I know I've mentioned before about the benefits of having new sets of eyes watch your riding. Everyone seems to pick up on or put an emphasis on slightly different things, which will overall make you a better rider. At least thats how I feel everytime my trainer has us ride with someone different. Its been a rare occassion where I didn't have at least one take away, even in a really crummy lesson.
So this week was our area's big Halloween show so Trainer was away. Most of the barn was away too, including the assistant that my trainer has been using the past couple of shows (she has her own small business, and also took some horses to the show). So the people left at the barn were split between S, the original assistant, and a new one, M.
Everyone loves S. She is a very kind and knowledgeable, and has a similar style to our regular training. So there was no problem getting her integrated into the program. Didn't try and reinvent the wheel, just tried to build on what trainer was already working on. She's the one who reminded me about outside rein, and helped me have some pretty fabulous lessons with Arwen in the last couple months.
Now M...well, what can I say other than she's very different. A little more brusque, definitely more straightforward, and not as quick to praise. Only a few of us have ridden with her so far, and I know one of my barnmates did not have a good time with her. So when it came time for me to lesson with her yesterday, I was a little nervous.
However, it went much better than I imagined and needless to say, I was pretty surprised! I told her that lately we had been focusing on rideability between fences. That Arwen will start to take over and just sometimes drag me around. So we worked a lot on using my upper body/seat/leg to slow her down. It was a nice reminder that my leg must be on at all times, and that when I'm using a lot of hand, I also need to back it up with A LOT of leg. Like...A LOT. Its something I think I had forgotten a little bit about, because on the whole, Arwen has been pretty soft lately. But within the past week. some of our old habits have been slowly creeping back in and I've been at a little bit of a loss regarding what I'm doing.
We also worked on feel. I told her I am never sure if I'm using too much hand, or too much leg. Basically, I want Arwen to feel like she is between my hand and leg at all time. Never squirting out in front of me, or sucking back. It should always feel like a nice, easy contact in my hands, you know, that whole concept of "elastic" feel. When it starts to feel like she's pulling, that means I don't have enough leg. When it feels loosey goosey, again, not enough leg.
I don't feel like anything new was presented to me. I just feel like I got a really good reminder on how I need to be riding her. In fact, M said that if I can figure this out, that I'll pretty much be set.
And slightly validating, but M really really liked Arwen. She kept saying what a nice horse she is, how she has a really good mind, etc etc. Which is very, very true. Not a bad bone in that horse's body and I think when/if I get my s**t together, it will be great.
My only frustration is I'm not sure if I'll ever figure it out. I feel like trainer, S and M have all basically been telling me the same thing and I'm still working on it. UGH! I think if I'm still in this same place in another year, it might be time to re-evaluate things. I'll keep working on this and everything else I set in my goals, but if I'm still stuck doing tiny little jumps trying to get my horse rideable for ME, it might be a sign that we are just not a good match. Don't get me wrong, I love her and will fight it out as long as I can. But if it ever stops being fun and I'm more upset about my ride than enlightened, I will probably want to consider other alternatives.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
WOD 10/24/2011
Good times with this one. Craziest part was one of the dudes did it as RX'd, in 2:53 minutes. For comparison's sake, I basically did half the prescribed weight for women in more than double that time. Yeah.
"Air Force"
start with 4 burpees. Then you do 4 burpees every minute on the minute.
20 thrusters
20 SDHP
20 push jerks
20 OH squats
20 front squats
Took me the longest 7:54 ever. RX'd for women was 65 lbs, I did 35lbs. I had to go light for the OH squats. I think the last workout I did with OHS I may have done 45 lbs, but I didn't feel like I could manage that in this particular workout. I just barely got out of doing another set of burpees, thank goodness!
"Air Force"
start with 4 burpees. Then you do 4 burpees every minute on the minute.
20 thrusters
20 SDHP
20 push jerks
20 OH squats
20 front squats
Took me the longest 7:54 ever. RX'd for women was 65 lbs, I did 35lbs. I had to go light for the OH squats. I think the last workout I did with OHS I may have done 45 lbs, but I didn't feel like I could manage that in this particular workout. I just barely got out of doing another set of burpees, thank goodness!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Yuck.
I had a total carb gorge fest this weekend, so now I feel like a water retaining oversized lump. Never again. Seriously, if only someone had told me to just put down the bread...
Honestly, I'm feeling a little disappointed in myself, especially since I was just starting to lose a little weight again after being pretty good last week in terms of diet. I think that I needed this because not only am I now kicking myself, but I feel like crap. Nothing like reminding me how much what I put in my mouth will affect my body/performance. Will have to suck it up at CrossFit tonight because I can pretty much guarantee after fueling my body with empty calories, the WOD is going to be brutal.
On the riding front, had a pretty decent ride on Saturday. Nothing like the previous Saturday, but I knew that was going to happen. Arwen started out super quiet, and we did a few courses like a hunter. On the last jump though (again, curses on me and my last jump-itis) I let her make the decision on a tiny bit of a long spot, and it was kind of downhill from there. She decided to tune me out, both on the approach and on the landing side. We ended on an okay note, but it was still a little bit of a downer since she started out so well. I know its me though-I really need STOP RELAXING, or at least relax but still ride her. I was trying a new bit on her that I didn't love. Let her get low (which we want, because she does need to work on the bit more) but that also meant she was able to grab on and pull down when she was trying to avoid listening to me. She doesn't do that in the controller or the gag, I think because those are both broken mouthpieces. I was using a hackabit, which had a mullen mouth. So, the next up to try is the flash with the three ring. I rode her in it yesterday, but we didn't do anything serious for me to really try out how it felt.
And on yesterday, it was totally amazeballs! I'm a little bit of a wuss to try things but last week I saw the resident 70 year old at our barn riding her horse barebake. I was like dang, if she can do it, I can do it! The juniors have actually been bugging me forever about riding her bareback (I think because I'm the youngest adult there, they kind of think of me as one of them, lol). So yesterday, I finally sucked it up and did it! I did put a pad on her because there was no way I was facing Mt Witherest in my crotch without some padding. But, I took her into the arena, walked around, did a little sitting trot and even...wait for it...cantered! I know, so silly that it seems like a big deal, but it was. When I was leasing the trail horse I was SO petrified to ride him bareback, let alone canter. I did try it once on him for like 5 steps, but that was it. Arwen has such a nice canter though, it was super easy. Seriously, I could just sit on her and canter around for days. She was such a good girl about it too. Didn't even bat an eye having mom up there with no saddle. Since I was feeling so brave after that, I took her out on the trail too. Again, she was so good!
It was interesting too to be able to feel her back muscles moving under my legs. I think I'll try and ride her bareback once a month or so, and maybe we'll work up to doing our pole work and small crossbars. This is, of course, assuming that she stays nice and calm through the winter. I'm guessing that this is something I'll pick back up come spring.
I really do love my pony. She has such a great brain. She'll spook at things occassionally, but its never bad (except in the indoor. In the winter) and she doesn't run away or do anything stupid. She's just very sensible and kind.
Honestly, I'm feeling a little disappointed in myself, especially since I was just starting to lose a little weight again after being pretty good last week in terms of diet. I think that I needed this because not only am I now kicking myself, but I feel like crap. Nothing like reminding me how much what I put in my mouth will affect my body/performance. Will have to suck it up at CrossFit tonight because I can pretty much guarantee after fueling my body with empty calories, the WOD is going to be brutal.
On the riding front, had a pretty decent ride on Saturday. Nothing like the previous Saturday, but I knew that was going to happen. Arwen started out super quiet, and we did a few courses like a hunter. On the last jump though (again, curses on me and my last jump-itis) I let her make the decision on a tiny bit of a long spot, and it was kind of downhill from there. She decided to tune me out, both on the approach and on the landing side. We ended on an okay note, but it was still a little bit of a downer since she started out so well. I know its me though-I really need STOP RELAXING, or at least relax but still ride her. I was trying a new bit on her that I didn't love. Let her get low (which we want, because she does need to work on the bit more) but that also meant she was able to grab on and pull down when she was trying to avoid listening to me. She doesn't do that in the controller or the gag, I think because those are both broken mouthpieces. I was using a hackabit, which had a mullen mouth. So, the next up to try is the flash with the three ring. I rode her in it yesterday, but we didn't do anything serious for me to really try out how it felt.
And on yesterday, it was totally amazeballs! I'm a little bit of a wuss to try things but last week I saw the resident 70 year old at our barn riding her horse barebake. I was like dang, if she can do it, I can do it! The juniors have actually been bugging me forever about riding her bareback (I think because I'm the youngest adult there, they kind of think of me as one of them, lol). So yesterday, I finally sucked it up and did it! I did put a pad on her because there was no way I was facing Mt Witherest in my crotch without some padding. But, I took her into the arena, walked around, did a little sitting trot and even...wait for it...cantered! I know, so silly that it seems like a big deal, but it was. When I was leasing the trail horse I was SO petrified to ride him bareback, let alone canter. I did try it once on him for like 5 steps, but that was it. Arwen has such a nice canter though, it was super easy. Seriously, I could just sit on her and canter around for days. She was such a good girl about it too. Didn't even bat an eye having mom up there with no saddle. Since I was feeling so brave after that, I took her out on the trail too. Again, she was so good!
It was interesting too to be able to feel her back muscles moving under my legs. I think I'll try and ride her bareback once a month or so, and maybe we'll work up to doing our pole work and small crossbars. This is, of course, assuming that she stays nice and calm through the winter. I'm guessing that this is something I'll pick back up come spring.
I really do love my pony. She has such a great brain. She'll spook at things occassionally, but its never bad (except in the indoor. In the winter) and she doesn't run away or do anything stupid. She's just very sensible and kind.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Lesson 10/20/11
Well, I think this was my first challenging lesson in a couple weeks. Arwen wasn't really being "bad", she was just in a mood to go, and go fast. We saw this trend happening last year around this time too, especially in the evening lesson. Don't know if its something about getting dark early or what, but she gets frisky. Also, we started out the lesson with another horse or two in the arena, and ended with none. I think she gets upset that they get to go back to the barn and possibly get food before her!
Anyway, like I said it wasn't bad. And Arwen was actually being pretty good i.e. going to all her jumps, we were getting decent distances (just had one quasi long spot when she was blowing through my hand a little). Trainer also had us start on a bending line going the harder way. Had to do it a few times because she wasn't giving me the lead change and kind of running through the aids. Finally got it after really focusing on riding the line as three parts, and also focusing her at the first jump (because that actually made her land on the correct lead, by setting her up correctly. Imagine that). Then took her through a couple lines (both 4 strides, she was fine) then did a tight roll back to the left (again to the left, noting a trend here?). First two times through, we did the outside turn, mainly because Arwen was charging over the first fence and there was no way I was going to be able to get her through that inside turn safely. The last time through though, Trainer told me "you are GOING to do that inside turn" and I was like, "okay then". And we did it.
Again, I think another example of me just not demanding enough of her, dangit! And I should have known, because at the beginning of the lesson she was being kind of naughty with the trot jumps. I was trying to get her back, but I should have tried harder. Once she decided she could kind of ignore me, she continued to kind of ignore me.
Oh well...still learning. Have another lesson on Saturday!
Anyway, like I said it wasn't bad. And Arwen was actually being pretty good i.e. going to all her jumps, we were getting decent distances (just had one quasi long spot when she was blowing through my hand a little). Trainer also had us start on a bending line going the harder way. Had to do it a few times because she wasn't giving me the lead change and kind of running through the aids. Finally got it after really focusing on riding the line as three parts, and also focusing her at the first jump (because that actually made her land on the correct lead, by setting her up correctly. Imagine that). Then took her through a couple lines (both 4 strides, she was fine) then did a tight roll back to the left (again to the left, noting a trend here?). First two times through, we did the outside turn, mainly because Arwen was charging over the first fence and there was no way I was going to be able to get her through that inside turn safely. The last time through though, Trainer told me "you are GOING to do that inside turn" and I was like, "okay then". And we did it.
Again, I think another example of me just not demanding enough of her, dangit! And I should have known, because at the beginning of the lesson she was being kind of naughty with the trot jumps. I was trying to get her back, but I should have tried harder. Once she decided she could kind of ignore me, she continued to kind of ignore me.
Oh well...still learning. Have another lesson on Saturday!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
WOD 10/19/11
This was a fun one, and by fun I actually mean it was hard.
For time:
5 rounds
400m run
15 hang power snatches (rx'd 65lbs for the ladies)
Another one that looks deceptively simple on paper. I thought that the RX'd weight might be a leeeetle too much for 75 snatches, but after the first round where I was able to do all 15 in a row, my coach yelled out "your weight is too light!". I would rather err on the side of caution to begin with, because there is nothing worse than being only one round into the WOD to discover that the weight you chose is waaaaaaaaaay too heavy. But, if we ever do this one again (or the hang power snatch in a WOD in general) I will at least do the 65 lbs.
The running wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be either. I was actually really nervous about it because holycrapballs, that is over a mile! I had to walk once, for about 10 steps on the last round of the run, but I told myself "only a couple more minutes of pain" and just pushed through it. I actually felt pretty good, despite getting some tightness in my right side. That only crops up when I do WOD's with a lot of running, and I'm pretty sure the only way that goes away is with...more running. So, on weekends I think I'm going to try to run maybe a couple miles to help because that side tightness really slows me down on the other components of the workout. At least it didn't turn into a full blown cramp, because that would have been disasterous.
Anyway, completed the WOD in 19:14. Goal was sub 20, so I was pretty happy. I had been afraid that the running would really slow me down, but it wasn't too bad. Average for the run was around 2:15-2:45 (which is on pace for a 10 minute mile or around that) Probably came in about right in the middle of the pack and from what I could tell, only ONE girl yesterday did the RX'd weight. Some of the other girls were even doing super duper light weight, like 20 lbs snatches, so I feel pretty good I managed 55lbs!
For time:
5 rounds
400m run
15 hang power snatches (rx'd 65lbs for the ladies)
Another one that looks deceptively simple on paper. I thought that the RX'd weight might be a leeeetle too much for 75 snatches, but after the first round where I was able to do all 15 in a row, my coach yelled out "your weight is too light!". I would rather err on the side of caution to begin with, because there is nothing worse than being only one round into the WOD to discover that the weight you chose is waaaaaaaaaay too heavy. But, if we ever do this one again (or the hang power snatch in a WOD in general) I will at least do the 65 lbs.
The running wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be either. I was actually really nervous about it because holycrapballs, that is over a mile! I had to walk once, for about 10 steps on the last round of the run, but I told myself "only a couple more minutes of pain" and just pushed through it. I actually felt pretty good, despite getting some tightness in my right side. That only crops up when I do WOD's with a lot of running, and I'm pretty sure the only way that goes away is with...more running. So, on weekends I think I'm going to try to run maybe a couple miles to help because that side tightness really slows me down on the other components of the workout. At least it didn't turn into a full blown cramp, because that would have been disasterous.
Anyway, completed the WOD in 19:14. Goal was sub 20, so I was pretty happy. I had been afraid that the running would really slow me down, but it wasn't too bad. Average for the run was around 2:15-2:45 (which is on pace for a 10 minute mile or around that) Probably came in about right in the middle of the pack and from what I could tell, only ONE girl yesterday did the RX'd weight. Some of the other girls were even doing super duper light weight, like 20 lbs snatches, so I feel pretty good I managed 55lbs!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Lesson 10/19/11
Had another grrrrrrrreat lesson last night (yes, I am Tony the Tiger). Did some new stuff, worked on some old issues.
The New:
Trainer had us do some no stirrup work at the beginning of the lesson. Apparently she was feeling like we needed to be worked hard (on a Tuesday night! *cry*) I am not new to this, but I am new to not having my stirrups over a freaking jump! Thats right, ladies and gents, I jumped without my stirrups. And it was fab. Granted, these weren't really "jumps" so much as very small "crossrails" but whatever. Arwen jumped over them for reals and I stayed on and actually did a decent job! I did grab mane in case anything funny happened, but she was so. Good. We trotted up to the jump, she took it, and then cantered quietly away. Love my pony!
The Old:
Our arch nemesis, bending lines. The last part of the course was doing the outside bending line we nailed on Saturday. BUT...going the reverse direction. So it was a seven stride bending to the three stride. The way its set, going the reverse is making Arwen bend in her hard direction (left bend). Without fail, when asked to bend that way she just gets a little stiff in both her side and her mouth, and tends to rush down the lines. I always work on softening her that way, but I imagine when I get tense she gets a little tense, and the bad habits come flooding back. So we broke it down into simple steps. First jumped just the crossbar, until I felt like she was listening. Then we did the 7 in an 8, because she really didn't want to bend and because the rail is on her right side, she REALLY wants to go towards it. Finally, we got the seven but it wasn't that pretty (she took a fairly long spot like a good girl, lots of pats for that). Did it one more time and had a much nicer 7. The 3 stride through that exercise was never a problem. Like I've mentioned, she is really great through those. So we ended on that last one because a) she did it, and did it fairly well and b) with her, we just can't drill things over and over and over. It usually leads to a meltdown of communication. So when she gives to me, we tend to compromise and meet in the middle. I think though that is a sign of real partnership, right? I mean don't get me wrong, I definitely want her to respect me. But like my trainer tells me, sometimes you just really have to pick your battles. And the thing is, she wasn't being bad at all. Nothing naughty, not being rushy or charging through my hand. I was just asking her to do something that is harder for her, and that we really both need to continue working on.
Overall pretty successful lesson and I am so thrilled with how she is being. Of course, I think all lessons are going to pale in comparison to the one we had Saturday where it was totally on but I think that feeling is a good one to strive for each time I ride. Also...I have to remember not to relax on asking things of her, and making sure she is listening to me. I haven't been slacking so far (we are doing lateral work consistently, which I think is helping a lot)!
Oh, and on a random note, I saw that she is slightly stocking up on her front legs now. Just a smidge. She has always stocked up on her back legs from being in her stall (and she's not a walker-she's a stander and wait for food type of horse) but the slight stocking up in the front is new. There is no heat though, and she's not lame at all. Also, it does go away after exercise. Nevertheless, its something I'm definitely going to keep an eye on.
The New:
Trainer had us do some no stirrup work at the beginning of the lesson. Apparently she was feeling like we needed to be worked hard (on a Tuesday night! *cry*) I am not new to this, but I am new to not having my stirrups over a freaking jump! Thats right, ladies and gents, I jumped without my stirrups. And it was fab. Granted, these weren't really "jumps" so much as very small "crossrails" but whatever. Arwen jumped over them for reals and I stayed on and actually did a decent job! I did grab mane in case anything funny happened, but she was so. Good. We trotted up to the jump, she took it, and then cantered quietly away. Love my pony!
The Old:
Our arch nemesis, bending lines. The last part of the course was doing the outside bending line we nailed on Saturday. BUT...going the reverse direction. So it was a seven stride bending to the three stride. The way its set, going the reverse is making Arwen bend in her hard direction (left bend). Without fail, when asked to bend that way she just gets a little stiff in both her side and her mouth, and tends to rush down the lines. I always work on softening her that way, but I imagine when I get tense she gets a little tense, and the bad habits come flooding back. So we broke it down into simple steps. First jumped just the crossbar, until I felt like she was listening. Then we did the 7 in an 8, because she really didn't want to bend and because the rail is on her right side, she REALLY wants to go towards it. Finally, we got the seven but it wasn't that pretty (she took a fairly long spot like a good girl, lots of pats for that). Did it one more time and had a much nicer 7. The 3 stride through that exercise was never a problem. Like I've mentioned, she is really great through those. So we ended on that last one because a) she did it, and did it fairly well and b) with her, we just can't drill things over and over and over. It usually leads to a meltdown of communication. So when she gives to me, we tend to compromise and meet in the middle. I think though that is a sign of real partnership, right? I mean don't get me wrong, I definitely want her to respect me. But like my trainer tells me, sometimes you just really have to pick your battles. And the thing is, she wasn't being bad at all. Nothing naughty, not being rushy or charging through my hand. I was just asking her to do something that is harder for her, and that we really both need to continue working on.
Overall pretty successful lesson and I am so thrilled with how she is being. Of course, I think all lessons are going to pale in comparison to the one we had Saturday where it was totally on but I think that feeling is a good one to strive for each time I ride. Also...I have to remember not to relax on asking things of her, and making sure she is listening to me. I haven't been slacking so far (we are doing lateral work consistently, which I think is helping a lot)!
Oh, and on a random note, I saw that she is slightly stocking up on her front legs now. Just a smidge. She has always stocked up on her back legs from being in her stall (and she's not a walker-she's a stander and wait for food type of horse) but the slight stocking up in the front is new. There is no heat though, and she's not lame at all. Also, it does go away after exercise. Nevertheless, its something I'm definitely going to keep an eye on.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
WOD 10/17/11
Was a super fun one. I was pretty much done after our warm up, Ian, the owner, lead us through it and it was long, lol. Got us nice and warm though...
WOD as follows:
800m run
20 swings
30 push ups
2 min rest
400m run
30 swings
20 push ups
1 min rest
200m run
50 swings
10 pushups
Rx'd weight for swings was the 35lb kettlebell, which I did. Those last 50 swings were pretty brutal though. Completed the WOD in 18:14.
Have to say though, I've never run 800m fresh, and I felt surprisingly good. Also, I did it in a little under 4 minutes, which makes me wonder what I could do a mile in? In middle school, the fastest mile I ever ran (and this is the fastest mile I ever ran, period. It only got slower from there, lol) was 9 minutes. I wonder now if I could do that time? I'm going to have to try it sometime. And this just makes me laugh inside because really? Me and running? We don't have a great relationship. Or at least we didn't used to. CrossFit has really changed that, and shown me that out of all the evil workouts I could inflict upon myself, running should be the least of my worries!
WOD as follows:
800m run
20 swings
30 push ups
2 min rest
400m run
30 swings
20 push ups
1 min rest
200m run
50 swings
10 pushups
Rx'd weight for swings was the 35lb kettlebell, which I did. Those last 50 swings were pretty brutal though. Completed the WOD in 18:14.
Have to say though, I've never run 800m fresh, and I felt surprisingly good. Also, I did it in a little under 4 minutes, which makes me wonder what I could do a mile in? In middle school, the fastest mile I ever ran (and this is the fastest mile I ever ran, period. It only got slower from there, lol) was 9 minutes. I wonder now if I could do that time? I'm going to have to try it sometime. And this just makes me laugh inside because really? Me and running? We don't have a great relationship. Or at least we didn't used to. CrossFit has really changed that, and shown me that out of all the evil workouts I could inflict upon myself, running should be the least of my worries!
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