In the Arena # 121 - Flying by the seat of my pants...

More piano memories... I was ten years old. It was my turn to perform at a recital of the Leschetizky Society - a big deal. I was nerve racked as usual. I remember sitting down on the bench. I remember starting to play Chopin's Raindrop Prelude. Then I remember the hearing last notes fade away, and taking a bow. Nothing in between. As I sat back down beside my teacher, she leaned over with an astonished look, and uncharacteristically whispered in my ear "How did you do that - that was the best you have ever played?!"

How did I do it? Faithfully practicing the basics. Scales, scales, scales. Boring, boring scales. Memorizing the piece hands separately. Breaking it down by the phrase, then by the note. There is no substitute for getting the basics down. Period. Once you have the fundamentals - I'm talking muscle memory - then you are free to infuse the music with your soul.

So - how does this relate to dressage? I am struggling to learn how to ride. Gently, tactfully, effectively, graciously. At the moment (for the foreseeable future) my focus is the basics. Balance, contact, consistency. The training pyramid. It doesn't always make for super interesting blogging. The pace of progress seems glacial.

That being said, over the last couple of weeks we've begun to work on the canter. Impulsively. A little voice in my head (self doubt) suggested it could be problematical. I've spent plenty of time cantering on other horses, even bareback on the beach. Casually, not correctly. I've only worked on the depart seriously on one of my former trainer's school horses. All I had to do was think canter and he knew what was up. I had to ask correctly mind you, but I only had to be responsible for my own flailing limbs.

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Last week we rode twice. Tuesday was a bareback ride, working on steering and stretching out my hips. A nice, easy, calm, ride.

Saturday (my birthday) dawned absolutely gorgeous, and despite a jam packed schedule, nothing was getting in the way of my horse time. After reading Val at Memoirs of a Horse Girl's recent post  which had some great video of she and Harley jumping a cloverleaf pattern over cross rails, I had the bright idea to lay ground rails in the same pattern, an X basically, and use them to spice up our trot work.

We began with an excellent warm up on the buckle, walking over the rails. Val was all about the new X, from the moment I dragged it into the arena. He could barely contain his attraction. I picked up a trot, working my way over to the X. He sort of hesitated a few times before crossing them, so on the next go round I really gave him a squeeze with my legs. Any guess where this is going?

Val cantered a couple of collected strides, rocked back on his haunches and (way over) jumped the rail, cantering on afterwords acting very. proud. of. himself. I was shocked. Mostly because it's been cough--ty some years since I've jumped, and I was usually over-horsed and petrified when I did it then. And, as Val (blogger Val) pointed out, dressage saddles aren't ideal for jumping. Super glad the video didn't capture that moment!

We halted. I gave Val a big hug and cracked up for a few minutes, then got back to work. On nearly every request for the trot from then on, I got the canter, and I had to abandon the rails for a while. Eventually, after numerous walk / trot transitions where he received lavish praise for his self control, we got back on track.

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Just got in from my ride today, which was one of our most productive to date. It was very windy, the tarp canopies were flapping like mad, yet Val's mind stayed on me. I focused on breathing, from the minute I began grooming. Great warm up, smooth transition into contact, accurate school figures, supple, reaching horse. We had a few offers of the canter, but I schooled the halt / trot transition until we both got it right.

I had two revelations during this ride. One is, hey - shorten those reins! - shorter than you think you should, a little shorter. Give your driving aid, feel the reins elastically through your elbows (thumbs on top pointing to the bit) and then - you have contact. Val chewed the reins out of my hands while stretching long and low several times today. What an awesome feeling.

The other reality check was leg on does not mean leg on.... leg off... leg on again. Keep your damn leg on and aid from that position - don't remove your leg to aid - it really irritates your horse!!

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My no one on the ground / without trainer status take on the canter-fest issue is... I definitely don't have the basics of the canter depart down. Some of it may be that Val is delighted to canter. I am as well, but we are restricted by occasionally deep footing and limited space to work in until my real arena is completed. (long story for another post)

Most likely though, I am inadvertantly combining / confusing / mangling the canter depart cue. One solution will be getting Val out to the beach and letting him rip - straight line cantering. Firm footing, no need to balance in tight turns, plenty of room. Possibly this weekend if weather permits and my riding partner can join me.

The horse is out of the barn now... ;)

 

 

 

 

In the Arena # 79 - Oh, it was hot all right...

Well, not how you would think...

Temps did get up into the 90's right after our last ride, so we skipped out for a few days, sticking to hand grazing and ground work. Then the temps came down nicely (!) However with the cool breezes from the north came acrid smoke from a forest fire burning peat in the ground on the mainland. Trust me that it stinks! More groundwork... extended grooming sessions... mane pulling... tail banging... tack room cleaning...

Finally today we rode. After a whole week off, I guess I expected to be a little rusty. And I kept to a walk, as our footing is dreadfully deep. It is hard for me to push the wheelbarrow through it at the moment.

While warming up I asked for a turn on the forehand, and we somehow ended up backing into the electric fence. Poor Val. Often I think to turn the fence off before we ride because it's really strong and I fear touching it with my legs when we work on the rail. *warning - Darwin award material coming* Once I touched it with my shoulder while reaching in to pull the drain plug out of a tub full of water... reaching through the fence strands instead of going around - into water! Lazy + stupid. When my shoulder hit the wire it felt like a cigarette burn, or maybe a hot iron...

Anyhow - after the shock came "the great leap forward"! Thankfully I stayed on, and again a few minutes later when we got too close to the same spot. Interestingly, our ride really improved after the shock. Val listened better, and had more energy. Our school figures were very accurate, we got a bigger walk, decent contact - chewing and reaching on the loose rein, and a number of halts from seat, core and exhale / no rein.

What started out as a disorganized and frustrating ride, evolved into a success. The takeaway:

Give Val the benefit of the doubt - keep the aids light
Following hands
Consistent inside leg to outside rein makes consistently round circles
Engage the core and breathe

And apparently my seat is a little better than I think it is. Val popped up and bolted forward today. Only for a few strides, thank goodness, but I was right with him. He didn't react as violently as he could have, and I didn't freak out either. Good for the confidence - that :)

In the Arena #75 - Reading is "fun"damental...

When I very first started studying dressage, a friend kindly recommended some books... My Horses, My Teachers - Alois Podhajsky, Centered Riding - Sally Swift, Riding Logic - W. Museler and 101 Dressage Exercises For Horse and Rider - Jec Aristole Ballou.

I devoured My Horses, My Teachers and Centered Riding immediately. I need to give Riding Logic another try - it was way over my head at the time. Today Val and I cracked open 101 Exercises.

A hundred and one?!!!!!

We dove right in. Before I knew it we had ridden for well over an hour. Why the heck didn't I do this sooner? This book gave me the structure and focus that I had been struggling to find working without my trainer, and relying on my imagination.

We tried three exercises. Large oval with big and little trot, go and whoa, and turns and forward movement. Basically focusing on getting on the aids. Coincidentally, our contact was excellent today. I found it much easier to concentrate on accuracy, my aids and Val's movement, when I didn't also have to plan / decide on our school figure at the same time. The book is designed to be brought to the arena, with large print and simple, well explained diagrams. A fun session - and a great tool for riders who often have to work on their own like we do.

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Over the weekend we also did quite a bit of groundwork. Ground tying is something I've been wanting to accomplish with Val since I got him. We had two extended grooming sessions where he was ground tied the entire time. Initially he tried to walk off. Each time I stopped grooming, (patiently) moved him back, and then continued working.

I got some good insight into Val's coping behaviors during this session. First he tries to walk off. Then he tries what I like to call "hammer-heading". (His head met my elbow several times) Next comes lippy grooming which can turn into nippy clothes grabbing. More elbow. Finally there is extreme head tossing. I had seen this behavior when I met him at his old barn. Once he ran the gamut, which took about fifteen minutes or so, he finally stood calmly, eyes closed and bottom lip dangling. The second session he just stayed put from the get go... what a good boy!

We also did more trailer loading practice. Val self-loaded numerous times, so I think that's confirmed now. I couldn't be happier. I should elaborate - I'm sure that Val self-loaded before I bought him. I haven't taught him anything. A few bad loading experiences when we first got together unfortunately set us back. So really, I'm the one that needed the trailer loading work. I think I've got it down now ;)

Finally, we had an amateur massage session. I worked on Val's poll and neck. He has some very tight places on either side of his poll, and further down his neck as well. I guess it was okay because Val stayed put, and did a lot of stretching and yawning. We have booked a real massage session with someone who practices the Masterson Method. She is located on the other side of the state from us, but happens to be vacationing here in early October. Lucky Val!