Back to Work: Lesson Recap 3/21

Just something a little different until I can get more riding footage

After missing two lessons I’ll admit to having a bit of anxiety as I drove to the barn for my lesson this Tuesday. Partially that was just the fact that when I mounted up on Saturday for my first ride back it felt pretty foreign after two weeks off. Part of it was also just not feeling especially confident about how Katai would behave after the time off and the cold front we were dealing with that day.

 At any rate when I got to the barn she was quiet and easy to get groomed and tacked up. I later learned that she’d been a hellion for Jane when Jane led her back to the barn but she really behaved well in the barn and also for my lesson so maybe she got rid of all of the shenanigans on her own. 

Jane’s early assessment was that between the cold and the time off Katai needed a long warmup and lots of work to get her bending. We had a REALLY nice warmup with her and she was on the bit right away and stretching down and forward rather than doing a giraffe impression. After a fairly long walk warmup we went to trot and Jane wanted me to really focus on getting the contact on both reins and really using my outside rein appropriately. I think we both expected some fireworks because contact on both reins can put so much pressure on pony mare brains but she was right with us the whole time. She never once got upset and, while I needed to keep the contact fairly active at first to show her what I wanted, we got to a place pretty quickly where she was consistently on both reins. It was a great feeling!

 After that we did some leg yields but Jane wanted more crossover than we were getting. I think Katai was slightly stiff and after running around like a goofball all day probably just didn’t feel like using herself. We switched to head to the wall leg yields to help with the crossover. I really struggled but then once I got it at the walk Jane had us do it at the trot. That was way too tough for my brain so after a few good moments (that were really total mistakes on my part since I still couldn’t quite figure out what I was doing) we took a walk break and then went to canter.

We worked on spirals at the canter again and Jane really had me focus on getting my body to bend/turn the correct way and not to collapse or lean. Katai did REALLY well with these! I really think the work with the Vienna reins has been paying off and, of course, all of our ridden canter work is paying off as well. Our transitions were all pretty good, I was able to keep my position pretty well, especially to the left, and overall this exercise went way better on Tuesday than it has in the past. It’s still a bit of a struggle for me but practice makes perfect :)

I have some great homework to work on, including more of those leg yields along the wall, but tonight will be another night off and then I'll ride/lunge/do a spa day Thursday-Sunday. I've got a make up lesson on Saturday so I'll have another recap this weekend!

I’ve also got an exciting announcement to share soon!

Catch Up: Lesson Recap 10/4 and Other Catch Up



Sorry for the recent lack of posts but something really exciting has been going on in my personal life. I may be a little quieter for a while but should be back in full swing soon! At any rate I want to recap this week’s lesson before I entirely forget what we talked about.

The focus this week again was canter. Later in the lesson Jane said something that made me so happy and that’s that me and Katai’s trot is really good, our walk is mostly controlled (when we don’t have angry mare hormones to deal with), and our leg yields are getting really good so she wants out canter to catch up. This is so, so encouraging for me because we’ve never been at a place where we have such consistently good trot much less actually even having any sort of lateral work at all. With that being said we’ve worked through the worst of the flailing at the canter and it’s starting to get consistent as well. The amount of change in Katai (and let be honest, in my riding) is just amazing to me and I’ve only been at this barn for a month now. I can’t even imagine where we’ll be in the spring!

 

She's just totally amazing

To start off we worked on getting Katai to really bend all through her body on a loose rein and to take the contact down. She tends to be tight through the back and in her neck so this is really good for me to learn. What was really interesting was that after doing this in each direction, when we switched back she did this quick, little shake a few times with her head and neck and swished her tail around a couple of times. She was clearly releasing something and she has NEVER done anything like that before. We did each direction again, got a few more twitches out of her, and then went to trot.

We focused on getting my body in the right place and getting me to bend my knees as I sit. I have ALWAYS struggled with being in a chair seat and now to try to correct that I’m compensating by perching since it feels like that will get my legs more under me. On Tuesday when Jane had me correctly sit back more on my pockets my legs shot out in front of me again so we focused on that for a while. As that was getting better she had me do some leg yield down the center line and really focus on staying behind the movement and not trying to ride too much when I feel Katai quitting. I need more practice with this but it got a lot better during this lesson! Then we took a walk break and Jane helped me re-arrange my body again before we went into canter. 

It really is getting to be fall!
This tree is outside my work and it's so pretty

Katai did really well going to the right (my tough side) and we discovered that I’m turning my right toe out and squeezing with the back of my calf rather than the inside. We think it’s a flexibility thing and I also think it’s a strength thing. I’m going to work on that. When we switched to go in the other direction Katai just refused. No, this is hard work I don’t want to don’t make me I’m done I want my dinner please thank you. So, I picked up a dressage whip for the first time in a long time just to help reinforce my forward leg aid since pony was being very ponyish and just stopping and digging her heels in. She wasn’t happy about it but when I asked gently with the whip she did go forward and we got some great canter in that direction.

After a little trot break we went back to canter again. Just like T, we’re at a place where we just need to canter so we’re really working on doing it a lot, for short sections of the ride. Once I had the dressage whip I only needed to use it a couple more times and then Katai got the memo and started to just listen to my leg.

Being a dressage pony is hard work!

Just like last week I decided to lunge on Wednesday since it’s a good way to give her a lighter day but still get her moving so she doesn’t get too stiff. Jane came and watched for a bit again and really likes this as part of my riding schedule so Wednesday Lunging Day is officially a thing now. Katai was quite stiff to start off, she had gotten a good workout the day before, and was a little crabby. I let her take her time moving slowly and gradually as she softened up we went back to the canter on the lunge, in side reins.

She started off a bit sluggish but really started to get it and maintain her own, slow momentum after a bit. After a trot break and some walk we switched to the other side and did a bit more. I stopped before she got too tired and when we went over to talk with Jane, Jane mentioned that Katai’s eyes were so much softer and she was quiet and relaxed. She’s really appreciating our new routine and I’m learning how to help with that relaxation which is amazing! I plan to ride tonight, Saturday, and Sunday and can’t wait to see my amazing mare 

Contact: Lesson Recap 9/27

Yesterday I was REALLY dragging all day. I was so tired that I felt like I couldn’t keep my eyes open and my head hurt all day. I made it through work, barely, and left about an hour early. I used my extra time at home to make some good food and make sure I just sat and rested for a little while and then I headed to the barn for my lesson.

I struggled to stay awake on the drive there but once there as soon as I started moving I felt better. Because of traffic I was running a little late so I tacked Katai up fairly quickly. As I was getting her ready both Jane and I noticed that she was being quite sassy. There was a lot of ear pinning, ugly faces, and she even nipped at me when I went to tighten her girth for probably the first time ever. I’m going to consider treatment for ulcers but also I’m sure it’s her time of the month. She was touchy about her lower back and was so, so, stiff that she turned around without bending her body at all, like a 2x4.

Poor mare! I really like Jane’s take on this though and that is that riding can be the best therapy if you take the horse’s needs into account and ride them correctly. Instead of saying poor baby and leaving her in her stall to be stiff, we headed to the arena to help her get moving correctly and feeling better.

We started off focusing on a nice relaxed, regular walk rhythm while doing 5-6 loop serpentines up and down the arena. Jane wanted me to really focus on the bend and think of my inside arm like a piston that I draw straight back to keep/get/enforce the bend to the inside. After a few of these going both ways in the arena we moved into a trot around the full arena. With big circles focusing on almost overbending her at each end and in the middle.

She started off very choppy and stiff but as she worked out of it we started to do some leg yields down the center line. I’m still a little ways away from really getting these but I’m so much closer than I ever have been and was very nearly there towards the end yesterday. As usual, as soon as I figure out my body and stop doing wonky things Katai is actually able to use herself and do these correctly. Jane is having me focus on keeping her straight and wants me to think about almost having her haunches lead. She also wants me to stop flailing getting ahead of the motion.

After that we took a brief walk break and then went to canter. For some reason our transitions are good but Katai’s canter has fallen off the rails a bit. Not sure if it’s #hormonalmareproblems or if it’s one of those things were it’s going to get worse before it gets better but at the very least it’s a change and that’s always interesting/encouraging. She’s having trouble maintaining her canter in both directions and it’s really flat but she’s transitioning into it well, that is when she doesn’t get extremely tight and tie herself in knots like she was tonight. I’m going to start working her at the canter in side reins to see if it helps her to figure it out without me up there also flailing trying to figure out where to sit.

Jane said something really interesting to me though. Basically that I have very light sensitive contact, which she likes, but that sometimes I need to have more contact to get her to the right place and then immediately lighten. That makes perfect sense, and I’d like to think that I’m aware of that, but what I realized as we were talking is that I’m actually, finally RIDING the trot right now. Very actively, keeping/putting her where she needs to be and making quick effect corrections to get her to a good place as needed and then being soft and steady. However, I am NOT doing that at walk or canter. In both gaits because of her fussiness Katai has turned me into a passenger who tries to just be quiet and not upset anything so that she doesn’t freak out. It’s not effective, it’s not helping, and I need to just RIDE both gaits like I am at the trot.

Something to think about/work on during my next few rides anyway!

Spring Schedule and Ride Recap

I have so many fun horse things coming up over the next 1-2 months!

To start off, this weekend I ride on Saturday, lesson on Sunday and then I’ll be going to see H ride in a dressage schooling show at a gorgeous facility on the west side of the twin cities!

The following weekend I don’t have any current horse related plans but then after that (sort of the following weekend) I’ll be riding in another Suzanne Winslade clinic on May 9^th! So excited for that one.

Then, next weekend I have vacation Thursday and Friday with Friday being the start of the MN Horse Expo!! I LOVE going to the horse expo and usually take a day off so that I can spend a ton of time there. In the past it’s been an hour drive for me but now it’s actually within walking distance of where I live (I’ll be driving so that I can do more shopping but it will be a short drive) so that will mean that I can literally spend the whole day there on Friday. On Saturday I’ll be watching H ride in a Janet Foy clinic (!!!) and then we’re going to the expo after and finally I have my lesson on Sunday.

Then there will be another couple of quiet (maybe) weekends and finally on May 29^th Katai and I will basically be doing our first real show. We did do one previous schooling show but I rode in the ring that I was used to having lessons in, with my instructor as my judge, and before the show actually started since I was able to be there then so that doesn’t really count.

To prepare for the clinic and show I’m working hard to make sure that Katai and I are both prepared even though I know the wheels will come off at the show. At least I won’t feel like I didn’t prepare her which will mean that I can be more relaxed.

Speaking of that, I’m so proud of both Katai and myself for our ride last night. To start off I really was thinking about not going. I know, I know, I’ve been trying to actually get 5 rides in for a few weeks now but it was gorgeous out and the plan for riding was to ride indoors. Plus, the next day was supposed to be nice as well and I was going to spend the afternoon/evening at the barn again getting Katai’s feet trimmed.

However, I did make myself go and was so happy that I did. It was very quiet at the barn, probably because everyone else was outside enjoying the gorgeous weather, so that meant that I got the arena to myself and we used all of it. To start off Katai was a little bit short and seemed stiff. I’m sure it was because she tore around on the lunge line yesterday in deeper footing but it did make me wonder how productive our ride was going to be. I ended up being surprised and pleased with her behavior since after our warm up she went right into work mode.

We did a lot of our ride using the whole ring including working on some leg yield. I definitely need to get my body in the right place but right now part of the problem is that when we start going straight down the quarter line Katai knows what’s up and gets fussy. That then makes it hard for me to concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing and just doesn’t set us up for success. The focus last night was to get rid of that fussiness and make this just part of the routine so that Katai continues in the same balance and remains on contact. Then L can help me focus on myself. 

After we did several of those in each direction, playing with staying on the quarter line or sometimes doing a leg yield in either direction, and Katai was calmer and less fussy and took a brief walk break we did some walk/trot/walk transitions. This has always been a struggle for Katai but last night they were better than they’ve ever been. She was staying on the contact and not flinging her head in the air and I could really feel the power coming up and through from behind rather than feeling like we were falling apart on the forehand. She was also really responsive to my leg and going right into the trot when I cued rather than making me beg for it. Even better, she didn’t lose her mind the third or fourth time that I cued for it which is a huge improvement since these normally make her pretty hot.

Finally I decided to ask for a small amount of canter in each direction. Instead of asking her to do it from a slower trot I sort of let her run into in but I was concentrating on myself and making sure that I wasn’t hindering her forward movement by grabbing. Probably because of this, she did a really nice transition without throwing her head in the air and she remained calm and cool through the circle or two that we did. Going to the left, my tough direction from Sunday, I was focusing really hard on my left hand and keeping it forward (again I didn’t have enough contact but that’s better than jerking back as she makes the transition) and we had a lovely transition. She really sat and pushed forward and again remained calmer than she has.

The wheels fell off a little when we came back to trot. Katai was bulging her left shoulder into the circle really bad and didn’t want to bend. Plus she was like a runaway freight train and not listening to my cues to slow down. I got a semi decent half circle and then called it. I really didn’t want to work her into the ground especially after the rest of our ride was so nice and she normally has been doing really well in her trot after canter.

Video Recap - 10/5

Finally a video that I'm comfortable posting! I know we've got a lot of work to do, please forgive my complete and utter lack of ability to do anything properly with my upper body, but I'm so proud of how far we've come and Katai is seriously like a different horse!

I think this video is private so if you can't see it please let me know!