Yesterday I had a plan before I even got on Holden -- and even though the latter half of the plan was not executed (some small jumping) I was able to see first hand what a difference having a Plan does for your effectiveness while riding. While we were warming up at the walk I formulated and told Taylor what I wanted to accomplish today - I wanted quiet transitions and a big trot - with cantering early on. I made the mistake with my last OTTB Spooky that I always cantered at the end of the ride and then ended there.. which meant I spent too much time working on trotting and not enough time developing our comfort level at the canter. It should come as no surprise that Spooky would then assume he was done after a change of direction and a few circles of canter.. Dumb of me, right?
Anyway, I could have asked Holden for more bend and a little more roundness. I definitely see an improvement in my posture but I need to remember to sit further back (my seat bones) and pick up my hands - what seems to help is envisioning that I am holding two cups of coffee. Looking to the outside of the circle helps me keep my posture more correct, and prevents me from collapsing my inside and leaving Holden high and dry around the turn.
I also need to improve my timing, which right now is as about painfully inaccurate as Taylor's perception of fashion sense ;) Holden is having some difficulty picking up the right lead reliably - in part I believe it is due to the fact that I am not riding him effectively and timing the cue when his inside hind leg is underneath me.
Overall in watching the video I see a better quality tempo, but I need to focus on my position and driving him forward with my seat rather than holding him back with my reins. Driving with my seat makes me drop my knees which makes me less likely to pinch them or post with my ankles. Riding him forward makes him more engaged and perceptive and in turn, makes me feel less out of control. I need to pick up my hands high, which will also change my shoulder blades back.
Holden got a little unfocused towards the end, which was partially my fault as I did not get after him and ride him more assertively. We finished with trot circle transitions.
Today's lesson, we focused on several... or many things.. One, using my hips & leg to influence Holden rather than my hands. Our lesson started off with the two of us quite tense and defensive as a result -- but once I let go of Holden's face and sent him forward rather than hold him back, he was much better. My instructor pointed out holding him to a smaller circle made him more unbalanced and worried, where-as pushing him forwards on a bigger circle helped him (and me!) feel more secure.
The biggest thing I realized thanks to my instructor is that Holden is not going as fast as I think he is. Meredith had Mike videotape me during the trot/canter transitions to show me he was not at all as quick as he felt. I need to learn to be comfortable with his gaits, which are big and feel fast but are not, at all, as fast as they feel. Watching the video, I could not believe he almost looked pokey..
We worked on transitions within the gait as well, and I found sitting back and finagling rather than leaning forwards and restraining worked so much better to get him to step in and out of transitions within the gait. I am no longer allowed to say 'slow' or 'eaasy' or any of the mollifying 'commands' - instead I am supposed to think 'big' and 'elongate' and other adjectives for a large stride.
I asked Mike his thoughts on my position and ride. He said my riding was 'Quasimodo-esque' in the beginning, with the most improvement seen at the end. I do tend to hunch forward and abandon my seat. I also found out that I could get a canter out of Holden with a much less dramatic leg - turns out part of the reason he was scooting into the canter was because I was applying too big an aid for him.
Next ride I need to work on the following:
1. Uninhibited stride, pushing and riding forward
2. Sitting upright, with closed elbow
3. No 'calming/slowing' noises or voices
4. Use my SEAT, which covers a wider base of the horse's body than my hands.
5. Cantering: Close outside hip, look out, sit back
6. Half-halt every few strides rather than retain the gait
6. More transitions within the gait
P.S.. Meredith said lots of things like "ride him like he's a BN horse", "stop babying" "ride him like he knows something" etc... Time to do so at home. Fun's over, Holden!
Holden was great the last three days. We spent Friday hacking across our neighboring territory, which involved going up dunes, seeing some rogue cows, and trotting down Blood Road (a private dirt road) to escape the flies, who were out with a vengeance that day. Holden lead Chism most of the way with a 'take charge' attitude for once -- no silliness besides the head-tossing from the flies.
On Saturday we went across the road to Hartwell conservation land, a gorgeous swath of windy trails (most not perfectly manicured) and steep hills. We went the double-hill route, which is quite the gauntlet for an unfit horse. Both horses were winded at the summit, with good recovery time. We navigated some sloppy gullies and when our trail involuntarily ended we pioneered some new trails.. Holden took this in stride and seemed perfectly fine crawling his way through the underbrush, though I will note he is not as savvy with where to place his feet as Chism is.
Sunday the four of us (Holden & I, Chism & Katie) went to HGP for a dressage school before our lesson on Monday. Chism seemed a little ouchy on the tough ground so Katie walked him only - wonder if he perhaps is sore from our hard work-out on Saturday. Holden was very sensible until I asked to trot in which he seemed immediately defensive - I moved the saddle back and removed the martingale (tried a new one) and he was much better. I also think having Chism off in the distance made him anxious.
We moved to a small sand dressage ring and worked on changes of bend and transitions from walk-to-trot until I felt he was supple.. He still seemed kind of frustrated and nervous, but settled into work fine and when Chism & Katie came over to watch and film he buckled right down into work. It was hot and I think he was tired from worrying so much, but due to my less than stellar riding I could not get him to pick up the right lead .. I just kept trying and trying and getting the left. Holden was hot and was starting to get quite frustrated, I switched direction to the left after multiple unsuccessful attempts and asked for a canter and he gave me a seamless depart and nice lope-like canter.. He felt sound and fine but I wonder if the heat (it was 80s) and waiting too long into the warm-up to canter is what did him in.. I wanted to end it on a good note so I finished going to the left in a nice stretchy trot circle and he felt great. A little disappointed in myself that I couldn't set him up for success with the right lead - I am wondering (it is also his less strong direction) if cantering earlier in the warm up (and also not STARTING with that direction) would help. He does need me to hold his hand through the transition and I am afraid I was not riding 100% on my game today.
Tomorrow we have a lesson.. hopefully it will be better than the last one!
I can't believe it's been over a year since I've updated the blog. Super bad of me! I guess I should start with an update - Holden & I rode through the winter. Yes, you heard me - the entire winter! This is a girl without an indoor or a riding ring.. He had 2 weeks off in February when the temps got down to below zero but we rode 3-5 days a week, mostly hacking with some short stints of trot when footing allowed. I'm not even going to say it was easy - it wasn't -- but I am SO glad we endured the bitter cold because he came out in spring ready to work. Yes, I'm bragging about our accomplishment - sloughing through the slush SUCKED! Just so you know, Massachusetts had over four feet of snow on the ground at one point.. See the image left, for illustration.
We had our first lesson of the season in April. It was a DISASTER. We get about a quarter mile to where the barn is and our trusty old truck starts to splutter and dies pretty much when we pull up the driveway. I was determined to have a good ride, but
the fates don't play that way - I was nervous about the lesson and
stressed about the truck - needless to say, my demeanor affected Holden
who promptly became a wild and untrained pony.. we spent the lesson
gluing his (and my) confidence back together, but ended with some good
notes that I was able to apply to riding at home.. Good notes which
resulted in a few breakthroughs in the way I ride.
1. Stop babying my horse. Expect more of him, and expect more of myself.
2. Ride the outside of your horse. Don't post off of your ankles, post from your seat.
The 3rd is the most hard, as Jackie Brooks happens to be a few leagues out of my riding capability. By few, I mean one hundred. She is a beautiful and talented rider. I have to remember to ride with my shoulders back and my hands up (think: holding cups of coffee), otherwise I lose effectiveness and strength in my core.
His cuteness...
My breakthrough happened when my instructor diplomatically told me to stop babying my horse and ride the outside of his body. Once I stopped posting from my ankles (chair-seat, a defensive by-product of learning to sit the goosey horses) and tried to post from my seat using my inside thigh muscles and calf, I really saw a huge difference. Holden didn't immediately break into an uncontrolled trot anymore - he stepped into the upward transition. There wasn't as much resistance anymore, or a feeling that he was about to take off. I am constantly reminded how perceptive horses are to their rider's feelings and energies -- once I abandoned my 'defensive' seat and put some angle in my knees and posted more from my core than my legs I found a HUGE difference in Holden's way of going. He was more receptive, less quick, and best of all, seemed calmer.
We have spent the past month alternating between ring work and trail rides - with some trail rides ending in brief (~10m or less) schools where we plop over a crossrail or two. My goal is to continue to plop him over a jump after each ride - he is starting to jump better with his body but is still very ungainly O/F. Our trails are nothing to sneeze at, with steep hills long enough to get your horse's saddle back, but it is good for him to go out as he is not the bravest soul.
We have dabbled in a few small cross country fences (nothing over BN) when we venture over to the local pony club venue called HGP. Holden and I are getting braver at moving out in the open - Holden doesn't seem to like 'pioneering' the trails or open spaces, but is getting much better. Part of it is, I believe, a green horse thing.
We have so far done some banks down and a ditch. We usually trailer to HGP about 1-3x a week - I am trying to get him off property as often as I can to improve both his (and my) confidence alone. Our last "cross country school", which really consisted of a good dressage school out in the field punctuated with walk breaks over fences, was very successful. I worked on transitions and ratability, and spent the warm-up doing lots of transitions, changes of bends, 'pioneering' (which means we trot somewhere we haven't trotted before), and getting him to 'whoa' when I say so. We then schooled the ditch at the walk - the first few times I was left behind and that goosed him (sorry Holden!). He did the green-horse scoot after the fences, so I worked on bringing him back calmly. After repositioning myself in a more "driving" seat, he settled down and we finished the ditch question with a calm and fluid depart. We then did some trotting over a BN log - at first he scooted, so I worked on getting him back to me calmly. We still need to improve on quicker stops after the fence, but we ended the session spectacularly, including jumping the bigger (almost Novice) fence a few times with calm canter departs.
Here is just a boring synopsis of our last week, I have been neglecting keeping track so need somewhere to put it..
THURSDAY 5/14 - Home - Hartwell trail ride with light school after - jumped crossrails, he was good but a little wiggly/unfocused to fence. Need to be more assertive riding him. FRIDAY 5/15 - Home - Hartwell trail ride. SATURDAY 5/16 - GPC - Dressage school w/ Kimmy attending. Holden was squirrelly & distracted, I didn't ride 100%. Heavy on bit, gaping mouth. Kimmy suggested switching bits. SUNDAY 5/17 - TWO RIDES. AM - GPC 'show' in morning - was up, anxious - did W/T by shed but couldn't get him to settle. Hand walked to field, Holden got unnerved. Ended by hacking around premises. PM rode with Katie to Hartwell, did some light schooling in field, hill work, was good but a little goosey. END OF WEEK SYNOPSIS: Need to improve bend in my elbow, pick up and roll back my shoulders, post from the outside and not with my heels. Improvement seen when using 'magic muscle' and sitting upright - think like Jackie Brooks, or Ingrid Klimke. Mostly flat and trail. MONDAY 5/18 - Home - Ring work in new bit (HS Dynamic) was great, super soft, fluid - worked on some pole work, W/T/C and jumped. TUESDAY 5/19 - GPC - flat & XC school, was good, worked on fluidity and tempo. Schooled bank down & ditch. Great on bank down but jumps off, scoots - needs to stop sooner. WEDNESDAY 5/20 - Home - Ring work, very windy. Holden was goosey, kept it short - W/T unintended canter. Hacked out for warm-up. THURSDAY 5/21 - GPC - XC school - worked on 'ratability', w/t/c transitions. Chism had a few up moments. Holden overall was good, had some issues setting up right lead canter. Does boogey after the fence the first few times. Needs quicker brakes. Beginning was patchy, settled into work - GPC had mounted meeting.
Oh yeah! Did I mention I switched his bit? I've been riding him in an eggbutt with a french link in the middle.. A friend suggested switching to something different (she wanted a loose-ring, but I started Holden in a loose ring and he didn't love it) so I went to the Dover Saddlery store in Plaistow and picked up a Herm Sprenger Dynamic RS eggbutt. I honestly cannot believe the difference. He is still green and goosey, but now he is just "there" when I pick up the contact. I'll have to snap more pictures and videos - especially so I can see where I need improvement. We have our second lesson on Monday.. wish us luck!
