Training Update!
God I MUST blog more regular lol! Where were we……..
Ok, so we have mostly been working on ‘forward into the contact’ and ‘power from behind’
We have definitely upped the anti this last couple of weeks and I think its been hard work for both of us…physically and mentally! For a start off, now we have a more powerful trot I am struggling to sit to it and can tell I am blocking Antsje and I rather suspect I have been for a while and this is why the trot has gone down to MY level and I suppose this has also suited Antsje lol! A bit humbling I can tell you when you realise its always the rider that’s stuffing up the horse lol! So I have been working more in rising trot to really free her up but she is grumbling about it a bit because now she has got to put a bit more effort in!
So I have been really concentrating on her reactions to my leg……….if she doesn’t react to it STRAIGHT AWAY and just lollops into trot, then she gets bought back to walk, ‘animated’ by use of my voice and a couple of taps with the schooling whip. We then do a succession of transitions until I can feel her really ‘waiting for it’ and once we are “there” a lot of things fall into place because she is ON THE AIDS! We had both got a bit DULL I think and Antsje was taking her own good time before she reacted to my requests and I was merrily accepting this!
We have had another lesson since the dressage tests too and the instructor had a little sit on Antsje too! It was good to watch her and I got good feedback on Antsje’s way of going. In the lesson it was just re-affirming Antsje being forwards into the contact, making sure she was reactive to the aids and we also played about with collecting and lengthening the stride in trot….done on a circle. We also did work on serpentines really asking Antsje for more suppleness through the changes of rein. I was very pleased at the end of the lesson ….. Antsje really does have a good attitude to her work which is more than half the battle (bad choice of word! But that’s the saying lol!)
We have also been working more on schooling the canter too and it is becoming just more ‘everyday’ rather than Ooooo shall we do ‘CANTER’!! lol!
The last couple of session’s I’ve noticed that although the contact is now very consistent and she still needs to be taking more weight behind and be getting that feeling of her rising up through the wither. We are getting moments of this and it feels bloody brilliant! But its time to move towards this being the normality rather than flashing glimpses.
So things I’ve been doing to help are:
Reinback to trot
Walk to canter
Shoulder in and Counter shoulder in
Leg yield to canter
Travers in walk and attempts (!!) in trot lol!
Half pass in walk and attempts (!!) in trot!
Although the travers / half pass in trot is pretty rubbish it is still having an effect of collecting her and bringing her together more, so I think its worth persevering with!
Fridays are her day off and she gets an all over massage with an electric massager which she LOVES. She worked hard last week so she had 2 days off with massages both days and felt loads ‘boingier’ on Saturday! And we also did a bit of jumping at the weekend for a change and some fun!
So its been all good! Oh, and for improving your seat, work without stirrups in SHORTS lol! Your skin sticks to the saddle and you gotta keep your butt in the saddle or it hurts lol!
Showing posts with label canter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canter. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Thursday, 8 July 2010
A LESSON!!! WOOP!
I had a lesson last Sunday – the first in a few months! The lady rides at Intermediere level and has trained her two TB’s herself. She enjoys working with non-typical dressage horses and has a good eye for horse and rider ;o)
She picked up very quickly on mine and Antsje’s strengths and weaknesses and this gave me a lot of confidence in her instruction.
She was very complimentary about the work I have done with Antsje so far, so that was a relief!! She said I have done well in getting her neck out as so many horses like these are ridden too short in the neck and she was also happy with my position in general, which again was a bit of a relief.
She also picked up on my tendency to ‘tip forwards’ and Antsje not quite being ‘through’.
So we worked a lot on getting a proper and honest connection from back to front with Antsje, which meant her putting a bit more effort in lol! And also me being really strong in the core and encouraging action from the HQ’s and holding it with my seat and “not touching the front end” so Antsje was encouraged to be confident in the contact.
She also recommended working Antsje a bit ‘deeper’ to really get that connection over the back and into the hand. Now before you all go ARGH!! This wasn’t with her head on her chest!! Just a slightly lower position with the neck to really tie in the back and the withers as the energy can get a bit unconnected at this point. Its always something Mike has got me to do too, so I was happy enough with the idea. She also said that with a horse built like Antsje you will never have a problem getting the neck ‘up’ because of the way she is built so we can afford to ask her to work a bit lower without any problem.
So we worked on getting her to take the rein down, then bringing her together a bit, then taking the rein down again so we were able to keep the neck coming forwards fluidly whether we were in a stretch or more ‘together’ Once we had this feeling she got me to think ‘leg yield’ but not actually let her step over but just hold her with the outside leg and rein so in effect it acted like a half halt and encouraged her to activate her inside hind more. From this position we asked for a transition into trot and I have to say it was SUPER! F noticed that although our upward trans were good, the downward ones were not quite there. Once she got me pressing Antsje ‘forwards’ into the walk and me really raising my rib cage lo and behold we got some excellent downward trans too! So, if we don’t the horse to collapse – the rider MUSTN’T collapse lol!! Obvious hey!
In the trot we concentrated on asking Antsje for more POWER but not to go any faster or come out of balance. To do this I had to be really strong in my core and control her with my rising and just try and keep a consistent steady contact with my hand. The trot felt REALLY good and REALLY connected and I could see that now both me and Antsje have improved in strength and balance we need to move up a gear as we are both capable of it!!
F had a look at the canter and again was pleased with what we had achieved. She thought improvements could be made by again keeping this nice connection that we had going in the trot and not let her back off as she went up into the canter trans. So she got us working on a really strong powerful trot on a 10m circle, getting Antsje to really release over the back and through the neck, once I felt that nice powerful SWING I asked her to leg yield out for 2-3 strides and then go up into canter. It really worked WELL!! On the left rein we got some excellent ‘direct’ transitions and because she kept the connection over the back and through to the hand the quality of the canter was much better and therefore we also got some nice downward trans into the trot again. On the right rein she seemed to need a few strides to organise her legs before we got the canter transition, but she didn’t rush and she didn’t loose the connection and both me and F were pleased with her efforts.
To finish, we did serpentines in trot with a 10m circle each time we came back to the track. Antsje struggled a bit with this exercise and didn’t want to keep the ‘power on’ and we lost the connection a bit – although maybe we were both getting a bit tired too! F asked me to let her take the reins down but to still keep the connection and not to just throw them away! And we finished by doing a few figure of eights in a stretched out swingy trot which F said would be good to start and finish our sessions on as it gets that ‘forward neck into the contact’ attitude and also will really help stretch and unlock the top line muscles before and after the main work.
I was really pleased with the lesson and it has given us lots to work on! Im having another next Sunday!! Hahaha!
She picked up very quickly on mine and Antsje’s strengths and weaknesses and this gave me a lot of confidence in her instruction.
She was very complimentary about the work I have done with Antsje so far, so that was a relief!! She said I have done well in getting her neck out as so many horses like these are ridden too short in the neck and she was also happy with my position in general, which again was a bit of a relief.
She also picked up on my tendency to ‘tip forwards’ and Antsje not quite being ‘through’.
So we worked a lot on getting a proper and honest connection from back to front with Antsje, which meant her putting a bit more effort in lol! And also me being really strong in the core and encouraging action from the HQ’s and holding it with my seat and “not touching the front end” so Antsje was encouraged to be confident in the contact.
She also recommended working Antsje a bit ‘deeper’ to really get that connection over the back and into the hand. Now before you all go ARGH!! This wasn’t with her head on her chest!! Just a slightly lower position with the neck to really tie in the back and the withers as the energy can get a bit unconnected at this point. Its always something Mike has got me to do too, so I was happy enough with the idea. She also said that with a horse built like Antsje you will never have a problem getting the neck ‘up’ because of the way she is built so we can afford to ask her to work a bit lower without any problem.
So we worked on getting her to take the rein down, then bringing her together a bit, then taking the rein down again so we were able to keep the neck coming forwards fluidly whether we were in a stretch or more ‘together’ Once we had this feeling she got me to think ‘leg yield’ but not actually let her step over but just hold her with the outside leg and rein so in effect it acted like a half halt and encouraged her to activate her inside hind more. From this position we asked for a transition into trot and I have to say it was SUPER! F noticed that although our upward trans were good, the downward ones were not quite there. Once she got me pressing Antsje ‘forwards’ into the walk and me really raising my rib cage lo and behold we got some excellent downward trans too! So, if we don’t the horse to collapse – the rider MUSTN’T collapse lol!! Obvious hey!
In the trot we concentrated on asking Antsje for more POWER but not to go any faster or come out of balance. To do this I had to be really strong in my core and control her with my rising and just try and keep a consistent steady contact with my hand. The trot felt REALLY good and REALLY connected and I could see that now both me and Antsje have improved in strength and balance we need to move up a gear as we are both capable of it!!
F had a look at the canter and again was pleased with what we had achieved. She thought improvements could be made by again keeping this nice connection that we had going in the trot and not let her back off as she went up into the canter trans. So she got us working on a really strong powerful trot on a 10m circle, getting Antsje to really release over the back and through the neck, once I felt that nice powerful SWING I asked her to leg yield out for 2-3 strides and then go up into canter. It really worked WELL!! On the left rein we got some excellent ‘direct’ transitions and because she kept the connection over the back and through to the hand the quality of the canter was much better and therefore we also got some nice downward trans into the trot again. On the right rein she seemed to need a few strides to organise her legs before we got the canter transition, but she didn’t rush and she didn’t loose the connection and both me and F were pleased with her efforts.
To finish, we did serpentines in trot with a 10m circle each time we came back to the track. Antsje struggled a bit with this exercise and didn’t want to keep the ‘power on’ and we lost the connection a bit – although maybe we were both getting a bit tired too! F asked me to let her take the reins down but to still keep the connection and not to just throw them away! And we finished by doing a few figure of eights in a stretched out swingy trot which F said would be good to start and finish our sessions on as it gets that ‘forward neck into the contact’ attitude and also will really help stretch and unlock the top line muscles before and after the main work.
I was really pleased with the lesson and it has given us lots to work on! Im having another next Sunday!! Hahaha!
Sunday, 27 June 2010
VIDEO!!! YAY!!!
Got some poor sod to video me in return for a drink down the pub.....how awful hey!!! hahaha! The video-er needs training with the zoom lol! but heck, im very grateful for him doing it full stop!
I can see im still collapsing a bit esp in downward trans......
Also, when im trying too hard (lateral work / no stirrups) my arse gets tight and Im far too tense and it ruins my seat and therefore blocks Antsje. Things to think about....... ;o)
Walk to canter
Walk pirouette attmepts
Lateral Work (although not very clear angle)
Trot and right canter trans
Left Canter
NO STIRRUPS!!! lol!
As always - grateful for any comments / observations :o)
I can see im still collapsing a bit esp in downward trans......
Also, when im trying too hard (lateral work / no stirrups) my arse gets tight and Im far too tense and it ruins my seat and therefore blocks Antsje. Things to think about....... ;o)
Walk to canter
Walk pirouette attmepts
Lateral Work (although not very clear angle)
Trot and right canter trans
Left Canter
NO STIRRUPS!!! lol!
As always - grateful for any comments / observations :o)
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
snakes and ladders..........
Hmmmm, well what goes up...must come down lol!! And after a few really good sessions of climbing the ladder, ive come slithering down the snake! especially with the canter. Not sure if it was her, or me, or both of us! But I know I wasnt so effective in my seat - not sure if im stiff, or if she is stiff, or if we both are due to the last sessions - but I couldnt really get 'into her' like I have been. She was just a little too forward and on the forehand with everything today and in all honesty I should not have cantered - or at least persevered with it - but I did **sigh**
The left canter wasnt bad actually, and the departs are coming on lovely. But the right!! ACK! she wanted to 'run' into the trans, So I tried to stop that by only doing walk to canter and really concentrating on a quick snappy leap into canter and then only cantering for a few strides before trot. Anymore than that, esp if we kept straight, she would get flat and strong, and when I did get a slower speed she would just break. So a little despondant today after the highs of the last weeks work, but it wasnt all bad............and I think for some reason we were both feeling a bit jaded.
Tomorrow Im going to do something different! lol!
The left canter wasnt bad actually, and the departs are coming on lovely. But the right!! ACK! she wanted to 'run' into the trans, So I tried to stop that by only doing walk to canter and really concentrating on a quick snappy leap into canter and then only cantering for a few strides before trot. Anymore than that, esp if we kept straight, she would get flat and strong, and when I did get a slower speed she would just break. So a little despondant today after the highs of the last weeks work, but it wasnt all bad............and I think for some reason we were both feeling a bit jaded.
Tomorrow Im going to do something different! lol!
Friday, 18 June 2010
CANTER CANTER CANTER!!!
WOOP WOOP!!! BOING BOING!!!
So THRILLED with the last couple of sessions with Antsje :o) Thurs I rode in the evening as due to time restraints in the morning I dont always get to work on a lot of canter by the time she is settled! As my friend Trudi said a while back, if you dont have her in walk, then dont go any further (or words to that effect!!) and it is sooo sooo true! Its more of a mental attitude thing with her I think, but if she is rushing through my seat in walk, no matter how subtle, then it is pointless moving up into trot. Otherwise the rushing is just magnified and it takes even longer to get any decent work! So we did nice SLOW funeral walk and lots of halt transitions and reinback to walk until I was satisfied she was 'on my seat' and engaging her HQ's. Once we have this the trot is just **there** in terms of quality and balance and therefore I can start using exercises to improve straightness / suppleness straight away rather than having to spend time balancing the trot!
I again worked a lot on reinback, halt then straight up into trot. And also the downward trans of trot straight into halt. A definate improvement on yesterday already! Having a clever willing horse and using clicker doesnt half get quick results - and YES, I do appreciate how LUCKY I am ;o) In the trot we did the halt-trot-halt trans, serpentines focussing on smooth changes of bend coming from the seat and 10m circles, again focussing on correct flexion and increased engagement.
I am reading Erik Herbermann right now and was well reminded of the importance of accuracy when riding. Choose your gait, choose your exercise and ride it!!
Then we moved onto some canter work. I am using walk to canter trans right now as 1) it improves engagement and 2) it helps balance.
In trot, she can still loose enagement / balance and therefore get on the forehand very quickly and rush. I dont think the walk - canter trans are a 100% direct yet (esp on right), but its enough to help the above issues :o) Im also aiming for a nice downwards trans into a balanced trot out of the canter which is coming on nicely. Canter to walk is too much as of yet.......
The canter today was a LOT better on a circle, so I did a bit of work up the long side. She is still struggling to keep the balance when straight and gets a bit flat and 'rushing' - esp on the right rein. BUT, its a work in progress so we have to keep trying. For the first time since i came back off hols, I asked her to pick up canter from the long side - not too bad on the left rein, but she warps quite a bit on the right, panics and rushes off!! But again, its worth persevering with for a few steps.
We had a few lovely balanced strides of canter on the straight on the right rein so I clicked and treated and got off and made much of her. PLEASED! :o)
This morning was the first morning since I have come back that Antsje was pretty much on my seat right from the word go!! YAY! So I didnt have to do so much work in walk this morning and got on with some trot-halt-trot trans. These were bloody EXCELLENT today!!! Particularly the downward trans. I have to add I am doing a lot more work around the arena now rather than just on a large circle as it highlights straightness issues better now as she is quite well balanced on a circle (or so it would appear lol!) We did lots of changes of rein, a little SI and upwards downwards trans with great results, so I tried a bit more canter!
This time straight off the corner and onto the long side rather than working on a circle and again walk to canter trans. And I have to say the quality of balance was hugely improved even from yesterday!!! I didnt let her canter on for long, we didnt loose the nice slower lifted canter but we did quite a few repitions on both reins. I was really impressed - as much with her attitude as with anything! she was really trying hard!! So I clicked, got off and HUGGED her loads lol!!!
She gets a rest tomorrow and hacking on Sunday.
I just LOVE LOVE LOVE my horse! She teaches me so much :o)
Oh, and before I forget, note to self - try not to ride like a spaz in canter lol!!!
When she goes well, I know I get really tight in an attempt to to bugger it all up hahahaha!!! FAIL!! Need to get back on that lunge again soon and focus on me RELAXING!
So THRILLED with the last couple of sessions with Antsje :o) Thurs I rode in the evening as due to time restraints in the morning I dont always get to work on a lot of canter by the time she is settled! As my friend Trudi said a while back, if you dont have her in walk, then dont go any further (or words to that effect!!) and it is sooo sooo true! Its more of a mental attitude thing with her I think, but if she is rushing through my seat in walk, no matter how subtle, then it is pointless moving up into trot. Otherwise the rushing is just magnified and it takes even longer to get any decent work! So we did nice SLOW funeral walk and lots of halt transitions and reinback to walk until I was satisfied she was 'on my seat' and engaging her HQ's. Once we have this the trot is just **there** in terms of quality and balance and therefore I can start using exercises to improve straightness / suppleness straight away rather than having to spend time balancing the trot!
I again worked a lot on reinback, halt then straight up into trot. And also the downward trans of trot straight into halt. A definate improvement on yesterday already! Having a clever willing horse and using clicker doesnt half get quick results - and YES, I do appreciate how LUCKY I am ;o) In the trot we did the halt-trot-halt trans, serpentines focussing on smooth changes of bend coming from the seat and 10m circles, again focussing on correct flexion and increased engagement.
I am reading Erik Herbermann right now and was well reminded of the importance of accuracy when riding. Choose your gait, choose your exercise and ride it!!
Then we moved onto some canter work. I am using walk to canter trans right now as 1) it improves engagement and 2) it helps balance.
In trot, she can still loose enagement / balance and therefore get on the forehand very quickly and rush. I dont think the walk - canter trans are a 100% direct yet (esp on right), but its enough to help the above issues :o) Im also aiming for a nice downwards trans into a balanced trot out of the canter which is coming on nicely. Canter to walk is too much as of yet.......
The canter today was a LOT better on a circle, so I did a bit of work up the long side. She is still struggling to keep the balance when straight and gets a bit flat and 'rushing' - esp on the right rein. BUT, its a work in progress so we have to keep trying. For the first time since i came back off hols, I asked her to pick up canter from the long side - not too bad on the left rein, but she warps quite a bit on the right, panics and rushes off!! But again, its worth persevering with for a few steps.
We had a few lovely balanced strides of canter on the straight on the right rein so I clicked and treated and got off and made much of her. PLEASED! :o)
This morning was the first morning since I have come back that Antsje was pretty much on my seat right from the word go!! YAY! So I didnt have to do so much work in walk this morning and got on with some trot-halt-trot trans. These were bloody EXCELLENT today!!! Particularly the downward trans. I have to add I am doing a lot more work around the arena now rather than just on a large circle as it highlights straightness issues better now as she is quite well balanced on a circle (or so it would appear lol!) We did lots of changes of rein, a little SI and upwards downwards trans with great results, so I tried a bit more canter!
This time straight off the corner and onto the long side rather than working on a circle and again walk to canter trans. And I have to say the quality of balance was hugely improved even from yesterday!!! I didnt let her canter on for long, we didnt loose the nice slower lifted canter but we did quite a few repitions on both reins. I was really impressed - as much with her attitude as with anything! she was really trying hard!! So I clicked, got off and HUGGED her loads lol!!!
She gets a rest tomorrow and hacking on Sunday.
I just LOVE LOVE LOVE my horse! She teaches me so much :o)
Oh, and before I forget, note to self - try not to ride like a spaz in canter lol!!!
When she goes well, I know I get really tight in an attempt to to bugger it all up hahahaha!!! FAIL!! Need to get back on that lunge again soon and focus on me RELAXING!
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Im BACK!!!
Well!! Im back to it! And thankfully dont seem to have lost much fitness! Just a bit of thigh ache last week!
Antjse on the other hand had turned into Miss Bolshy pants in my abscence And my sister said the last day she tried to barge out of her stable and then wouldnt stand still on the yard! I forget this is how she was when I first had her and its nice to know that I do at least have a positive influence over her ;o)
So, the first few days were all about re-establishing boundaries!! Oh yes my dear Antsje.....you DO have them! hahaha!
We did quite a bit of 'head down' work especially when I am letting her out into the field as she basically snatched her head out of the headcollar to rush off! So I recaught her and insisted she put her head down and let me take the headcollar off properly - it took several attempts (with clicking ) before she realised the good life was over, mummy was BACK and she had to toe the line :p
The first ride wasnt much better either lol! I got on, she promtly power walked towards the gate as SHE thought we were off hacking!! grrrrrrrr!!! Then it took me nearly the whole session to get her to SLOW DOWN! as she had reverted to the old power walk, not listening to my seat and ploughing through my hand! But at least my seat is much better now that she couldnt knock me out of position quite as well as she used to! So eventually we had some 'slow funeral walk' so I decided to do a bit of trot - and went back to square one lol! She felt very 'on the shoulders' on the right rein too, which is her natural crookedness coming through.
So for the last week all I have been doing is SLOW walk, SLOW trot, and suppling exercises.
**I** have also been riding one handed for parts of our session so I can ensure I have a genuine bend from the inside leg and NOT hanging on the inside rein which I am good at! Gradually we are regaining the suppleness and balance we had before I went away.
Another thing I have noticed is that when I ride one handed, primarily to help me on the right rein, I have noticed that although I am using outside rein to turn, I am actually bringing right over the crest of the neck! So although techinically I am not using the inside rein to turn, this isnt correct either - so yet again, I am tricking myself! Grrrrrr!!! So, in walk, I concentrated on keep my outside rein in a 'normal' position while still trying to maintain the inside bend. I figured out that she is falling out and I was using the outside rein to stop this without really being consciously aware of it! So, instead I used my outside LEG to stop the falling out and now im able to drop the inside rein, keep my outside rein 'normal' and keep the bend to the right! RESULT! :o)
Canter is a bit crap again but I suppose it will come back.....
We did some work on the lunge yesterdayover poles in trot and in canter. I was really pleased! plus I did lots of halt to trot trans and walk to canter trans - it was good to SEE how much this made her 'sit' so I am incorporating this into the ridden work
Oh yes - Reinback! we are doing a fair bit of this - while concentrating on the straightness. I use it particularly when she is 'tramming' to get her off her shoulders and sitting more.
So, onwards and upwards! For my birthday my sister said she would take me to a dressage test! But want to re-establish the canter a bit first....ever the perfectionist lol!!!
Oh! and Ive entered into a Marathon!! All in aid of Macmillan Cancer - so if you'd like to support this wonderful cause you could sponsor me......
Antjse on the other hand had turned into Miss Bolshy pants in my abscence And my sister said the last day she tried to barge out of her stable and then wouldnt stand still on the yard! I forget this is how she was when I first had her and its nice to know that I do at least have a positive influence over her ;o)
So, the first few days were all about re-establishing boundaries!! Oh yes my dear Antsje.....you DO have them! hahaha!
We did quite a bit of 'head down' work especially when I am letting her out into the field as she basically snatched her head out of the headcollar to rush off! So I recaught her and insisted she put her head down and let me take the headcollar off properly - it took several attempts (with clicking ) before she realised the good life was over, mummy was BACK and she had to toe the line :p
The first ride wasnt much better either lol! I got on, she promtly power walked towards the gate as SHE thought we were off hacking!! grrrrrrrr!!! Then it took me nearly the whole session to get her to SLOW DOWN! as she had reverted to the old power walk, not listening to my seat and ploughing through my hand! But at least my seat is much better now that she couldnt knock me out of position quite as well as she used to! So eventually we had some 'slow funeral walk' so I decided to do a bit of trot - and went back to square one lol! She felt very 'on the shoulders' on the right rein too, which is her natural crookedness coming through.
So for the last week all I have been doing is SLOW walk, SLOW trot, and suppling exercises.
**I** have also been riding one handed for parts of our session so I can ensure I have a genuine bend from the inside leg and NOT hanging on the inside rein which I am good at! Gradually we are regaining the suppleness and balance we had before I went away.
Another thing I have noticed is that when I ride one handed, primarily to help me on the right rein, I have noticed that although I am using outside rein to turn, I am actually bringing right over the crest of the neck! So although techinically I am not using the inside rein to turn, this isnt correct either - so yet again, I am tricking myself! Grrrrrr!!! So, in walk, I concentrated on keep my outside rein in a 'normal' position while still trying to maintain the inside bend. I figured out that she is falling out and I was using the outside rein to stop this without really being consciously aware of it! So, instead I used my outside LEG to stop the falling out and now im able to drop the inside rein, keep my outside rein 'normal' and keep the bend to the right! RESULT! :o)
Canter is a bit crap again but I suppose it will come back.....
We did some work on the lunge yesterdayover poles in trot and in canter. I was really pleased! plus I did lots of halt to trot trans and walk to canter trans - it was good to SEE how much this made her 'sit' so I am incorporating this into the ridden work
Oh yes - Reinback! we are doing a fair bit of this - while concentrating on the straightness. I use it particularly when she is 'tramming' to get her off her shoulders and sitting more.
So, onwards and upwards! For my birthday my sister said she would take me to a dressage test! But want to re-establish the canter a bit first....ever the perfectionist lol!!!
Oh! and Ive entered into a Marathon!! All in aid of Macmillan Cancer - so if you'd like to support this wonderful cause you could sponsor me......
Monday, 15 February 2010
'prelim' type work
So to finish with I like to end the session with the more 'prelim' type frame concentrating on Antsje following the contact forwards a little more but NOT rushing! this is hard for her - and me! lol! I also like to do the canter work with this frame at the moment as I think its important she gets established with stretching over the back in canter even if it does mean she is a little on the forehand. Once she becomes more relaxed and confident then I will swing between the 'up' work and the longer frame as I do in the trot. At the minute I am confident that I can put her neck in a stretched position in trot and she will respond straight away - if I wasnt sure I could do this then I wouldnt do the work that does shorten her neck somwhat as she is naturally prone to that postion. So if at any point she wont follow the hand down, we leave the other work for a while until this is re-confirmed.
Im quite pleased with the video in general but can see ALL the points that Mike picked up in my position Gggggggrrrrrrrr!!! I AM rounding the shoulders and although not really tipped forward I have that 'feel' about me! esp in sitting trot where I really DO need to open my chest so my abs DONT collapse! I can also see what Mike means about the hands.............
Yes, they are too far 'back' now, so I MUST ocus on this and think of my elbows more towards the front of my hip bones and not the back! lol! My hands also look a bit 'dead' and as Mike says, if I shorten my reins up a bit, hold my arms a bit more forwards than it will bring some life back into my hands and our connection. Antsje is SOOOO sensitive about being jabbed or fiddled with in the mouth that as usual I have swung the pendulum too far the other bloody way! ***rolls eyes***
But lets hope now I can ***SEE*** it I will remember to do something about it!
Im quite pleased with the video in general but can see ALL the points that Mike picked up in my position Gggggggrrrrrrrr!!! I AM rounding the shoulders and although not really tipped forward I have that 'feel' about me! esp in sitting trot where I really DO need to open my chest so my abs DONT collapse! I can also see what Mike means about the hands.............
Yes, they are too far 'back' now, so I MUST ocus on this and think of my elbows more towards the front of my hip bones and not the back! lol! My hands also look a bit 'dead' and as Mike says, if I shorten my reins up a bit, hold my arms a bit more forwards than it will bring some life back into my hands and our connection. Antsje is SOOOO sensitive about being jabbed or fiddled with in the mouth that as usual I have swung the pendulum too far the other bloody way! ***rolls eyes***
But lets hope now I can ***SEE*** it I will remember to do something about it!
Monday, 8 February 2010
MONDAY Morning Blues…….
Early morning rides!! This morning we were having little flurries of snow!! IT WAS COLD! Brrrrrrr! So I made sure that we warmed up thoroughly and trotted fairly early on in a nice long frame concentrating on a nice big swingy stride – which she was happy to oblige!! ;o) We did this on both reins and also had a nice long and loose canter on both reins too which actually felt HUGELY better than on Saturday as did the trot :o) Once warmed up I started to ask for some transitions and again this felt very nice and smooth and she was really obedient to the leg which she can sometimes be a bit slow to react to! So I was feeling very pleased until I decided to put in a few smaller circles not quite 10m prob about 12m and instead of really slowing and stepping under as she was dong so nicely last week she was getting quite rushed and falling out of the circle to make it bigger and easier! Particularly on the right rein I just kept loosing her quarters and they were swinging out of the circle :o( I tried sitting the trot to influence the positioning more, but that didn’t work either and she was starting to stick her nose in the air and ‘scoot’ which is her evasion tactic but she hasn’t done that for a while so I was quite dissapointed in her reverting back to this stressy behaviour. I also noticed that I was ‘leaning in’ on the smaller circles too!! Ggggrrrrrrr!! I think I got a grip of it in the end but maybe im still doing it to a degree and putting her off??
I could tell she just didn’t want to activate her hind enough to be able to keep the trot slow and her body in correct alignment on the circle. So I thought Id do some walk pirouettes to really try and get her hind legs ‘marching’ a little more through the turn. She wasn’t very impressed with this to start off with but once she realised what I was asking her to do she performed a couple of nice 180 degree turns on each rein. Then I did a bit of haunches in on a circle on the right rein and then asked for trot, the trot definitely felt better and we did manage to perform one nice 10m circle without loosing the 1/4s too badly so I left it at that – as I had already run way over time lol!
Which got made worse as she was quite bargy through the gate this morning so I spent 5 mins correcting this behaviour making her halt EXACTLY when I gave the command and wasn’t just wandering off in lala land ***rolls eyes*** Cue frantic rushing around for the rest of the morning – Heaven knows how I made it to work on time! But I did just by the skin of my teeth!
So on reflection, here are my musings – please feel free to comment :0)
1.Has the Chiro work re-aligned her and she just has to re-adapt to this within the work again?
2.Am I making her crooked and she is now straight but it feels wrong to me because my ‘feel’ is outa whack?
3.Maybe the ‘flying friesian trot’ was to blame for her not wanting to flex her hocks as much as she was cos its far easier for her to push not spring?
4.Maybe she is a bit stiff after chiro and weekend work?
5.Im panicing the chiro has messed things up! ARRGGHH!!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK GUYS???
I could tell she just didn’t want to activate her hind enough to be able to keep the trot slow and her body in correct alignment on the circle. So I thought Id do some walk pirouettes to really try and get her hind legs ‘marching’ a little more through the turn. She wasn’t very impressed with this to start off with but once she realised what I was asking her to do she performed a couple of nice 180 degree turns on each rein. Then I did a bit of haunches in on a circle on the right rein and then asked for trot, the trot definitely felt better and we did manage to perform one nice 10m circle without loosing the 1/4s too badly so I left it at that – as I had already run way over time lol!
Which got made worse as she was quite bargy through the gate this morning so I spent 5 mins correcting this behaviour making her halt EXACTLY when I gave the command and wasn’t just wandering off in lala land ***rolls eyes*** Cue frantic rushing around for the rest of the morning – Heaven knows how I made it to work on time! But I did just by the skin of my teeth!
So on reflection, here are my musings – please feel free to comment :0)
1.Has the Chiro work re-aligned her and she just has to re-adapt to this within the work again?
2.Am I making her crooked and she is now straight but it feels wrong to me because my ‘feel’ is outa whack?
3.Maybe the ‘flying friesian trot’ was to blame for her not wanting to flex her hocks as much as she was cos its far easier for her to push not spring?
4.Maybe she is a bit stiff after chiro and weekend work?
5.Im panicing the chiro has messed things up! ARRGGHH!!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK GUYS???
Musings from the weekend……
On Saturday I thought Id try and be clever and set my camera up on the fence and try and get some video!! I thought Id do a bit of lunging / work in hand first and then a bit of ridden.
Well as she hadnt been ridden for a few days she was proper BOINGY and we didn’t really get much loose calm work on the lunge :o( In fact I think she spent more time airbourne than on the floor lol!! Perhaps best I didn’t get on straight the way!! One thing I did notice is she was quite ‘on the shoulders’ particularly on the right rein where she was looking to the outside on the circle and wieghting her inside shoulder. I brought her in and did some girivolta work with her concentrating on corssing the behinds and moving the shoulders to the outside. I put her back onto a circle again and we did finish with some ‘stretchy trot’ which I rewarded with click n treat :o)
I stopped the camera, and restarted it and got on to ride. She was VERY forward but at least she was also attentive to my seat so although she was boingy she didn’t try and tram off at a million miles an hour lol!
After a few circles etc I could feel that she was struggling with the flexion to the right again and I felt as if we had gone back several weeks in our progress. We also did a bit of canter and if felt absoloutely AWFUL on the right with her wanting to look to the outside and dump on the inside shoulder falling in terribly :o( She was very boingy though and chucked in a couple of bucks which ended up with me loosing a stirrup lol! Im not sure if the bcuks were down to a bit of WHOOPEE or if she couldn’t organise her legs / body?? I was worrying that the chiro work had caused a problem – or maybe im crooked and putting her ‘out’ and she hasn’t got a problem at all! Or maybe there is something kinked in her body ‘normally’ and it became more obvious again after being manipulated back into alignment? Im not sure really but its made me a bit concerned!
I did my normal ‘straightening’ exercises – riding with the reins in my outside hand and working the shoulders / hind legs by touching her with my schooling whip with the inside hand. Finally she ‘let go’ and came into the outside rein and therfore released the inside rein of her own accord :o) We went back up to trot and although it was better she was no where as consistent and kept loosing balance / inside flexion. I worked on both reins in a similar manner and by the end of the session she had definitely improved but I was left feeling a bit discouraged and a little confused by the sudden setback.
Oh! And about the video! I wasnt very clever and it seems my camera wont video without the button being held down. I got 30 secs of my arm in each clip and that was it!!! DOH!
SUNDAY
Today I went into the school for about 10 mins and worked on the girivolta circle with the one handed riding again :o) Today it was much better and I was pleased she seemed to remember the work we did yesterday. I had a brief trot on each rein and again she was more consistent so I left it at that and we went for a hack out :o)
Out on the hack I concentrated on her keeping a nice long frame with swinging strides and an even contact down BOTH reins. I was pleased that she seemed a lot straighter than the last time we hacked out so I definitely think she is improving and getting stronger.
On the way home we did a bit of trotting and in her eagerness on the homeward bound journey she went into ‘flying friesian trot’ I probably shouldn’t have let her get so onward bound and no doubt I will pay for it, but in all honesty she just seemed so thrilled to ‘trot out’ and I was so thrilled that she was thrilled that I let her lol! It truly is quite spectacular and its damn near the closest thing to flying on horseback other than being astride pegasus hahaha!!! The thing is as I looked down her neck, it was very reminscent of how it looks when you are sitting in a carriage and the horse is doing their spanking carriage trot! I really do think she would LOVE to be hitched up and be free to really trot out in true friesian style. Maybe one day…………………
Well as she hadnt been ridden for a few days she was proper BOINGY and we didn’t really get much loose calm work on the lunge :o( In fact I think she spent more time airbourne than on the floor lol!! Perhaps best I didn’t get on straight the way!! One thing I did notice is she was quite ‘on the shoulders’ particularly on the right rein where she was looking to the outside on the circle and wieghting her inside shoulder. I brought her in and did some girivolta work with her concentrating on corssing the behinds and moving the shoulders to the outside. I put her back onto a circle again and we did finish with some ‘stretchy trot’ which I rewarded with click n treat :o)
I stopped the camera, and restarted it and got on to ride. She was VERY forward but at least she was also attentive to my seat so although she was boingy she didn’t try and tram off at a million miles an hour lol!
After a few circles etc I could feel that she was struggling with the flexion to the right again and I felt as if we had gone back several weeks in our progress. We also did a bit of canter and if felt absoloutely AWFUL on the right with her wanting to look to the outside and dump on the inside shoulder falling in terribly :o( She was very boingy though and chucked in a couple of bucks which ended up with me loosing a stirrup lol! Im not sure if the bcuks were down to a bit of WHOOPEE or if she couldn’t organise her legs / body?? I was worrying that the chiro work had caused a problem – or maybe im crooked and putting her ‘out’ and she hasn’t got a problem at all! Or maybe there is something kinked in her body ‘normally’ and it became more obvious again after being manipulated back into alignment? Im not sure really but its made me a bit concerned!
I did my normal ‘straightening’ exercises – riding with the reins in my outside hand and working the shoulders / hind legs by touching her with my schooling whip with the inside hand. Finally she ‘let go’ and came into the outside rein and therfore released the inside rein of her own accord :o) We went back up to trot and although it was better she was no where as consistent and kept loosing balance / inside flexion. I worked on both reins in a similar manner and by the end of the session she had definitely improved but I was left feeling a bit discouraged and a little confused by the sudden setback.
Oh! And about the video! I wasnt very clever and it seems my camera wont video without the button being held down. I got 30 secs of my arm in each clip and that was it!!! DOH!
SUNDAY
Today I went into the school for about 10 mins and worked on the girivolta circle with the one handed riding again :o) Today it was much better and I was pleased she seemed to remember the work we did yesterday. I had a brief trot on each rein and again she was more consistent so I left it at that and we went for a hack out :o)
Out on the hack I concentrated on her keeping a nice long frame with swinging strides and an even contact down BOTH reins. I was pleased that she seemed a lot straighter than the last time we hacked out so I definitely think she is improving and getting stronger.
On the way home we did a bit of trotting and in her eagerness on the homeward bound journey she went into ‘flying friesian trot’ I probably shouldn’t have let her get so onward bound and no doubt I will pay for it, but in all honesty she just seemed so thrilled to ‘trot out’ and I was so thrilled that she was thrilled that I let her lol! It truly is quite spectacular and its damn near the closest thing to flying on horseback other than being astride pegasus hahaha!!! The thing is as I looked down her neck, it was very reminscent of how it looks when you are sitting in a carriage and the horse is doing their spanking carriage trot! I really do think she would LOVE to be hitched up and be free to really trot out in true friesian style. Maybe one day…………………
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Return of the Super Trot!
Had a REALLY good session this morning! Antsje wasn’t quite so intent on rushing today and that ALWAYS makes a difference :o) PLUS I forsook 5mins of riding and did a little girivolta work in hand before I got on, I think this MUST make a difference as we always seem to have a much better session ridden afterwards.
So after the poll flexions, which incidentally were better today, and the in-hand stuff I finally got on lol! I kept to work on a circle and did a little leg yield then straightened and repeated again a few times. Then I concentrated on gathering her up a little by tap tapping her HQ’s but holding her with my seat, this was easier today as she wasn’t to rushy so she still kept relatively soft in hand. Then we went into trot, left rein first, and it was MUCH MUCH better! She learns so quickly it makes my life so much easier! Well when I get it right anyhow lol! On this rein she does tend to back off the contact a little so I made sure I sent her forward and concentrated on her neck being straighter. Also after yesterdays session I remembered to add transitions into the mix and they were actually quite good! A little progressive but id rather her go down into a soft trans by allowing her time to step under and balance than try and make it to quick and her trail her HQs and brace her neck / back.
We changed onto the right rein and repeated the same work and again I was really impressed with the trot – on this rein she is the opposite and tends to go a tad quicker and leans on the hands for support, so I really concentrated on lifting my hands slightly when I felt her leaning and using my position and a smaller circle to encourage her to slow down a bit! Again we did walk / trot trans and this was also very helpful in getting her off the forehand and stepping under more.
I was also far more mindful of MY position and focussed on a raised ribcage and trotting ‘on my knees’ and I do think that this helped today too.
And to finish we did the same work on the canter as we did yesterday morning – a nice relaxed stretchy canter which was in fact a lot better today because she was more contained so it had more ‘lift’ to it although I wasn’t necessarily asking for it ;o)
So again, after musing about the ride on the way to work, the next thing I need to work on is getting a more immediate reaction in the upward transitions but maintaining the softness and the engagement of the hind leg rather than her bombing off at a million miles an hour lol! Always something to work on!
So after the poll flexions, which incidentally were better today, and the in-hand stuff I finally got on lol! I kept to work on a circle and did a little leg yield then straightened and repeated again a few times. Then I concentrated on gathering her up a little by tap tapping her HQ’s but holding her with my seat, this was easier today as she wasn’t to rushy so she still kept relatively soft in hand. Then we went into trot, left rein first, and it was MUCH MUCH better! She learns so quickly it makes my life so much easier! Well when I get it right anyhow lol! On this rein she does tend to back off the contact a little so I made sure I sent her forward and concentrated on her neck being straighter. Also after yesterdays session I remembered to add transitions into the mix and they were actually quite good! A little progressive but id rather her go down into a soft trans by allowing her time to step under and balance than try and make it to quick and her trail her HQs and brace her neck / back.
We changed onto the right rein and repeated the same work and again I was really impressed with the trot – on this rein she is the opposite and tends to go a tad quicker and leans on the hands for support, so I really concentrated on lifting my hands slightly when I felt her leaning and using my position and a smaller circle to encourage her to slow down a bit! Again we did walk / trot trans and this was also very helpful in getting her off the forehand and stepping under more.
I was also far more mindful of MY position and focussed on a raised ribcage and trotting ‘on my knees’ and I do think that this helped today too.
And to finish we did the same work on the canter as we did yesterday morning – a nice relaxed stretchy canter which was in fact a lot better today because she was more contained so it had more ‘lift’ to it although I wasn’t necessarily asking for it ;o)
So again, after musing about the ride on the way to work, the next thing I need to work on is getting a more immediate reaction in the upward transitions but maintaining the softness and the engagement of the hind leg rather than her bombing off at a million miles an hour lol! Always something to work on!
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Expectations = dissapointment!
Another early morning ride this morning! But before I rode i decided to do the little poll flexions and again she wasnt quite as free as normal.....
I worked on her until I got a few definate flips of the crest then we went out to the school. No time for in-hand work this morning and whether it was that or the cold mornings or the floodlights we didnt get the same kind of work today.
It wasnt bad - not bad at all, but now Ive felt that 'super trot' its hard to not get greedy for it! which of course is counter-productive and its inevitable im not going to achieve that kind of excellence every ride, particularly in these very early stages. So I was quite proud of myself that I didnt get all angst and frustrated and tunnel visioned about it all as I once would have done. And as part of me STILL wanted too lol! But I was quite pragmatic about it and took a detached 'trainer' approach and thought how I could best work towards more engagement.
We did some travers / shoulder in on a circle and we did some rein back before trot transitions to try and encourage the flexing of the hind - and it did work to a certain extent as we had moments of some very nice trot work but it was just inconsistent today as she was rushing slightly. What was nice was although the right rein wasnt as spectacular as yesterday, it was still GOOD in relation to the last few weeks and the Left rein WAS better than yesterday! So all in all it was a positive session.
I did forget to say that at the weekend I put my stirrups down a hole as I feel I get a better response from a longer leg when I warm up without stirrups. I had them a bit shorter to help with MY balance but I think Ive improved enough to let them down a hole :-) Now Ive definately felt a stretch in my hops and thighs but didnt feel any less balanced over the weekend :-)
Today, towards the end I felt my back aching a bit nothing awful but enough to suddenly become aware of it. I checked out my position and I think because she was rushing a bit today I was starting to fall into the trap of tipping forwards and bracing my legs Ggggggggrrrrrrrr!!!! So immediately I thought about rising 'on my knees' and stretching my midsection 'up' and the trot improved instantly! DOH! I MUST be more mindful of my position! Also after mulling the ride over on the way to work I think instead of concentrating on re-creating that 'SUPER TROT' Iwould have been better served tohave concentrated on transitions, particularly the downward ones to get her back 'with me' rather than letting her get a bit onward bound from too longer bursts of trot. DAMN! I need to be a bit quicker on the uptake - it would make it a whole lot easier hahaha!!!
So at the finish I decided to let her have a bit of a canter - i didnt have time to 'school' the canter as such, but I just let her canter a 20m circle, concentrating on her establishing a consistent rhythm, a nice stretch over the back and as much as possible to have that stepping out on the circle feeling that I doin trot. Obviously this is harder as she isnt as balanced in canter - but I do think that if she can establish a nice relaxed canter that is supple through the back and reaching into the hand it will be the foundation for improving the canter in the future.
Thoughts???..................
I worked on her until I got a few definate flips of the crest then we went out to the school. No time for in-hand work this morning and whether it was that or the cold mornings or the floodlights we didnt get the same kind of work today.
It wasnt bad - not bad at all, but now Ive felt that 'super trot' its hard to not get greedy for it! which of course is counter-productive and its inevitable im not going to achieve that kind of excellence every ride, particularly in these very early stages. So I was quite proud of myself that I didnt get all angst and frustrated and tunnel visioned about it all as I once would have done. And as part of me STILL wanted too lol! But I was quite pragmatic about it and took a detached 'trainer' approach and thought how I could best work towards more engagement.
We did some travers / shoulder in on a circle and we did some rein back before trot transitions to try and encourage the flexing of the hind - and it did work to a certain extent as we had moments of some very nice trot work but it was just inconsistent today as she was rushing slightly. What was nice was although the right rein wasnt as spectacular as yesterday, it was still GOOD in relation to the last few weeks and the Left rein WAS better than yesterday! So all in all it was a positive session.
I did forget to say that at the weekend I put my stirrups down a hole as I feel I get a better response from a longer leg when I warm up without stirrups. I had them a bit shorter to help with MY balance but I think Ive improved enough to let them down a hole :-) Now Ive definately felt a stretch in my hops and thighs but didnt feel any less balanced over the weekend :-)
Today, towards the end I felt my back aching a bit nothing awful but enough to suddenly become aware of it. I checked out my position and I think because she was rushing a bit today I was starting to fall into the trap of tipping forwards and bracing my legs Ggggggggrrrrrrrr!!!! So immediately I thought about rising 'on my knees' and stretching my midsection 'up' and the trot improved instantly! DOH! I MUST be more mindful of my position! Also after mulling the ride over on the way to work I think instead of concentrating on re-creating that 'SUPER TROT' Iwould have been better served tohave concentrated on transitions, particularly the downward ones to get her back 'with me' rather than letting her get a bit onward bound from too longer bursts of trot. DAMN! I need to be a bit quicker on the uptake - it would make it a whole lot easier hahaha!!!
So at the finish I decided to let her have a bit of a canter - i didnt have time to 'school' the canter as such, but I just let her canter a 20m circle, concentrating on her establishing a consistent rhythm, a nice stretch over the back and as much as possible to have that stepping out on the circle feeling that I doin trot. Obviously this is harder as she isnt as balanced in canter - but I do think that if she can establish a nice relaxed canter that is supple through the back and reaching into the hand it will be the foundation for improving the canter in the future.
Thoughts???..................
Thursday, 28 January 2010
VROOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!
Well this morning was fun!! As I hadn’t done any canter work for the last couple of days I thought we’d do some today! We started of walking circles making sure that she was stepping ‘out’ onto the circle at all times and was bending around the inside leg and not off the inside rein. I always start off in this way, on a circle, both reins in my outside hand and a long schooling whip in my inside hand to either tap her HQ’s or Shoulders over as necessary. We are correct from the start then and it seems to form the basis of GOOD work. In the right rein to start with every ¼ turn of the circle I can start to feel her come in on her shoulders and move her neck towards the outside, but if I tap tap tap her shoulders so I feel her pushing back out and filling the outside rein then activate her inside hind we get that ‘leg yieldy’ feeling again and also inside flexion WITHOUT having to use the inside rein!
We moved up into trot and today the right rein felt far more consistent and I really worked on achieving the same work as I did on the walking circles. Then I played a little bit with bringing the trot as slow as I could using my seat and putting her on a 10m circle without her falling back into walk and after half a circle of really slow trot send her forwards again on a bigger circle but trying to keep the activity of the HQ’s generated by the slower trot. She tried really hard with this and I was pleased with her as she was very submissive to my seat and I really only had to use the rein to re-balance her now and again but NOT to stop her tramming though my hands!
So finally we moved onto canter………………and………….she was very forward!! Lol! Although I did walk to canter we didn’t get the same kind of slow controlled canter that we had at the weekend………….BUT………she did not get any quicker and it actually felt quite balanced in the fact that she wasn’t motorbiking round the corners and weighting her inside shoulder. She was reaching for the contact at all times and was round and relaxed through her back, so it was actually quite comfortable to sit! :-D Nothing like when she is rushing and braced through the back and neck.
Onto me! For some reason I just didn’t seem to have much strength today so although I was effective in rising trot when I went sitting I could tell I wasn’t quite there because I was tipping forwards and drawing up my leg gggggrrrrrrr!! I think this may be why the canter was more forward too as I just couldn’t keep her on my seat! The odd moment I DID get my seat right she slowed down! So although she was perhaps a bit more forward than late I do think that I was part of the problem as I couldn’t dictate the tempo so she did instead hahaha!
So not a 'perfect' ride but not awful by any means – in fact I was quite impressed that Antsje was able to balance herself in canter so well in a longer frame than we have been working in. I have seen the time she would have fell on her nose – or at least had her ears up mine hehehehe!!!!
We moved up into trot and today the right rein felt far more consistent and I really worked on achieving the same work as I did on the walking circles. Then I played a little bit with bringing the trot as slow as I could using my seat and putting her on a 10m circle without her falling back into walk and after half a circle of really slow trot send her forwards again on a bigger circle but trying to keep the activity of the HQ’s generated by the slower trot. She tried really hard with this and I was pleased with her as she was very submissive to my seat and I really only had to use the rein to re-balance her now and again but NOT to stop her tramming though my hands!
So finally we moved onto canter………………and………….she was very forward!! Lol! Although I did walk to canter we didn’t get the same kind of slow controlled canter that we had at the weekend………….BUT………she did not get any quicker and it actually felt quite balanced in the fact that she wasn’t motorbiking round the corners and weighting her inside shoulder. She was reaching for the contact at all times and was round and relaxed through her back, so it was actually quite comfortable to sit! :-D Nothing like when she is rushing and braced through the back and neck.
Onto me! For some reason I just didn’t seem to have much strength today so although I was effective in rising trot when I went sitting I could tell I wasn’t quite there because I was tipping forwards and drawing up my leg gggggrrrrrrr!! I think this may be why the canter was more forward too as I just couldn’t keep her on my seat! The odd moment I DID get my seat right she slowed down! So although she was perhaps a bit more forward than late I do think that I was part of the problem as I couldn’t dictate the tempo so she did instead hahaha!
So not a 'perfect' ride but not awful by any means – in fact I was quite impressed that Antsje was able to balance herself in canter so well in a longer frame than we have been working in. I have seen the time she would have fell on her nose – or at least had her ears up mine hehehehe!!!!
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Walk to Canter VIDEO!! YAY!
today my daughter Amy rode her and did some jumping!! which she thoroughly enjoyed! They were getting a bit high for my nerves though and I could barely watch Eeeeek!
Afterwards Amy took a bit of video of me and Antsje as I have just started doing walk / canter transitions with her and I wanted to have a look and see what they LOOKED like as they FELT pretty good! :-D They are not quite direct yet, particularly on the right rein, but it IS helping the canter slow down a bit and therefore helping her balance
Amyway - see what you think! As always im very grateful for any input.........
Trot on both reins
Slowing and containing the trot:
Canter Left:
Canter Right:
Afterwards Amy took a bit of video of me and Antsje as I have just started doing walk / canter transitions with her and I wanted to have a look and see what they LOOKED like as they FELT pretty good! :-D They are not quite direct yet, particularly on the right rein, but it IS helping the canter slow down a bit and therefore helping her balance
Amyway - see what you think! As always im very grateful for any input.........
Trot on both reins
Slowing and containing the trot:
Canter Left:
Canter Right:
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
I rode!!! YAY!!!
I think the rest has done us both good as Antsje felt very relaxed and supple and I seemed to be able to absorb the trot better the an normal too :-)
During the break I have been watchin my Bettina Drummond 'work in hand' videos and feel re-inspired to do more of this work so before riding I did 10 minutes of basic giravolta type work in hand, really asking for a stretch down and her stepping away from me with her shoulders as well as her hindquarters. We then moved onto leg yielding from the centre line to the long side and then into shoulder in, finishing with her circling around me in a stretch position as a reward. We did this on both reins. Then I did a little backing up and moving forwards and backing up again - really concentrating on her stretching her neck forward and down (FDO) throughout the exercise.
When I got on she immediately felt nice and soft and light and we did some nice large circles in a forward rising trot in a forward out and down (FDO) position, changing reins frequently and working on keeping the same rhythm throughout.
We then did some backing up exercises while mounted and this always really helps to supple her back as when we went back into trot, her back felt much stronger and 'up'.
So using this, I began to collect the trot up slightly and took sitting trot and worked on 10m circle going into a few steps of shoulder in and then back onto the 10m circle down the long side - we did this on both reins. I also did a bit of leg yield work concentrating on her keeping her hindquarters in line more as she does trail them somewhat esp on the right rein. The quality of her self carriage is becoming quite lovely on the left rein, although I do have to be mindful that she is actually reaching for the contact as sometimes she can collect the trot up but just back off the contact slightly, so when she does this I like to go rising and send her a bit more forwards down and out (FDO), before slowing and containing the trot again.
Then I decided I would do some walk to canter transitions today as she was feeling so good! I was so pleased with her efforts - she is still fallin in a bit and balancing on her inside shoulder but with the walk to canter trans she was able to maintain a slower canter and I was able to ask her for a few leg yield type steps on the circle to try and encourage her to get off the inside shoulder a bit more. Today she really rounded up her back and felt distinctly different and more controlled than I have felt her before :-) We did the same on the right rein, doing a couple of walk to collected trot first to get her off the leg and more forward into the contact as when she anticipates canter she can get above the contact to make the transition but then her back is very braced. As she isnt as strong on the right I didnt expect such a clean transition and accepted 1-2 very cadenced trot strides but I was happy with that as she did stay round and took off on the correct leg. The effect was still the same though and she was able to keep the canter much slower and controlled and again I really felt her lift her back. I clicked and treated and got straight off and made a big fuss of her.
I hope to get some more video soon as she does feel improved again since the last lot :-D
I think the rest has done us both good as Antsje felt very relaxed and supple and I seemed to be able to absorb the trot better the an normal too :-)
During the break I have been watchin my Bettina Drummond 'work in hand' videos and feel re-inspired to do more of this work so before riding I did 10 minutes of basic giravolta type work in hand, really asking for a stretch down and her stepping away from me with her shoulders as well as her hindquarters. We then moved onto leg yielding from the centre line to the long side and then into shoulder in, finishing with her circling around me in a stretch position as a reward. We did this on both reins. Then I did a little backing up and moving forwards and backing up again - really concentrating on her stretching her neck forward and down (FDO) throughout the exercise.
When I got on she immediately felt nice and soft and light and we did some nice large circles in a forward rising trot in a forward out and down (FDO) position, changing reins frequently and working on keeping the same rhythm throughout.
We then did some backing up exercises while mounted and this always really helps to supple her back as when we went back into trot, her back felt much stronger and 'up'.
So using this, I began to collect the trot up slightly and took sitting trot and worked on 10m circle going into a few steps of shoulder in and then back onto the 10m circle down the long side - we did this on both reins. I also did a bit of leg yield work concentrating on her keeping her hindquarters in line more as she does trail them somewhat esp on the right rein. The quality of her self carriage is becoming quite lovely on the left rein, although I do have to be mindful that she is actually reaching for the contact as sometimes she can collect the trot up but just back off the contact slightly, so when she does this I like to go rising and send her a bit more forwards down and out (FDO), before slowing and containing the trot again.
Then I decided I would do some walk to canter transitions today as she was feeling so good! I was so pleased with her efforts - she is still fallin in a bit and balancing on her inside shoulder but with the walk to canter trans she was able to maintain a slower canter and I was able to ask her for a few leg yield type steps on the circle to try and encourage her to get off the inside shoulder a bit more. Today she really rounded up her back and felt distinctly different and more controlled than I have felt her before :-) We did the same on the right rein, doing a couple of walk to collected trot first to get her off the leg and more forward into the contact as when she anticipates canter she can get above the contact to make the transition but then her back is very braced. As she isnt as strong on the right I didnt expect such a clean transition and accepted 1-2 very cadenced trot strides but I was happy with that as she did stay round and took off on the correct leg. The effect was still the same though and she was able to keep the canter much slower and controlled and again I really felt her lift her back. I clicked and treated and got straight off and made a big fuss of her.
I hope to get some more video soon as she does feel improved again since the last lot :-D
Monday, 4 January 2010
A New Year........some NEW VIDEO!!! YAY!
Got more video yesterday!!! She was a little bit “tramming” yesterday and running through my hand a tad – especially when I was rising the trot. You can see at the end of the first video what I mean **rolls eyes** Now I know my sitting isn’t perfect by any means, but I still seem to be able to ‘hold her’ with my seat better despite this! The absorption problem still affects my hands more than id realised although she doesn’t seem terribly put out about this?? Perhaps I am still holding with the reins in sitting trot and this is why she is more contained? Although it doesn’t **FEEL** that way – and Im sure my hands don’t look as backward as the last set of videos?? Her mouth doesn’t seem overly busy / gapey which is a sure sign when im HOLDING her with my hands? So guys……………..what do you think??
I do think there is improvement from the last set of vids. Antsje trot rhythm look less disturbed than before and I do think my position looks better? BUT!! I can see Antsje still looses balance at times and I can see that I still need MORE strength through my core plus I am not absorbing the movement quite right either in sitting. I am belly dancing and still tending to tip forwards slightly. Back to the drawing board!!!!
ps - canter is still a work in progress lol!!!
RISING TROT
LEFT REIN
RIGHT REIN
SERPENTINES
I do think there is improvement from the last set of vids. Antsje trot rhythm look less disturbed than before and I do think my position looks better? BUT!! I can see Antsje still looses balance at times and I can see that I still need MORE strength through my core plus I am not absorbing the movement quite right either in sitting. I am belly dancing and still tending to tip forwards slightly. Back to the drawing board!!!!
ps - canter is still a work in progress lol!!!
RISING TROT
LEFT REIN
RIGHT REIN
SERPENTINES
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
WE HAVE VIDEO!!! hehehe!
So, finally got Amy to take some video of us both today - I think we have made improvements this year although I STILL need to SIT UP!!!! and also the angle in travers is way too steep but thats what video is for! My sitting trot is still woeful I rode my sisters horse tonight and was able to sit nice and tall and relaxed but I still cant get it on Antsje! Im afraid of it I reckon!!! I tense up and I BOING everywhere! plus...................I NEED TO SIT UP!!!!
First few vids are of trot and canter on both reins, then the last one is collecting and lengthening the trot with Antsje staying with me! you can see she'd rather canter! I can see on the serpentine video I am blocking her with the inside rein on the right - she still gets a bit jittery after canter work - but NO excuse for overiding the inside rein! NAUGHTY ME! But would be glad to hear what you all think............. ps - the abrubt halts after canter are a result of a 'click' and treat - not cos I yanked her head orf!!
First few vids are of trot and canter on both reins, then the last one is collecting and lengthening the trot with Antsje staying with me! you can see she'd rather canter! I can see on the serpentine video I am blocking her with the inside rein on the right - she still gets a bit jittery after canter work - but NO excuse for overiding the inside rein! NAUGHTY ME! But would be glad to hear what you all think............. ps - the abrubt halts after canter are a result of a 'click' and treat - not cos I yanked her head orf!!
Friday, 18 December 2009
CLEVER HORSE!!!!
TUESDAY
Another morning ride! Because I don’t have as much time in the mornings it does have the benefit of focusing my mind and not getting greedy and overdoing things when they feel good!!
I didn’t do so much work laterally today other than setting the trot up with the travers steps which work very nicely. I did lots of changes of reins, transitions and serpentines and concentrated on keeping us both in a nice balance throughout all the exercises. I am thrilled with Antsjes attitude to work lately – she tries so hard!
The lateral work in trot will really help the canter work as she has to balance herself while stepping under more with her hindleg. So today I thought id do a bit of canter work for a change! After speaking to Mike about the canter he said think about making the circle smaller by turning her with the outside rein and pushing her back out with the inside leg so I really get that inside leg to outside hand connection. So today I tried a couple of more like 10-15m canter circles and tickled her with the schooling whip to encourage the hind leg activity and lo and behold we got some really lovely lift to the canter with her STILL reaching into the contact!! WOOOHOOOO!!! And this was on the RIGHT rein!!! I changed rein and asked for the same exercise and she did such a beautiful ‘step’ up into canter and some very nice slow yet lifted canter strides that I just clicked my tongue and jumped off and made such a big fuss of her and fed her her favourite extra strong mints hahahaha!!!!
Thursday
A similar combination of work to the last sessions
Travers steps to set up the trot. Counter canter down the long side, working up to maintaining position up the centre line. She was working so nicely that I got brave and asked for a few steps of travers in trot!!! And bless her she did try!! She moved her quarters out but struggled to maintain the inside bend for more than a few steps and it ended up more like a leg yield hahaha!! BUT! I was very pleased with the effort as I know she would find this hard.
We did a little bit of canter work but she was a little gung-ho and when coming back to down to trot we lost the nice stable connection in the contact with her being very busy in the mouth and not seeking the contact but bobbing her head in and out of my hands. I was just starting to feel that bubble of frustration on why she was being so unsettled that I just suddenly realised that she was ‘setting sail’ and out of balance completely!! So I put her on a smaller circle and just concentrated on working on the ‘neutral’ trot and hey presto!! Connection restored!! I clicked, treated and left it at that.
Hacking for the weekend – she has worked hard this last few weeks!
Another morning ride! Because I don’t have as much time in the mornings it does have the benefit of focusing my mind and not getting greedy and overdoing things when they feel good!!
I didn’t do so much work laterally today other than setting the trot up with the travers steps which work very nicely. I did lots of changes of reins, transitions and serpentines and concentrated on keeping us both in a nice balance throughout all the exercises. I am thrilled with Antsjes attitude to work lately – she tries so hard!
The lateral work in trot will really help the canter work as she has to balance herself while stepping under more with her hindleg. So today I thought id do a bit of canter work for a change! After speaking to Mike about the canter he said think about making the circle smaller by turning her with the outside rein and pushing her back out with the inside leg so I really get that inside leg to outside hand connection. So today I tried a couple of more like 10-15m canter circles and tickled her with the schooling whip to encourage the hind leg activity and lo and behold we got some really lovely lift to the canter with her STILL reaching into the contact!! WOOOHOOOO!!! And this was on the RIGHT rein!!! I changed rein and asked for the same exercise and she did such a beautiful ‘step’ up into canter and some very nice slow yet lifted canter strides that I just clicked my tongue and jumped off and made such a big fuss of her and fed her her favourite extra strong mints hahahaha!!!!
Thursday
A similar combination of work to the last sessions
Travers steps to set up the trot. Counter canter down the long side, working up to maintaining position up the centre line. She was working so nicely that I got brave and asked for a few steps of travers in trot!!! And bless her she did try!! She moved her quarters out but struggled to maintain the inside bend for more than a few steps and it ended up more like a leg yield hahaha!! BUT! I was very pleased with the effort as I know she would find this hard.
We did a little bit of canter work but she was a little gung-ho and when coming back to down to trot we lost the nice stable connection in the contact with her being very busy in the mouth and not seeking the contact but bobbing her head in and out of my hands. I was just starting to feel that bubble of frustration on why she was being so unsettled that I just suddenly realised that she was ‘setting sail’ and out of balance completely!! So I put her on a smaller circle and just concentrated on working on the ‘neutral’ trot and hey presto!! Connection restored!! I clicked, treated and left it at that.
Hacking for the weekend – she has worked hard this last few weeks!
Monday, 21 September 2009
Right Canter! AT LAST!
Finally we 'have' right canter under saddle, dare I say 100% consistently! Up till now it certainley has been! Anyway some evidence among other stuff:
Hope there is some improvement since the last video :-)
Hope there is some improvement since the last video :-)
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Another GOOD ride!!!
I can hardly believe it! ANOTHER good ride! and in the outdoor arena too!!
*****SMILES******
So what did we do? TO start off with I concentrated on the inside leg / outside hand connection while in walk by doing lots of circles and leg yielding steps. Then we moved up into trot, and right from the word go Im finding it much easier to keep the connection in rising trot. One throwaway comment Jane made was to be brave with your rise and 'go to the top of the rise' which must have lodged itself in my brain somehow and it has proved to be really useful.
Trouble is, I have been so focussed on not getting flung about, I havent really been following through to the top of the rise as Im so paranoid about getting my arse back into that saddle! Trouble is, ive been coming back into the saddle at the WRONG TIME! Something ive really noticed about getting the rise 'right' is that when I sit, her back comes up to recieve my seat, rather than her back being hollow when I come down too early. Its very subtle, and its by no means standing upright in my stirrups! its just more a matter of letting my hips follow the movement to its full extent which I wasnt allowing to happen before.
I have also taken up running again - something I havent done since a child! and I do feel that this is also really helping my fitness, particularly my aerobic fitness and being able to keep strong in my abs rather than feeling puffed out and going floppy! I will take this opportunity for a shameless plug as Im running to raise money for Macmillan Cancer support - so if anyone fancies donating a pound or two you can find out more about it in my new blog Reason2Run ;-)
So after some nice circles in trot being VERY concious of what my inside hand is doing, we did some work along the long side and changes of rein - as this normally highlights our inconsistencies in balance! And actually we did pretty well! When we got down to the far end of the school, Antsje became a little distracted by new 'surroundings' but I was pleased how quickly I managed to regulate the trot again without 'fiddling' by really concentrating on my rising and 'refocussing' her attention back to the matter in hand lol!
So feeling quite brave, I asked for canter on the left rein and got quite a nice transition, we did a complete circle and then came back into trot again and actually the trot was NICE as sometimes it can be a bit gung ho after a canter! So then I asked for right canter but out of walk - we got CORRECT LEAD!!! Again we did a complete circle and although it was a bit motorbikey I was just pleased with the correct strike off. Again we came back to a sensible trot.
To finish I asked for a serpentine down the school as sometimes after canter she can get over excited and 'anticipating' and i just want to really get her tuned into my seat even in exctitable situations ;-) And yes! we finished with some nice relaxed trot so I jumped off and just led her round to cool off.
What I did notice was straight away she was better into the outside rein on the left - she is SUCH a quick learner as this is what we finished on, on monday Morning. Its just ME that has to be more observant of my naughty habits lol!
We ended with some poll release work in the stable which i think she is now finding quite relaxing :-)
*****SMILES******
So what did we do? TO start off with I concentrated on the inside leg / outside hand connection while in walk by doing lots of circles and leg yielding steps. Then we moved up into trot, and right from the word go Im finding it much easier to keep the connection in rising trot. One throwaway comment Jane made was to be brave with your rise and 'go to the top of the rise' which must have lodged itself in my brain somehow and it has proved to be really useful.
Trouble is, I have been so focussed on not getting flung about, I havent really been following through to the top of the rise as Im so paranoid about getting my arse back into that saddle! Trouble is, ive been coming back into the saddle at the WRONG TIME! Something ive really noticed about getting the rise 'right' is that when I sit, her back comes up to recieve my seat, rather than her back being hollow when I come down too early. Its very subtle, and its by no means standing upright in my stirrups! its just more a matter of letting my hips follow the movement to its full extent which I wasnt allowing to happen before.
I have also taken up running again - something I havent done since a child! and I do feel that this is also really helping my fitness, particularly my aerobic fitness and being able to keep strong in my abs rather than feeling puffed out and going floppy! I will take this opportunity for a shameless plug as Im running to raise money for Macmillan Cancer support - so if anyone fancies donating a pound or two you can find out more about it in my new blog Reason2Run ;-)
So after some nice circles in trot being VERY concious of what my inside hand is doing, we did some work along the long side and changes of rein - as this normally highlights our inconsistencies in balance! And actually we did pretty well! When we got down to the far end of the school, Antsje became a little distracted by new 'surroundings' but I was pleased how quickly I managed to regulate the trot again without 'fiddling' by really concentrating on my rising and 'refocussing' her attention back to the matter in hand lol!
So feeling quite brave, I asked for canter on the left rein and got quite a nice transition, we did a complete circle and then came back into trot again and actually the trot was NICE as sometimes it can be a bit gung ho after a canter! So then I asked for right canter but out of walk - we got CORRECT LEAD!!! Again we did a complete circle and although it was a bit motorbikey I was just pleased with the correct strike off. Again we came back to a sensible trot.
To finish I asked for a serpentine down the school as sometimes after canter she can get over excited and 'anticipating' and i just want to really get her tuned into my seat even in exctitable situations ;-) And yes! we finished with some nice relaxed trot so I jumped off and just led her round to cool off.
What I did notice was straight away she was better into the outside rein on the left - she is SUCH a quick learner as this is what we finished on, on monday Morning. Its just ME that has to be more observant of my naughty habits lol!
We ended with some poll release work in the stable which i think she is now finding quite relaxing :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
