It's field trial season again, so Louie gets a few weeks of light duty as we stay busy with the trials.
In his down time, Louie is enjoying relaxing in the sun, eating acres of lush green pasture (yes, he is fat already. . . ), a massage, and the occasional ride (or in today's case- trail ride around the property!).
Our first recognised dressage show is rapidly approaching- on June 2nd. Since I'm missing 3 lessons, Julie is going to ride Louie 3 times in the week before the show. So he will get 3 rides with Julie, then my lesson, then a bath and probably a little lunging and massaging the night before the show.
Thankfully I have the tests pretty well memorized from having ridden them a few times now. I know it's not a very traditional way to prepare for a show, but I'm hoping Julie's 3 rides, followed by my lesson and schooling the day of the show will be enough to get us back into the zone.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Lesson 24: Outside Aids
We had a dressage lesson this week as it was exceptionally rainy outside and the outdoor arena was not serviceable. The indoor arena, while workable, is not ideal for jumping, so we worked on some flat work. This was actually a good thing though, as I'm going to miss my next three lessons due to the dog field trials. Julie is going to use those three lessons instead to put three rides on Louie again during the week I come back. I am hoping to practice a little bit during the next few weeks, but I won't get in any regular work to prepare for the shows I'm hoping to do next month, so hopefully Julie will be able to help keep Louie going while I'm gone.
Well onto this week's lesson. We worked a lot on a new concept- getting Louie to stretch without using the inside rein. We already know that if I tug on or wiggle the inside rein a little bit, Louie stretches down pretty willingly. But while this is correct, his response is not always correct- what also often happens is that he ducks back behind the contact and stays completely without contact on the inside rein. He also has a tendency, depending on which way we're going, to lose his left shoulder (falls out on the circle), and shift his hindquarters to the right (especially when tracking left). So. . . to remedy these things, we focused not on doing anything with the inside rein, but to think about getting him to reach for the outside rein, and use an outside leg to accomplish that.
We also found that when he curls, or ducks behind the bit, one great way to get him out of that is to use the outside aids- outside leg (kicking if need be) and a steady outside rein. It really seemed to work well to keep him on the contact better. The only other ways we have found that can work are to go a little bit sideways, or add a lot of leg (and stomach to prevent him running off) and hold him until he wants to lengthen his neck.
During the lesson Julie also pointed out some of the little posture corrections like making sure that I don't extend my wrists as I have a tendency to do.
We worked a bit on trotting straight down the center line. Louie has a tendency to want to "look at the scenery" so naturally he trots anything but straight as he looks from left to right, his body turns and curves with each step . . . so we went sideways. We trotted shoulder in down the center line. It took a little figuring to get this right, but we eventually got a very nice shoulder in when I focused on trying to bend his body more, but not go too sideways. I had to keep my "outside" leg back and use that quite a bit to keep the haunches from drifting too far sideways and straightening his body out. I also had to focus on keeping my outside rein- once again outside aids.
Another exercise we did to work on lengthening the neck was trotting in a nose to the wall leg yield down the straight side, then asking him to stretch on the short curved ends. This worked pretty well so long as I got a good half halt in each corner of the arena.
We worked just a bit on the canter, trying to get a good half halt before the depart and thinking about trying to half halt every few strides during the canter. We need to continue to work on making the half halt go through in the trot, and getting the haunches engaged to get a nicer canter. All in good time. . .
Well onto this week's lesson. We worked a lot on a new concept- getting Louie to stretch without using the inside rein. We already know that if I tug on or wiggle the inside rein a little bit, Louie stretches down pretty willingly. But while this is correct, his response is not always correct- what also often happens is that he ducks back behind the contact and stays completely without contact on the inside rein. He also has a tendency, depending on which way we're going, to lose his left shoulder (falls out on the circle), and shift his hindquarters to the right (especially when tracking left). So. . . to remedy these things, we focused not on doing anything with the inside rein, but to think about getting him to reach for the outside rein, and use an outside leg to accomplish that.
We also found that when he curls, or ducks behind the bit, one great way to get him out of that is to use the outside aids- outside leg (kicking if need be) and a steady outside rein. It really seemed to work well to keep him on the contact better. The only other ways we have found that can work are to go a little bit sideways, or add a lot of leg (and stomach to prevent him running off) and hold him until he wants to lengthen his neck.
During the lesson Julie also pointed out some of the little posture corrections like making sure that I don't extend my wrists as I have a tendency to do.
We worked a bit on trotting straight down the center line. Louie has a tendency to want to "look at the scenery" so naturally he trots anything but straight as he looks from left to right, his body turns and curves with each step . . . so we went sideways. We trotted shoulder in down the center line. It took a little figuring to get this right, but we eventually got a very nice shoulder in when I focused on trying to bend his body more, but not go too sideways. I had to keep my "outside" leg back and use that quite a bit to keep the haunches from drifting too far sideways and straightening his body out. I also had to focus on keeping my outside rein- once again outside aids.
Another exercise we did to work on lengthening the neck was trotting in a nose to the wall leg yield down the straight side, then asking him to stretch on the short curved ends. This worked pretty well so long as I got a good half halt in each corner of the arena.
We worked just a bit on the canter, trying to get a good half halt before the depart and thinking about trying to half halt every few strides during the canter. We need to continue to work on making the half halt go through in the trot, and getting the haunches engaged to get a nicer canter. All in good time. . .
Monday, April 30, 2012
Lesson 23: Straight Through the Jump
We worked this week on getting Louie straight between my aids as we prepared to jump. He was wanting to drift his haunches to the outside of the circle (I guess he has always done this, I just didn't really recognise it), so we had to work really hard on paying attention and keeping him straight on the circle.
After a while we trotted up to a single jump (cavalleti on the highest position) without any trot poles before it. Julie likes to think of a jump as a canter depart, so the goal would be to come out of the jump on the proper lead. Well, as we were tracking to the left, Louie should have taken his left lead out of the jump. . . but not so. . . even with his feet placed exactly where Julie thought they should have been, he always managed to re-arrange them at the last minute to avoid taking his left lead. Apparently our lead problem is reversed. You may remember some posts quite a while back about how much Louie hated his right lead. . . well now that seems to be his one good side. . . I think that may be due to his left hind stifle, as we've been thinking about having it injected now that we're asking him to work harder and he has been chronically lame (very very slight) on that left hind for a few years. We've had it evaluated, but haven't had it injected for about 3 years.
We tried about 20 times to get the left lead out of the jump- with me putting my right leg back, left leg forward, and opening the left rein inward, having him almost in haunches in as we approached the jump, and even cantering up to the jump and he just wouldn't take the left lead out of the jump. Well, we FINALLY got Louie to take his left lead out of a jump by managing to get him to approach a line of 6 caveletti followed by 2 bounces and go over with his left leg first. By the way, we did that gymnastic about 3 times before he finally timed it right to get his proper leg going into the line.
Louie did a good job and is a very willing and able jumper, just not so loving of his left lead right now. I think he'll be plenty capable of showing in the Saddlebred shows in the Saddle & Bridle classes, as I don't think they care what lead you land the jump in.
After a while we trotted up to a single jump (cavalleti on the highest position) without any trot poles before it. Julie likes to think of a jump as a canter depart, so the goal would be to come out of the jump on the proper lead. Well, as we were tracking to the left, Louie should have taken his left lead out of the jump. . . but not so. . . even with his feet placed exactly where Julie thought they should have been, he always managed to re-arrange them at the last minute to avoid taking his left lead. Apparently our lead problem is reversed. You may remember some posts quite a while back about how much Louie hated his right lead. . . well now that seems to be his one good side. . . I think that may be due to his left hind stifle, as we've been thinking about having it injected now that we're asking him to work harder and he has been chronically lame (very very slight) on that left hind for a few years. We've had it evaluated, but haven't had it injected for about 3 years.
We tried about 20 times to get the left lead out of the jump- with me putting my right leg back, left leg forward, and opening the left rein inward, having him almost in haunches in as we approached the jump, and even cantering up to the jump and he just wouldn't take the left lead out of the jump. Well, we FINALLY got Louie to take his left lead out of a jump by managing to get him to approach a line of 6 caveletti followed by 2 bounces and go over with his left leg first. By the way, we did that gymnastic about 3 times before he finally timed it right to get his proper leg going into the line.
Louie did a good job and is a very willing and able jumper, just not so loving of his left lead right now. I think he'll be plenty capable of showing in the Saddlebred shows in the Saddle & Bridle classes, as I don't think they care what lead you land the jump in.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Lesson 22: Jumping Lesson Two
Sorry this post is a bit delayed, but our second jumping lesson last week was good!
We emphasized the need for a good walk warm-up, working on exercises to keep Louie between my aids.
We had to ride in the indoor arena because it was pretty cold outside, so we couldn't work on as many bounces as last week, but got in some nice cavaletti lines followed by a single jump. Louie did well with this and Julie thought he was actually not too bad over jumps, and uses his front legs really well.
Nothing monumental in this lesson, but had a fun ride on Monday with my friend Jordan, who also rode Louie and I showed her the ropes of how to get Louie to relax into a nice dressage frame. We had fun, Louie is a good boy!
We emphasized the need for a good walk warm-up, working on exercises to keep Louie between my aids.
We had to ride in the indoor arena because it was pretty cold outside, so we couldn't work on as many bounces as last week, but got in some nice cavaletti lines followed by a single jump. Louie did well with this and Julie thought he was actually not too bad over jumps, and uses his front legs really well.
Nothing monumental in this lesson, but had a fun ride on Monday with my friend Jordan, who also rode Louie and I showed her the ropes of how to get Louie to relax into a nice dressage frame. We had fun, Louie is a good boy!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Massage Lesson
We had a different type of lesson tonight (an extra, so I didn't include it in with the rest of the lessons for the purpose of this blog). We had a group lesson about massage- with 3 other horses/owners, and we went around from horse to horse watching and feeling with our hands, elbows, shoulders, etc. to learn the sore spots and feel tight muscles and anatomy on each horse. Julie has a lot of experience in massage, not only through personal certification and education programs in equine massage and chiropractic, but from years of practicing on her own and client horses.
Julie started with a little bit of her usual assessment- running the fingers forward down the spine from the SI joints to about the base of the withers (fingers about 6 inches apart so that they travel along the paraspinal muscles). A horse showing a lot of tenderness with this first assessment may have a chiropractic abnormality and may require some adjusting. We divided the horse into portions, with the most forward portion of the back indicating problems in the neck and the most posterior portion of the horse (from the loins on back) indicating the hind end. She also pushed on the SI joints and on the C7 vertebrae at the base of the neck to look for soreness or maladjustment in those areas.
After that, we moved along to muscle assessments, and basically just rubbed over the major muscle groups looking for signs of soreness, tightness, or "stringy" feeling muscle bands. When we found something sore, we would rub that area, either with constant pressure, cross-fiber massage, or rubbing along the length of the muscle belly. Julie noted that her preference is constant pressure over tight spots until they loosen, she has found this method to give her the most bang for her buck. When working areas on the back, it is useful to stretch the back (do an ab lift exercise) right after massaging the area.
We noted common areas of soreness in many of the horses: around C7 and completely around the scapula (should be able to bury the fingers under the scapula all the way around it essentially), along the triceps area above the horse's elbow, along the paraspinals and loins, in the hind quarters, hamstrings, and between the hind legs. Louie's most sore spots were in the back (big surprise there)- basically the entire area the saddle panels cover (which, it turns out, may not be the best area to work to release the tension- the soreness may be referred from somewhere down the muscle belly or the kinetic chain), and in the hamstrings. This has some bearing on how we ride as well, as it is interesting to note that a horse who spends a lot of time without its hind end engaged, and legs trailing behind itself will typically have tighter hamstrings, just based on principles of kinesiology.
We worked on our horses on each of these areas for almost an hour, then worked on some stretches. We stretched the front legs- extended straight out and a little bit medially and laterally (Julie says laterally is where she tends to get nice adjustments), neck (pressing on each vertebrae and bending the neck around the hand in each direction), and "hulas" in which you push on the horse's rib cage to the side in points moving from front to back pulling the tail around so the horse's body bends laterally throughout the back. We worked on treat stretches like the ones recommended in Hillary Clayton's book "Activate Your Horse's Core" (which I own and love)- reaching to each side and down between the legs. One important note that Julie wants to see is when the horse reaches around for the treat, their ears should remain pretty level- they aren't doing the exercise correctly if they twist their heads and turn it sideways as they reach to the side.
Of course Louie and I also added in a lot of abdominal exercises and back-lifting exercises, per the Hillary Clayton book, which are a great compliment to all of the rest of the body work we're trying to accomplish.
It was an interesting lesson and I think I learned a lot, about how to assess and massage a horse, finding sore spots and working them out, and improving flexibility and joint mobility. Hopefully doing some form of regular massage work with Louie will help us to improve not only his comfort level, but may even improve his soundness and movement.
Julie started with a little bit of her usual assessment- running the fingers forward down the spine from the SI joints to about the base of the withers (fingers about 6 inches apart so that they travel along the paraspinal muscles). A horse showing a lot of tenderness with this first assessment may have a chiropractic abnormality and may require some adjusting. We divided the horse into portions, with the most forward portion of the back indicating problems in the neck and the most posterior portion of the horse (from the loins on back) indicating the hind end. She also pushed on the SI joints and on the C7 vertebrae at the base of the neck to look for soreness or maladjustment in those areas.
After that, we moved along to muscle assessments, and basically just rubbed over the major muscle groups looking for signs of soreness, tightness, or "stringy" feeling muscle bands. When we found something sore, we would rub that area, either with constant pressure, cross-fiber massage, or rubbing along the length of the muscle belly. Julie noted that her preference is constant pressure over tight spots until they loosen, she has found this method to give her the most bang for her buck. When working areas on the back, it is useful to stretch the back (do an ab lift exercise) right after massaging the area.
We noted common areas of soreness in many of the horses: around C7 and completely around the scapula (should be able to bury the fingers under the scapula all the way around it essentially), along the triceps area above the horse's elbow, along the paraspinals and loins, in the hind quarters, hamstrings, and between the hind legs. Louie's most sore spots were in the back (big surprise there)- basically the entire area the saddle panels cover (which, it turns out, may not be the best area to work to release the tension- the soreness may be referred from somewhere down the muscle belly or the kinetic chain), and in the hamstrings. This has some bearing on how we ride as well, as it is interesting to note that a horse who spends a lot of time without its hind end engaged, and legs trailing behind itself will typically have tighter hamstrings, just based on principles of kinesiology.
We worked on our horses on each of these areas for almost an hour, then worked on some stretches. We stretched the front legs- extended straight out and a little bit medially and laterally (Julie says laterally is where she tends to get nice adjustments), neck (pressing on each vertebrae and bending the neck around the hand in each direction), and "hulas" in which you push on the horse's rib cage to the side in points moving from front to back pulling the tail around so the horse's body bends laterally throughout the back. We worked on treat stretches like the ones recommended in Hillary Clayton's book "Activate Your Horse's Core" (which I own and love)- reaching to each side and down between the legs. One important note that Julie wants to see is when the horse reaches around for the treat, their ears should remain pretty level- they aren't doing the exercise correctly if they twist their heads and turn it sideways as they reach to the side.
Of course Louie and I also added in a lot of abdominal exercises and back-lifting exercises, per the Hillary Clayton book, which are a great compliment to all of the rest of the body work we're trying to accomplish.
It was an interesting lesson and I think I learned a lot, about how to assess and massage a horse, finding sore spots and working them out, and improving flexibility and joint mobility. Hopefully doing some form of regular massage work with Louie will help us to improve not only his comfort level, but may even improve his soundness and movement.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Lesson 21: First Jumping Lesson
Well it may be obvious from the title of this week's lesson, but Louie and I had a blast in our first jumping lesson tonight!
We rode in the outdoor again and he started out a little tense and "looky" in one corner, but Julie had me shorten my reins, plant them on his neck (so I wasn't pulling on his mouth) and push him up into it. We knew when he was ready to relax and stretch some when he started to get a little heavier in the bridle, and was actually letting me push him up into it. After some warm-up of trotting some 3-loop serpentines, we worked on a few quick drills to get him nicely between the aids.
We did a little bit of leg yielding at the trot, some nose-to-the-wall leg yielding and shoulder in, then did a little bit of 10-meter circle work. We worked on our sitting trot on the 10-meter circle (which was much better because I worked on our sitting trot a lot over the past week), then worked on a few canter transitions, and cantering on the small circle. Much to my surprise, Louie did awesome with this, and had several very nice, balanced canter departs, which usually deteriorated into a faster, less coordinated canter, but he still kept in the canter, and on the small circle (which was a huge improvement from 2 weeks ago when he was in the habit of quitting after 2 or 3 strides). We had a little trouble getting our canter-trot transitions to be any good, but Julie thinks that's because he was doing such a difficult canter that it was too unbalanced to get a decent transition. I still need to work on my "wiggly back" in the canter, riding it aggressively enough to keep him going, but not pushing him too much with my seat. We did several sitting trot-canter-trot-walk transitions on the 10-meter circle going each direction, then started in on the cavaletti.
We first trotted a long line of about 8 cavaletti in their lowest position- something we have done lots before, so this was no big challenge. While doing this, we made a few position changes that are different than our dressage equitation. For this, I got to lean forward (haha, I think I should probably just be a hunter rider with how much I like to lean forward), put my heels down, and we shortened my stirrups just one notch (I rode in my all purpose again). Julie wanted me to keep my feet a little bit more forward, and post basically with my hips rising and falling only, but my head and chest staying level. Julie explained that she typically teaches more of an eventing-type equitation because it's safer and more practical than equitation sought in the hunter ring. Sounds like a plan- I'm all for safe!
After a few trips through the cavaletti, Julie rolled the last cavaletti in the line out and up to it's highest position (so there was about 6 feet between the last low cavaletti and the high one). She wanted me to post the cavaletti, then think "sit, sit" when I got to the end of the line, then just follow him over the last one. The first time through, Louie didn't really leap the last one, just kind of trot-cantered over it. Julie wanted it to be more like a canter stride over the cavaletti, but didn't want me to cue him to canter, just help him to "think canter" when we got to the jump. So to help him get into the feeling of "canter" over the jump, she rolled out another one out at it's highest position so that we went through the line of cavaletti, then had the 6 feet of nothing, then a high one, 6 more feet, and another high cavaletti, which created a bounce stride on those last two high cavaletti.
When I saw this bounce gymnastic configuration she had set up, I thought, "oh my, Louie can't handle that! That's way too advanced for the likes of him!" but much to my surprise, we went through, trot, trot, trot, jump, jump! Woohoo! And I think Julie liked the canter steps/jumping that she got with that configuration so she added one more bounce to the drill, so we had 3 high cavaletti to go over, one right after the next with no stride between. Louie did great with this, he didn't get flustered, he didn't refuse or try to run out too much, he just sailed right on through it. I think I remember at one point, Julie saying that she wanted them to kind of muddle through it and struggle, as I'm sure that builds their skill and depth perception, stride judgement, and take-off, etc. She also had to keep reminding me to pull my feet forward a little bit, as they have been wanting to sneak back to where I balance them for my flat work.
We did the 3-cavaletti bounce a few more times and Louie got better and better each time through. Julie thought we did a nice job, and didn't notice Louie being an ugly jumper (though admitted she was watching me much more than him- which I can't fault her for), but I'll take that as a good thing if my horse can do at least a good enough job to not overtly embarrass himself! Here I have been worried that Louie will not have any skill at jumping, but he could prove me wrong yet. I could feel him kind of reaching for the last jump on the 3 cavaletti bounces, so I think if we had had 4 in a row, things might have gotten ugly, but as it was, he did great, and this is a fantastic start to building up our jumping ability, not to mention muscle in the hind end and back, flexibility and good brain food. What fun!
We rode in the outdoor again and he started out a little tense and "looky" in one corner, but Julie had me shorten my reins, plant them on his neck (so I wasn't pulling on his mouth) and push him up into it. We knew when he was ready to relax and stretch some when he started to get a little heavier in the bridle, and was actually letting me push him up into it. After some warm-up of trotting some 3-loop serpentines, we worked on a few quick drills to get him nicely between the aids.
We did a little bit of leg yielding at the trot, some nose-to-the-wall leg yielding and shoulder in, then did a little bit of 10-meter circle work. We worked on our sitting trot on the 10-meter circle (which was much better because I worked on our sitting trot a lot over the past week), then worked on a few canter transitions, and cantering on the small circle. Much to my surprise, Louie did awesome with this, and had several very nice, balanced canter departs, which usually deteriorated into a faster, less coordinated canter, but he still kept in the canter, and on the small circle (which was a huge improvement from 2 weeks ago when he was in the habit of quitting after 2 or 3 strides). We had a little trouble getting our canter-trot transitions to be any good, but Julie thinks that's because he was doing such a difficult canter that it was too unbalanced to get a decent transition. I still need to work on my "wiggly back" in the canter, riding it aggressively enough to keep him going, but not pushing him too much with my seat. We did several sitting trot-canter-trot-walk transitions on the 10-meter circle going each direction, then started in on the cavaletti.
We first trotted a long line of about 8 cavaletti in their lowest position- something we have done lots before, so this was no big challenge. While doing this, we made a few position changes that are different than our dressage equitation. For this, I got to lean forward (haha, I think I should probably just be a hunter rider with how much I like to lean forward), put my heels down, and we shortened my stirrups just one notch (I rode in my all purpose again). Julie wanted me to keep my feet a little bit more forward, and post basically with my hips rising and falling only, but my head and chest staying level. Julie explained that she typically teaches more of an eventing-type equitation because it's safer and more practical than equitation sought in the hunter ring. Sounds like a plan- I'm all for safe!
After a few trips through the cavaletti, Julie rolled the last cavaletti in the line out and up to it's highest position (so there was about 6 feet between the last low cavaletti and the high one). She wanted me to post the cavaletti, then think "sit, sit" when I got to the end of the line, then just follow him over the last one. The first time through, Louie didn't really leap the last one, just kind of trot-cantered over it. Julie wanted it to be more like a canter stride over the cavaletti, but didn't want me to cue him to canter, just help him to "think canter" when we got to the jump. So to help him get into the feeling of "canter" over the jump, she rolled out another one out at it's highest position so that we went through the line of cavaletti, then had the 6 feet of nothing, then a high one, 6 more feet, and another high cavaletti, which created a bounce stride on those last two high cavaletti.
When I saw this bounce gymnastic configuration she had set up, I thought, "oh my, Louie can't handle that! That's way too advanced for the likes of him!" but much to my surprise, we went through, trot, trot, trot, jump, jump! Woohoo! And I think Julie liked the canter steps/jumping that she got with that configuration so she added one more bounce to the drill, so we had 3 high cavaletti to go over, one right after the next with no stride between. Louie did great with this, he didn't get flustered, he didn't refuse or try to run out too much, he just sailed right on through it. I think I remember at one point, Julie saying that she wanted them to kind of muddle through it and struggle, as I'm sure that builds their skill and depth perception, stride judgement, and take-off, etc. She also had to keep reminding me to pull my feet forward a little bit, as they have been wanting to sneak back to where I balance them for my flat work.
We did the 3-cavaletti bounce a few more times and Louie got better and better each time through. Julie thought we did a nice job, and didn't notice Louie being an ugly jumper (though admitted she was watching me much more than him- which I can't fault her for), but I'll take that as a good thing if my horse can do at least a good enough job to not overtly embarrass himself! Here I have been worried that Louie will not have any skill at jumping, but he could prove me wrong yet. I could feel him kind of reaching for the last jump on the 3 cavaletti bounces, so I think if we had had 4 in a row, things might have gotten ugly, but as it was, he did great, and this is a fantastic start to building up our jumping ability, not to mention muscle in the hind end and back, flexibility and good brain food. What fun!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Lesson 20: Conquering the Hard Hearted Horse
Louie was really wound up and naughty at my lesson this week. I'm really not sure what got into him, but as I headed down to the outdoor arena (our first lesson in the outdoor, though we had ridden in it several times previously) I had planned on having about 20 minutes to warm up before I was set to begin. I planned this as a little chance to "get the edge off" as both Louie and I were a little amped up that day.
Well we got down there and Julie had finished early, so she started right in with my lesson. Drat! As she taught us the math of the outdoor arena and where each 20 meter circle should be, Louie walked along at what I felt was a gait that was ready to explode. Eventually we trotted and instead of relaxing, Louie did a little short stride, back tight, head up, teeth grinding trot. Ugh. I knew I needed that warm up time! Well we worked through it. Louie was all over the place and had way more energy than he knew what to do with.
Eventually he settled in a little bit and we worked on some shoulder in, leg yielding, and other lateral work, which Louie did quite well. We worked a bit on extension as well, and we hit one diagonal with an awesome extension! I think Louie is starting to pick up on what I'm looking for. Our good extension came when we trotted across the far end of the arena fairly quickly, then Julie had us take the diagonal and try to slow down, yet cover ground. That seemed to be a winning combination thought process.
We later worked on the canter, which was not a pretty sight. . . As we cantered 3 strides on the left lead and broke, several times in a row, I kept failing in keeping him going, Julie kept telling me that all I need to do is lay the whip on him, so next time I did, and BAM! Louie leaped through the air in what felt like a massive buck (but apparently was only a really big kick at the whip) and completely unseated me. I lost my right stirrup, was sitting way off to the right of the saddle, Louie still cantering forward and to the left. I tried to steer him into the rail to stop him, but he got to the rail and started going sideways so I further lost my balance, and my left stirrup. I thought for sure I was going to come off, but thankfully I somehow stayed on, and once seated back in the center of the saddle with both feet in the stirrup, we had a little discussion about what the whip is and the fact that I can put it on him and he does NOT get to kick at it. . . . I think we've had this discussion numerous times, but it never seems to sink in. So afterward, Julie was correcting my leg postition a little bit (my toes were sticking out like they sometimes have the tendency to do) and she said, "stab your toes into his hard heart!" I thought that was a pretty good way to think about it.
Well we proceeded with the lesson and didn't really get anything accomplished since he was now more wound up than before. Julie pointed out that it was likely I would have to ride him like this at a show sometime in the future, so I best get prepared for it! To work through it, I just continued to apply half halts and try to bend and stretch Louie around my inside leg. We got through the lesson, but if it hadn't been a lesson, I would have galloped that horse around for a good 20 minutes then come back to what we were trying to do. Though I don't think Julie believes me, Louie really needs a good long warm-up and for him, working him for a long time (running or trotting, spirals, etc) really does seem to help him get into a good state of mind if we have issues. After all, that is kind of what we did at the show. . .
Since that awful ride, I'm happy to report that we've had two rides, one of which was quite nice- yesterday, in the indoor arena, with the sprinkler going. Surprisingly enough, Louie did great with that, and we had a nice ride, he was very responsive to my aids, but not overly sensitive.
I asked Julie if we could jump this week at my lesson, so I think I might show up in a jumping saddle for my next lesson. I think Louie could use the change of pace- something different to do for a while. We'll still work a lot of the same principles as we use in our flat work, but since we're not going to the Otter Creek spring show (we decided we're not quite ready for a rated show in less than one month's time), but I think the jumping will add an extra element of fun or challenge for Louie, that will help break up some of the repetitive dressage work for him.
Well we got down there and Julie had finished early, so she started right in with my lesson. Drat! As she taught us the math of the outdoor arena and where each 20 meter circle should be, Louie walked along at what I felt was a gait that was ready to explode. Eventually we trotted and instead of relaxing, Louie did a little short stride, back tight, head up, teeth grinding trot. Ugh. I knew I needed that warm up time! Well we worked through it. Louie was all over the place and had way more energy than he knew what to do with.
Eventually he settled in a little bit and we worked on some shoulder in, leg yielding, and other lateral work, which Louie did quite well. We worked a bit on extension as well, and we hit one diagonal with an awesome extension! I think Louie is starting to pick up on what I'm looking for. Our good extension came when we trotted across the far end of the arena fairly quickly, then Julie had us take the diagonal and try to slow down, yet cover ground. That seemed to be a winning combination thought process.
We later worked on the canter, which was not a pretty sight. . . As we cantered 3 strides on the left lead and broke, several times in a row, I kept failing in keeping him going, Julie kept telling me that all I need to do is lay the whip on him, so next time I did, and BAM! Louie leaped through the air in what felt like a massive buck (but apparently was only a really big kick at the whip) and completely unseated me. I lost my right stirrup, was sitting way off to the right of the saddle, Louie still cantering forward and to the left. I tried to steer him into the rail to stop him, but he got to the rail and started going sideways so I further lost my balance, and my left stirrup. I thought for sure I was going to come off, but thankfully I somehow stayed on, and once seated back in the center of the saddle with both feet in the stirrup, we had a little discussion about what the whip is and the fact that I can put it on him and he does NOT get to kick at it. . . . I think we've had this discussion numerous times, but it never seems to sink in. So afterward, Julie was correcting my leg postition a little bit (my toes were sticking out like they sometimes have the tendency to do) and she said, "stab your toes into his hard heart!" I thought that was a pretty good way to think about it.
Well we proceeded with the lesson and didn't really get anything accomplished since he was now more wound up than before. Julie pointed out that it was likely I would have to ride him like this at a show sometime in the future, so I best get prepared for it! To work through it, I just continued to apply half halts and try to bend and stretch Louie around my inside leg. We got through the lesson, but if it hadn't been a lesson, I would have galloped that horse around for a good 20 minutes then come back to what we were trying to do. Though I don't think Julie believes me, Louie really needs a good long warm-up and for him, working him for a long time (running or trotting, spirals, etc) really does seem to help him get into a good state of mind if we have issues. After all, that is kind of what we did at the show. . .
Since that awful ride, I'm happy to report that we've had two rides, one of which was quite nice- yesterday, in the indoor arena, with the sprinkler going. Surprisingly enough, Louie did great with that, and we had a nice ride, he was very responsive to my aids, but not overly sensitive.
I asked Julie if we could jump this week at my lesson, so I think I might show up in a jumping saddle for my next lesson. I think Louie could use the change of pace- something different to do for a while. We'll still work a lot of the same principles as we use in our flat work, but since we're not going to the Otter Creek spring show (we decided we're not quite ready for a rated show in less than one month's time), but I think the jumping will add an extra element of fun or challenge for Louie, that will help break up some of the repetitive dressage work for him.
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