January-February 8 week challenge!

[klark_kent07]

Flight- yes, they are ice sleeves. It is disgustingly hot up here with humidity in the 80% plus range for the last few weeks and temps in the high thirties nearly every day. Kent is a really hot horse as well so some days I just have to chose to not ride as it's just not fair on him.

Thanks Sue B and Rosie B, it's nice to have some power in the trot now! We have always had it in the canter but the trot is coming along in leaps and bounds. There was no magic trick though unfortunately, just a lot of time, patience and consistently working at it.

I went with my coach to a clinic on the weekend that she rode in with a great trainer and got to watch quite a few lessons. A great exercise that she had a few riders do was the following:

5 trot poles set up across the middle of the arena from E to B
start at A and head down the long side in SI, ride a corner at E and ride straight through the trot poles then turn left at B and ride travers to M and then straighten before the corner. Ask for 2 -3 medium trot steps on short side then repeat from the next long side. Really made everyone control shoulders, haunches, tempo and forwardness all without over thinking it!

[Niki]

Mid challenge update from me.

So far i'm not doing well with most of the goals..though i have managed to ride 3 times last week and will try again this week.
Have been schooling in different paddocks with differing levels of success. Bess really seems to prefer the smaller paddock which has more trees bordering the area vs the open paddock... or maybe its just because i have to ride better so we don't run into a tree lol

Did have a lesson last week at my old barn. Only managed about 30mins before we got rained out but it was a very good 30mins. She worked super, lovely and soft and swinging. Canter was a bit off but thats a loss of strength issue. The 2 rides i had after were both great too. One schooling again and the other a bit of schooling then onto our newly done firebreaks practicing control with no reins again in prep to start shooting again. Once she relaxed a bit and realised what we were doing she settled and worked well. Only had one moment where she tried to "bolt" (and i use that term loosely...more an extended canter) back to her paddock mates. Once she realised the far end was her rest end she was good as gold.

[mari]

Klark_Kent - thanks for the trotting pole exercise, definitely want to try it!

[klark_kent07]

No worries mari, hopefully I explained it well enough!

I've been playing with the counter canter again as I need it for the Elementary tests and my trainer started the changes with Kent at the end of last year. I shouldn't have worried though, apart from getting a little excited when we came across the short diagonal to the long side in CC (this is where my trainer was asking for the change), he was all business and stayed in CC. I worked on the trot and canter half pass as well and they were great, but I can't for the life of me ride the canter/ walk transition properly at the moment.

[mari]

CC for us is going okay. I hear you on the c/w... We can get lovely ones if I'm schooling them, and doing quite a few transitions in a row, but if I have to pop one in the middle of the test it's decidedly unlovely!

[demi]

I know some are having some bad winter weather making riding difficult or even impossible right now. It won't be winter much longer, though!

I didn't even bother to check in last week because I had the flu or something. My Texan friends tell me I had Cedar fever but everyone has a slightly different description of what that is exactly, so I'm not sure...whatever I had, I couldn't ride all week.

This week was better but I was recovery mode. I got in four rides but they started at 15 minutes long, increasing to 30 minutes today. So much for my goal of one 45 minute ride per week. At least the rides seemed to be an improvement in how Emma and I are working together. We go right to work now with only a couple of times around the arena at a walk to warm up. She has a couple acres of turnout and doesn't seem to need much warmup.

Today I did walk-trot-walk transitions to improve our communication. When they were going well, I started shoulder-in at trot. I had done a little bit of SI in the week before last, but only enough to test the waters. Today I worked on the SI routine from 2nd level, test 1. I wish i had mirrors, and or a soloshot. My plan is to get the soloshot 3 as soon as it's available...anyway, the SI started feeling pretty good, and then, after several times each way, I was able to get some solid trot-canter transitions. Canter still has me worried because of Emma's history, but boy, these transitions felt solid and cooperative. I only held the canters for one 20m circle but next week I think I'll start more canter...or not...maybe I'll continue to work on SI and add trot lengthenings.

Also, I am reading Paul Belasik's "A Search for Collection. I re-read the part about SI and will probably finish the book tonight. I love it. I want to keep it in the front of my riding mind as I work with Emma.

I read two other books of his last week while i was sick. "Riding Towards the Light" and "Nature, Nurture and Horses". I liked them both. A lot.

[khall]

Riding has been hit and miss here. If it is not raining it is blowing 25+ mph and cold! (for Georgia that is!) Plus having family obligations (DS) and health issues that is requiring continued vet visits and now a second opinion (my big gelding is still having issues caused from allergic rxn to pythium, ulcerative lesions in his nasal passages and upper respiratory area) though I am still riding him lightly.

I did have the clinic with my trainer in Jan and it went very well, the big guy is doing well despite his health issues and showed some real progress in both canter and trot work and his in hand work, yeah! Also got some good stuff with my younger mare, which was well needed. Now to just get her going more regularly.

Since the clinic I have been getting some half steps that I have not really asked for they are just happening. Working on the walk to keep it energetic without getting strung out, then up to trot and back to energetic walk, get half steps. Pretty cool! Canter work is getting even more engaged as well, with good C-W trans. So happy with the work very unhappy still dealing with this pythium issue.

Also in the news, my Luso X filly turned 2 yesterday!! Hard to believe she is already a 2 yr old. Need to get working with her on trailering. I did take her to the arena with one of her TO buddies and let her loose, pretty quiet little girl with just a bit of running around. Hoping she will be a brave one for me, her dam is.

[Mareless]

January riding goals were a bust for me. I ended up being sick with a nasty cough/respiratory thing most of the month. I don't think I ever did get three rides in one week for January. February has been better. Health is great, a cold snap was my schedule mess-up issue this month. I've gotten two rides per week in so far, and tomorrow will hopefully actually hit my third ride of the week!

Trying to work my endurance back up after being sick. The first few times in the saddle after that I was worn out after about 20 min. Most rides have been 30-35 minutes; my current goal is 45 productive minutes in the saddle (as opposed to riding well for 15 min, taking a few minute breather--for me not the horse, riding another 10-15 min well and then calling it cool out time. )

[demi]

Checking in for this week. I was hoping for 5 rides with one of them being a 45 minute workout. Didn't happen. I did get 4 rides but they were only 30 minutes each. I had planned to do more canter. Didn't happen. While the transitions from trot to canter have been feeling good to me, if I hold the canter for much more than a 20 m circle, it looses energy. If I ask nicely with my legs for more energy, she ignores them. When I was first getting to know her, I did feel the need to boot her a couple of times and got a good response. But I hesitate to boot her at this point, because the other work is going so well. The hoof angles are still a work in progress so I am just going to give her more time. Rather than worry about it, I just went back to trot while the canter was still energetic.

Since I chose not to do more canter, I focused on lateral work at trot. SI, HI, and LY. I found a couple of things interesting in this. First, the LY's, were not as good as I was expecting from a confirmed 3rd level horse. So I watched carefully the first level tests on "On The Levels". I noticed that the riders were putting their outside legs back further than I was. When I tried putting my leg further back, it was like magic! Emma shot sideways so fast that it took me a couple of days to find the right balance of sideways to forward. Once we got LY, I tried trot half pass. I need some more practice but Emma is teaching me.

The other thing was that I had to shorten the reins an inch or so to get the lateral work. Not right away, but midway through the rides, she started flipping her nose out, like she was trying to pull the reins out of my hands. Mostly, I ignored it, but I did close my hands a little tighter,thinking 1.) I didn't warn her to succeed at getting the reins, and 2.) I thought maybe she wanted a firmer hold.

She still flipped her nose a bit tonight, but only a couple of tries.

I plan to longe her on Monday and see if the canter looses energy without me riding her. Other than that, I plan to continue with lateral work at trot, and hopefully I'm getting the right angle at SI so her hind legs get stronger. Also, lots of trot canter trans for strengthening canter. Also plan to get a 45 minute ride in at the end of the week.

This journaling is helpful for me. I normally keep track of my rides but only what I can write in a1 1/2 inch square on my barn calendar. That's not much! This is a much better way to keep track of things.

How is everyone else doing?

[Mareless]

demi, on the subject of journaling rides. . . I keep a notebook and pen in my tack trunk and write notes after every ride. I think, because it is right there on top (where I have to move it to get to my gear), I am more apt to write things down than if I had the notebook at home, etc. And because I have an entire notebook, I can write as much or as little I wish about each ride. Lessons usually end up with 1/2 page or more!

[Kathy Johnson]

In some ways, I'm way ahead of schedule after ankle surgery Dec. 10th. I wasn't supposed to be riding for 6 months. Structurally, it's doing really well,l but I'm having some neurological issues related to the surgery that are not good. So, I convinced the doctor that walking on the horse bareback is really therapeutic, right?

So, I am walking on my little pony, Monya. My goal is to graduate to a horse and a saddle in the next few months!

[Flight]

It would be hard resisting riding for 6 months. Great photo Kathy!

[klark_kent07]

Really enjoyed riding my test on Saturday! Scored 65.45% in the Elementary 3.1 (second level). Lots to improve on but I really felt like I rode and prepared much better than I have previously. I was aiming for 65% so I was very happy. Really looking forward to getting out this year and seeing what my pony and I can do!

[Flight]

Great work Klark_kent. I'm hoping for that on Sat.
Any pics/vid? It's good seeing others that are doing the same tests. I'm doing 3.1 and 3.2 on Saturday.

[demi]

demi, on the subject of journaling rides. . . I keep a notebook and pen in my tack trunk and write notes after every ride. I think, because it is right there on top (where I have to move it to get to my gear), I am more apt to write things down than if I had the notebook at home, etc. And because I have an entire notebook, I can write as much or as little I wish about each ride. Lessons usually end up with 1/2 page or more!

Good idea Mareless. I just went back and copied all my posts from this thread (and the thread I started on Emma) and will print them and add them to a 8 1/2 X 11 spiral notebook. I'll keep the notebook in the barn and continue the journaling on an every ride basis.

CONGRATS Klark_Kent! Pics or vids!?

And Good Luck on Saturday, Flight. Cheering for you from Texas. Don't forget how we love pics/vids!!

And Kathy Johnson, glad you're back in the saddle...well, bareback pad!!!

[klark_kent07]

No pics or video Flight and demi, as I didn't have anyone with me!
I really like the 3.1 test Flight, except for where you do the simple change. It's so tricky coming across that short diagonal and asking for the walk on a straight line. It has certainly made me focus on really being able to collect the canter on a straight line as I normally seem to do it on the circle in training.

[Flight]

Yes, I find it much easier to collect on a circle and I always start preparing too early so my horse wants to stop before the 1/4 line.
I don't like the simple change in the 3.2 after the counter canter, that's worse I reckon!

[demi]

End of week (and almost end of challenge) check-in.
I got in 5 rides this week. Well, not all rides. I longed Emma 4 times, but working on longeing was one of my goals. We had 40 mph winds early in the week so it was a good time to work on longeing. I did two sets of two days in a row longeing. First day was with longish sidereins to work on (and observe) the canter. Second day was on a shorter siderein to work on trot.

Her canter looks good to me as far a soundness and strenght. She was more than willing to canter, in fact, she wanted to race. I think the long sidereins gave her too much freedom. I longed her on a 20m circle. She did several revolutions without breaking to trot. I had to bring her back to trot every time which is good considering that she was sour on canter when I bought her 3 months ago.

What I noticed for the first time is that her canter shows her Arabian side. When too fast, the stride behind is short. She looks like a bunny rabbit. On the trot days, when I had shorter sidereins, she broke into canter a couple of times but it was more collected and the stride behind was much longer...

Because of the longeing, the sessions were short. 15 minutes on canter day, and 20 on trot day. The one day I rode was 30 minutes, so I didnt get my one 45 minute workout in this week. Still, all the work seemed good and just right.

Also I noticed when longeing that she opens her mouth sometimes. I can't tell if she does this when I ride her but I know that she was ridden in a crank noseband with a flash, and I have just been using a regular cavesson. not tight, but enough room to take a treat. I may add a flash, but not tight. I wish i had mirrors or a soloshot. Working with a trainer will be helpful but I'm not quite ready to take lessons on her yet.

[demi]

Well shoot. I can't figure out how to edit my post. I went back and looked at what I've written up to this point. I've had Emma 4 months already! not 3 as I said in the previous post.

She had her 3rd trim yesterday and farrier says she still needs some correction but looks so much better. He wants to get her heels to spread out in front, and is still working on bringing her toes back. We have been trimming her every 6 weeks but are going to go to 5.

She is so much more willing to canter so I am hoping this angle change is all she needed.

[kande50]

I wish i had mirrors or a soloshot. Working with a trainer will be helpful but I'm not quite ready to take lessons on her yet.

If you have a video camera you can probably find a place to set it so that you can get part of the session. As long as I stay in a 20 X 40 area I can set up 2 cameras and record everything, but if I try to record in a bigger area we become a speck in the distance at the other end.

I'm impressed that you got 5 sessions in, as I haven't been able to motivate myself to ride 5 times in one week since last summer. I too, am a 30 minute session rider, just because that always seems like enough, unless we've done a lot more walking than we normally do.

[Flight]

I managed to have a better competition day than the last one
Different showgrounds though, and there's a harness racing track. It does have a solid fence around the track but you can still see the horses heads bobbing up and down as they go past. For this reason, this club isn't popular which is a shame because they have nice sand arenas and lots of space for parking. Fortunately my horse settled down relatively quickly (I arrived early to give him a good few hours if need be) so I'll go back there again.
It also rained! Like this drizzly constant stuff so I was soaked. It has been 40 degrees and no rain for weeks, so I just didn't even think rain would be on the agenda! Lucky I wear suck me ins long pants under my white joddies otherwise I'm not sure how non-see through they are.

Got 63% for the elementary 3.2 and 69% for the 3.1. I suspect the 3.1 was a bit too kindly marked but hey I'll take it
The first test the comments were all about needing more engagement and bending of hocks etc which is exactly what my instructor has told me we need so I'm really happy with how we are going.

I've got another 3 weekends in a row of comps coming up!

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[Rosie B]

Congratulations Flight! That is wonderful! Good for you!!

February has been a bit of a rough month for me, riding wise. We started out strong but then I got completely flattened by the cold from hell which turned into a chest infection. I still managed to ride occasionally through that, but it lasted two solid weeks. Then this week I've been still recovering so only got 3 rides in. BUT I had a super, super lesson today. My friend was very pleased with the progress we'd made since last time and Bliss felt absolutely fantastic. Best of all, he's starting to FINALLY fill out a bit!!

[Rosie B]

And a couple more...

[klark_kent07]

Awesome work Flight!!!
Did you manage to get video? I haven't ridden the 3.2 yet, only the 3.1 and the 3.3.
He looks so great Rosie, so much more grown up and the neck is staying out much more consistently by the looks.

I had a great ride on Saturday with some really super canter work. It's been hard to get Kent to stay collected and forward previously as his canter is quite big and he struggles with the balance in the collected canter, but I feel like he is really getting it now and is so much stronger. I might try to get some video in my lesson on Wednesday to share, if I'm brave

[demi]

Wow! Lots of new pictures! I love it.

Flight, it's interesting that the picture you posted captures your horse in the same moment as the picture you use with your screen name. What is really neat, is that your horse has clearly advanced since the first pic was taken. He is carrying himself so nicely now. What a good job you've done!

And Rosie B, Bliss looks marvelous! And you look pretty good yourself! Thanks for sharing the pictures. If you can ride him that well after being sick and missing rides due to weather, I suspect you and your horse have a lot of potential. Looking forward to watching your progress.

[Rosie B]

Thanks guys. Klark - I hope you can get some video! I'd love to see it. I love your boy.

Thanks demi - Bliss is a very talented fellow... And for the most part quite sane. lol. He still has his moments though!

Kathy - it's great to see you back on a horse!!

[Sue B]

I am so glad you guys have been keeping up with the challenge so i can live vicariously through your posts.

I too was down with some nasty flu virus crud and couldn't even think of riding for a good 2wks, but yesterday the weather was gorgeous and I felt strong enough that I finally rode! So last day of the challenge, and here is my input.

Rudy--he is always wonderful. Last time I rode him there was still snow on the ground so I practiced figures in the neighbor's hay field. You know, making perfect circles, doing si and hi and then checking the hoof prints, stuff like that. Yesterday, with all the snow long gone, I rode in the arena for a bit and then, of course, took him out for a nice "trail" ride. He must be truly 2nd lvl now because I can sit his trot even when it is borderline medium flying down the road. Last year at this time, that trot was still impossible to sit and sometimes even difficult to post! I also worked a bit on developing even more jump in the collected canter. This went so well that, when a chicken suddenly burst out from under the van into the arena under Rudy's feet, his leap sideways not only didn't unseat me but it did not even change the tempo of our canter! Gosh I love it when they get to this stage of training.

Tio--he was actually fun today! Baby horses are always fun to train cuz they have so much to learn, but still the process can be a bit tedious at times. Sunday though, I was able to w-t-AND canter Tio like he was actually a trained horse (which he isn't.) I changed bit and bridle a couple rides ago which has made him quite happy in the mouth, but yesterday he was also much more willing to stay in front of my leg, so I only had to squeeze or bump lightly to get him moving. This is not to say he didn't have his little broncing moments but even those are now just funny and not the least bit scary. I also rode him out in the hay field for a bit which he absolutely loved. I promised him we'd do it more.

[demi]

I wish i had mirrors or a soloshot. Working with a trainer will be helpful but I'm not quite ready to take lessons on her yet.

If you have a video camera you can probably find a place to set it so that you can get part of the session. As long as I stay in a 20 X 40 area I can set up 2 cameras and record everything, but if I try to record in a bigger area we become a speck in the distance at the other end.

iI have an ancient camera that I haven't used since the last century. It uses little tapes and three huge plugs to hook up to a tv. It makes my head hurt to even think about messing with it again!

I'm impressed that you got 5 sessions in, as I haven't been able to motivate myself to ride 5 times in one week since last summer. I .

i was very lucky with the weather this winter. Last winter I probably only averaged 2-3 rides a week.

[piedmontfields]

What lovely updates from you all! Great photos.

My simple report is that we worked 15 times in February (vs 20 times in January). But we are alive and spring is near. There is nothing like warmer temps to make Ms Mare happy (one of the consequences of managing and living with PSSM).

[kande50]

I have an ancient camera that I haven't used since the last century. It uses little tapes and three huge plugs to hook up to a tv. It makes my head hurt to even think about messing with it again!

Do you know someone who could download what you record, because those old camcorders that record to tape take really good video compared to some of the newer ones that save much smaller files. If you still have the wires that came with it there may be one that will allow you to download directly to your computer, and then you can edit the file there and post it to youtube.

Or, you can just sit down and watch it, which is one of my favorite things to do after I ride. It's as if it extends the ride so I get more feedback for less effort.

I was on one of the facebook groups when the conversation veered off into shoulder in, and that got me interested again. So now I'm trying to figure out how to record from above, so that I can see what the bend looks like.

[Brydie]

Well I didn't achieve my goals but that's ok More my fault for not having well set, measurable goals etc.

Flight - do you have any recent videos of your tests? I have watched some of your videos (I may have subscribed to your youtube channel after watching some jumping you posted on COTH!) Would love to see how he is doing now

[Flight]

Rosie B, you both always look so good! Lovely photos.

I've got a couple of vids from the last comps but the mistakes are so obvious to me now I'm just waiting for more improvement before I bother keeping them on Youtube!
I think it's going to take a while before I see much improvement. It's a matter of getting us stronger and more engaged and he is only 6 and with my dodgy riding it could take a loooong time

When I started learning dressage I wanted to get to medium level so I could do flying changes and half passes. Now I realise that it's not the movements I want, it's that uphill, self carriage, cadenced light type movement that I've started to get a whiff of and want more more MORE

Edit to add - Demi, have you got a phone that can video? Stick that up on a fence post or something!