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

Dressage Lesson Notes

Butterball and I got back in with JV on Friday. It was TOUGH. I think that might be part of where his conditioning and fitness (and mine!) went. I've added the notes from that lesson to the notes from a few summer lessons that we had without media. 

7/2/25: To do a turn on the haunches you half halt with both hands to slow down. You have bend to the inside so if you're tracking right, you're bent right and then you turn your hands right. Your left leg does whatever it needs to do. If the shoulders aren't moving over enough, you may use it forward to move the shoulders. If the haunches are swinging out as you go to turn then you may use it further back to keep the haunches in the same spot only. Do only do a few of these at the walk. Do not walk for too long in the beginning, once the walk stops getting better then move to the trot and canter to supple and then work on the walk again. Leg yields help with connection and suppleness. And he must be responsive to light aids even when he is already nice and supple and forward. If you ask and do not get a response then correct. But if you ask and he gets cranky and responds in some way then he may be trying as hard as he possibly can be.

I'm longing for his summer coat, so we're filling this in with throw back pics from last spring/summer of the golden pony

7/10/25: When working on slowing down the canter: You have to decide what is the most important thing that you're working on right now. If he breaks to the trot and the trot is running, then it's not slower than what you were asking for in the canter, so you need to slow down more in the trot. If he breaks to the trot but it's like a nice downward transition, then go ahead and pick the canter right back up. Use your voice simultaneous with the down transition to trot so that he can tell the difference between asking for a trot and slowing down the canter. 

Don't spend too long on any one piece of the puzzle. Similar to not walking too long at the beginning of the ride, can move from the trot to the canter relatively soon. Then back to the trot and back and forth. Always asking what is the most important thing here. Number one is reaction, number two is forward energy. Number three is connection. 

2/20/26: Don't trot from a bad walk, it will carry over to the trot. Get the energy and connection right in the walk and then trot. Hold onto your reins. His heaviness isn't forever, it's him protesting. But if you give and let him get longer every time he finally softens, he's learning the wrong thing. It's okay to ask for inside flexion to fix the counter bend when tracking left. But you have to have energy and connection first. Soft touch to ask for the canter. Follow it up with kick and then tap if needed. But then trot and ask again from the soft touch. 

Tracking left at the canter, sharp turn left for two strides then release the inside rein/ask. KEEP your damned right rein during this process (Expletive mine, not JV's). While he is inconsistent you stay the same. Don't change, don't pull, just be steady there. Imagine trotting over raised cavaletti. Early on when you use leg to ask for more it may just be poles on the ground. But as he gets warmed up ask for raised cavaletti feeling. 

Tracking left I was told to shorten my reins. I moved to the next rein stop. He said of course you don't immediately put your hands back in their normal position, you gradually being your elbows back over a few strides. Of course you don't (literally never knew this/acknowledged this). Then followed multiple laps where Butterball and I both thought this was shit. We persisted though to get a degree of lightness and lift we've never had before. Cool. 

Notting Hill with a Side of Dressage

Follow up to my Independence and Assistance post, Butterball and I headed out to a jumper show at Notting Hill Stables last Wednesday. My friend met us there and provided invaluable assistance. I knew when I put this on the calendar that I would be trainerless, but since I was also expecting to be trainerless at Chatt on the 23rd, it seemed important to be able to go jump a couple of rounds at novice height without too much  hand holding. 

We loaded up and then wound our way the hour drive to Notting Hill. I'd never been there before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but they had a nice big grass field for parking and a large grass warm up arena and even larger grass jump arena. I paid my $50 and was told I could do multiple rounds at multiple heights for that price. The only downside compared to Majestic Oaks jumper show that was going on at the same time was the lack of Lisa Madren for fun jump pics. 

Butterball is SUCH a good dude. I never want to take for granted the fact that he self loads, travels quietly, and then unloads with zero drama. He typically tries to grab some grass before his feet have even left the ramp when he is unloading, he is THAT unconcerned about where he has ended up. So he hung out on the trailer under the fan while I walked part of the course and decided on all outside turns that made for a nice loopy course. Then another rider wanted to head in, so my friend and I watched her go, planned the last few fences, and then tacked up the pony. We nailed our first few warm up jumps and then my friend popped up the oxer. And I let him lengthen his stride out of the corner to a deep spot at the base. He went the first two times and then had enough of my crap and stopped the third time. My friend pointed out what was happening and also that maybe, just maybe, when I know it's going to be deep, I should add leg and support him instead of leaning and praying. So I half-halted out of the corner the next go round, and we got it done. Repeat off both leads and then we headed over.

We went in our for our first round, had a tight spot to one, and did some fuckery in the combination. The combination had not been there for the 0.80 and instead of just asking at the in-gate what it was, I guessed. As I rode up to it. Which led to two in a one. If it had been an oxer out he would've stopped. We recovered from that and rode the next several well. We had a bit of a gappy spot in the 7 stride line down the long side. I figured we would sit chilly for the 8. Which meant I made a decision and actually used my legs and had a powerful, but maybe not compact enough, canter, so when we got to the 7 on a longer spot, he went just fine. 

The second round we definitely smoothed out the combination to make for a prettier round overall, but did have a tight distance to fence 5 right after the combination. And I let him be for the 7 which led to actually a kind of tight 7. His canter is SOOOO different now that I'm having to re-sort out how to ride things! I'm not sure what happened with the last fence in both rounds, usually he is such a clean jumper. 

Getting the one stride right 

OUT! 

End of the 7 strides, apparently my release went out the window. I'm sorry my dude! 

Then Friday we loaded up for a dressage lesson. Ms. GY and her guy went with us and he was just the best behaved "baby" thoroughbred that there has ever been. 

Butterball and I did A LOT of work in the canter. Initially he didn't have impulsion (if I took my leg off he broke/died in whatever gait we were in), so we did a lot of cantering quite quickly to generate that. Leg off, let him slow down, light leg, he should go forward, rinse, repeat. After that we worked on some walk-trot transitions, keeping the same connection through the whole transition. It is incorrect to dive forward, heavier, but it is also incorrect to lighten and stiffen. The SAME amount of pressure should be present through the whole transition. We repeated the walk-trot transition until he was maintaining a steady contact through the whole transition. 

Then we moved on to the canter again. But every attempt to slow down the canter led to trotting, so we started with some walk-canter transitions. The first few strides he was actually lovely and light and slow. Then I would start to do weird things with my body and shove at him and he'd speed up. Our homework was to work on the walk-canter transitions and then just sitting and doing nothing if he was in the light, slow canter. If he sped up, ask to slow down. If needed can come in with a light leg to support. Eventually we'll want him to maintain with the leg off, but for the time being, light leg is okay. Then walk. Then repeat. I got scolded for not walking right away in our canter-walk. I asked what I should be doing and, because my tendency is to tense my whole body and not move as I try to walk, I was told to pull back. If he didn't walk, pull back more firmly. Well that just sounds really simple, now doesn't it sir. Shockingly it did decrease the number of trot steps we were taking. 

Some other random notes: Every aid causes tension. This came up when I told JV that I felt like in the right lead canter I had to keep my right spur in or he would dive his shoulders right. He said "let him make the mistake, then fix it." But he also shared that every aid increases tension. If it is a constant nagging aid like my right spur was, then the horse stiffens to brace against it to ignore it. If it is an aid to do something else, it causes a reaction, which causes tension. So the less you have to do to keep them straight and swinging, the less tension there will be. So let him fall in with his shoulders, quietly aid to get them back out, then take that aid off. Eventually it will be like the energy and he will maintain on his own. 

During Ms. GY's lesson, she and I both learned the aids for the canter. Her response was exactly what mine would have been "outside leg back, inside leg at the girth". She also added looking at his inside ear which prompted one of JV's hilarious "don't do that" lines that had me giggling for a minute. So looking aside, he said that inside leg should always be at the girth asking for inside bend unless you're doing something different intentionally. Outside leg moves back to be there to indicate the lead you're asking for, then the inside leg lightly touches. Touch and go. The first aid is the touch, the touch and go. If he doesn't do it, it's the kick, the kick and go. If he still doesn't do it, it is the kick and come in with the whip. 

We're probably not getting back down for a dressage lesson this week, given that we're shipping to Chatt on Friday, but I certainly have homework to practice until the next lesson! 

Strategies for Staying Cool (plus lesson notes)

(This isn't an actual educational post... I have no strategies for surviving this brutal heat other than acclimatization and trying to ride in close proximity to storms but without getting struck by lightning) 

Monday, Ms. GY and I loaded up BB and her mostly retired dude, one of Butterball's pasture mates, and headed to a pond/lake to the west of us. 

I have zero pics. The phone stayed in the car which was the right choice because Butterball turned full sea horse this trip. The pond wasn't as clear as the one we went to on our first swimming adventure this summer. But it was still very delightful. Butterball is basically a solo trailerer 100% of the time now, so it was interesting to see him travel with Ms. GY's horse. He basically dragged me on to the trailer after her horse and hadn't pooped in the trailer at all after our short 20 minute drive. So I guess there is a small stress component to our solo trips that goes away with a buddy, I'm sorry kiddo. 

We moseyed from the dirt road where we parked down to the pond. Both boys snorted at the edge of the water for approximately 10 seconds, then Butterball charged on in. The bottom wasn't completely even and it freaked his friend out a bit, but Butterball didn't seem to care at all. He went in and out on his own the same way as he had at the other lake, even spending a few strides here and there swimming. It was so neat to feel him swim!!! He snorkeled some and pawed, although he did less pawing than last time, I think because he was mostly at least chest deep. At one point he even laid down in about forearm deep water. He looked shocked when I jumped off of him and stood right up again when I slid off. I thought he was going to roll and certainly wasn't going to be on him for that! It definitely seemed to be part of his plan to keep me on for his laying down adventure though LOL. I led him out of the water to a nearby fence blocking off the area around the pond and hopped back on. He headed back in and did some more deep water walking. After about an hour of splashing around and standing we headed out of the pond. Both boys had devoured their open hay bags of orchard on the drive over, but survived the ride home without snax. 

He is SO HAPPY in the water, it is awesome. I did encourage him to try the few strides of swimming the first time, but after that he explored it on his own, just a couple of strides at a time. It seems like GREAT fitness as well, and especially since the underwater treadmill facility is 45 minutes away and $75+ for a 15 minute session, this seems like a major upgrade. The dirt roads leading in to Dinner Pond were nicely hilly... might be a great place to park, do a trot/canter set, and then cool off with a quick dip in the pond in September/October when I could at least not kill both of us in the heat on the unshaded dirt roads. 

His fave water source at home because... Horses

The next morning we were supposed to load up at 6 AM today head down for a lesson with PW. It has been 3+ weeks at this point. But when I woke up from my 4 hours of sleep I just... wasn't feeling it... so I texted PW and went back to bed for another three hours. Thursday we did load up, at a much more reasonable hour given my work schedule, and headed to JV's for a dressage lesson. I did a good job listening to my brain on Tuesday it seemed... I thought I had hooked up the trailer completely the night before, but I missed the essential step of climbing into the truck bed and actually LATCHING THE HITCH and doing up the chains and such, but mostly LATCHING THE HITCH!!! Ooookay. So I did my usual peek in the bed Thursday morning and saw it wasn't latched and fixed it before I moved the trailer... sheesh... 

Fortunately there was a bit of a breeze at JV's and it wasn't quite as hot as it was the previous few days. We had an absolutely AMAZING lesson (with no media). 

• Now that we're consistently getting good reactions and have forward, swinging gaits, we're starting to ask for a bit of collection. Collection at the trot should feel like he's bouncing over trot cavaletti. At this point poles on the ground is okay. Soon we'll want raised poles. 
• Get freely swinging forward first. Then half halt. He needs to react in *that stride*. The rapid reaction makes it much more likely you'll maintain the lift vs slowing down over multiple strides just leading to being on the forehand and going slowly. 
• Once he's slowed, has he maintained impulsion? Ie can I take my leg off and he doesn't peter out and break?
• Don't guard against the break. More applicable with canter than trot... Ask for just as much slow down and don't be afraid to have to correct the mistake of breaking. But if he breaks, is the trot actually slower than the canter was? If yes, then pick the canter right back up. If no, slow the trot then pick the canter back up. 
• It was very helpful to work on collecting the trot before we tried collecting the canter. 
• In the left lead where he wants to throw his outside shoulder right, don't get trapped circling where it is even easier to do that. Go straight, use right leg to move the shoulders. If that doesn't work, counter bend slightly. But don't skip using the leg, he needs to learn to yield to the leg aid. Don't be afraid of getting a flying change when he is getting straighter. 

The energy level Butterball had after this lesson. Pony was TIRED. 

"The most important thing is to not stop questioning" -Albert Einstein

Disclaimer: I realize the above quote may not be applied below exactly in the context intended by the speaker. However it very directly applies to my dressage lessons, as described and then heard below. 

"How did that go?" 

"Okay, considering we've never done a turn on the haunches before." 

"Hmmm not quite, you did turn around. What is a turn on the haunches?" 

At this point I stopped because I 1000% knew I was not going to be able to both ride correctly and process what we were talking about.

Funny enough, we stopped without wiggling into it. And we were almost square. Hmmm weird the way that works. 

More patient silence

"The hind legs stay stepping in place and the front legs move around them?" 

"Yesss... and what about their body?" 

50/50 shot and I guessed wrong... I had bent Butterball to the left to execute our right turn on the haunches. Which it seems is incorrect. 

Da fuk are you doing mom? I haven't done this before either, but I think you're wrong. -Butterball

Then we moved on to a similarly elucidating and embarrassing set of questions about the aids for turn on the haunches. 

"Well how do you ask your horse to turn?" 

After several *wrong* guesses - "With the reins?" 

"Exactly!" 

Turns out (hardee har har) you start with an inside bend, then half halt with both reins, then, ask for a turn with the rein aids. The outside leg is used to control whatever it needs to. If the shoulders aren't moving enough with the reins then the outside leg is used forward to ask for the shoulders to move more. If the haunches are swinging wide, the outside leg is used to keep them in place. 

Although our attempts were not anywhere near show ring quality, we did get better

Our progress backslide on the last one. I used my right leg but he continued to push through it and swing the haunches. Which went back to cardinal rule number one. When an aid is used it should get a reaction. If it doesn't then there is a correction (increasing aid) then the aid is reapplied lightly to test if the correction worked. When laid out that way it all seems so straightforward. 

The ToH work was a brief respite from a lot of trot and canter work. It also came with the direction to not walk too long during warm up. If the walk is no longer getting better, go ahead and trot and canter to increase the suppleness, then come back to the walk. But don't do too much of it. To increase the suppleness in the trot, we did a lot of leg yields. He started out the ride kind of braced and stiff. But I have been directed NOT to pull him into roundness. So I sat chilly and just worked on forward. Then the leg yields magically created the roundness and acceptance of contact we had been lacking. 

We spent a WHILE in the left lead canter. Turns out we're never actually straight on that lead. Which we set to work fixing by thinking shoulder-in. When that didn't so much work, we did some counter bend. Once he was straight, Butterball had a hard time holding the canter. But there were some lovely moments in between falling apart. 

We also played a tiny bit with extended trot. Which was really fun.

Hillary was kind enough to come and watch and take tons of video. I REALLY need to get my shoulders back. He looks so lovely and I don't hate the rest of my position, but my shoulders are round all the time. Rgh. Where is my inner dressage queen? 

I am continuing to absolutely LOVE these dressage lessons. The effect on Butterball is dramatic too. He is happier when he is working this hard, actually. It is weird, but he loses the sticky resistance and chomping that I call his pony side and just swings forward from the lightest aids with a quiet mouth. It is delightful. 

Next day, absolutely exhausted, just went on a walk hack around the neighborhood. I was sore, so I figured he was too. 

Where have you been my whole life?

Butterball and I took a lesson with a new dressage trainer (JV) yesterday. And it was amazing. The way I've gone on and on about some rides I need to just focus on his response to my leg in order to keep him sharp to it? Yeah, he called me (us?) out in the first two laps. "You're nagging and he's not responding and is cranky about it." YEP. 

So he explained the 1, 2, 3. 1 is a brush with the calves, what you want them to respond to. 2 is a boot or poke with the spur. 3 is a kick and tap with whip. And the response should be proportionate to the aid ie a 1 should get you a 2 mph increase. A 2 should get you a 3-4 mph increase. And a 3 should get you 4+ mph increase. Jigging is not actually the right response either because it is still not actually forward. Once the forward has happened, then you have to test that you trained - ask with a 1 again. This is how you train them.

JV did a LOT of asking "How's your trot?" And sometimes I would say it was good and he would go "Wellllll I do not agree" LAWLZ. But I never felt picked on or rushed and consequently never transferred those feelings to BB. So by the end, he wasn't chomping on the bit at all, and he was lifting and moving in a way I haven't felt before. The constant questions feel SO USEFUL for working at home. With my prior fave dressage trainer of all time, I always had a hard time replicating the work we did in our lesson at home. But with the constant questions here I actually had to assess myself and then sort out correcting it. Testing, it definitely helps with learning. 

Blurry screen shot of prancy pony

He said that horses should be on cruise control. Whatever pace they're at, they stay at that pace until otherwise directed. The rider is not to aid them (/piss them off?) by pushing each stride. We moved from the walk to the trot fairly early on in the ride. I was told to keep my hands quiet but not throw him away. Initially the roundness wasn't there, but as time went on, it arrived, all on its own, without me having to screw with his face. We played with the same brush with the leg in the trot to get a really lovely trot. And then when we had a really nice trot, moved on to the canter. 

In our canter depart I was told not to: 

- Cluck

- Drive with my seat

- Lean my upper body forward 

A little tight at first

In other words, the canter transition comes from the legs (and I assume eventually the seat, but it sure doesn't come from the list of three things above that I tried/do all the time...). And me doing it from one of the other things listed above meant we cantered 4-6 strides and then rinsed and repeated. A couple of times I had to get to #3 which led to some flailing around on my part and a wrong lead on Butterball's part. But a few attempts later, when I slid my outside leg back and closed my inside leg at the girth, he lifted into the canter. 

The ONLY time I did anything with my hands was tracking right where he wanted to tilt his head to the left. Then I gently closed my fingers on the right rein a couple of times to get him bending properly. 

Half-halts followed the same pattern - quietly close and lift, but if that doesn't work the next one is sharper. If this causes a break to the trot, the trot must also half-halt. But then STOP slowing down. So if the canter is 10 mph and the trot starts as a sprawling 10-11 mph, then half-halt to get the trot to an 8 mph. Then legs are used to tell him to continue at that 8 mph if he tries to slow down beyond that. Then pick the canter back up and try the half-halt again. 

Through all this work, essentially just on responsiveness to the aids, he became softer and more through with more lift in his withers than I've felt before. 

That will do... 

I'm planning on going back once a week for the next few weeks. This was so incredibly useful. And even though it is by far the most I've paid for a lesson, I finally sold both saddles that were not in use. So that can be Operation Stop Nagging dressage lesson money for Butterball and me.