Dressage Training Journal

What Do Winter Working Students Wear?

2012-01-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

Getting past my fear of faltering physically (I know expectations will be reasonable, but this will be quite an activity increase) my biggest fear is cold feet. I hate cold feet and I always seem to have them. Uggs were great when I discovered them, but they won't do for cleaning stalls and temperatures that go up and down as they have been this winter (cold AND wet). I'm thinking Bogs. Everyone here is wearing them. Are they popular in your areas too? Are they as warm as people say? They are supposed to be rated to -40 and waterproof as well. Any other suggestions?
Now, moving on up. What do you wear to work, and then ride? Do you start with long johns, then breeches, with insulated over-alls if it's really cold? Maybe the insulated riding pants with side zippers to slip in and out of easily (I have a similar pair with matching jacket but only ride in them if I'm outside and it's really cold)? Overkill?
Jackets I think I have covered - every length and fit, down filled, vests,... and lots of long sleeve T's and turtle necks.
Gloves? I have insulated deer hide that I'll probably wear, but maybe I need something warmer. And I must remember hats and scarves.

So those are my questions and I'm dead serious. I know how to dress for winter riding, and how to dress to look after our two or three horses, but hours in the barn will be different. If you have suggestions please pass them along. This is my first lesson for my own place! Hey, I can probably claim new purchases as a work expense!

Guess What I'm Becoming For February?

2012-01-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

The world's oldest working student! I haven't written about our horse facility plans for awhile, but things are progressing. To help prepare me for running our facility I'm going to work for Sue Fraser, the woman Rogo and I are taking lessons from this winter. She is very well educated and experienced and this is a great opportunity to work with someone respected around the Province (and well beyond) for her horsemanship. I'll learn first hand how a busy barn operates for a full month's cycle. I'll also have lessons most week days if I can physically last through work and riding.

This is the part that scares me. After one lesson with Sue I'm ready to sleep by the time I get home. I think the first week at least will ~~almost kill me~~ be tough, but Sue knows I'm not twenty :)

I'll live there through the week and possibly some weekends for the month of February (I have a pretty bedroom looking out at the barn) and immerse myself in this. It should make for some interesting posts if I'm not too tired to type.

Doug's been clearing land and the winter has been so open he has the site for the arena almost cleared and levelled. Here he is in his Christmas Carharts beside a big pine he recently cut up:

On a completely different topic, I went to the barn today to visit Rogo, and..... he was shockingly well. I forgot to take my phone into the stable and it was so icy I didn't go back for it, but I sure wish I had a picture to show you. The incision site looked so good it was almost miraculous compared to how it looked last week. It is completely healed, for the first time since the first surgery was done back in Oct. - no scabs, no weeping blood, no puss. It sort of healed after the first surgery but always looked kind of red and scabby and then another sarcoid grew out of it. Today it was nice pink flesh - one of the best sights I've ever seen in my life. I spontaneously started yelling YEAH! when I saw it and ran into the riding ring to tell everyone who was there, whether they wanted to know or not :)

My final note is about Spirit, the school horse I've been riding while Rogo's been off. He is a five year old Hanoverian Quarter Horse cross (I think) and he is sweet and very fun to ride. He's better trained than Rogo although a year younger and I can focus more on my equitation when I'm riding him. I'm very remiss in not having a picture of him, but he's chestnut, cute as a button, 16+ hands and I'll post a picture soon.

We work on trot serpentines, leg yield, 10 M circles, shoulder in and more basics. I'm learning to keep my knees off, but that is putting weight into the ball of my foot and I can't take that with my right foot. I see a trip to the chiropractor in my near future.

I hope to have more news on our horse facility soon. Things are starting to happen on that front.

Quick Rogo Update

2012-01-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

First, I want to thank everyone for the comforting comments on my last post. They really make a difference and I think all of the positive thoughts and prayers are working. The incision area is looking quite a bit better. Here is a picture I took today:

January 22

Compared to:

January 17

You can see there's quite an improvement. Even though the Jan. 17th picture is more of a close up (it's hard to get a good shot between his front legs with a phone) it's obviously closing and not growing. Yeah!
The vet saw him on Thur., took a sample to biopsy again and left me with cleansing solution and an antibiotic cortisone cream to apply twice daily. The wonderful young women working in the barn at Fraser Equestrian Center are playing a big part in his healing too. Rogo's stall has a thick bed of peat, then amazingly thick bed of straw, and they clean the wound and apply the ointment twice a day. Jessica even lent me her 'donut' (?) to put around his left hoof to keep it away from the wound. We aren't out of the woods, but the trees are thinning.
This week I'll have lessons on a school horse and if things continue to improve with Rogo I'll be back on him in a week or two. A few days ago I wondered if I'd ever ride him again (the growth touches the girth area). Thanks for reading. More interesting posts to come soon I hope!

Well This Sucks

2012-01-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today was the big day to go back to riding - I religiously followed the vets instructions not to ride for two weeks.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Late last Thursday I got the biopsy results - the most recent growth wasn't proud flesh it was the return, very quickly, of the sarcoid. That left me reeling to be honest, even though I knew it was a likely result. I was hopeful too though. The surgery site was looking really good all along, better than the first time. It was clean and dry, just a little seam in his skin. I continued waiting patiently for the appointed day, then went to the barn today to resume our lessons and training. (As an aside, I had expected because of lack of room at the barn to have to take Rogo home the end of Dec., but an opening came up so we were able to stay and continue out three times a week lessons - huge for us.)

I got my tack and grooming tools from the tack room, got my riding boots on, put Rogo in the cross ties, took off his blanket, looked at the surgery site - and my heart dropped. A large piece of skin, about 1.5 in. in diameter, had broken away from covering the surgery site and under it was angry, bubbled, bleeding flesh. This looks much, much worse and much, much bigger than before the surgery two weeks ago. This is what it looks like:

Rogo had antibiotics for five days after surgery and in addition to really deeply bedded straw the barn owner had her working students add a layer of peat under the straw, to keep pressure off of the wound. They watched it when I wasn't there and I'm told it continued to look good.

The vet is coming Thur. morning. The dry, fairly quiet kind of sarcoid Rogo had can sometimes turn into the angry, aggressive kind if they are disturbed. The vet tells me this may be what happened, or it may be that the skin broke down.

I can't really think right now. I'm blind sided. I had no idea this could even happen so fast. When the surgery was done I thought two weeks off was being generous for a small incision. Now I don't see riding in the near future. The last lesson we had, a couple of hours before the surgery, was our best ever. It didn't cross my mind that it was our last for awhile...

Readers have been very kind and helpful. More on that later.

Damn, Damn, Damn

2012-01-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

I don't know where to start, so I'll just plunge in. Rogo's sarcoid didn't really heal completely after the surgery. One little spot stayed kind of scabby, and then started growing, fast. I called the vet who said it would be very unusual for it to come back that fast, but I had him come and look at it. He immediately did surgery again (this past Tues.), removing the growth, and Rogo's off work for a couple of weeks again. The growth he removed is being biopsied. The vet said it may be proud flesh, so my fingers are crossed. A knowledgeable person at the barn told me it looked and acted like a sarcoid, not proud flesh (it was 'pebbly', had sensation in it and couldn't be easily detached from him), but both she and the vet told me it's hard to tell. It all happened so fast that I didn't have time to talk to the vet about options if it isn't proud flesh and the sarcoid has returned. Guess I'll cross that bridge if I come to it...
I think I did a really good job (for me) of thinking positive and not obsessing about it up until this happened, but this sucks. It's giving me night mares. It keeps me from sleeping. Oddly, I found myself really angry the night after the surgery. I didn't even know where it came from. I was cleaning stalls for the horses at home and felt myself getting angrier and angrier and wondering what I was angry about. Then I realized I was angry about the sarcoid. But with who? Rogo? Me? The vet? God? Didn't make sense. Doesn't have to. No one likes to see their sweet horse cut up and bleeding. Okay, that's my venting. There's good stuff too.
The vet was in the afternoon. In the morning on Tues. I had my best lesson since getting to Sue's. Rogo was forward but calmer. All traces of the 'canter rebellion' were gone as quickly as they had come. We did lots of 10 M trot circles, transitioning to walk on the circles and back to trot, circling three times on each long side. We're getting better at it and it's excellent for the horse and rider to develop feel for balanced gaits and aids. When I asked for canter, instead of the semi-gallop, semi out of control gait I'd been getting for a month and a half I got a calm, focused, steerable and lovely canter. Yeah!
The time before that when I rode he had the first bucking fit he's ever had in his life with a rider aboard. As soon as my feet were in the stirrups he started bucking and crow hopping all over the top end of the arena. I'm amazed I stayed on. Everyone including me thought something was wrong, i.e. a twisted girth or a strap tickling some where. People were yelling "get off him, get off him". Well, if I could stop and get off I wouldn't have a problem would I? :) I eventually got him to a stand still and my friend Alison who was standing there courageously held him while I got off to see what was wrong. I couldn't see anything so I lunged him. There was nothing wrong. Sue showed up just then and confirmed he was fine, just feeling 'high as a kite' from being inside for a day (weather had kept them in). He's been locked in due to weather lots of times, but he's never done more than a half hearted little buck on a rare occasion to object to something new or tell me he was loosing his balance. Bucking wasn't in his vocabulary. They decided to cut his feed and my ride the next day, the one I describe above, was fabulous. I don't think cutting his feed would make a difference that fast. I think it was just that he's feeling much more muscled up now and needs to get out or have exercise. I'll have to remember to lunge if he's been inside due to weather. Does anyone know if cutting the feed could affect him that quickly?
Speaking of feed and energy levels, I've discussed Rogo's nutrition and energy level with the vet on numerous occasions and even had him on a supplement the vet brought in to try to increase his energy. Nothing helped. I think it's just a case of him developing more muscle and energy. I should say though that I've suspected in the past that alfalfa gave him a bit of an energy boost, and Sue mentioned that alfalfa, combined with his new fitness, can give him more energy.
Anyway, I LOVE his new forwardness, so I'll just have to monitor the feed and also lunge as needed.
Yesterday I had my lesson on a lesson horse, Spirit. It's good to ride different horses and Spirit is a nice horse to ride. Forward and responsive. I can do sitting trot better with Spirit than Rogo, so it was good to get the feel for that, and also we did shoulder in, so I was able to get a good feel for that too. Rogo is just starting a bit of shoulder in so maybe we'll work at it at the walk a little when he starts back to work.

Things Are Changing By The Day

2011-12-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

I drove down to Port Williams in the late afternoon to ride Rogo. It was sunny and -2 C, although pretty much dark by the time I arrived. Friday night of a holiday weekend - the barn was almost deserted. Two riders were finishing up, so I was all set to have the arena to myself for the second half of my ride.
This is rare here, but that isn't a complaint. There are usually lessons going on all day everyday through the week, and into the evening. You can show up and Sue will fit you in if it's at all possible. Sometimes this means riding with one or two other people, which is a good exercise, but most often my lessons are individual.
Back to my ride - I warmed up with free walk, doing some loops and crossing the diagonal. Then I trotted serpentines wall to wall and did lots of trot circles. I think I was doing a better job of the circles, but I won't know until I ride them with Sue watching. As I mentioned in my last post, I can't see or feel that they were wrong, so until I can it's hard to fix them. I thought about them a lot since my last lesson and I think that I was really having a mental block. I think I've been riding in such a way that I was over correcting a previous problem and in doing so, thought the problem was fixed. Then when Sue brought it to my attention, I thought the old problem was back,... anyway, I'll spare you the navel gazing details on this occasion only :) (hmmm, maybe it's too late for that) but if I'm right I'll be well on my way to getting things corrected. Fingers crossed.
On to canter. I gave the canter aid when we were doing a nice engaged trot, and... full, instant, braced, stop. Damn. Move forward, get him straight, give the aid, stop. I can't believe it. We're back to that again. I gave him a few kicks and a whack with the whip, but he wasn't convinced he should canter. This made me tense, so when I did get him to canter apparently I didn't let him go forward enough and he stopped again. Jane Fraser was watching and she told me to let him go, push him forward as soon as we cantered. I tried it and yes, it worked! He was nicely forward, but not over the top at all. This nice forward canter cleared up any problems we were having and we went on to do the best canter work he's done since he started the 'canter rebellion' (associated with insisting on engagement / using his hind quarters).
I could push him up into my hands and then move him in and out on a circle, lengthen and shorten, change his bend, speed up and slow down, etc. I know this is elementary, and even at that it needs much more work, but it's a big improvement. To make it interesting I asked him for canter walk numerous times, and also for a couple of canter halts. I knew from some of his rebellious behaviour in the last few weeks that he was quite capable of a canter halt, so why not do it occasionally? He'll go from canter to walk with a couple of trot steps, and he'll actually do canter halt with just one step to halt, and from quite a light aid (I use my voice too). Who knew? Maybe I shouldn't ask for it yet, but oddly he seems to like doing it even when he's beautifully forward and he didn't try to do it on his own after the initial cantering problem. Maybe he'd like reining? We could develop this into a slide? My 17 hand reiner :)
So lessons learned from tonight:

remember to ride the circles from tangent point to tangent point, using eight points
use the inside leg and outside rein to do this, with inside rein and outside leg as needed
Sue told me that canter is going to push his Rebel Rogo button for awhile; don't sweat it and just work through it
re the above, riding nicely forward right away in canter gets him over it
doing lots of trot canter trot transitions makes him want to canter non stop :) Guess it's less work than the transitions

After the ride I had a delicious supper of ribs, salad and red wine with Sue, Jane and working student Maria. It was a great evening. Now I'm in my trailer and getting ready to crawl in bed with a book. Another ride in the morning and then home for New Year's Eve. It will be a quiet one of cooking, eating, sipping wine and watching movies with Mom and Doug.
Happy New Year everyone!

Why Are Circles Still Eluding Me?

2011-12-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

Arrrgghh. It's the bane of my riding existence. I can't ignore it any longer. Well, more precisely, Sue my teacher won't let me ignore it any longer and I guess I should (and do) thank her for it. I straighten the quarter of the circle where I leave the tangent point on the open side of the circle and head for the tangent point by the wall. I've done this from the time I started doing circles with Rogo. He'll do it at that point no matter where I start. I thought it was better, or even fixed at times, but today proved it wasn't as Sue worked with us on it. I didn't even know I was still doing it. Because I have him flexed / bent in, I think he's on a circle, but all he does is bend his neck and go in a straight line for that portion. Not being able to see or feel it anymore makes it even harder to fix. Sue tells me what to do - outside leg and rein to keep him from going out straight, but subconsciously I put my inside leg on anyway, to bend him, and then drive him out. It's driving me nuts!
Okay, enough of that. I just have to keep working on it now that I'm aware that it's still a problem. It's more upsetting to me than so called 'bigger' mistakes and challenges though, because it's such a basic and it shouldn't be an issue at this point and because I can't see and feel the problem and the fix.
Other things are going well. The canter steering is greatly improved, but keep in mind we went through a period where it was non-existent two or three weeks ago :) He wasn't happy about using his hind quarters, but he's much more relaxed about that now.
I'm really happy with the trot work. Can you believe that I can't remember the last time Sue told me to push him forward more? It used to be every few strides. Now it's been two or three weeks since I heard it. That alone is like a miracle to me. She actually tells me to steady him (slow him) once or twice a lesson. Rogo has become quite happy with his new forward. Sue told me to look in the mirror a few days ago as we were trotting serpentines wall to wall because she wanted me to see how he was happily swinging his tail from side to side. I saw a happy, relaxed, forward horse, using his hind quarters and swinging his back. Yippee!!! He's like this all the time in the walk and trot now. The canter is improving too, but the circles need work of course.
Yesterday we did 10 meter trot circles, three times down each long side and went around the ring like that. We did them for quite a while each way so we could develop a good feel for it. This was a new exercise for us. When I really focused on relaxing and using my seat and legs we could do them with very little rein aid. When I did use the reins it was mostly the outside rein, so I'm getting the feel for steering this way. It's a big change for me. I've always used the outside rein as a strong support, but the way we're schooling now it is the main steering rein with the inside staying quiet and used only as needed. So to do the circle you feel (or more if needed) the outside rein in time with the stride or as required to keep the circle. My rib cage is a bit sore today from turning my body in alignment with the turn. I wonder if Rogo feels the same?
Here are some other exercises we've been working on:

trot three loop serpentines wall to wall and walk across the center line
walk and halt and remain immobile long enough to reinforce no movement. Do this repeatedly going large. We needed this because Rogo liked to wiggle and fidget when he halted but he's mostly over it now.
walk canter walk - only one day, but it went well
facing him into the wall and 'leg yeilding' up the wall (except that his face stays directly facing the wall, not angled)
trotting loops - corner letter to center line and back to corner letter
sitting trot - it's coming but needs work. I hold the bucking strap lightly at times to learn the feeling for keeping my hands more still when I sit.
canter 20 meter circles, down long side, repeat. Cross diagonal and trot at X.
For my equitation we've been focusing on stretching my core up with shoulders back, and keeping my knees from gripping.

I'm enjoying the experience of being at the barn sooo much. The people there are amazing. I couldn't ask for a more positive and energizing environment to learn in. I think I'll do a post on some of the horses and riders one of these days.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:25:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope each and everyone of you are having an absolutely wonderful Christmas. Be sure to eat without counting the calories and relax as much as you can. Oh yeah, a little rum and eggnog is good too :)
I enjoy reading so many of your blogs, and love your comments and feedback throughout the year. Thank you for making my dressage life that much richer.
I've had a cold, but will be updating my training info soon. In a nutshell I'm happy with Rogo. Life is good.

Cindy Ishoy Clinic

2011-12-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

What an experience. First I have to tell you how impressed and appreciative I feel after participating in this past weekend's clinic. Cindy Ishoy is very dedicated to helping riders and their horses. Here are some examples - it's Dec. here in cold, damp Nova Scotia, and barns / arenas are notoriously cold and damp. We don't have heated arenas here. Yet Cindy worked through her lunch hours and stayed in the evenings to either give people extra lessons if they needed it, or extended the lesson they were in by half an hour or more. Let me tell you, when there is a choice between a warm kitchen with a fire crackling and food lined counters, or staying in a freezing barn where you've been for hours - what do you think most people would pick? She flew here from Ontario for the clinic and will continue from here to Europe. It sounds like there are pretty well no days off. And yet she'll stand and teach as long as there's a student and horse who need her. She's a Pan Am and Olympic medalist, but no diva!
Then there are the results - each horse improved through the ride. Some of us (I was one) were brought back for 'detention' :) It's hard to feel bad about being in detention when you are getting more instruction from such a talented teacher.
I outlined in my last post that Rogo's been giving me a hard time in the canter. Asking for more engagement and impulsion really tapped into his willful side. I'm given to painting Rogo in a very favourable light, and he deserves it a lot of the time, but I mentioned in the past how incredibly difficult he was to back. We spent months getting him to go forward - he'd stand and refuse to move and then we'd have to lunge him or work him in a round pen. This recurred twice after lay offs, but hasn't happened in a long, long time. I thought it was a thing of the past until asking him to canter with a rounder frame and then it came back over a period of days until he was in full blown rebel mode just before the clinic. I wrote about it last time - wrong leads, racing, balking, bucking, head shaking, etc., etc. We'd just started to work through it when Cindy came and she did a few great things for us.
I'll discuss the trot first - I haven't done sitting trot with Rogo. I sit to other horses but he was just too bouncy. Also, forwardness and impulsion have been our nemesis. Cindy's clinic, building on the work I've done with Sue and Jane over the last month have made huge improvements here. Rogo is going forward and, ta da, with a rounder frame I can sit his trot now! Cindy had me do long periods of transitions on a circle - walk / halt, walk / halt, trot / walk, trot / walk, for minutes on end. She had me employ a little shoulder fore at times and also remember to put my legs on and push into my hands for the halt. I'm going to pause on that piece for a minute.
I've known to push into my hands for a halt almost from the beginning of riding Savanah, but riding Rogo, who was being challenging, helped me understand it in a bigger way. He didn't want to halt because it's harder to halt and start again than to just jig and go back to trot. So I'd pull because he just wouldn't stop. Wrong. Put your legs on even more strongly and then he's pushed harder into your resisting (not pulling) hands and voila - a nice engaged halt quickly. It's counter intuitive - to get a crisper halt push harder with your seat/legs, but it works.
Cindy also helped me work on accuracy of the figures, and she points out frequently to many riders that the benefit of the figures is in accuracy. Rogo has always fallen in on left hand circles, no matter how hard I tried. They'd be fixed for a while but then go back to that. It would probably be more accurate to say I go back to holding too much with the inside rein and not riding him into the outside rein as I complete the circle. With some focus on getting the steering fine tuned in the new frame we were soon doing better circles, figure eights and serpentines - it's such a balancing act between all of the aids - inside and outside legs and reins, and the seat as well. One thing I learned was to move the hands together to the inside or outside at times, as needed. For example if you move your hands together to the inside, it puts more tension on the outside rein (good) and bends a bit to the inside (good). Of course this HAS to be accompanied by inside leg pushing into the outside rein and outside leg holding / supporting the quarters on the circle.
After riding lots of transitions on circles and going large Cindy told me to do sitting trot. All of the transitions had him using his hind quarters and raising his back more and just like that sitting trot worked, after two years of eluding me.
From sitting trot we were able to work on getting the canter under control (see how the pieces are building through the lesson?). As a reminder right lead canter, which had always been super easy for Rogo was the area he rebelled in - he wouldn't take that lead. Although we got a couple of good right lead canters in, I really had to work at it and I was told to come back for another lesson in the evening - my detention :).
We worked on it more in the evening and Jane Fraser, Sue's sister, rode him as well to help with the training. She's a very good rider but even she had difficulty with him at first as he tried to intimidate a little bit and refuse to respond to the aids. She stayed quiet and patient though and quietly the right lead canter started coming more consistently.
My lesson the second day was similar to the first but now we also had to work on slowing him down - can you believe it? The horse I've struggled to get more forward for two years was out for this third intense lesson in 24 hours and he wanted to GO. It wasn't a racy nervous go at all - he was calm and much softer and nicer the second day, but also the hind quarters were doing their work now. It seemed almost miraculous to me :) He was much different to work with the second day. He was getting back to sweet Rogo who wanted to work with me and not agaist me. I could feel him respond to light aids and it was so joyful! He took the wrong lead once or twice to the right, but I got two good right lead canters without too much difficulty and then Jane rode him again. She got consistent right lead canters with light aids and easy steering - it seems the canter rebellion may be almost over.
SO that was my two days of lessons with Cindy, helped by Jane. They were two of the most intense learning days of my dressage life. I found it hard to sleep the night after the first lesson because my mind was racing with all I've learned.
I watched most of the lessons that others had too and learned tons from that. I'll write about some of the key points I picked up in a future post.

Ups and Downs

2011-12-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

We're continuing to work hard at Fraser Equestrian Center. Each lesson (three times a week) starts with lunging. In order to make sure that Rogo understands and learns the forward trot we're teaching him, I hold the whip while a more experienced person uses the line. I follow the movement around the lunger and am getting quite a workout. We don't really need me there anymore, or at least not as much, but it is really giving me a much needed workout three times a week.
Then I ride and we are making great progress in some areas and encountering blocks in other areas. The trot work, which needed the most improvement, is going well. He's becoming more forward and supple. We do a circle at each end and when we've warmed up with that for a bit we do three loop serpentines. The serpentines really help with getting the 'flow' of switching bend and keeping rhythm through turns. I'm pleased with our progress here. Rogo is really improving use of his hindquarters and at times booms down the long sides. I look forward to the day when this power is there most of the time and carries through the corners rhythmically.
One very good exercise that Sue has us work on is taking a step sideways, off the inside leg and halting. Then from the halt take a step sideways and walk. Then we do it trot to walk. Then we do it while trotting. It gets Rogo listening and responding to my inside leg more readily. Sue's training programs are very consistent as the horse and rider move up the levels, so you might see a PSG horse doing a similar exercise. I like that the pieces clearly build on one another.
Now for the canter - it is challenging. Canter has always been Rogo's favorite gait and one I didn't struggle too much with. He got lengthen and shorten, counter canter, circles, etc. fairly easily and unlike his trot he's always been nicely forward in the canter. However.... this is the area where he's rebelling against the new asks. He's six, he needs to learn to work in a rounder frame and not stick his nose out so far. I'm not talking tucking his nose into his chest - I'm religious about not wanting him behind the vertical. I'm talking about asking him to round and use his hind quarters. It's not like he was completely on his forehand. He couldn't have done the work he did on his forehand, but he does / did canter with his nose stuck waaay out and it's time to ask for roundness. Rogo doesn't think this is a good plan and his reaction is to resist. He'll refuse to pick up the canter, he'll canter on the wrong lead (he's never done this), he won't steer (a circle is out of the question) without REALLY heavy aids that ruin the ride, he'll balk, he'll duck out of the arena, throw in a buck,.... If you've read my posts about backing him you'll recognize this behaviour from that time (minus the buck). It seems to be a reaction to being pushed out of his comfort zone.
I was feeling quite guilty about it - thinking I wasn't giving my aids properly and confusing him, that I was throwing his balance off by insisting he use his hind end, blah, blah, blah. That is until he got so bad the other day that I got very firm with him. He was verging on dangerous and I admit it, I gave him several good whacks. I sure don't advocate this as a training method except in extreme need, but it was a revelation for me re his canter in this instance. I put him back on a circle, lightly asked for a canter, and got the best canter we've had since we got there. It was wonderful - soft, immediate transition onto the correct lead, forward but not rushed, steering perfectly on circles and across the diagonal with the lightest aids. Huh? What were the last three weeks of cantering issues about? He knew exactly what I wanted and did it easily, so why all the resistance? I don't know and never will. I doubt it's fixed, we'll probably have some more struggles before all is said and done, but at least I know he can do it.
My sweet boy, who I dote on, is quite capable of doing this (resisting training) for months. He has in the past and patience and consistency are called for and will win the day in the end. He might decide to get with the program this week, or it might be months. Time will tell, but I think I know now that this is a likely response from him when training goes to a new level.
On the plus side, the resistance in canter has demonstrated that he can counter canter deep into corners and stay balanced, do clean flying changes easily, do a quarter canter pirouette when he's about to hit the wall, do canter / halt ... :) Now I just need to get him to want to do it with me, not at me.

Getting The Canter Figured Out

2011-11-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

Today I rode on my own to try to figure out why I was having new problems with the canter. He wasn't wanting to pick up or carry the canter, which hasn't been a problem for over a year, and steering was out the window. As luck would have it, Sue was there schooling her gorgeous Dancer (a 17.2 Idocus gelding) and Jane was there too having just finished schooling her handsome PSG horse Kenny (barn name :).
After a short walk on a long rein we did a bit of trotting three loop serpentines and then I tried cantering a 20 m circle. It didn't start well. He didn't want to canter and when he did he picked up the wrong lead three times at least, something he never does. At one point I looked down as I was asking for the transition and - what - I had his head pulled seriously to the inside. I mean pulled in. Poor Rogo. He didn't like this AT ALL and wasn't standing for it. Just then Jane called out to me to give my inside rein. I did and there was an instant, positive result. He cantered and I could steer much better, although I need to carefully practice to get back to where we were.
What caused all of this? I'm not sure. I'm asking for much more forward, engagement and contact, and it's hard for him. It's also hard for me, because I need to learn to ride this way, and also how to ride the much bigger resultant movement. I think that equitation issues I had in the past are magnified, as are bad habits Rogo had. Put all of this together and we have wrinkles to iron out.
The good news is that I spent the rest of the ride with an almost loose inside rein so Rogo would get his confidence back in it and he went fine. I'm hoping a few more practice rides and we'll be on track with it. The other good news is that the trot is coming along amazingly, so over-all things are good.
Thanks for all of the nice comments on the last post. I should explain that my three lessons a week are probably going to be over the end of Dec. :( There isn't going to be room for us at the barn after that. So I may spend the rest of the winter without lessons, which will kill me because we are finally getting things going in a good direction.
Boarders can buy lesson plans to make it more affordable, and also Doug pushed me to take this winter to put on a lesson blitz. His reasoning is that it doesn't make sense for us to put so much into owning the horses and then not train them, when that is what the original goal was and what I love.
Our horse business planning is coming along. We meet with a potential supplier for the indoor next week. I'll do a post on it soon as I'm quite excited about it. Lori Skoog from Skoog Farm Journal kindly asked recently if we'd decided on a location. We've bought 135 acres in Brookfield Nova Scotia, 5 minutes from the main highway running between the Halifax and Truro.

Where To Start....

2011-11-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

I'm continuing lessons three times a week at Fraser Equestrian Center and I'm blown away by the difference it makes. Rogo is becoming much more forward and round. I don't know if other people are like this, but when I'm with a good teacher I can do things I can't do on my own. Even when I'm physically capable of something and understand the concept, it just doesn't work for me without a coach. Take forward for instance - I worked HARD at getting it, understood the concepts and methods, could get when Joan was with me (which was rare), but couldn't get it consistently on my own. With a teacher pushing us we're building the ability to go into a forward trot naturally.
I posted when I started lessons a couple of weeks ago about the well timed and meaningful kick instead of nagging to get forward. I had to do it a lot! Now I've learned to time it for effectiveness so I hit the 'driving' point correctly and we don't loose rhythm (most of the time). I have to do it much less often now and Rogo carries the forward on his own more effectively. We're also starting each lesson with lunging for forward in trot, so it sets the tone and helps him understand what we're looking for.
I've been feeling different about my riding too - more secure. Writing this is sure to lead to a fall :) , but I've got a different sense of confidence. Ironically (or maybe not), with Rogo going forward more strongly, I'm 'with' him and feel more settled in the saddle. This makes sense in that he has to lift his back more to get the forward, so it's easier to ride. I can actually sit this trot better than the slow one (although it still has a long way to go). The improvement in confidence is helped by confidence in my teacher - she sets a tone and energy in the arena that both Rogo and I believe we can do it and then we do. The lunge lessons I had really helped too, and I need to get more of them.
I worry that Rogo could get stressed by the new expectations and work ethic, but so far so good. He still greats me at the stall door or pasture gate and pushes his head into his halter. He still loves to be loved :).
He's been rebelling at the canter, not wanting to steer and really pushing back, so that's something to keep an eye on. His canter has always been forward (it was just the trot that was the problem), so now his already forward canter, in his mind, needs to go up a notch too? I'm not sure what is causing this but he only wants to go fast, in straight lines. I have to really focus on getting a controlled canter and using a strong outside rein and leg to keep him on a circle. To be honest it gets a little over the top at times, but today it was a little better.
The last time I stayed overnight in the trailer it was -8 C. and I ran out of propane - yikes! I hooked up a back up tank, which seemed empty too, and then went to a garage for another tank, which didn't work, so I spent the night with many layers of clothes on, under many layers of blankets. It was COLD! Turned out, and I'm embarrassed to say this, I was switching the tank to the generator and not to the inside of the trailer. I could have sworn I knew which was which. I'm blaming Doug...
Today I did something that scares the hell out of me - I signed up, with Doug and Sue's encouragement, for two days of riding in the Cindy Ishoy clinic that will be held at Sue's on Dec. 9, 10 and 11th. I told Doug I'm afraid I'll be a train wreck. I still don't have the stamina I need to ride Rogo effectively and without that my aids aren't as effective as they should be after 10 or 15 minutes. A walk break helps, but will I get one? Should I ask? Will I just fall apart? That isn't out of the question. I need to be able to process and react to information my teacher is giving me much faster and more effectively.

Lit Quadrille From Royal Winter Fair (Toronto, Canada)

2011-11-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this video from Horse Junkies Unitied? It's an amazing display of horses trusting their riders as they perform in the dark decked out in lights.

Different Breeds Doing Dressage

2011-11-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

No one called me on it, but I'm feeling guilty about writing in my Ingrid Klimke clinic post that I'd rather spend my time and money doing dressage with a warm blood because they are better suited to doing it. What a stunned as me arse thing for me to say. You guys should have roasted me :) First of all, I caught the dressage bug as a teenager riding my beloved 14.2, pretty palomino, grade horse Trigger and taught him to do two tempi's in my back yard riding to the Beatles 'Hey Jude' (I was already 5'9"). Second, I re-caught the bug after not riding for 30 years on very drafty draft cross Savanah and I adore doing dressage with her. She is sooo precise, supple and smart and there's a long and unruly line of people who would love to have her. Third, I showed my Appaloosa Dan in Training Level two years ago and we had a blast. Who do I think I am saying I prefer spending my time with warm bloods? Obviously I didn't think that statement through and it isn't true. Every horse and rider can benefit from dressage. That's what I love about it.
It was my writing about a gorgeous Friesian stallion that prompted my comment. Truth be told, I don't think I have the talent to ride these beautiful horses. That's much closer to the truth! The woman who rode him, Erin MacQuarrie, is such a beautiful rider. She's a professional from New Brunswick and has one of the best reputations in Atlantic Canada and beyond as a teacher and trainer. Doing soft and balanced walk-canter-walk on small circles with a five year old stallion doesn't happen without great riding and a talented horse.
The clinic organizer Joanne Dustan is amazing. She had a very fair selection process that ended up with a variety of breeds and many amateur riders. For example the following were represented: Quarter Horse, Morgan, Arab cross, a Clyde/Saddlebred cross, Andalusian, Dutch warmblood, Friesian, Thoroughbred, etc. This is how it should be in my opinion.
To top it off, Ingrid was just awarded the highest equestrian sport accolade in Germany - the only person under 50 and the only woman to be named a German Riding Master. And we just had her here last weekend coaching our local riders and horses of all breeds.
Our dressage club R.I.D.E.R.S. (I co-chair) had a special class at our Labour Day show to showcase different breeds doing dressage. Unfortunately there was only one entry in the class, but she was great. She was riding a Quarter Horse and did a reining demo, after doing very well in her dressage class (I think she was reserve champion at Training Level). She and this horse do just about any equine activity or discipline you can mention, Western and English. Our shows have many breeds, it was just this class that didn't have a lot of entries (I think people want to concentrate on their tests more so than showcasing a breed). Our shows have Fjords, Canadians, Thoroughbreds, draft crosses, Friesians, Arabians, Quarter horses, ponies, Appaloosas, Paints, different varieties of warm bloods, Andalusians, etc.
I find myself very intrigued (here's my 'prejudice'?) by blogs written by people riding off the track thoroughbreds. I follow several and these horses and their owners amaze me. The intelligence, heart and talent they display and that can end up being discarded after only one small part of it is explored (racing) is striking. But this is a whole post on it's own.
I'm drawn to blogs by people who are doing dressage with different breeds and follow many of them. You can probably find several on my sidebar - Quarter Horses, Paints and Thoroughbreds to name some. These horses and riders are inspirational and put many warm bloods to shame. Their size is much better suited to many riders and careful selection to find the horse suited to your need results in many successful horse / rider combinations in many breeds. This is what makes it all so fascinating!
Yes, at my height a bigger horse is desirable, but a draft cross or an OTTT, to name two, are definitely options I'd think about if I needed another horse. Do you have any favorite breeds, for dressage or otherwise? If so, what do you like about them? Does color sway you? Does your preference change as your age changes? Etc.
Hmmm, just realized I'm segueing into a new topic :)

Does It Get Any Better?

2011-11-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

Seriously, this day was perfect. I retired at 50 (I should tell you about that sometime, it's quite a story) and now I'm kind of living my dream in many ways. Well, now I feel I have to qualify. I do consulting work, but on my terms. Also, we're still planning to build and operate a horse facility next year, so that is going to be LOTS of work.
Back to my perfect day...
Here's how it started:

I stopped at Avery's Farm Market on my way to Fraser Equestrian Center to buy a bag of 'drops and culls'. $5.99 for a 20 lb. bag of delicious apples.

Although it was about 9:45 on a Monday morning, I thought why not have a cone of my favorite icecream - Privateers Bounty? Have you tried it? It is utterly addictive. Licorice and salted butterscotch chunks. I don't even like licorice but this combo is deadly delicious.

Then, reunited with my darling boy. Rogo has settled in nicely at Fraser Equestrian Center and was ready for our lesson with Sue - first time under saddle in over three weeks. I didn't know what to expect. He could have been over the top energy wise, or just lazy and not wanting to work. It didn't occur to me that he'd be in the middle - pretty much where he left off. Yeah! My sweet baby is growing up. He did try to run out of the ring two or three times, but hey, it could happen to anyone right? This is his oldest trick and Always comes back after a lay off, even if he hasn't done it in months. Not a biggy, just a chance to discuss who's making decisions :)
Sue had us work on good basics, forward being the most important. Rogo still needs to learn to go forward automatically without nagging, and I need to learn to ride him forward without nagging him. A quick and if need be sharp correction, and then relax. Repeat as necessary. I'd much rather do this than be picking at him, but I need to train myself to do it. I don't even realize I am picking at him to keep him going, so having Sue there giving us instruction and feedback about this is awesome. If he learns to go forward easily everything else will be SO much easier.
We did lots of working on forward at the walk - he needs to march along and he can do it beautifully when we focus and remember to do it. We also worked on forward at the trot. There's lots more work to do here. Sue wants me to give him a firm 'kick' or bump to get his attention and get him
forward. There's an art to this and I don't have it. The aid needs to be delivered at the right time in the stride and without interrupting our connection. I'm clumsy at it, but will learn. I don't want this to sound harsh - I'm not wearing spurs and Rogo isn't at all put off by it. It's an impulse forward and as I learn to time it correctly and he learns to respond, the need for it will decrease. I thinking I'm heading to weaning off of my whip and onto my legs more. Ultimately of course a very light aid is the goal. So, just to repeat the key point - I need to stop an almost constant light aid and give a firm aid only as needed. I know this intellectually already, but haven't succeeded in doing it. Sue will keep us on track.
We worked on walking a three loop serpentine from quarter line to quarter line. Then we trotted it. It's challenging, because without the wall as a crutch any holes in the training show up easily. Can you guess Rogo's? He did this quite well in many ways, changing bend and staying precise when I guided him correctly, but we're still weak on the left leg into the right rein. He almost ignores my left leg. This is an area for attention for sure. Maybe I'm making it sound worse than it was. He bent correctly most of the time, but he's definitely hollow going left.
We did trot figure eights and they went fairly well, but of course there's the same issue re hollowness.
So, day one conclusion? More forward, and get him attentive to the left leg. I'm loving having lessons with a good teacher!!!!! As I mentioned, Rogo and I will be here at least until the end of December and we'll have three lessons a week with Sue. I'll stay overnight in the trailer one or two nights a week. I'm in the trailer tonight and loving it. It was 16 C. today!
Here are a few more pictures:

Looking out over the marsh from Fraser Equestrian Center. Can you see how smokey the hills in the background look? It's beautiful here.

My smart car parked on front of our trailer. I sat outside in the sunshine reading a dressage book after riding.

My good friend Verna gave me this Canadian whiskey when she was here visiting from Alberta in Oct. Just the thing for a November evening.
A final note - Rogo's lab work results arrived today. His tumour was confirmed as a sarcoid and the edges of the piece removed were free of cancer cells, meaning there is less chance of a recurrence. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Our next lesson is at noon tomorrow. More posts coming :)

Ingrid Klimke Clinic

2011-11-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today Doug and I audited the Ingrid Klimke clinic in Truro that Joanne Dustan (Nova Scotia Dressage) organized. We're so lucky to have the quality of clinicians she brings in, here in Nova Scotia. Last year she brought in Steffen Peters - can you believe it?
Ingrid of course uses LOTS of cavalletti in her training. There were mostly dressage riders in the clinic, but some eventers too, which I was really intrigued by. Can a mid 50's woman who's never jumped take up eventing? Maybe the most introductory level? No? Damn. To digress for a moment I do want to learn to do just low, basic jumps, because I think it would be good for both Rogo and I, but that's another story.
Back to the clinic - I'm not educated enough to interpret it in detail for you, but here are some key points that Doug and I took away:

do lots and lots of transitions - trot walk trot with only ONE walk step, canter walk canter
put cavalletti at the 1/4 points of a circle and count your strides between them to make sure your strides are rhythmic and even in either trot or canter. You can also set the cavalletti higher and go 3 strides between, four strides between, three strides between, four strides between, etc. by regulating the stride length and steering more to the inside or more to the outside of the circle / cavaletti. This is a good exercise for eventers to control stride length and control steering at speed, but would be good for any horse and rider.
school canter pirouettes by coming out of the corner doing canter half pass to the far quarter line followed by a 6 m circle in travers. Do this several times, then ride a half pirouette. Focus on the rhythm and quality of the canter more than keeping it small.
A recurring theme was to release the inside rein on the circles, something I need to do more, especially to the left where I still hang on it too much
When schooling changes, if your horse starts to anticipate and change on his own, make sure your aids are saying 'no', until you say 'yes'. Reduce the number of changes to 3 (i.e. 3 three tempis, 3 four tempis) and concentrate on getting three correct changes rather than trying to go all the way across and having the horse start changing on his own. Don't collect too much - let the horse go reasonably forward.
to help a young / greener horse do canter walk transitions, try cantering 10 m figure eights, with 2 or 3 walk steps to change direction. We watched her working with a 5 year old Friesian stallion on this exercise and is was striking how quickly he went from not being able to come close to a canter walk transition to almost nailing it.
Here's a picture of him. I LOVE Friesians to look at. I don't expect I'll ever own one. Stunningly beautiful as they are I'd rather spend my limited time and budget with a warmblood if I can, simply because most are better suited to dressage. But boy, I'm sure glad others ride them so I can watch! Come to think of it, I think Jane Savoie rides some Friesians, so I guess they can do dressage just fine :) This guy just may have been the most beautiful one I've ever seen.

And here he is going over the cavalletti, with Ingrid in the background (phone photos, sorry):

In other news, I start my lessons with Sue Fraser tomorrow, on Rogo. When the vet came to take out the stitches he decided he needed five more days off, so he's been there getting settled (the wound was still a bit open). Rogo's been off for over three weeks except for three or so short bareback rides, and I've been doing very little riding. Soooo, I'm a little nervous to jump right in, but how else will we get going again? We really need lessons from a skilled teacher right now and Sue fits the bill. It's over three hours to make the round trip, so I may stay in the living quarters in the trailer tomorrow night. I have lessons Mon., Tues., and Thur. this week. Let's hope that trailer furnace is working well!
Here's a picture I took when riding Savanah on the beach the other day:

These are a couple of the horses that live next door. They're in with cows and this is where Rogo had his terrible cow fright :) He'd only been to the beach a few times so when they ran over to look at him it threw him for a loop.
I was very proud of Savanah on our ride. She was bareback (she's so warm and comfy I can't resist) and I aasked her to lengthen, shorten, lengthen and shorten her canter down an open stretch and she did it perfectly! Twice! This is a challenge as she loves to go forward and an open beach on a crisp Nov. day brings out the 'go go go' in her, but she stayed perfectly on the aids and responded brilliantly. We're so lucky to have a safe, sensitive, forward horse like her.
Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Waiting For Fall / Winter Training To Begin

2011-10-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

With a sub-theme of how different horses respond to training intensity...

Rogo is healing nicely from his sarcoid surgery. The wound site looks good and the stitches are coming out tomorrow. Then, wait for it, I take him to Fraser Equestrian Center for November and December with Atlantic Canada's only (I think) level three dressage coach Sue Fraser and her incredibly talented sister Jane Fraser to give us lessons. I'm going to keep doing the lunge lessons with Jane for my equitation, and I'll ride Rogo for three lessons a week with Sue.
We haven't really worked very hard since we were at dressage camp there in early Aug. First Rogo cut his leg, then some things happened that threw me for a loop, then the surgery and bingo, it's Nov. already. I'd had my heart set on doing level one next year, but it will take some work to get training level consistent again, and although I scored mid 60's in my July test clinic I wouldn't say we were consistent mid 60's. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that with steady work under good instruction we'll make significant progress though.
Savanah's the type of horse that even if you're off her for weeks you get back on and pick up where you left off. With Rogo, if he's off for more than three days it takes weeks to get him back where he was. I'm not sure if it's just because he's younger, or because they have different personalities. Opinions / experience with this question?
To digress onto the topic of Savanah for a moment, she is doing GREAT! With Doug not riding she only gets ridden two or three times a week, often bareback and often just for fifteen minutes or so. Yet she's the one who has really made great progress this summer. She is now consistent, solid and precise in all level one movements, and she wasn't at the beginning of the summer. Even with this limited amount of riding I wouldn't hesitate to take her into a show tomorrow in any level one test and I'm sure she'd do well. After riding her the other day I realized how far Rogo is from this. He can do all of the movements, some quite well, but he doesn't have her precision, especially with his circles or a good trot lengthening and shortening. If Doug isn't showing in the spring I'm going to start competing her again.
Okay, back to Rogo. He needs a mix of activities to keep from getting bored, and of course training the same thing every day is a recipe for lameness, but having said that, he thrives on harder work. He gets more energized, accurate and responsive when he works harder (within reason of course). He's been this way pretty much since he's been backed. He won't be all crazy let's go, go, go when he gets to Sue's, because of rest and time off. He'll be " damn, work? seriously?, well okay... here's a little trot, ..." and it will take at least a week to get up to speed, no pun intended. That's my prediction. I'll check back on it next week.
Now, I need your help. This is my first time boarding at a serious dressage barn. The other day on my way to a lunge lesson I realized I'd forgotten my helmet and stopped and bought one. I couldn't help myself - when they had this bright blue one that matched my jacket perfectly I bought it.

It's a matchy matchy sickness. So here's the question and be honest. Save me from myself if need be. Should I hide the sky blue helmet except when I'm home alone and can enjoy it's glowing, heart lightening color privately, or is it okay to wear it at the dressage barn occasionally? I think Joan might look askance at it, and I've had even my grey and pearl bead brow band called gaudy, so I think I know the answer :( ...
Just to be clear, I adore beautiful, classic black and white show clothes. My color love is for schooling only.
You'll see from the picture that I've lost my half chaps so I need a new pair of those too. And no, I'm not buying blue ones :) Also you can see I'm riding Rogo bare back. While waiting for his incision to heal (it's close to the girth area), I've had two or three short bareback rides. I love it and he seems to like it too. We work on 10 m figure eight trot circles (he can do them quite well most of the time) leg yield (his hind quarters are still lagging but getting better), and a bit of trying to sit his working trot. Also we did canter circles a couple of times and I want to increase my confidence with those transitions. If I weren't going to Sue's I think I'd spend most of the winter bare back. As it is, I think I'll use it for cool down time.
Sue only has room for us until the end of Dec., so if nothing opens up there we'll be looking for another indoor at that time, and lessons will be up in the air again. Hopefully my next post will be reporting on our initial lessons at Fraser Equestrian Center!

Lunge / Equitation Lessons

2011-10-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've been driving to Port Williams for lunge lessons for the last few weeks to work on my equitation (the place I went to dressage camp last summer). So far I've had four. This represents a significant commitment on my part, as it is an hour and a half + drive to get there - so three hours + driving for a lesson. They're worth it though. Jane Fraser gives the lessons. She's Sue Fraser's sister and teaches at her barn some. Sue is a level three dressage coach and we're really lucky to have both she and Jane here in Nova Scotia.

These lessons are intense and I love them. To give you a little background, instead of getting better, my riding has gotten worse since I backed Rogo. It was both my first time backing a horse, and first time riding a warmblood. Can you imagine? (I know it wasn't a smart thing to do, but it's working.) And I wonder why he didn't want to go forward at first? Oh la la. The movement is sooo different. Savanah is a big powerful horse, but the sensation of riding the two horses is like being on two different species. Rogo is shading over 17 hands and has a lot of suspension.

When being lunged the reins are tied up and I hold (lightly when I'm doing well) a strap on the front of the saddle. This gives me the freedom to think about my equitation and work on isolating body parts and using them individually.

Here are a few things I've learned in no particular order...

I noticed that when I clamp my knees and thighs my lesson horse slows right down - I can almost feel them braking. I'm almost sure I've been doing this to Rogo, at least at times. Jane tells me that doing this will cause some horses to race and others to get balky. A horse like Rogo who wasn't anxious to go forward even on the lunge before backing wouldn't react well to this from his rider. I remember him lowering his head and shaking it all the time when I first asked him to trot under saddle. Not a happy boy, and I didn't know why. Hmmm, I think there may be a relationship. I've always felt there was something not right about how I was trotting, because he's nicely forward at the canter. I learned through my lunge lessons that although I can improve my canter seat, it isn't restricting like my trot seat often becomes with tight knees and thighs. Like many people I find it much easier to sit with stability at the canter, even the huge warm blood canter Rogo has. The school horse I rode that day was a Thoroughbred, so sometimes tight upper legs made her race and sometimes she just shut down / slow down. Relaxing got her to relax and lengthen her trot into a nice big, steady rhythm.
I've had teachers tell me to relax my upper leg before, and let it lie softly without 'clamping' but the lunge lessons make the effect of a tight thigh / knee so clear - instant loss of quality in the gait with upper legs tight and instant improvement in the length of stride and rhythm when the upper leg is loose and open.

And here's my big break through! Keeping my heels down has always been hard for me on Rogo, and forget keeping my legs quiet. Jane kept telling me to put my legs back, put my legs back. They continually crept forward so that I didn't have a straight line from ear to shoulder to hip to heel - my legs got too forward. She also told me to push down through my heels each time I rose in the trot. I just couldn't do it - my legs kept going forward and I couldn't hold them in place. Finally, in frustration with myself, I decided to correct the leg position with each stride. I pushed my lower leg back/down, back/down, back/down and suddenly Jane shouts "You've got it"! After a couple of rounds of it she had to stop me to show me the goose bumps on her arm. She said it was the single biggest improvement I'd made. I was so touched that she cared that much about my improvement, and so happy to finally 'feel' the flow and rhythm of trotting with my legs correct. I think it is this real caring that takes Jane from being a very good teacher to being a great teacher. She has the information, she's knowledgeable about how learning takes place, and she genuinely cares about her students and their horses learning and improving. I think I might have gotten a little teary eyed at my improved leg position :)

I told you this was in no particular order, and being that my readers are much more knowledgeable than me in many / most cases, you'll know the lower leg epiphany came before the upper leg relaxation. Once the lower leg learned the movement and I could relax into it without straining to keep my leg in the right place, or bouncing up off the ball of my foot instead of stepping down into it, the upper leg relaxed and my horse relaxed and went forward.

I feel like a blind man who is learning to see, and I'm disappointed that years have gone by without good lessons. I should have been doing this years ago. It takes so many years to get good, and now I've lost years. I need at least another hundred hours of this to start to crack the surface.

A couple of my biggest areas to correct are keeping my shoulders back, stretching up through my core and tucking in my butt. I'm moving Rogo to the Fraser Equestrian Center for Nov. and Dec., so I'll be getting training lessons with Sue and I want to keep my lunge lessons up all winter. OMG, I'm so excited!
By the way, Rogo is recovering well from surgery and the vet expects he'll be in fine shape to start training with Sue in Nov. I rode him bareback yesterday (the incision is too close to the girth area to put a saddle on him).
Here are some lunging pictures:

Rogo Pictures

2011-10-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here are more photographs taken the same day as Savanah's also by Maria Casey.

I like the way his neck muscles are developing. Thanks for the beautiful pictures Maria! You captured his sweetness.
Rogo had his sarcoid surgically removed this morning. It was slowly growing and chances of success are higher when they are small. The vet said he thinks he got all of it. It will be biopsied to ensure it is a sarcoid and to see if the edges of the piece removed are cancer free.

Savanah and Dan Pictures

2011-10-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

Maria Casey came to our house a couple of weeks ago and took some amazing shots of our horses. I`ll post some of Rogo in a future post. Today, bareback on the ever photogenic Savanah...

In the riding ring

At the beach

Cantering up the beach

Ditto

Walking back to the riding ring

Turned out and happy

Maria and Jennifer (who rode Dan last winter) also went to visit my Appaloosa, Dan who is staying at Joan`s to keep her Arabian company. Here are some pictures of Dan and Jennifer:

It looks to me like Dan remembered Jennifer! He really likes her. Wish she could get out to ride more. Maria did such a great job with her photography. Thank you Maria, these mean a lot to me.

Slow Mo Rogo

2011-10-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Seems ironic after writing about run away Rogo a few days ago, but tonight I have a whole different story. I've been trying to incorporate as much bare back into my riding as I can get, without giving up on my saddle entirely (I would give it up for a while, but neither of us is to a stage we wouldn't regress in some areas without it). I ride bareback once or twice a week, and at the end of almost every ride I take the saddle off and ride bareback for ten or fifteen minutes. He seems to really like it. Maybe it's a coincidence, but he's been even more affectionate since we started this - it's such a nice connection. I can feel where his feet are almost intuitively and it's much easier to time my aids, for example we do the leg yield much better bare back. He also does a mean shoulder in and nice ten meter trot circles.

I haven't cantered bareback with him until today. I canter bare back on Savanah everywhere - in the arena and hacking, but I can't sit Rogo's trot very well yet (there's lots of suspension). Without a solid sitting trot those canter transitions, up and down, are a little dicey :) Also, a year ago he was VERY excited the one time I got on bare back and tore around the arena (trotting) with little steering or brakes, so I didn't try bare back on him again until recently.

We had a great ride under saddle today - he was forward and focused. After about 30 minutes I decided to pull his saddle off and ride bare back, and then it hit me - today's the day to start cantering bareback with him. I trotted one circle and then asked for canter. He went right into it, but here's the strange part - he did this super slow motion canter that he's never done before. It was so slow that I had to really focus to keep my rhythm slow enough in following. It was like a good lope - not laboured, but not collected and super slow. After one circle I asked for trot and he did one tiny trot step and walked. I felt like he was trying really hard to take care of me and keep me safe at this new undertaking. He wasn't the least unbalanced or hesitant - just really slow. So I tried a circle the other way and he did the exact same thing. I'm going to see if I can catch some on video to show you. I'm just so puzzled, yet kind of pleased with it. I don't want this canter to be part of our repertoire, but it was a perfect first bare back canter on a horse whose big movement can be a little intimidating. Sometimes his intuitiveness scares me a little. No, scared is the wrong word. Leaves me in awe.
We had a really good lesson with Megan Bishop a few days ago. We worked on trot / canter / trot transitions a lot. They have regressed, as have our halts which we worked on as well. For the canter transitions my problem is that I can't sit his trot well, so I have this period where I try to rush from trot to canter. This gets Rogo off balance and he struggles with the first canter stride or two. Not pretty. Megan had me slow down that trot step just before cantering, so I can sit soidly and give a clear canter aid. It worked - Yeah! It needs more practice, lots more practice, but it's coming. She also got me to practice sitting trot, which is what I need in the longer term . The time I lost in Aug. / Sept. and the lack of lessons is telling on us there (transitions and halts) and other places, but it will all come back. I'm pretty happy with him.

Rogo Training Goal Results for September/October, and Goals for November

2011-10-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here are our results for September and Goals for November. Rogo's sarcoid has been slowly growing, so it is scheduled for removal next week - thus I'm leaving Oct. out of the goal setting :) He'll be off for two or three weeks, but I may ride him bareback before that (the sarcoid is close to the girth area). We'll be rusty though, so maybe I shouldn't hope for too much regarding goals in Nov.
Generally speaking, everything needs to be more forward and he needs to be rounding more. He's schooling all of the Level One movements, some better than others, but the engagement he should have for this level isn't developed yet.
My equitation is another big goal. I've been for two lunge lessons in the last couple of weeks and want to have as many more as I can get. They are fabulous! More on them in an upcoming post. Needless to say, Rogo will be able to improve as I am able to ride him better. Building on that, sitting trot should start appearing here. Let's say a goal of being able to sit the working trot most of the time by the end of Nov. This will be good bare back work!

Training Area	Achieved Aug. 2011	Goal Sept. 30, & Achieved	Goal Nov. 31
15 m canter circle	6	7 6	7
10 m canter circle	5	6 5.5	6
He is doing these (canter circles), but needs to engage his hindquarters more, round* and move more lightly. Improving my riding will help this.*
Canter lengthen and shorten	6.5	7 7	7
Counter canter to center line and back		7	7
3 loop canter serpentine	6.5	7 5	6
20 m counter canter circle	6	6.5 haven’t worked on it	6
Rogo was a star when we started counter canter and did the circle and serpentine easily first time asked, thus I scored him high. I didn’t work on them and when I went back, they weren’t as solid as I thought, so I’m going back to working on the Level One loop for now.
Walk / canter	5	6 5.5	6
Canter / walk	3 (just starting)	5 4	5
Simple change	Haven’t started	3 na
Trot lengthening	4 (haven’t worked on it)	6 (we need to get this going) 5	5.5
Trot collection	5	5.5 5.5	5.5
Stretchy circle	6	7 6	7
Rogo was good at stretching forward and down, but the last couple of rides he goes straight down, with no forward. Also, he goes straight down with his nose to the ground for a few strides, then lifts his head again, then repeats. Any ideas as to cause?
Leg yield	5	6 6	6
Shoulder in	5	6 6	6.5
Halt square and stand	6.5	8 5 this is regressing!
I’m still having trouble getting Rogo to understand I’m not asking for anything more when we stop. He starts wiggling back and forth, trying to figure out what to do next.
Trot from halt	6	7 6	7
Rein back	Haven’t started	5 na
Marching walk	5 (I haven’t been on top of this)	7 (he enjoys doing it when I remember) 6.5	7
Free walk	7	7 7	8
Hack out – trot	5 (just started)	6 5.5	6
Hack out – canter	Haven’t started	5 did once on purpose and once by accident J	5

Blog Award

2011-10-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks for giving me an award News From Aspen Meadows , Grey Horse Matters , Dressage On The Quarter and Megan and Scarface ! I really appreciate it and enjoy reading your blogs.

For my fifteen blogs I recently discovered I'm including some old favourites too, some who probably already have the award. They are:

There are lots more blogs I read and love. Check out my sidebar for a few of them. I'll be adding more in the near future.
Now for seven things about me:

I love to go camping and would like to learn how, and teach my horses, to go camping with them
I know it's kind of nerdy but I like to scrap book pictures of my horses when I have the time (which I rarely do)
I LOVE Thai food
I love almost all food related things actually - reading cookbooks, researching recipes, cooking, great food stores and farm markets, good wine...
I'm kind of obsessed with dressage. I guess you know this. I put everything I have into it - time and money and energy. I organize my life around getting more dressage related activity.
I drive a smart car.
I would love to travel more.

There, that's it! Thanks again for my award and for reading.

Run Away Rogo

2011-10-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought I'd curbed my tendency to push my luck when things are going well, I pushed my luck. I've posted about wanting to energize Rogo at times. It comes and goes with him, but as he gets older and more experienced it's coming along. In my last post I reflected on lunging to energize him and get the forward trot he should be doing now (by the way - thanks for all the feedback). A few days ago I thought I'd hack out before schooling, as an energizing exercise. I usually do this after schooling, as he is still very green on the trail and I have to go by myself. As a matter of fact the one previous time I tried a hack before a ride in the ring I realized it was still a bad idea. Some how I forgot this. I additionally decided it would be a good idea to start on new routes - so - no warm up, first time on this route. Can you guess what happened?

Things went well at first. I headed to the beach, but on a little woods road instead of directly out the back gate. The trees are overgrown in one spot, and I had to lay down on his neck to get under them. This went okay on the way down, but as we got close to the beach he broke into a trot and wanted to canter before we even hit the sand. He isn't ready for me to let him go in the wild blue yonder, trust me. I got him back to a walk and decided he was energized enough :) and that we'd go home. Instead of going back the way he knows though, we went back the new way, i.e. laying down on his neck again when we got to the branches. This was too much for him. Isn't this a jockey position? He thought is was and BIG canter ensued. I couldn't sit up until we cleared the overhanging branches, so by then he had a good head of steam and was heading for a blind entry to the road about 50 feet away. Damn! Do I have shit for brains, or could this happen to anyone? (don't answer)

I remembered that I'd been taught to use my whole upper body to stop a horse in an emergency, not to just pull on the reins, so I threw my upper body back to put the weight into the reins - once, twice, three times - hard outside rein, on off with the inside, and we did a hopping turn onto the front lawn of the house and came to a halt. He wanted to run badly and I wondered for a second if he'd try to get rid of me to do it, but he didn't, God love him. I managed a very high stepping walk into the arena where we enjoyed a very forward ride! (By the way - I've read about and / or trained / tried all the techniques to stop a run away horse and this is the only one I'd trust trying. The one rein thing doesn't do it for me. I've been on a horse who galloped and bucked with his head pulled to me knee. My technique isn't for everyday, that's for sure, and on the downside could cause a rear.)

Doug got home a while later and when I told him where I went he blanched even before hearing about the near 'incident'. He was convinced I couldn't trust Rogo not to fall into the little ravine the road skirts. I say he's smarter than that :)

Mom - if you're reading this it wasn't that bad.. Remember when you said how nice I looked riding by the window? :)

Do You Lunge, And Why, Why Not?

2011-09-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

I don't want to jinx myself, but after three years :) , lunging Rogo finally seems to be coming together for me. I started lunging him the fall he was three and a half. Boy, he sure didn't think that was a good idea. I mean, why would we do that? We could just hang out and eat carrots while I scratched him so why would he run around in circles? Duh. The lack of interest in participating in this new activity manifested itself in him running away from me, and I lacked the finesse and experience to hold him. Bad start and bad habit learned. If he did stay with me, he'd just come to a halt whenever I asked for a trot (forget canter for another year). A few steps of trot earned a "good boy" and carrots. It was the only way to get him to do it. To this day he pauses with a hitch if I say good boy when riding, muscle memory of a carrot appearing next.
Doug got involved in this too, poor guy. When I couldn't hold Rogo he took over. I can still see Rogo cantering down the ring with Doug's heels dug in sliding along behind him. So he built a small pen to lunge him in and on it went. You get the picture. Rogo's lack of interest in working early on could make up several posts, and no doubt I'll do one or two sometime, but this post is about lunging. (Just a quick note on it though - we didn't ever 'force' him and patience was the key.)
I myself wasn't strong in the skill of lunging, having only lunged trained horses, and lunging correctly is a real skill. Without supervision I let Rogo flop around on the lunge line without really working, just happy he was going forward. This went on for too long. If I pushed him he ran away and I got in the habit of not pushing and also to be honest I didn't really know what I was looking for or should be asking for. Sometimes I'd put the lunge line through his bit on one side, around his poll, and attach to the bit on the other side. I can hold him this way, but it isn't a very good training method.
I didn't want to use side reins because I see SOOO many horses behind the vertical and I was afriad that without skilled supervision I'd over do it. On it went, Rogo happily flopping around on his forehand (not that lack of side reins equals this - I mean the whole picture).
I had a teacher for a time who was skilled at lunging, but although I'd watch in admiration I couldn't produce what she did with him. There's an element of feel, confidence and knowing what you're after and how to get it that I just didn't have.
Cut to this summer. Rogo was still running away from me on and off and one day I HAD it (dangerous, etc., I posted about it). With the determination born of needing to cure a dangerous habit I put him to work. I used the lunge line around the poll method and side reins to keep him with me, and I pushed him out of his work comfort zone into a BIG trot. Rogo's not big on big trot's, although he has a beauty when he does it. We did this a few times until he stopped running from me, and then I went back to not lunging. I kind of missed the break through - I was teaching him the gait I wanted, which I couldn't seem to do as effectively or quickly mounted.
Currently coming back from a period of low to no work (Rogo's cut leg, my 'down' time) I was faced with a very lazy horse and a low energy me, so I turned to lunging. OMG - I think I've got it. I'm fastening the line on the side, using side reins at times (I've used them enough that he understands and is ready) without under or over doing it, getting a big, forward trot, and the trot it carrying over to mounted work. In yesterday's ride he carried the trot of my dreams after lunging, something I can work on for 30 minutes and not get if I try it mounted without lunging. Without lunging, there are days I can give him 3 good solid whacks with the whip and still get just a half hearted, short response. This leaves me feeling really yukky (it's like whipping a sweet puppy frankly, and it does no good). Who wants to spend their riding time like that, or have a relationship like that with their horse? Not me.
So, fingers crossed, I think I have a good tool I can use effectively finally. I'm not mean to him on the lunge line (pushing too hard or 'chasing' him). It's just as though we both get it now - focused and forward. Rogo isn't the least bit upset or reluctant. He's as happy as can be and enjoying himself. Is he the equine equivalent of the person who says "I find it hard to go to the gym, but when I get started I love it"?
So, here I am, lunging to put an edge on :) I know many people lunge to take the edge off. Also, some trainers don't think lunging should be used, or used very sparingly. I'm very interested in knowing what you think of lunging as a training tool and / or if and how you use lunging.

180

2011-09-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

After losing my will to ride for two weeks (a first), now I can't get enough. Today I rode twice. I'm constantly plotting how I can spend the winter with lessons and training five days a week (retirement money? more consulting work?), and when I'm not on the horses, I'm watching training videos or studying dressage books (currently the classic 'The Complete Training of Horse and Rider by Podhajsky).

It's just a paperback copy I found at a used book store, but it's a bible for dressage people. I've read it fitfully before, opening it here and there, but now I'm going cover to cover. Joan's teaching aligns very closely (but not completely) with this book. She studies all of the masters and can quote from them at will and tell stories about debates and schools of thought going back hundreds of years.
Since I can't work with Joan right now, and maybe never, this approach will have to do for the time being. But I digress.
Back to riding - Jennifer and Maria came to visit today, to ride and take pictures. Maria is an excellent amateur photographer, so I'm hoping to have some nice pictures to post soon. It was SOOO fun to spend the morning with them.
I'm finding I'm still way behind where I was in my training. Maybe this is partially feeding my frenzy for lessons? Anyway, Rogo was so sluggish when I rode this morning that I had to get on again this evening. I couldn't let the sun go down on that lack of energy :) So I saddled up again, DETERMINED to have a forward ride and voila - I got a forward ride. What does that tell you about intent? Why do I keep forgetting this? Please, if I start whining about lack of energy and forwardness again, remind me that I set the pace and the tone. There's the crux of it - at 50+ I get out of shape really fast. So it's hard for me bounce back with energy from a lay off. Between the two weeks of not feeling like riding preceded by Rogo's cut leg I haven't been riding regularly for awhile.
I evilly felt a little better when Jennifer, who's a very good rider, found Rogo exhausting too. She's only in her early / mid twenties and in good shape, so it's not just me :) Jennifer, if you're reading this forgive me, but I can't help myself. Misery loves company :) Now you have to come back and ride him again so you can experience good Rogo!
I was going to describe the visit, riding on the beach, etc. but I think I'll wait until I have pictures and let them tell the story. It was a really fun day.

Trying To Get Foused Again

2011-09-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of only riding bareback at the walk, with the occasional little trot, I saddled up today to attempt a schooling ride. My friend Joanne came to visit and she rode Savanah and I rode Rogo. Joanne did amazingly well with Savanah! She sits her trot beautifully and just looked so good on her - perfect position, had Savanah on the aids and using her hindquarters, etc. That was the successful side of the outing :) Rogo and I were atrocious! I'm not being hard on myself. We were really bad. We were far, far below being able to do even a Training Level 1 test. I'm sitting here smiling as I write this, because I'm not worried about it and in fact am so happy that I got him saddled and attempted a ride. A few days ago it just seemed like too much work, and I'm never like that (normally I have to ration myself). I know we'll get back to where we were. We had fun with a friend and ended with a ride on the beach, so what's not to love? Here's a picture of Joanne and Savanah that I took with my phone through Rogo's ears:

Joanne does a lot for dressage in our Province. Last year she organized a Stephan Peters clinic. Can you believe it? Stephan Peters here in Nova Scotia coaching local dressage riders? This year she's organized an Ingrid Klimke clinic. People are coming from as far away as BC. She created and maintains a Nova Scotia Dressage website that's an amazing resource. She's also training a young horse, a Hannoverian / draft cross and her daughter, a great young dressage rider, rides their other dressage horse at second level.
Backing up a bit, the two weeks of bareback were interesting and I learned from them. I felt my center of gravity mentally and physically lowering to a 'sack of potatoes seat', if I can describe it like that :) - my seat draped, not tight. This is how I sit on Savanah, but have never achieved consistently with Rogo. It's bad muscle memory and started from nervousness when I backed him. So although our technical prowess was non existent today, I think the bareback time was good. I'm going to try to do it at least twice a week, and incorporate time without stirrups into every ride.
Here's what I'm thinking for getting our schooling back on track:

Mentally focus. Plan the warm up exercises and try to stick with it unless I encounter something that really needs to be addressed. Today my mind wasn't with it yet.
Go large and get him forward before starting circles on days when he lacks impulsion.
Do lateral work earlier in the warm up to get him more forward (this seems to work well for him, but I didn't do it today).
Do lots of transitions.

Also a lesson learned - I get easily distracted by having someone else in the ring. I'm so used to riding alone that through no fault what so over of the rider I'm in with, I get distracted and lose focus on what I'm doing. This is especially true for me in the warm up ring at shows, so riding with someone else is VERY good for me.
Any suggestions for how you get back on track when you've been off for a bit? Does it come right back to you, or do you have to work at it?

Riding Update

2011-09-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I posted I don't know where to start. Guess I'll start with recent stuff and work back, but will probably jump around. To tell the truth, my schooling isn't progressing on the path it should. I'm very troubled about a dear friend in a bad situation, a situation she can't see her way out of and which I'm helpless to change.This sucks the life out of me. Even putting a saddle on a horse seems like a lot of work, let alone having a forward, focused ride. So I walk, bareback. That comforts me. Rogo is new to bareback, so this is good for both of us. Enough said about that.

Prior to this bad situation (my friend) fully coming to light I was focusing on getting more impulsion at the trot. My approach, and I'll get back to it, was to ride twice a day for about 20 minutes each time, and do nothing but forward trot after warming up. Circle at each end and down the long side, forward, forward, forward until it is muscle memory and natural. I also hacked out a bit (more on that), but schooling sessions were just as I described.

I will only try this approach (when I resume) for a few days or a week, then mix it up more. I don't want him to get sour but I think by doing it in short bursts and taking him out of the ring he should be fine. Before that I did the same thing with the walk and he now marches briskly forward quite well with little prompting. I really saw a difference. Even when I got slack and forgot to keep up the walk rhythm he was carrying it in a forward way on his own. So this has been a plus for Sept.

I had my first canter on the beach with Rogo a couple of weeks ago. He was tired from ring work and the sand was deep, so I thought now is the time. I knew he'd want to take off because he loves a forward canter, and sure enough we had a little hand gallop before settling into a working canter. I kept it fairly short and it was great. I'm sure he'd be fine if I let him go, and if I was younger and braver I probably would have. I can't help but be a little nervous about just letting him go though. I want to make sure he's responding to me before I let him go all out. When I got Dan (my Appaloosa) he was only five and I let him break into a gallop on the beach (this is when I was newly back to riding after 30 years) and he bucked me off. This was before I discovered he had a broken tooth with a bare nerve, but I'm still nervous about just letting a green horse decide to gallop in an open area. I guess that's probably a good thing.

On the way home home Rogo spotted some cows on top of the bank looking down at him and he FREAKED. This was a first for him. He ran backwards onto the mud flats; not good. If you've read my blog long you know he isn't typically a spooky horse, but he doesn't like environments he's used to to change. It got so bad I dismounted and led him until he couldn't see the cows and then got back on and rode home. I've had him back once, but only part way past the area where the cows were. He didn't try to stop, but I'm going to take it slow. It would be ideal if we could go with Savanah, but with Doug not able to ride that isn't happening.

Speaking of Doug, he's been to a natureopath and is on supplements to help his arthritis, so we're hoping for some improvement.

Recently a friend, Jennifer, came to ride Savanah and she took her over some jumps. Savanah hasn't jumped in years, but was jumped before we bought her. She seemed to really enjoy herself, pulling to head for the jump as Jennifer circled at one end. They both did great and I hope there's a repeat. I'll have to get some pictures.

This is getting long and I have more updates, so will have to get back to posting more frequently.

Sorry I haven't been commenting much. I'm reading when I can.

Thanks for all of the feedback on my last post. It seemed to be a popular topic (speaking dressage) and I got some really funny comments and great ideas for a dictionary :)

Do You Speak Dressage?

2011-08-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Subtitle: Are you a dressage nerd?

Sometimes I'll be talking to my friends about dressage, and they'll glaze over. I know - how can that be when the latest nuance of my 20 m circle is cliff hangingly riveting?
Okay. I get it. Dressage, especially lower level dressage, is about as interesting as watching paint dry to a non dressage person. The fact that no detail is too small to provide endless happy hours of discussion among dressage people is missed on the unconverted.
Aside from that, we also have a language that is incomprehensible to non dressage people. Just for fun (how dressage nerdy is that - I find this fun), I started coming up with a list of words and phrases we use, in the English language, that have an incomprehensible meaning to non dressage people. Some are used by other disciplines, some are specific to dressage. Here's my list:

in front of the leg
behind the leg
half halt
free walk
up hill
on the bit
round
track up
three track
shoulder in
the double
behind the vertical
lunge
leg yield
circus
poodle dressage (I just came across this one)
half pass
button braids
knee blocks

That's what quickly comes to mind. There should be a dictionary for people starting dressage. I had no idea what most of this meant when I started, and I'm sure there's tons more I don't know. It can lead to embarrassing questions, ie a new competitor asked the judge at one of our recent shows, after reading the comments, if it was the rider or the horse who should be round. While others had a chuckle, I can totally see this. Who would know if their trainer hadn't explained it yet? To be honest, some of the terms are somewhat ephemeral concepts that have different twists to different people, but that's a whole new topic. As is the language of instruction, i.e. 'brace your back', 'retard the hands', 'irritate the hind leg', ...Don't get me started!
Here are a few sentences to leave non dressage people scratching their heads (don't hesitate to throw our a few when trapped by a bore):

She's doing third so she can use the double, but her trainer wants her schooling for more up hill first.
When half halts didn't get him on the bit I tried some lateral work, focusing on shoulder in and even moving to four track at times.
The reitmeister says Spanish walk is circus, but don't tell the baroque crowd.
He was over tracking by a foot in his free walk.
The frame was too strung out and he was running on his forehand throughout the test.

Trust me, none of the above makes a lick of sense to anyone outside your horse circle and will get you out of almost any less than happy social situation. People who speak this language alot may not even realize they do it. True story - when my teacher Joan called roadside assistance for a flat tire, she told them it was the outside hind :) Do you have any words or phrases to add to the list? I may just do the dictionary...
Now, God help me, I must go do something useful.

New Facebook Page for Dressage Adult Amateurs

2011-08-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Leslie Valent who writes Halfpass's Blog has started a new facebook page called Dressage For Adult Amateurs . There is lots of great discussion on the page. I'm enjoying it.

Rogo Update and Riding Savanah

2011-08-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Rogo healed nicely - no swelling, clean and closed, penicillin finished on Wed. - so I went back to riding on Thur. He was sluggish and spooky, not like him. He isn't a spooky horse and although sometimes he takes a while to get going, he was really hard to get forward.

Fri. when I went to groom him I saw the wound area was quite swollen and had heat in it, the first time it had been swollen since he cut it a week ago. I gave him a shot of penicillin and called the vet this morning, who told me to do five more days of penicillin (25 cc shots every 12 hours) and put hot compresses on twice a day. I wonder if the penicillin could make him sluggish, or if the hidden infection may have been dragging him down Thur. evening?

Anyway, I cancelled my Labour Day weekend competition plans. He'll be fine but I want him to rest and I don't want to feel pressure to have him ready. I'm hearing there are nasty infections happening in equine cuts and scratches in NS this summer, so I'm going to keep a very close eye on it.

Last night just before dark I jumped on Savanah bareback and headed to the beach. What a great ride we had. She is such a sweetie pie, I just love her. We practiced shoulder in and leg yield, and walk / canter / walk. I couldn't get a walk directly from the canter. She was having too much fun being forward. She loves the beach. If you ride bareback, you'll know that going directly to walk from canter is a real bonus, so I was motivated :) It's interesting, when I was learning to ride bareback I could always transition smoothly from canter to trot on the beach. I'd focus, slow the canter, get her hind end under her and we'd trot. When we were in the ring I couldn't do it nearly as well. She'd fall onto her forehand and bang, bang, bang I'd go on her back until we got it together again. I told Joan that I thought the idea of coming off on the beach with all the rocks around was the incentive I needed to get the transition right. I still think that - motivation and focus can do wonders. Even though I'd think I was trying just as hard in the arena, it never went as well. Does this make sense to anyone?

Savanah's Training Goals

2011-08-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

Since Doug hasn't been able to ride Savanah for months (he has a bad hip), I've taken over riding her, and I love it (riding her, not his bad hip). She's the horse I started dressage on (although she's Doug's horse) and I showed her my first summer of showing, getting me hooked. She's the ultimate fun horse and horse to get started competing on - she's nicely and easily forward, very responsive to aids, and very safe. I'm 100% comfortable cantering bareback on her on the beach or through the woods, she's that safe and easy.
She was a very nervous and anticipative horse when I started doing dressage with her, and she blossomed with it. She gained confidence, stopped anticipating and generally shone. She ended her first summer of competing as Training Level champion for our Provincial Seahorse Circuit. She's a perfect example of a nonwarmblood doing well (she's a draft cross with the emphasis on draft, of unknown parentage, although I think Percheron is a safe bet as part of it).
At the end of her first show season she showed level one. Doug tried her, loved it, dropped his western riding and went back to riding her and doing dressage and I moved to Rogo. Doug showed her at Training Level as well, last summer, and he also did well with her placing high including firsts in their classes. Because Doug started at the beginning and then didn't show this year she hasn't advanced in her training, but she is VERY good at what she does - push button. She needs to confirm lengthening and shortening her canter, trot lengthening and counter canter (she does it all well sometimes but it isn't 100% consistent) to be rock solid in all Level One movements. She does some of Level Two well too - shoulder in and walk canter came very easily and she's well on her way to 10 m canter circles, and canter / walk. Generally collecting is easier for her than extending.
So my training goals will be to get her consistent in all Level One movement and advance with Level Two. For the end of Sept. I'd like:

100% consistent in shortening her canter without breaking to trot
a distinct lengthened stride when asked in trot (not speeding up)
balanced, confident counter canter loop to the center line and back (she gets it now, but it needs to be 'easier' for her)
canter / walk with only one trot step (or none)
for me - ride all of Level One test one bareback without a hitch or slight loss of balance (this needs to be done with balancing from the core, not gripping with the legs). I can almost do this some days (I can ride it, but I want it to be flawless), and when I go back to the saddle it feels so 'with her'.

Ideas for exercises to keep this interesting without drilling movements are always welcome!

Savanah with Dan

Doug and Savanah competing, summer 2010

Rogo's Goals Up To End Of September

2011-08-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't done goals in a while. Just for fun I've copied goals from a year ago and added where he is now, based on his competition and clinic scores where possible.

Training area	Achieved Aug. 2010	Achieved Aug. 2011
Contact (accepting contact with the bit)	6 (hmmm, I don't think so)	6 (7 to 8 in walk and trot, 5 in canter but coming faster)
Bending	5	7
Working trot	7	7
Canter: Transition Carry Steer	6 5 5	7 all
Circles	6	7
Free walk	7	8
Halt	6	7
Straight on center line	6	8
Rhythm	6	7
Precise transitions	6	7
Leg Yield - new	3	6 (varies from 5 to 7)

It doesn't seem like a lot, but we've added new areas. I need some new categories, so here goes:

Training Area	Achieved Aug. 2011	Goal Sept. 30
15 m canter circle	6	7
10 m canter circle	5	6
Canter lengthen and shorten	6.5	7
20 m counter canter circle	6	6.5
3 loop canter serpentine	6.5	7
Walk / canter	5	6
Canter / walk	3 (just starting)	5
Simple change	Haven’t started	3
Trot lengthening	4 (haven’t worked on it)	6 (we need to get this going)
Trot collection	5	5.5
Stretchy circle	6	7
Leg yield	5	6 (it comes and goes, up to a 7)
Shoulder in	5	6
Halt square	6.5	8 (he gets it, but not 100% consistently)
Trot from halt	6	7
Rein back	Haven’t started	5
Marching walk	5 (I haven’t been on top of this)	7 (he enjoys doing it when I remember)
Hack out – trot	5 (just started)	6
Hack out – canter	Haven’t started	5

How Is This Happening?

2011-08-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

Poor Rogo. Doug says he is accident prone. I have to admit, he was very clumsy as a 3, 4 and even 5 year old, but he's much better now. Anyway, Fri. evening when I went to groom and tack him up, after a week of so much rain I'd only gotten one ride in, I found his right front leg bleeding from a small cut. The weird thing is, and I'd sure appreciate thoughts / ideas on this, is that it's the THIRD time he's cut this area on a front leg and all have been a mystery as to cause. The first time was the left front, then a few months later the mirror image of this cut appeared on his right front, and now, two years later, the same cut is back on his right front.
The vet said he'd never seen this before (after the second one appeared) - two identical cuts on opposite legs, occurring when Rogo was in different locations (so it didn't appear to be his environment), and no visible cause. We even wondered if Dan, the Appaloosa, was biting him in play, although it didn't appear to be a bite mark. Now Dan isn't here (he's at Joan's), so he didn't do it. Savanah is the low horse on the totem pole and wouldn't bite (and it isn't a bite). It isn't a kick. It presents as sort of a puncture / cut. Here is a picture of it:

Could he be hitting it and slicing with a hoof when he's getting up? I've watched him rise, with this question in my mind, and he didn't come anywhere near his front legs with another leg. The first two times he wasn't wearing shoes, but now he is. There is a small nick in his left hind ankle that happened at the same time.
Although it is fairly innocuous this time when I found it right away, the first time he was at a boarding barn and I didn't get there from a Thur. to a Mon. and when I came on Mon. his leg was like a huge stovepipe, with rivers of puss coming out of it. He was off work for 6 weeks and went through two courses of antibiotics. So if I can find a cause for this and manage it in some way it would be a great help. It doesn't cause any permanent harm, but it sure would be nice to put a stop to it, or at least understand it.
Here's the care routine, so I'll remember dates and tasks. Every twelve hours:

clean the wound with a toothbrush dipped in warm water, to keep the would from sealing over with dried fluid - we want it to drain
insert a blunt syringe filled with saline into the wound, flush it, and squeeze out any / all fluids. Repeat this three times each treatment. Do this for three days (until wound is almost healed closed)
Give him 25 cc's of penicillin - a needle twice a day alternating neck and rump for five days

On the bright side, the vet said Rogo is well muscled and very well behaved, which makes treating him easy. He has to stay in his stall to keep flies out of his wound, but starting today I can let him out at night in their grassy area (not the sand riding ring).
We had a great time on our one ride - I did three loop canter serpentines twice. He did them easily - Yeah Rogo! Then I put him on a 20 m canter circle which I picked up on the long side (not a corner). As we cantered I pushed him into the outside rein and bent him slightly in - thinking I was doing the exercise from dressage camp. Guess what? He'd been counter cantering and did a perfect and instant flying change when I applied the aids! Wow - my first flying change since I was a teenager. In reading Kyra Kurkland's book I see that this is how she introduces flying changes - she counter canters a 20 meter circle and then asks for the change, so I think this won't be too hard for Rogo. I won't do it again though until I have some instruction as to when to teach it. I want to make sure I don't screw up his counter canter, although he seems to understand the difference in being asked to counter canter and being asked to change, at least in this one instance :)
Remember - please send me your thoughts, ideas, experiences if you can help me solve the mystery of Rogo's inside front leg cuts. Thank you.

Dressage Camp Wrap Up

2011-08-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

Although I'm tardy in posting, I want to re-cap the dressage camp lessons so I can crystallize them in my mind.

Main Equitation Points I Need To Focus On:

Keep my legs back, they creep forward
Keep my knees off of him - although I don't grip with my knees, even having them lie against him seems to block him. It will require having my toes slightly turned out in order to keep my knees very light. When I get it right he is much more forward.
Keep my shoulders down and back - have 'good boobies' as Jane Fraser (who gave me lunge lessons) calls it :)
Stretch UP from my abdomen to my neck. This improves everything. For example, it is much easier to sit to Rogo's trot when I do this.
Do rising trot by bending and unbending my knees, not rising off the ball of my foot. This will keep my heels down.
Keep my hands down! Hold the bucking strap if need be to keep them from going up. Hold my whip correctly so I don't pull the reins if I tap.
Tuck my butt under me.

That's it for the main improvement areas.

Training Exercises and Lessons Learned

Forward, forward, forward - he needs to learn new muscle memories of going strongly forward. He likes to do it once we get warmed up and he gets the idea.
To get a better connection bend him, either on a circle or going large. Support this with an inside leg to outside rein. Do this is all three gaits.
Balance with a circle at each end when riding in the arena. Begin and end many / most movements with a circle. Ride well into the corners before picking up the circle, using the inside leg and outside rein.
Ride lots of figure eights and three loop serpentines in trot. Sometimes walk across the center line in the serpentine loops. This helps school half halts.
Always stay active, forward, straight in the down transitions - no wandering around after cantering just because I'm tired :)
Keep the walk marching, always.
Leg yield aid is inside leg and outside rein simultaneously when inside hind is off the ground. Do leg yield toward both the track and the center line.
Do working trot circles at each end, and ask for lengthening down the long side between them.

That's my summary of equitation lessons and training exercises. They've really helped us. Next post I'll talk about the effect it's had on us - results.

Day 5 At Dressage Camp

2011-08-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Rogo looking out of his stall.
Today was incredibly fun and productive. On his fifth day of hard work I thought Rogo would be very tired, but he came out with the energy of his first day outside in spring. Who is he and what has he done with Rogo? He was all go, go, go. What fun! His canter had amazing jump and he had a huge trot. All I had to do to get either of them was stay out of his way.
Sue said he is enjoying himself and the new forward, and also the weather today may have affected him some (a bit cooler, around 20 C.). Whatever the reason, I loved it.
We did lots of circles and serpentines in trot. In the serpentines we walked over the centre line and did the rest in trot. This helps school half halts. In canter I need to bend and release on a circle, with lots of outside rein support, to help him use his hind quarters and lift his back.
We did trot leg yield from the wall inward. I should only ask for 2 or 3 good steps when doing it this way.
All in all a great day. Tomorrow I have a lesson in the morning and then go home.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Dressage Camp Days 3 and 4

2011-08-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

It is still wonderful. No surprise there eh? I've been auditing the Cindy Ishoy clinic for hours a day when I'm not riding and it is such a great learning experience.
In my lunge lessons the main things Jane is addressing with me are keeping my legs back, dropping my shoulders which I pull up to my ears, and tucking my butt in. Also, she's teaching me to bend and unbend my knee in rising trot to keep my heel down. I've had a bad tendency to push up and down off the balls of my feet causing my heels to come up and leg to move. A good way to practice is to stand with your toes on a stair and rise up and down off your toes. Then rise and drop again, only this time do it by bending and unbending your knees, while keeping your heels down. It's a good trick which works for me.
In my lesson with Rogo we're working on forward, forward, forward. I thought he'd get cranky if pushed too hard, especially after four days of it, but he's isn't minding at all. He's a real trooper and today Sue said he had a good work ethic. This is HUGE for us, as he did not want to work as a young horse. He'd pin his ears, shake his head and refuse to move at some point in every ride, and he'd have to go on the lunge or in the round pen. We just stayed calm and patient with him, and now he likes to work. He needed to grow up. He's getting more forward already, and starting to use his hind quarters more and carry himself. She's getting me to ride him with a slightly shorter rein and to bend him to relax and accept it. We do lots of figure eights and three loop serpentines to change the bend. She gets us to use the outside rein and inside leg to hold their shoulders up and keep then straight. A recurring theme, but it's getting better, is my need to keep my hands down.
Today we did leg yield and although he's never done it very well at the trot at home he did it quite well here. We did it from the quarter line to the wall both ways and over he went as nicely as could be, keeping a good rhythm and forwardness.
His canter is getting it's jump back that he had in the past and he's quite joyful about it. I LOVE it. He needs to learn to carry it though, as he still drops onto his forehand at times.
Jeni from Super Size My Cob lightened my thunder storm riding picture. I love it. I've got a huge grin because I think we're crazy to be riding. It turns out that the airport was closed, roads were washed out and there were many car accidents because of the storm. It was a crazy.

There are so many cute dogs and puppies here that I have to post a few pictures:

Labradoodle and golden retriever puppies playing. How cute is that?

Andrew's been playing in the mud.

Poodle going for tractor drive.

You Aren't Going To Believe This

2011-08-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

The dressage camp is wonderful. That isn't the part you aren't going to believe. I'll get to that part in a moment. First I want to tell you about how the camp is organized. I'm having lessons with the other woman who co-chairs our dressage club (R.I.D.E.R.S) with me. In the morning we start early (8:00 am) with a lunge lesson with Jane Fraser who is locally famous for her lunge lessons. I can honestly feel a difference already. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think I'm getting my heels down more consistently. I get lunged on a school horse, not Rogo. It's very tiring but great.
Then we watch lessons for a few hours, given by Cindy Ishoy who's flown in to give a clinic. Her linked bio is well worth reading. She's an eight time Olympian and an Olympic medalist. As you can imagine, the atmosphere is heaven. We're over-looking a bay in the country, a small group of women of all ages who share a passion for dressage, and all day is spent riding, talking, and learning dressage. The meals are all home cooked right here, and are to die for. Last night was scallops, tonight was a curry chicken casserole, tons of salads, sides, etc. and somewhere in there I pigged out on strawberry shortcake. If there is a heaven, this is it.
Back to the lesson - we have a lesson with Sue Fraser in the afternoon. Her bio is also impressive and well worth reading. I ride Rogo for my lesson with Sue. She is getting me to get more out of him than ever before. Although I'm pushing him to go more forward and work harder, he doesn't mind it. He isn't cranky about it at all. I wonder if he likes the sensation of discovering his power as he starts to come rounder and more forward? He's giving it his all, bless his little heart. It can't be easy for him, because without a teacher I just didn't have the confidence to push, and always erred on the side of caution. Now he's being asked for more and as he responds I'm astonished by the power and gaits that emerge.
This leads me to the unbelievable part - today's lesson with Sue. There were severe thunder storm warnings in effect, and we heard thunder rumbling as our lesson started (indoors). We were just getting warmed up in the walk when the rain hit the roof with a roar. It came in waves, in such a way I haven't heard before - crashing into the roof, subsiding and crashing into it again, all in seconds. This unnerved Rogo (it was his second time in there and second day here) and he jumped around a little, but only for less than a minute. I just kept him working, but instead of walking along the sides I circled him. Then the thunder started in earnest. By now Rogo wasn't jumping around, but I thought the lesson might get canceled. Instead Sue put a microphone on to talk over the roar and we continued. The noise mounted and the lesson went on. As I rode, I thought "I'm never going to forget this, this is a ride to remember". It felt wild, and instead of feeling scared I felt like it was the chance of a lifetime to ride through a storm like that, in an indoor, with a great teacher. How often do things like this happen?
We were trotting now, asking for big trots, lengthening down the long side. The atmosphere was almost otherworldly, the thunder and lightening coming at the same time and at times pretty much continuous. It got to the point we couldn't hear Sue even with the microphone - I'd catch sporadic words or ride over to her to ask what she said. Everyone had gathered to watch, but I was only vaguely aware they were there. Then we cantered and Sue wanted Rogo more in front of my leg. We're cantering through this roaring thunder and Sue is yelling to me to tap, tap, tap him with the whip and get him using his hind legs. I was afraid he'd use his hind legs to throw me over his head, but my brave big boy just went to work harder and ignored the noise. At one point the lights went out and we were almost in darkness, even though there are lots of sky lights and side lights. They came back on though and we continued. Wow. What a day and what a ride.
Doug and Mom had driven down to watch today of all days. It unnerved Mom some, but I'm glad Doug saw it because he wouldn't believe it otherwise. I like that he sees what a good boy Rogo is.
Here is the only picture that is light enough to see anything:

Here's one of Alison in her lunge lesson yesterday:

You an see the difference in the light level even though they are both taken in the daytime.
So that's my report on dressage camp days 1 and 2. I'm learning lots, enjoying it more than I can say, and had a wild but wonderful ride today.

How I'm Preparing For Dressage Camp

2011-07-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

I'm finally here, sitting in my trailer, ready for my first day of dressage camp tomorrow. After a long busy day we left home around 7:00 pm and arrived here at Fraser Equestrian Center at 8:45 pm. Doug has gone back home and I'm preparing for my first lesson at 9:00 am tomorrow. Here's how:

Inspirational reading - Dressage With Kyra, and inspirational snacking - three kinds of chocolate chip cookies, dark chocolate and burnt almond bar, and my bulk barn custom snack of hot and sweet cajun mix, honey peanuts and coconut honey cashews all mixed together. I think I should be eating healthy, but somehow intense riding, or thinking about intense riding = indulgence. Supper was the custom snack mix and diet ginger ale. Obviously the diet ginger ale means I'm serious about losing weight this week.

Here's what I am serious about - improving my equitation and getting a better connection happening with Rogo. I'm committed to working on that as hard as I can and pretty excited about being here to do it.
Tomorrow and through the week I'll tell you about my very accomplished instructor and also the great auditing opportunity I'm having this week too.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

What I Want To Remember About The Mental Side Of Competing

2011-07-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

I loved to compete the first summer I showed. I was riding Savanah and I don't remember ever worrying about her behavior. She was completely trust worthy and we knew our work. I was nervous, but in a good way. Seriously my biggest worry was learning to do her braids.
Then, because Rogo wasn't ready, I showed my Appaloosa Dan at Training Level. Although Dan was trust worthy at home, he bucked all through our warm up at our first show. I don't know how I stayed on as he bucked and leaped while galloping the full width of the warm up and several times across the dressage ring, but I did. (When we got home I found a sore under the girth area that the vet said was an infected fly bite. He was fine when that cleared up.) At our next show the stall door wasn't screwed in properly and he got out and ransacked the barn - threw chairs around, ate other horses feed, kept horses up all night, pooped everywhere,... It was a nightmare.
Then I faced bringing Rogo to his first shows, with memories of Dan haunting me. Those bad memories became a physical sensation. As I looked forward to our first shows, even months before, I'd get huge, painful knots in my stomach. I was still incredibly nervous this spring. I confess, I actually had the second anxiety attack of my life the night before the show. Doug wasn't here so I called my mother to come to the house because I was sick, the room was spinning, and I was sure I was going to faint and fall down. I didn't know I was having an anxiety attack until it was over, and I wasn't conscious of being anxious. I can't even tell you for sure what I was afraid of - doing poorly in the test? loading and unloading? the warm up ring by the highway? all of the above? don't know. But Rogo did fine, after some initial unease warming up.
Then we went to the clinic. I don't want to jinx myself, but leaving for the clinic I knew he'd be good. I was much more relaxed, knowing this, and he was the best yet. Knowing we weren't competing, that it was just a learning experience even though we'd ride and be scored on tests, made a big difference. So this is what I learned - going to a show should be exactly like this! It's a fun learning experience. It's all in the attitude it's approached with.
I was listening to an audio tutorial of Jane Savoie's today that my dressage friend Cindy sent me. It's about mental preparation for a show and is so relevant to this. Interestingly in it she mentions visualizing your horse with relaxed, flopped ears, listening to you. I noticed my banner picture:

I want to compare it to a year ago:

Although neither picture is bad, he looks more relaxed this year. And while I'm still not as relaxed as I should be (hmm, why am I leaning forward?), I sure look happier! So we're on the right track. As an aside, it's interesting to see Rogo's frame changing.

Maybe we've, Rogo and I, crossed over to being happy and having fun in our training and competing. Biggest goal met.

Loving Summertime

2011-07-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of great morning beach rides two days ago. Feeling more confident after Rogo's good behavior when off property at the clinic, I took him on his longest hack yet, doubling our previous distance. We started out with practicing some basics in the arena - walk / trot / walk transitions, circles, trot / canter / trot (needs lots of work), etc. Then we went to the beach. Rogo is so cute. He wants very much to go through the open gate heading to the beach and keeps trying to head there. When we do go, he gets quite hesitant for the first few steps once he's through the gate. Then he gets with the program and off we go. I really trotted out going up the beach this time, but no cantering yet. I'm a big old chicken. I know he'll be fine, but slow and steady. Too many times I've pushed the envelope when things were going well, until they weren't going well. The sand was quite deep (wet) so it's good exercise as long as we don't over do it. We walk all the way home. About 2/3 of the way home I realized I was sitting into him wiht open hips. Yeah! I don't realize I'm not until I feel the difference. This brings me to saddle fit:
I had his saddle adjusted Fri. night at the clinic. I was quite bouncey (more than usual) when I rode there, but put it down to nerves. To work on it I tried to ride without stirrups before the beach ride and couldn't do it at all! Not even a slow trot, which I'd easily done before. After I got back from my beach ride I saw on his saddle pad that I was putting weight up front, not under my seat - bad and not me (I have many bad habits but I put my weight on my seat). I emailed the saddle fitter and she told me she'd put quite a bit of air in it (It's a WOW with air instead of flocking) and that it would make me bouncier. Not what I need! So now I'll give it a couple of rides and see what happens. She may need to adjust it again. On the plus side, Rogo is developing his topline nicely and likes his saddle so we'll sort it out.
After riding Rogo I rode Savanah bareback - also starting with some ring work (mostly trot / canter/ trot to try to help me get a better feel for Rogo). Then she and I headed to the beach. What a blast she is to ride - forward, but safe, with a nice comfy back for bareback. We did lots of trot and canter, with me focussing on balancing with my core and not squeezing my legs. I think I do okay on her. Why can't I transfer my seat to Rogo??? She was a sweety and seemed to enjoy the outing too.
Yesterday I rode Rogo in Doug's saddle (an Albion) to see if it made a difference. I can sit his trot better, so I may need some air taken out of mine. I also worked on Rogo's carriage and trying to ride more with my seat and legs. Looking where I go seems to be quite a help with this but anything faster than a walk still needs too much hand.
I'm really excite about dressage camp coming up the first week of Aug. Nervous as hell too.

First Clinic (for both of us)

2011-07-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

It was so much fun! Honestly, I was in heaven. The facility was beautiful in a really welcoming, everything you could want in a facility without being ostentatious kind of way. It's off in the country, with trails, beautiful views, lots of big box stalls, friendly management, etc. As I mentioned we rented the big house there and people stayed over. We all ate together, had a talk on 'De-Mystifying Dressage' Sat. night, hung out under the canopy to audit when we weren't riding, and generally had as much or more fun socializing as learning.
The volunteers were incredible. Alison, who co-chairs the Board with me was the main organizer / manager and she never stopped running. Everything went so smoothly because of her. Sharon had organized the most amazing meals, i.e. made homemade muffins and jam for breakfast, and wonderful lunches and dinners (the main one several of us cooked for). Mai and Barb scribed, Paula did some of everything - cooking, scribing, ring set up, horse help... You get the picture.
Here's a picture of the food:

Here's a picture of our Sat. night talk on De-Mystifying Dressage (accompanied by wine and double chocolate brownies):

And here are some of the rides:

I'll put some more of Rogo and I on my pictures page for future comparisons.
So the feedback from the clinic is decidedly mixed. It will entail me shamelessly bragging to you about Rogo, and then admitting to being shamed into action for me. We rode Training Level 2 and 3. First the good part - the clinician loved Rogo. She told me what a high quality horse he is, that she could see how sweet, kind and willing he is, and that the two things together make him the horse everyone wants. She also said I don't have any problems to work on with him. How is that for high praise? My heart was literally beating out of my chest as I sat on him and she said these things. I've always thought he was special :) but to have a very well respected and highly experienced judge come in from Ontario and say it was so validating. She gave us a 7 for harmony between horse and rider because she said it's very apparent to her that Rogo likes me. This brings me to the bad news - me. I didn't receive any startling news that I didn't know, but it really brought it into focus. I tired much too easily, and I don't have a good seat on him with independent hands. Of course being at the clinic made it a bit worse, but it's very true. I've never learned to sit into him and be as secure in my seat as I am with Savanah and Dan. She says it's his big movement and that it will come, but boy, it's taking a long time. She said I need to get him to round so he'll work over his back more, but that it will come as soon as I'm riding him better and that there's really nothing to fix with him, just me. I need to use my seat and legs more and not ride with my hands so much. Okay, I have my marching orders. Already I have a plan, thanks to the amazing Alison. We're going to go to a 5 day dressage camp at Fraser Equestrian Center. SUe Fraser is a level 3 dressage coach and a judge and she's a great teacher. Her sister Jane (riding the Intermediare 1 test above) teaches with her and is very good as well. I'm hoping that will give me the jump start to get fitness and equitation on track. Then I'll get Doug to lunge me, maybe have some lunge lessons with Megan and sooner or later Joan will be back. Please visualize me sitting quietly and deeply, riding Rogo with my seat and legs :)
Just so I don't get too down on myself, I do feel happy that after four years with me my horse is sane, sound and happy. I've seen a few bright stars with much better riders burn out in that time.
I had the saddle fitter come to the clinic Fri. night to adjust Rogo's saddle (it's been a year since he got it and he's filled out). She also liked what she saw and told me his back / topline and neck are developing nicely. She is from the UK and is accredited as a saddle fitter and worked for many years in horse rehabilitation, so I trust her with fitting.
My final note is that I'm really getting much more comfortable with Rogo at new locations. I was desperately hoping he'd like to compete, because if he didn't I wouldn't (it's just misery for both horse and rider). He was so well behaved that it's going to go a long way to making showing fun. He loaded and unloaded quietly and smoothly, stayed well behaved during his first warm ups, etc. No lunging required, no mischief. I'm really a lucky woman.

Getting Ready For The Clinic

2011-07-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

We're going to our first ever clinic on July 16 and 17 at Hobby Horse Farm. Lynda Southam, Dressage Canada M judge is giving a test riding clinic. We ride a test, she critiques it with us, and then we ride it again trying to improve our score. We do this both Sat. and Sun. I'm riding training level 2 and 3. I was thinking of doing level 1, test 1, since it isn't a show and is meant as a learning experience, but since I didn't have Joan to get me ready I scrapped that idea :( Oh well, we'll get to it soon enough.

It's going to be a fun weekend. We arrive Fri. night. There's a big house there which our club has rented and then rented out rooms to riders and auditors (Doug and I are staying in our trailer with living quarters). We're providing all the meals. One of our board members is a great food organizer, and we'll all pitch in with prep and clean up. Sat. night several us us are cooking for - it will be a dinner for about 26 people. We'll bring wine, etc., and afterwards there's a Q & A with the clinician and then a talk - De-mystifying Dressage - by Jane Fraser.

I'm really looking forward to it - all the learning and being around dressage people that you get at a show, without all the pressure and anxiety that I impose on myself. Also, camping with Doug, great people, evenings of dressage talk, good food and wine - heaven!

Rogo is coming along nicely. I've been re-focusing on getting him working more from his hind quarters and coming on the bit. Walk is very good, trot is aaaalmost there, and canter gets a couple of strides on then several with his nose way out. I think the canter will come and Joan says not to force it. She wants me to ask for a bit of collection on and off to help him get the idea. His canter must be getting more balance - he can counter canter circles and canter 15 m circles and smaller - all quite easily. Also it doesn't feel like it's on the forehand, so I'm thinking we're making progress.

I've never worked too much on sitting trot with him, figuring it would be much easier once he got round. My last ride I had several good intervals of sitting trot with him, a real break through. At one point he just felt so good I spontaneously thought "I'm going to sit" and wow, what a feeling. His back was up and he just carried me in a great big trot. I didn't even have to 'try' to sit. Normally I've found it very bouncy to try to sit, which is why I've waited. I think if this keeps up we'll be doing fine in sitting trot in a few months. The thing I need to remember is to keep him very forward and connected. I think he's becoming a dressage horse ... :)

I've been crazy busy planning our new horse property. Our new tractor should be here any day, Doug is getting an RV ready to put on the land for us to stay in while we're working on the site, I'm writing funding proposals, trailering our partner Megan and her clients to shows, etc. My blogging has suffered, but I miss it. It will get better soon.

Let me know if you have any questions for our Q&A session with the judge!

Come To Jesus With Rogo

2011-07-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

I know I brag too much about Rogo's sweet personality, but guess what? He has a flaw. Yes, it's true, unbelievable as it sounds, there's one bad thing he does. He runs away on the lunge line when he doesn't want to work. He has since the first time he was lunged. I've never been strong or skilled enough to hold him when he was really determined to get away, and thus he's learned he can do it. Trust me, I've worked hard to bring it too an end. I've gone months with no incidents, always to have him slip back when I thought it was safe. I'm sure I don't need to tell you this is a dangerous habit - horses aren't equipped to make decisions about where to go in our world.

I've never ended a session because he ran away - he always has to go back to work. Also, although you'd think that this would lead to big time bad manners across the board, it doesn't - he's kind, soft and safe to be around in every other way so I guess I let it slide for too long.

The two main things I've done to hold him on the lunge when he's really determined to get away are:

thread the lunge line through a girth strap and up to the bit, so that if he tries to run he'll pull his head around (this would require side reins so the bit couldn't pull through, or putting the lunge through the nose band and bit and fastening it back on itself), and
thread the lunge line in one bit ring, around the poll, and fasten it to the other bit ring, so that if he tries to run he'll put pressure on the bit and poll

If I do this, he learns not to try to run, but eventually when I stop using these stronger methods he goes back to running, especially if I push him at all. I wonder if anyone else has had this problem and if so, how they've fixed it?

Anyway, a couple of days ago he ran twice in a row and I just had it. It's very dangerous to him/others and at best he isn't willing to work at all when he does this. So I put side reins on to keep him from getting his head turned out (a prerequisite to running off) and put the lunge line through his bit, around his poll and into the bit on the other side. Then I worked his ass off. I insisted on instant and complete obedience - walk, trot, canter, trot, woah, trot, etc., etc. and step smartly when you do it and do it NOW. He was very taken aback. He's never been pushed that hard or had me demand instant and complete obedience.He tried to run several times, couldn't do it, and then did the best work he's ever done on the lunge - beautifully round, hind quarters engaged, gorgeous gaits.

I won't say I'm happy about it. Being demanding with him doesn't come naturally to me (maybe with others, but not with him lol). And I'll also quickly add that I don't believe that being tough and demanding all the time with him is the best approach. He's a confident boy which has it's advantages and I don't want to 'break' him as such (even writing that makes me cringe), but we need to come to an understanding that he doesn't defy me by running away whenever he feels like it. I'll have to find the right balance and it's going to have to be stricter than it has been.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that our ride the next day was amazing. Big beautiful gaits and responsiveness to aids - love it. So there's my confession - I was tough with my baby and although it didn't feel great I still think I did the right thing.

Today I rode Level One test 1 for the first time and he went through it without a hitch, although it needs polish (going into the corners more, more pronounced lengthenings). Doug took some pictures and much to my dismay Rogo's nose is still stuck out - yuk. I desperately need a teacher to keep me on track. Doug helped me and will help me again tomorrow. If it isn't too awful I'll post a video for future reference :)

Tempo Changes

2011-06-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

I've been focusing on the areas that Joan reviewed with me - regulating tempo in walk and trot, ramener, halts and half halts, and canter transitions. It amazes me how these simple exercises are polishing his performance. He listens to all aids more closely, even the ones we haven't focused on, after the above.
I had trouble with Rogo lacking forwardness in his trot from the time I left lessons with Joan until the time I came back (leaving lessons with her was an unavoidable circumstance). The teacher I had between Joan insisted that I not slow down his trot because it was too slow already, and he needed to go forward consistently before I slowed it down. I didn't fully trust this approach, because I knew from when Joan started us that Rogo would be much more forward in his trot if I alternated between slow and fast. He got to understand the difference. He would slow when asked and then really engage and speed up (in a good way) when asked (keep in mind he was just being started). When I only asked for forward, without differentiating, he just stalled into a very poor quality, on the forehand slowish trot without energy or impulsion that I spent all my time trying to 'push' forward. I don't know enough about training to know if the other teacher's approach would work better with different horses, but it didn't work for us. We spent a year and a half trying to do something that Joan can make improvements on in one lesson. I wish I'd had enough time with her in the beginning to have really understood and stayed with her approach. Do any of you vary the tempo to get improved forward, i.e. slow down so that when you ask for more the horse will power forward?
Of course slowing down while staying engaged sets the stage for beginning collection, varying the tempo builds hind quarter strength, the horse doesn't get bored as quickly when things switch up frequently and I find we focus together as a partnership when we 'converse' more. A lot of benefits from simply slowing down and speeding up. This will lead to lengthening and shortening stride, which shouldn't include tempo changes, or at least only very small ones.
After a solid training session last night I rode Rogo straight to the beach tonight. The sun was shining, it was warm and there was a stiff breeze, so the ride was heaven. I've been a bit stressed out - I've been in the media - there is a financial scandal involving big name concerts in Halifax and the Mayor of Halifax breaking financial rules. I chose to leave employment with Halifax 5 years ago, after almost 30 years and an good track record, and it was triggered by poor handling of the Rolling Stones concert I was project managing. I gave a fairly lengthy interview about it on CBC last week. Today I was attacked by a politician on air for speaking up :( . No surprise there I guess. I feel good about what I did 5 years ago and what I said last week, which is more than those involved can say. Oops, I see I'm off topic! My point was that I knew after I heard about the negativity directed at me today that I needed to get to my horse. Rogo worked his magic and I went from feeling stressed and wanting to 'get even' to feeling mellow, happy and seeing the humour in it (believe me, they aren't the smartest bunch, it's quite embarrassing for our Capital City and our Province). If you're interested there are media stories posted on this facebook page and a few references in my Twitter sidebar.
After riding Rogo on the beach I rode Savanah bare back in the riding ring. She is doing just amazing! She is schooling most or all of Level 2. Did I mention how startled I was the other day when I asked for leg yield when riding bare back? We were trotting quite forward and she moved sideways so quickly and easily I almost lost my balance. Bare back has a whole new set of challenges when going sideways! I've been riding her more, and riding bare back, so it's starting to help my seat.
This week we'll keep working on the tempo changes and transitions, and add in stretching circle and 20 and 15 meter circles at the trot and canter.

Lessons WIth Joan

2011-06-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

I had two wonderful lessons with Joan. We're starting at the first again, to quickly review. First was my equitation and working on having a perfect position. It's far from perfect, but we're working on it. What else can I do? The main problem is that my legs still aren't still when I trot. Also, my heels come up when I trot - I start posting off the balls of my feet. Bad Carol.

Then we worked on slow, medium and fast walk to get him to tune into the aids and move forward from my leg more. To slow, I reduce 'giving' with my hand, and reduce the follow of my seat and legs. This also shortens the stride. In time we will only shorten and lengthen stride without changing tempo, but for now it is slower and faster. This sounds boring and very basic, but it really gets the horse to tune in and listen. Also, to pay more attention to a squeeze from the calves - when they are going very slow they are waiting for the signal to move forward, and will surge forward nicely when it comes. To move from slow to medium squeeze with both legs and then follow more with seat and hands. To go fast, roll the calves on and off in time with the corresponding hind leg hitting the ground. It works very well for regulating the speed and length of stride, but getting the timing and correct lag movement takes some practice. Joan calls this gaiting - has anyone else used the term for this? It doesn't seem to be in common practice now but I found a gaiting definition in an internet search that corresponds with this. Most use the term for a gaited horse.

We moved to slow, medium and fast trot. After practicing that we practiced ramener - the beginning of collection. She's introduced it before, but because we can't work together regularly I didn't keep it up. Rogo started to get it during our lesson. Joan was quite pleased with him. A couple of times he tucked his hindquarters and rounded nicely onto the bit, even carrying it for a couple of steps when I released it. To do it you push with the seat, apply the legs and gently hold with the reins or vibrate the reins ever so slightly. Rogo responds best to a light vibration. Also, he responds nicely to moving forward at the trot after we do a slow trot.

At our next lesson we practiced halt and half halt. For halt I retard the hands - stop giving with them, as I push with my seat and legs into my hands. His hind quarters should come up beneath him, and halt, so he is ready to move off. Then I release and he should stand straight and square, without moving until asked.

For half halt I apply seat and legs first, into the hands which capture the energy created and hold it as long as needed - an instant or a few seconds. Some people start the half halt with the hands, the same as the halt, but Joan explains both ways and suggests the hands come last. It all happens almost simultaneously.

Then we worked on canter transitions After all this time I still don't feel like I give them crisply and clearly, but they seem to figure it out, God bless them. Two quick feels with the inside rein, two light taps with the outside heel behind the girth simultaneously with the hands, inside seat bone slightly forward and down and off they canter. We did this a few times, preceded by half halts, and did a few from the walk. He takes a trot step and then canters.

Riding on my own yesterday I decided to canter figure eights, and practice the canter transitions and the change of direction in the figure. Rogo kept right on cantering and did a counter canter circle after cantering a circle on the 'correct' lead. I was surprised so did it a couple of more times to be sure and yes, he was doing it nicely. What a good boy!

Joan's husband is very ill and in hospital now. I won't be able to have lessons for awhile. I'll be spending a lot of time with them and may not be blogging too much for a while. We'll see.

Knee-Deep In June

2011-06-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

I remember my mother telling me that this was a favourite saying of my grandfather's. Or was it his favourite time of year? Anyway, James Witcomb Riley wrote the poem Knee-Deep In June, and the expression is so perfect for this time of year when everything is freshly green and bursting with growth. I have the sense that it is rushing by, and that if I blink I'll miss it. Life is too short - I don't want to miss one June day, let alone a month. So today, when the sun was shining for what seemed like the first time in forever, I made a conscious decision to relish every June moment. It was great.

It started with a riding lesson with Joan at 9:30 am. There couldn't be any better start to the day. Joan gave Savanah and I lessons twice a week for well over a year before I started showing her, and we had a great show season. For one reason and another I haven't had more than the odd lesson with Joan since then, so to have a lesson with her is a highlight. We are trying to get back into regular work together, but her husband's health will dictate whether that is possible.

The weather was perfect - sunny, but just breezy enough to keep flies away. We worked on changing the tempo within walk and trot, and on my equitation. She was very happy with Rogo and for the first time ever she was happy with the way I timed my aids with his hind leg to move him forward - calf on when corresponding hind leg is on the ground; don't kick or use the heel, roll the calf on and off. She offered to give me another lesson tomorrow morning - heaven!

Joan went home, Doug went tractor shopping (more on that in a future post) and then I rode Savanah. We worked on shoulder in, leg yield, simple changes and free walk. She is so sharp and amazing. I hope Rogo reaches the point where he is as responsive as her.

Then I took the three dogs to the beach and since the tide was in, the Labs had to play fetch the stick from the water. Little Pepper just paddled along the shore. What next on a Knee-Deep In June day? Chicken Ceasar salad, garlic toast and read three days worth of newspapers on the deck off the kitchen, looking out on the bay. Hmmm, full belly, tired body - what better sunny June day activity than a nap outside? We (the dogs and I) moved to the upstairs deck off the office and we all piled onto a lounger and slept - breeze, birds singing, drifting off to sleep...

Just as we woke up, Doug arrived home with lobster - Yum! We had a drink on the deck and started cooking. A totally successful June day that I won't regret one second of. I'm always rushing but today I savoured every minute. It felt so great that I may have to do it again soon :) Sorry for the boring babbling, but I want to remember to do this when I can.

Another Great New Dressage Blog

2011-06-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

Check out Dressage Queen In Training - another great new dressage blog. So happy to see more of them.

Show Videos

2011-06-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of videos Doug took at the show in Windsor. Training Level test 2 is first, then Training Level test 3. This was the second day of Rogo's first show outing at Training Level. The comments in test 2 were to ride more forward and with more impulsion, so I tried that in the second test. I only brought the mark up .5, from 60.25 to 60. 75, although we went from 5th to 2nd place. We scored 61+ on both tests the first day, so our marks went down. This is something I'll have to watch for and figure out, as we dropped on the second day in our walk trots last year. I used to go up with every successive test on Savanah, so something is going on.

Training Level, Test 2, Windsor NS, June 5, 2011

Training Level Test 3, Windsor NS, June 5, 2011

Our next outing will be mid July when we go to a test riding clinic at Hobby Horse Farm in Annapolis Valley. Lynda Southam, an M judge from Ontario will be coming in to give the clinic. We prepare our horses and ourselves as we would for a show - braiding, show clothes, etc. and ride the tests of our choice. The judge marks it and then discusses the results with us, with tips on bringing up the score. Then we ride it again. We do this once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I'm doing both Sat, and Sun. I might try Level 1 test 1. It is no where near show ready, but I might try it in this kind of setting to get training advice for getting it show ready. He can do all the movements for that test, except lengthening stride in the trot, which we really haven't worked on. I'll see how it goes. I might drop that idea and do Training 2 and 3 or Training 1 and 3.
He can do most Level 1 movements fairly well, i.e. lengthen and shorten stride in canter, 15 m canter circles, counter canter to center line and back, so we should be solid in competition with it next year and maybe even start it this fall. If you watched the videos you will have seen that Rogo needs to be rounder and more connected, but it is getting very close. When we get this it will help everything else. We also need a steadier rhythm, precision on our circles and corners, and we didn't hit the transition points 100% of the time. Joan tells me the stretching circle is going to be our first training priority because it will help everything, and she wants him stretching well as we encourage him to work in a rounder frame.
His marks were all 6's and 7's, except he got 5's twice for impulsion - not good, especially since it's double points, and a 5 for something else I can't remember - a missed transition point? crappy circle? something like that. He is more than capable of 8's and he'll work with more impulsion now, so I just need to ride and train better. If we can just get more lessons I know we can move some of these marks up. I'd like to be consistently in mid 60's by the end of the show season. We've been without good lessons for a long time though. As a matter of fact I haven't worked consistently with Joan since I rode Savanah, so I may be expecting too much to try to get to high 60's this year, but we'll get there :).
On a completely different topic, our business partners for our equine business are our friends Megan and Greg. They are in their 20's and just got married on Sat.! It was a beautiful ceremony and Megan was stunning. I'll post a picture or two soon.

Riding Update

2011-06-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

The first few days after the show I just rode bareback on the lunge line at walk and trot, and ride Savanah some. The bareback is to help me get a better, more relaxed and quiet seat on Rogo. I do it on the lunge because he gets excited about it, and also because I want to just think about relaxation and balance. He's getting used to it now, but I think I'll stay on the lunge for awhile as it really helps to focus. I can see / feel an improvement already. I have to be careful not to make his back sore though - he isn't used to sitting trot or bareback, so I only do it for 5 or 10 minutes.

I'm riding Savanah more because Doug's arthritis is getting worse and right now he finds it too painful to ride. This is very sad because he is a good rider and Savanah is very fun to ride. He'd planned to show again this summer with her (they did very well last summer), but he won't be able to. We're going to see what we can do medically to try to improve things for him and get him back in the saddle.

Savanah is living proof that good basics are the building blocks for moving up the levels. She has only been trained in Training Level, with Level 1, test 1 two years ago. Since I've started riding her more I'm trying lots of level 1 and 2 movements, and she can pretty much do all of them, even though she hasn't schooled them. They would need practice and polish for a show, but it would come fast. She is just so supple and responsive to the aids that you can ask her for anything within reason and she'll do it. We did three loop canter serpentines with canter / walk / canter simple changes over the center line and she picked it up really fast - 2nd try and she had it. I'm going to talk to Joan about starting her schooling flying changes. She did the same with shoulder it - just ask for it, she confirms "you want this?" and then we can trot effortlessly in a shoulder -in with no previous practice. All the training level training has gotten her ready for more for sure.

Rogo was full of it today. I lunged and rode and focussed on getting just a little bit of forward and round in each gait. When I got it we quit, because it was raining out. Then I spent the morning, two hours, discussing Rogo's training with Joan, drinking coffee and eating banana bread that Doug had baked. It was a fun discussion. She has a better understanding now that I need her to work with us and to do basics in order to get any better with Rogo; I can't just do on my own with him what she did with Savanah and I. It will be questionable whether she can spend much time with us though as her husband Roy isn't well.

I just posted some pictures of our new land on our facebook page if you're interested.

I had a great weekend with the R.I.D.E.R.S. Board (our dressage club). We met in the Annapolis Valley, then toured Hobby Horse Farm, the location of our July test riding clinic, and then my co-chair Alison took me to see Sue and Jane Fraser's equestrian center. Sue is a level thee dressage coach and a judge - an amazing resource for dressage in Nova Scotia.

Interesting New Blog

2011-06-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a new blog about a First Time Dressage Trainer . She's training a New Forest Pony and it looks like it's going to be interesting.

Nel

2011-06-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we had our first para-equestrian rider at the show on the weekend, Nel Godin-Keating. She's a twelve year old girl and her celebral palsy hasn't stopped her from becoming an exceptional equestrian. CTV did a short story on on it, captured in this video, and I absolutely guarantee that watching it will inspire you and make you realize you just witnessed something special. The story has gone national, is spreading on facebook and is now posted on Barnmice. If you ever had the feeling (haven't we all?) that horses changed your life, just look at what they've done for this talented little girl.

Nel memorized her test and rode it flawlessly without a caller, despite this being her first show ever and despite all the other things she has to think about. Her horse was a little spooky when he came in (ridden by the trainer), because of the reflection in the plexi-glass on the sides, but when Nel got on he became as focussed and tuned in to his rider as any top dressage horse I've ever seen - not one false move.

Our club got involved when I was farwarded an email that accidently went to another club a couple of months ago. It was from Nel's mother, wondering if she could come to our show. We bagan to correspond and the rest as they say is history. The R.I.D.E.R.S. Board totally came on board with supporting para-equestrian dressage and now we hope to make it easier for others to get started. We'll be discussing soon and I'll keep you posted. Already we've heard of others who want to participate. Nel is a catalyst and she's inspired us all.

What A Week

2011-06-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

I had such a fabulous time at the horse show that I don't know where to start when writing about it. Here's a summary:

I'm on the Board of the dressage club that organized it, and it was an amazing experience to work with such positive people and all of the committed and skilled volunteers. We really had a great time together, although everyone was tired out :)
We had our first para-equestrian rider, I think a first for a Nova Scotia dressage show. Twelve year old Nel could teach a thing or two about committment and courage to anyone, and her test was amazing. I'm going to devote more of a post to her and her ride when I get the video uploadable.
Rogo exceeded my expectations and was so interesting in his approach and reactions. I reached a milestone in my trust of him (and maybe his of me?). We are galvanized to train and improve!

His Sun. rides were 60 point something and earned him a 5th and a 2nd. There was only about 2 points between last and first place in all his classes, so we're all (Training Level AA's) on track and ready for a great summer of bringing up those marks. Here's a sample score:

Doug has some videos of his tests, so I'll post one soon.
Here are a couple of pictures:

The main areas we need to focus on are:

more forward (he's forward when I ask, I just need to remember to ride more forward)
rounder circles (much more practice needed, especially with stretching circle)
rounder frame

And although I mde my first 7 ever in position and seat (I've always been 6), I'm setting my equitation as my # 1 goal. It took a back seat for too long.

He did really well on the trot loops to the center line in test 3, and his center line / halts. Some of his canter transitions were very good (that was a revelation), and he went very nicely forward in canter when asked (I'd been afraid of gallop or nothing).
I'm soooo behind on my blog reading. Catching up with coffee in hand will be a treat this week.

At The Show

2011-06-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

I'm at Rogo's first show of the summer. He went it two walk trots last summer, but they didn't feel like more than getting him out to experience the show grounds. They were in a different location than this one, which is inside. I was so nervous and anxious I didn't even blog about coming. I almost backed out a thousand times. We haven't been able to ride much in three months because of the particularly rainy spring and no indoor, and Joan hasn't been able to spend much time with us, so no teacher. Not a good combination for an inexperienced rider and green horse to go to a show.
The warm up last night started out almost disastrous. He could hardly be led around the ring, which is a hockey rink in the winter. He kept being scared by his reflection, the brightly painted pictures, people coming and going behind the plexiglass, etc. I rode him for an hour before we could canter without a gallop and as soon as I got a canter I quit for the night. We were both exhausted. I had helped with organizing the show too, so I was tired out by the last week.
The dressage arena and flower boxes weren't set up when we rode last night, so I thought for sure it would be bad this morning, and that there was a good chance of elimination. I thought seriously about scratching. Anyway....we went in and he was fine! A little up, but manageable. He scored a respectable 61.25 and third place in a class of six. I know that isn't a high score, but it isn't bad and in the circumstances I'm ecstatic.
The judge commented several times to ride more forward, so for our second test we went for it. It was odd, because after the galloping incidents I'd had at home, I suddenly, in this strange environment and stressful conditions, felt complete trust in him. I didn't feel any nervousness or hesitation in asking for and getting all he had, within manageable bounds.He went for it and it was fun, fun, fun. We only brought our score up by .5, to 61.75, because we lost a little in precision that we gained in forward, but what an exhilarating exercise in mutual trust.
Rogo was a doll and knew he'd made me proud. He snorted and blew as soon as we got back outside and seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. He's happy as a clam, visiting with everyone in the barn, laying down to sleep, and getting lots of treats and fussing over.
We rode Training Level tests 1 and 2 and will ride 2 and 3 tomorrow. It's an Equine Canada bronze show.
I'll post some pictures when I get home. I'm just so proud of my sweet boy I couldn't wait to write about it :)

Training Update

2011-06-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the great advice on the galloping everyone. It was very helpful. I've had one more episode of it (not as bad), but other than that the canter work has been fine.

Also, I understand some people couldn't comment. I've switched to a different comment format and it should work now. I love my comments, so please keep them coming!

We've been practicing our tests a little bit (I've ridden each of them a couple of times), and our focus is trot / halt / trot with fewer walk steps and immobility at halt, and trot / canter / trot transitions. The later need to be a little more crisp on the up and keeping engaged hindquarters on the downward.

I've been doing some ground work and trailer loading, and keeping fingers crossed it's going well. I went to a Paint, Appaloosa, Open show last weekend to trailer a friend and her clients (not to show) and I was very impressed with the behavior of the halter horses. I'm going to get her to show me how they train them.

I'm off to ride. More later.

A New Wrinkle

2011-05-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

The weather today is amazing - sunny and warm, with a refreshing breeze to keep flies down. Doug and I are taking Megan and some of her clients to the Apple Blossom Paint, Appaloosa and Open horse show later, so I squeezed in a ride. (As an aside, we're researching our horse business idea with Megan).
Rogo is going well. I really need to focus on and learn how to warm him up and read his warm up needs on a ride by ride basis. It makes all the difference in the world. As he gets warmed up you can feel him come more underneath himself, bend more nicely and evenly, become more forward, etc. I know, seems self evident, but he hasn't always been this way. This is a great stage of training for us because he's learning to carry himself.
Here's the wrinkle - a couple of times recently he's taken off at a gallop when picking up the left lead canter. Both times I brought him back without incident and continued on, thinking it was a fluke. He's never done this before when working at home in the ring. (He did it routinely at Cheryl's last spring, outside, when he was learning to canter - always coming around the corner to the left and onto a grassy slope. She told me to let him.)
Today when I rode he galloped off every time I transitioned from trot to left canter. It's a little disconcerting to say the least to be on a young, galloping 17+ hand horse, when you'd planned on a canter. I tried to calmly bring him back, and each time I did, but this isn't a good thing. If he's doing this at home what will he do at a show? In an effort to stick with the test I was riding I put him onto the 20m circle where required. Maybe not the smartest move - we went around that circle like barrel racers, leaned way over, sand flying. I'd manage each time to get him down to a reasonable facsimile of a forward working canter (well, maybe a slower hand gallop).
I think I'll take a different approach next time and bring him right back to a trot and insist on a correct canter before we go ahead. Wish I had a teacher right now...
I may be asking too strongly for his stage of training. Maybe he needs a lighter aid now or more warm up. Any thoughts are welcome.

Quick Recap

2011-05-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Doug lunged Rogo while I rode bareback yesterday. We worked up to longer trotting - several circles both ways, but it was pretty slow. I ride Savanah bareback everywhere, at all gaits, but Rogo isn't used to it and sometimes gets over-excited, so I'm taking it slow until he responds to aids bareback as well as he does with a saddle. I could feel my hips aching afterward, so it must be working, right? Boy, if I could get my hips to open and relax what a difference it would make. Now that it's getting closer, I can feel how it should be a little more with every ride.

Today I rode tests 1 and 2. I was quite happy with them. They aren't perfect, but for a horse and rider who've barely been able to ride for three months because of rain, and only 2 lessons from Joan in all that time (circumstances beyond her control), I'll take it.

He's straight again (Yeah!), nicely forward most of the time, all transitions in the correct places, good figures (except stretchy circle). What a good boy. Our stretchy circle is rough, but it's coming along. He stretches nicely but doesn't steer well enough to do the circle well. I use my legs as much as I can, but it's rising trot so I can't use my seat as effectively as I could if I was sitting, and it's on a long rein. Any suggestions? Look where I'm going, weight stirrups as needed...???

I was going to ride test 3 as well, but there's a trot to canter transition in a corner that still has a big muddy area as you come out of it. He did a funny leap over the mud, but I continued on and onto the 20m circle. It was rhythmic and forward, but it didn't feel quite right to me, so I looked down and I swear to God he was counter cantering the circle! Was I imagining this? Is he really able to do this now? I mentioned a while ago that I'd asked him to counter canter to the center line and back and he did it easily, after not being able to do it last fall. I haven't worked on it since, but his balance and coordination must be coming along. Anyway, I praised him (it was an honest mistake and he held his canter when asked), and then we did the canter part of the test and got it right. I decided not to ride it all until the ring is dryer, because the transitions were in all the muddy spots :(. Then we worked for a very few minutes on leg yield and called it a night.

One of the best things about this ride was the forward and jump in the canter. Even when he started off flat a couple of times I felt him re-balance himself onto his hindquarters and really pick it up - power surge. Oh I love that! I live for those moments :)

Trying To Keep Training

2011-05-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

It's finally stopped raining, but because Rogo lost a shoe I still can't ride him :( . Thinking walk would be okay (we have a good and still very moist sand footing in our ring) yesterday I got on and walked. Doug was our coach and eyes on the ground and I must say, I was very pleased with the session. I really think it would be beneficial to do a couple of days a month of walk only, even when he has all his shoes.
We did a lot of speeding up and slowing down the walk, on a 20 m circle. Boy does that exercise ever make them tune into you. Rogo tends to be a little strong minded at times, but when we do this he concentrates intensely. After a few minutes he is slooowing down, and then springing forward from his hind quarters when asked for a faster walk. With Doug's watchful eye I kept him engaged even when he was slow (he tended to invert his back and put his head up when we slowed down at the start of the exercise). Within a few minutes he was chewing the bit and reaching for it. Yeah!
Then we spiralled in and out on the circle both ways and I noticed he was more attentive to my lateral aids - he'd really focused on the lesson and I could keep my aids light.
We did a little shoulder in each way and a little leg yield both ways and he did fine. Maybe there should be a walk only dressage class, instead of starting with walk trot? It could include all of the above plus walk pirouettes. I'm kidding, but...
Today I rode a couple of my tests on Savanah, just for my own practice. My neighbor had lit a fire next door and it was snapping and crackling and Savanah was VERY excited about this. I don't blame her. If you're a horse fire isn't a good thing. I had started out bareback but went back and put her saddle on just to be on the safe side. After that things were fine and we rode Training Level 1 and 3. She can do it in her sleep, so I'm able to focus more on my equitation with her, which is a very good thing.
The farrier will be here tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain so I can have a ride.

Can You Guess What Caused This?

2011-05-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

I rode Rogo this morning, with a saddle since Doug wasn't here to lunge me bare back and Rogo is still too excited about it to go without a lunge line. We warmed up with 20 meter circles at the trot and canter both ways, and 1/4 line trot loops and things went great. I worked at keeping my left hand quiet and down, relaxing my hips, and keeping my legs still. Rogo is staying nicely forward for me.

After the warm up I started practicing the canter parts of Training Level test 3, but Rogo kept turning sideways almost into a half pass. What on earth? There wasn't any spookiness, but he was cantering at a 45 degree angle! I tried trot - same thing. It was just bizarre. Walk - same thing. Back to canter and sideways it was. Have you guessed the cause yet? I didn't until we halted, and I was on him. We halted and he turned almost 90 degrees. I pushed him forward, straightened him out and asked for halt again. Again he whipped his hind quarters around to face another direction. Then the light bulb came on - yes - a very windy rain squall had blown in while we were working and he was trying to put his hind quarters into the wind and rain! Ha ha, he's so funny. He has far higher expectations of my common sense than is warranted. Why would we be staying out in the rain? Why would we be riding into it? Clearly the thing to do is turn ass end into in and hunker down.

To his credit he didn't try to head for the barn or stop working at all, he just wanted to get into a proper wind and rain position :) I hadn't realized it, but I haven't ridden him in heavy wind/rain outside before. When it started raining I thought "this could happen at a show, so I'll stay out for a few minutes", but I still didn't put two and two together re the unaided and unasked for lateral work until we did a couple of halts. Poor baby didn't want rain driving into his eyes and I don't blame him. He was just following his instincts.

Doug came back by the end of the ride and although I didn't know it he was standing in the upstairs door laughing and taking pictures. Here's one of us walking in so you can see the slightly disgusted look on Rogo's face :)

You can also see I lost a shoe (it's in my hand). I was expecting this to happen with all the rain we've had - lots of deep mud in places. The call is in to the farrier.

Not Horsey, But Really Funny

2011-05-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this video of the talking dog? It's one of my all time favourites and was made right here in Nova Scotia. The guy who made it now has a job as a voice actor with National Geographic. Cool, eh?

Bare Back Lunging

2011-05-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to say, so I'll just start right in and describe it. Rogo was over the top about the bare back pad (I normally ride bare back without a pad but because I'm just starting on Rogo I thought I'd use one). He took off on me several times as I tried to lunge him (inside a fenced area) so Doug took over. I hate to admit it but Rogo can get away from me on the lunge and Doug can hold him (even though it means he gets dragged in the dirt). It's hard to understand why he would be so excited about a bare back pad but he was. Galloping round and round the arena. Snorting and electric. Passaging. You get the picture. The funny thing is that when he was introduced to the saddle he wa totally indifferent to it. I'm serious. There was NO reaction. Same thing with being mounted. He's never minded having a rider on his back except to resist going forward at first. So why does he react so excitedly to a bare back pad? Who knows.
Amyway, after he settled down I got on, while Doug lunged. I spent most of the time walking, but did a little trot (less than a 20 m circle). Rogo was fine by then and chewing the bit nicely and reaching for it. I was able to relax my hips and feel the difference between this and what I'm doing in the saddle (too tense). We're going to do a lot more in the next while.
Conclusion - I need lots more of this and Rogo needs more switching things up. I think bareback will really help my seat with him. I'm going to ignore the fact that I have a show coming up, and spend some quality time on bare back. We'll ride our tests when we get there and pray to the dressage goddess for mercy :)

Damn My Left Hand

2011-05-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Just got in from a ride on Rogo. He was beautifully forward (a benefit of too much rain and no riding?) - I love it when that happens! I've learned, finally, that I can only work hard a couple of times a week, and other days we can do lighter work or nothing. Maybe you've noticed I'm not complaining about lack of forward anymore? Of course there's still work to do on consistent forward, rhythm, and using the hind quarters, but it's going in a good direction.
That's the good part. The bad part is that with the missed time, my left hand has reverted to all it's old bad habits. I couldn't understand why his left circles were counter bent, like a year ago. Even when I just posted about Joan telling me not to raise my left hand when it's on the inside (I don't do it when it's on the outside), I did it again. ARGH! At least I knew how to fix it, but every time I got distracted up it went. I have an instant meter when it goes up because his head goes out.
He did something I don't remember him doing in our ring before - he took off at a gallop when I asked for a canter and tried to charge through my aids. And this was at the end of the ride when he should have been tired. It took a few seconds but I got him slowed without incident (I'm always afraid of a rear or buck when bringing them down quickly, but I want him to know this isn't okay) and then put him into a canter and continued our practice test ride. The rest of it was great. I don't know what that was about, but I hope he doesn't try it at the show - it looks so out of control and untrained.
We finished with a short hack on the beach and he was very looky and 'up' but not spooky.
Tomorrow Doug, God love him, is going to lunge me bareback and we're going to work on that left hand and relaxed hips (for quiet legs). Rogo is going to be very surprised by bare back - new things intrigue him and also get him excited.

Can You Help Us?

2011-05-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've posted about our plans to develop an equestrian facility. I'm excited because our on-line survey is ready to go! I promise I'm not going to go all commercial on my blog - this is my training journal - but I can't help talking about it from time to time. Although the facility is being built in Nova Scotia, I'm looking for facility user needs and preferences and I think they're probably quite similar regardless of geography. Can you help us by filling out the survey? I'm going to keep the survey link posted above for the next month and would love to get your feedback. Also, send me comments or email me if you have thoughts or advice that don't fit in the survey. As always, comments are candy :) Please feel free to forward the link to anyone you think might be interested.
I'm chronicling the facility development process on facebook and Twitter if you're interested in following along and putting in your .02 worth from time to time.
Back to training journal posts tomorrow. It rained again today (we're awash in mud) so no riding :(

Transitions Within Canter

2011-05-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Jan at A Thousand Pounds of Fragile Horse writes a great blog about she and her horse Buckshot. She asked me how we (Doug and I) regulate shortening/lengthening stride in canter, so I'm going to attempt to explain how we're taught by Joan to do it. I should have her check what I write first, because I know she'd find my writing too imprecise or inadvertently misleading, but I'll give it a shot. Jan is a western rider, so I don't think she'd have rein contact, which would be different than what we do. I'll describe our approach, and I think the western version would be using the seat and legs only? Maybe someone will tell us :)
The aid we use to regulate length of stride in the canter goes like this... As the horse starts to push forward for the stride (outside hind), you follow/push with your seat and lightly squeeze your legs. Then at the height of the stride's 'jump', coming into the concluson of the stride, you catch the energy very lightly with your little fingers, sort of a pinky finger pulse (we have our reins under our little finger, not third finger) or acknowledgement with the hands. Ha ha - Joan would faint if she caught me using terms like 'pinky finger pulse', but I think it works :)
After your horse comes to recognize how you've inserted yourself into her/his rhythm, you can give a crisper aid to shorten the stride and the horse will follow - shorten your seat's 'follow' and make the catch with your little finger crisp and quick. If he thinks you mean trot the first few times, immediately put him back into the canter so he understands - shortening the aid means shortening the stride.
The same goes for lengthening the stride - push further with your seat, slightly raise your hands and release the little finger more than catching with it. The horse will lengthen his/her stride. Be careful to use your seat and regulate your aids so you don't put your horse on the forehand.
This can all be done while keeping the same rhythm, the strides just get shorter or longer. If you want to speed them up or slow them down, give the aids more quickly or slowly and of course push more for faster :) I think most horses get the idea fairly quickly, but getting a polished consistent response takes a lot of practice. Rogo and Savanah will do it, but are still in the beginning stages. We haven't worked at it consistently. For western it seems to me you'd do most of this with your seat, but I don't know anything about western riding. It would be interesting to know.
I hope this made some sense. Its a very quick, high level summary. It works, but I don't know if I've explained it very well. Try to feel the timing more so than follow my description, because it's hard to describe the timing. Jan I think you might enjoy some dressage as well as western. And I'd like to know more about the reining you do!

Lesson With Joan

2011-05-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

Doug and I were very fortunate in having a lesson with Joan yesterday. She can't come very often :( due to family health issues, but we sure appreciate her when we can get her. If only I could work with her more often. She astounds me in her ability to diagnose the cause of issues and fix them. Yesterday, in one lesson, she fixed the problems I wrote about recently (slightly counter bent when going left, sluggish canter transitions and loss of 'jump' and energy in the canter). I assumed the issues were there for now and that I'd need to work diligently for weeks (at least) to fix them. Honestly, we have our own personal biomechanical diagnostic machine and solution finder when she comes :)
I feel like I should be able to diagnose these things myself, and fix them at this point. Although I'm very much an amateur, I think I should know these lower levels and basics fairly well by now. Somehow though, when I'm not having lessons, I drift. I try something I saw on a video. Something different works one day and then not again, although I keep trying it. I get a little worried that something isn't working and then try harder, and HARDER. A 'bad' muscle memory creeps back in and I don't even know it. And so on... Does anyone else do this or am I alone? Here in Canada, Newfoundlanders are known for their wittiness and colorful use of the English language, and I'm afraid I fall into the 'stunned as me arse' category!
Anyway, back to fixing the problems. Here's what Joan did (or had me do). In response to me telling her about the counter bending when going left, she got me to show her, then called me in and told me that the main problem was that I was raising my inside (left) hand. Additionally I was holding the outside rein a little too much (she doesn't have us use the outside rein to the extent that many/most people use it today; more on that in a future post). I rode it a few times with she and Doug watching and God help me didn't I keep raising that inside hand every time. I actually 'anchored' it (in my mind) by touching the saddle pad with it and thought I didn't move it, but she and Doug both confirmed I raised it even then! We worked on it a bit - inside hand staying low, look to the outside and weight the outside stirrup (to counter what has become a bit of a habit with him), outside rein keeping contact and supporting but not holding, seat pushing forward to keep impulsion. It helped a lot, but it was a fine balancing act and he wanted to turn out.
Then we worked on the canter transitions and carrying it. First she watched. The verdict? Yes, I was worried and trying to rush him and trying too hard. Yuk. So she got me to relax and quietly ask correctly. Duh. Instant success. How does my horse tolerate me? Why do I keep slipping into that bad habit?
Then she got Doug and I to work on transitioning within canter - working canter, lengthen, shorten, hand gallop, back again, etc. etc. They loved it! Problem solved. Lot's of jump and forwardness. Lot's of good transitions. Thank you Joan!
My other big challenge right now is keeping my heels down and legs quiet when trotting. The direction from Joan is bare back and lunging. I love bare back, but only do it on Savanah, or occasionally Dan. I tried it once with Rogo last summer, but he got very excited and didn't listen to aids and I haven't gotten around to working on it. Today I got Doug to lunge me on Rogo and we worked on quiet legs. I realized my hips are much too tense and I need to free them up to get my legs long, heels down and legs quiet in the trot. I'm going to keep getting Doug to lunge me regularly and next time will be bare back. This is our # 1 goal for equitation.
After lunging I did a bit of trotting to the left, following Joan's instruction, and Rogo stayed softly and easily flexed to the inside. I couldn't believe it! I've had this problem before (bad muscle memory!) and a previous teacher literally gave me the same lesson for six weeks, with not the slightest improvement, trying to fix it. She got angrier at me every lesson and didn't stop repeating the same lesson that didn't work until I called a halt to it. Anyway, enough of that. Don't get me started.
Doug and I are taking Joan's husband Roy for radiation treatments this week. I hope it gives him some relief from pain. He is a wonderful person and an icon in our community - volunteer, amazing story teller, heritage advocate, heritage home restorer, preserver of history, great cook, etc., etc.What ever I write about him seems inadequate, but I'll just say he's one of the most inspirational people I've ever met.
Thanks for the comments on my last post. Most of them disappeared, due to a Blogger malfunction. Just wanted you to know I didn't delete them.

Remember When I Said

2011-05-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

That it was probably going to rain for two weeks, because I'd just written a two week training calendar? Well, guess what? You've got it - it's been raining steady since. It's raining right now. Then again, maybe this is the riding goddess's way of preventing us chronic over preparers (?) from always arriving at the show with a tired horse.

Never to be deterred in my type A approach, I'm studying tests, visualizing my rides, and running (in the rain, on the beach with the dogs). What Rogo and I really need is show miles. Until we get them, our competition rides won't be what they should be and I'll continue to be somewhat nervous. I made a promise to myself after all the good advice I got to my last post though - I'm not going to lose sight that this is for fun.

For anyone reading who also gets nervous as we approach show season, and just to keep me in the right frame of mind, I'll reflect on Rogo's first show. He jumped out of the dressage ring in his first class and knocked one whole side of the ring down. How embarrassing is that? There was stunned silence for a few moments and I just froze and wanted to sink into the ground. Of course it all worked out fine, his other classes were good and now I have a funny (?) story to tell. Now, God help me, if I can just stay on I have no where to go but up. Hope I haven't jinxed myself...

Here is a link to arena figures that I find very helpful in learning where I should be when riding my tests. This site also has arena diagrams that you can print in multiples per page to use when memorizing.

Hope to have a ride / training update soon.

Please Send Me Your Classic Show Prep Mistakes In The Unlikely Event That I've Missed Any

2011-05-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

Arrrrgh! Hoooow many times do I have to tell myself, "don't over prepare", "don't focus on one exercise and neglect others", "don't over tire your horse", "don't introduce new tack before a show", ... and yet that's exactly what I've done. Probably not a surprise to anyone who's read my navel gazing goal list and ~~goofle~~ google calendar plan. Stop me before I ride again.

A month ago I felt quite confident that we were ready for Training Level. Rogo was going well although we'd missed a lot of time due to weather and flu. He'd gotten a little stiff to the left again, after being even for months (maybe I was stiff after lack of riding time, not him?) but everything was really quite nice and we were schooling most of Level One. Anyway, to get ready for the show, particularly Training Level test three which has a trot loop to the center line and back, I started doing the trot loop to the left every chance I got. In retrospect I see that I pretty much stopped going straight to the left, ever! Duh. Then guess what happened? Rogo thought all left long sides meant loops, so when I decided to ride test two and go straight he went down the long side counter bent. It didn't occur to me why until today, so geniusly I decided to put spurs on to get him to listen to my left leg better. Never mind that I've only worn spurs with him once for a few minutes months ago. As an aside I'll wear spurs in good time, and his gaits were brilliant, but they didn't fix the bending problem. No kidding, eh?

While trying to polish the bits and pieces of the test, I started riding more even though I'd made a promise to myself earlier to only do two hard days of training a week and have shorter / easier sessions or fun things the other days (free jumping, hacking), with lots of time off. So, with the extra work, his beautiful jumping canter disappeared to be replaced with a laboured hop that breaks when it shouldn't.

So far I've wrecked his straightness / evenness and his canter.

I did manage to salvage something today. I decided to get on and just walk circles and go large for a maximum of ten minutes. It was then that I realized what I'd done and why things had gone down hill. I insisted on straightness quite firmly and we got one long side trot to the left that was straight and I called it a day.

So, do I forget going to the show in approximately a month and go back to sane training and go to a show later in the summer, or see what I can salvage and go to the show now to get some miles on Rogo?

I don't have a teacher right now, and it shows.