Today was another "in-between" ride. I decided to do a lesson since I'm off work for the next two weeks to study and this would be a good motivator to get me out of bed early!!!
We started out in the large outdoor arena again and got a little break from circles. Instead we were working on getting her to stay on the rail in a relaxed working trot. For the first three years that I owned Secret, we didn't have an arena at either of the two barns where I boarded -- I was a grad student, ie. poor. So, she's really not used to be asked to stay on a rail or even stay straight, so we're having to re-teach that. She also tends to get really anxious in the outdoor arena for reasons that escape me because she's usually perfectly fine on the trail; sometimes I wonder if it's just boredom.
She started off acting pretty silly along the rail, just randomly tossing her head and making militant 90 degree turns to the middle of the arena. My trainers advice was instead of trying to pull her head back to the rail, because that messes up our pretty bend to the inside, OPEN the outside rein keeping the outside hand up, wiggle (multiple half halts) on the inside rein, and LOTS of inside leg. It's amazing how well this works, but you have to approach it with alot of patience. I have to tell myself that I have the WHOLE arena to get her back on the rail and then just keep harrasing her with the above maneuver until she gets back over there, however long it takes. At first it sometimes took the whole long side, but as the lesson went on she got better and better.
The next component was getting her to consistently stay in a relaxed working trot. This has always been a struggle with Secret, especially in bigger areas. She always tends to get excited and wants to get fast and choppy as opposed to lengthening her stride. So today we were working on making sure that I stayed relaxed and then controlled the cadence of my posting. The more I can do that, the more it will encourage her to relax and to lengthen her stride in time with my posting. Keeping a certain cadence to your posting sounds really easy, but its hard to do. I always want to match her pace and it's hard for me to set my own when I can feel her pushing me out of the saddle. The good news is that when I'm able to do it, she comes back to me really quickly.
When she was really going around on the rail consistently and relaxed we started to do some large serpentines. For these I would half-circle into it, then walk a few strides to straighten, start the opposite bend and ask for the trot. Once my trainer felt as though we were both doing this well (for our first time anyway). We decided to move back into the smaller indoor arena for canter work. During our trot work earlier she had gotten excited and done a bit of canter (almost one full long side at one point) and it had seemed less scary to me than before. So, we had thought about doing some canter work outside, but I was worried that I would get scared again and set us backwards, so we went in.
In retrospect, I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't have the courage to try to canter in the larger arena, but I'm always VERY happy that we went in because our canter work was AWESOME today. She did great in both directions, staying on the rail and not breaking to a trot in the corners. She also did well with the canter-trot tansition and actually continuing to trot instead of abruptly just dropping to a walk. Both my trainer and I were thrilled!
I have to say that I think it's really beneficial that my trainer has ridden her a few times. Its given her a chance to learn all of Secret's little tricks that she likes to pull on me so that she can help me work through them. It's definitely helped to lessen my frustration and its made our communication better because we've both experienced it and I don't have to describe what's going on in exquisite detail to get help. Totally, TOTALLY worth every penny.
Showing posts with label posting trot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label posting trot. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sometimes you have to go through some ugly stuff to get to the good stuff.
The title is a Clinton Anderson quote and I take no credit for it!
But, I will say that its very true. After a very ugly lesson on Sunday, I was determined to work on some stuff on Monday (especially since it was a holiday!). It was pretty quiet at the barn and I had the arena to myself so I set up my ground poles then went to get my horse. After tacking up I lunged her to look for any soreness from the day before then I worked with her on side-passing again before mounting up.
During the exercise we worked on my posting, my two-point, the ground poles, tight corners, and side-passing.
--> There is not a whole of progress on the posting front, but I think my legs are slowly getting better. It's just going to be a slow process.
--> My two-point came a little easier than the day before though its still not pretty.
--> The ground-pole exercise saw alot of progress. Secret figured out alot quicker where to put her feet so she could trot through, I was able to reliquish some control and trying to micro-manage every step, I was able to keep my eyes up and ahead, and overall the two of us were looking pretty good over those poles towards the end!
--> The tight corners still need ALOT of work, I'm thinking we may have to put some cones down.
--> The side-passing surprised the hell out of me. This was the first time we'd tried it from the saddle. I took her back to the same wall where I'd asked on the ground, I put my leg on and laid the rein on her neck and, once again, that heffer side-passed like it was no big deal! Meanwhile I was jumping up and down screeching on the inside.
Once again, there remains alot to work on, but with progress and positive reinforcement like that it really motivates me to put in the extra effort to ride after work during the week. I'm actually excited about schooling my horse again and it feels great!
But, I will say that its very true. After a very ugly lesson on Sunday, I was determined to work on some stuff on Monday (especially since it was a holiday!). It was pretty quiet at the barn and I had the arena to myself so I set up my ground poles then went to get my horse. After tacking up I lunged her to look for any soreness from the day before then I worked with her on side-passing again before mounting up.
During the exercise we worked on my posting, my two-point, the ground poles, tight corners, and side-passing.
--> There is not a whole of progress on the posting front, but I think my legs are slowly getting better. It's just going to be a slow process.
--> My two-point came a little easier than the day before though its still not pretty.
--> The ground-pole exercise saw alot of progress. Secret figured out alot quicker where to put her feet so she could trot through, I was able to reliquish some control and trying to micro-manage every step, I was able to keep my eyes up and ahead, and overall the two of us were looking pretty good over those poles towards the end!
--> The tight corners still need ALOT of work, I'm thinking we may have to put some cones down.
--> The side-passing surprised the hell out of me. This was the first time we'd tried it from the saddle. I took her back to the same wall where I'd asked on the ground, I put my leg on and laid the rein on her neck and, once again, that heffer side-passed like it was no big deal! Meanwhile I was jumping up and down screeching on the inside.
Once again, there remains alot to work on, but with progress and positive reinforcement like that it really motivates me to put in the extra effort to ride after work during the week. I'm actually excited about schooling my horse again and it feels great!
Back in the Saddle
For reasons that I will never be able to explain, I purchased my first horse while in graduate school. As if this wasn't bad enough, said horse was a 3yr old QH/Arab. Fortunately, I got lucky with her because she has been dead quiet since day 1. Unfortunately, being a graduate student I obviously had no money and boarding was a nightmare. I spent my first three years with her at two "barns" that were basically in someone's back yard. This meant no arena to work or school my young horse in, so we've spent three years riding on relatively flat pieces of pasture -- I would not recommend this to any one.
Then, FINALLY, I graduated. I got a fellowship and, although I am still incredibly poor, can now afford to board her at a nice place with an arena (TWO in fact, one with cover and lights!). So I am back on the lesson schedule and back in the saddle. What follows (hopefully) is a diary of working with a now 6yr old, and still green, mare and a 27yr old, and still green, rider. This should be fun!
So, our first lesson at the new place was basically me trying to post again. Since I had been doing almost exclusively trail riding for months, I had let my stirrups WAY WAY down to be more comfortable on long trail rides. The result of that, as it turns out, is that my seat developed beautifully but my legs are now way out in front like a chair seat. UGH! So, there I am trotting around the arena with my legs flapping almost uncontrollably (and probably very comically to anyone watching) and panting for breath. My horse, who was also panting for breath, was too busy looking around at all the new surroundings and activities to be bothered to trot a straight line.
After about 45 minutes of berating me for how awful my legs are, my trainer suggests that we let out the stirrups and check out the canter. A year ago that statement would have scared the bejeezus outta me. But, in the intervening time I had pulled a trick on my trainer... and myself. I had gotten used to riding with really long stirrups and cantering down a twisty trail, dodging trees. So I let my stirrups out, asked for the canter, and off we went! My mare on the correct lead and me with my legs back and my hands down. My trainer's jaw it the dirt and her eyes were about as big as dinner plates. Kinda surprised me too, but there it was nonetheless.
The up-side of this lesson was that at the canter my previously, grossly unbalanced mare, who loved nothing better than to cross-fire, was able to pick up the correct lead reliably in both directions and I was able to actually keep my back-side in the saddle and not yank on her face. The down-side of this lesson was that the posting trot really needs work and my mare is still not really straight. So, we had some stuff to celebrate and lots to work on... a successful lesson!
Then, FINALLY, I graduated. I got a fellowship and, although I am still incredibly poor, can now afford to board her at a nice place with an arena (TWO in fact, one with cover and lights!). So I am back on the lesson schedule and back in the saddle. What follows (hopefully) is a diary of working with a now 6yr old, and still green, mare and a 27yr old, and still green, rider. This should be fun!
So, our first lesson at the new place was basically me trying to post again. Since I had been doing almost exclusively trail riding for months, I had let my stirrups WAY WAY down to be more comfortable on long trail rides. The result of that, as it turns out, is that my seat developed beautifully but my legs are now way out in front like a chair seat. UGH! So, there I am trotting around the arena with my legs flapping almost uncontrollably (and probably very comically to anyone watching) and panting for breath. My horse, who was also panting for breath, was too busy looking around at all the new surroundings and activities to be bothered to trot a straight line.
After about 45 minutes of berating me for how awful my legs are, my trainer suggests that we let out the stirrups and check out the canter. A year ago that statement would have scared the bejeezus outta me. But, in the intervening time I had pulled a trick on my trainer... and myself. I had gotten used to riding with really long stirrups and cantering down a twisty trail, dodging trees. So I let my stirrups out, asked for the canter, and off we went! My mare on the correct lead and me with my legs back and my hands down. My trainer's jaw it the dirt and her eyes were about as big as dinner plates. Kinda surprised me too, but there it was nonetheless.
The up-side of this lesson was that at the canter my previously, grossly unbalanced mare, who loved nothing better than to cross-fire, was able to pick up the correct lead reliably in both directions and I was able to actually keep my back-side in the saddle and not yank on her face. The down-side of this lesson was that the posting trot really needs work and my mare is still not really straight. So, we had some stuff to celebrate and lots to work on... a successful lesson!
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