Monday, November 24, 2014

grids - finally!

As previously mentioned, I was expecting to go to a jumpers show saturday instead of our weekly lesson. But things worked out differently, so off to our lesson we went. 


It's probably for the best, since Isabel hadn't done anything in nearly a week (frozen arena footing... boo) and had just started a two week course of gastrogard. 


She was pretty good for the ride, all things considered. But also not particularly motivated. Not sassy, tho - she said yes to everything I asked and was very workman-like. But it kinda felt like she was just going through the motions - phoning it in, if you will. That's fine tho. 


It provided the perfect opportunity for us to cross off another long-standing goal: GRIDS!!

One fence at a time, P built up a three-fence grid on the outside rail - with the rail on our left side (perfect for our left drift issue!). The fences were 18' apart - a short one stride for us. 

3 fences set 18' apart

The whole objective here was for me to set Isabel up going into the grid so that she could adjust as necessary while I focused on other things - like keeping my legs under me. The short distance had me wanting to mess with our in jump (predictably resulting in chips) or pace through the grid. But when I'd quit trying to micromanage Isabel and just mind my own Ps and Qs, things went quite swimmingly. 

Second exercise was three fences set 30' apart - so 2 strides. Still short-ish, but allowing for a little more forward. 

looking at jumps 1 and 2, before the far green/purple fence was moved into line

Our first time through the two stride combo was a little stilted - had a slightly too-sharp corner and a wonky in jump. Izzy still took care of business, but it wasn't very smooth. 


video of first trip

We went through again and got a pretty heinous in jump (totes 100% my fault) so I actually just circled right out of the line to try it again. P said I should have kept going and done 3 strides... but idk... I wanted to reorganize.  


Third time was the charm, I guess. We rounded our corner off a little more (you can hear P in the video calling out 'now turn!' lol) and that helped our in jump arrive a little nicer. 


video of second, better trip

I think it was a good lesson for Isabel bc it wasn't particularly challenging - just straight lines over short distances. And I mostly just had a loop in my reins as we went around. The real benefit was for me - I tried to stay very very conscious of my lower legs, and envisioned keeping the soles of my shoes facing the jumps. 

P suggested thinking of moving my feet towards my elbows... but that's currently a little beyond my coordination skills, considering my arms aren't in the right place either yet, and there's NO WAY I can focus on two separate body parts simultaneously lol.

still plenty of, uh, 'fun' eq moments tho lol


22 comments:

  1. Y'all look great, even with the fun eq moments :)

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    1. thanks! grids are so helpful with eq... but obviously theycan't do the job for me lol

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  2. Nice pics, and agree with Lauren, you're looking great :)

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    1. thanks! it was nice to shift focus away from izzy and onto myself :)

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  3. Nice! I suck at gymnastics and so does Miles, haha!

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    1. lol they are definitely a bit different from the typical course... so i'm glad izzy likes them! these distances were a little short tho, so it was a bit easier for the horses

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  4. omg I love grids so much, watching you do them makes me want to go do them right now! lol

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  5. I love gymnastics. They were always the best thing for me to focus on my legs, and not jumping ahead. Have you asked your trainer about shortening your stirrups? Sometimes that can help really solidify your lower leg.

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    1. you know - i've actually been thinking about shortening my stirrups for a while, but just haven't hiked 'em up to see how it goes. it doesn't really make sense to try to seriously focus on both dressage *and* jumping with the same length stirrup...

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  6. Looks so fun!! I wonder if I can set up a greenie version of that for Quest haha

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    1. it IS fun!!! and you can absolutely break the exercises down. we started with literally just a single fence, then added the other two one at a time. you can also add them just as ground poles. the possibilities really are endless :)

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  7. One of my favorite grids in the world is a BUNCH of shortish one strides in a row... definitely rams home the whole "rhythm" aspect of jumping :) That looks like a very cute mare you've got there!

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  8. Woohoo for fun & successful lessons. Aren't grids one of the most fun things to do OF?!
    Izz looks amazing, shining so bright. She is such a gorgeous chestnut colour *swoon*

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    1. aww thanks! she wasn't feeling her absolute best during this lesson, but she is just such a good girl :)

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  9. How fun!!! Grids look like a blast! Congrats on crossing that one off the list. You guys look great. :D

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    1. thanks! i love grids bc they are so helpful for the horse - and actually pretty easy for the rider :)

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  10. Isabel always looks like such a good girl. I love her cute jump!

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    1. thanks! she is a VERY good girl and does such a nice job of babysitting me lol

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