Sunday 4 February 2018

Clinic Day

Organizing clinic days is painful, but always worth it in the end. Small town politics had me tearing my hair out earlier in the week - I booked the indoor arena for the afternoon and there was drama because that's when other people (who don't actually ever pay to officially book it) ALWAYS ride and I should have known and planned around that. Silly me, just looking at the booking schedule;) 

Lesson spoiler alert: this adorable pony needs to be ROUNDER.

Anyway, too bad so sad for them, I booked it so we used it. EC rolled in right on time, we started chatting, and I realized just how much I've missed her on a social level, too. After 3 years of seeing her at the barn almost daily, it's a bit weird to go to my current barn and usually be the only one there.

I audited a few lessons that were more along the lines of starting green horses or for beginner riders, which was actually super useful. It's always goo

d to get a recap of the basics. Here's a visual I liked:

- Re: turning the shoulders, not the head: Imagine you're the gunner in a tank. The horses head and neck are the gun out in front of you. So, to point the gun and travel straight at what you're aiming for, you have to pivot the rest of the tank (ie shoulders, with hindquarters following).


My own lesson went well, I think. We started in trot with travers to renvers alternating on the quarter line. I was like "?!? I have issues knowing left from right. Is this a good idea?" So in my mind, it was "banana shape, then the other banana shape, repeat" :)
Thank you, dressagedifferent.com


We then moved on to a circle for a bit, same exercise, then back out to the quarter line where I was asked to simply expand and collect the trot. B's been a star about that lately, and with the added connection and hind leg activity the renvers/travers exercise gave us, it felt really, really good, maybe best ever.

We moved up to walk/canter and the transitions right have got sloppy again - she's escaping out the side door a bit, and I've been letting it happen in exchange for the canter happening immediately.

Then, lots of canter, trot a stride, canter transitions on the circle. We practice this almost every time I ride, so this actually went super well and immediately improved the "sit" in the canter.

The good feedback:

- Trust myself, I'm doing well on my own. I have a very good feel (sidenote, this is a compliment I will always be the most happy to hear and strive to improve) I know what needs work and how to improve it. 

-B is sharp off my aids now, wants to work, and I'm not nagging. Huge win.

This much forward, all day long.

-B's weight is finally appropriate and she's really fit, looks "fantastic". ( I can't take too much credit for the fitness part, I think the majority of it was simply losing the excess weight rather than my weeknight rides)

-We look to be ready for any of the First level tests at the March show. It's a schooling show, so I'm encouraged to ride slightly above my comfort zone in the interests of good feedback for future goal setting. So, try 1-3, see what feedback is. Maybe I want to start there at the first "real show", maybe it's too much and I start back at 1-1 or 2 or even T-3. My show nerves being a consideration here too.

The not so good feedback:

-I'm letting the energy I've created escape out the front door too often.

-Need to fix that crooked canter depart ASAP before it becomes a thing.

-Hind leg more active...I've got it coming way more forward but it needs to be quicker and some suspension added back in. Especially in canter. Continue with Trot/Canter transitions as the best answer.

-Pony needs to be rounder than I think she does. Like PLEASE, T, get a handle on this already. For now, assume everything we do needs to be a bit quicker and rounder.

-I get the feeling that after a time out and looking at Bridget with fresh eyes, she's not averse to me looking for something to move up on, and gently opened that door, so...

Don't worry, B stays here!

Future planning:

-Horse I quite like at ECs barn is for sale. Would be an affordable, easy move up if I'm serious about eventing @ novice or above. Cue discussion of eventing vs dressage, and Cardi babies. And....a potential visit to a wb breeder "just to look" ;)

(Sidenote: a two or three year old would feel "right" to me. I'm not wanting to move off Bridget yet, so a year or two of baby training while keeping B in work would be a nice transition. Then B can trail ride and have adorable babies)

-Sell Bridget? A: No, never. 

-March: Going a week before the show to EC's, fit in some lessons (Jumping, so I don't forget how ;) Possibility to have EC's coach, Wendy, coach me at the dressage show for extra learning opportunities.

Return of the flying potato pony?




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18 comments

  1. Sounds like you had a great clinic. I’m excited to see what comes next for you guys! (And a bit selfishly hope it’s eventing again and we can compete at the same event in the future)

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    1. Just buying the fun, ready made event machine is SO tempting. She's so cute and I've exercised her for the owner before and really liked her!

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  2. What a great lesson. Too bad about the drama. People always amaze me.

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    1. This is all having the unintended side effect of making me step up and be the 'leader'/enforcer of rules/organizer/promoter of our little local riding group. Not my comfort zone at all!

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  3. oh wow, lots of big future thoughts coming up in the not-actually-so-distant future! very exciting stuff!!

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    1. Well, maybe. While I love pony projects, spending money without A LOT of thought ahead of time isn't my thing. This whole buying another horse could be a loonngggg process, lol

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  4. Something is wrong with my brain - that diagram of travers/renvers just confused me further. Urghhh! ;) Get a Cardi baby so I can live vicariously through you!

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    1. LOL, and yet, it was the least confusing one I could find (at least for my broken brain) I'm just sticking with "inside bend banana" (travers/haunches to the center) and "outside bend banana" (renvers/haunches to the wall) ha ha

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  5. Sounds like an awesome clinic and that’s so exciting about future planning!!

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    1. I had a really good day! I love learning all things dressage, and baby horse training is my favorite.

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  6. I like the idea of a banana and non banana shape lol. I'm terrible with left/right too.

    Glad you had such a wonderful lesson - sounds like you also have some exciting things for the future!!

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    1. True story, one of the best lessons ever was in winter when I could not find a matched pair of gloves, so my coach was like "purple glove hand opens, black glove hand lowers" or something like that and I was like "FINALLY, I understand what my hands should be doing to correct that canter issue" Previously, it was the whole, 'left, no other left' situation which really doesn't work well in the moment LOL

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    2. In my lesson yesterday, trainer K wanted me to "lengthen" down the long side and here I am... leg yielding away. She keeps calling "more... more... why are you off the track?" "Oh uh... I'm leg yielding".

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    3. Both start with "l" and end in 'ing', right? Close enough, I say!

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  7. She may need to be rounder, but she couldn't get any more cute! And yeah, totally with you on the banana shape and having trouble with my L and R. I mean, we touched on that as kids, but I never had it drilled into me and I still stumble to remember!

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    1. If I ever have kids, I'm going to make sure I drill left and right into them, lol, probably scar them for life ;)Seriously, though, it sucks to have to think about which side is which every single time.

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  8. Seriously! If they want to use it they can officially book it otherwise other people will. Sometimes small towns get stuck in their ways.

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    1. Yep, small town life its proving hard for me to get reacquainted with. I feel like everyone else is running at 75% speed there, and so many things I am 'supposed to know' about life there and yet, realistically have no way of knowing. The kicker is that I grew up there and have only been gone for 7 or 8 years, and now I am an 'outsider', lol

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