It's Thanksgiving weekend for us Canucks and it's the weekend of the Erin Fall Fair. However, ADW and I don't get to go to the fair but we do get up Sunday morning to go riding. It's rainy though, so we end up indoors; and it doesn't really bother me anymore, to ride indoors, because I feel like I've gotten more control over things and speeding around doesn't seem so darned scary.
I'm assigned to ride Trinket. But, I receive this news with a bit of apprehension. I have been having trouble with Trinket to get her into the canter for several lessons now and I can't seem to figure out what's wrong with me. Yes, me. Not her. I've learned that animals are a lot smarter than we give them credit for so likely, she's perfectly understanding what's being asked of her but she isn't doing it for some reason that I haven't yet figured out.
I speed around trying to initiate canter and every time, I get close but it doesn't seem to follow though. I am falling all over the place and leaning forward more and more. It's an incredibly frustrating stint. Lenka even tells me, "you ask her nice once... and if she ignores you, you demand it of her. Kick harder and I don't care how you look like". I kick as hard as I can when I try for the umpteenth time and she only manages to speed around. *sigh*
Lenka asks if I want her to give it a whirl and see if she can figure out what might be wrong with her because my aids are right and I'm asking for the initiation in the corners. It's when I stand holding onto Trinket do I realize that Lenka is a lot taller than I am and getting on a pony looks kind of funny on her ;) Regardless! She also kicks and pushes Trinket to get into a canter but she can't seem to stay in it. This time, she tries something different: she lifts her head up with the reins while asking. And off she goes!
Lenka tells me that I need to lift Trinket off to initiate the canter. The thing is, the more experienced girls ride and show her so I'm sure that a good portion of the error is attributed to my lack of developed skill. Trinket leans on the bit and pulls herself along with her front instead of motoring through with her backside. This can't be good that her hind end is a little on the weaker side. I do remember this comment during another lesson and it makes sense now. But, I'm glad that I've figured that out! Hopefully I can continue to work with her to get at least myself up to par so that my weight is shifted back into the seat and onto her hind end.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Lesson #55: Frustration Rising
Sometimes things don't get better and you just continue on the bad path you've started down; this was one of those kinds of lessons. I rode Trinket again and I had a good deal of trouble getting her into the canter. The last few lessons have been a real test of my patience and self confidence getting into the canter with Trinket. But, it hasn't always been like this. I worked up to the point where I was able to canter her indoors in a smaller space with control. It was a very satisfying accomplishment as I slowly worked up to the ability to do that. But, today was rough because she didn't get into the canter despite me pushing her.
Instead of the usual posting or seated trot, we focused on extending and shortening our trot. Lengthening a trot has a horse cover more ground and the strides are literally longer. This seems to also mean that they go faster. Shortening is more 'march like' where they are covering less ground and it's closer to them marching. When we were lengthening, we were asked to push them forward and to post with an exaggerated post but going away from home. Shortening the trot was done in the direction towards home and in a seated trot.
Our next exercise was trot poles laid in a closer measurement where we are required to shorten their stride so that there is one foot fall between each pole and no poles are missed. This is not as easy as it looks and if they're not careful, they can stop on the poles or miss them entirely. Following this exercise, Jennifer lengthens the distance between the poles and says now we are to extend our trot and still end up with a single foot fall between each pole. Not easy. If you don't lengthen enough, they have two foot falls between each pole and that's wrong. So, you need to have them really move forward and reach for that next step.
From there, we get into something different: gymnastics. Jennifer was basically asking for the horse to do a line of multiple jumps and moving through it into a canter. First few times was a trot through it and we ended up in canter b/c there was so little space between the jumps that they had no choice but to canter out. What a neat feeling! You have no space for a half seat or anything and you stay in the 2-point for the entire line. She even goes as far as to triple the jumps and the horses have to leap leap leap canter.
After going through with trot, we're asked to get into a canter to go into the jumps as well as continue out of it. This has become another lesson like the last few, with Trinket. I am frustrated because she won't start into the canter and seems to be able to get out with a canter but not after pulling me so far forward that I am pushing against her crest/whithers to get back up. I'm clearly being pulled down far too much. The canter has become a really frustrating experience for me as no matter what I try, I am being pulled down and the canter is becoming non-existent because neither of us are able to get into it.
I finish this lesson feeling frustrated with the situation and unclear about what I need to do, to get myself back up and her moving into a canter. But, I have had quite the experience jumping through those gymnastics!
Instead of the usual posting or seated trot, we focused on extending and shortening our trot. Lengthening a trot has a horse cover more ground and the strides are literally longer. This seems to also mean that they go faster. Shortening is more 'march like' where they are covering less ground and it's closer to them marching. When we were lengthening, we were asked to push them forward and to post with an exaggerated post but going away from home. Shortening the trot was done in the direction towards home and in a seated trot.
Our next exercise was trot poles laid in a closer measurement where we are required to shorten their stride so that there is one foot fall between each pole and no poles are missed. This is not as easy as it looks and if they're not careful, they can stop on the poles or miss them entirely. Following this exercise, Jennifer lengthens the distance between the poles and says now we are to extend our trot and still end up with a single foot fall between each pole. Not easy. If you don't lengthen enough, they have two foot falls between each pole and that's wrong. So, you need to have them really move forward and reach for that next step.
From there, we get into something different: gymnastics. Jennifer was basically asking for the horse to do a line of multiple jumps and moving through it into a canter. First few times was a trot through it and we ended up in canter b/c there was so little space between the jumps that they had no choice but to canter out. What a neat feeling! You have no space for a half seat or anything and you stay in the 2-point for the entire line. She even goes as far as to triple the jumps and the horses have to leap leap leap canter.
After going through with trot, we're asked to get into a canter to go into the jumps as well as continue out of it. This has become another lesson like the last few, with Trinket. I am frustrated because she won't start into the canter and seems to be able to get out with a canter but not after pulling me so far forward that I am pushing against her crest/whithers to get back up. I'm clearly being pulled down far too much. The canter has become a really frustrating experience for me as no matter what I try, I am being pulled down and the canter is becoming non-existent because neither of us are able to get into it.
I finish this lesson feeling frustrated with the situation and unclear about what I need to do, to get myself back up and her moving into a canter. But, I have had quite the experience jumping through those gymnastics!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Lesson #54: Anniversary
October 4, 2013
It is literally 1 year to the day, when NR and I started riding at Greyden. A lot has happened since then and I feel like the best thing to do is to review how far I've come. We've got a new instructor tonight and since the lesson focused around what we know and what we can do, I thought it might be beneficial for me to review the things I've accomplished, to date, and to review goals and direction.
In order for this comprehensive list to be relevent, I"ve checked out the Equine Canada handbook of Rider Level Program, Levels 1-10 for the English Discipline. It appears this is a rudimentary manual for all English riders to aspire towards before deciding to specialize in a specific area of English riding. These areas could be anywhere from Dressage to Eventing to Jumping.
There are extensive requierments within the manual and at this point, I am comfortably past level 1 and nearly completed level 2. I have a few items to master in level 2:
In terms of my lesson today... I need to work on the canter with Trinket because I have a tendency to be heavy on her forehand which only makes matters worse. My shoulders collapse and I lean forward to initiate the canter which is exactly what you don't want to be doing. With this mare, doing that makes it difficult for her to initiate the canter since she tends to be heavy on the forehand anyways; all that is accomplished is that she speeds up in the trot and I just bump around uncomfortably!
It is literally 1 year to the day, when NR and I started riding at Greyden. A lot has happened since then and I feel like the best thing to do is to review how far I've come. We've got a new instructor tonight and since the lesson focused around what we know and what we can do, I thought it might be beneficial for me to review the things I've accomplished, to date, and to review goals and direction.
In order for this comprehensive list to be relevent, I"ve checked out the Equine Canada handbook of Rider Level Program, Levels 1-10 for the English Discipline. It appears this is a rudimentary manual for all English riders to aspire towards before deciding to specialize in a specific area of English riding. These areas could be anywhere from Dressage to Eventing to Jumping.
There are extensive requierments within the manual and at this point, I am comfortably past level 1 and nearly completed level 2. I have a few items to master in level 2:
- Know how often the ferrier should visit a horse (I'm sure I can find this information online somewheres...)
- Be able to tie a quick release knot (I tied one of these when I was a kid but I can't remember and we never need to do it in the school right now)
- Know the reasons for cleaning tack and the method involved (I would know this if I didn't miss 'spa day' back in May)
- Preparation and accuracy between the letters. Riders are not necessarily proficient at canter at this level (my canter is something I continue to struggle with)
- Riding 20m circles of the correct size (i.e. going to tangent points) (I ride some sort of circle... but 20m exactly? I'm not sure)
In terms of my lesson today... I need to work on the canter with Trinket because I have a tendency to be heavy on her forehand which only makes matters worse. My shoulders collapse and I lean forward to initiate the canter which is exactly what you don't want to be doing. With this mare, doing that makes it difficult for her to initiate the canter since she tends to be heavy on the forehand anyways; all that is accomplished is that she speeds up in the trot and I just bump around uncomfortably!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Lesson #53: Front Heavy
Sunday September 29, 2013
I've got a long day ahead of me but what better way to start it than to be riding! I'm on my own today, to get everything done. The lesson with Trinket is a good start to the day. Since it's an outdoor lesson, we work on getting our gaits going and Lenka challenges us to a sort of "course" with trot poles. We're asked to start a canter and then transition to a trot and then trot over poles and then re-initiate the canter and then trot over some more poles and completes with a canter. Easy enough to comprehend what is being asked but I certainly had a good deal of difficulty getting through this. My initial canter worked just fine and I even transitioned down into a trot. But, getting back into the canter was a total nightmare. I was struggling and Trinket was only going faster and faster. Nothing worked despite my urging and pushing.
Lenka pointed out that I was leaning forward and my shoulders were hunching forward. It isn't that Trinket is not listening... but she tends to be heavy on the forehand so when I tip forward and my weight gets onto her front end, it must put her out of balance and make it difficult for her to initiate the canter. So, instead of am bumping around in a seated trot with my posture totally out of alignment and my shoulders rounding forward with her pulling me down and forward.
This is certainly not my most graceful moment on this mare so I do try to continue to push forward and try again but I also recognize that I will have to do something about my own posture to get this right. It isn't her... she's clearly capable of doing a canter but I would say that she's probably not feeling balanced enough to initiate it and nobody wants to trip.
This was a frustrating lesson and I hope that my luck will be better next lesson.
The rest of the day was me driving out in the country to get to Stratford/Sebringville. It's such a wonderful drive out that way and I have a great time driving out on country roads on my own. It was a great break to be out on my own zipping around in ADW's car ;)
The best part? I'm on my way to do a food pick up this afternoon. Starting with my trip to Sebringville/Stratford to pick up my half Berkshire pig carcass. That's right folks, I'm going to pick up ~100lbs of delicious heritage pork. I always say, pork is supposed to be fatty. If it isn't, why aren't you eating chicken or something even less fatty? There's nothing wrong with fat. Especially when the animal is raised naturally and happily. I arrive and pick up 2 large boxes of my pig and head home with an additional 100lbs in the back.
I won't get into too much detail as I'll save that post for another day but the farm that I went to is called Perth Pork Products and they raise several heritage breeds that taste like the pork that used to be eaten. mmmmm mmm delicious!
I've got a long day ahead of me but what better way to start it than to be riding! I'm on my own today, to get everything done. The lesson with Trinket is a good start to the day. Since it's an outdoor lesson, we work on getting our gaits going and Lenka challenges us to a sort of "course" with trot poles. We're asked to start a canter and then transition to a trot and then trot over poles and then re-initiate the canter and then trot over some more poles and completes with a canter. Easy enough to comprehend what is being asked but I certainly had a good deal of difficulty getting through this. My initial canter worked just fine and I even transitioned down into a trot. But, getting back into the canter was a total nightmare. I was struggling and Trinket was only going faster and faster. Nothing worked despite my urging and pushing.
Lenka pointed out that I was leaning forward and my shoulders were hunching forward. It isn't that Trinket is not listening... but she tends to be heavy on the forehand so when I tip forward and my weight gets onto her front end, it must put her out of balance and make it difficult for her to initiate the canter. So, instead of am bumping around in a seated trot with my posture totally out of alignment and my shoulders rounding forward with her pulling me down and forward.
This is certainly not my most graceful moment on this mare so I do try to continue to push forward and try again but I also recognize that I will have to do something about my own posture to get this right. It isn't her... she's clearly capable of doing a canter but I would say that she's probably not feeling balanced enough to initiate it and nobody wants to trip.
This was a frustrating lesson and I hope that my luck will be better next lesson.
The rest of the day was me driving out in the country to get to Stratford/Sebringville. It's such a wonderful drive out that way and I have a great time driving out on country roads on my own. It was a great break to be out on my own zipping around in ADW's car ;)
The best part? I'm on my way to do a food pick up this afternoon. Starting with my trip to Sebringville/Stratford to pick up my half Berkshire pig carcass. That's right folks, I'm going to pick up ~100lbs of delicious heritage pork. I always say, pork is supposed to be fatty. If it isn't, why aren't you eating chicken or something even less fatty? There's nothing wrong with fat. Especially when the animal is raised naturally and happily. I arrive and pick up 2 large boxes of my pig and head home with an additional 100lbs in the back.
I won't get into too much detail as I'll save that post for another day but the farm that I went to is called Perth Pork Products and they raise several heritage breeds that taste like the pork that used to be eaten. mmmmm mmm delicious!
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Flying Lead Change
I realize that I forgot to outline what a flying lead change is, during my post about my latest stay-cation vacation. We learn what a flying lead change is but I didn't explain what that might be, for the rest of you. The lead change happens in mid-air during the canter. The canter is the third gait of a horse and it involves 3 foot falls and follows this sequence (in a circle):
Here's a thorough video about what it is...
- outside hind
- inside hind + outside front
- inside front
Here's a thorough video about what it is...
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