There have been a couple false starts over the last year with Doozy re: training programs. In particular, we've had to learn that, in the land of Dooz, relaxation must be the priority. No ifs, ands, or buts.
cutie <3
Not every training methodology / trainer we've worked with has fit that bill, but interestingly.... There have been commonalities throughout every program all the same.
she looks pleased with herself, no?
Almost without fail, each professional we've worked with has identified two key issues:
1) I need to be able to get my leg aids onto the horse, and
2) The mare wants to lean onto her right shoulder.
"will chase you down for cookies tho"
So ya know. None of that is new, right? But eh. Maybe it's time to address it lol. We've worked so hard in the last few months to get on the same page re: a standard ride package wherein relaxation is the priority, and we can work through all three gaits in a relatively pleasant and productive way.
schweet mare
These last few days, tho, I changed the rules. From the moment we step away from the mounting block, my right leg is on. Which.... honestly, for Doozy, probably feels illegal.
amazing management --- freshly dragged ring AND a grass mower!! just normal things at this farm!
But it's been a fascinating little bit of homework for me, tho. By paying attention to keeping my leg on, I'm figuring out just how often..... my leg is off lol. And in what circumstances.
speaking of mgmt, ignore the mess and peep my new trailer fans!
Like it's fairly easy to get the right posture (for me) while walking. And it's easiest for Doozy too to have the correct response with minimal (altho decidedly non-zero) tension. But once we start trotting?? All bets are off!
trailer has a lot of airflow already, but i still feel a lot of relief with these additions
It's also interesting to try to pay attention to both my lower legs and my upper body at the same time. Bc what we're figuring out is that... I want to tip over to the right while using my right leg --- when what I really need to be doing is making the whole right side of my body longer from shoulder to heel.
i think mare appreciates too <3
So my objective, while tracking to the right, is to feel like I can sink into my left leg, feel like I've got eyes on the left side of my horse's neck, but also keep my inside right leg down and on. Essentially trying to create some independence between my upper and lower body.
just normal lesson things
Doozy, for her part, wants to be very reactive to the leg aid, and wants to get hurried and flustered. Which, ya know. Fair. It's a big rule change for her, considering we've gotten along this far on the compromise of, "don't fucking touch me with your legs unless you want me to GO."
Which... Come to think of it, isn't much of a compromise LOL.
#NormalizedChaos
But ya know. That's why it's homework, I guess. I'm figuring out that a LOT of our "established" aids kinda lived in this one-sided application -- like our down transitions. Apparently we can only transition down when bent left, which... wow, uh, whoops!
With Charlie, I more or less enabled some of our co-dependencies and compromises, bc many were rooted in his own physical limitations. But with Doozy? I'm still hoping to get a fresh start, correct some of my own bad habits, and hopefully give her a more solid (and straight) foundation to promote her own long-term soundness.
It's been a fairly quiet week around here. Mostly just hacking and light flat schools, after a series of scheduling snafus meant the horse was wayy overdue for a trim... womp.
unrelated photo from a little former barn mate reunion trip to a lovely local winery last week!
But hacking with friends is always lovely, esp this time of year! It was downright crispy over the weekend too!!! Tho stubbornly back into the 80s by midweek...
wandering in the woods!
And we got a few productive things checked off the list anyway --- first up, Doozy's saddle got a ~5 month check-up. Recall I picked up a lovely County monoflap last April. Doozy has obviously changed in weight and muscling significantly since then, so it was time for a reflock.
hills were happy after a little rain
Then it was off again to another clinic ride!! Doozy travelled well and warmed up nicely, but was jussssst a tad spicy for this lesson. She's in season and feeling a little bit tight and distracted, and just everything is a little less accessible.
related pic: bounces!
Plus, obvi, the last time she jumped was basically when she won the olympics got around the .70m at the local jumper show. So naturally she was **quite** impressed with herself and eager to pick up where we left off!
bouncing the other way!
Which made for a slightly harder lesson for me, but ya know. This is the work. In particular, Dom observed that we were struggling quite a bit with the mare wanting to push out with her right shoulder, and collapse her neck to the left. This is not a new problem for us, per se, but I still don't quite have a grip on it.
it was a hard lesson but this was a bright spot <3
So we worked through some turning exercises --- starting with a simple x-rail across the short end, and doing a figure eight over it until we could land in a somewhat civilized fashion.
Then we put it together with a line of bounces: come down the bounce line, take the long route around to the earlier x-rail, then turn back immediately to the bounces. And then add a long straight outside line on at the end (omg).
oh lawd, not gonna lie it was hard for me to trust letting her roll down this line!
Doozy really struggled with straightness in this ride, and it seems like my habit is to immediately try to ride the .... wrong side of her. Dom wanted my hands lower, and to really feel like I could push the right shoulder more to the left, and have more right bend. Particularly when tracking right, he wanted me sitting more to the left, and wanted me to be a bit more committed to getting my right leg onto the horse without her zipping off.
she did it just fine tho <3
Interestingly, it'll surprise basically nobody to know that this is almost exactly what we've been working on in our dressage lessons too. Turns out it's just hard, I guess!
finishing with better flatwork than we started with
Anyway, Doozy kinda knocked me over with a feather when, after struggling through all the exercises, she somehow put together a pleasant final trip (in the video below!!).
trying to reinforce the learnings
Like obvi not perfect, but we were able to proceed directly from one exercise element to the next mostly without circling in between. Particularly she was able to land from the end jump and turn (still cantering!) toward the bounce line, which she did handily! Good girl!!
uh-oh, spaghettio!
The outside line was still a bit hairy, tho. Not gonna lie. I have a hard time letting her roll on the true stride, vs wanting to bring her way back for the add. But we got it done fine enough, and then finished by reestablishing the flatwork just to help both of us really understand the homework.
ugh, that last step's a doozy tho!
Bc it really does just boil down to flatwork, right? I'm so pleased with how well this mare is figuring things out, but it's still just not easy. We'll get there tho!
Well. Eventually lol, poor mare pulled a shoe right as we were easing into walk and stepped on the clip, UGH! Hopefully by the time you read this she'll be reset and right as rain, but ugh it's so hard to stick to a program when we keep having issues like this!
anyway. praying mantis!
Oh well. That's horses, amirite. Anybody else having trouble keeping their shoes tied???
Guys!! Doozy went to a big local show this weekend and was so good omg!! I've only been to this venue, Swan Lake in Littlestown, PA, once before for their indoor winter jumpers shows, so wasn't entirely sure what to expect from their outdoor series - except that multiple rings would be running.
getting ready for her close-up
Tho I was pretty sure there'd be a fair amount of atmosphere, so I planned accordingly. And am so glad we did, bc wow the show was actually quite a bit bigger than I realized. Probably it was fairly typical for hunter jumper shows, but definitely a lot going on.
pleased with how quickly she relaxed at the trailer
As it was, a lot of factors stacked up in our favor for a positive experience. The schedule was favorable -- the 1m+ classes went first, then back down to the .70m to work up again. And obvi modern online entry systems are such a game changer -- we had an estimated start time (about 10:45am) the night before!! Amazing!
took longer (a LOT longer) to relax around the competition rings, but she got there eventually
I still opted to show up around 8am, tho. To get a good parking spot... but also to do a little familiarization work. We were tacked up and heading over to the show rings by 8:30, spent the next 40min flying my kite hand walking around the grounds. Finally got quiet / brave enough to throw a leg over, then spent about 20min flatting/exploding/flatting around the warm-up ring.
legit did a "pre-ride" around the warm up rings about an hour and a half before our class was 100% worth it, we needed it!
Obvi I was careful to be minimally disruptive to anybody in the ring with us... Tho the benefit of pre-riding during the highest classes is that, there are fewer riders so the rings are less crowded. And the horses and riders were all experienced enough to simply ignore any antics Doozy threw.
all that preparation paid off bc weather conditions deteriorated quickly for our actual round
And I'm pretty sure all this pre-work was really the day's biggest win. Bc with Doozy, the jumps are honestly the easy part. It's .... all the everything that's a bit more challenging.
Tho from past shows (like at Jenny Camp, where dressage and show jumping warmed up in the same field), I've learned that her second time being ridden in a space tends to be considerably more relaxed than the first.
i know it's poorly framed but omg look how good she was to the giant* first oxer with clover leaf panel!!! (*giant to me, at least lol)
Like. Doozy kinda needs to explode. She wants to. It's part of who she is as a person lol. So, eh, I gave her the space to do so. She's not trying to get away from me, she's respectful of my space. She's not even really going anywhere. She just has to whistle and wail and pogo around a little bit. Just the occasional steam vent lol.
had rails at #2 & 3, but nbd
But we got through all that hand walking and then the simplest little pre-ride (w-t ONLY, plus a significant amount of time just like.... standing there), then I got to get off and be like, WOW WHAT A GOOD MARE! And she was like, "Yea! Ya know, I am a good mare!" Then instantly tucked into serene ringside grazing like she's been doing it her whole life.
i think she'll learn to be more careful, for today it was the good effort that counted!
Local jump trainer Kelly showed up around this time, so we basically hung out chatting / grazing ringside until it was go time. I haven't written much about Kelly bc we never have any media from lessons (ugh!)... But she's been working with us about every 2 weeks lately, including the lead up to this show. She had a group of riders attending and was a sufficiently pointy stick in motivating me to join in on the fun.
got a little lost on my way to this jump lol... nbd!
So after the 1.20m class wrapped, I got back on, got back into the warm up (this time for a more abbreviated flat work session since we'd already spent so much time walking around), and Kelly got us going first over trot poles, and then over an assortment of small jumps.
my "scenic route" to #4 made the next horse think we were farther along in our course than we were, so they pre-loaded a bit, er, prematurely lol. nbd tho, no harm, no foul!
Honestly that warm up with her was probably the best part of the day. Doozy was fantastic, we weren't riding under any pressure (esp bc we were so early into the ring, it wasn't crowded or chaotic yet), and Kelly was able to get us jumping smoothly and comfortably. Doozy didn't put a foot wrong!
so brave jumping toward the spooky tents!! <3
We probably did two passes over some trot poles, then maybe 6-7 different jump configurations -- working up to a 2'3 oxer, then finishing over a tiny X that we could sorta melt/crawl over... And then headed over to the show ring while folks were finishing up their course walks.
magnificent over the last, ugh this mare <3 <3 <3
And this was another major factor in our favor --- bc we were first to go in the ring, and people were still course walking, we had a pretty substantial chunk of time to wander around looking at everything. Including the big tents --- which were making interesting noises in the rain.
(Oh yea, did I mention it started pouring right when it was time to warm up?? #Typical lol)
"i definitely won" -- doozy, 1,000%
I also used this time to check in with the judge about a slightly unconventional plan for my trip. The course looked lovely, all gentle bending lines on long distances etc... Except for the in-and-out. Which, yea it was a very nice in-and-out too, except I just didn't feel like Doozy was adequately prepared to answer that question.
It was one-too-many hard questions to ask of the mare for the day, IMO, so I asked the judge if I could just skip it -- obvi getting eliminated in the process -- but still complete my course without getting rung out.
"i am a champion" - Queen of Jompies, Knower of Everything
Like... maybe it would have been fine. But it's also entirely possible Doozy would have had a run out or awkwardly uncomfortable chip jump. I preferred that, on this day, the jumps remained the "easiest part." And we'll tackle more formal grids soon.
My honest expectation is that once Doozy gets some experience with grids and learns to recognize them, she'll LOVE them. We'll get there. For this ride, I was so thrilled with Doozy. Aside from jump 1, all the distances were gently related -- and Doozy comfortably did the single add stride trotting in (except for the last line we cantered in, but still did the add).
Our landings were always a little wild and woolly, so I totally flubbed the roll back landing turn from 3 to 4 and had to cross my line whoops. Again tho, Doozy doesn't know that's an error.
Her only technical errors were taking the rails at #2 and #3, tho she jumped each just fine -- and jumped the rest of the course cleanly.
"did you see me tho?? i was so good!"
So overall, it was a really educational day for us. A 'soft skills' kinda day, plus more mileage jumping around jumps that, not gonna lie, look a little big to me LOL... Was it a lot of time and energy and work for.... one course...? Sure, I guess. Except that's almost besides the point, ya know?
It feels like Doozy is really getting the idea. Like her technique is so much more consistent even when her pace gets a little hurried, it feels nice! Literally NONE of this matters for anything, except that we are having positive experiences and growing into a team together.
Maybe more "exciting" results will happen eventually lol, but for me? This is the good stuff :)
Not gonna lie, guys, I need a holiday after my long holiday weekend, LOL.... Poor Doozy, I went away for a week, then she lost a shoe, and then it's been full steam ahead ever since -- with two back-to-back trailer trips just this weekend...
doozy's tail might be a bit wispy, but she knows how to put it to WORK omg <3
I only have video / pictures from *one* of these trips tho (obvi, the subject of this here blog post), so it's possible you won't get a post at all about the Thornridge dressage lesson. C'est la vie.
trotting out in the open like a #MareBoss
This blog is literally fueled by media so... if you want dressage lesson recaps, maybe come take footage for me??? (only half joking, guys!)
first jump of the day and it's off to the races!
As it is, tho, I'm trying to get serious about putting some pieces together ahead of my favorite riding time of the year: FALL! And while ideally the pieces would all coincide with world class instruction... Well. Y'all already know how that goes. Sometimes we have to be privateers!
narrow fence? mare don't care!
I have had this week penciled in on my calendar for xc for some time now, and the pieces just would not click together. Try as I might, a riding buddy was not to be found. But the conditions were so perfect, and I was so stubborn, we had to go! Luckily, a barn mate from Charlie's farm was eager to be of assistance and offered to come be my ground person (omg THANK YOU), so we made it happen!
guys i swear she's gained a ton of weight even in just the last 3 weeks
It was not an inconsiderable ask for Doozy, either, tho. She hadn't jumped in more than 2 weeks, hadn't seen xc since Jenny Camp. Hasn't warmed up for jumps from cold in a grass field since the last time we went to Windurra.
princess <3
But idk. It felt right. Tranquillity is such a special place. I know the farm well, I know the jumps well (tho they are constantly getting moved around), and had a clear vision and sense for how I thought our schooling session could be spent.
this photo brought to you courtesy of weeks on weeks of boring gymnastics posts
And Doozy absolutely rose to the occasion! We warmed up mostly at the walk, and tried to stay on relatively flat ground for the trotting. Doozy doesn't quite understand terrain yet --- she's like, "Oooooh downhill? Let's GO!!" Which like. Pls, dear god, let's whoa tho???
marching around
It's funny too bc I had a couple slightly aspirational ideas in my head about specific things we'd tackle in our ride... And legit very few of those came to fruition... Bc realistically Doozy is still a very green horse, and we aren't that ready for complicated terrain yet.
ermagerd bebe's first fake ditch!
Complicated or no, tho, Doozy was a star. The jumps? ACES omg. This horse wants to jump the jumps. She doesn't like them particularly small, either. Just wants to GO!
#spamming cuz i can
Tho it was incredible the difference I could feel in her after the last couple months spent on footwork and gymnastic exercises. Case in point: I didn't have a SINGLE 'pearl clutching' moment. Not one! Like, sure, I still ride tight and rigid, but y'all know what I mean.
got a little close to this one, but nbd
Doozy looks at the jumps -- she focuses on them, is drawn to them. You can feel her going to the jump. It's not a question. It feels good. And especially now that she has a few more tools in her tool bag re: footwork, she's able to smooth it out even when she gets a bit hasty and ahead of herself.
3rd time over the fake ditch was basically text book (she stepped in it 2nd time LOL)
After we'd warmed up over a few singles (quite pleasantly, I might add!), we moved to the next zone at the farm, where the ditches are. This area is nice bc it's pretty well packed with inviting jumps, tho it can end up feeling a little cluttered for horses like Doozy.
cantering out of a related distance OMFG
All the same, we accomplished one of my main objectives -- getting some repetitions over the fake ditch and related fences.
walking into the #ScaryNature -- you'll have to watch the helmet cam to see her effort up the little bebe bank (where she almost fell fucking down, whoops) then over the related log
It was a construction we repeated a few times throughout the ride --- trotting in (or at least, trying to!) to the first jump, then cantering along a semi related path to the out jump. I **know** this horse and I can canter jumps, I know it. But, eh, we need practice.
"RAWR" -- Doozy, 1,000%
There were also a couple times where... It felt a little sloppy, not gonna lie. Like it might be unspooling a little bit. In fact, I'd kinda decided to call it a day after finishing up in the ditch zone...
almost fell off but loved it anyway
Tho we decided to take the long way back in case anything else out there was enticing. Which, go figure, there was enticement lol.
magnificent critter
A pleasant little line appeared going from a nice little 2'3 table (which we'd seen at Shawan both for schooling and on course for the HT) to a cute little coop. It was like this little line was made for us, so obvi we went for it!
tame over the coop -- really liked stringing two together throughout this ride!
And of course, Doozy was a star <3 Like, not perfect, obvi, lol... The approach for the table was a little sheisty and I kinda almost fell off when she made a bid for it.... Whoops! But it was fine <3
Honestly... The ride went a lot better than it had any right to go. Like y'all already know I'm always eager to throw in the towel a little early if things aren't perfect... But we kept going a little bit longer this ride, and it was actually great.
Not perfect, but great. And I actually felt better about the ride after watching the video my barn mate grabbed for us. Historically with Doozy, the real-time footage can look a little... ahem, less great all things considered. So this was an unusual feeling being able to watch the video and feel like, "Oh, YEA that looks fine!!"
it's a slow road, guys, but a scenic one, imho <3 <3
So we'll take it. The mare feels good. She LOOKS good. Finally starting to look like the gigantic well built powerhouse that she actually is. Bc, guys... Y'all might be used to seeing me next to Charlie (who is enormous). But this mare ain't small.
And hopefully we'll be out and about doing some stuff this fall!! She feels ready. Not like, polished or schooled or whatever. But emotionally ready. And some days that's enough!!
