Practice

I have some news pending on the health and soundness front, but am going to wait until after Tuesday to address them. 

Selfies

I took last Wednesday off to take Ashke to the chiropractor. Since I’m not supposed to ride after an adjustment, I asked Amanda if we could do a ride on Wednesday morning. She said yes, so we scheduled a lesson at ten. It was fun to be at the barn that early, to get to spend so much time with my horse and do it in the daylight. 

In our lesson, we worked on all of the things we’ve been focusing on. He was sticky to the right and his canter did not feel as good as it has in the past. In retrospect, he has been a bit sticky at the canter since I got back from Germany. Whatever he did in the stall to hurt himself (I found out part of it today) has had an effect on his body. After running through our exercises, and making him ride past the south end of the arena without flinching,  we ran through the Intermediate A test. He was solid. There were moments of greatness, like our medium trot on the diagonal from H to F. We both struggled a little bit running through the entire canter segment, and had to start over. I think part of the issue was he didn’t know what to expect was coming next and was trying very hard to do it before I had asked. Total overachiever. The second time was much smoother.

I know people always say not to practice the test too much, since horses will memorize the test and try to ride it by themselves? I think that horses find patterns in their lives: they are fed every day at the same time; we use the same steps when we groom them; we ride our arena rides the same and the tests do not change during the year. So yes, they are going to learn it. For Ashke, he likes knowing what to expect whenever we are working on a process, which I think has contributed to his being able to relax and dance with me. 

Thursday I had tickets to Black Panther with T and J. We had a good time, and the movie was fantastic. 

Friday I rode, mostly just walk-trot-canter in big circles to see how he was feeling. He felt really, really good. (There had been a rib out on the left.) And his canter was back to being normal. He told me he was feeling very good, so after an easy ride of 30 minutes, where I went back to my normal warm up routine of walking, then adding in trot, then finally moving to canter, which he was much happier about in his body, I put him away. We had a clinic at Circle Star Arena on Saturday morning, so I wanted him fresh.

It was about 40 when we got to Circle Star. We were supposed to ride first and we got there a little late. I just didn’t leave the house early enough. Ashke hopped on the trailer without any issues (I’ve changed how I am loading him and he seems much happier with it) and we ended up with about fifteen minutes to get ready. That meant we warmed up in the EOH course (which was still set up from the show in October) in the brisk morning air. To say he was a bit reactive and down right snotty would be an understatement. However. He was not as wary or spooky as he has been in the past. We had all manner of things outside the arena, like round bales on their side, pallets in uneven stacks, farm equipment and unused obstacle items. I walked him past all of that one time in both directions, assessed where the issues with the footing being slick might lie, and then we rode the course. In the past, he would have bulged away from the stuff outside the arena, but yesterday, all I had to do was touch him with the edge of my spur and he refocused on what we were working on. It was, hands down, the best EOH ride I have had to date. Expecting him to work regardless of what he is worried about in our home arena translated to him being focused and rideable yesterday.

The EOH course was one of the tightest, shortest courses I’ve ever seen. (It was not designed that way and in the bigger arena there would have been room between the obstacles for a decent line, but because of the footing in the big arena last October, the course was set up in a much smaller arena). And not fun to ride. Some courses, while technically challenging, are still fun to ride through, this one was not. There were two canter strides between some of the obstacles. And I hadn’t walked the course before, so the first two times through it I was still working the course out in my head. Even after that, there was one line I would have ridden better if I had had time to plan. Just something to note for the future. The second and third time through, we cantered where we could and cantered all of the obstacles. 

Things to note 

• Holding the pole upright along your leg is a much better option than trying to hold it below the point of the horse’s shoulder when going through obstacles.
• Look up at the next barrel when doing the Drums helps keep yourself centered in the pattern
• Looking down causes your shoulder to drop into the hole and pulls your horse in after you. 
• With changes through the walk, the pattern in the single slalom rides better as a series of ten meter loops, rather than tighter to the pole. Expect that and start the pattern that way.
• There was no hesitation at any of the obstacles. 
• Always execute a turn on the haunches when leaving the gate. 

I was very pleased and think we will be able to turn in a nice EOH ride at Expo. He is calm and focused and no longer trying to bull his way through. The slower pace and lack of tension helps us both be able to think our way through the course (this is a first, since I always feel like I am reacting to all the stimuli, rather than riding with a plan). 

Long’s Peak from Circle Star Arena

After my ride, I pulled Ashke’s saddle and threw on the BOT blanket to keep his back warm. There were two other riders who did the EOH course and then I got ready to ride my dressage test. The first test was not great, although Ashke gave 110%. I forgot to use my inhaler and by the time we were about half way done with the canter work, I was wheezing and gasping for air. CS ran out to my truck and grabbed my inhaler, since I was walking Ashke around, while I struggled to not pass out from lack of air. Our leg yield from X to H was horrid, but that’s because I completely forgot what came next when I hit X. I have been riding the trot circle so I am hitting center line a stride before X so our leg yield moves to the rail at X. My first ride I was completely unprepared due to lack of mental acuity and our leg yield was stiff and very steep. We got it done, but it wasn’t pretty. Our second ride through was much better, although we are struggling to make the 15m collected canter big enough (problems related to regular riding in an arena that is too small length wise and too wide). We waited until the other rides were finished and then rode the pattern one more time.

• I was very happy with the medium canter Ashke gave me, however I need to be aware of my hands and arms during that circle. It is hard for me to ride from a physical standpoint, and we are still developing it so I am a little out of balance for that circle. It will come, but it is something to work on with Amanda. The biggest issue is that I am bringing my hands up or dropping them too far and losing the bend.
• Our canter to walk transitions need to be stronger. He is adding trot steps in the test. We need to practice them more in our regular rides.
• His canter-walk-canter transition is much better going from the right lead to the left lead, with fewer if any trot steps
• More bend in the medium canter circle
• Geometry and size in the smaller collected canter circle.
• I need to slow down my thoughts, to slow down the test, and prepare for the next movement
• We did a great job using our corners.
• His turn on the haunches was very good - Amanda had us practice them around a cone in our last lesson, which really helped solidify the concept in Ashke’s head.
• His medium trot was fantastic, all three times, and I did a better job of keeping my hands still and just asking him to move forward. There is a distinct difference between the medium and the collected trot.
• There was a visible difference between medium and collected canter circles as well.

Belle 

“World’s Best Mouser”

Left four dead mice for the barn on Valentine’s day.

It’s hard to appreciate how wide this cat really is.

When we got back to the barn I put Ashke in his stall and went to find Amanda to give her a big hug. He’s so much better than we were six months ago and I believe we are completely capable of riding this level of test. I’m so much better than I was six months ago. I floated around the barn for the rest of the day. It was really worth the drive to get him out in a regulation sized dressage arena and on an Ease of Handling course.