I virtually always low-key wish my rides were being recorded. I'm just that obsessed with studying riding media, ya know? Since moving barns, tho, most of my serious schooling is done alone, where the best bet for video is a camera set up on the wall. Which works... but means far away, unfocused shots that may or may not be framed super nicely.
With all the recent trial saddles, tho, I got more desperate determined and hauled out ye olde helmet cam, and was actually pleasantly surprised with how decently it worked! It's very sensitive to sun spots in the indoor rings (as you can see from the over exposed blobs in all these screen shots), but otherwise is #BetterThanNothing!
media is media, guys LOL -- we'll take our blurry screenshots and we'll LIKE IT
So I brought it out for our ride yesterday --- and am so glad I did! I wanted to keep working on the postural details Trainer C focused on during our lesson the day prior, AND I wanted to play with jompies yay!
look who can trot ground poles with only minimal disruptions to rhythm!!
I also fired up the ol' metronome app again! It's been a hot minute since we used it, for whatever reason, but guys --- it is such a valuable tool for us right now.
One of my biggest weaknesses on the flat is that I get pretty easily baited into fiddle-fucking around with the horse's face. And Doozy is such a slippery noodle that it almost feels like I'm kinda chasing her around with my aids as she bounces and contorts every which way.
turns out, she goes better when i stop fucking around so much LOL
But with the metronome, idk... It's like, there's just this steady drum beat (literally) that I'm either matching, or not matching. It's just one single thing to think about -- but in focusing on that tempo, everything else seems to click into place. To hold a steady tempo with my posting requires that I be very solid, stable, and deliberate in my position and balance.
And the result is that.... Basically all my aids stay in one place, giving Doozy the stability she needs to settle onto them.
very progressive set of exercises: 3 ground poles, spaced 9' pole-X-pole, spaced 9' 3 big X's (far side), spaced 21'
The key for me is being more patient. Waiting it out. Giving Doozy time (and the actual peace and quiet from my noisy way of riding) to kinda ease into it. Rather than feeling like, "I need to make a difference," or "She needs to listen now." For Doozy, those feelings are direct nonstop tickets to Tension Land, and she's more than happy to go there at the least provocation.
plus single jumps on the diagonals. everything can be jumped from both directions
So. Anyway. It's all in the video, if you want to see what I mean.
ALSO in the video --- the jompies, yay! Our first jump school since the clinic with Sharon White last week! I swear I have all these good intentions of doing jumping style exercises twice a week... But it always ends up feeling like I'm lucky if it's once every 1.5wks. C'est la vie, I guess.
look how good she's getting at grids!
There were already two nice singles set up on the diagonals, and I added a series of progressive gymnastic exercises. And Doozy was so good!
off both leads! actual video is higher resolution, i promise
I'm not sure Sharon would have totally agreed with ALL my choices lol... But I did trot into the singles just to keep reinforcing her lessons.
i let her canter the singles to finish up too <3
Doozy was great, tho, jumped everything super well -- and only knocked one rail! The grid obvi rode a little short for her (bc duh it was set short at 21') but that's honestly the point. To help her get a little more patient and compressed. The one single going into the far corner kept riding a little funny for us, but eh I think it was a little 'bottom heavy' (with the lattice gate practically on the floor) and going into the corner tends to inspire the chip vs the gap anyway, so I didn't dwell.
we are learning a lot from each other, i think
On one hand, these sessions can seem kinda basic or elementary... But on the other hand.... that's also entirely the point lol. It was only just this summer where even just cantering a ground pole was Very Exciting OMG lol. And now the mare is powering cleanly thru grids on short distances. We'll take it!
The video is less edited than normal -- and is almost our entire ride. I cut the first 4ish minutes of trot, where we were just warming up and settling in, and the walk breaks. So it's basically the full meat of our session. But for those of you who maybe don't want to watch 10min of wide-angle footage taken from a fixed position on the wall.... here are the key moments:
- First ~3min are our proper trot work, including passing through the ground poles
- Around 3:30 we start canter work, including passing through ground poles
- At 6:00 we start jumping, which lasts the remainder of the video
cookies and face scritches for a job well done <3
And idk about you guys, but for me? Rides like this are the stuff. It is so satisfying to just have a simple, pleasant school. Especially compared to some of our recent rides in the trial saddles -- where it felt like Doozy's tension only increased as the ride went on and nothing I did seemed to make a difference.
I'm thinking the metronome is going to make more regular appearances in our rides again. Who cares if the lesson kids we ride with think it's weird LOL bc it clearly is working for us right now!
Maybe that'll be my New Year resolution haha... Anyway. Happy almost 2025, y'all!
I don't always do dedicated dressage lesson recap posts anymore for... Well. A couple reasons. Mostly bc there's never any media. And let's be real, riding media is the fuel powering this blog, right? Bc the other main reason is that... There's really not anything "new" to write. It's still just the same old nitty gritty work of being an adult amateur chipping away at low level dressage LOL...
But. Eh. Idk about y'all, but sometimes I find value in just writing out my memories and takeaways from a lesson to help reinforce and remember the salient bits.
good mare doesn't miss a meal!! everyone else lookin at me, but not Dooz, she's busy!
So let's get into our most recent lesson, yes? I had originally told Trainer C I'd be riding in the trial dressage saddle for the lesson, but... as mentioned yesterday, the trial was a total flop and I abandoned that mission entirely.
My sense is that I'm still just wayyyy too 'noisy' as a rider. Especially when you put me in a deep seated dressage saddle that facilitates wrapping my entire leg around the mare... and. Yea. That's a LOT of noise for poor sensitive Doozy, who quite possibly feels like I sit on her like a friggin earthquake. Ahem.
isn't it so pretty tho?? just ignore the janky spare stirrups and filthy saddle pad LOL
But Lo! Trainer C was game to seize on this sensation and run with it, and focused her instruction on demanding a bit more from me in terms of stability.
Specific postural highlights for me include:
- Posting evenly and deliberately from both legs (draped loosely down, not clinging or curled).
- Maintaining a steady rhythm from my core, with longer frontline from belly button to sternum. Almost feeling like I'm pushing my torso backward.
- Arms hanging down and stable, but NOT rigid. Longtime readers know my floaty arms and inconsistent hands have long been weak spots. And ya know. It's still true today! #progress LOL
can you tell i cleaned this mirror off specifically to be able to grab such a useful and illuminating photo??
The rhythm piece is really key, tho. I need to OWN the rhythm and speed. Doozy is like every other green thoroughbred in that she's weak behind, loses balance and speeds up, and gets strung out on the forehand. It's simply not possible for her to bend the way I'm asking if she's out of balance like that.
I need to ride the mare squarely centered between all my aids. My posture should be like rebar - strong and supportive but NOT completely rigid. Hands, elbows, shoulders, torso, seat --- all of it has to be connected and saying the same thing.
stalker cat <3
Unsurprisingly, every time it felt like Doozy was sorta unspooling or losing balance, if I could remember to pull all my pieces back together and SLOW DOWN, and hold my own self up... She could find her footing again. Gooooo figure LOL....
Anyway. We worked through fairly basic figures throughout the ride. Doozy is a horse who focuses best when doing specific things --- vs sorta endlessly trotting the same circle. So. Riding figures is our friend.
the other stalker cat <3 <3 (yes there are two of them lol)
Trainer C had us doing progressive figures off the quarter line -- repeating each time with slight variations in the pattern. First time down, just go straight and hold the rhythm. Second time, add in 15m circle from the quarter line, then leg yield back to the wall after finishing the circle. Third time, just the leg yield.
Rhythm and inside bend were our targets in this exercise -- particularly to the right (Doozy's trickier direction). Trainer C wanted me to be VERY clear about establishing the inside bend on the circle. Not by like, strong arming the mare into it. But through having the correct posture and by going slow enough that the mare could do it. Then hold that same exact positioning and rhythm into the leg yield. Rinse repeat.
post-lesson mare -- she worked hard!
We also integrated posting on the off diagonal while tracking right as a way to help Doozy get her inside shoulder more lifted - tho Doozy found this very disconcerting. Sensitive critter. Reminded me a bit of the work we did with Dom tho on frequently changing my post as a way to reaffirm that we've got the right balance and softness.
At canter, we focused on using half circles to maintain bend and speed. As in, do half a 20m across the short end, then hold straight until / unless the mare gets strong or loses bend, then 20m half circle again.
yer a good egg, dooz
To her credit, Doozy worked very hard this lesson, and at no point got frazzled or overblown. She wants to be good, wants to understand. Yet another reminder that if I ever feel like she's kinda melting down or not trying hard enough or whatever, it's probably bc.... something is buggin her or she's uncomfortable in some way. Bc she is honestly a very game mare.
So ya know. The onus is on me to just keep trying to ride her better and with greater stability / less noise. As Sharon says, "NO DRAMA, just clarity." Bc I truly believe that once she really understands the flatwork game, it'll get much easier to build strength in the right ways.
Who knows lol... Maybe 2025 will be the year where I finally make more progress in my flatwork haha, we'll see!
Happy Limbo Week, y'all!! The week between Christmas and New Years is one of my favorite times of the year, and I typically burn off the last of my 'use it or lose it' PTO.
soggy biscuit
Our weather has been a bit hit or miss, tho... Not too bitterly cold - but quite damp. Or, in the case of yesterday, downright sodden.
she loves her snacks tho!
And poor Dooz, I regretted my blanketing choices after seeing just how raw and chilly it was all day. Whoops, sorry mare!
i thought she might like to blow off a little steam on good dry footing
So after cleaning her up a bit, I decided to just let her loose for a little romp around one of the indoors instead of riding. Mostly bc... Well, idk guys.
she.... mostly preferred following me around mugging for treats LOL
We got another County dressage saddle on trial this week -- one with the same tree and panels as her jump saddle. Definitely a better fit for her, and a lovely saddle. But idk... Our rides were legitimately exclusively not good.
pleased that the mare is looking less ribby lately!
Idk if something was wrong with the flocking, or if it was just the different rider position or increased contact / deeper seat etc... But she was basically a mess.
tail is lookin good too!
Like, quite possibly not at all ready to cope with a saddle where she can feeling erry single little jiggle from her rider lol.... Ahem.
must be all that dirt she's eating LOL
So. Eh. It was gross out, undeniably challenging conditions, and maybe a good time to replenish the trust bank a little.... so we opted for a little 'free lunge' instead of a schooling ride.
neck might always be a little ewe-y tho... also, spy the bull horns behind her??
Except. Haha, sweet mare didn't quite get the message. Instructions unclear, I guess LOL, bc she mostly just followed me around for a while (wherein I got her to jog along 'chasing' me exactly twice before she got bored of that) before basically just wandering around sniffing dirt.
hula hoop was nbd too
Silly mare!
pool noodle wasn't worrisome... until it *touched her tho omg* and she about fell down... silly mare!
We still played with all the stuff around the ring tho -- like the hula hoop and pool noodles. None of it was particularly exciting, tho she was very offended when the pool noodle touched her unexpectedly.
so we desensitized a little bit
Such a sensitive critter!
oh mare, your vocabulary word of the day is "forbearance" LOL
So ya know. Not *every day* is a big exciting destination clinic or whatever lol. Some days we just wander around the dusty indoor and eat snacks.
all's well that ends well (with snacks)
Not a bad way to spend Limbo Week imho!! Tho we do have another fun outing or two planned before the year's up hopefully!
Hope you all are enjoying the holidays and getting in a lot of good pony time!
Guys! I know it's almost the holidays and a lot of folks are checked out already... But I'm still excited to write about our long-awaited clinic this weekend with Sharon White on the XC Derby course at Loch Moy!!
the look of a mare who is #coping despite arriving literally 10min prior and already saddled
I entered literally a full month ago -- before losing Charlie, even. I was browsing the calendar looking for fun off-season educational opportunities, and this particular clinic was a no brainer. It checked ALL the right boxes --
1) I wanted to school and/or have a lesson on Loch Moy's fabled derby xc course ahead of possibly doing one of the actual derbies this winter
And, more importantly: 2) Sharon White has been on my "Bucket List" for literal years.
grown up dooz <3 <3 <3 also you can tell from the water that it hasn't been a sustained cold snap -- no ice!
Tho obvi as the day grew nearer, I became less certain. As one does. It got cold. But like, really cold.* And then Doozy had that suspected abscess / bruise fandango that made us miss the last planned clinic and from which recovery had felt a little slow.
(*For Maryland standards, that means 'below freezing, but only just')
two orange ladies lol, and me obvi
But, slowly but surely, the pieces started coming back together and even a couple little hiccups on the morning of weren't enough to derail us. Up to and including arriving wayyyyy later than intended. I'd planned for about 45-30min of familiarization time after arriving, and got 15 instead. Literally, 15min from parking to swinging a leg over. Not, uh, ideal.
warming up by proving to myself that, actually, emma, you CAN trot this mare to the base
But Doozy coped!! She was honestly a super star. The group before us had a horse that was still working through some ditch issues when we arrived anyway, so we did end up with a relaxed period of hacking about the arena etc anyway. Still, tho, very proud of the mare!
and in fact, you CAN trot BN fences too <3 <3 good mare!
Doozy kinda checked off some big boxes before we'd even started too -- in our early walk-abouts before the lesson started, she went straight into the water like maybe it was made of cookies or something (literally), and also walked through the driveway ditch like it was nothing more than weird telephone poles. Which, uh, I guess it is? lol....
i don't love trotting fences, esp "big to us" fences... but athletic mares have answers, go figure
Once we actually started warming up tho, mare was on FIRE. And Sharon immediately called us out for speeding. Her instruction was similar in many ways to Lauren Sprieser: the second you feel the rhythm get away from you, transition down. Immediately. Then right away back to trot. Rinse, repeat, 18,000 times.
I got dinged a couple times for being a little slow and wishy-washy vs what Sharon wanted to see... But in my defense, I find this type of training approach is best done under direct supervision bc millions of rapid-fire transitions is a great way to blow this mare up if I'm not careful.
goooo Doozy!!
The same approach held for all our jumping too: We'd trot EVERYTHING. Politely. With a big focus on the landing side of fences. And honestly.... while in some ways this might seem 'remedial' or whatever, it's still kinda what Doozy needs. On occasion.
figuring out the footwork without any frantic drama
And go figure, it works. I'd already kinda figured out a few weeks ago that, if I remind myself that "If I want to trot, it's **my fault** if we accidentally break into canter."
guys she's got a pretty decent canter imho
Or, in other words --- The mare LISTENS when I'm clear. She's a good girl, she colors inside the lines. She just needs to understand. And I DO have tools, I know how to do it. So ya know. This lesson was all about reinforcing that she's PLENTY capable of jumping the fences without needing to rely on speed.
And she totally did it just fine!! Trotted around all manner of BN fences more or less easily. Good girl! And I was proud of myself too bc I def get a little excitable when the jumps look "bigger" and that's part of why I'm maybe more likely to just let the mare roll on... But honestly everything rode fine. Go figure lol...
wheeeee coming back the other way!
Unfortunately the cold temperatures meant that anything with a battery was kinda struggling -- including my helmet camera. It was actually my first true #fail with the Cambox. It's a shame bc we did a lot more than what was captured on cell phone footage... but c'est la vie, right?
this mare, guys... she is a cool customer. like, chaotic and hot lol, but prettttty cool
Tho the one bit I'm most sad about missing on video was the up- and down-banks. Not that it was anything spectacular -- but actually that's kinda the point LOL. Doozy just walked UP, turned around, then walked DOWN, then dragged my ass back into the water with a gleeful little canter LOL (even as Sharon was hollering, "No Runnnnnnning!!" haha.....
look at her go!
We did get all of the formal ditch work on video tho. And obvi Doozy was perfect <3 <3
It's not a crazy ditch -- quite shallow and very inviting. But set up in a nice little gymnastic 2 stride line that we did each way (with a little loop into the far arena just to say we did, for the #culture etc).
yes i wore my dubarry's in the expensive fancy destination clinic bc dear lord it was cold, and also i showed up hella late. something had to give and skipping tall boots was an easy choice lol
I'm so pleased with this mare, tho. Like. This lesson wasn't revolutionary. It wasn't the nitty gritty intensive deep dive we did with Dom in our private lessons this summer. In fact, it was something different entirely.
video from actual literal saints who risked their fingers in the bitter cold
It was a lesson in which I showed up with a very green mare under slightly harried circumstances (very late arrival etc), but.... it was no big deal. And mare could just proceed with the lesson in a predictable and reliable fashion. Yes she's hot and chaotic, but also... Yes she's ready for the exercises and the jumps.
so proud of this lil critter <3 <3
And honestly? That's a win unto itself! Maybe one day we will be beautiful and elegant and well-schooled and all the things.... But for now? I'm enjoying the HELL out of just being able to go out there and have fun safely and confidently!
Happy holidays y'all -- wishing you all the FUN in the New Year too <3
Alternative title: Yet another trailering essential that took me wayyyy too long to acquire.
Ahem, cough cough. Guys. I'm going to be plain with y'all. I'm, uh, sorta scared of electrical stuff in general, car batteries in particular.
that feeling when you drive into the barn and just KNOW your tow vehicle isn't gonna start
Which is inconvenient bc I own a truck whose sole purpose in life is to stay hitched up to my trailer, parked at the farm, ready and waiting for whatever adventures may come. Except. Ya know. Realistically it's a rare month where there are more than 3 trailer-worthy adventures. And in winter? Fewer still.
who among us hasn't left a vehicle sitting neglected amid increasingly cold temperatures???
Long story short. I've killed a shit ton of batteries in my trucks over the years. Perhaps most hilariously here. It's just a thing I do. A personality flaw, perhaps.
pictured: Brrrrrrr!* (*for maryland)
So ya know. I've also been a participant in many many jump start operations. Tho. To be perfectly honest. My role tends to be: "Female who dangles electrical cords so haphazardly that males appear ***literally out of nowhere*** to seize said equipment and finish the job."
batteries like warmth, y'all. don't leave your emergency battery out in the cold! and give it a warm case for when it travels!
The most recent occurrence of... exactly that... was the morning of our show at Waredaca. And the male who appeared ****literally out of nowhere**** was equipped with the below emergency jump start battery. He hooked it up and my truck leapt to life instantly. Amazing!
So ya know. This is one of those weak points that gets exposed after a barn move, I think. At the last place, I knew all the people, all the handymen, all the resources available for making sure my truck ran when I needed it. At the new place? Sure, there are wonderful people able and willing to help (as evidenced by prior "male out of ****literally nowhere****")....
But, eh, this is not a unique or unsolved problem. Products exist in the market for EXACTLY these scenarios.
the plug is machined to ensure correct connections -- it only fits in one orientation
So I did what the modern woman does: took a picture of the tool used by most recent "male out of literally nowhere" (sorry I keep emphasizing that, but you know what I mean) and ordered a similar model off Amazon.
(This most recent Good Samaritan was the father of a lesson student, thank you sir!!)
don't judge me, it's my #FirstTime
And soon enough, I got my first chance to use it ALL BY MYSELF OMG. And guys.... I was nervous! I have been bringing the thing with me from home (in its insulated little tote bag) for all my trailering adventures since Waredaca -- but yesterday was finally the day I needed it.
charge from a vehicle --- ideally, after yours is running in case you need it again next time
And it worked!! Like, I followed the directions, needed to let it just chill hooked up for a minute to charge the truck. And... Then the truck started. Amazing! Then I charged it back up again while driving the 1.5hrs to Loch Moy (post tomorrow OMG!).
bc we got important shit to do <3 <3 <3 tune in tomorrow for details :D
I'm not an expert AT ALL on equipment like this, so I'm reluctant to specifically endorse this exact model. It's just what the guy used to jump my truck, and then it worked for me too. I'll definitely keep you updated if it either continues to work, or conks out.
But... I gotta say, just like having my own tire inflating air compressor, this is exactly the type of essential tool I like having on hand! So. Eh. Peace of mind is its own reward, maybe.
Do you have something similar already? If not, might be nice to let Santa know you want one ;)
