New Trot Video 10-2-2010

Nikita and I seem to have overcome the first hurdle in our trot work. It's getting stronger every day, and every day she starts to use her haunches more and more to create a very powerful FEI-level trot.

We've started on the half passes in the Grand Prix. The angle isn't as hard as I'd imagined, and we've had general success in keeping our tempo regular throughout the half pass. This stuff isn't easy for the horse, though, and I don't like asking for it more than I really have to. We had started a little passage work, but I noticed the quality of our collected trot diminished, so I've stopped working on it. The passage and piaffe are there, and will still be there when the time seems better to work on them.

September 30, 2010

Note to self: Stick to your knitting. If you can produce a good product, you're almost there. Alexander didn't become Alexander the Great because he had a good PR guy.

High-level dressage is 90% about the product. It's tempting to take the easy way and attempt to prove yourself through positive PR about yourself or through negative PR about other trainers. This is false bravado and the effect is momentary. The concrete ability to train is most of the battle and ensures longevity. The rest is just smoke and mirrors.

Horses on Vacation: September 4, 2010

Nikita has been on vacation the past 3 days off this week thanks to the heat. Sometimes she feels great and is very fresh, and then she suddenly feels tired and perhaps a little burnt out. What we're doing is hard on a horse, I suppose, so those feelings are normal and expected. So, she's had her mini-vacation, and yesterday seemed all the better for it.

Yesterday we picked up our work on 1 tempis again, which we hadn't done in a while. I've been sleeping through 2 tempis for a while, and decided yesterday that I'm for a new challenge. So, we came, we saw, and we conquored those 1 tempis, and I hope we can do more soon. I'm not confident in them yet, and yesterday Nikita seemed a little fried after, so we're sticking to doing 2 consecutive 1 tempis until I sleep through that exercise. Then we'll start adding more 1 tempis as I become more confident.

I noticed in my last video that my canter pirouettes weren't really in one place, so we've focused on making them smaller. In Harry Boldt's book, Das Dressur Pferd, he states that if the pirouettes are too large, it's because the horse hasn't been set up correctly by the rider. Thus, I've made sure Nikita is very straight and very collected before I attempt a pirouette. And they've been smaller since. I've achieved straightness by looking at whatever letter I'm heading towards, and then looking at the horse once the pirouette has started. Yay for Harry Boldt!

Nicole, on the other hand, in on vaction because she lost a shoe, and super-farrier Mike isn't coming out until Tuesday. No loss, since Nicole does better with periods of downtime anyway.

Canter Pirouettes and Canter Half Pass

Canter pirouette sequence from the Grand Prix:



Canter half pass from Prix St. George and Intermediare I:

The Dark Times: August 28, 2010

Dressage is this delicate balance between doing too much or too little. Too much leg, and you risk overwhelming the horse. Too little leg, and you're asking for trouble. In my case, too little work on the canter means I have to retrace steps to fix what's been lagging.

As is par for the course, because I've focused on improving my trot with Nikita, the canter work has gone downhill faster than a fat man in a sled. Ok, that's hyperbole, but I've spent the past 2 days correcting a certain lack-of-throughness in our canter pirouettes, which up until now were one of our best movements. This is entirely my fault, as I assumed the pirouettes would stay just as perfect as they were. This just tells me that you can't focus on only the bad, rather, you have to make sure the good stuff stays good. There's a lot of plates in the air there, folks. At the same time, we're still able to get through the pirouette-change-pirouette movement in the Grand Prix, although it's not as smooth as it was before.

Now, I can remember a time when I could barely canter this horse, and it's memories like that which console me in these dark times. Yet it's still frustrating when just as one aspect of training is on track, another goes awry. One can only hope the overall level of the training rises anyway.

The Laziest Dressage Rider Ever, Part III: August 9, 2010

Finally, this trot with Nikita is getting to a point where all I have to do is manage the trot, rather than having to create it. Being the laziest dressage rider ever, I much prefer management over actual labor. Yesterday she was very light in the bridle, pushing correctly into the bit, and malleable (which is my litmus test). If I can't get her into a shoulder-in or half pass very easily, then the trot just isn't what I want. We worked on the Prix St. George trot tour, and it was probably the best we've done yet. She's now much more uphill.

Here's some video of our trot:

Extended and Extended to Collected Trot:


Collected Trot:

The thing I've learned about FEI dressage is that you have to ride the horse on the edge of control to get the most out their gaits. This is actually a very comfortable place for me, since Nicole, with her explosive personality, is usually on the edge of control, so when Nikita goes to the same place, I'm ok. Both horses are relaxed, but also ready to explode because of the amount of energy coming out of them.

Nicole is much more in the bridle now than she's ever been. For the past 7 months, she's been living mostly outside, and it agrees with her. She's more relaxed and loose in her body, and not quite as tense. She's able to stay more collected for longer periods, and willingly pushes her energy into the bridle. This has allowed me to build up her strength to improve her self-carriage.

People, It's Hot: August 5, 2010

Bottom line people: it's freakin' hot. So hot that neither horse seems to remember they have 4 feet, and 2 of those feet are meant to actually be under themselves. So hot that "work" seems to be this dirty 4 letter word that neither horse wishes to utter. So hot that even the carrots are rotting.

We're still chugging along, albeit slowly since the air is too thick to allow for much. Nicole had a classic 2 year old fit the other day, and Nikita seems to think putting 100lbs of weight in the reins will actually get her out of having to push from behind. Here's the thing I've learned about horses: Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won't, but either way, the work has to get done.

Nikita and I have started on canter zigzag, which is sort of a joke right now since I don't have the timing down yet. The switch-the-bend-ask-for-the-change-go-on-to-the-next-half-pass part of the zigzag isn't coming yet, although today was the first day we actually tried this exercise.

Our canter work is light years ahead of our trot work, and we're still working on the trot tour from Prix St. George. The issue with the trot is I tend to block with my right elbow going to the right. I also think Nikita is still building muscle to keep pushing into the trot, but the big issue is my right elbow. Everyone has their Achilles heel, that thing they have to work on as a rider, and mine is my right rein. I'm trying to work on using my shoulder more to bend her inside when she comes against the bit, but old habits die hard. Blocking with my elbow is causing not major but definitely causes issues to the right, especially when the heat and humidity makes both of us languid and cranky.