Things I Learned

So, the sidepass pole seems like such a simple exercise: one rides to the pole, positions themselves perpendicular to the pole and passes sideways over the length of the pole, with the pole positioned between the horse's front and rear legs, their legs crossing both front and back.

It's so much more than that . . . the poles should be approached at a canter at my level, on the correct lead so that the horse could perform the sidepass in a canter half-pass. It also means that if a rider approaches the sidepass in the parallel position, they should sidepass over the pole that relates to the lead they approach the obstacle on.

Here is a diagram to help visualize the movement.

Not only that, but in the approach to the pole, the horse should approach fluidly, without hesitation, and pass right over the pole. Ashke and I will need to work on it. I had never put together the idea that the lead dictates the pole you should cross over first. The position of crossing the pole should be the half-pass position - shoulder fore, bend in the direction of travel.

I also had a long talk with Ashke. I explained to him that just because I was scared to show, didn't mean that I didn't want to show. I asked him to stop hurting himself right before a show so that I had an excuse to not show. We have come so far in our journey that I want him to be able to show off all of the things he knows and we've learned. I told him I would work on not being afraid and he has to work on being strong, healthy, and capable so that he's not in pain when we are doing a show. 

At this show, there was a wooden gate which could be our nemesis if I am not careful. I made the mistake of riding on Wednesday night when I was tired, sick and pissed as hell at the management of the NWSS arenas (there were supposed to be clinics until late that night and instead, we were kicked out of the arena at 5 pm and there was nothing we could do about it). I shouldn't have been riding. Ashke picked up on my stress and anger and it made him less cooperative. Funny how anger heightens fear, makes us less willing to cooperate, less willing to compromise. CS had to tell me to ride away from the gate because I was beginning to damage my relationship with my horse. She was right and it was the best advice I got during that ride. We finally managed to complete the gate one time and I didn't try it again. Then he lamed himself on Thursday and the gate became a non-event.

To explain: at the level I am riding at, if I can't complete the obstacle, I am DQ'd. The gate is one of the obstacles Ashke knows, understands, and almost could do by himself. My destructive approach on Weds night almost ruined that for us. I was able to remedy the issue on Friday in a clinic, but it wasn't a good scene. Ashke, thankfully, has a huge heart and once he realized the rules had not suddenly changed and I was not demon possessed, he settled right back to his old form. Weds night I was still working under the impression that I was going to DQ at that obstacle.

I said something to the judge about my expectation that we would have really struggled to do the wooden gate. She said in that case I should just unlatch the gate, throw it open, ride through (it was reversed for Intermediate riders) and then latch it closed behind me. I could feel my eye widen and said "that won't DQ me?" She replied that it would be a negative score - most likely a 3 - but it wouldn't be a DQ. These little tips are why you clinic. . . .

The next thing I learned is that the judge counts strides in the obstacle for cadence, rhythm and distance. For example, the number of strides between the single slalom poles. If they are the same number, the score goes up, since that means the horse is striding equally between poles. The same thing applies around the double slalom, the drums, and the figure 8. It is a great indicator of whether or not the circles are the same size. In the figure 8, if one circle is ten strides and the other circle is seven strides, you can tell that the geometry of the circles will not be equal.

The final major thing we worked on was keeping control of the outside hind leg. This has been an issue for Ashke and I for a while now, although we work on it every ride. He has a tendency to swing his hip to the left (probably to protect his right hind) when we start our canter on the right lead. Amanda is constantly telling me to hold his haunches in when we are riding the canter. So, this was not new information, just a different way of looking at something we are already working on.

At the walk, I am really working on getting him to turn off my legs and seat, with minimal hand movement. We aren't ready to move on to practicing tight turns at the trot, but it is something I will continue to work on.

In summary, I think we are at a level that is appropriate for us. I am looking forward with excitement to the opportunity to continue to work on our canter with Amanda, and then transfer that information to the EOH course at our next show. I got lots of positive encouragement and feedback from the trainers and clinicians at Expo, and although Ashke was sore and tired by the end of Saturday (and Sunday) he was able to do most of what we were asking him to do. I could tell his right hind was beginning to struggle when we were making the right lead turns for the double slalom (and he was being incredibly spooky in the big arena due to the green cattle panels stacked against the rail). I was exhausted by the end of the day on Saturday and was not riding as effectively as I could have been. All that said, we have the potential to excel at this level.

It's amazing what a little success can do to both attitude and aptitude . . . .