Monday 6/22
Day off, of course! She is back to gobbling up her grain like normal, I think she just wasn't all that comfortable at Lily Glen. She was kind of tense all the time, never seemed fully relaxed. Everything was really open there.
Tuesday 6/23
Another day off. Still back to eating grain normally and looking for more when it's done.
Wednesday 6/24
Longe session. She was very nicely behaved and we got a good workout in. Last time I longed her, I decided to give her a peppermint every time she stopped nicely. She clearly remembered this, because she kept offering very nice polite halts when I asked for a walk! From a horse who prefers to take a full circle to come to a ragged halt, it was impressive. I will definitely have to explore this further.
Thursday 6/25
Sigh. I swung by the barn midafternoon to feed the horses, since I was headed up to groom for a couple friends at the Inavale HT. Pandora had blood all spattered down her left hind sock, which freaked me the hell out, since I couldn't see what was going on up on her leg. I got someone to hold her while I hosed it, and it looks like she stomped at a fly or something while backed up to a fence, because it was a slice from the bottom up. It sliced up under a pretty thick flap of skin but didn't take the skin all the way off. No deep puncture wound, so no need to call the vet, and she was walking sound. Not much swelling. Hosed it for about 15 minutes then put furazone on it. Covered with a gauze square, wrapped with gauze, then vetwrap over the top and put her back out.
Dang horse.
Friday 6/26
I was at Inavale all day, so my parents took care of Pandora. Apparently she's pretty stocked up, but still seems to be walking fine.
Saturday 6/27
Yeesh, my parents weren't kidding. I walked out to find a horse with three legs and one stovepipe. We'll definitely do some icing tomorrow! She's not too happy about being treated, keeps hiking her leg up and even acted like she was thinking about kicking me. She got a whack on the butt for that one, but mostly I think she was just nervous. Did the same wrapping deal.
Also were out in the pasture to find a lost flymask, and we found a small (~4ft) section where a gap was closed with barbed wire. NOT cool. I can't believe we've never walked that fenceline, and I can't believe that they actually have barbed wire in there. I don't know if that's where she hurt herself, but either way I'm not okay with it, and I'm going to ask that it be removed ASAP.
Sunday 6/28
More icing, hosing, etc etc.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
June Week 3 Review
I skipped Week 2 because, well, I didn't keep track and I honestly don't remember what it was like.
Oh, wait, now I remember. That was finals week. And I pretty much didn't ride, at all. Except Wednesday night, which went badly because I was tired and she was all tense and spooky. Then I went off to Washington and came back.
Monday 6/15
Free longed her. Girl went bonkers, really just tearing around like a madwoman, worked herself into quite the lather. Jumping around a lot. Went to hose her off and she jumped at everything, she was driving me nuts. After I hosed her down I put her on the longe line and thankfully she quieted down for some calm w/t/c before I put her back in the pasture.
Tuesday 6/16
Longed on the line again. I had a very nice, well-behaved pony.
Wednesday 6/17
Off to Ashland for Pony Club camp! She was very good for the trailer ride, nice and calm. Not particularly thrilled about her new surroundings at camp. Went for a bareback hack and she was good. Played in the water a little, cantered around, almost fell off, etc.
Not too interested in hay or grain or water, but not bad.
Thursday 6/18
XC and pacing lessons. XC was faaaabulous. She was pretty tense and energetic when we got out there, and didn't want to go through the (muddy, deep) water crossing, but once we warmed up she settled right down. Jumped like a rockstar, super forward and well-behaved.
Pacing was fun. I was expecting more instruction, e.g., here's how to help differentiate between a 200 mpm pace and a 350, here's how to help maintain a balanced speed, but basically we went on a random little trail ride and then she showed us the big pacing loop and told us how long it should take us if we rode a certain speed. My friend and I got lost the first time. I wanted to test the gears a little, so I asked how long 350 mpm should take, and she said 2:50. It took me like 2:30, and that was with having to trot the switchbacks in the woods and holding her back when we got to the open areas. Fun fun.
Drinking lots more water, still not particularly interested in grain, but eating most of it and eating decent amounts of hay.
Friday 6/19
Grids and dressage. Grids was absolutely awful. I was having a hard time understanding what the instructor wanted - to me, her instructions were kind of contradictory, but it was probably mutual communication error - and we had pretty much no warmup, which is generally a no-no for Pandora if she's feeling anxious. Which she was.
Tried to put in the requested number of trot steps before a cross-rail, which ended up with Pandora flipping her head and whacking me in the nose with her poll, which hurt a lot and really frustrated me. Spent the rest of the lesson trying to just get her to chill the heck out, which she wouldn't. Jigging, chewing hard at the bit, just WOULD. NOT. SETTLE. DOWN. It drives me crazy STILL thinking about it! I finally got her to walk quietly on a loose rein, when she saw a group of horses wayyyyy across the lake and tweaked out again. I just gave up trying to get her brain back after that, and had to be content with a reasonably controlled horse for the rest of the lesson. Take-away lessons: control pace with seat not hands, don't overreact if she launches a fence, let her learn to trust the contact, and for the love of all things holy do a proper warmup.
Thankfully, the dressage session was way way better. She relaxed, stretched into my hands, and got some really nice work with the help of a spiraling circle.
Still drinking well, eating hay much better, starting to seem interested in grain. She only seems to eat lots overnight and after we come back from a ride.
Saturday 6/20
XC and dressage lessons. Jumping XC was reasonably good, but she was just a nutcase about holding still. From the time I mounted up till the time we got back, she just WOULD NOT hold still, ever, at all. If I tried to make her, she'd flip her head and get all pissy. Ugh. Finally I started spinning her in tiny circles whenever she tried to move or get grumpy about holding still, and when I did that consistently, it seemed to get the message across without causing a fight.
Thankfully she was jumping very well. Super forward and willing. While trying to decide whether to go BN or N for the derby on Sunday, I schooled a LOT of the big Novice fences, and Pandora was awesome. Super forward and willing. I was very pleased.
Dressage was eh. We did some cool reflex/biomechanics work, then each person got some individual work on our test, but she gave us feedback that was more on how to ride the test than how to ride the horse. Which was very very good, because I haven't had that much instruction on how to ride the figures well, but not much to say for the training log. Remember in a large court the 20m circle comes to the line just outside of the letters on either side of E. When turning down the centerline, bend hard, then as you turn apply the outside aids to keep them from falling out.
Course walk was a blast, having decided to do Novice. Got to hang out with some other N riders and had a good time talking as we plotted the best route.
Weather COLD COLD COLD, put her blanket on tonight and was super glad I did. Eating hay and grain much more normally now.
Sunday 6/21
Derby canceled because of too much rain. Sad face. But, at the same time, I was more than ready to go home and so was Pandora. She took the trailer ride well, although she didn't poop in there for the LONGEST time which really freaked me out since she normally poops a lot in the trailer. Two rest stops and a couple hours into the trip, she finally pooped while I was standing there, so I wasn't as concerned anymore, especially since she wasn't sweating and didn't seem uncomfortable.
Oh, wait, now I remember. That was finals week. And I pretty much didn't ride, at all. Except Wednesday night, which went badly because I was tired and she was all tense and spooky. Then I went off to Washington and came back.
Monday 6/15
Free longed her. Girl went bonkers, really just tearing around like a madwoman, worked herself into quite the lather. Jumping around a lot. Went to hose her off and she jumped at everything, she was driving me nuts. After I hosed her down I put her on the longe line and thankfully she quieted down for some calm w/t/c before I put her back in the pasture.
Tuesday 6/16
Longed on the line again. I had a very nice, well-behaved pony.
Wednesday 6/17
Off to Ashland for Pony Club camp! She was very good for the trailer ride, nice and calm. Not particularly thrilled about her new surroundings at camp. Went for a bareback hack and she was good. Played in the water a little, cantered around, almost fell off, etc.
Not too interested in hay or grain or water, but not bad.
Thursday 6/18
XC and pacing lessons. XC was faaaabulous. She was pretty tense and energetic when we got out there, and didn't want to go through the (muddy, deep) water crossing, but once we warmed up she settled right down. Jumped like a rockstar, super forward and well-behaved.
Pacing was fun. I was expecting more instruction, e.g., here's how to help differentiate between a 200 mpm pace and a 350, here's how to help maintain a balanced speed, but basically we went on a random little trail ride and then she showed us the big pacing loop and told us how long it should take us if we rode a certain speed. My friend and I got lost the first time. I wanted to test the gears a little, so I asked how long 350 mpm should take, and she said 2:50. It took me like 2:30, and that was with having to trot the switchbacks in the woods and holding her back when we got to the open areas. Fun fun.
Drinking lots more water, still not particularly interested in grain, but eating most of it and eating decent amounts of hay.
Friday 6/19
Grids and dressage. Grids was absolutely awful. I was having a hard time understanding what the instructor wanted - to me, her instructions were kind of contradictory, but it was probably mutual communication error - and we had pretty much no warmup, which is generally a no-no for Pandora if she's feeling anxious. Which she was.
Tried to put in the requested number of trot steps before a cross-rail, which ended up with Pandora flipping her head and whacking me in the nose with her poll, which hurt a lot and really frustrated me. Spent the rest of the lesson trying to just get her to chill the heck out, which she wouldn't. Jigging, chewing hard at the bit, just WOULD. NOT. SETTLE. DOWN. It drives me crazy STILL thinking about it! I finally got her to walk quietly on a loose rein, when she saw a group of horses wayyyyy across the lake and tweaked out again. I just gave up trying to get her brain back after that, and had to be content with a reasonably controlled horse for the rest of the lesson. Take-away lessons: control pace with seat not hands, don't overreact if she launches a fence, let her learn to trust the contact, and for the love of all things holy do a proper warmup.
Thankfully, the dressage session was way way better. She relaxed, stretched into my hands, and got some really nice work with the help of a spiraling circle.
Still drinking well, eating hay much better, starting to seem interested in grain. She only seems to eat lots overnight and after we come back from a ride.
Saturday 6/20
XC and dressage lessons. Jumping XC was reasonably good, but she was just a nutcase about holding still. From the time I mounted up till the time we got back, she just WOULD NOT hold still, ever, at all. If I tried to make her, she'd flip her head and get all pissy. Ugh. Finally I started spinning her in tiny circles whenever she tried to move or get grumpy about holding still, and when I did that consistently, it seemed to get the message across without causing a fight.
Thankfully she was jumping very well. Super forward and willing. While trying to decide whether to go BN or N for the derby on Sunday, I schooled a LOT of the big Novice fences, and Pandora was awesome. Super forward and willing. I was very pleased.
Dressage was eh. We did some cool reflex/biomechanics work, then each person got some individual work on our test, but she gave us feedback that was more on how to ride the test than how to ride the horse. Which was very very good, because I haven't had that much instruction on how to ride the figures well, but not much to say for the training log. Remember in a large court the 20m circle comes to the line just outside of the letters on either side of E. When turning down the centerline, bend hard, then as you turn apply the outside aids to keep them from falling out.
Course walk was a blast, having decided to do Novice. Got to hang out with some other N riders and had a good time talking as we plotted the best route.
Weather COLD COLD COLD, put her blanket on tonight and was super glad I did. Eating hay and grain much more normally now.
Sunday 6/21
Derby canceled because of too much rain. Sad face. But, at the same time, I was more than ready to go home and so was Pandora. She took the trailer ride well, although she didn't poop in there for the LONGEST time which really freaked me out since she normally poops a lot in the trailer. Two rest stops and a couple hours into the trip, she finally pooped while I was standing there, so I wasn't as concerned anymore, especially since she wasn't sweating and didn't seem uncomfortable.
June Week 1 Review
Monday 6/1
Day off, ho hum. They went out in the big mare field for the first time today! Just for a few hours but they loved it, they were eating like machines. It was super hot and muggy out.
Tuesday 6/2
Another day off - farrier came out and trimmed her up. She was a little jumpy today, maybe it was the grass? Guess I should have longed her a little to let the steam off. Terry said her feet are holding up really nicely, no chipping or anything. Good stuff.
Wednesday 6/3
Short ride! I had an exhausting day, my 15 page history paper was due and I had a business exam and all sorts of things, but I rode for about 20 minutes. We just walked and I worked really hard on the bending stuff that Biagina had us working on this weekend. It was very enlightening - I could tell it was working, but I could also tell Pandora was resisting quite a bit!
We'll definitely need to put some more time into this, but hopefully we can get a lot more loosened up and supple with some work.
Thursday 6/4
Another night off, terrible I know. There was a HUGE storm today, so they were in their stalls and a bit electrified (pardon the pun). I free longed them in the arena to let them blow off some energy, then tried on her brand new bell boots (!). They seem to fit nicely. Going one size smaller may have worked better for the size of her pasterns, but then I don't think it would have covered as much as it needs to vertically.
We're all packed up and ready to go for the clinic tomorrow!
Friday 6/5
Good clinic at Inavale. Lots of rain lately so the footing was pretty sloppy but Pandora didn't lose too much traction and it didn't seem to bother her. After field-testing the bell boots, unfortunately they don't seem to fit. They are just a tad too large and they would probably work but I hate floppy equipment so I'll have to buy a set of mediums.
Brooke had me really get my shoulders up and back, using my whole body to half-halt instead of just pulling with my hands and arms. I didn't realize how much I was letting Pandora pull me down at the base of the fence, especially over ditches! When I kept my shoulders back, she actually lifted up and jumped over the ditch instead of scooting forward with her nose on her knees.
She was great through the water. I feel like we're learning how to get a good rhythm going while jumping. I don't like pick, pick, picking at her and then throwing it away at the base of the fence, and I think with a little more practice she'll understand that if she just listens to me a few strides out we can continue on our merry little way.
Saturday 6/6
Yum, what an awesome day we had for the event derby.
Dressage was pretty bad. Footing was grass, by the time we rode the 20m circle at A was pretty slippery and muddy. She was nervous as it was - hate the way she warms up beautifully and gets tense when we go in - but once she slipped a time or two, she was done. She still executed all the movements, but her canter was the most tense gait I've ever ridden. Super tight through the back, hardly any motion at all. Definitely worried about slipping. We got a 42.6, not terrible, but not good. One 7 on the free walk, though.
Jumping was AWESOME. I had to ride her a little strongly to the first fence, a stadium vertical, but after that she was a rock star. Over everything smoothly. We only had two ugly fences, both stadium, and both of them I brought her back too much because I was overly cautious so we got nasty distances. She came out of them alright though, and for all the XC fences we had an awesome rhythm going. Over the little mini-trakehner just fine, ditch to a tight turn to a table just fine, everything was awesome. 0 jumping faults and 0 time penalties (we were 1 second under optimum time, without a watch!) meant that we moved up 5 places to take 2nd. :)
I was so proud of her. She was just amazing. Not only was our round clean, it felt good. No fighting and trying to rocket forward during the last few strides before a fence, no trying to rush in the spaces between fences, no diving down at the base. Just a great ride and we were really in sync.
Sunday 6/7
Day off.
Day off, ho hum. They went out in the big mare field for the first time today! Just for a few hours but they loved it, they were eating like machines. It was super hot and muggy out.
Tuesday 6/2
Another day off - farrier came out and trimmed her up. She was a little jumpy today, maybe it was the grass? Guess I should have longed her a little to let the steam off. Terry said her feet are holding up really nicely, no chipping or anything. Good stuff.
Wednesday 6/3
Short ride! I had an exhausting day, my 15 page history paper was due and I had a business exam and all sorts of things, but I rode for about 20 minutes. We just walked and I worked really hard on the bending stuff that Biagina had us working on this weekend. It was very enlightening - I could tell it was working, but I could also tell Pandora was resisting quite a bit!
We'll definitely need to put some more time into this, but hopefully we can get a lot more loosened up and supple with some work.
Thursday 6/4
Another night off, terrible I know. There was a HUGE storm today, so they were in their stalls and a bit electrified (pardon the pun). I free longed them in the arena to let them blow off some energy, then tried on her brand new bell boots (!). They seem to fit nicely. Going one size smaller may have worked better for the size of her pasterns, but then I don't think it would have covered as much as it needs to vertically.
We're all packed up and ready to go for the clinic tomorrow!
Friday 6/5
Good clinic at Inavale. Lots of rain lately so the footing was pretty sloppy but Pandora didn't lose too much traction and it didn't seem to bother her. After field-testing the bell boots, unfortunately they don't seem to fit. They are just a tad too large and they would probably work but I hate floppy equipment so I'll have to buy a set of mediums.
Brooke had me really get my shoulders up and back, using my whole body to half-halt instead of just pulling with my hands and arms. I didn't realize how much I was letting Pandora pull me down at the base of the fence, especially over ditches! When I kept my shoulders back, she actually lifted up and jumped over the ditch instead of scooting forward with her nose on her knees.
She was great through the water. I feel like we're learning how to get a good rhythm going while jumping. I don't like pick, pick, picking at her and then throwing it away at the base of the fence, and I think with a little more practice she'll understand that if she just listens to me a few strides out we can continue on our merry little way.
Saturday 6/6
Yum, what an awesome day we had for the event derby.
Dressage was pretty bad. Footing was grass, by the time we rode the 20m circle at A was pretty slippery and muddy. She was nervous as it was - hate the way she warms up beautifully and gets tense when we go in - but once she slipped a time or two, she was done. She still executed all the movements, but her canter was the most tense gait I've ever ridden. Super tight through the back, hardly any motion at all. Definitely worried about slipping. We got a 42.6, not terrible, but not good. One 7 on the free walk, though.
Jumping was AWESOME. I had to ride her a little strongly to the first fence, a stadium vertical, but after that she was a rock star. Over everything smoothly. We only had two ugly fences, both stadium, and both of them I brought her back too much because I was overly cautious so we got nasty distances. She came out of them alright though, and for all the XC fences we had an awesome rhythm going. Over the little mini-trakehner just fine, ditch to a tight turn to a table just fine, everything was awesome. 0 jumping faults and 0 time penalties (we were 1 second under optimum time, without a watch!) meant that we moved up 5 places to take 2nd. :)
I was so proud of her. She was just amazing. Not only was our round clean, it felt good. No fighting and trying to rocket forward during the last few strides before a fence, no trying to rush in the spaces between fences, no diving down at the base. Just a great ride and we were really in sync.
Sunday 6/7
Day off.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
May Review, June Outline
May Outline
Now is the time to truly put everything together, and start thinking about our summer eventing destinations. We are going to go schooling at Inavale, so I will get practice jumping XC and through water and galloping in the open. We need to catch up on the April goals, working in more jumping work: low wide oxers and single fences at 2'9+. We need to get on top of the dressage and really make some progress there.
This is our last month really schooling at home before the summer hits. I've got eventing camps the next two months and then ratings in July and September.
End-of-month goal: Feel prepared to have a solid competition at Beginner Novice -- though I have decided not to attend the HT due to the cost. Easily smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in the open with good half-halts at gallop, smooth and controlled fences at 2’9 or higher (some stadium, but focusing on XC), excellent fitness. Walk, trot, and canter through water. Achieve a reasonable dressage test away from home.
Evaluation:
June Outline
More hard work this month. Attending an eventing derby clinic and then an eventing derby at Inavale on the 5th and 6th. Finals week is the 8th – 12th. Lily Glen Eventing Camp is the 18th – 22nd, then Inavale’s annual HT is the 26th – 28th - won't be riding, but I'm grooming. Basically just another month to keep pushing the envelope. We REALLY need to put in some solid dressage schooling.
End-of-month goal: Achieve a good BN-level dressage test away from home - to include good bend, transitions, and gaits. Develop the correct pacing for a smooth stadium round. Further develop towards a soft, adjustable, balanced gallop in the open. Push the height a little bit more, making sure to include lots of Novice-height (2'11) fences in the mix. Restore our ability to bend well. Jump banks into/out of water, given the opportunity.
Now is the time to truly put everything together, and start thinking about our summer eventing destinations. We are going to go schooling at Inavale, so I will get practice jumping XC and through water and galloping in the open. We need to catch up on the April goals, working in more jumping work: low wide oxers and single fences at 2'9+. We need to get on top of the dressage and really make some progress there.
This is our last month really schooling at home before the summer hits. I've got eventing camps the next two months and then ratings in July and September.
End-of-month goal: Feel prepared to have a solid competition at Beginner Novice -- though I have decided not to attend the HT due to the cost. Easily smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in the open with good half-halts at gallop, smooth and controlled fences at 2’9 or higher (some stadium, but focusing on XC), excellent fitness. Walk, trot, and canter through water. Achieve a reasonable dressage test away from home.
Evaluation:
- Prepared to have a solid competition at BN: Yeah, pretty much. We wouldn't win, and our dressage needs some serious work (more on that later). But our stadium is solid and our XC is improving in leaps and bounds. I'm going to call this one successful.
- Easily smooth and controlled w/t/c/g with half-halts at g: For the level we are at, yes. I need to practice changing the shape and speed of her gallop at faster speeds, but for BN-level stuff, we are good. Success.
- Smooth and controlled fences at 2'9 or higher: They could be smoother, but we're getting there and making progress. After the derbies next weekend I think I'll feel more comfortable with this, too - and we'll just keep building height over the summer. BN is only up to 2'7, and my C1 is up to 2'9, so I'm pretty much in the clear already. Success.
- Excellent fitness: Yep, pretty much. There's always more to do, of course, but she came through a 1.5 hour XC lesson and had plenty of go at the end. Success.
- W/t/c through water: Most DEFINITELY a success. Not even worried about water anymore - next step will be to practice jumping into it!
- Achieve reasonable dressage away from home - well, it depends on how you define reasonable. She does all the gaits and figures when and where I tell her to, and we scored a 40.5 at the CT. We need to improve, but I will call this success.
June Outline
More hard work this month. Attending an eventing derby clinic and then an eventing derby at Inavale on the 5th and 6th. Finals week is the 8th – 12th. Lily Glen Eventing Camp is the 18th – 22nd, then Inavale’s annual HT is the 26th – 28th - won't be riding, but I'm grooming. Basically just another month to keep pushing the envelope. We REALLY need to put in some solid dressage schooling.
End-of-month goal: Achieve a good BN-level dressage test away from home - to include good bend, transitions, and gaits. Develop the correct pacing for a smooth stadium round. Further develop towards a soft, adjustable, balanced gallop in the open. Push the height a little bit more, making sure to include lots of Novice-height (2'11) fences in the mix. Restore our ability to bend well. Jump banks into/out of water, given the opportunity.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
May Week 4 Review
Tuesday 5/26
Day off after the hard ride yesterday.
Wednesday 5/27
I had a reasonable ride. It was constructive, and we got some good work done, but she just WILL NOT bend correctly to the left and it's driving me off the wall. She tilts her face to the right and locks up all down her neck and arghhhhhhhhhh.
Thursday 5/28
Chiropractor day! Lots of things to work on but I'm super pleased: he says all her issues now are typical of hard-working eventers - regular hard athletics-induced tweaks, not fundamental problems with how she's carrying herself. Let's look at the sheet...
Lots of 2s and a few 3s - this is on his scale of 5, where 1 is 'nothing wrong' and 5 is 'get some Bute in the horse tonight and I'll come out tomorrow to work this thing out.' She used to get quite a lot of 4s with a few 3s, and he was VERY pleased with her progress.
Minor things in her jaw, neck, a little twist in her back, a little tightness in her tail. She had 3s in elbow/deltoids and triceps area, stifle/bicep area, and some abdominal muscles. He said these are pretty common in eventers - front-end stuff.
Here's his written comments: "Elbow torque with retracted shoulder - slow strong release to straight stride and posture. Minor lumbar and neck - multiplies counter balance."
Friday 5/29
Awesome XC lesson at the Westlake's farm. Lots of uphills, just enough to keep Pandora really nicely balanced and in tune with half-halts. Good variety, some trotting downhill, bigger and smaller fences, good long gallop uphill to a brush fence, one ditch with log in the back, over a water-trough skinny with no troubles. Superstar horse tonight.
Saturday 5/30
Dressage lesson with Biagina. It was awesome! Pandora was not pleased to be pulled out for another lesson after a hard day's work yesterday, but at Lily Glen we'll be riding twice a day for four days in a row, so she'd better get used to it.
She had us working on bend. I didn't realize how resistant Pandora was until Biagina made me do it right! I know what to do now, though - she was having me really just INSIST that Pandora bend, never mind the outside shoulder. When I asked, she said I could ask her to bend properly (without popping out the outside shoulder) once she was willingly and softly bending her neck. Very educational.
She changed the way I hold my hands, asking me to have a little more bend in my wrist. Surprising - I thought wrists were supposed to be straight - but Pandora responded very well.
She insisted that I separate the functions of inside and outside reins. Outside is for speed and asking the head to come down, inside is for bend.
Also suggested longeing in side reins, because at the canter she's pulling me out of a balanced position so I can't ride well. That means I need to acquire a surcingle and side reins - already have the longeing caveson - but it seems like it would be a good long-term investment anyway.
Overall it was a very constructive lesson and I really like her.
Sunday 5/31
Okay, NOW she gets a day off :)
Day off after the hard ride yesterday.
Wednesday 5/27
I had a reasonable ride. It was constructive, and we got some good work done, but she just WILL NOT bend correctly to the left and it's driving me off the wall. She tilts her face to the right and locks up all down her neck and arghhhhhhhhhh.
Thursday 5/28
Chiropractor day! Lots of things to work on but I'm super pleased: he says all her issues now are typical of hard-working eventers - regular hard athletics-induced tweaks, not fundamental problems with how she's carrying herself. Let's look at the sheet...
Lots of 2s and a few 3s - this is on his scale of 5, where 1 is 'nothing wrong' and 5 is 'get some Bute in the horse tonight and I'll come out tomorrow to work this thing out.' She used to get quite a lot of 4s with a few 3s, and he was VERY pleased with her progress.
Minor things in her jaw, neck, a little twist in her back, a little tightness in her tail. She had 3s in elbow/deltoids and triceps area, stifle/bicep area, and some abdominal muscles. He said these are pretty common in eventers - front-end stuff.
Here's his written comments: "Elbow torque with retracted shoulder - slow strong release to straight stride and posture. Minor lumbar and neck - multiplies counter balance."
Friday 5/29
Awesome XC lesson at the Westlake's farm. Lots of uphills, just enough to keep Pandora really nicely balanced and in tune with half-halts. Good variety, some trotting downhill, bigger and smaller fences, good long gallop uphill to a brush fence, one ditch with log in the back, over a water-trough skinny with no troubles. Superstar horse tonight.
Saturday 5/30
Dressage lesson with Biagina. It was awesome! Pandora was not pleased to be pulled out for another lesson after a hard day's work yesterday, but at Lily Glen we'll be riding twice a day for four days in a row, so she'd better get used to it.
She had us working on bend. I didn't realize how resistant Pandora was until Biagina made me do it right! I know what to do now, though - she was having me really just INSIST that Pandora bend, never mind the outside shoulder. When I asked, she said I could ask her to bend properly (without popping out the outside shoulder) once she was willingly and softly bending her neck. Very educational.
She changed the way I hold my hands, asking me to have a little more bend in my wrist. Surprising - I thought wrists were supposed to be straight - but Pandora responded very well.
She insisted that I separate the functions of inside and outside reins. Outside is for speed and asking the head to come down, inside is for bend.
Also suggested longeing in side reins, because at the canter she's pulling me out of a balanced position so I can't ride well. That means I need to acquire a surcingle and side reins - already have the longeing caveson - but it seems like it would be a good long-term investment anyway.
Overall it was a very constructive lesson and I really like her.
Sunday 5/31
Okay, NOW she gets a day off :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
May Week 3 Review
Monday 5/18
Gave Pandora another day off.
Tuesday 5/19
I had kind of a frustrating ride. She was behaving pretty oddly - rushing (which she rarely does) with short little steps, basically just tuning me out. I kept at it for about a half hour and eventually realized we weren't going to get any productive work done. So I spent 10 minutes or so doing some nice, quiet, polite walk work, then called it a day. You can't win 'em all, right?
Wednesday 5/20
Had a much better ride tonight. Schooled dressage. That dang left bend is coming back to haunt us again, and badly - she simply would not flex her jaw to the left at the trot, nor would she bend politely without swinging her haunches out. I did the best I could to correct it, riding hard, riding soft, flexing at the walk and halt, free trot, but nothing shook it loose. In the end I decided to just ride correctly and ignore it, which confused her a bit I think, but led to some reasonably productive work.
I have a call in to the chiropractor. I understand some of the left bend issue is psychological, but when she's resisting me this strongly, it usually means she's being bothered. Besides, it has been about 2 months since her last appointment, and every 2 months is usually when she starts getting out of whack again.
Thursday 5/21
Nice short hack with my mom and McKinna. Pandora was much better this time than the last time we went out with McKinna, very calm and relaxed. On the way back McKinna was acting terrible and we had a hard spook-session at some trash cans. I made Pandora go up and make friends with the trash can, but couldn't spend too long on it because Mom and McKinna were having some behavioral problems. We were close to home but McKinna was awfully naughty after that, ignoring Mom and spooking and generally misbehaving. Pandora kept her head on straight, so that was good. I guess I need to do some schooling with McKinna out on the roads by herself.
Friday 5/22
Day off. They have been out in paddocks 24/7 so no big deal.
Saturday 5/23
Gallop session! We definitely made some progress. I did one round of 6/3/1 (6 minutes walking, 3 minutes trotting, 1 minute canter/gallop), then did several reps of a walk rest/gallop set. I'm not sure how long those were, but the gallop sets were close to 3 or 4 minutes and the walks were about the same.
She was great. I tried riding with a bridge at the gallop and it seemed to make a big difference - I will have to explore this more. There were times when she listened really well and came back to me the moment I half-halted on a light rein, there were times when she wanted to ignore me completely. We got going pretty fast sometimes and it was very cool. Just as I hoped when I started my galloping practice, I have lost a lot of my fear and am a lot more comfortable letting her open up the gears a little bit.
Also found out she does flying changes on her own. The first time it was an accident, because she picked up the wrong lead and tried to really run for it, so I put her on a small circle. She swapped leads to be on the correct one. So, in my next gallop set, I did a nice big figure-8 through the field and asked her to change. She didn't change exactly when I asked, but a stride or two later. We did it one more time after that. So, I don't have to worry about lead changes on XC!
It was a great experience. We did 4 or maybe 5 gallop sets total. She cooled out really nicely - after about 4 minutes of walking her breathing was pretty much normal. I untacked her, hosed her down with cool water (which she never approves of, but tough luck), scraped her, then put her out in the paddock to get a drink of water and a nice long roll.
Sunday 5/24
Another day off. Hard work yesterday, hard work tomorrow!
Monday 5/25
It was an interesting day. We rode a course of 20 fences, spread all through the derby field and out into the upper field, in randomly drawn pairs. Unfortunately, my partner seemed to have turbo jets, even garnering a warning from the announcer to slow down (the course was not timed). Therefore, the whole ride I was stuck between trying to keep up with her (and thus letting Pandora go a bit faster than I wanted, thus exciting her, thus making me have to floss her teeth every time I wanted her attention) or trying to slow down, which made me fall way behind and get confused about what I was jumping next.
It was frustrating. Pandora was not nearly as responsive as I wanted her to be, at ALL. I think that was the most upsetting part, especially because I think with any other partner it would have gone a lot more smoothly.
We need to do some serious schooling about straightness and steering. It's not that she doesn't really go in the direction I point her, but a lot of times she kinda drifts sideways and ignores my outside rein. Not okay.
On the plus side, Pandora did not spook or try to stop at any fences. And we jumped a bunch of big, solid 2'9 ones. My partner and I ended up taking 3rd place, not too bad.
In the drawing afterwards, I won a free lesson from the trainer at the farm. So, I am going to go out there and take a XC lesson from her sometime soon and we can hopefully work through some of these frustrating problems.
At least I know that next month I have five days at Lily Glen, and that much intensive work should really help me out.
Gave Pandora another day off.
Tuesday 5/19
I had kind of a frustrating ride. She was behaving pretty oddly - rushing (which she rarely does) with short little steps, basically just tuning me out. I kept at it for about a half hour and eventually realized we weren't going to get any productive work done. So I spent 10 minutes or so doing some nice, quiet, polite walk work, then called it a day. You can't win 'em all, right?
Wednesday 5/20
Had a much better ride tonight. Schooled dressage. That dang left bend is coming back to haunt us again, and badly - she simply would not flex her jaw to the left at the trot, nor would she bend politely without swinging her haunches out. I did the best I could to correct it, riding hard, riding soft, flexing at the walk and halt, free trot, but nothing shook it loose. In the end I decided to just ride correctly and ignore it, which confused her a bit I think, but led to some reasonably productive work.
I have a call in to the chiropractor. I understand some of the left bend issue is psychological, but when she's resisting me this strongly, it usually means she's being bothered. Besides, it has been about 2 months since her last appointment, and every 2 months is usually when she starts getting out of whack again.
Thursday 5/21
Nice short hack with my mom and McKinna. Pandora was much better this time than the last time we went out with McKinna, very calm and relaxed. On the way back McKinna was acting terrible and we had a hard spook-session at some trash cans. I made Pandora go up and make friends with the trash can, but couldn't spend too long on it because Mom and McKinna were having some behavioral problems. We were close to home but McKinna was awfully naughty after that, ignoring Mom and spooking and generally misbehaving. Pandora kept her head on straight, so that was good. I guess I need to do some schooling with McKinna out on the roads by herself.
Friday 5/22
Day off. They have been out in paddocks 24/7 so no big deal.
Saturday 5/23
Gallop session! We definitely made some progress. I did one round of 6/3/1 (6 minutes walking, 3 minutes trotting, 1 minute canter/gallop), then did several reps of a walk rest/gallop set. I'm not sure how long those were, but the gallop sets were close to 3 or 4 minutes and the walks were about the same.
She was great. I tried riding with a bridge at the gallop and it seemed to make a big difference - I will have to explore this more. There were times when she listened really well and came back to me the moment I half-halted on a light rein, there were times when she wanted to ignore me completely. We got going pretty fast sometimes and it was very cool. Just as I hoped when I started my galloping practice, I have lost a lot of my fear and am a lot more comfortable letting her open up the gears a little bit.
Also found out she does flying changes on her own. The first time it was an accident, because she picked up the wrong lead and tried to really run for it, so I put her on a small circle. She swapped leads to be on the correct one. So, in my next gallop set, I did a nice big figure-8 through the field and asked her to change. She didn't change exactly when I asked, but a stride or two later. We did it one more time after that. So, I don't have to worry about lead changes on XC!
It was a great experience. We did 4 or maybe 5 gallop sets total. She cooled out really nicely - after about 4 minutes of walking her breathing was pretty much normal. I untacked her, hosed her down with cool water (which she never approves of, but tough luck), scraped her, then put her out in the paddock to get a drink of water and a nice long roll.
Sunday 5/24
Another day off. Hard work yesterday, hard work tomorrow!
Monday 5/25
It was an interesting day. We rode a course of 20 fences, spread all through the derby field and out into the upper field, in randomly drawn pairs. Unfortunately, my partner seemed to have turbo jets, even garnering a warning from the announcer to slow down (the course was not timed). Therefore, the whole ride I was stuck between trying to keep up with her (and thus letting Pandora go a bit faster than I wanted, thus exciting her, thus making me have to floss her teeth every time I wanted her attention) or trying to slow down, which made me fall way behind and get confused about what I was jumping next.
It was frustrating. Pandora was not nearly as responsive as I wanted her to be, at ALL. I think that was the most upsetting part, especially because I think with any other partner it would have gone a lot more smoothly.
We need to do some serious schooling about straightness and steering. It's not that she doesn't really go in the direction I point her, but a lot of times she kinda drifts sideways and ignores my outside rein. Not okay.
On the plus side, Pandora did not spook or try to stop at any fences. And we jumped a bunch of big, solid 2'9 ones. My partner and I ended up taking 3rd place, not too bad.
In the drawing afterwards, I won a free lesson from the trainer at the farm. So, I am going to go out there and take a XC lesson from her sometime soon and we can hopefully work through some of these frustrating problems.
At least I know that next month I have five days at Lily Glen, and that much intensive work should really help me out.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
May Progress Check
End-of-month goal: Feel prepared to have a solid competition at Beginner Novice -- though I have decided not to attend the HT due to the cost. Easily smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in the open with good half-halts at gallop, smooth and controlled fences at 2’9 or higher (some stadium, but focusing on XC), excellent fitness. Walk, trot, and canter through water. Achieve a reasonable dressage test away from home.
I believe I nailed most of these goals yesterday alone!
Prepared to compete at BN - yep. We wouldn't win, but we wouldn't be dead last either. She is forward and willing, and hasn't given me any indication yet that she is scared of any fences. Her dressage is fantastic at home and in warmup, just a little distracted and nervous in the competition arena, which can only be fixed by miles.
Smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in open with half halts at gallop - we're not quite there yet. I have the smooth and controlled w/t/c. Our gallop is smooth and reasonably controlled, but I just don't have the level of half-halts I want. I know what I need to do: spend a whole session just working on half-halts in the open and immediate, prompt responses. We are at a stage where her occasional ignoring of the bit does not mean we need a stronger bit, it just means we need more practice and training.
Smooth and controlled fences at 2'9 or higher (stadium, mostly XC) - definitely yes. I've realized that schooling fences at the boarding barn just doesn't tend to work out, probably because the arena is sloped strangely in odd places and it's a tad small. I will have to see what I can do to minimize this. But, at the Combined Test yesterday, we were smooth and controlled over the stadium fences, and over XC fences that were easily 3'. The only thing we need to do here is learn to take bigger/more forward steps so we quit chipping in at weird distances.
Excellent fitness - sure? I am not sure how to tell, to be honest. Well, I know I need to do a workout and check her t/p/r consistently. Okay, for the last two weeks of May I will be firm with myself and check tpr frequently to at least give myself a baseline.
Walk, trot, canter through water - took care of this one yesterday ;) I don't think my girl has a water 'problem' anymore.
Reasonable dressage test away from home - again, we did this yesterday. It wasn't spectacular, but it was certainly reasonable. Now I know what to improve next time.
Overall, I damn near completed this month's goals in the first couple weeks. Go me!
I believe I nailed most of these goals yesterday alone!
Prepared to compete at BN - yep. We wouldn't win, but we wouldn't be dead last either. She is forward and willing, and hasn't given me any indication yet that she is scared of any fences. Her dressage is fantastic at home and in warmup, just a little distracted and nervous in the competition arena, which can only be fixed by miles.
Smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in open with half halts at gallop - we're not quite there yet. I have the smooth and controlled w/t/c. Our gallop is smooth and reasonably controlled, but I just don't have the level of half-halts I want. I know what I need to do: spend a whole session just working on half-halts in the open and immediate, prompt responses. We are at a stage where her occasional ignoring of the bit does not mean we need a stronger bit, it just means we need more practice and training.
Smooth and controlled fences at 2'9 or higher (stadium, mostly XC) - definitely yes. I've realized that schooling fences at the boarding barn just doesn't tend to work out, probably because the arena is sloped strangely in odd places and it's a tad small. I will have to see what I can do to minimize this. But, at the Combined Test yesterday, we were smooth and controlled over the stadium fences, and over XC fences that were easily 3'. The only thing we need to do here is learn to take bigger/more forward steps so we quit chipping in at weird distances.
Excellent fitness - sure? I am not sure how to tell, to be honest. Well, I know I need to do a workout and check her t/p/r consistently. Okay, for the last two weeks of May I will be firm with myself and check tpr frequently to at least give myself a baseline.
Walk, trot, canter through water - took care of this one yesterday ;) I don't think my girl has a water 'problem' anymore.
Reasonable dressage test away from home - again, we did this yesterday. It wasn't spectacular, but it was certainly reasonable. Now I know what to improve next time.
Overall, I damn near completed this month's goals in the first couple weeks. Go me!
May Week 2 Review
Monday 5/11
Had a good ride. Worked on dressage things, she was obedient. Since the weather was nice, we went out to the field and I ran through Beginner Novice Test A, knowing that her attention outside would be more similar to what it'll be like at the show on Saturday. She was 'up' but quite good, we had a beautiful canter transition to the right.
Tuesday 5/12
Day off.
Wednesday 5/13
Good dressage school. I don't really remember what I worked on, but I was pleased with it!
Thursday 5/14
Jump school. Not the best ride I've ever had. The arena was a little crowded, we spent a little too much time on tiny fences, the two-stride was more like 1 and 3/4 strides...just frustrating. Then she wouldn't settle down, especially coming to the 2'9ish diagonal panel fence, which she charged at every time. She jumped a big square oxer nicely though. Frustrating in general.
Went out to the field to cool my temper - the other girls came with, and we ended up having a good time just galloping around the field together. Pandora has found a good cruising pace, no idea how fast it is, but it's steady when I just hang out in 2-point with a light contact. Chased some geese. It was good to get out and run, I think it helped both of us burn off some frustrated energy.
Friday 5/15
Bath time! She is so easy, just hook up this sprayer bottle to the hose, wet her down, spray all over with the soapy stuff, then rinse. The only things you have to do separately are her mane, tail, and tiny little socks. She stood like a champ the whole time and was super shiny and clean.
Saturday 5/16
Wonderful day at the schooling show (combined test), better than I was hoping for. Dressage was very mediocre - judge gave us a 40.5 (eventing score), which I thought was quite generous. That put us tied for 5th.
Stadium was really good. I was on her too long - I think she really prefers about a 10 minute warmup for stadium, just enough to w/t/c and jump a couple fences, she gets cranky if I stay on her for too long. Which I did, since the divisions were running a little late. I hopped off and stood with her, which helped her settle down. Our round was pretty good. She was not spooky at the fences, of which several were set at max height. Pace was steady. We got awkward distances to most things, but she came out of everything fine. I realize every time that to hit the striding, we just need to ride with more pace/a bigger step.
Ended up fourth overall, and I'm quite happy with that!
Went out to school XC after the show was over. It was hot. Jumped a few things, decided to tackle the water, which was decidedly anticlimactic. After about 30 seconds of walking back and forth at water's edge, she walked right in and sploshed through the relatively deep water with no qualms. We trotted and even cantered through, and she was happy as a clam. If we cantered away from a fence toward the water, I had to practically drag her back to the trot, and then she started cantering in the water anyway. Silly horse.
I made up a little course. We jumped a small unrevetted ditch and then one with a log over it. I went over some larger rolltops and coosp, definitely Novice at least. Kept getting tight distances until I let her go a tiny bit more, the last fence was perfect. Need to practice galloping more - steering/not drifting to the outside, and pace regulation. Her rating is not as responsive or prompt as I would like. I'm sure I'll get help with that at my eventing camps this summer.
A fantastic day, overall.
Sunday 5/17
A well-deserved day off :)
Had a good ride. Worked on dressage things, she was obedient. Since the weather was nice, we went out to the field and I ran through Beginner Novice Test A, knowing that her attention outside would be more similar to what it'll be like at the show on Saturday. She was 'up' but quite good, we had a beautiful canter transition to the right.
Tuesday 5/12
Day off.
Wednesday 5/13
Good dressage school. I don't really remember what I worked on, but I was pleased with it!
Thursday 5/14
Jump school. Not the best ride I've ever had. The arena was a little crowded, we spent a little too much time on tiny fences, the two-stride was more like 1 and 3/4 strides...just frustrating. Then she wouldn't settle down, especially coming to the 2'9ish diagonal panel fence, which she charged at every time. She jumped a big square oxer nicely though. Frustrating in general.
Went out to the field to cool my temper - the other girls came with, and we ended up having a good time just galloping around the field together. Pandora has found a good cruising pace, no idea how fast it is, but it's steady when I just hang out in 2-point with a light contact. Chased some geese. It was good to get out and run, I think it helped both of us burn off some frustrated energy.
Friday 5/15
Bath time! She is so easy, just hook up this sprayer bottle to the hose, wet her down, spray all over with the soapy stuff, then rinse. The only things you have to do separately are her mane, tail, and tiny little socks. She stood like a champ the whole time and was super shiny and clean.
Saturday 5/16
Wonderful day at the schooling show (combined test), better than I was hoping for. Dressage was very mediocre - judge gave us a 40.5 (eventing score), which I thought was quite generous. That put us tied for 5th.
Stadium was really good. I was on her too long - I think she really prefers about a 10 minute warmup for stadium, just enough to w/t/c and jump a couple fences, she gets cranky if I stay on her for too long. Which I did, since the divisions were running a little late. I hopped off and stood with her, which helped her settle down. Our round was pretty good. She was not spooky at the fences, of which several were set at max height. Pace was steady. We got awkward distances to most things, but she came out of everything fine. I realize every time that to hit the striding, we just need to ride with more pace/a bigger step.
Ended up fourth overall, and I'm quite happy with that!
Went out to school XC after the show was over. It was hot. Jumped a few things, decided to tackle the water, which was decidedly anticlimactic. After about 30 seconds of walking back and forth at water's edge, she walked right in and sploshed through the relatively deep water with no qualms. We trotted and even cantered through, and she was happy as a clam. If we cantered away from a fence toward the water, I had to practically drag her back to the trot, and then she started cantering in the water anyway. Silly horse.
I made up a little course. We jumped a small unrevetted ditch and then one with a log over it. I went over some larger rolltops and coosp, definitely Novice at least. Kept getting tight distances until I let her go a tiny bit more, the last fence was perfect. Need to practice galloping more - steering/not drifting to the outside, and pace regulation. Her rating is not as responsive or prompt as I would like. I'm sure I'll get help with that at my eventing camps this summer.
A fantastic day, overall.
Sunday 5/17
A well-deserved day off :)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
May Week 1 Review
Friday May 1
I'm pretty sure I rode, but I actually don't remember :x
Saturday May 2
Awesome dressage lesson with Melinda. Worked on really getting her to carry herself and moving towards real connection -- it's new for both of us and still very hard to feel correctly, so we'll need more lessons. Worked on 20-meter circle almost the whole time, after warmup. Reins much shorter, need to stop throwing her away just when she relaxes into contact. Always always always steady outside rein, outside leg BACK to keep the haunches in line, flex slightly inside with the rein while bending with the inside leg, then release and ask her to soften into the contact.
Interspersed periods of this with free walk or trot or canter. The quality of her gait changed a lot when we went into free motion: swinging, freer, longer steps. I need to maintain this feeling once I connect her again. Melinda says to always give the inside-bend aids before allowing a free rein, to help associate gentle inside softening with total relaxation.
Sunday May 3
Day off. She got free-longed around the round pen, since the OHSET team was using the arena for the whole time we were out there. It was VERY wet in the [outdoor] round pen, and Pandora was not a big fan of all the puddles, but she still went nicely.
So let me preface this by saying that I did reeeeally bad this week. I was having a bit of a rough week school-wise, and my dog injured himself in the middle of the night Monday, so I just..didn't really ride. Which is bad! Next month is going to be a huge month for me, and I have a Combined Test next weekend (dressage and stadium jumping) that's going to be just awful if I don't get some riding time in. So next week I need to really buckle down.
Monday May 4
Free-longed.
Tuesday May 5
Free-longed.
Wednesday May 6
Free-longed. Seeing a pattern yet?
Thursday May 7
Had a great ride tonight. I rode with a friend around the 2-mile loop. We went through a lot of water-filled ditches today, which I would say was a mediocre success. She always took a flying leap the first time. Twice we stopped to school it. The first time it was pretty long, and very shallow, and a bit running, so it was like a small little stream. She actually would walk through it, but just did not like having her feet in the water. The next time was a much larger, deeper pond-type thing, but not too deep. We leapt over it the first time (probably 6 feet?) and when I tried to get her to go through it, she just would not budge. I felt bad, but I didn't want to just leave it. So I got off and tried to lead her through. She disapproved, but went through once. The next time, she finally seemed to give in: she paused, very deliberately took a step into the water, and walked/trotted through without leaping or running me over. I called that good.
Doing this is actually much harder than it's going to be on an XC course, for now at least -- the water complexes we'll see are very inviting, with really good footing, and not at the bottom of a [shallow] ditch. Still, it is good practice, and I can still feel definite improvement. We are not going to go to Inavale this weekend because it rained all week, so hopefully we'll get to go week after next.
Oh, we also took a detour on our loop. There's a dead-end with a big hill that we walked up - and it was a beast! Pretty steep and long. Pandora really powered up, taking big huge walk steps, but I could tell it was really hard for her. By the end she was tiring out, and I think the steepness worried her a little. I will be careful about how often I ride it, and if we always go all the way up to the top. The rest of the ride was uneventful, though we did get a little impromptu passage when a herd of young horses galloped up to their fence and then away again. :)
Friday May 8
Pandora just stayed in the field, and they were out overnight too, finally. I had a Biology field trip to Fall Creek from 1 - 7pm, which was actually pretty fun. I can now identify lots of common native plants, and we got to go on an hourlong hike along the creek, which was really nice. The weather was perfect.
Saturday May 9
Left 'em out in the pasture. Did I mention that I have a huge history project due on Monday?
Sunday May 10
My mom and I had a nice mother's day ride today. I worked on some of the stuff I learned last week in the Melinda lesson. It went okay, I think? It's so hard to tell since she's had me working on such subtle stuff that even when she was right there guiding me, it was hard to feel exactly what was going on. Oh well - it felt like a good solid workout, and I feel like we made some progress.
Free trot to the left not good, she wants to bend to the outside and cut in and increase tempo. I know that means I'm not doing it right before I stretch her, but I'm not sure what to do, and by this time in the ride she was getting a little resistant. I guess I just need to keep trying.
The free canter was nice.
I'm pretty sure I rode, but I actually don't remember :x
Saturday May 2
Awesome dressage lesson with Melinda. Worked on really getting her to carry herself and moving towards real connection -- it's new for both of us and still very hard to feel correctly, so we'll need more lessons. Worked on 20-meter circle almost the whole time, after warmup. Reins much shorter, need to stop throwing her away just when she relaxes into contact. Always always always steady outside rein, outside leg BACK to keep the haunches in line, flex slightly inside with the rein while bending with the inside leg, then release and ask her to soften into the contact.
Interspersed periods of this with free walk or trot or canter. The quality of her gait changed a lot when we went into free motion: swinging, freer, longer steps. I need to maintain this feeling once I connect her again. Melinda says to always give the inside-bend aids before allowing a free rein, to help associate gentle inside softening with total relaxation.
Sunday May 3
Day off. She got free-longed around the round pen, since the OHSET team was using the arena for the whole time we were out there. It was VERY wet in the [outdoor] round pen, and Pandora was not a big fan of all the puddles, but she still went nicely.
So let me preface this by saying that I did reeeeally bad this week. I was having a bit of a rough week school-wise, and my dog injured himself in the middle of the night Monday, so I just..didn't really ride. Which is bad! Next month is going to be a huge month for me, and I have a Combined Test next weekend (dressage and stadium jumping) that's going to be just awful if I don't get some riding time in. So next week I need to really buckle down.
Monday May 4
Free-longed.
Tuesday May 5
Free-longed.
Wednesday May 6
Free-longed. Seeing a pattern yet?
Thursday May 7
Had a great ride tonight. I rode with a friend around the 2-mile loop. We went through a lot of water-filled ditches today, which I would say was a mediocre success. She always took a flying leap the first time. Twice we stopped to school it. The first time it was pretty long, and very shallow, and a bit running, so it was like a small little stream. She actually would walk through it, but just did not like having her feet in the water. The next time was a much larger, deeper pond-type thing, but not too deep. We leapt over it the first time (probably 6 feet?) and when I tried to get her to go through it, she just would not budge. I felt bad, but I didn't want to just leave it. So I got off and tried to lead her through. She disapproved, but went through once. The next time, she finally seemed to give in: she paused, very deliberately took a step into the water, and walked/trotted through without leaping or running me over. I called that good.
Doing this is actually much harder than it's going to be on an XC course, for now at least -- the water complexes we'll see are very inviting, with really good footing, and not at the bottom of a [shallow] ditch. Still, it is good practice, and I can still feel definite improvement. We are not going to go to Inavale this weekend because it rained all week, so hopefully we'll get to go week after next.
Oh, we also took a detour on our loop. There's a dead-end with a big hill that we walked up - and it was a beast! Pretty steep and long. Pandora really powered up, taking big huge walk steps, but I could tell it was really hard for her. By the end she was tiring out, and I think the steepness worried her a little. I will be careful about how often I ride it, and if we always go all the way up to the top. The rest of the ride was uneventful, though we did get a little impromptu passage when a herd of young horses galloped up to their fence and then away again. :)
Friday May 8
Pandora just stayed in the field, and they were out overnight too, finally. I had a Biology field trip to Fall Creek from 1 - 7pm, which was actually pretty fun. I can now identify lots of common native plants, and we got to go on an hourlong hike along the creek, which was really nice. The weather was perfect.
Saturday May 9
Left 'em out in the pasture. Did I mention that I have a huge history project due on Monday?
Sunday May 10
My mom and I had a nice mother's day ride today. I worked on some of the stuff I learned last week in the Melinda lesson. It went okay, I think? It's so hard to tell since she's had me working on such subtle stuff that even when she was right there guiding me, it was hard to feel exactly what was going on. Oh well - it felt like a good solid workout, and I feel like we made some progress.
Free trot to the left not good, she wants to bend to the outside and cut in and increase tempo. I know that means I'm not doing it right before I stretch her, but I'm not sure what to do, and by this time in the ride she was getting a little resistant. I guess I just need to keep trying.
The free canter was nice.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
April Review, May Outline
April Outline: Time to start thinking about XC as soon as the weather turns and courses are open for schooling. This will be the month for putting miles on Pandora: lots and lots of trail rides and road riding. We need to get over her fear of water ASAP so I don’t have to worry about it later in the season. Also need to find out if she’s controllable at speed in the open.
All our long slow distance should really help with conditioning for the upcoming months too.
I want to spend time jumping low, wide oxers and really adding frightening decorations to fences.
Finally, keep up with dressage. School some tests to troubleshoot difficult movements, and school them. I have let this slack off now that I've got a solid w/t/c with some lateral, so I need to push us in this area.
End-of-month goal: Schooling consistently over 2'9+, riding calmly in the open at w/t/c (gallop if we can find the space). Willingly walk through water. Create passable dressage tests at Training level.
Evaluation:
May Outline
Now is the time to truly put everything together, and start thinking about our summer eventing destinations. We are going to go schooling at Inavale, so I will get practice jumping XC and through water and galloping in the open. We need to catch up on the April goals, working in more jumping work: low wide oxers and single fences at 2'9+. We need to get on top of the dressage and really make some progress there.
This is our last month really schooling at home before the summer hits. I've got eventing camps the next two months and then ratings in July and September.
End-of-month goal: Feel prepared to have a solid competition at Beginner Novice -- though I have decided not to attend the HT due to the cost. Easily smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in the open with good half-halts at gallop, smooth and controlled fences at 2’9 or higher (some stadium, but focusing on XC), excellent fitness. Walk, trot, and canter through water. Achieve a reasonable dressage test away from home.
May Activities
May 2, Melinda Lesson - dressage
May 9, Schooling at Inavale - gallop and XC work, schooling through water
May 16, Combined Test at Inavale - dressage and stadium. Will be a great schooling show and chance to get Pandora competing at Inavale.
May 17, Melinda Lesson - dressage
Then the last two weeks of May I will be working on my own.
It should be a good month!
All our long slow distance should really help with conditioning for the upcoming months too.
I want to spend time jumping low, wide oxers and really adding frightening decorations to fences.
Finally, keep up with dressage. School some tests to troubleshoot difficult movements, and school them. I have let this slack off now that I've got a solid w/t/c with some lateral, so I need to push us in this area.
End-of-month goal: Schooling consistently over 2'9+, riding calmly in the open at w/t/c (gallop if we can find the space). Willingly walk through water. Create passable dressage tests at Training level.
Evaluation:
- Schooling consistently over 2'9+ - almost. We've ridden over that easily XC, but that doesn't quite count. It's just that our arena doesn't work so well for doing bigger jumps and courses. But, like I said at the midmonth progress report, I'm not too concerned about height right now. It will get there.
- Riding calmly in the open at w/t/c/g - definitely accomplished. Galloping out in the field I've done twice: once was pretty terrible, and the second time was a wild success. I'm a lot more comfortable galloping, she's a lot more comfortable galloping with me; we can steer and slow down and go towards home without going into warp speed. We will need to explore this more, but I'm very pleased. Also, we've gone on several 2-mile hacks around the loop, walking and trotting, and she's been quite calm. The conditioning is very good for her. After the 2-mile walk she's not breathing hard but she does get quite warm, so I'm glad the conditioning is helping. Eventually I'll walk the 2-mile loop, then up and back down another big hill-road, which will add another mile onto the ride.
- Willingly walk through water - well, we just haven't had the chance to practice this. But on our hacks around the loop, there are many ditches in the side of the road, some which occasionally get pretty sloppy in the bottom. She doesn't like it, but most importantly, she goes forward when I ask her to. Right now I don't care if forward means 'walk through' or 'take flying leap over,' because forward is always the right answer. We are trailering to Inavale this coming weekend, which will put us miles ahead in the water issue as I'll be able to practice in their water complex.
- Create passable dressage tests at T-level - um...not quite. Like I've mentioned, I've been feeling really stuck in my dressage lately. I have a dressage lesson on Saturday May 2nd, so that should help a lot.
May Outline
Now is the time to truly put everything together, and start thinking about our summer eventing destinations. We are going to go schooling at Inavale, so I will get practice jumping XC and through water and galloping in the open. We need to catch up on the April goals, working in more jumping work: low wide oxers and single fences at 2'9+. We need to get on top of the dressage and really make some progress there.
This is our last month really schooling at home before the summer hits. I've got eventing camps the next two months and then ratings in July and September.
End-of-month goal: Feel prepared to have a solid competition at Beginner Novice -- though I have decided not to attend the HT due to the cost. Easily smooth and controlled w/t/c/g in the open with good half-halts at gallop, smooth and controlled fences at 2’9 or higher (some stadium, but focusing on XC), excellent fitness. Walk, trot, and canter through water. Achieve a reasonable dressage test away from home.
May Activities
May 2, Melinda Lesson - dressage
May 9, Schooling at Inavale - gallop and XC work, schooling through water
May 16, Combined Test at Inavale - dressage and stadium. Will be a great schooling show and chance to get Pandora competing at Inavale.
May 17, Melinda Lesson - dressage
Then the last two weeks of May I will be working on my own.
It should be a good month!
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