Well, school's out, so hopefully that means I'll be able to blog about every lesson I have this summer.
For this lesson I rode Cartwheel. After we had all warmed up a little bit, we reviewed leg yielding, which is what we worked on last week. Basically, leg yielding is when your horse walks diagonally without turning their whole body. Their legs have to cross over one another for this to happen. To make your horse leg yield, you have to figure out at what point their inside hind leg will be up in the air. Then you can use your inside leg to push it over the other hind leg, thus causing them to move diagonally. It's kind of complicated, but once you do it a couple times it's pretty easy to get the hang of it. We did some exercises with that by having our horse turn the corners a little early, and then leg yielding to the outside. Cartwheel was pretty good at this, so it was fairly easy. Then we did the same thing at a trot.
At a trot, it's easier to figure out when their inside hind leg is in the air. Basically, if you're on the correct diagonal, it's when you're sitting up in the saddle. However, it's harder to actually use your inside leg to push them over. It's just kind of awkward to do. Again though, Cartwheel was pretty good at this.
After we had done more of these exercises, we moved to the big ring to work on cantering. Our instructor told us that using leg yielding is actually the correct way to pick up a canter, as opposed to what we all normally do. I learned that to pick up a canter you have to sit down and thump with your outside leg, which is correct. But this time, the instructor wanted us to leg yield before doing all of that. She said it helps your horse to pick up the canter because that way your horse is already bent the right direction and is on the correct footing. We took turns practicing this. We had to trot until we got to the corner, trot a circle, leg yield to the outside, and then ask for the canter. I went first, and it worked really well. I got a good canter from Cartwheel, but she stopped pretty quickly and then it was someone else's turn. The instructor said my canter was good, I just had to work on keeping my knees bent more and keeping Cartwheel going. On my next turn, I did the same thing, but this time I was able to canter most of the way around the ring. After that we changed directions. This time, it was harder for me to get Cartwheel to bend, but I still got her to canter.
Next we all got to work on jumping a little bit. The instructor set up a line of poles, which we all trotted over in our two-point. Then, she had everyone else walk while she set up some higher jumps for me. I did the line successfully the first time, so each time she raised the cross rail a little bit higher. On the last height, Cartwheel went over it but came out in a trot, which the instructor said was unusual because usually at that height horses canter out of the jump. Even if she didn't canter out of it, it was really fun to be able to jump a little bit again. I really hope next week I'm able to jump even higher ones. And I really think I'm getting better at cantering, which is really exciting, so I'm definitely looking forward to next week's lesson!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Dressage Show: April 21st, 2012
When it was almost time for my first test, I started to get super nervous. I got on Kilo and he seemed pretty fidgety. I'd also seen him in the ring before though on other riders and he looked very slow and tired, so I knew I'd have to work to get him to pick up the pace a little bit. When it was finally my turn (I was the fifth to go), the bell rang and I did my test. Right from the start my center lines weren't straight, which I knew and tried to fix later. I was mostly worried about getting him to move forward, which he actually didn't seem to have much of a problem with. I was happy with the roundness of my circles and Kilo's overall pace, so that was good. I did have some problems with the transitions though. I almost didn't make my mark for a trot to walk transition, and I went into a trot too early for another. Overall though, I was happy with my performance. After you finish your test pattern you walk up to the judges stand on your way out so they can give you some comments. The judge told me that I had a nice consistent pace throughout the test which was good, but that after my free walk I had not tightened my reins enough so they were too loose the rest of the time. I took note of that because obviously it would be helpful to remember for my next test. After that I walked out of the ring and another rider started her test. Once all the other riders went, it was time for the next class.
This time I was seventh in line to go, so I had to wait a while in the ring. I just sat on Kilo and let him drink water while I talked to my family. Then, finally, it was my turn again. This time I walked up on the outside of the ring so I would be closer to the entrance when I started, and Kilo would not stay still. Luckily, the bell rang pretty fast and I started my next test. Again, my center line was crooked. For some reason Kilo kept wiggling off to the side. Other than that and the fact that I cut some corners a little, I thought this test had gone a little better than the last one. Which actually makes sense, because now I was a little more used to Kilo and could control him better. My final trot down center line was really straight, and when I walked up to the judge again she complimented me on it which was nice. Again, she said that my overall pace was consistent but that my reins needed to be shorter even though they were better than in the previous test. Obviously I know how important that is now!
I exited the ring again and waited for the other riders to do their tests. Then it was time for the equitation class. They split up our division into two groups, so that each group had about five riders in it. Basically, the judge would tell a guy standing next to her what she wanted us all to do, and he would call it out. It was really difficult to be in the ring with four other people. Even in my lessons it's hard. I kept getting really close to the back of someone's horse so I would turn around to avoid that and end up right behind another person's horse. I definitely didn't take as much care to those turns as I should have. Anyway, some of the commands were simple things like "walk" and "posting trot" and "change direction", but then the judge through in "two point", which was a little harder, but then she threw out "sitting trot" which completely caught me off guard. I've never even practiced that in a lesson before. Basically I sat down and tried my best not to bounce up and down too hard. And let me tell you, it takes a lot of thigh muscles to stay in a relatively stable position in a sitting trot. I was very happy when that was over, needless to say.
After a couple more commands we were told to line up, and then it was the next group's turn to go. Someone else was riding Kilo so I just stood off to the side while the went. When they were done, those of us who hadn't just ridden were told to go line up with the others, even if we didn't have a horse, so I walked to the center and awkwardly stood between two horses. Then it was time for ribbons to be given out. I tied with another girl for fourth place in the first class, which I was okay with, although I'm not going to say I wasn't a little disappointed. For the second class, I got a second place which I was very happy with. Then for the equitation I got another fourth place, which I wasn't too surprised about. At least I got a variety of colors to go with my blue ribbons at home. :) Overall, even though I didn't place as high as I would have liked, I was really happy with my performance on Kilo. Considering the fact that I hadn't ridden him in a while and how little practice time I got, I think we did pretty well. :)
Overall it was a good day, and I'm thankful to all my family members that came out to support me. I hope they enjoyed coming and I'm definitely hoping to participate again next year, hopefully with a little more practice beforehand.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Lesson 5/1/12
Just so you all know, I do still plan on making a blog post about the dressage show, so don't worry! (I got two fourth places and a second place by the way). :)
So last night I rode a new horse named Cece. She's a bay quarter horse, and she was way bigger than I'm used to after riding Cartwheel. She was really nice to groom and tack up - she barely even moved and was really quiet the whole time. Recently I've been having my lessons with three other girls: Tevonna (not sure how you spell that), Kara, and Karly. Usually the barn owner's daughter also comes up and rides but isn't part of the actual lesson.
Up in the ring, Cece was again quiet and well behaved. The only time I had any problems was when the car came up and ran across the ring. That was actually fine for Cece, and she didn't freak out, but then the next time we turned a corner and she saw the cat, she spooked and jumped sideways. My foot fell out of the stirrup, but I was okay. It's so weird when horses spook. It's like one minute we're one place and the next we've somehow moved 5 feet to the side. Anyway, after that, Cece was pretty wary of the cat, but otherwise she was fine. It was so strange because the barn owner said she's never spooked at anything before.
Once everyone was on their horse, we all stopped in the center so the barn owner could show us different types of crops (someone had asked). After that we walked around for a little bit before heading over to the big ring. There were five sets of poles set up, so we practiced walking over those. To make sure our feet were in the right place under us, the barn owner had us stand up for a couple of seconds as we were going over a set of poles. This helps when jumping so you know where to have your feet to be balanced correctly.
Next we went over the poles at a trot. The barn owner warned me beforehand that Cece was very athletic, meaning she takes very large strides. And as soon as she started to trot, I could see that was true. Her first couple of strides completely threw me off. I felt like I was being flung out of the saddle with each step! After I slowed Cece down a little and got a hold of myself, I tried to get used to her trot. I still felt like I was being flung upwards, but I found that if I really used my thigh muscles to keep my legs in place, it was way easier to post. I just had to get used to her big strides. After a little while we were all told to trot over the poles. Once again, I really had to keep my legs in place to stay balanced, but other than that it really wasn't difficult. Then we had to do the same thing we did at the walk: stand up in the saddle when going over the poles. I feel like I've talked about switching diagonals, but just to refresh your memories you basically just have to sit or rise an extra beat when posting. That's pretty much what you had to do when standing going over the poles - you just have to stay balanced long enough to stay risen out of the saddle for about three beats. It takes some practice, but if you have your feet in the correct position it's pretty simple.
Next we got to canter. I'm not really sure why we didn't get to jump, but it might have been because Cece doesn't really know how to. The barn owner said I might be able to use her to jump a little, it would just have to be a learning process for both me and Cece. Anyway, we got in the catch-up line that we normally do, and when it was my turn the barn owner told me to ask for the canter from a walk. I did, and Cece actually went to a trot first, but then she cantered. My reins ended up being way to loose but once I tightened them I had a really good stretch of canter that I was very happy with. After my turn was over, the barn owner said that was the best she's seen anyone canter her, which made me really happy. Also, I told her what I was noticed when I was cantering. I'm used to a canter that is relatively smooth and ongoing, but Cece's canter almost seemed to have a pause at certain points. The barn owner said this was called a suspension, which is when all four of the horse's feet are off the ground at one time. She also said it was actually good for a horse to do, although I forget why.
On my next try going the other direction, the canter didn't go as well, but that was mostly because Cece wasn't as good cantering in that direction. After a couple of tries I did get her to pick up the correct lead, but almost at once my right foot slipped through the stirrup so my toe was down the whole time. I was really distracted by that so my reins became loose and I had to stop pretty soon. Despite that though, I was really happy with her canter and my lesson tonight. I hope I get to ride Cece again next week, because I think with more practice I would really enjoy riding her.
So last night I rode a new horse named Cece. She's a bay quarter horse, and she was way bigger than I'm used to after riding Cartwheel. She was really nice to groom and tack up - she barely even moved and was really quiet the whole time. Recently I've been having my lessons with three other girls: Tevonna (not sure how you spell that), Kara, and Karly. Usually the barn owner's daughter also comes up and rides but isn't part of the actual lesson.
Up in the ring, Cece was again quiet and well behaved. The only time I had any problems was when the car came up and ran across the ring. That was actually fine for Cece, and she didn't freak out, but then the next time we turned a corner and she saw the cat, she spooked and jumped sideways. My foot fell out of the stirrup, but I was okay. It's so weird when horses spook. It's like one minute we're one place and the next we've somehow moved 5 feet to the side. Anyway, after that, Cece was pretty wary of the cat, but otherwise she was fine. It was so strange because the barn owner said she's never spooked at anything before.
Once everyone was on their horse, we all stopped in the center so the barn owner could show us different types of crops (someone had asked). After that we walked around for a little bit before heading over to the big ring. There were five sets of poles set up, so we practiced walking over those. To make sure our feet were in the right place under us, the barn owner had us stand up for a couple of seconds as we were going over a set of poles. This helps when jumping so you know where to have your feet to be balanced correctly.
Next we went over the poles at a trot. The barn owner warned me beforehand that Cece was very athletic, meaning she takes very large strides. And as soon as she started to trot, I could see that was true. Her first couple of strides completely threw me off. I felt like I was being flung out of the saddle with each step! After I slowed Cece down a little and got a hold of myself, I tried to get used to her trot. I still felt like I was being flung upwards, but I found that if I really used my thigh muscles to keep my legs in place, it was way easier to post. I just had to get used to her big strides. After a little while we were all told to trot over the poles. Once again, I really had to keep my legs in place to stay balanced, but other than that it really wasn't difficult. Then we had to do the same thing we did at the walk: stand up in the saddle when going over the poles. I feel like I've talked about switching diagonals, but just to refresh your memories you basically just have to sit or rise an extra beat when posting. That's pretty much what you had to do when standing going over the poles - you just have to stay balanced long enough to stay risen out of the saddle for about three beats. It takes some practice, but if you have your feet in the correct position it's pretty simple.
Next we got to canter. I'm not really sure why we didn't get to jump, but it might have been because Cece doesn't really know how to. The barn owner said I might be able to use her to jump a little, it would just have to be a learning process for both me and Cece. Anyway, we got in the catch-up line that we normally do, and when it was my turn the barn owner told me to ask for the canter from a walk. I did, and Cece actually went to a trot first, but then she cantered. My reins ended up being way to loose but once I tightened them I had a really good stretch of canter that I was very happy with. After my turn was over, the barn owner said that was the best she's seen anyone canter her, which made me really happy. Also, I told her what I was noticed when I was cantering. I'm used to a canter that is relatively smooth and ongoing, but Cece's canter almost seemed to have a pause at certain points. The barn owner said this was called a suspension, which is when all four of the horse's feet are off the ground at one time. She also said it was actually good for a horse to do, although I forget why.
On my next try going the other direction, the canter didn't go as well, but that was mostly because Cece wasn't as good cantering in that direction. After a couple of tries I did get her to pick up the correct lead, but almost at once my right foot slipped through the stirrup so my toe was down the whole time. I was really distracted by that so my reins became loose and I had to stop pretty soon. Despite that though, I was really happy with her canter and my lesson tonight. I hope I get to ride Cece again next week, because I think with more practice I would really enjoy riding her.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Dressage Show Info and Preparation
Again, sorry for skipping the last couple of weeks. I honestly can't keep up with these posts, so I apologize for any future skips.
So the dressage show is this Saturday! I know, I haven't said anything about it this year... That's because a lot of things have changed this year. For one, I have a different instructor. I've also been having lessons with a lot of other people, as opposed to the private lessons I had last year. So this year I am way less prepared. I'm going to be riding Kilo for two of my classes, and a new horse named Cartwheel for one of them. I have literally ran through my tests three times each. Not a lot, I know. It's kind of stressing me out a little how unprepared I am... But like I said, things are a lot different this year. I haven't had the time to practice that much, and I don't get the same attention from my instructor any more. In the lesson I just came back from half an hour ago, there were five other people riding. So obviously, the instructor can't give all of us her attention, and she can't really let people run through their individual classes because then no one else would be able to practice.
The whole situation's a little chaotic in my opinion, and unfortunately I'm just going to have to do the best that I can on Saturday and hope for the best. I'm not trying to sound pessimistic, but because I'm pretty unprepared and haven't practiced that much, I don't expect to do as well as I did last year. Last year I had months of practice and a solid horse that I had been riding for a long time. This year, I've only been riding Kilo for a couple months, and I'm not completely comfortable with him yet. On top of that, I have to ride that new horse Cartwheel (who I've only ridden twice!) in my equitation class because Kilo's being ridden by somebody else. An equitation class is when all the people who rode their individual tests ride in the same ring while the judge calls out commands, such as "walk" or "trot". Anyway, like I said, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much this year. At this point, I'd like to try and concentrate on just learning from this experience (as crazy as it's been) and having fun, rather than worrying about what ribbons I'm going to get. So I'm trying to turn this not-so-convenient situation into one I can learn from. I mean, it's no one's fault that it's turned out this way, it's just that so many people are participating this year and there's only so much the barn owner can do.
With all of that said, I really am grateful to the barn owner. She's helped me get two practice rides in this week (Sunday and Monday - I'm exhausted at this point!), and she's just been really understanding with me and I know she's trying her best to get everyone's situation worked out as best as she can.
Now I just kind of want to give you all some information about what I'll actually be doing at the show. I've signed up for one walk/trot division (it has three classes in it), and it starts at 2:15. I won't be cantering this year since I haven't really cantered on Kilo that much. But the first two tests are basically a pattern with some 20-meter circles and standard things like that. I actually haven't memorized them yet... I'm working on it though (not that it even matters since I'll have a reader to read the steps out loud). The third class, like I said, is the equitation class. That I'm a little nervous for, since I've never done one before and it'll be on the horse I've only ridden twice. Again, I'm trying to stay positive... Sorry if I seem a little down. I'm really tired from my lesson tonight, riding the past two days, and from school too. I might do a post later this week on the actual test patterns, but if not I'll definitely write about how the show goes (fingers crossed!). Wish me luck!
So the dressage show is this Saturday! I know, I haven't said anything about it this year... That's because a lot of things have changed this year. For one, I have a different instructor. I've also been having lessons with a lot of other people, as opposed to the private lessons I had last year. So this year I am way less prepared. I'm going to be riding Kilo for two of my classes, and a new horse named Cartwheel for one of them. I have literally ran through my tests three times each. Not a lot, I know. It's kind of stressing me out a little how unprepared I am... But like I said, things are a lot different this year. I haven't had the time to practice that much, and I don't get the same attention from my instructor any more. In the lesson I just came back from half an hour ago, there were five other people riding. So obviously, the instructor can't give all of us her attention, and she can't really let people run through their individual classes because then no one else would be able to practice.
The whole situation's a little chaotic in my opinion, and unfortunately I'm just going to have to do the best that I can on Saturday and hope for the best. I'm not trying to sound pessimistic, but because I'm pretty unprepared and haven't practiced that much, I don't expect to do as well as I did last year. Last year I had months of practice and a solid horse that I had been riding for a long time. This year, I've only been riding Kilo for a couple months, and I'm not completely comfortable with him yet. On top of that, I have to ride that new horse Cartwheel (who I've only ridden twice!) in my equitation class because Kilo's being ridden by somebody else. An equitation class is when all the people who rode their individual tests ride in the same ring while the judge calls out commands, such as "walk" or "trot". Anyway, like I said, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much this year. At this point, I'd like to try and concentrate on just learning from this experience (as crazy as it's been) and having fun, rather than worrying about what ribbons I'm going to get. So I'm trying to turn this not-so-convenient situation into one I can learn from. I mean, it's no one's fault that it's turned out this way, it's just that so many people are participating this year and there's only so much the barn owner can do.
With all of that said, I really am grateful to the barn owner. She's helped me get two practice rides in this week (Sunday and Monday - I'm exhausted at this point!), and she's just been really understanding with me and I know she's trying her best to get everyone's situation worked out as best as she can.
Now I just kind of want to give you all some information about what I'll actually be doing at the show. I've signed up for one walk/trot division (it has three classes in it), and it starts at 2:15. I won't be cantering this year since I haven't really cantered on Kilo that much. But the first two tests are basically a pattern with some 20-meter circles and standard things like that. I actually haven't memorized them yet... I'm working on it though (not that it even matters since I'll have a reader to read the steps out loud). The third class, like I said, is the equitation class. That I'm a little nervous for, since I've never done one before and it'll be on the horse I've only ridden twice. Again, I'm trying to stay positive... Sorry if I seem a little down. I'm really tired from my lesson tonight, riding the past two days, and from school too. I might do a post later this week on the actual test patterns, but if not I'll definitely write about how the show goes (fingers crossed!). Wish me luck!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Lesson 4/3/12
I know, I know. I had no excuse for not posting last week or the week before. I was just too lazy to do it. Basically, on my lesson two weeks ago, I rode Fresca instead of Kilo, and last week I had to cancel because of a school group project I needed to work on.
A couple weeks ago the barn instructor talked to me about possibly switching my lesson day because she thought that I was getting a little lost in the Monday lesson. I agreed with her - there were so many people that I didn't feel like I was improving much at all. She told me that there was going to be a new lesson on Tuesdays at 6 with some girls more my age, which sounded a lot better. I asked my parents, who said yes, and so that's when my lessons are going to be for the month of April, at least.
When I got to the barn, there was only me and another girl's name on the "who's riding who" list, so that alone made me look forward to this a lesson a little bit more. When the girl arrived (whose name I forget...), I could see she was a couple years younger than me. I'd guess maybe 11 or so. Anyway, she got Fresca while I got Kilo ready. Kilo was actually very easy to work with today. He only tried to bite at me a couple times, but other than that he seemed relatively happy. When me and the other girl (who from now on is going to referred to as K because I feel like that was the first letter of her name) were both done tacking up, we headed up to the ring.
When we got up to the ring there were about four young girls from the previous lesson already up there. It looked pretty chaotic to me, and later the barn owner told me it was and how one girl didn't get to ride much because she had a new horse that turned out to be lame or something like that. I also learned that the barn owner would be teaching our lesson. For some reason this always makes me really nervous - I feel like I'm going embarrass myself or something. Of course, I always realize there's absolutely nothing to be nervous about. She is really nice and I actually like when she teaches.
Anyway, the younger girls left as soon as we started walking around our horses. When K and I were on our horses, we stayed in the little ring and worked on getting Fresca and Kilo to keep up a good-paced walk. To my surprise, Kilo didn't have trouble doing this at all. It took some nudging but once Kilo was in that fast walk he kept it up for the most part. K seemed to have some trouble getting Fresca to go, but I've ridden Fresca before so I know how she can be with that. After a while of this we picked up a posting trot and went around the ring a couple times. Then we were told to walk for one half of the ring, and trot the other half. On the half where we had to trot there were three poles on the ground that we had to go over. It's always a little bit scary going over poles, even if they're on the ground, because the horse either slows down or speeds up, and in Kilo's case, he speeds up. So I have to make sure to slow myself down going over the poles or I'll be bouncing all over the place.
After that we moved into the big ring (now the dressage ring). At this point the barn owner's daughter came up with her horse, Dixie, and warmed up around the outside of the dressage ring. K and I worked at the trot and the barn owner told us that she noticed that both of us kind of use our feet when posting more than we should. This means that as we rise up out of the saddle we kind of push our feet forward, which isn't a very sturdy or correct position to be in. To help fix this, the barn owner told us to practice switching our diagonals on the upbeat at letters A, B, C, and E (see the dressage ring diagram from the previous post for reference). I feel like I've explained the upbeat before, but I'll do it again just so you all aren't confused. When posting, you kind of sit up and down, (although it's more of a forward and backward motion) and when you're up out of the saddle, that's the upbeat. So switching diagonals on the upbeat means you just stay up out of the saddle for two beats instead of one. If that makes any sense at all. After I do this a couple times I can get the hang of it. Switching on the upbeat pretty much forces you to have your feet sturdily in place and use only your legs to push yourself out of the saddle.
Next we got to work on cantering. We did the catch-up thing where we take turns going until we catch up to the next person in line (in this case, K, as there was only one other person in "line"). I went first. My first canter with Kilo was... okay. I got him into it easily, but then my position was off so he stopped cantering pretty soon. The barn owner told me that I needed to keep my legs in place or something along those line. When I tried again it worked a lot better. I honestly can't say I know exactly what I did differently, but whatever I did, it worked. Kilo kept up the canter. He not only cantered, but he raced around the ring to a point where I was a little scared he was going to run someone over. Even though he went really fast, it was still fun.
After K went a couple of times (she trotted mostly and only cantered about once), we moved to the outside of the dressage ring. The barn owner and I talked a little about the dressage show, and when she asked me what kind of classes I wanted to do, I told her I though it would be best if I only did walk/trot classes with Kilo since we hadn't cantered that much. She agreed with me that that would probably be the best idea. After that she read through one of the walk/trot test from the show (Test B, I think) and I did the actual test, just to practice. I was a little awkward and unsure doing it, but it didn't turn out too bad, I don't think. I definitely need to practice more before the show on April 21st (mark your calendars!). Overall though, I was really satisfied with this lesson and I'll update you all when I have more information about the show and the classes I'll be doing.
A couple weeks ago the barn instructor talked to me about possibly switching my lesson day because she thought that I was getting a little lost in the Monday lesson. I agreed with her - there were so many people that I didn't feel like I was improving much at all. She told me that there was going to be a new lesson on Tuesdays at 6 with some girls more my age, which sounded a lot better. I asked my parents, who said yes, and so that's when my lessons are going to be for the month of April, at least.
When I got to the barn, there was only me and another girl's name on the "who's riding who" list, so that alone made me look forward to this a lesson a little bit more. When the girl arrived (whose name I forget...), I could see she was a couple years younger than me. I'd guess maybe 11 or so. Anyway, she got Fresca while I got Kilo ready. Kilo was actually very easy to work with today. He only tried to bite at me a couple times, but other than that he seemed relatively happy. When me and the other girl (who from now on is going to referred to as K because I feel like that was the first letter of her name) were both done tacking up, we headed up to the ring.
When we got up to the ring there were about four young girls from the previous lesson already up there. It looked pretty chaotic to me, and later the barn owner told me it was and how one girl didn't get to ride much because she had a new horse that turned out to be lame or something like that. I also learned that the barn owner would be teaching our lesson. For some reason this always makes me really nervous - I feel like I'm going embarrass myself or something. Of course, I always realize there's absolutely nothing to be nervous about. She is really nice and I actually like when she teaches.
Anyway, the younger girls left as soon as we started walking around our horses. When K and I were on our horses, we stayed in the little ring and worked on getting Fresca and Kilo to keep up a good-paced walk. To my surprise, Kilo didn't have trouble doing this at all. It took some nudging but once Kilo was in that fast walk he kept it up for the most part. K seemed to have some trouble getting Fresca to go, but I've ridden Fresca before so I know how she can be with that. After a while of this we picked up a posting trot and went around the ring a couple times. Then we were told to walk for one half of the ring, and trot the other half. On the half where we had to trot there were three poles on the ground that we had to go over. It's always a little bit scary going over poles, even if they're on the ground, because the horse either slows down or speeds up, and in Kilo's case, he speeds up. So I have to make sure to slow myself down going over the poles or I'll be bouncing all over the place.
After that we moved into the big ring (now the dressage ring). At this point the barn owner's daughter came up with her horse, Dixie, and warmed up around the outside of the dressage ring. K and I worked at the trot and the barn owner told us that she noticed that both of us kind of use our feet when posting more than we should. This means that as we rise up out of the saddle we kind of push our feet forward, which isn't a very sturdy or correct position to be in. To help fix this, the barn owner told us to practice switching our diagonals on the upbeat at letters A, B, C, and E (see the dressage ring diagram from the previous post for reference). I feel like I've explained the upbeat before, but I'll do it again just so you all aren't confused. When posting, you kind of sit up and down, (although it's more of a forward and backward motion) and when you're up out of the saddle, that's the upbeat. So switching diagonals on the upbeat means you just stay up out of the saddle for two beats instead of one. If that makes any sense at all. After I do this a couple times I can get the hang of it. Switching on the upbeat pretty much forces you to have your feet sturdily in place and use only your legs to push yourself out of the saddle.
Next we got to work on cantering. We did the catch-up thing where we take turns going until we catch up to the next person in line (in this case, K, as there was only one other person in "line"). I went first. My first canter with Kilo was... okay. I got him into it easily, but then my position was off so he stopped cantering pretty soon. The barn owner told me that I needed to keep my legs in place or something along those line. When I tried again it worked a lot better. I honestly can't say I know exactly what I did differently, but whatever I did, it worked. Kilo kept up the canter. He not only cantered, but he raced around the ring to a point where I was a little scared he was going to run someone over. Even though he went really fast, it was still fun.
After K went a couple of times (she trotted mostly and only cantered about once), we moved to the outside of the dressage ring. The barn owner and I talked a little about the dressage show, and when she asked me what kind of classes I wanted to do, I told her I though it would be best if I only did walk/trot classes with Kilo since we hadn't cantered that much. She agreed with me that that would probably be the best idea. After that she read through one of the walk/trot test from the show (Test B, I think) and I did the actual test, just to practice. I was a little awkward and unsure doing it, but it didn't turn out too bad, I don't think. I definitely need to practice more before the show on April 21st (mark your calendars!). Overall though, I was really satisfied with this lesson and I'll update you all when I have more information about the show and the classes I'll be doing.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Lesson 3/5/12
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| 20 meter circles |
Tonight we practiced our 20 meter circles again. This time we learned there are actually three places that you can make one of these circles: one in the middle, and two on each end of the dressage ring (see picture - I added the circles!). The circles start at A, B, and C, which you can kind of see in the picture. We all practiced doing these circles at a trot, each of us starting at a different letter and completing the circuit - that is, doing a circle at A, trotting around the ring, doing a circle at B, and so on. It got a little tricky when we weren't evenly spaced out, so we had to slow down or speed up to avoid crashing into each other.
In order to do the 20 meter circle correctly, you're supposed to be practically touching the side of the ring whenever you're near it. I have a hard time with this because I don't really try hard enough to get my horse closer to the side, so most of the time I end up cutting off the corner and making the circle smaller. I know I can get Kilo closer to the side, but I don't know, I usually just don't try hard enough. So next week one of my goals is to perfect my circles and actually make them the correct size.
After doing this circuit thing three whole times through - trust me, it was exhausting - we all got to canter. We again did the thing where we all get in a line and take turns cantering until we catch up to the next person. Before I went, my instructor told me to try asking for the canter on what is called the upbeat. When you're doing a posting trot, and sitting up and down, usually I ask for the canter when I sit down. For me it just seems easier because you can start sitting with the canter as soon as your horse switches gaits. But this time, she told me to ask when I was up in the saddle, turning from my center to get the correct bend, and to then start sitting to the canter. This confused me because I didn't see how that could possibly work, but I tried it anyway - and it didn't work. I actually got Kilo to canter, but I didn't sit soon enough once he started so he just went right back down to a trot. The next time, I asked for the canter in the upbeat and sat as soon as I felt Kilo change gaits. It actually made a lot of sense once I did it. The transition was actually a lot smoother as it didn't involve the bouncy sitting trot that I usually do beforehand. After I got the canter I continued down the long side before I stopped. My instructor said that it looked really good, and I was very happy with it too. Luckily, that's where the lesson ended. I'm hoping next week's lesson will be even better and Kilo will be almost back to normal!
Before I end this post, I just wanted to mention something sad I heard the two other riders talking about. The guy who rides with us used to have a horse named Sky, until very recently when he had to be put down. From what I heard, he had something wrong with his digestive system and couldn't eat properly. I was very sad to hear this, because I remember seeing Sky at the barn every Sunday when I work for as long as I've worked there. The day before my lesson, when I found out about this, Sky actually wasn't in the paddock with Moo (the guy' s brother's horse) when I came to feed them. I thought it was weird, and just assumed he was somewhere else for the time being. Moo also had seemed kind of upset - he was kind of walking all over and seemed to want my attention more than usual. As soon as I heard the guy say that, it all made sense. It's a very sad thing, but I thought you all should know. My thoughts are with Sky's owner. Rest in peace, Sky.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Lesson 2/27/12
Sorry for missing last week's post. I just never really got around to it.
Anyway, my lesson on Monday was really good, and really bad at the same time. As I've said before, Kilo has been very grumpy down in the barn, and lately he's gotten worse. Apparently he had Lyme disease, not rain rot, which has made him really sensitive. This week, Kilo was trying to bite me before I even got him out of his stall. I hooked him up to the cross ties, and even at this point I was really cautious and nervous that I was going to get bitten. I guess I kind of worked myself up a lot into getting so nervous that I couldn't really do anything near Kilo. Horses sense that kind of thing, so Kilo probably knew I was scared and used that as an opportunity to try and intimidate me more. After waiting for someone to come down and help me, the barn owner came down. She tacked him up herself, which really makes me feel useless. I feel like it's my fault that I was too scared to do it myself, which it partially was, but I just hate the feeling of being incapable of doing something as simple as that.
The owner told me that horses in the wild will come forward to another horse that is threatening them in order to try and make them take a step back. She said that when Kilo tries to bite me, he wants me to get intimidated and step back, which of course I do because I'm so nervous. I really need to just toughen up and not allow him to do that and let him know it won't work. Next time I will do that!
After that whole ordeal that I'm trying not to dwell on too much, I headed up to the ring with a somewhat happier Kilo. For some reason that I don't understand, he seems to get over his grumpiness as soon as we're out of the barn. He still tries to bite me occasionally but not as much. Up in the ring (I was about ten minutes behind everyone else because of the waiting) I got on Kilo as soon as I could and joined the warm up.
Before I continue I just wanted to let you all know that the dressage show is on April 21st. I'm still planning on participating, I just want to get to a place where I am comfortable with my horse first, which right now I'm not really feeling that way yet. Where I was headed with that announcement is that the dressage ring is now set up in the big ring (which is now back in the place it used to be, on the far side of the riding ring), so the area that we ride in is a bit smaller.
Because the dressage ring was set up and most of us said we were planning on being in the show, our instructor had us practice walking down the center line from letter A to C. It was hard because if you didn't have your horse going fast enough, he wouldn't stay straight. We did this for a while and then we practiced some 20-meter circles. If you don't know what those are, you can look back at my posts from last year on the dressage show and get updated on all this stuff. After that we trotted. Since there were so many of us in a relatively small area, we mostly took turns trotting until we caught up to the horse in front of us.
Tonight I got to canter for the first time in months which I was so excited about! Also, I've never cantered on Kilo so that was exciting too. We again took turns going, so each of us could have plenty of room to canter a couple steps before catching up to the next person. The first couple of times I went, I didn't canter because my reins were too long. Also, I had to get Kilo into a really energetic trot before he would go. The third time or so I went, Kilo started to canter. His canter felt kind of lumbering almost, but unfortunately I don't really remember exactly how it felt. The next time I went, I got to canter down the long side and it felt really awesome. My instructor and the barn owner, who was watching, both said that it was a very nice stretch of canter. The owner said the Kilo actually looked like a normal horse too for once (he has large shoulders and usually looks kind of clumsy). After that, I was pretty satisfied with my lesson. Obviously not with the previous issues in the barn, but for the moment I could forget all of that and just enjoy the night.
Anyway, my lesson on Monday was really good, and really bad at the same time. As I've said before, Kilo has been very grumpy down in the barn, and lately he's gotten worse. Apparently he had Lyme disease, not rain rot, which has made him really sensitive. This week, Kilo was trying to bite me before I even got him out of his stall. I hooked him up to the cross ties, and even at this point I was really cautious and nervous that I was going to get bitten. I guess I kind of worked myself up a lot into getting so nervous that I couldn't really do anything near Kilo. Horses sense that kind of thing, so Kilo probably knew I was scared and used that as an opportunity to try and intimidate me more. After waiting for someone to come down and help me, the barn owner came down. She tacked him up herself, which really makes me feel useless. I feel like it's my fault that I was too scared to do it myself, which it partially was, but I just hate the feeling of being incapable of doing something as simple as that.
The owner told me that horses in the wild will come forward to another horse that is threatening them in order to try and make them take a step back. She said that when Kilo tries to bite me, he wants me to get intimidated and step back, which of course I do because I'm so nervous. I really need to just toughen up and not allow him to do that and let him know it won't work. Next time I will do that!
After that whole ordeal that I'm trying not to dwell on too much, I headed up to the ring with a somewhat happier Kilo. For some reason that I don't understand, he seems to get over his grumpiness as soon as we're out of the barn. He still tries to bite me occasionally but not as much. Up in the ring (I was about ten minutes behind everyone else because of the waiting) I got on Kilo as soon as I could and joined the warm up.
Before I continue I just wanted to let you all know that the dressage show is on April 21st. I'm still planning on participating, I just want to get to a place where I am comfortable with my horse first, which right now I'm not really feeling that way yet. Where I was headed with that announcement is that the dressage ring is now set up in the big ring (which is now back in the place it used to be, on the far side of the riding ring), so the area that we ride in is a bit smaller.
Because the dressage ring was set up and most of us said we were planning on being in the show, our instructor had us practice walking down the center line from letter A to C. It was hard because if you didn't have your horse going fast enough, he wouldn't stay straight. We did this for a while and then we practiced some 20-meter circles. If you don't know what those are, you can look back at my posts from last year on the dressage show and get updated on all this stuff. After that we trotted. Since there were so many of us in a relatively small area, we mostly took turns trotting until we caught up to the horse in front of us.
Tonight I got to canter for the first time in months which I was so excited about! Also, I've never cantered on Kilo so that was exciting too. We again took turns going, so each of us could have plenty of room to canter a couple steps before catching up to the next person. The first couple of times I went, I didn't canter because my reins were too long. Also, I had to get Kilo into a really energetic trot before he would go. The third time or so I went, Kilo started to canter. His canter felt kind of lumbering almost, but unfortunately I don't really remember exactly how it felt. The next time I went, I got to canter down the long side and it felt really awesome. My instructor and the barn owner, who was watching, both said that it was a very nice stretch of canter. The owner said the Kilo actually looked like a normal horse too for once (he has large shoulders and usually looks kind of clumsy). After that, I was pretty satisfied with my lesson. Obviously not with the previous issues in the barn, but for the moment I could forget all of that and just enjoy the night.
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