Well. The show was a learning experience, to say the least. I didn't ride as well as I did the previous weekend, not by a long shot. Honestly, I think that is what has been bothering me most about it. I let the OMG GO FAST! get in the way of having nicer riding rounds and I'm really annoyed with myself in getting waaaaaay to wrapped up in winning.
Don't get me wrong though-winning can be great. When I got my head together and rode the way I should be riding, lo and behold, we would place. But that happened in only 3 out of 8 classes total, when it should have been more!
So some definitely learnings were well, learned this past weekend.
1) to ride the way I was trying to ride (i.e. fast and efficient) I need to practice jumpoffs A LOT more than I have been. And this means more showing. Which honestly, isn't that realistic. So I think I just need to remember to ride as best I can, and let the chips fall where they may.
2) I have some serious flaws in my position. I got tossed loose by Ready more than a couple times. I know part of it is gripping with my knees when I'm nervous (thanks Arwen) instead of sinking down. I also tend to go fetal when trying to go fast, which doesn't help
3) got to get more comfortable with jumping sans irons, and retriving my irons when I do loose them. This also happened more than a couple times. I will say, I did end up jumping the last 4 jumps of the jump off during my last class without irons on the worlds most uncomfortable horse, so while its a fail its also a win? LOL
So I plan to work on at least the last two things over the winter, which is good because I have felt a little bit aimless and goal-less ever since I stopped working Arwen intensely about 9 months ago. With her I just always strived every day to be a better rider for her and since I haven't had to deal with her antics, I've gotten lazy. All the other horses I've ridden just seem so easy compared to her I have let A LOT fall by the wayside. So while I'm not going to ramp it up like I did before, especially since I'm thinking my next year's focus will be diverted to other things, I do need to get my head back into the game.
On that note, for now I have a new ride! Who should actually really let me focus on a lot of my positional issues while being a comfy, easy horse to ride. Trainer got a freebie from another trainer because the owner just couldn't really afford him anymore. He's a super sweet, 17 yo 17 hand or so former hunter/eq horse who has been on the road to recovery after a suspensory issue. Last night was his first night out at the barn and while he looked at things, there was no spook at all and just let me dink around on him at WTC and over some crossrails. What a good guy! He has a great trot and canter, although he does take a lot to keep him together (is a little long, and is just a bigger horse). So my goal with him is to get him jumping little things again, and work on getting him more fit on the flat. He needs a rider with a strong leg to help keep him engaged, so he's not technically a beginner horse although he definitely has the mind to cart beginners around (lazy and kind) Trainer said for the meantime I can treat him like he's mine (which makes me laugh a little-means I can pay for his shit! LOL) and I'll be the one mainly riding him. After that, I imagine he will be just a fun, easy horse to have around the barn for lessons and whatnot. We'll see! I'm kind of excited about him.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Arwen Update and Show Time Take Aways
So a few fun updates:
Arwen is still baking the bun in her oven. Its funny looking at the picture of her in the header because at this point, she looks nothing like that horse! That horse is fit and muscled, nice summer coat, good weight. Right now she is a furry beast with limited muscle and is FAT FAT FAT. She has been out to pasture with a pasture mate and apparently hogging all his food. I guess he's getting really skinny. What can I say...girl is eating for two!
Still haven't gotten on her back since she's been pregnant either. I was waiting for her bare feet to toughen up before sitting on her back, and that kind of morphed into me just being really lazy. I mean there isn't a reason why I really need to ride her at this point, other than for my own pleasure. Also, by the time I'm done at the barn I'm usually really tired (I will sometimes hack a couple horses in addition to my lesson) and ready to go home. So getting on Arwen's back is low on my priority list. I do go out there and check her over though, or give her a treat.
Since I don't have a horse to ride right now, I've been kind of riding whatever comes my way. I really wanted to do a show though before the season is over since DH and I are supposed to try getting preggers at the end of the year, and doing some shows before kids was on my pre-pregnancy bucket list. So since the horse I have been riding is privately owned and the owner wants to go to shows too, I'm back on the back of the first horse I rode at the barn! Its kind of a weird, bittersweet full circle kind of deal. This is the horse that basically took me from crossrails to jumping 2'6" courses, took me to my first show, and made me want to buy Arwen. He's seriously one of the kindest horses I've ever encountered and is equally good at taking care of a beginner as he is zooming around the jumper ring with someone who is more knowledgeable about riding. So while being back on him is a little like coming home since I know him so well, at the beginning I was like "crap, I have made no progress!". However, after taking at least once a week lessons on him for the past month or so I quickly came to realize just how much progress I had made, and how much I owe to Arwen, this horse and the others I've had the opportunity to ride for teaching me at various stages in my riding.
This horse, Ready, taught me so much about confidence and getting around a course. Arwen taught me so much about dealing with whatever is thrown at you, and how to feel what is going on under you. So now, back on Ready, not only have I become a much more confident rider again after Arwen kind of took that away from me, I have much more feel and understanding of what is required to get a good, winning ride.
This was proven to me at a one day show I took him and another horse to this weekend in preparation for the "bigger" show that is coming up later this week. I went in with my normal goals of a) getting around the course and b) not falling off/dying. I managed to do both! I rode in a total of 5 classes with the two horses. Only did two on Ready since it was more of a warmup for the show later, and then three on William, the other horse. This included my very first class with 1.00m jumps thrown in, and I've probably only jumped William 2-4 times in the last six months. In my lessons we've really been working on "going for it" i.e. making sure I have enough pace to my jumps, balancing well through tight turns, supporting my distances and then...galloping in jump offs! I really haven't practiced that much because there wasn't a real reason to. I have only shown 3 times in the last 4 years, so working on jump off strategy was not high on the priority list.
So when we got out there and trainer was talking to me about how to ride my track and jump off, I really really tried to remember and focus on sticking to my plan. I knew I was on some super trustworthy mounts who, as long as I told them what to do and where to go, would cart my ass around the classes I put them in. I had complete faith and trust in my horses, something that I haven't felt in a long time. Because of that, I was able to go out and really think about my ride instead of worrying that my horse might stop (like I constantly did with Arwen) and ultimately, I ended up with two seconds and one first out of relatively decent sized classes (10-15 people, some were on two cards though). Didn't make the jump off in two because of rails (at the same fence!) but that just told me that there was rider error going on. My horses ran their asses off for me that day, and its hard for me to put into words how much I appreciated that.
Going into next week I can only hope that my show goes as well as it did on Saturday, but if it doesn't thats okay too. I have never been a super competitive person and I realize even more now that I like showing because it not only shows my progress as a rider, but it really shows the partnership that can exist and that I got to experience on Arwen just once at the only show we went to together.
Arwen is still baking the bun in her oven. Its funny looking at the picture of her in the header because at this point, she looks nothing like that horse! That horse is fit and muscled, nice summer coat, good weight. Right now she is a furry beast with limited muscle and is FAT FAT FAT. She has been out to pasture with a pasture mate and apparently hogging all his food. I guess he's getting really skinny. What can I say...girl is eating for two!
Still haven't gotten on her back since she's been pregnant either. I was waiting for her bare feet to toughen up before sitting on her back, and that kind of morphed into me just being really lazy. I mean there isn't a reason why I really need to ride her at this point, other than for my own pleasure. Also, by the time I'm done at the barn I'm usually really tired (I will sometimes hack a couple horses in addition to my lesson) and ready to go home. So getting on Arwen's back is low on my priority list. I do go out there and check her over though, or give her a treat.
Since I don't have a horse to ride right now, I've been kind of riding whatever comes my way. I really wanted to do a show though before the season is over since DH and I are supposed to try getting preggers at the end of the year, and doing some shows before kids was on my pre-pregnancy bucket list. So since the horse I have been riding is privately owned and the owner wants to go to shows too, I'm back on the back of the first horse I rode at the barn! Its kind of a weird, bittersweet full circle kind of deal. This is the horse that basically took me from crossrails to jumping 2'6" courses, took me to my first show, and made me want to buy Arwen. He's seriously one of the kindest horses I've ever encountered and is equally good at taking care of a beginner as he is zooming around the jumper ring with someone who is more knowledgeable about riding. So while being back on him is a little like coming home since I know him so well, at the beginning I was like "crap, I have made no progress!". However, after taking at least once a week lessons on him for the past month or so I quickly came to realize just how much progress I had made, and how much I owe to Arwen, this horse and the others I've had the opportunity to ride for teaching me at various stages in my riding.
This horse, Ready, taught me so much about confidence and getting around a course. Arwen taught me so much about dealing with whatever is thrown at you, and how to feel what is going on under you. So now, back on Ready, not only have I become a much more confident rider again after Arwen kind of took that away from me, I have much more feel and understanding of what is required to get a good, winning ride.
This was proven to me at a one day show I took him and another horse to this weekend in preparation for the "bigger" show that is coming up later this week. I went in with my normal goals of a) getting around the course and b) not falling off/dying. I managed to do both! I rode in a total of 5 classes with the two horses. Only did two on Ready since it was more of a warmup for the show later, and then three on William, the other horse. This included my very first class with 1.00m jumps thrown in, and I've probably only jumped William 2-4 times in the last six months. In my lessons we've really been working on "going for it" i.e. making sure I have enough pace to my jumps, balancing well through tight turns, supporting my distances and then...galloping in jump offs! I really haven't practiced that much because there wasn't a real reason to. I have only shown 3 times in the last 4 years, so working on jump off strategy was not high on the priority list.
So when we got out there and trainer was talking to me about how to ride my track and jump off, I really really tried to remember and focus on sticking to my plan. I knew I was on some super trustworthy mounts who, as long as I told them what to do and where to go, would cart my ass around the classes I put them in. I had complete faith and trust in my horses, something that I haven't felt in a long time. Because of that, I was able to go out and really think about my ride instead of worrying that my horse might stop (like I constantly did with Arwen) and ultimately, I ended up with two seconds and one first out of relatively decent sized classes (10-15 people, some were on two cards though). Didn't make the jump off in two because of rails (at the same fence!) but that just told me that there was rider error going on. My horses ran their asses off for me that day, and its hard for me to put into words how much I appreciated that.
Going into next week I can only hope that my show goes as well as it did on Saturday, but if it doesn't thats okay too. I have never been a super competitive person and I realize even more now that I like showing because it not only shows my progress as a rider, but it really shows the partnership that can exist and that I got to experience on Arwen just once at the only show we went to together.
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