Today, though, I made sure I had ample time to ride both horses by getting up at 6:30 and working until I finished everything I HAD to do. Tonight I have another 3-4 hours. Crazy! But fun and extraordinarily good for my resume.
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| Boyfriend and I went to this gorgeous place in the hills above Oakland, then had dinner in Oakland and it was delicious! |
Today, TC had a HUGE breakthrough on the longe line. He finally understands the chambon and actually stretched forward and downward for a good chunk of his longe time (which is like 10 minutes). I haven't started cantering him in it yet, I want him to understand the trot first. But I did start doing canter work without the chambon before I put it on. He's struggling these days with cantering on circles/in corners so I figured that he could warm up at the canter on the longe line to find his balance and then hopefully maintain it with me on his back.
I hopped on and immediately regretted not grabbing a whip. I've been riding with one recently and it helps a bit. He doesn't really go forward when I tap him, but it's good to get his attention when he's ignoring me because he saw a bird/dog/pony/food/nothing.
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| Look at the most pathetic dog who broke his toe. He had so much to say about it when I came to see him! Poor Cooper. |
In the last two months since I've been working with him, he's gotten SO much better. He steers quite easily now, only occasionally falling in or out on the circle or being counterbent in the scary corner. I've been playing with some leg yields in walk to correct this. Walking before the corner where he won't bend, leg yielding him into it, then trotting out. This has helped tremendously because he really likes to charge around and he has to learn to slow down and think a bit more.
He's quite forward now, except sometimes gets sticky at the walk or reliant on my leg at the trot. As long as he stays forward at the walk, the trot is great, and the reliance is my fault. I need to drop my leg away from him and ride him like he's trained, not like he needs my help to keep going all the time. Today I worked on that, every time he stopped or slowed down, he'd get a poke with the spurs, but other than that, my leg was quiet and still. His canter is quite quite forward except that he likes to boing up and down when he gets off balance and then walk. But that seemed to be remedied today by the longeing.
He's quite a bit easier to get on the bit too. Throughout each ride, he gets better and better about staying on the bit, and today I really felt like he was stretching better into contact (thanks, chambon!). Still though, he still pops off the bit sometimes! Usually when he loses balance or gets distracted. Now that he's more forward, I've been bringing him back to a forward walk, putting him back on the bit, and then moving forward again.
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| Look! A real live dressage horse wearing hind boots and all! |
Something I've been struggling with lately, is giving him exercises to do. We typically just trot around, doing some circles and figure 8s, across the diagonal and transitions. That's... all I've got. I feel like I'm being a bit lazy about it- I really should sit down and think about exercises to do and pick one each day for him. But training level exercises are not as fun to come up with as the Grand Prix exercises. Bitch bitch bitch, at least I have a horse to ride.
So if anyone has any recommendations for fun exercises, let me know! He walks, trots, canters, and steers and that's basically it! I was thinking about some spiraling in and out and some of those training level 3 loops but other than that, I'm not coming up with anything else.
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| Wandering after our ride |
Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the first schooling show on March 7th and it's a no-go. He's been super super good at home, but we really haven't done enough off the property. So we have a list of things to do this month before we show in April!
- Order my gold medal lapel pin (this isn't related to him, but to hell if I'm showing without it! That thing was a bitch to obtain)
- Trailer TC in my rig (he's only been trailered in theirs)
- Take TC to my parent's arena
- Take TC somewhere by himself
- Take TC somewhere new to him that isn't my parents'
- Ride TC in the neighbor arena at least twice
- Possibly try to schedule a 30 minute lesson with either Heidi or Tracey
The last thing is something I've been thinking about because with skipping this show, my miniscule horse budget could allow me to take a lesson.
I'm not sure about a lesson and I'm not sure who to take it with. Ali rides with Tracey, so it'd be easy to schedule a lesson with her and just back it up to Ali's lesson. I'd get a ride, TC would get to go to a new place (but still with a trailer buddy). Tracey and I had a falling out last year but I saw her at a clinic recently and we seemed good.
I do value Tracey's opinions. I like that she's very nitpicky and that she's very much focused on the basics. I feel like she'd give me a good idea of what I'm missing with him. However, Tracey really pushes and I can see TC being a bit overwhelmed by the lesson. Essentially, I'm not sure if he's quite ready for a Tracey lesson.
Heidi is quite good with young horses but not as nitpicky. Going there means trailering him alone and in my rig, so that would be a new and scary thing for him. I'd probably need to prep him by taking him alone to my house and see how he does. I can see Heidi not overwhelming him, but she's not as nitpicky as Tracey is and I really want the nitpickiness. But Heidi is always so kind and positive and I always left her lessons feeling really happy.
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| This one was excellent today too |
Right now it's up in the air. Until I take him in my rig and to a new place, I don't want to risk going to Heidi's, and with Tracey, it all depends on Ali's schedule and the rain. So we'll see!
Overall though, he's doing really well, he's improving every ride, and he's looking more and more like a dressage horse. One day I'll get pictures of me riding him...
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| Clouds on the drive home yesterday |
Yay for potential lessons and off property adventures + trailer in. Adventures and fun times ahoy...
ReplyDeleteExercise ideas, but please bear in mind i am no trainer and havent seen him rideen so you're best placed to know if these suggestions will work for him and his current training/fitnessevels.
Spiral circles; large serpentines with a smaller circle when you bend/loop; transitions in the serpentines (ie trot the straight & walk the loops or vice versa); ride an S shape in the middle of the arena by stringing two semi circles together - sorry I know i am not explaining that correctly. I think my trainer called it a demi-volt, but i lesson in French so am not sure if English terminology is the same
I'm excited to get him off the property to go work! We've only left for trail rides at one facility so I'm not sure what to expect...
DeleteThanks for the exercises! The demi-volt (although I'm not sure what we call it here either) is in first level test 1 here- it's surprisingly hard, it makes horses/riders look drunk sometimes. Definitely going to try some of these.
It is super hard, but so awesome when I can get it semi-right. I am no first rider, but love the feeling of connection & balance when I manage to get that exercise right
DeleteLook through some of the lower level eventing dressage tests--I bet you could break down those movements and work on the transitions for some fun exercises.
ReplyDeleteOooo that's a good idea! That damn turn across the middle in one of the N tests (and now in 1-3 with a halt at X) always gets my event riders and I can't see TC being able to do that without being completely wobbly.
DeleteTC is too cute. :) I think a lesson with the less nitpicky instructor sounds like a good idea. I can't handle too much information at once myself so nitpicky instructors make my brain explode!
ReplyDeleteI love the nitpicking! But I worry that her exercises may be too much pressure for him. My brain definitely feels like it's going to burst after her lessons haha
DeleteSuch a cute baby!
ReplyDeleteHe's getting cuter now that he isn't as awkward! He's still a bit gangly though.
DeleteI generally stay far away from overly nit-picky, high-pressure trainers with the young ones on their first few outings. I mean, it can work well, but if it works poorly, it's a PITA to put demoralized pony back together.
ReplyDeleteThe schedule sounds fun though!
Yah that's what I'm worried about. I like the information that I get from her, but I think her exercises might be too much pressure for him at this stage (he's only been in dressage training for 2 months and before that was ridden in the arena once a week). He's so sensitive and loses confidence so easily, I have to remember that he isn't Rico!
DeleteHe sounds like such a promising young gent!
ReplyDeleteWhen he's good, he's so good! I can't wait until he grows up a bit more, he gives such a good feeling in the bridle and over his back, but he isn't quite consistent yet.
Deleteaww your poor puppy!! glad TC is doing so well - seems like he's really starting to get the hang of it. re: figuring out the scheduling, i tend to be pretty opportunistic about that stuff and would probably go with whatever is easiest to schedule and requires the least amount of preparation (unless, like you say, some of that prep work is a goal unto itself and then it would be good motivation to get it all done). tho i agree that it'd be important not to overface the baby - but i suspect you'd be able to figure out if he's being pushed too far. good luck!
ReplyDeleteCooper was so sad! He's been milking this injury for all it has got though, he's getting all sorts of attention.
DeleteI think we're planning on the April show, it gives us a solid month of work (so he'll be 3 months into his training by then) and lets me get him off the property a few times so I'm more prepared. He's generally really good, so I bet he would have been fine to go this weekend, but I didn't want to overface him by giving him so many new things all at once. I want him to be excited about showing and not at all nervous! I can't wait to show him though, yay!
I would go with the pickier instructor. After all, you're still the rider and decide in the moment how to apply the instructions. As for the exercises, you could do transitions out of the spiraling in and out to get the hind end engaged. Also riding on quarterlines to get him off the rail and then when you're on the quarterline riding suuuuper shallow (barely visible) serpentines to the right and left without bend, so essentially just moving his shoulders. Riding 20 m circle, preferably at B/E and then on each open side doing a small circle off the large circle in the other direction, so if you're tracking right on the big circle, tracking left for the small circles. To practice responsiveness and transitions, you could stay on a 3- or 4-loop serpentine, and walk for half a serpentine, than trot for another half, then canter for another half, then back to trot, walk, etc. For more hind end engagement, trotting whole arena and making a downward transition to walk in the corner and then immediately back up to trot. If you can incorporate turn on the forehand and leg yield then, of course, there are more exercises... Hope you continue to have fun with him!
ReplyDeleteI really want to ride with her, she has such good insight and I trust her opinions. I might hold off though, since her exercises do tend to put a lot of pressure on the horses and he's only 2 months into his dressage training. But you're right that I can definitely cater the lesson to him.
DeleteThanks for the exercises! I love shallow serpentines, hopefully I can get to the arena next door since our arena is a short court and it's ridiculously small for such a big horse. Serpentines get wiggly in there!
Been considering using a chambon for Pig, and actually lunging him. He's terrible on the lunge. He fights side reins like his life depends on it and motorcycle turns at the canter. He's so much more balanced and better under saddle where I can manage the contact and keep him somewhat working over his back. Still, sometimes there's work to be done on the ground, and I wonder if he'd do better in something like chambon.
ReplyDeleteFor exercises? It's never to early for shoulder-fore, right? You can practice it on the circles, too. For the training horse, I think lots of changes of bend are great, and so are lots of mini transitions in the gait. First level will be there before you know it, and you'll need those lengthenings soon. Might as well start playing with the buttons. Right?
The instructor question is hard. It's not like you're tied to one or the other, though. If Heidi is so good with young horses, maybe she'll have plenty of ideas of things for you to work on with him, too. Extra homework to take is always good, right? (When it doesn't have to do with writing your thesis .. GO WRITE YOUR THESIS! ;))
I was really skeptical about the chambon since there isn't much for them to reach/stretch INTO but rather just pressure when they don't stretch. But TC seems to be doing well in it! And then it's just up to me as the rider to connect the stretching he gets from the chambon and the connection we've been working on undersaddle. He doesn't back off from the bridle so it wasn't too hard the other day. I won't use it on little Isabella since she fluctuates between getting behind the bit and going completely rigid in the bridle- she's in side reins with elastic for now. But the chambon I bought was like 30 bucks (and the quality isn't bad) so it might be worth grabbing! I got it from RW.
DeleteI've done a little shoulder-in with him but more in the form of a leg yield, he's struggling a lot with sideways right now. I think I'm going to do some in hand work with him soon. Ah he's got a great lengthening! Now that it's in there, I've been teaching him the half halt and it's incredible. I'll definitely be doing more of those.
You're right that I'm not tied to either one- I rode with Heidi most recently with Rico and Ali rides with Tracey so it's pretty equal in my mind. I'd love to get both of their opinions on him before I buy him. We'll see what happens, I have lots of new exercises thanks to this post that will hold me over :) I just miss taking lessons!
NO THESIS AHHHH D: