I will not accept mediocre canter transitions
I will not accept mediocre canter transitions
I will not accept mediocre canter transitions
I will not accept mediocre canter transitions
....
has pretty much been the mantra these last lessons during the Christmas time lessons. L. has been on my case to higher my standards for what I except of response to my aids. The result has been much better transitions!
It is still hard for me to know when it is good or not, it is a question of feel, but I am getting there. I have much to practice!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Work done these past days
[I am trying to clear out notes on my lessons this week]
Sunday I had another longe lesson, this time we did a bunch of canter on the longe. One thing of the things we did was making the walk-canter and trot-canter transition using only my seat bones (and possibly a little help from the longewhip...) . It really worked perfectly one time from the walk, and in general it was a good exercise.
Monday, I was horribly tired, and I asked L. to ride Odin. It is nice to watch her ride him from time to time. She spend a lot of time working lateral movements to get him more supple, he is has trouble reaching latitudinal suppleness before he is completely worn out.
I expressed some concern about being able to ride him well enough while she is gone over New Years, so we agreed to work on that in the coming week.
Tuesday, I then had a lesson off the longe. It is always very nice to work him after L. has ridden him, I can really feel him being easier to ride. We worked on my position when riding and not just sitting, and it was actually feeling really good. I also did leg yields, and used the canter to get it trot better by doing lots of transitions between movements. It was very helpful, as it is a log easier for me to get him to come together a bit in the canter, and I can really feel that my seat is much improved especially in the downwards transitions.
This morning, we worked some more on the same, added in some haunches in and walk pirouettes, which helped my to make him supple and straight.
I really have to feel like I am pushing his right shoulder on to the track all the time, otherwise he is not straight.
A very nice exercise was going in a square with turn on the haunches/quarter pirouettes on the corner in walk, then going to trot between the corners, and then trotting through the corners turning his shoulders and haunches.
I did some really nice canter too, where I could get a good quality canter for a few steps, but it really requires me to be vigilant about not letting him fall on his forehand, keep pushing him up to the bit and keep his shoulders on the track.
This a was a really great lesson, I hope I can remember it all!
Sunday I had another longe lesson, this time we did a bunch of canter on the longe. One thing of the things we did was making the walk-canter and trot-canter transition using only my seat bones (and possibly a little help from the longewhip...) . It really worked perfectly one time from the walk, and in general it was a good exercise.
Monday, I was horribly tired, and I asked L. to ride Odin. It is nice to watch her ride him from time to time. She spend a lot of time working lateral movements to get him more supple, he is has trouble reaching latitudinal suppleness before he is completely worn out.
I expressed some concern about being able to ride him well enough while she is gone over New Years, so we agreed to work on that in the coming week.
Tuesday, I then had a lesson off the longe. It is always very nice to work him after L. has ridden him, I can really feel him being easier to ride. We worked on my position when riding and not just sitting, and it was actually feeling really good. I also did leg yields, and used the canter to get it trot better by doing lots of transitions between movements. It was very helpful, as it is a log easier for me to get him to come together a bit in the canter, and I can really feel that my seat is much improved especially in the downwards transitions.
This morning, we worked some more on the same, added in some haunches in and walk pirouettes, which helped my to make him supple and straight.
I really have to feel like I am pushing his right shoulder on to the track all the time, otherwise he is not straight.
A very nice exercise was going in a square with turn on the haunches/quarter pirouettes on the corner in walk, then going to trot between the corners, and then trotting through the corners turning his shoulders and haunches.
I did some really nice canter too, where I could get a good quality canter for a few steps, but it really requires me to be vigilant about not letting him fall on his forehand, keep pushing him up to the bit and keep his shoulders on the track.
This a was a really great lesson, I hope I can remember it all!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Training the rider, training the horse
Saturday I did not have a lesson, so I went out to ride. L. mentioned that she didn't ride Friday as usual (her horse list got mixed up), so she suggested I longed him first, since he had the day of Thursday as well.
So I went and did that. I started having him go to the left, and he was fine, trotted and cantered. Then I went to the right, and somehow he suddenly realized that he was hot, and jumped up in the air in the canter, raced around me, didn't want to trot etc. I really don't have that much longing experience, so I couldn't get him to calm down. I was beginning to fear that he would fall over in the racing canter, every time I tried to stop him, the circle just got smaller! Luckily L. was teaching a lesson to someone else, and she came down and helped me. Yelled at Odin, yelled at me, and taught me some more safety concerns and a trick with using the walls to getting him to slow down, and how to really react and get him to respect me some more. She was (rightly) concerned about safety issues, he could hurt me, himself, other horses or equipment.
I definitely need to practice this some more, and get him to respect me. This was clearly not Odin being a dangerous, crazy horse, but me needing some more horsemanship and training knowledge. So many things to learn as a horse-owner!
Afterwards I rode him a bit, and I can see that while all the longing is great for me, I have halfway forgotten how to get him engaged and on the bit. He really pushes his shoulders out and is not straight, I tried to fix it but I am not sure I was 100% successful.
So I went and did that. I started having him go to the left, and he was fine, trotted and cantered. Then I went to the right, and somehow he suddenly realized that he was hot, and jumped up in the air in the canter, raced around me, didn't want to trot etc. I really don't have that much longing experience, so I couldn't get him to calm down. I was beginning to fear that he would fall over in the racing canter, every time I tried to stop him, the circle just got smaller! Luckily L. was teaching a lesson to someone else, and she came down and helped me. Yelled at Odin, yelled at me, and taught me some more safety concerns and a trick with using the walls to getting him to slow down, and how to really react and get him to respect me some more. She was (rightly) concerned about safety issues, he could hurt me, himself, other horses or equipment.
I definitely need to practice this some more, and get him to respect me. This was clearly not Odin being a dangerous, crazy horse, but me needing some more horsemanship and training knowledge. So many things to learn as a horse-owner!
Afterwards I rode him a bit, and I can see that while all the longing is great for me, I have halfway forgotten how to get him engaged and on the bit. He really pushes his shoulders out and is not straight, I tried to fix it but I am not sure I was 100% successful.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
lessons
I had a lesson Sunday, which went OK, and another one yesterday which was excellent.
The weather is so cold, and Odin is snorting like crazy when I ride him. He is such a funny guy, it is not that the cold doesn't affect him, it is just that all he does is snort... No crazy bucking around.
I was on the longe again, and L. tried to make him canter, however Odin decided that he didn't want to do that with a rider on. Or maybe he was confused, but he canters fine without a rider, i just think he was being uncooperative. Anyway, it was some fun moments with Odin racing around in a faster and faster trot every time L. asked him to canter... we got about half a circle of canter in the end. Hopefully next time he will have a better understanding of what he should do.
The rest of the lesson was so great. I really felt my progress, I was sitting better both with the reins and without, even if holding the reins still make me fall forward.
One of my main issues is that I get slightly off balance, and then I tighten my thighs, which pushes me further out of balance, I am trying to stay relaxed and use my core to maintain my balance. L. has me bicycling my legs to stop them from tightening, and it seems to be helping.
After the longing I rode a bit regularly, so Odin could get going in a canter, and I could feel what I have learned. And wow it is such a difference when I manage to stay back, use my core strength, and don't tighten up. I still need a lot more practice, but I could feel what went wrong, what went good, I am so much aware of my body on the horse.
Still so grateful Odin puts up with this!
The weather is so cold, and Odin is snorting like crazy when I ride him. He is such a funny guy, it is not that the cold doesn't affect him, it is just that all he does is snort... No crazy bucking around.
I was on the longe again, and L. tried to make him canter, however Odin decided that he didn't want to do that with a rider on. Or maybe he was confused, but he canters fine without a rider, i just think he was being uncooperative. Anyway, it was some fun moments with Odin racing around in a faster and faster trot every time L. asked him to canter... we got about half a circle of canter in the end. Hopefully next time he will have a better understanding of what he should do.
The rest of the lesson was so great. I really felt my progress, I was sitting better both with the reins and without, even if holding the reins still make me fall forward.
One of my main issues is that I get slightly off balance, and then I tighten my thighs, which pushes me further out of balance, I am trying to stay relaxed and use my core to maintain my balance. L. has me bicycling my legs to stop them from tightening, and it seems to be helping.
After the longing I rode a bit regularly, so Odin could get going in a canter, and I could feel what I have learned. And wow it is such a difference when I manage to stay back, use my core strength, and don't tighten up. I still need a lot more practice, but I could feel what went wrong, what went good, I am so much aware of my body on the horse.
Still so grateful Odin puts up with this!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
yuck, cold
I had a cold the last couple of days (a real annoying one), so L. rode Odin both Wednesday and Friday.
Today I thought I had a lesson at 9am, but it was moved to 9.45. I also felt a bit dizzy still from the cold, so L. agreed to teach me tomorrow instead. She is so nice to have a flexible schedule!
I rode him a little bit, about 20-25 min before I felt too bad.
I have such big troubles on the left lead. He prefers the left side of his body, so on the left lead he curls too much to the left and I can't keep him straight. I think it might be a bit mental for me, since it is so much better on the right lead, probably because I think I am bending him right, when I really am making him straight. On the left lead I have to really concentrate on using me outside leg and almost feel I bend him to the outside, while using my inside leg to keep him on the circle. Well, I didn't succeed with that today, but at least I know what I theoretically need to do.
Today I thought I had a lesson at 9am, but it was moved to 9.45. I also felt a bit dizzy still from the cold, so L. agreed to teach me tomorrow instead. She is so nice to have a flexible schedule!
I rode him a little bit, about 20-25 min before I felt too bad.
I have such big troubles on the left lead. He prefers the left side of his body, so on the left lead he curls too much to the left and I can't keep him straight. I think it might be a bit mental for me, since it is so much better on the right lead, probably because I think I am bending him right, when I really am making him straight. On the left lead I have to really concentrate on using me outside leg and almost feel I bend him to the outside, while using my inside leg to keep him on the circle. Well, I didn't succeed with that today, but at least I know what I theoretically need to do.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Longing, now with reins
Yesterday I had another longe lesson, and due to the heavy rain (the Governor declared state of emergency kind of heavy) the horses had not been turned out that day, so they were all a little funny. With Odin that resulted in sideways stepping at the mounting block, and looking at everything in the arena as if he had never seen it before... He really is a very calm horse.
L. noted that I compromised my position quite a bit still when I had a lesson Saturday, so she had me hold the reins on the longe, not using them other that keeping a contact with Odin's mouth. Turns out that make my whole body tense up, so I fall back into my bad habits (leaning forward, clamping with my thighs). Sigh. Well, it was good to get this next step on the way, I think a lot of it is me re-learning how to sit, so I don't do this thing.
Much more longing to come, I suspect.
Odin got (another) clip last Wednesday, because it have been so cold he was getting really furry again, and sweating after just a little bit of trot. He got a nice full body clip again, this time I remembered to tell the clipper to leave both the whiskers and the inside of his ears. The other people of the barn think is quirky, but let me be the quirky European...
The clip revealed that he really has a bit of dandruff here in the winter, his hind quarters were full of white dirt. I don't brush him there always since he hates brushing, but since last night was somewhat warm, I decided to bathe his hind end... Yup, he sure doesn't like someone scrubbing in shampoo either, but he looked a lot nicer afterwards. I think I will have to torture him occasionally, but I don't feel compelled to bathe him all the time...
L. noted that I compromised my position quite a bit still when I had a lesson Saturday, so she had me hold the reins on the longe, not using them other that keeping a contact with Odin's mouth. Turns out that make my whole body tense up, so I fall back into my bad habits (leaning forward, clamping with my thighs). Sigh. Well, it was good to get this next step on the way, I think a lot of it is me re-learning how to sit, so I don't do this thing.
Much more longing to come, I suspect.
Odin got (another) clip last Wednesday, because it have been so cold he was getting really furry again, and sweating after just a little bit of trot. He got a nice full body clip again, this time I remembered to tell the clipper to leave both the whiskers and the inside of his ears. The other people of the barn think is quirky, but let me be the quirky European...
The clip revealed that he really has a bit of dandruff here in the winter, his hind quarters were full of white dirt. I don't brush him there always since he hates brushing, but since last night was somewhat warm, I decided to bathe his hind end... Yup, he sure doesn't like someone scrubbing in shampoo either, but he looked a lot nicer afterwards. I think I will have to torture him occasionally, but I don't feel compelled to bathe him all the time...
Monday, December 3, 2007
Saturday Lesson
Had a lesson on Saturday which was not a longe lesson. It was fun to feel how much more secure I feel in the saddle, it is making such a big difference. He still pulls me forward a bit when he is on the forhand, but I can feel when my body is doing the wrong thing so much faster.
L. rode him Friday, and Saturday morning there was light dusting of snow all over. That made it a good day to ride him, since he was nicely forward and fresh, and he also wasn't too hard to get some bit acceptance out of, since I have completely forgotten how to put him together, of course.
It felt really nice to feel the progress in my seat though. Still have ways to go, but it is moving forward. I can't wait for the shows this spring, though, hopefully it will be fun to show, and my position and aids will make me ready :).
L. rode him Friday, and Saturday morning there was light dusting of snow all over. That made it a good day to ride him, since he was nicely forward and fresh, and he also wasn't too hard to get some bit acceptance out of, since I have completely forgotten how to put him together, of course.
It felt really nice to feel the progress in my seat though. Still have ways to go, but it is moving forward. I can't wait for the shows this spring, though, hopefully it will be fun to show, and my position and aids will make me ready :).
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