OMG PONY RIDE

Since we are going to a show tomorrow, I had to get Izzy out today to make sure all the nuts and bolts were where they should be. Besides, Izzy seemed pretty happy post-chiro-work, so I thought we'd be ok. I saddled up and realized I'd forgotten my whip. Oh well... I wasn't anticipating having troubles with forward.

I tightened the girth (very important, boys and girls), and swung my leg over as Izzy stood politely. After I got my reins situated, I squeezed my legs.

WOW.

Izzy walked calmly off. For the first time in my entire history with her, I felt movement behind the saddle. Crazy! Her walk was much more forward, and I didn't have to keep nagging her with my leg to go, although it was a little more work to keep her straight.

We walked a bit, then trotted serpentines. Her trot felt big and floaty and super cool. I have never, ever felt her like this before. She felt good too--she was experimenting a bit with carrying her head differently. She started to curl over the bit a little (bendy ponies like that), but with a little encouragement, I got her marching forward from behind into the soft, light contact.

She moved right over off my leg both directions. We rolled into a big canter. It has never felt so completely effortless for her. Usually I have to gallop her a bit to get any semblance of a forward canter, but not today. We could go forward and back and do flying lead changes in one stride, and drop to trot and come back up and it felt incredible. I just wanted to do a light work because of tomorrow, but I also didn't want to stop riding.

We ended by walking out to one of the trails we (are supposed to) ride on. I didn't want to actually go up it, since I was weaponless and she reminded me that feeling good or no, she wasn't yet convinced she actually had to do it.

Tack and boots are clean. Pony is clipped and blanketed.

Ridiculously tiny schooling jumper show, here we come.

Riding and Repairing

Izzy and I had an interesting jump lesson yesterday--Stephanie set three jumps on a curve in the end of the arena. They were just group poles to start with. She gave me this speech about finding the middle of the horse and getting her in front of my leg, all while fiddling ominously with a lunge line.

Then she clipped the lunge line on the bridle, had me drop the reins, and we started jumping.

With no reins.

It was pretty fun. I didn't have to worry about steering although I did have to give the occasional kick since Izzy is aware of the limits of a dressage whip held by someone with a lunge line. Stephanie had me focus on solidifying my leg position and finding my balance on Izzy. I had to have excellent eye and body control.


Izzy being who she is, things did not exactly go according to plan.

Ms. Mare got bored of the endless circling and going forward, so she refused the ground pole.

Then she jumped the standard (which was tipped over to facilitate lunging, but still about 2'6"ish from a halt).

Unfortunately, I had tipped forward when she stopped at the pole, and nearly catapulted off at the subsequent leap. My heels went flying over my head, but I caught her neck and the girth was tight, so I managed to sit back up when she halted. Whew. Close one.



We stayed with tiny little jumps--part of the reason Izzy is not super forward has to do with a hind-end funk that was going to be worked on later in the day.

At the end of the lesson, I felt more balanced and confident than I have in a while. I'm finally starting to learn the mechanics of what is supposed to happen when I point Izzy at a fence, and that makes things so much easier.

As for the repairing section of this post, well, Izzy had an encounter with a chiropractor yesterday afternoon. She's had minimal bodywork done before, and always been extremely reactive, to the point of being dangerous (see here and here, for the last few times we tried). We took it to the next level--instead of using the local lady, who can't even touch her anymore, we used to expensive, out-of-state guy.

He is kind of crazy.

As I lead Izzy out of her stall and up to him and his assistant, I hear them muttering "Oh, she doesn't look good" "mumble mumble" "Yeah, really sore on her right front". All I can thing is, "huh?" Her left front is her crappy foot (that is improving), so I might expect a little there, but right? Weird.

He proceeded to work away on her. As before, she was really, really reactive when he tried to touch her chest and her withers at the same time (this connects some fort of accupressure point that Izzy cannot stand). Her withers were a complete mess-he probably spent almost half of his time just fiddling with that. Then he moved down her spine--mid back (like where the saddle goes) was completely fine, but lower back was a hot mess.

Apparently, it is now a sufficiently fixed hot mess. He explained (after much prying from me) that there were some things that were very wrong with her back and they'd probably been that way a long time, based on how she reacted. That caused her to overcompensate with her front end, which caused the mess in her withers and neck.

Also, she just hates accupressure. His words.

She got today off with some turnout, but I'm hoping to be back in the (very cold) saddle tomorrow. I'm excited to see what kind of changes we're looking at.

Shifting Gears

I spent all morning puttering around the barn thinking, "Why in the world did I enter a show? I'm not good enough, Izzy will freak out, I'll probably just fall off and die."

Yes, completely the most rational thing ever.

Then everyone's favorite Rinsie texted to let me know that I wasn't on the show schedule. My immediate thought: Excellent!! Unfortunately, her note didn't pander to my nerves and pointed out that we were in this together. Rats.

I don't want to beleaguer the point, but I didn't even want to ride Izzy today because I felt like she'd somehow act the total idiot and I'd go flying, which is completely unfair to her. She's really a pretty fabulous horse 98% of the time (thank you Ellie for constantly reminding me of that).

I saddled up and rode.

You know, actually rode. Kept my eyes up, my weight in my feet, and my hands steady. We did changes of bend and flying lead changes (oh yes we can do those).

Specifically, I focused on shifting Izzy's gears within gaits. When we are approaching a jump, Stephanie always wants us to be in a rhythm that allows us to either speed up or slow down without breaking gait.

I'd open Izzy up and GALLOP down the long side (mare loves it!!), then shorten to the tiniest canter we could find at the end, then circle in a medium gait, then do it again. And then a flying change*.

I won't lie--I'm still a little freaked out about the whole going-to-a-ridiculously-tiny-show thing, but I feel better now. Izzy is a damn good horse and I can ride her. We may not blow everyone away with our awesomeness (although that would be nice), but we can certainly go canter around a nice little course.

PS For the fashionistas out there, I totally broke out the CO helmet today. It fits me so much better than the horrid thing I was wearing. Love!

The Baldest Horse

Thanks to the end of regular season football for the NCAA, I finally had time to body clip Izzy this weekend.

She hadn't seen a pair of clippers in two years, as far as I can remember. I pulled the little clippers out Friday and trimmed up her face.

That got us from yak-face to this. I was so proud of Izzy--it was one of those little things that remind me of why I actually like this horse. She stood like a statue and made no objections whatsoever, even when I did her jawline and whiskers.

Aw. Cute pony.





Sunday morning I came out as soon as the sun was high in the sky, which translates to about 12.30 right now. After getting everything situated, I got the medical professional who is also Stephanie's client to come and apply the happy sap to make things calm and easy.

Before doing the injection, she wanted to test the clippers, so she fired up the big ones that sound about like a small chainsaw, and mowed a strip on Izzy's side.

Mare didn't blink.

Cool.

We ended up doing an intramuscular injection anyways because while Izzy was fine having her sides and chest done, she was less enthused about the whole butt, back, and underbelly part of things.

Sleepy bald pony. This is only a small, small fraction of the hair we generated. It's by no means the best or smoothest clip job in the world, especially since Izzy was dirty (can't bathe humanely when it's 30f outside) and it was my first time to ever wield the mighty body clippers.

I love this shot of her. She looks almost majestic, despite being bald and high. There aren't a lot of horses that can pull this look off.




When I turned Izzy out this morning, she took off running around and trying to get Tatiyana to play with her.

Note that she is now decked out in cold gear, which includes a liner blanket and neck cover. So expensive, but she's snuggling warm.









Yana thought running around was a stupid idea. She's like that, though. Kind of aloof.

With her legs and dark smoldering eyes, she can play aloof all day long and still the boys come running.





And lunging today. Look how ridiculously shiny Izzy's coat is, even just 24 hours after I clipped it. Crazy.

Izzy ran around and bucked like a maniac and rolled over about 6 times, but then she settled right down. Now we're really ready for winter.

The Great Helmet Debate

As I hope you all are aware, it is critical to replace your helmet any time you fall off and land on it. If you don't, it simply isn't protecting you.

As such, when I fell off and landed on my helmet, I went to replace it. First I went to my local tack store, but that was a massive fail (don't even get me started). I tried to order online with overnight shipping at two different retailers, but both were backordered for a couple weeks. Useless! My next move was to call Smartpak (yes, the number is programmed into my phone) and check their availability. They had the beautiful helmet I was eyeing and immediately sent it via three day shipping for a minimal charge.

Unfortunately, this process had been dragging out and I wanted to be back in the saddle. A fellow boarder had purchased a helmet in the wrong size and offered to sell it to me. Problem: it was the ugliest helmet I had ever seen:


Ugly or not, it was better than a broken helmet and cheaper than a permanent brain injury, so I gritted my teeth and bought it off her.

I continued riding in it until my lovely new helmet arrived.








Here it is! Charles Owen JR8. I actually ordered it in black, but they sent the black/charcoal, and it's pretty too.

Anyways, here is my problem. Now that I have the pretty helmet, I don't want to ride in it. I recognize that if I fall off, I'll have to replace it. I'd far rather break the hideously ugly helmet and have this...

Consciously, I know I should just get over it and wear the pretty one. That way I can punish myself for falling off by making myself wear the ugly one until a new pretty one can come. It's a good incentive. It even makes sense--wear the one you like, keep one in reserve.

I have only taken the pretty one out of the box to try on, though. I can't imagine getting it all dirty and yucky.

What to do?

Getting the Hang of It-My STP

Again, only time for a short ride on Izzy today (oh, and I haven't cleaned my tack in TWO DAYS. Such a rebel). Anyways. I'm working on doing lots of serpentines in walk and trot, specifically while opening my inside rein and pushing my hands forward. It seems like such a little thing, but since I had such a hard time with it over fences, I decided to break it down into chunks that I feel comfortable with.

Izzy is responding really, really well. She learns quickly and does seem to like going forward, despite not being an overly forward horse.

Actually... I'd say Izzy is a medium-forward horse. She goes forward willingly, but it's not her default gear. She's not an ambling lazy thing, but she's no upper level event horse, either.

Then we galloped. I guess I should clarify. To me, it feels like a mad, all-out gallop. It's probably just a respectable canter. At any rate, we'd shorten (via body aids) in the short ends and run down the long sides. Izzy really enjoys it and I do too... The more I move my upper body around in balance and really get comfortable in the saddle, the more fun I'm having.

For those of you that remember our whimsical adventure of a few weeks ago, rest assured: I haven't given up. My thinking is this: I need some time to rebuild my confidence with Izzy in our comfort zone, the arena. In that time, I'm emphasizing her forward cue--aka, you go NOW. I'm also riding other horses, which is helping me feel more confident as a rider in my ability to deal with all kinds of shenanigans.

Next week, I plan to corral someone with a solid trail horse and take Izzy out, first to the easy hack by the pastures and if that goes well, back up the mountain. I realized (after a long discussion with everyone's favorite Ellie) that most of the whole "riding outside" problem with Izzy is simply that she isn't educated to do it at all. It should be simple, but since it isn't, I need to give her a chance to learn and set her up for success. The same goes for me--I do not have the amazing riding foundation that Ruffles is getting by galloping around the countryside, so we're both on a sharp learning curve.

To infinity and beyond!

Rebuilding Confidence

Pony mare sporting her navy amigo blanket. Stupid old blanket was rubbing even with a shoulder guard on.


Due to some bad planning on my part, I had to abridge the morning's pony activities, which made for a short ride on Izzy. Good news, though--all I needed was a short ride.

I got on and focused on directing Izzy to do something. We started by walking figure eights to let her warm up a bit. Then we trotted serpentines, again, with me focusing on sitting up and riding. When Izzy tried to get looky about the spooky bush, I took her in should-fore with an open inside rein and made her stay off my inside leg around the whole corner. Ha!

And then it was off to the races. Not only do I need to get comfortable galloping, I need to teach myself to let Izzy maintain her own pace. As Steph says, "Let her take you there". So I did. I asked Izzy to gallop by sitting up and kicking (funny how much more precise that is than tipping forward and taking leg off, haha) and then I focused on balancing over my feet while she went forward. If she backed off, I'd send her more forward. I reminded myself that this was fun on the first lap... and then it actually was.

I always think of Izzy as not being a terribly forward horse, but the more we galloped, the more she wanted to. I'd ask for trot, and she wanted to just shorten her canter. Interesting. I'm excited to develop that more.

We finished up by jumping a 2' vertical a few times. I cantered in slowly, staring at the jump. Izzy halted squarely in front of it. "Right," I said, "I didn't actually want to jump it". I circled and came again, this time at a convincing canter. I thought about what I wanted her hind legs to do on the far side of the jump, and I kept my eyes focused two strides ahead.

Boom. Jump.

Once more to make sure it wasn't luck, and we had another good jump.

My takeaway is this: I am working towards being more decisive as a rider and allowing Izzy to do her job. That's why we gallop, that's why I sit up and kick, that's why I push my hands at the jump instead of take back. It's hard for me to process mentally, but I'm getting there. Izzy is being honest with me, but if I'm going to ride her, I need to want to. Period. No pointing at a jump and saying, "well maybe I think but ummmmm" and then expecting her to go.

Building Up

Here's the view from my saddle lately:

The lovable Foster, aka 'giant unbroke pony'.














Ms. Tatiyana, Steph upper-level prospect.







Both of these were taken in the arena, but have no fear boys and girls, I've been taking them out. Like in the mountains. Walking, trotting, cantering, doing stuff. I actually haven't ridden Izzy since Saturday (life and work getting in the way) but my butt has been in the saddle on multiple horses most days.

It's a good thing. Izzy and I have a long history together and we understand each other pretty well. Riding other horses forces me to, well, RIDE. I can't just tip forward and cluck to get Yana to canter--I have to sit up and kick. Other horses have other issues, but the important thing is that they're not -our- issues. I'm getting saddle time and working on stuff from our lessons on horses that I'm not used to. Specifically, on horses that are a little more generous in ways Izzy is simply not.

I realize it's not doing a whole lot for Izzy, but I think the variety is helping me. I have to just go saddle up a horse and ride it. No time to worry or build up stress or anything. Just go.

It's a stretch for me, but I'm enjoying it. What's more, I'm learning from it. I'll be back on the pony mare tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing how things are going to change for us.

On an unrelated note, it is SO FREAKING FUN to gallop a prelim horse up a mountain. Anyone want to buy Yana for me? I'm having a little love...

Notes and December Goals

I had another lesson on Saturday. It was one of the hardest lessons I have had in my entire life, and I am including the one where I fell off and broke bones.

It was over crossrails and I never left the saddle.

In an effort to quiet my upper body and encourage Izzy to use her body correctly, Steph had us do like a 10 meter trot circle over a 12" crossrail. I had to keep my inside rein open and both reins forward, pushing toward the jump. I had to keep Izzy out on the circle with my leg and keep my upper body absolutely still. That presented the jump to Izzy, but allowed her to stumble over it, take a flying leap, or jump from a normal distance. It gave me enough to think about that I couldn't anticipate, and it was fast paced enough that I was forced to trust that Izzy would actually jump.

As Steph kept saying, "trust her with everything except your hips". Ha!

We expanded the exercise to include a serpentine of crossrails, all with turns that were about the same or less than our initial 10m circle. Again, trusting Izzy with everything but my hips. Riding forward, pushing hands forward, never pulling back, never anticipating anything.

It seems ridiculous because it doesn't even sound hard when I describe it, right? The underlying problem is my confidence. I gain mental security by hanging on like a crazed monkey. I rationally understand that the "crazed monkey cling" is not accepted as riding protocol because it's counter productive, but that doesn't mean I can just switch to something more logical.

Even though I know I can generally stay on in good form when Izzy stops, even though I can ride her massive leaps most of the time, it completely TERRIFIES me to just let go and trust her to do her job. I don't know why--she's a very game jumper, she rarely stops unless I tell her to, and she's extremely honest. I don't understand this mental block, and I want to overcome it.

It's not as easy and concise as it sounds above. I spent the rest of the weekend wondering why I was even trying to do all this. I can merrily ride Izzy around and do dressage on her and never jump again if I want to. There is no one forcing me to jump anything. I don't have anything to prove to anyone, myself included. I don't know why I even want to event--I mean, if crossrails are scaring me, what do I think XC jumps are going to do?

The truth is, I'm not sure. I do know that if I quit jumping, I want it to be my choice made free of fear. I won't stop because it irrationally scares, though I probably would if it rationally scared me.

Honestly though, the last time we did the serpentine, I took a wider turn to the last crossrail, kept her straight between my hand and leg, and galloped forward. I saw her ears lock on to the jump. I have never felt more confident as a rider than when I pushed my hands into her mane as she lifted off right out of stride.

A dichotomy? Yes.






With that in mind, it's time to set December goals. I didn't have any goals for November because I didn't know how the month would shake out. Now I have things to work on outside of class, though.

1) Gallop on. I can get Izzy out in front of my leg; it's just that it takes me the whole arena at a gallop to do so. In light of that, I need to gallop or extend every time I feel her duck back.

2) Get comfortable. I realize that the point of working with a trainer is to challenge me, but I need to readjust some of my basic thinking. I will focus on staying light and balanced over Izzy and being comfortable with her moving at speed.

3) Press your hands. That's what Steph says to me every time we turn to a jump. The crazed monkey wants to grab the reins. What I need to do is put my hands on Izzy's neck and ride positively forward.

Jumping Lesson with PICTURES!!!

OMG. I am so excited to have fabulous jumping pictures. If you have a brain in your head, you're insanely jealous of my luck in having Ellie as a friend. She came out Thursday to take pictures of Izzy and I in the freezing cold and did an absolutely fabulous job, as per her usual.

Without further ado:


We came into the arena and immediately started galloping around. I'd shorten around the ends a little, then let her go really forward down the longer sides. I wanted her forward and in front of my leg.

Zoom zoom zoom!!










Then we started doing transitions to sharpen her up. Gallop. Halt. Trot. Leg yield. Gallop. Walk. I flexed my body left and right and remembered to stay light and balanced over her, using gravity to stay in the saddle instead of sheer deranged-monkey-grip.









Soft, forward, responsive. That's how we want to start a lesson. Look how shiny her browband is, too. Mmhmm. Someone broke out the brass polish this week.













And we're off! The exercise was a line of bounces. We were working on staying balanced and letting the horse do her job. We started brilliantly.










Then we had a little role confusion. Izzy says "OH MY GAWD that is big, mom".

Straightness. It's important.









Of course, if you miss your line in a grid like this, Izzy can jump pretty darned high. Look at us go! I'm absurdly proud of this picture, even though the reason we're jumping so high is because I screwed up.









Two things:

1) While not perfect, look how much better I'm riding. Amazing what lessons can do.

2) I actually don't mind how I look in breeches right now. Could be better, but has been worse. Winning!