I have been focusing a lot more on Tillie - partly because she needs it and Kiss is way easier to maintain - but also because we have lots of holes that need fixing with her being off last year.
I took her to Windurra and attempted to try a waterford bit on her and well, lets just say, she HATED it.
You can see how she is practically running through it - sure her head is up, but she was pissed.
More in the waterford...you can tell she's just rushing and unsettled. So we only did one more set of jumps before Dom had us change back to our original bit because our steering was a bit altered from how distracted tillie was:
She settled down a little but still was holding a bit of a grudge...however Dom upped the difficulty to get her thinking which helped throw her a curve ball and get her mind off being mad.
She was being a super finicky ride at this point but the good moments were starting to come through. She surprised me with how straight and confident she was to to the skinny...which tend to be her nemesis when we havent seen them in a while:
Then we moved on to the water which really showed my lack of trusting to start this season...and learning to need to stop wanting to always do the add:
ANNNNNDDD the blooper of the ride...our first attempt at this corner combo. Which was hilarious...and took me off guard because Tillie's approach was good until the last stride when she decided the grass was horse eating and she wanted nothing to do with it.
Dom wanted us to keep going to the jump into water and im pretty sure my pants matched the first time through (Remember my fear of downhill?!)
But we scraped through it and of course had to do it again:
So I felt good going into fair hill last weekend. But more to come on that soon.
Fair warning, this will be a longer post that really dives into details so I can have an in depth account of my XC lesson yesterday. Mostly because I feel like Tillie and I are in another growing pain stage where we are pushing more outside our comfort zone to improve, so it feels a bit discombobulated. But I want to revisit this for my own merit so this lesson takeaway is my new mantra until we get it right.
Dressaging earlier this week after a storm...
I was so excited when Dom finally got back to me upon his return from his travels early Monday and said he could do a lesson Tuesday at windurra farm. With our approaching move up to Training this weekend I was really wanting one more jump lesson...and I was happy to jump on it being an XC one too since I feel the most unprepared in this phase at this moment.
So much water...but we needed it!
The ground was perfect after the rain we've gotten and boy did we need it. The ground has been so hard this season I was a bit concerned about continuing many events this year. But we finally got some rain so walking around at Windurra right away I was happy with how much better it was.
Tillie sees jumps in our field...this will become our homework after yesterday.
Its been a while since seeing Dom, and I admitted to him that Tillie and I feel like we've reverted to some of our bad habits...also mostly because some of my trust has slipped in her after the fall despite it not really being her fault. Ive fallen into the trap of trying to help her too much which allows her to lean on my hands and brace which helps no one. Dom laughed and understood completely and agreed when he rode her too shes a bit tricky regardless in that she does seek out "help" and used the most perfect analogy and it also happens to be the very theme of this lesson and the forefront of what we will be tackling:
Stronger or hot horses tend to make a rider want to ride half halting or holding all the time, similar if he said "hey, the brakes in my truck only work 1 out of 3 times you use them...you'll probably start break checking quite frequently to ensure you can stop"
Warming up
The trick is getting out of that mentality as far as horses go and use the other tools you have around you to get them to balance and slow down. So for us Dom wants me to start relying more on my turns and the approach to get it right and not fall into the trap of straight approaches and using my reins to get the right distance.
He made another excellent point that we need to find the happy medium between always me trying to get the perfect distance and letting the horse figure it out, but that comes with time and practice.
Get the gist yet? :)
Basically in a nut shell, stop using my half halts so frequently. Let Tillie make the mistake at times, but also let her carry herself. Use the turn to get the right distance and sometimes it will require pushing for it to get deep rather than holding the canter back.
If you arent bored to tears yet, Im going to go ahead and post my videos and break down each portion we schooled and what we worked on.
Warm up:
Here Dom is discussing using my turn better to get the distance. I went a bit too far out for his liking and wanted me to turn a bit closer so we dont have so many straight strides for the purpose of this exercise:
A little bit better, Tillie is still very excited and pulling at this point:
Using the turn finally the way Dom wanted us to and using my body over hands to set her up:
Putting together two jumps and incorporating turning
The first time through we achieved what Dom wanted at the first fence, but the second we had a bit of that flying distance Tillie likes to do if I hold too much. I probably needed to half halt harder on the outside rein father back in the turn, then be quieter:
Second time was better even being on the wrong lead:
Just a warm up over the small one which Dom wanted us very collected.
He wanted us to come back around and open up our stride more over the larger ditch then ride to the brush, but we didnt quite get there and stayed too compressed.
So he had us do it again:
It was at this point I believe he was starting to get me thinking about related distances and riding more prepared for the second fence rather than the first thing we are jumping. It didnt quite set it until a bit later.
Here is where we started really breaking down the accuracy question a skinny jump presents. Dom had me start with smaller logs and practice getting the right ride before sending us right over the larger wider skinny brush. He did have us walk up to too to present Tillie to it and introduce her.
Basically Dom said this one you want to ride sitting in the tack. You use the turn, get your ride and push to it but most horses will run out right at that last stride when most riders start to get into a 2-point. So he stressed to really ride it until her front legs lifted.
Hey - we know I have no issues riding defensively.
The next goal was the type of approach to it for your horse. You need to have just the right canter, not too forward or too compressed, but they need to be between both legs and pushing right to the base which we sometimes get that flyer when overthinking this...
Like so:
^^ basically exactly NOT how to ride it
So we try again and kind of over did it:
So Dom encouraged just find something in the middle:
He was satisfied with that and then sent us around to the double brush skinny:
Not going to lie, I feel pretty bad ass for accomplishing this one!
LOVE this still!
Before I could relish in how awesome it was, Dom sent us around to ride the corner to the skinny. He broke down how to ride it and it was definitely a more skinny and true "corner" than any other one weve ridden before:
You can see we hit the flag pole so my leg came back with it a bit...but Dom said he was impressed with our recovery.
Next up, how to ride a larger wider fence then compress for the tighter shorter stride combos we may start seeing at Training level. Dom warned me the first jump was much larger then it appeared so I needed to have a nice forward enough canter to it to make the width and let her gallop a few strides but use a quick half halt but be soft and get a compressed canter for the one stride at the angled roll / offset roll tops:
We got in a bit too deep so we came back just to do these again:
We moved on to a baby ditch combo where Dom said for these, you dont want to come in too under powered either because the one stride for this was quite longer. He also warned the jump had a bit of a downhill landing so not to let myself get pulled forward like I tend to happen when I hold too much with my reins:
Tillie put her foot in the ditch this first time lol, so we came to do it again, but otherwise Dom liked the ride and approach.
Second time:
This way coming in, made more sense to me as a rider. I struggled a bit more when we came back and did this combo in reverse. Once again, too much holding and trying to get deep or that perfect spot:
So we try again to no avail since my response was to try to sit her back more:
Dom finally said something that clicked about getting to the base doesnt always mean wait or add...it sometimes means the push. So we try one more time:
Dom was pleased with this one and said we came in a similar way all three times, but the way I rode it changed the way the combo rode. Try more for adding the leg not bring the canter back...which for me is sooo hard when I am lacking that trust in Tillie.
After the fence in the water Dom wanted us to do these skinny brush fences in a line around to a water combo. which we got a bit stuck at the brush fences when we ran into the same issue of Tillie not wanting to wait.
Part of it was being unbalance with the wrong lead around the turn, but Dom has us do it again and make it educational for her:
So we came back one more time just to set it in stone:
Which finally was our get out of jail free card to continue to do the water combo which Dom pressed to make sure I keep my eyes up and not let them drop on landing (another bad habit of mine) and really keep my shoulders up:
It went quite well! Dom did say he was pleasantly surprised with how well I stayed up and didnt get caught up with getting pulled forward with my shoulders. Tillie got quite excited with this combo!
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Corners Bending line
We ended the day with two corners on a slight bending line. The first attempt we took a bit long spot for the 5 but Dom didnt completely dislike it, but wanted us to try more for a controlled accurate distance and add for the 6:
All in all, I am proud of Tillie being so game...and doing well despite my slight hesitation. I am not quite on my A game like I have been earlier this season, but I am starting to feel some of my mojo come back. I wouldnt say I am nervous and scared when seeing jumps, But I am back to riding defensively. So I need to work on trusting Tillie again and I DO believe when we get there, my position woes will also come with it.
Our homework is to go home when we can and jump outside the ring, in a field where we can use the turns to help with distances and focus on not pulling so much. When Tillie does use other tools to get her to listen.
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:
Conquer cantering xc fences even downhill ones and just cantering down hill in general
Really sit on Tillie and dont let her ever get her head down which leads to bolting
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.
