Jen came over after work, and found Ransom and I warming up in the arena. I'd skipped lunging on side reins, since I wasn't 100% sure I'd be doing that at the show. If highly crowded, there wasn't much point in adding a lunging horse into the chaos.
We rode mostly on the low arena circle, all three gaits. Ransom was being his normal pre-show butthead. He was fighting some transitions, and tossing his head way more than I would've normally accepted. Maybe he felt my anxious stress about the show, maybe he was distracted or stiff, who knows. As the transitions improved, I quit asking for ask many, and focused on steady but forward.
We rode through TL3 to close out, and it was successful. Not the prettiest thing in the world. But I had made a decision about TL3 - I was going to be riding it last of last of two days' show, and I wasn't expecting perfection. In absolutely no way did I expect to pin high in TL3. It was our first out with it, and at best, I wouldn't get the "idjit bell" rang on me for going off the test. Ransom would be sore after riding three classes Saturday, and three already Sunday. By the fourth on Sunday, there was no point in fighting for high collection, big forward, or easy transitions. I just wanted to get it Over with, and see what else we needed to work on.
Jen stayed around to help with Ransom's bath, which went well. I decided he would get a light touch up clipping, but not until Saturday morning. With Ransom in his paddock with water, hay, grain, and a light sheet, we fed the other boys, and she headed on home.
Much to do, I got the housework done, and the kids that were staying behind mostly settled. I got to bed later than I wanted, but with so much to accomplish, I wasn't too surprised. I was heading out alone Saturday morning, meeting Jen on the way. No R to help us along this weekend, and it felt nearly overwhelming, all the things that needed doing.
Showing posts with label Lesson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lesson. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
10/3/10 Ransom Lesson
The change in weather has proven to be the best thing for Ransom and I both. We were now on Day #3 consecutive, so I wasn't entirely sure how much "gas in the tank" we'd have. But I pressed on, lunged him briefly in side reins, and hopped aboard.
Jen arrived, and we worked through a few "bugs" in preparation for the weekend show. First, that free walk to working walk transition - can Ransom keep on moving in that beautiful free marching free walk into the working walk? Well, he insisted quite a number of times on moving to trot with any collection and leg pressure. Jen suggested, "Next time he does that, really get after him. Maybe you're not being forceful enough." As I shortened the reins, I added leg and seat, and he popped to trot. A very sharp halt (ugly head, but I did get him halted hard), and I pushed right back to working walk. He got a little better. It will take rides all week to improve it, and I might still be facing lower working walk scores. On the flip side, our free walk? Is phenominal! Perhaps the best I've EVER had on Ransom. It's very marching, very forward, and very fluid as he gently lowers his head without tugging the reins outta my fingers. I love it!
Next, the trot. We focused on what "feels good". What's forward enough to get his legs moving about, and motivated without looking speedy. The trick will be, to keep my posting cadenced, but keep enough leg on to move him on forward. This seems to lengthen the stride without rushing it. His transitions were just this side of amazing.
And finally, canter. Near the end of the lesson, we rode canter as it would be in Training 2. Pick up canter in the near short corner, ride the long side, canter circle @ center, and transition back down to trot after the circle. Again, I will have a focus - keep steady half-halts down the long sides, and add outside leg on the last 3/4 of the circle. This seems to keep the canter steady throughout, rather than speeding down long side, and poking through the circles.
To round out the lesson, I worked with Ransom on leg yields at walk, and trot. Jen is now the first person to see them, well, other than me feeling them. And the verdict?
*drum roll please, and a long deep breath, just for the pausing effect*
The Chiropractic work, well, worked! Once Ransom remembered what I really wanted him to do, we had great leg yields at trot, heading both right, and Left! The work Dr Robin did made a huge difference! I am anxious to get some video of his trotting leg yields, so I can really see for myself what they look like.
So, with Monday off to rest, and Wednesday off, Ransom will work the rest of the week at varying degrees of difficult. Tuesday night? Working hard work! Thursday, much of the same. Friday will only be as hard as he makes it. If he rides really light, collected, and behaved, without any obvious outbursts, I'll keep it short. Otherwise, I'll probably push until I get exactly what I want.
The pressure is building... *chuckle* Who am I kidding?! I'm not going this weekend to "kick tail & take names"... I'm going with the same attitude I had at Hearthstone - I'm just gonna have Fun!
Jen arrived, and we worked through a few "bugs" in preparation for the weekend show. First, that free walk to working walk transition - can Ransom keep on moving in that beautiful free marching free walk into the working walk? Well, he insisted quite a number of times on moving to trot with any collection and leg pressure. Jen suggested, "Next time he does that, really get after him. Maybe you're not being forceful enough." As I shortened the reins, I added leg and seat, and he popped to trot. A very sharp halt (ugly head, but I did get him halted hard), and I pushed right back to working walk. He got a little better. It will take rides all week to improve it, and I might still be facing lower working walk scores. On the flip side, our free walk? Is phenominal! Perhaps the best I've EVER had on Ransom. It's very marching, very forward, and very fluid as he gently lowers his head without tugging the reins outta my fingers. I love it!
Next, the trot. We focused on what "feels good". What's forward enough to get his legs moving about, and motivated without looking speedy. The trick will be, to keep my posting cadenced, but keep enough leg on to move him on forward. This seems to lengthen the stride without rushing it. His transitions were just this side of amazing.
And finally, canter. Near the end of the lesson, we rode canter as it would be in Training 2. Pick up canter in the near short corner, ride the long side, canter circle @ center, and transition back down to trot after the circle. Again, I will have a focus - keep steady half-halts down the long sides, and add outside leg on the last 3/4 of the circle. This seems to keep the canter steady throughout, rather than speeding down long side, and poking through the circles.
To round out the lesson, I worked with Ransom on leg yields at walk, and trot. Jen is now the first person to see them, well, other than me feeling them. And the verdict?
*drum roll please, and a long deep breath, just for the pausing effect*
The Chiropractic work, well, worked! Once Ransom remembered what I really wanted him to do, we had great leg yields at trot, heading both right, and Left! The work Dr Robin did made a huge difference! I am anxious to get some video of his trotting leg yields, so I can really see for myself what they look like.
So, with Monday off to rest, and Wednesday off, Ransom will work the rest of the week at varying degrees of difficult. Tuesday night? Working hard work! Thursday, much of the same. Friday will only be as hard as he makes it. If he rides really light, collected, and behaved, without any obvious outbursts, I'll keep it short. Otherwise, I'll probably push until I get exactly what I want.
The pressure is building... *chuckle* Who am I kidding?! I'm not going this weekend to "kick tail & take names"... I'm going with the same attitude I had at Hearthstone - I'm just gonna have Fun!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
7/5/2010 BRM Lesson Romeo
I gathered up Romeo, his hunt saddle, french link bit, and made sure my helmet still fit. *giggle* You know that feeling of, "never ridden this horse in this place, there's a lot going on, and while he's a saint 99.9% of the time, the one time I need him to be an angel, please don't be a dorkus freakus"? I had it irking through every darn nerve of my body.
I walked Romeo into the covered arena, tossed the reins over his neck, walked around him to tighten the girth, hopped aboard, and got to riding. Barb says to me, "Ride him like you normally do, I just want to watch him go a little bit."
So I did. We walked on a loose rein, we jogged out on a loose rein, I pushed him up to a rising trot with a little bit of contact. I asked for some canter both ways. Much to my dismay, the little fart blew his right lead three times before snagging it up correctly. Doofus. He didn't blink, he didn't spook, he didn't even look hard at the arena or the surroundings.
Barb says, "I love him. He's super quiet! I like that little jog. Keep his nose out there, it's cute! Don't tighten the reins... Yup, he's out of balance. Just needs some muscle." Then, the news I was sort of hoping to hear. "You should sell him. You'd get quite a bit for him, and that can go towards a new dressage horse."
She'll be posting the ad for him soon, and I'll link it back here. As a lady in the barn asked, "Why are you selling him?" I explained.. "Romeo has served his job VERY well in my life. I was terrified to ride, and there's got to be some other little kid or small adult out there terrified like I was. It's time for him to move on, and me to upgrade to a nice dressage horse. I can't do that and keep all three at home. Somebody's got to move on, and it's Romeo's time to go."
In the meanwhile, Romeo will enjoy 4 days a week or so, alternating every other day with Ransom. Mo will get work on all three gaits, as loose a rein as possible. The whole purpose will be to refresh his mind, and get his muscles back in shape. Now, my LittleMan has a job, at least for the time being. We'll still have goof off rides down the road, and maybe go push a cow or two. I might even pop him back over a few fences, and see if the old saddle fit issues are cleared from his memory.
I walked Romeo into the covered arena, tossed the reins over his neck, walked around him to tighten the girth, hopped aboard, and got to riding. Barb says to me, "Ride him like you normally do, I just want to watch him go a little bit."
So I did. We walked on a loose rein, we jogged out on a loose rein, I pushed him up to a rising trot with a little bit of contact. I asked for some canter both ways. Much to my dismay, the little fart blew his right lead three times before snagging it up correctly. Doofus. He didn't blink, he didn't spook, he didn't even look hard at the arena or the surroundings.
Barb says, "I love him. He's super quiet! I like that little jog. Keep his nose out there, it's cute! Don't tighten the reins... Yup, he's out of balance. Just needs some muscle." Then, the news I was sort of hoping to hear. "You should sell him. You'd get quite a bit for him, and that can go towards a new dressage horse."
She'll be posting the ad for him soon, and I'll link it back here. As a lady in the barn asked, "Why are you selling him?" I explained.. "Romeo has served his job VERY well in my life. I was terrified to ride, and there's got to be some other little kid or small adult out there terrified like I was. It's time for him to move on, and me to upgrade to a nice dressage horse. I can't do that and keep all three at home. Somebody's got to move on, and it's Romeo's time to go."
In the meanwhile, Romeo will enjoy 4 days a week or so, alternating every other day with Ransom. Mo will get work on all three gaits, as loose a rein as possible. The whole purpose will be to refresh his mind, and get his muscles back in shape. Now, my LittleMan has a job, at least for the time being. We'll still have goof off rides down the road, and maybe go push a cow or two. I might even pop him back over a few fences, and see if the old saddle fit issues are cleared from his memory.
7/5/2010 BRM Lesson Ransom
Ransom had enjoyed a week off, due to his show performance, the weather, and then the subsequently soaked mushy arena. Wasn't a chance I was risking an injury riding in the mud, and the heat was unbearable last week anyways.
Hopped on "cold", and spent some time at walk, bending, flexing. Trotted a bit on a long rein before gathering him up. Did a large quantity of walk/halts, but Barb mixed it up for us. They were barely halt before moving on again. Less than a second stopped. When he started staying quiet & collected, then a one-second halt. Then a two-second halt. These improved the longer we did them. Need to lather, rinse, repeat over and over back at home.
Trot work was magical again. He started out stiff, bent to the outside, and short strides. After some rein work and body position reminders for me, he had the most amazing working trot. Things I need to focus on...
Soft lower back
Pulse the reins, then soften - don't release the reins to loose, just soften my hands & my arms
Shoulders still - but go back to soft lower back, not hunter-arched-stiff back
Canter wasn't even an issue - nothing really needed "fixing". More of the rein-pulse to keep him bent inside the circles. Really though, my rear end was glued in the saddle, the canter was *very* forward, but he had some amazing collection work in the gait. sweeet!
Barb proclaimed,"It's time to move on. You're ready for something new. Lateral work!" We tried to start out with leg yields at trot. Heading from quarter line right to the rail, he nearly immediately picked up the yields, with a few brief moments of straightening to get his head aiming forward. Then we tried the opposite direction - yuck. Ransom's old bones and legs said, "No go Momma". He was choppy, ugly, and while I won't say ignoring the aids, he didn't seem able to complete the work.
After about an hour total lesson ride, we unsaddled, and hosed him down. Ransom is going to continue his work in Training Level, but will progress no higher. Barb suggested I consider starting to look for a more advanced horse. A bigger, badder, better dressage trained horse. I love my Ransom, though. Nevertheless, we're a team at least until the end of the year. He and I will continue our Training Level goals for the season.
Hopped on "cold", and spent some time at walk, bending, flexing. Trotted a bit on a long rein before gathering him up. Did a large quantity of walk/halts, but Barb mixed it up for us. They were barely halt before moving on again. Less than a second stopped. When he started staying quiet & collected, then a one-second halt. Then a two-second halt. These improved the longer we did them. Need to lather, rinse, repeat over and over back at home.
Trot work was magical again. He started out stiff, bent to the outside, and short strides. After some rein work and body position reminders for me, he had the most amazing working trot. Things I need to focus on...
Soft lower back
Pulse the reins, then soften - don't release the reins to loose, just soften my hands & my arms
Shoulders still - but go back to soft lower back, not hunter-arched-stiff back
Canter wasn't even an issue - nothing really needed "fixing". More of the rein-pulse to keep him bent inside the circles. Really though, my rear end was glued in the saddle, the canter was *very* forward, but he had some amazing collection work in the gait. sweeet!
Barb proclaimed,"It's time to move on. You're ready for something new. Lateral work!" We tried to start out with leg yields at trot. Heading from quarter line right to the rail, he nearly immediately picked up the yields, with a few brief moments of straightening to get his head aiming forward. Then we tried the opposite direction - yuck. Ransom's old bones and legs said, "No go Momma". He was choppy, ugly, and while I won't say ignoring the aids, he didn't seem able to complete the work.
After about an hour total lesson ride, we unsaddled, and hosed him down. Ransom is going to continue his work in Training Level, but will progress no higher. Barb suggested I consider starting to look for a more advanced horse. A bigger, badder, better dressage trained horse. I love my Ransom, though. Nevertheless, we're a team at least until the end of the year. He and I will continue our Training Level goals for the season.
Friday, June 11, 2010
06/10/10 Lesson
Things we learned – lunge line is good, side reins on 8s is good.. Ransom was a little stiff to start, but settled into the side reins & collection. 5 minutes each way.
Then I hopped on. We did probably 20minutes of walk/halt. Some were good, some were absolutely terrific, and some not so good. Lots of “almost walk” before he’d lean on the forehand, or pop his head up, so I’d squeeze him back forward, only allowing halt when it looked and felt good.
Up to trot. The trot/walk work was nice. Jen and I talked a lot about “is this trot good?” as I rode through. I got Ransom in a very steady trot forward with nice tight collection. Rode some of it sitting, but most posting trot, easing some of Ransom’s workload.
Finally, a little canter. About two circles each way. Unfortunately, we did canter-right first, Ransom’s stronger side. His canter-left was in no way terrible, but it sure wasn’t spectacular either. Jen suggested more work canter-left, and try more often to start with canter-left, maybe even sometimes leaving canter-right out.
Plenty of long & low walk breaks. Plenty. We let Ransom really dictate the ride. When he started feeling tired, walk break. In each gait, we’d let him tell us if he wanted more or not. End result? About a 45minute ride total. Longer than they had been, but he was truly spectacular for the entire lesson. No ugly, no fussy, no incredible amount of angry disregard. Just general agreeability.
Then I hopped on. We did probably 20minutes of walk/halt. Some were good, some were absolutely terrific, and some not so good. Lots of “almost walk” before he’d lean on the forehand, or pop his head up, so I’d squeeze him back forward, only allowing halt when it looked and felt good.
Up to trot. The trot/walk work was nice. Jen and I talked a lot about “is this trot good?” as I rode through. I got Ransom in a very steady trot forward with nice tight collection. Rode some of it sitting, but most posting trot, easing some of Ransom’s workload.
Finally, a little canter. About two circles each way. Unfortunately, we did canter-right first, Ransom’s stronger side. His canter-left was in no way terrible, but it sure wasn’t spectacular either. Jen suggested more work canter-left, and try more often to start with canter-left, maybe even sometimes leaving canter-right out.
Plenty of long & low walk breaks. Plenty. We let Ransom really dictate the ride. When he started feeling tired, walk break. In each gait, we’d let him tell us if he wanted more or not. End result? About a 45minute ride total. Longer than they had been, but he was truly spectacular for the entire lesson. No ugly, no fussy, no incredible amount of angry disregard. Just general agreeability.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
6/5/10 I Loves Me a Day At BRM
Or more endearingly titled, “He can do WHAT?!”
R, Jen, Ransom, and I arrived at BRM about 35 minutes before my lesson was to begin. R and Jen cheerfully unloaded Ransom and prepared him for his lesson while I checked in with Barb. The barn was bustling with people, something I always love about BRM. Always busy, always full, always cheerful.
We all finished dressing my superstar, I got changed, and off we went to the arena. I confidently hopped aboard without lunging first, and let Ransom walk around a little while. There was some horse wire fence laying in rolls outside the arena. Ransom looked long & hard at it. All I could do was laugh. Everything else at that end of the arena he’d seen before, but apparently not that wire. Silly man.
Barb said, “Warm him up like you normally do.” So I did some walk circles & bends, and some trot circles & bends. Nothing fantastic. She said to me, “I saw your Facebook from yesterday, we’re going to work on those transitions a bit.”
We brought Ransom up on the bit, and started working on walk to halt. He did the same from the day before – ignoring the bit, charging straight through it, and popping his head up. It got better with repetition. Then we tried trot to walk. A total disaster, and a repeat of the day before. Barb said, “If you’ve got time for me to change, let me hop up there & school him a little bit.” I was fascinated! I hadn’t seen Barb on Ransom, ever. This could be really awesome!
And I was nowhere near ready for what I would see next. She teased me as she got aboard, “You could get him out of the baby-bit you know? That’s a bit for green babies! Not old show horses!” We talked a little about a more suitable bit. Barb said to Ransom as she got on, “Hi old man. Yeah, it’s been a while. Let’s get to work.” Immediately, she pushed him up collected into a frame I never knew he had. He looked just like a dressage horse!! He was collected, with that beautiful framed arched neck, and he was going somewhere! She transitioned him up to a trot, and asked him to trot just a bit before bringing down to walk. He tossed his head in sharp protest. I laughed. Barb asked me to put her spurs on, with some minimal complaining, “You make that look easy! Gosh he’s a lot of work to put together!” I grinned a little to myself. See, Ransom, compared to Chewie, is easy to push forward. Just a little leg, and he’s cruising. Apparently he still requires more than average effort. *grin* Okay, if she says so.
Barb rode him through quite a few walk/halts and trot/walks, before he finally started agreeing with her a while. What came next, was stunning. He had the most beautiful canter, again, better than I’ve ever seen him do. I had no idea he’d compact his big self into such a tiny stride. At first, I didn’t even realize he was at canter – until I saw his foot falls. I thought to myself, “Holy crap! That’s a canter! Good grief he’s slow!”
They continued together for a total of about 10-15 minutes. It was amazing to watch.
More amazing, was what I got as I hopped back on. I felt Ransom let out this HUGE sigh, and I said to him, “Yeah, you’re not done yet.” Barb walked off to get another bit – a boucher. Single jointed, and a neat looking contraption. She switched bridles (yeah, as I sat up there, thinking, “good grief don’t spook, ‘cuz I gots nothing to stop ya with”) and told me, “He’s going to fuss about the flash, he’s going to be unhappy with that bit, but he’ll get over it. Just be prepared for him to be bad before he is better.”
What I discovered – He was light, responsive, and really ready to do whatever my little legs wanted. If I squeezed with any effort, poof right up into the next gait. When I sat deep and settled the reins on more contact, he’d slow down. We did lots of transitions, but actually progressed out of just walk, into some great trot work, and even some canter. In the canter, it’s tug tug release on the inside rein. Tug Tug to remind him to collect & bend, but release immediately, before he starts to lean. Same work at trot, but more release – get him off my hands.
After lots of transition work, and even some canter that felt magical, Barb reminded me to sit up! Yeah, I guess I’ve gotten that bad habit back again, slouching like I’m on the couch at home. When I did sit up taller, legs felt longer, and shortened my reins (again), he felt incredibly put together. I was at trot, sitting deep, and seriously felt my hips only moving with him. The rest of me felt loosey-goosey relaxed. It was incredible!
Ransom and I have some serious homework!
*use the borrowed double jointed boucher bit, flash noseband
*transition, transition, transition! Lots of walk to halt, and trot to walk
*tug tug on the reins, use some force, but then release! Let Ransom realize I won’t be there to hold him up, I can guide, but he can’t lean
*side reins are back! Five minutes warm up each way on shorter side reins & the lunge line. Stretch him out before any serious work
*Short rides! Nothing over a half hour, due to the heat, and his muscle development
And what I really learned? Ransom is a dressage super star, he’s been holding out on me pretending to not be that dressage brilliant, and I can make him do the same things Barb did. Best of all? I’m back to loving dressage again. It doesn’t feel repetitive, and it is incredibly satisfying to get even a stride or two of collected sitting trot.
R, Jen, Ransom, and I arrived at BRM about 35 minutes before my lesson was to begin. R and Jen cheerfully unloaded Ransom and prepared him for his lesson while I checked in with Barb. The barn was bustling with people, something I always love about BRM. Always busy, always full, always cheerful.
We all finished dressing my superstar, I got changed, and off we went to the arena. I confidently hopped aboard without lunging first, and let Ransom walk around a little while. There was some horse wire fence laying in rolls outside the arena. Ransom looked long & hard at it. All I could do was laugh. Everything else at that end of the arena he’d seen before, but apparently not that wire. Silly man.
Barb said, “Warm him up like you normally do.” So I did some walk circles & bends, and some trot circles & bends. Nothing fantastic. She said to me, “I saw your Facebook from yesterday, we’re going to work on those transitions a bit.”
We brought Ransom up on the bit, and started working on walk to halt. He did the same from the day before – ignoring the bit, charging straight through it, and popping his head up. It got better with repetition. Then we tried trot to walk. A total disaster, and a repeat of the day before. Barb said, “If you’ve got time for me to change, let me hop up there & school him a little bit.” I was fascinated! I hadn’t seen Barb on Ransom, ever. This could be really awesome!
And I was nowhere near ready for what I would see next. She teased me as she got aboard, “You could get him out of the baby-bit you know? That’s a bit for green babies! Not old show horses!” We talked a little about a more suitable bit. Barb said to Ransom as she got on, “Hi old man. Yeah, it’s been a while. Let’s get to work.” Immediately, she pushed him up collected into a frame I never knew he had. He looked just like a dressage horse!! He was collected, with that beautiful framed arched neck, and he was going somewhere! She transitioned him up to a trot, and asked him to trot just a bit before bringing down to walk. He tossed his head in sharp protest. I laughed. Barb asked me to put her spurs on, with some minimal complaining, “You make that look easy! Gosh he’s a lot of work to put together!” I grinned a little to myself. See, Ransom, compared to Chewie, is easy to push forward. Just a little leg, and he’s cruising. Apparently he still requires more than average effort. *grin* Okay, if she says so.
Barb rode him through quite a few walk/halts and trot/walks, before he finally started agreeing with her a while. What came next, was stunning. He had the most beautiful canter, again, better than I’ve ever seen him do. I had no idea he’d compact his big self into such a tiny stride. At first, I didn’t even realize he was at canter – until I saw his foot falls. I thought to myself, “Holy crap! That’s a canter! Good grief he’s slow!”
They continued together for a total of about 10-15 minutes. It was amazing to watch.
More amazing, was what I got as I hopped back on. I felt Ransom let out this HUGE sigh, and I said to him, “Yeah, you’re not done yet.” Barb walked off to get another bit – a boucher. Single jointed, and a neat looking contraption. She switched bridles (yeah, as I sat up there, thinking, “good grief don’t spook, ‘cuz I gots nothing to stop ya with”) and told me, “He’s going to fuss about the flash, he’s going to be unhappy with that bit, but he’ll get over it. Just be prepared for him to be bad before he is better.”
What I discovered – He was light, responsive, and really ready to do whatever my little legs wanted. If I squeezed with any effort, poof right up into the next gait. When I sat deep and settled the reins on more contact, he’d slow down. We did lots of transitions, but actually progressed out of just walk, into some great trot work, and even some canter. In the canter, it’s tug tug release on the inside rein. Tug Tug to remind him to collect & bend, but release immediately, before he starts to lean. Same work at trot, but more release – get him off my hands.
After lots of transition work, and even some canter that felt magical, Barb reminded me to sit up! Yeah, I guess I’ve gotten that bad habit back again, slouching like I’m on the couch at home. When I did sit up taller, legs felt longer, and shortened my reins (again), he felt incredibly put together. I was at trot, sitting deep, and seriously felt my hips only moving with him. The rest of me felt loosey-goosey relaxed. It was incredible!
Ransom and I have some serious homework!
*use the borrowed double jointed boucher bit, flash noseband
*transition, transition, transition! Lots of walk to halt, and trot to walk
*tug tug on the reins, use some force, but then release! Let Ransom realize I won’t be there to hold him up, I can guide, but he can’t lean
*side reins are back! Five minutes warm up each way on shorter side reins & the lunge line. Stretch him out before any serious work
*Short rides! Nothing over a half hour, due to the heat, and his muscle development
And what I really learned? Ransom is a dressage super star, he’s been holding out on me pretending to not be that dressage brilliant, and I can make him do the same things Barb did. Best of all? I’m back to loving dressage again. It doesn’t feel repetitive, and it is incredibly satisfying to get even a stride or two of collected sitting trot.
Monday, May 31, 2010
05/31/10 Lesson and Choices
Jen arrived bright and early. We wanted to get the lesson over & done before it got hot out. Yep, you Northern folks can just Hush yourselves. It’s already hot & humid here, with horses in full sweat by noon, standing & grazing. Nasty!
The lesson was hunter saddle, but didn’t remain hunters for long. Well, it sort of did. This is the first time Jen’s seen him go since his injections. She said he looks much better, still a little stiff on the left rear. Not too surprising, it looked worse before the shots. Either way, he does move nicer, and seems much happier to go.
I rode only at one end of the arena, all three gaits, tossed in a little two point. We’re planning to go together to BRM on Saturday for a lesson with Barb, so we started talking about what I was going to do at the lesson. Primarily, which saddle am I pulling out. Am I going to get a dressage lesson? Or a hunter lesson?
I hadn’t tried two point with Ransom’s new legs, and I hadn’t tried any kind of “Airplane arms” either. I did a little of both, but more two point than airplanes. I found his trot to be much more left-right in two point than I remembered. The canter feels almost downhill – I can definitely feel more push from behind up in two point.
And we talked. And talked, and talked. There’s lots to be gained when two horse-minded girls get together & begin game planning and goal setting. And so here’s the plan – we’re going to take Ransom with his dressage tack to BRM Saturday. I’ve got a goal and a plan already in hunters – two point airplane arms with good balance. What I don’t have, is a plan-forward in dressage. I’ve been riding Training #1 and #2 for about a year now, and I’m finding dressage fun, but repetitive. I don’t quite know where to go from here. So we’re going to go see Barb Saturday, ride dressage, and find out “what’s next”.
The lesson was hunter saddle, but didn’t remain hunters for long. Well, it sort of did. This is the first time Jen’s seen him go since his injections. She said he looks much better, still a little stiff on the left rear. Not too surprising, it looked worse before the shots. Either way, he does move nicer, and seems much happier to go.
I rode only at one end of the arena, all three gaits, tossed in a little two point. We’re planning to go together to BRM on Saturday for a lesson with Barb, so we started talking about what I was going to do at the lesson. Primarily, which saddle am I pulling out. Am I going to get a dressage lesson? Or a hunter lesson?
I hadn’t tried two point with Ransom’s new legs, and I hadn’t tried any kind of “Airplane arms” either. I did a little of both, but more two point than airplanes. I found his trot to be much more left-right in two point than I remembered. The canter feels almost downhill – I can definitely feel more push from behind up in two point.
And we talked. And talked, and talked. There’s lots to be gained when two horse-minded girls get together & begin game planning and goal setting. And so here’s the plan – we’re going to take Ransom with his dressage tack to BRM Saturday. I’ve got a goal and a plan already in hunters – two point airplane arms with good balance. What I don’t have, is a plan-forward in dressage. I’ve been riding Training #1 and #2 for about a year now, and I’m finding dressage fun, but repetitive. I don’t quite know where to go from here. So we’re going to go see Barb Saturday, ride dressage, and find out “what’s next”.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
05/01/10 BRM Lesson
I arrived nice & early to Blue Ribbon, and due to a cancellation, got my lesson started at 10:30 rather than 11:00.
We started out at a long stretchy walk, and Ransom didn't even pause to look around. He was ready for action. Barb told me, "Warm him up like you normally do." So I stuck him out at the trot on a loose rein, barely guiding his body, and as I slowly started shortening the reins, she said...
"He's off behind. Slow him down, it looks stiff & painful the more he goes. Don't push for that big trot - it just gets fast & ugly." We worked on shortening the stride back to a reasonable trot, and Ransom was bending nice left, but ugly right.
Did a bunch of trot circles right, a few volte's at walk (that's new!), and I learned how to push him out on the circle, bending in, and transition to a nice forward walk, make a smaller circle, and right back up to trot. He was very stiff, very lazy, and it took quite a while to get a nice bend going right.
I rode through TL #1, and Barb watched. We fixed a few small things. #1 Coming down centerline, only look AT the Judge. Nothing Else. Don't look too far above C, but don't look down if she's sitting just behind it at ground level, either. Look straight dead ahead, don't even shift my eyes to E & B to find X. He halted square & beautiful whenever I did that, and moved muck straighter down center, so that was cool. #2 Smooth transitions, think about them ahead of time, and give him time to prepare for a smooth transition. #3 Bend low at the poll, keep my hands active & keep his head down.
Then she called TL #2 and we rode through that. Many improvements from TL #1, all from the previous reminders. I was super satisfied that it was going to go well.
Barb cautioned - "He's going to probably get some lower marks for his trot. Just prepare for it now in your mind. His walk is good, his canter's a 9 if you bend him well. But I know the judge, and she'll want his head low. Keep his head low, keep the transitions nice & smooth, and enjoy the ride. You'll do great."
For the stiffness, the soreness, and the general lack of forward from behind, she suggested Joint Injections in his hocks. We're guessing, based on everything we've seen so far, Ransom has had very little maintenance. Barb asked that we make a vet appointment and get his back legs looked at, and injections done. So tomorrow, at 10:15 or so, we're meeting with Dr. Sam and Deanna. I'm going to get a lameness evaluation done, that will probably involve flexion, maybe xrays, and a long discussion.
Yes, I know he's older. At 20, Ransom's done a lot, seen a lot, and he's still got "go" in him. Barb even commented, "He's working very hard for you, and for his age, doing very well. He's got more life left competing, he just needs some lube in his joints." I've thought about it ... Ransom and I worked from 4/22 all the way through 5/2 with one day off, 4/28. That was it. He had one day off in 11 days of work. Wow! That's a lot! I also was doing a lot of hunter work, ground poles, cavaletti at trot & canter, and even those few 8" "jumps at canter", and the crossrails at trot before the dressage was serious again. He's working really hard - and so it's only expected he'll be stiff & sore.
Tomorrow's the big day! I don't think it'll be super serious or disastrous news. But I need to take care of him, since he's taking such good care of me.
We started out at a long stretchy walk, and Ransom didn't even pause to look around. He was ready for action. Barb told me, "Warm him up like you normally do." So I stuck him out at the trot on a loose rein, barely guiding his body, and as I slowly started shortening the reins, she said...
"He's off behind. Slow him down, it looks stiff & painful the more he goes. Don't push for that big trot - it just gets fast & ugly." We worked on shortening the stride back to a reasonable trot, and Ransom was bending nice left, but ugly right.
Did a bunch of trot circles right, a few volte's at walk (that's new!), and I learned how to push him out on the circle, bending in, and transition to a nice forward walk, make a smaller circle, and right back up to trot. He was very stiff, very lazy, and it took quite a while to get a nice bend going right.
I rode through TL #1, and Barb watched. We fixed a few small things. #1 Coming down centerline, only look AT the Judge. Nothing Else. Don't look too far above C, but don't look down if she's sitting just behind it at ground level, either. Look straight dead ahead, don't even shift my eyes to E & B to find X. He halted square & beautiful whenever I did that, and moved muck straighter down center, so that was cool. #2 Smooth transitions, think about them ahead of time, and give him time to prepare for a smooth transition. #3 Bend low at the poll, keep my hands active & keep his head down.
Then she called TL #2 and we rode through that. Many improvements from TL #1, all from the previous reminders. I was super satisfied that it was going to go well.
Barb cautioned - "He's going to probably get some lower marks for his trot. Just prepare for it now in your mind. His walk is good, his canter's a 9 if you bend him well. But I know the judge, and she'll want his head low. Keep his head low, keep the transitions nice & smooth, and enjoy the ride. You'll do great."
For the stiffness, the soreness, and the general lack of forward from behind, she suggested Joint Injections in his hocks. We're guessing, based on everything we've seen so far, Ransom has had very little maintenance. Barb asked that we make a vet appointment and get his back legs looked at, and injections done. So tomorrow, at 10:15 or so, we're meeting with Dr. Sam and Deanna. I'm going to get a lameness evaluation done, that will probably involve flexion, maybe xrays, and a long discussion.
Yes, I know he's older. At 20, Ransom's done a lot, seen a lot, and he's still got "go" in him. Barb even commented, "He's working very hard for you, and for his age, doing very well. He's got more life left competing, he just needs some lube in his joints." I've thought about it ... Ransom and I worked from 4/22 all the way through 5/2 with one day off, 4/28. That was it. He had one day off in 11 days of work. Wow! That's a lot! I also was doing a lot of hunter work, ground poles, cavaletti at trot & canter, and even those few 8" "jumps at canter", and the crossrails at trot before the dressage was serious again. He's working really hard - and so it's only expected he'll be stiff & sore.
Tomorrow's the big day! I don't think it'll be super serious or disastrous news. But I need to take care of him, since he's taking such good care of me.
Monday, April 26, 2010
4/24/10 I Just Flew In
And boy are my arms tired! Jen and I got off to a nice early start Saturday with a very productive lesson.
We spent nearly an hour on the lunge line, actually losing track of time, focused on "airplane arms", and the new point of balance. There were very few loss of balance moments - Some of what I'd done Friday made me think that, when I had my arms up & out, my legs were out in front of me. Such is not the case. I've become so used to the old/wrong body position, that I need to learn my legs are in fact right where they're supposed to be - under me!
The trot work in the airplane arms is hard work, canter is much easier. It was nice to feel only slightly out of the saddle, and very very upright in the tack. It will take much more repetition to become very good at this, but I'm well on the way.
I hope the next lunge lesson to be in the airplane arms without stirrups at all three gaits. It's a lofty idea, but Ransom is super peaceful on the lunge, and knows his job is just to keep on going, and keep me in the middle.
We spent nearly an hour on the lunge line, actually losing track of time, focused on "airplane arms", and the new point of balance. There were very few loss of balance moments - Some of what I'd done Friday made me think that, when I had my arms up & out, my legs were out in front of me. Such is not the case. I've become so used to the old/wrong body position, that I need to learn my legs are in fact right where they're supposed to be - under me!
The trot work in the airplane arms is hard work, canter is much easier. It was nice to feel only slightly out of the saddle, and very very upright in the tack. It will take much more repetition to become very good at this, but I'm well on the way.
I hope the next lunge lesson to be in the airplane arms without stirrups at all three gaits. It's a lofty idea, but Ransom is super peaceful on the lunge, and knows his job is just to keep on going, and keep me in the middle.
Monday, April 12, 2010
BRM Lesson 4/9/10 Stick Up my Butt
I arrived fresh and early. It was a quiet trip up, without too much traffic. The last little bit crossing under the interstate gets a little hairy, but otherwise, a minor event getting there. I was invited to settle Ransom down in a stall, get changed, and relax a while. There were a few other lessons going on, so I watched a bit.
I got to watch two greenies go dressage. Nifty fun! Makes me thankful I'm not schooling a green horse.
It was my turn. Ransom was quiet & relaxed tacking up, so I skipped the lunging step. Last time I rode at BRM, I didn't lunge, and he looked really relaxed and I figured I'd take advantage.
I gave him a few laps at walk, then Barbara asked for trot. That went well, and she praised us for looking nice. She asked for a little flat canter, and that was pretty as well. Go Ransom! He was awesome!
Then she asked us to trot through some poles. There were three trot poles, maybe 4 canter strides away there were another two. I can laugh now, but it sure wasn't funny then. Ransom trotted three, trotted to the second two, then jumped both in one stride landing in canter. Oh good grief! Heading the other way, Barb suggested I let my eyes soften towards the ground out ahead of the poles, and Ransom broke to a walk. *giggle* "Girl, you're gonna have to let him go a little more than that in front of them." We did this again and again heading both ways, when Barb must have seen something that got her attention.
She had me go back to the open end of the arena, and asked "Did the HM people work on release? You're really letting go over the poles, but your core is all over the place. No wonder you feel like he's racing and you're losing your balance. Give me a trot in two point." I did, well, I tried.
"Open up your chest. Yeah, that's not enough, more, more. I'll fix you. Stick your arms out to your sides." I almost fell flat on Ransom's neck. Barbara laughed, "That's one way to get you to quit leaning on your hands on his neck. That's why he's getting faster - you're pushing him with your hands resting them there. It's knuckles in the back of his neck - think about it. It hurts, and he's trying to get away from it." So we did LOTS of trot two point to find balance without resting my hands on his neck.
She described it like this..
You need to almost arch your back - something I don't tell hardly any other female students. Most girls arch their back, but you're slouchy. It's something you can get away with in dressage, because you're riding with mostly seat & leg, but in hunters, you're going to have to straighten that back out, and ride without your hands resting on him. Hours and Hours of trot & canter at home with your hands out like an airplane - no reins. She suggested "ride like you've got a stick shoved up your butt, still, and flat. There! Now, don't move your position." It lasted about three trot strides before I lost it again ...
She also had me trot two point without stirrups. Again, I almost went splat. I could barely lift myself out of the saddle. "That's your two point, no higher." She had another student demonstrate how to move in the jump. The girl did NOT really move, at all. Her hands moved a little teensie bit. The rest of her, didn't. The horse came to her, she really didn't move up to him. It was fantastic.. I could've kept watching (and later wished I'd paid closer attention).
Back to my lesson. We also rode at trot two point over one ground pole. Later, we picked up canter, and I worked so hard to keep the back arched & shoulders opened up, hands up off his neck. Cantered over the pole a few times.
My bad balance made his canter feel HUGE. In fact, I felt a little "Whoa goofy pony" scared a couple times. Barb laughed, and made me push him farther into a bigger and bigger canter. As Ransom rolled on, she kept smooching to him, and he kept going bigger. I was struggling to relax, and she finally said to me, "You need to ENJOY your HORSE! Let him run once in a while until you get used to it. Next time I go fox hunting, I'm taking you with me! Second field & all, but you need to go! You need to trust him & let him go!" (At the phrase fox-hunting, I laughed, but truly I wanted to puke!)
I got So much accomplished, but have So much to work on. I need hours and hours and hours either on the end of a lunge line, or in the newly enlarged arena once it's enclosed again.
I've been challenged by Barbara to sit up straight shoulders back at my office desk chair, in the truck, and the dinner table. She also suggested standing up against a flat wall every day & not to leave it until my shoulders are against the wall, and then walk away without moving my back & shoulders. So I'm trying..
I got to watch two greenies go dressage. Nifty fun! Makes me thankful I'm not schooling a green horse.
It was my turn. Ransom was quiet & relaxed tacking up, so I skipped the lunging step. Last time I rode at BRM, I didn't lunge, and he looked really relaxed and I figured I'd take advantage.
I gave him a few laps at walk, then Barbara asked for trot. That went well, and she praised us for looking nice. She asked for a little flat canter, and that was pretty as well. Go Ransom! He was awesome!
Then she asked us to trot through some poles. There were three trot poles, maybe 4 canter strides away there were another two. I can laugh now, but it sure wasn't funny then. Ransom trotted three, trotted to the second two, then jumped both in one stride landing in canter. Oh good grief! Heading the other way, Barb suggested I let my eyes soften towards the ground out ahead of the poles, and Ransom broke to a walk. *giggle* "Girl, you're gonna have to let him go a little more than that in front of them." We did this again and again heading both ways, when Barb must have seen something that got her attention.
She had me go back to the open end of the arena, and asked "Did the HM people work on release? You're really letting go over the poles, but your core is all over the place. No wonder you feel like he's racing and you're losing your balance. Give me a trot in two point." I did, well, I tried.
"Open up your chest. Yeah, that's not enough, more, more. I'll fix you. Stick your arms out to your sides." I almost fell flat on Ransom's neck. Barbara laughed, "That's one way to get you to quit leaning on your hands on his neck. That's why he's getting faster - you're pushing him with your hands resting them there. It's knuckles in the back of his neck - think about it. It hurts, and he's trying to get away from it." So we did LOTS of trot two point to find balance without resting my hands on his neck.
She described it like this..
You need to almost arch your back - something I don't tell hardly any other female students. Most girls arch their back, but you're slouchy. It's something you can get away with in dressage, because you're riding with mostly seat & leg, but in hunters, you're going to have to straighten that back out, and ride without your hands resting on him. Hours and Hours of trot & canter at home with your hands out like an airplane - no reins. She suggested "ride like you've got a stick shoved up your butt, still, and flat. There! Now, don't move your position." It lasted about three trot strides before I lost it again ...
She also had me trot two point without stirrups. Again, I almost went splat. I could barely lift myself out of the saddle. "That's your two point, no higher." She had another student demonstrate how to move in the jump. The girl did NOT really move, at all. Her hands moved a little teensie bit. The rest of her, didn't. The horse came to her, she really didn't move up to him. It was fantastic.. I could've kept watching (and later wished I'd paid closer attention).
Back to my lesson. We also rode at trot two point over one ground pole. Later, we picked up canter, and I worked so hard to keep the back arched & shoulders opened up, hands up off his neck. Cantered over the pole a few times.
My bad balance made his canter feel HUGE. In fact, I felt a little "Whoa goofy pony" scared a couple times. Barb laughed, and made me push him farther into a bigger and bigger canter. As Ransom rolled on, she kept smooching to him, and he kept going bigger. I was struggling to relax, and she finally said to me, "You need to ENJOY your HORSE! Let him run once in a while until you get used to it. Next time I go fox hunting, I'm taking you with me! Second field & all, but you need to go! You need to trust him & let him go!" (At the phrase fox-hunting, I laughed, but truly I wanted to puke!)
I got So much accomplished, but have So much to work on. I need hours and hours and hours either on the end of a lunge line, or in the newly enlarged arena once it's enclosed again.
I've been challenged by Barbara to sit up straight shoulders back at my office desk chair, in the truck, and the dinner table. She also suggested standing up against a flat wall every day & not to leave it until my shoulders are against the wall, and then walk away without moving my back & shoulders. So I'm trying..
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
3/14/10 What Did I Learn in the Lesson?
I am teaching my horse pace & rhythm.
And cows still eat ponies.
=) I warmed Ransom up briefly free lunge. He decided this was a good day for a gallop, and ran like a nut for probably five minutes. I knew he'd have the lesson anyways, so I left him go. He wasn't going to end the ride in the lazies, and I was going to force him to move out.
Jen arrived, and we got to business. I didn't spend a lot of time riding flat before trotting to the poles. First set of trot cavaletti, he hit one. Second, third, same deal. Kept knocking over one or two. Jen said, "He's being lazy, watch this." She set the landscape timbers I've been using as poles on their sides, making them a little bit taller. I approached at the trot, and Ransom hopped through the pattern without knocking anything over. "See? He's being lazy. Now, get him up to canter, ride the canter poles, and show me what the heck he's been pulling over there. I suspect more of the same lazies."
He did the exact same thing he's been doing, breaking to trot, and trying to canter in the middle of it, or heading out of it. Jen started kissing to him in front of the poles, and I focused on heels down, energy up. After three go's, he got it. Stayed in canter for all three poles, and stayed steady throughout. Similar action happened heading right as well, started out messy, ended clean. The homework here? Keep doing it, and forcing him to canter. He's way out of practice needing to think about low steady work, and I'm retraining him on rhythm & pace, to see his distances, and stay quiet through the pattern work.
Then we set up the low crossrail, and I got after those too. Jen got some neat pictures (psst,, share!) of us looking great, and looking terrible. On one of the approaches heading right, I thought I heard her say "release your knees." By the time I started processing the thought, and changing my body, it was too late. Ransom jumped big, and pitched me straight out of the tack. We laughed - That's how I'll know if I'm holding on at the knees.. legs come behind me, and his launch will shove me out of the saddle. Each direction we hopped a few ways, and it got progressively better.
Changed direction to left, hopped once, talked about what I needed to change, and circled around. Hopped again, landed, one stride, two stride,
Horse Explosion!
Ransom jumped HARD to the left, 3-4 feet, and I quickly shoved my heels down, sat back, and grabbed one rein to turn him. What in the hell was THAT all about?
Cows.. That's what. About a dozen cows were trotting across the neighbor's pasture. They came out from behind the trees about two strides away from the fence. Spooked Ransom, and he was absolutely convinced they were going to eat him. When I got Ransom stopped, I hopped off, and spent some time talking with Jen about what happened. This isn't the first time he's spooked at the cows, and it's worse the faster they're moving. We're still formulating a "cow desensitizing plan" for him, and it's probably going to involve some time in a pipe fence pen with a few quiet ones. We can't keep repeating this "spook after the fence" nonsense.. For sure!
I "cowgirled up", got back on him, and he settled. Jumped a few more times, rode a little on the flat, and called it a lesson.
Long ride, and a lot learned. We're to keep up the canter poles, and if he gets lazy, move the cavaletti rail razors over to the canter poles. Switch up location of the canter poles and the trot cavaletti to keep him thinking and try to not repeat any one thing too many times in a row to prevent anticipation and laziness.
And cows still eat ponies.
=) I warmed Ransom up briefly free lunge. He decided this was a good day for a gallop, and ran like a nut for probably five minutes. I knew he'd have the lesson anyways, so I left him go. He wasn't going to end the ride in the lazies, and I was going to force him to move out.
Jen arrived, and we got to business. I didn't spend a lot of time riding flat before trotting to the poles. First set of trot cavaletti, he hit one. Second, third, same deal. Kept knocking over one or two. Jen said, "He's being lazy, watch this." She set the landscape timbers I've been using as poles on their sides, making them a little bit taller. I approached at the trot, and Ransom hopped through the pattern without knocking anything over. "See? He's being lazy. Now, get him up to canter, ride the canter poles, and show me what the heck he's been pulling over there. I suspect more of the same lazies."
He did the exact same thing he's been doing, breaking to trot, and trying to canter in the middle of it, or heading out of it. Jen started kissing to him in front of the poles, and I focused on heels down, energy up. After three go's, he got it. Stayed in canter for all three poles, and stayed steady throughout. Similar action happened heading right as well, started out messy, ended clean. The homework here? Keep doing it, and forcing him to canter. He's way out of practice needing to think about low steady work, and I'm retraining him on rhythm & pace, to see his distances, and stay quiet through the pattern work.
Then we set up the low crossrail, and I got after those too. Jen got some neat pictures (psst,, share!) of us looking great, and looking terrible. On one of the approaches heading right, I thought I heard her say "release your knees." By the time I started processing the thought, and changing my body, it was too late. Ransom jumped big, and pitched me straight out of the tack. We laughed - That's how I'll know if I'm holding on at the knees.. legs come behind me, and his launch will shove me out of the saddle. Each direction we hopped a few ways, and it got progressively better.
Changed direction to left, hopped once, talked about what I needed to change, and circled around. Hopped again, landed, one stride, two stride,
Horse Explosion!
Ransom jumped HARD to the left, 3-4 feet, and I quickly shoved my heels down, sat back, and grabbed one rein to turn him. What in the hell was THAT all about?
Cows.. That's what. About a dozen cows were trotting across the neighbor's pasture. They came out from behind the trees about two strides away from the fence. Spooked Ransom, and he was absolutely convinced they were going to eat him. When I got Ransom stopped, I hopped off, and spent some time talking with Jen about what happened. This isn't the first time he's spooked at the cows, and it's worse the faster they're moving. We're still formulating a "cow desensitizing plan" for him, and it's probably going to involve some time in a pipe fence pen with a few quiet ones. We can't keep repeating this "spook after the fence" nonsense.. For sure!
I "cowgirled up", got back on him, and he settled. Jumped a few more times, rode a little on the flat, and called it a lesson.
Long ride, and a lot learned. We're to keep up the canter poles, and if he gets lazy, move the cavaletti rail razors over to the canter poles. Switch up location of the canter poles and the trot cavaletti to keep him thinking and try to not repeat any one thing too many times in a row to prevent anticipation and laziness.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
2/28/10 Lesson
Warmed Ransom up quickly free lunge. Found him happily very soft & relaxed. I didn't waste much time, we were already running a little late.
Hopped in the saddle, and got a few minor corrections on position in two point. Shoulders not so bad, back keeps rounding, though. Concentrated on that a bit, and hopped through the trot poles. After one of the sets of trot poles, I picked up canter in the corner, and cantered around the rail outside the poles, broke to trot, and then the poles again. homework... trot poles, but canter some before & after. practice transitions at two point to avoid "hunching over" in my position as I ask for the canter.
Jen and I talked a bit about where to go from here in preparation for canter-to jumps. She set up four ground poles, a bit over 10ft apart. R came out with the camera, and shot that video I already posted, about four go-overs. With each canter through the poles, I got a little more relaxed. At one attempt, the second, I think.. I half-halted with some effort heading into them. Ransom stepped ON the pole, stumbled down to a trot, and then picked up canter midway through pole 2 & 3. Whatta horse.. Ya know?! I didn't realize he'd stepped on the ground pole until I saw the video later. Yikes! homework... leave the poles as-is. Canter through, trot through, with an extra trot stride in between each pole. Focus on release and relax... No half-halts before the canter poles - let him balance himself.
Then on to the crossrail. Enter at trot, depart at canter, settle back to trot. Rode this about four or five times, improved back & shoulders with each rail. I found myself staring blindly into space a few times.. I wasn't really looking down, I just wasn't looking anywhere. It's a by-product of my intense concentration. heels down, shoulders open, back stretched, head forward, squeeze... somewhere in there, my eyes go on vacation. homework, focus on continued trot-to's, but bigger release, back straight, and encourage energy in the departure.
A great lesson over all. Jam-packed with a variety of exercises, and plenty to work on. We've got two weeks until our next lesson opportunity, and I've got more than enough to practice & improve until then.
Hopped in the saddle, and got a few minor corrections on position in two point. Shoulders not so bad, back keeps rounding, though. Concentrated on that a bit, and hopped through the trot poles. After one of the sets of trot poles, I picked up canter in the corner, and cantered around the rail outside the poles, broke to trot, and then the poles again. homework... trot poles, but canter some before & after. practice transitions at two point to avoid "hunching over" in my position as I ask for the canter.
Jen and I talked a bit about where to go from here in preparation for canter-to jumps. She set up four ground poles, a bit over 10ft apart. R came out with the camera, and shot that video I already posted, about four go-overs. With each canter through the poles, I got a little more relaxed. At one attempt, the second, I think.. I half-halted with some effort heading into them. Ransom stepped ON the pole, stumbled down to a trot, and then picked up canter midway through pole 2 & 3. Whatta horse.. Ya know?! I didn't realize he'd stepped on the ground pole until I saw the video later. Yikes! homework... leave the poles as-is. Canter through, trot through, with an extra trot stride in between each pole. Focus on release and relax... No half-halts before the canter poles - let him balance himself.
Then on to the crossrail. Enter at trot, depart at canter, settle back to trot. Rode this about four or five times, improved back & shoulders with each rail. I found myself staring blindly into space a few times.. I wasn't really looking down, I just wasn't looking anywhere. It's a by-product of my intense concentration. heels down, shoulders open, back stretched, head forward, squeeze... somewhere in there, my eyes go on vacation. homework, focus on continued trot-to's, but bigger release, back straight, and encourage energy in the departure.
A great lesson over all. Jam-packed with a variety of exercises, and plenty to work on. We've got two weeks until our next lesson opportunity, and I've got more than enough to practice & improve until then.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunday Lesson
I won't get to the text of the ride today, I don't think. I know that a few folks are patiently waiting out there for some jump video. I've got two snippets to share..
Let me disclaimer - I'm new to this! I'm learning! See? Helmet! Polo wrapped legs, all four. Half-chaps, suitable breeches, eyes UP! Am I perfect? No! But! Before you steal these video clips, and use them in a teasing manner.. I issue this challenge - Send me a video of YOU on a horse YOU OWN, currently riding, doing it better than me. Show me what "RIGHT" looks like.
2/28/10 Lesson with Jen, her DH watching, and my R shooting the video.
Quiet, Please! (A little HM humor)
Poles at the Canter
Let me disclaimer - I'm new to this! I'm learning! See? Helmet! Polo wrapped legs, all four. Half-chaps, suitable breeches, eyes UP! Am I perfect? No! But! Before you steal these video clips, and use them in a teasing manner.. I issue this challenge - Send me a video of YOU on a horse YOU OWN, currently riding, doing it better than me. Show me what "RIGHT" looks like.
2/28/10 Lesson with Jen, her DH watching, and my R shooting the video.
Quiet, Please! (A little HM humor)
Poles at the Canter
Trotting to, Canter from, Cross rail
Monday, February 22, 2010
2/20 Deep Breathing
Ransom had a gallop-day in his lesson warmup. Hmm. How do I explain a gallop-day. Well, imagine a 20 year old gelding running in the arena like a 4 yr old colt avoiding work.. Yup. that describes him pretty well. When I turned him loose to warm up, he started out easy, then decided it was a good time to gallop. Now you'd think, at his age, this would last five minutes, yeah? Nope! A good solid fifteen minutes of running like a loose cannon. What a goober.
I got up in the tack, got settled in, and worked on my two point at trot for a little while. That all seemed to be going really well. Jen set us up seven trot poles in a row, and we bounced over those a while, both directions. Ransom stayed really soft and light.
Then we tried a series of four trot poles leading to a crossrail. Nope, not happening. Ransom over-jumped, in a launch-style leap over the X. It didn't seem any changes we made (like taking the last trot pole before the fence away) was going to help the situation. In fact, one of his Leaps, I came flat airborne out of the tack. WHEE! Landed, lost both stirrups, and still managed to stay aboard. Whew me! Good job! Jen took all of the trot poles away, and we approached the fence again.
The last two or three were pretty good. I'm still not always perfect in my release, but it's getting better. He isn't running away from the jumps eager to find the next one. Even that is improving. I have found a "sweet spot" in my jump position - where I can feel the air in my inhale all the way down to my waistline. Never felt that before, and when I did, Jen said my position looked pretty good. So now I have another "trigger" of how it feels when it's right.
It took us an hour and a half to accomplish all these things. Jen encouraged me to set the trot poles down one long side, X on the other, and circle before, after, or ride them one after the other, leaving time to get deep in the corners heading in. She also suggested time in two point at the canter, getting comfortable.
And, no, There's no video. I'm sorry... To those that were hoping for a chance to see our progress, I apologize. My fear of the harsh critique outweighs my desire to show off how far we've come. At some point, again, I'll decide I'm ready to be told about all the things I'm doing wrong, and risk my personal video becoming the butt of someone else's blog humor. But for now, I'm just not there. Any video that is taken will be viewed in my home, and nowhere else. That sucks, because I've got friends out of state that won't get to see it any other way. I just don't need the "verbal whacking" for all of my equitation sins just yet...
I got up in the tack, got settled in, and worked on my two point at trot for a little while. That all seemed to be going really well. Jen set us up seven trot poles in a row, and we bounced over those a while, both directions. Ransom stayed really soft and light.
Then we tried a series of four trot poles leading to a crossrail. Nope, not happening. Ransom over-jumped, in a launch-style leap over the X. It didn't seem any changes we made (like taking the last trot pole before the fence away) was going to help the situation. In fact, one of his Leaps, I came flat airborne out of the tack. WHEE! Landed, lost both stirrups, and still managed to stay aboard. Whew me! Good job! Jen took all of the trot poles away, and we approached the fence again.
The last two or three were pretty good. I'm still not always perfect in my release, but it's getting better. He isn't running away from the jumps eager to find the next one. Even that is improving. I have found a "sweet spot" in my jump position - where I can feel the air in my inhale all the way down to my waistline. Never felt that before, and when I did, Jen said my position looked pretty good. So now I have another "trigger" of how it feels when it's right.
It took us an hour and a half to accomplish all these things. Jen encouraged me to set the trot poles down one long side, X on the other, and circle before, after, or ride them one after the other, leaving time to get deep in the corners heading in. She also suggested time in two point at the canter, getting comfortable.
And, no, There's no video. I'm sorry... To those that were hoping for a chance to see our progress, I apologize. My fear of the harsh critique outweighs my desire to show off how far we've come. At some point, again, I'll decide I'm ready to be told about all the things I'm doing wrong, and risk my personal video becoming the butt of someone else's blog humor. But for now, I'm just not there. Any video that is taken will be viewed in my home, and nowhere else. That sucks, because I've got friends out of state that won't get to see it any other way. I just don't need the "verbal whacking" for all of my equitation sins just yet...
Thursday, February 11, 2010
2/6/10 Applying the Ride After
Jen came to the house in the afternoon, and found Ransom and I in the arena warming up. I wanted to show her the new things I learned, and begin applying them to everything I already knew.
She helped me "feel" the two point and half seat a little bit better. I did it long enough that "right" felt good. I wasn't sore or tense anywhere in my body, and it felt pretty stable. I spent most of the lesson ride at the trot, with just a little canter to avoid getting bored.
Then we set up the ground poles for trot. Only 2/3 of the arena is dry, but there's enough room, I now know. I worked him over the poles a few times, and added in half-halts in the middle of the poles. We worked in both directions quite a few times until the releases and the half-halts were all giving a consistent trot over the poles and away. It did take a while, and is going to continue to take repetition, but we've got a plan.
Ransom took a good stumble out of the poles one time, but managed to keep his Momma on board - *whew*
Total ride, around an hour. Pretty darn fun!
She helped me "feel" the two point and half seat a little bit better. I did it long enough that "right" felt good. I wasn't sore or tense anywhere in my body, and it felt pretty stable. I spent most of the lesson ride at the trot, with just a little canter to avoid getting bored.
Then we set up the ground poles for trot. Only 2/3 of the arena is dry, but there's enough room, I now know. I worked him over the poles a few times, and added in half-halts in the middle of the poles. We worked in both directions quite a few times until the releases and the half-halts were all giving a consistent trot over the poles and away. It did take a while, and is going to continue to take repetition, but we've got a plan.
Ransom took a good stumble out of the poles one time, but managed to keep his Momma on board - *whew*
Total ride, around an hour. Pretty darn fun!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
11/28/09 Vacation Day 4 Lesson
A Lesson on the Lunge Line Hunt Seat...
My take home thought? I need to shorten my stirrups on that saddle, one hole, and leave it there. No matter what. I need to find my new point of balance with stirrups a hole up, and leave them.
I rode off the line a while, alternating between posting, sitting, and two point at the trot. I even goofed off and kicked my feet out of the stirrups to show off my new trot and canter out of the stirrups. Jen picked up the line, and attached it to Ransom. I also had her tie up the reins in the bridle, so I could concentrate completely on my balance, not worrying about his direction. That later proved to not be the best choice.
Heading right, I discovered that my back arches up in two point. It's going to take some brand new concentration, alternating between a arched back, and the correct feeling, stretching out my chest. We worked on this a while, and even moved around at canter, hands stretched out, and resting on my thighs. :)
Switched direction... Apparently my legs and mind were tired, because it felt like Ransom hit his "go at trot" button.... fast, short strides. That's not how Jen described it, but was sure how it felt. I tried posting, tried sitting, tried two point, and ended up with a death grip on the reins, even though my mind knew that wasn't going to help, at all.
After quite a while, I started to relax, and Ransom started to relax. But by then, my legs and back had other plans - to quit! :) I got a few circles of decent canter in (but not terrific), and some good two-point.
Lesson lasted about an hour. No jumping as planned... but plenty accomplished on the lunge line , which was work that needed doing eventually.
My take home thought? I need to shorten my stirrups on that saddle, one hole, and leave it there. No matter what. I need to find my new point of balance with stirrups a hole up, and leave them.
I rode off the line a while, alternating between posting, sitting, and two point at the trot. I even goofed off and kicked my feet out of the stirrups to show off my new trot and canter out of the stirrups. Jen picked up the line, and attached it to Ransom. I also had her tie up the reins in the bridle, so I could concentrate completely on my balance, not worrying about his direction. That later proved to not be the best choice.
Heading right, I discovered that my back arches up in two point. It's going to take some brand new concentration, alternating between a arched back, and the correct feeling, stretching out my chest. We worked on this a while, and even moved around at canter, hands stretched out, and resting on my thighs. :)
Switched direction... Apparently my legs and mind were tired, because it felt like Ransom hit his "go at trot" button.... fast, short strides. That's not how Jen described it, but was sure how it felt. I tried posting, tried sitting, tried two point, and ended up with a death grip on the reins, even though my mind knew that wasn't going to help, at all.
After quite a while, I started to relax, and Ransom started to relax. But by then, my legs and back had other plans - to quit! :) I got a few circles of decent canter in (but not terrific), and some good two-point.
Lesson lasted about an hour. No jumping as planned... but plenty accomplished on the lunge line , which was work that needed doing eventually.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
11/12/09 Dedication to the Spot
Dedication is waking up at 4:45am, to feed the boys, to inhale coffee & breakfast, to get my bottom dressed in breeches (with work clothes set aside), to ride a lesson at the break of day.
Jen arrived around, hmm... 6:15am? We walked a saddled & prepared Ransom out to the arena, just as the sun was coming up. I tossed the reins over Ransom's neck to lunge him, and he spooked, or got a mosquito bite on his rear, or got in a habit, or something..
But he TOOK OFF. Ran at a near gallop around the arena, dragging the bridle behind him. This is the same bridle he's already tried to destroy once in the same fashion. He TOOK OFF running. We finally got him caught, but by then, my bridle was in pieces in the arena. Jen surveyed the damage, found my browband MIA, and had to go back to the trailer to find a new bridle to piece together for the lesson. She came back with another bridle, and his knotted noseband rope halter. I lunged him a while, and, in the morning foggy air, as I stopped to finally get on, steam was rising off his entire body. It wasn't particularly cold out, but incredibly humid.
We worked through all the normal test pieces, all the things he's been stickie on. Jen did NOT see the bending problems as Leslie described, so we're both puzzled by the whole "bend" discussion. We agreed on a slightly compromised hand position, not as high as the BRM lesson, but not touching the sheepskin half pad, either. Instead, something in the middle, forward and elevated slightly. It's not something I'll change overnight, but I will keep working on it.
When Ransom would be agreeable to some sitting trot and plenty of trot to walk transitions, I was able to let him canter. This is an ongoing activity as well - get him to quit antici-pating the canter just because I sit, or just because I'm in a corner, or whatever his excuse.
Total ride well over an hour. I scurried to get him undressed, change my clothes, and arrived at my job at 8:35am. *WheW*
I was exhausted the rest of the day. Take-home here? DON'T ride on a morning BEFORE going to work. Makes the work day feel like it'll never end.
Jen arrived around, hmm... 6:15am? We walked a saddled & prepared Ransom out to the arena, just as the sun was coming up. I tossed the reins over Ransom's neck to lunge him, and he spooked, or got a mosquito bite on his rear, or got in a habit, or something..
But he TOOK OFF. Ran at a near gallop around the arena, dragging the bridle behind him. This is the same bridle he's already tried to destroy once in the same fashion. He TOOK OFF running. We finally got him caught, but by then, my bridle was in pieces in the arena. Jen surveyed the damage, found my browband MIA, and had to go back to the trailer to find a new bridle to piece together for the lesson. She came back with another bridle, and his knotted noseband rope halter. I lunged him a while, and, in the morning foggy air, as I stopped to finally get on, steam was rising off his entire body. It wasn't particularly cold out, but incredibly humid.
We worked through all the normal test pieces, all the things he's been stickie on. Jen did NOT see the bending problems as Leslie described, so we're both puzzled by the whole "bend" discussion. We agreed on a slightly compromised hand position, not as high as the BRM lesson, but not touching the sheepskin half pad, either. Instead, something in the middle, forward and elevated slightly. It's not something I'll change overnight, but I will keep working on it.
When Ransom would be agreeable to some sitting trot and plenty of trot to walk transitions, I was able to let him canter. This is an ongoing activity as well - get him to quit antici-pating the canter just because I sit, or just because I'm in a corner, or whatever his excuse.
Total ride well over an hour. I scurried to get him undressed, change my clothes, and arrived at my job at 8:35am. *WheW*
I was exhausted the rest of the day. Take-home here? DON'T ride on a morning BEFORE going to work. Makes the work day feel like it'll never end.
Monday, November 9, 2009
11/7/09 BRM Lesson
I arrived at BRM a bit later than I honestly wanted to. Hwy 59 was great, but the last few miles of Hwy 99 were chock full of traffic. I had other motorists trying to weave in and out of the traffic, had to hit the brakes harder than I like to, and just felt incredibly stressedy by the time we arrived.
Leslie greeted us at the trailer while I was saddling Ransom. "Yeah, that's my boy. Wow he does look good!" Whew, a huge sigh of relief. I got Ransom all dressed in his blue pad, blue polos, and french link bit. Snatched my chaps, helmet, gloves, and offs we went.
Leslie told us to "meet her in the big jump arena." As I started to go in there, another lesson student wandered in wearing a hunt saddle. Oops. Leslie looked back at the covered arena, and said, "The heck with it. I'll be right back out, go ride him over there." She pointed to an uncovered, unfenced, 20x40m dressage marked, um, area. Note I didn't say "arena". There were railroad ties along the ground as markers, and the rubber/sand footing inside the ties. NO FENCE.
My mind churned. I am terrified to ride outside of a fence in a saddle without a handle or a way to feel anchored in. Oh Holy Crap! I swear how on earth am I going to trot, let's not even consider how I'm going to canter. Oh crap! I shared my anxious fears with R, who told me, "There's a difference. Look at your horse. He's at home, and he knows it. You're not riding Chewie, that's the difference. Has he done anything bad to you yet? Okay then, get up there."
I mounted in the saddle, and did everything I could to ride on the buckle at the walk. Ransom cheerfully plodded along in his standard free flowing over strided walk, head down. The first time their automatic gate squeaked open, he peered at it, but settled right back down. I laughed as I said to R, "Look at his ears. They're flapping he's so relaxed. Good grief whatta good boy."
Leslie approached, and said, "Okay, pick up a trot for a few rounds to warm him up." I took one HUGE deep breath (one like I just did as I remembered what it felt like), and barely squeezed with my legs. Ransom popped into a nice quiet trot, though with his head up and uncollected. (At this point, he hadn't had his normal lunging & side rein warm up like he's used to. I was a bit too late today to get a good warm up in. This led to some troubles in the lesson later.)
Ransom trotted around, and I settled into light contact quickly. Leslie chirped at me, "Shorten your reins, get your hands out of your lap. Bend your elbows, pick your hands up. See! Right there, now do you feel him going different?" Um, sort of. He's staying collected, but I usually get that after a good warmup.
Leslie asked me to "bend him around" in the corners. She said he wasn't bending in the middle. HUH? She asked us to trot serpentines, but quickly made me stop, commenting I wasn't bending him. She asked us to trot around and "Try to ride up centerline." So, I did. She said to us, "Well, I'm surprised you made it to centerline, because his behind wasn't bent getting there." HUH? She tried for probably twenty minutes it seemed like to explain "bending". The one time it made sense was in a corner, when she told me specifically to "pull my inside hand towards my hip, and add outside leg." One time Ransom seemed to push smooth through the corner. But I quickly lost the idea, and had to try again.
After some chat of "Bend" at the trot, she asked if I'd ever ridden him on a leg yield. Nope, never. (Okay, a bit of a fib. I've done a little bit at walk, but not really fought him for it.) We rode it at the trot-only. Heading left, I rode up the quarterline, and added inside leg ONLY, trying to balance his head straight on the bit. He gave two or so really neat leg yields to the rail. Heading right, it wasn't quite as easy. But I've got a good idea how to do it now, and will be doing this more at home. Inside leg only, take the outside leg completely off, look straight up ahead, and only use the reins to keep his head & front end straight. If he doesn't yield over, move inside leg back some & ask again.
We discussed this word "Bend" for quite some time. Then she asked me, "So what's his canter score?" I chirped happily, "I got 8s both leads on the test where we were both paying attention." She responded back, "I'd kind of like to see that. You really got an 8?" I glanced over towards her and R, and saw him grinning just a little bit.
I glowed. Oh yeah? You think? Let me just show you what our canter looks like. Oh my goodness, I'm still in this unfenced arena. Ransom, please let me show her what awesome canter you have. Take care of me, please. I leaned back, squeezed, and except for him popping his head up, he moved out into a gorgeous canter. It was a bit more forward than I'd like, and felt like he leaned just a bit, but it was nice. Just as nice as in the last show. Leslie's eyes lit up. "Wow, that does look really good. Just remember to bump him with the reins, get him off your hands every once in a while, and otherwise, that does look like an 8. Wow."
I was grinning, all over. Ransom and I settled back into a trot, then we cantered the other direction with EXACTLY the same result - a head popped up transition, but a gorgeous forward canter. I know I was grinning & glowing. I got a beautiful canter, outside of a fence, in my dressage saddle. How awesome!!!
Another one of the instructors came over and tried to explain what they meant by "Bend." She first had me ask him to turn on outside leg and outside rein only. She said to me, "He'll feel like he's bent to the outside. That's okay right now." And he was. Then she told me to add inside rein, wiggling the bit. I did that, and it did feel a little bit different. We did this at the walk some, then at the trot some. R videotaped that whole section of the ride, and I hope I'll be able to hear her talking to me through the wind & general outdoor noises. This part of the "bend" discussion made some sense, though I'm not entirely sure I felt anything different.
R made some observations worth noting, that I hope to see in some video this upcoming weekend.
*When I rode "hands out of my lap", elbows bent more, and hands up higher, Ransom apparently bent himself up more, and seemed to stick his butt up in the air. Hope to see, because I didn't feel it.
*When I "did what they told me to" with inside hand, outside leg, and bent him around "correctly", he bent in the middle and tucked his nose around the corners and in circles.
These are things that might have been captured in the pile of still shots he took, I'm not sure. We didn't review them together this weekend. Maybe get that done sometime this week.
We ran some shopping errands in Houston before taking Ransom on home for the night. Over all, it was a good lesson.
I did learn some new things.
I did ride somewhere new.
I did ride outside of a fence.
I didn't have a terrifying "train wreck" ride.
I did ride him without a lunging warmup.
I don't know that I learned anything really profound or applicable to what I hoped for, but I did get somethings accomplished.
Countdown to Sienna ... 8 days.
Leslie greeted us at the trailer while I was saddling Ransom. "Yeah, that's my boy. Wow he does look good!" Whew, a huge sigh of relief. I got Ransom all dressed in his blue pad, blue polos, and french link bit. Snatched my chaps, helmet, gloves, and offs we went.
Leslie told us to "meet her in the big jump arena." As I started to go in there, another lesson student wandered in wearing a hunt saddle. Oops. Leslie looked back at the covered arena, and said, "The heck with it. I'll be right back out, go ride him over there." She pointed to an uncovered, unfenced, 20x40m dressage marked, um, area. Note I didn't say "arena". There were railroad ties along the ground as markers, and the rubber/sand footing inside the ties. NO FENCE.
My mind churned. I am terrified to ride outside of a fence in a saddle without a handle or a way to feel anchored in. Oh Holy Crap! I swear how on earth am I going to trot, let's not even consider how I'm going to canter. Oh crap! I shared my anxious fears with R, who told me, "There's a difference. Look at your horse. He's at home, and he knows it. You're not riding Chewie, that's the difference. Has he done anything bad to you yet? Okay then, get up there."
I mounted in the saddle, and did everything I could to ride on the buckle at the walk. Ransom cheerfully plodded along in his standard free flowing over strided walk, head down. The first time their automatic gate squeaked open, he peered at it, but settled right back down. I laughed as I said to R, "Look at his ears. They're flapping he's so relaxed. Good grief whatta good boy."
Leslie approached, and said, "Okay, pick up a trot for a few rounds to warm him up." I took one HUGE deep breath (one like I just did as I remembered what it felt like), and barely squeezed with my legs. Ransom popped into a nice quiet trot, though with his head up and uncollected. (At this point, he hadn't had his normal lunging & side rein warm up like he's used to. I was a bit too late today to get a good warm up in. This led to some troubles in the lesson later.)
Ransom trotted around, and I settled into light contact quickly. Leslie chirped at me, "Shorten your reins, get your hands out of your lap. Bend your elbows, pick your hands up. See! Right there, now do you feel him going different?" Um, sort of. He's staying collected, but I usually get that after a good warmup.
Leslie asked me to "bend him around" in the corners. She said he wasn't bending in the middle. HUH? She asked us to trot serpentines, but quickly made me stop, commenting I wasn't bending him. She asked us to trot around and "Try to ride up centerline." So, I did. She said to us, "Well, I'm surprised you made it to centerline, because his behind wasn't bent getting there." HUH? She tried for probably twenty minutes it seemed like to explain "bending". The one time it made sense was in a corner, when she told me specifically to "pull my inside hand towards my hip, and add outside leg." One time Ransom seemed to push smooth through the corner. But I quickly lost the idea, and had to try again.
After some chat of "Bend" at the trot, she asked if I'd ever ridden him on a leg yield. Nope, never. (Okay, a bit of a fib. I've done a little bit at walk, but not really fought him for it.) We rode it at the trot-only. Heading left, I rode up the quarterline, and added inside leg ONLY, trying to balance his head straight on the bit. He gave two or so really neat leg yields to the rail. Heading right, it wasn't quite as easy. But I've got a good idea how to do it now, and will be doing this more at home. Inside leg only, take the outside leg completely off, look straight up ahead, and only use the reins to keep his head & front end straight. If he doesn't yield over, move inside leg back some & ask again.
We discussed this word "Bend" for quite some time. Then she asked me, "So what's his canter score?" I chirped happily, "I got 8s both leads on the test where we were both paying attention." She responded back, "I'd kind of like to see that. You really got an 8?" I glanced over towards her and R, and saw him grinning just a little bit.
I glowed. Oh yeah? You think? Let me just show you what our canter looks like. Oh my goodness, I'm still in this unfenced arena. Ransom, please let me show her what awesome canter you have. Take care of me, please. I leaned back, squeezed, and except for him popping his head up, he moved out into a gorgeous canter. It was a bit more forward than I'd like, and felt like he leaned just a bit, but it was nice. Just as nice as in the last show. Leslie's eyes lit up. "Wow, that does look really good. Just remember to bump him with the reins, get him off your hands every once in a while, and otherwise, that does look like an 8. Wow."
I was grinning, all over. Ransom and I settled back into a trot, then we cantered the other direction with EXACTLY the same result - a head popped up transition, but a gorgeous forward canter. I know I was grinning & glowing. I got a beautiful canter, outside of a fence, in my dressage saddle. How awesome!!!
Another one of the instructors came over and tried to explain what they meant by "Bend." She first had me ask him to turn on outside leg and outside rein only. She said to me, "He'll feel like he's bent to the outside. That's okay right now." And he was. Then she told me to add inside rein, wiggling the bit. I did that, and it did feel a little bit different. We did this at the walk some, then at the trot some. R videotaped that whole section of the ride, and I hope I'll be able to hear her talking to me through the wind & general outdoor noises. This part of the "bend" discussion made some sense, though I'm not entirely sure I felt anything different.
R made some observations worth noting, that I hope to see in some video this upcoming weekend.
*When I rode "hands out of my lap", elbows bent more, and hands up higher, Ransom apparently bent himself up more, and seemed to stick his butt up in the air. Hope to see, because I didn't feel it.
*When I "did what they told me to" with inside hand, outside leg, and bent him around "correctly", he bent in the middle and tucked his nose around the corners and in circles.
These are things that might have been captured in the pile of still shots he took, I'm not sure. We didn't review them together this weekend. Maybe get that done sometime this week.
We ran some shopping errands in Houston before taking Ransom on home for the night. Over all, it was a good lesson.
I did learn some new things.
I did ride somewhere new.
I did ride outside of a fence.
I didn't have a terrifying "train wreck" ride.
I did ride him without a lunging warmup.
I don't know that I learned anything really profound or applicable to what I hoped for, but I did get somethings accomplished.
Countdown to Sienna ... 8 days.
Monday, October 19, 2009
10/15/09 Ransom Lesson
I let Ransom warm up only briefly before hopping on. Back of the arena was still puddly, so I kept my ride to the front low circle.
He was awesome! I did a lot of work at sitting trot, convincing him we'd canter when I was only darn good & ready. After some anticipation, and plenty of sitting to rising trot in and out of walk, we worked on his canter a bit.
Jen pointed out something I guess I knew, but it hadn't registered. To get a good leg cue on Ransom, I was having to lift my heel to get any pressure for forward go. Yeah, not good. I concentrated real hard on not doing this, but it just wasn't working out.
Despite my concentrating on my bad legs, Ransom did great. Most of his transitions looked pretty good, he moved out nice enough, and seemed to be really concentrating on the day.
Cold front blew in over night long after our ride. Was well appreciated too, because it was a humid nasty blob for the ride. Total work, about an hour, with the upcoming week concentrated solely on test pieces before Sunday's show.
Countdown to Sienna, 10 days.
He was awesome! I did a lot of work at sitting trot, convincing him we'd canter when I was only darn good & ready. After some anticipation, and plenty of sitting to rising trot in and out of walk, we worked on his canter a bit.
Jen pointed out something I guess I knew, but it hadn't registered. To get a good leg cue on Ransom, I was having to lift my heel to get any pressure for forward go. Yeah, not good. I concentrated real hard on not doing this, but it just wasn't working out.
Despite my concentrating on my bad legs, Ransom did great. Most of his transitions looked pretty good, he moved out nice enough, and seemed to be really concentrating on the day.
Cold front blew in over night long after our ride. Was well appreciated too, because it was a humid nasty blob for the ride. Total work, about an hour, with the upcoming week concentrated solely on test pieces before Sunday's show.
Countdown to Sienna, 10 days.
Friday, September 25, 2009
09/24/09 Regroup & Back to Training
With the show cancelled, I could've done more pouting and fussing, or I could get my saddle back up & get to work. Ain't no reason why I can't make those transitions even better over the next month, right?
So, I had Jen come over & meet Ransom and I in the arena for a dressage lesson. The weather was just about perfect for riding - low 70s temperature, light winds, overcast skies. The back half of the arena was still a bit too mushy for real work, so we stuck to the low circle.
Ransom lunged out in side reins beautifully. No goofy fits, no stiff transitions. He actually was slowing down on my body language and a subtle "shhhhh" verbal cue. Very sweet! I was about done lunging as Jen arrived at the arena. Mucho perfecto timing!
As I was warming up, Ransom showed us what we would work on for the day. I got my canter-left in, and as I turned him around, he got a bit antsy at the trot-right, in AnTiCi...Pation of the canter-right. I let him canter right, just as Jen said, "Okay, let him walk." She suggested I needed to start mixing up my canters, not put them one right after the other, and work on a lot of different things in between, so he'd never know when his canter-fun would commence.
And we did. Worked on circles of posting trot, sitting trot, walk to halt, back to posting & sitting, a few figure 8s in the circle-space, and then some canter mingled in. Also worked on keeping my legs on and him collected up on the bit for transitions. I was happy to say most of them were pretty darn good. Ransom got a little fussy on the shoulders, sticking whatever shoulder out that was on the outside of the circle, in an effort to avoid work. I'll fix that! Work at walk and trot with his head bent in and then out of the circle. Bent-in at the walk, on the circle, rough stuff! Bent-out, at walk and trot, not so difficult. At least not difficult for me to control. Now, for my Ransom to hold it, funnie! He'll try to duck that head out in working trot, I forced him out in an exaggerated bend, for a circle or two, then let him go back to 'normal', and wow did he look good then!
Even with the weather-related two days off, Ransom was phenominal! We had an awesome ride, and in fact I lost track of time. He had a 20 minute warm up, and an hour ride! A whole hour! Got to love the weather, when I wasn't sweaty, wasn't feeling exhausted, and my horse still felt awesome. Forward-going, and light on my hands. Very Very sweet!!!
So, I had Jen come over & meet Ransom and I in the arena for a dressage lesson. The weather was just about perfect for riding - low 70s temperature, light winds, overcast skies. The back half of the arena was still a bit too mushy for real work, so we stuck to the low circle.
Ransom lunged out in side reins beautifully. No goofy fits, no stiff transitions. He actually was slowing down on my body language and a subtle "shhhhh" verbal cue. Very sweet! I was about done lunging as Jen arrived at the arena. Mucho perfecto timing!
As I was warming up, Ransom showed us what we would work on for the day. I got my canter-left in, and as I turned him around, he got a bit antsy at the trot-right, in AnTiCi...Pation of the canter-right. I let him canter right, just as Jen said, "Okay, let him walk." She suggested I needed to start mixing up my canters, not put them one right after the other, and work on a lot of different things in between, so he'd never know when his canter-fun would commence.
And we did. Worked on circles of posting trot, sitting trot, walk to halt, back to posting & sitting, a few figure 8s in the circle-space, and then some canter mingled in. Also worked on keeping my legs on and him collected up on the bit for transitions. I was happy to say most of them were pretty darn good. Ransom got a little fussy on the shoulders, sticking whatever shoulder out that was on the outside of the circle, in an effort to avoid work. I'll fix that! Work at walk and trot with his head bent in and then out of the circle. Bent-in at the walk, on the circle, rough stuff! Bent-out, at walk and trot, not so difficult. At least not difficult for me to control. Now, for my Ransom to hold it, funnie! He'll try to duck that head out in working trot, I forced him out in an exaggerated bend, for a circle or two, then let him go back to 'normal', and wow did he look good then!
Even with the weather-related two days off, Ransom was phenominal! We had an awesome ride, and in fact I lost track of time. He had a 20 minute warm up, and an hour ride! A whole hour! Got to love the weather, when I wasn't sweaty, wasn't feeling exhausted, and my horse still felt awesome. Forward-going, and light on my hands. Very Very sweet!!!
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