Okay, not really but I feel like whining a little.
Had some super lovely rides with Arwen this week. Trainer was back at the barn (show season is winding down) so it was nice to have her back as my eyes (or yelling in my ears, more like it) on the ground. Anyway, tried a new bit/bridle set up that actually worked really really well. Arwen seemed to be a little confused by it, and got a little head high during our warm up/flat work, but by the jumping she was just trucking along like a little hunter. Didn't do anything super complicated, just focused on soft elbows and LEG ON. Next lesson, rode her in her usual running gag set up, and she was great again. Quiet and relaxed, we didn't have any "slow the eff down!" moments. Did have some "Katie forgot her leg" moments though, and Arwen totally tattled on me by stopping in front of a fence. Doesn't count as a refusal though, as again, it was more of a petering out to the base kind of deal. Kicked her over it from a standstill though, and she was good to go for the rest of the lesson. Also, amazingly did some pretty decent downward transitions after a fence, and had her respond relatively quickly (for her). Took a lot of leg, and my timing was a little off (too much hand, not enough leg, then too much leg, not enough hand) but by the third time, she was good.
So, going into my hack day on Sunday I was feeling pretty darn happy with my ponyface. I guess you could say I was feeling a little cocky about how quiet she has been. So I decided to put the curb rein back on my bridle, and basically ride her in a snaffle. Wrong. Flatted great, as usual. I could probably flat her in a halter now, if I wanted to so thats a win. Trotted over some poles one way. Nice and relaxed through them. Did a bunch of canter poles the same way. Lovely, although we did get one wonky lead change. I just took her over it again and half halted with more leg, and she did the change. But then, things somehow fell apart. I think mistake number one was: after cantering the pole, I asked her to trot over the trot poles going the other way. A NORMAL horse should listen. But...Arwen is special. I think she feels there is definitely a progression of how our rides should go, and that is walk, trot, canter, exercises at the canter, jumping, then done. When I mix up the gaits, she tends to get a little tense/frustrated/fast. Or maybe its me, getting tense/frustrated, or a combination of both. Either way...when she started power trotting through the poles I should have known it would only go downhill from there. Half halted her hard before them a couple times, got her going through them relatively well, but nothing like the soft relaxed feel we had the other way. Then, mistake number two. We started doing the canter pole her stiff way, which is too the left. She tends to get a little bracey and lean going this direction, and if she's rushing around, it gets even worse. Did it pretty good once, I wanted to do it one more time to make sure it wasn't a fluke (mistake number three). She started racing around, leaning on my hand, and just being a general pill. I was putting a TON of leg on and trying to stay out of her face, but I think it wasn't working, mainly because she was getting tired and fed up, and so was I (and thus probably not as relaxed with my arms and body as I should have been). So I just made her canter a few times around the arena until she was relaxed and light again, then I brought her down to a walk and made her walk over that stupid canter pole. We ended on that note.
So I was a little peeved at myself after that ride. First, for letting it get to that point and second because I know I was reverting back to my old habits, which just feeds the rushing cycle. Granted, it takes a long time to build muscle memory doing something new but still. I just wish I could be more consistent sometimes!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Burpees are the devil
Did my first CrossFit workout last night in about a week. Whenever I take that much of a break (although this one was forced, not my choice) I also complain about how hard it is to come back. And last night was a doozie.
WOD was as follow:
5 rounds
7 deadlifts (rx for women at 155, I did 125)
7 burpees (hisssssssssssssssssssss)
15 DB push press (rx for women 25lb DBs, which I did)
15 Butterfly situps (soles of feet together, so your knees are pointing horizontally)
Looks easy on paper, right? Wrong. Its sad when the DL's and the situps become your rest and you're actually looking forward to getting to them. I have a horribly weak upper body, so burpees and push presses are basically my arch nemesis. This was also the longest workout I've done, where I used the 25 lb dumbells the WHOLE TIME. So...woot for me on that. But, it took me 17:31 to finish it. Most people were on the board between 10-14 minutes. I was also left with some lovely bruises on my shoulders and wrists from getting knocked by those dumbells.
Ouch. Can't wait to go back on Friday. And I seriously mean that.
WOD was as follow:
5 rounds
7 deadlifts (rx for women at 155, I did 125)
7 burpees (hisssssssssssssssssssss)
15 DB push press (rx for women 25lb DBs, which I did)
15 Butterfly situps (soles of feet together, so your knees are pointing horizontally)
Looks easy on paper, right? Wrong. Its sad when the DL's and the situps become your rest and you're actually looking forward to getting to them. I have a horribly weak upper body, so burpees and push presses are basically my arch nemesis. This was also the longest workout I've done, where I used the 25 lb dumbells the WHOLE TIME. So...woot for me on that. But, it took me 17:31 to finish it. Most people were on the board between 10-14 minutes. I was also left with some lovely bruises on my shoulders and wrists from getting knocked by those dumbells.
Ouch. Can't wait to go back on Friday. And I seriously mean that.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Back in business
Had my first ride last night on Ponyface since the disasterous ride on Friday. No jumping, we just did some flat work, ground poles, and then the bounce that was set up (did it at cavaletti height though-just enough to get her to lift up her feet, but not really jumping).
She was great. Great, great, great. Seriously, her being like this makes me so complacent. I forgot how HARD she can be for me to ride at times and instead think I can cruise around on a loose rein. Bad.
Anyway, we just did a little warm up of leg yields, figure eights, lots of bending, lots of trotting, then some cantering and lead changes. One new development that has popped up in the last couple rides-resistance to picking up the left lead. My trainer and I have been discussing her needing her hocks done (has also started missing some lead changes, which is a new thing too) but I need to get some money together before doing that because those puppies ain't cheap. Hopefully in a couple weeks though because I don't like princess ponyface feeling uncomfortable!
After the flat work, I got off to set up some ground poles. Only two that I could ride as either a single, or a bending line (gotta torture myself with those to get better at them, right?) Popped over the singles a couple times first, really focusing on getting her back and balanced on the other side of the poles. Also, keeping my darn leg on on the approach. On the first couple ones you could tell she was like "oh, pole?", like the darn thing came out of nowhere. If they had been actual fences, I think she might have attempted a repeat of our last lesson. But, I kept that leg tight on her sides to let her know she was taking that damn pole, no questions. We then attempted the bending line both ways. One time through was pretty disasterous, she completely ran through my hand and launched at the second pole, got all unbalanced, and then ran around on the wrong lead. Tried it again, this time I sat back and really tried to collect/balance her between the poles and what do you know-perfect! After the pole work we went through the little bounce a couple times both ways. SO MUCH FUN. I really love gymnastics of any type. First, having gymnastics set up tends to slow Arwen down naturally. Second, she is so athletic and powerful its like a big spring going through them and I love that feeling!
Since she was such a good girl, to cool down she got a short little trail ride and then her favorite thing ever-grass! I know, bad habit to let her graze with her bridle on. But how can you resist such a cute pony face after she gave me such a wonderful hack?
She was great. Great, great, great. Seriously, her being like this makes me so complacent. I forgot how HARD she can be for me to ride at times and instead think I can cruise around on a loose rein. Bad.
Anyway, we just did a little warm up of leg yields, figure eights, lots of bending, lots of trotting, then some cantering and lead changes. One new development that has popped up in the last couple rides-resistance to picking up the left lead. My trainer and I have been discussing her needing her hocks done (has also started missing some lead changes, which is a new thing too) but I need to get some money together before doing that because those puppies ain't cheap. Hopefully in a couple weeks though because I don't like princess ponyface feeling uncomfortable!
After the flat work, I got off to set up some ground poles. Only two that I could ride as either a single, or a bending line (gotta torture myself with those to get better at them, right?) Popped over the singles a couple times first, really focusing on getting her back and balanced on the other side of the poles. Also, keeping my darn leg on on the approach. On the first couple ones you could tell she was like "oh, pole?", like the darn thing came out of nowhere. If they had been actual fences, I think she might have attempted a repeat of our last lesson. But, I kept that leg tight on her sides to let her know she was taking that damn pole, no questions. We then attempted the bending line both ways. One time through was pretty disasterous, she completely ran through my hand and launched at the second pole, got all unbalanced, and then ran around on the wrong lead. Tried it again, this time I sat back and really tried to collect/balance her between the poles and what do you know-perfect! After the pole work we went through the little bounce a couple times both ways. SO MUCH FUN. I really love gymnastics of any type. First, having gymnastics set up tends to slow Arwen down naturally. Second, she is so athletic and powerful its like a big spring going through them and I love that feeling!
Since she was such a good girl, to cool down she got a short little trail ride and then her favorite thing ever-grass! I know, bad habit to let her graze with her bridle on. But how can you resist such a cute pony face after she gave me such a wonderful hack?
Monday, August 22, 2011
Well. That was interesting.
So after two weeks of blissful lessons with a perfect pony, of course I had to toss a bad one in there. I was literally ready to chuck the reins, get in my car, and drive away. And its funny, because although this lesson was definitely the most frustrating lesson I've had in a LONG time, it was also the quietest Arwen has been probably, oh, ever.
We started out really well, warming up over a single fence that got progressively higher, probably topping out at 2'9"-2'11". Arwen jumped it very nicely, and cantered quietly away. But, then we started our coursework. In the past couple weeks, we haven't done many bending lines. Its been focusing more on riding a line with control and rideability, with some rollbacks thrown in. But...this course had a bending line. For those that don't know, these are my arch nemesis. I think its because I have to focus on so many things at once and because I'm such a cerebral rider, I get in my own way instead of riding. Anyway, we start out at this bending line and Arwen starts to get a little quick. So I correct her and take a feel approaching the second fence and BAM-she slams on the brakes. Okay, I guess I took a little too much feel. Try again. Get over second fence. Come round to next fence, I take a little feel, BAM. Stops again.
Now, we have been having a little bit of a stopping issue these past fews months. It started when Arwen was in pain, which led to me going ass over kettle about 8 times in a month, which needless to say damaged my confidence a bit. So I think the stopping now, while not related to pain, is definitely related to my confidence. When I don't see a spot, I pull her up a bit, using just enough hand over leg to get her to slam on the brakes. My girl, like most horses, wants the reverse. Leg, leg, and leg, to help support her. I've been doing lots of ground poles to reinforce that in myself BUT with her being so stupendous these past couple weeks, I had been letting up on that during my hack rides. If anyone can take a guess what I'll be working on next hack ride...
So the lesson basically ended with Arwen stopping at almost every single fence. While I am proud to say I stayed on (thank you Crossfit, and new saddle, and no more crawling up the neck at the jump) this was not my proudest moment. No one wants their horse stopping at fences-its a really, really, bad habit and the feeling of worry about your horse not going over the large (or in my case, not so large) obstacle in front of you is not a feeling I like. I think this happened partly because I had gotten a little complacent (i.e. she had been going so well, I figured I'd push the autopilot button. Oh wait, where is that darn autopilot button?) she was pretty quiet (a couple of her stops weren't really stops, they were more slow down and halts. Canter had no pace or impulsion) and I'm just not 100% sure how to ride her when she's being so quiet. Because even on her best days in the past couple weeks, she still had a little fire in her! The usual approach to the jump goes like this: nice canter pace, spots the jump, starts to speed up a little, thats when I have to put my leg on and collect her a bit with my hand. But that day, she would see the jump and slow down. It threw me for a loop. And remember when I said I'm still lacking that ever elusive sense of feel at all times? Well...there you go. A more experienced, natural rider (and perhaps more confident one) would know right away "oh, horse is behind my leg, time to get her ass in gear" and DO IT. I on the other hand, realize what is happening too late.
So...lesson learned in a very frustrating way. But, you can pretty much bet that next lesson/.ride I am going to be legging her over those jumps like its nobody's business!
We started out really well, warming up over a single fence that got progressively higher, probably topping out at 2'9"-2'11". Arwen jumped it very nicely, and cantered quietly away. But, then we started our coursework. In the past couple weeks, we haven't done many bending lines. Its been focusing more on riding a line with control and rideability, with some rollbacks thrown in. But...this course had a bending line. For those that don't know, these are my arch nemesis. I think its because I have to focus on so many things at once and because I'm such a cerebral rider, I get in my own way instead of riding. Anyway, we start out at this bending line and Arwen starts to get a little quick. So I correct her and take a feel approaching the second fence and BAM-she slams on the brakes. Okay, I guess I took a little too much feel. Try again. Get over second fence. Come round to next fence, I take a little feel, BAM. Stops again.
Now, we have been having a little bit of a stopping issue these past fews months. It started when Arwen was in pain, which led to me going ass over kettle about 8 times in a month, which needless to say damaged my confidence a bit. So I think the stopping now, while not related to pain, is definitely related to my confidence. When I don't see a spot, I pull her up a bit, using just enough hand over leg to get her to slam on the brakes. My girl, like most horses, wants the reverse. Leg, leg, and leg, to help support her. I've been doing lots of ground poles to reinforce that in myself BUT with her being so stupendous these past couple weeks, I had been letting up on that during my hack rides. If anyone can take a guess what I'll be working on next hack ride...
So the lesson basically ended with Arwen stopping at almost every single fence. While I am proud to say I stayed on (thank you Crossfit, and new saddle, and no more crawling up the neck at the jump) this was not my proudest moment. No one wants their horse stopping at fences-its a really, really, bad habit and the feeling of worry about your horse not going over the large (or in my case, not so large) obstacle in front of you is not a feeling I like. I think this happened partly because I had gotten a little complacent (i.e. she had been going so well, I figured I'd push the autopilot button. Oh wait, where is that darn autopilot button?) she was pretty quiet (a couple of her stops weren't really stops, they were more slow down and halts. Canter had no pace or impulsion) and I'm just not 100% sure how to ride her when she's being so quiet. Because even on her best days in the past couple weeks, she still had a little fire in her! The usual approach to the jump goes like this: nice canter pace, spots the jump, starts to speed up a little, thats when I have to put my leg on and collect her a bit with my hand. But that day, she would see the jump and slow down. It threw me for a loop. And remember when I said I'm still lacking that ever elusive sense of feel at all times? Well...there you go. A more experienced, natural rider (and perhaps more confident one) would know right away "oh, horse is behind my leg, time to get her ass in gear" and DO IT. I on the other hand, realize what is happening too late.
So...lesson learned in a very frustrating way. But, you can pretty much bet that next lesson/.ride I am going to be legging her over those jumps like its nobody's business!
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