Goals and Progress May/June 2017

[StraightForward]

Lol straight forward, first off, are you saying my wrist is broken, I don't see that.

However, my tipping forward in this Instance is very specific to my attempt to lower my hands and ride more elbow forward. I have to develop a better sense of hand torso proprioception.

No, your wrist is straight; it was something I observed at the show, and I know I'm guilty of it myself when I don't keep a short rein, but I have long monkey arms.

[Josette]

Chisamba - I love the way your mare looks in this photo so you got lovely results with what you felt. I get what SF is saying as she described me exactly and my tipping position issues I'm working on. Take it for what it's worth from ammy rider - but I wonder to ever so "slightly pivot" you on the photo to a straighter position. During that pivot adjustment I think a very slight shorter rein would be required for you to still have the straight line. Maybe the elbow might need to move a fraction forward too. I do not see anything with your hands - again your mare looks lovely in this photo. These photos and discussion are vastly helping fix me to ride better. Thank you!

[Dresseur]

I'm making slow but steady progress with Gala. About 2 weeks after crying that I would never figure 2 tempis out, I am now able to *mostly* ride 2's. A huge reason for this change was a video that one of the working students took of me in a clinic on Miro - we were doing the counter canter, and I watched the video and noticed that I was bringing my outside hand very close to his neck and I was twisting slightly to the outside in an effort to hold the lead. I thought to myself, why on earth would I be doing that, I should be moving his body, not moving my body like that. So, next time I rode him, I held my hands a bit wider and made sure that I wasn't cheating by bringing my outside hand closer to the neck. So, what I discovered is that rather than getting a response in the horse, I mask asymmetries by moving my hand position - when I tried this on Gala, it because crystal clear that she was pulling a bit on the right rein and was not straight. The second I fixed that - boom... 2 tempis. They drift a bit, and now I have to work on the quality a bit more, but I could have cried I was so relieved that I had put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. What is a bit disconcerting is that she's still not quite straight on the right rein, so I feel as though I'm holding her in renver in the canter - but when you look in the mirror, she is ship straight. And this horse, with Andrea, does some of the straightest changes I've seen - you can roll a ball between her legs as she changes.

The other big revelation that I had was how much Gala takes over in the pirouettes. Andrea started having me ride full piris so that I could sit a bit longer in the movement and feel it - but she was not satisfied with the progress. The demi-voltes had made an improvement, so the overall quality IS better - but in her quality vs quantity world, it wasn't good enough. So, she had me back on a 20 meter circle, haunches in at the canter. Again, this exercise put a spot light on how much Gala takes over. The discussion went something like this...
Andrea - Ok, put her on a 20 meter circle and get your regular canter. Good. Now put her haunches in - shoulders scribe the 20 meter circle, haunches will scribe a slightly smaller circle. WHY IS SHE SO COLLECTED RIGHT NOW????
me - I thought she was supposed to collect.
Andrea - Well, I said a REGULAR collected canter - did she collect or did you?
me - ummm. she did... WAIT A MINUTE!!! WHY AM I SUCH A DUMMY!?!?!?!

So, basically, Ms. Know-it-all-Grand-Prix-Mare has taken it upon herself to collect herself and I didn't catch it - because hey... pirouettes are supposed to be collected, right?!. Which is why all of my piris look like little levades - there is no more connection because I am no longer in control. Lesson learnt. sigh.

[Imperini]

Pictures and video are so helpful, it's great when you can spot something and are able to make adjustments and quickly see results from those adjustments.

I have slightly improved my zombie arms but there's still work to be done. I have to stop being so darn tense. None of my body parts seem to want to cooperate with me all at the same time but eventually they're just going to have to.

... and a picture because I haven't really shared many pictures of the spotted princess. Obviously I'm a work in progress but she looks pretty despite the oaf on her back

[Dresseur]

Love, love, love your horse! What a beautiful color. One thing, think about sitting to the front of your saddle, in this pic, your hip is behind you, which may be causing the tenseness because you feel as though you have to hold on.

[greenholmeshandy]

Dresseur are you able to post clips of your training please? I was interested to read about your hand position. Fascinating how many tips can be gleaned from these threads.

Impereni what a stunning horse.

[Dresseur]

Yea, I don't have a ton because USUALLY I don't have someone to video. But the ones I have, I don't mind posting... they are just a pita to upload lol.

[Ryeissa]

delete

[Chisamba]

I feel like two days of self imposed boot camp have helped me to EXACTLY the same discovery Dresseur made, although in different aspects.

I am moving my hands to accommodate Kimba instead of sitting correctly and asking her to shape to me.

So today was more about sitting up and keeping a shorter rein and hands lower.

It worked

[Dresseur]

That is awesome Chisamba!! Horses are very clever in training us to accommodate them in different ways

[mari]

Imperini your spotty princess is LOVELY!

I'll second Dresseur - Find the middle of your saddle. Sometimes we get tense and tend to push off our feet a little, pushing our bums back onto the cantle.

[mari]

Odie did his first 1m show this weekend. Here are some pics of him zooming around the speed class, for a 3rd place

[mari]

Question:
How can I embed photos, so they show up as a photo on the page, and not just a link? I used to use Photobucket, but the current level of popup advertising on there makes it impossible to use. So I've switched to Google Photos, which is better to use, but it doesn't create the embedded link for me. Please help!

[demi]

I got this from Flight: post pic on Facebook. Open in FB and right click on it. Select copy image address. Go back to DDBB and open full editor. Select images. Paste between the two image things.

The thing I've notice though, and I don't know why, is that the images are no longer available on DDBB after a while.

Maybe someone has another way to post pics.

[StraightForward]

From your link, I had to click on the photo again, then right click, choose "Copy Image Address". In the Full Editor window here, click the Img button above the text box. Paste your image address in between the [img] tags and it should show up.

[mari]

StraightForward and Demi - you rock! I will edit my post

[piedmontfields]

Am I the only one who can't see spotted Pal's photo? (I would like to admire her, too!). Imperini, I do love your "zombie arms" phrase.

I look forward to more Odie photos! Hope you are continuing to heal Mari.

[mari]

Am I the only one who can't see spotted Pal's photo? (I would like to admire her, too!). Imperini, I do love your "zombie arms" phrase.

I look forward to more Odie photos! Hope you are continuing to heal Mari.

Think I've stabilised into a sort of permanent-low-level-discomfort phase Need to start tapering off the nerve meds, to see what happens. Don't wanna!!!!!

[greenholmeshandy]

Ohh more lovely photos! I ended May by doing my first British Dressage affiliated test. I had been warned to expect a 10% drop in scores compared to unaffiliated as marking is stricter plus certain percentages are qualifying baselines for regional championships. We had various disasters getting to the venue so rather than arriving with an hour to spare I had 17 minutes to make myself known to organiser, tack up and warm up. Pony was not on form and a bit sluggish (in season). No test reader (commander) available either.

So of we trundled into the competition arena for our first ever long arena test, another first and my it looks long on a 13.2 pony. I thought I rode like rubbish but did remember all the movements, there were some rider errors and pony broke into canter on a trot circle. I was expecting 50 ish percent. I was astonished to get 62.78% and apparently I only need 2 x more above 60.2 % to qualify for the regionals how mad is that.

Lots of comments on score sheet about pony needing to work through to an elastic contact. In retrospect I was so busy remembering the test that I forgot to also ride it, if that makes sense. Big difference in comments is unaffiliated seems aimed at coaching whereas affiliated critiques and tells it like it is. Next ones in a fortnight the bug has bitten well and truley now"

[Rosie B]

greenholmeshandy - how awesome is that!!! Congratulations!! You should be very proud.

mari - Odin is looking like the absolute gorgeous HUNK that he is. <3 <3 <3

Bliss and I went for a lovely trail ride last weekend. We went through numerous large and deep puddles, as well as a running stream and a small bank. He was a little hesitant at first, but went through everything in short order. We also did a fair bit of trot as the footing was great in spots. I loved loved loved the power and energy he had cooking along on the trail, so I'm going to put on my big girl pants and try to go for a trail ride once a week. I think 3x a week in the arena is ALL KINDS for him.

[Gwen]

Something isn't right with Callie. We're testing for Lyme and scoping for ulcers. It's not screamingly obvious, she just feels TIRED. She is normally an energizer bunny who hardly breaks a sweat no matter what we do, but Friday my trainer rode her (my daughter was sick again so I missed some days) and said she felt dull, I gave her the long weekend off and Tuesday she started out ok but ended definitely tired. I gave her Wednesday off - it's been muggy and heavy here so I was hoping it was just the weather. But when I rode her today (nice and cool, breezy) she was even worse than Tuesday, it was clearly a big effort for her to use herself.

Hoping we figure it out before the show next weekend.

[Rosie B]

That's too bad Gwen!!! Do you have a chiro handy? That tired feeling is one of the early warning signs that Bliss needs an adjustment. He just had one this week actually because he was feeling tired the last few rides last week, and today he was 100% better.

Hope you get it resolved quickly!

[Dresseur]

Well, bad news for me. M did something in the pasture- he's sound in straight lines on asphalt, slightly off on circle to the right- it's the same front leg he knocked so badly about a year ago. I can't find any heat or swelling- vet is scheduled for Tuesday unless he goes south. I'm giving this a minimum of 2 weeks off just because of location of that old injury.

In better news, a tough cookie that I've been working with is finally turning the corner. He's a 6 year old OTTB that a student bought. He's a bit disrespectful of space and very, very tight in the back. We've been doing longing and in hand work and I'm finally able to start riding him through the moments when he tightens his back and sucks way back, so I'm cautiously optimistic that he will work out.

[Flight]

I'm way behind to comment on everyone's updates, but the vids and photos are great. Rosie B, you and Bliss always look so elegant. Imperini, you spotted girl is lovely, Ryeissa your work always looks fine and Mari, I can only see that one pic SF put up and those jumps are huge!

I took the big horse to a horse trials on the weekend. We were coming 2nd after dressage, I just was a bit underdone, not enough impulsion but he was really well behaved when he wasn't trying to eat all the clover that was around! I seriously needed grass reins! We knocked 2 show jumps down which was good in a way, because then for xc I was way down the placings so I wasn't nervous going into the course. I had a good xc round, really enjoyed it. The jumps were nice and small and non-threatening so really fun.

It's autumn here and the colours were beautiful for the dressage, there was fog and the sun coming through made for pretty photos:

[Dresseur]

Ok, so since M is down and out due to his clumsiness in the pasture (I'm just NOT seeing his military Andy lines - he looks like a barrel with legs everywhere when he tries to do laps with his OTTB buddy, whom with he shares an epic bromance.), I'll introduce you all to Charm.

Charm is a 6 year old OTTB who my now student bought about a year ago. He was started as a hunter/jumper, was longer and lower than long and low and seemed on the surface to be pretty laid back and sweet. Since I'm trying to cobble together his behavioral tendencies, I watched her video of her trying him recently, and noticed immediately that he seemed to be sucked back in the video. I came into the picture for them when Charm turned out to be not so charming - his sweet, cuddlebug attitude fairly quickly revealed itself to be pushy and rude, and he sucked back to the point that it looked like he was going to be up to no good in a hurry.

I implemented a longing program - mostly to reinforce that forward means go forward, and as always, I go very, very slow with the side reins, particularly with horses that have been started h/j. We seemed to be making progress, and I started riding him after longing - but in fairly short order, the tight feeling in his back started to escalate again. So, I added in hand work to his program and fairly quickly realized that I was going to have to bring his shape up quicker than I thought. My assessment of what was happening is that he was curling to evade contact, and was not working through his back at all - which left it very, very easy for him to tighten and "chatter" and then ultimately suck back. So, side reins went up a turret, and in the longing, we made sure to keep him bumped up so that he was drawing honestly into the contact. This revealed itself to be the source of the chattering and tightening in the back, so we went very, very slowly. And in hand, did trot/walks for several weeks before we did trot/halts and then finally started adding one step of rein-back.

He has had about 2 weeks of really quiet longing with gear changes within the gaits and smooth transitions and rein backs in hand and yesterday, I felt confident enough to jump on him and test the feel. I'm cautiously optimistic that this is getting through to him. He felt incredibly relaxed and safe for 90% of the ride and the hiccups where when I asked him to not curl - then he got behind me a bit, but I was able to push him back out fairly easily. So, I'm really, really hoping that he works out for her, but I've had the talk that if he's not the right horse, he's not the right horse (she is very much a beginner yet and I'm concerned that the rider will have to be incredibly adept at the timing for a great while yet before he fully comes around.).

FullSizeRender 20.jpg (111.36 KiB) Viewed 25644 times

FullSizeRender 22.jpg (115.4 KiB) Viewed 25644 times

[Chisamba]

At the clinic. Lots of good stuff. We did not embarrass ourselves. Watched video so double helpful.

Smiles all round

[Dresseur]

Good to hear, Chisamba! Looking forward to a full report!

[kande50]

In retrospect I was so busy remembering the test that I forgot to also ride it, if that makes sense.

I think that remembering the test is one of many things that makes showing so much more difficult than riding at home. Not only do we need to know the test so well that we can remember it even when we're both distracted, but riding it needs to be almost automatic because remembering the test takes up too many brain cells to have enough left over to also remember how to ride.

Good job not only remembering your test, but managing to do such a good job of riding it, too.

[Flight]

The photos look like you are doing a great job with Charm, Dresseur. It's knowing what to do for different horses isn't it. Hope Miro is back in action soon too.
Look forward to hearing more about the clinic, Chisamba!

[Sue B]

Greenholmeshandy: Excellent show report.

Flight: gorgeous pictures

Chisamba: Congrats on clinic outcome, and I hope we get to hear more about it.

Mari: As always, i adore your handsome horse and still jingling you will be back to riding soon.

So I rode Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, missed Wednesday and Thursday (thunderstorms Thurs kept me off) and rode last night. I felt especially privileged to ride last evening because my friend's heart/eventing horse dropped dead yesterday morning right after finishing his breakfast. She is in Ireland right now and had to get the awful news by telephone. I had to do the necropsy just so I could assure both friend and the caretaker that nothing either one of them did caused the demise of this wonderful horse. Just so very sad for both of them, he really was a very special animal.

I guess my ponies knew I was sad because they were both a joy to ride. With Rudy I focused a little more on lateral work, mostly si and hp because renvers and travers was super easy. Any troubles with hp are 90% my fault because tend to drift my weight to the outside as we proceed across the arena. I would blame the horse for not coming "through" more if it weren't that it happens both to the left and right, but the great thing is, is that I can feel the change in my balance almost right away and so I can quickly fix it and move on. While working si, I also worked on medium trot, so like 3 strides si, straighten into 3 strides medium, back into si etc. So long as I keep my hands quiet and my seat correctly positioned, he does these drills with ease now. Third level here we come! Tio was so forward and willing that he was rewarded not only with a bit of jumping and a lot of cantering, he got to go for a walk down the road--something he dearly loves to do. It's beginning to look more and more reasonable that I could take him to an event derby this year.

[Rosie B]

Yay Sue for being able to ride with some consistency!! Sounds like it's paying off. Sorry to hear about your friend's heart horse.

Flight you and Norsey look super.

Dresseur- I am sure you will effect very positive changes in Charm in a short time. I am in total awe of your technical knowledge and abilities!

Bliss and I met the local ATV club out on the trail yesterday. There were 15-20 ATVs and side by sides. We also went over our first large vehicle bridges, one with a roaring waterfall beside it. He was scared but behaved himself beautifully. Then coming back we went through the subdivision and there were lots of people and kids out who wanted to pat him so that was fun. At one point we were swarmed with 5 kids under 5 and their parents (and strollers and bicycles), and Bliss just put his nose almost to the ground and said hello to everyone. He's such a good horse.

Then today we had a super ride in the ring. I warmed him up in walk and trot on our driveway hill and then in the arena he was powerful and forward without running and we had some super transitions. I also made a huge breakthrough with the sitting trot. I had been letting my lower legs completely float and my back was wobbling to absorb the motion. When I hold a bit with my calves and SIT UP the motion goes up and down and hallelujah I can SIT!! And he instantly connects better. Duh.

Hope everyone is having good rides and enjoying their horses!

[Ryeissa]

.

[musical comedy]

I have found the work is EASIER- no second level wall now--- I am not sitting everything yet-- that will be hard for me.

I just do not understand this at all. How can you say 2nd level work is 'easier' when you aren't sitting? You have to sit the mediums in 2nd level. I think it's highly unlikely an average AA can get 2nd level collection without sitting. It's hard collecting in rising trot unless you have previous experience in sitting collection.

[Sue B]

Violent thunderstorms ruined my plans for a late afternoon/evening ride but I just have to share a small achievement from Saturday.

After trotting through the cavellettis, Tio decided a bolt-and-buck was in order. Now this little guy can put a rodeo horse to shame when he's of that mind, but so far, I have been lucky to have that only happen on the lunge--until Saturday night, I guess. I have been dreading this very thing since I backed him, because he is built a bit like a tank and has a very strong neck, and I was worried about being hurt just riding him through the bucks. SO, I can now proudly say, that not only was his bolt well-balanced and controllable, but I was also able to easily keep his head up so the bucks were easy peasy too. AND, he very quickly went back into trot on the circle, no drama. Baby boy is growing up.

[piedmontfields]

Sue, that is a great update--and well ridden/trained! I am getting to the point with shoulder in work that I am always thinking "ride it like a medium!" as I don't want any loss of trot quality in that movement. I have also used your technique of back and forth with success, as shoulder-in can provide a "container" for a medium gone out of control or on the forehand.

[cb06]

Love the updates and insights. Would love to hear clinic reports (Chisamba).

I have not done much since last show update. Work and rain has gotten in the way of regular riding, and I have a show coming up next weekend.
BUT, I did have a fabulous lesson last week. Lots of forward, out to the hand, maintaining forward and power in the lateral work, all sitting trot, up and forward in the canter, setting up the trot and canter half-passes correctly. It was physically and mentally demanding for me, but we did it and improved and felt it was the kick in the pants I needed. Onwards...

[Gwen]

So enjoying all these updates, reports, and challenges.

Callie's mystery NQRness seems to have been solved - we scoped for ulcers and she has them, some of them very bad/deep. Breaks my heart that she was feeling so poorly, but at least it is a treatable issue with measurable results via a rescope.

Going to ride her today and see how she feels - I'm not sure about doing an away show this weekend given the ulcers we're trying to heal, but vet thinks she should be feeling better right away on Ulcerguard. I'm 80% to scratch though, both for her sake but also because I'm now feeling very underprepared!

[Ryeissa]

.

[Chisamba]

So first ride home after the clinic i made very effort to assume the clinician was in the ring with me, and yet still work on smoothing out where we are, to make showing with more " submission" possible. I am now geared toward show riding so nothing "new" . I am not sure how others do it, but i try not to do anything new going up to a show, so the clinic was already closing in on that, the next few days it will just be making everything smooth and pretty where we are

Dresseur, i am interested in your approach with charm, as I am always trying to produce safer riding horses for my clients. However i am not sure what you meant by "chatter" and bumping the horse up in side reins.

Gwen, i hope that the resolving the ulcer issue will help Callie be a much more relaxed horse. I am only showing Sunday but i really hope i see you there

Sue, i too am glad you managed the buck and bolt without further problems

Rosie B, bliss sounds amazing to deal with the ATV and local kids so well

Mari, hope you are riding soon. Jou perd is so pragtig!

[Flight]

Does anyone have an actual plan for their training?
I had an interesting talk to one of the local judges the other day, who I've bumped into quite a few times now and chatted so she's asks how we are going and is very helpful, and she discussed actual planning (almost timetabling) training sessions.
For example, I can ride 4 days this week (weather looks good) so ride 1 - work on x. ride 2 - work on y. ride 3 - trail ride. ride 4- work on x.
So I tend to work on generally everything each training session, rather than specifically one thing or another. If there are a few issues, yes I work on them, but not so formally.

I have a competition in 10 days, she said pick one or two things you want to improve on, and base your training around those things and see if they improve, rather than trying to generally improve everything. So, I want to improve my trot half passes for example, I would aim my sessions on exercises to improve them, and not work a lot on flying changes say.
Anyone else do something like this?

[piedmontfields]

Does anyone have an actual plan for their training?
I had an interesting talk to one of the local judges the other day, who I've bumped into quite a few times now and chatted so she's asks how we are going and is very helpful, and she discussed actual planning (almost timetabling) training sessions...Anyone else do something like this?

I would say about 70-80% of the time I do. The rest of the time I am too tired from work and just hack or do hill aerobics (but I usually put that in the plan, too!).

I find that planning rides makes me calmer about working on specific components or challenges repeatedly over many rides and weeks. Training is an iterative and pretty slow process, after all. This consistency also really helps us "get" things much quicker and with better quality. I will also share that when I am really getting excited by the arena work, I can "forget" to give Emi enough hack time. So a plan for the week makes sure that we get out and about!

p.s. Love the autumnal photos of Norsey!!! He is looking wonderful.

p.p.s. I had to learn over the years how to make a plan for our riding/training--but I do find that learning and trial/error fun +interesting. I also found that learning how to make a training plan was a similar process for me to learning how to practice yoga by myself.

p.p.p.s I keep a journal on every horse I ride. This helps me review how much we've stayed on plan (or strayed).

[Rosie B]

I have always kept a training journal, but haven't ever done much planning. I always have things that I am focusing on, but perhaps some more organized planning would help.

I had another lightbulb with the sitting trot last night. I had been trying to sit too heavily and was squashing his back which did all kinds of horrible things. He couldn't move freely forward or connect while I was sitting so heavily.

Last night I experimented with different feelings and I discovered that I can't hold anywhere, I need to sit lightly, and let everything flow, while remaining very straight through the spine and open in the chest. I must have been blocking him through the back, because once I got up 'off' him and opened up my chest the difference in how he went was profound.

The impulsion and connection were hugely improved, and consequently the transitions went from 5-6 to 7-8.

So I am excited to play with this some more. I am going to try to consolidate these gains then hope to get some video.

Dresseur - I found it very helpful to think of your photos while trying to keep my chest open last night.

[piedmontfields]

Rosie, you are having a lot of exciting changes with your return to work with Bliss. Very exciting! Could you share more about how you were sitting/are now sitting? How did you "organize" yourself for sitting in the "squashing" position vs. the light position?

[Sue B]

Flight, I do, in general, ride with a plan in mind, although sticking to it doesn't always happen. For example, one day I work on developing medium trot, another day it will be work in the canter and yet another day it will be collecting work. I try to mix it up so that he is using different muscle groups on different days, like you would if you were working out in the gym. Every day is begun with a nice walk down the road, followed by walk work in the arena to make sure he is truly listening to my leg and reaching for the bit. At least once a week we walk through raised cavelletti, which, for him, really brings his back up and softens the base of his neck. Also once a week I focus on lateral work--not "just" as a means to an end but to improve whatever needs improving. For instance, he tends to not fully engage his right hind in si to the right, so I will find ways to improve his response without drilling si. Usually, once si is confirmed we go into hp etc. And then, just for the heck of it, every so often I will ride through a test to see if I can put all the elements together at the proscribed time. It sounds kind of random but it really isn't. I use prior rides to plan future rides and, if I am showing, I pick one or two small things I want to improve on for that particular test. In regards to showing, I DO NOT drill any part of the test nor do I make any drastic changes in either my way of riding or his way of going. Oh yeah, at least once a month, I focus solely on my seat--bonus is that the horse usually responds by moving really well.

ETA: All that goes out the window if, when I get on, I sense that Rudy has a strong need to just go for a nice long hack and play. I mentally log those as fitness days for both him and me.

[StraightForward]

Does anyone have an actual plan for their training?

I recently read a Dressage Today article on a trainer and she talked about a similar schedule - like the horses get Sunday off, Monday is a "gaits" day where they do basic work focused on quality of working gaits, then a day of suppling/lateral work, and another day focused on adjustability or transitions a day of introducing new work, and then a hack day. I think that is a pretty common approach for pro trainers. I will try to find it this weekend.

[Rosie B]

Piedmont - I can try!

Keep in mind this is only based on a few lightbulb moments during last night's ride, and I won't know for sure if I'm onto something until I am able to reproduce it in several consecutive rides with the same positive results.

Prior to Baby No. 2's arrival, I felt I could sit Bliss's trot reasonably well. Looking back on old video, it's obvious that while yes I was sitting, I wasn't doing it correctly. (And I will add some video that demonstrates this later). Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoXb-ikKf7M&t=34s Check out the sitting trot at the beginning. Not pretty!

Fast forward to this spring, I've been trying and trying to sit the trot like I used to but it just doesn't work anymore. I don't know if it's because I've changed, but I suspect it's because Bliss is moving more freely and there is more motion than I can possibly accommodate incorrectly. Anytime I tried to sit, Bliss would lose impulsion and jam up. As you'll be able to see on the video I'll post later, my seat bones used to rock a bit, so I was essentially doing the hula tummy. I was also allowing my lower legs to fly around to absorb the motion.

I never even realized I was doing this until the clinic two weeks ago. I was trying to sit for a moment and the clinician said "quieter with the lower leg. " And so I've been trying to be quieter with the leg since then. I've been experimenting with holding with my lower legs, which forces the motion absorption upward. Last night, every time I tried to sit and hold with my lower legs, Bliss would jam up even more. I realized that I was trying to hold everything too tightly and that made my seat bones positively grind into his back. When I released the holding in my lower legs to just a "breathing contact" and allowed myself to feel softer in the hips, my back could stay straight, my chest opened, my seat started feeling like it was floating up over his back and the up and down movement in his back was really exaggerated. I could feel his barrel swinging from side to side. I could feel his back coming up underneath me with each stride. There was MORE movement everywhere but it felt really fluid everywhere, and Bliss started coming through better, and the transitions t/c/t started to improve drastically within about a minute. We got hands down the best t/c transition we've ever had, and it was on his harder side, so we stopped there.

So I've really only had a few brief moments of this new fluid and light feeling, but based on the quality of the transitions I think I'm on the right track. But I really need more time with it and some video to be certain.

It also makes me wonder if I've been squashing/grinding his back in walk and canter as well. So I plan to play with it and see what happens.

Hope this is helpful. I have a very difficult time explaining feelings.

[Chisamba]

When i was younger I went through the three two week courses with Anders Lindgren. He taught us to write lesson plans, it was for instructing riders, but at the time i as not an instructor so i started to use them for riding.

there are many ways to be flexible about the plan without abandoning it. for the most part you can use the same plan for ever level of horse you ride, just adjust the complexity based on the horse.

[Chisamba]

So after running through my tests today, it is rather disconcerting to come to the conclusion that Kimba has done a better job of training me than I have of training her.

I had to have a couple of "because i said so " moments and then things got a lot smoother. I probably should make myself to to a show every month, it would keep me more focused! lol. I am discovering that not as good a trainer as those who progress a horse without tangible steps/goals. The dressage tests are as good a set of tangible goals as any i could invent on my own.

[greenholmeshandy]

I did a non dressage event last weekend, I attended a Trec training camp at Cartmel Racecourse in the Lake District. It is a lovely venue and all the orienteering was within a National Park ( in fact one that I think was instigated by Beatrix Potter). Stunning views when out riding on top of the fell with on one side Morecambe Bay sands and the sea below in the distance and the other side the mountains (called fells up here!) rolling away into the distance.

The Weather held for the orienteering and for a trec team challenge that was basically an obstacle course with a figure of 8 to be done using neck reining , a bridge, bending poles, a jump, western style s bend, water crossing through a stream and some led obstacles. Shandy was a little star. Sadly the weather broke on the Monday which was the day where 2 x trainers were training groups of treccies. They gamely stood out in torrential rain and gale force gusts of wind to train us. Poor little Shandy had 2 x sessions and ended up standing with me on her for 5 hours in the rain! Bless her she tried her best but all training was at a walk as on very slippy grass due to the rain.

The first trainer was a "traditional" BHS English trainer and didn't seem to pay that much attention to me until she turned round and went "you, you put too much weight in your stirrups I bet you cannot feel your seat as your seat bones pop up all the time". I practiced riding with stirrups but without putting all my weight into them and lo and behold I can now feel what ponys back legs are doing. All these years I have been mystified by how other riders can feel what hind leg is doing what and felt to embarrassed to mention my seemingly numb bum - now I know why! She also spotted that I rise from the stirrups so has corrected that. Her other tip was that when pony erupts to stop her, halt, relax and let her think it through and then continue.

The other trainer was a NHS / western trainer and I felt a bit bemused by some of her session as she advised completely the opposite to the first trainer! She asked me to practice riding with a loose rein and to stop pony using my core and to try and rock back, which we eventually did. The bit that I took away from this session was to give pony more rein and use seat more in walk.

Last day (Tuesday) was hacking as the rain had stopped. I set of home in the afternoon and got caught out in the trailer on the motorway in 50MPH+ wind and torrential rain. it was a really terrifying 3 hours drive and poor Shandy was quite exhausted and very cold when we got home. I had entered an unaffiliated dressage on Sunday but have withdrawn from it as I think it is more sensible to give Shandy an easy weekend.

[Gwen]

It has been an absolutely insane week of many house projects that had been postponed all getting done at the same time, I've been so swamped I haven't even seen my horses since Tuesday. I had to scratch this weekend, there's just no chance I can recover from all the house related work and then focus enough to pack and prepare for an overnight show. I'm sorry I'll miss you Chisamba! hoping we can make it to that show ground before long! Maybe the Sept show.

On the plus side Callie seemed to feel MUCH better even after one dose of ulcerguard Monday after the scope so that's great.

Want to read everything, have to get back to work...