A Training Update

8/5/2011

Not such exciting reading, but it helps me track my own personal dressage progress...

Speedy G - holy heck is he coming right along! Honestly, six weeks ago I was ready to ship him off. Something just clicked though and now we're really getting into the groove. Thanks to a tip from JL, the new trainer with whom I am working, I am able to maintain a steadier contact. Here's what she suggested: When he pokes his nose out, I make sure that "fence board" stays firmly in place. He doesn't get to pop his nose out. When that doesn't work for him, and he tries to suck back or get behind the bit, I just widen my hands to keep the contact steady. Sometimes this looks pretty awful and not at all "dressagey," but it does get the message across.

JL refers to the contact as a conversation. Speedy G and I are talking. When he pops his nose out or brings it behind the vertical, he's trying to avoid the conversation, so I have to do whatever it takes to keep him listening and talking to me. Not letting him escape the contact by being behind the bit has made a huge difference. He's still fussing, but it's much less and there are more and more moments where we're having a very intimate "chat."

Speedy's canter is also coming along. Some days there are bucks, like on Thursday, other times there's just a funny hop into the canter, and occasionally the upward transition is delightful. On Thursday he kept giving me a buck when I asked for canter to the left. I pulled him up firmly, told him wrong answer, and sent him back into the trot. It took three or four attempts, but eventually he cantered with just a hop up into the canter. I actually don't mind this for now since it feels as though he's pushing off from his hind end as opposed to falling into the canter through the buck. I could be wrong about this analysis, but that's what it feels like.

When we worked to the right, I got a beautiful upward transition that was well-balanced and soft. The return to trot was just as balanced and earned him many good boys! We then returned to the left where I got a pretty passable canter transition that was buck free. Again, lots of good boys and we called it a day.

Sydney - The first thing to note is that the Jekyll/Hyde thing hasn't shown up in quite some time which is a bit of a relief. There's been no more lunging, no side reins, and no wild galloping. I've also been doing ground work exercises with him - asking him to yield his hindquarters and turning to face me. When he's turned out and starts to get too wild, I just redirect him and send him the opposite way. It only takes a few turns and he starts to tip an ear my way. Once he's finished with the bigger gallops, I ask him to look at me before I put the halter on. Then I start moving his hindquarters away. He has picked up this "trick" very quickly and is very careful to keep his eyes on me. Clinton Anderson, of Downunder Horsemanship, refers to it this way, "Two eyes are better than two heels." I agree.

Under saddle, Sydney has started to develop some respect for my left leg. I can now push him off of it without too much effort. We do the "look at my knee" exercise where I bend him around towards my knee until I feel him soften through the neck and jaw. Then we move back out away from the leg. This exercise has helped tremendously. The problem I hope to work on during Friday's lesson is getting him a bit lighter in my hand. Man, he was h-e-a-v-y on Thursday. So much so that my triceps were sore when we were finished.

Sydney doesn't try to avoid the contact like Speedy does. He just leans into it. Since we're still getting to know each other, I've been reluctant to really get after him. JL showed me some good exercises on Monday that helped move him off my leg. I had to get pretty firm with him, and it gave all three of us a few scary moments. Once he knew that I meant business, his panic subsided and he found the release. I am hoping that during our Friday lesson, JL can give me some tips for getting him off my hands. He's simply too big for me to carry around. But really, aren't they all?

So that's our status update. Overall, Speedy G is more readily accepting the contact, and Sydney is learning to move away from my leg. I feel happy with the direction we're heading.

Cha Ching's Mom

8/5/2011 12:27:22 am

Yes, I would say that you are moving along nicely! And you didn't mention that you have not even taken Speedy out for a lesson with JL! And most importantly, you are enjoying both of your horses. And that is what it is all about!

Karen Sweaney

8/5/2011 12:34:13 am

Aw ... thanks! Yep, we are having fun. :0)

Val link

8/5/2011 12:52:46 am

I love training updates! Not boring at all. It is a great opportunity to ride two contrasting horses and I enjoy your candid descriptions!

About the heaviness with Sydney. I have found that there are a couple reasons why horses go heavy in the contact:

1) not strong enough to carry themselves yet

2) too much push from behind relative to what they can carry

3) rider aids push the horse onto his shoulders asking him to be heavy

The first two are pretty normal and a part of the training process. Slowing the tempo, transitions, turns, and reinback will help. The horse is heavy but he is trusting the hand, so the rider has to be careful to preserve his trust while teaching him to carry himself more.

The last one is a training error. I rode a very large mare who was very heavy for several years. I used to have to lift weights to ride her. It was a long time before I realized that I had been taught to push her into this heaviness and she had been taught to go there. Just be sure that you are not being taught to put Sydney there. It is a bear to untrain/unlearn, so I thought it worth mentioning as you start with your new heart horse.

8/5/2011 06:00:17 am

Val, Thanks for the feedback. Sydney was a racehorse for his first several years and a hunter/jumper for several years after that. As a result, there are many things that he does really well, and other things that he's just not been taught. It's been a challenge to ride him in some respects because he does so many things so well! So when something isn't going well, my first thought is that it's my problem - something I'm doing incorrectly. I suspected I was experiencing problem #3, but JL showed me an easy fix. Whew! It wasn't really ME after all. :0)

During today's lesson, JL was impressed with how successfully I was able to "perfect" the exercises she showed me just a few days ago. Since we had those things down, we were able to work on the heaviness to the right. Fortunately, it's not me. Or at least not be forcing him to be heavy. All it took was more bend in my elbows and a firmer "rocking" motion with my inside rein. By the lesson's end, Sydney was rhythmical and soft and working very nicely between my legs (not drifting out, not falling in). I am writing about today's lesson as a blog post for sometime this week. It will be an update to an update!

Karen

Mia

8/5/2011 09:09:23 am

i love the training updates! You could even go into a more detail about the exercises (the how's and why's) your working on.

Great post, as usual!

8/5/2011 09:22:32 am

Mia, Thanks for the comment! Actually, I just finished a post for later this week (or sooner!) doing exactly what you suggest. It's a pretty detailed post about the hows and whys! I can't say that it will be interesting to read, but it was very helpful to write it! I am the kind of learner who needs to say or write down the concept to better understand. I am not very kinesthetic! Just doing doesn't help me understand. Hence the blog! When I write it down and read it back, that's when I get the AHA! My Update to the Update post has two AHAS! Hopefully you'll read something interesting. :0)

Karen

martina Peterson

8/5/2011 02:03:06 pm

Karen, I'm really enjoying reading about your riding experiences and the comments of other riders as well. I'm trying to learn more about your sport. As a non horse person it is hard to understand the intricasies of your skills but some of it does sink in. I love horses and want to learn more even though I no longer ride. Your horses are so gorgeous and sweet tempered. KKeep up the good work and I apreciate your daily informative updates. Mom

8/5/2011 11:32:31 pm

Mom, I am glad you're finding the posts interesting. You should probably like Saturday's post since it has pictures of Speedy G being his normal, dorky self! Love you!

Kendal

8/6/2011 03:29:08 pm

Hey Karen,
Great post and sounds like you all are making some great progress! I was jealous of you- until today when I got my AHA moment. :)
I had a very heavy horse with a neck like a band of iron (that was going like an out of control train) at my last schooling show. Every week my trainer and I try different techniques to work on Boo and I getting on better and better. This week we worked on getting her to give that band of iron neck to me.
My job was to [have rhythem and] turn the neck towards the bend and then release. It was easy at the walk, ok at the trot, ok at the canter. By the end of the lesson, I felt much more confident about her listening to me and working within the parameters I set.
I haven't gotten updated on all your posts, but I too would like to get more information about the exercise you are working on with Sydney. Take Care!

8/6/2011 11:51:58 pm

Kendal, I love AHA moments more than anything else so I am so glad when other people get them too. Unfortunately I don't get as many as I'd like, but they make riding work. If we never had them, we'd go around making the same old mistakes over and over again.

My blog post for 8/7/11 describes some of the exercises that my trainer is showing me. It sounds as though your trainer had you do at least one of them for your AHA moment. You said she had you turn the neck towards the bend and release. That is was JL had me do as well. She calls it rocking instead of turning. With the established rhythm, simply rock the rein backwards and forwards through your elbow and shoulder. If the horse is really stiff, the rock needs to be pretty big. Once the horse starts to soften, the rocking softens as well.

In Sydney's case I only rock one rein. If he won't bend right, I hold the outside rein steady, and I rock the inside rein. To the left, if he is falling in a little, I rock the outside rein and use my inside leg. If he's falling in still, I pick a rock or something else to look at and I make a small circle around it. I keep his nose looking right at the rock and I bump him out, out, out, with my inside leg. I also keep the inside steadily bent to keep him looking at the rock. Once he's staying off my inside leg, I reduce the bend and let him make a bigger circle.

If that doesn't soften him, I come back to the walk and tug his nose to the inside to look at my knee. No inside leg, just out side leg to make him walk, and inside rein tugs and releases until I feel him "give." If he's feeling worried, he doesn't care for this exercise, but I just persist. Once he relaxes and gives, I release.

JL says that when they're stiff, you have to find a way to unlock them. That might mean riding with a counter bend and then gently allow for straightness again. Or rocking the stiff side. She says that the rocking motion lets them know that you aren't going to hang on the rein. You will soften as they do which is how they get the release.

It's hard to publicly write because readers who don't know me might get the wrong impression of me. I am not a professional rider and my description of balanced and soft is what you'd expect from a training level horse, not a horse at 4th level. So when I say soft, it's soft for the lower levels. I am simply sharing my experiences in hopes that other riders like me might read something helpful. Please feel free to share!

Karen

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Not-So-Speedy Dressage