Feast or Famine

Best boy is getting golden! 

We've had multiple lessons over the past week - two jumping and one dressage. The most recent jump lesson was documented, but the other two lessons were not. 

But let's step back to last week. The problem with not getting media of the jump lesson is that my memory of the lesson also isn't great. But it was another check box in the column of jumped all the things, added to confidence bank. We worked on bending lines per my notes. I focused on keeping his shoulders up and straight to the fences. And he was good. Okay, moving on. 

Hi! Once again cool enough for his BOT mesh sheet 

Snoot close up 

Friday we went back to dressaging. These lessons I always take notes via voice to text immediately afterwards. Leads to some funny interpreting of counters and flecks, but it gets the major points down before they leave my brain. The lessons themselves are SO intense and he'll share very important things while I am in the middle of trying to canter for the hundredth minute straight that I have to get down what I remember immediately. 

Anyways, towards the end of the lesson JV shared one of the more important tidbits of the day. Always keep asking for new things. Initially it may just be going a little bit faster between two letters, then slowing down between the next set. But to keep both of you attentive, keep changing it up. Changes in direction, changes in bend, serpentines. Towards the end ask for more lift and extension and then more lift and collection between sets of letters. And end before my attention runs out. Definitely a call out there - it's not just the pony that starts to tune out the aids, it is actually me drifting off and not paying attention for 3-4 strides before coming back to earth. Oops. 

We did a lot of work in the canter with different figures, steering around to try to get suppleness in his body. We started with full one loops. That led to a lot of flying changes and half flying changes. JV's advice if he changed was to just keep riding the next bend and let him fix it. Good call, my cues are not going to be there to correctly ask for the change back. He then changed it to just steering him off the rail a few strides, then back to the rail, then back in again. Not even focusing on making it to the quarter line, just breaking the long side of the arena into several little chunks to encourage suppleness still. 

To straighten him in the canter on a circle, we did outside flexion to capture the outside shoulder, then inside flexion. Turns out the softening I had been working on with Susan had been, as usual, over exaggerated by yours truly in the mean time, and led to an overbent neck. 

We did a decent amount of trot leg yields, cementing what I've always known (and honestly seen when I've scribed): riders, including me, are not insistent about consistency. A few steps of sideways, then the shoulders lead, then we stop all sideways, then pick it up again. Be focused and insistent that the quality is always there. And if he's crooked and you add more energy, he's going to become more crooked. Oh, yeah, that makes sense too. 

His advice re the bit was to unwrap it and add the flash. He said he has a small mouth top to bottom and the bit doesn't need to be thicker than it comes out of the box. He also said the right lead canter is where we never did get suppleness and was where the mouth was an avoidance. I've been using the flash since then, still two full fingers in between, pair with a peppermint. He's not mad on the ground about it anymore or when going for a walk with no contact. But I can still feel when he hits it other times. Who knows... 

Best between the ears view - our 10 mile fitness ride 

Then we got back to PW on Wednesday of this week. We started with our classic warm up - three canter poles to a vertical. While we did this a lot when I first started riding with him, it had been a month or two since the placing poles had come out. Fortunately I still remember how to stare down the first one and fit it in. I think our cavaletti exercises at home have been helpful for that. 

After our first few efforts, PW got after us about two things:

1. The horse must take you away from the fence, not collapse in a heap on landing. To do this, use your legs. Do not flap your arms or upper body at him or drive him with your seat hollow. Your legs. 
2. You must come in with a more energetic canter. Not longer, but bouncier. Shockingly, #2 helps with #1. 

Generating some bounce here

Then we switched to an oxer with the same directives. 

Course work came next. Fortunately we were riding with someone else because my brain could not figure out where he was pointing us. But after a demo we got it. The first course was good other than the first fence. After that course we worked on what is truly meant by going forward and back in the canter before approaching the first fence, you can see a few canter circles in the video. PW noted that when I was asking for forward I was getting up off his back and leaning my upper body. Don't do that. We settled on sitting to the first fence instead, which I've been leary of since he hates to be driven with my seat. But it seems like maaaaayyyybe I've progressed enough that I can sit without driving. So that's what we did for the next two courses. 

I do think the correction of my upper body helped in other areas of the course too, I look less like I'm flailing forward and back with it and my leg seems quieter as well. 

I am VERY proud of Butterball for the moments that start about 2:59-3:00 in the video. It was our only rail of the day and it was a left hand turn off the rail, our bugaboo turn. I botched the turn and really did not get him straight. But he went, punched out the top rail, and then carried forward to do the six stride bending line to the vertical. 

Confidently carrying us over the vertical from the long spot. GOOD BOY. I cut out the audio in the video, but he got LOTS of good boys after the first oxer and this fence. 

Now I am *not* proud of my riding there. But pony pants stepped up and said "that was crap riding, have a rail, but I'll get us out of this". 

He did have a lot of late or missed changes in this lesson. I am keeping an eye on that. Ms. GY and I had taken a loop around the neighborhood the day before and it was the first day we walked out of the grass field or a manicured ring without his scoot boots on, so maybe that was related. His trimmer comes out next Wednesday, and I'll get her opinion on our overall foot health then, particularly his hinds. 

Love this pony so much - and since this photo I have started working on taming that mane that I've let go rogue