WW: First Cross Country Schooling of the Year

As told by Game of Thrones*.

Holy shit, this is such a bad idea. Fuck hills, fuck jumps.

Me:

Bobby, why don't you remember how to go down hills?! WTF are you doing?

Bobby:

Me:

First jump.

Me and Bobby:

Maybe we can try that again without launching ourselves at it.

Bobby:

That was a 2' log. Did we really need to jump it like it was 4'?

Bobby:

Is it really necessary to go running backwards every time I ask you to do something hard?

Me:

Stop fucking around!

Bobby:

Me:

Sat up and rode the jump? Made it easy.

Bobby:

Sat up and rode every jump? Hmm. They all felt easy.

Me:

Bobby:

*Quotes may or may not actually be from GoT, bro.

Sunday Snaps and Video

twice through the double

warm up

so dopey. 

apparently my elbows were tied to my waist and unable to move?

first course attempt, set at 2'6"

second course attempt, 3'

third course attempt, 3'

Used and Abused.

This will probably come as a serious shock to ye olde blog readers, but I'm not always a heartless slave driver who gets into fights with her horse over the simplest of things. Often, yes, but not always. No, not even often. Just often as of late.

But today I was a very generous mother and rewarded a very confused Bobby for rare good behavior during a flat ride.

I stuck Bobby on the longe for his warm up since it was chilly and raining making our trail ride warm up out of the question for the day. After ten minutes on the line (check that off the goals list), I got on and I had him walk across the diagonal out of every corner. This was the cause of the blow up Wednesday where he went flailing into the corner, refused to move forward, went shooting backwards, and scraped his buns on a jump standard. All because I wanted him to walk in a straight line while we changed directions.

I know. I am a cruel mistress.

He was calm about the entire situation today though, so on to the trot we went. Right away he stepped into a big, forward trot. He was light in the contact and round over his back. He was gently mouthing the bit instead of gnashing it like a crazy rage monster.

happy horse foamies.

Canter? Quiet depart, steady rhythm. Back to the trot? Quiet downward transition, steady rhythm. A touch quick? A light half halt with my seat settled him right back down. Lengthen the trot? Just a squeeze of the legs to go forward and a squeeze of my seat to come back.

I rode him for only ten minutes before getting off. We did a few circles at the canter, a few laps at the trot, and lots of changes of directions. He did nothing wrong and was so willing to do whatever I asked that I scrapped everything else and let him know what a good boy he was.

My two big changes were taking my spurs off and switching the half pad back to my Ecogold. The panels of his saddle have been causing little rubs on his back while I've been using just a riser pad in front. I know his saddle is a touch wide for him--hence the half pad--so I guess I was just unbalancing the saddle by using the wrong pad. He seemed much happier to go back in the Ecogold.

But there you have it: proof that I don't always torture Bobby Magee.

brown pony lovings.

but red pony lovings are still the best.

OCD Magee

Bobby got two days off after our clinic, so I figured we'd do a nice flat ride on Wednesday to get the work mojo revved back up.

WELL.

Bobby got revved up all right. Bobby got revved up backwards and sideways and upwards, and when Bobby was done getting revved up, he had a great big scrape on his hind quarters from running into a standard.

"Bobby," you say. "What was the cause of this spectacular display of dramatics?"

To which Bobby answers, "Oh, nothing. Just doing that thing I do."

And to which Carly, his ever doting owner who has somehow not shipped him off to the packers yet--and I'm not referring to a Pony Club kid here--tries to tell her side of the story, but instead just starts crying....mostly out of frustration, but also because there's a lot of blood running into her eyes from banging her head violently against the wall over and over.

it's truly exhausting being bad all the time.

Clearly something has to change on the flat side of things because this is getting a bit ridiculous even for me, and I've been dealing with this shit for the past three years now. I've got some ideas to try out, and I'm hopeful they work.

But let's not dwell on the negative. I actually had a really good ride today!

I pulled the main components from the course work we did in Sunday's clinic--a five or six stride line, with two jumps set on the diagonal to make bending lines. During our warm up, I focused on bringing his canter back with my shoulders and scooping with my seat instead of getting super busy with my hands. Bobby was a little wild, but he listened well enough.

I had both verticals in the straight line set up at 2'6" and I started him off on a circle over one of them. Three times both directions, making sure he landed on the correct lead, and onto the line. We nailed the six-five-six strides the first time, though I had to take a bigger hold than I would have liked to squeeze in the six the last time through. But yay for me to think to do it as soon as he landed instead of one stride before the jump!

all terrain outdoor: we can school ditches!
fuck you, winter. stop stealing all our footing.

We did the bending line (only a 2' vertical for the diagonal fence) from the left first which rode literally perfectly. We did that once more equally as awesome before trying the bending line from the right. I had the gate set at 3' for the diagonal jump and Bobby launched himself over it from a mile away. I was like, "AHHH!!", but still managed to steer him sort of towards the next jump which probably wasn't the best idea. Bobby took a Hail Mary to it and got us over, but it was exactly the sort of thing we're trying not to do anymore.

I regrouped, came around in a much more controlled canter with a bit more hold, and Bobby deigned to agree with my distance. I know Bobby finds this terribly hard to believe, but I'm not always completely incompetent and by listening to me we got over it a thousand percent better.

So on to the mini course! Vertical line in six strides, left bending line, right bending line.

Bobby got in a little tight to the first jump which usually inspires me to just sit there and be sad and let him go flying off to wherever he pleases, but I had a plan to make that six strides, damn it, so I used his jump in to my advantage and kept the slightly slower canter he landed in and nailed the six strides.

No time to celebrate, I had to make sure he was on the correct lead (check) and set him up for the short turn for the bending line. Easy jump in, nice sweeping turn, easy jump out. Correct lead? Check. Slow the canter, keep a hold of the reins, a little bit of an awkward jump in, but nothing too bad. Who cares, there's another jump coming up pronto. Keep his shoulders straight and awesome jump out. Correct lead? Check.

SHIT YEAH MY BRAIN WORKS MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!

playing in his puddle after our ride.

It is SO HARD for me to move on from one jump to the next. It's like I need my brain to slow down and process what I need to do, but I also need it to move fast enough to get to the next fence before we're hurtling into it. Having an outside person stand there and force me to carry on to the next jump was a massive help. I made myself carry that over to today, and while that may make it sound like having voices inside my head is a good thing....well it's a good thing.

We jumped the coop out of stride to celebrate being general bad asses and went for our daily nature mosey.

Bobby has a very specific trail ride routine we must adhere to. After walking up the hill, he goes into the evergreen patch and sniffs out his previously located deer carcasses. Sometimes this involves taking the most direct route possible which means if I'm not paying attention--which is almost always--he walks both of us head first into trees.

just us, hanging out IN A FUCKING TREE.
DICK.

"hey, lady. i think we're stuck here."
"no shit, DICK. i wonder how that happened."

After visiting the two dead deer he found last week, and the third he found today (my horse is such a fucking freak, I swear), we have to go play in his puddle on the side of the road. If I'm like, "Bobby, it's really cold today. Maybe we can skip the puddle and go back to the barn" he throws a fit. Then we have to take a very specific path back to the hill that involves the longest, most indirect way possible before he finally agrees we can head home.

If it's true the only the difficult horses make it to the top levels, Bobby is going to be the most successful event horse of all time.

March Review, April Goals

March goals recap:

1. Reintroduce lateral work. I did reintroduce lateral work, but I really wanted the leg yields to completely solid. Since that didn't happen, though we're working on it, I'm not crossing this off yet.

2. Memorize dressage tests. Yep. I haven't ridden through 2-1 yet, but I know it.

3. Course work. Thanks to the perpetual continuation of winter, I wasn't able to do this in the outdoor, but we did a lot of awesome work in the indoor. We even did a clinic that focused on course work!

4. Terrain work. No cross country course because of the aforementioned weather, but every day we walk hills. I'm counting that.

April goals:

1. Time dressage warm up. I want a solid time that goes from longeing to when Bobby is soft and working. That way, once show season starts the first weekend of May, I'll know how much time I need to get him going his best.

2. Be completely comfortable jumping 3' courses. With our short standards, it's just a mind game for me. I need more mileage for my brain to be seriously confident.

3. Trot sets. With how much the weather doesn't want to do anything but go around and bitch slap people, this may be ambitious, but our first event is May 11. We need to get some cardio work going on!

4. Solidify leg yields. They will be conquered.

Samantha St Jacques Clinic

It was cold and windy, and it had rained like crazy all day yesterday, but thanks to our super early ride time Bobby and I managed completely to miss the ice/rain/snow we're now getting. Bobby was feeling pretty confident that the chickens on the property were going to eat him, and he was slightly concerned that there weren't other horses in the ring with him, but despite his best efforts to rip my arms out of the sockets, he warmed up mostly in control.

bobby looking as klassy as ever while we get instructions.

I slathered on my Effax Leather Grip (which is why my leg stays locked in place, not some overnight miracle), and introduced myself to Samantha. I told her what our main issue was (stadium) and what I wanted to work on (course work). 

samantha: try not to look like the apocalypse is near when riding this line.
me: mmm...yeah...no guarantees.

She had us warm up on a circle over an X with poles on either side. Bobby cantered awkwardly through the first time because OMG CHICKENS DEATH WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE HOLY SHIT I LOVE JUMPS WHERE ARE ALL THE OTHER HORSES?! 

It only took him one time through though before he was a respectable citizen and did what was asked:

After doing it once from the other direction, we switched back to the left and added in a small vertical that she wanted ridden in six strides which meant Bobby had to be quiet or he'd get five. He only got the five once and we moved on to the next.

Samantha wanted us to do the vertical to vertical line in six strides, come back around and do it in five, and then once more in six. Our first time wasn't too bad, but it quickly went downhill from there. As Samantha said, Bobby sees his distance and he moves up on his own to get it. He has to learn that there's more than one distance and he has to listen to see which one I want.

In fact, he has to listen to me period. If I make a correction, he has to respond to it. Otherwise we make a mistake at the fence, I try to correct it, he ignores me, I give up, and then it just spirals out of control from there. Sounds about right.

We were getting one awkward spot after another, and Samantha told me I have to move on to the next fence as soon as he lands. I can't just sit there and hope things magically work themselves out. I still have to get the strides and make it over the next jump. Hmm. Also sounds about right.

Once she got us sorted out and we'd accomplished our 6-5-6 exercise, she gave us a course.

It didn't go great the first time through. I had no plan coming into the first bending line and we got eight strides when she wanted six because we were wandering all over the place. The second line was even worse. I didn't make a plan for that line either and ran him head first into the oxer. He obviously stopped, and I immediately owned up to it being completely my fault.

Samantha told me I really need to sit down and think through literally every stride of my course, not just one jump to the next. Yep.

We tried again, this time breaking into the trot to try to get the correct lead through the second bending line. Apparently don't do that in a bending line. Whoops. We made it over the oxer anyway, but it didn't matter because he refused the first fence of the double.

He gave it a hard look when I brought him around again, but he did go over...in three strides. We proceeded to have issues with that as he either got the three strides or went flying in flat and fast to get the two. And the last jump of the course right after the double? Yeah, we pretty much never even got there until Samantha made us circle around and do it again by itself. 

I was starting to get really frustrated with myself although she kept telling me not to beat myself up so much. After a long walk break where she talked me through some of my issues--like, don't half halt so hard with your hands and instead scoop with your pelvis to slow him in a line, and he won't throw his head and ignore you--she asked if I wanted to try again. I was like "No, I suck at everything" but only in my head because that would have been childish.

The whole ride we'd been working on a slower, more relaxed canter to try to get Bobby to listen to me, and while I kept the relaxation, I did let him out a little bit which seemed to make the whole course flow better. You can hear in the videos how she's constantly telling me to pull my shoulders back, open up my diaphragm, and lengthen my back. Yeah....I really, really need to work on that.

I was really happy with how the last time through course rode:

We finished by working through the two stride by itself. First she had me lengthen his canter, but when that didn't work she put out placement poles--two in front of the first jump, and then she added one in between the two fences. That made him slow it down and think it through, and we ended on a really good note.

I got a ton out of my private, and I'm so glad I was able to do this. We pretty much never get anyone out here that's close enough and cheap enough that I can work with. I wish there were more opportunities closer, but at least I received a lot of information to work with for now.

Samantha was really helpful, and she had no problem explaining things to me in a way that I understood immediately. She didn't get frustrated when I repeated mistakes, and she stayed positive as we worked through them. I'd definitely recommend anyone doing a clinic with her if she's ever in your area!

Also major props to the clinic organizer who kept everything running smoothly, and had little gift packs when we were done. I wish we could have stuck around longer to watch more rides, but the dogs were locked in at home and I didn't want to leave them in there for too long.

When It Just Isn't Your Day

Or, When You End Up On Your Backside in the Dirt.

First of all, I woke up seriously nauseous this morning. I have a sneaking suspicion it had to do with my meal choices yesterday. Let's recap:

Breakfast:  English muffin.

Lunch: Six mini Cadbury eggs washed down with half a Mountain Dew (the other half went to Bobby).

Dinner: A piece of pizza (at least it was homemade so it wasn't greasy), and the other six mini Cadbury eggs.

And that is it. I think I need to reevaluate my diet.

After crawling around the house all morning, I went to the barn and had to work around the barn's vet. That's no big deal, but she kind of freaks me out which is why I don't use her. But BO was in the barn so she was an excellent buffer and I talked to her a bit.

Down to the arena we went for a quick jump school. Warmed up over an X twice before coming in through three trot poles to a vertical and out over what was going to be an oxer but was still just ground poles. Bobby was fine with all of this, and since I was suffering from cramps (love being a girl), an upset stomach, and random lower back pain, I went ahead and bumped everything up to where I wanted to end. The X became 3'6" and the oxer became 2'9".

Bobby was also very good for this, although the first time over the oxer he cleared the 4' standards and nearly popped me out of the tack. That was a one-time over-exuberance though--fortunately--and the next few times he was perfect.

Over the 3'6" vertical, he was easy and pleasant to the right. We did that three times before switching directions. First time? Totally fine. Second time? I chased him into an awful distance he had no hope of saving, and he threw on the brakes. I flipped right over his shoulder and landed on my nicely cushioned thigh and side. See? All that junk food is good for something.

I may not be the best rider, but I am damn good at falling. I bounced right up and quickly assured Bobby--who was standing morosely exactly where he had stopped like, "I know I'm going to get blamed for that even though we both know it was your fault."--that he had done nothing wrong. I set the jump back to an X and finished by going over it twice more.

I've ridden this horse for almost his entire life. I broke him out, taught him to gallop, and restarted him off the track. This is only the third time I've come off of him, and to be honest I'm kind of disappointed I'm not even going to have a bruise to show for it.

In clinic news, I'm actually going to be getting a private so that's pretty awesome. I'm the only one doing 3' and the next closest group is 2'3-2'6. Maybe I should have signed up for that group. The "small jumps, aching bodies, and menstrual cramps" group. Wish us luck!