Another lesson recap

Tillie and I had our third lesson with trainer P Saturday and it was a lesson filled with many things that have flooded my brain to process. So this will be my best attempt at processing...

Hey uphill trot...where have you been all my life

Tillie hacked out to the ring this time like an old pro. No jigging or dancing around at all even with a giant group in the ring doing some fun Christmas thing. It was utter chaos with bows, bells, shiny garlands and christmas decor on ponies that were running around, jumping etc. 

Tillie took it all in just fine until they started to leave and a neighbor was driving around a remote car in the field next to the ring. This to Tillie was just the scariest thing ever. So our warm up was a bit tense with some pretty hard spooks I am not used to riding. P just consoled me and said act like no big deal and dont make a fight out of it. 

Isnt she just so cute?

Left bend struggles:

She felt a bit flat at the trot and not very supple, especially to the left...I hate to say heavy because she really wasnt but she felt a bit like a lug. Usually I can have her like a rubber band and she just feels easy to manipulate. 

I struggle with her left bend because she'll start to bend at her neck not the poll or her whole body and then throw her right outside shoulder off the path so shes no longer straight, but she isnt properly using her body either. 

Homework: P prescribed homework of lots of transitions, getting her straight in the warm up, lots of turn on haunches and/or turn on the forehand and some other lateral movements in the walk to really be sure I can move all parts of her body. 

Finishing the flat warm up: Usually when she trots around like a lug her canter is a mess and she bogs down on me, but for whatever reason her canter was just lovely! Because of Tillie's tendencies to get flat and recent XC outings, I have asked P about bit options (and have been toying with them for a while) and she suggested trying a Pelham. 

P  had me switch bits to try the pelham with bit converters on it so it would be a softer adjustment for both myself and Tillie and I wouldnt have to worry about two sets of reins just yet:

I went back out and did a quick w/t/c set both directions with it on to see what Tillie thought. Right away P reminded me to just ride softer and the amazing thing was, I felt like I could. I barely needed to touch the reins and Tillie seemed much happier to respond off my seat half halt after she felt the bit a bit more. 

So on to jumping we went. 

The first warm up fence was just a trot in to a vertical to see how this bit would go. I really had to focus on soft hands and letting her take the reins with this bit so our rhythm up to the fence did change a bit, which P didnt seem to mind:

P then sent us through the same grid as last week, again really having me focus on leaving her alone and staying out of her way through the grid. 

Some the other horses in our lesson were having drifting problems (which we had our first lesson with P lol) so she set the grid with a ton more poles to help promote straightness. The conversation here got missed, but I believe the landing here is where P discussed with me about owning Tillies outside shoulder and getting her straighter to balance her when circling. We will see more of this issue in a later video.

After that it was on to warming up over some other fences before we would do the whole the course. This moment, by far, was the shining moment for me in this lesson. I got the hugest adrenaline rush from this one fence because we both just felt so in tune and like we really nailed it. 

P had us keep going to come right back and do the whole line. It could be a 4  but we did it in a 5, but what was nice it was a fairly even 5. 

We took a bit of a moment here to talk about what was good and bad and the course we would be doing. I LOVED hearing from P that I was doing a better job releasing and letting her stretch, so Tillie was jumping better because of it. WOOO!!

Stretch Tillie Stretch! 

So on to trying the entire thing, and while some of it was nice, others were not. The grid was fine and quiet, but really apparent that I am collapsing my right side and dropping left which is why Tillie isnt landing on the left lead even though we discussed trying to do this in the lesson.

Uh...rogue right hand apparently goes along with that.

But Tillie lands and does a change for me, but we lose the outside shoulder again like I mentioned earlier, so decided to circle before attempting the next part of the course. Basically I need to use more right thigh!!!

The line rode fine in a 4!! It felt like we came in a bit long and I think you can hear me sort of squeal in surprise, but it was fine and we rode out fine.

WEEEEEEEEE!!!

Then came time to use the half halt and I tend to be a bit dormant and not quick enough / dont get the timing right which makes us biff the next fence. Plus side is Tillie rode out of it like ok so what...whats next? 

The outside line rode very nicely again for us and that was that! 

So of course P had us try again...and some things got better while others regressed. At this point I could tell Tillie was tired from the last two days of lessons as she was a bit more backed off to fences then usual this last go. P had me think HALT after the grid portion to better balance her for the first line which got us a much better approach. 

Just because this fence and line worked out so nicely each time for us.

Unfortunately the striding to the second fence didnt really work out BUT we landed and Tillie wanted to build, I was able to use a clearer half halt to get a nice ride to the oddly angled fence. This moment is when I fell in love with the pelham because I half halted fairly lightly, but could give it back! And Tillie listened! WOOOO!! 

Then we ended with the final line again which we came in a bit tight so Tillie sorta questioned the last fence (you can see her sorta dodge left right before). 

All in all it was another good solid lesson and another page in Tillie's book for learning. I am desperate to get back to C for a long overdue dressage lesson to get our trot back on track, back the fact her trot is now erring on the side of flat and slow is a step in the right direction from the rushed million miles an hour trot.  

Tillie got a much deserved day off Sunday...which good thing, because mare came in not 100% for breakfast and really only picked at her food. Luckily, she seemed fine otherwise and was eating hay, pooing and peeing, drinking, normal gums and temp so we just kept a close eye on her and she seemed to work out of it. Nothing like stressing mommy out after a few good rides! 

Tillie says I not used to working this hard! 

Riding the human human blender: Grids

Friday was my last lesson of the season with my trainer D since the migration to Aiken for the local eventers has started. It was a challenging one, but really appropriate one to leave us with since the lesson left many things to be desired but also many things to appreciate.

See you next season! Hopefully 2016 will be just as
awesome for growth, but maybe a little less painful...

Our lesson was all about grids. Grids are so wonderful for so many reasons from educating the horse, to fixing rider form, to confidence issues...but it also happens to feel like a human blender. So I am really happy Emma made it out to help video because it certainly appeared better then it felt.

We spent very little time discussing flatwork this time (Hopefully that means it was just that much better?!) but D did have us work a bit at the canter to get her more through and scolded me a bit for letting my inside rein go before she really gives. So basically the idea is correct, but I need to work on feeling it better otherwise it doesnt achieve anything.

Well duh...

So we warmed up over a part of the grid to start and Tillie did not understand bounces and that adding an extra stride means its no longer a bounce. But we finally figured it out.

Then the fun part and D goes, well ok now the whole thing...

It just was a blooper shoot from the first fence and for the first time really messing up in a D lesson, rather then getting too much in my head about it, I laughed it off.

Thank god Tillie kept her head up and acted as an air bag...

Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

I was prepared the next time through though and, while it wasnt perfect, we completed the entire grid without wobbling, teetering or having airbags deploy.

So we came through again to try to smooth things out:

You can tell by now Tillie is starting to understand the exercise and starts to carry herself through more without needing me to push for forward. While I can sit here and rip my own equitation to shreds, I will not and just console myself with it will get better the more I do these grids.

So D then put the oxer  up and widened it finally adding a pole diagonally across which to me seemed to read more like a table or xc fence. I have seen him use this before at home jump schooling, so was neat to see it put to use here.

Then we changed direction and came through the entire thing the other way towards the gate "home" so I knew she would be more willing to move forward through the exercise. Can we also just pause here to take a minute to laugh at that statement...wanting more forward from my horse, who normally, is tearing the reins from my hands because she doesnt want to slow down. 

Anyway, here is the first attempt the new direction:

At one point we really missed the distance coming in and it involved some hairy moments...it wasnt caught on video sadly, but Emma commented on how I let the reins slip out, sat taller and let Tillie ride out the exercise to figure it out. Basically I rode less and did everything D is begging me to do every other time haha. Hey at least its in there!

So we came through at the trot one more time where she caught one fence pretty hard with her hind legs...but at this point she was pretty sweaty with how abnormally hot it was so didnt fault her too hard there...and because her trot right before this time through looked fancy as all get out.

To be sure she really understood, D had us try it at the canter so here is the first attempt where we had a nice forward canter but because D had me "let go" of my reins earlier, I could feel myself tense and you can see Tillie went through this much quicker then some of the other attempts:

So of course we had to do it again with the same energy just a bit more relaxed which has to be one of my more favorite "win" moments captured from this lesson. 

At this point you can see Tillie getting a bit flatter over the fences as she was getting pretty tired...she wasnt blowing or anything, but as I mentioned earlier, it was really warm out so she was hot and sweaty. She hasnt had any issues sweating with her winter coat until this lesson so I havent clipped her, but will watch that with the next few days and see if it continues when the weather gets cold in the next few days. 

But in true D fashion, it isnt over until you do it right both ways or off both canter leads so he had us go through one more time off the right lead canter. I was really trying hard to nail it the first time through for Tillie's sake, and I am so glad we did!

So all in all it was a positive learning experience...some interesting moments and some pretty glaring form issues on my part, BUT I had a controlled horse that didnt lose it even though she started off a bit heavy on me. In the past when she gets like that we would have lessons where I would want to cry every time D would want to send us back through lol. 

So big hugs to Tillie :) And she got started on her ulcer treatment today so should hopefully get her bit less grumpy about tacking up. 

Holding on to all the good feelings

Its no secret of my struggles with confidence and taking this riding business way too seriously. I am trying to harness the wonderful feelings I have gotten from recent good rides to remind myself that it took a lot of bad rides to get that moment.

Naturally, after such a high from a fantastic ride, I brace myself to the not so great to happen. This is a habit I am desperately trying to break and I think that some of my more recent rides, I am starting to let go a little bit more.

Tillie always gets to me with her cuteness even after her doses of sass

Thanksgiving morning was beautiful weather and a perfect fall temperature - not too hot or too cold. Tillie on the other hand did not wake up on the good side of the stall because she seemed much grumpier then normal and just very blase about tacking up in general.

I know the feeders fed slightly earlier with it being the holiday so maybe her beauty sleep was interrupted.

So tired....

As soon as I got on I could feel that she was a bit more defensive in her body. Back to holding her neck in that Tillie Tense way that no matter how much "massaging" and shhhiing I tried to do with some spirals, serpentines ground poles to lift her back she was just not having it.

Maybe Tillie would be in a better mood if she didnt poo where she eats

Even changing the rein she suddenly would invert lose the connection and rush especially going from right to left which left tends to be her harder side. Well, we all know how horses are. You nail it one day and the next its foreign. So I tried not to be too frustrated even when she was pulling pony worthy moves of overly reading into my body and slamming on the breaks to trotting too fast to not understanding outside aids or reins.

Nope, not in the mood

So I decided to not get to nit picky and just get her moving and unstuck so lets canter...that did seem to help and get her more through at the trot after and I was able to have a more honest contact in my reins. So we left it at that and I gorged myself on all the good food and thanked my lucky stars that regardless of the fact it may not have been a "good" ride, it was a good ride all the same because I have a sound horse who I thought may never be and I am physically able to ride.

See...its the simple things!

Horse eating gremlins are everywhere

Wednesdays ride was the ride I like to call "overcome with the fear of horse eating gremlins." To be fair Tillie was wonderful in the ring...it was just our experiences when we left the ring that made this ride a bit more interesting.

Trying to hold on to the simple things in life, like a pretty sunset even if our ride wasnt stellar

Wednesday I really had to talk myself into going to ride. I just was not feeling motivated, but I am glad I did go. Despite there being lessons going on with some questionable steering, Tillie was pretty focused. Not quite as soft or supple as I would like, but she would give my some lengthening of her neck without losing her tempo or the connection!

BOT mesh sheet before and after rides = a happy relaxed Tillie

I did some canter work pushing the canter forward and then asking her to back off again without using any hand. As hard as that was to do, I was really impressed with how well she did it and without sass UNTIL the lesson with the children left and she noticed Isabelle (You'll often see her in Emma's blog) being long lined in the round pen next to the ring. She locked her side eye on her and began bracing on the right rein...even though we had been working past Isabelle the entire time without problems at this point...and when I did a check and balance on it she did a bit of a head toss before settling down.

The end of our trail ride adventure...where Tillie thought everything would eat her

 I made her do it one more time at the same end of the ring to establish it is possible when other horses are around and then decided to push my luck and take her on a cool down walk through the woods. After all, most days I get there after work so its too dark to go and I am usually too chicken to alone. BUT Tillie does seem to look to me more when we are without other horses and riders and I figured she needs to do this alone if we ever are going to improve and try conditioning one of these days.

She was a bit tense and looky at deer, fox, random leaves which I all scolded her slightly reminding her these things live with her in her pasture every day (Yes literally the deer come in her field every night). She kept it together until we came upon Gremlin Mountain.

I call it that because every time I have ridden this ravine/hill down to the stream crossing no matter which direction (ascending or descending) every horse, the seasoned and the green, just do not seem to like it. So we all have joked there must be horse eating gremlins down there we humans cant see...

After a few rears and spins without any bolting (see its the simple things) I got the mare down the hill and across the stream without any more trouble.

Yay for progress!

Training to be an eventer...as an "professateur"

I consider myself an amateur in this sport because I am fairly new to it and I don't do this for a living. At the end of the day it is my hobby. Would I like to do it full time? Maybe. But I don't believe I have the wealth of knowledge it takes to do that yet. Technically, I will have to declare myself a professional when I start attempting to do recognized events some day because I teach beginner lessons and accept compensation for doing that. So I guess I am both: A Professateur"

Now I am making up words to figure out where I belong.

This is why I hold myself to the higher standard of that of a professional. I will have to hold my own against them some day. Some day being the operative word there.

Not only am I fairly new to eventing, but also to dealing with young/green horses and having to really put in training rides rather then rides you get on and work on yourself. Maybe this is an incorrect generalization, but it does seem to me that eventers as a group are always approaching their rides with that "training" mentality. Its perfectly reasonable considering there are three entirely different and unique phases we have to prepare our horses for. Once one seems to get ironed out, our horse presents some holes that need filling in another.

While the process is tedious and frustrating at times...it is addicting. Since I have started getting my feet wet in this sport, I am constantly looking for what to work on next.

One of my final rides on my previous horse but still "training" for correct way of going.

Sure there is some overlap in the training for the phases. A half halt is a half halt and if you dont have it in a dressage test, your surely will see that horse galloping cross country like they are in the Kentucky Derby even though they are running BN (Yes that has been me and my horse so I am saying this from experience). But the training for each phase has such subtleties that go beyond just the half halt and it really seems to be about educating the horse to understand each phase and be able the questions in each with the tools learned in training.

We go fast and jump all the things

Dressage always gets put into the "no one enjoys it as much as jumping category" for a reason...its tedious and it calls out your horse's obedience to you as well as your effectiveness as a rider. We all know that any given day those things can change.

Stadium or show jumping is another technical phase that, I feel, requires precision and tests the true suppleness and obedience you have in dressage but over fences. In three day events this is the final phase so it will also test stamina and the ability to recover and regain the sharpness you aim for in dressage but after a strenuous cross country course.

The phase that makes our sport so unique is Cross Country. It is not for the faint of heart and really requires bravery on both horse and rider. It is meant to test endurance and the partnership of the horse and rider to answer the various questions presented over assorted terrain and solid obstacles.

So as a professateur, I am constantly questioning if what I am doing at home is correct. I ride with many different trainers, each strongest in one phase that I use to supplement each other. I sometimes get on my horse for another day to day ride and know what it is we need to work on but overwhelmed with all there is to do. I just get going and find myself doing something else or not really following a plan.

Yes I know horses can throw wrenches in the mix and deviating from the plan is a necessity...but I admit, I need to be better about having a plan that I can deviate from. For example, one of my trainers jumps every Saturday. Thats just part of the plan. Within that, there may be a grid set up or a bending line or a corner...some technical exercise posing a question that is intended for the horse to be able to answer by the end of the ride.

one the many exercises D has had us try

I know some riders even go as far as allotting X amount of time for warm up, X amount for working on something new and then X amount for a cool down or reestablishing what is already known.

Call it a playbook or what have you, but Id like to make it a goal to come up with a better plan and exercises to do when on my own. Yes we may have to deviate from that on any given day if a different challenge presents itself, but at least I have a "check list" to follow and stay on track.

Does anyone do something similar or have any useful resources they use?

The things I am thankful for

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I am going to list all the things I am thankful for....I have so many awesome things in life to be grateful for, so I will be keeping this post strictly horse related thankfulness. 

So without further delay...

I am thankful for:

being able to afford a horse in my life to give kisses to

a sound horse despite the cellulitis and close to 6 months of stressing over lameness from it

Miseventer always being supportive and riding my horse when I cant

Having made new horsey friends that have forced
me to find the fun in riding again. THANK YOU Emma and Brita.

being alive despite Tillies shenannigans

ALLLLL of her shenannigans.

Tillie being so good trailering

Her expressive personality

So expressive

But really...expressive

That we have gone from this:

To more uphill and relaxed:

And finally that our jumping form has gone from this:

To this: