Thanksgiving and Jump Day

Thanksgiving: Went for a hack

Friday: Rode with Kelli. I jumped while she dressaged, then we went for a hack. She did give me a little helpful hint for jumping since I was "perching". But we jumped a big oxer!

Nugget: As I get closer to the fence, squeeze my shoulder blades closer together/open my chest more.

Thats' the magic words to get me to sit tall without perching or roaching my back

Dressage fun and a hack

Today was a fun day! Freddie came and did Dan's feet and then I met Kelli for a ride. We did some dressage and then went for a hack. 

We had a decent dressage ride but I started to get frustrated because we kept losing our right lead canter when we did the counter canter. Even the smallest serpentine. So I asked Kelli for help. Apparently I'm sitting with my shoulders and belly button facing to the right. And then I almost made it worse when I tried harder to stay right. Kelli told me to sit left and move my shoulders back to the left and sink into my left leg. Huh.... go figure?! It worked! But then I started to wonder if it would mess up my flying change. But it was great, but because I was able to think through it and play with it, and it freakin' worked!! So... cantering right... keep my left leg slightly back and keep my right hip cantering. Then when we start to do the counter canter, he needs to stay straight in his shoulders. This means that my shoulders need to stay straight. My hips need to stay right. So... if I took my left shoulder back and sank into my left seatbone... it essentially put my upper body straight (because I tend to collapse on the right side and twist to the right). And he freakin' held the counter canter. Whooo hooo!! So we quit with that and went on a trail ride. 

On the trail ride I was practicing that a little bit - just at the walk and then I realized that I probably have the same issue with the haunches in.. and maybe even the shoulder in. Kelli was super helpful too. She said that I should start with very small subtle but correct shoulder in and haunches in and then build on it. If I start small but correct.. it will build his strength better and make us have brilliant correct ones quicker than rushing it and getting the more severe angle but not quite correct. So.. for the shoulder in.. instead of having him fall in and then starting it by throwing his haunches out... I need to do it right. Get the inside flexion.. keep my hips straight... keep my outside leg slightly back as a buffer to keep them from slinging out, and then ask for the shoulders to move over by moving my shoulders over. And I need to open the inside rein and keep my thumbs up. Then for haunches in... Oh my goodness!! It was so hard to over-ride my brain. Especially to the left. I so want to to cross the left rein over his neck instead of opening it. It's soooo hard to open it. So yes, for example, tracking left, haunches in... I get slight left flexion, close my inside leg, keep my left shoulder back and my weight on the left side, and then ask the haunches to come to the inside. Keep my left rein open and my right rein at the base of the withers. And my thumbs up. 


I'm excited to work on it again. Danny is such a good boy and tries so hard to do what I ask. I just have to figure out how to ask correctly. 

Lazy Fitness Day

Went for a hack... did some walking, trotting, and cantering.

Schooling fun

Decided to stay and hack at Jumping Branch and school some of the fences again vs going to Hitchcock woods.

Had fun... popped over a few of the prelim fences

Messed up the helmet cam... again.

Our first Training Horse Trial

Jumping Branch Farm: Dan's first Training!!

Ah... how cool that Dan's first ever schooling horse trial was at tadpole at Jumping Branch Farm and now.. his first Training HT is at Jumping Branch Farm's final horse trial? I mean, it's sad that Julie won't be hosting horse trails anymore... because they are awesome. But it's pretty cool that he's had two "Firsts" here.

We had to come when she posted it was her last one ever. And.... I wasn't quite sure we were ready for training, but I figured it's such a perfect place for his first training... and even if we had some issues, I thought I would be more mad at myself for not training than if we tried and had some issues. And I didn't think it would be huge issues, so.. we went for it. And I'm soooo glad we did!!

Of course, in typical Dan style... there was some problems. ;) I didn't get to ride but Tuesday this week and of course by the time Friday rolled around, I hadn't even really packed. So I got up and started packing. In theory it shouldn't take me long right? Everything basically lives in the trailer aleady. So.. I got mostly done.. even ate some breakfast. All I had left to do was pack the cooler and give Dan a bath. I really wanted to clip him, but that wasn't happening. So I put the cooler in the truck and noticed.... what the??! DANIEL FLOYD BREAUX!!!!! He had pulled the velcroed cover off the auxillary gas tank and chewed up the wires. Seriously horse?!?!?! Are you kidding me? I wanted to leave in 30 minutes! So... I called Lead Foot and they said they'd take a peak. I got unhitched and when I turned the truck on.. it said ZERO GAS! Like... not even hovering. The needle was flat. Well.. of course I know that's not the case. I know I had at least half a tank in there because of how my aux tank works. So... I drove to Lead Foot. On my way I prayed that God would be gracious and let them be able to fix it quickly and easily. Even if it was just to where I could use my regular tank, but know how much gas I had and come back later to get the aux tank fixed. Because... not only did I really want to show, but I really wanted to cheer my friends on too. And while I could go without my horse, truck, or trailer... I wouldn't have a place to sleep and would have to get a hotel... and had already paid so much for the show. Luckily Lead Foot is great and God is Amazing and Kind and they were able to get me up and running in 30 minutes. Dan destroyed one of the connecting pieces that is specific to that tank, so they had to order it, but he was at least able to wire me back up to bypass my aux tank and my gas gauge read correct. :) So then I went and put another 10 gallons in to be at full and raced home. I gave Dan a bath because he was... chunky! Like dirt was literally caked onto him and there were chunks in his hair. Unfortunately, because I had to essentially power was him, it took me a lot longer than I wanted. So it was finally 1 pm before I left. Sigh. Oh well. Sally drove great and we were doing great until we hit a bit of traffic. Then I had to pee and it was getting really warm. I had put the cooler on Dan because he was wet when I loaded him and it was chilly when we left our farm. So I pulled into the rest stop to pee and pull his fleece cooler off. I had hopped in the back when a face popped up in my window. He said "Cute horse! Can I come look at him? Is he friendly".  So when I said yes, he walks into my tack room and tries to come towards Dan. I warned him that he isn't super friendly and the guy asked his name... his name was Dan too. And he's talking.... and finally I was like "Um... I hate to be rude, but... I was going to pee back here and then we need to get back on the road before I run out of daylight, so...". ha ha. Awkward! But he was nice and left so I could pee and then we hit the road again. We made it to Aiken at 4:30 and I knew I need to walk my XC course for sure since I wouldn't have time tomomrrow. Thank goodness because... I didn't really have time and there was one fence that took me awhile to find. So.. Cindy and I walked together. The course looked FUN!!! Like super fun. It was a perfect first training. But there was a few fences that looked big and a few I worried about. Then we walked stadium and it was getting dark. It took us a minute to find fence 1 (we missed the map on the board) but once we found that it flowed nice. So... this is important... she has the bank complex in the course. The left side is BN and tadpole and the right side is training and prelim. The training and prelim side is graduated.. ie, the left side was shorter and the right side was taller, but it was one solid piece.. it was just that the ground sloped. For prelim, the flag was set in the middle of that section to force them over the higher part. There was a note that said something to the effect of, training can go farther to the left. So... in my mind... at dusk... prelim jumped the right side of the white flag and training jumped the right side of the second white flag farther to the left. Anyways.. by the time we did that it was too dark to ride, so.... darn!! Now Dan hasn't been ridden since Tuesday. But.. he had a paddock, so he was much happier and I was much safer. His neighbor paddock buddy had nice owners who mentioned that Danny was very observant and always watching. I laughed and joked that he was trouble and a bad influence.

 

So... then I went to shower and... MAN... my freaking shower doesn't work. It dribbles! Argh.. when the RV place replaced it... they somehow messed it up and this was the first chance I used it, so... dang it! Argh. Well.. Cindy and I said screw it and went to dinner. We went to Aiken fish house and I got oysters!! Yum! Afterwards we checked ponies and went to bed. I didn't sleep well. I did pray to God that I was very grateful that he let me get to Aiken and appreciated him having my truck fixable. And I also prayed that the rain would hold off so that we (collective we.. the whole show) didn't have to ride in the rain if possible and that he would help me ride my best and have Dan be on his best behavior so that we had a good ride. And I prayed too that we would go clean, although... I would be okay if we didn't.

I woke up at 6 am to sprinkles... but you know what? It only lasted about 10 minutes and then there was another short little bit of sprinkles right at 7 am and then NOTHING the whole rest of the day until 30 minutes after the last rider!! Then we got a little bit more and then it rained and will keep raining til about midnight, but... how awesome that Julie's last show didn't have any rain!?! :) God is so good! So.. yeah... we went to do our dressage and Dan was on the muscle in warm up. I tried to do the neck suppling stuff Beanie had us do and it helped I think. He was very forward and "go-ey" I thought. He did not feel tired or behind my leg at all. It wasn't the best test, but I thought it was pretty good. Apparently our canter lengthenings were more speed then lengthens... and our test needed more energy and engagement. Which... engagement.. of course, as he just doesn't really want to sit and push. But I felt like we had enough energy? If anything, too much. So... ???? Who knows. I'll watch the test and see. Maybe it looks different than it felt. I mean, I'm sure it does, because what the heck do I know? So we scored a 34 something, which.. is probably one of our worst scores, but.. it was training level. But still..  As we were walking back though I thought "dang, if he's as forward and game for jumping as he is now, I'm golden".

And... he was! We warmed up for jumping and the first two fences were decent. Nothing bad and he was forward and game. Then we went to the oxer and the vertical on the side next to the XC course and as we went for the oxer, he surged and jumped it huge! He landed bucking. Hee hee. Then he went into leaping dancing mode and trying to buck. I guess the horses coming by on XC got him amped up. I giggled because it was just like he acted at his very first horse trial there. Hee hee. So then he wouldn't settle and I was like... uh oh! He piaffed laterally (like a side pass I guess) for about 20 steps. And then.. he took a breath... we jumped another jump or two and while he was still game and fresh and forward and going, he was breathing. It was really kind of fun. So we quit with that... and then it was our turn! In we went. He was super!! I picked to the first fence so we sort of puked over it but then we got better. Then... I got to the banks... and son of a gun. It wasn't that there were two white flags.. it was that the one white flag was moved over some... so my brain panicked. I thought... I'm supposed to be able to go to the left of the big prelim bank... and my brain didn't compute quick enough so we ended up taking the tappole/BN bank... whoops! I realized it but not quick enough to avoid jumping the next fence.. so we just kept going. And he was great! We finished nicely, but... were technically eliminated. Doh! Oh well. He didn't know he was eliminated and he did awesome! They are great and let us run XC.

And XC was AWESOME!!!! He was so super. He was quick and fresh and ready and game and tore it up!! But he was also rideable! He peeked at some but it was more of him sizing it up and as soon as I closed my leg, he said Okay. And... honestly, it sort of felt like the bigger fences didn't really back him off, if anything, he was more game! Our first fence was a hanging log... the second fence was a very BLUE log stack. Then fence 3 was a HUGE table.. in my opinion. With carrots on it... I thought, man.. he's gonna stop and get rewarded with a carrot. ha ha. But nope! He soared over it! Then there was a 3 stride on a slight angle. I either jumped ahead or picked and held or something so he got in pukey, but he manned up and got us out on the 3. Then he sort of peeked at the sunburst but when I closed my leg, he opened up and did it. Then we really galloped and opened up through the woods! That was HIS kind of course!! I checked him for the road crossing and then he jumped the roll top and then was super perfect for the upright skinny down the hill. And go me, because I'm pretty sure my landing gear was on par too. Then... I remember that trakehner being WAY scarier than it was. It was really kind of tiny... and it boxed you in. It's just that it's at the bottom of the steep hill. But he sailed over it like it was nothing. Then he flew over the mushroom cap and jumped bravely over the log into the water and out of the water over the cabin. Then we galloped on to the lava rocks and then...we trotted down the steep hill because.. it was steep and angled. Then he jumped the cabin, although we sort of puked over that one. But he gunned up and got us up the bank and over the log right after. He peeked a hair at the wedge/corner but went on and then... it was the big flat bench thing. He peeked at that too but again, when I closed my leg he said yes ma'am. Then it was a simple final fence and we loped to the finish line. We still were only a little over optimum even with the trotting. SOOOOOOOOOOO PROUD OF HIM!!! What a rock star! (and I'm sooooo sad because I did my helmet cam wrong and totally missed the entire course. sigh). He had plenty of go left in the tank and while he was hot and breathing a little heavy, that quickly came down and he was trying to graze almost immediately.

Oh how I love him! That was probably one of the MOST FUN rides we've had on XC. Seriously.... it was just.... like I knew he was game and wasn't going to pull any shenanigans and I felt like we were together. It was such a blast!!

So... he got iced, tons of cookies, grazed, and now he's back in the paddock with his blankies while it's pouring rain. But.. he's still happier than in a stall. And tomorrow we were going to hack at Hitchcock woods but instead I think we'll just hack here and maybe pop over some fences again.. maybe try a few prelim ones that look fun. Then go home and he gets Monday off. :)

More dressage but also a hack

Poor Danomite! :) MORE DRESSAGE!! Ha ha.. and he got his hiney worked today!

We had a lesson with Beanie. I told her about the swapping and not holding the right lead. And... I love her! She and Kelly are both on the same page. They both zeroed in on the fact that it's tension. And Beanie also was super sweet and said that when he's supple and lifting his back and not tight, he's a completely different picture and is lovely. :) Ahhh... flattery will get you everywhere ;) 

So we started off at the canter... (already warmed up loose rein walk and trot) and she had me get him forward and moving and going and then had me focus on keeping him supple... keeping his neck loose and moving, and almost riding him deep. She said that deep and round and up through his back was way better than long and strung out and flat. And then he started to prop some. Ahhhh.... now I see it!!! It's so much easier to feel that "prop" in the canter than in the trot, but that's exactly what is happening in the trot too. I just didn't quite realize it. The "hitch" in the trot is him bracing in the neck and leaning on the rein. When he does it in the canter, it almost stops the canter and feels like much more of a prop than a hitch.... which makes it more obvious it's a tension/evasion than a lameness. In the trot, it's harder to supple him than the canter. So... she had me supple him by getting him to soften his neck base and to do that I had him canter slightly flexed in, slightly flexed out, slightly flexed in, slightly flexed out. IF I could manage to catch the prop before it happened, a slight overflex in helped prevent the prop or at least resolve it quickly. So yeah.. we did that a bit. She explained (a lot like what Beth has said) that I almost need to immediately dive in and address this in the beginning of my ride. Get in, get out, and make it dramatic if need be. Because otherwise I spend the rest of the ride with him subtly bracing and propping and never really getting entirely supple. So yep... makes sense. We also spiraled in and spiraled out in our canter circle. And if he got too stuck, we could canter big and bold down the long side, but maintaining the supple. 

Then we did some trot work. And again, she focused on keeping my transitions (both up and down) supple. No bracing into them or flinging his head. And that was done the same way I rode the warm up canter... Not knitting, but... slight flex and counter flex before and after to keep him supple. And currently, my aids are a bit large, but they will gradually shrink to much more subtle cues. Then we went to some lateral work. We did 10 meter circle to shoulder in to 10 meter circle to travers (right? Haunches in). We did both directions and the key was again.. keeping him supple, keeping my hands low, NOT crossing the neck and blocking the right hind from coming up and under, and keeping my inside leg on for bend. We got some pretty decent ones but I also had to work hard at keeping the hind legs moving quick. We had some decent trot mediums across the diagonal with NO assymetry!! Yay!! 

Then we moved to the same exercise at the canter. ugh.. that's hard. And interestingly.. what I thought would be his easy side was just as hard. Beanie was surprised too. Although I'm sure my right rein crossing over the neck didn't help. So... we definitely need work. But still, not too terribly shabby considering we're just really starting that work. We also tried canter half pass, but holy crap is that hard. I think in about 15 tries I got about 3 good steps... on 3 seperate occasions. ha ha.. Oh well. We finally got one good step towards the end and quit with that. He worked hard. :) 

Then after we chatted a bit we went for a hack. Just a lazy one because in the beginning he was tired. But then he perked up a bit and we had fun. 

AHHHHHHmazing!!!

Okay, maybe not AHHHHmazing, but... a really good day!

I slept in.... enjoyed the morning with Mike... then Dan and I went to Silverthorn for a lesson with Kelly. Man I adore her!! She... just... gets me. :) And Dan. :) I told her about Danny not holding the right lead canter... even on a straight line, but that I thought it might be because I was blocking him when I tried to sit right. So... we warmed up and then she had us canter. And.. it wasn't half bad. So... whatever... she said she didn't see me doing anything wrong or blocking, just that he wasn't quite bending his barrel around my right leg. Well yeah... that's his thing. So... we addressed it. And it was so much easier to address today than it can often be.

We went back to the walk and put him on a circle. She reminded me of when the correct timing was to ask with my inside leg. When my outside hip was coming forward. So then... after asking politely with my inside leg on the proper timing.... If I didn't get much of a response, I asked and then tapped with the whip. But I had to tap near my leg.. .not his butt or shoulder. Near the girth. WITH the correct timing... right after my leg. So we did that and it helped a lot. Then we moved to the trot. Same thing, only different timing when we sit. It was when I naturally felt it. I can't remember the proper timing... maybe it was when I felt the upbeat every other time or something, but I almost naturally got it, so we didn't make a big deal of it. We did the same thing with the whip again. And then we moved to canter. As my seat came forward... so that helped! And it worked. I didn't have to work that hard or whip that much. ;) 

So we got some really nice work. He's trying to go too deep lately.... so I had to work on lifting my sternum and lifting my seat and sitting upright (not perching) and sitting deep into the saddle.. and that got him to bring his poll up but still stay round and supple. We got some really nice work! So then we talked about him swapping. Which of course, he didn't do nearly as bad as the last two days. But he did hop a little bit... She said it was an evasion, but it definitely got better with the right leg aids. So then we tried counter canter. I cantered on a circle and then went diagonally to the rail and held the counter canter down the long side and then across the short side. I focused very much on keeping him supple and he held it... It was lovely.. and then I felt he was about to lose it and was going to ask him to come out of it, but he beat me to it. Then we tried a few more times and he kept falling out of it. Sigh... BUT.. it's there... I've just got to be very diligent about keeping my aids in the right lead canter. I almost have to think of cantering haunches in. I really have to keep my outside leg back, my right seat cantering....  And then we put him on a circle and did right lead canter, but bent him softly left. SOOO Hard... But we did it. 

So that's my homework. And Kelly and I talked about how that was okay... we knew that it was tough for him and he was trying. So we'll just keep working. So yep.. great lesson!

Then I hauled him over to Ashland to play with Liz. We both wanted to jump stadium before next weekend's show at Jumping Branch. Peri came to hang out and help set fences, which was a nice bonus. :) We let Liz go first as most of them were already set for her. She and G were super!! They've come such a long way in such a short time. I'm so dang proud of her!! So then we raised them up training level for me. They looked a little bit at first, but then not really. I'm hoping they actually had them set to training for me. So I warmed him up.. jumped 4 smaller fences before they had moved them all.. and then we jumped the bigger fence twice... and then I did a course. It wasn't beautiful. It had some issues. BUT.. it actually seemed to get better over the course, which quite often, is not the case. And.. he did it. We did the whole thing with no real issues! YAY!!! Then we fixed one of the lines because I totally cut off the corner and motorcycled to it and once I did that it got even better. Especially when Liz told me to make him bouncier. And it totally worked. I just thought about sitting more upright and lifting and he did. :) So we did that line a few times and he started drifting hard right again and I ended up finishing with a pretty beautiful line. I didn't even have to over-correct. I just blocked the right side and he stayed straight. :) 


So then we went for a short hack so I wasn't too late getting home and now he gets to rest. :)