Arwen Update

Since its been awhile. At least two weeks almost, based on my last Arwen post!

So. Some positive progress in the form of connecting with Arwen better and having some really nice rides in the last two weeks, with maybe one slightly more difficult one. I have been taking a slightly different approach to warm up than I have in the past. Instead of letting her meander around on a loopy rein to get warmed up, I've taken up some contact (not working contact, but enough to have a feel of her mouth) and asked her to really move her butt. I think it makes her realize that I mean business. Same with my leg yields-I'll ask nicely, and if I get a half hearted reply, I'll boot her with my heel. She of course, gets very dramatic but then complies. I've also tried to do lots of circles and serpentines, bending and straightening, and changes in tempo, all before we even start trotting.

When we do pick up the trot, I'm asking her to get engaged pretty quickly, especially since we've probably spent at least 15 minutes getting warmed up at a brisk pace at the walk. I do some of the same exercises, lots of bending and flexing, circles, and yielding that inside jaw/not locking against my hand. Then, when I finally do pick up working contact, for most of the rides, she's been more willing to go nicely into the bridle. Amazing! I think this is the most I've ever ridden her "on the bit" where she actually feels like she's using herself. I know I'm still trying to play catch up with my hands/body/seat at times and that is when she'll pop up above the bit again, but when I stop and really focus and ask her for that inside bend from my leg into outside rein, she complies. Its pretty cool. I'm still struggling with it at the canter though, I think it might be something about my position that is wonky. So I have to play around with it more.

All this work from her on the flat though is definitely starting to translate to jumping. One thing I've been working on almost exclusively is keeping my g*****n head/chin up. I tend to drop my chin at the last second before fences, and I KNOW I like to travel around on the flat staring between my horse's ears. This happens in  "real life" too, as I have been told by my CrossFit coach. And in all things that require balance, dropping your chin is a VERY bad thing. It throws the weight of your head forward, which when you think about it, is only supported by a very small amount of muscle/bone. So it starts this chain reaction all along your body, and for me, makes me crumple into myself. Which, as we all know, is bad news bears when it comes to riding Arwen. She needs you up and straight and connected with leg, not hunched over and grabby and pinchy.

So with my trainer yelling at me about pretty much every fence and "looking beyond" we've actually had some really decent rides! She's been listening well, and we only had one day where she was kind of rushy and not listening (it was one of our first days back in the indoor after many moons since March here has been crazy). The rest of the time though, she's been really good about staying a fairly consistent pace, taking all the jumps (even from some crappy distances) and doing adds/going forward if asked. This is not to say she's been easy though. Still nothing like she was a few months ago, but even though she is still throwing me some sass, I'm at least *kind of* feeling back to being able to ride her, and ride her decently. I'm not feeling like I've taken a bazillion steps backwards anymore. I'm definitely still clawing my way up though, and I think it will be awhile before we bump up the fence height again (right now, its about 2'6"-2'9") but I'm okay with that. Trainer is away at shows for the next two weeks so I might not even jump at all, but again-I'm okay with that. I've already seen a big difference in our flat work, and her responsiveness to me so I wouldn't mind spending the next month continuing to drill it down.