Counter canter is coming easier now. She stays relaxed doing the 2-1 serpentine canter/counter canter tour. Bending left, that's a different story. I think it's because she needs her teeth done, but I'm told that I don't make any horse bend left. I mean really bend left, so that the horse is through.
These weird little quirks keep cropping up that are hold-overs from my days skating. Things like, I'm more comfortable going to the left (the way I rotate when jumping). I collapse my left side when going left (also a hold-over from jumping). You know, my left side is bigger than my right side, because growing up there was more muscle development on the left side over many years, just as my right foot is permanently at about a 30 degree angle more than my left foot. Sometimes I wonder just how affected my musculoskeletal system really is by skating, for example, if my left side is shorter than my right side, or if there is a permanent angle to my rib cage or clavicle, because of all the bending.
We are going to start her on working pirouette soon. I don't know about it, I have some amount of apprehension. I can't do them relaxed and confidently on the schoolmaster. Or maybe I do them better than I think (as I do pirouettes and don't get yelled at about having to fix anything). The real thing I wonder about is when we can start working on changes.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
August 27, 2008
Hmmmm...ok...counter canter. So, she's doing it, and it's not great, but nothing starts out great. We started initially with introducing counter canter using the 1-4 one loop serpentine. It took Nic about a day to process that, and the next day she did them perfectly (when I didn't mess us up) so 3 or so days later we started on the actual counter canter, going from centerline to the wall, and making about a 20m circle. I think she gets it, I just think is hard right now. Sometimes she makes it the whole 20m, and sometimes she changes behind. Yesterday she couldn't compute left counter canter at all (did perfect lead changes instead), but today we got the counter canter.
She gets tomorrow off, which is good. Since moving Nic to a full time training program, I've found that she needs 2 days off to keep from imploding. Which is fine. Because I need them too.
My legs hurt from keeping her between them, and from using them to bend her in half-passes and shoulder-ins, and also from bending her through her barrel when she loses her throughness. I can't believe how tired my legs are. And there's a lot of muscle down there already. I can't imagine what a weaker person must feel like.
She gets tomorrow off, which is good. Since moving Nic to a full time training program, I've found that she needs 2 days off to keep from imploding. Which is fine. Because I need them too.
My legs hurt from keeping her between them, and from using them to bend her in half-passes and shoulder-ins, and also from bending her through her barrel when she loses her throughness. I can't believe how tired my legs are. And there's a lot of muscle down there already. I can't imagine what a weaker person must feel like.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
August 24, 2008
Nicole is doing better in the double - no more resistance at the trot, and minimal resistance at the canter. She is less supple to the left right now - you wouldn't necessarily see it from the outside, but I can feel it. If she has any other resistance in the canter, it's because of something I'm doing, probably putting too much pressure on the curb. I've got the hang of only engaging the curb as needed at the trot, but at the canter I'm still working on keeping my "curb fingers" loose until I need to actually use the 2nd bit.
We started on counter canter and canter half-passes this week. Nicole, of course, already knows canter half-passes, which sounds like a funny thing to say, but half-pass is sort of her thing, and it just took asking for the movement for her to actually perform it. Her haunches trail a little bit, but I'm ok with that for now because we just introduced it.
This isn't the first time Nicole has done counter canter, but it's the first time she's done it in over a year, and certainly the first time she has completed the exercise in balance, rhythmically, and without a huge amount of tension. We re-introduced it using the one-loop serpentine that occurs in USDF First Level, Test 4. To the left, it's really simple, to the right, I have to remember how to distribute my weight. The feeling isn't too dissimilar from a half-pass, and as soon as I figured that out, things got a lot easier to the right.
We started on counter canter and canter half-passes this week. Nicole, of course, already knows canter half-passes, which sounds like a funny thing to say, but half-pass is sort of her thing, and it just took asking for the movement for her to actually perform it. Her haunches trail a little bit, but I'm ok with that for now because we just introduced it.
This isn't the first time Nicole has done counter canter, but it's the first time she's done it in over a year, and certainly the first time she has completed the exercise in balance, rhythmically, and without a huge amount of tension. We re-introduced it using the one-loop serpentine that occurs in USDF First Level, Test 4. To the left, it's really simple, to the right, I have to remember how to distribute my weight. The feeling isn't too dissimilar from a half-pass, and as soon as I figured that out, things got a lot easier to the right.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
August 20, 2008
New recent video.
Been doing better with the trot, have most of my seat back. Navigating the double has been interesting. I'm figuring out the amount of pressure necessary for each rein, although that's a journey I'm pretty sure will never end. I feel like a total nerd/delicate doily with the light way I have to hold my hands so I don't put too much pressure on the curb bit. I don't know about other horses, but the two I ride in the double are very different. Nicole requires almost no curb pressure, so I'm holding the curb rein pretty much with my fingers open. The biggest revelation lately has been figuring out how to have a following hand, so that when Nicole leans on the curb, I don't put her in a position where I don't accidentally slam her in the face with the curb.
Been doing better with the trot, have most of my seat back. Navigating the double has been interesting. I'm figuring out the amount of pressure necessary for each rein, although that's a journey I'm pretty sure will never end. I feel like a total nerd/delicate doily with the light way I have to hold my hands so I don't put too much pressure on the curb bit. I don't know about other horses, but the two I ride in the double are very different. Nicole requires almost no curb pressure, so I'm holding the curb rein pretty much with my fingers open. The biggest revelation lately has been figuring out how to have a following hand, so that when Nicole leans on the curb, I don't put her in a position where I don't accidentally slam her in the face with the curb.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
August 7, 2008
I have somehow lost my seat at the trot. Everything feels disconnected. I don't know what the hell happened. It's also a million degrees with 100% humidity here, and I have Lymes Disease courtesy of a generous deer tick, so that may have something to do with it.
Nicole feels a lot better in the double, and her movement is completely different, she has more airtime. I have to use my hands a lot softer, that's taking some getting used to since she goes a lot different in the snaffle.
But this whole losing-my-seat thing in the trot is bullshit. Oh, and she can basically maintain a medium trot now.
Nicole feels a lot better in the double, and her movement is completely different, she has more airtime. I have to use my hands a lot softer, that's taking some getting used to since she goes a lot different in the snaffle.
But this whole losing-my-seat thing in the trot is bullshit. Oh, and she can basically maintain a medium trot now.
Monday, August 4, 2008
August 4, 2008
Nicole was introduced to the double bridle yesterday because she is now through on both sides in all 3 gaits. She was less than thrilled about it, but her throughness is even more improved now, and the quality of her gaits has improved. I will have to video soon, but not this month. Like I said, she was less than thrilled with her new bridle, and kept flipping her head.
In the snaffle, I had to use more hand than I like and than I have to use with other horses because of her initial training, and tendency to become heavy. In the double, I find that I have to use a LOT less hand, which I like, but is taking some time to get used to. For once she wasn't interested in spooking in the corners because she was so distracted by the bridle. It will be interesting to see how she progresses with it.
I also realized that the spooking decreases when I properly put my leg on her, and I mean really put it on her, which I wasn't doing before. I was making her forward, but not putting my leg on her. How can that be? I realized because she's so short (15.3 hands), I don't have my legs on her like I do on taller horses. Putting my leg on her now is an exercise in origami, since I have to fold myself to make my legs fit. I'm 5'10". However, when I do properly fold myself and keep my leg on her, she has much less opportunity to spook, because the spooking (i.e. lack of throughness) originated with her swinging her haunches. Lose the haunches, lose the throughness. Basically, I moved my leg about 2 inches back, and 1 inch up, and it's been a whole new world since then.
In the snaffle, I had to use more hand than I like and than I have to use with other horses because of her initial training, and tendency to become heavy. In the double, I find that I have to use a LOT less hand, which I like, but is taking some time to get used to. For once she wasn't interested in spooking in the corners because she was so distracted by the bridle. It will be interesting to see how she progresses with it.
I also realized that the spooking decreases when I properly put my leg on her, and I mean really put it on her, which I wasn't doing before. I was making her forward, but not putting my leg on her. How can that be? I realized because she's so short (15.3 hands), I don't have my legs on her like I do on taller horses. Putting my leg on her now is an exercise in origami, since I have to fold myself to make my legs fit. I'm 5'10". However, when I do properly fold myself and keep my leg on her, she has much less opportunity to spook, because the spooking (i.e. lack of throughness) originated with her swinging her haunches. Lose the haunches, lose the throughness. Basically, I moved my leg about 2 inches back, and 1 inch up, and it's been a whole new world since then.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
July 2, 2008
The difference between understanding concepts intellectually based on reasonable extrapolation and really understanding those same concepts through physical experience is an event that's always amazed me. I've found that a wide berth divides those two levels of knowledge, and when I'm broadsided with the profundity of that realization it's sort of like being slapped with a wet trout.
I've been riding 3 horses lately: Nic, the Grand Prix Schoolmaster (GP), and a green Fresian mare, named Whinny, that a friend (who is, in my opinion, shall we say, overconfident in my training skills) has placed under my tutelage. In addition to these three musketeers, I ride a few other horses said friend has in training. The difference in each of these rides is not negligible, in fact it boarders on manic.
We've been working on Nic's canter lately, as well as her half pass and shoulder in at the trot. A months ago, she could barely do a 20m circle at a good canter. By good, I mean in self-carriage, light in the bridle, and with at least 50% of her weight on her hind end. This week we commenced broadening the scope of her work by attempting canter on the rail. We achieved this by asking for the canter and asking for shoulder fore down the long side, and preparing for the next long side by asking for flexion in the corners. The corners serve a very important function, in all three gaits, by allowing for time to re-establish throughness. In other words, the natural bend that will occur in the corners, by virtue of the fact that a corner is part of a tight 10m circle, lends itself instinctively to setting up throughness for the next long side.
Flexion, and therefore proper throughness, is the result of bending the horse through the barrel with the seat while positioning the neck towards the inside with the reins and ensuring the horse maintains the same contact on both reins even though she is bent. With Nic, this is hard to achieve, namely because she is stiff initially, thanks to piss-poor training before I restarted her this time last year. She is stiff, so bending's hard, so she gets spooky to try to get out of work, and then the process becomes cyclical. Let's face it, my knowledge of dressage can fill a wet paper bag, so there was no way I could address this on my own with any hopes of the same results as we've achieved at my current training facility.
Originally when I brought Nic to our new training facility (NTF), her right canter needed a lot of work. There was no jump, and she was not through and connected, so effectively she had a 4 beat canter, instead of the required 3 beat canter. Her left canter was a pure 3 beat, but was not through enough. Now, her right canter is stronger than her left canter, mainly because she uses her left leg more than her right leg, so her left leg is stronger.
Yesterday, when we began cantering around the arena, we did ok to the right, but to the left she broke the gait half way down the first long side. Part of that was because we did not have enough speed, and part of it was because she braced against the bit (which is the result of not having enough speed). Today we got around the arena successfully in both directions, although it is still very hard for her.
I've been riding 3 horses lately: Nic, the Grand Prix Schoolmaster (GP), and a green Fresian mare, named Whinny, that a friend (who is, in my opinion, shall we say, overconfident in my training skills) has placed under my tutelage. In addition to these three musketeers, I ride a few other horses said friend has in training. The difference in each of these rides is not negligible, in fact it boarders on manic.
We've been working on Nic's canter lately, as well as her half pass and shoulder in at the trot. A months ago, she could barely do a 20m circle at a good canter. By good, I mean in self-carriage, light in the bridle, and with at least 50% of her weight on her hind end. This week we commenced broadening the scope of her work by attempting canter on the rail. We achieved this by asking for the canter and asking for shoulder fore down the long side, and preparing for the next long side by asking for flexion in the corners. The corners serve a very important function, in all three gaits, by allowing for time to re-establish throughness. In other words, the natural bend that will occur in the corners, by virtue of the fact that a corner is part of a tight 10m circle, lends itself instinctively to setting up throughness for the next long side.
Flexion, and therefore proper throughness, is the result of bending the horse through the barrel with the seat while positioning the neck towards the inside with the reins and ensuring the horse maintains the same contact on both reins even though she is bent. With Nic, this is hard to achieve, namely because she is stiff initially, thanks to piss-poor training before I restarted her this time last year. She is stiff, so bending's hard, so she gets spooky to try to get out of work, and then the process becomes cyclical. Let's face it, my knowledge of dressage can fill a wet paper bag, so there was no way I could address this on my own with any hopes of the same results as we've achieved at my current training facility.
Originally when I brought Nic to our new training facility (NTF), her right canter needed a lot of work. There was no jump, and she was not through and connected, so effectively she had a 4 beat canter, instead of the required 3 beat canter. Her left canter was a pure 3 beat, but was not through enough. Now, her right canter is stronger than her left canter, mainly because she uses her left leg more than her right leg, so her left leg is stronger.
Yesterday, when we began cantering around the arena, we did ok to the right, but to the left she broke the gait half way down the first long side. Part of that was because we did not have enough speed, and part of it was because she braced against the bit (which is the result of not having enough speed). Today we got around the arena successfully in both directions, although it is still very hard for her.
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