Wordless Wednesday

One step back

I've been avoiding writing this post, mostly because I just wanted to forget about how our jump lesson this past Sunday went.

I did flatwork with Otter on Thursday and Saturday to get him supple for jumping in our first lesson at the new barn.  He was pretty good both days, although in looking in the pictures - holy batman, I need to keep my eyes UP!

Then our jump lesson Sunday morning happened...  He warmed up well, despite how early it was.  I had joined a group lesson with 3 other ladies from the barn, all doing beginner novice.  We started jumping and he was okay over the small crossrail, then when we started jumping the barrels, he/me started doing the really deep distance thing that we do, and getting strong afterwards.  So I will be digging out my running martingale to put back on him, upon advice from the trainer.  She also suggest a neckstrap - so good thing that black friday/cyber monday is coming up because I also need some new stirrup leathers (I've been avoiding that purchase for a little bit now).

So then we moved on to courses.  Otter got really ansty on the approach and then we got in super deep (again) to the first jump and my trainer put things on hold.  She put the jump down and said that she wanted us to come back at a trot, but only after he was relaxed.  It took a few minutes to get him to calm down, but when he did, we reapproached the lowered jump and he took it really calm and nicely.  I stopped and had a conversation with our trainer after that and she pointed out that we have confidence issues.  I don't trust him over the higher jumps, and he doesn't trust me over them - but when we lower the jumps one hole, we are able to work together as a team.  

She lowered the rest of the jumps and we trotted most of them, and had a much nicer round - soft, nice jumps, good distances.  So it looks like we will be backing off of height for a little bit while we start to trust each other over fences again.  I'm really not sure when this breakdown happened - I feel like it may have been a gradual decline that may have started after that fall at Winona.  

By the end of our lesson, a good bit of the barn was there, and watching - seems like Otter has become a barn favorite and everybody wanted to see him go.  So our performance was a little embarrassing and frustrating because I know we could have been so much better and have in the past.  Everybody was really sweet about it though, and told me how cute he was and how much the trainer has helped them.  After the lesson I stuck around and chatted with a few of the other ladies at the barn.  

So I'm not sure what this will mean for our plans for next year, hopefully with some consistent work over the next month or two, we can be back on track for my plans.

Not much to say

Went to the barn again on Monday.  I had been hoping to jump, but since I was the only person at the barn, other than the guys who feed, while I was tacking up, I ended up putting on his dressage saddle instead (I won't jump if nobody else is around).  I ended up taking advantage of the quietness and decided to ride in the covered arena for the first time.  For the first half of our ride, Otter wasn't quite there.  He wasn't being bad - just a little distracted and unfocused.  Then our new trainer showed up at the barn and I stopped to chat with her for a few minutes.  When we went back to work, Otter was much better.  I did some transitions and circle work, then cooled him out.

I will be joining a group jumping lesson on Sunday morning.  It's going to mean an early morning to get out to the barn and be ready to go, but I'm excited about doing group lessons again - I feel like you can learn just as much watching other people ride as you can in a lesson by yourself.  

Settling in

I gave Otter Friday to settle in and get used to his new barn (and give me time to work on unpacking), then went out to the barn on Saturday with Matt (Fiance).  Otter was a little tense and looking around. There was a group lesson going on in the covered arena, so we headed out to the dressage arena for our ride.  Otter felt like his normal stiff and heavy self after having a few days off, and I was a little stiff also.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that he didn't look as bad as he felt in the pictures that Matt took.  Finished up our ride and put him back out then headed off for family stuff.

Sunday I went back out to the barn and Otter was much more relaxed from the beginning.  One of the little girls at the barn is so cute - she keeps asking me questions about Otter and what he's done and if we are going to the show in December (we are).  Took Otter back outside for some more flat work, and he was relaxed, supple, and light from the beginning.  We worked on bend, and trot lengthenings.

Going to head back out to the barn this afternoon.  

Foto Friday

Everybody arrived safely!  Since all we have been doing this week is traveling, here are some pictures (mostly of my dog in the car).

leaving Pittsburgh

I stopped in by Otter's new barn to check on him on my way into town -He made the trip well and is settling in.

Goose and Rufus meeting for the first time 

Also, go check out Beka's contest -http://www.theowlsapprove.com/2014/11/the-herbal-horse.html?showComment=1415371457952#c3131337122905347818  She is giving away some awesome products!

I will probably stay at home today to try to get organized and give Otter another day to get used to his new home, then head out to the barn on Saturday for a little ride.

Time to travel

I went out to the barn yesterday to get Otter's stuff packed up for his big move and got a quick ride in.  As much as I wanted to play over some of the new jumps my barn put up this weekend, I didn't want to get him too tired or sore before his big trip, so we stuck to a quick flat workout.  He felt really good - soft and supple, and really wanting to use his hindquarters.  We practiced some trot lengthenings since he felt so good, and while he didn't quite get them completely, he is starting to get the idea of them.  I let him off with that, got off to loosened his girth and noseband then sat with him and let him cuddle with me while I talked to my friend while she rode.  We sat like that for a while, it was nice to have the time before I sent him on the trip - he is such a love bug.

The shipper came at 7am this morning to pick Otter up.  He should have a nice trip, just him and one other horse on the big trailer, so they both have huge box stalls.  It was definitely sad taking him away from his pasture mates (one of which loves him) and sadder still saying bye to my barn owner.  I may have even cried a bit on my way home.  I'm a bit of a sap anyways, but I have loved this barn, and the other boarders there.  We are definitely planning on staying in touch, but it isn't the same as seeing them 5-6 days a week.

Otter is scheduled to arrive at his new barn in Louisiana tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon or early evening, and I plan on starting my drive (with my dog) tomorrow as soon as I get off from work.  I should get there sometime Thursday afternoon.  

Clipping

While clipping Otter last week (and finishing it up yesterday), I got to thinking about all of the times when I was younger when I loved clipping horses.  I'm not sure if it was the getting paid to do other's horses, or I was just weird, but I used to love to clip.  And now I hate the actual process, a fact I seem to forget every year until I am halfway through a clip.

This past spring's clip job.  He got a hunter clip this time around in prep for the warmer weather down south.

Also every year, I see people on COTH speaking about the wonders of damp/wet clipping, and how absolutely magical it is, and how easy it makes clipping.  I tried it last year, and again this year, and I have to be honest - I don't understand how it is better.  Yes, the hair doesn't fly everywhere, but I feel like it actually clogs up the blades more because the hair sticks to the blades, and I end up with more missed hair on the horse because it's wet and slicked down.  If anybody has any tips on it, I would love to know.  I will say though, that for me, clipping seems to go best, easiest, quickest, least lines, with a freshly bathed, but fluffy dry, horse.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

So I'm going to kinda cheat and combine September and October into one post because mostly for the past two months I have been working on correcting and fine tuning some gaps in our training.

I love going to shows, because not only is it a competition (and let's face it, I'm a little lot competitive), but I feel like it sharpens me - I notice things that I overlook at home and then I can work on them and progress.

So here are the things that I learned this show season:

• I let Otter meander around through transitions at home, and then at shows when I am trying to ask at or between a certain letter and I want a crisp transition, of course I'm not going to get it.  So then asking for it stronger at the next transition won't make it better, just makes him reactive because he's not use to me being so insistent on a sharp transition.
• Since I realized this, I immediately stopped letting him take several strides for upward transitions and as a result, they were much better during at our last few shows, and way better at home.
• I need to ride with my leg on more - like way more.  I got so used to Otter being so forward that I started trying to ride with my leg off and I guess rotating/ pinching on my knees some, so when I try to put leg on, he's not used to it and is overly sensitive to it -again this kinda goes back to why our transitions are so blehy.
• It's a work in progress.  It's definitely work trying to convince my muscles and body to stay that way, but it is getting better.
• Otter is a total cheater and is lazy (despite his bursts of energy at times).  The moment I allow it, he'll get on his forehand and heavy in the bridle.  
• I've really been trying to push for him to move forward and keeping his hindquarters under him and active, while staying light in the bridle.  I have also been using this time of correcting my position to reinforce correct bend with him - it helps me make sure my legs are on if I am asking him to bend around them.  So we have been doing lots of circles and changing of direction asking him to be on the outside rein and bending around the inside leg.
• Relaxation
• For both of us.  I need to relax my upper body (shoulders specifically), and Otter needs to not brace then relax when I half-halt.  It's getting better
• I lean way to forward with my upper body - When I'm not using my legs correctly, I lean forward to compensate for the position, and then Otter takes advantage of it and uses it to lean against me and get heavy, which makes me more forward.  It's a vicious circle.
• Since I am getting better about keeping my legs on, my base of support has gotten better and so my upper body is better stabilized where it should be.  They aren't often yet, but when everything clicks with my position and Otter using his hindquarters and having correct bend, he feels amazing!
• I need to get him forward for stadium.  If I think he is forward, it usually still isn't forward enough.
• Better at home usually, still wasn't great at the last few shows
• Take off distance jumping
• Both Otter and I like the deep distances, and we need to get over that and have more flexibility instead of holding for a deep distance if neither of us sees one.  Some days are better than others on this.  

I think that's about it.  I'm sure there are a million of other little things, but that's for me to figure out next show season.  

Speaking of next show season, it's about to start for us because as of the end of next week, Otter and I will officially be southerners.  Otter got clipped (mostly- still need to finish up his head and fix a couple of lines) this week since he is scheduled to be picked up middle of the week and I am hoping to start the drive right after he leaves.  I'm hoping to go to a local schooling show in December, then start horse trials at the end of January with hopes to qualify and compete at AECs in 2015.

Big changes.  I'm definitely a little nervous, and very sad to be leaving my current barn, but super excited for this next year.

August 2014

I decided to end my 2014 season at the same event that we had our first outing at in 2013 - Rolling Rock mini trials.  In light of not riding frequently leading up to the event due to my back, I decided to compete at beginner novice again.

The morning of the show I was prepared to do the same routine as I did at South Farm, but when I lunged him - he was nice and calm and relaxed, so I opted against getting on, and instead just prepped him for our test.  I did get on him slightly early again, but after a few minutes of warming him up, I mostly stood/walked around until 15 minutes before our test when I started warming him up in earnest.  He was a completely different horse this time.  Not sure if he realized he doesn't get to jump until after dressage is done, or if he was just more comfortable at this venue since he has been there a few times now.  Either way, we put in a very nice test - no tenseness, blow ups, etc.  if anything, I should have asked for him to be more forward as he was slightly behind my leg and the vertical.  We were scored a 37.8, which was actually one of the lower scores of the show, and it put us into first.

I was nervous heading into stadium because I really wanted to keep my placing.  He warmed up fine, but then when we headed into the ring it went to crap.  He was sucking back then deer leaping at every fence, and we just couldn't get a good distance or rhythm going.  His athleticism saved the day and kept us from pulling rails.

I was pretty disgusted with our jumping in stadium and resolved to get him in front of my leg before we head out to XC.  I took him over to an open area and galloped him a bit then jumped the couple of warm up XC jumps they had.  Went much better.  I'm starting to realize that I really need to get him in front of my leg before we start jumping - and that means taking him for a little gallop/very forward canter.  XC went well, he's jumped most of the jumps there before, so it was a stroll around the park. 

End result:

Unfortunately, my back wasn't quite healed enough to handle Otter's deer jumps in stadium and I ended up re-injuring it.  Other than getting on and doing some walk/little bit of trot work, I gave Otter the rest of the month off because I also decided that I would be moving down to Baton Rouge in November and so would be starting our 2015 show season in December/January and wanted to give him a little bit of a break before we picked up serious work again.

July 2014

So because I was grounded from the arm issue in June, I was only able to ride for a week or two before we went to South Farm HT at the beginning of the month.  Not the most ideal prep for a show.  At the same time, I was also really thrilled that my fiance was able to finally see us compete.  I decided that there was no way that I was going to let Otter's rambunctiousness ruin our dressage test this time, so I planned for lots of warm up time.  I got on Otter early in the AM to get all of his high jinx out, and I am so glad I did - we had about 30 minutes of bucks and leaps when I asked for upward transitions.  I don't ever get this behavior at home because he get so much turn out time that he gets all of his antics out before I ride.  I finally got him to quiet down and then I got off and put him away so that I could get cleaned up and could finish getting him ready.  When we were all set, I got back on him - a bit before I normally would just in case he had more energy to let out.  In the warm up area, I kept doing a lot of transitions, and finally I was actually having to ride with my legs on to keep him moving instead of trying to keep them off.  I still had about 20 minutes before my ride time, so I just tried to keep him attentive until then, by some walk breaks and some transitions every few minutes.

As a result of all of our warm up, I think Otter was slightly past his best point when we finally went in the ring since he was a little grumpy, but he put in one of his calmest tests so far, despite him thinking about ducking out of the ring at one point.  We were scored a 39.5, which I was happy with since we still had some hiccups in the ring.

When I went to warm Otter up for XC, all of the energy he had earlier in the day was gone.  I tried to be pretty conservative in my warm-up, just jumping a couple of times till he woke up and sharpened up.  XC went well (it usually does with him) and I could mostly let him cruise along.  I had to pull him back to a trot on the back half of the course to kill a little time because the speed was so conservative, but asked for a canter again before the next jump.  

The distance wasn't quite as tight as the angle of this picture makes it seem - The professional had a shot from a different angle that looked a lot better.

After the competitor's party that night, I walked Otter for a while and let him graze to stretch his legs out.

The next day I was pretty nervous for stadium.  I was in the placings after XC, but the scores were so tight that if we pulled a rail, we would drop out of them.  Warming up, I could tell that he was still a little tired from the day before so I tried to limit my warm-up again choosing instead to watch the earlier riders go.  A couple horses before our time I took him over some jumps and then headed in. 

All was going well, until we were 2 strides out from an oxer and one of the potted plants in front of it fell over!  Otter was not cool with the fact that the jump was moving, and started to plant on the brakes, and I sat back and said "No way, dude - you are going over this" and he went.

The fence with the horse-eating plant

We finished the course with no other issues, and I was so thrilled because it meant that we kept our placing.  While I waited for the last few competitors to finished up, I said bye to my fiance - he had to catch his plane back home - and hung out with my barn mates.

I love this photo

It turns out that because of our clean stadium round we moved up to 5th.  I also got to participate in my first victory gallop (So much fun, by the way).

A few days after the show I moved wrong at work and pulled something in my back that kept me sidelined from riding for another week, and then I kept myself to light riding for another week to attempt to prevent re-injuring it.  

During my downtime, I started making competition goals for 2015.  I decided that since it was very likely I would be moving to Baton Rouge within the next year, I wanted to go to the 2015 AECs since that would be the last year they would be held in Texas, which would be relatively close.  When I started researching what I would need to do to qualify, I realized that because of being an ammy rider in mixed divisions, I had an ammy placing higher than the show placing which qualified us for the 2014 AECs.  I was thrilled to discover that in our first season, despite him not being quite settled at shows yet, we qualified.