grids with Sally

Happy Tuesday! Brace yourself for a whole bunch of nearly identical pictures lol, bc Doozy and I went to another lesson with Sally this weekend! And the lesson's focus? GRIDS!

first time tying to the trailer was nbd

Now... In the grand scheme of things, did we really need to drive an hour each way and pay lesson and ring fees to take a few trips down a grid? Esp when we can easily set up the first 3 of 4 total elements in our indoor at home? Maybe not lol...

taking a pause from dragging me around ring familiarization to sniff the various jump fill stacked on the wall

But realistically, a lot of the benefit from these off-farm lessons isn't derived so much from what we do under saddle, but rather from the whole "off-farm" bit. 

seriously, the entire arena was lined with adorable and creative fillers!

Going to a new place, existing at the trailer, familiarizing with the new riding space (while half a dozen other horses jump and canter and finish up their lesson) all while not disrupting said lesson or murdering me, and being manageable enough to proceed with our own ride. --> THAT'S the stuff that'll hopefully pay off big time when we do eventually start showing.

sally kept our jumps quite simple and unadorned tho

None of this comes as easily to Doozy as it did Charlie. But ya know, she's better every time. She's still very triggered by other horses coming and going and doing things near doors or in the middle distance or outside windows... But her reactions are getting smaller and more self contained. Progress! 

it's grid day, mare!!

Tho, ahem, I *did* almost fall immediately off while getting on haha... Whoops. Doozy has made immense progress at the mounting block, but some days are always just going to be harder than others. C'est la vie. 

exercises were built progressively, one stick at a time

Our warm up was uneventful, tho, and we did our little trotting and cantering around while barn mate Katie and Rosette had their private lesson. Katie then stayed in the ring with us for our turn -- and we shared the lesson with another boarder too.

not exactly sure of these distances, but probably closer to 18' than 24' for a short one stride

Sally had a long grid set up for the higher classes -- a 30'-10'-30' set of verticals to go two-bounce-two, set on shorter indoor distances. So she decided to reconfigure this set up slightly to create a progressive "baby's first grid" set of exercises for us!!

i worked really hard on keeping softer hands and rein contact, which proved useful when doozy kept wanting to look down at the poles lol 

Each pass through the grid progressed very similarly to how Hadden introduced Doozy to jumping, which worked really perfectly. Tho for some reason, Doozy did seem a little distracted by some of the clutter --- like she wanted to stretch down in her neck and look at the stuff as it passed beneath her.

it was hard to know when to just be soft and allowing and let her do her thing, vs when to add more support -- esp deeper into the grid

For my purposes, I tried really hard to be more aware and intentional in my rein contact and release. I talked a little bit about it with Sally too -- like, "It's been so long since I've had lessons that I know I'm doing all sorts of weird things --- if you see something, say something!"

final element was 30' for a short two stride

Which, obvi she was happy to do so. But she was also super practical with me: With a horse this green, sometimes you just need to focus on getting in the reps and doing what needs done. The refinement will certainly come, but I shouldn't get too bogged down in the details just yet. 

got pretty clever about trotting into the grid after all the repetition!

She also reminded me that.... quite obviously, Doozy does not have the experience yet to totally 100% "let the grid train her." She doesn't know enough yet about using her eye, adjusting her stride, when to push, when to wait, or even how to push or wait. 

did experiment with exit strategies once

So, yes, I need to give her the freedom and allow her to kinda work her way through the exercise, but I also need to use MY experience and judgement to add support when needed. 

throwback to charles circa 2017 --- bc, turns out, most normal horses will, eventualy, experiment with exiting lol

Like, I didn't want to goose her or chase her through the exercise when she felt a little uncertain about going on the stride... But by the end we had a good feeling for how much leg to add to help keep her positive and support her instincts, which are already pretty forward thinking. That was maybe the best takeaway from the lesson --- feeling that moment when just the littlest support went the longest way.

nbd, tho, just go right on back around and do it again

Doozy did try to run out once through the line -- which imho is pretty much inevitable with this particular exercise. It's hard work, it's repetitive, and it can be tiring. Horses are like water -- they like to follow the paths of least resistance. So it's normal for them to see if, 'hey, would it be easier if I just like, didn't?'

a little open right rein + sally passively sorta standing there was plenty to keep doozy on the straight and narrow

And ya know, the answer is, "nope, not easier, try again." And again, most normal horses with the right support and general interest in the activity will say, "Ok, was worth a shot!" and will proceed as they were lol. Doozy was no exception.

circling back for our final trip of the day!

It was at this point, tho, when I had to let entirely go of the neck strap to better use all my tools for keeping Doozy straight and following Sally's instruction for a more open right rein. 

I was a bit worried that my hands would go crazy lol, but, ya know, practice is a helluva drug and my position stayed more or less where I wanted it even without holding the strap. Yay!

added jussssst a touch of more calf support through the last line and it was perfect

The amount of added leg was so so minimal, it was kinda crazy haha. Just like, the gentlest steady hug from the top of my calves --- just letting Doozy know I was there for her, plus a little extra verbal reassurance (and a cluck earlier in the grid) and she just nailed it. 

good girl, dooz!

Our final trip had such a pleasant balance, such an easy cadence, and we both felt very "together." Was definitely the right place to stop, even tho --- had I been alone, I would have called it on the trip before. Bc that one had been "good enough."

quick video of every trip down the grid

I actually asked Sally if we should call it there, and she was like, "No I think you need to do it once more." Which was obvi fine -- I was happy to do it again. But that's just something I'm trying to work on -- knowing when to be satisfied and when to ask for more. My tendency is to call it slightly too soon --- I'm afraid of getting greedy, or maybe of "running out of luck" or something. 

this gorgeous stout lil barn kitty visited us at the trailer afterward

But this last trip was the perfect reminder to me that "good enough" is good and all, but there's usually one more trip in there that might be a bit more on the mark, maybe even great. 

left a little present in the trailer too haha, thanks buddy

So a lot of valuable takeaways from all sorts of different angles lol. Sally's suggestion for homework was basically to 'continue as we are.' Keep doing what we're doing, and the pieces will keep coming together. 

I really don't have any sense of timeline or anything with Doozy at this point. Like it would be nice to think about spring shows and stuff.... But there's just so much more preparation that has to happen (like, uh, riding out in an open field at speeds faster than walk and without the support of having a friend right next to us..... details details!). And it feels reasonable to expect that some of that preparation will be different than it was with Charlie. 

Charlie could go out, do a thing, experience something, and basically be like, "Ok yep I know what this is." Doozy.... may take more acclimatization lol. 

It's all good, tho, bc so far I'm really enjoying the process! And who knows, maybe Charlie will be back to fighting form by springtime if the allure of horse shows becomes irresistible?? lol...