Showing posts with label clinics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clinics. Show all posts
Monday, June 4, 2012
More clinic photos
I swear, I have got to get a hold of HG's camera or computer and figure out why her pictures are always so tiny. And the paint job on the candy cane jump? That's my handiwork. I'm dangerous with paint and tape.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Clinic Day 3
After spending time ruminating on the second day I went into the third with a change in attitude. I told Eric we needed to just go jump some jumps without pressure first, so Penny and I did so. Then I told him we need to just focus on a few crucial things, because if I have to think too much I over ride trying to do everything and then when I can't do it I get frustrated and break down. So, we worked on me keeping contact with my right hand (since it likes to go on vacation) and riding as quietly as I could. As a result, we were good. About halfway through Penny started bucking at canter transitions again, indication I was over riding. It is now really evident to me how quietly I need to ride her. I'm not entirely certain I can ride that subtly, but I'll try my best. At the end of our ride Eric said, "You know what you need to work on" and indeed I do.
I've decided I probably won't clinic with him again any time soon. I need Penny to be more amenable to the aids so I can do the exercises he sets without ending up with Pissed Off Pony. I've also learned the high pressure schooling situation is not for me at this time. When Penny and I have more experience then yes, I'd love to give it another try, because we'll get more out of it. For now though, low pressure.
I've decided I probably won't clinic with him again any time soon. I need Penny to be more amenable to the aids so I can do the exercises he sets without ending up with Pissed Off Pony. I've also learned the high pressure schooling situation is not for me at this time. When Penny and I have more experience then yes, I'd love to give it another try, because we'll get more out of it. For now though, low pressure.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday Pictures
Alas, I only have them this small.
Oh look, here's Penny being resistant and my arms seem to be frozen rigid.
Oh, this isn't too bad. Look who's being good. This picture does not make me cringe.
Back to resistance. But at least I have some bend in my elbows. Maybe they'll thaw sometime soon.
Ah! The elbows do bend! But, ack to the rest.
This isn't too horrendous, but we're not there yet.
Again, back to the resistance.
Finally! Still not as nice as when we're down with The Taskmaster though. Though, if I could get this consistently without effort I'd be happy.
Oh, this isn't too bad. Look who's being good. This picture does not make me cringe.
Back to resistance. But at least I have some bend in my elbows. Maybe they'll thaw sometime soon.
Again, back to the resistance.
Eric Horgan Clinic Day 2
I so wish I could get through an Eric clinic without having an emotional breakdown and masses of tears.
It's not because of Eric per se. It's just that I never ride as well as I think I should be able to. And my pony, oh, my pony. So awful. The pony that is absolute awesomeness over a stadium course or XC at a competition is horrendous when we're schooling in a pressure situation.
So yeah, it's totally my fault. Because I just clench harder and harder with my legs and that just pisses Penny off more and more. When we're competing I focus on two things: 1) stay on 2) steer. At home we're adding in: quality of canter, taking off at the right time, me not jumping ahead, noodle arms, relax the butt, relax the thighs, relax the shoulders. The more I have to think of the more determined I am to do them all and I end up turning into my best impression of a marble statue trying to ride.
So, the crying. Penny, last year right after St Johns decided she need to buck when she was asked to canter. Just one buck, every time. I got her saddle refit, vet work up, the whole nine yards and at this point it's behavioral. JM had almost broken her of the habit in the last few months, but she delivered it today with gusto. So there I am, trying to be awesome with the awesome pony and she's bucking. Okay, so she's just doing it when she starts to canter, I'm not going to sweat it, we're working on the problem. After like the 10th buck though, I was starting to get frustrated. Gosh darnit! Why the hell does she do this? What am I doing? God, I suck. We jumped our line and then she threw in this huge buck for no reason at all. Well, I had it and told her so in no uncertain terms. And then I burst in to tears, declared I was done for the day, dismounted and cried into Penny's mane.
In some ways, now that I'm thinking about it, that was a big moment for the two of us. Penny doesn't generally let me hug her, she's not big on affection. But she let me cry on her for a good five minutes, big huge sobs. She didn't move.
Eric came over and I have no recollection what he said. I cried myself out and got back on. And strangely... Penny stopped bucking. I don't know if it's because she'd finally found my breaking point. It's more likely that during the cry I cried all my clenched muscles out too. I stopped asking for as much, I just wanted a nice ride. And that's what I got, including a tricky rollback that she did like the awesome pony she is. Eric asked what had happened and I said "obviously, I need to have a mental breakdown to ride well." Not far from the truth though. When you're so at the bottom the only solution is to cry and be dramatic is there anywhere to go but up? Actually, I guess there is. There are those people that are just screwed up afterwards while I, on the other hand, get it out of my system and move on.
I gave myself permission to ride with longer reins and Eric said something about he wouldn't normally advise riding with reins that long, but I seem to be able to do just fine with them and I told him the longer I ride the happier she is. She does not like to be told what to do. Short reins are a little too much control for her. Yes, she needs to get over this, but we were just trying to survive the day on a good note at that point. (Actually, I'm just fine with being able to control her with long reins, but I understand the necessity of teaching her otherwise.)
At the end we were doing really well. She was quiet, I wasn't clenching, we'd refound our balance together. I suspect we'll lose it again for part of tomorrow.
It's not because of Eric per se. It's just that I never ride as well as I think I should be able to. And my pony, oh, my pony. So awful. The pony that is absolute awesomeness over a stadium course or XC at a competition is horrendous when we're schooling in a pressure situation.
So yeah, it's totally my fault. Because I just clench harder and harder with my legs and that just pisses Penny off more and more. When we're competing I focus on two things: 1) stay on 2) steer. At home we're adding in: quality of canter, taking off at the right time, me not jumping ahead, noodle arms, relax the butt, relax the thighs, relax the shoulders. The more I have to think of the more determined I am to do them all and I end up turning into my best impression of a marble statue trying to ride.
So, the crying. Penny, last year right after St Johns decided she need to buck when she was asked to canter. Just one buck, every time. I got her saddle refit, vet work up, the whole nine yards and at this point it's behavioral. JM had almost broken her of the habit in the last few months, but she delivered it today with gusto. So there I am, trying to be awesome with the awesome pony and she's bucking. Okay, so she's just doing it when she starts to canter, I'm not going to sweat it, we're working on the problem. After like the 10th buck though, I was starting to get frustrated. Gosh darnit! Why the hell does she do this? What am I doing? God, I suck. We jumped our line and then she threw in this huge buck for no reason at all. Well, I had it and told her so in no uncertain terms. And then I burst in to tears, declared I was done for the day, dismounted and cried into Penny's mane.
In some ways, now that I'm thinking about it, that was a big moment for the two of us. Penny doesn't generally let me hug her, she's not big on affection. But she let me cry on her for a good five minutes, big huge sobs. She didn't move.
Eric came over and I have no recollection what he said. I cried myself out and got back on. And strangely... Penny stopped bucking. I don't know if it's because she'd finally found my breaking point. It's more likely that during the cry I cried all my clenched muscles out too. I stopped asking for as much, I just wanted a nice ride. And that's what I got, including a tricky rollback that she did like the awesome pony she is. Eric asked what had happened and I said "obviously, I need to have a mental breakdown to ride well." Not far from the truth though. When you're so at the bottom the only solution is to cry and be dramatic is there anywhere to go but up? Actually, I guess there is. There are those people that are just screwed up afterwards while I, on the other hand, get it out of my system and move on.
I gave myself permission to ride with longer reins and Eric said something about he wouldn't normally advise riding with reins that long, but I seem to be able to do just fine with them and I told him the longer I ride the happier she is. She does not like to be told what to do. Short reins are a little too much control for her. Yes, she needs to get over this, but we were just trying to survive the day on a good note at that point. (Actually, I'm just fine with being able to control her with long reins, but I understand the necessity of teaching her otherwise.)
At the end we were doing really well. She was quiet, I wasn't clenching, we'd refound our balance together. I suspect we'll lose it again for part of tomorrow.
Eric Horgan Clinic Day One
Two years ago, when Penny had been under saddle about five months and she'd literally just started jumping the week before, we did our first clinic with Eric Horgan. We really weren't ready. He's been out twice since then, it was inconvenient for me to get to one, the other I was laid up from surgery. The stars aligned this time and I was easily able to get a ride for Penny back to where she used to live.
I was really apprehensive about our flat lesson today. Experience has shown me that Eric teaches things different than traditional dressage and I've been in DressageLand for over six months now. In DressageLand, leg goes on, head goes down. Eric's all about the "use the hands to soften the mouth." It was that philosophy that sort of ruined Penny and I, but I had been suspecting something had been lost in translation and I was right. Yes, he does advise the alternate hand (more wrist, but I can't use mine) movement for softening, but one uses it in a soft manner. Not with your reins cranked short and then pulling more. So, I was willing to introduce this back into my ride, because I knew squeezing the reins was not going to ruin my pony.
At one point early in the ride he asked if I was left handed. The answer is "no." And then he commented that I'm atypical, because I ride with a much stronger non-dominant hand, and that my right rein just kept getting longer, and longer, and longer. I then got to explain the nerve issues I have and that was likely the culprit and that while I can try my best to rectify the situation I can only ride as well as that days hands/arms will let me. Later on I was riding around with contact only with my right (outside) hand and my left hand was basically on the buckle. It was the only way I could keep it from getting involved.
Which reminds me of a problem I regularly have at physical therapy. My neck always wants to get involved if I'm doing an exercise that it can, at all, get involved with. Which is also a symptom of a larger problem I have, that was showing itself with flashing neon lights today: every cell of my body that can be involved with the ride is. Eric had to keep yelling at me to relax various body parts. Their default is clenched and tight. I really, really need to stop doing that.
I was really apprehensive about our flat lesson today. Experience has shown me that Eric teaches things different than traditional dressage and I've been in DressageLand for over six months now. In DressageLand, leg goes on, head goes down. Eric's all about the "use the hands to soften the mouth." It was that philosophy that sort of ruined Penny and I, but I had been suspecting something had been lost in translation and I was right. Yes, he does advise the alternate hand (more wrist, but I can't use mine) movement for softening, but one uses it in a soft manner. Not with your reins cranked short and then pulling more. So, I was willing to introduce this back into my ride, because I knew squeezing the reins was not going to ruin my pony.
At one point early in the ride he asked if I was left handed. The answer is "no." And then he commented that I'm atypical, because I ride with a much stronger non-dominant hand, and that my right rein just kept getting longer, and longer, and longer. I then got to explain the nerve issues I have and that was likely the culprit and that while I can try my best to rectify the situation I can only ride as well as that days hands/arms will let me. Later on I was riding around with contact only with my right (outside) hand and my left hand was basically on the buckle. It was the only way I could keep it from getting involved.
Which reminds me of a problem I regularly have at physical therapy. My neck always wants to get involved if I'm doing an exercise that it can, at all, get involved with. Which is also a symptom of a larger problem I have, that was showing itself with flashing neon lights today: every cell of my body that can be involved with the ride is. Eric had to keep yelling at me to relax various body parts. Their default is clenched and tight. I really, really need to stop doing that.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Robert Taylor Clinic
I can say with a fair amount of confidence that Penny probably isn't anemic anymore. I'll find out for certain soon (she got blood pulled yesterday.) Last weekend we went to a Robert Taylor clinic in ABQ. I really enjoyed the clinic. It was at just the right pace (lots of resting) for me and for my furry pony. Pony was full of energy, to the point that she was being fast to the point of almost scaring me. She's been really energetic lately and it was only this weekend that it occurred to me that lack of anemia is likely the reason. What it means for me is I'll be able to take her off the blood builder she's on, one less supplement to feed.
Back to the clinic: on Saturday we did stadium and the jumps stayed on the low side. Robert focused on basic issues that were affecting the whole of one's ride. The local pony club coach has been teaching everyone to keep their hands high, something that Robert said was okay for stadium, but not okay for XC. I have the opposite problem after all my months of dressaging. I'm just starting to bring my hands back up and had to really think about it when I was riding. Penny was a little scary. She spooked twice and threw in a really good buck. I stayed on. My friend that was riding with me said that Robert said a lot of good things about my pony, I couldn't hear because of the wind rushing past my ears as she galloped around. It again illustrated that Penny needs to listen to the bit better. She had her teeth done yesterday and there was enough amiss that her teeth could be the reason, we'll see on that one. I have my fingers crossed. Robert said I was a good rider, which was nice to hear.
XC was fun and Penny was raring to go. We did some of the novice fences and I think a training fence too. The big thing we worked on, and I'm so glad we did, were drops. They're the only thing that I'm nervous about, so getting some good experience with them was priceless. We also did a jump with a roof. R said that the horses don't care about them, the riders do, so just jump the fence like it's not there. Penny and I fought a lot. She wanted me to let her go, but I knew she'd take off at warp speeds, so I didn't. Hence, fighting. R told me I really just need to let her have her head, I know that. We don't have a problem when we're out on course, because she gets enough running to settle. Schooling, because it's jump the fence, stop, jump the fence, stop, was just pissing her off.
I feel confident going into the season. St Johns is in a little more than two weeks. Penny is home this week. She got vet stuff done yesterday and I clipped her and pulled her mane. The farrier should be out today to put shoes on her. She's back to Pony Boot Camp this weekend to get our dressage polished up and then off we go.
Did you know you can <a href="https://www.facebook.com/betterthanicecreampony">
like Penny on Facebook?</a> I think she needs legions of fans.
Back to the clinic: on Saturday we did stadium and the jumps stayed on the low side. Robert focused on basic issues that were affecting the whole of one's ride. The local pony club coach has been teaching everyone to keep their hands high, something that Robert said was okay for stadium, but not okay for XC. I have the opposite problem after all my months of dressaging. I'm just starting to bring my hands back up and had to really think about it when I was riding. Penny was a little scary. She spooked twice and threw in a really good buck. I stayed on. My friend that was riding with me said that Robert said a lot of good things about my pony, I couldn't hear because of the wind rushing past my ears as she galloped around. It again illustrated that Penny needs to listen to the bit better. She had her teeth done yesterday and there was enough amiss that her teeth could be the reason, we'll see on that one. I have my fingers crossed. Robert said I was a good rider, which was nice to hear.
XC was fun and Penny was raring to go. We did some of the novice fences and I think a training fence too. The big thing we worked on, and I'm so glad we did, were drops. They're the only thing that I'm nervous about, so getting some good experience with them was priceless. We also did a jump with a roof. R said that the horses don't care about them, the riders do, so just jump the fence like it's not there. Penny and I fought a lot. She wanted me to let her go, but I knew she'd take off at warp speeds, so I didn't. Hence, fighting. R told me I really just need to let her have her head, I know that. We don't have a problem when we're out on course, because she gets enough running to settle. Schooling, because it's jump the fence, stop, jump the fence, stop, was just pissing her off.
I feel confident going into the season. St Johns is in a little more than two weeks. Penny is home this week. She got vet stuff done yesterday and I clipped her and pulled her mane. The farrier should be out today to put shoes on her. She's back to Pony Boot Camp this weekend to get our dressage polished up and then off we go.
Did you know you can <a href="https://www.facebook.com/betterthanicecreampony">
like Penny on Facebook?</a> I think she needs legions of fans.
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