I didnt sit completely idle this winter...in addition to playing around bridleless with Tillie, I decided to go ahead and do a near by clinic with Phillip Dutton. What the heck right?
Well turns out, it was the shittiest weather day one could hope for doing anything outside. Poor Phillip had to be miserable because even riding wasnt pleasant. It was COLD and raining...and not just like overcast drizzling type raining. But like solid steady cold rain.
Phillip was running each session like clockwork. Keeping the train moving I am sure in an effort to get the F out of the rain. The exercises he had set up were interesting and ones I am keeping in my tool box for sure...but I dont think we got the full experience with the crappy weather.
We were trying to make the best of it though!
The gist of the entire clinic was ride into your corners. He literally had cones set up like I do to my little kids to force us all to use the corners...and it is kind of amazing how much it took effort. Funny how much you don't realize you have a bad habit until someone calls it out.
You can see Phillip Dutton at Tillie's butt hollering at us from his megaphone.
Tillie was HOT this day...likely because it was so cold, not being ridden super consistently and needing her hocks done. She has never been a fan of cold weather and always comes out really tense and forward on colder days or mornings. But what told me she needed her hocks done (her tell tail sign) is the landing and dropping.
Yea we got our hocks injected a few days later lol
For warm up he was very adamant about ridability...could you go forward and back in the canter. Could you leg yield. And my most favorite - can you ride with no stirrups. I wont lie it took a few mental quick pep talk phrases before I took my feet out...like excuse me sir? You want me to do what while its raining on the back of my fire breathing dragon?
But Tillie was a champ and didnt care...go figure
Leg yielding exercice
From there we did a line with three jumps with the center one offset...which was interesting. Also Tillie and I completely took out a standard which mortified me. But you know, no biggie, just an olympic medalist having to clean up my mess. Then tell me to do it again. Famous last words...
Tillie and I taking out the standard. Yep - that happened.
Well I stayed on and it did get better....
Then we moved on to adjustability in a line. Could you come in and get 4 strides, then come back and do 5? Tillie nailed it as did everyone else in the group!
Tillie's mare glare is strong...
So all in all not the most pleasant experience. But you know us eventers ride in anything so we made the best of it. I do hope to clinic with him again someday hopefully when its nicer out and allows more time to get feedback.
And huge shout out to Austen for capturing the day and very soggy moments!
I know this is usually what Disney World is called and it make sense. It makes even the most serious adult turn into a big happy kid.
It's not unlike what horses do for people when things go right. Right now, I am in the happiest place on earth and I wish I could bottle it up and keep it forever. You know, so when things don't go well I can pull it out as a bit of encouragement.
This photo cracked me up...Tillie's eyes are closed!
Clearly I am still riding the wave from the clinic this past weekend. It totally surpassed all my expectations. While I went into it knowing we would come out with more knowledge, I feel like even more happened while we were there. It was a defining moment for Tillie and I.
Even more media!!
If anyone ever has the chance to ride with Dom, I would strongly encourage anyone to leap at the opportunity. I loved how technical he got, discussing theory but really broke it down in a way that was easily digestible and accessible for anyone, no matter what level, to understand. He is a gifted teacher and not only achieved this, but does it with a certain lighthearted sense of humor that instantly put me at ease.
I easily get nervous or tense up when it comes to jumping given Tillie's past. When things get challenging is usually when the blow ups would happen so she has sort of trained me to anticipate them. I am forever grateful to P for our routine saturday jump lessons because she has gotten us to the other side of that hump and now there are almost never any antics which means a much more relaxed me and that means a more relaxed Tillie...So it is all cyclical and related.
Freeze frame in mid air as Dom would say....thinking about how to land and approach the next fence
I was curious to see how this clinic would impact this nice agreement Tillie and I have come to and if this setting, or new challenging things would bring out the sass again. I really do believe though that Dom had such a great approach to each new exercise and exuded confidence that I felt confident. I also loved seeing how he approached every rider differently. Dom tailored the exercise subtly for the needs of each person and it was cool to see him pick up on that to give every single person a successful ride.
When the pair would come through and struggle and would say its ok, lets try again but keep this in mind...so it was always encouraging and his delivery seemed to allow the rider to take ownership and actually ride it out. It was really cool to see the lightbulb moments happening left and right.
Going into the triple combo
Specifically for me and Tillie, towards the end of the first day something just clicked. Dom said a few similar things all of my previous and current instructors have been saying since the dawn of time to me, but I guess with it being someone new it was the right boost I needed to actually get it to sink in.
The following three are the major takeaways:
Chin up on the approach to fences
Tall shoulders to allow her front end to jump
Forward, 12 foot stride canter
Little bit tight to this one, but she got it done!
Right away the "chin up" reminder instantly fixed and allowed me to achieve #2. The key to #1 and #2 though is #3; knowing and riding your horse in the 12ft canter stride. Finding the right rhythm in the 12ft stride will allow the jump to come to you and happen. All this fussing and adjusting for distances and watching your fence (which leads to looking down for me) leads bad habits and by riding the correct stride and using the turn the get the distance just allows things to just be in the sweet spot.
The 3rd, 12 foot stride canter one has been a bit of a struggle for me as a rider because it always felt too fast to me. The 12ft canter stride in the past has led to the bracing then the sass so I have gotten comfortable living in a smaller stride. Tillie and I consistently at home will do the add on lines and get one additional stride because of this.
HUGE SMILES!
But halfway through day one rounding a turn, Dom encouraged, I sat up felt my seat and leg on Tillie and it just felt Good. I could actually ask for more stride and it wasnt quick or downhill. It didnt feel too fast, in fact it just felt right.
Tillie of course responded by jumping so uphill and powerful that Dom just started raving how much she could really jump! (Totally loving this btw)
Going into the triple but with the jumps much higher!
It was a huge defining moment. You could almost see the light bulbs going off for both Tillie and myself there were so many going off. The entire rest of the clinic into the next day, that 12ft canter stride felt like cake. It was all about finding that ride and when we did, the jumps just were easy and I honestly have never felt Tillie jump that well that consistently.
Id like to say it was because the jumps were bigger (which I am sure that helped!) but I really attribute this to Dom's initial exercises and discussion about the right canter.
Day two I started off a little backed off again, but pretty quickly settled right into a nice rhythm with Tillie. This has also been a struggle for us in the past...getting on the same page and finding the any rhythm together earlier in the ride. Day 2 Dom talked a lot more about how each fence is related to one another in stadium so the precise ride and quick, on your feet, decisions were paramount. Sure a clean round is the goal, but just leaving rails up isnt the only thing that makes a round successful.
More riders struggled on day 2, probably in part to having tired horses but because riding courses means any mistake follows you to the next fence usually. But the struggles were all learning experiences and Dom supported each rider through it and eventually ended every single one with a successful attempt.
My most favorite shot of the day. Look at those knees!
It was really cool to see repeat riders from day 1, including myself, really internalize what was learned from day 1 and apply it to the second day. For me, Tillie and I found our stride really quickly and it finally wasnt 5-10 fences to take being on the same page.
All in all the clinic made me realize sometimes hearing similar things from someone new allows a change to actually happen. Many of what I listed has been and always will be something I need to work on...but Dom being new for us plus his relaxed, playful and encouraging teaching style really let us blossom. I am a bit anxious and nervous to see if this momentum continues and translates into what we do at home!
Anyone following my blog knows that I have had my doubts about my mare's ability to jump correctly and safely. In this sport of eventing, we all know the risks and it is important to me that both my horse and I are competing at the appropriate levels ensuring some degree of safety. Even when that happens, we know accidents still happen. It has been a bit of a nagging doubt in my mind if my little ottb, who regrettably stalled in her growth spurt with her ending up croup high, could ever jump uphill.
Getting all tacked up on clinic day #1
I entered the Dom Schramm clinic in the hopes I would get more insight and tips on how to help her achieve the uphill jump more. Leading up to the Dom Schramm clinic, I was a bit nervous at whether or not signing up for the novice/training group was the right move and if it would be too much for us. Height of fences usually does not make me nervous, but going into a clinic where both you and your horse will be challenged and expected to be confirmed at that height made me worried.
After speaking with my instructor, she reassured me that Tillie was schooling Novice height consistently at home. I also had many people reassure me that Dom always tailors his teaching to the level needed if we found we were struggling. So that made me feel a bit more at ease.
Eating as much as possible before warm up
It was extremely windy by the time we got to Cedarline Farm and I was glad I gave myself additional time to settle in. I was able to catch a good portion of the BN group riding in the outdoor ring which gave me a good idea of what we would be working on as well. I find the more I know the better I feel...you know the whole knowledge is power thing.
When it was time to get ready, Tillie came off the trailer alert and high as a kite. In the past, these antics would have gotten to me and would have caused a ball of nerves in the pit of my stomach. Despite her restlessness, I talked to her and set boundaries on what was acceptable behavior (no, swinging you butt around every other second and knocking me with your head repetitively does not constitute acceptable behavior) I planned to walk up to the indoor and give ourselves a 20-30 minute warm up to allow Tillie to settle in. I am very glad we did that because every time the wind blew Tillie would get agitated and coil up like a spring ready to explode.
So plan A of walking around on a loose rein went out the window and plan B went into effect. So we just start trotting to get her moving until she relaxed. It took some changing directions and spiraling circles to get her attention somewhat on me. She was still quite spooky and reactive 15 minutes in, but it was as good as it was going to get.
Having the history I do with her, I knew I could predict a lot of it and found comfort in knowing her so well. It was nice to know and be able to predict her reactions which usually constitutes throwing her shoulders and head around in place. It allowed me to stay relaxed and focused rather than get too fussy with her or baited into micromanaging.
When it came time to make our way to the outdoor Tillie seemed to remember she is 7 now and put on her sensible cap and walked politely, yet tensely, down to the ring around the spectators and loud speaker. We took a few laps around the outdoor to let Tillie look around as Dom went down the list introducing himself to the new riders and regrouping with those he previously knew. She spooked and dodged a few times but settled in as good as she could as nervous as she was.
I toyed with putting the pelham on her in case she got too strong, but a quick assessment of the ring size and her tendency to suck behind contact when shes nervous made me opt to go in the snaffle. I wanted to encourage a bit more weight in my reins and I was worried using the pelham wouldn't help achieve that. I did, however, have my helpers that tagged along bring it out in case I needed to switch it out.
Sorry for the long intro, but I am trying to make sure I document everything about this weekend!!!
******Make sure you watch all videos with the audio. I got the biggest kick from Dom's commentary and teaching style and it led to more footage than ever of me beaming from ear to ear********
WARM UP
Once Dom chatted briefly with each of us and our goals for the season we jumped (hehe see what I did there) right into things and warmed up over a tiny grid-like exercise to get the horses thinking about their feet placement. Dom commented how much he liked Tillie and thought she was a nice mare (eek!!).
I also think it was a good exercise for Dom to get a comfort level for how both horse and rider went and be able to see faults pretty easily:
Trot into fences to land cantering to help develop the canter especially for those spookier, hotter or nervous horses. It helps them settle in gradually.
Understandably, I ride defensively because of Tillie's tendency to jump and land downhill, but Dom warned me not to sit back too soon and be against her since that will only worsen this tendency
OTTBs or horses that have the tendency to jump over the shoulder like Tillie did the first time over this, concentrate on shoulders up taller so they CAN lift. Your shoulders match what theirs will do, so if you get too low and ahead so will they. He launched here into a discussion about OTTBs tendency to jump flat like this because their want to get to the other side of the fence and we have to try to help them read it better, ride to the base and sit tall to get a better jump.
CAVELETTI GRIDS
Next he had us each run through a simple caveletti exercise. He mentioned he likes to do these before most of his jump schools no matter what level because it gets the horse paying more attention and thinking about their feet. I was a bit skeptical how well Tillie would do and really thought she would rush through it and build but she shocked me and did pretty well minus the lead change halfway through. Dom discussed how this exercise of the bounce - two stride - bounce - two stride - bounce is great for those that rush because they will essentially start knocking into the caveletti...and not that you want them to hit them and hurt themselves, but you do want them to feel it and not be able to easily knock them over so they learn to respect the gymnastic more. He had each of us do this until it was boring.
Tillie was a bit bunched on my right rein and drifting right so that caused the lead change both times.
DIAMOND EXERCISE (LANDING ON THE CORRECT LEAD)
This next exercise was quite fun! Dom set poles out in a diamond shape around the jump so we approached the jump at an angle. Dom reassured us most horses wouldnt worry about the angle as much as we humans would think and would pretty quickly settle into this exercise without balking. The purpose of this is to jump and be able to change leads in the air rather then rely on simple or flying changes...Dom stressed he was a stickler about this because landing correct allows you to maintain a better rhythm and allows you to set yourself up better for the next fence with more time to think about other things rather than having to get a change, risk cross cantering etc.
Tillie did quite well going left to right, but we had a bit of a right drift problem right to left making getting the left lead a bit more challenging. Once Dom talked about riding her straighter to help get the lead better. Once I rode the turn "straighter" and more of an S shape rather so we went straight the last few strides before take off rather than off a curve she got the left lead every time!
Struggling for the left lead:
At this point he also sorta warned me about Tillie not pushing off with both hinds and taking these out of stride which means a weaker jump. He said trying to get her more to the base would help with the placement poles.
I LOVED how Dom always chuckled and laughed though and stayed encouraging through our mistakes.
DIAMOND BENDING LINE TO CLOVER EXERCISE
We then put the diamond together with a clover pattern really using twisting turns to challenge our balance, distances and leads. We had some ironing out to do after the first try:
Notice a rollback at fence #4. We discussed how rollbacks are difficult and maintaining the forward power through these is essential to get a good jump. Dom admitted we probably wont see one in show jumping for eventing ever, but if we could manage this well the single fence jumps would be a whole lot easier.
I went a bit too deep into the turn in attempt to give myself more space but it ended up making the second half of the rollback more difficult for Tillie.
He recommended to all of us to let the horse figure out the balance and think about keeping the forward, opening rein to guide them through the turn. CHIN UP!!!
CLOVER JUMP BENDING LINE TO 5 STRIDE LINE
This is where things got a bit more exciting...jumps went up slightly and at this point. At this point, Dom really seemed to become surprised and excited about Tillie's jump ability and she (ok me too) ate it up. The key seemed so be the better I was about my chin and shoulders, the better she jumped.
I totally LOVE his side comments about her scope ;)
Dom gave us a good feedback on this round and said the beginning needed more canter and think more ground covering stride...I know I have struggled with riding this but for some reason his comment made something click and we sorta clicked into gear. Tillie was allowing the forward and really working well off my seat and leg without diving and I got braver which led to Dom yelling out "GOOD!" and "Horse has got some scope!"
He had each of us do it again, learning what we learned but put the fences up one more time and rather than feel nervous I was excited to tackle them all!
I went into this one with a bit more forward canter knowing it is what helped us towards the end of the previous round. Tillie actually gave me flying when attempting to ask for a simple...and Dom just kept loading on the wonderfully encouraging remarks about Tillie and, in my own humble opinion, seemed to start raving about her!!! Turns out my little downhill mare, is a "better then average jumper!!"
That made my whole day (ok really more like my whole life!).
The wind was so bad though that half the time riding you couldnt hear what he was saying unless you were close the loud speaker at the end of the ring where we warmed up in so having this video to her the commentary was really nice and an added bonus to hear them!
BIG jumps!!!
It was so much fun and really cool to meet the other riders in our groups...some who are also instructors or professionals so it felt really good that we could hold our own with the best of them with Dom sort of appeasing my fears of Tillie's jump ability.
I alluded in my last posts that I have a ton going on, some outside of horses. I didn't want to say too much until things were finalized...but I accepted a new job!!!
While I am still a bit nervous about it because, well its a change and change is scary, I am also excited to see what opportunities it brings. I was not job searching at all so I really struggled making the choice to make the jump since I have invested time in my current position...but I realized by even entertaining going on an interview, I was starting to feel a bit stuck. I know there was a chance for growth at my current position, but this new opportunity fell on my lap quite literally and has a much less corporate environment.
I won't bore everyone with too many more details...but I am hopeful what it will bring.
Also, because I am so excited with how the weekend went, here is a sneak preview and what my next few posts will be the next few days regarding the Dom Schramm Clinic:
