Tuesday, January 6, 2015

lesson details

So you already saw the fun part of our recent lesson - where I fell off. Oops... But here's the feature length recap.

As previously mentioned, it was pouring and cold outside. So to the indoor we six lessoners went. And some kids very conveniently volunteered to take video! Score for not having to beg for once lol.


trying to join the dusty mirror selfie club. lol

Isabel flatted ok - with nice moments interrupted by sassy head flings. I need to revisit some of the bio-mechanics concepts of lateral balance on a small-ish circle bc we may or may not have regressed a bit. Either that or Isabel is getting pretty good at faking it and drawing me into a tug of war with her.

The first jump exercise was four cross rails set up in the center in the shape of an X and cavaletti at A and C, like so: 

my work of art

We more or less muddled our way through this. Isabel was kinda behind my leg and I was kinda loose in the saddle. I forgot to shorten my stirrups for jumping too, which wasn't great... 



Anyway, we were just finishing our first trips through the course at crossrail height when four more riders started schooling their horses. So P rearranged the exercise into a grid up the center line. It started out with a placing pole to an X, 18' to a vertical (to eventually become an oxer), then 19' to another vertical. 

We were all really struggling with this for whatever reason - even before that last vertical was built. Isabel actually did two strides in that 19' once... Ugh... So P moved the whole shebang further up the centerline to give us more room after the turn and shortened the lines to 16' and 18', respectively. 



This definitely helped... but we were still on the struggle bus and I fell off after whiffing my turn, drifting right (for once! we usually drift left...), and ultimately running out at the last vertical... 

In a way tho I'm not even upset about falling. The circumstances all called for a stronger ride: 

  • a backed off horse stuck behind my leg
  • rain roaring on the roof
  • 9 other horses in the small arena, all doing different things

And yet I was just cruising. Sure, I should have been supporting Isabel more and it was totally avoidable. But as someone whose lack of confidence typically leads to overriding and micromanaging the horse, I feel kinda like maybe this is progress? 

I tend to swing wildly between extremes -- so maybe I'm riding too passively now that my confidence is improving?? 


In any case, it really wasn't too bad and we were able to correct the problem and make it through the grid just fine a few more times. 

Here's video of pretty much all our jumping efforts for the day. Complete with some hilarious squeals while I was falling off. (The squeals are particularly funny bc they kinda come in waves since it took just about forever for me to finally fall...). 



It definitely wasn't our best outing... but we more or less made it through ok.

20 comments:

  1. The squeals were fantastic! And my sports psychologist says that the only way we learn and improve is by the correcting of mistakes... so you are on your way to improving for sure! :)

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    1. ha and i actually edited out some of the squeals bc they just went on and on and on lol. and thanks - i agree completely on using mistakes as opportunities to grow. and given how many i make on the regular, if that theory holds true one day i'm gonna be awesome ;)

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  2. We always use 11ft stride indoors, horses naturally have a much shorter step inside so that may be why the struggle to make the line.

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    1. yea - i think that was definitely part of it. some other factors (like changing light) contributed to her being backed off too - so even the shorter distances weren't really as forward as we'd normally get... ah well!

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  3. That is interesting about overriding vs underriding & I can totally see how it is actualy progress! Love your fall video. It is nice when they are in slow motion like that and you land standing up!

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    1. yes i LOVE landing on my feet haha! and the over- vs under-riding thing is interesting, but i'm also hopefully not over-thinking it too much too, lol...

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  4. Love the commentary on the over-riding vs under-riding. It can certainly make a large difference.

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    1. tell me about it!! i am soooo guilty of doing too much. so it always kinda surprises me a bit when the opposite happens lol

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  5. In grids like that I always have to be thinking "more forward, more forward" because mentally I want to hang back and be a passenger. I think you guys definitely improved and got some nice work in!

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    1. i think that's my favorite thing about grids - regardless of what your strengths/weaknesses are as a rider, grids can help in some way. i tend to actually rush through them, chasing isabel along. so my objective is always to sit back and let isabel adjust herself (and she's usually a BEAST at grids).

      this ride was just an outlier, but with very obvious circumstances that i should have noticed but was instead asleep at the wheel haha

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  6. Awesome mirror selfie ftw - you guys rock (and roll in this post ... yep I went there #sorrynotsorry)
    You always post such well thought out lesson recaps it's no surprise you guys make awesome progress all the time. I need to remember things & analyse better like you...something to work towards seeing as I'm unlikely to be taking lessons till summer at the earliest

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    1. HAHAHA yes rolling indeed - on the floor laughing lol!! and thanks very much - i have a terrible memory and lose these quick little thoughts if they're not written down - thus the blog... but i also overthink things, so it's a balancing act...

      good luck with all your new changes tho - the lessons will be there when you're ready for them!

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  7. Oh look, a new thing for me to try out the next time I ride the mare. I think Isabel moved up when she realized that two strides was too tight. You guys look great! I hope the weather is better soon.

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    1. ooh yes do it!! gymnastics are my favorite!!! (this lesson aside, obvi lol)... anyways, thanks - there were a few things wrong with this ride, but nothing a little more communication can't fix :)

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  8. I was always told that sometimes the hardest things to do while riding is nothing, so I would say that in a way it is an improvement. There's times where doing the right thing is going to fail and that's okay. You looked really relaxed after the fall, that's great that you could get back on and not let it mess with your head!

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    1. thanks! and i agree - doing nothing is really the hardest for me. even (especially?) when i'm uncomfortable i tend to nitpick... for whatever reason - and it's best not to dig too deep here - this fall didn't bother me. and for that, i'm grateful!

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  9. I struggle with being too passive sometimes. But usually for me, it's more of a mental thing. Like even if I'm not actually doing very much, as long as I'm thinking and constantly "checking in" I find my ride goes better.

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    1. yea... being a 'quiet' rider really isn't my strong suit lol, but i guess it's all such a balancing act!

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  10. She looks tough to jump! Good job! I'm glad you landed on your feet. :) That's the best way to fall off hehe.

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    1. thanks!! she's actually usually very easy to jump - she loves it and will take you straight up to the fence (the struggle with her is more about pace and rhythm to avoid weird deer leaps lol). this was just kinda a weird day for both of us, i think

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