyway, the other big breakthrough was at the end of the lesson, when I shows him how Mercury is normally "on the bit" when I ride him - with a long, flat neck, instead of the arched, high neck that was during the lesson. It turns out I'm a total idiot, and I've just been teaching him how to stretch his neck low and long because I don't keep my reins short enough.
Then there was a bunch of the repeats: hands still, consistent, don't lurch forward in transitions, adjust my reins more often (Bob said until you reach Grand Prix, for every five minutes you ride, you should be adjusting 4 1/2 minutes), make him work, yell at him when he doesn't work, ride with feeling, not thinking, ...
It was actually a really good lesson, even with him being naughty at the end. Bob said the secret there is to push him forward with my legs. I know it, I just can't get it all together in real time.
I hope my riding gets more regular again. I feel like I've lost a lot of time, and while we're improving, we still have a long way to go before this summer.
Oh yeah, and Bob thinks the chiropractor really helped. And he gave me a bunch of tips for work because he's actually been in more depositions than I have.
However, like usual, Bob explained everything. First, he said that Mercury has also been bucking and acting up when they turn him out - so he's hyper. Second, when he acts up about "mid-way" through my ride, it's because he's gotten tired. I have never heard this before, but when he explained it, it made sense. He said that Mercury usually does his work out in kind of a dull frame of mind (which is my fault - I should be making it interesting by doing a lot of transitions, changes of direction, circles, etc.); and so when he gets tired, he is easily surprised by things - like the wall that has always been there.
He said if I have to keep my riding time low (which I do for the next few weeks), to focus on working with him, just for a shorter period of time. He said in the winter all horses get like this.
So that was huge for me to understand.
Then we worked on putting him on the bit, and my top three things to keep in mind: inside hand short and steady; outside hand half-halts; outside leg pushing whenever I give a half-halt. And Mercury made his neck all round and beautiful and just looked great, until he started getting tired, then he started pulling on my hands and being really hard in his mouth and throwing his head around. Bob said it's because he's had too much time off and he's forgotten he's supposed to work. I definitely don't work him even close to hard enough. I feel guilty that I haven't been out, so I don't make him go on the bit at all anymore. I just ride him around the arena for 45 minutes.
Bob said even with limited time, here's what to work on: bend in his neck; on the bit; crisp transitions; and to work on the bit for 10 minutes, then take 3-4 minutes off (even at the walk); to work him 30 minutes then do 10-15 minutes of walking on the bit; and then gradually, when I can get out more often, increase the 30 minutes.
I asked him about shows, and he said Mercury is a lot better than last summer, and we need to focus on dressage and getting that score up becuase we don't have to worry about Mercury because he loves to jump. I said yes, but it's embarrassing that I can't jump, and he said we'd just tie a hay string around his neck for me to hang onto. He thinks the four unrecognized Lincoln Creek shows will be good for this year (I have limited funds) and that I should plan on Beginner Novice.
Anyway, the other big breakthrough was at the end of the lesson, when I shows him how Mercury is normally "on the bit" when I ride him - with a long, flat neck, instead of the arched, high neck that was during the lesson. It turns out I'm a total idiot, and I've just been teaching him how to stretch his neck low and long because I don't keep my reins short enough.
Then there was a bunch of the repeats: hands still, consistent, don't lurch forward in transitions, adjust my reins more often (Bob said until you reach Grand Prix, for every five minutes you ride, you should be adjusting 4 1/2 minutes), make him work, yell at him when he doesn't work, ride with feeling, not thinking, ...
It was actually a really good lesson, even with him being naughty at the end. Bob said the secret there is to push him forward with my legs. I know it, I just can't get it all together in real time.
I hope my riding gets more regular again. I feel like I've lost a lot of time, and while we're improving, we still have a long way to go before this summer.
Oh yeah, and Bob thinks the chiropractor really helped. And he gave me a bunch of tips for work because he's actually been in more depositions than I have.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Lesson on 11/24
I had my first and only November lesson yesterday. I wasn't looking forward to it because I only rode about 6 times since my (maybe only) October lesson. It went ok, but Bob might have been going easy on me.
We worked on:
1) Moving hips. Bob says my upper body stays pretty still, but I hold my back too stiff and that's why sometimes there's air between my butt and the saddle during the canter. And it's not leaning back, but making my lower back like a spring that makes it stay in the saddle. I tried riding without stirrups, and he said not to hang on like an Indian (don't wrap my legs around and cling). A practice for moving hips only (not legs or upper body) is to put a book on the edge of a table and push it onto the table with hips only. Bob said to think of that when I'm riding. He also said to practice by putting my hand on my hip and feeling it move - that I hold it totally still which means Mercury can't reach forward and makes me behind the motion in the trot and canter which makes it hard for him to balance. This is the same as the legs swinging exercise - when his left shoulder goes forward, I squeeze with my right leg to make his step longer.
2) Bending. We worked on "voltes" and serpentines and bending Mercury BEFORE we start the turn. Mercury "cuts corners" by not bending and moving his body like a plank around the corner.
3) Not spooking at the stupid door that we have been past about 10,000 times. We tried a bunch of different things for this. Ignoring; pushing him past fast; using my leg and whip like another support wall; going past it over and over. This is just stupid. Bob says sometimes he thinks the horses are just being assholes; sometimes they're not paying attention; sometimes they spook themselves once and then just get in a vicious cycle. He said he had a horse that spooked for ten years in the other corner. Every time.
4) Feelings. He says I have to stop analyzing and start feeling. Some things I seem to be getting better at, but he said to think about work, tell a story, sing a song; keep my brain preoccupied so I can ride. He said to think about it like training myself to feel instead of think.
5) Mercury's teeth need floating. Bob is going to check them and try to do it himself. That explains the head shaking when I put on the bridle, the riding with his head in the air, and the bending his head to the right that he's been doing.
6) It's my responsibility to set everything up and keep it consistent. Mercury doesn't know any better, so he just does exactly what I ask him to do. I have to bend him, and keep him between my legs, and keep his head down. We talked about using the martingale as an aid, not THE tool, and how I'll need to start riding him without it to make sure he is learning to use his own neck, not to lean on it.
7) Mercury's progress. Bob says he is a willing, just untrained horse. And I was thinking about how last year, every time we cantered, he'd race around like a maniac and then he couldn't trot normally afterwards. So he has made some progress. And he does seem to be catching onto the head down thing. He is just LAZY, lazy, LAZY.
8) Half-halt warning before I ask for changes. More half-halts to keep him moving properly.
I think that was about it. I am hoping December I will get regular lessons again, if work will slow down. Jan-March are going to be busy too, but they should not be as crazy busy as November was. Because I need to get moving to be ready to show beginner novice starting in the spring with NWEC. Then I think the next shows I'll go to won't be until July/Aug/Sept at Lincoln Creek. I'm not going to Happ's this year because they don't allow dogs and I don't have the money to board two of them all weekend.
Bob also said Mercury could probably go training level but not preliminary, because prelim really requires pushing off with the back legs and he doesn't think Mercury's legs are strong enough. I'm going to take that as an indirect hint that I, one day, will be able to ride Prelim, even though right now I still feel all over the place. Bob says he thinks that's because I'm feeling better, so I can feel everything that's wrong, it just isn't all fixed yet.
I'm going to have a hard time losing for a few years at low levels though. BN and Novice have TONS of riders, and we'd have to be a lot better than we are now to be in the ribbons. I liked winning stuff last summer.
We worked on:
1) Moving hips. Bob says my upper body stays pretty still, but I hold my back too stiff and that's why sometimes there's air between my butt and the saddle during the canter. And it's not leaning back, but making my lower back like a spring that makes it stay in the saddle. I tried riding without stirrups, and he said not to hang on like an Indian (don't wrap my legs around and cling). A practice for moving hips only (not legs or upper body) is to put a book on the edge of a table and push it onto the table with hips only. Bob said to think of that when I'm riding. He also said to practice by putting my hand on my hip and feeling it move - that I hold it totally still which means Mercury can't reach forward and makes me behind the motion in the trot and canter which makes it hard for him to balance. This is the same as the legs swinging exercise - when his left shoulder goes forward, I squeeze with my right leg to make his step longer.
2) Bending. We worked on "voltes" and serpentines and bending Mercury BEFORE we start the turn. Mercury "cuts corners" by not bending and moving his body like a plank around the corner.
3) Not spooking at the stupid door that we have been past about 10,000 times. We tried a bunch of different things for this. Ignoring; pushing him past fast; using my leg and whip like another support wall; going past it over and over. This is just stupid. Bob says sometimes he thinks the horses are just being assholes; sometimes they're not paying attention; sometimes they spook themselves once and then just get in a vicious cycle. He said he had a horse that spooked for ten years in the other corner. Every time.
4) Feelings. He says I have to stop analyzing and start feeling. Some things I seem to be getting better at, but he said to think about work, tell a story, sing a song; keep my brain preoccupied so I can ride. He said to think about it like training myself to feel instead of think.
5) Mercury's teeth need floating. Bob is going to check them and try to do it himself. That explains the head shaking when I put on the bridle, the riding with his head in the air, and the bending his head to the right that he's been doing.
6) It's my responsibility to set everything up and keep it consistent. Mercury doesn't know any better, so he just does exactly what I ask him to do. I have to bend him, and keep him between my legs, and keep his head down. We talked about using the martingale as an aid, not THE tool, and how I'll need to start riding him without it to make sure he is learning to use his own neck, not to lean on it.
7) Mercury's progress. Bob says he is a willing, just untrained horse. And I was thinking about how last year, every time we cantered, he'd race around like a maniac and then he couldn't trot normally afterwards. So he has made some progress. And he does seem to be catching onto the head down thing. He is just LAZY, lazy, LAZY.
8) Half-halt warning before I ask for changes. More half-halts to keep him moving properly.
I think that was about it. I am hoping December I will get regular lessons again, if work will slow down. Jan-March are going to be busy too, but they should not be as crazy busy as November was. Because I need to get moving to be ready to show beginner novice starting in the spring with NWEC. Then I think the next shows I'll go to won't be until July/Aug/Sept at Lincoln Creek. I'm not going to Happ's this year because they don't allow dogs and I don't have the money to board two of them all weekend.
Bob also said Mercury could probably go training level but not preliminary, because prelim really requires pushing off with the back legs and he doesn't think Mercury's legs are strong enough. I'm going to take that as an indirect hint that I, one day, will be able to ride Prelim, even though right now I still feel all over the place. Bob says he thinks that's because I'm feeling better, so I can feel everything that's wrong, it just isn't all fixed yet.
I'm going to have a hard time losing for a few years at low levels though. BN and Novice have TONS of riders, and we'd have to be a lot better than we are now to be in the ribbons. I liked winning stuff last summer.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
I chose Mercury over the puppies
It became clear really quickly after Kevin moved out that I couldn't actually do it all. "All" consists of working (especially with two big cases in), riding Mercury, going to the gym, and taking care of the animal family. After angst and deliberation and a lot of tears and stress, the puppies are going to new homes and my life is going to be lonely and easier.
I didn't have a lesson this weekend, but when I was riding today I started to make a list of accomplishments and things to work on.
Accomplishments in the last year:
Legs don't swing as much
Body not tilted as far forward (i.e. sitting more upright)
Body doesn't pendulum when change gaits
Smoother transitions for both of us (the canter down to trot has improved; trot to canter today needed work; trot/walk has improved)
Hands are more still, though not still enough
Mercury is more on the bit and moving more forward
I have really increased my awareness of my body - I can't always correct it, but I can feel a lot more things that are wrong. And I FEEL them, not know them.
I can also feel Mercury better - I can feel better how to move him and how he is moving.
Things to work on - macro level:
Sitting trot
Still hands
Jumping (everything)
Holding things together for longer
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Lesson after three weeks off - 10/28/06
I ended up with three weeks off this month, and Mercury got a lot of time off. He also saw the chiropractor again last week, and he seems to be moving a lot better. The bumps in his back are also smaller.
So first Bob and I talked about some of the stuff I've read lately in horse books. He said the thing to keep in mind is that the horses in those books have been professionally trained, while Mercury has not. I asked him if Mercury needed training, and he said the problem would be that he could go into training for three months, and then I could ride him differently for a week and undo all that training. He says what needs to happen is that I ride with lessons only while Mercury is being trained, and that way I learn how to avoid "undoing" the training. But also that basically I'll always need a trainer.
The other thing he said to remember when I ride is that now I am not just exercising Mercury, but I am training him. So I need to be very consistent with him and not slack off and be lazy.
I asked a lot of questions (why is my knee so far forward in the saddle? - turns out the saddle is not cut as long and deep as I thought it was) and then we worked again on getting him on the bit. He was actually pretty good about this - for one thing he had some energy but not spiteful fighting energy, and riding in the martingale is soooo much easier than riding him in just the bridle. (Bob reprimanded me again for not putting the bit stoppers on my reins, and I tried to do it after the lesson but couldn't fit them on.)
Then the big thing we worked on was transitions. He needs to go right into a trot - not drag his feet around for a few steps. To do that involves legs, voice, and then a whip to back up the leg. Bob said always use voice for now to train him what I want. Then to go back into the walk is a few half halts, back straight, and a walk within two steps.
What I have a hard time with is equalizing the hands and legs for what I want, and not being too powerful with one. For example, too much hand and he stops instead of walks. Too much leg and he keeps trotting for a few steps.
And Bob said I need to quit obsessing about being on the right diagnol and just feel it.
We also worked for about two minutes on me trotting smaller - up and down instead of forward and back. Bob said I override, but I can't seem to get this under control. He said I need to just feel it instead of thinking it. That I always want to know why and analyze the steps instead of just feeling what is right.
What I'm working on the next two weeks (I miss another lesson next weekend, then start getting regular again) is transitions. He said I can do all three: walk, trot, canter. Work on being on the bit all the time when we're working. And work on feeling.
Bob said I'm hard to train because I take everything so seriously that if he says "your shoulder dropped to the inside" I'll start focusing on that shoulder and let everything else fall apart.
We also talked a bit about my legs. I tend to ride bow legged and point my toes out. That makes my knees open. Bob suggested riding in blocks of time, thinking "15 minuts of shoulders back" then "15 minutes of toes forward" then "15 minutes of hands still" and that eventually I'll be able to do "15 minutes of toes forward and shoulders back" and then he made some huge list of eventually something like "toes forward, knees closed, hips moving, hands still, upper body still, etc. etc." WAY too much for me right now.
I asked him if we could just start over and he could train me like he learned and he said no, it was too dangerous and second, my muscle memory would remember all my bad habits anyway.
It was an instructive lesson, but I feel like I am plateauting and am going to work on these things forever. If I can ever get past it, I'll really be a much better rider.
Bob also said how fast I improve will depend on how much quality riding I can get in. If I can only ride properly three days a week, it will take 2-3 times as long to improve compared to riding for 5 days a week.
And Mercury tends to be lazy and fall asleep and quit paying attention, which is why after we've done a loose rein walk, he either runs forward when I pick up the reins or goes really slow. Bob said running forward is when I surprise him - like if someone came up behind me and touched me when I was walking, and slowing down is too heavy hands with me anticipating him running forward. He said to talk to him, tell him, we're about to work again, I'm picking up the reins, and be soft about it.
Also he said to stretch in the doorway because the muscles in my chest are not long enough to let me put my shoulders all the way back (from years of bad posture) so that they could stretch out and I could get my shoulders farther and farther back. And to have good posture all the time, not just for an hour while I ride.
So first Bob and I talked about some of the stuff I've read lately in horse books. He said the thing to keep in mind is that the horses in those books have been professionally trained, while Mercury has not. I asked him if Mercury needed training, and he said the problem would be that he could go into training for three months, and then I could ride him differently for a week and undo all that training. He says what needs to happen is that I ride with lessons only while Mercury is being trained, and that way I learn how to avoid "undoing" the training. But also that basically I'll always need a trainer.
The other thing he said to remember when I ride is that now I am not just exercising Mercury, but I am training him. So I need to be very consistent with him and not slack off and be lazy.
I asked a lot of questions (why is my knee so far forward in the saddle? - turns out the saddle is not cut as long and deep as I thought it was) and then we worked again on getting him on the bit. He was actually pretty good about this - for one thing he had some energy but not spiteful fighting energy, and riding in the martingale is soooo much easier than riding him in just the bridle. (Bob reprimanded me again for not putting the bit stoppers on my reins, and I tried to do it after the lesson but couldn't fit them on.)
Then the big thing we worked on was transitions. He needs to go right into a trot - not drag his feet around for a few steps. To do that involves legs, voice, and then a whip to back up the leg. Bob said always use voice for now to train him what I want. Then to go back into the walk is a few half halts, back straight, and a walk within two steps.
What I have a hard time with is equalizing the hands and legs for what I want, and not being too powerful with one. For example, too much hand and he stops instead of walks. Too much leg and he keeps trotting for a few steps.
And Bob said I need to quit obsessing about being on the right diagnol and just feel it.
We also worked for about two minutes on me trotting smaller - up and down instead of forward and back. Bob said I override, but I can't seem to get this under control. He said I need to just feel it instead of thinking it. That I always want to know why and analyze the steps instead of just feeling what is right.
What I'm working on the next two weeks (I miss another lesson next weekend, then start getting regular again) is transitions. He said I can do all three: walk, trot, canter. Work on being on the bit all the time when we're working. And work on feeling.
Bob said I'm hard to train because I take everything so seriously that if he says "your shoulder dropped to the inside" I'll start focusing on that shoulder and let everything else fall apart.
We also talked a bit about my legs. I tend to ride bow legged and point my toes out. That makes my knees open. Bob suggested riding in blocks of time, thinking "15 minuts of shoulders back" then "15 minutes of toes forward" then "15 minutes of hands still" and that eventually I'll be able to do "15 minutes of toes forward and shoulders back" and then he made some huge list of eventually something like "toes forward, knees closed, hips moving, hands still, upper body still, etc. etc." WAY too much for me right now.
I asked him if we could just start over and he could train me like he learned and he said no, it was too dangerous and second, my muscle memory would remember all my bad habits anyway.
It was an instructive lesson, but I feel like I am plateauting and am going to work on these things forever. If I can ever get past it, I'll really be a much better rider.
Bob also said how fast I improve will depend on how much quality riding I can get in. If I can only ride properly three days a week, it will take 2-3 times as long to improve compared to riding for 5 days a week.
And Mercury tends to be lazy and fall asleep and quit paying attention, which is why after we've done a loose rein walk, he either runs forward when I pick up the reins or goes really slow. Bob said running forward is when I surprise him - like if someone came up behind me and touched me when I was walking, and slowing down is too heavy hands with me anticipating him running forward. He said to talk to him, tell him, we're about to work again, I'm picking up the reins, and be soft about it.
Also he said to stretch in the doorway because the muscles in my chest are not long enough to let me put my shoulders all the way back (from years of bad posture) so that they could stretch out and I could get my shoulders farther and farther back. And to have good posture all the time, not just for an hour while I ride.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Good horse quote
"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."
-Winston Churchill
I haven't been riding this week and have missed at least two weeks of lessons. Now it is starting to rain, so poor Mercury will need the exercise.
-Winston Churchill
I haven't been riding this week and have missed at least two weeks of lessons. Now it is starting to rain, so poor Mercury will need the exercise.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Other tips from Alice about fall/winter
Alice said that generally speaking when the weather drops below 50 it is time to get out the blanket and cooler. You want him to grow a little bit of hair but not get totally hairy and disgusting. This year Mercury has a summer fly sheet, a spring/summer light weight sheet (not waterproof), a cooler for the winter when he sweats, a fall/spring waterproof turn-out blanket, and a winter high neck blanket. Wow.
Also, today when I rode him - I only rode for about half an hour because he totally got it from the lesson yesterday and remembered. We worked on the walk then on the trot with the proper head position, and while he wasn't perfect, he didn't hang on my hands, and he really tried. It was really cool.
Also, today when I rode him - I only rode for about half an hour because he totally got it from the lesson yesterday and remembered. We worked on the walk then on the trot with the proper head position, and while he wasn't perfect, he didn't hang on my hands, and he really tried. It was really cool.
Lesson on 10/1 - working on the bit
This lesson started with a discussion of my goals (posted a few posts ago), and Bob had a few comments. He said that some of the dressage goals, like the transitions, bend, and impulsion, are more Mercury than me; that he needs to improve his balance before he can do those. He said that Mercury probably physically can't score in the 7's & 8's all the way through a test. In the video of the test (aside from me being on the wrong diagnol which is humiliating), he says while he started looking great, Bob could even see some of the gimp by the time he was near the end.
He also added that I need to have as goals "Be happy." and "Have fun." that it is supposed to be fun for me and relaxing, not work.
I'm making a new goal for October:
Work on maintaining three things: 1) head position (feel the bubble); 2) impulsion; and 3) bend - in two laps around the arena and in circles, and hopefully in serpentines. (I have a much harder time with serpentines because too much happens too fast.)
So then I started the lesson, and Bob first said that I post too forward and back, like I'm launching out of the saddle, and I should post small up and down. So as soon as I tried to do that, my legs started swinging and he said to keep them still.
Then we started working on Mercury's head position, but we weren't sure how much we could do because he appears to have broken his nose in the one day I didn't go check on him. There's a big hard lump on one side, with a smaller lump down where the caveson goes. So he was working in a loose caveson and flash during the lesson which makes him fight more (he opens his mouth, so instead of 1", I have to move 3").
Anyway, Bob had to ride him. He rode for about 10 minutes and made Mercury look fabulous, even though he fought Bob a lot. Then when it was my turn again, I couldn't get him to do it. It is a steady inside hand with some bend, and then half halts on the outside hand. And I wasn't making them strong enough or frequent enough.
As the lesson went on, I got it, and every once in a while we'd have one step where he lifted his back and pushed from behind, and it was really easy to feel the difference. It felt like we were floating and going slower. It was soft. That's the "bubble" I said above.
So we worked on going around for two laps, making circles, and serpentines and that was about it. Bob said not to canter this week because it'll mess up the head set, and that from now on, unless he is being relaxed on a loose rein, he always has the head-set - for walk or trot.
It's hard because it is constant work from me. If my fingers slip or I don't pay attention, his head shoots right back up and it takes several steps to get it back down. He just tests and tests and tests. And I'm not very fast at taking up the reins, so I have to pull my hand back to make the bend, and then adjust my fingers after the bend is finished.
Mercury also hangs on my hands really bad, and Bob said to get him off my hands by strong half halts. The test is (aside from feeling the weight), if I let the inside rein go loose, does his head shoot up or go down? If it goes up, that means he was hanging it on me. If it goes down, it means he is carrying himself.
Also Bob said to yell at him if he ignores me, but I'm not good at that. He also says to talk to him, to keep him calm and relaxed because he feels like he's going to fall when he's got his head down (I think the prior owners rode him heavily in draw reins), and to tell him to put his head down. Mercury is pretty smart about words, and so when I said "down" he figured out to drop his head.
Also, he wasn't doing this in the lesson, but if he goes behind the bit to escape, just push him forward.
Bob said to do one ride a week where we do nothing but walk on the head set for an hour. Do 15 minutes, take a break, 15 minutes, take a break ...
At the very end of the lesson, Bob gave me three goods. A "good job today, kiddo" and a couple other goods. He and Alice must have talked about praising me. It worked.
What's amazing is how much there is going on. Not only controlling my own body, but the constant corrections and then we have to go around a corner.
Oh right, and extra half halts coming into the corners WITH leg to keep him moving forward.
Another side effect of this was that his back legs didn't do the wobbly thing the entire lesson! Bob says not only was he using them more, but he had to focus instead of being lazy.
Bob is a GREAT trainer.
He also added that I need to have as goals "Be happy." and "Have fun." that it is supposed to be fun for me and relaxing, not work.
I'm making a new goal for October:
Work on maintaining three things: 1) head position (feel the bubble); 2) impulsion; and 3) bend - in two laps around the arena and in circles, and hopefully in serpentines. (I have a much harder time with serpentines because too much happens too fast.)
So then I started the lesson, and Bob first said that I post too forward and back, like I'm launching out of the saddle, and I should post small up and down. So as soon as I tried to do that, my legs started swinging and he said to keep them still.
Then we started working on Mercury's head position, but we weren't sure how much we could do because he appears to have broken his nose in the one day I didn't go check on him. There's a big hard lump on one side, with a smaller lump down where the caveson goes. So he was working in a loose caveson and flash during the lesson which makes him fight more (he opens his mouth, so instead of 1", I have to move 3").
Anyway, Bob had to ride him. He rode for about 10 minutes and made Mercury look fabulous, even though he fought Bob a lot. Then when it was my turn again, I couldn't get him to do it. It is a steady inside hand with some bend, and then half halts on the outside hand. And I wasn't making them strong enough or frequent enough.
As the lesson went on, I got it, and every once in a while we'd have one step where he lifted his back and pushed from behind, and it was really easy to feel the difference. It felt like we were floating and going slower. It was soft. That's the "bubble" I said above.
So we worked on going around for two laps, making circles, and serpentines and that was about it. Bob said not to canter this week because it'll mess up the head set, and that from now on, unless he is being relaxed on a loose rein, he always has the head-set - for walk or trot.
It's hard because it is constant work from me. If my fingers slip or I don't pay attention, his head shoots right back up and it takes several steps to get it back down. He just tests and tests and tests. And I'm not very fast at taking up the reins, so I have to pull my hand back to make the bend, and then adjust my fingers after the bend is finished.
Mercury also hangs on my hands really bad, and Bob said to get him off my hands by strong half halts. The test is (aside from feeling the weight), if I let the inside rein go loose, does his head shoot up or go down? If it goes up, that means he was hanging it on me. If it goes down, it means he is carrying himself.
Also Bob said to yell at him if he ignores me, but I'm not good at that. He also says to talk to him, to keep him calm and relaxed because he feels like he's going to fall when he's got his head down (I think the prior owners rode him heavily in draw reins), and to tell him to put his head down. Mercury is pretty smart about words, and so when I said "down" he figured out to drop his head.
Also, he wasn't doing this in the lesson, but if he goes behind the bit to escape, just push him forward.
Bob said to do one ride a week where we do nothing but walk on the head set for an hour. Do 15 minutes, take a break, 15 minutes, take a break ...
At the very end of the lesson, Bob gave me three goods. A "good job today, kiddo" and a couple other goods. He and Alice must have talked about praising me. It worked.
What's amazing is how much there is going on. Not only controlling my own body, but the constant corrections and then we have to go around a corner.
Oh right, and extra half halts coming into the corners WITH leg to keep him moving forward.
Another side effect of this was that his back legs didn't do the wobbly thing the entire lesson! Bob says not only was he using them more, but he had to focus instead of being lazy.
Bob is a GREAT trainer.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Lesson on 9/23 and show tidbit
I either forgot to write this in the show summary, or I like it so much I want to write it again. When Bob and I were driving the course (except for we were on the wrong course), he asked, in his typical Bob way, if he could ask me something without making me mad. I said it depends, and he said that he talked to Alice after my last lesson about whether he was doing something wrong and why I got so upset during lessons. I said "oh, it's not you, it's ..." and he said "good." He said that he wondered if he expected too much from me and pushed me too hard because he expected more from me than his other students. I took that as praise and glowed in it.
Then of course, I rode like I've never jumped a horse in my life. It actually didn't look so bad on video, but that's because Debbie did an excellent job taping, but I'm so far away in everything that you can't see me noodling around.
My lesson this week was on the lunge line. We were supposed to talk about my goals, but I forgot them at home, so we talked in general about goals. Bob said I can't have a goal of "winning at beginner novice" because it is too variable. He said my goals need to be like "In 60 days, be able to do two laps in the sitting trot with Mercury on the bit." So I said next week I'd bring my goals and he could help me modify them.
He also said, again, that it is Mercury who needs work now, and we need to bring him up to my level. I rode him bareback yesterday (well, with a saddle pad because I'm old now), and his back is so bony. I wonder if he needs more muscling before he can move better.
The problem is, I don't know how to train Mercury, and Bob said just to be consistent, which I've tried so hard at, but clearly isn't working miracles.
It's not going to help with Kevin moving out, because I have to cut back on my lessons and the number of nights I ride. And I can't afford a truck. Or a second horse. Or more lessons. Or more shows.
Anyway, once we started working in the lesson, we worked on long legs (heels to the ground), not pinching with my knee, not dropping my inside shoulder, and still seat. We did some two steps sitting, two steps rising; and then two steps sitting, two steps rising while twisting back and forth. That was hard because my brain couldn't do everything at once. We also worked on picking up the canter and then going back down to trot without me leaning forward. I have to think "sit back" before I ask for the down transition, but when it is smooth, it feels really good.
We need to focus mostly on dressage, but Bob said every few lessons we'll do a jump lesson to keep things interesting because dressage can be boring.
I've taken it pretty easy with Mercury last week and this week. I was giving him some time off after the show, and this week I'm feeling pretty down, so I'm just having a hard time getting motivated to go work him. Hopefully the chiropractor is coming tomorrow, but I'm not sure.
Then of course, I rode like I've never jumped a horse in my life. It actually didn't look so bad on video, but that's because Debbie did an excellent job taping, but I'm so far away in everything that you can't see me noodling around.
My lesson this week was on the lunge line. We were supposed to talk about my goals, but I forgot them at home, so we talked in general about goals. Bob said I can't have a goal of "winning at beginner novice" because it is too variable. He said my goals need to be like "In 60 days, be able to do two laps in the sitting trot with Mercury on the bit." So I said next week I'd bring my goals and he could help me modify them.
He also said, again, that it is Mercury who needs work now, and we need to bring him up to my level. I rode him bareback yesterday (well, with a saddle pad because I'm old now), and his back is so bony. I wonder if he needs more muscling before he can move better.
The problem is, I don't know how to train Mercury, and Bob said just to be consistent, which I've tried so hard at, but clearly isn't working miracles.
It's not going to help with Kevin moving out, because I have to cut back on my lessons and the number of nights I ride. And I can't afford a truck. Or a second horse. Or more lessons. Or more shows.
Anyway, once we started working in the lesson, we worked on long legs (heels to the ground), not pinching with my knee, not dropping my inside shoulder, and still seat. We did some two steps sitting, two steps rising; and then two steps sitting, two steps rising while twisting back and forth. That was hard because my brain couldn't do everything at once. We also worked on picking up the canter and then going back down to trot without me leaning forward. I have to think "sit back" before I ask for the down transition, but when it is smooth, it feels really good.
We need to focus mostly on dressage, but Bob said every few lessons we'll do a jump lesson to keep things interesting because dressage can be boring.
I've taken it pretty easy with Mercury last week and this week. I was giving him some time off after the show, and this week I'm feeling pretty down, so I'm just having a hard time getting motivated to go work him. Hopefully the chiropractor is coming tomorrow, but I'm not sure.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Goals for this winter
Dressage:
1. Still hands
2. Smooth, crisp transitions
3. Bend
4. On the bit
5. Impulsion
6. BN & N tests - 7's & 8's
7. Round circles
8. Straight lines
9. Posture
10. Sitting trot
Jumping:
1. Still legs
2. No overjumping (superman)
3. No mouth jerking - keep hands forward
4. Increase height and spread of jumps
5. Jump at canter
6. Correct lead when landing
7. Multiple jumps in a row
8. Head up
9. Heels down - no pinching with knee/lower leg swinging
10. Begin counting strides (5 to 8)
General:
1. Increase fitness
2. Increase speed
3. Balance for Mercury
4. Learn to braid mane
5. Increase leg health & condition
6. Bravery - less herd bound
We'll see what Bob says this weekend, how much he modifies these.
I'd like to ride Beginner Novice next year. If he places in the top 3 in three consecutive shows, then maybe move to Novice or start doing recognized shows. I think I need some new clothes for recognized though.
Odds are I will lose for a while, because there's a lot more competitors in Beginner Novice, and the winning dressage scores tend to be in the low 30's. So I need to work on all 7's with some 8's in my scored tests.
I think one reason I only got 3rd in this last show was because the caliber of the competitors was higher. It wasn't as many people out schooling their 4 year olds. Even though Mercury is 12, he acts like a 6 year old and he has gotten a little set in his ways.
What I really hope is next year (2007) BN; (2008) N; (2009) N rec & unrec; (2010) big maybe Training. Then Mercury will be 16 - if he could go to 18 that'd be fabulous, but I hope I can lease him (keep him at Edelweiss) and get a new horse to start. Maybe a horse who is already Novice, though if I work him up and he is good, that's ok too because there's more to learn.
The beginning novice course looked like so much fun, although intimidating. I was both relieved and disappointed when it turned out Hopeful was smaller and shorter.
1. Still hands
2. Smooth, crisp transitions
3. Bend
4. On the bit
5. Impulsion
6. BN & N tests - 7's & 8's
7. Round circles
8. Straight lines
9. Posture
10. Sitting trot
Jumping:
1. Still legs
2. No overjumping (superman)
3. No mouth jerking - keep hands forward
4. Increase height and spread of jumps
5. Jump at canter
6. Correct lead when landing
7. Multiple jumps in a row
8. Head up
9. Heels down - no pinching with knee/lower leg swinging
10. Begin counting strides (5 to 8)
General:
1. Increase fitness
2. Increase speed
3. Balance for Mercury
4. Learn to braid mane
5. Increase leg health & condition
6. Bravery - less herd bound
We'll see what Bob says this weekend, how much he modifies these.
I'd like to ride Beginner Novice next year. If he places in the top 3 in three consecutive shows, then maybe move to Novice or start doing recognized shows. I think I need some new clothes for recognized though.
Odds are I will lose for a while, because there's a lot more competitors in Beginner Novice, and the winning dressage scores tend to be in the low 30's. So I need to work on all 7's with some 8's in my scored tests.
I think one reason I only got 3rd in this last show was because the caliber of the competitors was higher. It wasn't as many people out schooling their 4 year olds. Even though Mercury is 12, he acts like a 6 year old and he has gotten a little set in his ways.
What I really hope is next year (2007) BN; (2008) N; (2009) N rec & unrec; (2010) big maybe Training. Then Mercury will be 16 - if he could go to 18 that'd be fabulous, but I hope I can lease him (keep him at Edelweiss) and get a new horse to start. Maybe a horse who is already Novice, though if I work him up and he is good, that's ok too because there's more to learn.
The beginning novice course looked like so much fun, although intimidating. I was both relieved and disappointed when it turned out Hopeful was smaller and shorter.
Modified 2-day Event - unrecognized - Lincoln Creek
This weekend (9/16 & 17) was the modified 2 day. It had a lot more complexity than the derby.
Friday started with a heavy downpour. I had planned to drive back and forth, but changed my mind, drove home, and drove back down and slept in the car the first night. I had tried to walk Roads & Tracks before dark, but I somehow got into a pasture with cows, which started following me, which made my already present fear of cows much more intense, so I tried to get away, only to find the next pasture over didn't have an exit and I had to go back through the cows.
Saturday was a nice day while I watched Prelim and Training level do dressage and show jumping. When I got Mercury out to groom him, I got 1/2 of him curried before it started to rain. Then I put him back in the stall, cleaned up all the stuff, and finished getting him ready in the stall. After I worked up a good sweat in my raincoat warming up, it quit raining. Mercury was excellent in the warm-up, but some things fell apart during the test. It was a longer test than last time, but in some ways easier. His transitions weren't very smooth, and a lot of the judge's comments were about him being lazy, even though he was on the bit better, bent better, and more responsive. We got more 7's than last time, but also 4's, which we didn't get last time, and some 6's & 5's. My score was a 41.5.
Show jumping was clear. It turned out it was timed, so I got a little panicked about being late, and I cantered some of the fences. My position was not good. I kept asking him to jump long and throwing my body forward. But he was good and didn't get too excited. We trotted some too.
At the end of dressage we were in 4th place, but actually 5th because a woman with a broken finger rode Hopeful instead of Beginner Novice. Out of 9, I think. Then I think I moved up to 3rd or 2nd in show jumping.
Saturday started with Mercury busting through his stall guard and taking a tour of the property with me chasing him.
Sunday drizzled most of the day. I didn't ride until 1:18, so I watched Prelim (only 1 rider by now), Training (also several scratches), and some of Novice. Their courses looked fun.
Phase A of Roads & Tracks was mostly trotting. Mercury got nervous about all the horses going different directions and being so far away. Phase B was steeplechase without the jumps, and he started making himself spook at things. Phase C was supposed to be a walk, but we had to trot almost all of it to finish in time. He passed his vet check after 7 minutes.
I warmed him up, then cross country was only 9 fences, no water, and flew past. He jumped well, and I think I did ok too. He got a little spooky at some grass, and he was eyeballing some huge jumps like "you've got to be kidding me". He did everything clear, but we were a little slow because I made him trot all but the last jump. The huge hill (for us) we cantered up but walked down because of his weak back legs, and then I pushed him really hard to the end. We did the last jump at a slightly awkward canter, and then I asked him to run for the finish line, and like a little angel, he did. It was great.
At the end of Sunday, we were in 3rd place. I had been in 2nd for a long time, but then someone complained about their time, and they went into 1st. Broken finger got 2nd. 4th was pretty far below me. I had 3 time penalties for being late in xc.
I think next year we'll move to Beginner Novice, but we have a lot to work on. That's the next blog. I had a really good time.
Friday started with a heavy downpour. I had planned to drive back and forth, but changed my mind, drove home, and drove back down and slept in the car the first night. I had tried to walk Roads & Tracks before dark, but I somehow got into a pasture with cows, which started following me, which made my already present fear of cows much more intense, so I tried to get away, only to find the next pasture over didn't have an exit and I had to go back through the cows.
Saturday was a nice day while I watched Prelim and Training level do dressage and show jumping. When I got Mercury out to groom him, I got 1/2 of him curried before it started to rain. Then I put him back in the stall, cleaned up all the stuff, and finished getting him ready in the stall. After I worked up a good sweat in my raincoat warming up, it quit raining. Mercury was excellent in the warm-up, but some things fell apart during the test. It was a longer test than last time, but in some ways easier. His transitions weren't very smooth, and a lot of the judge's comments were about him being lazy, even though he was on the bit better, bent better, and more responsive. We got more 7's than last time, but also 4's, which we didn't get last time, and some 6's & 5's. My score was a 41.5.
Show jumping was clear. It turned out it was timed, so I got a little panicked about being late, and I cantered some of the fences. My position was not good. I kept asking him to jump long and throwing my body forward. But he was good and didn't get too excited. We trotted some too.
At the end of dressage we were in 4th place, but actually 5th because a woman with a broken finger rode Hopeful instead of Beginner Novice. Out of 9, I think. Then I think I moved up to 3rd or 2nd in show jumping.
Saturday started with Mercury busting through his stall guard and taking a tour of the property with me chasing him.
Sunday drizzled most of the day. I didn't ride until 1:18, so I watched Prelim (only 1 rider by now), Training (also several scratches), and some of Novice. Their courses looked fun.
Phase A of Roads & Tracks was mostly trotting. Mercury got nervous about all the horses going different directions and being so far away. Phase B was steeplechase without the jumps, and he started making himself spook at things. Phase C was supposed to be a walk, but we had to trot almost all of it to finish in time. He passed his vet check after 7 minutes.
I warmed him up, then cross country was only 9 fences, no water, and flew past. He jumped well, and I think I did ok too. He got a little spooky at some grass, and he was eyeballing some huge jumps like "you've got to be kidding me". He did everything clear, but we were a little slow because I made him trot all but the last jump. The huge hill (for us) we cantered up but walked down because of his weak back legs, and then I pushed him really hard to the end. We did the last jump at a slightly awkward canter, and then I asked him to run for the finish line, and like a little angel, he did. It was great.
At the end of Sunday, we were in 3rd place. I had been in 2nd for a long time, but then someone complained about their time, and they went into 1st. Broken finger got 2nd. 4th was pretty far below me. I had 3 time penalties for being late in xc.
I think next year we'll move to Beginner Novice, but we have a lot to work on. That's the next blog. I had a really good time.
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