Lesson Recap: Dressage

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Britt

You know that feeling when you just had a really good lesson? To me, a really great lesson is a mixture of mistakes, so you can obtain the advice that makes the lesson worthwhile, and success. Too much success (not an often occurence!) and you wonder why you paid for the lesson. Too many mistakes, and you get disheartened.

To start with, Eliza hopped on and really loosened Foster up at the base of the neck, which is what we have been striving for over the last few weeks. Lots of changes in direction, and upward and downward transitions insisting that he stay soft and balanced. I was glad to hear (and see) that he was already improving from her training ride, which means I am able to replicate the concept on my own with some success.

Looking snazzy for his lesson in all black

Then I hopped on and we worked on transitions with the soft neck and balanced connection. Lots of very small releases kept him from getting on the forehand or becoming stiff in the trot and canter work.

Afterwards we headed to the covered arena (mirrors!) to run through the Novice B test. For the most part I was able to keep the quality of work the same, though it was a lot harder in the small arena- transitions come up very fast! I even got to watch a video of it all afterwards, which was super helpful in seeing exactly what she was telling us. I’ve got a game plan for every movement, and if I can replicate that ride at the show, I will be very, very, pleased!

Novice B test

As usual, for my own benefit, here are the main points to remember (yeah, there’s a lot):

Warmup: Get him loose in the neck (changes in direction), then collect/balance (transitions between/within gaits), then push forward into the show frame
Rider issues: Engage my core to keep him balanced (and at the walk- I let my hips swing too much!), and elbows by my side! No need to look like a durn duck. Keep the reins short.
Think shoulder-fore down centerline to keep him straight
Miniscule releases to keep him balanced (at canter too!)
Following hand in the free walk
Push more forward in the 20 meter trot circles to show a bit more brilliance
Prepare for every. transition. (Including turns!)
Sit into the canter to trot transition, even if it feels like crap
Stay a hair off the rail in the free walk to medium walk transition, leg yield to wall, using outside rein to keep him together
Leg on in the final halt, don’t let him go splat!

Phew! That’s a lot to remember! (Un)Luckily, our lesson with Doug for tonight was cancelled, so I’ll be practicing the above work instead to really cement it in our brains. Then another jump school tomorrow, light dressage Thursday, and off to the show we go!

Lesson Recap: Showjumping

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Britt

Luckily yesterday the rain held off and we were able to take a jumping lesson with Doug. After such a shitty Monday, I must say Tuesday turned out pretty alright. I got to see a couple horsey friends I haven’t seen in a while, and had a really good lesson to boot.

One of my main takeaways was: Stop babying the darn horse. He’s a big boy, and he’s got to be pushed out of his (our) comfort zone a bit to grow, as well as know that there are consequences when he doesn’t do something he knows how to do correctly.

Somehow looking chubby after having his butt worked

To elaborate, though…

After warming up in a surprisingly round trot (Foster is harder to get on the bit in the Waterford in general), we worked on collecting and lengthening within the gaits. At the trot, Doug told me I was focusing too much on the smoothness of the transition, and easing into it when really the exercise was about getting him sharp to my aids- when I say move, he should move! Same thing going from lengthened canter to collected- I should get a clear transition, and insist to Foster that this is possible.

At the canter, Doug threw two poles down on the long side, and we focused on putting more or less strides in between them. After I learned how to count (a very Duh! moment on my part), 5 strides felt like a forward canter, and then we worked on putting 6 in with pretty good success. We then attempted to put 4 in- not so successful, but I got the idea. This is definitely something I need to work on regularly, and incorporate into every jump school, since not only does it help with Foster’s rideability, but also gets him in front of my leg before we jump.

The first jumping exercise we did was jumping on a small circle. My job was to keep him straight through the shoulders and hold the outside rein in particular so that he didn’t overbend in the neck and then fall out. We kept the jumps small since it was a technical exercise, and both Foster and I picked it up pretty quickly.

Next we moved on to a mini course, starting with a related distance that rode in 5 strides with a forward canter. Turn right after and collect him in order to make the turn to the small oxer, and keep the collected canter and do the related distance again in 6 strides. Definitely the hardest part about the exercise was landing on the left lead after coming over the oxer and keep him balanced and collected through the turn in order to get the 6 strides in. All of this to cement in the fact that you establish the canter you want well before going through any related distance (or to any jump), so as to not be scrambling in the middle. Definitely a good exercise in preparation and thinking for me, since I tend to lose sight of these things as I run around a jump course!

Trying again with the hard bit, and Foster throwing in a flying change like I planned to do it or something (I didn’t). Thanks buddy for making me look good.

And then putting everything back together, with another flying change just for fun?

We ended on that, and I was really pleased to find Foster more ‘rideable’ than I had thought. We’ve got a ton of homework to work on, and just for my own benefit, here is the list of exercises to incorporate into our next jump school:

lengthened and collected trot
lengthened and collected canter (strides between poles)
angled fences
related distances with varying strides
rounder outline within the jumping canter

Phew! So so much to do. And then there’s the dressage lesson tonight! Busy, busy, busy!

Southern Pines XC lesson

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Britt

Instead of competing in Virginia, as originally planned, I decided to take the weekend off. But when I heard that Doug Payne was schooling cross country in Southern Pines, I had to go along! Since I flew solo on this mission, there’s no videos or pics- hopefully next time!

While the morning did require getting up at the ungodly hour of 5:30, once there the experience was entirely worth it. Doug and his charming wife were both mounted on more green prospects, and the 3 of us headed out to the expansive cross country fields.

Competing at Running Start earlier this year

One of the first things we tackled was angled fences. After going through an in-and-out, we then took the fences at a mild angle, then re-approached the obstacle, creating a one-stride combination of the grid.

Doug emphasized at the end of our schooling that practicing angled fences would be a great tool to have in our back pocket. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone in practice would mean if something, heaven forbid, happened during an actual course, such as Foster getting ‘squirrely’ before a fence, that I would have the confidence to take the fence from a less than perfect approach.

Novice rolltop at an angle, then practiced the Training fence beside it

Another way of being prepared, from a technique standpoint, included the advice that I (and assuming lots of other riders) stay back, and if need be, a little behind the motion. If I start leaning at the fence, it puts my weight over his shoulders, which puts him on the forehand and makes any attempt by myself to correct straightness and balance all the more difficult. We practiced this to both a Training ditch and later, to Foster’s first real trakehner (yay, finally!), to positive effect!

Revisited this log into water

While we didn’t go out and jump every fence available (not possible, I’ve never seen so many options before in my life!), we did get to introduce new concepts to Foster. These being, to sum up:

Jumping angled XC fences
Training level ditches
Dropping into water
Confidently jumping over log into water*
Jumping a real trakehner

Foster afterwards- what a good boy!

I also got lots of good advice to keep in mind, and discovered a bit more about my own habits:

If in doubt, sit to the fence
Keep my leg on (as in ON, not kicking or ‘breathing’ as my tendency is)
Keep the canter active (nothing new here!)
Purposely remind myself to bring his balance up about 6 strides out
Dropping into water – allow my hips to go forward but keep my shoulders back, let the reins slip**

All in all, this was one of the most fun cross country schooling we’ve had. The more Foster’s confidence increases, the more I feel confident in him and feel myself relax. We introduced new concepts to him that he handled with lots of maturity- not a single bobble the whole time! Really proud of my boy and the way he reacted.

This week Foster hopefully gets a saddle fitting and a training ride (a first for the both of us!). Next week another Doug lesson, and we’ll see where things go from there as we prepare for our first Recognized event! So excited!

*This we had done before, but not on a super forward ride

** I leaned into the drop the first couple attempts at the bigger drop, and thought I was going to go swimming!

Lesson Review: Dressage

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Britt

Really this lesson ended up being more like a training ride/lesson hybrid, but it was worth it all the same. Eliza got there just as I finished warming up, and offered to hop on Foster briefly. I always think it’s great when she gets on him, because he seems like such a tricky horse to ride and for me to explain, that sometimes I don’t know how to translate what I’m feeling into the right questions.

Immediately, Eliza was surprised to feel how ‘stuck’ he is in his neck. I’ve been able to mask a lot of this tension with the way I ride him, but we really need to get to the meat of the issue before we can seriously consider collection and more advanced work, because the connection is not perfectly clear when he is bracing with the base of his neck.

Other remarks included how wiggly he is, and maintaining activity behind instead of letting him shuffle his hind legs like he’s wont to do. While Foster just tends to be a bit crooked, the crookedness is pretty specifically located in his hind end, and he likes to throw his haunches right instead of put weight on his left hock. And as far as the activity goes, she was much more adamant about reminding him to be active with subtle whip cues, and when he was really coming through behind, it was very noticeable!

In the last 10 minutes, I hopped back on and tried to get a feel for what she was discussing. I definitely saw the difference in the canter, and we worked on the timing of my whip aid to keep the canter ‘jumping’.

So overall, an informative lesson slash training ride. Sometimes the perspective from the ground is just as valuable as being in the saddle! I’m probably going to ask Eliza to do a proper training ride on him sometime in the future. Do you do training rides? What do you like about them/maybe not like?

Preparation Interrupted

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Britt

Ugh. Just when you make plans to be a ~~more than usual~~ dedicated and studious rider for the week, the weather and life get all in the way. I mistakenly passed up the opportunity to ride Sunday evening on my way back into town because I felt I had been neglecting the husband, who had been cleaning the house all weekend and probably needed some respite. Instead, I told myself I would be able to ride every other day this week- shouldn’t be a problem.

You get photos of Foster’s new hobby- getting disgustingly dirty

Shouldn’t.

Monday- storms. Tuesday- storms, but I attempted to get out and ride anyways, thinking that as long as it wasn’t thundering and lightning I could attempt getting on in the covered arena. 45 minutes of heavy rain and lightning trapped us in the barn, and when we thought the lightning bit had passed, we hustled into the covered arena. I did a bit of lounging, which was successful in that Foster was super relaxed, but not so successful in that he couldn’t respond to my voice cues because it was raining so hard on the tin roof that he couldn’t hear me. Heck, I couldn’t hear me, how could he? So I hopped on and no less than 2 minutes later the biggest crack of damn lighting hit, uncomfortably close to the covered arena under which we huddled. Luckily, Foster only scooted forward about 10 feet, and didn’t hurl me into the ground a la any western movie. I dismounted and called it a night.

Night 2 of coming to the barn to find the dirty.

So, after a grand total of 5 days off, I got on Foster last night and jumped him a little bit. I think most of the jumps were 2’3″, and one 2’7″-2’9″ish oxer in the middle of the arena. Remembering my lesson with Doug, I worked on the quality of canter, waiting with my shoulders, and not staring at the damn fence. I revisited the exercise of jumping the oxer on the circle, which went really well and I was able to almost all of my leads. Approaching the fences from a straight line and getting my leads was still a little iffy, but I’m hoping to work on that again tonight.

Last night’s Foster- scrubbing the face is not fun!

Tonight’s plan- have a short jump school so as to not over-do it, but jump 3’3″ height. I really need to get my eye used to this height again, and get a feel for the pace and again, the quality of canter I need. If all goes well, I’ll be on and off again in 35 minutes and packing, packing, packing.

My packing list.. yes, red bull, wine, and cheese-its are horse show staples for me. That’s how we roll. Also, yes, I have to remind myself to pack underwear. Don’t judge.

Tomorrow, you’ll get round 1 of puppy pics and I will be on my way to hunter jumper land!

Monday Monday

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Britt

If you were expecting another lesson recap, sorry. While I was away visiting my parents it dumped rain at home and the jumping arena had standing water in it- so, no jumping lesson for me. I will be trying to reschedule that lesson, but unfortunately don’t think it’s going to happen before the show this weekend. I’m on my lonesome, but I still think I picked up enough wisdom tid-bits to see me through one or two quality jump schools. As long as I keep my head on my shoulders. Ha, easier said than done.

Lots of showers make for pretty flowers

Otherwise, it was somewhat of a long, emotional weekend, but I got to visit with people I haven’t seen in a while, and help pick out bridesmaids dresses for a wedding I’ll be in in April! It just happens to be a sexy-ish figure hugging number, so my days of fro-yo and free M&M’s are numbered.

I do, however, have lots of puppy photos to share with you this week, and next!

Until then, keep it real folks.

Lesson Recap: Showjumping

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Britt

Well, I’m still here, which means I survived my lesson last night with Doug Payne! (PS if you haven’t watched him Rolex helmet cam with commentary click that link- very interesting!) I’m going to go ahead and apologize for the long post, which is mostly for my own benefit to keep the lesson fresh, and the lack on pictures/video, of which I didn’t get any.

Enjoy gif’s instead

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a proper jumping lesson, and it’s been a struggle to find a trainer willing to come out to the new barn for just one student, so I was exceedingly happy when Doug offered to make the drive. I gave him a brief run-down of where we were, and after watching us warm up briefly he gave me an assessment.

Not a huge surprise here- Foster balances himself with the base of his neck, which in turn makes him a little hollow through the back and short-strided. This then causes some of our issues with getting the true ‘horse’ distances, because when I put on leg he will more likely put in more quick, short strides than lengthen.

We continued from there with a 20 meter canter circle over a pole, focusing on keeping him straight through the shoulder and getting an active, through canter. Canter poles will definitely be in our future, since as simple as the exercise sounds, we were not as successful as I would have liked! Foster was a bit dull to my leg and feeling pretty tired, and I was a little worried moving forward to the actual jumping.

Luckily, there wasn’t much cause to be concerned. Doug set up a smallish oxer on centerline, so that I would canter over it and alternate turning right and left. Foster really woke up then, and was taking really big strides after the jump which made the turn thereafter quite difficult. What was happening is that he was becoming a little on the forehand leading up to the jump, which caused him to land out of balance and quicken his stride in order to catch himself. When I sat up and properly balanced him, he landed much more softly and the turn became easier to make.

Round canter

This led us into the next exercise, jumping a decently wide 3′ oxer on a circle. The geometry of the circle helped me keep him balanced, and as long as I didn’t stare at the fence we got pretty good distances. This is also where the whole ‘weight the shoulder to get the correct lead’ idea kicked in. It is now blatantly (I guess I’m a slow learner) obvious that I have been in the habit of leaning in the direction I intend to turn, which then means he is going to land on the wrong lead because I’m essentially blocking him from picking up the lead I really want. I especially do this going left (will tell story of how my left side is absolute poop later).

When I kept my shoulders back and square to the fence, then shift my weight to the outside, we were able to land in balance and on the correct lead. Doug warned me not to put all the pressure on myself though, and to allow Foster to make mistakes, and to occasionally take down poles. He praised him for being smart enough not to make the same mistake twice, and his willingness to put in another stride for a deep distance rather than launch from the long spot as some horses are wont to do.

After a bit of this, we put together a baby course that included a 2 stride over a 3’ish vertical. I was really pleased that Doug made us revisit the circle fence again, to make sure the idea had cemented itself. Definitely still a work in progress, but I was glad that he was willing to stay a few extra minutes to make sure the lesson would stick.

Overall, here are the main takeaways:

Be patient with my shoulders
Don’t let him get overbent in the neck
Maintain an active canter with a through topline- have the confidence that he can jump 5′ out of a quality canter
weight the outside shoulder to get the correct lead on landing
keep him balance before the fence, the quality of the canter after the fence will tell how successfully balanced he was
Don’t stare at the damn fence

Obviously I learned a lot, and was impressed with the attention given to both horse and rider equally. Impressed enough that I have signed up for a second lesson Sunday! Even though we won’t get a schooling ride in in between, I’m looking forward to further cementing these ideas and hopefully getting more takeaways to keep in my pocket for the show!

Quick update

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Britt

Not much really has been going on since my last update last week regarding my decision to attend a hunter/jumper show in a couple weeks. Basically I’m just trying to get my ducks in a row so I won’t embarrass myself once I’m there ~~quite as much~~. Mostly this means tracking down tack that hasn’t been used in a while (oh, hello, plain brown bridle) and buy a whole bunch of other junk.

Plain brown bridle’s last appearance

These purchases include open front boots (because Brushing boots don’t seem necessary for straight jumpers), ratcatcher shirt for me (thank you Tack of the Day, now please send it to me in time!), and tan full seats.

Obviously not Foster’s legs.. Foster’s legs are white, in case you hadn’t noticed 🙂

And I suppose since I felt like I hadn’t spent enough money already, I have set up two lessons- another dressage lesson with Eliza for later in the month, and one with a new-to-me trainer who also happens to be an up-and-coming international eventer! This exciting event happens Wednesday, and I’m super hopeful that they like Foster and impart plenty of jumping wisdom on us. We need it!

Lesson recap to come!

Lesson Recap: Dressage

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Britt

So, per my whining about needing lessons, I was able to get one in this weekend with Eliza. It was really good to check in and to verify that I have not been busy messing up my horse that last several months. Always nice to hear.

One of my concerns recently has been that Foster is not steady in the contact as much as I would like, and even having moments of dipping behind the vertical. So to begin with, we warmed up with a focus on him seeking the bit and pushing off with his hind end, rather than shuffling like he tends to do.

We also worked on the canter, which has always been Foster’s trickiest gait. Again, the focus was on encouraging an active hind end and getting the impulsion and ‘jump’ that his canter tends to lack. Some minor collection efforts were introduced to get him sitting on his butt. This proved to be the hardest exercise for the both of us, and I’ll definitely be practicing a lot!

Then we moved onto walk/trot transitions. As basic as it is, Foster still wants to use his forehand to transition, and that’s just not cool anymore. Thinking halt before moving up into the trot ideally will get him rocking his balance back and pushing off his hind leg instead of leaning into the transition.

Shoulder-ins made an appearance, and it was fun for me to see how they have improved over the last 6 months. While not yet perfect, the movement feels easier for him and more even in both directions. Our straightness has definitely improved, and I think all the lateral work we have done has helped strengthen his back left so that the work is easier for him to do.

Lastly, regarding both activating the hind end and thinking about extended trot/lengthenings, I got off and Eliza showed me how to do some in-hand work, but like the training of a horse for piaffe. Foster quickly picked up on the idea that he should lift his leg when touched with the whip, and ideally we will be able to introduce this concept at the walk as well. Eventually we will do this with his forelegs, a la the Spanish Walk, with the idea that he will get a feel for lifting his elbows and hopefully produce a better extended or lengthened trot. Super fun!

Overall, it was good to check in with all of the basics and get homework for the future. I’m glad to have these things to work on and feel some accountability for working on these goals and not leaving them on the back burner. It was also good to learn that when I feel him get heavy in my hands as I ask for more and more hind end work, I shouldn’t be afraid and for now, the extra contact is an acceptable way for him to go as he figures these things out for the first time. As Eliza put it (and this really resonated with me), Foster is very sensitive in the mouth, but a little stiff in the body. It’s always nice to hear someone put into words what you couldn’t say yourself!

Anyways, I am so happy to have gotten this lesson in, and encouraged to know that we are moving in the right direction. The rest of those many, many lessons that I want will only help!

Getting desperate

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Britt

For a lesson, that is. I feel like I’m at a point in Foster’s training where I’m chasing my tail. Instead of progressing forward, I’m routinely checking in and picking at tiny nuances that are appropriate for the level we’re at. Case in point- I’ve been meaning to work on lengthenings ALL YEAR. Have we? Nope!

Getting Foster ready for another lengthening-less ride

So I’m ready for a lesson. Many lessons, in fact. Even if it’s temporary, I would like to start some kind of program where we are pushed to work on things outside our comfort zone. Like jumping combinations, and lengthenings. How the fritz am I supposed to move up to Training if we aren’t even practicing Training level things? Corners, coffins, triple combinations… I mean hello?! Wake up Britt and smell the sawdust- it ain’t happening at this rate.

Mane is show ready finally, with no show in sight

In an effort to get on the right track, I have a dressage lesson scheduled for Saturday morning. It’s been since December when I last saw Eliza, and I am very curious to see what she thinks of where we are now. And I am a little ashamed of not progressing much in the last 6 months. I guess craptastic weather + traveling + new barn + weight loss + mystery swelling are excuses, but still…

Also, my horse is a dirty pig. Another good excuse for not lessoning?

But I did say *many* lessons. And since 1 lesson does not many lessons make, I am on the hunt for what to do. Since I am gone every weekend in August (that’s right, every. weekend.), trailering out to our regular lesson place is not an option. So, I may be looking to what’s available at my current barn. Lots of trainers come in for various boarders, and I’ve just got to choose who to ask. But herein lies a question- is a lesson a good thing no matter what, or does it really matter who the trainer is? When you are desperate for feedback, does it matter who the eyeballs belong to? What do you guys think? How do you decide?

Red on the Right

Tag Archives: lesson

Lesson Recap: Dressage

Lesson Recap: Showjumping

Southern Pines XC lesson

Lesson Review: Dressage

Preparation Interrupted

Monday Monday

Lesson Recap: Showjumping

Quick update

Lesson Recap: Dressage

Getting desperate