February Week 4 and Review

I haven't kept up with this at all lately - but if I don't jump straight back in, I'll never get back on track!

Clinic Overview 2/21
I had a great clinic. She really focused on my position and FINALLY fixed my biggest position flaw: my lower legs were always too far forward. She helped me figure out how to fix that without messing up the rest of my position. It's really painful to maintain right now, but I'm sure that will get easier as I build up the right muscles!
Pandora did really well. She certainly moves out a lot more when I ride like that - I need to make sure not to stifle her "free forward movement," as I tend to want to half-halt more than is necessary and the clinician told me to watch that I don't slow her down too much. Her jumping was nice. Clinician reinforced that I should let Pandora make her own mistakes so she learns from them, especially turning after fences if she is unbalanced to force her to get herself organized. Also watch out for diving on the takeoff side of tight fences - only did it on one fence but still a big flaw.

Monday 2/23
Had a good ride. A really solid workout - for me, more than her! Maintaining the new (correct) leg position is hard. But we'll get there. Now that I know what the Correct Place For My Leg is, I can do stirrupless riding that is actually constructive.
We keep running again and again into issues with left flexion. I am pretty sure that it's not all in my head, or at least I hope not! It seems like she's unwilling to soften her jaw to the inside and relax her neck, so perhaps it's time to have some body work done again. This is a consistent problem I have been running into, and I need to be careful not to get into fights with Pandora about it. I can't just keep insisting that she bend, because she just stiffens more and gets upset.
It seems to help when I bring her back to a halt and ask her to flex a little, then do flexions at the walk (big circle, ask her to really bend on a small circle, then back out to the big circle) but I just can't get her to do it at the trot.
I have also noticed that she tends to favor her right lead over her left, so I'm definitely thinking we've got a body issue here. I will continue to work on asking her to soften so that we hopefully get it worked out through schooling, but I'd still like to have her worked on before the show jumping rally in late March.

Tuesday 2/24
Had a pretty good ride tonight. We kept it short, because another girl was going to have a lesson this evening. I carried the dressage whip because we've been having quite a bit of flexion issues lately, as I mentioned. It definitely improved things, but not all the way.
In any case, we got some very nice relaxed canter work on a large circle. I need to sharpen those transitions though - and make sure I'm asking right, because sometimes I forget to really keep her bent around that inside leg, and she hollows out and bends to the outside and rushes the transition.
I am still working on that damned leg position change. It hurts!

Wednesday 2/25
Don't remember...I think I took the night off.

Thursday 2/26
Free jumping. I set up a chute - a simple crossrail, one stride to a vertical. She was NOT a big fan of it at first, very nervous, but settled down after quite awhile. I think it would help to have my mom there to help me line her up and set up/rearrange the chute, as well.

Our final height on the vertical was 3'3". She looked pretty good :-) Next time I think I will set up a two-stride to an oxer. Maybe I will make it two X's set at bounce distance, then 2 strides to the oxer, but I'm not sure if the bounce will rob her of the momentum she'll need to get to a big fat oxer. We'll see - I'll probably just do the one X to start with. Simple is better!

Friday 2/27
Went to a lesson at Poseidon. Pandora was great! Christy said she could really notice a difference in terms of Pandora's muscling and ability to carry herself. We worked on asking her to really move forward without falling down on her nose, and got some super nice trot work. The canter is coming along splendidly. We did some nice jumping around a course - and once, after cantering to a panel jump around a short corner, Pandora got a wee bit excited and really powered over it. I wanted her to remember that I get to call the shots, so I directed her into a pretty sharp circle right after the fence to remind her that she can't just build up steam and roar forward - she did a lovely flying change into the circle :-) Nice and balanced and clean. Woohoo!
I REALLY learned that I need to wait for the fences. I tend to see (or not see) a distance, get a little nervous, and lean forward or drop the reins too soon. When Christy pointed that out, I made it a point to just sit and let the fence come to me. It worked nicely, and my distances turned out a lot better.

Saturday 2/28
Quiz rally!

Sunday 3/1
Dressage lesson at Poseidon. Pandora did fantastically here, too. She was nice and mellow, and when we did a little quadrille, the 'everyone canter on a circle' movement was great! I love that her canter is balanced enough now that we can ride on a circle without running everyone over.



So, here was the February goal: Be going smoothly through grids, jumping single fences easily at 2'9", and developing a steady canter.

Wellll....not so much. February was a pretty hectic month, as I'm sure you could tell by my lack of progress reports. Part of the problem is that we're working so hard on putting together smooth, steady fences that my instructors don't usually bump up the height. It's a bit of a paradox. I understand she should be going well over small fences before we bump it up, but she really does better over fences that are 2' to 2'3" in height at the absolute minimum. She's totally fine with crossrails, but they don't make her think at all, and she gets lazy and bored I think.

Anyway.

We have not practiced any grid jumping. Shock, horror. I am going to make this a priority next month, as grids will really help her figure things out for herself. As well as push the height.

We have not jumped single fences at 2'9" (exception: schooling show at the VERY beginning of the month). This I'm not too concerned about, because I know she can jump them - but, jumping single fences is very good practice, especially trotting them. It's not hard to set up a single fence that I jump occasionally while schooling flatwork (as long as I'm flatting in my jumping saddle!), so this will be easy to do next month.

We have been developing a steady canter. The more I carry my hands, the less she leans down on me while jumping, and the easier it is for me to keep her from revving up her engine too much as we approach a fence. So, we can consider one goal successful!

March goal: Continue working on our jumping skills, but don't neglect the flatwork. I will go to three jumping lessons at Poseidon, a rally prep lesson which will involve jumping, and finally the Show Jumping rally the last weekend in March (what a perfect way to check my progress!).

I will be focusing on some flatwork aspects as they apply to jumping: smooth balanced turns, rating and adjustability at all three gaits, obedience to the leg.

Since I did not complete my gridwork and single fence goals last month, I will make it a priority to set up a grid at least once a week, and jump single fences at least once a week as well.

By the end of March, I want to be coursing smoothly over 2'6 with a calm, smooth, and balanced w/t/c. We should be able to significantly control our rating at all 3 gaits. I want to set up a 5-stride line and be able to alternate between getting 4, 5, and 6 strides nicely.


I am very interested to see how Pandora does at the Show Jumping rally, which is in Washington. We are entered in the 2' to 2'3 division, which means that I won't have to worry about height at all - just about remembering my course! I am curious to see how she responds to a totally new environment. From my limited travel with her, she's given every indication that she can be nervous in new environments but she doesn't lose her head. Most importantly, she has never offered to stop or even look at a new, scary fence. If she again does not offer to stop or peek at the SJ rally, then I will be very happy!