Embarrassing Actions of an Adult Rider

This is embarrassing. I mean really embarrassing. A grown woman is acting like a bratty two year old and her favorite word is “No!”  I can’t believe she’s talking to an instructor like that! She isn’t even doing anything difficult. Just some walk/trot work, mostly on a 20 meter circle. And the horse is gorgeous! A big, floaty trot when he’s truly engaged. <sigh> Most of us would kill to ride the dressage schoolmaster. She’s a good rider and can definitely handle it. What’s her problem?

Um, that bratty two year old? Uh, that’s me.
I know…I know… (hands patting the air)
Embarrassing, huh? A grown woman… (shaking my head)

My inner child was triggered by several things. I think…

1. During warm up Thunder’s nose started to run. Green mucus, yuck! His owner took him to an isolated stall and placed a call to the vet. No fever though.
2. This is my first lesson ever with my instructor’s replacement. Performance anxiety?
3. A horse replacement scramble ensued and because the dressage schoolmaster had just been used… In the meantime, this is what I overheard: the rider complaining that he just wasn’t rounding. Not rounding = giraffe head. When his feet were done the other day an abscess was discovered. Amazing, that he never seemed to be in any pain. By the way, how was he? Bucking? (huh? bucking? gulp)
4. Circles. Lots of circles. Nothing winds me up faster then circles. How can something so easy be so difficult?!

The lesson went something like this…

Pick up a trot on a 20 meter circle at A. Okay
Get your heels down. Sorry, bad habit. OK, down on the up…
Push him forward! More? No!
What?! He’s not even moving!
Not moving?! You’re crazy! Compared to Thunder…MOVING!
Don’t pull back on the reins. Aaarrrrgh!
Just in front of the vertical, on it, just in front…
He’s falling in on that circle push him off that inside leg. Tapping
Push him out with your whole leg. Pushing
Use your knee and thigh not just your lower leg. Thud
Don’t lose the outside rein connection and give with the inside rein. Aaarrrrgh!
Uh-oh, giraffe head. I don’t like this…I’m feeling really nervous.
Why? You’re doing fine. Pay no attention to his head and push him forward.
Oh my God! Butterflies. I’m actually starting to shake…
No! I’m not comfortable.
When was the last time you videoed yourself riding? Shrug
You’re a good rider and you can handle this. Uh, I can’t today.

Hmm, like I said, embarrassing. Get a grip on yourself woman! You’ve ridden this horse before. This lesson wasn’t any different from the others. Gee! Could someone please send the real Dressage Rider back?

I miss her.

Oh Where Has Dressage Rider Gone?

Oh where, oh where has dressage rider gone?
Oh where, oh where can she be?
With her hair cut short and her jeans kinda long.
Oh where, oh where can she be?

(Hummed to the tune of Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone. Believe me. You don’t want me to sing.)

Here I am! Over here!
Under the palm trees. Yup. Palm trees.

Thankfully, we were able to pull together a last minute trip and join my parents in Florida. Hey, what can I say? It’s on her bucket list and I need to make the most of our remaining time together. Oh, and apparently that trip to Disney when I was a teen doesn’t count as a trip to Florida. Go figure.

I have to admit that I felt like the parent watching her baby take it’s first steps. Mom’s first airplane trip, first time in a rental car, first time at Busch Gardens… Sheltered life, huh?

Join us in Busch Gardens, Tampa

My mother and I at Busch Gardens, Tampa

A zebra is the next best thing to a horse...right? (Humor me.)

Finally! A horse I can ride!

Tune in soon for your regularly scheduled program.

Practice Makes Perfect: A Cantering “Moment”

You know what they say, “practice makes perfect.” So, where’s the perfect?

I’m waiting. (Arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently.)
Still waiting.

You see, I keep practicing…
and practicing…
and practicing…
(sigh)

…and waiting.

Instead of perfect, I’ve discovered that I can’t pick up a canter to the right. What’s up with that? The solution is obvious. I practice. I know it’s me. I can canter to the left.

Still practicing…
waiting…
waiting…

Blech!
I few choppy half hearted steps.
Again. (Remember, I’m practicing.)
Blech!

Forget it. Switching directions.
Look! I can pick up a canter to the left.

Okay. What did I do? It feels different and he reacts.
Hmmm, cantering to the left from trot…half-halt…bending into the corner…half-halt…stepping into the right stirrup…outside leg…barely scoop with seat…

Switching directions for investigative research.
Trotting to the right…half-halt…bending in the corner…half-halt…inside leg…clenching Thunder’s side…outside leg…clenching Thunder’s side…attempt to scoop…choppy steps…

Oh my God! I’ve become a Klingon, er, cling on. To the right.
Still practicing…

Further research reveals that I’m not stepping into my left stirrup! (dope slap)

Let’s try that again.
Not bad…a little close to the wall…eeks! scraping my stirrup iron…

Uh-oh!
Thunder’s head is popping up like a Giraffe…where’s his butt?
**Expletive!** (Sorry, G-Rated blog.)
Flying down the rail…corner!…where’s the whip?…drop the whip…sit back…sit back
Whew!
Oops…caused a boarder to practice the emergency dismount. Sorry.

Note to self:
Don’t carry the whip on the outside when your horse likes to scrape you against the wall. It unintentionally tickles him. Spurs don’t help when they’re shoved into his side during the scraping process.

Really got him cantering to the left though. Maybe I should practice that.

Horses, Horses Everywhere!

Okay, I admit it. I’m spoiled. Every week, I have a one hour private dressage lesson. My time away from the family, work and dogs. It’s all about me and I like it that way. Hmmm, there has been a time or two when it would’ve been nice to divert my instructor’s attention elsewhere…

Oops! Sorry.

As I was saying, my lessons are private, but that doesn’t mean I’m the only one in the ring. I usually share the space with another instructor and her students. Notice, I said students. This weekend her student group swelled to 5! <gasp!> I know! 5! That meant 6 horses and 2 instructors. The instructors were yelling in order to be heard at the opposite ends of the Earth, er, ring. In the meantime, I was showing my age by yelling back, “What? I can’t hear you!” Can we dial the volume down please? Was that B or P? Why do these letters all sound the same darn it?!

Splat! A student hits the ground as I make the turn near H. Definitely a girthing issue. The horse trots away trying to escape the demon clinging to it’s side and slowly slipping towards his belly. Time to practice that dismount. I grab my horse’s reins and look around to take inventory. Everyone’s dismounted. The horse has been captured and the demon has been freed from his back, er, side. No, belly.

Okay, back on track. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Posting trot, one big loop H-X-K. Bend in the corner, depart from H… Ack! traffic ahead! Meandering traffic crossing the quarter line. Are they circling left? Please! Move it! Half-halt, just passed behind them as they decide to circle left. Whew!

To make things even more interesting, a horse enters decked out in Western tack. They decide to show us English riders a thing or two with a rear here and a buck there, here a buck, there a buck, everywhere a buck, buck…

That’s 7 horses and 2 instructors.

Splat! A horse spooks and his rider hits the ground. Granted he spooks a lot but away he goes…seeking the comfort of the horses grouped near E. He thinks we can’t see him there and plays hide-and-seek amongst his buddies. Once again, I practice dismounting. Funny, this time I’m just past H. A boarder snags the horse’s reins and all is good in our crowded little universe.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Canter. I know it’s crazy but I’m paying and the clock is ticking…

Away we go along the rail! Oh my God! He’s really rounding his back!…gone…wait…there it is again!…gone. Did you see that! I had a few awesome strides!

And with that another horse and instructor enter the ring. That’s 8 horses and 3 instructors and I’m out of time.

Do I have nerves of steel? Not exactly. Focus? Sometimes. Rear view mirror? Right here and waiting to be installed.

Boot-istry: Reading Jane’s Boots

Once again, I explored the art of boot-istry. (Ahem, you know…boot reading.) Today’s boots were submitted by Jane over at The Literary Horse. Please visit her blog to learn more about Mr. Chips, her family and life as a catch rider. I guarantee you at least one good laugh. Seriously.

History Jane is a catch rider and has been riding a number of different horse daily. In order for me to understand the wear on her two year old boots she gave me the following 5 day riding schedule.

Five day schedule
First year: 5 different horses, 3 daily
Currently: 3 different horses, 2 daily
(Um, that’s a lot of horses and riding.)

Let the reading of Jane’s boots begin.
(Disclaimer: This is an inexact science and to the best of my knowledge I’ve made it up.)

Pink = Inner leg
Blue = Back of the leg

Mountain Horse boots: Nice rugged, non-nonsense boots that can be used for the show ring.
Wrinkles: These are well broken in. I think they’re the correct size for the length of her calves.
Scatches/cracks: There are a number of interesting scratches and cracks. They outweigh the wear marks.
Scrapes: Notice the scrapes on the inside right foot? If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Jane rode with her toes turned out and her toes scraping the walls of the arena. OW!

Jane's boots

Inside leg: Jane uses the inside of her leg but not for riding. The wear marks are more usage marks then riding. Some of the scratches almost have me thinking that the boots are tossed around in the back of a locker. I suspect that Jane has long legs too. The upper portion of her boots rest on the flaps and the lower leg is against her horse. That would also explain why there isn’t as much wear. Legs off and away from the horse’s side. When the legs are on they aren’t clinging. Light whispers when she applies the aids.
Back of the leg: Jane is using the back of her leg as evidenced by the slightly brown discoloration of the boots. I doubt that this is a serious problem and may actually occur when she’s scraping the inside of her foot along the wall.

I have no idea if Jane is right / left handed but the wear is more noticeable on the right side. I’ll assume that she’s right handed and that’s her stronger side. Overall, she’s a confident rider with good body position.

Now for the real expert to chime in. Jane, what do you think?

Mary Wanless Returns to Larkspur Farm, MA

Mary Wanless

Mary Wanless will be returning to Larkspur Farm, MA in May 2010. She is an internationally renowned coach, author and clinician. Mary has ridden with and coached many well known riders and is best known for her biomechanics teachings.

Mark your calendar
May 15-17, 2010
Larkspur Farm, Littleton, MA
Riders and auditors are welcome!
Contact: Sibley Hannigan
sibleyhannigan@hotmail.com
and tell her Lee sent you.

A little about Mary

30 years ago, when Mary was frustrated with her limited progress as a pupil, she set out to discover how talented riders do what they do. Her guiding question was ‘What is presupposed?’ So when a rider is told, say, to ‘Get the horse on the bit?’ , what is the trainer presupposing? That the rider already has these skills (but somehow forgot, or just didn’t bother to impliment them?!) That she ought to be able to do it because it’s easy?

Any co-ordination that is easy (and therefore a ‘bit size chunk’) for the trainer is not necessarily a ‘bite size chunk’ for the pupil. When the trainer says ‘Do X’ she is assuming that he pupil can do ‘A,B,C,D,’ etc. just as she can! But that may not be the case. The reality is that most trainers teach the pupil as if they were teaching themselves. The skill of coaching lies in the coach’s/trainer’s ability to cross that skill-gap, and show the pupil her own personallised next steps, that will move her on from her current starting point.

Read more about this at Mary’s website.

Turn it Up a Notch

Once again, I declare that 20 meter circles are evil!  Evil I say!  Especially on a lazy horse. Why? Well, for the obvious reason…since I’ve been riding Thunder I haven’t had to do them. (Yah! Happy dance!) That is until this past lesson. My instructor is heading to Florida for the season and I was royally tortured. Something to remember her by, huh? <Grrrrr!>

Oh, how I cursed those circles under my breath. I cursed them trotting. I cursed them cantering and still my instructor demanded more!

Get to your touching points!   *Bleeping* touching points.
Don’t let your circle get smaller!   *Bleeping* 20 meter circle.
Activate the hind end!   *Bleeping* circle.
More outside rein!   Aaaaargh!

Interesting how much I blamed a poor, innocent and harmless circle. Did I blame my instructor? No. The horse? No. Myself? A little. That was the Aaaaargh! However, it’s been decided. It’s all the circle’s fault. Nothing can escalate my frustration faster then a 20 meter circle. The thought of quitting flitted across my mind as tears glimmered in my eyes. Yet I continued to ride that circle. It will not beat me!

Finally, we moved on to riding the quarter line in rising trot and leg yielding back to the track. As I entered the corner I asked for canter. The pattern was repeated again and again with varying results. Remember, I’m riding a lazy horse. I have to keep him in front of my leg but at the same time regulate the sideways and straight motions with the outside rein. Too much outside rein and he starts to slow down. The upward transitions into canter weren’t the best. I usually lost the outside rein contact because he’d back off. <Sigh.>

The finale? Doing the pattern in sitting trot. Ow, ow, ow… The fronts of my thighs are killing me. I’ll be amazed if I can even walk tomorrow.

Amazingly enough my instructor thought I really had him in the outside rein. I just need to work more on the canter transition.

Then I surprised both of us by announcing that I wanted to show in the spring. (Who said that? Me? Was that really me?) That is if she thought I was good enough and wouldn’t get laughed out of the arena.

The verdict? YES!

So, look for me at Beland this spring and pray that I can ride a *bleeping* 20 meter circle.

Equestrian Charm School: Say “Please”

I apologize for my absence but I’ve been away at Equestrian Charm School. Yes, you read that correctly. Charm school. It seems that riding a lazy horse, that’s behind my leg, has brought out the worst in me. I need to bring out my inner lady. (She’s around here somewhere.) The one that remembers to say “please” and “thank you.” A refresher course in good manners is in order. <Sigh>

The old me
In order to overcome my bad habit I must acknowledge it.

<Ahem>

Hello, my name is Lee, and I’m an impolite rider. You see it all started when I was riding a lazy horse and asked it to trot. I gave it a nice squeeze with my lower legs to no avail. Then a slightly stronger thunk…nada. Then a simultaneous kick and crack of the whip that resulted with my legs wrapped up around my ears. The horse shot forward only to be punished by the bit. <Sigh>

I admit it. I was unbalanced and used the reins to steady myself. (Hey, my legs were up around my ears remember?)

The same could be said about the transition into canter. <Cringe> I didn’t even bother to ask nicely. Straight into kick, legs wrapped around my ears, punishing bit. (Please don’t watch. This is embarrassing.) Something was wrong but I was in total denial. It’s the horse. It wasn’t me.

Yeah. Right.

The new nicer me
I’ve made a point of asking nicely. A light squeeze of my lower leg, pause. No reaction? Another light squeeze and simultaneous tickle of the whip. (He already knows I’ll use it.) Moving on out…quiet legs and hands…inside leg to outside rein…he’s coming down into my hands…so light…engaging his hind…rounding. “Good boy!”

Nice. We’ve both been rewarded. <Sigh>

Okay, now let’s try that canter. Half-halt…inside leg quietly at the girth…DO NOT MOVE…outside leg cues gently…slight forward give with reins. (I promise not to jab you in the mouth.) Moving on out…quiet legs and hands…inside leg to outside rein…he’s coming down!…rounding his back! Yeah! “Good boy!”

Looks like “please” and “thank you” do pay off. Excuse me but I’m off to practice more of my manners.

Fancy Corners

Prepare for the corner!  Ride your corners!  More outside rein!  Get that bend! Corners…corners…corners…corners…

Shh! What was that?
Corners…corners…corners…corners…

There it is again!
Corners…corners…corners…corners…

Please, make it stop!
Corners…corners…corners…corners…

It’s like a skipping record, er, scratched CD, playing the same old thing
again and again and again…

Corners…corners…corners…corners…

I can’t get it out of my head…
Corners…corners…corners…corners…

At this rate, I’m practically guaranteed nightmares!
About riding a perfect dressage corner of all things!

I never used to hear this before. When did things go wrong?

Mental review of 2009
Hmmm, I seem to remember another instructor telling me not to ride such fancy corners. Being the good student I am, I stopped. She must’ve had a good reason, right? Maybe the horse wasn’t developed enough? I dunno…

Hello 2010! What will I do differently?
Ride those corners and get that crazy song outta my head! Okay, let’s go!

Passing V…half-halt…half-half…soften to the inside rein…
inside leg to outside rein…feel that hind leg stepping under me…nice!
Ack! Half-halt…straighten for a blink…
Prepare…bend…straighten…

Nice corners!
Yeah, I rock!…uh-oh…passing R…half-halt…half-halt…

Hey! Do you hear that? …???
Silence. The sound of a happy instructor.

Note to self: riding fancy corners is good!

Boot-istry: Reading Halfpass’ Boots

Last month, I explored the art of boot-istry and asked you to read your own boots to discover the truth about your riding. Well, Halfpass, has accepted my challenge. (Yah! my very first victim, er, client?) Visit her at Halfpass’ Blog to read more about her foray into Third Level and how she trains her newest horse while wintering in Florida.

Let the reading of Halfpass’ boots begin.
(Disclaimer: This is an inexact science and to the best of my knowledge I’ve made it up.)

Pink = Inner leg
Blue = Back of the leg

Dress boots: These are required at the upper levels and I already know that Halfpass in competing at Third Level.
Wrinkles: These are well broken in. There are a few wrinkles but not a lot so I think they’re the correct size for the length of her calves.

Halfpass' Boots

Inside leg: As you can see by the pink circles Halfpass is using her inside leg. That’s good! It allows her to communicate more subtly with her horses and provide a corridor between her legs for the horse to travel through. However, the marks are lighter than those on the back of her leg. Perhaps this is a newer way for her to ride or it depends on which horse she’s riding? Remember, she has three.

Back of the leg: Halfpass has definitely been using the back of her leg! (See the blue circles.) Not so good. Her feet are not parallel to the horse’s body and tend to stick out at possible 10 and 2 on the clock. This could indicate tight hips (I know all about that one!), a lot of spur use or kicking instead of squeezing with the lower leg. Do you have trouble with a horse falling in/out? Maybe not very forward? Very interesting to see how the rub marks roll from the inside leg toward the back. A definite progression toward better riding.

View from the back: The view from the back confirms that Halfpass has often used the back of her leg. You can see the rub marks running up the back seam and heel. The good thing is that she’s also using her inside leg.

The wear seems to be pretty consistent on both boots so I believe that she’s equally developed on the right and left sides of her body. I also feel that she’s equally confident in both her conscious and unconscious mind.

So, Halfpass, how did I do?