Three Lesson Catch Up

Alrighty. I've had three lessons since last entry.

First, was a jump lesson. It wasn't too eventful. We started jumping a little higher, I think. But, notable things to remember: 1. Toes out, heels down over the jump! 2. Don't curl your back with your horse when you jump, keep back more flat! 3. Don't take your eye off the jump until it dissappears from your field of view on the approach. 4. You have to ride hard into one strides and combinations. That's all I can think of...

Next lesson was a dressage lesson, and it was goooood. Still using the hot dog bit. Borrowed Martha's spurs. We learned all about the shoulder in. At first, when you ask for the shoulder in, it's easiest to start coming out of a 10m circle, because you already have the correct bend. Your outside leg is back a little bit. Your inside leg is under you. And your hands are to the inside, like when it is done correctly, your outside hand should be even with your bellybutton. And you should be sitting on your inside seatbone. It was hard for me to catch onto at first because when I think shoulder in, I think: use outside leg to push shoulders off the wall. Wrong. We get our bend with our hands, and if we need have our inside rein out like a lunge line. Then we use lots and lots of inside leg underneath of us to keep the horse on the track. This is where those spurs came in super handy. Because he is a big horse and that is a big body to keep molded into a certain position. And your horse is traveling on three different tracks. The inside foreleg is on it's own track. The outside foreleg and inside hind leg are on their own track together, and the outside hind leg is on it's own track. And the horse is moving forward. And the thing is, that you can't really tell what's going on down there under you when you're riding. All that 'track' business sort of went over my head. So, we were walking down the wall, attempting this and Martha keeps saying how you need to be looking straight ahead. (This is going on in the indoor where there are these FANTASTIC mirrors on the ends of the arena so you can see yourself. And finally she yells "LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD! LOOK IN YOUR MIRROR!" And voila. I looked into the mirror directly in front of us that we were heading for and saw my horse and saw the three tracks. He looked like a three legged creature from straight on, one front leg moving on its own, the two diagonal legs moving together as one, and then the other hind leg. It was a 'eureka!' moment. But it was sooooo coooool! And we progressed to being able to do it without the 10m circle and could just do it out of our corners. Then we worked it at the trot which was a little rough, but we had some shining shoulder-in moments. And the purpose behind all this is that the shoulder in helps your horse learn to bring his inside hind leg closer to your outside rein, get his butt up under you and develop some hock action. We did some canter-work next, and worked on leg yielding at the canter. Again, with the same purpose as the shoulder-in basically. So we leg yielding and suddenly, when we did it right, he felt amazingly light on the forehand, and his shoulders were lifted, and his hind end was under him. Martha said 'tell him what a good boy he is!! this it hard for him!!' and I did and she commented again about what good work ethic he has. We worked some on leads, also. And she said that at this point, he knows. And that he is a big boy now and its not acceptable for him to keep taking the incorrect lead over and over again. She said to 'make an impression on him' when he takes the wrong lead. Which I did and he said 'oh crap, I really do have to use my brain and do what she asks.' And then she said when he does it right, you also have to 'make an impression on him.' So, when he would take the correct lead, I would lean forward and rub his neck and tell him what a good boy he is! It was a really productive lesson and the spurs were GREAT.

And today we went cross-country schooling at Flying Cross--a beautiful farm 6 miles down the road. Hickory was an ANGEL. We talked about how, when you are galloping along, you are off their back so they can roll under you, but you are disconnected. And then seven or eight strides out from the jump you should sit lightly and start doing the 'hoola hoop' like motion, to engage their hind end. This becomes a signal, the hoola hoop motion says ok, engage yourself, get that hind end under you, there's something coming up we need to prepare for. And you may also have to adjust their balance with your leg and reins but that eventually sitting down on their back becomes its own half halt and they learn what to do. We did some littler warm up stuff. Then we went to a different field and jumped off a pretty good sized drop. I was really really proud of Hick, because we've had jumping off bank problems in the past. And this one was basically like a big ramp you cantered up in the middle of the field and then jumped off. I was waiting for him to stop, but he stretched his neck down and peered off the edge as we got close and jumped right off! And my balance has been great coming off the drops lately, too. Then we had our first refusal. It was a pretty good sized rolltop looking thing and we were galloping a little uphill towards it. And he pulled his characteristic, 'we're going away from the barn/trailer, i'm going to get behind your leg and not go perfectly straight, don't really want to do this,STOP.' And I was very glad he did, because that meant Martha got to see it. She said, and i paraphrase, "He is just being silly. You lose him, he gets lost behind your leg and loses his straightness and it's just silly. He needs to be more trained at jumps like these, in situations like this. Train him. Don't let him stop. Don't let him get behind your leg. Teach him that we will NEVER put him in a situation that will harm him, use your spur and give him that bravery.' So we came up to it again and of course, it was the second time and we hopped right over it. But we then circled around to a pretty good sized log that probably wouldn't be on a Novice course, maybe a training? I will describe it as a fake Trakehner, there wasn't really a ditch underneath it.. but the log was raised up off the ground and there was a 'faux' ditch--like a little box that extended from a foot or two in front to a foot or two behind that you had to clear to clear the jump. It looked big and scary to me and I didn't think we were goign to jump it when we came into the field. But off we went. And I used it for a training ride to teach him. We tore at it and when he started to look a ways back I popped him on the butt and he said yikes! and kept his impulsion and stayed in front of my leg. He looked at it again a stride or two out and I popped him on the shoulder and then used my spurs at the base of the jump and he flew over it, perfectly! Everyone was happy. I don't think they put one strides on novice cross-country, but i'm not sure. So this next one might have been a training level jump. But it was two log stacks on a trail with one stride inbetween. We talked about needing to ride the first fence strong and really be sure to ride inbetween. And Martha commented on his nimbleness as he took the first jump like a champ and then skirted to a stop before the second one. But we weren't mad at him because he really hasn't done very many one strides in his life and this was a pretty sizeable one. So, the second time around I hollered 'Hickory, come on!' and used a little spur on the landing and he said 'oh, she means business!' and went on. He was really scared of the next jump we jumped, but at this point was starting to learn his lesson of the day and so was I. I really started to understand how to ride to cross-country jumps and inspire your horse to get over them. You really just have to ride strong and they learn not to be afraid, that you aren't putting them in danger. So, it was really great. On the way home we talked about how it's been the same in both my dressage and my jumping, that I haven't really pushed through to the horse on the other side, before. It takes some work on both of mine and Hickory's parts, but that there is a whole nother horse on the other side of the 'behind your leg, uninspiring trot, i think i might stop at this jump, i want to curl my head' horse and it may take some effort and work nand a few bucks maybe and some tail swishing to get there, but that's the side we need to be on to be doing things correctly. So, the game plan is to do Gemwood Novice and then maybe do one more Novice at Penny Oaks and then get a Training Level under our belts at Flying Cross and the end of the summer. Yay!