catching up (again)

Phew I feel like the week after a horse show is one big mess of trying to catch up. So many things happened before Waredaca - including xc schooling, fun fun! (but that post is still to come) - and even more has happened since. 

So I'm squishing two lessons into this post: our lesson at OF right before the event (from which I have loads of media) and our lesson with Dan earlier this week (from which I have zero media).

isabel loves the barn rats. they understand how to treat a princess - and are shown here catering to her voracious appetite for hay

Tho if we're being honest - I occasionally wonder where this drive to document everything comes from. Like, will the world end if I fail to write about one lesson? Do I think readers are waiting with bated breath to hear that we went somewhere and jumped something? Probably not. But I think there's more to it than that. 

The thing is, I really like horses. Like reeeally like them - like whoa. And my life is generally better with horses around. I'm probably preachin' to the choir here lol. But every now and then this little voice creeps in telling me to appreciate what I've got. 

See - my current equestrian situation is unlike anything I've ever experienced, especially as someone who has never owned a horse. And all these things we're doing right now? All these lessons and shows, and traveling around wherever whenever? It's a fulfillment of so many childhood hopes and dreams. And it feels GOOD. And the possibilities seem endless. 

But we know better - we know that there's no such thing as endless, and especially with horses it's foolish to think a good thing will last forever. It's my goal to keep riding at this level and beyond and to keep Isabel as my partner for as long as I can - but someday things will be different. And that's ok. But a major motivation for this blog is to document it so I can look back later and remember these moments.

There is a secondary motivation too, tho. I don't have to tell you that lessons are expensive. And it's not just the fee itself - it's all the time and the effort and all the other related costs. I'm fine with that - but I also want to squeeze as much value from each lesson as humanly possible. Thus, by writing every detail and tidbit, I hope to reinforce the knowledge in myself and create a 'repository' for future reference. 

Thus - all the nitty gritty lesson details haha. So. Um. In case you were curious - there's a little insight into the 'why' behind 'Fraidy Cat Eventing!

Anyway... slight diversion aside, the OF lesson was a good one for assessing where we were, but not great for doing much about it. The day before a show is not really my favorite day for rocking the boat... so even tho our flat work was very weak and trainer P urged me again and again to get Isabel stretching her nose down and out and lifting through her belly and back... we just never really got there. 

I maybe wasn't trying too hard either, perhaps bc I thought we could 'fake it' through our test the next day (haha oh BOY was I wrong...) and then schedule a lesson with C from TM pronto to figure things out. I also just thought Izzy was a little off her game from being in season. 

As it was, the flat work was not inspiring in the slightest but I was somewhat in denial about it. Perhaps that's another pitfall of riding with different trainers - I just think 'eh, I'll work on that later with C' when really I should be confident in each of my trainers' professionalism and expertise and ability to help us. Hopefully that lesson is learned!

The jumping was a whole different matter tho. We warmed up over a couple smaller fences but kept it to an absolute minimum. Isabel was fine. Then P set up a long-ish competition size course for us. Isabel NAILED it. Ate it right up. We moved up to almost all of the distances and just felt very in sync.

I mean, sure - there were some issues. We knocked the rail over the liverpool for no reason I can ascertain, and could not for the life of me find a nice line to the coop (which required a few re-dos that still didn't really fix it). But I felt really good about it going into the show.

video here

And of course you already read about how stadium went at Waredaca (and I will hopefully have some awesome pics to share soon!!!). Good stuff. 

Moving on to our lesson with Dan, we continued riding the struggle bus during our flat work. The same issues with getting too deep and curling under were present. Dan diagnosed it as Isabel just not 'using' herself and said to keep working on it without changing bits/equipment/etc. (tho he did point out moments when a dressage whip would be appropriate... and I typically have a whip and spurs in dressage lessons, just not otherwise. maybe that should change?)

He wanted me changing things up while we trotted. Don't just get stuck in a certain trot - mess with it. Open it up. Collect it. Keep Isabel with me. He said that if I just get so stuck on rhythm alone we'll run into problems when something like a 10m turn crops up on a test. It is disruptive if I don't already have Isabel present with me. 

Same story as always for the canter too. Dan didn't want me cantering very long - just working hard to get organized, nice transitions (up and down - no fast trotting in between!) and only a few strides of canter at a time. Oh, and pretty much no hand ever. This is always hard for us... but was especially so during this lesson. 

striding to the diagonal jumps was variable based on our line, but Dan preferred that we came out of the poles very straight (no turning early!) and did the add stride

The jumping exercise was really a flat work exercise. Dan actually referred to jumping as a litmus test for flat work - saying that you might think everything is peachy while flatting around. But then you start jumping and chip in here, get a leaper there, and it's all bc of weakness in the flat work. (which for him always seems to mean weakness in the canter).

We slowly built it up - starting with two canter poles, then three, then raising the vertical and adding another pole on either side with each pass. Then adding in the turns to the diagonal fences. Then finally putting the whole figure 8 together. 

He wanted our canter organized and compressed for the 9' distances - and said we'd know when the canter was right when the first pole came up perfectly in stride. And upon reaching the first pole we were to soften our hands and allow the horse freedom through the line. 

Each individual pass was pretty easy with the right canter (and it was always obvious whether I had that 'right' canter or not). The real challenge was putting it all together and staying on the figure 8 until Dan told us to stop. That shit was HARD! It took soooo much leg. 

Our first laps in each direction went fine, but then I got tired and wasn't squeezing as much with my legs and Isabel got strung out and we kept missing the poles. But we were still going and going so I had to dig deep to really keep my leg ON and keep the horse together. Finally we got it and he let us stop and I kinda wanted to die. 

An interesting note tho - Isabel got her leads each and EVERY time, both directions. And I FELT it - and felt like I was actually influencing it. That's a first for me, and was pretty exciting. But yea I still kinda wanted to die after finishing. 

But don't let that deter you from trying this at home haha! It was actually pretty fun and fairly easy to set up, all things considered :P