Great ride at the walk...

I rode yesterday, finally, after two weeks off! It was a muddy mess so Lady and I just did a lot of walking, practicing what I learned at the clinic. We did lots of zig zag loops and it was amazing how quickly she picked up on it, all I had to do was change my position for the next loop and she flowed into the movement, I didn't have to urge or ask or anything. We even tried some baby shoulder in and she was doing it better already!


We did trot a little and tried the zig zags at the trot and they went very well too. She's so smart and responsive...a dream horse to ride really! We also worked on turn on the forehand, just getting a step or two of sideways with her haunches for now. I'm really excited by how well she responded to those simple exercises, especially since it doesn't seem like the weather is going to improve much anytime soon and we'll be limited due to footing. When we trotted she did much better on keeping contact and staying on the bit, hardly ever ducking behind or anything.

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 2...

I didn't take as many notes for day 2. For two reasons...one...I was really late. Apparently an Airman in Craig's command decided it would be awesome to deal large quantities of drugs with many clients in the Active Duty Air Force. He thought it would be super fun to not give up any names of his clients to the authorities so the response was to call in *everyone* on a Saturday morning for a drug test. This meant that I had to wait to go to the clinic until Craig got home so that Logan was supervised at all times. And the second reason, a lot of the exercises were the same, just having a greater response on the horse. Or some exercises used yesterday were used on different horses today.


After your horse has gotten good at doing SI, HI, SI, HI, SI it is good to start adding renvers and half pass on the long side instead on shallow loops. It's more like you're showing an understanding of the idea of half pass and renvers but not actually going all the way there. Then you can do half pass, half pass, half pass, just changing the direction while staying on your shallow loops. This is good prep for canter from the walk and good prep for flying changes.


At trot try asking for shorter/softer steps for three sides of the ring and then letting the horse out to lengthen for one long side.


If it doesn't come easily it probably isn't worth asking for (this was said in reference to a canter transition from the trot that wasn't so great). Also, if you wait too long to make a correction then the correction is too big.


Combine shallow loops with transitions between the walk and the trot (before adding in actual steps of SI/HI).


To work on your collection trot a 10 meter circle, transitioning between walk and trot, just after walking change bend to circle in the other direction (like starting a figure 8) and trot again.

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 1...Horse 4 and 5...

I didn't take a lot of notes for horse 4...mainly because I was too busy drooling over the amazingly gorgeous black Trakehner mare in the ring. The epitome of dream horse for me. The big thing they did to start was stretchy circles, give with rt hand, drive with rt leg, give with left hand, drive with left leg, and so on, slowly feeding the reins to the horse one side and a little bit at a time.


When doing walk to halt transitions stop your body and wait for the horse to lessen forward movement; if it doesn't in a few steps then use your hands to ask too.


Practice using your seat bones to ask for the walk.


After doing walk-trot-walk transitions ride while thinking of rebalancing for the walk but don't actually walk. This helps to improve the trot tremendously! You can also shift your inside hip forward and ask for the canter during one of these rebalancings.


The next horse they worked on managing the go of the horse without trying to stop it. While they did shallow loops they added in walk/trot transitions on one long side. Then the next long side they would just trot with lengthened strides. After around 3 laps they would change directions.


There will never be spring without swing!


Walk-trot transitions on a circle, ride the horse "slightly in" when walking (without steering though, steering is blocking) after this reverse directions on a new circle through the canter like previous horse.


After the horse has become good at the shallow loops (or maybe more accurately, once the rider is proficient at guiding the horse through shallow loops) then you can do shoulder in, guide back to the wall, haunches in, back to the wall, etc. Very small SI/HI, so the horse doesn't realize it's doing it.

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 1...Horse 3...

Next up was a super cute Pinto mare. This horse was very helpful in giving me ideas on things to work with when riding Lady. Namely the first exercise, which involved doing a stretchy circle to help the rider find the correct tempo for the horse. You ask the horse to stretch by giving with one rein, then squeezing with that leg, then releasing some with the other rein, using that leg, and alternating sides while doing that until the horse has a nice stretch. Once the horse is stretched down and out it will begin reaching and letting go...and as a result, slowing down to its ideal tempo. Once this happens you can begin taking up contact again but keeping the same tempo. This can be done at the canter as well.


Next they worked on trotting a big circle, asking for a walk while coming into the center of the circle, trotting, walk and come in, and so on. Then after a few iterations of this the horse would change direction out of the circle and canter on a new circle (like beginning a figure 8).


Eddo's method for teaching shoulder in and travers was really simple and actually relaxing for the horse. He instructed the rider to ride shallow loops on the long side of the arena at the walk. Focus on directing the horse, not steering the horse, keeping it as straight as possible in the neck during the exercise and focusing on the outside ear for when you're at on the loop. Then repeat at the trot once you have the hang of it. As the horse progresses at this you can start doing a very, very small shoulder in, then haunches in. The movements are so small that the horse doesn't even realize she is doing it.


Eddo said that after 3 weeks of doing the baby SI and HI the horse would be able to do it for real. Not only do the shallow loops build toward doing SI/HI but also improve the trot as well.


The final thing I wrote down from this ride was that the more you want your horse to come back (aka collect) the more side to side (aka lateral work) you need

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 1...Horse 1...

Yesterday was the first day of the Eddo Hoekstra clinic. It was a cold, dreary day in Bulverde, TX. The clinic is taking place at Providence Ranch and the facilities are amazing. The large ring where the rides took place was huge with really nice footing that held up to the rain. They also have a dressage ring and a large grass field with jumps in the grass and a dirt track around the outside. Definitely my dream Texas place to board, too bad it's 45 minutes away!


I arrived just as the first horse was finishing up, but I did catch Eddo talking about looking to the right for shoulder in (when tracking right) and looking to the left for the travers, he was having the rider alternate between SI and HI and then riding forward for a few strides. I wanted to audit the clinic due to the fact that I love Walter Zettl and his style of teaching (and horsemanship) and I knew Eddo is a longtime pupil of Walter's. The exercise was very familiar from the Zettl clinic's I've been to in New Jersey and would become very familiar over the next two days.


The next horse was a darling Appaloosa mare with a sweet rider. The start of their ride was spent focusing on the horse and ensuring she was fulfilling her job as the horse in the partnership. To start Eddo had her walk on a loose rein and evaluate if the horse was going with purpose, not hurrying, but with purpose. She wasn't quite there so he had the rider walk on a loose rein and squeeze with the inside leg as the inside hind foot was leaving the ground in order to activate the walk a bit more.


When backing up the leg with the whip he said that if the horse is irritated by the whip on the hindquarters than use it on the shoulder instead. And of course, once you get a response, back off so that the horse knows it fulfilled your wishes. When the horse is more foward then you ask yourself if the horse is moving forward with purpose and relaxed. For the rider that likes to really ride every stride he said "the horse does the walking and trotting and cantering, you do not actually do those things".


One thing he really emphasized for this exercise is that a jog does not coung as a trot. When the horse breaks into a jog while trying to activate the walk it's going from a non-forward walk to a non-forward trot; it's the horse making life easier for herself. So if she breaks into a jog turn that jog into a real trot. Once the horse is moving with more purpose you need to do lots of changes of direction to test if she keeps her sense of purpose.


The more the horse goes with purpose the wasier your job gets. Once the walk was improved they began working on transitions, lots of walk/trot transitions with only a stride or two of walk before trotting again. Basically considering the idea of walking to be a possibility, not a promise.


After that they worked on Turn on the Forehand and Turn on the Haunches at the halt. Eddo said that the nice thing about working on things at the halt is that it lets you know what you're doing too much of and not enough of (for example, if you are asking for TOF and the horse steps backwards, you are using too much hand). Once a few steps were possible from the halt he had the pair start trotting foward, walking, stopping, doing a few steps of TOF, and repeat.


The final exercise was to work on connecting the horse to the seat at a standstill. This was done by at the halt, asking for flexion while squeezing with your seat until the horse chews. Then you can ask for TOF or TOH.

Another nice ride...

Today Lady and I had another nice ride. She is much more up and forward than when we started just a few rides ago. As soon as I pick up contact and pulse my inside leg she flexes at the poll and softens. I'm a little worried that she's flexing too much and can't wait to get another video to see what's happening. For now I'll just work on keeping her forward and in front of the vertical. I think right now she's just trying to find her balance and where feels "right" to carry her head. I just need to help her there, which is kind of hard since I'm not particularly worried about her head and where it is, but I don't want her developing a habit of going BTV.


She was much straighter going to the right this time, instead of doing a renvers the whole time of her own accord she was basically straight. I was even able to leg yield her to the left toward the side of the arena she doesn't care for. She was able to bend better on circles as well. Not only that, but we were able to leg yield from the quarter line to the wall going in both directions fairly easily.


We worked on transitions and due to her dropping her head I lost my focus and didn't go with the plan of transitions every 6 strides. I'll stick to the plan tomorrow though, and see if the head issue resolves itself as she gets used to being forward and ridden from inside leg to outside rein.


I think the best part of the ride was the end. I was letting her walk on a loose rein and thought to myself, why not try a little baby shoulder in, just to see what she did, because she was doing so well with leg yielding today. So we went to the left first, did a small circle and I kept my positioning for the shoulder in, and like magic, she glided into a smooth shoulder in! She did great compared to last time we tried. We did it a couple more times and then switched directions. She struggled a lot going to the right, but actually did pretty well consdering just our last ride we were needing to travers and leg yield in order to not bend to the outside!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.)

First Kisses...

Today Sophie received her first nose kisses from me. I'm sure she was very, very excited, lol. I arrived at the barn a little later than planned, due to unexplained exhaustedness. The horses are now on day turnout, and my lesson was for basically bring in time, so I had to get Sophie. I was a little concerned, what with the stories about her ground manners, but I trekked out there anyway. I was amazed at the cuteness of every horse standing at its respective gate(s), waiting to be brought in for dinner. Then I realized that one horse was not standing in its respective paddock with its respective buddies at its respective gate...if you guessed that horse was Sophie then you guessed correctly!

My heart dropped, because in addition to the ground manners stories, there are the catching stories. I haven't heard them in a while (not since they changed to night turnout, really), but when Sophie first arrived she didn't want to be caught until after he pasturemates were taken in. So as I got closer and closer to her paddock (where she was all alone with Lonnie, since Maddie was sent away) I decided to call out her name in the sing-song voice I use when walking up the aisle to her (if I have a treat). Her head flew up (she's in a grass pasture now) and she looked at me, started walking, and then trotted halfway across the pasture. It was amazing and completely unexpected. Of course, she probably just wanted brought in for food, but until I try catching her *not* at feeding time I'll tell myself that she just likes me more than a little.

Of course, once we got inside, she was going to be the only one in her stall in the whole barn. I was a little worried, but she was just fine. I got her tacked up and was in the saddle at 6:28 (lesson at 6:30), I passed on braiding her mane, which was probably not a bad thing because I was a little concerned about how she was going to be with the horses being brought in and both end doors open so she could see everything. She was pretty good though, just two real moments and they weren't the worst she's ever had.

The lesson got started and went pretty well, we started with a couple of spiral circles and leg yielding on the long side. It really helped to keep half halting with the outside rein, it kept her more balanced, from overbending, and from leading with her shoulder. It was like magic, I kept my hands low (ie normal) as well. After that we worked on shoulder in! It was my first time working on shoulder in with Sophie.

We've realized that in order to help her with things like the shoulder in and the canter I need to work on keeping my outside hand steady and in one place. When she gets to head tossing I lose that steady connection with my outside hand because I'm I'm reacting to her. So we worked on me riding while holding on to the bight of my stirrup leather (pulled forward). It worked like a charm, suddenly we were able to do a few steps of decent shoulder in.

We tried it at the canter as well and she was much steadier, sometimes she would raise her head and I would ride her forward, into my hands, and she would come over the back onto the bit. After we did a couple of canters in each direction we stopped (it was a little early, but I was tired from our warm up). She was a very good girl though, and she got her first nose kiss after I hopped off of her. She got a couple in her stall too, while I was untacking her.

Also, my Happy Horse course arrived today! Woohooo! It's huge and overwhelming, but I'm not worried if I don't dig into it ASAP, since I'll be trainerless once winter hits anyway. Also, Sophie lost her bestest friend this week. Sophie had 2 bestest friends that left to move to Florida back in June or July, then she met Maddie, who was her new bestest friend. But Maddie had to leave for a new barn this week, so Sophie was moved into Maddie's stall and now she's just out with Lonnie. Poor girl. I think Maddie was the one that kept biting Sophie's neck though, so I'm not too sad that she's gone. She was also in heat 24/7 and would squeal and kick at the walls. Very annoying.

Discipline...Or My Use Of It...

I decided to make this entry about discipline. This comes about because yesterday, I did some housekeeping on the blog. Now that I understand the concept of tags I went through every old post and tagged them more selectively. I thought that as I start riding and taking lessons it will be useful to be able to reflect back on specific movements or issues and see everything I've learned about them thus far, or something like that. One thing that I have trouble with, and has so far been a little bit of a recurring them, is discipline.

I don't mean discipline in the way that I would if Sophie had just barged into me while I was leading her because she got distracted by something to the right and her left shoulder bulged into me. I'm talking more about *my* discipline. To expect the best and keep going for it, to not settle for good enough and to seek to do better than the last time, everytime.

So, on to my ride. It was hot and I was given permission to sweat as of today, so I made up a ride plan in my head and went over it with Sophie as I was grooming her. Before heading out I read Lessons With Lendon, exercise one, which is called "Can You Do Nothing?" It basically covers expecting your horse to respond to basic commands, and you not getting in its way. In other words, work on getting the horse to walk/trot off of your seat, but don't pull on its mouth as it takes off. Also, in downward transitions, get them, if you ask the horse to walk, it had better walk and ASAP. That was one of the most difficult things to get over once I started taking lessons. I was more of the opinion that it was ok to take three strides to get to the walk when cantering, or two to get from trot to walk, but why? What does allowing my horse to take those extra steps accomplish? So, if my instructor says it's not ok and Lendon Gray says it's not, I'm not going to allow it.

It's funny though, because the first few transitions are horrid. They aren't pretty, the horse isn't soft and supple, because you haven't trained it to respond quickly or that you have an expectation of an immediate response. But, after you sit deep and follow up with your hands the horse gets the hang of it real quick. Same thing with trotting from the halt.

So, needless to say, my plan was to work on getting Sophie lighter off my leg and seat, and to work on our trot/halt and halt/trot and walk/trot transitions. We started out ok, Sophie had definitely heard me talking because she was much more willing to trot. I wasn't sure how she was going to be, so we did 20 meter circles, practicing changing the bend and flexion to switch directions. I tried to keep my hands soft and giving and Sophie was shifting between braced and round. Then I started utilizing the half halt while also moving the bit in her mouth through wiggling my fingers. It was like magic, she softened at the poll and melted into my hands. Suddenly, my goals were forgotten. I asked for a 15 meter circle as opposed to 20 meter and worked on giving the inside rein, checking to see if she kept the bend and circle. She did! I was very impressed, especially when I asked for more trot and she took bigger strides (though after a couple of quicker steps). We did this a few times in both directions, also working on transitions at various points.

Next was the big test, while gently wiggling my fingers I slowly started letting out the inside rein, then the outside. She stayed soft, round, and slowly lengthened her frame, reaching down for the bit and we were doing a lovely stretchy circle. We did it to the right first, because she showed the willingness to do it there, giving me the idea. I could even get her to trot a little bigger, as long as I "played" with the reins while I asked. To the left it was a little harder, she isn't as willing to bend in that direction and my right leg is stronger, so it's harder for *me* to encourage the bend in that direction. But she did well, and seemed to enjoy it.

It was 90 degress today, though not too bad in the indoor. We took a quick walk break and then I decided to work on shoulder in at the walk. We walked laps around the arena, doing 10 meter circles at the walk in the corners to establish bend and help me position myself, and then shoulder in from there. Ironically, she seemed to do much better going to the left with the shoulder in. We only did two long sides with 10 meter circle breaks throughout the long sides and then switched to do it to the right. We only did one long side as I think that she has it enough to benefit more from doing it at the trot than the walk, due to the greater impulsion. I was able to release the inside rein often when doing the shoulder in, but she came off the track a bit, I think due to my leg not being on enough. But, she's the first horse that I've really *gotten* that the outside rein brings the shoulders off the track. Once I build up my stamina enough for a lesson it'll be nice to see how correct it was, because for a few steps it seemed pretty good, but I can't tell if the bend is there, or if she was just doing a sideways leg yield.

I wasted a lot of time warming up today, because I was just being a passenger. Sure, I was asking her to bend and be engaged and doing things like serpentines and circles, but I didn't really have a plan for how to make my plan happen. Only by really engaging my mind and recalling past lessons was I able to do a proper warm up, and actually get Sophie working better. I'm going to do that from the beginning tomorrow, so that we can do some more shoulder in work than what we did today. Due to the weather and the fact that neither of us are used to riding I only rode for 20 minutes today. But it was really good work, and hopefully we'll be able to do stretchy circles prior to the end of the ride!

My most recent eye appointment was this morning. I no longer have to wear the eye shields at night, or use the antibiotics/steroids in my left eye. The right eye is another story, the inflammation is much better, but I still have to use the steroids and antibiotics in that eye. But, I'm allowed to sweat! I still wear the goggles for grooming (though they didn't say I had to) and will continue to for the next week. But, I don't wear anything on my eyes because when I rode yesterday I wore my sunglasses and there wasn't any dust on them when I was done.

That's about it, I'll try to get good pics of the cats tonight, last night they weren't doing much when I had the camera. Elphie is scared to be outside but it seems to work to let her just be lose, with the leash on, and the back door cracked so she can go inside if she wants to. Kitty is happy as a clam on her tether in the yard. Though she doesn't like it if you stand inside the house, at the backdoor watching her, she just stares at you and meows. But if you sit outside with her she just explores the end of her tether. She did get to stalk a bird yesterday though, she loved it, even though she wasn't anywhere close to it and the bird was outside the end of Kitty's leash range to boot!

Second lesson on Kupkake...with pictures!

I had my second lesson on Kupkake today. It was great. We only trotted but I learned a lot. The rest of the pictures can be seen here http://www.jesterjigger.com/2008lesson20june.html though I have a good sampling here in the blog.

This was the second time I'd ridden this horse. He's an Arab/Percheron gelding, 8 years old, and completely trained by my instructor. He's showing Third Level now, I think. Prior to riding this horse and one lesson on another Third Level horse last week I've mainly been doing Training/First/schooling some Second Level movements. I'm still waiting for the saddle to come in for my mare, so my instructor offered lessons on her horses while I wait. He was incredibly easy to ride considering his experience versus my experience. I was still having trouble getting my leg far enough forward for the shoulder in at the trot, but did much better with it my second lesson than I did my first.

Trotting

Shoulder In

More Shoulder In

Half Pass

Half Pass

Extended Trot

The big impression left on me after this lesson was the importance of rideability. Jessie had rideability, just about anyone could ride him if they had half an idea of how to ride and that was demonstrated with both Amanda and Emily. I hope that someday Sophie is as rideable as Kupkake, and Jessie, though better trained than both ;-).

My big problem with half pass is keeping my shoulders even. I keep letting my outside shoulder creep too far forward. Overall I was really glad that Craig could come and take pictures. We had a great lesson, and after, I had a longeing lesson with Sophie. It was a very productive day, even though I ended up spending another 5 hours at the barn. But I love hanging out at the barn, I just wish I wasn't moving next year, I want to stay here forever and keep taking lessons.

Silver linings...

Yesterday I went to the barn to see Sophie. Still no saddle but we've been bonding through grooming and mane braiding. I misremembered when Kim said the farrier was coming and by the luck of fate pulled into the drive as the farrier was working on Sophie's feet. So I was able to give him a check and watch him in action (as well as Sophie's behavior). She was a very good girl, even standing in the other barn, where she's never been before. She is a conundrum, sometimes she adapts to new situations without batting an eye and other times she has a meltdown as if the world is coming to an end. I'm very glad that getting feet done was not a meltdown situation though. Her feet look great though, I just hope she makes it to the next shoeing without losing a shoe.

I hung around at the barn for a while, talking to Kim, brushing/braiding/fly spraying Sophie, and just as I was getting ready to leave Hayley asked if I wanted to ride her horse that night. At first I was going to pass but remembered I had a pair of breeches in the trailer and of course my boots/helmet are always in the trailer. So I agreed to ride Hayleys horse and it was awesome, because it turned into a full blown lesson with Kim on a Third Level horse.

He was kind of lazy to my leg because he's used to spurs, was testing me, and my legs are much weaker right now than they were last fall, but we did pretty well together. I even managed to sit his trot pretty well, which Kim said is very hard for people to do on their first ride with him. One of the hardest things to adjust to was collecting him enough for his level. I kept trying to do a training level frame with him and not asking him to be up enough. But I muddled through.

We did a couple of neat exercises. After I got the aids down for walk/trot/canter/bend/etc we worked on shoulder in and travers down the long side. Then we worked on cantering a 10-meter circle where Kim pointed out that I had to think about moving the shoulders over to really get the circle size down, which makes sense as that's the feeling I had with Jessie when we were almost pirouetting in the past.

After I got the hang of cantering a 10-meter circle we had a short break and then worked on a new exercise. Trotting down the long side, first half doing shoulder in, then a 10-meter circle at the middle letter, then travers down the rest of the long side, repeat at the next long side. We did that a bunch of times in both directions and then started working on half pass!

First we started working on just half pass from the quarter line which proved pretty difficult for me. So then we started with going across the centerline and asking for shoulder in and then haunches in on the diagonal line. That worked a bit better, but what really helped was trotting down the long side, doing a turn so that we were on the quarterline and then half passing back toward the long wall. That got us the best results, but mainly the last few steps toward the wall. It was still fun though and a great learning experience.

Saturday morning...

Saturday Morning-Exercises to Create a More Responsive Dressage Horse
Horse 1-Haflinger gelding (from yesterday)

Warm Up
-practice transitions within the gaits, should get bigger through just a squeeze
-to shorten-play the bit, bend, use some sideways, don't just pull back

Exercise
medium trot down long side
walk
walk pirouette
medium trot
repeat

Horse 2-not sure on this horse's breed, it was new

Improving the Trot
This horse had a nice, but flat trot, it wasn't very impressive
-horses with a flat trot are often improved through work at the canter
-use haunches in then shoulder in on a circle. Maintain contact with the outside leg to keep the horse on the shoulder in, not haunches out.
-then big canter/small canter; keep inside leg on to keep him from finding the inside rein

Contact
It's up to you to keep the contact, even if the horse loses the contact and bounces the mouth on the bit when refinding it it's still abrasive to him (whether it's his "fault" or yours)--you need to keep the contact steady no matter what.

Shoulder In
Sometimes when schooling you need to start with dishonest bend and try to make it honest (referring to more bend in the neck than is correct).

Other
-the horse's back needs to be warmed up through lateral work prior to using a big kick to ask for more
-"slap" a tight horse with the leg(s) because nudging gives the horse something to brace against
-an exercise she had this rider do was take the leg off and after the horse wasn't anticipating a kick when the leg was removed it suddenly turned bouncy and springy. It was very cool to watch, Courtney told the rider that she could stop and the rider kept going, wanting to enjoy the new trot she'd just found. It was really neat to watch the progression to that point in just a 30 minute lesson.

Saturday Afternoon-Getting the Most Out of Your Dressage Test: Tips to Help You Showcase Your Horse to Your Best Advantage
Horse 1-Danish Gelding from the day before

General
-work on things you *can* improve. For example, Courtney said that Idocus will never get an 8 on extended trot so she focuses more on the things that she can get 9's on than trying to fix something that is already so hard for him.
-pick up the stride *at* that letter, not when the hindquarters are at it; so ask a stride earlier; work it out at home how long it will take

Medium Trots on the Diagonal
Turn like a steamship (with little bend) in the corner when approaching the diagonal so that the horse comes onto the diagonal straight and ready to go, you lose precious time when you have to straighten the horse on the diagonal and then ask for medium trot.

Horse 2-Dutch Mare from the day before

Flying Changes
If the horse changes on its own without you asking for it, stop, pick up the correct lead, volte, and try again.

Miscellaneous
-really perfect going from halt to trot, it's a silly place to lose points in a test
-practice standing in the halt
-make transitions between gaits very clear (medium to collected, etc)

Collected to Medium Canter Tips
-be bold! Make sure the horse respects half halts; when collecting give as you collect so that you have something to take again
-if shoulder fore is lost then you won't have control over the outside rein to respond to a half halt

"It's not going to happen better in the show ring than it does at home"

Horse 3-Oldenburg from the day before

Miscellaneous
Whenever you're in schooling don't be committed to the movement, be committed to doing it right.

Beating Nerves (response to a question from the audience)
When going to a horse show ride to show off your horse; it's not a rider show, so just do your best to show off your horse...don't worry about others judging you and thinking badly of you.