Lesson #102: Sit Up!

I had my make up lesson last night with one of the other girls in the class +ADW and I usually have Sunday lessons with, and although she's a relatively new rider, she's picked it up pretty fast. Anyway, I went out to find my pony and she barely looked at me when I came over and sort of just glanced up briefly and put her head back down into the hay. I want to do more ground work with this mare b/c sometimes she just doesn't respect me. She'd never do anything mean but she's just kinda moody sometimes... wow, sounds like err.. me. HAHAHA

I told Sheri about the clinic I've registered for, that's being held later this month at a facility that I stayed a weekend at last year. The proprietress is a lovely lady who evented in her younger days and has since started promoting Le TREC in Ontario. This sport is very accommodating for all levels of equestrianism and if you like adventure or are preparing for a zombie apocalypse, this is the sport for you. There is a little bit of everything and goes beyond riding a horse over fences or getting them to dance for you because it employs other types of skills: like orienteering. I've only orienteered once when I participated in the Don't Get Lost Snowshoe Raid several years ago (my cardio never quite made the cut... LOL). One of my goals is to get fit enough to do it again in the near future.

Getting back to the lesson, I was determined to keep in mind the things that tend to get forgotten when I ride. Things like closing my armpits and keeping my heels down and forward. I was a bit curious about why Ariel seemed so sleepy... usually she's nosey and active but it was as if she stayed up all night and partied hearty. The canter wasn't too bad and I ride it better now and can maintain the balance that I need up there but I have to remember to keep her from falling into her corners or cutting them all together. We move to jumping next. Sheri's moved the jumps high and straight now (thankfully not 2'9) and I have to remember: stop thinking, as I'm approaching that jump. It's difficult for me because I'm not that kind of person in other areas of my life... I think and think and over think things while preparing for something. In this case, I just have to breathe and go. We still trot in (though Ariel on occasion, breaks into a canter before the jump) and canter out but I have been falling all over her neck. The minute she lands, I need to work on bringing myself back up in the seat. I'm also reminded that riding into the jump, I seem to get lower and lower too... LOL so when Sheri bellowed "sit up sit up!" as I was riding into the jump, I felt oddly tall. And then I hear "ok good, keep sitting tall". So feeling tall is what I need to do.

We try several times more and it just isn't working (again) today. I will need to work on my core more and also remember to do the exercises that are needed to loosen my hips--she said they were tight today and that means Ariel was all pokey too.

For now, I've hit a plateau with the jumping and I know that to overcome it, I need to figure out that upper body upon landing the jump.

Lesson #76: Staying Organized

Remember last weekend? I was done with winter. This week is like a bad relationship that I'm trapped in and can't wait to escape from. *sigh* We received another pile of snow in the GTA and in Hillsburgh, it was snow drifts of ~3ft and -15C. Nobody can say this winter hasn't been a test of dedication and patience.

We had choices today... Quinn, Ariel or Molson. +ADW picked Molson and I decided to get Ariel. Since I'm riding a total of 9 times this month (yippie!!!!), I figured that I'd get another chance to ride with Quinn and I had a successful lesson with Ariel last time so why interrupt the streak? And what luck for me: when I went to the paddock to grab Ariel, she actually trotted over to me and looked forward to get inside to work! I took advantage of this eagerness and didn't hesitate to lead her into the stable.

Today was a lucky surprise... I splurged the day before and bought a saddle pad from Bahr's Saddlery. If you think that Greenhawk is great, Bahr's has even MORE stuff and feels organized; I didn't stay long since we had another appointment to rush to but long enough that you could probably leave me in there for a good hour or more, alone. +Laura, you were looking for a special dressage whip? I think that you might find something comparable here (they do online orders)! Anyways, we rushed our tack up today b/c we were running super late. By the time I got into the arena, I was tense and rushed.

We spent a good chunk of time warming-up and getting our trot into a steady rhythm and slowing my Speedy Gonzales of a pony down. Sheri was reminding me I needed to relax my ankles and let my weight sink down (I remember when I had no idea what this meant) and to relax my hips as they were tense (were they ever!). This all showed up through Ariel doing a choppy trot around with her head held high. She was telling me to "chill the heck out, dude!" To get there, we worked on lengthening their stride, slowing our posting, relaxing our bodies and breathing deeply and slowly.

Once this came together, our next aim is to translate the same quiet and relaxed trot, to canter. My canter transitions are still something that I need to work on because it's generally a "hot mess". None of the zippy rocket take off today. I reminded myself to breathe deeply and to gently and slowly ask for the transition up. I did accomplish this a few times and it's such a different canter to have a nice smooth take off instead of the abrupt departure. Something to aim to consistently do. Once we got around this a few times, we got into jumping some low straight jumps with trot poles advance of the jump. My crest release is awesome during this section of our lesson because of that "click" moment when I understood what was being asked of me. I got left behind a couple times but not enough to bother me when I did successfully accomplish the 2-point over the jumps.

I definitely left the stable feeling pretty good about myself and am looking ever more forward to the coming season! :)

Posting Diagonal Jar Tally: = 2 x $2.00 = $4.00
To date: $101.00

Lesson #75: More Jumping

Today is the first day that I had a moment where I found myself grumbling "winter really needs to be over. I am so done with you, winter". I'm a winter baby and I'd take the cool weather over the hot, any time. But, I think I've had enough today. What prompted this flip of perspective? I skated to the stable today. There was recently a dumping of snow and then rain and then melt on top of that, finished off with a great old freeze. The driveway to the stable was a skating rink and getting Ariel from the paddock today was a careful dance to the stable door.

I didn't come up with ADW, so rode with the novice girls who have been riding since they were tots. A rattle to my confidence? You betcha. The only thing I can take heart in is that one of the girls (she's not even in high school yet...) is nearly half a foot taller than me so I feel like we're not that far in age.

Sheri sets up a bunch of standards and a few jumps. We continue to work on bending and turning; reminded that "even turns should be like circles" and shouldn't be sharp or abrupt. This is not as easy because consistently bending the horse can be tricky. Ariel is quick to tell me when I'm not doing something right... she tenses up and raises her head in protest. We continue to do this a bit longer and then move into a long canter around the arena. We focus on keeping our pace and not zooming around the arena like mad rider and horse. There are moments when my hips aren't relaxed and my seat is smacking the saddle instead of scooping through smoothly with little space between bottom and saddle.

Our next step is working up to simple jumps. I have the low x-jumps and the other girls have a variety of x-jumps and straight jumps. The first try I have a trot not fast enough and Ariel is so good to just hop over but it was both awkward and unhappy looking; increase the pace but keep it consistent right up to the take-off. I work on my crest release with a quicker recovery, following the landing because I'm often all over Ariel's neck. My crest release is better today because something clicked and I understood what I was to do: 2 point and extend your arms forward... what was I doing before? I was keeping my arms locked closer to an angle from my body and actually tipping forward. At least that's what I evaluated the error to me. But that being said, not once was I left behind today so something was right. I did have wobbly jumps and Ariel likes to cut corners and take the jump off-center but these are all things I should be able to fix... soon. As soon as I stop focusing on everything leading up to the jump and just focus on getting through the jump as a whole, not pieces.

A few things I found did help, when Sheri had me focused on 1 thing to fix each round...

• Have a target you're looking at when you're jumping... don't look down. I have to remember my dragon boat steering days...
• If I know she's tending one way, look towards other and be prepared to have the appropriate aids to counter that possibility.

The couple of things that I will incorporate into my workouts (which are only so-so, btw :( ) are 1) opening my chest so that when I give with my hands, for Ariel's head/mouth, I don't collapse my shoulders forward and actually move my arms/hands forward while keeping my chest open and proud. 2) I also need to loosen my legs and hips more... the desk jockey syndrome is really starting to take a toll.

Posting Diagonal Jar Tally: = 3 x $2.00 = $6.00
To date: $97.00