Video Critique: Dressage

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Britt

Over the weekend Ali kindly videoed me in lieu of having a lesson. While there is nothing that can take the place of professional advice, it was extremely helpful to have a visual on what our flatwork looks like. The video mostly speaks for itself, but here is a partial critique of myself anyways.

I found watching the video that I was surprised- a few things looked better that they felt, and others the opposite.

Our canter lengthenings leave me with the most frustration. If I feel him coming apart I tend to lower my hands, and I let my reins get long (something that seems to happen throughout the ride). I would also like to see a more precise transition from working to lengthened canter. In the future I think I will practice these after the lateral work to help him swing through his back and get the engine going.

Reins getting a little long in the trot, but happier here with my leg-hip-shoulder alignment

Reins getting a little long in the trot, but happy here with my leg-hip-shoulder alignment

This is better

The lateral work is better than I expected, though the challenge to keep him supple and maintain energy throughout the movements still remains. I am however very pleased to see on video how straight he is moving! Also with my position, my hands tend to be better at the trot but I think I could benefit from a more flexible elbow, shorter reins and lifting my hands slightly to maintain the bit-to-elbow connection. I left out the shoulder-in left in the main video, here it is below:

Leg Yield: Foster is mostly straight, me, not so much

Stepping under in the Shoulder In

In general I will be focusing more on my elbows and trying to wrap my leg around his barrel more. Watching this also really makes me want to pursue getting my knee blocks adjusted to help me keep a longer leg without getting into a chair-seat. Plenty to work on, for Foster and myself!

Compare this to when I first got him- he’s growing up!

On the Glories of “Coaching”

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Britt

I have always loved teaching. Part of this is what led me to tutoring for 5 years, one of my many jobs to sustain the horse habit in college. And then while on the university’s dressage team, I had a few opportunities to coach at shows when our real coach was unavailable. While I cannot take much credit for my teammates’ successes, I found it truly rewarding to be able to help in those stressful 10 minutes before a test and was always super proud when they did well.

Representing NC State at Nationals with the Intercollegiate Dressage Association

Since college I have had few chances to ‘teach’ beyond giving my sister lessons when I return home, and a brief stint of giving lessons to a fellow-boarder before she officially retired her old gelding.

Saturday though I had a chance to not coach, but support Ali as she battled her dressage demons. It was a showdown in the little white box, and I was there to give a few words of advice, but mostly encouragement as she and Baron faced their fears. Ali is a beautiful rider and Baron, a very good boy, so it was no wonder that they brought home a blue and a red ribbon and some amazing scores! 28.2 and a 31- not bad for someone who refers to dressage as ‘the sand box’! I haven’t seen that many 8’s in a long time!

Ali and Baron- a great pair!

While again I make no claim to their victories, it reminded me how extremely rewarding it is to help someone succeed in this sport. Every horse person deals with trials and tribulations from time to time and it is important to lift someone up whenever possible. Since we are normally competing in the same division, our opportunities to help each other at shows are slim to null, so it was great to cheer them on from the sidelines. Go Ali and Baron!

Showing off his acheivments!

Bachelorette Weekend and XC Schooling

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Britt

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend. A friend of mine celebrated her bachelorette weekend by staying in town, and a huge group of girls participated in all sorts of Disney princess themed fun and frolic. We bounced on trampolines, pampered ourselves with mani/pedis, and completed the most intense scavenger hunt ever! Even rode in my first rickshaw! And I am proud to say that I took the individual scavenger hunt challenge uber seriously and won myself a brand new fairy-princess-wand (because who doesn’t need one of those!) and was on the winning team! Go team Ariel! Can’t wait to attend what will surely be a beautiful wedding in a few weeks! PS follow me on instagram!

Bachelorette Weekend Fun!

Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the last couple activities, as I had to get up bright and early ( a 5:35 am alarm is not so easy after a day of running around! ) to go XC Schooling in Southern Pines. The farm we went to has one of my favorite cross country courses, simply because the number of combinations and vast array of fences to jump is incredible!

Getting up with the sun!

This was the first time in a long while that Foster and I schooled with a group lesson, which consisted of two rock star high schoolers on the brink of Novice/Training, and Ali and I with our boys at Beginner Novice/Novice. There were many questions thrown at us that we had never done before, such as jumping downhill, jumping out of water, and plenty of combinations. One such combination was an upbank, three strides to a hanging log which we went over and then came back to the other way (jump to a down bank). Foster handled this, the water questions, and the ditches with great confidence and enthusiasm. We did have a couple tricky moments at two jumps at the beginning of the venture, where he decided to take advantage of my open left rein instead of the fence, but after I focused on riding him straight everything went more smoothly than I could have hoped for.

Our group getting their feet wet.. and me desperately trying to not let Foster roll! He LOVES the water!

Overall the main lesson was to continue to ride him straight through his shoulders, and once again, to allow him to open up his stride and not hold him together so much. Once I gained confidence in him it was so much fun to let him go a bit! While we didn’t get to tackle any serious Novice questions, we accomplished so much and it was a great learning experience. I am excited to take him back in a couple weeks for a horse trials!

Jumping out of the water!

Ali and Baron warming up!

Ali and Baron out of the water! Whee!

Leg is getting tighter! Hooray!

Photos are compliments of one of the sweet moms watching our group school! Looking forward to seeing them again soon!

Fly Sprays: Canned Cancer vs Essential Oils

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Britt

Fly Sprays: Canned Cancer vs Essential Oils

For all of us equestrians out there, fly spray is a summer staple in your grooming kit. Every year as the temperatures rise, we shell out the dollars hoping those pesky flies, and more villainous horse flies, will give us enough peace to enjoy our rides.

I stumbled upon this link from EventingNation’s blog, and was surprised to see some of the information linking fly spray chemicals to cancer. Maybe I shouldn’t have been, as it seems most chemicals these days are at least slightly carcinogenic. But as my husband and I both have close family members with cancer histories, this article has made me think twice about the brand I use.

Passing along to other equestrians, as it is a well-written article and might make you think twice, too! If you have any good experiences with ‘essential oil’ based fly sprays, or other bug-repellent techniques (such as supplements), please share below!

Jumped the brick wall!

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Britt

Last night a barn friend and I attempted a little photo session. She is thinking about selling her horse and I offered to take some photos of him over fences. So we set the fences up to some decent heights (3′ to 3’6″) and got going.

I warmed up Foster and popped him over a few fences and he was going well. We hadn’t been over the brick wall yet, which had a back rail set to 3’6″, but he was going so well and she was egging me on so we took it! No hesitations whatsoever, which was great because I was thinking I might be eating dirt. He did however almost jump me out of the tack going over it! After that we took some photos of her before I hopped back on a rode it again, this time without the back rail (no need to be an overacheiver!) So here is proof that my pony can tackle scary brick walls:

Over the wall we go! Cropping so you don't have to witness my defensive position!

Over the wall we go! Cropping so you don’t have to witness my icky equitation!

We got a few more photos and I seriously need to get it into my head to stay up when we lands! It was killing me to see some of them afterwards *cringe*. But that’s why these things are so helpful! I want to school some jumps again a little later in the week so I get a good feel before the cross-country schooling over the weekend.

And in the land of dressage, Foster has been making some serious progress with his lateral work. We’re starting to stay soft through the leg yields, and our shoulder-in’s are not as ~~heinous~~ sticky as they used to be. Still need to work on lengthenings and getting clear transitions between the working and lengthened gaits. Otherwise no complaints at the moment!

Onward and upward we go!

Showjumping Lesson Recap

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Britt

Foster was a tired boy after our lesson!

So we finally got a lesson in! I trailered over to Equiventure this morning, where Holly trains, so it was even more meaningful because we were able to get off property. Foster tends to travel really well, and was much more interested in eating grass than looking about. But when we got to the arena he found another gear that I haven’t felt in some time!

While I won’t bore you with all the details, I did have some great take-aways:

I have a tendency to bend him to the left over fences, as well as turn my head to the left, which causes him to travel through his right shoulder and occasionally jump over the shoulder. I need to focus on riding him straight through his neck and body and look straight ahead!!
It is okay to let Foster move out a bit. More forward and more energy is not something I should be afraid of!
Don’t hit him with my butt! This one I was somewhat aware of going into it, as I’ve seen it on some of the videos taken of us recently. I need to stay in the air just a beat longer so I don’t punish him by ‘landing’ before he does.
For practicing at home we are going to take 3′ off of the distances, but know and be prepared for shows setting up strides different ways. Even if they use the 12′ stride + 6′ takeoff/landing, the adrenaline should get us moving through it fine.
For combinations, land, sit up, stay quiet, and let the fence come to you

There’s definitely a few other pointers I picked up but these are the highlights! Overall I think I have plenty to work on, and am really proud of my boy for being so workmanlike. We both had a great time; I knew Foster was having fun because he was giving me great walk/canter transitions with a little fun head toss every once in a while.

It was also a great opportunity to school in some wetter footing!
Tomorrow’s a tack cleaning day for sure…

Next week is our XC schooling at a huge farm in Southern Pines. So stay posted for that and maybe even a jumping photoshoot at home this weekend!

More Rain (AKA tour our arena)

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Britt

So, this weekend we tried for a lesson, and then a makeup lesson, both of which were cancelled thanks to rain. And as I look out the window at the gloomy rain clouds, I’m pretty sure tomorrow’s jump lesson will be cancelled as well. 4 attempts at lessons cancelled in one week. Bummer.

So instead, I would like to show you the fences that have been recently painted by the ladies I board with. We happen to have a wonderful leader in Ali, who took it upon herself to build the chevron, the brand new brick wall, and organize painting days to make the jumps all ~~scary as crap~~ bright and shiny!

The brand new brick wall!

I applaud the first person to go over this fence- the brick wall itself is 2’6″ and with rails it’s a cool 3’3″.

Probably my favorite, the stone wall

A classic big brown oxer

Swedish Oxer with ‘Liverpool’

The first chevon, part of the two/three stride line

The above single chevron has been really great practice for a similar (albeit much less colorful version) at MacNair’s that seems to cause most horses problems. After riding this though, it was a piece of cake!

The scary chevron oxer

The golden gates gymnastics

The idea with these jumps is that we can practice pretty much everything we might see at a show- and most of these jumps are way scarier! But because all of this is now second nature to our horses they (and we) have so much confidence entering the jump ring! Now we’ve just got to build up the courage to attack the new brick wall… Fingers crossed!

Foster the Jumper! And how the heck to measure strides?

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Britt

Unfortunately my lesson on Wednesday had to cancelled as the rings were questionable whether or not they would be open. My lesson will now be next Tuesday, so in preparation I moved around some fences last night. The goal for the lesson is to put together more complicated (1 and 2 stride) combinations without getting rushed or discombobulated. So that’s what we practiced.

We set up a nice novice sized course (3′) including a fun Swedish Oxer at the liverpool and one training sized oxer (3’3″), plus a one-stride combination that was significantly lower (2′-2’3″?) and one two-stride line. Foster warmed up nicely and we popped over the novice sized fences without much fuss. I have really been wanting to see what he does at 3’6″, so after he took the training oxer a couple of times I hopped off and raised it up a notch. Standing next to it made it feel huge, but the approach really was nice. I just had to tell myself it was only one hole higher! Well, the first time he brought down the back rail (it was an ascending oxer). Hop off, set it up, and try again. The second time he made it over! Not necessarily over jumping, in fact we may have rubbed it just a tish, but I was so pleased! Foster’s got so much heart.

Update: Foster standing next to last night’s oxer for scale

Then we proceeded to the combinations. Let me just say how very difficult it is to find measurements on how to set up these combinations online! Or rather, how to set up these fences at a height smaller than 3’6″ and not have to ask for gallopy long strides. I followed the instructions from this Practical Horseman article and that’s what I had to ride. So that’s 24′ from base to base for 1 stride, and 36′ for 2 strides. (6′ for landing and takeoff, 12′ per stride)

The one stride was massive! Ali said she has never seen Foster stretch like he did to make it. Foster is not tiny (15.3, maybe 16 hands?) and really had to work to get one stride in there. Since he didn’t chip, and came right back to me, I decided I would play with the set up another day.

How we felt in the one stride!

The two stride also rode massive. Longest strides ever, but he did it. I came back for a second pass and had a fly-by at the second fence. Nothing nasty, he just started drifting right and somehow missed the second obstacle. Oops. It didn’t help that the jumps involved were the ‘scariest’ fences out there (for now!), neon green and navy chevrons with matching poles on top. Not the mention the wings on the second fence, an oxer, were actually barrels. So I came back to it again, keeping him between leg and hand, and were successful. Good pony!

Then Ali suggested I ride through it again and see if I could get 3 strides. Because we have not done many combinations I was hesitant- this would be a real test to see if Foster was adjustable, and definitely a test to see how far he has come since the days of rushing. Could I collect him in between the fences and ride it as 3 instead of two strides? So I came back at it with a nice bouncy canter and three strides later came out of the combination with the biggest grin on my face! Definitely a good note to end on.

I really can’t say how proud I am of my boy. Just in the last few months I can say he has shown me he can jump in a nice quiet (sometimes too quiet) rhythm, jump height without drama, and now be adjustable when I need him to be. I am positive that our lesson will be challenging, but that’s great. Excited does not begin to describe it!

I need to look more into how to set up these fences, especially before my lesson next Tuesday. So if you have advice let me hear it! And if you have ideas as to why these measurements ride so big I would love to know! Thanks in advance!

XC Schooling

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Britt

Yesterday we headed out to a local cross-country course to get some schooling in. We haven’t been over any kind of terrain or solid fences since June and I felt it was really important to get out again to continue building our confidence and prepare for Novice this fall. While we have been schooling 3′-3’3″ showjumping fences at home (training level height) we have never been over anything larger than beginner novice cross-country. I wasn’t worried about the height as much as my (and therefore his) relaxation.

It was super hot so we kept it minimal, but what we did I was really pleased with! We had a slightly rough start due to me losing my stirrups over a couple fences- this is because I desperately needed to shorten them and had been hoping to do this in a show jumping school, but hadn’t done it yet. So we rolled my stirrups (somehow I have the longest stirrup leathers in the world- just look at the excess!) and proceeded. As a result I feel like my leg was much tighter but my upper body felt a bit unbalanced with the change. Looking at these photos I realize I could do with closing my hip angle and a couple other adjustments, but nothing we can’t fix!

Foster sailed over the Novice fences like a champ. We had one minor discussion about the ditch as a result of my jumping up his neck on his first attempt over it, but thanks to Ali’s egging me on we made it over again. I definitely came away with some great feedback (like MORE ENERGY!) and am super stoked about what this season will bring.

Next week we have a showjumping lesson with Holly Hudspeth and then a dressage lesson over the weekend at Eliza Sydnor’s (where I’ll get to ride in front of mirrors! yay!) We have plenty to work on and I’ll post recaps after. In the next couple weeks I want to get in a jumping photoshoot with my new camera and a bangin’ new brick arch jump I’m about to go paint with Ali! Stay posted!

Before shortening my stirrups! Yikes!

Whee!

Some eq work to be done still…

Finding Dressage Zen: An Update

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Britt

An old photo… looking at my boots makes me so glad I bought new ones!

A couple weeks ago we had a lesson with a trainer who emphasized relaxation in our dressage work. Since then I have been working to build the trust back into our riding, in hopes that he can relax and not be worried about every little transition we do.

I won’t say it’s been less demanding, because as a rider it has forced me to tune into every idiosyncrasy and be very finessed and finite in my aids. We’ve been doing more stretchy work and transitions from left to right bend in hoping that he will stay connected over his back more consistently. I have also been extremely aware of his tempo, after our lesson pointed out that he tends to surge forward (or get behind my leg) occasionally and it’s up to me to give him the responsibility of maintaing a steady rhythm.

While it is definitely still a work in progress, we are definitely moving forward. Last night I really started feeling the impulsion I’ve been seeking for months, and maintained relaxation with minimal bracing for most of our 45 minute ride. His right lead canter depart is finally becoming automatic again, and while I haven’t been able to convince him not to use his neck in the departs, I am confident that will come too. We were even able to do some nice straight leg yields. Ok, so maybe they were almost a western jog, but they’re getting there!

The biggest accomplishment laterally is that he in no longer traveling crooked and I can put those haunches where I want them! I am excited to really start correct shoulder in’s, haunches in, and all the other fun stuff that goes with it.

Give us a year (or 10) and we’ll look just like Jim and Art Deco here!

Sorry for the long, winding dressage post! I’m hoping to look back on this in a month and be able to mark even more progress. Things are coming along though. Practice (and zen) makes perfect!