taking a page out of Ingrid's book

It's Grid Pro Quo time again! Last time, we looked at a cavalletti exercise authored by Ryan Wood, and this week we tried a new configuration by Ingrid Klimke! 

i kinda doubt we'll actually attempt ALL of these exercises.... but who knows, we'll see!

If we learn one thing from this book, it'll be how to better visualize, anticipate and.... adapt the concepts and setups to fit our needs etc. Bc.... Not gonna lie, this particular attempt was kinda a fail. 

Ingrid designed a line of three cavalletti set at angles. Sure... Superficially, the exercise looks simple and straight forward enough, plus also looks super versatile in terms of picking your lines and patterns through the various poles. 

 

sticking with the theme of "keeping it simple, stupid!"

It's basically a serpentine -- but could also be ridden as two separate circles (just catching two poles at a time), or also as a straight line (hitting each pole on an angle). 

I figured I'd mostly focus on the latter ideas, since Ingrid's idea for the serpentine was to use each cavalletti to prompt a lead change. Which... Eh, is a little above our paygrade at this point.

instructions called for cavalletti or small jumps, but, eh, ground poles were fine

The "fail" part came in realizing, after I'd set it up and gotten on, that the idea of riding each half of the serpentine as part of its own circle meant my circles would be half the width of our dressage court, since I set it up on center line. So.... canter circles about 15m. Which was a liiiiiitle smaller than I'd had in mind. 

you can see how setting this up on the diagonal (red box) allows for bigger circles than when the same exercise is set up on the center line (gray box)

If we do it again, maybe I'll try to set it up on a diagonal line so there's more room for a circle on each end of the serpentine? Or maybe I'll just set up each separate line of two poles (one at 33', the other at 44') on each quarterline? 

I actually liked the distances a lot, and could see value of just working on those sized circles off both leads. Putting the whole serpentine together for us was a little iffy just bc of the necessary lead change lol.... Anyway, the 33' section wanted 3 bending strides, and the 44' section wanted 4 bending strides. 

since the dressage ring was kinda a fail, we got our footwork patterns in with this fun little pinwheel setup

Luckily, after kinda not really getting what I wanted from that ride, our next session found us up in the jump ring where some interesting pattern-ish kinda stuff looked promising. Specifically -- see the little orange and white x-rail in the top right corner? 

There was another one around the bend immediately to the right out of frame -- making for a perfect bending line that usually came up in 5 or 6, and was kinda maybe the same-ish ideas that we had intended to practice with the Ingrid exercise. 

trainer P had set up a line of short ones too, and yes that standard snapped in half, womp. jumped it exactly as it is anyway

So I did a couple sessions off each lead, circling through, trying to get consistent, then adding in the little pinwheel set of jumps. One circuit all left leads (jump, land, loop around left, jump the next, land, loop around left, jump the next, etc etc etc), then repeated the whole thing off the right. 

Finally, when we felt like we were clicking right on along, I took a couple passes down the above grid off each lead. It's very short distances -- probably about 18' -- so maybe will help Charlie get a little snappier? 

random barrels were fun too! 

Idk lol, it was what was set up, and I didn't feel like getting off to change or move anything. So we made it work, and it was fun! 

Charlie can get a little lazy about small jumps, and I can get complacent.... So trying to do more of these cavallettti type exercises will hopefully be good practice for staying focused on the execution even when it's not like... big or scary lol.

visiting with the shetland council

I swear, tho, there is more to that Grid Pro Quo book than ground poles set on a straight line --- and we'll definitely get to some of that eventually too! 

For now, it's just nice having that book in my locker to help give me a sense of purpose and inspiration for our rides where we might otherwise kinda just dink around getting our reps in lol. 

all done! 

In the meantime, there's a couple weeks until our next planned outing so it's a good time to just play around lol. Anyone else experimenting with new and interesting exercises??

friday foto finish + helmet cam

Woot woot, happy Friday, y'all -- we got a couple pro fotos!! Not like, many. But some. And we like some. Bc we're junkies around here, mkay? 

Ooh, and.... We also have 4K helmet cam video footage if you're into that sorta thing lol, skip to the end ;) 

charlie will always be more handsome than me in pics, let's be real

the best boy over jump 1!

nothin to see here

d'aww probably the one good shot from the bunch!! <3 <3 <3

"just happy to be here!"

4K helmet cam for anybody interested in that sort of thing

Happy Friday, y'all :)

year of the dragon (slayer) -- CT edition

Charlie and I haven't ridden at any of our home events since, ahem, our mortifying spectacle of 2020. You know the one. 

The events are always desperate for volunteers anyway, so I've just focused on making myself useful rather than risk reliving any of those bad memories, ya know? 

just me and my favorite bronto -- out doin the thing we enjoy

Except. Eh, by the time this year ends, I'll have logged somewhere around 100 volunteer hours -- just counting recognized events (vs schooling stuff, which I also do). Wayyy more time than has gone to my own personal competition schedule this year.

And maybe after making it around Plantation's show jumping a few weeks back -- after years of angst about that venue -- something important shifted inside of me. And almost out of the blue, two weeks ago, I impulsively decided that, YES, I will ride in our home starter trial! 

quite literally my local neighborhood church sign as i drove home from the show. feels fitting, not gonna lie. 

Obvi not the full three phase horse trial, tho. Let's not go crazy, guys, lololol.... No no, just the Novice CT. Idk what it is about CTs, but I like them. And ya know, I like Novice too. So, let's do the things we like doing, yes? Yes. 

ok guys, an attempt at quarter marks was made lol

And, not to make a long story too too long.... It was good! We had fun! I was definitely nervous going into it.... But.... Like, normal nervous. Not awake at night fretting. Not a tense nightmare on show day. And not like... crippled by the task that lay ahead of us. 

Just normal butterflies that didn't at all interfere with any of the steps along the way to getting shit done. Yessss. If there is one big win from the year 2022, it will be that we're finally starting to feel just a little bit more resilient again. Finally. 

not like you could see them thru fuzzy screen shots anyway LOL -- but hey-o, lookin at me doin the things i said i'd do -- cantering around before entering at A!

So. Details? As you all might recall, Charlie and I rode in a fun little fix-a-test clinic a week and a half ago when we seemingly randomly chose Novice Test B for our victim.

charlie was a seriously good boy too <3

As I alluded to then, the choice was driven by this new event on our calendar. So it was the perfect prep to really learn the test, and get a good and solid scolding reminding me to please ride more forward. 

trying to channel our feedback from the fix-a-test

And I can't exactly brag on what was not a particularly competitive dressage score, except lol you know me -- I'm totally gonna brag. My horse was SO GOOD! Any of you longtime readers will see what I mean if you watch the video. Charlie worked it, and really really tried. 

d'aww look who's sorta going kinda uphill-ish!!

I made it my business to do a little counter canter in warm up, and then canter again right before entering the ring, and feel like it really helped him bring all his quarters together. It also just felt like.... He knew. Knew I needed it, or something. Whatever. He was so good. 

sadly a little bit of an itch-apocalypse at the end wrecked a couple scores.... curious if any of y'all would have ridden out the itchy nose differently?  

Canter still needs more work -- particularly the transitions into canter (down transitions are actually nice enough I don't plan on fucking with them). And this judge did actually want me to be a little more accurate with hitting the letters. 

Tho if any of you saw Peter Gray's recent EN podcast where he dissected a Michi Jung dressage test, you'll recall hearing him say "sure sure deep corners are great, but not if they interrupt your flow!" Which.... yep. Sure, this judge dinged me in the comments for geometry... but still scored us a 7.0. Good 'nuff for now! 

link to youtube video here -- including a VERY itchy nose at the end!

Only sad part was at the end of the test. Obvi I ride Charlie bitless the vast majority of the time. But on this day, the poor pony suffered through a normal bridle AND A FLASH STRAP OMG THE HORROR. And he is so spoiled omg, watch him repeatedly stamp his foot at me when he wanted to rub his nose.... Sigh. The judge called it "some fussiness today" but WE know the truth lol. 

True story tho, I'm legit curious -- those last four scores got a little dinged from Charlie's urge to itch (6.5, 6.0, 6.0, 6.5 respectively). In a similar boat would you have just sacrificed one movement to let him stop and itch, then proceed? Idk what that would do to a score, or whether we could make up the difference in later moves... But I'm curious! Let me know what you think! 

anyway -- onto the jomping part!! and yes, i am hopeful there will be pro pics later <3

Anyway. Let's move this marathon post onto the FUN part!! Jompies yay! 

I really don't know what to say about jumping this horse. He is so good to me. So kind, so capable. And, let's be real, after 4 years at this height.... He basically knows what he's about out there. 

jump 1: straight outta the pan and into the fire!

I have a couple jobs as a rider, sure. But.... At this point with Charlie, my job is actually back in the barn. Keeping him sound. Keeping his joints lubricated, his toes trimmed, his muscles loose. Ooooooh, and giving this big bad boy the grip he craves. 

not gonna lie, i hated this jump -- an oxer going downhill lol

If there was one big win from the weekend -- it was in the studding department. Now I've studded Charlie for about 4 years at this point, bc he likes it and I like it when he likes it. On this day, tho, I tried a newer-to-us set of grass studs behind. 

They are slimmer and pointier (and thus more able to pierce the hard ground) --- but also a bit "taller" if you will. That last dimension is kinda what has made me hesitate from using them much... But after this ride I'm 100% converted. 

obvi it doesn't matter when you're on the best horse in the world tho <3

Starting as early as warm up, which is on very uneven and occasionally off-camber ground, Charlie was.... well... grounded. And I don't mean "earthbound" either. 

It was like he knew *exactly* where each hoof was, particularly his hind feet. And could reach up underneath himself and propel forward -- especially on turns and slopes. Like he had every confidence in the world that his hooves were gonna stick where he placed them. 

squint a little and you can sorrrrta see the quarter marks lol, and also me being a good dog by holding my neck strap -- until death (or very long spots) do we part!

I jumped more warm up fences than I usually do... But mostly bc I was trying to actually like... Idk, do my job? Find an issue, fix an issue -- rather than just survive warm up then hope for the best, ya know? 

Charlie was obvi aces, tho. The "issues" we had were basically all at the rider level, and all at the "forward" end of the spectrum vs "weak underpowered" end. BUT -- importantly -- not in the chaotic out-of-control way of that 2020 ride. 

ok so we did end up getting a little wild toward the end

Which brings us to the other big win::: The hackamore will continue to be our go-to for the foreseeable future -- noting that it's all leather at this point, including curb strap. 

The amount of "whoa!" power this thing gives is incredible -- esp when you consider how easily Charlie can push right into and through it when he needs to. It's strong enough without being overpowering or backing him off. 

finished strong tho!! and definitely loving this hackamore for us 

And sure, we still jump the left of every fence (LOL) but I don't see that as a hackamore-related steering issue. In fact, the horse steers quite well -- and even better when I can be bothered to like... Idk, ride lol. 

link to show jumping video

So. Anyway. If you want details on the course itself.... Eh, watch the video. It's 2min lol. We I had a couple rails -- including the vertical out of the 2-stride, something that's common enough for us to merit future attention. And we got a little wild and wooly at one point... but kept it together. 

All in all, another one of our patented "doesn't really pop on paper, but was actually a damn good day" type shows. I'll take it, haha. 

Also. For interested parties. Gold's priced at roughly $1.55K per ounce. With 16 ounces per pound, and considering Charlie is worth his literal fucking weight in it... Anybody wanting to acquire this beastie from me best be prepared with about $34.7M, kthxbai. 

taking a page out of Ryan's book

Happy Hump Day, everybody! I don't usually write much about our day to day schooling sessions any more bc.... At a certain point, it kinda feels like I've already written everything there is to say, ya know? 

It's not like back when Charlie was all shiny and new (well, ok he's still shiny) and everything we did was like some big exciting milestone...

FINALLY getting more rain! which means more rainbows, yay!

And especially since we backed off trying to move up, it's really just a sort of steady cadence of doing what needs done to keep Charlie feeling fresh: Keep us active, keep the joints articulating, and keep *me* calm by making everything feeling nice and familiar and routine. 

new book! with excellent table of contents organized first by style of exercise, then by exercise author

But! Lest that sound terribly boring... Well, it isn't. This -- to me -- is the stuff. It's the WHY behind my habit. Like, yea I like having stuff on the calendar to create more scaffolding and structure around that week-in, week-out cadence... But I do truly enjoy the process itself. 

PLUS! Back when Charlie first got injured, an exciting new book arrived in the mail -- Margaret Rizzo McKelvy's Grid Pro Quo, a slam dunk compilation of bite-sized exercises from a whole slew of eventing's most talented riders and trainers. Each exercise is complete with two type written pages from the expert on what the exercise is good for, and how to approach and scale it for riders / horses of different training levels. Plus the normal diagrams etc. 

not gonna lie -- i specifically wanted to start with something pretty simple

Now that Charlie is back in work (and I have something on the calendar that's making me feel a certain kind of way, if you know what I mean), I figured it'd be a good time to put the book to use! 

Our test subjects for the ride included Charlie, obvi, but also friends Megan and Royal, and Katie and Avi -- all of whom should be at least passingly familiar for anybody whose been around much this past year. And our test exercise was chosen specifically for it's simplicity: a line of 4 ground poles, spaced 18'-21' apart, with guide rails making a "chute" at either end.

what you see ahead of us is mirrored behind us too. also, good lord our jump arena still has not recovered from the covid lockdowns...

Instructions indicated that horses schooled to 3' plus could work over the shorter distances (18' between poles), whereas greener horses should get a longer distance (21'). For my purposes tho.... Charlie actually has a TON of experience working over compressed distances -- but we have a real weakness with staying balanced and organized as his stride gets longer. 

charlie likes growing things tho <3

So we decided to use the 21' distance (which is about 7 of my "big" course walking steps), and I'm actually pretty glad we did. 

It proved to be a really comfortable trotting distance -- each horse, regardless of training level, got nicely even trot steps between the poles without a lot of tripping or knocking rails. And yet the line was long enough to really encourage them to hold a nice posture and balance the whole way thru. In other words, poles far enough apart to not create rushing or frantic steps -- but close enough and regular enough to influence the horse's self carriage. Bingo.

unrelated pic from hangin out at the hunter pace a couple weeks ago, with OMG PUNKY!!

Canter was a little trickier. Not gonna lie, 21' for ground poles is kinda a long distance. And to be honest, the instructions did call for making the poles into cavaletti vs zero height. But again, for my selfish purposes, I found it quite enlightening. 

punky hasn't really been out and about for around a year at this point tho, and was.... ehhh a little wild. plus he couldn't wouldn't tolerate being anywhere but in front, which meant he set the pace. a very very fast pace. look at Charlie at the finish tho, he obvi loved it lol
"Did we win?? Can we go again????" -- Charlie

Our first trip or two off each lead felt like we were reaching and getting a bit flat to the poles. Then we went too far in the other direction and got a little too fast (but still flat). Then I tried to add a little more "sit" and "collection" (ish) to that more gallopy stride, and ended up taking too much away again, especially tracking L vs tracking R (L being our weaker lead, generally). 

back to more civilized places.... this pic was from our first proper jump school back (last weekend, prior to the ground poles session of this post). it ended up being a really solid school, but our first couple jumps had those sorta not-forward-thinking moments of hesitation at the base of a jump that i HATE, thus creating the inspiration for grid / gymnastic style ground poles

Which, ya know, was really cool to feel all that. Each trip through the line kinda gave me new and interesting impressions. Like when I'd have to goose the horse by the end to just reach the last pole. Or when I could feel myself curling or dropping my hands when we were too fast. 

lots of nice open lines for the add or the step -- with a variety of oxer to vertical (as above, ridden toward the camera) or vertical to oxer (as below, ridden away from camera ((tho technically could have gone both ways with the swedish except i only had ground lines in one direction, and emma is very attached to her ground lines, kthxbai))

It was also really cool to feel the influence the exercise had on Charlie. We've known from his very earliest days with me that.... Charlie much prefers to learn his lessons from actual physical exercises like ground poles. Adding a ground pole to the mix changes the conversation from "emma nags charlie for more forward" to "wow there it is let's go there!" 

possibly the most aggressive line of the bunch, set on a proper 3 strides and set to full N height. obvi charlie was aces

After kinda trying to find the right balance of getting to the poles on that forward (but uphill!) stride --- meaning, in other words, still ride the horse, emma! --- we went back to trot for another trip. 

And OMG this horse was strutting. In the hackamore, completely round, in the bridle, big bouncing steps with absolutely distinct moments of suspension... And not even approaching the exercise yet --- just motoring down the long side, trotting like the spanish stallion he thinks he is. 

final post script: there's just a tiny wound left from the skin flap. otherwise we're basically all cleared up!

Which, naturally, the first time doing that I was too giddy with the trot to do my own job, and he ended up losing the power out the front, fell into canter by the 3rd pole, and then almost face planted in the corner.... whooops, my bad, Charlie! 

We did it again, tho, then halted straight in the corner after the line, then stepped into canter -- cantered the line foot-perfect. Changed directions. Trotted the line again, (did my job while we were at it), halt, step into canter, once more through the line, and boom, complete. 

Now. It is entirely possible that after this school that got Charlie so sharp and forward thinking.... Ehhhh I *might* get a bit run away with in our next jump school. Idk. We will see. But that's the pendulum swinging, right? We can be sluggish and weak, or we can be wild and gung ho. 

Mayyyybe there's a middle ground in there somewhere... But, eh, maybe not LOL. 

In the meantime, I hope to test out more exercises from this book. Presumably some of them will focus on control and accuracy, others on sharpness and forward reliability. Some will call for height, others for turning, etc etc etc. Is that something of interest to any of you? Or maybe you have your own go-to setups that you know get your horse tuned exactly the way you like? 

twilight dressage fix-a-test

Omg guys!! Now that Charlie's basically healed up from the Tensile Tragedy of Twenty Two, we are back in action yessss!!

just the goodest boy, getting poured on but still cute <3

The horse is feeling good and fresh. The first rains of pre-fall have arrived, finally softening the ground (and dropping the temperatures). And activities are reappearing on the calendar. MUCH excitement!

fun story -- i decided to try practicing my braids. they looked.... obvi janky, but ok enough. except i totally whiffed on the finishing knots and they alllll fell out lol, whoops

In fact --- our first traditional September activity already happened last weekend, the Labor Day Paper Chase at Tranquillity!! I will probably (maybe) write more about that later... but media is limited, and last minute limbo meant we didn't do fun costumes or anything (sad!). But it was fun, Charlie galloped and jumped and basically got his first "fitness" in for the fall. 

even our "more forward" trot is still kinda like a golden retriever in a doggie wheelchair lol

More importantly for today's purposes --- we also finally got to participate in one of our farm's new monthly twilight activities!! I mentioned last month that we recently welcomed a new boarder who has some pretty impressive (and extensive) credentials as a judge, and naturally I wasted no time in exploiting her putting her to use!

So yesterday was the second twilight dressage fix-a-test clinic, and yay Charlie got to play too!!

i'm coming to terms with the reality that my right leg might always curl lol

I decided to ride Novice Test B for reasons that may become more clear later. And... Idk, it's kinda a funny test. It has these weird walk steps plopped down in the middle of your trot... And then you also walk up the center line, then trot, then halt, salute to finish...

But it has some advantages over the Novice Test A -- namely that for whatever reason, there's a section in the A test where Charlie is *positive* I'm going to ask for left lead canter (even tho I'm not), and has a lot of unhappy feelings about it...

i still think it's a cute enough picture tho!

So the fix-a-test format was perfect for figuring out this B test. Esp considering I went off course a bunch of times in our first trip (remember, Emma: trot the short diagonals!). 

Basically, we rode our test in what is essentially our standard style: Charlie was a very good boy, did the things when he was supposed to. Pointed his nose in more or less the correct directions while always floating somewhere just vaguely above the bit... But was soft, obedient, steady... Ya know. The usual. It was a fine test for us, very consistent. 

the bestest bronto that ever was

And this judge really took us to school for it. Like.... Nothing we haven't heard before... It's all the same stuff. Needs to be more forward, esp in canter. He's a big horse, his lack of activity is very obvious. The word "labored" got thrown around. "Disengagement." Etc etc etc. 

All the same things we get on every single test -- needs better connection, more forward energy, more reach, more suppleness over the back. 

loving how his tail still looks majestic AF despite being soaking wet

Longtime readers know it's been a... Long path with Charlie. The pendulum swings back and forth, back and forth, generally for good reason. This horse and I, we have a lot of compromises haha. 

But, eh, given the fix-a-test structure, after the little talking to from the judge, I determined that -- yes, ma'am, I can actually ride the horse more forward --- there is more there for the asking, if I'd bother to actually... ya know... ask for it.

good boy, sir, i think i'll keep you

And so we went back out, did some quick canter and counter canter circles to really get Charlie's hind end engaged, then took another stab at the test. 

Honestly.... It felt a little sloppier in places to me. Like, I basically had my foot on the gas pedal the whole way around, which worked but also meant I wasn't as smooth in some of our preparations. Even so, the feeling was just so much better. There was a lot more horse to work with, but not like, wild or strong or tense. Just... ya know.... Engaged lol.

my diy bootleg score sheets. left side is 65.28%, right side is 67.78%
and yes, obvi i'm well aware that this includes the padded "organizer / teacher's pet coefficient" lol

It's a feeling I need to remember, too. Our work with Molly last year was such a game changer in helping me get my legs OFF the horse, helping me stop nagging etc. Charlie is so much happier for that, and now my legs actually MEAN things to him! 

Which... ya know.... is great haha, and now I have to remember to take advantage by actually.... using more leg when it counts. 

link to dressage video here so you can see for yourself lol

complete with audible judge's scores and commentary

So, overall, actually a pretty productive session. It's funny how... I heard basically all the same things I always hear, all the things I expected to hear... But somehow we still got a few "clicks" in terms of putting the feedback to work. I'll take it! 

c'mon, "silly + cute" is basically what we live for, amirite?

Plus, obvi, satin lol. I mean, sure... I bought the ribbons myself lol (just dinky little flags, not rosettes or anything like that), plus I came up with the scoring system (a variation of dutch scoring: 65%+ = Blue, 59%+ = Red, else Yellow), and even bought some silly stickers for when riders score 8s.... 

Still nice to "win" them too, tho --- oooh, and the High Score Award for that second test! Yessss (:

It was also just nice to watch everyone else's rides too (after moving inside until the rain cleared lol). We had 8 total riders, all of whom had good experiences with really great takeaways. We also had two boarders volunteer to split scribing duties -- a first for each of them, and they both did awesome and seemed to enjoy it. I'd love for these activities to be really inclusive for the whole 'barn family' ya know? We'll see how things evolve over winter!!