Jump Lessons and Noltrex

 Dan and I had a full day today! We got up early-ish for our jump lesson. He loves Jacel as much as he loves Rana. I had set up an exercise that Jacel had sent me which basically forced us to work on tight turns. And it forced me to rely on my seat aids vs just pulling him around. Because if I pulled him, then he falls onto the forehand. And no more of that! So it is basically two jumps 6 strides apart and then perpendicular, two jumps 5 strides apart. Except my arena was a bit too small and I was a bit too lazy to make the 5 strides fit without getting too close to the rail, so we only used 3 of the jumps. And there was another jump set pretty close to the one jump that we used. And Jean had set up the dressage arena for Lester to practice with, so that created a bit more of a virtual barrier thus creating a tight turn also. Which was handy. 

We started off with a tight turn to the gate off the right lead, then landed left and came to the tight turn on the left lead over the oxer. The goal was to ride him up into the bridle by using my inside leg to get him to reach up and under with that inside leg, but then use my outside rein to help keep his withers up and give him some direction and keep that outside shoulder from falling out. Almost a turn on the forehand but I have to remember to use my seat and my shoulders and not try to shove his shoulders over with my leg. Because that's what my brain kept doing... No.. it's not a turn on the haunches, it's a turn on the forehand. Which means you use INSIDE leg Holly, inside leg! It was a bit rough. Jacel reminded me that this lesson wasn't a lesson for nailing it. This was a lesson to expose those holes so blatantly that my brain HAD to understand and grasp it. Hee hee. She wasn't that blunt, but... basically.. yes. And it did. The turns were tight enough that I had to ride correctly to make it happen. So then we finally figured that out and added a straight line 6 strides to the liverpool, which went well. Then we went back to the first two roll back jumps, then did a bendy line to the perpendicular jump, then rolled back off that to the liverpool the other direction. ACK! It fell apart again. Because my brain didn't kick in before my (incorrect) instincts did and I used the outside leg instead. Then I started to panic about the short distance to the vertical and held too tight and almost shut him down to the liverpool, because he had jumped it so big the first time I blew right past my line to the vertical. And then that messed the whole liverpool up. So.. Jacel reminded me that MY JOB is to get the right canter, and then not worry about the distance or where he takes off. IF he has the right canter, he can take off from wherever he pleases. It messed us up when I was worrying about the next jump before we even got to the liverpool. So.. we fixed it. And of course, by fixing that jump, we were able to make the turn to the next one. 

But it was a tough lesson. It was hard and it took at least 3 attempts at each fence/turn before we accomplished it, often more than that before we made it semi-decent. And while Dan was up and forward and in front of my leg, and jumping nicely, I did feel a little bit like I was stuffing him over the fences. And at first I thought I was compressing him and riding him backwards, but that's not it. We weren't riding backwards. We just didn't have enough time to ride super forward. BUT... it was okay because.. he was in front of my leg and uphill so he was able to jump from what felt like very little power. It actually was a lot of power, just not fast forward. Ahhhh.... remember this Holly!! Jacel wanted me to keep that set up but just drop it to ground poles and practice finesssing it without the jumps. She didn't want me to jump it until she can be there to keep me from spiraling out of control. ;) 

 

Afterwards I did take him out in the field and jumped one of my keyhole XC fences just to insure that we didn't take money out of the bank. We did NOT! :) He was very forward and went happily. Unfortunately I had to duck and close my eyes as I almost got beheaded by the low branch. Hee hee. Time to trim some trees.

He got a rinse and then I turned him and Funny out in the middle pasture, hoping he wouldn't roll and get dirty before Dr. Barrow came to do his injections. But somehow he still found dirt and rolled. Oh well.

 

We ended up doing injections on the left side of his neck... C4-C5-C6 I believe because he was sore there. And that makes sense that he wouldn't want to bend left and go into the right rein...  Not sure why he is biting at his right shoulder, other than it's more comfortable to bend right than left? But hopefully that does the trick. He was definitely more reactive when she palpeted those facets. Then he got noltrex in his hocks and stifles in the hopes that it helps him not need steroid injections as often. Then he got stuck in his stall for the day. I cheated and turned him out that night because quite frankly.. I was exhausted and needed sleep and I figured he would be fine to mosey and eat grass overnight in the dark, vs me letting him out in the morning and him being rowdy. Plus when she first got the needle in his right hind stifle, he acted like he didn't want to stand square on that limb after. And all day and early evening, every time I peeked in his stall, he was resting that limb. EEEEKS! But no heat or pain, and when he walked, he stood on it square. So I thought maybe slowly moving would be better than twisting on it spinning in his stall. Maybe I'm just rationlizing. But... whatever. Dan has his own rules regarding stall rest, so.. it will be what it will be. 

Trail Day

 We didn't go to Hard Labor but we did haul to Harbins and met Liz there. We did teh 4 mile loop and just walked. G was feeling a little slow today and Liz and I were able to chat and catch up. Then towards the end I peeled off with Dan to the 6 mile loop and we did some trotting and cantering. We turned around at some point and just came back so we didn't do the whole 6 miles, but... we trotted and cantered for probably a good 30 minutes or longer, so we got our fitness in. Plus it was hilly and a bit warm for Dan's winter coat. But he had fun and so did I. It was a good day.

Weekend flip flopping

 So, my plan was to go to Hard Labor and hit the trails today and then tomorrow, dressage at home. That way there was a little bit more time between our frustrating ride and I've been itching to hit Hard Labor anyways. But Mike and I ended up doing things Saturday and then Liz could go ride with me Sunday, so I ended up dressaging at home Saturday. Mike and I had gotten the fourth mirror delivered (the fourth one broke before we could get it put up, but luckily it was the one that was already missing a corner anyways). So we put it up and tried to realign the mirrors as best as we could. The 3rd one is a little warped because our post is slightly offset, but... close enough. So it was kind of nice to be able to see how they worked. 

 

I tacked Dan up and checkes and adjusted his neck real quick. Then he got the bemer blanket on his neck as well as his leg boots, so... I'm not sure if that's what did the trick or if I just wasn't quite as insistent as Rana makes me be, but.. he did feel better. 

I took him up the hill twice as our warm up. Funny came galloping up behind us and hung with us for a little bit. Then when I got off and opened the gate and kept her from coming in, she got mad and went galloping off and went to hang back out with Fleck. ha ha.. Okay! 

Dan and I did our walk work homework - the square... turn on the haunches in the corners, and turn on the forehand in the middle. We used the mirror to make sure that the hind end was staying tight, but still moving. Then we did some trotting and focused on just getting him into the bridle. And he was quite good! He did grab at his shoulder a few times, but he wasn't quite as incessant about it as the other day. Then we did a little bit of haunches in at the canter and even tried a little bit of shoulder in at the canter. That's hard! We also did a tiny bit of half pass and then some more transitions. We also worked on him collecting his gait based on my seat, without me having to keep kicking. And I feel like he's actually getting really good at that! We quit with a lengthen at the trot and then worked on our halt in the mirror. 

Then I gave him a bath and I was thinking I would clip him, but.. then I decided that maybe I'd wait til after his injections... because it's cold enough at night to have to sheet if he's freshly clipped... and he was going to trail ride tomorrow and then Tuesday we have a morning lesson and then his injections, so... then he'd get off til the weekend, so.. might as well wait. Maybe I can do it Thursday since we won't be able to ride.

Frustrations....

 Frustrating lesson. Dan would JUST NOT go into the right rein tracking left. We fought... I tried my best to maintain the connection but insist he go forward into the contact, but... it took a long time and lots of kicking and smacking with the whip. Sigh. And then I cried. So Rana got on and she had the exact same struggles. He would go beautifully to the right and she even had an amazing half pass right... but going left.. he just said no. So... now I'm wondering if it's his neck again. He kept biting at his shoulder when we started and has been for the past few rides. Even on previcox. But he was just injected back in May. :( Sigh... And I know, maybe it's different vertebra, but.. at what point do I give up? Sigh... 

We did do some cool walk exercises when I started... Ride a square... turn on the haunches in the corners, then turn on the forehand in the middle, and continue on. 

But yeah... sigh...

Guess I'll do some more diagnostics and maybe more injections on Tuesday when we do his hocks and stifles. Although honestly, he looked fantastic behind today. 

Big Girl Jumps!!!!

 And I didn't even freak out!!! 

We finally had a jump lesson. Thank goodness the weather cooperated and Lucy didn't close the arenas! It was actually a gorgeous day, although a bit muggy. And it did rain before I left, but it was just a focal shower at the house. Dan was a mud bug though. Like, he literally still had sopping wet mud all over him. So, yet again, he got a bath before (and after) his ride! I should probably just break down and clip him. But the weather keeps saying it's gonna cool off. He's already puffed up! Anyways, I was feeling a little blue because of Baby girls' recent OCD discovery. Sigh. But Dan cheered me up. 

 

We did a quick warm up loop around the lake and then met Jacel in the jump arena. She started us off with a placing pole to a vertical to a placing poll. Interestingly, she noted that he landed way far off the jump. I think that he just jumps long. (which means I should NOT panic about oxers!). When he takes off from a long spot, he jumps great and bascules over the fence. When he takes off tight... he lands really far off and doesn't bascule until he's well past the fence. She said that was fine and we weren't going to change it. We would change his front end and change his form a little but not who he was and how we worked. If that makes sense. :) She did say that she thinks he was sore, thus he started throwing himself over the fences instead of sitting down and rocking back on his hocks. Yes. And that he was stuck in his barrel, which made him stuck in his hind end and out behind himself and then stuck in the withers. Okay, yes, I agree, especially now that I've felt what he feels like when we unlock the barrel. Which is what she said next.. that NOW that we've got his barrel unlocked and him using his hind end (by leg yielding him in the turns and almost into the fence), he's not stiff and then he can lift his withers and forehand. Ahhhh... And she said now that we've got that... the next step is to project that forward to upward. She said for a horse that is built incredibly uphill, he tends to travel fairly downhill. And basically, she politely said ... there's no excuse... I need to fix this. And she's right. But she also said that we've moved slowly but have put the steps in place to take the next step to getting him to go upward instead of diving forward. In other words... we have to get him to lift up his shoulders and step the hind end up to the fence. Rather than thinking of riding him forward to the fence, because then I tend to let his energy go down and out, vs up and out. So.. she wanted me to leg yield him into the turn, then when he's in the outside rein, hold the bend with the inside leg, and close the door with my outside hand. Almost a counter flex. This worked to get him straight and up in the front end. And it was super awesome! He jumped great and felt very uphill. Even when the "distance" wasn't there. So we practiced that a few times with the placing pole. And you know what else was cool? Well, two things... one, he nailed his lead changes every time by either landing on the correct lead for our travel path or swapping fully quickly! And two... it ties in so nicely with my Rana lessons. I mean, duh, we just talked about turn on the forehand and how that is the "aspirin" for getting him into the outside rein. And Jacel talked about how I needed to turn him with my outside rein and seat and core, not just grabbing the reins. Yay!

So then we did a mini course. It was 3 jumps on a circle, doing the first one first and last to make it four jumps in a row. It started off a little hectic because instead of doing what we had just practiced, I took my stupid left hand and pulled it down and back and effectively shut him down. He went, but only because I had money in the bank. So we fixed it. I sat up and rode. And it was WAY better! Heck, that oxer was fairly big and he even jumped it off a not perfect spot. Then we went off the right lead and that was much easier and we got it right from the get go. And wow! He feels amazing jumping like this! It's almost like I'm lifting his front end with my hands except that's totally not it. He's lifting and my hands are following and supporting. It's just that his withers are coming up to meet me, vs me having him fall out underneath me. And the lift is not coming from me lifting my hands and inverting him.. it's coming from him lifting his shoulders and withers into my hands. It's just super cool! He feels SOOOO rideable and like we could jump almost anything from anywhere!

 

So then we did another little mini course. And sneaky Jacel popped a vertical up to 3'6" (she said!). I didn't notice it til after we jumped it and I looked back. Dang!! And he jumped it so effortlessly, and even off a slight angle as it was a bent line. Of course after we did right bend to right bend, we had another harder right bend then a left bend and I messed it all up for the 3rd and 4th fence. So then we came back to those last two and did them much better! Yahoo!!! 

It was a really good lesson and so helpful! So my homework is to set up the placing poles and vertical, and some V-poles and just keep working on it. Sadly there was no video or photos. I need to remember to bring my pivo or something. But then Dan and I went on a nice long hack and did some hills to get some fitness back. We've been slacking a little with riding at home and doing dressage mostly. It was a gorgeous day and we had a good hack!

Riding at home.... enjoying the hawks

 Went on a drive with the audi car club all day. A "countryside" drive... hee hee.. we went past our old house, and close to our new house too. But it is pretty in Good Hope. 

Rode at home. Good ride. The mirrors are not in the best position. Sigh. Too late now. Hopefully the 4th one will make a big difference. It's okay tracking right but tracking left is hard. 

Good ride

 Good dressage ride after a good massage with kathleen

Quick hack too. Also jumped some jumps in the XC field

Good Lesson

Today was a rainy day but luckily it was more drizzly than anything else and double lucky, Rana has a covered! We had a lesson at 2 and of course at 12:15 I noticed that Dan was black! I still had to finish my lunch and change my clothes and of course, by the time I did that, Dan was in the back farthest area. And then I had to pressure wash him off before our lesson. So we were running a bit later than I wanted. But we still managed to get on and be mostly warmed up. 

We started off with the trot and working on keeping him bent and through. Basically he has to go a bit deep because otherwise he braces with that under neck. Not rolkur! Not behind the vertical.. he's got to be in the connection, just deep. He'll come up as he gets stronger. And he has to stay bent. When he gets straight in his neck... he instantly braces the underside of his neck and that immediately shuts down his hind legs and inverts his back. We practiced outside leg to inside hand. And we also went back to "uberschr...... something"... ha ha! Where I get him in the connection and then give one hand to check it. If he stays bent and round and going forward.. yay! If he flings sideways.. then I'm hanging and holding. I also did the stirrup stomp thing which helped. Basically where I almost stomp my foot into my stirrup to help me keep that leg long and loose. And I cannot cannot cannot use my inside spur!! Danny has decided that inside spur now means swap up front. Sigh. So I have to teach him how to bend around my inside seat bone and upper thigh.. because he can't bend around my inside spur anymore. So we got some nice work. 

We also played with the turn on the forehand. Rana reminded me that it is the Ibuprofen of dressage. ha ha. If I'm correct, and time my inside leg aids with his barrel moving away from my leg (ie.. his inside hind coming up) and keep the outside connection and the inside bend... he comes onto the outside rein. I can do that a gabillion times in every ride if I need to. 

We also worked on the canter and collecting it. Sigh. That is HARD! I need to keep my hips swinging and asking for canter while tightening with my core to signal collection and half halt to signal collection, but.. not have to keep my leg on to keep him going. And it's hard! Either my aids or too strong and he breaks or we don't accomplish any change. But... we maybe got the most infinitestimal amount of collection for a few strides today. And he's gotta stay round and bent! Then we went ahead and tried the half pass to the left. It was better than the day before I think. We actually got some sideways without losing the forward until the end. But I've got to keep the forward. And keep my elbows at my side. 

So yep... still a work in progress. I've got to keep him round and forward and moving on his own so that I can just open and shut doors to create what I want. Vs working hard to create forward and then having nothing left with to finesse and fluff. But Rana did say that he did look MUCH sounder (and he felt much better today too, even from the get go) and that he seemed quite happy and content today. He wasn't fighting me. He wasn't giving it to me, but... when I insisted, he obliged. So yay!

And then, another happy moment of my day.... Kelli called to see how my lesson went and I told her much better. She said that she had talked to Rana and Rana had said that we had a good lesson today and that we were "Sooooooooooo close to 3rd". And also that she had fun riding Dan and was glad she did because I covered up so much of his problems. Which... I'm pretty sure was meant as a compliment... in other words... You couldn't tell the things he was doing to evade because I had hidden them and compensated for them. Yay! It made my day. BUT.. now to fix those holes that I've allowed so that instead of covering them up... they just don't exist :) 

Freaky Fit!

 Good googley moogly Dan is fit as a fiddle! Jeepers! We had our lesson today. It was hot! Like 91 degrees hot. Not as awful humidity wise though, which is awesome. And we had our lesson in the covered, so even better. But it was still hot. I was a little later than usual as we moved the time up some but not til it was almost too late for me to get there on time. But I had walked and worked on the half pass at the walk. Then while Rana and I chatted I did some trotting and cantering to loosen him up. But he wasn't "on the aids" yet. He felt kind of icky. Like... almost lame. Like maybe left hind. And he was biting at his shoulder again. Sigh. Dangit Dan! Rana thought he looked a bit stiff and different too. She felt like he had a hunters bump and was more angular in his butt again. We kept working and once I put him together he got more correct and felt better. Rana didn't see anything specific so we kept going. 

I asked her if I could show her my half pass to see how far off I was at home. Of course... it was tough because we hadn't properly warmed up and even gotten him connected in the canter, but.. off we went. I felt like they were semi-decent and actually half passes, vs... cantering on a diagonal. He wasn't crossing over a ton but.. he stayed forward and sideways at the same time. And he didn't prop or swap leads or anything. She agreed. She said that we both had grasped the concept and Dan had increased his academic knowledge of it. Hee hee. So then she set to work helping me make it better. Sorry Dan! So we went to work. Basically.. the same stuff. I've got to keep the bend, but use the outside rein to move the shoulders over, not use my inside leg and creep up his side, not hang on the inside rein, shift my weight and lean to the inside, use my inside leg as a pole to wrap around, keep my elbows at my side, don't cross over his neck, and... make my blasted inside shoulder go forward! She even had me ride looking back behind me in an attempt to get me to move my blasted inside shoulder forward. The right lead is way more difficult than the left. So we struggled... a lot... and it was like.. I could do one thing, but then forgot the others... and then when I went to fix that thing, something else fell apart. Sigh. BUT... we did get like 4 whole strides total of a legit half pass! Like he actually felt like he was crossing over even! But then it fell apart again. S

Rana asked to get on. Yes Please! Dan was actually being pretty good and not combative so I was hoping he wouldn't injure her since she's post surgery. She's only ridden Buttercup! But, she wanted on so... on she went. Dan was pretty good in the beginning but the side eye was strong. Then he got pretty fussy and started throwing some attempts at pissyness at her. And it sort of made me feel a little better cause she was getting some of the same issues I was getting... the stopping and propping... the dramatic downwards... the chomping... the behind the vertical... the not going forward. She's just MUCH better at fixing those things. And she did. After a bit of riding she got him going nicely and got some legit half pass. 

So then I got back on. She explained that basically... he's hanging on the right rein and not truly in it, so... he's not truly bent right and thus is my problem with the halfpass right. I'm working so hard to hold him in bend... that it's contorting my body. Sigh. So... she had me ride outside leg to inside rein. She said that yes, inside leg to outside rein is good and correct and legit and needed, but then as you advance, you need a little more. So, now we're doing outside leg to inside rein. But he has to be soft in the inside rein. No cheating, no hanging. So drop him. If he falls out of bend, then I'm holding him. If he stays bent, that's self carriage. And he was SOOOOO much better and even in the connection after she rode him. Sigh. I need to remember that and aim for that. So then we did outside leg to inside rein and basically asked for a haunches in and bend.... and then add the outside rein for the half pass. And.. it got a teeny bit better.. and then it fell apart again. We tried once more and got a decent one so we quit with that. At this point poor Dan was lathered and dripping from everywhere. His saddle pad was literally sopping! But by the time I got off and walked him to the trailer he was chomping grass and his breathing rate was normal. He was still hot though! Jeepers dude!! I'm pretty sure our lesson started at 3:15 and while we didn't get going til 3:30 at least... it was 5:45 when I looked at the clock after untacking you and chatting for a tiny bit and hosing you off. So he was probably ridden for at least an hour and 15 minutes if not an hour and a half. Granted, he got breaks and a longer one when we switched riders. But dang son! Fit as a fiddle.

Oh, and Rana didn't feel any soundness issues on him nor did I see any. She just thought he was being lazy and that I was blocking him by allowing him to hang and brace. But I may still put him on a month of previcox just to help because I still feel the teeniest little subtleties and have the last few weeks. Or maybe I'll just get a lameness exam. We'll see. 

Go Both of us!

 Dudes... dressage is hard!!!  Today we rode at home because we had a fun day with Mike. We went to Pistons and Paws, a fundraiser for the humane society and an old car show. Except it wasn't today. It's next weekend. Ha ha. But Mike and I still had a nice morning in Madison and sat in the park and ate our donuts. Then we finished the bathroom and put the hangers and tp holder up and organized. Then we got lunch. And then he took a nap while I cleaned all my tack, including my boots from stadium in Kentucky which had finally dried out. So then I rode. I had drug the arena yesterday and there were deer footprints. Hee hee. Dressage deer?! 

 

Anyways, we warmed up and then went to work. We worked on our transitions and bend. Dan was much more bent to the right when I made sure that my hips were actually bending to the right too. I think I sit shifted to the left so much that I'm blocking him. That may be why he struggles going into the left rein as the outside rein. He always seems to be slung onto the right shoulder, but.. perhaps that cause my hips are telling him to do that! Or maybe it's my shoulders because of my hips??? Who knows? But when I made sure my inside seat bone and hip were back and my outside seat bone and hip were more forward, it seemed to make him go more correctly. So yay! We played with that. And dang, it's hard for me to pay attention to that. I also worked on keeping my leg long and hanging. It very much wanted to creep up and back today. But I did manage to get it long and drapey at the trot when I paid attention. It's definitely harder at the canter but it was better, I think. We also worked on the half pass again. And by golly, especially if I focus on my seat, I think it's coming along! I think we finally might be getting it!!! We also worked on transitions because... it was my fault in Kentucky! He's picked up both leads incorrectly today and I think it's cause I'm not being consistent in my aids with my seat, legs and body. So not only did we work on me finessing my aids, but we also worked on him staying soft and correct within the transitions. We did walk to trot to canter to trot to walk to canter to walk, etc. We finished with the canter 10 meter circles on a straight line alternating leads. It's a little tougher with the jumps in the way, but... we had fun. Oh, well, then we finished with a lengthening down centerline and then a good normal halt. :) His final halt was square and straight!!! Yay!

He's poofed up with his winter coat coming in so he was quite sweaty. We took a quick walk to the lake after to help him cool down. The neighbors had their sprinklers on which necessitated a little bit of a stop and stare and hesitate but he went after a little bit. We even had a neighbor stop and tell us how pretty he was. :) Yes, yes he is! 

So yay! I'm excited to see how our lesson goes Tuesday. I'm hoping to show Rana my half pass before we start working on it so she can tell me how far off I am before he gets all rattled and my brain gets confused and flustered.