Monday 3/23
Flatwork school. Good ride. Worked on bend and figures, overall just a solid work.
Tuesday 3/24
Fantastic lesson. Really, really awesome - one of the best rides I've had on her. Hung out at around 2'3 for the fences, maybe closer to 2'6. Pandora was 'on' the whole time. Practiced lengthening and shortening at the canter, and actually got noticeable responses. Jumped the scary boxes and the big brush fence, neither of which she's seen/jumped before, and she didn't even hesitate. I made some big improvements on: 1. avoiding jumping ahead with my upper body, while 2. still releasing, while 3. not dropping her at the base of the fence by taking away leg and hand. Once I figured that one out, she was great.
Asked her to really move out down one long side because our 'jump-off' course had a looong track around the outside. Boy, was she excited about that! She really dug in and gave me a gallop. Surprised me and took me longer to bring her back than I expected, but she wasn't trying to run away, and she came back to a nice soft canter after one circle. Oops.
On the other hand, big accident when we got home. In the arena, Mom was taking her blanket off - got all the straps undone and then Pandora took off. Blanket slipped obviously, she freaked herself out, galloped all around, tore the blanket to absolute shreds. It was terrifying. Once she ripped the blanket all the way off, she stopped, hot and sweaty and shaking. Walked her out, hosed her chest and neck a little and she calmed down a lot. Wasn't lame but got a big ol' swelling on her right gaskin. Very liquidy and soft, not hot. Under a small abrasion. Gave 2.5 grams of bute, cold-hosed, walked to make sure she wasn't sore. Normal vitals. Came back at 8pm to ice and walk again, swelling down a little but more stiff.
Wednesday 3/25
Made an AM visit. Swelling down a lot (yay!) but area is hot, no sign of stiffness, w/t/c happily loose in the arena. Iced for 10 minutes, gave 2 grams of bute.
Evening visit, free longed for maybe 15 minutes, worked up a good sweat. Fine at all gaits in both directions. Swelling WAY down, hardly noticeable, still warm but not hot. Cold-hosed for 10 minutes, put a little Furazone on the scrape. I think at this point we're more traumatized than she is.
Thursday 3/26
She was feeling great. Free longed nicely in both directions, worked up a decent sweat with no noticeable stiffness. The farrier came out, told me I was being a tad bit paranoid and they didn't need to be trimmed for another few weeks (oops :).
Then came the test. I haven't ridden her since Tuesday before she injured herself, and I needed to see if she was going to stay sound with me in the saddle. So we set up 3 canter cavaletti at bounce distance (around 11' for Pandora) and a 2'6 vertical, tacked up, and went for it. I was really worried that she was going to favor the injured leg with me on board, but w/t/c both directions was just fine. We cantered the cavaletti several times in both directions and she was fantastic, nailed it every time and went through with enthusiasm. We jumped the vertical with no issues, made it a square oxer (a rather wide square oxer) and though we kept missing the distance for takeoff, she felt totally normal beneath me and showed no signs of soreness after jumping it several times.
That's way bigger than she'll have to do at rally, so I'm very very happy and feeling optimistic for this weekend. She'll have 3 rounds with 20 minutes of warmup each, so that's only a little more than an hour of riding total. I think we'll be just fine.
We cold-hosed again for about 5 - 10 minutes, which she stood very politely for, and dosed with 2.5 grams of bute. Now that I know she's sound with no bute in her system (hadn't been dosed since yesterday morning), I think we will continue with the bute through tomorrow just to help make sure all inflammation is going away.
Whew. Crisis averted.
Friday 3/27
Bathing day! We spent four hours out at the barn washing buckets and horses, and in general just making sure all our rally stuff was loaded up and ready to go. Pandora is now very very clean and shiny - not that she wasn't shiny before - and all ready for showing! I'll make sure to do some serious de-hairing in a good grooming session before we leave tomorrow.
Saturday 3/28
Rally day! Free longed the girls in the morning. She's totally sound and you can only tell she injured that hind leg if you touch the area, because then she'll move away. Loaded everything up, stuffed their hay bags with hay, booted up, and headed out! Settled in nicely, with some screaming for McKinna, and jogged out perfectly sound. Excited for tomorrow.
Sunday 3/29
Woohoo! We had an AWESOME day at the rally. Full report here. No refusals, no rails. She was nervous but got better every round and she has mountains of try. I love it. I'm very proud of her.
Monday 3/30
A well-deserved day off. They got to be outside all day for the first time in a long time.
Tuesday 3/31
An easy ride, but very promising. I hopped on and went for a short hack down the road, by ourselves for the first time. I planned on making it very short, taking her just past her comfort zone and allowing a little grazing before heading home.
Well, she impressed me. She marched right off down the road with nary a spook or scoot - only got a little bug-eyed when a horse in a field galloped up to us. So we picked up a merry little trot for a minute or so, went up a little hill, then walked back. She wanted to jig on the way back, probably because it was a cool windy day and she had yesterday off, but she walked when I asked her to.
Such a pleasant ride, and I'm pleased that she's sensible about going out by herself. This will make conditioning hacks very easy.
I'm looking forward to it. Plus, I like to sing to give us a rhythm and calm her down, so I get to work my way through my repertoire of old camp songs ;)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
March Week 3 Review and Week 4 Outline
Monday 3/16
I had a history final from 6-8. No riding for me!
Tuesday 3/17
Had a great ride. Schooled flatwork and really worked on moving off the leg, and bending. We did some bow-tie figures which went pretty well. I practiced a little bit of spiraling circles with her - I can tell those will be fantastic schooling figures, because they were super hard for her! It's hard for her to hold a smaller circle, but she spirals nicely out when I ask her to.
We got some pretty good canter work, although she was a little sticky in her transitions.
I am working on asking her to carry herself up, then stretch down to follow the bit. This is a hole in our dressage. She will lower her head to stretch out if you give her a loose rein at the walk, but that's not following the contact down, and at the trot she either won't do it at all or she speeds up a lot. I practiced a little at the trot, and seemed to make some progress, so I will make sure to work on this more in the future.
Still not flexing to the left. I believe she is locked up somewhere in her upper neck/poll/jaw - she won't turn her face, she just tilts her head and shoulder, whereas to the right she rotates that face easily. Chiro coming out on Thursday should fix that!
Mom hopped on to cool her out. This is part of our plan to get her used to other riders, since she tends to get anxious. I will probably also have Christy (lady who gives the Friday lessons) school her once or twice, since she is a very very good and soft rider who I bet will help Pandora's confidence in strangers.
Wednesday 3/18
Jumping lesson at Robin's. Pandora did great, was way calmer than last time we were over there! It definitely helped that we rode in a lesson with McKinna and her rider too. She was just lovely, alert and sometimes looking at stuff outside the arena but very responsive and mellow. We got some very nice jumping in, and I am working on all the things I need to remember over the fence - sit up, stretch up tall, wait for the fence, but release! I got it together a few times.
We jumped over a few spooky fences - even got a refusal, but it was downhill to a scary box fence off a tight diagonal turn, so I don't blame her at all. She jumped it fine the second time, and we schooled it about four times until I could get her to relax enough to take off from a reasonable distance instead of super far away. Not that I don't appreciate the athleticism inherent in taking the long spot!
Anyway - a very successful lesson!
Thursday 3/19
Kind-of day off - longed her, then she got worked on by the chiro. I was definitely right about the left flexion. On the left side, she needed adjustments high in the neck, low in the neck, a little in the shoulder, and a lot in the elbow. Some slightly lesser stuff down the right side. Quite a bit of pelvic rotation, and quite a bit of stickiness in the stifles. He also worked her tail a little bit because I mentioned that it's still asymetrically muscled underneath the dock, and afterwards she was so relaxed back there! I've never been able to touch the point of her butt without her tensing up, but now it's nice and soft. I was glad he came out.
Friday 3/20
Lesson at Poseidon. A bit of a frustrating one! For the flatwork, Pandora was extremely inconsistent. Perfectly understandable - she was trying to figure out how to move after being adjusted yesterday - but still very frustrating, when I'm used to such a steady horse. I didn't discipline her for it, since I knew what was going on. The canter was a little better. Also, hallelujah, we have developed a tiny bit of a half-halt at the canter! If I close my outside hand and add a little lower leg, I can actually feel a response. Not very much of one, and not too consistent, and sometimes I don't use enough leg so she breaks to the trot, but it's THERE and we've never had it before. It's very exciting. A huge step in the right direction.
Jumping was also a bit frustrating. Once again we did nothing but tiny fences for the majority of the ride. I only got to do some set at around 2'3 on my very last few rounds. I understand the necessity to do well over smaller fences, I really do. But when my horse is getting lazy and sloppy and isn't really learning anything over the small fences, I think it's time to move on.
THEN, she started charging down this one six-stride line. Really taking off. Don't get me wrong, I love that she builds energy when she locks onto a fence. But this was totally ignoring my half-halts. So, after checking with the instructor, I got the go-ahead to do a little teeth-flossing with the bit down the line to get my message across. I hate doing it, but it worked. I got hard in her face, she was totally surprised and backed off for the last few strides, then halted reasonably nicely. The next time we went through, she started to launch, but backed off at a strong half-halt. Since she clearly understood the point, we called it good.
An educational but frustrating ride, I suppose. I understand why it went the way it did, though, and it wasn't Pandora's fault. I am looking forward to doing some schooling on my own for awhile with the tools I have picked up recently.
Saturday 3/21
Day off. Free-longed the girls.
Sunday 3/22
Day off again.
Week 4 Outline
Monday 3/23
Solid dressage workout. Get some good forward canter work, practice adjustability at all three gaits. Practice canter cavaletti.
Tuesday 3/24
Rally prep lesson at Poseidon. I am sure we will school lots of fences, practice jog-outs (which I've already practiced!), and the like.
Wednesday 3/25
Get in another good flatwork school, this time in the jumping saddle. Practice lots of canter cavaletti.
Thursday 3/26
The tack-cleaning day...oi. But, I should still ride. Maybe a light jumping school, easy and relaxed.
Friday 3/27
Day off and free-longe. Today is the day we'll wash McKinna to prepare for Rally, and trust me, you don't want to plan anything else on the same day! It's an exhausting enterprise.
Saturday 3/28
Longe the girls, load everything up into the trailer, and head off to Ridgefield, WA for the rally!
Sunday 3/29
Compete in the rally. 3 rounds, with 20 minutes of warmup each - not bad. Hopefully we will come home feeling happy and successful!
I had a history final from 6-8. No riding for me!
Tuesday 3/17
Had a great ride. Schooled flatwork and really worked on moving off the leg, and bending. We did some bow-tie figures which went pretty well. I practiced a little bit of spiraling circles with her - I can tell those will be fantastic schooling figures, because they were super hard for her! It's hard for her to hold a smaller circle, but she spirals nicely out when I ask her to.
We got some pretty good canter work, although she was a little sticky in her transitions.
I am working on asking her to carry herself up, then stretch down to follow the bit. This is a hole in our dressage. She will lower her head to stretch out if you give her a loose rein at the walk, but that's not following the contact down, and at the trot she either won't do it at all or she speeds up a lot. I practiced a little at the trot, and seemed to make some progress, so I will make sure to work on this more in the future.
Still not flexing to the left. I believe she is locked up somewhere in her upper neck/poll/jaw - she won't turn her face, she just tilts her head and shoulder, whereas to the right she rotates that face easily. Chiro coming out on Thursday should fix that!
Mom hopped on to cool her out. This is part of our plan to get her used to other riders, since she tends to get anxious. I will probably also have Christy (lady who gives the Friday lessons) school her once or twice, since she is a very very good and soft rider who I bet will help Pandora's confidence in strangers.
Wednesday 3/18
Jumping lesson at Robin's. Pandora did great, was way calmer than last time we were over there! It definitely helped that we rode in a lesson with McKinna and her rider too. She was just lovely, alert and sometimes looking at stuff outside the arena but very responsive and mellow. We got some very nice jumping in, and I am working on all the things I need to remember over the fence - sit up, stretch up tall, wait for the fence, but release! I got it together a few times.
We jumped over a few spooky fences - even got a refusal, but it was downhill to a scary box fence off a tight diagonal turn, so I don't blame her at all. She jumped it fine the second time, and we schooled it about four times until I could get her to relax enough to take off from a reasonable distance instead of super far away. Not that I don't appreciate the athleticism inherent in taking the long spot!
Anyway - a very successful lesson!
Thursday 3/19
Kind-of day off - longed her, then she got worked on by the chiro. I was definitely right about the left flexion. On the left side, she needed adjustments high in the neck, low in the neck, a little in the shoulder, and a lot in the elbow. Some slightly lesser stuff down the right side. Quite a bit of pelvic rotation, and quite a bit of stickiness in the stifles. He also worked her tail a little bit because I mentioned that it's still asymetrically muscled underneath the dock, and afterwards she was so relaxed back there! I've never been able to touch the point of her butt without her tensing up, but now it's nice and soft. I was glad he came out.
Friday 3/20
Lesson at Poseidon. A bit of a frustrating one! For the flatwork, Pandora was extremely inconsistent. Perfectly understandable - she was trying to figure out how to move after being adjusted yesterday - but still very frustrating, when I'm used to such a steady horse. I didn't discipline her for it, since I knew what was going on. The canter was a little better. Also, hallelujah, we have developed a tiny bit of a half-halt at the canter! If I close my outside hand and add a little lower leg, I can actually feel a response. Not very much of one, and not too consistent, and sometimes I don't use enough leg so she breaks to the trot, but it's THERE and we've never had it before. It's very exciting. A huge step in the right direction.
Jumping was also a bit frustrating. Once again we did nothing but tiny fences for the majority of the ride. I only got to do some set at around 2'3 on my very last few rounds. I understand the necessity to do well over smaller fences, I really do. But when my horse is getting lazy and sloppy and isn't really learning anything over the small fences, I think it's time to move on.
THEN, she started charging down this one six-stride line. Really taking off. Don't get me wrong, I love that she builds energy when she locks onto a fence. But this was totally ignoring my half-halts. So, after checking with the instructor, I got the go-ahead to do a little teeth-flossing with the bit down the line to get my message across. I hate doing it, but it worked. I got hard in her face, she was totally surprised and backed off for the last few strides, then halted reasonably nicely. The next time we went through, she started to launch, but backed off at a strong half-halt. Since she clearly understood the point, we called it good.
An educational but frustrating ride, I suppose. I understand why it went the way it did, though, and it wasn't Pandora's fault. I am looking forward to doing some schooling on my own for awhile with the tools I have picked up recently.
Saturday 3/21
Day off. Free-longed the girls.
Sunday 3/22
Day off again.
Week 4 Outline
Monday 3/23
Solid dressage workout. Get some good forward canter work, practice adjustability at all three gaits. Practice canter cavaletti.
Tuesday 3/24
Rally prep lesson at Poseidon. I am sure we will school lots of fences, practice jog-outs (which I've already practiced!), and the like.
Wednesday 3/25
Get in another good flatwork school, this time in the jumping saddle. Practice lots of canter cavaletti.
Thursday 3/26
The tack-cleaning day...oi. But, I should still ride. Maybe a light jumping school, easy and relaxed.
Friday 3/27
Day off and free-longe. Today is the day we'll wash McKinna to prepare for Rally, and trust me, you don't want to plan anything else on the same day! It's an exhausting enterprise.
Saturday 3/28
Longe the girls, load everything up into the trailer, and head off to Ridgefield, WA for the rally!
Sunday 3/29
Compete in the rally. 3 rounds, with 20 minutes of warmup each - not bad. Hopefully we will come home feeling happy and successful!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
March Week 2 Review and Week 3 Outline
Monday 3/9
Ended up talking myself out of riding. I will end up riding a lot more next week - this is dead week so lots of studying to do. Free longed the girls, they had a good time running.
Tuesday 3/10
Day off. Free longed.
Wednesday 3/11
Flatwork schooling in the dressage saddle. The ride started off really nicely, nice and forward, just took her through everything at the walk (serpentines, circles, leg-yields, shoulders-in and out) then the same at trot. But somewhere along the way she got anxious and I got frustrated, and she was racing a lot. We managed to end on a good note. I think my stirrups were too long, and I wasn't using the ThinLine like normal under the saddle - wonder if that makes a difference?
Ended up talking myself out of riding. I will end up riding a lot more next week - this is dead week so lots of studying to do. Free longed the girls, they had a good time running.
Tuesday 3/10
Day off. Free longed.
Wednesday 3/11
Flatwork schooling in the dressage saddle. The ride started off really nicely, nice and forward, just took her through everything at the walk (serpentines, circles, leg-yields, shoulders-in and out) then the same at trot. But somewhere along the way she got anxious and I got frustrated, and she was racing a lot. We managed to end on a good note. I think my stirrups were too long, and I wasn't using the ThinLine like normal under the saddle - wonder if that makes a difference?
Still resisting bend to the left, always. Very frustrating. I can get her to move off my leg, but she just will not take up the bend through her whole body with one smooth curve from head to tail. Chiro is coming out in a week so hopefully that will help fix things.
Thursday 3/12
Jumped with two of the girls at the barn. Pandora did very nicely over the low stuff, finding good distances, even volunteered the left lead on a pretty regular basis when going to the left. She did want to rush around when on the left lead sometimes, but I think that had more to do with cantering over a two-stride cavaletti line (all she has to do is yank her feet up, so she gets quick and careless).
Thursday 3/12
Jumped with two of the girls at the barn. Pandora did very nicely over the low stuff, finding good distances, even volunteered the left lead on a pretty regular basis when going to the left. She did want to rush around when on the left lead sometimes, but I think that had more to do with cantering over a two-stride cavaletti line (all she has to do is yank her feet up, so she gets quick and careless).
Still, was resisting the left bend hardcore. Grrrr. I am patient with it -- Rome wasn't built in a day -- but it gets very frustrating when nothing I do can stop her from leaning over the left shoulder. At least she will take her left lead and canter nicely.
When we raised the jumps, she was just lovely. We had a vertical set on the diagonal and a single oxer. By the end, the oxer was just a hair shy of 2'9, with two barrels beneath, and the vertical was 2'6. Pandora did very nicely, considering I don't school her over these heights often. She tends to want to ignore my half-halts coming up to the fence, so perhaps I should set up some grids that encourage her to settle back. She's comfortable taking the short distance, and manages to suck herself up enough when she takes off super close, which is nice to know. I'd like to get some video of me jumping her over these - it feels like she is just tucking her legs up instead of rounding her back, but she may just not do that until the fences get a little bigger.
All in all, despite a few issues, I was very pleased.
Friday 3/13
Lesson at Poseidon. It ended up as a two-person lesson, as the third girl ended up sick. This actually turned out to be for the better, because our horses are very similarly-strided, so we got to do some gridwork!
We ended up schooling over a three-fence grid set up almost straight down the centerline, on a one-stride distance. She set the grid up a little bit short, because both horses need to practice rocking back and waiting instead of getting long and strung-out.
Eventually we had the grid set with a takeoff pole, then poles between each of the fences. So essentially it was five bounces, just that every other one was a pole. This was very helpful for Pandora, who needs to practice not getting all strung-out or diving down on her nose.
She did very nicely. I managed to push the height issue a little bit, and she raised the fences a little more than she normally does for me. I think I will have to either be very insistent about it, or just accept that I'll school higher fences at home! Or both, of course.
In any case, I felt like the grid work was very beneficial. I plan to set up some canter cavaletti at bounce distance for practice.
Saturday 3/14
Day off.
Sunday 3/15
Another day off. Finals studying!
Week 3 Outline
For all [riding] days this week, if the weather is nice, we'll make a short pilgrimage out the front gate. I plan to work extensively on Pandora's ability to go out on the roads alone (she will follow another horse, but freaks out by herself). Not only will road work help conditioning-wise, the confidence she gets from learning to go out by herself should make XC a piece of cake.
Monday 3/16
No ride - I have a final from 6 - 8PM, ugh. But then it's spring break, woohoo!
Tuesday 3/17
Solid flatwork schooling. Working on flexibility all through the body, lengthening/shortening the pace at the trot, and plenty of cantering.
Wednesday 3/18
Lesson across the street at Robin's, jumping.
Thursday 3/19
Chiro appointment, finally! She will get free-longed beforehand.
Friday 3/20
Jumping lesson at Poseidon.
Saturday 3/21
Light flatwork schooling. Practice ring figures, perhaps over poles: figure-8s, half-turns back to the rail, spiraling circles.
Sunday 3/22
Jumping school. Set up canter-bounce cavaletti on an 11' stride, practice steady cantering. Start with three and maybe go up to five. Practice trotting a low, wide oxer with a placing and landing pole.
Friday 3/13
Lesson at Poseidon. It ended up as a two-person lesson, as the third girl ended up sick. This actually turned out to be for the better, because our horses are very similarly-strided, so we got to do some gridwork!
We ended up schooling over a three-fence grid set up almost straight down the centerline, on a one-stride distance. She set the grid up a little bit short, because both horses need to practice rocking back and waiting instead of getting long and strung-out.
Eventually we had the grid set with a takeoff pole, then poles between each of the fences. So essentially it was five bounces, just that every other one was a pole. This was very helpful for Pandora, who needs to practice not getting all strung-out or diving down on her nose.
She did very nicely. I managed to push the height issue a little bit, and she raised the fences a little more than she normally does for me. I think I will have to either be very insistent about it, or just accept that I'll school higher fences at home! Or both, of course.
In any case, I felt like the grid work was very beneficial. I plan to set up some canter cavaletti at bounce distance for practice.
Saturday 3/14
Day off.
Sunday 3/15
Another day off. Finals studying!
Week 3 Outline
For all [riding] days this week, if the weather is nice, we'll make a short pilgrimage out the front gate. I plan to work extensively on Pandora's ability to go out on the roads alone (she will follow another horse, but freaks out by herself). Not only will road work help conditioning-wise, the confidence she gets from learning to go out by herself should make XC a piece of cake.
Monday 3/16
No ride - I have a final from 6 - 8PM, ugh. But then it's spring break, woohoo!
Tuesday 3/17
Solid flatwork schooling. Working on flexibility all through the body, lengthening/shortening the pace at the trot, and plenty of cantering.
Wednesday 3/18
Lesson across the street at Robin's, jumping.
Thursday 3/19
Chiro appointment, finally! She will get free-longed beforehand.
Friday 3/20
Jumping lesson at Poseidon.
Saturday 3/21
Light flatwork schooling. Practice ring figures, perhaps over poles: figure-8s, half-turns back to the rail, spiraling circles.
Sunday 3/22
Jumping school. Set up canter-bounce cavaletti on an 11' stride, practice steady cantering. Start with three and maybe go up to five. Practice trotting a low, wide oxer with a placing and landing pole.
Monday, March 9, 2009
March Week 1 Review and Week 2 Outline
Monday 3/2
Did not ride. Lots of homework to do!
Tuesday 3/3
Another homework night. She got free longed both nights, though, so she got to work off some energy.
Wednesday 3/4
Sigh, another free-longeing night....because I rode McKinna! A girl in our Pony Club may use McKinna for the SJ rally, because her horse is working through some training issues and they don't want any setbacks. She is trying her out tomorrow night, so I hopped on to make sure she hasn't forgotten how to work ;) She did great. We did w/t/c both directions, and I set up a zigzag pole rollback exercise. We walked and trotted over it (our arena's too tight to expect her to canter it), but then as we were cantering, I'd change directions across one pole and ask for a flying change. The first time I didn't set her up right, but then we got two in a row! Impressive considering we never worked on flying changes...
Thursday 3/5
Finally rode tonight. I had a very good ride! We did a lot of cantering over a low cavaletto, a 2' ish vertical, and then a 2'3 ish narrow fence with bright yellow and red planks. Pandora was just lovely. I am REALLY getting somewhere now that I sit up and carry my hands all the way to the base of the fence - she holds a steady pace, I can half halt, her shoulders are higher, everything's good.
She still will not land on the left lead. I got her to do it once, by really asking hard. I have a call in to the chiropractor, but in the mean time I will just keep doing lots of bending and stretching as I ride. She picks up the lead fine and canters well (not as well as to the right), so it's not drastic, but still.
Friday 3/6
Christy lesson. Pandora did pretty well. I spent most of the lesson focusing on McKinna - the girl rode her tonight and they looked fantastic together! I'm excited.
Anyway - my ride was okay. She is doing very nicely at the canter. I have to work hard still to hold it together, but it's a huge amount better than when we first started. Her transitions to the right are turning into a thing of beauty! Light, fluffy, balanced, everything a canter transition should be.
The jumping just wasn't my favorite. She goes better when I ride better, of course. She had a very brief meltdown about a car driving past outside [in the dark], and I was pleased that she came back to me and began focusing after only a few minutes of acting silly. Still, the jumping just wasn't as good as I'd like it to be. I guess we just weren't 'on' tonight. We got some nice fences and some not-as-nice fences. I feel like she would do better if the jumps were just a little higher, but I'm also uncomfortable suggesting that because there's a pretty big ideal that 'if you aren't doing well over lower things, don't move them up.' I believe in this - I do, I do. It's just, she really DOES tend to do better over bigger things!
Still, before I say something, I need to do more homework over high and low fences. We will see how next week goes.
Saturday 3/7
Free-longed. I was very tired from last night. I will set up a short grid tomorrow to ride through.
Sunday 3/8
Set up a simple grid - just 4 trot poles 4'6" apart, then 9' to a low X. I figure I will slowly build up the complexity of our grids, since she seems to get anxious when she encounters them. She was lovely through it. Just a short ride, but it was productive, and we both enjoy rides like that sometimes where we don't spend a long time working on our issues but correct a few things and call it good.
Still doesn't want to land on the left lead unless I exaggerate the cue ridiculously. We will keep playing with this, but hopefully it goes away when the chiro visits!
Week 2 Outline
Monday 3/9
Flatwork schooling. Toss the dressage saddle on, grab the dressage whip, and work hard! We will practice leg-yield, correct shoulder-in (need to make sure Mom can be eyes-on-the-ground and maybe do some filming), and we will reeeeeeeeally practice our transitions.
I also need to regain a bit of the sharpness of my half-halts.
Tuesday 3/10
Jump some single fences. I will set up a low, wide oxer and a single, taller vertical. I'll do regular w/t/c schooling, focusing on getting that left bend without leaning over the left shoulder, and sprinkle jumps in here and there.
Wednesday 3/11
Night off - free longe and lots of love!
Thursday 3/12
Set up a simple grid. 3 trot poles 4'6 apart, 9 feet to a biggish Swedish oxer.
Friday 3/13
Jumping lesson.
Saturday 3/14
Day off.
Sunday 3/15
Light flatwork school.
Did not ride. Lots of homework to do!
Tuesday 3/3
Another homework night. She got free longed both nights, though, so she got to work off some energy.
Wednesday 3/4
Sigh, another free-longeing night....because I rode McKinna! A girl in our Pony Club may use McKinna for the SJ rally, because her horse is working through some training issues and they don't want any setbacks. She is trying her out tomorrow night, so I hopped on to make sure she hasn't forgotten how to work ;) She did great. We did w/t/c both directions, and I set up a zigzag pole rollback exercise. We walked and trotted over it (our arena's too tight to expect her to canter it), but then as we were cantering, I'd change directions across one pole and ask for a flying change. The first time I didn't set her up right, but then we got two in a row! Impressive considering we never worked on flying changes...
Thursday 3/5
Finally rode tonight. I had a very good ride! We did a lot of cantering over a low cavaletto, a 2' ish vertical, and then a 2'3 ish narrow fence with bright yellow and red planks. Pandora was just lovely. I am REALLY getting somewhere now that I sit up and carry my hands all the way to the base of the fence - she holds a steady pace, I can half halt, her shoulders are higher, everything's good.
She still will not land on the left lead. I got her to do it once, by really asking hard. I have a call in to the chiropractor, but in the mean time I will just keep doing lots of bending and stretching as I ride. She picks up the lead fine and canters well (not as well as to the right), so it's not drastic, but still.
Friday 3/6
Christy lesson. Pandora did pretty well. I spent most of the lesson focusing on McKinna - the girl rode her tonight and they looked fantastic together! I'm excited.
Anyway - my ride was okay. She is doing very nicely at the canter. I have to work hard still to hold it together, but it's a huge amount better than when we first started. Her transitions to the right are turning into a thing of beauty! Light, fluffy, balanced, everything a canter transition should be.
The jumping just wasn't my favorite. She goes better when I ride better, of course. She had a very brief meltdown about a car driving past outside [in the dark], and I was pleased that she came back to me and began focusing after only a few minutes of acting silly. Still, the jumping just wasn't as good as I'd like it to be. I guess we just weren't 'on' tonight. We got some nice fences and some not-as-nice fences. I feel like she would do better if the jumps were just a little higher, but I'm also uncomfortable suggesting that because there's a pretty big ideal that 'if you aren't doing well over lower things, don't move them up.' I believe in this - I do, I do. It's just, she really DOES tend to do better over bigger things!
Still, before I say something, I need to do more homework over high and low fences. We will see how next week goes.
Saturday 3/7
Free-longed. I was very tired from last night. I will set up a short grid tomorrow to ride through.
Sunday 3/8
Set up a simple grid - just 4 trot poles 4'6" apart, then 9' to a low X. I figure I will slowly build up the complexity of our grids, since she seems to get anxious when she encounters them. She was lovely through it. Just a short ride, but it was productive, and we both enjoy rides like that sometimes where we don't spend a long time working on our issues but correct a few things and call it good.
Still doesn't want to land on the left lead unless I exaggerate the cue ridiculously. We will keep playing with this, but hopefully it goes away when the chiro visits!
Week 2 Outline
Monday 3/9
Flatwork schooling. Toss the dressage saddle on, grab the dressage whip, and work hard! We will practice leg-yield, correct shoulder-in (need to make sure Mom can be eyes-on-the-ground and maybe do some filming), and we will reeeeeeeeally practice our transitions.
I also need to regain a bit of the sharpness of my half-halts.
Tuesday 3/10
Jump some single fences. I will set up a low, wide oxer and a single, taller vertical. I'll do regular w/t/c schooling, focusing on getting that left bend without leaning over the left shoulder, and sprinkle jumps in here and there.
Wednesday 3/11
Night off - free longe and lots of love!
Thursday 3/12
Set up a simple grid. 3 trot poles 4'6 apart, 9 feet to a biggish Swedish oxer.
Friday 3/13
Jumping lesson.
Saturday 3/14
Day off.
Sunday 3/15
Light flatwork school.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
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!
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!
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