I just realized I dont think I ever formally introduced my "baby" horse Kiss (jc name KissTheButterflies).
Finally having my girls together at the same barn felt really nice
I saw an ad posted about her and just could not stop thinking of her. I had fresh money in my pocket to go towards her purchase and it was burning a hole in my pocket.
The day I went to look at her (she is 3 in this picture)
If any of you remember Typo in my adding to the roster post...I sold him pretty quickly to an adult male as his first horse because he is just so chill. I knew pretty quickly he wouldn't be sticking around...i like my feisty mares...and he fit perfectly in with his new owner's agenda. They still are building together and happy which makes me super happy.
One of our first off farm schoolings...can you say wood allergy!?
Kiss has by far been way easier, more sane and willing than Tillie was at this young age. Sure she has her moments, but she is just so NICE. She was so good at her first few events last season. Worried for sure and just wiggly...so not like the cocky tillie dragging my butt around.
First ever full event, looking the part already
Both my mares could not be any more opposite. Kiss is typically happy to plod along however fast or slow you ask...sometimes more on the slow side. She tends to be a worrier which is something we are working on. Really managing her confidence and protecting that.
Another outing in the season at Loch Moy...having some baby feelings about it all
She jumped around very well and confident though!
She isnt as brave as tillie, but once you show her the way shes usually pretty honest. I admit to not always giving her the driving, supportive ride she always needs to things simply because I am not used to that! Its been a learning curve for me but a very fun one. Hence us sticking at intro last year to feel one another out...we were about to move up to BN for one final event but all the darn rain foiled that and everything was cancelled.
Dressed up in "racing gear" for a paper chase
All that rain didnt help set us up for success this year just yet. This season we are struggling with her big feet somewhat, but we got pads put on and so far **knocking on all the wood** that has seemed to keep her happy and comfortable.
Did i mention she sometimes feels like a human blender?
My goal for her this year (shes is now 5) is to keep plugging away at the confidence building. Lots of miles, traveling and exposure. We will likely live in BN land for a while until she tells me she's bored.
Schooling at tranquility last fall
The mare has some talent in there I am excited to see come out, but must be careful not to push too fast too soon...because she is so much easier than tillie was, its easy to get carried away.
Not touching this mom!!
Scope for days
Her legs and feet are so much thicker than Tillie....and her body longer. Its been interesting learning how to put her together. Shes also much lighter in my hands...
First day of trying her
Last week
She was so young and awkward, I really tried to take some time with her...i gave her most of this winter off and the time off hasnt disappointed. Shes come back well aside from the feet issue.
Just because shes cute
Our first schooling of the season she was doing much better jumping across and not so up and down...however we went again when the footing was wet and we had that issue again which makes me things studs are needed sooner than I realized.
So that is Kiss!! My princess pony...while Tillie is very much still queen bee. We have a busy season planned between the two!
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!
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.
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.
I had a lesson friday evening with D where we jumped a sorta kinda pinwheel exercise. The lesson in the moment, did not feel as great...but once reflecting on the lesson I can admit there was a lot of learning going on. Tillie's flat work was pretty good and D had us pick up where Miseventer and Tillie left off...with trying to get her to stretch.
We instantly got good feedback from D on how much more relaxed she looked and that she did appear to slightly be letting go in her balance and trusting herself. Except, I have fallen into a trap of letting Tillie get lazy and behind my leg and mistaking it for quiet and relaxed during this exercise. Also she tends to start poking her nose out like a hunter when I am trying to get her stretch and not really staying connected like D wanted to see...
A little too relaxed
D kept saying to Jazz her up and activate her hind end without her getting quick...sounds so simple right?! I can understand this concept so well, but I put my leg on to activate the hind end and we end up going too fast. **Sigh** I guess it will come with time.
So we moved on to getting her filling up each rein evenly with lots of changing rein and then some canter work getting her bending a bit more with shoulder fore. Then the jumping started and we warmed up over an X on a 20m circle as usual...and believe it or not mare needed a CROP!!!
Yes fellow bloggers, my red head dragon of a mare needed a crop.
Just kidding...but seriously.
He had us focusing on maintaining a rhythm, using the circle as a natural half halt so we could rely more on the outside leg and less hand throughout the process. We eventually built to the below...Jump 1 a vertical, 2 one half of a cross rail so we could jump the lower side off the circle and jump three a square oxer.
While the jumps weren't super high, the exercise itself offered plenty of challenges. AKA landing on the correct lead, staying in rhythm and NOT over half halting. D wanted us getting an even 4 in each quadrant and staying wide in the turns. Tillie would really drift towards the barn going too wide one quadrant and cutting the turn through the other.
After much more outside leg (to which I have skin rubbed off just above my calf...time for new half chaps maybe?) we finally got into a groove and D had us going through it again and again without stopping until we were both not so "OMG JUMPS COMING FAST!"
All in all, we started out a pit out of sync jumping...but by the end felt like we had a bit more of an agreement through the exercise. I would love to try this again even if its just placing poles!
