Jumper Night

Last Saturday we did jumper night. I waited forever to sign up for it because I just wasn't feeling it this year, but then BM divided it into several different sections and the senior 2'3" group was full of fun ladies so I finally stuck my name on the list. 

I got there when the first division of kiddos started at tadpole (18") to take pictures of everyone. My favorite part of jumper night is getting to hang out with so many fun barn mates that I don't usually see because I ride first thing in the morning after doing chores. It was a fucking blast with the perfect weather and perfect group, and just generally much needed. 

When it was our turn to go, I warmed Opie up quickly on the flat and then popped him over the two oxers. He was foot perfect and it settled me right down (because jumping in front of people in an arena is still my worst nightmare, let's be real). 

Round One

Round One Jump Off

That last turn to the purple was the worst and no one rode it well. We won that class by virtue of being the only ones to go clear.

Round Two

Round Two Jump Off

We got second for this class. 

Gambler's Choice

I am SO BAD at this class. I can't think of what to jump off the top of my head to save my life and waste half my time cantering around aimlessly instead of just turning in to a jump. We still somehow managed fourth out of sixth. 

Overall a night well spent, even if I didn't get home until almost ten!

Motivation

It's amazing what a little motivation can do for my riding. Or, more accurately, what not having any motivation can do.

Yesterday was sunny and trying to be warm despite the ever-present ridiculous wind, and I got on excited to work through some things from 2-2. Spring break camp is going on right now with half a dozen kids trickling in right as I begin my ride. They've been sitting in the corner of the indoor waiting for the whole contingent to show up and watching my warm up, and fortunately Opie has been totally okay with this distraction.

I feel like I'm nailing the warm up lately. Taking that mental step back from the changes has made me be a better rider and build things from step one like we did in our lesson instead of being like, "Okay, the changes are Third level so we have to start at Second." Uhh, no, fake news. 

Instead we've been embracing a long stretchy walk, a longer framed trot with lots of circles, serpentines, changes of direction, and shallow leg yield zig zags. Then we do a canter where the only requirements are being forward and supple with lots of c/t/c transitions thrown in. Stretchy walk break, and then start bringing in the real work with a few turns on the haunches. 

The past two days we needed to spend some extra time in the sitting trot just doing nothing to get the back soft. (Saddle fitter comes 4/8 which I can't wait for!) Yesterday we moved on to the canter from there with a focus on the serpentines with simple changes. 

Ugh, yuck. They were so sloppy and braced and gross. I was not at all happy with how those were going, but instead of getting frustrated I broke them down into a million c/w/c transitions on circles before coming back to the serpentine. The good news is, the collected downward into the walk is still in there, it just needed some attention again. We ended on a really good note and went for a trail ride to cool out.

Today was warmer, but grey and threatening to rain. We rode in the outdoor because the footing was perfect, but my motivation was zero. Walking around while warming up all I could think about was how much I didn't want to put any effort into this ride. I almost abandoned the ring for a trail ride multiple times, but we're supposed to get snow tomorrow and who knows when the outdoor will be usable again. I knew we needed to do more work on the counter canter and the simple changes and even though the outdoor is like riding on a side hill, at least it's bigger and doesn't have the two hillocks at each end like the indoor. 

Opie gave me a good warm up, and then a couple of rain drops fell and his brain fell right out of his giant head. 

Getting him to stay in the walk was a fucking chore as all he wanted to do was canter. He locked up and just didn't wanna participate anymore. Fortunately the "rain" was short lived and his brain magically rebooted.

idk why we're allergic to rain when getting wet
is our fave thing on the planet

I sucked it up and started the canter work. We had a couple of reboots to start when everything was just sloppy and tense, but under ten minutes and we were where I wanted to be. The counter canter still needs some finessing to be softer, but I feel like if we just took it to a level arena it would probably be right there. 

Definitely tomorrow off and probably Friday, too.

I spent the weekend tweaking the show calendar to account for a couple of early cancellations and changes (slightly worrying that that's starting already), and because I declared Opie for All Breeds with an eye for getting that at Second since these changes are feeling insurmountable and I need something to aim for. 

Zen Ninja

I haven't really been able to channel my inner Zen Ninja with Opie. Usually his tantrums are over in short order, or in the case of the changes, I can't be Zen or I'll end up with a broken face ten miles away once my bolting horse finally stops. 

"me? i would never."

I'm making a conscious effort to bring things down a notch or fifty which is a big deal for my super goal orientated, super neurotic self. But I'm making it seem like relaxation is the new giant goal to tackle.

BE CHILL! STAY CALM! IF IT'S NOT DONE WITH RELAXATION, DO IT AGAIN!

It works for me, don't judge.

Yesterday I threw on the jump saddle and we hit the outdoor for the first time this year. Lots of stretchies in w/t, coming up and then stretching again, bam another stretch break, and then a quiet canter that rolled into big counter canter serpentines across the ring. To the right he was okay with these, to the left he started off wanting to throw a fit when I turned him across the ring. But I just brought him back to the trot, picked the correct lead back up, and kept on going. Eventually I even made myself sit up and add in some collection so they were real counter canter loops and not me just holding my breath and taking him through the motions hoping he wouldn't break or lose his shit.

From there we went into the indoor, popped over the three jumps (2 vertical and an oxer) easy peasy, and then summoned the puppies and went meandering around out back for awhile.

Today I put the double on because the double is becoming our relaxing ride bridle. I don't know why he took great offense to it the first couple times I put it back on him, but he's back to being perfectly happy in it again. 

I also put the ball bracelet back on for this ride and it is such a game changer. No sore left leg for me! 

W/t warm up fine, and then into the canter. He was super soft in it, and I did a bunch of changes across the ring through the trot--and then kept trotting for a couple laps before picking up the new lead. He was super anticipatory for each downward transition waiting to be asked to come right back up again, but he finally took a breath and rolled with it. 

Stretch break, turns on the haunches (Ugh, these are so good now! I hope they actually score as good as they feel.), and then some sitting trot. Again, he just wanted to go in a very anxious way, so a couple times I brought him back to the walk when the half halt made him tighten, and finally he relaxed. Some half pass, SI, HI, and renvers, and then we finished with a medium trot posting, and a mother fucking extended trot sitting! Halfway across the diagonal I felt him just be like, "Aw yeah, bitch. Watch this." and turn himself loose. 

And then I melted him by making him walk a couple laps of the driveway in the rain because I'm going to try to stay out of the ring doing things as much as possible. 

death by rain drops.

I've been doing his hind leg stretches, too. He is so tight back there, he can't even stretch his legs out behind him more than a few inches. Poor dude. Sticking to those, and then I'm going to switch his weekly PEMF session from the LH to his back. 

Sound of Body

 Not of Mind. 

clearly.

Opie had three days off after his last ride on Wednesday. I hadn't planned on it, but on the very rare occasion I am obligated to do grown up things that take up a lot of time. Sunday morning was sunny and warm and ALL MINE so off to the barn I went for as long as I wanted. 

I gave Opie a thorough grooming, all the candies, and then strapped on his Bal-Aid which I will be calling his ball bracelet from now on because it's a much better name.

The idea behind it is that it makes the horse pay more attention to whatever leg you put it on (can also be used on diagonal pairs) to correct any crookedness or asymmetries. Holy ball bracelets, did it work! I had no pain in my left hip/ass from being the only one holding the LH accountable for itself. You're supposed to start with only 10-15 minutes of work since it completely changes their way of going. Opie thought it was a shackle when I first asked him to trot off, but within half the length of the long side he got the hang of it and moved out. 

I didn't canter in it since I did a good amount of walk and trot work in it, but I'm excited to keep using it. He kept that leg underneath him with zero assistance from me, and that's exactly what I was hoping for.

Then we worked on the changes, there was much bolting and broncing, he finally gave me a clean, sane one each way, and we went for a walk break around the driveway. I got off after the second bolt to put the draw reins on because I had no interest in also getting my face smashed in while dealing with the bolting. 

After the long walk, I made him go back in and do a bunch of big circles and laps in the posting trot to end on. You don't get to be a raging shit head for 75% of the ride, give me the two seconds of work I was asking for, and then be done. Fuck you.

Today was his vet appointment to see if this new vet could find anything wrong with the LH. 

She flexed him, but she also palpated him all over (sore on the right side of his back which I knew--still trying to nail down a fucking saddle fitter), and then we walked and trotted him in the indoor and in the driveway. Big circles, little circles, stuck him on the longe w/t/c, went over him again. 

There were a lot of, "He's one thicc boi" and "Wow, he is built" comments, but she agreed that she wasn't really seeing a lameness. So I got him tacked up ("You even have such a nice saddle and girth, sir.") and did w/t/c both ways for her. 

At the walk she saw the crookedness I was feeling. At the trot, she had me do some big circles posting on the correct and incorrect diagonal. To the right, with the LH on the outside, I felt a big (bad) difference when on the wrong diagonal. To the left, there was barely anything. 

In the canter, I showed them what was going on the second I pointed his nose across the diagonal. On cue, he took the bit, threw up his head, hollowed his back, and bolted. I didn't ask for a single thing, just turned him in. 

She had me do the counter canter which he was very willing to stay in--except a couple times he broke gait because, uhhh, oops, we really need to work on that more. 

Again, her analysis was that he's a great mover, naturally forward, very nice to look at, definitely a good boy, and definitely not lame. She saw the asymmetry and noted that his left hip is now higher than the right side. She felt that what was going on was really all in his head.

She did recommend stretches with the hind legs to try to limber up the lumbar area, and to do lots of counter canter work and try to just play with the changes over jumps for now since that doesn't upset him. She thinks he just needs to take a giant chill pill and relax basically. She also said a chiro adjustment would be a good idea which I kind of needed someone to tell me because I've got PTSD from the last one that set off the whole two month, thousand dollar mystery lameness. 

So, because I need a real goal or I can't do anything because that's the way my brain works, I'm going to say we're doing 2-3 and 2-1 or 2-2 to kick off the season. I can't remember which one I liked better. We'll hammer down on relaxation (that's a thing when you're ultra Type A, I swear lol) and everything needed for those tests. We'll hopefully be getting more trail riding in as the weather comes around and do some jumpies out there. The outdoor is also looking good finally so that will help. 

Next big order of business is jumper night this Saturday so this week will be dressage light anyway!

Relax

Opie got the Monday after our lesson off, not because I felt like he needed the recovery day--because when I left the barn after turning him back out on Sunday he was hauling ass around his paddock with his dumb friends--but because it was cold AF, and it turns out every year I get older, I give less and less fucks about riding in all weather to maintain training. It wasn't much better this morning, but at least I retained feeling in my face and didn't have to bundle up in snow pants to do barn chores. 

Worst. State. Ever.

it does deliver some pretty epic sunrises tho

We worked through pretty much the exact same warm up from over the weekend: some laps at the walk on a long rein, not asking for anything besides going forward with swing and stretch before moving on to the trot with the long, shallow leg yields. The canter was a lot of big circles and c/t/c transitions all over the place. By the end he was still soft and relaxed so after taking another walk break we had a look at the turn on the haunches.

OMG! So good! I think we both got a better grip on them after drilling them which is exactly what I was hoping for. Feeling good about those.

the host barn sent us off with a gift card to the local
tack store and lots of horse treats. even opie's picky
self deigned to eat them.

From there we picked up the sitting trot and touched briefly on the SI and HI. Honestly still too tight for my liking, but I tried to at least keep it coming forward.

We finished playing with the medium trot--first posting it, and then I sat it for the last one and he went blasting across the ring, full of confidence, super balanced and pushing, and not tense at all. I never, ever thought those would be something he was capable of, let alone something he would enjoy. 

brought the double out because it sat for awhile and
the last two rides in it were tense and dreadful. i wanted
to remind him that it's a thing we like, and he was super in
it today so mission accomplished. 

Tomorrow it's probably back to the changes, so that soft relaxed horse that's so nice to ride is probably gonna go out the window.

TH Lesson #1

Lesson number one because she said she would be back up from Maryland to teach more, and I will be all over that. 

TH used to be the dressage coach at Alfred State before moving, but I knew her just from showing at most of the same places. I remembered her as being super positive and kind, and that's my type of instructor. She funnily knew exactly who Opie was all the way back from his first year of showing even though he's now--as the BO said--"built like a brick shit house."

sir is large.

I told her my main objective for the ride was to be able to work through any tension that would inevitably pop up, and I'd like her eyes on the turns on the haunches and our canter departs. We had all the work for Second and Third, the problem is getting it out of him without the tension killing things. She laughed and was like, "My mare is solid in everything through PSG and I-1 and yet any time I ask her for a single flying change it's a bucking, bolting rodeo." 

YES, I FEEL YOU ON THAT OMG.

We started off walking around, and she told me to just let him make some laps first. He was in a brand new place, and we weren't going directly into the show ring. Let him take a breath and focus on quietly asking him to stretch out.

forever incapable of keeping my reins short. or sitting up.

Warm Up:

• Long leg yields from the quarter line to the wall to set the base for inside leg to outside rein. "Allow him to come forward."

• Your warm up should start at the bottom of the dressage levels and work its way up. Don't come out and get right to asking for work at whatever level you're showing at. Her example was canter-trot transitions. I'm completely guilty of this and couldn't even remember the last time I'd done t-c instead of w-c. 
• The purpose of the c/t/c transitions is to lift the back. She had us doing 20m circles spaced around the ring, changing the rein through a couple steps of trot each time. 
• To rebalance the canter, make sure the core is engaged. "If there are four pounds of weight in your arms, there should be six to seven pounds in your abs."

warm up canter

After getting warmed up, we went to the bulk of the lesson: the walk for the turn on the haunches. I do legit love me a good walk lesson. 

• Again, allow the forward/allow with the seat. If we stop moving the seat, the back stops moving and then the horse gets stuck and is like, "I can't!" I am sooo guilty of this. Some people have an electric seat, I have a seat like an iron weight. I can slow anything down, for better or worse. (Usually for worse, let's be honest.)
  
• The TOH is particular to each horse. It will change from horse to horse and direction to direction on whether the haunches need to lead into it more or the shoulders. 
• For Opie, to the right it was the haunches. 
• She continuously reminded me to open the right hand to lead/invite the shoulders around.
• To the left, it was the shoulders. This is his better direction. 

For the canter departs:

• Don't hold with your seat and stop the forward because that will cause them to tighten, and that's what's causing the jump up on the depart.

end canter

The departs still aren't exactly where I want them to be--that being soft and round and automatic--but I think I got some good takeaways to work on.

Overall it was a good lesson. There wasn't a lot that was necessarily new, but it was good for someone to stand there and make me do the basics and just generally ride correctly. Lessons with BM are good for troubleshooting problems, but at this point I feel like I get more from trainers that have the "currently showing in the dressage ring" experience. There's something to be said for someone who can point out, "You can hide this weak spot like this" or, "This will take you from a 6.5 to a 7". 

Hopefully TH does come back because I'll ride with her again for sure. 

Quickie

Flying Changes: Still a rodeo. Moving on.

i rode every day this week to enjoy the weather!

I'm not sure I want to broach the subject of changes this weekend, but we'll see how things unfold. I will be scheduling two more lessons as back to back as I can get them with BM to see if she can give me anything that might help keep the broncing under control. 

sun! and warmth!

We did a two hour road hack on Wednesday, and even though I thought he might have been a little tired after that, mentally I needed to log the last ride of the week in while it was 70* and sunny so I did just that. Fortunately, he was raring to go.

BM had a super fun million verticals scattered around the ring jump exercise set up, and while I took away the outside lines so I could have the rail to go around on, that still left us with a ton of options. I set everything to 2'3 because that's my "no brain cells required" height, AKA "be zen and just go around". 

I'd already scrubbed my dressage tack clean and loaded it in my trailer, so instead of riding in his loose ring on the Micklem, I put his new-to-me waterford on the figure eight and gave that a go. He warmed up super loose and relaxed, lifting his back and staying round. He was readily forward to the first couple jumps and I was able to float around in half seat not doing much but the occasional half halt. Then he tried to get a little wild to a long approach to one jump, and I took a bigger half halt which made him fling his head around while still running at the jump which was not pretty. He seemed to get the hint after that and I only had to give a real whoa one more time--he tossed his head a bit, but quickly came back and I was able to release and get a nice jump. 

I'm interested to try that bit for off property jumpies as that's what I bought it for. He started dumping his whole body and hanging on his slow twist dee that it was completely ineffective when he got strong. 

so. muddy.

We finished after maybe twenty minutes since he was so good and went to cool out on the trails. And by "cool out" I mean plant ourselves in the biggest puddles we could find and have giant splash parties. Whatever makes you happy, Dopie.

He's getting two days off, a full body PEMF treatment today, the clinic on Sunday, and then a new vet will come out on the 22nd to look at his LH to see if she can give any further insight. She's also going to check his teeth to see if getting them xrayed is something that needs to be done (for the possible EOTRH, who knows at this point) and vaccinate him. Also waiting to hear back on a specific date for the saddle fitter. 

And if he doesn't have a sane flying change after all that, imma lose my damn mind.

Flip Flop

We seem to be on a good week to bad week schedule. I guess for spring basically being here that's better than being #childsatan every single day like the past trend. Still plenty of time to get started on that though LOLFML.

last week in a nutshell

Last week was a real Debbie Downer. If I hadn't had company while riding Friday morning, I probably would have had to take a timeout to have a crying meltdown. Every ride spiraled into a giant tense rodeo--like, literal fucking saddle bronc riding--which caused my whole body to feel like it had been run over and rendered me next to useless in the saddle. 

But don't worry--Opie got his PEMF, massage gun, and on Friday a gram of Bute before having the weekend off. As long as the horse isn't suffering, right?! 

Fuck you, Opie.

candies, too?

Obviously it was all tied in to the flying changes because that's what it always is. I'm having a lot of success about making them clean and prompt with a brush of Mr Tappy against the hind leg that needs to come along to the new lead. That brings a change alright. It also brings us into the rafters and either bolting off or propping depending on...who fucking knows, really. 

I'm obscenely frustrated knowing they're in there, he knows the aid about ten different fucking ways at this point, and yet he gets so tense and in his head about them that he descends into a Rage Monster instead of just doing the job and being done. I know, logically, that horses don't think like that, but come on, man. You're killing me here.

not concerned with my mental or physical well being

I rode today striking all of Third from my mind. He knows the "tricks", but clearly the big picture is severely lacking. And I could not bring myself to get back into it. 

He is, however, a perfectly solid Second horse at this point. Whether he remains that way off property is yet to be determined, but we'll have a good sneak peak this weekend when we go around the corner for a dressage clinic. I'm going in with three requests: explain to me the turn on the haunches so my scores are consistent, help with the canter depart that still sometimes wants to come above the bit, and WTF DO I DO WITH ALL THIS TENSION PLZ SEND HELP.

Back to this morning's ride though.

He started off fucking marching in the most perfect amazing walk ever that I just let him cruise around in forever until finally--sad story--time for real work. A few shallow leg yield zig zags, lots of halt and rein backs, and then into the trot with lots of t/w/t and t/h/w/t transitions while maintaining straightness and throughness. 

The canter was tight going right, but I got some counter canter with no attempt to change or throw a shit fit. We moved in and out of the medium several times, and then switched to the left. Better that way as I didn't do anything but just half halt and half halt and half halt until the relaxation came. 

We took a break and worked on the extended walk across the diagonal, picking up the reins to go into the medium walk and back across in the extended again. He was quite lit today so this was super for him to maintain his forward without jigging--which he wanted to do the first couple of times. 

We finished with a bunch of medium trots across the diagonal which he was all about. For once. Praise Baby Jesus.