So let's set the stage a little bit for Charlie's novice debut at the Maryland Horse Trial's Spring Starter #3: For the entire week leading up to the event, forecasts called ominously for violent thunderstorms. Starting Saturday night and rolling all through Sunday.
all photographs today are credited to the ever-talented Austen Gage. thank you so so so so much from the bottom of my heart for capturing so many moments of my beloved brontosaurus looking graceful <3
Those t-storms did in fact eventually materialize, and they were in fact quite violent with flash flooding and lightning. But.... the storms were slower moving than anybody anticipated and didn't show up until Sunday evening.
Meaning the conditions ahead of the storm were of the brutally humid and obscenely oppressive variety. Honestly, basically heat stroke conditions. Plus strong sun.
dis my "future elegant horse." the future tho, guys. it's coming!
This was obviously.... not ideal lol. And it struck me as kinda funny that when Charlie was at Loch Moy back in March, the dressage rings were frozen solid and snow was still littering the xc course. And this time it was the polar opposite - hot hot hot. Luckily tho the ground was actually quite good thanks to recent rain.
i'm also moderately obsessed with his abundant mane and tail haha
And actually - lots of things were quite good. It was a great day. I'm just dwelling a little bit on the weather bc I tend to be pretty susceptible to heat stroke and therefore made a lot of decisions throughout our rides that had more to do with keeping me from getting sick than they had to do with getting the best possible tune out of Charlie.
ok this is a screen shot - the only one in the post. but i couldn't help myself, looooookie at what a good boy he is!!
Which is fine, right? Priorities and all that. An advantage to those circumstances were that I was so focused on not getting sick that I didn't have time to be stressed or worried about our rides. Basically I just shrugged like, "Well I know we've done our homework. I know we're prepared. So now we're just gonna go on ahead and do the thing!"
And so we did! So let's get on with it, shall we??
finally entered the ring, and just getting right down to work
Ahem, anyway. Dressage!! Brita had gone earlier in the day (putting in a really nice test for them that showed off all of Brita's hard work at smoothing out their transitions) then we three riders plus Austen hustled out to walk our xc courses before Rachael's and my dressage rides (which were at basically the exact same time in side by side rings lol).
it's becoming very clear that he's really figuring out this new balance
Suffice it to say, by the time I swung a leg over into the saddle, I was already pouring sweat. Basically all the riders were wearing as few garments as possible - all techy type white shirts and white pants, with few stock ties or jackets to be seen. I had planned on wearing my jacket bc I had expected rain. But... ya know. Adapt, evolve, overcome, right? My Smartpak sunshield shirt was good enough tho with the sleeves rolled up.
a nice walk with bonus luscious tail
Charlie, for his part, felt quite good. My new warm up strategy is to just walk for a while, per our usual habit, but then go pretty much immediately to canter instead of trot. He's always better after a canter, as it helps open his back and get him in front of my leg, instead of fussing and nagging at the trot.
more trotting bc he's still just the best boy
This worked out super well, but I think I maybe still used up our best work in the warm up. After a brief walk break, when we picked back up again he was kinda just ready to canter always and forever, and started kinda dragging me around. Whoops.
i could ride this canter forever, even if i still don't show it off well to the judge
That trend carried on as we made our way into the ring for our test too. We had a little too much "pull" forward and not quite enough "push" or balance. This showed up especially in our turn off the center line, all of our corners, and any straight lines.
still so much more work to do, forever and ever. but the pieces are there
The circles themselves were ok in that they helped me bring Charlie back to me a bit - tho you can totally tell by our appalling geometry that I was having some trouble steering lol. Nbd tho. He's just a big giant rangy horse, and it's going to take time for him to develop the strength needed to carry himself in this new balance. He's trying tho!
more pics of charlie looking like a grown up
The canters I thought were also pretty good. That's the one thing I really tried to ride effectively, and while it didn't feel like our best work, I was satisfied. The transitions were a little hollow but they happened promptly. Even the downwards, which are usually our weakness!
getting a better balance and better reach!
Unfortunately the scores were a bit disappointing, basically 6s straight across the board. I was lucky to run into Meredith again after the test, as she had been able to watch and was then running the test sheets back to the office. Meaning: she actually had my scored sheet right there in hand as I was leaving the arena. Thanks! That was super convenient lol. The score wasn't added up yet (they do that in the office) but I could see from all the 6s that we'd be getting a very high 30s mark. Sigh.
you're a good dog, charlie
The judge saw a picture of a strung out horse that needed more half halts from the rider to pull him together. Which like.... ya know.... that's accurate haha.
From my perspective I see a horse whose balance is light years ahead of where we started, and who is really learning and trying. But yea I can also see how we're just plain old not there yet. It's possible that a different judge may have used a broader spectrum of scores across our movements, as I felt some were clearly better than others. Again tho, I can also see how they were all 6s.
it can be easy to forget tho that he's a very large horse in a small little arena lol
In a way tho, I was kinda happy to be hearing a judge tell me to use more half halts etc since I had purposefully wanted to avoid giving the impression of a tug of war with the horse. Like obviously there has to be a middle ground in there where I'm not yanking the horse's head off with locked-straight rigid arms, but I'm also not just flopping the reins forward and letting the horse drag me around lol.
judge had useful feedback for us (a rarity at events!), but charlie was maybe preoccupied with finding his next #snax
For this ride tho, and for where we are in our training, I felt like we hit a pretty reasonable balance there. I was also happy with my efforts to keep my legs more down and under me, a constant struggle. And while my seat still isn't where it needs to be 100% of the time, I'm getting closer.
So ya know. Lots of good feelings about this ride. And actually I quite liked this test too, even if I still need to work on cleaning it up more (like that serpentine that I kinda fumbled a little bit).
so happy to be done. also so so so hot lol
And I'm especially happy that Charlie's at a place now where this particular effort was kinda just "meh" on his scale of ability. Like it's nice to know that we're actually currently capable of better.
he's a 10 in my book ;)
Plus, ya know, this event was never going to be about the dressage for us anyway. This was a day for JOMPING OMG!! And jumping bigger things!!! Stay tuned for all of the pictures and video omg of Charlie's first go at novice, and my first time back at the level since 2015!!
Phew, what a weekend and it isn't even over yet here in the States!! I hope everyone's been keeping busy with all sorts of summer-prep type stuff like barbecues and whatnot!
Per usual, over here at 'Fraidy Cat Eventing we've been busy with our Memorial Day tradition of hitting up Loch Moy's final spring starter HT. And guys. It was a biggie for the team.
"i don't see what the big deal is" - Lyra
Rachael and Birdie finally got their first outing of the season, after months and months of what can only be described as .... well .... Let's just say if they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all .
But they finally made it out for their season debut and killed it for third place in a crowded novice split!!
"actually it's kinda badass, just sayin!" - Bella
Brita and Bella meanwhile have had a busy spring season already, carefully chipping ever away at their one big goal that became reality this weekend: they moved up to training!!
And guys, I'm not even ashamed to admit I was moderately teary eyed watching them come cruising through the finish flags.
"bays can be badass too, ya know!!" - Birdie
It's just crazy to me, ya know? Like just a few short years ago none of the three of us were eventers. Like, sure. We've all been riding and loving horses forever. But this sport can seem so intense sometimes, and so intimidating.
I don't honestly believe any of us thought even back in 2014 that this type of weekend might ever be a reality for us. And yet... here we are!!
"there's room in the badass club for one more, right?!?" - Charlie also don't worry - i have tons of higher res pics to share soon!
I should say - Charlie also had a fantastic weekend. More details to come, obviously, but suffice it to say he killed it at his novice debut!!
Also, shout-out to Meredith who was volunteering as a score runner at the event, after competing herself the day prior, and got to come say hi and meet Charlie (and give me a sneak peek at my scores lol!), plus got to see him for his jumping too!! Was great meeting you and I hope our paths cross again soon!
yea sir. absolutely. cheers to you, big guy!
Honestly our scores for the day don't even really do it justice.
Dressage wasn't a goal for the day, but actually Charlie impressed me in warm up. Then it was just too freakin stifling hot and humid to be bothered for much warm up in stadium, which resulted in a rail (again, more details soon).
And cross country was flipping fantastic too, tho I had to clear up some confusion when a 20pt penalty erroneously showed up on the score board. Turns out tho, I had just schooled some stuff while I was out there and the jump judge got a little confused. No harm, no foul, and the penalty was dropped.
Didn't change our placings tho lol, still 7th of 7. But you sure as hell won't find me complaining! Last place never felt so good ;)
Happy Friday, everyone!! I'm seriously looking forward to a long weekend here in the States.... Tho unfortunately the forecast is currently sliiiiiightly ominous. Which. Ya know. Ain't exactly the most convenient, considering our plans. But we'll see what happens!
charlie likes to make his barn mates jealous with his grazing lol
It's been mostly a pretty quiet week for Charlie after his back to back stellar lessons last week. He got a day off while I was swamped with deadlines. Then more hacking and woodsy trot sets after a light rainfall. Apparently I'm making a habit of that haha.....
figuring out dem hills
We had another lesson too with upper level event rider trainer K this week, tho honestly I kinda felt like we could have just as easily skipped it. Charlie's been working well and hard recently, and I don't really want to make him dull.
But I couldn't get out to the barn later in the day anyway, so the morning lesson was the most convenient if I wanted to ride at all. And it was fine. Charlie was not really as connected from front to back as he has been, but I didn't sweat it. Honestly he was probably tired.
He did the things, tho. And uh.... the jumps looked really small. Which, ya know, I was fine with bc I'm not really all that interested in jumping max height every time. Afterward tho I asked if any of them even got to 2'9, and apparently a few were there or slightly above. So.... I'm pretty sure trainer P was lying to me about fence height in our lesson last week lol... Tricksy tricksy, that one.
these two are so ridiculous. they make the ugliest faces through their wire grate, and are constantly biting and kicking the wall between them.... but secretly i think they love each other lol via GIPHY
The rest of this week has been pretty low key too. The horse feels good. He feels right where I want him to be. So mostly I'm just focusing on keeping him happy and engaged.
Like pulling him out last night for just some simple ground work exercises to change the subject on him a little bit - while still asking him to think and remember the right answers. And maybe we'll hack out again tonight too, weather permitting.
Weather really permitting for all of the things, honestly haha. We've got some plans for the weekend but will just have to wait and see what storms, if any, actually end up blowing in. Wish us luck!!
Hope y'all have some fun stuff on the docket for the long weekend too! And fingers crossed you can actually spend some time outdoors for it -- ideally with the ponies too!
For some reason I've been only really getting 1-3 lessons per month so far this spring, despite technically having standing appointments twice weekly, plus having a third satellite trainer always available for pinch hitting.
I guess it's been nice for my wallet to get a break. Esp with moving imminently, every little dollar helps.... But ya know. I also need a lot of help in the saddle lol. So there's that.
Actually since originally Sunday was supposed to be a show day, I had planned to skip the trainer P jump lesson and do a dressage ride with Trainer C instead.... But with the show postponed we were able to fit in both lessons. Silver linings!
dirty mirror selfies for always and for ever lol
Plus Brita wanted to come too - so we packed both ponies up and headed over to trainer C's farm TM. Home to one of my absolute favorite ever indoor riding arenas. Idk what it is about this place, but it's been magical for every horse I've ever brought here (and there have been a few now).
I expected Charlie to be pretty good for the ride too. Mostly bc he's just been plain old good anyway lately, but also bc he always does a little better off property where his gate sourness issues aren't quite as pronounced.
So I was eager to show her what we've been working on and get a little help in honing in on a few issues. Namely, some of my own well-documented positional flaws. And Charlie's general suppleness - particularly in preparation for riding upcoming tests.
yep, still trottin
Trainer C zeroed in pretty quickly on some pieces of the positional puzzle. I've been working really really hard to change how I sit in the saddle since our last lesson, but there's still more that needs to be done.
Like, if you imagine that your pelvis is a bowl filled with water, my tendency is to pitch forward spill water out the front. I'm learning to keep the "bowl" more level, but the hardest moments for me to hold that position are in downward transitions. So that's a biggie that I need to start keeping at top of mind.
i like how happy he looks in these pics
Additionally, my legs - particularly that troublesome right leg - still swing back too far and get stuck gripping on Charlie's sides instead of bumping on and off at the girth.
On top of that, Charlie often wants to fall to the outside so I've gotten baited into riding more strongly off my outside leg (swinging back, natch) than my inside leg. Which isn't exactly correct. Like, Yes. I need the horse to feel straight between my aids: feeling each hind leg coming forward equally into each rein. But... I've gotten into the habit of overriding the outside leg aids. So more attention needed there.
and there's a canter too!
Particularly I need to really remember to keep those legs draped down and around Charlie's belly, imagining clicking my heels together underneath him, with toes pointed forward. Naturally this position comes much more easily when my pelvis is more correctly oriented in the saddle.
Funny how that works, no? Lol...
and even more canter! one day i'll learn to keep my leg underneath myself. one day!
For once, my arms and hands weren't a huge part of the problems this go 'round. Mostly I just need to shorten my reins more (needs less bagging in the outside rein esp!) while also maintaining an elastic bend in my elbow. Esp on a strong horse like Charlie, I don't want to give any appearances of a tug-of-war to the judge during a test, and locked-straight arms are a dead giveaway.
Charlie's also schooled enough at this point that I really can keep my hands closer together - vs the wide set I had adopted when he was so much more green. Trainer C also advised me to be reeeally careful to avoid pulling his head down. Obvi that's kind of a no-brainer, but it always amazes me what kinds of habits sneak in subconsciously when I go too long without a lesson lol.
aww, and still more trotting
Mostly tho, trainer C was pretty happy with how Charlie's developing. While he continued to show some bracing over his topline in this lesson (something we've been dealing with a lot lately), trainer C's opinion was that she preferred him being a little more up in his front end vs the low diving downhill heaviness that was so prevalent in his earliest days.
he's a handsome boy <3
And as always, it's a fine balance between getting him pushing up and forward from his hind end without devolving into running down on the forehand. Esp after the first canter or two, it becomes a lot more difficult to keep Charlie more balanced on his hind end. Just needs more work!
final halt, salute to trainer C lol
Trainer C didn't pick us apart too much in this lesson since we wanted to run through a test in preparation for upcoming events. But the feedback she gave will hopefully provide me with a lot of food for thought in our schooling rides these next few weeks. And. Ya know. Hopefully it won't be five months until my next lesson with her lol.
Our next test won't be about the dressage anyway tho. We'll basically just want to get through the test smoothly enough to do justice to the horse's training, but otherwise won't really be pushing for the top. Honestly the only thing I'll probably care about is actually riding his canter with purpose, bc there's no reason Charlie shouldn't be pulling better scores in his canter work if I would literally just devote one iota of focus to it haha, instead of just cruisin along in passenger mode. #goals lol
Mostly tho it was really reassuring to hear C say that the horse is on the right track. That he's developing correctly and that I basically just need to keep doing what I'm doing, only more. And better. As always lol.
Certainly a better rider would get Charlie there faster than I am. Or would maybe avoid some of the bad habits I know I'm creating within my own ride and in Charlie's way of going. But. Eh. We're getting along well enough these days as far as I can tell. Plus if all else fails, at least he looks good in his new fun faux croc skin brushing boots ;)
It was true with Isabel, and remains true with Charlie: the pace of my "progress" in riding depends almost entirely on my confidence in the saddle. So. Ya know. It usually goes pretty slow haha.
you're probably tired of hearing about our crazy weather lately, but it's not without its perks. like this berry pink evening sky
Charlie, for his purposes, began outpacing me in what he was ready to face in terms of skills development almost immediately. Like, from the moment he figured out the actual mechanics of how to jump a fence (which, in fairness to myself, took a little while haha) he's basically been cleared for take off ever since.
But we lingered at lower heights for some time anyway. Mainly because it was really important to me that Charlie learn how to make all the mistakes, learn how to recover from all the oopsies, in situations that still felt pretty safe and manageable.
And because I needed to live through all those oopsie moments with him (many of which were of my own creation, let's be real) to help convince myself that it would be ok. That he would be fine. And I would be fine.
With the idea being that eventually I would be aiming Charlie at bigger and badder things, and would need to know that he could be there for me when I inevitably fall short.
this horse.... has had some many oopsie moments.
This might not be the right approach for every horse or every rider, but it has worked out really well for me and Charlie. He just feels so..... good right now over fences.
I wish I had pictures or video to share with you from our most recent lesson, but the threat of downpour conditions meant that everybody left their phones in the safety of the dry barn. C'est la vie. So you'll just have to take my word for it.
those oopsie moments, and his general soft sensitive nature, being a major contributing factor to the growth of my medicine chest in recent years. this particular array being all the many tinctures and tonics charlie got after his fair hill trail ride - treating everything from his minor splint, that fleshy puncture, and general hoof health....
Charlie actually hasn't been feeling spectacular on the flat lately - we've got a lot a lot a lot of bracing happening particularly in the base of his neck, and are struggling to really engage his hind end.
It's funny bc we've been doing a lot of conditioning work lately and that's really been paying off in his cardiovascular health and stamina.
But I guess that hind end strength won't come from anything other than purposeful "weight lifting" style schooling. Always must needs balance in any training program, I guess.
no new pics so here are some recent oldies of charlie looking like he knows what's up
So his lack of softness in warming up made me feel a little skeptical about what I would get in our first jump lesson with trainer P since... uhhh, early April??? My concern was entirely misplaced tho. Charlie was a superstar.
Seriously tho. Idk if I sound like a broken record but I just don't know how I got so lucky with this horse.
The exercises set up were really really cool, in my humble opinion. A long bending line. A short one stride. A triple combination of 2-to-2 strides, all oxers. And a three stride line. And Charlie just nailed all of his warm ups.
course diagram for any interested. most lines were compressed, except for that three stride across the diagonal.
Or, if we got to one a little funny, it was pretty easy to diagnose the issue as a function of my own riding. And thus, was easy to correct by just... ya know... fixing my own self. Like, half halting in the turn, putting horse in front of my leg. Looking for a forward feel to the fence, with lift through his shoulder. The usual.
So when trainer P put it all together in a course for us, she was happy to set everything around 3', instead of the mostly 2'9 we've been working on for months now. Small differences, but they matter to me.
from a two stride earlier this spring
And apparently they matter to Charlie, too. I swear this horse likes a bigger jump. He pays more attention. Eyes the jumps up himself, adjusts his stride himself. Lopes over like the easiest thing in the world. Literally all I do is keep my leg on and hold him straight.
The triple combination of 3' square oxers set at short two stride distances (30') was such an incredible feeling for me. Not only bc it's been literal YEARS since I've ridden anything like it.
But bc with Charlie, I had enough confidence in aiming him at those jumps that I could focus on the other little details of the ride. Like being present enough to catch and correct my left drift tendencies. Or to notice my right side position collapsing a bit, with right leg curling up (thanks new stirrup irons for bringing that sensation to my attention!).
Like, not just surviving the ride but actually feeling like I was a participant in it. Even if my role is minor with only a few lines lol....
also from earlier this year, charlie looking casual over a swedish oxer
Anyway tho the whole course rode like that. Triple combination to one stride to three stride, looping around to the final bending line when I see trainer P hustling over to the last vertical, adjusting its height at the last moment. Putting it up higher.
I can tell immediately that it's a height I haven't seen since 2015. And that Charlie's certainly never seen before. But.... Charlie nails the oxer going into the bending line, we hold straight for three strides and then turn to the vertical out, lope another three and just... sail over.
basically my favorite bronto ever <3
This horse, guys. What a feeling. And he just knew he was such a good boy <3
It might seem small in the grand scheme of things, to be so over the moon about *one* fence just 3" higher than the rest. But. Ya know. The way I see things? All that really matters is how excited and happy I can feel walking away from a ride.
And just like how I asked trainer P to pull out the measuring stick to proudly immortalize Charlie's first 2' jump, I still just get so excited with every new milestone for this horse.
Are you the same way? I know a lot of "firsts" (even the small ones) are a big deal for a lot of people. Mostly bc, at least for me, those "firsts" always kinda loom large in my mind. And it's such a rush to finally tackle them - especially if the horse makes it seem like the easiest thing in the world lol.
Happy Friday, everybody! Idk about you, but I'm looking forward to this weekend. Unfortunately the constant rainy conditions of late meant postponing this weekend's planned starter trial.... Which is disappointing but also, ya know, kinda ok.
I'm feeling very zen about a cancellation that has nothing to do with my own horse's health and well being lol. Like, 'Oh the weather's bad? Sure, fine, no biggie! So long as my horse is ok!!'
these are the tiniest freakin mice i've ever seen - like the size of the tip of my thumb. still destructive little f*ers tho!
So we're kinda cruisin. Which is nice. I mean, that's basically the normal plan with Charlie anyway, but it's always nice to have it validated by an unexpectedly clear schedule.
Honestly tho the show's postponement did create a bit of a struggle summoning motivation to drive 45min to an hour to the barn in rush hour traffic for a ride in the rain. I've been really pushing myself lately to do it tho. To make it happen.
To make the time for this activity that is so important to me.
back to boat shoes for Sir. and, naturally, he immediately sprung a few nails bc #whynot
Not because I'm trying to hold my nose to the grindstone, my feet to the fire, or anything like that. No no.
Rather, it's other elements of my life that have me feeling like I really need to keep the horsey routine going as a matter of self care. Like my job that has suddenly picked up in workload (a positive thing, for the record). Or the realization that I'll probably be moving house for the first time in a decade sometime this summer.
These are all good things - but they each consume insane volumes of my train of thought at any given moment. Without necessarily being, uh, relaxing or rewarding in the short term.
The moving thing in particular is interesting, bc it has me questioning a lot about how I view and value my day to day life. Things like neighborhood. I've been looking all over the city (you saw a few of my "view" options earlier this week) and have been reflecting on what each would be like on a day to day basis.
Getting out to the barn a lot has been clarifying in that matter. I typically use the barn to feel happy about things. To get that feeling of calm that can sometimes be missing from other environments.
And lately it's come into clear focus why the barn helps there. Like how in the course of a single ride I can see foxes, deer, and ground hogs. Three different species of songbirds in a single square meter of fence line (for those curious: red winged blackbird, blue bird, and this gorgeous little black capped thing I think was a chickadee). The resident hawks having it out noisily with their neighboring crows. Plus all those trilling frogs in the pond that spook poor Charlie.
damn tho, maryland is looking tropical lately haha. also the horse ain't bad either ;)
It's just.... ya know, a pretty wonderful way to pass an hour. Or 20min. Or whatever length of time I can give to it.
So I make the time. And it's worth it. And I always feel better for having sat on the horse.
There's always more work to be done, more tasks to prioritize and check off the list. More preparations to be made for future events. Sometimes tho it's just reeeally nice to sit back and listen to some frog song while hacking through a rainy jungle. Bc why not, right?
As someone who has tried somewhat unreasonably hard to lead the lesson-junkie lifestyle, it sure seems like I haven't had many lessons to write about lately! I blame Charlie lol.
all the cross country jumps strewn about our field were vivid in the eerie light preceding a mega storm....
As I've written, tho, Charlie seems fine on this lighter schooling schedule. He really seemed to figure a lot out this past winter, when we first began twice weekly jump lessons - one with trainer P and one with trainer K - and spent basically his entire rehab and reintroduction to jumping post-surgery doing grids.
Meanwhile, I had the pleasure of learning that my own confidence wasn't as deflated as I feared after the time off. And, more so, Charlie's complete nonchalance about everything has really rubbed off on me. Historically I've liked jumping twice a week to keep my confidence up. But... with Charlie it's pretty easy to just shrug, like, "eh he's fine, we'll be fine!"
srsly tho, all these jumps just got plopped into the field after coming home from shawan downs.... no rhyme or reason to it
But. Ya know. I still love lessons. And obviously still have a metric fuck ton to learn about riding in general and eventing in particular. (does it ever end?? i think not...).
So I was happy to finally fit in another ride this week with upper level event rider K for Charlie's and my first time schooling over stadium jumps since our last lesson before Kentucky.
never mind that, uh, our farm is hosting a starter trial this weekend and all these jumps need to, ya know, be on course...
Unfortunately it's been raining and storming nonstop here for the past few days so trainer K felt like the outdoor jump ring would be too sloppy. Nbd, I'm fine with the indoor. And I correctly predicted that this would mean another grid school - which, again, was fine by me.
also nvm that our weather has been all rain all the time, with no end in sight. case in point that giant storm cloud chasing us back to the barn.... i guess i won't have to worry about hard ground!
What I didn't predict tho was how K would dig into our flat work between reps to the fences. She's not usually one for a heavy focus on the flat work in warm up - which is a bit of a departure from trainers I've worked with in the past (like Dan, for instance, who was all flat work all the time). Tho her exercises typically invoke core concepts like adjustability and rideability. So it works out.
that is, if the jumps ever get moved ?? haha maybe we'll just be weaving a maze through one field for our track....
This time tho, it was really all about that half halt. Something that, uh, haha, I've really struggled in installing in Charlie. Well. Let's be real, it's arguable whether I even ever got one on Isabel even tho she and I got much farther along in our work than Charlie has so far.
She had us go about this in a way that was on one hand immediately familiar: a well known exercises of riding the horse forward and back within the gaits to develop that elasticity and sharpness to the aids. On the other hand, tho, she tweaked the exact mechanics of the exercise in a way that made it a little easier for me and more clear for Charlie.
charlie would probably be fine with that, honestly. so long as the buggies can't get to him!
Specifically: I always practice a lot of transitions in any of our schools. Trot walk trot. Trot halt trot. Trot walk canter. Etc etc etc. With the idea being to get a light feeling in the downward, then a spurt forward with horse in front of my leg in the upward.
She had us doing the same thing, but faster. Instead of doing a full trot-walk or trot-halt transition, she wanted me to just get almost there, then immediately ride forward again. Small distinction, but it made a big difference in how I was applying my aids.
So the idea was: as we would trot around the arena in between grid trips, I would find a spot to do this "3/4 halt" then ride forward again. Rinse repeat once or twice, then approach the grid (which was on the center line per usual - necessitating a half 10m circle to approach).
After a few trips like that, she had me also incorporate canter into this back and forth exercise. Circling the ring once or twice between grid trips and finding spots to do a near-walk transition, or canter transition, and everything in between.
Ultimately looking for Charlie to hold the same shape no matter which transition we were doing. And also incorporating a near "leg yield" feeling during each transition - really taking advantage of corners in particular.
he'll probably live tho, probably ;)
Possibly the most helpful part of this exercise was the fact that there was a grid in there too. Charlie isn't a huge fan of compressing or extending his gaits right now, and often can be fussy when I push him forward (ie, when I ask for that "spurt" forward in front of my leg). But having the grid there really helped out.
He likes jumping, he's always understood to move forward to a ground pole, cavaletti, or jump. Even since his earliest days with me, those types of exercises have always helped change the conversation from 'me driving him forward' to 'him having somewhere to go.' And it was the same for this ride.
Plus - the grid is instructive in its own right. Charlie doesn't need me to tell him if he did well or if he made a mistake through a grid, he can figure that out all for himself. So if my last little half halt before the turn didn't go through, or if he didn't respond to my forward aid after the turn, we wouldn't get the grid quite right and he'd be like, "Oh ok I see now" then get it right the next time.
So it definitely felt really productive. Mostly tho I just appreciate having a trainer there to just keep me on task, keep me focused on those little details in our ride that are hard and therefore easy to ignore.... but so so so worth the practice. That's what lessons are all about, right? lol...
