Last nights was a repeat from the first week of October.
20 calorie row
30 burpees
40 DB ground to OH (rx'd 25 for women)
50 toes to bar
100ft lunges (OH, with a 25 lb plate)
Last time we had to do the lunges with a 45 lb plate, but could hold it to our chests. I did it in 17 minutes last time, this time in 16:18. So while there was slight improvement, I'm still kind of disappointed. I managed the 25 DB's, but they were freaking heavy. I also did KTE, not toes to bar. So...basically almost the exact same workout and I was only 40 seconds faster. UGH.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
WOD Catchup
I really need to get better about documenting these because its fun to have something to look back on in case we do repeat WODs. Case in point, today's WOD was one I knew we had done before, but I couldn't remember my time. Just so happens I did it back at the beginning of October, which I documented on here. Kind of excited and nervous to see how I do tonight, and how it compares.
Anyway, last week for the first week since September/October that I went three times. Ugh, that makes me feel guilty and gross just thinking about the fact that I haven't been consistent since then. Three months is a long time, and I know I could have had a lot of progress within that time. But...I'm going to try to not dwell on the past and just keep looking forward to reaching some of my fitness goals.
Here's a quick recap of last week:
Didn't manage to hit up any of the strength days, but I'm actually okay with that. I am hitting them up so sporadically, I don't think they benefit me as much as they could if I were able to attend more.
Monday 1/23/12
1000M row
10 DB Thrusters (35/25) (Scale Up-55/35) - I didn't scale up. I ain't crazy.
50 Double Unders
8 Thrusters
40 Double Unders
6 Thrusters
30 Double Unders
4 Thrusters
20 Double Unders
2 Thrusters
10 Double Unders
It was wet and rainy, hence the 1000M row at the beginning (was originally split between a row and run) I believe this one took me around 18 minutes, and godamnit, I did EVERY SINGLE double under and came in DFL. But, thats right bitches. I did every. Single. One. I even did those last 10 doing single-double under-single without stopping. So...technically almost 10 DU's in a row. That happens to be a 2012 goal for me (along with doing unassisted PU's in a WOD) so I think I'm on track.
Wednesday 1/25/12
15 min AMRAP
10 DB Snatch (per side) (35/25)
20 Squats
400m Run
Did four rounds, RX'd
Friday 1/27/12
5 rounds:
10 DB power cleans (rx'd 35 for women, I did 25)
12 toes to bar
200M run
Completed in 16 minutes.
Anyway, last week for the first week since September/October that I went three times. Ugh, that makes me feel guilty and gross just thinking about the fact that I haven't been consistent since then. Three months is a long time, and I know I could have had a lot of progress within that time. But...I'm going to try to not dwell on the past and just keep looking forward to reaching some of my fitness goals.
Here's a quick recap of last week:
Didn't manage to hit up any of the strength days, but I'm actually okay with that. I am hitting them up so sporadically, I don't think they benefit me as much as they could if I were able to attend more.
Monday 1/23/12
1000M row
10 DB Thrusters (35/25) (Scale Up-55/35) - I didn't scale up. I ain't crazy.
50 Double Unders
8 Thrusters
40 Double Unders
6 Thrusters
30 Double Unders
4 Thrusters
20 Double Unders
2 Thrusters
10 Double Unders
It was wet and rainy, hence the 1000M row at the beginning (was originally split between a row and run) I believe this one took me around 18 minutes, and godamnit, I did EVERY SINGLE double under and came in DFL. But, thats right bitches. I did every. Single. One. I even did those last 10 doing single-double under-single without stopping. So...technically almost 10 DU's in a row. That happens to be a 2012 goal for me (along with doing unassisted PU's in a WOD) so I think I'm on track.
Wednesday 1/25/12
15 min AMRAP
10 DB Snatch (per side) (35/25)
20 Squats
400m Run
Did four rounds, RX'd
Friday 1/27/12
5 rounds:
10 DB power cleans (rx'd 35 for women, I did 25)
12 toes to bar
200M run
Completed in 16 minutes.
The streak is broken
I fell off Arwen this weekend. Or, as I like to put it, did an involuntary dismount as I *did* land on my feet, thank you very much. Just call me Kitty Katie, as the last two times I've come off my feet somehow miraculously found the ground before my ass.
Anyway...lesson had been going really well up until that point. We were doing a lot of bending lines with a pretty complicated pole exercise, and Arwen was being fantastic. Trainer had us do a single vertical towards the barn, and then we were supposed to turn left with a fairly tight turn to a line. Well, the last time we went over the single vertical, we had turned right. So Arwen, in her wisdom, assumed we were going right after receiving pretty much no direction from me. I think my thought process went something along these lines:
"ok...approaching the jump. YESSSSS!!! Made it over the jump. What the hell am I supposed to do now...oh yea, turn left. No, Arwen, turn left now! Oh shit! SHIT! THUMP"
As you can see, it was totally my fault. I gave her absolutely no direction until about three strides away from the jump, when she was already in the process of turning right. What I *should* have done, was been looking slightly left before and over the fence, closing my hand on that left rein with my right outside leg slightly back. She is very responsive to this type of cue because hey, when I did it the next time, it was a pretty flawless left turn. But, since the first time through I pretty much did the complete opposite of what was correct, Arwen went right, I went left, then she tried to correct which threw me to the right, which caused her to jump right AGAIN, all the while steadily approaching the arena fence (hence the oh shit). Thankfully she pulled up at which point I went tumbling over her left side and somehow stayed on my feet (I think I vaguely remember grabbing around her neck, which does help swing you around a bit, lol). After a good laugh with my trainer about it (because my falls are pretty entertaining) I got back on and did it again.
By the way, I'm pretty sure Arwen's thought process went something like this:
"ok...tiny speed bump. Boring. Okay mom, did it! I'm so awesome. Now where are we going...HELLO? ANYONE UP THERE? Well...if you're not making a decision I am making the executive decision to go right. Wait...now you want left? Okay, not left, but right? Holy crap woman, make up your mind! I am going to stop and I sure hope you stop fidgeting around up there because I can only do so much to save your ass!"
She's such a good girl.
Anyway...lesson had been going really well up until that point. We were doing a lot of bending lines with a pretty complicated pole exercise, and Arwen was being fantastic. Trainer had us do a single vertical towards the barn, and then we were supposed to turn left with a fairly tight turn to a line. Well, the last time we went over the single vertical, we had turned right. So Arwen, in her wisdom, assumed we were going right after receiving pretty much no direction from me. I think my thought process went something along these lines:
"ok...approaching the jump. YESSSSS!!! Made it over the jump. What the hell am I supposed to do now...oh yea, turn left. No, Arwen, turn left now! Oh shit! SHIT! THUMP"
As you can see, it was totally my fault. I gave her absolutely no direction until about three strides away from the jump, when she was already in the process of turning right. What I *should* have done, was been looking slightly left before and over the fence, closing my hand on that left rein with my right outside leg slightly back. She is very responsive to this type of cue because hey, when I did it the next time, it was a pretty flawless left turn. But, since the first time through I pretty much did the complete opposite of what was correct, Arwen went right, I went left, then she tried to correct which threw me to the right, which caused her to jump right AGAIN, all the while steadily approaching the arena fence (hence the oh shit). Thankfully she pulled up at which point I went tumbling over her left side and somehow stayed on my feet (I think I vaguely remember grabbing around her neck, which does help swing you around a bit, lol). After a good laugh with my trainer about it (because my falls are pretty entertaining) I got back on and did it again.
By the way, I'm pretty sure Arwen's thought process went something like this:
"ok...tiny speed bump. Boring. Okay mom, did it! I'm so awesome. Now where are we going...HELLO? ANYONE UP THERE? Well...if you're not making a decision I am making the executive decision to go right. Wait...now you want left? Okay, not left, but right? Holy crap woman, make up your mind! I am going to stop and I sure hope you stop fidgeting around up there because I can only do so much to save your ass!"
She's such a good girl.
Friday, January 27, 2012
What are your priorities
So I have a friend who is torn about her barn. The good things about the place are she's close to her house, and the care of the horses (feeding, shoeing, turnout) is pretty good. The facility is also nice, it has multiple outdoor arenas and one large indoor arena. Also hosts a large amount of shows during the season, so my friend would not even have to leave the property to show. The downsides are the trainers. She has a green horse who needs a lot of work and the trainers just aren't willing to put in the time or effort to help her improve and train her horse. They also are not transparent in any way about their training. She has been lied to multiple times about what is going on, never knows who is riding her horse, and the trainers are NOT open to other disciplines or alternative methods (like natural horsemanship, alternative therapies, etc). So she is pretty torn about whether to stay or go. There aren't a lot of options in her area, and moving would mean switching disciplines most likely.
For myself, first and foremost, I put Arwen's care ahead of all else. There are things about her care I can compromise with, and things I can't. Like food and water-if she wasn't getting that on a regular basis, I would be gone. But if the facility is maybe a little run down but serviceable and I liked everything else about it? Okay...thats probably something I could live with.
Second is training. I do have certain goals but if my current trainer wasn't meeting them in any way, was lying to me about pretty much everything and wasn't willing to try different things, I would be looking for a new one. If there wasn't one available in my discipline I liked, well, I would probably try a different one, even though it didn't mesh with my goals. I don't feel like I'm in any kind of time crunch. I bought my horse to enjoy her, not to push myself to achieve something. That isn't how I personally measure my success with her because lets me honest-I'm never going to be some super star rider. I know plenty of people who say they wouldn't ride if they couldn't show. I think thats ridiculous. Would I get bored if all I could do is trail ride? Possibly, but I would also get a lot of joy out of just being with my horse. I know some of my favorite days with Arwen have been when we aren't doing anything except hanging out together.
At what point do you draw the line? Make compromises? Leave the barn for a new one that might not be as nice a facility, but has everything else that meets your criteria?
For myself, first and foremost, I put Arwen's care ahead of all else. There are things about her care I can compromise with, and things I can't. Like food and water-if she wasn't getting that on a regular basis, I would be gone. But if the facility is maybe a little run down but serviceable and I liked everything else about it? Okay...thats probably something I could live with.
Second is training. I do have certain goals but if my current trainer wasn't meeting them in any way, was lying to me about pretty much everything and wasn't willing to try different things, I would be looking for a new one. If there wasn't one available in my discipline I liked, well, I would probably try a different one, even though it didn't mesh with my goals. I don't feel like I'm in any kind of time crunch. I bought my horse to enjoy her, not to push myself to achieve something. That isn't how I personally measure my success with her because lets me honest-I'm never going to be some super star rider. I know plenty of people who say they wouldn't ride if they couldn't show. I think thats ridiculous. Would I get bored if all I could do is trail ride? Possibly, but I would also get a lot of joy out of just being with my horse. I know some of my favorite days with Arwen have been when we aren't doing anything except hanging out together.
At what point do you draw the line? Make compromises? Leave the barn for a new one that might not be as nice a facility, but has everything else that meets your criteria?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Listen to your horse
I'm feeling like a horrible horse mom.
Had a lesson with Arwen last night that was going very well. We did a lot of sitting trot and for the first time EVER, I was able to sit the dang thing successfully at a regular working trot. Started jumping, and she was being super, responsive and willing. Even when I buried her to the base at one fence, and then took a slightly long spot and getting left behind (sorry horse, the perils of being a beginner ammy horse)
We started off doing relatively simple lines, but because we're currently stuck in the indoor arena turns are tight and well, there is just not a lot of room to do much creative stuff. So the last course of the night we incorporated a rollback turn. These have been plaguing me a bit lately, because I can't seem to find the right balance between my inside leg, outside rein and then outside leg, outside rein to keep her driving through a relatively rounded, tight turn. We ended up having a minor refusal when I didn't get her straight to the fence soon enough (totally my bad and I saw it coming a few strides out. Oops. Again, beginner ammy here!). Next time through was much better, but here is the part that makes me smack myself. Upon landing after the fence, Arwen flipped her head a couple times. She hasn't been doing that lately, and in the past its been a sign I'm getting too handsy. So I softened, added leg, and carried on.
Turns out though that the bit I was using cut the corner of her mouth *cry*. My trainer told me not to worry, that it probably just got pinched between the controller and the bit (which is a twisted mouth ) and that I wasn't being too handsy. Still...makes me feel like crap. She has been SO good lately, and SO soft and responsive in her mouth it scares me that stuff like this is going to make her hard mouthed. I know that as long as I try to have a soft, forgiving hand it shouldn't make a difference but lets be honest-that is not something achieveable by me at my level on a super consistent basis. I wouldn't call me heavy handed but at times I do lose my balance and accidentally bop her in the mouth. So after this I'm not going to ride in that bit for awhile. I think I'm going to switch her out to the 3-ring (because she does need a little leverage when jumping) and see how that goes.
Either way, I wish I had listened to my horse better last night. I know its all part of learning, but I can think of a few times in the past year and a half where she has sent me clear signals and I ignored them. I sure hope one day I can be the rider/owner Arwen deserves.
Had a lesson with Arwen last night that was going very well. We did a lot of sitting trot and for the first time EVER, I was able to sit the dang thing successfully at a regular working trot. Started jumping, and she was being super, responsive and willing. Even when I buried her to the base at one fence, and then took a slightly long spot and getting left behind (sorry horse, the perils of being a beginner ammy horse)
We started off doing relatively simple lines, but because we're currently stuck in the indoor arena turns are tight and well, there is just not a lot of room to do much creative stuff. So the last course of the night we incorporated a rollback turn. These have been plaguing me a bit lately, because I can't seem to find the right balance between my inside leg, outside rein and then outside leg, outside rein to keep her driving through a relatively rounded, tight turn. We ended up having a minor refusal when I didn't get her straight to the fence soon enough (totally my bad and I saw it coming a few strides out. Oops. Again, beginner ammy here!). Next time through was much better, but here is the part that makes me smack myself. Upon landing after the fence, Arwen flipped her head a couple times. She hasn't been doing that lately, and in the past its been a sign I'm getting too handsy. So I softened, added leg, and carried on.
Turns out though that the bit I was using cut the corner of her mouth *cry*. My trainer told me not to worry, that it probably just got pinched between the controller and the bit (which is a twisted mouth ) and that I wasn't being too handsy. Still...makes me feel like crap. She has been SO good lately, and SO soft and responsive in her mouth it scares me that stuff like this is going to make her hard mouthed. I know that as long as I try to have a soft, forgiving hand it shouldn't make a difference but lets be honest-that is not something achieveable by me at my level on a super consistent basis. I wouldn't call me heavy handed but at times I do lose my balance and accidentally bop her in the mouth. So after this I'm not going to ride in that bit for awhile. I think I'm going to switch her out to the 3-ring (because she does need a little leverage when jumping) and see how that goes.
Either way, I wish I had listened to my horse better last night. I know its all part of learning, but I can think of a few times in the past year and a half where she has sent me clear signals and I ignored them. I sure hope one day I can be the rider/owner Arwen deserves.
Monday, January 23, 2012
January Goals...
So now that we're almost through January I thought I would catchup on how my goals are doing. I had a few that I was hoping to accomplish by now, and I would say I've done about 50% of them.
1) get back to jumping solid 3' courses. Was doing this pretty succesfully, but we backed down due to the refusing issues.
Hmmmm....well, I'm not jumping full 3' courses yet but we have done some 3' and higher jumps. So I would say this one is about 50% achieved by January. I'm sure we'll get there this year, but I don't mind taking it slow. When M bumped the fence height last weekend, I think my eyeballs about popped out of my head. I do think I'm ready to start progressing to higher/more complicated fences but going from 2' to 3' is a little intimidating. Just gotta keep plugging away. So I change this to July 2012, I would like to see us doing 3' consistently.
2) get to three shows. I am DYING to show but due to money issues, haven't been able to get my *ish* together. Those money issues being buying my um...Antares saddle. That was basically where all my showing money went this year. Oh well...Ponyface needed it, I swear!
Obviously this hasn't happened yet because show season is over. So can't call this one a fail yet, lol.
3) really drill down my flatwork, maybe even take a couple dressage lessons. Last night we did a ton a flatwork and Arwen was GREAT when we started jumping, even though she generally depises flatwork. What I want to be able to successfully AND correctly: haunches in, shoulder in, leg yield down center line, and really work her consistently in a nice, round and engaged frame. When my trainer gets on and shows me what she can REALLY do (because all the buttons are installed, I just have to learn how to push them correctly) it is beautiful and impressive.
I would call this one 50% achieved as well. I try and do flat work EVERY ride and I'm still struggling a bit with pushing the right buttons. But, I've been doing some reading on cues and I actually got some really nice lateral work this past weekend, especially with shoulder in. I'm getting better at keeping her round and engaged, but its still a challenge with feel and being consistent.
4) try and get through the next two months with no refusals. I know that this will also link back/improve if I get more serious about demanding more from her on the flat.
I call this one achieved! I think since I last wrote out these goals I've had maybe 4 refusals, all for stupid reasons. The last two happened last week, actually, when we were riding in the outside arena in the semi dark. But...I've stayed on *knocks furiously on wood* through all of them. In fact, I can't even remember when the last time was I fell off (at least date wise, I DO remember the actual fall, lol). It was definitely before Arwen went lame, so maybe September? And it was totally stupid, and I managed to land on my feet. Sooooo...does that really count as a "fall"?
5) keep working on my equitation. I know, this is very general but its always a work in progress so I gotta throw it in there.
I call this semi achieved. I think my eq is getting better in terms of using my body more effectively. Maybe not a super pretty picture (because lets face it, I'm never going to be the eq queen) but its definitely made an impact on Arwen's rideability. Because she wants you sitting back and down. No hunter perch, no leaning. She's big and needs the rider to help balance her, instead of shoving her onto her forehand.
So, overall I think its going pretty well. I know I still have a ton more to work on, and a ton more to achieve but I'm happy overall.
1) get back to jumping solid 3' courses. Was doing this pretty succesfully, but we backed down due to the refusing issues.
Hmmmm....well, I'm not jumping full 3' courses yet but we have done some 3' and higher jumps. So I would say this one is about 50% achieved by January. I'm sure we'll get there this year, but I don't mind taking it slow. When M bumped the fence height last weekend, I think my eyeballs about popped out of my head. I do think I'm ready to start progressing to higher/more complicated fences but going from 2' to 3' is a little intimidating. Just gotta keep plugging away. So I change this to July 2012, I would like to see us doing 3' consistently.
2) get to three shows. I am DYING to show but due to money issues, haven't been able to get my *ish* together. Those money issues being buying my um...Antares saddle. That was basically where all my showing money went this year. Oh well...Ponyface needed it, I swear!
Obviously this hasn't happened yet because show season is over. So can't call this one a fail yet, lol.
3) really drill down my flatwork, maybe even take a couple dressage lessons. Last night we did a ton a flatwork and Arwen was GREAT when we started jumping, even though she generally depises flatwork. What I want to be able to successfully AND correctly: haunches in, shoulder in, leg yield down center line, and really work her consistently in a nice, round and engaged frame. When my trainer gets on and shows me what she can REALLY do (because all the buttons are installed, I just have to learn how to push them correctly) it is beautiful and impressive.
I would call this one 50% achieved as well. I try and do flat work EVERY ride and I'm still struggling a bit with pushing the right buttons. But, I've been doing some reading on cues and I actually got some really nice lateral work this past weekend, especially with shoulder in. I'm getting better at keeping her round and engaged, but its still a challenge with feel and being consistent.
4) try and get through the next two months with no refusals. I know that this will also link back/improve if I get more serious about demanding more from her on the flat.
I call this one achieved! I think since I last wrote out these goals I've had maybe 4 refusals, all for stupid reasons. The last two happened last week, actually, when we were riding in the outside arena in the semi dark. But...I've stayed on *knocks furiously on wood* through all of them. In fact, I can't even remember when the last time was I fell off (at least date wise, I DO remember the actual fall, lol). It was definitely before Arwen went lame, so maybe September? And it was totally stupid, and I managed to land on my feet. Sooooo...does that really count as a "fall"?
5) keep working on my equitation. I know, this is very general but its always a work in progress so I gotta throw it in there.
I call this semi achieved. I think my eq is getting better in terms of using my body more effectively. Maybe not a super pretty picture (because lets face it, I'm never going to be the eq queen) but its definitely made an impact on Arwen's rideability. Because she wants you sitting back and down. No hunter perch, no leaning. She's big and needs the rider to help balance her, instead of shoving her onto her forehand.
So, overall I think its going pretty well. I know I still have a ton more to work on, and a ton more to achieve but I'm happy overall.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Fitness Catch Up
Sooooo...after a gorge filled November and December where I think I went to CrossFit a total of 3-4 times, last week I managed to go twice. OWWWWWWW. The pain of getting back into the mix is definitely worse than when you first start out. Because when you first start, you're like an innocent little bird. You have no basline of where you should be (you just know you're bad at CrossFit) so you can't berate yourself for not hitting your PR's, or lifting the Rx'd weight, or remembering that feeling of needing to barf after having a large amount of running/rowing in a WOD. So coming back into it after getting over the hump on a lot of those things, but starting over a little bit backtracked from where you were, is HARD. Not just physically, but mentally. A couple of the WOD's I managed to do in December were okay, they didn't expose the weaknesses as much. But man..January so far has been kicking my ass.
Like last Saturday...we tackled the hero WOD "Angie". Angie looks simple enough on paper, but once you're 20 minutes in with the end no where in sight, you realize how much of a bitch she really is.
"Angie"
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
I did all the pull ups on the green band. In hindsight, I probably should have started on the blue band but the thought of doing 100 scared me, especially since I hadn't done pull ups in about two months. But...the green band still felt slightly like a sling shot, which to me means definitely too much resistance. I did however, manage all the push ups off my knees, and the situps and squats weren't an issue.
Monday, still sore from Saturday, we proceeded to have another killer workout. Thankfully, the gym is PACKED right now due to all the January resolution people (always happens at all, gyms, right?) so they paired us into teams. I'm not sure I would have been able to make it through otherwise!
WOD 1/16/12
1000m row (each partner did 500m, while the other held a plank)
21 dead lifts (155 was women's Rx)
21 pull ups
700 m row (each partner did 350)
15 dead lifts
15 pull ups
400m row (each partner did 200)
9 deadlifts
9 pull ups
My partner and I did 135lbs for the deadlifts. Those MF'ers were heavy. I can tell I haven't done many DL's lately. Did all the pull ups on the blue band, and they felt great. I think another week of blue band (or at least practice) and then I'll move to the red band, and then hopefully unassisted. Unassisted is really the goal, but I just need to do them more consistently to get there.
I think our overall time was around 20 minutes. Working with a partner really makes you feel much more accountable. I know I worked faster because I didn't want my partner to have to hold the plank for too long. Still feeling sore, and my lower back is definitely tight, but hoping that riding tonight and then CF again tomorrow helps loosen things up a bit. That and I gotta get my stretch on!
Like last Saturday...we tackled the hero WOD "Angie". Angie looks simple enough on paper, but once you're 20 minutes in with the end no where in sight, you realize how much of a bitch she really is.
"Angie"
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
I did all the pull ups on the green band. In hindsight, I probably should have started on the blue band but the thought of doing 100 scared me, especially since I hadn't done pull ups in about two months. But...the green band still felt slightly like a sling shot, which to me means definitely too much resistance. I did however, manage all the push ups off my knees, and the situps and squats weren't an issue.
Monday, still sore from Saturday, we proceeded to have another killer workout. Thankfully, the gym is PACKED right now due to all the January resolution people (always happens at all, gyms, right?) so they paired us into teams. I'm not sure I would have been able to make it through otherwise!
WOD 1/16/12
1000m row (each partner did 500m, while the other held a plank)
21 dead lifts (155 was women's Rx)
21 pull ups
700 m row (each partner did 350)
15 dead lifts
15 pull ups
400m row (each partner did 200)
9 deadlifts
9 pull ups
My partner and I did 135lbs for the deadlifts. Those MF'ers were heavy. I can tell I haven't done many DL's lately. Did all the pull ups on the blue band, and they felt great. I think another week of blue band (or at least practice) and then I'll move to the red band, and then hopefully unassisted. Unassisted is really the goal, but I just need to do them more consistently to get there.
I think our overall time was around 20 minutes. Working with a partner really makes you feel much more accountable. I know I worked faster because I didn't want my partner to have to hold the plank for too long. Still feeling sore, and my lower back is definitely tight, but hoping that riding tonight and then CF again tomorrow helps loosen things up a bit. That and I gotta get my stretch on!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The many personalities of Arwen
Arwen the lesson horse? What? Never would have thought those words would be coming out of my mouth. This past weekend a friend from out of town came to visit who rides and I offered to let her take a lesson on Arwen. I wouldn't have offered Arwen up if she hadn't been going so damn nicely lately since, well, I don't want my friend to die. Hah. Just kidding, Arwen would never kill anyone on purpose.
Anyway, I thought it would be good for my friend to ride her, just like it would be good for Arwen to be ridden by someone else. And it turns out she was excellent! She listened well, came back when my friend asked her, she scooted off a little after the fences and a couple times kind of made a bid for them, but that was mostly due to my friend riding a totally strange horse, in a strange saddle with a strange instructor. Given some time she would do just fine with her, I think. I don't think Arwen will ever be an up-down lesson horse, but it makes me feel better knowing that she will probably be a nice 2'6" or lower lesson horse for riders looking to move up a bit from the dead sided schoolies when she gets older. She definitely has the brain for it, and as long as the rider is willing to listen to what she needs from them, I think she would be okay.
I rode her the next morning in a lesson and again, she was excellent. I rode her in the running gag which I haven't done in awhile, but she still stayed nice and soft and light in it. Did adds, and collected herself when I asked without throwing a hissy fit. We did have some interesting moments though-M raised the jumps a bit, probably up to around 3' which looked REALLY impressive to me coming to them the first time. I think Arwen sensed my hesitation and my awe at the size because she then proceeded to leap over them in her best reinactment of her days as a grand prix horse. First time through I got totally knocked lose from the tack, although I managed to stay on. Second time through was much better, mainly because Arwen realized it was old hat and realized it best to ignore the tense, eyeballs bulging out of her skull rider on her back. Afterwards, one of the juniors told me she overjumped those first two fences by about 2 ft, lol!
I also finally gave Arwen her bath in prep for a full body clip. Did it yesterday, since it was supposed to be the last semi warm, sunny day before the rain is forecasted to arrive. Oh man...she was fine in the barn after the bath but when I took her outside where it was slightly breezy, she turned into a total spook monter. Reared up on the lead line a couple times, and was bouncing around in place. She started shivering a bit, so I took her back to her stall to eat, and then over to the crossties where I started blow drying her. She got warm eventually, but I don't think the spook monster that took over when she was cold really went away. So I put her in the outdoor (since I didn't want her to roll in the dirt) to run around a little and OH BOY. I have never seen her buck so much! She was like a woman possessed. This makes me a little scared to actually go through with the clip because she will be cold a lot, due to being naked. I mean, it will grow back obviously but I might have to deal with a month or so of her being an idiot. Not sure if I want to do that. So I might just try clipping her face and her legs up a bit tonight instead, and deal with the sweaty furry mess she becomes (I think thats a decent trade off for a quiet horse) and when I have to, break out the blow dryer. We'll see. I still haven't made a decision yet.
Anyway, I thought it would be good for my friend to ride her, just like it would be good for Arwen to be ridden by someone else. And it turns out she was excellent! She listened well, came back when my friend asked her, she scooted off a little after the fences and a couple times kind of made a bid for them, but that was mostly due to my friend riding a totally strange horse, in a strange saddle with a strange instructor. Given some time she would do just fine with her, I think. I don't think Arwen will ever be an up-down lesson horse, but it makes me feel better knowing that she will probably be a nice 2'6" or lower lesson horse for riders looking to move up a bit from the dead sided schoolies when she gets older. She definitely has the brain for it, and as long as the rider is willing to listen to what she needs from them, I think she would be okay.
I rode her the next morning in a lesson and again, she was excellent. I rode her in the running gag which I haven't done in awhile, but she still stayed nice and soft and light in it. Did adds, and collected herself when I asked without throwing a hissy fit. We did have some interesting moments though-M raised the jumps a bit, probably up to around 3' which looked REALLY impressive to me coming to them the first time. I think Arwen sensed my hesitation and my awe at the size because she then proceeded to leap over them in her best reinactment of her days as a grand prix horse. First time through I got totally knocked lose from the tack, although I managed to stay on. Second time through was much better, mainly because Arwen realized it was old hat and realized it best to ignore the tense, eyeballs bulging out of her skull rider on her back. Afterwards, one of the juniors told me she overjumped those first two fences by about 2 ft, lol!
I also finally gave Arwen her bath in prep for a full body clip. Did it yesterday, since it was supposed to be the last semi warm, sunny day before the rain is forecasted to arrive. Oh man...she was fine in the barn after the bath but when I took her outside where it was slightly breezy, she turned into a total spook monter. Reared up on the lead line a couple times, and was bouncing around in place. She started shivering a bit, so I took her back to her stall to eat, and then over to the crossties where I started blow drying her. She got warm eventually, but I don't think the spook monster that took over when she was cold really went away. So I put her in the outdoor (since I didn't want her to roll in the dirt) to run around a little and OH BOY. I have never seen her buck so much! She was like a woman possessed. This makes me a little scared to actually go through with the clip because she will be cold a lot, due to being naked. I mean, it will grow back obviously but I might have to deal with a month or so of her being an idiot. Not sure if I want to do that. So I might just try clipping her face and her legs up a bit tonight instead, and deal with the sweaty furry mess she becomes (I think thats a decent trade off for a quiet horse) and when I have to, break out the blow dryer. We'll see. I still haven't made a decision yet.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
I'm sure this is getting boring now...
But another great week of rides on Arwen. Or, I guess more like week and a half since I haven't posted since the end of December. Either way, she's been angelic. We had one day were she was being a little heavy in my hand and distracted (I was riding alone at night, the vet was out, and there was just general ruckus around the barn). That ride I ended just untacking her in the indoor and letting her work up a sweat on her own, which she did. She ran around and around and around for a good five minutes before she was like "okay mom, that was fun. Now where is my dinner?" But every other ride was pretty much what it has been lately. She can still get speedy (if she didn't she wouldn't be my girl) but the main difference right now is she's listening to me and looking to me for decisions, and I think trusting me more. Like when I ask for her to collect in the lines, she's collecting, instead of pulling against my hand, charging through, and leaving out a stride. When I ask her to put in an extra step at the base, she's doing that too. When I ask her to leave a little long or move up, she's doing that too (although, that was never really one of our big problems). I really think a lot of this change can be attributed to the change in the placement of my upper body. Instead of leaning at her neck, and pulling (sending conflicting messages of go and stop) plus really trying to ride more off my seat and leg, she is a much more willing to listen and not throw my input to the wind. I'm also letting her come into lines with a lot more pace, which I think reassures her that we have enough impulsion to actually make it over the jump, and she doesn't have to throw herself over it (which I think makes her nervous/angry).
So really, I think it all comes down to clarity of communcations. My communication with her has improved a lot. When I want her to slow, all I have to do now is remember to sit back, and take a little bit of feel, and 99% of the time, she responds really, really well. This change in my position has also caused what I call her "e-brake" to come into effect, which I definitely didn't have before, lol. When I sit back and whoa her, she will slam on those brakes, hard! Clearly I need to finesse my downward transitions a little now but I'm just happy she *has* an ebrake now. Last year at this time I was probably spending a good quarter of the arena fighting to get her to come back to me, and now it will only take a few strides, if at all. Depending on what we just jumped, she will land fairly balanced and carrying herself, and therefore less likely to scott out from under me on the landing side of the jump. Still sometimes happens after combo with tight striding (like the 3-2 stride combo we had set up, she likes to jet through those things) but over all, it is very much improved. So...yay!
I also have to throw in there that I've been feeding her SmartCalm Ultra. Honestly, I don't know if it actually does anything but she has been this super horse ever since I started giving it regularly. I started it up pretty much right when she came back into work after being off, so I guess that was around November/December? I think I'm going to continue it, only because I'm now afraid if I take her off it, she'll become the fire breathing dragon agaon. Although, it could also just all be in my head (which is highly likely) and I might as well be feeding my horse a $50 every month for all the good this supplement does. Luckily, I think Arwen would like to eat both the pellet and a $50 bill (its paper! And crinkly!) so whichever way I go, she'll get something in her belly.
So really, I think it all comes down to clarity of communcations. My communication with her has improved a lot. When I want her to slow, all I have to do now is remember to sit back, and take a little bit of feel, and 99% of the time, she responds really, really well. This change in my position has also caused what I call her "e-brake" to come into effect, which I definitely didn't have before, lol. When I sit back and whoa her, she will slam on those brakes, hard! Clearly I need to finesse my downward transitions a little now but I'm just happy she *has* an ebrake now. Last year at this time I was probably spending a good quarter of the arena fighting to get her to come back to me, and now it will only take a few strides, if at all. Depending on what we just jumped, she will land fairly balanced and carrying herself, and therefore less likely to scott out from under me on the landing side of the jump. Still sometimes happens after combo with tight striding (like the 3-2 stride combo we had set up, she likes to jet through those things) but over all, it is very much improved. So...yay!
I also have to throw in there that I've been feeding her SmartCalm Ultra. Honestly, I don't know if it actually does anything but she has been this super horse ever since I started giving it regularly. I started it up pretty much right when she came back into work after being off, so I guess that was around November/December? I think I'm going to continue it, only because I'm now afraid if I take her off it, she'll become the fire breathing dragon agaon. Although, it could also just all be in my head (which is highly likely) and I might as well be feeding my horse a $50 every month for all the good this supplement does. Luckily, I think Arwen would like to eat both the pellet and a $50 bill (its paper! And crinkly!) so whichever way I go, she'll get something in her belly.
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