I know, I know.
I was supposed to have posted the commentary from my past two clinics (October and November), and I started on October, I really did. Then I sort of... zoned... out....
There has been a lot going on in my life, lately. I realised that I had failed to blurb about my most recent brush with death, and so I think I will start there. I've mentioned before that Grimsey is unpredictable. He's known to perform Airs above the ground whilst being led in hand, and so very few people are allowed to handle him. But he's always been very good about not having any baby moments under saddle (other than a few bucks to re-balance himself in the canter). I've had him for two years, and if I string all of my rides together, he's got maybe six months under saddle. Well, he was overdue for a baby moment.
It was an odd combination of events that landed me in the sand (I was told I was yelling at him as I fell), and when I smacked my head on the ground, my only thought was "damn it, now I need a new helmet!" Keeping in mind that his was my brand-new $300 One K. Woe is me.
Being the cowgirl I so obviously am not, I got up immediately, caught my horse (who had taken off in fear of OHMYGODWHATWASTHATTHINGTHATJUSTFELLOFFMYBACK?!?!?!), and got back on. We trotted around for about five minutes (having been done when he had his "moment"), and I dismounted. As I was un-tacking him, holy Mary, mother of God, I suddenly couldn't see straight.
Enter trip to the ER.
Enter a seven hour stay in the ER.
Enter CT scan.
Enter dark spot.
Enter ordered MRI.
Enter... brain herniation.
Hmm... that sounds not good. My family physician (who, coincidentally, no one in my family likes) said "eh, no big deal." But when I went home to research what the tech had written - let's face it, I know nothing about brains - I was a little more skeptical. According to the MRI tech, it doesn't appear to be caused by trauma, which leaves two options: 1.) I was born with it, 2.) I have a tumor. Cool.
Turns out this thing can kill me and quite quickly. Cardiac and respiratory arrest? Strenuous exercise is bad for me? Riding, too? Yep.
So, steadfastly ignoring these warnings, I've been working and riding - no matter that I get nauseous doing it.
Add to that my boss has melanoma and is taking interferon, you have a recipe for two very unhappy people in close quarters. I'm getting sick of her whining, and she's getting sick of me getting sick.
In any case, I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon in a few days to discuss my hernia.
Wish me luck.
If I'm lucky, I'm going to actually finish typing all of this up on the day I start. I'll let you know at the end how that goes.
So, first is first, I always have to do a little blurb at the beginning about something that usually isn't really significant at all. I've taken to tricking Grimsey onto the trailer (if you don't know about my trailer woes, see the June clinic), and so Grim and I showed up rough and ready for our ride with Sherry. I was a little (okay, a lot) appalled with myself for not having a proper turnout. In my defense, it's been averaging 103 degrees (yes, that's fareinheight) and the only good time to ride is in the morning. Well, I work in the morning. As such, I've been desperately trying to squeeze in rides at dusk whilst simultaneously trying to not melt. Add to that my back injury turning me into all but a useless blob and you have a recipe for disaster.
All right, so that's a little dramatic. All the same, Grimsey had had, at this point, three weeks off (mostly credited to my farrier who was too busy to drive down and put a lost shoe back on). In the past month, I'd ridden him a grand total of three times. Two of the three times, he broke into two at the canter depart. For those of you who can't read between those horribly subtle lines: He bucked. Big.
As always, Sherry's comments are bold and my additions are in italics.
----
07 - 25 - 2012
Grimsey
Spiral in to 10m CircleOn its face, this is a simple exercise, but there are many nuances. It's a yield in and out of a circle, so you cannot just let your horse fall into the circle.
Start on 20m circle.
1 & 2 aidsThis is in referance to the 1-2-3-4 aids, from the April clinic. To make it easy on you, 1 = inside rein, 2 = inside leg.
Use inside rein, bend nose to inside, use inside weight to turn onto 10cm circle.Inside weight, again, goes back to a previous clinic; however, I can't be arsed to go find which one it was (probably April), so I'll just do a quick overview. A while ago, Sherry taught me the Drunken Line (ahh, yes, it was April) in which she enouraged me to push him over with my thigh whilst simultaneously putting a small bit of weight in the opposite stirrup. It's a momentary push, and not consistant - like a pulsating feeling. So, putting that theory to this exercise, were you to spiral in to a 10m circle, you would weight your inside stirrup (another way of thinking about it would be to "drop the inside knee") and push him over with the outside thigh - all of this while maintaining the bend with the inside leg and still asking him to step over. When he sticks his nose in the air, bend him to the inside, not asking him to put his head down.
Aside from the obvious, her reasoning for not asking him to put his head down is because simply bending him around the leg will encourage him to release at the withers on his own - this, however, does not mean he "gets out of" bending (the whole "look, ma, I'm putting my head down!" should not distract you from the ultimate goal of the exercise - an inside bend and a yield).
Work on the hard side more frequently, not for longer periods of time.
Go straight, bend to inside and then push him out with leg.This is typically easier. You'll keep the inside bend and use your Outside Weight to ask him to move out - either by weighting the outside stirrup or by dropping the outside knee - and push with your inside calf as the inside hind is coming forward to ask him for that step over.
Three Ways to "Round"
1.) Do exercises that develop muscle that make it easy.Bow Ties, for example.2.) Repetition of aids - Communication.
3.) ContractIt's been a while since the clinic, so I'll see if I can remember every detail she told me (probably not) about this so-called "contract."
The Contract (from here on out will always be capitalized, so remember that if it comes up in later posts, but I'm pretty sure I'll just link back to it anyways...) is kind of like "if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Or, if I use my inside leg and close my inside hand on the rein, you soften in the jaw and bend, and I'll not fuss at you - and to top it off, I'll ride better and it'll be easier for you.
Sherry wants the ultimate goal of this exercise to be to teach that the inside rein means soften and give. To top that off, it's great for the horse.
Here, Grim and I worked on the Nose to Rail Leg Yield (from the June clinic)Walk helps loosen his back and hips
ALL TRANSITIONS ARE THROUGH LEG YIELD for now.
Yes ma'am!! (yes, she really did capitalize all of that)
360* Turn on the ForehandIrrefutably my least favourite exercises she's ever taught me.Small circle into turn on the forehand. Half halts make the difference AND the knee pulling down in the direction you want to go.So, again, a reference to the weight. One thing she was sure to beat into me is that the knee doesn't drop and stay down, it drops for just a second and becomes neutral again (I feel it's important to note I did not say "comes up"). The knee dropping will have the same effect as weight in the stirrup and encourage the horse to come into the circle (whereas if I were to push with my thigh he would yield out). At the same time, I am using my inside leg to push him over and keep the motor running.
About at this point, Grimsey was completely out of gas and the whole exercise felt as though it were being executed in three feet of mud. Note were were only walking whilst doing this.
This exercise, for me, was a little hard to grasp. I wasn't quite getting the timing/feeling of it, and for me this is not unusual. It takes me a while to feel something new and in fact took me a week or two to start using my leg in time with his hind leg properly and automatically. I've not been able to work on it, so there have been no stunning revelations concerning it, but I'll share if I suddenly have a brain wave.
One of the things Sherry did not mention in the notes (and why should she, it wasn't a huge part of the lesson), is that Grimsey and I cantered for her for the first time. Of course it was all a spectacular failure. We started to the right (his poor lead), missed the lead, and then broke a chip off of one of the poles Marti uses for the dressage arena (whoops). To the left, Sherry described it to me as "He broke into three pieces." Grim dropped his withers, picked up his head and his butt, and promptly fell apart at the canter. When I say promptly, I mean, we got approximately five steps of canter work.
We didn't canter again.
She did suggest to me, however, that lunging would be a good thing for him, and so it's too bad that lunging on a line turns Grimsey into a complete lunatic (no matter what I said in my post Philippe Karl's School of Legrete).
-----
And so that's it. We actually got quite a lot accomplished, I thought. The next clinic is August 29th, and with luck Grimsey will load once again. Although, I've been considering taking Faun instead to see if Sherry can help me with his canter.
And for those of you who are wondering: Yes, I did finish this in one sitting.
So, first is first, I always have to do a little blurb at the beginning about something that usually isn't really significant at all. I've taken to tricking Grimsey onto the trailer (if you don't know about my trailer woes, see the June clinic), and so Grim and I showed up rough and ready for our ride with Sherry. I was a little (okay, a lot) appalled with myself for not having a proper turnout. In my defense, it's been averaging 103 degrees (yes, that's fareinheight) and the only good time to ride is in the morning. Well, I work in the morning. As such, I've been desperately trying to squeeze in rides at dusk whilst simultaneously trying to not melt. Add to that my back injury turning me into all but a useless blob and you have a recipe for disaster.
All right, so that's a little dramatic. All the same, Grimsey had had, at this point, three weeks off (mostly credited to my farrier who was too busy to drive down and put a lost shoe back on). In the past month, I'd ridden him a grand total of three times. Two of the three times, he broke into two at the canter depart. For those of you who can't read between those horribly subtle lines: He bucked. Big.
As always, Sherry's comments are bold and my additions are in italics.
----
07 - 25 - 2012
Grimsey
Spiral in to 10m CircleOn its face, this is a simple exercise, but there are many nuances. It's a yield in and out of a circle, so you cannot just let your horse fall into the circle.
Start on 20m circle.
1 & 2 aidsThis is in referance to the 1-2-3-4 aids, from the April clinic. To make it easy on you, 1 = inside rein, 2 = inside leg.
Use inside rein, bend nose to inside, use inside weight to turn onto 10cm circle.Inside weight, again, goes back to a previous clinic; however, I can't be arsed to go find which one it was (probably April), so I'll just do a quick overview. A while ago, Sherry taught me the Drunken Line (ahh, yes, it was April) in which she enouraged me to push him over with my thigh whilst simultaneously putting a small bit of weight in the opposite stirrup. It's a momentary push, and not consistant - like a pulsating feeling. So, putting that theory to this exercise, were you to spiral in to a 10m circle, you would weight your inside stirrup (another way of thinking about it would be to "drop the inside knee") and push him over with the outside thigh - all of this while maintaining the bend with the inside leg and still asking him to step over. When he sticks his nose in the air, bend him to the inside, not asking him to put his head down.
Aside from the obvious, her reasoning for not asking him to put his head down is because simply bending him around the leg will encourage him to release at the withers on his own - this, however, does not mean he "gets out of" bending (the whole "look, ma, I'm putting my head down!" should not distract you from the ultimate goal of the exercise - an inside bend and a yield).
Work on the hard side more frequently, not for longer periods of time.
Go straight, bend to inside and then push him out with leg.This is typically easier. You'll keep the inside bend and use your Outside Weight to ask him to move out - either by weighting the outside stirrup or by dropping the outside knee - and push with your inside calf as the inside hind is coming forward to ask him for that step over.
Three Ways to "Round"
1.) Do exercises that develop muscle that make it easy.Bow Ties, for example.2.) Repetition of aids - Communication.
3.) ContractIt's been a while since the clinic, so I'll see if I can remember every detail she told me (probably not) about this so-called "contract."
The Contract (from here on out will always be capitalized, so remember that if it comes up in later posts, but I'm pretty sure I'll just link back to it anyways...) is kind of like "if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Or, if I use my inside leg and close my inside hand on the rein, you soften in the jaw and bend, and I'll not fuss at you - and to top it off, I'll ride better and it'll be easier for you.
Sherry wants the ultimate goal of this exercise to be to teach that the inside rein means soften and give. To top that off, it's great for the horse.
Here, Grim and I worked on the Nose to Rail Leg Yield (from the June clinic)Walk helps loosen his back and hips
ALL TRANSITIONS ARE THROUGH LEG YIELD for now.
Yes ma'am!! (yes, she really did capitalize all of that)
360* Turn on the ForehandIrrefutably my least favourite exercises she's ever taught me.Small circle into turn on the forehand. Half halts make the difference AND the knee pulling down in the direction you want to go.So, again, a reference to the weight. One thing she was sure to beat into me is that the knee doesn't drop and stay down, it drops for just a second and becomes neutral again (I feel it's important to note I did not say "comes up"). The knee dropping will have the same effect as weight in the stirrup and encourage the horse to come into the circle (whereas if I were to push with my thigh he would yield out). At the same time, I am using my inside leg to push him over and keep the motor running.
About at this point, Grimsey was completely out of gas and the whole exercise felt as though it were being executed in three feet of mud. Note were were only walking whilst doing this.
This exercise, for me, was a little hard to grasp. I wasn't quite getting the timing/feeling of it, and for me this is not unusual. It takes me a while to feel something new and in fact took me a week or two to start using my leg in time with his hind leg properly and automatically. I've not been able to work on it, so there have been no stunning revelations concerning it, but I'll share if I suddenly have a brain wave.
One of the things Sherry did not mention in the notes (and why should she, it wasn't a huge part of the lesson), is that Grimsey and I cantered for her for the first time. Of course it was all a spectacular failure. We started to the right (his poor lead), missed the lead, and then broke a chip off of one of the poles Marti uses for the dressage arena (whoops). To the left, Sherry described it to me as "He broke into three pieces." Grim dropped his withers, picked up his head and his butt, and promptly fell apart at the canter. When I say promptly, I mean, we got approximately five steps of canter work.
We didn't canter again.
She did suggest to me, however, that lunging would be a good thing for him, and so it's too bad that lunging on a line turns Grimsey into a complete lunatic (no matter what I said in my post Philippe Karl's School of Legrete).
-----
And so that's it. We actually got quite a lot accomplished, I thought. The next clinic is August 29th, and with luck Grimsey will load once again. Although, I've been considering taking Faun instead to see if Sherry can help me with his canter.
And for those of you who are wondering: Yes, I did finish this in one sitting.
Okay, okay. I know this is late (all of my entries are, so I suppose it doesn't really matter), but as they say, better late than never.
These are my notes from the June clinic, and before I begin, a little background is required for this particular day. Grimsey refused to load into the trailer. Given that he kicks like a cow on steroids, it's difficult to load him by myself without potentially sustaining a life-threatening injury, and so when coaxing him on fails and time has dwindled down to get-on-now-or-we'll-be-late, it's better for my physical safety to call it quits. As such, instead of getting myself killed, I loaded up Friday and took him instead.
Since I don't think I've covered this before, Friday has navicular - according to the vet it's "not very advanced," so he's still sound for light riding. This will be important later because of one or two comments in the notes, which I won't deign to edit out.
So, without further ado, my notes from the June 2012 Sherry Guess clinic. As usual, her comments in bold, my additions in italics.
---
6 - 20 - 2012
JS Friday Impression
Think of knees pointing toward ground; line along top of thigh causes hamstring at top to engage.This goes back to the April clinic, so see that post to get a better description of this.
Does his flat back get livelier? Not yet.
This is in reference to Friday's posture; he naturally carrier himself well and with a flat back (not necesserily lifted, but not inverted like a hammock). As we walked, Sherry wanted to see if I could get a little more swing in his back, which we do eventually achieve, so read on! :)
Right hind short today. Reference to Friday stepping short behind; his left front is more affected by the navicular.
Nose to Rail Leg Yield
- Check if neck is bent, or if it is a true leg yield (35-45 degree angle). You want the hindquarters to move in a fraction, you don't just want the neck to bend.
- Look over outside (rail) shoulder to feel the muscles you should be using. Be sure to use all muscles properly - you're not just turning your neck, your using your shoulder and back as well. Don't crane your neck to look down at the dock, per-se, otherwise you'll only be accessing the musclesin your neck, so be sure to utilize all of the muscles on that side.
- Push on the "up" Or, push as the outside hind leg is coming forward.
- Take half-halt with both reins if needed.
Once you get the feel for it, start adding a small circle right haflway down the arena before continuing on in the leg yield. Sherry never specified, but I like to do these circles as I would do a Bow Tie, using my inside calf as the horse's inside hind is coming forward in order to ask the horse to take a larger step and move under himself. Again, careful not to block with your seatbone.
Timing of leg use - The horse lifts its back while foot is on ground; use your leg as it swings in onto their side. This goes back to the May clinic when Sherry talked about feeling the thigh swinging in and out against the horse's barrel.
Leg yield patterns:
These are very basic concepts, and I will list them in order from easiest to most difficult.
3-quarter Line, Yielding to the Rail:My previous instructor used to tell us to "turn early," and that's pretty much what you're doing (she also called it the "quarter" line, instead of the 3/4 line). Instead of following the rail through the turn, turn early so that you are basically in the middle of the centre-line of the arena and the rail. Position yourself for a yield, and pulsate your calf to ask for the horse to move to the rail. This is the easiest of the yeilds, since the horse naturally wants to gravitate to the rail - plus, it gives you a focal point.
Yield Off the Rail:The exact opposite of what is above. You will follow the rail through the turn, prepare for the yield, and ask the horse to move over until you reach the quarter line. Once you reach your mark, don't just abandon the horse, straighten him properly.
Yield Off, Then to the Rail:Here, you will combine the two exercises above, yielding off of, and then to, the rail. If your arena is large enough, you can add more yields in-between. I prefer to always be yielding through the corner.
Three Hinges:
1.) Jaw/Poll - Hand/Fingers
2.) Shoulder & Ribcage - Knee/Thigh/Panty line (lol)3.) Hindquarters - Calf, hip muscle
It's basically as it sounds, describing which of the rider's body parts affect each part (or "hinge") of the horse.
---
That's it. It was pretty basic stuff, and really just a review since Friday is unsound. Friday didn't know any of it, as he didn't stay sound long enough to learn all the lateral work, and I'm pretty sure that by the end he was flipping me the bird (if horses had middle fingers). Hey, an old guy shouldn't have to come out of retirement to work!!! He is, now, happily turned back out with Bonc and once again enjoying the retired life. Although, and one of my former instructors would argue with me on this point, Friday always did enjoy having a job.
These are my notes from the June clinic, and before I begin, a little background is required for this particular day. Grimsey refused to load into the trailer. Given that he kicks like a cow on steroids, it's difficult to load him by myself without potentially sustaining a life-threatening injury, and so when coaxing him on fails and time has dwindled down to get-on-now-or-we'll-be-late, it's better for my physical safety to call it quits. As such, instead of getting myself killed, I loaded up Friday and took him instead.
Since I don't think I've covered this before, Friday has navicular - according to the vet it's "not very advanced," so he's still sound for light riding. This will be important later because of one or two comments in the notes, which I won't deign to edit out.
So, without further ado, my notes from the June 2012 Sherry Guess clinic. As usual, her comments in bold, my additions in italics.
---
6 - 20 - 2012
JS Friday Impression
Think of knees pointing toward ground; line along top of thigh causes hamstring at top to engage.This goes back to the April clinic, so see that post to get a better description of this.
Does his flat back get livelier? Not yet.
This is in reference to Friday's posture; he naturally carrier himself well and with a flat back (not necesserily lifted, but not inverted like a hammock). As we walked, Sherry wanted to see if I could get a little more swing in his back, which we do eventually achieve, so read on! :)
Right hind short today. Reference to Friday stepping short behind; his left front is more affected by the navicular.
Nose to Rail Leg Yield
- Check if neck is bent, or if it is a true leg yield (35-45 degree angle). You want the hindquarters to move in a fraction, you don't just want the neck to bend.
- Look over outside (rail) shoulder to feel the muscles you should be using. Be sure to use all muscles properly - you're not just turning your neck, your using your shoulder and back as well. Don't crane your neck to look down at the dock, per-se, otherwise you'll only be accessing the musclesin your neck, so be sure to utilize all of the muscles on that side.
- Push on the "up" Or, push as the outside hind leg is coming forward.
- Take half-halt with both reins if needed.
Once you get the feel for it, start adding a small circle right haflway down the arena before continuing on in the leg yield. Sherry never specified, but I like to do these circles as I would do a Bow Tie, using my inside calf as the horse's inside hind is coming forward in order to ask the horse to take a larger step and move under himself. Again, careful not to block with your seatbone.
Timing of leg use - The horse lifts its back while foot is on ground; use your leg as it swings in onto their side. This goes back to the May clinic when Sherry talked about feeling the thigh swinging in and out against the horse's barrel.
Leg yield patterns:
These are very basic concepts, and I will list them in order from easiest to most difficult.
3-quarter Line, Yielding to the Rail:My previous instructor used to tell us to "turn early," and that's pretty much what you're doing (she also called it the "quarter" line, instead of the 3/4 line). Instead of following the rail through the turn, turn early so that you are basically in the middle of the centre-line of the arena and the rail. Position yourself for a yield, and pulsate your calf to ask for the horse to move to the rail. This is the easiest of the yeilds, since the horse naturally wants to gravitate to the rail - plus, it gives you a focal point.
Yield Off the Rail:The exact opposite of what is above. You will follow the rail through the turn, prepare for the yield, and ask the horse to move over until you reach the quarter line. Once you reach your mark, don't just abandon the horse, straighten him properly.
Yield Off, Then to the Rail:Here, you will combine the two exercises above, yielding off of, and then to, the rail. If your arena is large enough, you can add more yields in-between. I prefer to always be yielding through the corner.
Three Hinges:
1.) Jaw/Poll - Hand/Fingers
2.) Shoulder & Ribcage - Knee/Thigh/Panty line (lol)3.) Hindquarters - Calf, hip muscle
It's basically as it sounds, describing which of the rider's body parts affect each part (or "hinge") of the horse.
---
That's it. It was pretty basic stuff, and really just a review since Friday is unsound. Friday didn't know any of it, as he didn't stay sound long enough to learn all the lateral work, and I'm pretty sure that by the end he was flipping me the bird (if horses had middle fingers). Hey, an old guy shouldn't have to come out of retirement to work!!! He is, now, happily turned back out with Bonc and once again enjoying the retired life. Although, and one of my former instructors would argue with me on this point, Friday always did enjoy having a job.
I've been feeling all sorts of useless lately. First I'm side-lined by mysterious hip pain, and suddenly my old back injury decides to flare up, and just clothes-lined me completely. Regardless, I rode through the Summer Classic and made it look fairly easy in the grand scheme of things.
The Summer Classic was, well... interesting, to say the least.
Faun was a complete spaz in schooling and in our first two classes.
Our first hunter course went something like this:
Enter at gate,
Trot across diagonal,
Slip into canter back-breaking buck into canter depart
Canter rush to diagonal single,
Jump fling self over burgandy flowers,
Canter crawl to outside line in seven nine strides,
Canter slowly build breakneck pace to white oxer,
Jumpprettily boldly,
Outside line inseven five,
Diagonal line inthree two-and-a-half,
Take off at full gallop around turn after unsuccessful lead change.
Yeah, it was a bit of a clusterfuck.
The second course wasn't much better. Still, miraculously, we managed to snag fourth and fifth out of nine, so I have no clue what the other riders were doing but... it must have been awful.
Luckily, Faun and I were able to pull it together enough to score a 69 (teehee) in our Hunter Challenge to win it. Part of me is appalled that we *won* with a 69 (teehee), and the other part is pleased that we were rewarded for pulling it all together and having a consistant ride. I'm pretty sure the judge rewarded us for straightening out and improving.
Overall, I was pleased. Faun and I don't get a lot of practice in, and usually I only ride him in the week leading up to the show, so we don't always get on; however, I think that when we both get our heads on straight we make a pretty good team.
Anyway, I still have notes from the June clinic to post, and the July clinic was actually today (!!), so I've got some catching up to do!
The Summer Classic was, well... interesting, to say the least.
Faun was a complete spaz in schooling and in our first two classes.
Our first hunter course went something like this:
Enter at gate,
Trot across diagonal,
Jump
Outside line in
Diagonal line in
Take off at full gallop around turn after unsuccessful lead change.
Yeah, it was a bit of a clusterfuck.
The second course wasn't much better. Still, miraculously, we managed to snag fourth and fifth out of nine, so I have no clue what the other riders were doing but... it must have been awful.
Luckily, Faun and I were able to pull it together enough to score a 69 (teehee) in our Hunter Challenge to win it. Part of me is appalled that we *won* with a 69 (teehee), and the other part is pleased that we were rewarded for pulling it all together and having a consistant ride. I'm pretty sure the judge rewarded us for straightening out and improving.
Overall, I was pleased. Faun and I don't get a lot of practice in, and usually I only ride him in the week leading up to the show, so we don't always get on; however, I think that when we both get our heads on straight we make a pretty good team.
Anyway, I still have notes from the June clinic to post, and the July clinic was actually today (!!), so I've got some catching up to do!
That's French, if any of you were wondering.
Some time last week (or maybe it was the week before, it's hard to remember when you've been babysitting four children over the course of one week), I mentioned that I had ordered Philippe Karl's Classical Dressage (volume 1), and that I would share all of the wondrous things I gleaned from the DVD.
Well, I didn't glean much.
When you watch the DVD at 10:00 at night after a long day of work, your brain gets a little...
fuzzy.
I tried. I really, really did.
But I kind of lost focus.
(post concussion syndrome will do that to you).
I did, however, have a breakthrough with Grim using Philippe Karl's method of lunging.
All my life (okay, that's an over-statement) I'd been taught to plant my feet in the middle of the circle and do. Not. Move.
(I can feel myself getting dizzy already)
It was fact. Just stand and let the horse go around you, because if you move the horse will think he's got the upper hand (or something like that... I'm honestly not sure what the point was). So when I saw Philippe Karl walking his horse up the long end of the arena I went HUH?
Then I went
Some time last week (or maybe it was the week before, it's hard to remember when you've been babysitting four children over the course of one week), I mentioned that I had ordered Philippe Karl's Classical Dressage (volume 1), and that I would share all of the wondrous things I gleaned from the DVD.
Well, I didn't glean much.
When you watch the DVD at 10:00 at night after a long day of work, your brain gets a little...
fuzzy.
I tried. I really, really did.
But I kind of lost focus.
(post concussion syndrome will do that to you).
I did, however, have a breakthrough with Grim using Philippe Karl's method of lunging.
All my life (okay, that's an over-statement) I'd been taught to plant my feet in the middle of the circle and do. Not. Move.
(I can feel myself getting dizzy already)
It was fact. Just stand and let the horse go around you, because if you move the horse will think he's got the upper hand (or something like that... I'm honestly not sure what the point was). So when I saw Philippe Karl walking his horse up the long end of the arena I went HUH?
Then I went
Yep
You may be wondering "why the stupid face? It's not a big deal."
But YES. It WAS.
Because, you see, Grimsey hates lunging. He will do anything to get out of going in a circle attached to the end of a rope while I stand in the middle and make kissy noises brandishing a long, thin stick. Huh. Can't imagine why.
Anyway, he leaned, and ran sideways, and was just an ornery bitch on the lunge line, and so the next day, I grabbed my equipment, grabbed my horse, grabbed my helmet, and we set off for the arena. After de-tangling my lunge line and de-tangling my whip from the weeds gleefully growing in my arena, Grim and I set off on a battle of wills. It was he versus myself. It was horse versus man. It was... it was... oh, my, he's lunging.
I walked him up the long side, asked him to circle, walked back down, trotted, circled, and then I wondered:
Did I grab the wrong horse?
Grimsey was engaged, not fighting the line, not leaning, and it was like Christmas in July (only it's June).
For once, Grim and I got on just fine.
I am a certified Yahoo!Answers stalker. It's purely for fun because, let's face it, you never know what you'll see on there. Some of the questions are so ridiculous that you just can't help but wonder at the ignorance of some people, and then you start to wonder how they could possibly so uneducated. Then you start to feel bad for laughing at it.
All of that aside, I do enjoy skulking around the horse section. You see a lot of repeat questions on there: Critique my riding; am I too big for this horse; daddy won't get me a pony, what do I do; etc.
And sometimes it's something I'm very familiar with: "Should I change barns?"
This is a question relating to something which I've learned the hard way - that if you're unhappy, you should probably get the heck out.
I'm one of those people who doesn't like to disappoint their friends (and I like to think that most people are this way), so when I'm uncomfortable in a situation, I just shut down. I start to get passive, and I start to get anxious at the thought of dealing with the situation. Much to my chagrin, and no matter how much I vehemently disagree, I've been told often that I am "too nice" and this is why I always get into such situations.
In 2009, I began working for a local trainer. She had a reputation of being both hard on her students, and being extremely good at instructing. I started out just feeding horses and mucking out stalls, plus a few odd jobs. It worked out well - we got on just fine. As my employment with her continued, I discovered that she would make careless comments.
"My daughter is bipolar, and that's way worse than your clinical depression." (Yeah, I was a dramatic teenager...).
"God takes care of old women and idiots. If I'm the old woman, then you must be the idiot."
"At least you didn't make a fool of yourself this time."
Over the three years I spent with her, I discovered that her "honesty" had no bounds; and she took to insulting not only my intelligence, but my horse, my tack, my trailer, and my house as well. She found it her place to deposit her opinion on how I spent my money, on how my parents (graciously) paid for my riding habit, and on how I make a fool of myself in front of others. Her daughter once, very loudly, informed me that I would fail in riding one of her ponies.
Looking back, I cannot fathom how I put up with her. I cannot figure out why on earth I allowed her to continue the insults and the bad mouthing (oh, yes, I wasn't the only one she insulted, and some of the things she and her daughter said about the other students and their families behind their backs would make your skin crawl).
During the last year of my employment with her, I began riding her Oldenburg mare Mikailah after selling my paint horse (which I loved and would have kept without the prompting of instructor to sell, sell, sell because I'd outgrown him). The mare was green. She'd only had a handful of rides when I first got on her, and so I taught her everything (the good and the bad). We were a golden team: Both oddballs who didn't fit into our discipline, and she tried so hard for her inexperienced rider and put up with my mistakes in a glorious fashion. I wanted so badly to buy her.
But Mikailah was difficult. She was reactive and quick, and I'd never ridden a horse like her before. I was scared of her big movement and speed, and it took us a while to get the ball rolling. As we progressed, my instructor started to expect more of us. More lead changes, more perfect distances to the jumps, more, more. We weren't ready for more.
There were basics my inexperienced brain knew Mikailah was lacking. I didn't like jumping courses and flinging myself at her for the lead change we had barely schooled. And I'd get hammered for it. My instructor was vicious. I stopped enjoying the ride, and Mikailah knew it. I was washed out, despondent, and tired all the time. As my instructor's impatience with my riding grew, so did her impatience for my work. She began swapping things around - moving horses, changing feed, and she wouldn't tell me. Lord help me when I found out I had been doing it wrong.
I got sick.
Anxiety about work and disappointing my instructor made me physically ill.
Regardless, I went to ride and work every day. The quality of my work disintegrated beneath my nausea and lingering effects from a brain injury that seemed to worsen under the stress. The more tired I became, the more muddled my brain was. I could not focus, I could not remember, and I was oh, so exhausted.
My instructor wanted me to buy Mikailah, but when approached about the sale, she would not talk to me about it, saying that she morally could not since my parents were paying for lessons (keeping in mind that I was, at this point, an adult and I, not my parents, would have paid for the horse). I had no idea what she was asking for the horse, or how much she would charge me for board. My parents' response? "Well, what do you want?"
I didn't even know if I could afford the horse; how was I supposed to know what I wanted?
When I finally informed my instructor that I could not afford her, the situation degraded rapidly. She informed me that she had turned down a buyer for the mare and had been charging us for lessons based off the expectation that we would buy the horse.
I rode Mikailah one last time, and that weekend I packed up my equipment. My instructor offered me a pay cut, and work in exchange for lessons. I could barely afford gas for my truck as it was, and so I quit.
Looking back there are so many what-ifs. What if she'd communicated to me about the horse. What if I'd pushed harder for the sale price. What if I'd taken the pay cut. What if I'd bought the mare and moved her to my property.
Part of me bemoans the loss of such a great education. Part of me knows I am better off. And the largest part of me has realised that I should have left a long time ago.
It is thanks to this instructor, and her daughter, that I will not ever allow myself to be in such a poisonous relationship again. I allowed her to verbally abuse me without reproach; I was her punching bag to take out her stress and frustration on. She finds her happiness in putting others down, and so I pity her.
Six months later, she is still the bitter and hateful woman she was when I met her.
I learned a lot from her, but the most important thing she taught me is this: I will not ever subject myself to such a hate-filled "friendship" again.
All of that aside, I do enjoy skulking around the horse section. You see a lot of repeat questions on there: Critique my riding; am I too big for this horse; daddy won't get me a pony, what do I do; etc.
And sometimes it's something I'm very familiar with: "Should I change barns?"
This is a question relating to something which I've learned the hard way - that if you're unhappy, you should probably get the heck out.
I'm one of those people who doesn't like to disappoint their friends (and I like to think that most people are this way), so when I'm uncomfortable in a situation, I just shut down. I start to get passive, and I start to get anxious at the thought of dealing with the situation. Much to my chagrin, and no matter how much I vehemently disagree, I've been told often that I am "too nice" and this is why I always get into such situations.
In 2009, I began working for a local trainer. She had a reputation of being both hard on her students, and being extremely good at instructing. I started out just feeding horses and mucking out stalls, plus a few odd jobs. It worked out well - we got on just fine. As my employment with her continued, I discovered that she would make careless comments.
"My daughter is bipolar, and that's way worse than your clinical depression." (Yeah, I was a dramatic teenager...).
"God takes care of old women and idiots. If I'm the old woman, then you must be the idiot."
"At least you didn't make a fool of yourself this time."
Over the three years I spent with her, I discovered that her "honesty" had no bounds; and she took to insulting not only my intelligence, but my horse, my tack, my trailer, and my house as well. She found it her place to deposit her opinion on how I spent my money, on how my parents (graciously) paid for my riding habit, and on how I make a fool of myself in front of others. Her daughter once, very loudly, informed me that I would fail in riding one of her ponies.
Looking back, I cannot fathom how I put up with her. I cannot figure out why on earth I allowed her to continue the insults and the bad mouthing (oh, yes, I wasn't the only one she insulted, and some of the things she and her daughter said about the other students and their families behind their backs would make your skin crawl).
During the last year of my employment with her, I began riding her Oldenburg mare Mikailah after selling my paint horse (which I loved and would have kept without the prompting of instructor to sell, sell, sell because I'd outgrown him). The mare was green. She'd only had a handful of rides when I first got on her, and so I taught her everything (the good and the bad). We were a golden team: Both oddballs who didn't fit into our discipline, and she tried so hard for her inexperienced rider and put up with my mistakes in a glorious fashion. I wanted so badly to buy her.
But Mikailah was difficult. She was reactive and quick, and I'd never ridden a horse like her before. I was scared of her big movement and speed, and it took us a while to get the ball rolling. As we progressed, my instructor started to expect more of us. More lead changes, more perfect distances to the jumps, more, more. We weren't ready for more.
There were basics my inexperienced brain knew Mikailah was lacking. I didn't like jumping courses and flinging myself at her for the lead change we had barely schooled. And I'd get hammered for it. My instructor was vicious. I stopped enjoying the ride, and Mikailah knew it. I was washed out, despondent, and tired all the time. As my instructor's impatience with my riding grew, so did her impatience for my work. She began swapping things around - moving horses, changing feed, and she wouldn't tell me. Lord help me when I found out I had been doing it wrong.
I got sick.
Anxiety about work and disappointing my instructor made me physically ill.
Regardless, I went to ride and work every day. The quality of my work disintegrated beneath my nausea and lingering effects from a brain injury that seemed to worsen under the stress. The more tired I became, the more muddled my brain was. I could not focus, I could not remember, and I was oh, so exhausted.
My instructor wanted me to buy Mikailah, but when approached about the sale, she would not talk to me about it, saying that she morally could not since my parents were paying for lessons (keeping in mind that I was, at this point, an adult and I, not my parents, would have paid for the horse). I had no idea what she was asking for the horse, or how much she would charge me for board. My parents' response? "Well, what do you want?"
I didn't even know if I could afford the horse; how was I supposed to know what I wanted?
When I finally informed my instructor that I could not afford her, the situation degraded rapidly. She informed me that she had turned down a buyer for the mare and had been charging us for lessons based off the expectation that we would buy the horse.
I rode Mikailah one last time, and that weekend I packed up my equipment. My instructor offered me a pay cut, and work in exchange for lessons. I could barely afford gas for my truck as it was, and so I quit.
Looking back there are so many what-ifs. What if she'd communicated to me about the horse. What if I'd pushed harder for the sale price. What if I'd taken the pay cut. What if I'd bought the mare and moved her to my property.
Part of me bemoans the loss of such a great education. Part of me knows I am better off. And the largest part of me has realised that I should have left a long time ago.
It is thanks to this instructor, and her daughter, that I will not ever allow myself to be in such a poisonous relationship again. I allowed her to verbally abuse me without reproach; I was her punching bag to take out her stress and frustration on. She finds her happiness in putting others down, and so I pity her.
Six months later, she is still the bitter and hateful woman she was when I met her.
I learned a lot from her, but the most important thing she taught me is this: I will not ever subject myself to such a hate-filled "friendship" again.
The May clinic was super informative (and I felt slightly less stupid this time... only slightly). Here are the notes Miss Sherry took for me; her comments are in bold and my additions are in italics.
~~~~
May 2012 - Grimsey
How much weight in seat vs. thighSeat (60), thigh (40).
Heel back
Knee down - right heel really does need to come back
See my previous post for an explaination of "knee down."
Transitions - lift bloody stumps
Okay, if you haven't read my blog on the April Clinic, you're probably going "uh, what?" So, please see the introduction to bloody stumps and then come back and read my explaination.
So, it's pretty much what it sounds like. For transitions, Sherry asked me to "lift" my bloody stumps, otherwise described as lifting the knee (more of a feeling than an actual movement). For the transition to work, the rider must have a tight tummy (or engaged core). Once the Bloody Stumps are lifted, you are already asking for the upward transition, so if the horse does not respond, calf, and a cluck.
Put your chest over front edge of seatbones - over your lap
This is a comment in response to the fact that Sherry told me I was sitting behind the vertical (if you had drawn a line from my heel to my hip to my ear, my ear would be behind the imaginary line). In response to me leaning backwards, it was creating an arch in my lumbar (probably facilitating my already chronic back pain). Sherry's solution was for me to shift my weight more forward, and in doing so centering my chest over the front of my seatbones (over my lap).
She then asked, "do you feel like you're slouching?"
My response: "Yes."
She then informed me that I was not slouching, but was perfectly vertical (straight) in the saddle. She did comment, though, that I have the tendancy to drop my shoulders which creates the illusion of my slouching or leaning too far forward.
Next time you're told to "sit back," rotate your shoulders open, and rotate forearm.
This was an interesting concept to me, and so I was able to glean a little more factual information in reguards to riding and rider position. The reason Sherry had my rotate my forarm (so that my palm was facing more upward, my thumb pointed out) was because it would open up my shoulders more, and make it easier to actually rotate my shoulders open by pulling my shoulder blades together.
So, what else does rotating the forarm do?
Flat hands (otherwise known as "puppy dog paws" or "piano players hands") cross the bones of the arm over, and take the elbow away from the body (think chicken wings). Turning the thumb over (rotating the forearm) stabilizes the elbow and uncrosses the ulna and radius (long bones in the lower arm) and opens and brings the rider's shoulder back. This softens the forearm.
This is also a method useful when trying to achieve an inside bend (and even turning), but instead of rotating both arms, rotate the inside arm (so that your thumb is pointing the direction you want to go). It positions the rider's upper body in a way to facilitate the bend and softening of the inside of the horse. It makes the "funnel" you are riding into larger, it raises the hand slightly, it closes the elbow to the trunk (body), and it prevents the use of a fist agains the mouth. For the horse, it works on the corners of the mouth instead of the bars to help mobilize the jaw.
Trot - check balance by staying up. Post from middle of thigh (bloody stumps).Goes back to the exercise in which Sherry had me standing at the rise of the trot.
Walk - drop stirrups - feel thighs rotate. Feel one thigh fall against him, then other.This was one of the most difficult concepts for me to master because I have an impairment between the movement of my body and my brain (from a TBI several years ago). It takes an immense amount of focus for me to associate a feeling and time a movement to that feeling.
The idea is to feel the swinging of the ribcage. With my feet out of the stirrups, I could let my thigh relax and fall and feel the way Grimsey's ribcage swings and pushes my thighs in and out. As his inside hind is getting ready to come forward, my inside thigh will fall against his side. This will be important for the Bowties exercise (disribed later).
As the inside thigh falls in, the outside thigh is lifted off.
Bowties - "horsey sit ups"
1) Pattern - inside rein (hitch hike!), inside leg push as it swings (as thigh moves in, that hind leg is starting to come forward).
This one may be a bit hard to explain in words; however, I will do my best to make it as clear as I can. The image below is the pattern for Bowties:
So, as the name suggests, you're going to be creating something of a bow tie with your movements. Start out walking on the rail; as you reach the centre of your arena, begin yielding out until you are about 15 feet off the rail. Open the inside rein, and as you ask your horse to come around, go back to the "Thighs" exercise (feeling the shifting of the thighs in accordance with the horse's hind legs). As the inside leg is getting ready to step forward, press with your inside leg and ask him to step across. Do so until you are facing back the other direction, walk on, and once you reach the centre, begin yielding over. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The goal of the exercise is to engage the horse's tummy muscles.
Turn on forehand (in hand)
This is an exercise Miss Sherry did with me while I was on Grimsey's back. Though I've schooled a turn on the forehand with him before (and he's always been quite proficient, being a fast learner), it wasn't the type of turn on the forehand Sherry had in mind. Our turn on the forehand was more of a pivot, whereas Sherry wanted him to turn as though around an axis; stepping across both in front and behind.
So, with me mounted up, Sherry took my riding bat from me, hooked a single finger through the bit, and began very lightly tapping his shoulder. The pressure increased based upon any lack of response, and if he got "stuck" and refused to move, she moved the crop to his barrel (again, beginning with light pressure and increasing) as she asked him to move his hindquarters.
Think of it as a big circle around a central point.
This was our big homework assignment from the clinic; I am to do it every day until June 20th (our next meeting), and then we are going to try this under saddle (for the record, I already did, and Grimsey had much less pivot, and much more stepping around in the front end).
____
There you have it: The May clinic. There aren't many notes to be had, but some pretty helpful stuff was included in the lesson. The next clinic is June 20, and so I will try to post notes from that clinic as soon as possible (which, knowing me, will be in July).
In other news, I just received a DVD: Classical Dressage: 1, The School of Aids by Philippe Karl. I'm SO excited to watch it, and hopefully I can share anything significant I learn from it. I also have a new book on the way - The Search for Collection by Paul Belasik (and I suggest any book by him, he's wonderful) - which I will hopefully receive within the week.
Cheers!
~~~~
May 2012 - Grimsey
How much weight in seat vs. thighSeat (60), thigh (40).
Heel back
Knee down - right heel really does need to come back
See my previous post for an explaination of "knee down."
Transitions - lift bloody stumps
Okay, if you haven't read my blog on the April Clinic, you're probably going "uh, what?" So, please see the introduction to bloody stumps and then come back and read my explaination.
So, it's pretty much what it sounds like. For transitions, Sherry asked me to "lift" my bloody stumps, otherwise described as lifting the knee (more of a feeling than an actual movement). For the transition to work, the rider must have a tight tummy (or engaged core). Once the Bloody Stumps are lifted, you are already asking for the upward transition, so if the horse does not respond, calf, and a cluck.
Put your chest over front edge of seatbones - over your lap
This is a comment in response to the fact that Sherry told me I was sitting behind the vertical (if you had drawn a line from my heel to my hip to my ear, my ear would be behind the imaginary line). In response to me leaning backwards, it was creating an arch in my lumbar (probably facilitating my already chronic back pain). Sherry's solution was for me to shift my weight more forward, and in doing so centering my chest over the front of my seatbones (over my lap).
She then asked, "do you feel like you're slouching?"
My response: "Yes."
She then informed me that I was not slouching, but was perfectly vertical (straight) in the saddle. She did comment, though, that I have the tendancy to drop my shoulders which creates the illusion of my slouching or leaning too far forward.
Next time you're told to "sit back," rotate your shoulders open, and rotate forearm.
This was an interesting concept to me, and so I was able to glean a little more factual information in reguards to riding and rider position. The reason Sherry had my rotate my forarm (so that my palm was facing more upward, my thumb pointed out) was because it would open up my shoulders more, and make it easier to actually rotate my shoulders open by pulling my shoulder blades together.
So, what else does rotating the forarm do?
Flat hands (otherwise known as "puppy dog paws" or "piano players hands") cross the bones of the arm over, and take the elbow away from the body (think chicken wings). Turning the thumb over (rotating the forearm) stabilizes the elbow and uncrosses the ulna and radius (long bones in the lower arm) and opens and brings the rider's shoulder back. This softens the forearm.
This is also a method useful when trying to achieve an inside bend (and even turning), but instead of rotating both arms, rotate the inside arm (so that your thumb is pointing the direction you want to go). It positions the rider's upper body in a way to facilitate the bend and softening of the inside of the horse. It makes the "funnel" you are riding into larger, it raises the hand slightly, it closes the elbow to the trunk (body), and it prevents the use of a fist agains the mouth. For the horse, it works on the corners of the mouth instead of the bars to help mobilize the jaw.
Trot - check balance by staying up. Post from middle of thigh (bloody stumps).Goes back to the exercise in which Sherry had me standing at the rise of the trot.
Walk - drop stirrups - feel thighs rotate. Feel one thigh fall against him, then other.This was one of the most difficult concepts for me to master because I have an impairment between the movement of my body and my brain (from a TBI several years ago). It takes an immense amount of focus for me to associate a feeling and time a movement to that feeling.
The idea is to feel the swinging of the ribcage. With my feet out of the stirrups, I could let my thigh relax and fall and feel the way Grimsey's ribcage swings and pushes my thighs in and out. As his inside hind is getting ready to come forward, my inside thigh will fall against his side. This will be important for the Bowties exercise (disribed later).
As the inside thigh falls in, the outside thigh is lifted off.
Bowties - "horsey sit ups"
1) Pattern - inside rein (hitch hike!), inside leg push as it swings (as thigh moves in, that hind leg is starting to come forward).
This one may be a bit hard to explain in words; however, I will do my best to make it as clear as I can. The image below is the pattern for Bowties:
The goal of the exercise is to engage the horse's tummy muscles.
Turn on forehand (in hand)
This is an exercise Miss Sherry did with me while I was on Grimsey's back. Though I've schooled a turn on the forehand with him before (and he's always been quite proficient, being a fast learner), it wasn't the type of turn on the forehand Sherry had in mind. Our turn on the forehand was more of a pivot, whereas Sherry wanted him to turn as though around an axis; stepping across both in front and behind.
So, with me mounted up, Sherry took my riding bat from me, hooked a single finger through the bit, and began very lightly tapping his shoulder. The pressure increased based upon any lack of response, and if he got "stuck" and refused to move, she moved the crop to his barrel (again, beginning with light pressure and increasing) as she asked him to move his hindquarters.
Think of it as a big circle around a central point.
This was our big homework assignment from the clinic; I am to do it every day until June 20th (our next meeting), and then we are going to try this under saddle (for the record, I already did, and Grimsey had much less pivot, and much more stepping around in the front end).
____
There you have it: The May clinic. There aren't many notes to be had, but some pretty helpful stuff was included in the lesson. The next clinic is June 20, and so I will try to post notes from that clinic as soon as possible (which, knowing me, will be in July).
In other news, I just received a DVD: Classical Dressage: 1, The School of Aids by Philippe Karl. I'm SO excited to watch it, and hopefully I can share anything significant I learn from it. I also have a new book on the way - The Search for Collection by Paul Belasik (and I suggest any book by him, he's wonderful) - which I will hopefully receive within the week.
Cheers!
Alright, alright. I know it's no longer April, so this post is far overdue; however, I just recently decided I should post my notes from the clinics, and so I'll start with my notes from April, and later I'll post the notes from the May clinic.
This clinic (well, more like a private lesson) was put on by Sherry Guess, a "L" judge and USDF bronze medalist, who was a participant in six USDF instructor seminars with Major Anders Lindgren (and attended clinics with him for ten years), and was also involved in Sally Swift's alumni programme for Centered Riding instructors. Miss Sherry trained with Dennis Callin for seven years and Mette Rosencrantz for four.
So, that's your introduction to Miss Sherry.
Below, in bold are the notes she wrote for me as I was riding, and in italics are notes I've added on (both for myself, and for the benefit of the blog).
April 2012 - Grimsey
How much weight in seat versus thigh?
Seat (70), thigh (30). Sherry helped me find and isolate the top of the hamstring (a surprisingly difficult muscle to isolate); tightening this muscle shifted much of the weight off of my seat, creating a more even pressure between my seat and thigh.
Back: Hammock - Flat - RoundFeel how Grimsey's back moves; goes from being a hammock (inverted when his head goes up), to flat, to round (when he is in collection).
1-2-3-4 Aids:
1 - Inside Rein
2 - Inside Leg
3 - Outside Rein
4 - Outside Leg
The order of the aids, in which the horse can most readily understand them. Starting with a green horse, he learns first what the inside rein means (to turn), and then what the inside leg means (to move off of it), followed by the outside rein (inside leg to outside rein), and lastly the outside leg.
Heel back, roll right thigh in to push heel away
Precisely how it sounds - in order to move my heel away from Grimsey's side (my toe was pointed out), I was to roll the top of my thigh in (towards the direction of the pommel, for instance), which in turn shifted the position of my femur and shin bone making my toe come in and my heel go out.
Where does the top of your thigh point?
Towards his shoulders, or his feet? If I were to draw a line from my hip, down my thigh, where would it point? I discovered that the line from my right thigh was higher (more above his shoulder) than the left. This led to the conversation of "Bloody Stumps" (described later). Sherry instructed me to simply move my heel back and think about dropping my thigh down.
Exercise:
1) Walk - Stay up - Heel level, tummy tight - shoulders down, 1 touch, GO
The exercise is to stand in the stirrups and find the centre of balance. If the rider forces the heels down, that centre can be impossible to find, and so the heel must be level. Tightening up my abdominal muscles helped to engage my core in order to make it stronger and allow me to stay up and out of my tack. As I came forward, I was stooping my shoulders; pulling them back helped me to find better balance.
The "one touch, go" is simply very lightly bringing your seat back to the saddle for a beat, and rising up again; the purpose is not to flop back into the saddle, but to control your downward movement so as to not fall onto your horse's back. "Go" as in, go forward.
2) Trot
a) Stay up at rise of the trot
b) Touch
Identical to the previous exercise, but at a trot. Grab mane if needed, but do not balance on the neck or snatch the horse's mouth. When you find your balance, don't use the mane to hold yourself up, but call upon it when needed.
c) Post vs. Stay Up
d) 2 up, 1 down
This is done at the trot. The rider will sit one beat and stand two, the seated movement going back to the previous exercise (one touch, go). Again, do not force the heel down, but keep it level. You may be surprised at how far forward you have to come to find your balance. Grab mane if it's needed, but do not snatch the horse's mouth or balance on the neck.
Steering - Drunken Line - /\/\/\/\/\ -
1.) Step inside - 1oz - into TOES
2.) Push with outside thigh
3.) Go even
This exercise is a zig-zag (thus the /\/\/\/\); it can be done at the walk, and eventually the trot. The goal is to push your horse over without using the calf. Instead, a millisecond of weight in the stirrup of the direction in which you wish to go, simultaneously pushing over with the thigh. You don't want to just push and hold, you want to push, push, push; otherwise, the horse will lean on you.
The goal is to yield into the centre of the arena (with forward movement, we aren't going sideways!), and then yield back to the wall. Repeat.
Keep your hips moving
Bloody Stumps
A metaphor for letting the thigh drop. The story behind "Bloody Stumps" is that Sherry was teaching a young woman out in California who was a playwright for Sweeny Todd; As Sherry described to her the "sensation of walking on the back of your kneecaps," the woman says, "ahh, bloody stumps." And so the Stumps was born.
As I said, the picture Sherry is aiming for is that the rider is to envision (or "feel") what it would be like to walk on the back of your knee, with no lower leg to push off of. It's as though the lower leg is not there. This was especially important to me in the posting trot, as my right thigh tended to creep up.
Exercise:
1) Standing, hook foot behind opposite ankle, stand on toe, squat.
2) Stand with feet flat, knees against arms of a chair. Keep knees touching as you "post."
~~~~
There were many more insights I gleaned from this lesson than I could possibly share. Very soon I will be posting notes from the May clinic, and the June clinic is coming up fast!
This clinic (well, more like a private lesson) was put on by Sherry Guess, a "L" judge and USDF bronze medalist, who was a participant in six USDF instructor seminars with Major Anders Lindgren (and attended clinics with him for ten years), and was also involved in Sally Swift's alumni programme for Centered Riding instructors. Miss Sherry trained with Dennis Callin for seven years and Mette Rosencrantz for four.
So, that's your introduction to Miss Sherry.
Below, in bold are the notes she wrote for me as I was riding, and in italics are notes I've added on (both for myself, and for the benefit of the blog).
April 2012 - Grimsey
How much weight in seat versus thigh?
Seat (70), thigh (30). Sherry helped me find and isolate the top of the hamstring (a surprisingly difficult muscle to isolate); tightening this muscle shifted much of the weight off of my seat, creating a more even pressure between my seat and thigh.
Back: Hammock - Flat - RoundFeel how Grimsey's back moves; goes from being a hammock (inverted when his head goes up), to flat, to round (when he is in collection).
1-2-3-4 Aids:
1 - Inside Rein
2 - Inside Leg
3 - Outside Rein
4 - Outside Leg
The order of the aids, in which the horse can most readily understand them. Starting with a green horse, he learns first what the inside rein means (to turn), and then what the inside leg means (to move off of it), followed by the outside rein (inside leg to outside rein), and lastly the outside leg.
Heel back, roll right thigh in to push heel away
Precisely how it sounds - in order to move my heel away from Grimsey's side (my toe was pointed out), I was to roll the top of my thigh in (towards the direction of the pommel, for instance), which in turn shifted the position of my femur and shin bone making my toe come in and my heel go out.
Where does the top of your thigh point?
Towards his shoulders, or his feet? If I were to draw a line from my hip, down my thigh, where would it point? I discovered that the line from my right thigh was higher (more above his shoulder) than the left. This led to the conversation of "Bloody Stumps" (described later). Sherry instructed me to simply move my heel back and think about dropping my thigh down.
Exercise:
1) Walk - Stay up - Heel level, tummy tight - shoulders down, 1 touch, GO
The exercise is to stand in the stirrups and find the centre of balance. If the rider forces the heels down, that centre can be impossible to find, and so the heel must be level. Tightening up my abdominal muscles helped to engage my core in order to make it stronger and allow me to stay up and out of my tack. As I came forward, I was stooping my shoulders; pulling them back helped me to find better balance.
The "one touch, go" is simply very lightly bringing your seat back to the saddle for a beat, and rising up again; the purpose is not to flop back into the saddle, but to control your downward movement so as to not fall onto your horse's back. "Go" as in, go forward.
2) Trot
a) Stay up at rise of the trot
b) Touch
Identical to the previous exercise, but at a trot. Grab mane if needed, but do not balance on the neck or snatch the horse's mouth. When you find your balance, don't use the mane to hold yourself up, but call upon it when needed.
c) Post vs. Stay Up
d) 2 up, 1 down
This is done at the trot. The rider will sit one beat and stand two, the seated movement going back to the previous exercise (one touch, go). Again, do not force the heel down, but keep it level. You may be surprised at how far forward you have to come to find your balance. Grab mane if it's needed, but do not snatch the horse's mouth or balance on the neck.
Steering - Drunken Line - /\/\/\/\/\ -
1.) Step inside - 1oz - into TOES
2.) Push with outside thigh
3.) Go even
This exercise is a zig-zag (thus the /\/\/\/\); it can be done at the walk, and eventually the trot. The goal is to push your horse over without using the calf. Instead, a millisecond of weight in the stirrup of the direction in which you wish to go, simultaneously pushing over with the thigh. You don't want to just push and hold, you want to push, push, push; otherwise, the horse will lean on you.
The goal is to yield into the centre of the arena (with forward movement, we aren't going sideways!), and then yield back to the wall. Repeat.
Keep your hips moving
Bloody Stumps
A metaphor for letting the thigh drop. The story behind "Bloody Stumps" is that Sherry was teaching a young woman out in California who was a playwright for Sweeny Todd; As Sherry described to her the "sensation of walking on the back of your kneecaps," the woman says, "ahh, bloody stumps." And so the Stumps was born.
As I said, the picture Sherry is aiming for is that the rider is to envision (or "feel") what it would be like to walk on the back of your knee, with no lower leg to push off of. It's as though the lower leg is not there. This was especially important to me in the posting trot, as my right thigh tended to creep up.
Exercise:
1) Standing, hook foot behind opposite ankle, stand on toe, squat.
2) Stand with feet flat, knees against arms of a chair. Keep knees touching as you "post."
~~~~
There were many more insights I gleaned from this lesson than I could possibly share. Very soon I will be posting notes from the May clinic, and the June clinic is coming up fast!
Methinks it may be time to, at the very least, post an update. Because I'm indecisive, and because I've been busy with work and finals, I've neglected posting anything; however, I feel that now is a good time to do so, since so much has happened.
School
Done for the semester! Whoo-hoooo! I passed with a 2.5 for the semester (I know "what? That's awful, you ignorant stupid-head!" Yeah, I agree). So, that was supposed to take me out of academic probation, but I recently got an email saying that I have to get a cumulative 2.0 for next semester, as well. What crap.
Sammie
Keeps pooping in my house, because she's pissed about...
PaisleyNew kitty who is living in a crate on my back porch because she's itty (weighs 1.7lbs. awwwwww) and can't go out on her own yet. But, she has been following me out to the barn and doing chores with me. I got her from Rachel, who kept the sister and a little boy-cat. The sister was killed today by one of Rachel's dogs (*sadface*). I had to take her to the vet as she was dieing, and so I ask: Why the HELL do I keep having to make uber sad vet trips??? Kayvonne did it to me with that septic foal, and now the cat! So sad, the poor babies!
Grimsey
I thought he was starting to get better when I rode him the other day. Turns out he was just on the muscle and had me fooled. Whaaaat. He's been jumping just fine - popped him over a coop a few times and he was a good boy. He still tries to knock down crossrails and small verticals, though ("What am I supposed to do with this?"). Sherry Guess gave me some homework when I went to ride with her last week: Bowties, and turn on the forehand in-hand every day. Guess which exercise I don't like. Grimmy is getting better about working through his back, so that's a plus. I think he likes this Dressage business, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe I don't prefer it, too. I've been jumping for six years, but still feel like I just don't get it.
Friday
Is fat.
Bonc
Had a good workout a few weeks ago. I worked with him out in the field just walk, trot since the ground is a little hard out there (but the sand arena is too small... blah). I'm pretty sure it was the first time he's ever, EVER had to work over his back. He had good slobber :) It's a shame he has ringbone because he actually would have been a fun horse (I mean, he can still do bits and pieces, but nothing hard). I'll bet his previous owners had no idea he could tap into that level of work. He's a good boy.
Velocity
Is a happy pony. I walked him down the driveway the other day and he wanted to trot. I'm glad he's feeling okay and his stifles aren't just killing him. He's been staying out in the Diet Lot during the day while Friday and Bonc go play in the front field.
Family Stuff
So, my brother-in-law is being re-located to Miss I sip pee. I mean... Mississippi. And apparently it is very likely he will be deployed to Iraq (I'm convinced that he will single-handedly end the war just by opening his mouth), as such, my sister is moving away from OK to go stay with him. Understandable. I want to sell Bonc, if this is the case (show of hands - who thinks I'll get away with it? No one? Damn it.).
You know, if my husband were to up and join the military, I'd be supportive, but I'd resent him for it. I'd have to leave my horses behind, and I'd hate that. Horses are such an integral part of my life that leaving them behind would leave such a huge gap. I feel like that's what's happening to my sister. She's got a great career (her dream job) and has nowhere to go but forward, and then BAM! she's suddenly a military wife no one will want to hire because she'll just be moving again. Yes, I would be incredibly resentful.
School
Done for the semester! Whoo-hoooo! I passed with a 2.5 for the semester (I know "what? That's awful, you ignorant stupid-head!" Yeah, I agree). So, that was supposed to take me out of academic probation, but I recently got an email saying that I have to get a cumulative 2.0 for next semester, as well. What crap.
Sammie
Keeps pooping in my house, because she's pissed about...
PaisleyNew kitty who is living in a crate on my back porch because she's itty (weighs 1.7lbs. awwwwww) and can't go out on her own yet. But, she has been following me out to the barn and doing chores with me. I got her from Rachel, who kept the sister and a little boy-cat. The sister was killed today by one of Rachel's dogs (*sadface*). I had to take her to the vet as she was dieing, and so I ask: Why the HELL do I keep having to make uber sad vet trips??? Kayvonne did it to me with that septic foal, and now the cat! So sad, the poor babies!
Grimsey
I thought he was starting to get better when I rode him the other day. Turns out he was just on the muscle and had me fooled. Whaaaat. He's been jumping just fine - popped him over a coop a few times and he was a good boy. He still tries to knock down crossrails and small verticals, though ("What am I supposed to do with this?"). Sherry Guess gave me some homework when I went to ride with her last week: Bowties, and turn on the forehand in-hand every day. Guess which exercise I don't like. Grimmy is getting better about working through his back, so that's a plus. I think he likes this Dressage business, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe I don't prefer it, too. I've been jumping for six years, but still feel like I just don't get it.
Friday
Is fat.
Bonc
Had a good workout a few weeks ago. I worked with him out in the field just walk, trot since the ground is a little hard out there (but the sand arena is too small... blah). I'm pretty sure it was the first time he's ever, EVER had to work over his back. He had good slobber :) It's a shame he has ringbone because he actually would have been a fun horse (I mean, he can still do bits and pieces, but nothing hard). I'll bet his previous owners had no idea he could tap into that level of work. He's a good boy.
Velocity
Is a happy pony. I walked him down the driveway the other day and he wanted to trot. I'm glad he's feeling okay and his stifles aren't just killing him. He's been staying out in the Diet Lot during the day while Friday and Bonc go play in the front field.
Family Stuff
So, my brother-in-law is being re-located to Miss I sip pee. I mean... Mississippi. And apparently it is very likely he will be deployed to Iraq (I'm convinced that he will single-handedly end the war just by opening his mouth), as such, my sister is moving away from OK to go stay with him. Understandable. I want to sell Bonc, if this is the case (show of hands - who thinks I'll get away with it? No one? Damn it.).
You know, if my husband were to up and join the military, I'd be supportive, but I'd resent him for it. I'd have to leave my horses behind, and I'd hate that. Horses are such an integral part of my life that leaving them behind would leave such a huge gap. I feel like that's what's happening to my sister. She's got a great career (her dream job) and has nowhere to go but forward, and then BAM! she's suddenly a military wife no one will want to hire because she'll just be moving again. Yes, I would be incredibly resentful.
Ahh, yes. There's nothing better than a blank slate. A fresh start. A new page, a re-do, a you-never-knew-I-was-here-anyway-so-why-not-do-it-all-over. It's no secret that I'm wishy-washy or that I'm indecisive and immature. I like to tear it all apart, stomp on it, and start all over again. It's like my own personal signature. People see destruction and they think, oh, Amanda was here.
Really, I just got to thinking that my old "blog" was too negative and damning. I've changed a lot over the past few years and I'm ready to put those things behind me. Yeah, I'm still negative and explosive, but I want to make an effort to be more diplomatic.
Yeah, right.
Drama follows me like a rain cloud - and, it's not even MY drama. It's everyone else's and it just tails along like a lost puppy and tries to piss on me.
In essence, it's still going to be the same blog. I just wanted all of that crap gone. Some things I'll paraphrase, or I'll go back in time and tell a story, but ultimately I want a new start. I thought I'd try something like Hyperbole and a Half, and draw pictures. Then I realised I have no talent. So I'll stick to my normal pictures.
Like this:
But my lack of talent isn't confined solely to drawing. Oh, no. It also smothers my ability to sing, act, dance, and do anything even remotely creative. I used to be a good writer, until I had four concussions and a traumatic brain injury. Now I just suck.
But that's okay, because eventually I'll be good at something.
Maybe.
But probably not.
Really, I just got to thinking that my old "blog" was too negative and damning. I've changed a lot over the past few years and I'm ready to put those things behind me. Yeah, I'm still negative and explosive, but I want to make an effort to be more diplomatic.
Yeah, right.
Drama follows me like a rain cloud - and, it's not even MY drama. It's everyone else's and it just tails along like a lost puppy and tries to piss on me.
In essence, it's still going to be the same blog. I just wanted all of that crap gone. Some things I'll paraphrase, or I'll go back in time and tell a story, but ultimately I want a new start. I thought I'd try something like Hyperbole and a Half, and draw pictures. Then I realised I have no talent. So I'll stick to my normal pictures.
Like this:
But my lack of talent isn't confined solely to drawing. Oh, no. It also smothers my ability to sing, act, dance, and do anything even remotely creative. I used to be a good writer, until I had four concussions and a traumatic brain injury. Now I just suck.
But that's okay, because eventually I'll be good at something.
Maybe.
But probably not.
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