New Blog to Check Out...

I recently stumbled across the blog of the author of Right from the Start. I haven't had a chance to check it out in any great detail yet, but it seems to have a lot of information and I think it will be helpful in the future. http://thedressageprocess.wordpress.com/ That's the address, I'll add it to my blogroll when I get a chance. I haven't seen Sophie in a couple of weeks, not since the surgery, but it's been bitterly cold and I've been watching Jilly. There are lots of Jilly pictures on the other blog, so check it out if you have some time!

Ok, I Went Ahead With a New Blog...

I went ahead and made a new blog, because I'd like to keep this one limited to horse stuff, since I use it a lot to go back and see what we've done and how we did it. The new blog's address is http://kittyelphiejilly.blogspot.com/, I'm going to add it to my blog roll as well, so that you can see when it's updated if it's not mentioned in a post here.

If I added the other tags in addition to all of the horse tags, the tag section would be three pages long since I plan on tagging everything we teach Jilly.

You guys are no help...

The poll is tied! Someone make this decision for me! Though if it remains close, I may start a new blog and then post a picture over here with a link to the other blog when I do update with pictures.

As far as Sophie goes...in case you're wondering...today we're puppy proofing, tomorrow we're driving to my parents/grandparents (it's halfway to Cleveland from our house), puppy shopping after seeing Twilight, picking up Jilly on Sunday, and driving home from there. Monday I'll resume visiting Sophie and I plan on working on free longeing and clicker training with her, since I can't exercise or ride for at least two weeks. I think that the break will be good for her, because we've slowly been increasing her workload and it was the most it's ever been these last three weeks (with some back to back lessons!). Quite a change from the once a week she was being ridden. When I start riding her again it'll probably be 3-4 days a week, and never more than two days in a row, at least for a while.

Please Participate in the Poll!

With the exception of the surgery happenings, this blog is generally solely for horse stuff, what I'm doing with Sophie, what I'm learning, horse pictures, etc etc. I'll post pictures I take, including of the cats or other things, but not much about more everyday stuff. I had started a new blog for the baby, so that people interested could see it, and people not, wouldn't have to weed through baby stuff to see the horse stuff.

So now, I wonder if I should start another blog where I'll post puppy updates and also lump the cats in there too. Maybe even some general life stuff, at least more than I post now. I started a poll to the right of the screen, asking what you guys (the ones that read my blog) would prefer, so please answer, the poll closes Monday night, unless there is a heavy leaning one way or the other.

We're picking up the puppy on Sunday now, so that we don't have to worry about the breeder's work schedule. Plus we'll have one more day with the puppy before we got back to school. The puppy's name right now is Lola, but my sister suggested Jilly and we both love it. I was liking Jillian/Jilly for a child, and we like animal names that end with the "ee" sound (Kitty, Elphie, Jessie, Sophie, etc). So far she's definitely going to be called Silly Jilly and Jillybean, I'm sure we'll come up with other things. I talked to the breeder tonight and she loved the name Jilly. She said it sounds very British (the sire is from England).

Surgery Completed...

There was lots of waiting, and they never told poor Craig that they hadn't even started on me yet, but the surgery is over. I woke right up and felt really good. Completely different anesthesia experience than when I had my wisdom teeth out! I ate a cup and a half of ice chips while they took my blood pressure every 15 minutes. My pulse was only 50 bpm at the beginning, but it ended up being ok. After 45 minutes they got me and Craig a hot meal and I got to eat. After I proved that my bladder was still working they let me go home, though it took a while to get the discharge papers done.

I felt so good on the way home that along with my massive craving for Texas Roadhouse biscuits we decided to go browse puppy stuff and get something to eat. We went to Jack's Aquarium and Petsmart to look at the doggie stuff. We didn't buy anything, but we took notes on what we want to buy. I'm asking the breeder about the best harness for her before we get one. Looking for puppy stuff definitely kept my spirits up though. I spent last night watching Papillon videos on youtube, so I'll probably do that some more while Craig and I continue our X-Files marathon!

Ack!!!

The hospital called at 8 and told me that my surgery needs to be moved to 9. We were still asleep!!!!! (The plan was to sleep as late as possible so that I wouldn't know I was hungry).

And...we're picking up our puppy on Monday!!!

It's Starting...

My surgery isn't until tomorrow at 10:45 in the morning, but it's already started. This explains why I was feeling like I had to throw up earlier. So far there's no pain, hopefully it stays that way until tomorrow. The presurgery appointment this morning was awful. They didn't tell me that I had to go to a different office when they told me about the appointment. We spent 3 hours at the hospital and only talked to people for 20 minutes total. There's more, but I won't bore you with the details.

On the way home we got a couple of puppy training books. Last night at 3 a.m. I decided I wanted a medium sized dog. But then the Papillon breeders started emailing me back, and I'm smitten again. I found one near Cleveland that sounds *very* promising. It's a little more than we wanted to spend, but she's so cute, and seems well bred by a caring breeder. I want to have it now, but it's a 4 hour trip and I'm not sure when I'll be up for a long car ride.

I will say that there was a lot of information in the folder they sent around with me at the hospital that no one even mentioned to me. I don't know if they're planning on going over it with me tomorrow, or what, I guess we'll see. They had me call later this afternoon for my surgery appointment (no idea why they couldn't tell me when I was there this morning). They tried to tell me I needed to give them a urine sample prior to my show time tomorrow. I said ok, and hung up, even though I was confused because no one had mentioned a urine sample. So then I called back because I quickly realized *why* they needed a urine sample. I had to call three times, but finally got someone to pick up, and yep, they needed a urine sample for a pregnancy test. My God, I mean seriously. Fortunately I very calmly explained that at this point a pregnancy test was a moot point. The person I spoke to agreed after I told her what my surgery was, and said that I didn't need to do the urine sample. I am *very* frustrated with our hospital. I hope that my next base won't have a full hospital, so I can see a real, off base doctor.

The thought of getting a dog has kept me pretty upbeat and excited though. It's all I can think about. Though there was a brief crying stint during House tonight, Cuddy found the baby that had been picked up by someone else and was telling her that she found it and saved it, but now it was time to let it go. It didn't help that it was a little girl all wrapped in pink.

I've been wondering about when I'll be able to ride, because I don't trust my doctor to give me a true estimate of how long to wait. They're going to be way too conservative and honestly, while Sophie is being good, I don't think she's good enough to handle a month off! The worst part about the surgery tomorrow is it's at 10:45 and I'm not supposed to eat after midnight. Let's just say Stephanie gets *very* grumpy when she's hungry. And Stephanie *always* eats breakfast. Sigh.

Is Now a Bad Time to Get a Dog?

So, we're thinking of getting a dog. I'll admit it, I want a dog to help "make up for" the baby. But Craig and I have talked about getting a dog for years, it's just never seemed like the right time. But, on further reflection, this is probably the best time, since we have the rest of December off and will only be gone for a few hours at a time, instead of a full work day until we move at the end of March. So we'll have time to work with the puppy for a while.

We went to Petland tonight and fell in love with a Papillon that we named Gizmo. It was quite a change of plans, since I was going to go the barn and work on clicker training with Sophie, and Craig was going to go to karate. Then the power went out. So we decided to go out for dinner (Outback), Christmas shopping (Sam's Club), and to see the puppies (Petland).

I slept for 5 hours today. I had a dentist appointment this morning, and it was "fun" explaining how I was pregnant, but ok with getting x-rays taken. Then I found out something interesting. The new x-rays revealed that a couple of spots that could go either way had remineralized. The dentist asked me if I'd change my habits at all, which I hadn't, until he asked if I had stopped drinking soda. And actually, I had. I stopped drinking as much a month or two before getting pregnant and once I got pregnant I only had one soda a week, maybe two (only when out to eat). I hadn't realized how much effect diet soda had on my teeth until now. The worst part of the appointment was the end. I was sitting up in the chair, with the flouride thing in my mouth, with only the sign telling you to talk to your provider if you are, or think you may be pregnant. That got me teary, and then walking out of the dental clinic I saw a little girl with her mom, in the waiting room. So I lost it for the drive home and slept from 11 until 4 this afternoon.

I'll be back in the hospital tomorrow morning, for my presurgery briefing. Then surgery on Thursday. Meanwhile I'm going to continue to puppy shop online. We don't really want to get our puppy from Petland, but instead, a reputable breeder, so I'm looking for breeders with puppies available.

I Cried Tonight...

During my lesson. I didn't get Sophie completely loosened up in our warm up, she was a little looky and I just didn't focus on getting her warmed up so much because, I don't know. I guess I just thought we'd work on it more in the lesson. But the beginning of the lesson was working on trotting a 20 meter circle, walking at the walk, and then continuing down half the long side in shoulder in. Except Sophie was tense and braced the entire time, it wasn't fun and I didn't want to be doing it. I felt that to loosen her up we should work on something she's confirmed in rather than something we've only worked on a handful of times. Which was just making me even more frustrated, it was a terrible cycle.

Then I started thinking about how awful it was and how the one silver lining to losing the baby was that I would have longer to work with Sophie (and getting her going really well) before getting too big to ride. I'm going to take a break from riding until next week I think. We had a walk break and I had a good cry.

Then I picked up the trot again and we had much better work. Our canter work was really good tonight, I was able to get her to canter slower, but still maintaining the canter and it was a nice canter at that. Then I worked on riding off the 20 meter circle in the center of the ring to cantering down the long side and all the way around the arena. We were trying to lengthen the canter on the long sides and shorten it on the short sides. It worked pretty well the first direction, not quite as well the next, but decent, at least.

We worked on trot lengthenings and Sophie put forth her best effort ever. So that was pretty cool. Even Craig could see that she was extending her stride. We also did some spiral circles and Sophie was trotting really nicely and was very balanced even on the 10 meter circle portion, so that was great.

It was kind of funny, seeing Kim championing Sophie when I was frustrated with her. She seems to really, really like her. Like I said, the lesson ended really well, I just would have approached it differently in the beginning, until she was already soft and supple. Probably with leg yielding and spiral circles, and some serpentines. Then worked on the new stuff.

So it was a bittersweet lesson, seeing as how it's my last with Kim. I just need to relax and not put so much pressure on myself for my riding to be perfect to make up for other areas of my life sucking. We did get a lot of nice sitting trot work in as well.

Randomness...

I just wanted to say publicly, where everyone would see, that my husband was very involved in selecting the colors for my new blog. I was trying to go with some kind of purple theme, so you all should be grateful that he intervened, because the purple choices would probably have hurt your eyes. And thank you for the compliments on the new colors, and your kind words about the baby. I have a feeling things are going to get worse once the loss actually happens, right now it's kind of like the calm before the storm.

I also forgot to say that I told Kim about my fears of flying changes being hard for Sophie, because I've never see her do flying changes on her own like I did with Jessie, and she just shook her head as if it was crazy to think Sophie would have trouble. I really think Sophie has won herself a fan. Kim even spent a minute rubbing Sophie's head after the lesson, and she normally *never* encourages a horse to rub. That was one of Sophie's worst habit when I started riding her, she would initially try to rub on me as soon as my feet began to approach the ground postride.

Oh, and the other reason for a new post, Kim told me that I need to start picking spots to make my transitions, instead of just doing them. So I need to pick up the trot at K, instead of waiting for that "perfect" moment. Try to make the perfect moment be *at* K. Same thing with picking up the canter. I've said it before, but one of my biggest problems with dressage is discipline. I'm the type of person that's just happy with "better", even if it's not "good". And now I need to raise the bar with the precision thing. But that's ok, because I've got all winter to work on it!

And apparently Sophie doesn't play very much in the pasture. Her two pasturemates play lots, but Sophie just watches them as if they're crazy. That might be fore the best, since she's aroun 15 hands and her pasturemates are large draft crosses!

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom...

Well, today Sophie decided that my well thought out warm up was a complete waste of time, and she'd rather get straight to work. So after we walked around the arena for 3 minutes she did a big spook away from the wall on the end of the arena she liked even when she was "bad". Aaaaargh! She also decided that the other big door couldn't be trusted, so she had to keep an eye on it as well. I was not in the mood, so we went straight to work and if she even *thought* about slowing down when approaching one of the doors I smacked her with the whip to keep her forward. I only had to do that twice and she was moving off my leg well and accepting my half halts. By the time Kim came out, she was going beautifully.

I discovered that sitting trot adds an extra bit of power to Sophie's trot, and really gets her through and working over her back. So we started out with some extensions across the short diagonal, and there was much improvement. Kim gave me a new exercise with them, and that is to go from lengthened trot to walk once you reach the wall again, that way Sophie starts thinking "is she going to make me walk?" and really sits down when I do half halt just to bring her back to a more collected trot from the lengthening.

After the extensions we worked on cantering, counter canter, to be more exact. Her canter was *amazing* tonight. Much better than last lesson. We started off by cantering a 20 meter circle in the middle of the ring. Then I would ask her to trot, we would trot along the wall and begin another 20 meter circle at the end of the ring. Once we had a good canter established I would turn down the quarterline and try to leg yield over to the wall a few strides (pretty much until she broke). We only got 2 or 3 strides when we got any, but Kim seemed really pleased. It was a great improvement because we were cantering down the long side, and last lesson Sophie wasn't able to canter hardly at all down the long side. Kim had also set up three cones to give us a distance to stay away from the wall, kind of like a barrier to leg yield around.

After the cantering we worked on leg yielding away from the wall, to the quarterline, and then back. We had a discussion about my reins, because I always think they're too short and she always thinks they're too long. So I tried shortening my reins a little more, and it was like someone turned on the 4 wheel drive. There was so much power under/behind me. Sophie was up and open and actually started to get some suspension. Kim was very impressed and had us try some lengthenings with this newfound energy and it was incredible. I could feel her launching upwards as we began the legnthenings. We've decided that Sophie (and I) are ready for more sitting trot than rising trot, provided we're both properly warmed up. It's amazing the difference it makes in the quality of her trot. And my half halts are so much more effective with my butt already in the saddle, as are our transitions.

We then worked on shoulder in, initially at the trot, which didn't go well at all. So I went back to the walk and Kim told me to make sure I keep my inside shoulder *up*, and back, like I was turning to look at someone in a tree behind me. It worked like magic. As soon as I got my shoulder back and up I could actually *feel* Sophie snap into position. I was just sitting and she was performing shoulder in, every now and then I would use a little inside leg, but it wasn't a constant squeezing of the inside leg, asking her to bend that way. She was working almost completely off my seat. It was like magic. And it worked in both directions. I was able to more effectively half halt and use the outside rein once I was confident in my position, and Sophie looked like a real dressage horse doing shoulder in. It was incredible. We had 3 really good steps of shoulder in the first time, and then 9 the next, once I put it all together. As I get better at half halting while doing the shoulder in I'm going to start asking her to trot *while* already doing the shoulder in, instead of trying to do it after a corner or a 10 meter circle.

Our final exercise was more canter work. Sophie was no longer light and back to being more barrel pony on crack than she'd been in the beginning of the lesson. I know some of it was probably a little bit of fatigue, so I think that when I'm working on my own I'll do canter work early in the ride. Instead of the end like we had been doing. That may have been why we had so much trouble with the canter at the end of last lesson. At one point, when I asked for a lengthening I used a little too much of just my outside leg, and she picked up a lovely canter, I went ahead and rode it, and she kept it around the tight turn when we returned back to the wall and all the way up to the other end until I asked her to come back.

Today and the previous lesson were full length lessons, with lots of warm up to boot, but Sophie overall did very well. Both of us are gaining strength and stamina, I don't actually require breaks during the lessons anymore. And Sophie mainly gets them as a reward for doing especially well. We're at the point now where I'll sometimes just give her a few inches of rein and let her stretch her neck. Kim said that she thinks her neck is really coming along, and is much thicker now than it was (in a good way, lol). She was also soooo forward at the beginning from being worked out of spooking that Kim didn't have to tell me once not to let her get any lower. Sophie was just trucking along just like a real dressage horse. So, though it started badly, it was an overall very good lesson. I needed that, because I'm beginning to feel crampy, and have a feeling that I'm going to be starting to miscarry before the surgery on Thursday.

My last lesson of the year (and for the next four months) is tomorrow night, provided I feel well enough. I feel like we're in a really good place though, with *tons* to work on and continue improving while we're without instruction.

Oh, and I am officially crazy. I looked at the weather report and said, wow, it's warm today...because it was 23 degrees, and felt like 23 degrees.

In Ten Years...

I want to travel back in time and buy this horse. http://www.arabianhorses.org/marketplace/classified/pas_detail2.asp?id=49402 She's a Trakehner/Arabian just like Sophie, same age, but much more advanced in her training. I watched the video of her and she looks lovely and correct (especially for a half Arabian, no BTV/overflexion). And of course I like her color.

One a different note, I never realized how many dressage blogs I read until I made a blog roll, so that I can check them as they're updated instead of going to individual links only to discover they haven't been updated since I last visited. I really like blog rolls though, I've found a lot of new blogs through them on other people's pages and it was getting cumbersome to just update the blog list.

If you'd like to be added to my blog roll, and write about dressage, just make a comment or something and I'll add you. I think I got everyone that I read, but there were a couple of times where my copying may not have worked because when I pasted and hit enter I was told that blog was already on my list. So I think the new copy hadn't worked.

Can't Sleep...

I can't sleep. After being absolutely exhausted at 11 and going straight to bed, I just can't sleep. I'm not sure why. I've drank 2 bottles of water and I'm still thirsty. It might be the champagne. Not that I'm celebrating, but I like the taste of cheap, sweet champagne. On the way home from my lesson I started bawling. I sat in the truck for a few minutes, crying, and when it had mostly subsided I decided to go inside. My poor husband freaked out when he saw me, I guess I did look pretty bad when I saw myself. He thought something was wrong with Sophie. I was just sad, and frustrated, that I let it interfere with my lesson.

He hugged me and I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes until the tears subsided. Then I took a bubble bath while reading The Complete Training of the Horse and Rider and drinking raspberry champagne.

I always wondered how people know so much history of dressage, and who to like, or who to dislike as far as the old masters, but Podhjasky spells it out for you in the first 15 pages of the book, so that explains that. Reading this book has made me realize that I need to use my voice more often in rewarding Sophie. He talks about influencing the horse's senses, and the one he says is the strongest is the sense of hearing. So far I really like this book, it's very readable, and the descriptions are clear. I'm very glad that my sister got me this book for Christmas this year. I just wish I'd read it sooner.

One good thing about all of these lessons in a row is that it's giving me lots to work on over the winter, while I'm on my own. Kim said that as I practice going large around the arena at the canter, not just on my circle, that I can then begin schooling counter canter. So right now I have the following to work on:

Transitions (these are getting much better, trot-canter need more work)
Lengthenings (these too, are really coming, especially once we've cantered)
Leg Yielding (she's doing *great* at leg yielding, but needs to be hotter off my leg)
Shoulder In (great at the walk, gets it a bit at the trot)
Renvers (pretty good at the walk, haven't tried trotting)
Travers (great at the walk, haven't tried it at the trot)
Counter Canter (this'll be fun)
Turn on the Haunches (very, very baby right now, more like a 1/8th turn right now)
The canter itself (joy)

I'll probably work mostly on shoulder in for now, because when I do travers her butt gets all wiggly. She's *very* good at moving her butt from side to side and loves to offer to do so to demonstrate just how good she is at it. I feel very prepared for the winter at least. I can get her warmed up nicely and going well, and those exercises are, for the most part, confirmed enough that I can get them on my own, now they just need practice, and I need to fine tune my aids so that I'm not leaning or using my leg too far back, etc, etc.

(I don't know why Blogger says it's 12:14, my clock says 3:35.)

Losing It...

I had another lesson today. While warming up I discovered the key to travers. I was playing around while walking and asked Sophie to move her butt over with my outside leg. Presto, haunches over. I tried it again on the next long side and same thing. So when Kim came out I showed her, and she told me that it was a good start, but I needed more bend. So I tried asking her to move her haunches over before we finished the turn (since she was already bent for the turn) and then using my inside leg to ask for bend. Worked like a charm. Suddenly we were doing travers.

So we did that a bit in both directions. Then we worked on shoulder in at the walk, and then trot. Which went ok, but when I prepare my aids to ask for shoulder in Sophie thinks I'm asking her to walk, which was frustrating.

We moved on to work on cantering one direction, which really frustrated me because I was in a not so good mood to begin with, and she kept breaking and flinging her head. The more frustrated I got the worse she got. After that we did some lengthenings, which went *really* well. So well I was able to start focusing on bringing her back to a more collected trot at the end of the lengthening. Then we cantered in the other direction, which was even worse, especially when we tried to go large off of a 20 meter circle. But she got it when we tried it a few more times. We finished up with working on turn on the haunches, which went pretty well. I just need to remember to half halt *every* step, to be able to do it. Granted, it needs a lot of work, we're going to have to work on it a lot, but it's a good start.

I have another lesson Sunday night. It was 15 degrees when I was driving home, it was 25 degrees when I looked at the barn thermometer. I was surprised Kim decided to teach in that weather, but glad, even if I was having trouble keeping my emotions under control.

Beginning to Hate Winter...

Some of you may have noticed that my other blog is gone. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday (my first, at 11 weeks, insert eye roll here). The doctor started out by going over tests and procedures we could opt for, or out of. Then she did an ultrasound. The baby's heart wasn't beating. And it measured at 6 weeks, 3 days, not the almost 9 weeks it should have been measuring. I had another ultrasound with the real technician, not just the doctor, she found the same thing. She also looked at the blood flow in my uterus, and there was no blood flowing in the sac the baby was in.

I'll be having a D&C on Thursday. Craig and I, were, are, devastated. We thought that at 11 weeks I was far enough along that the risk was practically gone. We were shocked at what the ultrasound discovered.

Last winter I "lost" Jessie, due to his stifle injury. This winter I lost our baby.

It might seem odd that I'm still riding, but really, Craig and Sophie are the only things keeping me from losing it completely. Everything else in my life is going so right that it makes it easier to deal with this one major thing going wrong. I don't know what I'll do if it happens again though. I try to tell myself that at least I didn't find out in two weeks, when we would have had the nuchal scan and been in the second trimester. I just wish we'd known two weeks ago, I think it would have been a little easier to deal with.

But, that's why the other blog is gone.

Best Lesson Evah!

I have a feeling this title might get used quite a bit in the next few days. I had another lesson today, it was 21 degrees when I drove home from the barn, but still 30 degrees in the barn/indoor arena. I got Sophie ready and all was well. Warmed her up while Kim finished her lesson with a little girl learning stake and bend. Sophie and I just free walked for a bit and then leg yielded at the walk a little. After that we started trotting. I did a few leg yields and circles, but I mainly tried to stay out of the way and give Sophie a chance to warm up her muscles.

Kim had us do some leg yields and then we walked some while she helped the little girl untack the lesson horse. Then we went straight to shoulder in, which went really, really well again. Sophie is picking it up soooo quickly. I'm working on not leaning too far to the side and getting my inside leg far enough forward. I asked Kim if we could work on travers a little, if she didn't think it'd confuse Sophie, since I haven't done shoulder in/travers since last winter, with Jessie.

So we tried travers, and it just confused Sophie, she kept trotting with my leg that far back and my inside leg asking for bend. We tried it a couple of times and she was still confused, so we gave that up, and instead started to work on renvers! I guess there's a movement in Second Level where you move from shoulder in to renvers on a long side. You have to do it in the trot for the test, but we did it at the walk. At first it was hard to visualize for me, especially since I've never ridden renvers before. So Kim stood at the halfway point against the wall, so that I could change Sophie's bend around Kim and then kind of "slide" over her. I probably can't explain why it worked so well in my head, but it did. It was amazing, Sophie is a renvers pro. Of course, after doing that she was wiggling her hind end all over the place, anticipating doing more renvers.

After that we picked up the trot and worked on getting Sophie up, since she kept getting too low. It's odd, because I have to make sure my reins are short enough, or she gets low and BTV. So after lots of half halts we were ready to try shoulder in at the trot. It went ok, I was having a lot of trouble with my left leg, it was shot after trying shoulder in for so long at the walk, then the shoulder in to renvers exercise made it worse. But we did pretty well overall.

Then we cantered, and that went ok, our transitions were much better at least. Sophie was very forward (though not rushy) so we tried lengthenings across the short diagonal and she did sooooo well. It was a little strung out, on the forehand, but she lengthened. She did even better the next two times we tried it. After that we had another walk break and cantered in the other direction.

Unless Kim decides it's too cold I should have another lesson tomorrow, and one on Sunday. I don't know if I'll have one next week, since I'm going to be having a D&C sometime next week and I'm not sure if I'm going to feel up to riding after. Kim's leaving on the 11th now, so I could have a lesson Monday/Tuesday depending on how things go.

Saying it Out Loud...

I'm not pulling Sophie's mane.

Ever.

There, I said it. When I bought her it had been hacked off and looked awful. I was letting it grow, because I wanted some pictures of her with it long. But you know what, I *like* it long! I braid it for every ride and it takes less than 5 minutes. The braid stays in and looks great from beginning to end of my lesson. Then it's wavy and lovely after I undo it.

I do use a lot of detangling spray on it (and her tail), but she really likes having it brushed (as long as I do it gently if it's knotted). The most relaxed I've seen her is when I stand next to her, brushing her mane. I'm going to make up a mixture recommended on UDBB to see how well it works, since I hate just using silicone based products on her hair.

1/3 water
1/3 showsheen or other silicone based detangler
1/3 mane & tail conditioner

I've also been doing something different with her tail, knotting it near the tail bone to keep the longer hairs from dragging in the mud. I tried it during my last ride and all of the knots stayed in great and weren't tangled when I undid them last night (as week later). It didn't look like there was much in the way of breakage, but we'll see how it looks on Thursday.

I've been debating braiding it and looping it up on itself, but I'm worried about moisture staying in the tail and it rotting off. I also don't know what to do in the summer, because right now, flies are not an issue, so she's not using her tail much. I may braid it up then, if it's not as muddy.

Best Lesson Evah!

I went against my gut (which was reacting to the fact that it was 28 degrees, 18 with the wind chill) and ventured out for a lesson today. They were still bringing the horses in to eat so I checked the weather (30 degrees in the barn) and brought in my gear. Sophie was mildly happy to see me, once she was done with her grain. I got her ready, braided up her mane (4 minutes from walking to my cubby, getting my rubberband, braiding her mane, and leaving her stall for her boots!) We started warming up and I decided to try something different. Instead of just walking around for a bit, aimlessly, we leg yielded the long sides. First, just from the quarterline to the wall, and then, because she was leg yielding so well and her walk was so active, we would leg yield to the wall, away from the wall, and then back.

This went really well, and she started to come on the bit on her own. Then we trotted some circles and leg yielded in each direction to warm up. The trot leg yields were so much better after doing that warm up than they were in the middle of a lesson previously. We'd warmed up for about 20 minutes when Kim came out and the lesson started. I had Sophie a little too forward, so we did some half halts to bring her trot back a bit. We did some regular circles and worked on developing the trot after "A" while going straight ahead, and then developing the trot from the canter after a 20 meter circle while on the straightaway.

After that we made up a couple of Training Level tests and rode them. I know that they're similar to "real" tests in the movements. They went really well, a lot better than expected. Our transitions still need some work, especially the trot-canter. Our first canter-trot transition was *amazing*, completely seamless. The one in the other direction, not quite so much. The second "test" we rode was much better, though both were decent. My turn down centerline was horrible the first time, so we practiced it again before the second test and tried it with me looking at the judge's stand as I was making the turn that would lead to the turn down centerline.

While taking a walk break after the two practice tests we discussed where Sophie and I are. Other than our transitions we're solidly Training Level. Sitting trot for me isn't a problem, though I haven't done it much on Sophie because posting is easier on her back. Leg yielding is going really well. Lengthenings are ok, we've just started working on them. Counter canter isn't even a thought at this stage though. Maybe in a few more weeks we'll be ready.

On another note, we did start schooling Shoulder In today! It went sooooo well. We decided to try at the walk because she was doing so well with maintaining contact and staying forward while connected in the walk. We went to the left first, and she did incredible. We just walked and I maintained my position, with my leg forward, asking for a little bend with the inside rein but mainly using my leg and then pulling her over with the outside rein. Worked like a charm, she did great, stayed on the bit, though I could hear her working the bit with her mouth as we did it. We did it a few times to the left, and then tried it to the right, where she was even better. I was doing a better job of not sitting too far to the inside, so that may have helped. I was also able to give releases with the right rein much more often, almost like clockwork.

We decided to call it quits there because she was so good. And Kim isn't leaving until the 10th now, so we should get a couple more lessons in before she goes.

No Lesson...

Sigh, no lesson tonight. Which really sucked because Craig skipped karate so that he could video it. He did video my ride though, which went really well. Not as good as our last lesson, but there was definite improvement even still. I think between there not being a lesson and the camera I was a little tenser than normal.

Sad...

Last night Kim told me that her husband is pushing for them to move to Florida on the weeked of the 5th instead of on the 10th. It's bittersweet, since we are much further now than I thought we would be by the end of winter, which is good, but I can't help but wonder how much further we'd have gotten by the end of winter if I could take lessons the whole time. I had found another instructor, but from talking to Kim about her I don't think that she's an instructor I'd like to use. I may ask Kim if the person she had suggested last winter was still in the area, and would be a good match. Even if I can only take a lesson once every couple of weeks I think it would help.

I'm also thinking I'll ask Kim if we're ready to work on Shoulder In during tomorrow's lesson. She did ask me if there was anything I wanted to work on last night, but I didn't think of anything and like just going where the lesson takes us. But I'd like to get some eyes on the ground help with Shoulder In if we're not pushing it by working on it too much, that way I have a starting point for schooling it on my own. We did work baby Shoulder In a little during a previous lesson, when Sophie wasn't nearly as forward or steady in the bridle, so I'm hoping it's something we can do.

So this is what it feels like...

Today I learned what it feels like when Sophie is truly "in front of my leg". We had another lesson tonight to make up for cancelling last Tuesday's and it went great. We warmed up by walking for a while again, and then trotting big circles and laps around the ring on a long rein, but on contact. Our warm up lasted 15 minutes and I even had time to take off my sweatshirt and tighten the girth again. Then the lesson started.

Sophie is accepting of contact now, at the walk. I generally let her walk with her head wherever she wants it, as long as I have a steady contact (she no longer throws her head at the walk, otherwise I would worry about it more). I will half halt and use my inside leg to push her into the outside rein to encourage her to come round, but I don't focus on it by any means. I collected Sophie back up to begin, using a lot of strong half halts to encourage her to walk up and into the contact, it wasn't the best walk in the world, or the most through, but definitely an improvement.

We then picked up the trot, have I mentioned how good our upward transitions are getting? I really think Kim is astonished by how quickly we've been progressing and how *good* Sophie is. We did laps around the arena, working on really improving the trot and getting me to focus on making half halts nearly constantly, to keep her active, forward, but engaged. First we would get it just right for a stride, and then two, and then four. It was amazing how different Sophie felt. Once we improved enough around the arena we began a 20 meter circle in the center, where we worked on more half halts to encourage some actual suspension.

After that we moved on to trotting leg yields down the long sides, as well as working on lengthening the trot down a short diagonal. The lengthenings kind of sucked, but the leg yields were great. After a short walk break we worked on the canter. She was still sucking back and then raising her head when we cantered, so we worked on trot-canter transitions. My big problem is I still tend to brace through the transition, and I had to work on letting go, half halting through the transition. Unfortunately I needed a break after a few of those, so we walked for a bit and then reversed.

Once we reversed we worked on the canter to the left and tried something different. Sophie was so *on* that we decided to ask for a lengthening for a few strides before asking for the canter, to avoid the sucking back. It worked, I had three or four nicer transitions with some good jump to them and less bracing. After that we worked on leg yielding, which wasn't as good in this direction. After the leg yields we worked on walk-trot transitions which were *much* better. I discovered that they are lovely when I release the inside rein in between half halts entirely. Poof, perfect transition, so I'm going to try that when cantering to see if it helps there as well.

We also did some more lengthenings on the short diagonal and they were much better, thanks to the feel we'd discovered while doing the canter work. We did try some side passing around the corners, which also helped us work on our trot-halt transitions (which were lovely!) but Sophie was getting tired and let us know that she wasn't thrilled with more work. So we did a couple of stretchy trot circles in both directions and called it a night.

In all I rode for about 45 minutes with the warm up and the lesson. It was a very good lesson and Sophie was awesome. She's lost a little weight, so we'll probably up her hay soon. Kim said that when she was getting 2 flakes at night she wouldn't eat it all, and would have some leftovers when cut back to a flake. But once I restarted lessons she's been cleaning up every bite.

And on another note, now that my riding lessons are cominig to an end, I'm going to start taking piano lessons. Weird, huh?

Oxymoron...

That's me cantering Sophie, a big old oxymoron. Every stride it's half halt with the outside rein and ask for more jump with the inside rein. She already feels fast, why would I want to use more leg??? But if I don't do it that way she gets strung out and falls into the trot. Heck, even doing it that way we still fall into the trot every now and then. But today was amazing, we cantered a 15 meter circle, might have even been a 13 meter circle!!!!! And it was under control, collected (for us), and round. It was awesome.

Due to it being in the 20's I warmed up longer at the walk, and then moved on to trotting circles on a longer than normal rein, just to see if she would do it. She did so well (stretching down and seeking the bit) that I started working on walk-trot transitions on the circle, still on the longer rein. They were very good transitions. We warmed up for about 15 minutes and then Kim came in to the ring and we started with some figure eights and then serpentines. The turn was too steep on the serpentines for us to make with impulsion and Sophie moving forward, so I worked on making the turns at the quarterlines, if that makes sense.

After that we cantered to the left and it was ok, we did get down to a 13 meter circle but it wasn't as balanced as the same circle to the right. We also did some leg yielding which just remphasized that I need to use my outside aids more and turn her like a "steamship", in other words, turn her shoulders and not let her just bend her neck around the turn. When we reversed the canter was a little harder to pick up, but once we got it going it was more balanced, especially when we did the small circle. The leg yields in that direction were rougher at first, she was tense and bracing and I was turning her oddly which wasn't helping.

Once we'd cantered a couple of times I asked for the trot and we did a stretchy circle for a couple of laps before settling down to walk our cool down. It was a very short lesson, but Sophie was sooooo good we called it quits there. It was especially nice because Sophie didn't get sweaty, just a little warm, so it took no time at all to cool her out. I decided to start taking my tack home at night, so that it isn't as cold on her and that way I can give it a good cleaning here at home, instead of just a rinse off like I do now.

My Christmas List...

Sarah asked about my list of favorite dressage books. I've been thinking about it, because I have so many and sadly haven't read most of them. I've skimmed them, or looked up specific movements, but I haven't had a lot of time for reading them cover to cover. So I'll start with what I want for Christmas...

1. Cross-Train Your Horse by Jane Savoie
2. The Complete Training of Horse and Rider by Alois Podhjasky

"Grown Up" Books I Like
Lessons with Lendon (I *love* this book, I plan to go back to this winter)
Dressage in Harmony From Basic to Grand Prix by Walter Zettl
The Gymnasium of the Horse by Gustav Steinbrecht
The Art of Training: Lessons from a Lifetime with Horses By Hans von Blixen-Finecke (this one was my bible while doing 4-H, too bad it was beyond me at the time!)
Balance in Movement The Seat of the Rider by Suzanne von Dietze (I've only skimmed this one so far, but has some interesting ideas and descriptive pictures, good if you like Centered Riding I think)
Horsemanship by Waldemar Seunig

"Introductory" Books I Like
Dressage for the Young Rider By Pegotty Henriques (another of my bibles in 4-H)
Common Sense Dressage by Sally O'Connor (yes, that O'Connor!)
The USDF Guide to Dressage by Jennifer Bryant


I would like to get the Charles de Kunffy books at some point. As well as the other Podjhasky book (I already have The Riding Instructor I believe, just haven't read it yet). I'd like to see Tug of War in person to see if I want it. I have read Dressage with Kyra, and it was good, but I'd get the others I listed first I think. I'm also thinking about Dressage Masters : Techniques and Philosophies of Four Legendary Trainers: Klaus Balkenhol, Ernst Hoyos, Dr. Uwe Schulten-Baumer, George Theodorescu. I did start reading Dressage : The Art of Classical Riding by Sylvia Loch, but didn't get into it, that was early in my serious dressage learning though, so my opinion may have changed.

Anyway, those are the books I like, I know I have more, but they aren't all together and I think I've hit upon my favorites. I have to cancel yesterday's lesson because I was feeling nauseous and riding doesn't really help with that! Hopefully I feel ok for tomorrow's lesson, even though it's a chilly 30-something degrees.

Though the Weather Outside is Frightful...

So, it snowed today. Yeah, snow has yet to be in even the 10 day forecast, but it snowed today! There is even snow on the ground! It started out raining this morning which morphed into huge snowflakes. I felt sorry for Sophie, standing in her paddock, shivering under her sheet, so Craig and I decided to go change her blanket and I was going to take some pictures of the horses.

We pull in to the barn and realize there are no horses. Hmm. So I grab her midweight out of the trailer and head into the barn. I realized that since all of the horses were up it'd be a good time to ride. So I saddled Sophie up and took her for a spin. We worked on leg yielding a bit and then walk-trot transitions on a circle (after we warmed up). After doing transitions in both directions we worked on cantering on a 20 meter circle in both directions and called it a day after a stretchy circle.

I didn't ride for long since Craig was being a good sport about hanging out and my legs were tired from my lesson on Thursday. We did change her blanket out since it's supposed to be in the 20s tonight. I think her transtions improved just from the beginning of the ride compared to the end as well.

A Foal and His Pony...

This is a Starlight son (mom is a draft of some kind), he was born May 24th and is *huge*. These pictures were taken early September. He gets along great with the pony, and the pony gives as good as he gets. The foal was turned out with another small pony for a trial and he learned very quickly that he can't treat just any pony like he treats "his" pony! He gets on his knees to get better leverage for playing with the pony at times, it's pretty funny to watch.

If you click on the Pictures tag at the bottom of this post you'll be able to find the previous pictures of him easier. Also, if you click on the pictures, you'll be able to see them full size, enjoy!

Foiled by Fishy...

I have lost my diagonals. I mentioned it last lesson to Kim, and she said she was surprised because I normally don't have trouble with them. I was having problems today too, this time thinking I was on the wrong diagonal when I was good. Then Kim said the dreaded words..."It's because you're pregnant". Apparently she had the same kind of problems when she was pregnant.

Today Sophie was bending her neck incorrectly, she counter bends while appearing to be bent correctly (to the uneducated observer that is). So I had to do lots of half halts with the outside rein to keep her neck straight and then ask for correct bend once she was straight. We started out by asking for transitions on a 20 meter circle. I have a tendency to brace with my arms when asking for a lesser gait, which just gives Sophie something to brace against. So we worked mainly on me, half halting constantly through the trainsition and keeping my elbows loose and hands playful, not pulling, but giving and taking, with more give and very light on the take, if that makes sense.

We did this on a 20 meter circle in both directions. As she improved we started doing it on the diagonal. We started getting a nice transition, but lost the quality of the walk after the transition, so I started focusing on keeping my seat and hands following and the after got better, but the transition deteriorated. Eventually I got it and the transition and the walk were much better, as was the transition back to the trot. (We were trotting across the diagonal, walking right before reaching X, walking across X, and trotting after crossing X).

Of course, after about 10 diagonals Sophie started walking automatically because she had caught on to what we were doing. So we changed it up, but doing 3 loop serpentines and walking when we crossed the centerline, then picking the trot up right away. We did those a handful of times and then we worked on leg yielding in both directions. Sophie did much better, she was much more responsive to my leg and very even and steady in the reins.

After some leg yielding we had a walk break and talked about riding while pregnant. Of course, it ended up being a long break and Sophie was kind of annoyed by the restarting work, I think she thought she was done, lol. After I had a nice trot going we worked on the canter again. It was much less barrel pony on crack and even could be considered training level dressage horse canter at times.

We cantered in the other direction and she was a very good girl, so we let her trot again and do some stretchy circles in both directions. Then I walked her for 15 minutes and put her away. It was a shorter lesson than normal, but we covered a lot and made a lot of improvements. I'm going to focus mainly on transitions and leg yielding during my off time.

I also discovered that I've been placing my foot on the stirrup wrong. Instead of keeping my foot toward the inside of the stirrup I keep it pressed against the outside of the stirrup which encourages me to toe out. I tried fixing it for the canter work, which I think is part of the reason why Sophie had trouble getting back into the swing of things. I can feel the different strain on my leg when I have them in the right place. So for now I'm retraining my feet/legs while walking (part of the reason I walked for 15 minutes after the lesson, to practice keeping my feet in the right place). After I get better at the walk I'll start adding some trotwork too. It might take all winter, but I *will* stop toeing out!

I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie Wooooorld...

Today Craig and I went to the barn to change Sophie's blanket due to the weather being rainy and in the high 50's tomorrow, she's kind of like my personal Barbie doll, except her clothes are *much* more expensive. I switched her over to her Schneider's sheet while Craig bonded with his barn kitten, who we have named Hamlet. Sophie was good and let me unblanket and blanket her without even a halter, a big change from earlier this week when I first put her turnout blanket on! The new one is all purple, though I actually prefer the fit of my cheap Showman to the Schneider's.

If any of you are looking for a turnout blanket I definitely recommend the 1200D Showman blanket from Chick's Saddlery, I posted a link a couple of entries back. Make sure you call them to see what they have in stock, since they had a lot more at QH Congress than they do on their website, and I bought my blankets the next to last day of Congress.

Sophie's fancy schmancy new browband arrived today. I already put it on her bridle, now I just have to remember to take her bridle back to the barn tomorrow. I do have a lesson tomorrow, I hope Sophie's as good as she's been. So keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll do my best to encourage her to hold her own head up!

Like a Barrel Pony on Crack...

That's kind of what it feels like when I canter Sophie.

Today's lesson was great, as what's becoming always. Sophie is on the bit, round, and starting to work over her back. She's found a comfort zone in what will become her natural frame when she's in self carriage. I'm thrilled that she's finally accepting contact, steady contact, and no longer throws her head.

But there's a downside...she is soooo comfortable with my hands that she's just fine with me holding her head up. My arms are not cut out for holding up Sophie's head. I was bad, and let her get away with it last lesson because I was so thrilled that she was so accepting of my hands and contact.

So this lesson we got to work on convincing her to hold her own head up. We started with trotting big circles to warm up and moving on to changing direction across the diagonal through round lines so that it was easier to work on changing her bend, that way it wasn't a long straight line across the diagonal. Once we had those going pretty good we moved on to three loop serpentines.

After that we did some leg yielding from the quarterline and those went much better than last week. We finished up with some canter work and it was fast, that's when Sophie started acting like a barrel pony on crack. She was fast and cantering big while about to break into a trot at any moment, she was also starting to wear out my arms with hanging on me. So during that walk break Kim and I talked about it and how Sophie was just going to get heavier if I let her, and that it'd be ok for Training Level, and even First Level, but it'd kill me any higher.

I think the turning point was recognizing how thrilled and grateful I was that she was just being so steady in her contact, that I just wanted to savor the moment. So after the walk break we worked on cantering to the right (Sophie's worse direction) and I really worked on half halting and then shaking her off. Something we'd worked on to the left, but I hadn't seen any real results. But to the right, she was like a changed horse, up, but round, Kim said she was almost there, almost completely through but at least had schwung when trotting prior to cantering.

The canter was much better, slower, but on the forehand, so I continued to really *ride* the canter. Inside leg, inside leg, half halt, shake her off, half halt, inside leg, shake her off, half halt, inside leg, half halt, shake her off, just constant. I'm sure it's not the prettiest thing to watch right now, but she didn't break into the trot and we had three *great* strides of canter. Really, really good canter. But then we lost it, and didn't get it quite back. At that point I was feeling queasy and called an end to the lesson, and cooled Sophie out.

I have another lesson on Thursday night and will have two next week, hopefully. Then just one the next due to Thanksgiving, two the week after that, and I'm not sure if I'll have another past that point because Kim is leaving on a Wednesday and I'm not sure she's going to want to give a lesson the night before she leaves.

Sophie Looks Adorable...

Sophie looks adorable in her new turnout. Today I Miracle Groomed her with a towel to get her as clean as possible and put her midweight turnout on her. It's black along the bottom half and purple on the top half, she looks sooooo cute in it! I put her in the indoor to trot around so that I could see how it looked and make sure it was going to stay in place. I got this blanket Showman 1200D and so far it's pretty nice! The buckles seem sturdy and well made, the blanket fits her really well. We'll see how it looks after a day outside with her playmates tomorrow though!

A *Real* Dressage Horse...

Hopefully the future little one doesn't catch on, but Sophie *really* pleased me these last two days by being such a good girl, so I'm getting her a present. Her very own bling browband! This is the style I'm getting...



I think it will look lovely on her. It's from this site http://simplechangebrowbands.com/browbands1.html and then as her style changes I can get her new chains to fit our mood!

I did visit Sophie today, gave her a good grooming to make up for skipping her grooming on Wednesday. I also took her bridle home to measure her old browband. I decided not to ride because she had two good days in a row after a break and I want to ride Saturday/Sunday so that she can have Monday off, and is ready for my lesson on Tuesday.

The Most Amazing Horse in the World...

Sophie's new name is "The Most Amazing Horse in the World". Yes, that's right, she is now the most amazing horse in the world. I mentioned yesterday that she was very good after being longed when I tried my newly flocked saddle and I wasn't sure why. Well, today she was even better, and I have another possible reason, though can remove one from the list.

I warmed up while Kim was giving a lesson and the little girl was practicing barrels, Sophie didn't care. Kim's daughter was riding her young barrel horse, often cantering around the ring, Sophie didn't care. She didn't care about the clucking, she didn't care too much when the first horse left and she cared even less when the second horse left.

She was on the bit, round, soft, and wasn't tossing her head at all. We warmed up with 20 meter circles all over the ring, then went to leg yielding on the long sides, starting at less than the quarter line and moving further out from there. She was great, especially when I remembered to use my outside aids when turning for the quarterline.

She did really good leg yielding to the right and then we changed across the diagonal and cantered a 20 meter circle to the right, working on the upward and downward transitions as well as maintaining jump in the canter, keeping her round, and not asking for a bigger canter with my seat at the same time.

We had a break then and worked on leg yielding to the left, which didn't go so well, she wasn't nearly as responsive to my right leg though, and was very forward today, so I had some trouble with the leg yield to the left until I started utilizing the right rein, and then they got better. After that we reversed at the trot and I had my best change of whip ever. She stayed round and forward the entire time I switched it, then I fell forward after that and she walked, but it was a good sign. Then we cantered to the left and worked on transitions for a bit.

We ended the ride with sidepassing around the corners to work on her moving off my leg. We quickly learned that she gets a little anxious, so we can't do two corners in a row, instead we have to do a corner and then a lap, then do a corner again. After we did the exercise a few times she was much quieter though, and started to stay soft and round while leg yielding and we were able to use just a long side in between. We only did corners 6 or so times and she got much better about it, she also was trying to stop at the original corner when we passed it after just three times.

I couldn't believe how wonderful she was today though. There was one point during our warm up where I whacked her beind my leg with the whip because she was losing momentum, and after riding without a whip yesterday my legs were already tired and sore. After that, she was full steam ahead with no encouragement from me! But it also meant that when I tried to emphasize my right leg moving her left she sped up rather than sideways. So I plan to work more on the sidepassing to work on her sensitivity and my transitions.

Oh, and when the saddle fitter was here, looking at my saddle, she said "wow, you've really been taking good care of this", I thought it was funny, lol. I made sure to clean it tonight because I had to run yesterday after the saddle fitting was done and didn't have time to do anything but put Sophie away and get home to change for class. So, today was great, and I forgot that Sophie's been on Raspberry Leaves for just over a week, so who knows if they are a big contributing factor to her new attitude under saddle, but I'm not complaining!

*This* is why I bought an Albion...

The saddle fitter came out today and reflocked my saddle. It feels so much better, more like the trial saddle that I borrowed from the tack store that led me down the Albion road in the beginning. Sophie was *not* happy about being in the barn by herself, but she was pretty good. I did longe her before riding and she was a bit of a brat on the longe (makes me think I ought to longe her a couple of times a month just as a refresher) but she was great when I rode her. I left my whip behind and she was great, walking, trotting, cantering. There was less head tossing than normal as well (actually, none), but I don't know if that's because she worked out her kinks on the longe, the chiro visit, or the reflocked saddle. I have a lesson tomorrow and then 2 a week after that because Kim is leaving for Florida on 10 December and I want to get a lot of lessons in before she goes and I'm on my own.

9 Year Old Trakehner/Hanoverian Mare...Day 2...

***My notes weren't very in depth for this ride unfortunately, this clinic took place a few days after I discovered I was pregnant, and 1st trimester fatigue was really hitting hard.***

****Pirouette Exercise****
Do this with the stiff side to the outside, then reverse it
20 m circle, 3 supples to stiff side (only using snaffle rein), 7-1-7-1-7-1; then haunches in and supple again, then spiral down to 15 m, do supples, down to 10 m circle

*Men versus Women*
Men are stronger so ride from strength, women are smarter and learn how to work around issues

If the horse is too deep, press with both legs, raise the hands and move them forward the same amount you raised them (2 inches up then 2 inches forward)
Needs to be one fell swoop (like the "wave" at a football game)

Supple the horse 3 times to the stiff side when half passing to raise the pressure threshold

This is the last of my notes from the clinic. I had to leave a little early because I was just exhausted and worried about making the hour drive home even

Third Level Friesian Gelding...Day 2...

****Connecting Half Halt****
Close both legs
Close outside fist
Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle the inside hand
Do all of this for 3 seconds

Do 3 supples then half halt (while thinking add, add, add); soften and let the neck fall down (ie use suppleness to improve the connection)

Too much flexion on inside is a sign of more focus on the inside rein, need to focus on the outside hand which is the connecting hand; you should still row the boat as you half halt

The outside hand captures, contains, and recycles the power

Your horse must be supple on the inside rein and connected through the outside rein

Inside/outside is not determined by the wall of the arena, but by the flexion and bend of the horse

Precede the opening of your fingers for a stretchy circle with a good connecting half halt
*Do the same thing with a test that asks you to loop the inside rein*

Second Level Morgan Gelding...Day 2...

"Amateurs ride from movement to movement; professionals ride from half halt to half halt" --Robert Dover

Don't increase the leg if the horse is heavy in the hand; just use regular leg aids

Leg aid at the half halt is just slightly more than the maintenance aid (if your horse is in front of the aids)

****Signs of Collection****
Horse is shorter from nose to tail
Height of withers compared to heigh of croup (withers are higher)
Loading of the hind leg

Frequent transitions skipping a gait improves collection (walk to canter, halt to trot, and reversed)

Downward transitions-hands forward, tighten back/tummy muscles

****Collecting Exercise****
5 strides canter, 5 strides walk, 5 strides canter, etc
No dribbling in between
Down transition through the rider's back and outside rein
Can also be done between the trot and halt

****Ways to Get More Collection****
Lateral work with bend
Decreasing size circles
Transitions while skipping a gait

Collecting half halt is a momentary closure of leg, seat, and hand (it's the "textbook" definition of a half halt)

Keep the same rhythm and tempo while decreasing ground covered by 50%, which equals a good collecting half halt
Take, give, take, give, take, give (not just add, add, add)
Once you have it down do it when doing shoulder in, half pass, etc
Needs to be timed for just before the hind leg pushes off the ground

When you feel the inside seat bone go forward when trotting that is the time to cue for a half halt

When the seat feels deepest is when to half halt when cantering (this is also when the mane flips up a little)

Training Level/First Level Warmblood...Day 2...

She had an extra long lesson because the amazing Hanoverian that was to follow had an injury. But it turned out to be good for the auditors and the rider because they were just at a breakthrough point when her ride was *supposed* to be over.

If you go +2 or -2 it's too easy for the horse to bend at the neck.

Coordinate closing of calf with turning the key, then in between be quiet

Crest of neck, left and right (flipping the nuchal ligament); try the flexing at the halt, you can see the crest flip, Conrad will start a lesson with this, do NOT wiggle the rein when you do this, just flip the wrist; then do it at the walk

If the horse tilts on a 10 meter circle of Shoulder In then it may be locked on one side of the poll-so supple it (can do it while in shoulder in as well as 10 meter circle or on a straight line)

The moment you get the +7 then release; if you hold him he breaks at the jaw

On a circle, the horse HAS to be on a +1 flexion, otherwise he's not straight; even through the transition

You don't go from stiff to supple in one fell swoop; it goes Stiff-->Less stiff-->A little stiff-->a little supple-->a little more supple-->supple

****Testing Suppleness****
1. When your horse is supple the weight of the horse on your hand stays the same when you supple because the horse just follows your hand around with his mouth

If you have a markedly one-sided horse spend 80% of the time suppleing that stiff side, you can track left and still work the right side of the body

2. When you take on the rein the horse lengthens and lowers his head toward the bit (as you supple)

3. If the horse stays straight on line of travel (doesn't swing its hindquarters)

If the horse swings you have to block the escape route by using passive non-suppleing side leg

****End Suppleness Tests****

Reiner Klimke would school a line of flying changes and then walk on a long rein plus pat his horse, then pick up the reins and do a pirouette, then lengthen reins and pat his horse, in other words-he spent more time walking on a long rein and patting his horse than drilling stuff

During a connecting half halt keep the leg on, don't pulse

Rober Dover-lots of bend, driving aids, and holding rein, on a 20 meter circle accelerate into a 6 meter circle within the 20 meter circle (at the walk), (using lots of bend, driving aids, and a holding rein)

When the horse steps through the closed outside fist the horse comes through and over its back

For this exercise, 20 m/6 m circles when walking, 20 m/10 m circles when trotting and cantering; think of it as if you're going to do a medium gait just before beginning the circle

Once the horse has it on a circle do the finished half halt on the circle

Think add, add, add as you do the half halt, then relax and the horse will round and come on the bit if it was right

Connecting half halt-aid to put your horse on the bit and make it straight

Unilateral half halt=Connecting Half Halt
1st Purpose=put the horse on the bit
2nd Purpose=make the horse even in the rein

If your horse is too heavy in the right rein then it is too light in the left rein

"Schooling is about fixing problems, competition is about hiding problems"

Make sure to add in a way that doesn't chase him out of his rhythm

Horse stiff on right, so go left, do counter -1 flexion, twinkle outside hand, close inside hand, close legs which equals a reverse half halt

Layer half halts like coats of paint, softening in between

If the horse gets behind the leg ask for a lengthening

In competition you wouldn't flex the horse to the outside, so reverse half halt is just for schooling

Saddle Fitting Postponed...

The saddle fitter had to postpone our appointment on Thursday. I described my problem to her though, and she suggested putting a towel under the seat of the saddle, as she thinks it's sitting cantle low now. So I'll try it when I ride. I think I'll go to the barn tomorrow, maybe ride, I don't know yet. Ever since finding out I'm pregnant I'm hesitant to do much physical activity, at least until I'm further along. I'm not planning on waiting until after the baby is born to ride, but I can't help but feel as if I'll jostle it loose by riding too soon. I know it's silly, but I don't want anything to happen to "Fishy".

On a more positive note, Sophie has a full wardrobe for the winter now, thanks to Quarter Horse Congress. I did have a funny moment with a blanket rep at Big Dee's. I was looking at a 1680 denier blanket and he told me it was heavyweight, I asked if they had a midweight in 1680 denier. He said no, that 1680 denier was a heavyweight blanket, that 1200 denier was a midweight blanket. I looked at the fill and it was 300 g of fill, but I couldn't get across to the guy that the fill was what determined the weight of the blanket, not the denier. Oh well, so I got a couple of the medium weight 1200 denier blankets instead.

Pssst...I Have a New Blog...

Check it out!

http://ourlittlefishy.blogspot.com/

Training Level Friesian...

****Exercise for Putting the Horse in Front of the Driving Aids****
This was a very common theme throughout the day, Jane also emphasized that it is *very* important not to skip any steps!

1. Make a vow to give light aids and make the horse respond
2. If the horse doesn't respond, correct it, correct it with 3 kicks, 3 smacks with the whip, etc (if you use just one hard kick the horse thinks that a hard kick is the aid for going faster, and doesn't realize it was a correction/punishment)
3. You must retest with another light aid, otherwise you just taught your horse to be dull
4. If the next words out of your mouth are "well, that was better" then correct the horse again and test again
5. Praise the horse a lot when he does it right

***End Exercise***

Both Legs=transition (walk-trot, working trot-lenghtened trot, etc)
Inside Leg=activity/engagement (fixes if the horse is subpower)

Never end a forward question with a correction, go back and retest

"The horse doesn't come out of the womb knowing what the driving aids mean"

If you're not sure it was good enough, it wasn't.

When you give one cluck the horse should brighten his gait just like when you put your inside leg on him

Make sure you kick 3 times or more, so that the horse doesn't confuse the correction with an aid

Stilled seat or retarded seat-when you sit up and tighten your tummy muscles

Driving seat is to activate the gait you're in

It's not important to use your seat the same way as your instructor, just be consistent with how you use it

Visualizations for a driving seat:
Make a swing go higher
Push the back of the saddle to the front
Push the saddle forward on the horse

In the beginning the horse should be rewarded for doing too much

Use an opening rein (hand straight away from the horse's neck) to smack the horse with the whip as a driving aid, then you hit the barrel of the horse with the whip parallel to your calf; make sure you don't pull the rein *back* to do it

The horse should stay in the same gait FOREVER, or as we say in Vermont, "until the cow's come home"

Finally Starting Day Two!

I don't have nearly as many notes from the second day. It was just as informative, but included a lot of repetition, so if it was something covered the day before I didn't write it down again, for the most part. I was also extremely tired and that really impacted my note taking.

Question Session Day One...

Jane doesn't change the flexion for flying changes because it puts you in the mode of using the wrong hand (it gets you focusing on the inside hand when the outside hand is more important in flying changes)

Jane first tries to teach a horse flying changes through a figure 8 with simple changes, walking in the middle and using the horse's tendency to anticipate.

****Training Flying Changes Tips****
Use outside leg (one trainer says, "give them a reason to change")

Add outside hand

Then inner leg/seatbones become more important and gives you expressive changes

Don't teach the horse to half pass away from the outside leg because it's too easy for the horse to mistake that for a canter depart

Fix overtempo by traditional leg yield with head to the wall, keeping a 35 degree angle between the horse and the wall

Jane's dressage "bible" is "The Complete Training of Horse and Rider" by Podjasky

He also discusses connecting half halts in this book, but he calls them Unilateral Half Halts

13 Year Old DWB Gelding...

This was a stunning Dutch Warmblood gelding. He and his rider are one score away from their gold medal. She said at the beginning that the horse does one's, but she doesn't.

The first thing Jane said was to make sure to keep the seat bone arrows pointing forward (ie lean back)

A half pass with no bend is 3rd level.

To improve the quality of bend at the half pass trot down centerline, LY with bend 4 steps, half pass with same bend 2 steps; repeat

Don't begin to half pass if there is no bend, and begin the leg yield *before* the horse flattens its barrel against your leg in the half pass

Leg yield from centerline curved like a C, suppleing as you leg yield

Pick up the trot, 10 meter circle, supple on circle, then leg yield to the wall from the centerline while maintaining the bend

If you pick an exercise to improve a movement, do the exercise to a few times and then try the movement to see if it actually improved

To get engagement use half-steps

****Half Steps Exercise****
Collect the walk, he should feel like 211 degrees boiling over; think jig with the legs forward; then slide them back and let him jig for 3 steps

When schooling Half Steps with a horse that likes to cheat by slowing down then work on raising the tempo

Jane and Sue Blinks never school Shoulder In down the long side, they always throw in an exercise like piaffe in the middle to get the horse to always be thinking "up" and loading the hind end (stay in Shoulder In though)

Covering less ground and going the same tempo or faster means he's lowering the croup and collecting

To improve the canter half pass, add 3 collecting steps (on straight line) then half pass again--this encourages snappy hind legs

You shouldn't half pass across the diagonal alone, so that the horse gets used to those collecting steps and expects them (this is how you go from a Prix St. Georges horse to a Grand Prix horse)

If the horse isn't doing enough strides in the pirouette make it do extra steps

If the horse wants its head too high then put him deeper so that his neck is lower for pirouettes (note--deeper, not rolkur)

The lower they are the slower they should go, otherwise they're just somersaulting around

Teach the horse on 20 meter circle what quick taps on the outside mean, before using it for collection in the middle of the half pass

20 Year Old I-2 Horse...

This guy was a handsome sweetie. She didn't mention his breed, he looked like either a TB, or a horse with a lot of TB in him. He was a dark bay and looked a lot like my Jessie. She wanted to work on getting more impulsion and more lift.

Your back controls the tempo, holding the reins just shortens the neck and may slow the horse; use the back/sit up muscles to steady the rhythm or slow the speed

Look straight up at the ceiling to keep from leading with the chin; also look side to side to loosen up the neck

Imagine that there are arrows that point straight down from your seat bones, whichever way the arrows point, so go the hind legs. --Kyra Kyrklund

****An exercise for getting *more* from your horse****
SI on long side, SI in medium trot 3 strides, regular SI, then SI in medium trot 3 strides (do the SI at medium trot twice on each long side)

As you do this exercise, start coming less back from medium trot at shoulder in each time you do SI at medium trot
****End Exercise****

****Half Pass Work****
Do the half pass, medium trot, regular trot, medium trot, less trot, medium trot, just a little less trot, etc--it's better to have 3 or 4 strides of medium trot a bunch of times than to have a couple of long medium trot half passes

When half passing, think that you're going to dismount off the horse with the leg the horse is bent around

The aids for half pass are inside leg and outside rein; stepping into the iron is why the horse goes sideways

Traditional American preparation is from shoulder fore, Jane doesn't prefer this method because the horse may tangle up its feet getting repositioned once it switches for the new movement

Klaus Balkenhol also doesn't like the Shoulder Fore to Half Pass method, he prefers to bend the horse and then "take" the horse; it's kind of like doing SI and HI at the same time; practice maintaining a 10 meter circle bend on the long side, once it's easy, take them into the half pass

Make sure you canter with your arms so that the horse doesn't nod behind

Finish the half pass in shoulder fore, so that the horse doesn't open the joints

An 8 or 9 half pass at 3rd Level=6 at Prix St. Georges=5 at Grand Prix

****Rober Dover Half Pass Exercise****
In the walk to the left, keep the horse equally bent from nose to tail, leg yield, 2 steps half pass, 4 steps leg yield---the bend should be the same whether Leg Yielding or Half Passing

"When I do it that way the half pass just happens"--this is what the rider said after trying the Dover exercise at the trot, her horse looked amazing during the exercise too

For the Riders...

If you were a rider in the Jane Savoie clinic and are uncomfortable with anything I've posted please let me know and I'll remove the part that you are uneasy with. I really only wrote down exactly what Jane was saying, her exercises, explanations of why you do (or don't do something) and visualizations.

All of the horses and riders were so good I don't think that any rider would find a fault with something an auditor says, but I don't want to offend anyone.

9 Year Old Trakehner/Hanoverian Mare...

I was excited to see this horse go, as she was a mare, and part Trakehner! She's was lovely and doing 3rd/4th level work. She'd only been in a double bridle for a couple of weeks and was doing wonderfully.

It's better for your heels to go down-level-down-level when sitting the trot; not up-level-up-level.

Ears will be level when the horse is through at the poll; if the inside ear is lower the horse isn't through

The outside rein keeps the horse from dribbling through the trot into the canter; closing the fist asks for a more correct walk-canter transition

Shoulder fore is the easiest way to get walk rhythm to stop being irregular because it breaks up the lateral pairs

When doing a flying change act as if you're snatching a fly out of the air with the outside hand (keeps the horse from popping the shoulder out) IOW-close the outside hand->croup goes down->forehand goes up->put other hand forward (soften)

If the horse is stiff, ride the changes in right flexion (for this horse); if the horse gets too antsy doing 4's across the diagonal canter left circle while suppleing to the right

In flying chanes legs have to be quick, like windshield wipers or you'll never be quick enough for 1's or 2's if you have to hold your leg

To improve quickness of the changes you need to improve the canter transition (from walk or trot)--you can't just hold the leg on the horse for a few strides, it doesn't teach the horse to be responsive

Priouettes-canter 10 meter circle, haunches in 3 strides, then straight, HI 3 strides, etc

Test to make sure your working pirouette isn't just a leg yield; if too much HI then just "sit" the HI, don't use your outside leg

Need to slow the collected canter to a pirouette canter (almost in place) for a few strides before halting or the horse will fall on its face

HI on the 10 meter circle encourages bending of the joints (inside hind)

Third Level Friesian Gelding...

This guy was a complete sweetheart. He's trained to I1, his owner is riding at Third Level. Her big complaint was "Friesian neck", or how he likes to carry his head really upright, as Friesians are prone to do.

"A straight arm has no give" -Micheal Poulin

Push your hands DOWN as you rise in the trot; put your hands on the wither to maintain it as you get the feel for it (nearly every rider had problems with stiff elbows at the trot and canter)

When suppleing (7,1,7,1,7,1); keep the hand doing the suppling close to the neck, so that it is an indirect rein, pulling it far away from the neck is a wide opening hand; remember to close your inside leg and visualize a "falling down neck"

Tighten your tummy muscles as if doing a sit up; it slows the horse because it stills your hips, slowing the forward motion

You can do the suppleing on a quarter line leg yield

At the halt, maintain steady rein pressure, close calves, let horse pull the reins through your fingers as it reaches forward and down.

In the beginning Jane stood next to him and helped to encourage him to stretch down. In a very short time he was reaching his head down and out with just a squeeze of the legs and steady rein pressure.

Then, Jane had the rider try it at the walk, the response wasn't as immediate, or as noticeable, so she had the rider stop the horse while maintaining the pressure, let the reins slide as he reached, and asked him to walk forward again as he was reaching down.

"The transition can't be any better than the stride before the transition."

Second Level Morgan Gelding...

I missed his age as I was still in my car, warming up, when he started. He was super cute though, a lovely deep chestnut color.

If you ask for impulsion you're asking for more; and you're going to get more of what you have (more cookedness, more above the bit, etc; which is why it's important to follow the training scale-and why impulsion is so far down the training scale)

Close the inner leg to ask for impulsion, then check rhythm and suppleness and connection

The whip is generally carried to the inside in order to back up the inside leg (ie impulsion)

Add impulsion a degree at a time, then check the first 3 ingredients of the training scale, if they're good, ask for more

Outside leg and inside leg together ask for transition within the gait; inside only just asks for impulsion

To follow in the canter get into 2 point and practice "jockey arms" to get elbow elasticity back.

To canter, push the inner seat bone toward the horse's ears and push your hands forward

Straightness-there are two kinds, spine straightness and leg straightness; you can check shoulder straightness by riding in -1 flexion

Fixing Leg Straightness-this is needed to achieve collection and is done by riding in First Position;

First Position-teaches the horse baby steps of flexing the inside hindleg joints; it's bassically a baby, baby, baby shoulder in.

It's a lot harder as a rider to do the little things as opposed to the big (ie +7 vs +1, shoulder in vs 1st Position)

First Position lays the foundation for collection

Always straighten the horse by bringing the shoulder over; not the haunches over to the shoulder.

Every step in First Position strenghtens the inside hind leg

Seunig's "Horsemanship" discusses First Postion and Second Position.

BEND + SIDEWAYS = ENGAGEMENT

Every corner should be ridden as if it's a quarter of a 10 meter circle

Keep the hands forward, don't be "stealing" from the hindlegs

Shoulder In-make sure the hind legs are parallel to the wall

Straight ahead from now on is really First Position

****Shoulder In Exercise****
Straight, SI 2 strides, straight, SI 2 strides, HI, SI, HI, SI (the rider keeps the legs the same throughout during the SI/HI changes.)

5 Year Old Training Level Hanoverian...

This horse was super, super, super nice! Absolutely exactly what a training level horse should be. Unfortunately he was off today, from a week old splint, so the Saturday notes are all I have.

Keep your hands together (side by side, in alignment so that you only see the closest one from the side) or you block the outside hind

When the horse is lookier in one direction it's because their dominant eye is away from it, generally that's also their stiffer side.

To figure out what *your* dominant eye is, point at an object in the distance, without moving your finger, keep pointing and the object and close your left eye and then close your right eye, whichever open eye causes your finger to seem to not move compared to where it was with both eyes open is your dominant eye!

When suppling don't hold the +7 for more than a second, or the horse will break at the jaw.

The first ingredient of a connecting half halt is to close the calves and the outside hand so that it captures, contains, and recycles the energy back to the hindlegs; it lasts 3 seconds, long enough to inhale and exhale; give it by closing the legs, close the outside hand, and vibrate the inside rein while thinking "add, add, add"

Don't use the inside rein until just before the horse bends to the outside due to the closed hand.

When the horse can learn to go forward through a closed outside rein then you have a horse that can truely be on the bit.

Half halt through the transition to make it nicer

Work on keeping the horse from subtracting the gait, when half halting

****Exercise****
Lengthen trot on open side of a 20 meter circle, half halt on the opposite side, the half halt should have the same power/energy as the lengthening; use tummy muscles to shortern from the lengthening

Lengthen long enough to get an answer

When you close your eyes you should get the lengthening for 1 stride before closing the hand when half halting

After the half halt allow the neck to "fall down"

You need an extra insurance policy in the beginning by having more go than you need

Saddle Fit Reattack...

Looks like the saddle fitter will be out Thursday afternoon this week. Wooohoo! I talked to a saddle fitter this weekend and asked if she reflocked saddles of a different brand and she said yes. So I asked if she ever came to the area my horse is boarded at, and she said no, she's located in Denver, but I could send my saddle to her. Ummmm, how is that supposed to help? Part of the reason I went with Albion as opposed to Custom Saddlery was because I didn't want to have to fit the saddle myself, if I was paying for a custom saddle I wanted an expert to look at the saddle on my horse and make sure it fit in person, not look at some wither tracings I did on my own!