Just a quick catch up here from our lesson at OF before last week's MD Horse Trials at Loch Moy, and a few words on our first lesson after with Dan (tho there is exactly zero media evidence from that ride, boo).
I had actually questioned whether we should even go to OF that week. Isabel had been working incredibly well - but also pretty intensely in the past 2 - 3 weeks, and I was starting to worry about burn out (or at least any soreness).
But the mare was fine. Better than fine, actually. And we kept the lesson pretty light anyway. We did a couple smaller fences to warm up but trainer P kept us to a minimum. Isabel was kinda snarky for the fences anyway - like we were making silly mistakes and she was getting sassy after (again). Me thinks she feels too important for smaller fences now unless they're part of a grid or something like that. What a princess lol.
After a couple warm up fences P set everything up to competition height and ran us through a single course.
this is our 'giddy up' face |
I was actually worried that the fences were set too low for BN and wished they were a little higher. Which is CRAZY for me bc who am I and why am I asking for raised fences? I guess it was about not wanting to be surprised or unnerved by the height at the show tho.
Anyway, after the lesson P was kind enough to allow me and B to hack over to the xc course to take a quick spin through the water complex. We weren't sure whether B would see water on the intro course, and obvi Isabel's problems with water are well documented on this blog.
PROOF. it will happen guys - one day water will not be a problem. |
Moving on to a different lesson earlier this week (after Loch Moy): barn mate K and I rode again with Dan. It was kinda nice having another person in the lesson again bc while I got a TON out of last week's private with him, it was a little pricier than I budgeted for and just omg so much work! lol...
His specific directives included really focusing on lifting Isabel's shoulders - particularly through our final turn to the fence. He also wanted us making the necessary adjustments quickly - as if we were in competition. No circling - everything should be done promptly. And if we were cross cantering - so be it.
This second direction was naturally harder for my right handed pony and we frequently came into the oxer cross cantering and had to gallop for the 4. But we made it work.
I also really focused on softening my hands and releasing over the fences. Novel concepts here, folks. Dan wants the rider to allow the horse to carry itself through a gymnastic exercise. In other words - once we've gotten to the first jump of the one stride I should be able to just float my hands forward and let Izzy take care of the rest.
We talked a little bit about how tight I was at Loch Moy (especially evident in all the photos) but he thought that had more to do with the pressure of being in competition. In any case, it'll be a work in progress I guess.
So that's pretty much it on the riding front through the week. Princess finally got a little bit of time off - then we'll have a couple lessons this weekend (including a bio-mechanics lesson, yay!) then back into show prep mode next week for Waredaca on the 7th!
Looking good!! And great jumping exercise from Dan as usual!
ReplyDeletehe really does like shaking it up - tho at least this one wasn't as hard as some other recent exercises haha
DeleteIsabel's opinion about unfamiliar water actually makes a lot of sense. Henry's just like "LET'S GO, WITH RECKLESS ABANDON"! I mean, for all he knows it could be 10' deep. Isabel is obviously more concerned with staying alive, she's gotta make sure it's safe first. Mares... they has the smarts. ;)
ReplyDeletehaha mare smarts are a good thing - tho i suppose it's a double edged sword. what we really need is something between Henry and Isabel - confident enough to get into the water, but not necessarily jumping headlong without a care in the world lol
DeleteOooh, I think I may steal that exercise from your semi-private with Dan. Chestnut mare looking pretty fantastic going through the water complex!
ReplyDeleteoooh definitely do! not too complicated to set up, and challenging enough to feel educational - but not necessarily suicidal haha
Delete'who am I and why am I asking for raised fences?' - LOL. This is me.
ReplyDeleteIzzy looks pretty confident in the water now, hopefully she clicks on pretty quick that there are no water monsters lurking in cross country water! Our red mare had a massive aversion to it too and then all of a sudden found her brave pants. Is Izzy funny with ditches too?
PS: That exercise from your lesson with Dan looks super useful, will have to try it too!
she's pretty confident in that exact water complex since she's seen it before and understands it, i guess. but those pictures are actually from the day *before* our recent event, where we still had problems. i think she'll continue to get better tho. re: ditches, she's never had a problem with the fake kind (that are filled in but just weird looking) and jumped her first real one just fine last week. so hopefully we don't regress there lol
DeleteHooray!!! Lovely ride!!! And look at her splash through the water!! She needs to give Max some how-not-to-be-a-big-chicken tips!
ReplyDeletehaha thanks - tho she's not always quite so brave, but i try to encourage it whenever possible lol
DeleteI'm so afraid of getting caught unprepared for the fence height at a show! I feel like BN stuff is never actual 2'7" though...or maybe 2'7" just always look bigger at home??
ReplyDeleteLovely drop into the water there!!
you might be right about the size looking bigger at home - or just not being set to max height at shows. except i'm pretty sure i've seen them stick the fences at shows and they still looked small... so maybe we're just tricking ourselves into thinking 2'7" is bigger than it actually is? haha idk!
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