Frame by Frame

Riding a horse is a dynamic balancing act. While other activities like gymnastics and yoga both test the athlete's balance in both a static and dynamic manner, riding a horse requires the balancing act of rider and mount be in sync with one another. While you're balancing yourself, you're also trying to coordinate your balancing act with that of the horse in a way where you don't interfere with their movements.

This is the first clinic I've participated in, where I'm actually riding. Because I only take lessons, it feels like another lesson with more "go". I got there early so was watching the previous session of girls going. These are the girls who have been riding for many more years and have a supple young body that can bend and move in more directions than mine can. They were jumping up to 3'3". Amazing.

My session turned out to be a single session with just me working on me stuff. It was really nice b/c I didn't have to worry about the other girls (who could be my kids :S) zipping past me flying over the jumps with ease. We started with flat analysis:

• I was asked to post trot on a 20m circle while being filmed. We discovered that I post with my upper body and not my hips... it looked like I was literally bobbing up and down. Focus: post with a loose hip and maintain upper body and still heels/legs.
• Next, canter on the 20m circle. The discovery was that not only is my seat out of sink and going against Ariel's motions but that I was leaning forward and my heels were penduluming back and forth causing the tipping. Focus: drop the weight into the heels and relax my hips.

I have the opportunity to "fix" these mistakes but it requires focus to release my hips and swing them back and forth in both the posting trot and canter. Next, over fence exercises:

• I start with an X jump followed by a canter pole. It is relatively clean and I have only one hiccup getting over it. The discovery here is that my heels aren't actually sinking enough and do come up and my leg swings back a bit. It isn't a major cause for concern but I focus on pushing my heels down coming into the jump.
• Next, add the vertical jump in place of the canter pole. This doesn't go too well. It is messy and I have trouble keeping a straight approach (I look a bit drunk :P). The landing isn't pretty but it isn't particularly messy either. The focus here is push weight into heels as we come into the jump
• Now, the second pole is raised and things start falling apart. My landings are poor and I end up on Ariel's neck often. Upon review of the videos, we discover that my legs swing back significantly and then I am pitched forward and hence the landing is messy and I'm even left behind in some situations. The focus is the lower leg position upon the landing.
• We continue the same jumps but try something different: come into the line in a half seat and nothing changes. There is improvement but I continue to have trouble with the landing and my leg position; it's as if I am trying to jump for Ariel instead of just staying still and letting her come up to me. J says, "think of your position needing to be in a position where if I snapped my fingers and Ariel disappeared beneath you, you'd land on your feet and not your face or arse". The focus here is most definitely keeping my legs, seat and weight over the same axis.

I really enjoyed this clinic because of the ability to review all my positions in each frame. The videos were slowed right down into frames where I could see exactly where things were going awry and what was happening. I have been wondering for some time now, why the bigger jumps cause me to fall on Ariel as opposed to landing appropriately. And now I see that my leg position is likely the cause to many of the errors that I am making. Perhaps another ride on Bons is what I need to "remind" my body where my leg and seat position need to be.

Intro and Clinic Recap: le TREC

In June, +ADW and I attended a horsey clinic headed by World Champion Thierry Maurouard at Cadogan Farm in Caledon, Ontario. This is a relatively new initiative/equine sport being introduced in Ontario; it originates from France and is very popular (not surprisingly) in Quebec. What drew me is that pretty much any horseman/woman can get involved and it tests practical skills. It's less technical and hence easier for anyone to learn; of course, the more technical you can be, the more skilful rider you might be but that might not be necessary for this purpose.

Le TREC was originally created to test equestrian trail guides with a goal to develop safe, well-trained trail horses that are able to deal with anything that they'd encounter on a trail--solo or in a group. It consists of 3 parts:

• Phase 1: Parcours d'orientation et de Régularité (POR)
• Phase 2: Maîtrise des Allures (MA)
• Phase 3: Parcours en Terrain Varie (PTV)

Parcours d'orientation et de Régularité (POR)
This is the most rigorous phase and requires the rider to think on their feet and be familiar with orienteering and assessing terrain, as well as being a proficient rider. Your mount must also be capable of being patient while you sit atop trying to figure out the best route to take. Riders start by entering a map room with a copy of a blank map and they copy the planned map to the best of their abilities and then use that traced map to complete the planned route. The planned route is arranged so that specific trails or paths must be taken because there are random checkpoints plotted throughout. Checkpoints are not marked on the maps so if you arrive at the checkpoint by the incorrect path, you get pointed deducted. Riders can also lose points if they lose their POR record card or miss checkpoints. Riders must carry and wear specific items: helmet, high visibility clothing, hoof care items, first-aid kit, halter and lead rope, map and compass. Depending on the level of competition, the plotted map can be as complicated as a true map with all the elevation markings and true north, all to scale. Or, as simple as a bunch of pictures and arrows plotting out a sequence of events/points to follow. In addition, the ride distance ranges from 12km to 45km.

Maîtrise des Allures (MA)
This phase translates to "Control of Pace" and is tougher than it seems. A lane 150m long and about 2m wide is marked and the rider must gallop (or whatever gait is determined) in a slow controlled pace, then dismount and walk the horse back to the start line. Deduction of points are made for breaking gait or going off course. The main variation relative to skill level is the width of the path.

Parcours en Terrain Varie (PTV)
This phase is essentially an obstacle course that ranges from jumping, mounting/dismounting or trailer loading or riding through "low hanging branches". Riders have the option to perform obstacles at varying gaits (where applicable) or skip it all together. Points are awarded on successfully completing the tasks but can vary dependant on the gait chosen or style (i.e. too fast/slow etc) or even a misbehaving horse or cruel rider.

The clinic started with a classroom lecture that provided a background (above) of le TREC. We also learned the experiences that Thierry has, competing. While it was a lecture format, it remained informal and we asked questions as it progressed. This lasted for the better part of the morning before we broke for lunch and had the opportunity to enjoy the property. The afternoon section included the MA and PTV sections on horseback for those who brought their mounts with them; the rest of us watched from the ground.

Google animated my photos!

The above animated photo is part of the PTV section where the horse is required to get through that windy 'path' without touching/knocking over any of the bars or kicking the pails etc. It's certainly trickier than one would think depending on how bendable your horse is and the "style points" are judged on the way the rider initiates those turns and how the horse looks, as a result. And I do believe breaking pace is a penalty. I can't imagine getting a horse like Bonspiel through this obstacle.

Another obstacle is the "low hanging branches"; you can see the obstacle in the centre of the photo. The rider basically leans forward towards one side of the horses neck and plods forward. I'd say the tricky thing here is to maintain your weight over your heels so that you wouldn't fall off, when you were doing this at a canter. I wish I knew how to do this one when I took Ariel on a hack the last time.

Horsey limbo!

Other obstacles included the opening of a 'rope gate' where you needed to open and close a gate while on horseback. The challenge here was to get the horse close enough so you could lean over and pull the rope off the post and then continue to hold onto it while 'doing a dance' of sorts into the arena and turn around and place the loop back over the post. A few horses were nervous about getting so close to the fence and others just couldn't figure out how to turn around without getting tangled. As the skill level increases, the 'gate' becomes a lever type where you need even more precision turning yourself around because dropping the gate is not good.

We didn't get through every single obstacle that will be sanctioned for the Equine Canada rulebook (in the works from what I've been told) but got a good taste of what's standard and how they are judged. I'm very excited to see how this activity unfolds and develops in the area because it would be a really exciting activity to participate in.

Lesson 96: Hacking Away and a Clinic!

I had a hack in place of a lesson, yesterday. It was the first hack I've ever been on, like ever. I've been on those really boring trail rides where every horse is just following the other in a line--pretty boring. While I was waiting for the class before me, to return, I was having an informal session on the Pessoa Lunging System. It's an interesting looking contraption of ropes, pulleys and clips. The system was invented by Nelson Passoa, an international show jumping rider from Brasil. The purpose of the system is to gradually encourage balance and a gradual build-up of the topline. One day, more information and lessons on lunging in general. So, back to the hack!

This was the first time I was expected to have full control of a horse in the open with a small group of people. I did ride Ariel and we went out with me being on hyper-alert and Ariel being on another type of hyper-alert. She was looking around everywhere and I was feeling more nervous than I thought I would. The scenery at that time is amazing... rolling hills and lush fields or vast farming lots with nothing done yet. It was certainly a different experience and I really want to do it more frequently b/c you just have to be "on" and Ariel's way more zippy out there.

We didn't do too much other than a few trots and lots of walking. It might not have seemed like much but that was enough of a start to get me some exposure because I didn't realize I was actually pretty tense. But, I look forward to going out again b/c I'm sure my confidence will become better in time. Of course, there's always a little bit of adventure at Gosling Stables and I managed to fall off of Ariel at the walk. That's right: she was walking and I fell off. LOL. I might sound pretty ridiculous just saying that but somehow, she tripped and she did a curtsey on her knees and I slid off over her head and landed on my feet. I know, I'm in complete disbelief too. While I was a bit shaken because falling off wasn't actually all that smooth and was mostly unexpected, I did my best to recompose myself.

We didn't intentionally canter though Ariel took off a few times when we were out in an open field and had a great time just going nuts... which doesn't make sense to me because you leave her in her paddock and she does nothing but eat. Then, you get on her and she just wants to run around all over the place. I'm excited to go again and hope that there will be plenty of more opportunities!

Tonight, I went to the show clinic where the standard rules (+Laura details one of her clinics about showing here) were reviewed and we just learned the basics of what is required to show. It's a lot of work. Nobody really gets what it means, to get ready for a show. Well, the schooling shows the requirements are more lax and they're not as stringent on requirements but not at the Trillium + levels. I'm not showing at Trillium but many of the girls are. I'm usually the only adult in these sorts of things and I seem to have many friends who are 13 or so. It's funny because I actually like them better than my coworkers who are of similar age.

We started with the "classroom" stuff where we reviewed the information about feed and each horse's specific diet. We then proceeded to other health related things like taking a horse's vitals: temperature, respiration rate and heart rate. When we went down to get our hands dirty, we worked with the horse we primarily ride/part-board. I don't part-board but I ride twice a week and Ariel is my primary mount. In addition to taking her temperature rectally, we measured her height, weight, girth size (that's pretty variable though), bridle size, bit size, blanket size and boot/wrap size. There is a lot to learn about these animals! And I'm so happy I went because this is the sort of thing I wanted to get more familiar with. I'm really excited that we did that and I'm looking forward to learning more! :)