Jumping all the things!

NeI have a bit of catching up to do on sharing videos with you all so I am combining this post of my xc schoolings from last weekend and last evenings. We have been a bit busy with me wanting to really feel confirmed at prelim stuff going into the weekend.

Brother and sister stare down

Last Saturday, right from the start Tillie came out warming up super relaxed and waiting on me. It felt super comfortable and set the tone for the entire schooling. Its nice when shes like this because then I ride her more confidentially and forward like she needs to be for this level. This also was my first time schooling without a trainer there pointing at things telling me to go do it.

So picking and choosing was definitely something I had to think smartly about and feel out Tillie.

Here is some of warming up over some of the smaller stuff, but we finished off with the big table at the end! It felt nice and gave me more confidence to try the prelim stuff on my own.  

This was pretty early into schooling after warming up. Tile came right up to this very confident. It was the first skinnier test of the day and she came in nicely without any worry. I knew I needed to keep my shoulders up with the terrain question. 

Next we moved on to this bending line with corner/brush type fences. I knew my ride in needed to be accurate without drifting. We got a bit of an add to the second fence and it really should be a 4 stride not a 5 but we worked on this with Dom yesterday. 

From here we moved on to the keyhole combo. I was very proud with how much Tillie hunted out the final skinny. 

This was a fun combo to try! The first time through I came in too forward of a ride so came back and learned that I needed a better, deeper approach to the first log so we could be ready for the bending line out over the final log. It rode a lot nicer that way!

Then I felt brave and decided to give the big trakhener to the skinny a try. I knew we needed enough power to get over the trakehener but then be able to rock back and focus on the skinny. I was worried Tillie might land from the first and get too wooden before the second, but she shocked the hell out of me and coasted right along to the skinny.

Next up we moved onto banks...the dreaded banks. Its no secret that I dislike riding them despite down banks being fairly easy so long as you sit up and let your reins slip. Sounds so simple right?

But I knew I needed to conquer this because prelim drops, well, are much larger and more prominent on courses than previous levels. So I started with a bank down I did before so had that in the back of my mind to boost my confidence.

Tillie is super keen and has no issues with banks, so of course it rode just fine.

So I ran the house to bank down in reverse to add that shorter combo and timing to make sure I didn't anticipate too much and was able to keep my shoulders up. I knew I needed a deep distance into the house so she landed softly for the bank. Then we circled around to give the skinny a try that we have had issues with last year. Tillie jumped it cool as a cucumber.

We stepped up our game and did this bank complex. I remember looking at similar combos here before (they change jumps around but typically have similar questions around) and thinking wow that looks really scary. Tillie made it feel effortless. Riding this definitely turned a corner in my mind about riding banks!

Last but not least we moved on to water so I started with this slight bending line. Tillie came in a bit powerful to the log and I didn't let my reins slip enough. Luckily I sat up and recovered in time to direct her to the skinny out. NOTE TO SELF: Slip the reins!!!

I knew next I needed to conquer the larger bank into the water. At prelim there will be a combo there so I pulled up my big girl pants and gave it a try.

With that I ended our schooling for that day. Tillie gave me such try!

My kiddies

Up next (below) is a recap of our schooling last night. I don't have as much footage but will walk through the footage I do have. I wasn't feeling super great physically going into this schooling so came out of the gate riding more like a weenie. Which I believe caused Tillie to be a bit more keen to lean on me and be up to some old tricks to start like taking the bit any time she had a moment.

Dom reassured me its normal, we all have those days its just about getting the rideability you want before you go onto course. So it was actually nice it happened here so he could walked me through my XC warm up for Saturday in case she was more like yesterday's ride. He really implored when shes like that not to get too backwards. That I need to learn how to keep the forward and get her more rideable out of that forward canter without shortening it too much.

The first footage I have is this corner which she jumped great after this, but I only have the first attempt where I left her drift so she dropped her shoulder. She was still being a bit wooden at this point in the schooling but Dom talked me through it. 

Up next we did the skinny brush bending line. This was the second attempt since the first one was nice and quiet, but he wanted me to come back and do it out of a more forward canter. While Dom agreed it wasn't as pretty, that's the canter we need to get smoother in these combos. 

At this point I was still feeling a bit defensive and coming into this exercise was able to over come and ride it forward, but as we came to the table with it feeling a tad down hill I got a bit too greedy causing the dreaded gappy distance. We did finally manage to get the right ride, but no video footage unfortunately. This is the point in time we talked more about doing the homework of that forward ride...which until today has been better. He told me not to fret, just try to not make this the habit for Saturday which will likely be my go to with my nerves. 

At this point she got much more rideable though and we gave the roller coaster complex a try. I was fully expecting issues from this one. This is the better take on it, the first one wasn't caught on film...but as a learning experience: I misunderstood Dom and rode the first time on a deep approach to the first jump causing a need to push to get to the second making the third jump just a tad less approachable. 

So instead you want to come into this out of an open canter off the first with a longer take off so making the distance to the second you get that deeper ride. That way the second one backs them off on the landing so you have the adjustability to the final jump. My nit pick is I still got a bit forward in my shoulders here. 

To end we went to the water like usual and we ran through this combo and small bank down. We refined my shoulders for the down bank before moving on but it felt pretty good!

Finally Dom laid it on us and had us finish with the big brush out. I was extremely skeptical we would get over the big brush at the end the first attempt but Dom confidently said as long as I got my right line, didn't let her drift and had the right canter she would do it.

Of course he was right! 

So here's to hoping she feels ready and I feel ready on the big day.

Deciding when to move up

It is a topic I have seen written about again and again where people talk about the struggle of deciding when its right to make the leap and move up to the next level.

Its a topic that there really isn't a blanket answer for (aside from the repeated advice, "Do it when the current level feels bored"). The choice is really personal. One that you can only know from knowing your horse, your own confidence and lots of discussion with the professionals involved.

Going for it

 I felt the move up to Training level was pretty huge because for me that level as my big goal. This big thing in my head that I built up. I didn't really think about moving up to prelim until Dom started asking my plans for the season.

Point her at it, She'll jump it

 When we discussed it initially, it was agreed we would just see how this season goes at Training level and re-evaluate when I felt ready...as in not hurl when looking at the huge prelim tables. I have been keeping an eye on Prelim courses when I have walked my own. Some have looked HUGE. Slowly though, they have started looking more doable. I would find myself thinking, "We can do that!"

Skinnies are becoming less of a thing

Realistically speaking, I was totally fine with the plan of getting miles at Training level considering the struggles we had even completing an event without forgetting a test or **ahem* a jump. I knew I needed to become comfortable enough where I did not feel so frazzled.

Getting the hang of this!

Interestingly enough, by the 3rd Training into this season I stopped  freaking out at the size of certain jumps on my course and started thinking more about timing, how to approach it etc. Without fail when walking my course, I almost always would have one fence that I would frantically text Dom and ask, "We have jumped something this big right?"

Water jump!

Any prelim jump in comparison scared the pants off me. But I noticed by the time we competed at Seneca, I was eyeing the prelim course while I walked mine and started thinking what we could realistically do and what we needed to start working on to be able to do what I didnt think we could do.

It wasnt pretty, but we did it

Pretty soon I was feeling like more and more of the prelim jumps were looking a little less intimidating, while training level became something that felt pretty easy. I hate saying that because this sport is anything but easy...and that whole wait to move up until you're bored thing, do jumps ever become "boring?"

Anyway, the entry is in for Seneca September 2nd for our Prelim debut. I reached out to the organizers to be sure I had the ability of dropping our entry down if I felt like our schooling leading up to it felt like we werent ready. Ill admit, I was feeling pretty 50/50 on it.

But after this weekend, I have never felt more confident! I took Tillie to windurra to school down banks and skinnies specifically, while also doing other things. But its no secret I hate down banks...and Skinnies are really the step up to prelim I am not 100% confident we are confirmed there. 

 Ill post more on the specifics later, but lets just say, we are ready!!

Growth and Comfort do not coexist

I recently had a cross country lesson with Dom this past weekend. Overall, I walked away extremely excited but can't deny there were some hard moments that opened my eyes to how hard this sport can be. Dom reassured me that there cant be growth without pushing the limits and that I shouldn't stress about where we struggled and that the good news is, her reaction is very typical of a green horse at the level...I just need to put on my own big girl riding pants and learn how to help her better.

Like this happened...maybe the dap on horseback can be a new in thing?

Upper level riders certainly make riding through those tricky combinations so easy, but what we don't usually see, is all the training it took to get a horse to that point that they can skip through the questions so smoothly. So it was nice to have the reassurance of Dom telling me this is all par for the course and I will start getting better at reacting quicker the more we do them.

I realize I have been incredibly spoiled to not have ever had a stop or run out on this horse. So this lesson where we had not just one, but a few was mostly due to my lack of knowing how to ride it and just not reacting quickly enough. I thought for sure after the first one, it would throw me off a bit more...but I was so excited about the recent bit change that it didn't deter me one bit.

OMG an actual uphill canter

So onto the bit update: I was practicing galloping Tillie last week which resulted in some not so fun moments including Tillie bolting, getting her head low and bucking when I would try to half halt. It isn't the most warm and fuzzy feeling in the world, and this issue with her has been a recurring one.

It also has been nagging at me. With our move up to Training, going faster needs to be able to happen out on XC, without all the fighting. Its been something I have been talking to Dom about and other trainers, which resulted in the conversation about having her vetted in case it was a pain related issue.

Locking on!

After her vet evaluation, we know we would like to try injections, but it is so mild that it this isn't 100% physical and its the dreaded training issue. At least that's good-ish news right?!

So Dom schooled Tillie for me a few weeks back and had some discussions with Tillie about the half halt. It means NOW, not in five strides and not lean more on my hands...when I say balance or rate yourself it means do it now.

So we can avoid jumps like this

After our galloping incident, I had a horsey friend suggest trying a different bit. Not necessarily a harsher one, but one that applies pressure differently than the Pelham since the Pelham tends to promote lower the head when that's the last thing we need.

Most horses raise their heads when they get hot...mine likes to get down. So after some research and asking around, the gag bit was what came up. I did even more research and looked up some videos of Clayton Fredericks using one with his 4* mare Be My Guest. Low and behold the mare tends to gallop a bit like Tillie tries to and this bit allows him to let her gallop like her natural way of going and set her up before fences without needing to fight with her the whole time.

I read a bit more about it here: http://www.horsenation.com/2012/06/07/a-bit-of-advice-gag-bits/

Yea, no more of this....taken this time last year

Dom was kind enough to let me borrow his (which my inner fan girl almost died when he said it was the one he used on Boly - the horse he just got 6th on in the FHI 2*) and left it with me to play with for a few days leading up to our XC lesson.

Right away, as soon as I took a spin around the track and windurra, I knew it was exactly what we needed. Tillie didn't lean on it at all...and when she would try to test it, all she could do was slightly root, but would quickly come back up when she caught herself in the mouth.

I was able to let her gallop and bring her back...for the first time I felt comfortable keeping my leg on.

All smiles even when going really fast

Dom was quite excited about the change too and was pretty impressed with how quickly I could get her back again.

So now onto the actual XC lesson!!!

Dom had us warm up first in the field inside the track. It was a blistery cold, wet and windy day so we knew it would be a good test for the new bit...also since Tillie had a light two days prior (one day off, one day of 20 ish minutes stretching).

He reminded me to use my turns to get good lines to the jumps, look sooner at my jumps and to not mess with our canter....find a rhythm and stay there. So he had us do a figure 8 exercise to sort of establish where we needed to be.

Once we warmed up, we put a few of the jumps together...Tillie just got a bit funny to the one table resulting in my losing one rein, but we got it together to keep going:

And youll see we had our first run out at the skinny...and let me tell you, it surprised me how large it was as I approached it, so wasn't all that surprised Tillie wasn't sure. Especially since we haven't xc schooled in quite a while.

So we circled back to school the Skinny:

Not the prettiest, but we made it happen.

So next we moved on to a ditch and skinny log...which apparently Tillie doesn't care about ditches anymore and just runs through them:

This run out was totally my error...I was too busy chuckling about the ditch to properly present this skinny, also with brush and quite large. Dom gave me a bit of a talkin to on this one saying I needed to sit down in my tack, widen my hands and not allow her a way out.

So we do it again with some flair:

Clearly it still makes her a bit anxious so her response is to speed up. Dom explained that this is a normal thing and her being green to them and having this reaction is pretty standard so we need to keep skinnies in the forefront of our training. Build some small ones at home in the ring - especially with brush and just do them every so often to keep them fresh.

Next we schooled the corner which I did better and keeping her in front of me even with her anxiety with it:

The next portion of the lesson was definitely the hardest xc combo we both have ever seen...and it certainly gave us some trouble, but it was quite the learning experience for us.

First attempt could have gone better if I was more prepared and didn't lean at my jump:

Second attempt I had to really ride and be scrappy to get her through it...which she basically crawled over the second jump - but we got it done and Dom said that it was the kind of ride that needed to happen:

So he had us come through in reverse and I apparently forgot how to ride all together:

But after a good butt kicking from Dom we went through the whole thing one final time, nicely and in a good place:

WHEW! Shockingly I wasn't super nervous about doing these...even after the trouble we had. But looking back at the videos I cant help but think mayyybe I just turned my brain off because I HATE down hill anything and these are awfully steep downhill!

We moved on next to another line of jumps to a skinny combo around to a half coffin to which Dom basically warned me about the run out and told me to not allow it to happen:

We didn't have a run out!!! woo!! But we didn't quite get the right half halt to the second jump so Dom had us do it again:

Basically, I had the right idea, but I rated my canter a bit too much and needed to keep my leg on and find a more even distance there.

Finally we moved on to the water complex:

Apparently Tillie ignores down banks too! Luckily it didn't phase her from remaining being locked onto the jump in the water but Dom sent us out to try again:

Which resulted in her taking a funny leap into the water again...lol so one more time:

We ended after this with Dom saying he is quite pleased with the progression...I expressed some of my own ability frustrations as well as my excitement for the rideability I now have in the gag.

Dom lectured a bit, saying its all learning and there wont always be pretty moments...but as long as we both learn from them is what counts. So here's to progress! Even when it isn't linear!

when things dont go as panned...you improvise!

I was supposed to have a lesson this evening with Dom, but something came up and I found myself all tacked up at the farm we were supposed to be meeting at, ready to XC school. My first instinct was well shoot, now we wont go out XC, but maybe we can hack out in the dressage arena or school just to practice that.

All dressed up and no where to go

I am glad we did because miss mare in heat was looky and felt quit similar to how she does at a show. I instantly was sad I didnt have Dom or C there to coach me through it, but I did my best and just tried myself not to get sucked into the tension. Tillie felt a bit on the slower side...which with how humid and hot it is here, I cant say I blame her.

The bugs are soooooo annoying Tillie says

Despite her initial tension, Tillie went well in the dressage arena. She gave me really accurate leg yields and our walk canter walk transitions were on point!!! I am hoping our dressage lesson with C tomorrow will prove it! She was still a bit on the "lazy" side for Tillie but when she rides like this I LOVE it because I feel comfortable adding leg and riding the forward I try to ride otherwise, but shes already forward (but not really in front of my leg).

#mareface

I was almost willing to just stay in the ring, but a few barn members I know well suggested just hacking out XC and just taking it real easy (which was fine by me since I chose to put her snaffle on not really expecting to XC school).

Look closely in the upper left and youll see a pig Tillie reallllly wasnt sure about

We started off trotting a few intro/BN jumps and Tillie was quite eager on the take off, but nice and quiet on landing. I was pleasantly surprised and really tried to reward her by being soft and letting  my reins loop if she was uphill. When Tillie isnt uphill, she feels like a snowball rolling down the hill gaining speed...but she felt nice and consistent!

Trying one of the larger fences after warming up

I focused on relaxing my knee and thighs too when she gave me the nice moments and really tried not to freak out about why she was being sooo good. I fully expected the snaffle to be an issue and her require us to circle or take things reallly slow. But she just did her job and felt like a been there done that horse.

Unfortunately for me,  I have PTSD remember? So my initial reaction was something was wrong and really wasnt enjoying myself as much as i should have been and was constantly trying to look or feel for something to tell me to pull her up.

When your horse takes the flier off a down bank

I felt so good I even did a few down banks!!! Even when she took the flier to the one, I felt ok and solid (even when falling a bit forward on landing). I was enjoying how soft she was so much, but scared something was wrong, I even took her temperature when we got home. It was normal...god forbid my horse is actually becoming trained like the obvious answer **roll eyes**

I know I am ridiculous...I just always worry!!

Anyway, here is the short video from a few of the jumps we did:

Windurra XC school

Fair warning...I had a major fan girl day yesterday so there will be lots of name dropping and gushing to make up for the lack of media from our outing.

We made the hike back up to Windurra USA for a lesson with Dom Schramm again in the hopes that we would XC school this time since last week we only had time to jump school in the ring. Dont get me wrong, that was pretty awesome too since the footing was like riding on a cloud.

Oh nice footing, where have you been my whole life?

This time we stayed out in the XC field to start and went right into warming up on the beautiful track (also equipped with the lovely cloud-like footing). Dom also sent us around the fields to expose our horses and get them listening a bit as well.

While cantering around, I realized we were cantering around Boyd Martin taking a lesson with Lucinda Green **GULP** - Like seriously, eventing legends watching me and Brita canter around. I had a bit of a pep talk with Tillie in that moment and asked her to please not make me look ridiculous once we started schooling.

Oh hey! We are here! 

Dom sent us off to warm up over some logs that followed the perimeter of the galloping/exercise track and told us to start off with a smaller canter and then develop a bit. If that went ok he said to continue on to pop over a novice-sized coop to a novice roll top looking thing and around to a pretty large table. Tillie ate ALLLL of them up and did so calmly - thank goodness!

Borrowed from the website...but this was one of the jumps we jumped warming up...man its big!

I asked him about the difference between chipping into a fence vs getting them to wait and come in deeper to a fence since that was one of our goals for some of these to prevent her from getting flat and landing on the forehand. His answer was simple and sort of made me feel silly for even asking but, a chip is when you approach a fence coming in a 12 ft canter stride but the last stride turns into a shortened 10ft or less stride where as a waiting distance or one when you ride to the base is approaching in a 12ft stride but then you adjust to a 10ft stride the last few making an even striding for a few strides rather than the last second.

Mare glare and not enthused at all

We moved on the banks...which I promptly warned Dom about my ridiculous phobia of down banks which he reassured me and said well its because youre worried about her landing too downhill and yanking you out of the tack - no worries, we will work on your position and letting the reins slip even if it takes 4 laps around the field to get her back. 

Fortunately for me, Tillie listened to my pep talk and was on her A game and didnt land taking off ever or get too strong...the mare knows when that pelham is one and respects it. 

We talked about how to ride both up and down banks:

• Up Banks: Horses like up because they naturally are inclined to want to go up so instinctively its an easier question for them to answer. You want to come in right to the base and not get too long, stay tall and grab mane so you dont accidentally catch your horse on the way up

• Down Banks: Look up at the horizon NOT down and stay really tall with your shoulders...many riders make the mistake of tipping forward before the horses shoulders leave the bank and then they may hesitate, launch off etc which causes the rider to teeter a bit and cause a potential issue. Think of staying perpendicular to the ground so if you remove your horse from under you, you would land on your feet.

Tired Tillie

We started with going up the smaller banks then tried the double bank up which went swimmingly. Then we did the down banks the same way...shockingly it wasnt so bad! Tillie totally didnt bat an eye at the double banks and Dom had me trying to stay more in my stirrups rather then sit on her back so much. What do you know, they felt pretty darn smooth!

Then we went off to the ditches. Dom had Brita and Rachael do a few things since both their horses are not fond/green with ditches and I loved how they both were able to do them without any issue as a result!
Then we went. Dom had us trot the smallest ditch, keep going and canter the second, larger, ditch then land and keeping going to come back to the third even larger ditch to a one stride to a roll top. He said to stay tall, allow and be soft but to keep her straight. We did it 2x without any issue :) Yay Tillie!

Again borrowed this from their website...it isnt quite up to date but you can get the idea

Finally we headed over to the water. We splashed around a little to start and then Dom had Tillie and do a bit of a few jumps together coming in and out of the water a few times.

He had us start with jumping a line of two roll tops with brush on top which as we got closer got larger and larger...lol. Tillie sort of questioned the first one, but I sat up tall closed my leg and she did them alright. We landed frm those came cantering through the water, made a right hand turn and jumped the log (you can see in the image) down into the water...made a left turn jumped the rolls tops the opposite way (which Tillie did much softer and more relaxed) and jumped the bank down into water.

Soooo exhausted

Dom was pretty happy with that so that is where we ended. I couldnt be more thrilled with her! I was also super happy with how positive it was for my barn mate Brita :) We just have the best horses.

See I told you guys I would gush!!

Bath time once we got home...much to Tillie's dismay

Our Novice debut in detail - Cross Country

After stadium, we marched on over to XC. I was feeling very confident as long as Tillie could stay as adjustable and calm out here as she did in the ring and the last event.

Walking the course, I felt really good about most of the fences...there were some pretty cool ones and I was excited to see they were legit novice questions with some good length between some to allow some actual galloping. I realized while walking the course that when I schooled here right before Rolex, I actually had schooled the training level stuff thinking it was novice...No one entered training so they werent flagged except the #15 so I resolved that if things were REALLY amazing we would do it, if not playing it safe and having a clean round would also just thrill me.

Much to my horror there was a HUGE downbank on course that standing next to it was just below my chest. I luckily schooled that one just before Rolex and on accident...but was super glad I did. It wasnt the greatest feeling when I schooled it, but I at least knew I had done it which meant I COULD do it again right?

Everything else looked fine...some I knew I would need to ride more than others, but all in all I knew Tillie could do them.

In the start box I had a mini pow wow with my girl and said lets do this and be calm ok? She flicked her ears almost in understanding, and off we went.

Before I knew it, I was coming up to the chevron and was shocked at how easy it all felt. I was still riding a bit defensively and after letting her go out to gallop in two spots, would bring her back to a slower canter. The chevron, I overheard, was giving a few people some trouble so this is why I decided to really come back for this one, also because the trakhener was a somewhat related distance away.

After the trakhener was the bank bank and I made myself breath and mentally said "we got this"

I told my helpers, mom and niece that came to watch me that if I nailed the down bank and was still on after a stride that I expected to hear the loudest cheer that would be Rolex cheering caliber. They certainly didnt disappoint and it actually rode alot smoother than when I schooled it thankfully!

At this point I was feeling REALLY confident and actually started allowing Tillie to go. There was a coop and black pipe fence right after the down bank that were prefect for letting her jump more forward out of and I even opted to do the biggest of the black Pipes.

The corner was another fence that apparently was presenting some issue, but I was more worried about the narrow railroad tie fence (2nd to last). Luckily Tillie ate them both up and sailed over the last fence without a care in the world.

Here is some footage captured:

Overall, it was super fun and I couldnt stop smiling the whole hack back to the trailer. Tillie was quite full of herself as we tried to sponge her off and took about 20 min for her to stop dancing around. 

I am so hopeful that our next event is so fun which is Loch moy on the 29th!! My plan is to do this event since they run recognized events and start getting myself acclimated to these. 

While I am not ready for training level and not doing them any time soon...I know majority of them are only offered at recognized shows so want to start doing them at novice so I dont have to worry about all that as well as moving up whenever that may be. 

I feel really good about where we are and just excited to keep it that way. 

The weekend of Dichotomies

Yet another weekend has gone by and this one was a bit chilly but beautiful weather all the same. With it being a holiday weekend, I didnt get in as much riding as I would have liked, but I am excited for the small bit I did squeeze in.

sneak peak at our weekend!

I was a bit disappointed Friday when Emma mentioned P couldnt make our standing Saturday Jump lesson. I knew I needed to jump or do something with the Dom Schramm clinic coming up this weekend...and I was a bit unsure what to do. Emma mentioned she was going XC schooling and I was totally in to go, but my scheduling didnt work out with hers :(

BUT I got a good kick in the butt from another barn mate and we decided to take our own field trip anyway. So my disappointment turned into some fun!!!

So yes we did go XC school!!

I am not going to lie, I really wanted to wimp out on going because of nerves. I know that is so silly...I would have to go sometime right? But I was really hoping our first time would be under the guidance of P or another instructor to keep Tillie and I on track with trusting each other like we have gotten jumping in the ring. 

But I got talked into it from my barn friend to go and just take it easy and do and jump only what felt good...make it about riding out in the open not the jumps. AND she reassured me I had my pelham to use this time if needed. 

The Pelham certainly came in handy

Once we got there and got all tacked up, I hopped on and took a deep breath. I could feel immediately Tillie was tight all over and super "up". She was sweating profusely despite being a cooler day and was looking all around while power walking it and zig zagging between my legs telling me she was ready.

I took another breath and tried to remind myself we havent done this since Halloween so let her settle in and be patient. I would have loved to let her walk around until she relaxed before pushing up into a trot, but she kept wanting to jig so I felt that getting her moving would be better - so we picked up a trot.

One thing I realized is that she really does a good job enticing me to get handsy....she picked up this itty bitty race horse trot haunches swinging everywhere and I really did try to use my seat and leg to get her tempo where I wanted it, but no go.

So I tried not to overthink this and just decided to just keep moving. You know singing the Dori song from finding nemo in my head. I eventually decided the trot was as good as it was going to get and pushed into a canter. She did ok here and I started to push and pull the canter a bit to test just how much I could let her go without her losing her cool. I am sure we could have pushed more, but what she gave was satisfactory and I wanted to keep it safe and avoid major blow ups....that may be the wrong mindset but I want to try to teach Tillie jumping and riding out here can be just as low key as the ring.

Anyway, I bit the bullet and decided to start warming up over a few small logs with a few goals in mind:

1. Conquer cantering xc fences even downhill ones and just cantering down hill in general
2. Really sit on Tillie and dont let her ever get her head down which leads to bolting
3. jump a down bank until I dont get nervous anymore

I can say I was able to successfully do all three!!!

Warm up - weeeee!

She started off a bit quick on landing and a few times had to really sit on her and use the pelham, but it WORKED. After 2-3 attempts on her part (especially landing on a jump downhill) which required me to really get after her, she settled in nicely minus some general spookiness towards odd lighting which is a bit odd for her, but I am not worried soooo much about that.

I stayed a bit reserved for the first 20-30 min just jumping small logs and coops. We moved on to a BN and Novice ramp which Tillie jumped without issue and without bolting on landing so I was satisfied to walk over to the next field with the more legitimate questions.

I decided to go right to the water complex and we trotted in and out of the water 2x before I trotted up the small bank and right away before I could overthink it came back and cantered down the bank.

All smiles after the down bank

I am a bit disappointed I didnt try the larger one, but for now I did my goal and trying not to be too hard on myself.

I wanted to keep a rhythm so just sorta kept cantering and jumped what came along and felt good. Next came a sunken road question, which wasnt too high height wise but a solid question which Tillie seemed quite bored with. At this point I knew I needed to try some of the more beginner novice/novice sized fences but was having a hard time committing...luckily the barn mate said ok go do this one now! I usually dont have qualms about height of fences, but XC I still dont quite trust Tillie....so I was a bit skeptical. 

My barn mate reassured me that it wasnt that large and just see what happened. LOL in hindsight that logic isnt the best approach, but it worked out for us so I guess it wasnt soooo bad. Anyway, I took a breath and decided to give it a go...I jumped a friendly enough looking fence for momentum and came around to jump the big roll top. 

Tillie soared over it without batting an eye and it rode really well...I continued cantering through the field and finished over a larger house which tillie chipped the first time. I came around a second time (the clip on the video) and she found a nicer spot. At this point she was doing a really nice job staying calm and not getting grabby with me.

As I landed from the house jump, I spotted a brush fence a little ways up and decided to give that a try. It looked good and scary and was in the shade halfway...and sure enough Tillie was very unsure about it and did some dodging. It was a bit narrow which I know Tillie isnt a fan of and will be a question Ill need to work with her more on...I gave her a pat to reassure her and came back around and she jumped it without hesitation. 

I ended things after that since she felt so great by this point and I didnt want to over do it. In hindsight I should have jumped a few things more, like the roll top, to work on her form. 

Once again, I am a bit disappointed to see the footage and she is jumping everything over her shoulder and looking at the fence the entire way. Which I know, I know is her being careful and unsure....and she never touched a single fence which is good...and she is jumping them without issue like this, but still. I just dont like that its not correct. Im trying not to let it bother me and know it will come with more practice...I just am hard on us.

I guess you cant have your cake and eat it too always and I should just be happy we didnt have any major blow ups or out of control gallops! I guess this is the epitome of a dichotomy...I am thrilled with how things felt, but a bit let down at looking back at the footage and it doenst look as good as it felt. My last xc clinic, I had the same reaction to images I saw of her jumping :/ so I guess I just need to accept this is how it is.

Anyway here is the footage:

Lessons lessons and more lessons

This post will be long so I apologize in advance.

The last few days has been a flurry of activity for Tillie and I, mostly because I reached a point of no return and simply needed a lesson before I rode again without eyes on me....At least I felt that way.  Riding alone has been frustrating to say the least - Not to any fault of Tillie's, but rather me trying to recreate what I learn and feel in a lesson. It is so hard to do when someone isn't there nagging you pushing the limits (but really shouting at me to correct my rouge right hand).

It started Thursday evening when I rode and just got so in my head and frustrated I had to stop. We suddenly lost our downward transition from canter to trot...We have been really drilling doing these just off my seat and staying through. Instead, she reverted back to doing the tightening spinning top thing and not stepping under herself. She would just canter this itty bitty (albeit lovely) canter instead.

So I just threw one of my students on Tillie in a lesson afterwards. Seeing her go sometimes helps me (don't worry it was all for selfish reasons, this student really learns a lot off Tillie)

My fire breathing dragon trucking around a kid over fences just as cool as a cucumber! 

And to my pleasant surprise Tillie stepped right up and told on my student's mistakes without being mean or malicious or scary or sassy...etc and the many more things I could list she has done in the past. She even popped over a small vertical without running, diving or bolting. Yayyyyyy Tillie!

That at least made me feel a little better. Nothing like seeing some buttons we have been working on actually working with someone other than me.

Lesson #1 - Dressage

So I promptly scheduled a lesson for myself and Tillie to solve this mental block and frustration for Friday the next day. I trailered out to C (just using first initials of trainers here) for a second try with a lesson with her after feeling slightly disappointed in the first.

I was not disappointed this lesson and got some really nice and soft moments where Tillie felt really just unlocked. The goal is to start getting her activating and unlocking the muscles at the base of her neck and withers. It was also nice to hear her say she did see some improvement since the July 4th lesson and could tell an overall difference in both Tillie and me (Especially my lower back).

She had me ride with a dressage whip since Tillie was a bit more dead to my leg and shockingly better tracking left and softer that direction. Silly horse...anyway the whip really pointed out and helped me with my right hand issue. So homework is to ride with a whip (to Tillie's dismay I am sure).

Tillie was quite please with herself after our dressage lesson.

I still need work on keeping my leg down and long when using it which seems to be the next thing on my list ;) We did a lot of work on the canter transition and getting her to JUMP into it. We also did basic leg yielding really focusing on keeping her straight in them and coming out of them with more step in the trot and not just losing steam in the process of doing them.

Lesson #2 - XC Clinic

D riding one of the horses in the clinic to help get a point across to the horse.

Saturday we geared up and drove to this gorgeous facility for my other trainer D's XC Clinic. I was nervous all morning watching the others go dreading if Tillie would pull her old antics, cross her jaw and just dive and be silly after fences. The last time I did a XC lesson with D, I fell off twice. Yes you read that correctly - TWICE in an hour. I wanted to die of mortification.

Anyway, the first few warm up fences, she absolutely was bracing and diving after fences and I felt myself sort of go "oh crap" as D kept hollering to let go, use less hands and more leg. UGH the dreaded more leg fixes all...except leg on doesnt always make Tillie soften yet. So after a very enthusiastic finish that involved bolting up the hill after the first set of fences D sent us away to time out and just go let her run it out.

So we came back and with each fence we started to get a groove. We schooled some bending lines over roll tops, canter down hills (did I mention how much I HATE downhill?!), ditches, banks - up and down and finally water jumps.

The water was by far my favorite!

Lesson #3 - More dressaging 

Sunday morning companion.

So Sunday I went ahead and had the other C come for a lesson as Tillie was barely winded after XC schooling and figured some dressage the day after a hard day would help us push through her limits.

Right away she commented how much improved Tillie's walk looked and overall seemed happy, relaxed and had better improved muscling in more correct areas. She kept reminding me to carry my hands and watch that silly right hand which gets grabby both directions **sigh**. Homework - work on giving with the right rein only without locking the left.

We also rode with a dressage whip which Tillie instantly changed her demeanor in good and bad ways...but decidedly went OK and worked well.  We worked on the walk to trot transition and did some leg yielding in the canter to work on softening and getting a bigger step. VOILA our canter to trot transitions were back!

The most interesting exercise we did that helped unlock Tillie's withers and shoulders was to ask her on a small 15m circle to bring her shoulder in (trying not to use the inside rein - guiding only) with the outside rein but pushing and using the inside leg to get her to step over and fill the outside. I needed to be better about closing and supporting the outside rein and once I did she did it well.

It decided to downpour in the middle of the lesson despite no clouds to be seen in bright sun.
Very odd, but kinda cool outside the getting soaked part. Trainer commented it would prep us for our first 2*
at FH! Not that we will ever get there ;)

My looming Lameness worries

The only slight worry I have is she kept tripping up/mis-stepping on her right hind in the Sunday lesson a handful of times. She was sound in the lesson, but C commented to watch that....and that is all I need to hear to get worried and frantic.

I always worry about her soundness and that leg is the fretted cellulitis one she protects and had residual higher lameness issues last year as a result. Strengthening work helped it go away and be nonexistent - until yesterday.

I am hoping she was just a bit tired from the sudden burst of lessons which are making her work correct and she was just tired. I did some stretches with her and today she gets a well deserved day off.

Conclusion 

Tillie has blossomed this summer and, dare I say it, finally grown out of the terrible toddler phase of protesting, sass and just silly nonsense she used to pull under saddle. It quite definitely is still in there, but our rides lately has been more on the spur and kick ride. She is very much a pull ride majority of the time, but she's finally learning running around and speeding through aids gets nowhere.

I actually the last two rides in the sandbox have need a dressage whip!!! Oh boy does tillie not like that!

Between the clinic and lessons I realized I had pleasant rides from her without needing to push buttons too terribly hard because of protesting. She went on and off the trailer each day nicely, stood nicely on the trailer and just in general acted like a seasoned show horse.

Who knows maybe we are getting somewhere!