Dressage.

Well, it's about time Berky and I started seeing what we had to work with dressage-wise, and today seemed like a good day to figure out his buttons. (The jumping ring flooded again...) We're going a little bit backwards, but oh well.

Started off nice and easy with just some 20m circles. He was definitely testing me out- speeding up at the fenceline, throwing his butt to the side. After he realised we weren't going anywhere until he calmed down, he started working well and tracking straighter. He had some real issues at K because it is closest to the barn, but he worked through it.

I had been trying alternating between the 'key in the ignition' inside rein thing that Jane Savoie advocated and riding with my inside rein out by my hip. It's hard to push him into my outside hand without needing to correct his haunches, which, if I'm not careful, he interprets as a canter cue. Definitely need some refinement there. So basically, today wasn't very pretty.

We did some leg yielding down the long diagonal and an awkward shoulder-in volte and that was about the extent of our challenging stuff.

He worked up a nice sweat, however, and he started reaching into my contact by the time we were finished. Most of the ride was spent in regulated, slow trot work for stamina and to take his mind off the six inch fenceline. I think he had a good workout overall.

Two Good Days in a Row?

Yeah. Maddie (my neighbor/fellow boarder) and I went out to the barn early this morning to ride before the afternoon heat. We laid out the arena like this- all heights set to 18":

pole
9ft vert
xrail vert 9ft
18ft pole
vert
30ft
vert
19ft
vert
9ft
pole

And rode it as trot-in canter-out.

Berkshire usually launches over fences, so I warmed up over the crossrail while Maddie used the gymnastic. It took a few messy jumps before Berky started calming down about the tiny fence. We jumped it both ways, trot and canter. I was so proud of him- it sounds kind of silly, but honestly, I could have "good boy"-ed him to death when he started relaxing.

I got a super nice right lead canter off him too. He collected! He was cadenced! He lifted up through his front end and rocked back on his haunches! I felt like I was riding a spring. It makes sense for him to be able to do that- he did show 3'9, but I guess it never occurred to me that I would be able to push his buttons right. I could even canter him on a loose rein and he stopped right off my seat.

After some long and low to let him stretch after his effort, I brought him back to a trot and worked him over the vertical. Another thing I didn't think we'd be able to do! (or at least not any time soon.) We cantered over it both ways and worked on landing in between the standard and the pole. He was so calm, even when we were going toward the barn.

We went through the gymnastic and worked on halting in between the sets of bounces a few times and then called it a day.

I have video of our frantic warm-up over the crossrail. The camera was just sitting on the rail, so most of it is of Maddie and Jack on the gymnstic, but I'm in there a little bit.

And here we have a few stills. Sorry about the shoddy quality..



My chicken wings. Ugh. I caught myself under-releasing over the crossrail and fixed it, but I didn't have any of that on film. I need some work. I definitely jumped WAY ahead when I got tense, too. Hrm. I'm going to tie a ribbon in his mane so I remember to grab it when I release.



Same dilemma here too. My heels need work, also. Oh well- at least my back looks kind of flat.

Video as soon as YouTube uploads.

Two really, really good rides.

With Berky on the mend last week, I rode Ranger, the teenaged schoolie. We did a low course, and it was definitely refreshing to jump a cadenced, push-button quarter horse. I had forgotten how smooth he is- I took my first lessons him five years ago and hadn't been on him since.

Today, we just did some flatwork. Almost all of the boarders were at the stable this morning, and the jumping arena was full of the advanced riders playing around over 3' fences. We warmed up in the dressage arena for obvious reasons.

After the ring cleared out, we did some serpentines, figure eights, and worked on desensitization. (The other riders had put out stop signs, caution tape, and traffic cones as jumps.) We had some really nice transitions, until I lost my stirrup in a canter depart. An "Oh crap!" moment if there ever was- I was expecting him to take off. No, after a "Whoah, boy," and closing my fingers on the reins, he came right down to a trot. We worked a few more serpentines and then had another canter. His depart was AWESOME this time- he stayed collected and was quick off my leg. We went around two 20m circles, I cued for a trot, and he came down immediately.

What a good boy!

My brand-new avatar

Is courtesy of Tyler. She now owns my eternal soul.

By the way, Berky is all better too.

This Just In.

My parents make me want to kill myself.

That is all.

Leg injuries FTW.

So Berky was an ass for the farrier and ended up jabbing himself in the coronet with a shoeing nail. The vet got called, he got vetwrapped, and he's out of commission for 10-14 days. Excellent. We have a show in less than six weeks.....

Problem solving.

Here are the issues I need to address before my next lesson:

Problems:

Berky
****Canter-trot transitions. He's still a little sticky here. My confidence is a lot better, but it takes up to five strides to get the shift. Today, for example, I asked him to come down and I had to go in a circle a few times before he would listen.

****Rushing through gymnastics. I've been using simple trot-in grids the past few rides, ranging from these to the standard pole-pole-pole-stride-crossrail. He has somehow managed to canter through my trotting-spaced poles, which baffles me. I am not sure if I should just get rid of them or move them closer together.

Me

****Not roaching my back over the fences. I have a tendency to curl up rather than stretch out- a relic from the Sammie days.

****Being more forgiving with my hands when we're just cantering. I don't need a death-grip on his face. He's a good boy and hasn't done anything to deserve that, at least not recently.

****Heels. Heels. Heels. They really aren't that bad, but when I start focusing on my release, they tend to come up.

Solutions:

Other than bothering Allannah, which I may turn to if I can't figure it out:

Berky:

****Well, pulling on his mouth is getting me nowhere, and I kick myself whenever I catch myself resorting to it. I think part of the issue still stems from my shoulders. I didn't get any video today, but they were probably rounded forward. Hrm. I may need to stick a crop behind my arms for a little bit. Also, maybe I could try a spiraling circle? We usually canter our first lap as a circle anyways, just so I have some control.

****This may sound suicidal, but I think I'm going to try adding another element to my pole grids. Maybe a low crossrail oxer to bounce would help? It would get him thinking, and act like a speed bump. I've been riding the grids in two-point the whole way, and giving a mega-release over the fences so I don't catch him in the mouth. Eh, worst case scenario is I fall off. I've done that a million times before, and I'm still kicking ;)

Me

****I think most of the back roaching comes from anxiety. Denna remarked on it when I was jumping Welly (the batsh*t-insane Olympic trials horse) at her clinic. I need to focus and remember that Berky isn't going to pull anything- his old rider was disabled and showed him in both hunters (2'9) and jumpers (3'9), for Pete's sake. Maybe I'll try the Equisearch excerpt again.

****Elbows. And remembering that Berky listens better on a lighter contact. I should start making up songs when I canter, so I relax or something. This will probably resolve itself as I get more confident.

****The heels will come with focus, I'm thinking. I also grip with my knees, so I think relaxation should help that too. My legs are still a little weak, but I do plenty of no-stirrups and two-point exercises.

Meh. I have a lot to do, but I feel like we've come a long way.

Whee new blisters!

Cantering. Lots of it. We did a few grids, cantered some cicles, rubbed a hole in my gloves and got new rein blisters.

Ok, I finally got my video uploaded.

Argh. I let him stay above the bit here more than I should have.

Pictures and video.

Berkshire with Allannah on my lesson.



Before.


After. What a good boy :)


Vanity shots.





And just because I thought his expression was cute.

Jump course design.

Allannah thought it would be good for Berky and I to get back into jumping. He's a veteran, and I'm not entirely new to it, although I'd still call myself a beginner- I was doing 2'3 with Sammie. It's just been a while. I set up a pansyish jump "course" like this: (not to scale, of course!)X= cross rail, V= vertical. All heights set to 18". The .... are just filler.

corner 3
|-------V-------|
|...............|
|...............|
|........V7....X4
X2.......|......|
|........V6.....|
|........|.....V5
X1.......|------|

Start with a crossrail, 2 stride, crossrail, continue around on the rail, go to a single vertical, corner, crossrail, 2 stride, vertical, up centerline, and a bounce with a change over the final fence. Everything was oriented so I could pull back onto the rail if things got too bad, and while the distances were set for cantering, I could trot the long stretches of arena and regroup if I had to.

Well, at least I got to ride.

Eh, you win some, you lose some. Today wasn't exactly productive, but at least I have a horse, right?

I started my ride with a nice review to get things moving: walk long and low, overflex down the short stretches, leg yield to loosen up, and trot. Trot circles, serpentines, etc, some shoulder-in, rapid transitions, and then a walk break. He got a little bunched up during our transitions and started anticipating, so he got to unwind on a loose rein for a few minutes.

We picked up a canter on a twenty-meter circle to test our brakes. He had been pretty good before, so no problem, right? Nope. He was lazy on the transition, and I overweighted my outside leg, making my inside foot slip too far into its stirrup. He was doing all right, so I shifted a little to get my foot repositioned. I guess I unbalanced him or something, because he sped up. I half-halted, he didn't listen. I whoah'd, no response. I gave a really firm stop cue, he sped up, so I had to resort to a cavalry stop. He ran through it with his nose in the air for a few strides, and finally came back down to me.

We trotted a circle and walked so we could calm down and I could rethink things. He had broken from the circle in the process of my picking up my stirrup, so I made note of that.

This time, I weighted my heels and cued like I meant it. No stirrup loss, he started off well. We cantered two circles and I cued for a trot. He didn't listen immediately, but after I gave him a really big half-halt, he came back down.

Trot, trot, trot, circle, circle, circle, canter. He did a lot better the third time, so we cantered a few circles. Again, he didn't immediately listen, but he did a lot better. We trotted another circle, he got a lot of "Good boy"s, and we called it a day.

I have a lot to work on, but I feel like I learned a bit today. I definitely feel more confident that I can fix things if he gets too rambunctious. Berky didn't seem to resent me for it, either, especially not after he got a bath and a carrot.

Lesson

Another lesson with Allannah today. We just went over old stuff in preparation for jumping next week- flexing both ways, quick trot-halt-trot transitions, no stirrups trot work, working on getting a more collected canter. Berky was a good boy, despite the nearly 90-degree heat, and put up with us figuring out new ways to push his buttons. We've found that he likes minimal contact- about 1/4 pound feel in each rein. He rounds up beautifully (well, compared to how he usually moves) when we give him soft contact, so I think we're pretty well past that issue. For now, Allannah thinks it is all right to bump pressure up to 1/2 a pound at trot and 3/4 at canter, more for my sake than anything else. It doesn't seem to upset him, and it is not meant to be permanent.

Things I need to work on:
*Shoulders back and chin up! I get to ride with a crop behind my arms for now on.
*Not rounding my back during downward transitions.
*Keeping bend in my elbows and a SOFT feel of his mouth.
*Relaxing in canter instead of bracing for the first few strides.
*Lastly, the ever-problematic heels. I get so caught up in everything else that they are not as far down as they should be.

Things Berky needs work on:
*Keeping his attention on me.
*Bending his whole body through corners.
*Keeping a consistent tempo, even when the flat work is oh-so-boring.

He's such a sweet boy. Really, I couldn't be happier with him. He's been really responsive for the most part and was really careful with me when we were doing no-stirrup exercises. I'm probably just a doting parent, but still.

His weight is coming along pretty nicely. He's still ribby, but he is filling out through his haunches and over his neck. (His neck still looks pencil-thin, but when I compare it to what it used to look like, he looks a lot better.) He gets 4 new shoes tomorrow- lucky boy! The wet weather has just about destroyed his feet, despite judicious application of dressing, sealant, conditioner, and formaldehyde. Oh well- he hasn't been lame and hopefully shoes will keep it that way.

I HAVE TWO VIDEOS COMING! I PROMISE! Haha. YouTube's being slow.

Yesterday's ride.

I'm very proud of how well Berky's doing. My equitation is lacking, but he is coming along really well. Allannah is having me ride with my arms out to the sides a little more than I am used to to try to encourage Berky to stretch down, which is why I look wonky.

Anyways, images.




I know they look really similar, but they were actually taken from a video, one directly after warm-up, another on a loose rein. And, (I can't remember which order I posted them in) in one he is on the forehand, and on another he is moving much better. I am so proud of his progress :)

OT: I am so. over. it.

No one reads this but Tyler, so let's vent. I freaking threw up blood this morning...again. I'm so sick of this. Let's go for another anger walk, shall we?

Eh, random barn-y stuff.

Been giving Berky a little lighter riding load lately in an attempt to help him pick up weight. He's coming along a little bit, but he is still pretty thin.

Anyways, when I have ridden, we have stuck to w/t and worked on the usual- on the bit, leg yielding, shoulder in and out, circles. He's doing much better and reaches down into the contact now on his own, and while he still carries his neck level with his withers with his nose poked a little bit, he isn't upside down anymore. Maybe he will make a hunter?

As for me, I have been working on my slumpy shoulders of doom. I picked up so many bad habits when I was out of lessons....grr. I have a video of a lesson I had three weeks ago, complete with flubbed exercise* and posting off my hands. He's being pretty fidgety with his carriage in this one, but he's improved a lot since. (I don't know where the hand thing came from- I usually have pretty independent hands. It's one of my strong points :/.)


* I thought she wanted inside flexion on the rail,which we haven't worked on, hence the weird facial expression and cutting in.