Finding the balance between the 3 phases of eventing...

...is hard! I totally understand why this sport is so challenging. In addition to galloping solid fences over various terrain in almost any weather to the technical obedience and precision of dressage and stamina of stadium. It really does test your horses rideability and your team work in all three. 

Just because I like this photo

Take the name eventing out of it for a mere moment and think of it as cross training. Coincidentally this is how I was described eventing when I first learned about it just a few short years ago. It is so incredibly beneficial for both horse and rider to have a strong foundation in dressage in order to jump well.

Trust me, I have seen the difference the dressage has made for Tillie's ability to jump up hill.

Not very uphill

yay, uphill!

I took a dressage lesson yesterday with C and what I realized a few things:

1. While Tillie has been Killing it jumping lately, our dressage isnt really as awesome as it was back when we did the fix a test 
2. I am a really crooked mess and need to see an orthopedist (No seriously...)
3. I need to find a balance in lessons where I can budget to fit more dressage in like the winter months.

Back when our dressage felt the best

Ill elaborate on all 3...

1. I recently realized flatting at home, we just didnt feel quite as relaxed, soft or willing when doing dressage. It seems to have started when our crazy weather sorta went bonkers and got super cold again...Especially when changing rein from right to tracking left. Her left bend has been SUPER stiff lately. It tends to be our trickier side usually...but there is something in the recent rides that it just feels like I cant get her to work out of it. 

I usually describe her feeling like clay. At first we get on and it requires some kneading. Massaging it to get it warm and squishy and bendable. Usually after a good warm up, she evens out and her neck and body feel like a rubber band. 

Lately I dont get it out of her. Maybe i need to revert back to how we used to warm up with the over bending and gradual warm ups...in hindsight those seemed to work well for her. 

Left bend problems

In the lesson she was hollowing out in transitions walk to trot and usually shes pretty spot on for those...canter transitions were just not clean and I felt like I was getting jostled all around. Its disappointing when it hasnt been that way, but I guess our recent jump focus has caused some of these nuances to revert. I realize that I also have been riding her as frequently the last two weeks as I should with having to teach more...so heres to hoping weekends start allowing more lessons. 

2. Most of the lesson sort of gotten hijacked just trying to get me straight. I couldnt get my weight down in my left leg and it was coming too far back behind the girth and my left shoulder kept creeping forward. When I would try to even out my body just would go haywire. My entire body is twisting and its a real struggle to get it straight. C encouraged me to go see a DR since Chiro didnt seem to help...le sigh. I guess I need to make that appointment.

My body really aches today from it...

You can sorta see me doing it here

C had me drop my right stirrup for a bit and shockingly Tillie felt better. So now its a matter of chicken or the egg. Am I causing her left side issues or is she causing me to twist or are we just not helping each other? 

I also realized that I am helping her waaayyy too much with my right rein tracking left. I am using it way too much to keep her on the track when it should be coming from my inside left leg. BUT with me not getting weight into it, that would make sense why I am compensating. 

It became really apparent in our leg yields in the lesson. C was super impressed regardless at how well she did with them, but leg yielding tracking right to left she really didnt want to stay parallel to the wall (ahem, left leg not working and my right hand cant fix this). 

Because she's cute

This all leads me to #3. I think most of the above issues are stemming from my lessons with C being way too spaced out. With jumping confidence issues being a fairly recent thing which allowed me to try P and take those jump lessons....I think it was exactly what I needed to get back on track. I plan to continue lessons with her, but in order to afford more dressage lessons with C I may need to cut back on the P lessons. 

I will definitely watch it, and maybe this is a for now type thing...but dressage is the foundation for the rest of it. That needs to not suffer. My confidence in Tillie over fences is there, but it does stem to how much I can trust her on the flat and lately its been back to the rushing, bracing and baiting me into hands type stuff. I want to get back to that sweet spot in dressage where she almost feels like a push ride and I have a good contact, not this fake contact where shell suck back at any minute. 

New footing = sassy Tillie

In my last post, I mentioned the new footing work that was done New Years Day.The goal was to take out a lot of it from the smaller arena with it being too deep, and add it to the larger arena and cover more of the surface. Well apparently with this footing, a little goes a long way...

The large arena was leveled out and not quite finished so the entire right side of the ring and back corners have become a bit too deep. Very surprising considering there wasnt nearly enough footing at first before this work was done.

It is not unrideable at all...but will need to be addressed to prevent any injuries. I am dying to try it in the larger ring, but because that was taking so long, I settled to try the smaller arena.

Tillie loving peppermints and grooming. 

Despite Tillie losing her shoe only a few days after being shod, she seemed fine on it and I had a plan to try some exercises from my new Christmas present: 101 arena exercises. But once we got in the smaller ring it became apparent I would have to do some riding on the fly. The footing was really unlevel and still way too deep at each end of the ring. With this ring being a hair under dressage regulation, it makes trying to avoid those areas pretty tough.

Tillie was a bit pissy to start off, whether it was the odd footing, it being a bit colder or her missing shoe IDK...BUT I just kept her on a circle and tried to get her to relax.

She felt awfully tight and defensive through her whole body. I decided when we first trotted to not touch her face at all and just get her moving to warm up which seemed to help. We had a bit of trouble getting a forward, non-stabby trot I think with her not trusting the footing and her own balance, but eventually she started to figure it wasnt SO bad.

Shes always been funny and choosy about footing....yay for being a cross country horse lol. I wasnt planning on cantering in it until she threw a bit of a hissy and went back to leg means go rather then soften.

Emma hung out for a little bit as I started putting her together. I cant say it felt fabulous, but her and the other onlooker said she looked pretty light and uphill. We were running into more left bend and bridle unsteadiness tracking left, but it didnt seem to be nearly as bad and before. I also realized it is most like my crookedness causing this since the last two rides its apparent tracking left that I twist my body out causing my right leg to go forward and weight placement to be off. I imagine this makes it hard for Tillie to balance properly under me.

ALLLLL the footing

We did some figures of 18 meter circles a A and C crossing the diagonal each time to change the rein.

Once she got a bit more consistent here I worked on the homework from our last dressage lesson with C and worked on rating her trot in the middle of the ring where the footing was the most consistent. She had a bit more trouble with the go, but I attribute that to the small ring size and footing.

I did push into canter both leads a few times just to establish a proper depart and canter to offset her hissy fit earlier in the ride and be clear what the aid for canter is and what the aid for being is. Again it was a push ride in the canter and I think the footing was really making her work.

I didnt dislike it!

I did try for some stretchy trot to really hound relaxing and trusting balance more and once she gave me a little bit of try both directions with that I called it a day.

All this work makes me thirsty! 

When the going gets rough - we dressage.

Lately, when I stress about Tillie (and non) related things I seem to have a habit of seeking out a dressage lesson with C. Sometimes it was unconscious other times it was not...but it seems to do the trick and get me and Tillie both relaxing. Who knew that by me being able to relax ends up producing a horse that is lovely and willing.

Tillie relaxing into a bigger trot in yesterday's lesson

I managed to convince C to fit me and thankfully she had some room...so off we went. Tillie wasnt nearly as back sore as she was the few days around Christmas so that put me at ease a bit. But Silly mare still can not stand up in my trailer around turns. She ripped part of the outer layer of her BOT mesh sheet from slamming her shoulders side to side :( 

It is really quite a miracle she loads because it looks unpleasant....

At least it isnt affecting getting to work on a more uphill trot!

Tille started off a bit ticked off initially, but C encouraged me to relax and let her slowly warm up not just get on and go. She stayed fairly inconsistent in the bridle in my opinion, BUT I am attributing some of that to the fact that dressaging on our own hasnt been happening much outside of one or two rides between jump lessons and my last dressage lesson.

She was especially fussy with the left side and C suggested possibly mouth sore...and to check my pelham. I am in need of a slightly larger size for it so could be causing some issue there for sure...at least i hope that is all it is. Fortunately, I feel OK with the double reins enough to only use it for jumping her for now. 

Fancy schmancy! 

Here is where we started warming up...notice in the remaining videos I post that she consistently inverts or fusses tracking left towards this side of the ring which is closer to the trailer and other horses so not sure if that is related or not or if it is just C's mouth theory.

Warm up tracking right...shes always a bit more consistent and easier to ride to the right:

C had us start keeping the rhythm around the larger ring and try some leg yielding to get her a bit softer and trying to get her more comfortable relaxing when moving her around.

We started to get to the meat of the lesson and talking about getting her sitting more on her hind end since I expressed my concern about this with Tillie and with jumping. C gave us a great exercise that i can also do at home:

When we opened up to more trot it was shockingly hard for Tillie to trust her balance going forward, but once she did I felt like her trot looked quite nice! 

By this point, Tillie felt really nice, but watching back videos notice she is inconsistent a bit in contact...but I am not terribly concerned with that nearly as much as I am about the tracking left, twisting and bobbing head thing. The bend was there so that is improving, but this head thing kills me.

C says its my left arm being really tense and not moving...and while it could be, I cant imagine why now? LOL and logically I know horses evolve and change and of course it can happen. I just dont want to get down this slippery slope and rein lameness which I have seen happen. I REALLY need to figure out what it is i am doing that causes this. Even when I concentrate on it, it doesnt seem to "feel" different.

*Le sigh*

At this point we ran out of time to canter, so C invited me to stay in the ring and continue practicing. My student who was filming managed to snap some of this too...

Well, there is my dressage lesson recap. Hope you all have a happy new year! 

Trying new things and feeling like a goober

Despite the poor weather forecast, the rain subsided to allow for a cloudy, yet warm evening. I chose to put off some freelance work a bit longer and go put in a ride I have been putting off...trying the double reins on the pelham. 

The pelham has been a bit we have been using over fences as of late in P lessons on Saturdays...it really has helped to get that rebalancing half halt even with the bit converters. P has recommended playing with the double reins to really get the full action of the bit so we can try it XC weather permitting once I feel ready. 

Note Tillie's excitement.

Now, fellow blooger and barn mate Emma, has been an awesome cheerleader and reassuring it would not be as bad as I was making it out to be. So I planned a night I knew she would be there for moral support. 

I do not have flat curb reins yet in order to make sure this bit really is going to stick around...so I used some old dressage reins which are in desperate need of a cleaning and very stiff. The snaffle reins I stuck with what I was familiar with - my thinline reins. 

Warming up a bit...pretty sure I am laughing at myself at this point.

We head down to the ring and Emma did a brief overview of different ways to hold the reins and gave some pointers...thank goodness because I got on, looked down and thought: "Oh my god, that is a lot of leather"

Trying to figure out the feel between the snaffle and curb was a bit odd, let alone trying to shorten one or the other independently. I guess that will come with time, practice and technique. Other then that, it wasnt all that strange to have both sets once we started walking around. 

I think she looks quite grown up and like a real dressage horse!

Tillie instantly felt really supple and easy to maneuver...Not sure if it was the bit or not, though I am hoping I wasn't using the curb rein action yet. So we moved up into trot and she again was super responsive despite the flurry of activity around us (There was a lesson and a few lease riders in the ring). Clearly, Tillie is more agreeable in the warmer weather. 

I played a little at this point shortening and lengthening the reins trying not to catch her too much with the curb. Once I felt it was as good as it was going to get for the evening there, I warmed up into canter. Her canter depart has felt a bit sticky as of late...I partially think its my cue timing issue and her missing my cue. I also feel like her canter isnt strong at all (or I am finally realizing/able to feel it) and she really isnt sitting. She gets by on being naturally balanced to a degree, but its definitely something I need to work on in coming rides. 

Hey there uphill trot...where have you been all year!?

Besides that, her canter felt really easy to navigate and keep inside bend unlike usual. So yay for a win there! I tried really hard in canter and trot to have soft elbows to open and close...but rewatching some of these videos I realize it still isnt enough.

Despite that, she seemed pretty darn consistent. I was having way too much fun and almost called it a day when Emma suggested trying some ground poles both at the trot and canter. By this point the double reins werent too noticeable, but I did frequently try to check where the tension was and be sure it was off the snaffle so I only had tension on the curb IF needed. It came in handy with the poles...

The trot I fully expected her to build which is a tendency of hers through poles...often times leaving in canter. Not sure if she knew I had the pelham on or if I was accidentally using the curb but as you can see in the video below, she held it together and looked like she knew what was up. 

So to make things interesting we tried in canter. She got a bit forward the first attempt on each lead and the first try on left lead she did a flying over the last pole to land on the incorrect, right lead...I figure that was a weight placement issue on my end because the next time through she handled it beautifully. 

At this point I was having so much fun I sort of just threw in a mixed bag of sitting trot/changing rein then posting trot across the diagonal to see how well she would handle "building" but coming back. At one point in the video you can see how smart she is and catches on, tries to go ahead a build across the diagonal without me asking to which I quickly shut down and asked for a smaller trot instead.

Love how canter poles create the front end lift for me!

What was so wonderful about this ride was Tillie had so much try and willingness it was almost freaky. Any small amount of resistance I got was simply a lack of understanding, strength or just unsure. With some insistence on my part, she quickly would go OK fine. 

Left bend still REALLY gives me a hard time to get her straight, without twisting her poll, just bending the neck or her losing the right side. I do believe it stems from my crookedness because as soon as i concentrate on evening my seat bones and watch my twisting it seems to remedy itself. 

YAWN! Worked sooooo hard.

It is uncharacteristically warm - which I am NOT complaining about, but it did mean having a super sweaty Tillie by the end of our ride...so I got to blow dry her for the first time using our electrogroom! Tillie has been vacuumed with it before, so was a bit shocked at first at the different sensation and was a perfect lady standing for it...just was very expressive in her faces to tell us how she felt. She was so extremely cuddly too it was hard to resist. 

So cuddly after the ride with Auntie Meri (Miseventer) 

So there is my recap on my night of a few firsts....here is some footage of our ride towards the end:

Another lesson recap

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

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

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

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

Isnt she just so cute?

Left bend struggles:

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

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

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

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

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

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

So on to jumping we went. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stretch Tillie Stretch! 

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

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

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

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

WEEEEEEEEE!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tillie says I not used to working this hard! 

Holding on to all the good feelings

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

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

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

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

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

So tired....

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

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

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

Nope, not in the mood

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

See...its the simple things!

Loch Moy - Dressage

With the day being so packed with awesomeness, I will be breaking down the three phases of Loch Moy in different posts...I hope the anticipation isn't too much to handle!

The morning of the show was an early one since fellow trailer mate, Brita, had a dressage time before 8am. Luckily for me, I was so beat after CHA and lessons and keeping myself busy, I came home and crashed early so waking up at 4 wasn't so bad. More importantly I didn't have any time to get in my head and get nervous.

Brita put in nice test with her boy and we quickly ran off to get a cart for Emma to walk our XC course. Fellow blogger, Austen, also joined us! She was such an amazing help and event lent me her belt (opps!) for the day.

Thanks Austen for this picture! 

Well right after our course walk, we rushed back and I got myself ready. I thought I had given myself enough time, but I didnt plan on Tillie coming off the trailer a nervous ball of tension. They were running ahead of schedule and I should have declined and opted to do a few minutes longer...so I only got about 20 minutes.

Luckily, Tillie JUST started to settle and while she didnt feel that great, it was good enough. Re-watching the video the first few times, I focused on Tillie and agreed it looked better then it felt. BUT when I watched it and focused on me, I was appalled at how noisy of a rider I appeared to be. **Sigh** I guess the quiet ride all around will come with time.

I am grateful I had such a strong support system which included a bonus of Emma yelling profanities at me to get me to look up not down at my horses neck....I never want to show again without them!

Anywhere here is the video:

So yea....that happened. In the moment, it happened so fast I was shocked. But I went back in and asked to finish. We did, and silly mare tried to pull the same trick again. Not really sure what gremlin was lurking on the inside of the right entrance, but Tillie thought there was one for sure.

The moment I knew I botched royally

It ended up taking a lot of the pressure off and you could even see her relax that much more since I did. I was severely disappointed and it was my first Elimination in dressage ever - but I guess there is a first time for everything right? I was even more disappointed that, despite the judge allowing me to finish, didnt score the remainder of my test...with it being a starter trial, we all assumed they would to at least give my something to go off of.

If only we had a test to score the lovely parts! 

I was really ready to cry. I felt tears stinging and kept trying to tell myself it happens, but it still just sucks. At least this event still allowed me to jump (which I was really not feeling up to at first and felt maybe this test was a bad omen). But Emma convinced me to and insisted I would regret it if I didnt.

Oh haaaaaay fancy pants.

So lesson learned: I need to prep for a longer warm up and I need to not forget to steer. 

Countdown to Loch Moy starter Trial - Dressage Preparation

I have so much to post about right now, but Ill do my best to spread it out so I do not overload you all at once.

After concluding a grueling week of CHA certification (I am proud that I received the highest level of certification for english and jumping instruction!) I decided I needed a dressage lesson to get back to business.

Tillie seemed a bit more stiff then usual. This is relatively speaking, I just had to work a lot harder then I was used to. It could very well have been the fact that I was exhausted after logging in close to 40 hours of saddle time the week of. (The good news is riding all the different horses in more basic lessons, I got to focus on my collapsing problems, equitation and lower leg.)

This lesson I felt like we had NO left bend at all. She was willing to do whatever I asked, but just seemed a little bit more effort on my part to manipulate.

I do have a short clip a friend captured...but it is not the greatest quality:

I didnt feel particularly great about it, but after seeing the clip have decided maybe I need to calibrate what feels right and wrong. I struggle with that anyway right now...but be more able to let go "what it usually feels like" because if I always try to recreate that, we wont improve.

Screenshot from our trot circle after the canter.

Her trot after the canter got much more elastic...so lesson learned, warm up faster in the canter!

New trainer...yay or neigh?

The new potential trainer/instructor made the drive out to the farm last night. He was polite and seemed to know a lot from what I could decipher from his accent.

I did my research on him before coming, the little that I could find. I dont want to share too much to keep his identity safe, but he is fairly new to the US (which I knew) so does not have many clients yet or any prospects. His background is in jumpers and eventing at the 1* level...which I did find records on.

So not quite as experienced as the other few trainers I have used and he is the youngest (not by much). BUT age and experience, while they do mean more wisdom, does not always mean they are good at sharing and teaching that wisdom.

He said all the same things about Tillie that I have been hearing from all the other trainers. The top ones that stood out:

1. She needs to soften her back more
2. Her lateral movements are shockingly amazing and nimble
3. She needs to use her hind end more  

He rode her first so I could see his style....and because this person or whoever my next trainer will be, will potentially help me with a training rides here or there like D does. Right away I noticed how much Tillie did not seem to mind him. New riders to her are usually like fresh meat...she tail swishes and squeals and threatens all sorts of non-sense before settling in to work. 

Tillie did none of those things and seemed pleased to work. Her ears were listening and floppy at times and you could see the wheels turning in her head as he rode her around. 

He did a lot of counter bending, asking for bigger steps then "shhhhing" her and asking for slower steps. He played around with some shoulder in too. 

They trotted A LOT. He seemed to have the same approach as C in getting her going before asking to connect. He worked with her on her wanting to brace through the changing rein when changing from tracking right to left. I like what I saw when he would put his inside hand forward giving her a floppy rain for few strides and pat her before picking it up again...something I am really bad about doing.

They then moved on to schooling canter transitions. He said she needs to be better about sitting when going into them and make it clearer rather then the few quick trot steps before leading into the canter. He also instigated a more forward canter to attempt to get her excited (since I mentioned this was an issue) and then correct it by using his seat. 

 He was quite impressed at the walk and trot how responsive she was to the seat for transitioning and said she just needs that same level at the canter. He then was trying to get her to stretch more at the trot, but she just didnt relax enough in her back to allow for that. I heard him using his voice and "shhhing" her a lot which I thought was cool.

He then had me get on to try to recreate the canter transitions he just schooled. So it was a little bit of a taste for what a lesson would be like. Immediately when I got on, I notices how much more in the reins Tillie felt. It's hard to say if it was a good feeling or bad, it just felt like I had a lot more there...usually the contact is so light so sometimes its hard to make that half halt with her. 

He gave me some homework to do - which I always love homework! I need to be able to recreate the lesson without my trainer there to a certain extent. He suggested lots of random ground poles to randomly work over them to help "surprise" Tillie and ride through that to promote getting her relaxed...Also raise caveletti in trot work to build strength. 

When jumping she recommended only using placement poles. 

So here is their first few rounds of trotting...so she wasnt quite as relaxed here. But I look forward to hearing anyone's thoughts and open to suggestions on other local trainers. 

Where there are highs there are lows

So my lesson post two days ago was so over joyed that I admit I felt like I was on top of the world. I have to really watch and manage my emotions better when it comes to our progress because such highs make the lows that much lower.

Let me stop right here and preface the rest of this post by saying, my ride last night was not a low worth complaining about at all by any means. It just feels that way after having THAT fabulous of a ride...and in all fairness, I did get on knowing I would probably not get even a shadow of the ride I had in my lesson with C. I know it will take way more time for both Tillie and I to achieve the consistency of what we can in a lesson setting, outside of one at home.

Sweaty Tillie says "I tired"

The tone of the ride didnt start of well for a number of reasons. First, there was a HUGE lesson happening with 4 or 5 students in addition to two other rides (aside from myself) also trying to get in rides. Now, I can share my space...and I also teach beginner lessons at my barn so understand the difficulty of trying to herd the students and remind them of ring etiquette...But trying to ride amid the chaos was really frustrating once I tried to start our trot work.

Look, I totally understand, these students are learning and just don't always have the degree of control and sometimes cut the ring corners, come off the rail..etc. I ALSO understand I am an adult advanced rider that should be capable of navigating and adapting to this environment. I guess though I was on the struggle bus because I felt like every time I began to ask for our trot we would have to suddenly veer or dart out of someone's way.

I at first was frustrated with Tillie...Why mare cant you just soften like the wonderfully flexible cloud I was riding the day before? Why on earth are you falling in left and speeding up tracking left? Well take a stressful day at work + the chaos of that many riders in the ring = a very tense me. 

I pulled a few one-rein stops because she would tense up, especially tracking left, brace and cross her jaw - to which a spectator would think I am crazy for flexing my horse into a one rein stop. Can I add: I HATE getting after my horse in front of other people. I know sometimes you have to and I feel terrible too because I know it wasnt her fault exactly...but I still really get unsettled by it. 

The wonderful thing about horses - they dont hold it against you.

Hey mom, dont be sad! 

So the ring cleared out a bit and all was left was myself, fellow blogger Emma and a lease rider. So all perfectly capable of navigating a ring. Well struggle bus was still full force because I STILL felt in the way. 

I also admit my homework from C is to stay off the rail so Tillie can balance herself without the rail as a guide so I am probably the one at fault here. 

I basically threw up my hands at one point and just took a minute to try to erase the first 20 min and start over. After a few more conversations with Tilie and pushing through tension, I felt like we FINALLY got over the hump and parked the struggle bus for the night. 

A very worn out Tillie just wants to go to bed

I did a lot of changing rein again, REALLY trying not to let her rush to the left or pull her out with my right rein. I played around a bit with my weight like we did with C and VOILA!! Magically we got left bend. 

From there, things got better. Cantering was a huge win...I could throw away my inside rein and she would stay bent, turning off my outside aids. Right lead especially I got the most lovely soft connection and downward transitions. Something really clicked in the canter for me and I felt like I could use leg and ask for more without thinking "OMG this is way too fast!"

I let her stretch at the end and played with her moving off both legs and a stretchy trot...which shockingly Tillie did without pulling or yanking the contact down like she normally wants to. 

All in all, I walked away from the ride feeling a bit let down on myself for not having patience and not adapting to the situation (considering its the perfect show ring warm up scenario) and feeling incredibly happy my horse is resilient...for the most part. 

How do you guys turn off and reroute your frustrations?