Merlin

In a months time or so I'm teaching a workshop on ground work (labelled as natural horsemanship but I soooo hate that label). I'm doing a demo as part of it, so I needed a project horse I could work with and show clients why ground work is important.
The horse I was given to work with was Merlin. Merlin is a 15hhish Lusitano stallion, trained as a trick horse previously. He has been on box rest for several months after his tendon sheath became inflamed. He has THE worst ground manners of any horse here (and that's saying something- manners isn't a necessity for horses here like it is in Aus). Leading him you will always be bitten, barged into and dragged around. He's also pretty horse aggressive and extremely territorial and 'stalliony'.
I haven't actually ridden him, but he is a very hot and stressy horse under saddle too. Only one client is allowed to ride him on occasion, otherwise he is ridden by Wanda.

So really, he's the perfect candidate to illustrate how basic ground work can improve ease of handling, and just how much you can pick up just by watching their body language.

I started on the lead-rope, just getting him to keep out of my space a little, and respond to basic body cues (i.e. step toward his hindquarter = move away from me). The early stages are always hard. He doesn't know what the heck I'm asking and would prefer to just be nibbling and playing (and basically stand on top of me). He is VERY smart, though so it wasn't too many sessions before we were working at liberty in the round yard.
We are doing pretty basic exercises. Back up and walk forward, lead with me at his shoulder, following, changing directions on a circle, moving sideways etc. and he now knows exactly what I'm asking. The difficult is keeping his attention and keeping him 'under the thumb'. If he even hears another horse walking close by he will just ignore me and start his territorial behaviour.
Also, if I relax for a moment and am not paying attention, he'll still try to sneak in a bite or a barge. Cheeky bugger.

I think he has improved quite a bit. He will get out of my space without too much trouble now, and his leading at liberty and on lead is dramatically better. You still  need to be on top of him, but as long as you keep one eye on him, he's wonderful and relaxed. I haven't actually been bitten by him yet (touch wood!) so if I can keep that going I'm sure it will make him easier to deal with.

I also really just love him. I think he's very misunderstood and needs to just chill for a bit. He doesn't like dressage- he's trained a trick horse and that's what he does well. Ask him to bow and rear and his whole facial expression changes and all stress leaves his body. The ground work is good for him too- I get some real relaxation from him.
Most of the staff are either scared of him, or dislike him because he's difficult. Poor bub! Meanwhile I sneak him in some hand grazing and make him flower crowns :D

Thankfully Wanda is on my side and has convinced Tina to offer him for 'trick training' lessons, instead of dressage lessons, which I think is fantastic. I get to also continue my work with him while I'm here, and come September he is possibly going to go into the mounted falconry business.

Wanda has promised me a ride on him at some point (yay!), but until then we'll keep working away at his ground work in between some loving. Every horse needs some loving!

Advanced Lessons

I've been doing a fair few lessons on the schoolmasters this week. I personally still don't think I'm hugely ready, but the instructors here love to spring stuff on me and throw me in the deep end.
I rode Unico with Wanda in a private lesson which was pretty amazing. Unico is a 15hh Lusitano stallion, in a previous life he was a bullfighting horse, now he is trained to Advanced level and is available for lessons.
He is sooooo different to ride than any of the other horses here. Although to be honest, every single advanced horse is so different and the aids must be used in different ways. The problem I had with Unico is pressing the right button. Each aid has several possible outcomes, so it was very easy to ask for, say, a medium trot instead of a canter transition. Or a piaffe instead of a trot transition.
I found myself continually apologising to Unico for confusing him!
Thankfully for this lesson it was mostly about finding what works for him, and controlling him more with my core and less with my hands and legs.
Unico really showed the weakness in my core. I am obviously trying to compensate with my legs and hands, which works for the lower level horses, but absolutely does not work for the advanced horses. So much of controlling him was release and tense of my stomach, and weight aids.
For instance, for the right canter transition- I had to step into my right stirrup/right seat bone, lift my core and use my inside leg on the girth. The outside leg came back, but did absolutely nothing. So difficult! I kept trying to use my outside leg to pop him into canter, which just told him to half pass.
We finished with some no stirrup work, trying to make my position solid and stomach muscles constantly working. I was very sweaty after this lesson!

Crappy phone pic of me on Unico without stirrups

I've had two lessons on the Big Orange warmblood Lula this week. Really, really love this horse. Never thought I'd love a warmblood so much, but she is just so comfy and responsive. I feel like a dressage queen riding her.

First lesson was a pretty quick lesson, working over trot poles. Lula found this VERY exciting. She doesn't jump, and she mostly does plain flat lessons, so trot poles got her engine going. She is so strong (and big. 17hh is too big)

The exercise was to trot over three trot poles keeping her together (core engage!), leg yield or half pass to the track and then a canter transition.

What I particularly love about Lula is how much she teaches me in the laterals. Laterals are her strong point, but you must be perfectly positioned to get it. I have the habit of not turning my body enough in the half pass- but Lula demands it!

Just to be extra confusing after my lesson with Unico, Lula's canter transition comes more from the outside leg, too much inside leg = extended trot. Thankfully I realised my mistake after the first unexpected extended trot, and we had lovely transitions from then on.

Such a beautiful big orange

The second lesson on Lula with Dawn was SERIOUSLY intense. It was three of the advanced horses in a lesson, which I haven't experienced yet. We started with some shoulder-in down the centreline ( a lot harder to do than it sounds. No wall to block the outside of the horse!) and then going from shoulder-in to half pass.

We also did a bit of travers and renvers. I find travers very easy, horses generally travel with their quarters in anways. Renvers is a bit harder, but I find if I can get the horse into shoulder-in, it's somewhat easy to just change the bend from there, rather than trying to start off in renvers.

And then the intense part started! Started out with some walk pirouettes. This should have clued me in to what was coming next.

In the canter, we were instructed to canter down each quarter line, so basically a straight line with a 10m half circle at each end. Okay. Not too bad.

Then we were instructed down the centreline in canter and onto the quarterline. Freakin-hard! That is not much space at all! Especially for a giant orange warmblood!

I found I could get the turn, but I couldn't keep the canter after the turn, I just kept letting it fizz out. Once again it was my balance of inside and outside leg, and also my overall position- going against all my previous training, I was to sit BEHIND the movement of the canter. Crazy, but it worked.

And then... across the diagonal in the canter, half pirouette, and canter back the same way. Holy shiiiit!

Took me a few tries, but damn I got it! And even got a clean flying change afterwards! Took about every ounce of core strength I have, which still isn't enough, but damn it, I did it!

And finally, I had a half hour private lesson with Tina herself on Unico. Super nervous about this one. I always feel like I'm not riding her horses well enough, and I'm afraid to push them. Instead I'm 100% focused on my position, which is not a bad thing I guess.

Since it was such a brief lesson, we didn't do a huge amount of exercises- it was still just getting used to him, making sure his positioning was correct before I even tried to put aids on, and making a lot of mistakes and confusing the hell out of the poor horse.

We worked a bit on some shoulder-in, travers and half pass which was fine. Moving into canter I was struggling with the transition again. I kept asking him for piaffe! I really need to work on my weight aids and making sure he is on the same wavelength as me. It is so easy on Unico to move your leg an inch without realising, and suddenly he's thinking about a flying change, not a bend to the inside.

So basically, I need more control, more awareness of my body, and once again, more strength.

I did come out smiling from this lesson- Tina told me how much I had improved, and praised me heavily for the lesson. Yay yay!

I still feel like a sack of potatoes, but I'm obviously less of a sack of potatoes than I was two months ago.

I've gotta go out a ride now! Another advanced lesson with Joao on Real. Will update soon!

Success!

Had a fantastic ride on Thursday 'Cake Club'. I rode Ted the TB, and it was a no-stirrup lesson. The exercises weren't terribly difficult (rising trot, trot-canter-trot transitions, 20m circles) but I still had an epiphany. One (of many) of the weaknesses in my riding is my leg position. I tend to ride with my toes pointing out, and the back of my calf on the horse. I blame this on jumping.
When I don't have any stirrups, I am forced to ride with my leg around the horse- i.e. toes forward and the inside of my calf on the horse. This improved Ted's paces ten hundreds times. He used his back more, he was more controlled, and he had more impulsion, all because I could wrap my legs around him and use my aids almost underneath his ribcage. This is exactly what Joao was talking about in my last lesson with Romeo a few weeks ago.
As soon as I had the epiphany, I took my stirrups back to attempt getting the same feeling and position. Took me most of the lesson, but I got there!

Sooo, Friday Elite Class.
I dread Elite class. I am just not elite level, and Tina (as we should all know by now) is very tough. To make it even worse, I was assigned Saffy. Good God I find that mare so tricky to ride.
I start every lesson determined to do better, and this was no exception. Tina had us warm-up by ourselves, as per usual, and I immediately started getting Saffy off my leg. I had her marching around the arena like mad in free walk, then started walk-trot transitions, moving into a bit of medium trot and leg yields.
She thankfully was having a good day, and wasn't sticking her head up like a giraffe and plodding along. I actually had a bit of horse underneath me, and as the ride went on she got better.

I do find with Saffy that even when I get her rounding and somewhat forward, she tends to tip onto her forehand and lean on my hands. This is where I had her when Tina stepped in. She instructed us in a very simple exercise to improve the trot, but one I struggled with because of said tipping on the forehand. I was to pick up counter-canter on the long side and keep it around the short side without losing impulsion or letting Saffy get strung out.
Took several tries to get it- I needed waaaay more inside leg on the girl during the canter. I must admit I tend to use my outside leg a bit more, and forget about my inside. When really I must use the outside leg to get the correct lead during the transition, and then inside leg to keep the canter going. The outside only comes back on if the hindquarter drifts towards the inside (when actually it's generally the other way around- most horses are almost in a travers position during canter on a straight line)
Once I got it, Saffy's trot was just dreamy. Light, impulsive, round, and I could keep my position effortlessly. Yay!
Tina even gave us a few compliments! Double yay!

I finally had another lesson with Joao this week (been a little while!) and rode the lovely Real. I really like riding Real. He's an advanced schoolmaster, so he is obviously very well trained, but he is also lovely and sensitive and definitely not a boring ride! We did a few crazy leaps around the arena, must admit.
In between the leaping and running we had a fantastic workout. I was sweating like crazy after the ride- Joao is just as good as a personal trainer! No new exercises- did some shoulder-fore, walk-canter-walk transitions, travers etc. But all throughout the exercises we had to try and get the horses working a little better. Real needed more oomph, but less running away, and needed to be a bit more consistent on the bridle.
I am happy to report that Joao was happy with my positioning! Not once did he say anything about my hands! Huge step forward for me. He did say I need to be a bit tougher with the horses and demand a bit more, but the fact he was happy with how I was riding was good enough for me.

Plenty more blogs to come!

Bit of this and that

Went for a lovely couple of hacks these last few days. Wanda has a giant warmblood baby that needs to do some fitness and relaxing work, so I've been tagging along to keep her company and keep Monty quiet.
The other day I rode Toby on the hack, one of the kids ponies. He's such good fun. He has the slowest walk and trot, but get him into canter and he's off! Good luck stopping him once he's on a roll.

Toby

I'm really enjoying my hacks. The English countryside is so very different, so it's very refreshing and interesting. I have always been a part-time trail rider too, so it's nice to get out.

I rode Romeo yesterday on out trail adventure. Mostly walking as we were exploring and mostly were on roads, or very hard ground. Still more than pretty! We ended up staying out for a good two hours.

Today we did a mock teaching assessment with Tina. Five of the staff were mounted while one of us did a quick jumping lesson. I started on Saffy in the warm up. I had her going forward, which was something I guess. As soon as the warm-up was over it was my turn to teach the staff over a single cross rail.
I thought I started out well. I was in teacher mode. But I will admit I completely lost my confidence and had a literal cry to Tina afterwards. As far as I can tell, I did nothing right. Placing pole is wrong. I wasn't picking up basic corrections. I wasn't being critical enough. I wasn't coaching anyone. Pretty much everything I did, Tina had something negative to say.
It seems that every lesson I have with Tina I come out with less confidence than I had before. It probably means I over-analyse and am too hard on myself, but I take it as I can't teach/ride, there was nothing good to come of it, and why the heck should I keep trying?
So me (and another of the staff who felt much the same as I did- i.e. humiliated and useless) had a few tears in the office. Tina basically told us to move on, and that we would obviously not make the same mistakes again,
I think I just struggle with tough instructors! I suppose I need some encouragement of some kind, otherwise I just give up.

For the rest of that teaching practice lesson I rode Xariel (pronounced Sha-Reel), one of the Lusitano stallions. He's not a jumper. He can't see very well out of one eye, and tends to run out dramatically and charge into walls and other horses. He wasn't too bad today- He stopped a few times, but it wasn't too crazy. He was lovely to ride. Baroque horses are for me! Lipizzaners are better, but I guess I can make do with Lusitanos!

We also had another gallop around the field on the ponies today. It was quiet in lessons, so the ponies needed exercising so they aren't completely feral for the busy weekend. I rode Bronte, my nemesis, and made her gallop around like mad with my fat butt riding her. Serves her right for being horrible!

I'm riding on the evening class tonight, so will update tomorrow on my afternoon off. Have been doing lots of groundwork too with my new favourite stallion! (on this side of the world, anyway)Until then!

More Lessons (of course)

I definitely had a week of Wanda lessons.
The next one was on Axel, who I have had good and bad rides on. He is a fabulous horse, and REALLY awesome to teach with. He has super comfy paces and is very no fuss. Responds to aids very well.
My problem has been getting him in any state of collection. He notoriously hates pressure and hard work. You could ask him to canter all day, but as soon as you ask him to canter with a bit of shoulder-fore, or leg yield for instance, he will drop out of gait and shake his head around. Too hard! Don't wanna!
I also have trouble getting him soft on the reins and in a contact. He takes a very firm connection, and needs a very particular balance of leg and hand to get a good response. Otherwise it's the stop and shake head thing again.
I was concentrating again on my wrists staying straight, using my elbows as elastic bands, leg back, stretches and on. This ended up being a good lesson with Axel! After the first 20mins I had him forward and round, bending nicely and not making too much of a fuss about being asked to work.
Another epiphany, was how much my contact controls straightness, and why John kept saying 'horse's shoulders in front of the hips!". Axel is very flexy, and one of his ways of getting out of hard work is to bulge his shoulder out, effectively making the rider's aids useless.
With my newfound contact, I was able to control his shoulders better which I think made the difference. He wasn't able to get out of what I was asking, and since he was quite forward, he all just kind of came together.
Whenever a instructor tells me to 'bring the horse together' I must keep that feeling in mind. Horse forward, shoulder's controlled so that the horse is straight, and riding into the (consistent!) contact!

Easy, eh?

I have been teaching my own lessons quite a bit and have started to get some regular clients. Most of them are under the age of 10, but I don't mind too much now that I have a few teens and adults to balance it out. It's nice that the parents ask for me again. I must be doing something right!
I have, however, had to refuse to teach with one particular pony. Bronte.

Looks angelic... quite the opposite

Bronte is a Welsh Section A pony mare, around 20yrs old and 11.3hh. Bronte is mostly used for lead line lessons, and she is an absolute nightmare. I can deal with a lot, but being lunged at, bitten, barged and yanked around is not my idea of fun. She is just evil.

Off lead she is just as bad. She knows exactly what kind of rider she has on, and if the child is not strong enough, she will just chuck her head on the floor, pull the reins out of the rider's hands and do whatever the heck she likes. Really embarrassing as an instructor. Especially when you have disapproving parents looking over your shoulder. So I will not teach with her unless it is a capable teen or small adult rider. In which case she is a pretty great pony.

On the other end of the scale is Solo, who is my favourite kids pony ever. Another Welsh A at around 26 yrs old, he is just the greatest dude. Any kid can get on and he will politely do as they say, even if they have the tiniest touch on the reins, or the tiniest flap of legs on the saddle. Love him. He's really great for teaching independent riding, and is aptly nicknamed 'slowlo'.

Slowlo Solo!

My next lesson (with Wanda again) was on Walter. I very much enjoy riding Walter. He's a big lazy lump of a horse, but when he is going well, he goes REALLY well.
This was one of the lessons where he went REALLY well. He was forward, round, engaged, and listening damn well for 98% of the lesson.
We worked through some pole exercises, but making the horses actually collect over them, instead of slop over. This was actually pretty difficult. Walter was a hunting horse before he came here, so when he sees a jump his head pops up and he starts pulling himself along with his shoulders, instead of pushing with his hind and rounding over the back.
This was hardly a jump, but it still took a bit of adjusting to get him keeping dressage mode over the poles. A heck of a lot of leg and half-halts, with transitions within the trot on the long sides to get him moving with impulsion.(i.e. collected to medium to collected)
A really good exercise for this is the old trot-halt-rein back-trot. Once again it was difficult to keep Walter 'together' through this. He's another that will bulge his shoulder and barge around if it becomes too difficult, and since he's a giant of a horse he tends to get away with it with the clients.
So during the reinback, he would swing his bum around and bulge his shoulder, sticking his head up and escaping the collecting exercise.
We did get there, I had to use the wall of the arena at first to keep him straight (he is SO strong that a firm contact wasn't enough!) but eventually we got there and had a nice few goes at the exercise.
Some really fabulous moments after this. He just felt so GOOD. Collection really changes the way a horse feels to ride. Hard to explain, but it feels 'up' and like you could make the horse do anything with little effort (all the effort is used getting the horse INTO collection!)

We did do some brief lateral work at the walk towards the end of the lesson, and this is when Walter tried to give me the finger. He is SO damn strong, and when he barges it's like holding his entire body weight with my hands and stomach mucles. Dear sweet Lord. All we were trying to do was simple shoulder-in and half pass at the walk!
Such a rude boy. Still, we got there and overall the lesson was a success, so I'll forgive him.

I'm off to go for a hack with Wanda- will keep updating when I get back!!!

On a Roll!

After the JB clinic I felt pretty exhausted mentally and physically. I just wish I had better control over my body, and that my muscles already had the correct memory.
Of course everything worth doing takes time and practice, but I want to be good now!!! I have the knowledge in my head, I know exactly what I need to be doing, but I just can't make my body do it for more than a moment here and there.

I look so dead. Saffy looks... mare-ish.

Even though I didn't have a great ride on Saffy, I came out of the clinic more determined to ride better.

I rode with Tina this week very briefly for a 1/2 hr group lesson on Tarik, a 15.2hh Andalusian X. I haven't had the chance to ride Tarik yet as he is SO popular with the clients. I think he is the highest earning horse here, which is saying something. He's not technically one of the 'advanced schoolmasters' but he has been trained to Advanced Dressage, and showjumps too.
I very much liked Tarik and can see why he's a favourite! His paces are extremely comfortable, as you'd expect from an Andy, and he is just so straightforward and easy to ride.
In the brief lesson, we did very straightforward exercises. Tina instructed us to think about what John said in the clinic, and put it into practice. Of course this meant I was focusing SO hard on keeping my wrists straight, thumbs on top, heels down and legs back.
Tarik was so comfy and forward that it was so easy to do! I came out feeling a lot more positive, and Tina didn't have many corrections, which means I did okay!

The second half of the session with Tina included the children's ponies and galloping around the field. My fav!
I was put on Toffee, who is the smallest pony we have (at around 11hh). I LOVE riding the ponies. I feel like I missed out as a child. I started riding relatively late (didn't ride consistently until I was around 12), so I had already outgrown pony size and moved right up to horse size.
We are all technically too big to ride Toffee, but he is an absolute shit of a pony and is constantly causing problems with the kids riding him, so he needs the odd ride with one of us to keep him obedient.

From left- Millie, Toby, Bronte, Toffee, Lilly

Lots of fun! Felt ridiculous. Loved every second of it.

Bronte beat us by a mile!

I rode Reg in Thursday evening class (love that granny horse!!) I know I'm limited in the amount of work I can do on Reg, so I opted to spent most of the lesson at the walk practicing my lateral work, and suppling/loosening Regitse's old bones and muscles. I started with some easy leg yields and shoulder-in, then moved onto half-pass to a half walk pirouette and half pass again the opposite way. Reg is just SO fantastic with these exercises. As soon as I get my positioning right, she just performs like the schoolmaster she is. In slow motion, I will admit, but it still feels amazing.
I joined back in the lesson for the canter, just because I wanted Reg to pick up her left lead. Nikki, who was teaching, obviously knows the horse too and we agreed we would be happy if she held it for three strides. She is notoriously bad on the left lead, so although she will canter the short side of an arena happily on the right, she just tends to bop up and down and refuse to canter at all if you ask on her left side.
Reg was feeling absolutely brilliant after 40mins of suppling exercises at the walk, and started pinging around the arena. Chucked in a buck too!!
I've heard that Reg used to be fiery, and has thrown off pretty much every staff member here. I was yet to experience one of her 'moods' but I have now! When that mare feels good, damn can she go.
We got waaay more than the three strides of left lead canter. We also got a lot of attempted bolts to the inside, and little humpy bucks, but we got the canter too. What a good girl.
Seriously love her. Love that even at her advanced age she can still ping around like a lunatic. Just shows the good care she has had her whole life!

Reggie schnozz!

I also rode Reg in a lesson with Wanda. I somewhat dread my lessons with Wanda (although love her as a person) because she is so tough on me!! I usually end the lesson feeling like a terrible rider.
Of course because I was riding my fav granny Regitse, I was feeling good. A few adjustments with my contact as per usual (reaaaalllyy gotta train my wrists!) and we had a fantastic lesson.
We did one of my favourite exercises, which is a leg yield from the center line, and mid-way through the leg yield the bend is changed to a half pass.
I find it really improves the flow of the half pass, and simplifies the whole exercise. Half pass IS just a leg yield with the bend in the opposite direction.
We also did a bit of work in counter-canter on a shallow loop. Of course just a few strides for Reg, but pleased to say we got both the leads without any fuss, and no bucking.

On a roll with Reg!

JB Clinic

I participated in a John Bowen clinic yesterday. John has been holding clinic days at Contessa for some 30 years and teaches dressage up to Grand Prix, as well as competed in eventing to an advanced level. I was able to watch a session before I went on, and although I couldn't hear much (too much noise from the peanut gallery) it was interesting to watch the change in the horses from the start of the lesson to the end.

More amazing, John was teaching three extremely different horse and rider combinations. Not as a group lesson, but three private lessons at the same time. Each rider was working on something different, and John would keep his eyes on everyone. Pretty impressive teaching!

My lesson was on Saffy (insert eye roll here). Dear Lord that mare does my head in. She's such a beautiful, talented girl. But also so very hormonal and strong-minded.

Saffy

My written notes from the clinic:

• Question yourself as a rider- Is the horse responding? Is the horse supple? Forward? Am I riding effectively?
• Play with the aids and tools you have to try and improve the horse.
• Ride both legs to both reins.
• Outside aids to inside suppleness
• Horse's shoulders in front of their hips (i.e. straight)
• Thumbs on top- no twist in wrists (locked wrists)
• Elastic elbows, like a rubber band
• Horse must be forward before rider can balance.

I about died of exhaustion from the lesson. I was actually a little dizzy afterwards, which is unfortunate since I jumped off and immediately taught a beginner lead-line lesson. It's all go!

Saffy was having a difficult day. I really struggled to get her forward, so my position extra sucked. Pony-club kicking a horse is not helpful to a solid position- which is exactly what I had written in my notes. Without Saffy's back supporting me, I was being bounced around in between kicks to her ribs.

In a 45 min lesson, it took probably 35minutes to get her forward.

When I did get some kind of reaction to my leg, she just bombed off, threw her shoulders around and spooked. Good God why, mare.

Once she was forward, John had me take a rather firm contact on her to control her shoulders. Like, it was actually hard work to physically just hold the reins. To keep a consistent contact, John told me to lock my wrists. This is something I've been told about a hundred times since I've been here. I KNOW I hold the reins incorrectly if I'm not paying attention. However this is the first time someone has actually taken the time to explain WHY it is incorrect, and what a twisting wrist will do to the connection to the bit.

Next time you are holding a pair of reins, give this a go. Hold the reins with thumbs on top and straight wrists. Cool. correct.

Now rotate your thumbs inwards (I usually only do this with my left hand unconsciously). You will notice that the reins go slack by about 2 inches.

So by letting my wrists curl around, my contact is not just a little inconsistent, it's off by about 2 inches. So I'm losing the entire left hand side of the horse.

It also forces by forearms to do the work, not my core. This also effects the consistency.

So with a seriously firm and consistent contact on her mouth, and some forward activity going on, Saffy finally came together for the last 10mins, and I was able to ride like an actual horse rider, instead of a sack of potatoes.  Just in time for the lesson to be over.

I think Saffy was just as tired as I was. Serves her right. Mares, I tell ya.

That being said, the few times I've seen Saffy being ridden by an advanced instructor (and looking/working a million bucks), they have been wearing spurs and haven't been soft with them. So that makes me feel marginally better.

In other news, went on an after-work hack the other day which is always fun. I rode Ted the TB, who showed off his racing skills. That horse is fast!!

Also rode in Jump Club again. Always good fun jumping Walter the great white beast!

That's all for now- stay tuned.

Back to Dressage!

Looking back on my posts, I wrote a blurb about Gigi the horse, but neglected to actually write anything about my lessons with her. As a reminder, Gigi is a Grand Prix level Dutch Warmblood who lived life in the limelight years ago, and has been teaching students here for the last four years or so. She's probably around the early 20's age mark.
The first lesson I had on Gigi was half an hour with Tina. Such a fail. Hence why it was part of the 'Lousy' blog post. Gigi is a fan of passage and piaffe, and if you do not give her clear aids she will just start bouncing up and down.
I couldn't get her forward, round or anything, and any canter attempts turned into a little mini passage. In my head I was thinking "I am not qualified to ride this horse!"
Major misunderstanding of aids. Turns out my legs were in the wrong position (again!). With every other horse I've been riding here, my legs need to be further back to be effective. So of course when I wasn't getting results with Gigi, I kept trying to force my legs back. Little did I know this was also the aids for piaffe, hence the bouncing.
As soon as I got my legs on the girth, we were away into canter and everything went well. Of course this was in the last 5 mins of the lesson, but at least I got there! Kind of!

The second lesson was WAAY better. I actually started out on Walter (being taught by Dawn this time) and someone else was riding Gigi. Mid-way through we all did a switch around, and I ended up riding G again.
Dawn instructed me through her canter, which still took a few tries to get, but much easier, and then had me work on shortening the stride. To do this, it was very much just a lengthening of my body, and engagement of my core. I was basically holding this giant Warmblood mare together with my abs.
Just out of no-where, Dawn instructed me to come down the long side and do two flying changes. Here I was, just getting the hang of her canter, and now I was expected to do some advanced movements!!
Needn't have worried. That mare is a saint, and first try she gave me one lovely change. Took a tiny bit of adjusting from my aids to get the second, namely holding my outside leg where it needs to be, so that I can move it forward at the correct moment. Really technical stuff. Pretty chuffed with myself! It felt amazing.


I rode Axel in two lessons this week and found him difficult in both. I really liked Axel the first time I rode him, but for some reason we're not meshing anymore. Not sure what I've changed. He is SO difficult to bend, so I actually spent most of both lessons doing walk/halt transitions with a bend, and trying to get some kind of suppleness and obedience. I didn't mind. Honestly, since I couldn't get any bend, there was absolutely no way I was going to get a passable leg yield or shoulder-in. I could have hauled his face around, but that's not really bend now, is it?
On the plus side, he's super comfortable. So I had that going for me!

I also had another lesson on Regitse. Seriously love that old mare. She is just so cool. I only participated in half the lesson, since Reg isn't up to much canter work, but that mare is really helping me with feel and precise application of aids. Again we had some stellar shoulder-in and half passes. I was able to keep her round and forward, which is exciting. I had her round the last lesson, but I didn't get a whole lot of forward movement. I don't want to push her too much, she IS a million years old. But the old girl was charging across that diagonal doing her best to manage a medium trot! Go girl.
Joao praised me heavily for that particular ride. Feels good when I get it right!

And Lastly (I've got to hurry, I'm riding very soon!)
I had the most AMAZING private lesson on a dear mare named Lula. Lula is an absolutely ginormous Hanovarian. Like, 17hh big and long as a train. She works at Prix St George level, and to be honest I was a little apprehensive about riding her. My first lessons with the advanced schoolmasters have never gone well. They are all so different, and I am just not used to a horse that well trained!
I am pleased to report that I had a stellar lesson on the Big Orange. I only had half an hour, so I briefly got to know her buttons a bit (she is SUPER soft. Love it.) and then straight into half-pass and flying changes. Half pass was a bit shaky to start, but that was all to do with the positioning of my body. Once I had my shoulders pointing across the diagonal, and my outside leg further back, she did a lovely half pass.
Flying changes were spot on. I'm really getting the hang of the timing! I think the work I did on Gigi prepared me really well for Lula.  Her canter just felt amazing. Very adjustable, and just fabulously together for a horse her size.
So basically I'm in love, and can't wait to ride her again.

The Big Orange

I've got to go! Jump Club starts soon and I need to tack up Walter. Tomorrow I'm riding in a dressage clinic, so stay tuned!!