Weather Woes

Today was interesting. I hauled to Athens for a 2:30 pm lesson with Beth because... well, it was then or never. And it was a heat index of 98. Ugh.... It didn't even feel that hot; it was just heavy out. Heavy and humid and miserable.  But we tacked up and I noticed some dark clouds and there was an occasional breeze. So it wasn't tooooo terrible. 

We had a great lesson though. We were working on my hand position and thus how I was influencing Danny's positioning.  

Tracking Left: Don't bicycle drive my horse. Keep my right elbow back at my side (Cindy's magic bullet tip from a month or so ago.. duh) to keep him straight and from overbending, but also keep it a bit down and out. Lift the inside rib cage into the outside rein and for the love of God, don't cross the neck with the left hand. Also, I sometimes need to lift that inside left hand and sometimes I need to bring it out and back towards my hip. Basically ride with wider hands

Tracking Right: Lift the inside hand. That unkinks the hose at his poll and allows his energy to flow. Also don't forget inside and outside leg as needed. 

Then we did a fun ice cream cone exercise where we rode down the long side... with inside bend but not shoulder fore... then did a 10 meter half circle and trotted over two poles on the diagonal, then changed the bend, did an s curve and went over two other poles on the diagonal and did another half ice cream cone and back to the rail (same side). With that... I had to definitely push his shoulders to the outside for the change of bend, otherwise he'd collapse. Also when tracking left I had to really sit on my left seat bone and almost think of collapsing my left obliques and lifting my right shoulder. Going the other way, I was fine. 

So halfway between that exercise we saw a bolt of lightning by the cowfields and heard the thunder. Then it started sprinkling but we kept going. Until the second lightning bolt and then we saw the wall of rain coming towards us. I mean.. it was raining already but this was a sheet of rain heading our way. We ran inside just as it started to really pour and I had to run out and roll up my windows. It was coming down!!! Like... almost hailing coming down. So... we sat in the barn aisleway for about 15 minutes and it finally slacked up. We went back out and did the trot pole exercise the other direction for a bit. 

Then we worked on walk to canter. The goal was to not throw him away. I tend to throw the reins at him. Nope.. he has to stay connected in the upwards. I used my Cindy advice of prepping during the downswing and asking during the upswing and we got most of them. And when I focused and didn't drop the connection or throw my shoulders at him, it wasn't too shabby at all. 

Then we worked on our trot lengthens. Beth suggested that I shorten him first and allow the lengthen. But don't soften the connection too much (or at all). I also had to keep the connection with the reins in the turn, like... lifting my hand or opening it and pushing him to the outside a little, and then as we came to the straight away and I asked for the lengthen.... zoom! But I had to soften slightly.. but keep the connection and keep the softness by keeping a supple connection. But we had some pretty freakin' fancy ones to the right. The left side was a little tougher. But it had to do with me having a bit harder of a time keeping the connection. 

So then we finished and I took Dan for a short hack. And it was blue skies!!! And starting to get hot and steamy again. And then as I was leaving the skies got dark and the wind picked up again. Craziness!

Great Lesson: Getting uphill

It is so nice when things start to come together and build upon other things. :) I'm sure it'll go spiraling out of control again before too long, but... we had a great ride today!

I was able to really think about sitting and lifting the withers and ribcage and getting Danny to rock back and put his hind feet underneath him instead of behind him. We had some great transitions, especially now that I've gotten better at making the down beat my prep and the up beat my act. I have to make sure my chin stays up so I don't collapse us both. But we had some really nice work today. He's feeling sooooo fancy and collected. (I'm sure it's not exactly what I think it is, but... still feels great). We also worked on the counter canter again and it helps a lot for me to think of pushing him to the outside (and then half passing at certain parts). 

Fun day!!

Late ride

Well... I worked 11.5 hours... I was hot... sweaty... mosquito bitten... but I rode. :) I came home and made dinner and ate with Mike and then rushed out to Ashland. I left the house at 7:30 and we got home at 9:30, but I got a great dressage school in and a short hack to the lake and back. 

We had a great ride!! He was forward!! So forward!! Almost too forward :) But not really. We had some really good trot lengthens too!! They felt like real powerful lengthens, not speedens. ;) 

Then we went to the lake for a little soak and walked back. We stopped on the side and there was a HUGE splash... repeatedly. I am guessing it was a beaver that was mad??? But we pretended it was Nessie. ;)

Such a good pony!

YAHOOO!! Take that brain!!

I'm getting it!! I'm getting it :) It's only taken 3 lessons (at least) with two different people, me messing around on my own, a facebook photo, and forever, but my little pea brain gets it!!! And not only do I get it, I can make my body do it too. :) :) :) YES!!!!

I understood it a little bit more each time but I think today I really got it. Beth started Dan for me and got him straight, which made it a lot easier to feel. 

She and I were talking while she was riding and she was saying that to her, he felt much straighter to the left...  HMMMMM??? But that she could see how I felt like he was falling in with his hips and flinging out with his shoulder. I also think I tend to create it somehow, so we decided to figure it out when I got on. However, she did notice that during the transitions, she felt what I felt all the time. She said during the transitions, he does fling his shoulders to the inside which flings his feet to the outside. Which is what Cindy says. However, my brain disagrees. My brain thinks it's his outside shoulders flinging out. But between my last lesson and this one, I'm understanding the difference. 

So.... what works for me and my brain... currently at least. When tracking to the left... I picture myself sitting square and lifting my inside seat bone (I think I was collapsing hard core to the left) and thinking of lifting his rib cage up and into my outside leg and rein. The other little magical piece that makes the world of difference... I have to NOT CROSS HIS NECK with my outside rein. I have to take hold and get a connection, but not hang, and almost think of dropping my hand to the back and outside.... like lateral. I almost have to open that rein to make it work. But... it gives his shoulders a place to go, which makes his feet come up square underneath him and allows his rib cage to lift on the inside. MAGIC!! And then, like I realized before, when he's square and lined up, he can be forward. And obviously, he's bent, but... he's tracking square. 

So then going to the right, I need to lift my right rein. Which I think is what I did the other day when Cindy got so proud of me. Again, sit square.... ride inside leg to outside rein. BUT... Beth noticed that when she half halts on the inside rein like normal, it pulls the bit back into his mouth. Which makes Dan almost cock his head or twist it, thus kinking his neck. So there isn't a flow of energy because of the kink. So... if we lift the right hand up in the air (almost ridiculously so), it lifts the bar of the bit into the top corner of his mouth and it helps him align his head and poll softly so that he can flex correctly and there is a energy flow. :) 

So.... I did both canters and worked on that and they were lovely!!!

Beth also worked on getting him to throw his haunches out at the walk and trot while staying bent in the front end. I didn't do any of that but plan to at the next ride. Hopefully I can sneak one in tomorrow evening so I can play some before my lesson with Cindy. :)

Change of Scenery

Ahhhh..... Today was a Holly day. :) All me! And I so needed it.

I went to bed early last night because I was just so exhausted from the week. I was so tired of being hot, being sweaty, being mosquito bitten, and having headache after headache. I really wanted to ride but... I just couldn't do it.

So I came home, showered, and sat on the couch and watched tv while I ate Mac-n-cheese. Then I went to bed early. I slept in and got an actual full 8 hours of sleep (Granted I woke up twice, but still... 8 hours!!!).

I decided that I wanted a change of scenery. I thought about driving to Aiken to go to Hitchcock Woods and then I could get hay (in theory) and beetpulp. But then the client that is going to fix my trailer called and said he'd stop by this afternoon, so.. it was a good excuse to stay close and get stuff done. I got a lot done.. not all I wanted to get done done, but.. a lot.

Danny and I drove to the Horse Park. (I feel kind of awful for not taking Fleck but... it was so humid and muggy). I had to wipe all the mold off of my tack first. Yucky. (One of the things I did not do... cleaning my tack completely). We started off at a nice walk but Danny was spooky! And the footing was pretty rough because of all the rain. There was lots of ravines and roots exposed. Danny was being so mincy. But we finally hit some good footing and put some trotting in. We had parked by the rings and explored that section and went down to the canoe launches. Dan was freaked out about the covered bridge at the water complex and wouldn't go in it at first. It took a few tries and for a few minutes I thought I was going to have to give up. But we got it done. He walked over the plain open bridges without being phased though. We also got in a nice canter and gallop! It was so much fun. I wanted to do a bit more fitness/canter sets, but it was so hot and muggy at that point. Danny was soaking wet and lathered where the reins where on his neck. So we did a tiny bit more canter and then trotted a hair and then walked til we cooled down.

It was a great day. And SUCH a beautiful day! At least to look at. It was muggy! But at least it wasn't raining again.

Then I came home and got two bales of hay, alfalfa pellets, and shavings. And treats. :) And crypto aero.... The only thing I didn't get was beet pulp. And lots of hay. :) But still... I got that accomplished. I did some laundry, did the dishes, paid bills...  I may get my shadow box done. We'll see. I may update some of my other blog posts that aren't really done. We'll see.

Tomorrow I have a lesson and am going to try the monoflap jump saddle again. And then I have to adjust two ponies and then come home to hang out with Mike. :)

 

Tonight I gave Danny and Emma each a dog toy that I bought at Tractor Supply. Danny left his in his stall and I locked them out of the barns. Emma was a meanie head and didn't share. :) Ha ha... His face cracks me up!

Man he's a hunk though!

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed

Ha ha. Dan was a grumpy grumpy pants today!! He must not have slept well. ;)

But we had a great lesson. Cindy said it wasn't a lot of "stuff" but we got a lot of mental work today and at one point she was so pleased with my "training" and altering Dan with my body not just my hands she said she got goosebumps :)

We worked on cantering off my hips, not digging my spur into him. And it took a few tries, but he became much more reactive than I thought. Yahoo. REMEMBER THAT Holly. :)

We also worked on counter canter again, along the long and short sides vs the loops. I visualized the wall again and had another very helpful thought from Cindy. She told me to think about halfpassing him to hold the counter canter. It helped me from crossing over his neck with the reins (Which does NOTHING GOOD by the way Holly!) and helped me maintain my hip momentum, which helped him maintain the counter canter. :) Sweet!

Poplar Show!

Danny and I had a fun two days. :) We hauled up by ourselves to go show at Poplar. Luckily, Anne and Arlen were showing too so we had someone to XC school with. Otherwise it was going to be Mike who got dragged along with me. :)

I was running a bit behind on Friday (per usual) but managed to only leave about an hour later than I had anticipated. However, shortly after getting onto the interstate my "check engine gauge" light came on. Huh?! So.... I thought well.... I'll slow down some. But I was already going fairly slow for the interstate. It helped but not much and it kept going close to the red again. So then I thought, well... maybe I need to turn the heat on. Maybe it's overheating. So... okay.... I've got the windows down, but holy heck it was hot. It was like...95 degrees outside.... I had the heat on... and despite turning the vents away from me... I was started to really get miserable. My cracked leather seats are NOT comfy when you're sticking to them. So then I checked and it still wasn't really helping. It was better, but still not cooling down like I wanted. So then I had the epiphany that maybe I shouldn't be hauling in two mode since the RPM's were pretty high. So... I took it off (Ie...turned overdrive back on) and my RPM's dropped way down, not almost in the red like it had been and lo and behold.. the truck engine temp dropped dramatically. I was able to turn the a/c back on. And then the rest of the trip went fine. DUH!!  But.. cut me some slack. My chevy had a tow mode.... and it hauled all the time with it on the entire way, even on the interstate. (I think.. maybe I did take it off some???) But Bart never overheated on me. And Sally is a 3500!! But maybe cause she's diesel? And my trailer is now substantially bigger and heavier. And I was on the interstate going 65 to 70.  And in my mind... I was afraid to tow that big trailer without tow mode, but... now I know. :) And by the way, I was able to get up to 75 mph now. Doh..  Oh well. Lesson learned.

Anyways... we finally got there and I got the trailer hooked up (yay me!) and we finally got tacked up and headed out to school XC. Danny was super and we had a blast. He jumped a good chunk of the novice course but not all over it. I waffled between "putting money in the bank" and "cheating" but decided to jump the tricky stuff, leave the simple stuff, and then we jumped a few of the training options instead of the novice ones. And a few extra training fences. I was so proud of him. He was literally becoming quite point and shoot!!! They even had an uphill bank with a short bendy line (maybe 5 strides) to a fake corner! On Novice!!! (Okay... so it was a wedge, but on a bendy line after an up bank!) I didn't ride quite forward enough so Dan had to pop in a chip before the fake corner but he just lopped on over. :)  We had a blast!!!  We also did this fun thing, which doesn't look so bad on camera, but... was kind of impressive in person. It was skinny.... a log on top of the bank...  He just trotted up to it, picked up the canter and hopped off. So I did it again and made Anne video. :) Of course I got cocky. We walked over the ditch and he was game so we trotted and then cantered it. So then we went down to the big ditch with all the things and the novice line was a coop with a turn to the ditch. The training line was a coffin. I thought.. meh, we'll be fine... and went for the training line. As we were approaching I thought... perhaps I should just do the second half of the coffin to be fair... and good thing. As we got close to the ditch Dan slowed way down and tried to run out almost, but we basically ran to the left and jumped the ditch (without stopping or even coming to a walk, but we did come to a trot) on the novice side instead of the training side. BUT... he did it despite giving it the hairy eyeball. So rather than push the issue, we just came through the training line and carried on. Then at the top of the hill we did the training fence after the up bank to make us feel big and brave again. And then... I saw it. The heeby jeeby fence. It was the ramped log stack thing but open in between. It was set on the hill so it was a ramp up off the top of the hill with a fairly substantial drop. It was marked as training. I decided to do it since he had already done the bank thing drop.... I came to it and then circled.. chickening out. Then I kept going and we went to it and he just popped right over it like it was nothing!!! Wheeee!!!!  We did a few more fences and then finished at the water complex. The last time we were there they didn't have any water in it other than the trickle on the edge of the bank and Dan freaked out! I had to get off and I still couldn't get him up the bank. Down was fine-ish... So this time.. there was water. And we were able to go up and down and up and down. :) Yay!!!

Anyways... I tried to ice Dan that night, but.... I didn't have much ice left and then I realized I didn't have a hose where I was going to do it... and then I tried with my kitty litter water containers and he stepped out of it and tipped it over when I got the first boot on so I gave up and just linimented him. After feeding him and wrapping him, I let him eat some hay while I cleaned tack. It was actually a fairly nice night out so it was pleasant. So then I used Poplar's shower so I didn't have to rearrange my abode and... then when I was finished I planned to take Dan for a walk. What perfect timing!! God must have made it happen just so... so that it all fell into place. It was a super moon night.. or maybe a harvest moon night... some kind of special moon night. And I just happened to take Dan for his walk as it was rising! It was amazing!!!
 

 
 

 

Saturday was a beautiful morning too! God is so amazing!
 


I tried not to get on too early as it was hot and Dan and I had a full day, but.. I did. Oh well. We warmed up and both of us were feeling a bit sluggish and almost blase about things. At least it seemed like it. I was trying to get more swing from Dan but... in some ways he felt too loose and just.... sloppy??? Maybe.. I don't know. It didn't feel like it was going to be super awesome. Maybe it's because it was Kelly judging us and I wanted to be superstars!!  We did our test and during one of the canters, Dan broke to the trot. I thought it was lackluster but obedient (Minus the break... but my fault for not keeping my leg on). Apparently it wasn't that bad. I know Kelly can be generous, but... we scored a 30.95!! Which put us a very close second to the only other girl in our class. Hee hee... Close enough that I think we may have beaten her had Dan and I not broken in the canter. But maybe not. Anyways... after the show I ran into Kelly and she said she was pleased with how much more forward in general Dan was, especially at the walk and trot. She said he was energetic, but that the canter still needed more. ha ha.. You think?!? :)

Anyways... we headed to stadium after a short little break. I knew I wouldn't need much warm up. We were still a little early and Dan felt pretty good. He wasn't crazy but wasn't a slug. We did a bit... then rested.. then did a bit more... and then we finally got to go. I was watching the girl before me and the ring steward warned us to be careful with fence 2 and 7 as they had been coming down all day. Hopefully our lucky no rails streak would continue. And yep!! It did. She couldn't jinx us. :) Dan was super. It was actually a really lovely round. He was soft and flowy and not packaged as much as we had been working on in lessons, but.. he was able to move up when I ask and wait when I asked and we jumped clean. :) I was quite proud of that ride.  Sadly for the girl in first, she had one rail, so we moved ahead of her.  I was also quite proud of my position in the photos too!! Yay!!! And Dan was using his shoulders quite well too. YAY!!!!

 

Then we had a short rest and it was time for XC!! We did very little... because he had already really warmed up and it was hot. So we did a little bit of w/t/c and jumped two fences I think and then off we went!!  He was super!!! Aside from cross cantering over the first two fences (terrain issues...) he was super!! He was point and shoot and looking for the next fence. He didn't bat an eye at anything (which.. to be fair... we had already done most of it the day before). But he was super!! He was rideable! And he was just point and shoot and looking for the next fence. It was SOOOOO much fun. I think we came in right at optimum despite trotting a tiny bit down the steep hill in the back side and not trying to cut any corners.  The other girl went clean too, but we stayed in First. Yay!!!