Circles + Cavaletti + Cocoa: Part II

The second part of our clinic ride was in some ways kinda the polar opposite of the first. Instead of focusing intently on the nittiest of grittiest bio-mechanical details in my position (and, uh, still kinda failing at them lol), we switched gears to more application-based exercises: cavaletti.

elegant charlie <3 pc Austen Gage

The beauty of cavaletti is that they are generally self-evident to the horse. A well set gymnastic exercise shouldn't require step-by-step input from the rider. Rather, you kinda set the horse up, prepare the horse, and then let them at it.

The exercise itself is sufficiently instructive to the horse, if that makes sense. They understand the reality of whacking a pole with their hooves haha, and will often therefore adjust their carriage to accommodate.

i love that he thinks this is easy now haha. pc Austen Gage

It was a nice change of pace bc basically I kinda felt like dressage trainer C took me apart then put me back together again in a new alignment. Then sent me on my way across to the other side of the arena to see if I could hang on to that new feeling in action.

Which, like. Ha. We've already established that I can't really walk and chew gum at the same time. So obviously this was fairly challenging.

charlie's face says "Oh Yea, Let's Go!" while i silently contemplate whether we'll make the turn or accidentally mow down Austen instead... pc Austen Gage, who did in fact survive the imminent close encounter!

It was a nice format tho, bc cavalatti are by design generally physical exercises vs mental or cerebral. Still tho, I actually ended up feeling a little disappointed with myself in how I prepared Charlie for this portion of the ride and the change of pace it entailed.

Obviously I signed up for the clinic, right? Like, the format was interesting to me and I knew all along that we'd go from a Trainer C lesson to cavaletti work. I, personally, knew what to expect and was mentally prepared.

moar trot poles!!!!! pc Austen Gage

Charlie, on the other hand, was kinda like, "Wow, shit, really tho??"

In other words, he was actually a little more tired - both physically and emotionally - than I quite realized at the time. Whereas I was kinda like, "Ok bro, snap snap, let's go!"

i promise we did in fact go in both directions. but these are the pictures i like, so there. pc Austen Gage

But. He continues to be a very good boy. So he did in fact Go. In retrospect I wish I had ridden slightly differently at some points during the ride, like when he was sluggish into canter and not as sharp as I wanted/expected.

see?? going both ways haha. and doesn't charlie look bored tho... pc Austen Gage

But when I kept pushing for that sharpness, Charlie did in fact answer affirmatively. So, even tho probably I could've taken it a little easier toward the end of the ride, it was in some ways really reassuring knowing that he would answer to that pressure even when he was tired.

Considering training for pressure was basically all we did after the fiasco that was Plantation, it's good to see some fruits from that labor!!

trying to transition to canter and turn at the same time is above my pay grade, apparently. i believe this is what Nicole refers to as a "gangsta lean" lol.... pc Austen Gage

ANYWAY tho haha. The lesson itself.

The exercise would be very easy to set up for anyone interested in doing so: 4 trot poles down the quarter line, and then 2 poles aligned with the center line, set so that looping over them achieves a slightly-less-than-20m circle.

obviously my favorite picture of the whole bunch <3 just look at that fanceh arab!!! hahaha.... pc Austen Gage

When the whole exercise is done at trot (such as in the video clip), it's easy enough to bake in serpentine-esque changes of direction to just keep infinitely looping through the whole thing.

At canter you have to be a little more purposeful in specific locations for your trot-canter and canter-trot to hit the trot poles and change directions. Mostly tho it all ran pretty smoothly, and allowed the rider to repeat until the desired results are achieved.

loving how uphill he is! not loving the wrong lead we picked up after breaking gait. tho i guess points for counter canter?? pc Austen Gage

Charlie for his part made very easy work of the exercise. Probably bc.... uh, it was WAY EASIER than what he faced in our cavaletti lesson the week prior haha. Homeboy was like, "Oh, this again? Yea I totes got this!!" And he totes did, good boy.

he's a good egg tho. and looking nicely stout in this pic too! pc Austen Gage

Actually, come to think of it, I don't think he knocked any of the trot poles hard enough to displace them. Not even once. That's some serious progress for this brontosaurus!!

The canter poles?? Eh... not quite so lucky. But again, see above comment re: sluggishness.

"wow, this again tho??" - charlie, probably. pc Austen Gage

And again, I was honestly a little distracted from some of my riderly duties bc of trying so hard to focus on my position. Considering Charlie's used to me doing a little more work to carry him, this definitely contributed to his frequent breaks from canter when we hit the poles a little funny.

video clip of the exercise at trot

Which naturally caused me to end up regressing a bit, reverting back to my "safe place" position of pitching forward and gripping with my legs. It's just going to take time, as always haha.

"are we done yet?" - charlie, definitely. pc Austen Gage

So honestly there weren't any really big "Aha!" moments from this portion of the lesson, other than reaffirming that changing my position is going to be hard. Oh and that sometimes turning Charlie sharply (esp if I'm trying to turn him away from the in gate) is still a bit iffy haha. Look no further than the look of panic in my eye in the video below where I briefly wonder if we're actually going to make the turn, or end up mowing down Austen instead....

forever stuffing this good boy full of treats. bc he is the best. pc Austen Gage

All in all, tho, a very fun ride and useful set of exercises. This is definitely something that's easy enough to set up on my own too, even without a ground person. So possibly it's something we'll repeat on some other dark wintry night in the indoor lol.

In the meantime tho, we both definitely needed a few days off after all that haha! Whew! It was worth it tho, esp as a way to break up the otherwise monotonous winter. C'mon, spring, we're ready for ya!