A Much Happier Day

Today I was determined to stay friends with Cruz and I succeeded. It was a windy day so I stayed in the upper two thirds of the arena to save any distractions for him, since he was threatening to be distracted and I wanted to keep things calm and concentrated.

I worked him long and low in walk and he bent fine to left and right, as he did in trot. I cantered him first on the right lead, a couple of times, and then walked on a long rein to take a break. I didn't want him anticipating left canter and getting worked up ahead of time, which he does very easily.

So when I asked for the left canter lead a few minutes later, he stayed straight and slightly bent to the left. I was careful not to ask for too much bend. I patted him like crazy afterwards, then worked on the right rein in trot, and the left. I found that if I now kept the right (outside) rein consistent and vibrated/squeezed the left rein he reacted well. I cantered him one last time on the left rein and Cruz was willing to give a little bit more. He still threatened to throw his head up, but I managed through squeezing the left rein to prevent it and have him give in gracefully. I stopped right there.

Big pats, time for a wash down followed by tea and turn out.

I hope tomorrow's lesson goes as well. I also hope my son Ross passes his driving test. He has to wait another three months otherwise, as Maryland law has changed.

A royal disagreement!

On Saturday Cruz decided that he was NOT going to bend left in left canter. He was very happy to bend to the right, even in counter canter, but not to the left. I must have ridden him for two hours in the rain, trying to find a way for him to accept the left bend. He finally agreed to bend left if I rode him long and very low, but as soon as I asked him to hold himself even a little higher, it was all over.

I was worried about what the neighbors thought, watching me turn him in left circles and pushing my left leg into him about every two minutes!

Because of all this, he did some fairly decent leg yields as long as I rode him straight, not bending to the left!!

So I ended being satisfied with those, although really frustrated over the left canter. It seems to rear its ugly head every so often. Cruz does find it difficult.

Sunday I was off in Norfolk at a Barnes & Noble book fair, so he had a day to recover, together with a lot of arnica. Today I lunged him, reeling him in more and more on the left - but still not particularly short - and he gave me grief about that left lead in canter again. Eventually he gave in, and I stopped. But it took a long time. I hope I can ride him tomorrow in a more friendly manner, the way I did at the show after a bad day on the eve of the competition. He seemed to agree to a truce that day: I'm looking for that tomorrow! We'll see.

A Lesson Learned!

Yesterday I took Cruz for another dressage lesson. Although it would be nice not to have to trailer him for my weekly kick up the posterior, it is useful for him to travel so consistently. I no longer worry that it'll take an hour or more to get him into the trailer, which is how bad he used to be.

Our big bugbear right now is bending, especially to the left. Yesterday I was pushed into making him bend left, even if it meant having to exert a LOT OF HEAVY repeated left leg and left rein to make him give in.

I was given a useful exercise to get him to cross over laterally and get me to put that lifeless left leg of mine on his side. Do a canter leg yield on the left lead, then bend left and go into trot before the end of the long side. Come round and perform left leg yield then canter before the end of the long side. Repeat three times. By the end of the exercise Cruz was yielding gracefully to the left, and I was keeping my left leg on him better. We obviously did the same on the right leg, but without the same fights! Any time we were on the left leg and Cruz gave me 'no' I had to turn him left and really kick with my left leg a couple of times before he gave in. Then he got a big pat and went on our merry way.

We also performed counter-canter circles in both directions with him looking outwards to get him realizing how easy the correct bend is! He was exhausted afterwards and very happy to march onto the trailer and go home!

Today he gets off - he's worked for seven days in a row because of the show and the lesson, and deserves a break.

CD's eye is weeping again, although it's not sensitive to the touch. So I'm using the cortisone cream again and stepping up the homeopathic treatment, in case the trauma is threatening another ERU episode. I really hope not.

The Show Results Are In!

Yesterday was a good day. I managed to watch a friend ride her new mare at Training Level for the first time, and was able to read her first test. She did really well. The mare is very forward going, so my friend is being careful not to sit deep in the saddle yet. But they got good scores for both their rides.

I went home to fetch Cruz, who behaved really well. He warmed up without a trace of tension or resentment after our less than happy session at home the day before. I tried hard to use my inside leg every time I asked for a bend left or right, and be soft with the hand asking for the bend. Cruz was a trooper and gave in graciously. His canter strike offs were great, as well.

But my stirrups were, once again, too long!! One of these days I'll be relaxed enough not to have to shorten them a hole at a show.

I worked him in the indoor and walked him outside alternately, and took him round the ring during the lunch break. He was very calm, and did a good first test (First Level 1). The only really bad movement was the rising trot on a long rein: I got a 5, which is sad, as we've got 8s before, and that score is multiplied by 2.

The rider between that and my next test was a no-show, so they wanted me to go straight back in. I hadn't practised my leg yields. So I rode to the indoor, and immediately asked for trot, and a left and right leg yield.
They were brilliant!

So of course, in the test the right leg yield was horrible! I can't have set him up correctly for it. But I took a deep breath, straightened him up, and got a clean canter strike-off to the left. I've never been able to salvage the canter and ensuing 15 meter circle after a bad leg yield. So that's a big plus. The left leg yield was pretty good, and I got the canter fine afterwards. We've made progress.

Still got a 5 for the stretching trot circle. Need to work on that. I also need more submission. I took Cruz back to the indoor and asked for the right leg yield again. He was suddenly a lot softer than before, and gave me an exceptionally nice one. I was told by the judge not to bend him inwards so much for the leg yields. She also said that he would have gone better in a third test. If we'd had more time to prepare for the second test, he may have been really submissive before I went in. Maybe this points to taking even longer to warm him up before his next test.

But I got a 7 for my riding (x 3) on both tests, which was a huge improvement on the 5 I got last time! Final results were 64% and 62.5%. There were three people riding at First Level: me, the no-show and myself. So I got a first and second place ribbon, plus a PVDA medal.

I celebrated with a venti frapuccino chai tea at Starbucks and sat outside in the sun doing the crossword. Embarrassingly I was late for afternoon Mass, but a friend sat with me and made me feel better.

A good day, and I'm really feeling that Cruz and I have made a small, but significant breakthrough.

He was also very co-operative on the lunge today. I would normally have given him the day off, but I have a lesson tomorrow and Sharon asked me to exercise him even though he was just at a show. He moved well, and I didn't push him for long.

So we're good friends, still, and I so hope we can move onto the exercise leading into half-pass tomorrow. Then I'll really feel we've moved forward!

P.S. CD's eye is doing much better. He's not so sensitive about my touching it to put cream in, and he's also keeping it open. I'm continuing with the homeopathy for a few more days until he seems out of danger. I don't want this episode to set off another outbreak of moonblindness because of eye trauma.

A Scary Interlude

Yesterday I was trailering Cruz to a lesson. En route I had to brake (luckily not for an emergency stop) and my foot depressed almost to the floor before anything happened. Even then, the stopping power was negligible.

I was on my way and decided to continue, thinking that I only needed to adjust the setting of the electric brake box linking to my trailer's brakes. When I got to a quieter part of the route I played with the settings, but that made no difference.

I forced myself to concentrate on the lesson, then worry about the brakes on the way home.

During the lesson I was made aware of how little my left leg does. I need to keep my left calf on the horse, which putting my whip in my left hand will help.

We worked on leg yields, which we both find difficult to the right, as Cruz doesn't move off my left leg. Not surprising as I've never really asked him to! He got pretty pissy when I insisted, both in trot and in canter, but we got through the "no way am I doing this, mom" barrier and developed some exciting bend and thrust in both gaits. My homework is clear! I need to work on it today without upsetting Cruz as we have a show tomorrow, First Level 1 and 2. All I want is NO BLOW UPS during the test. Total submission would be a terrific bonus, too!

Anyway, I started off home, with my brakes soft and virtually non-existent. I got pretty scared, and drove ultra cautiously, keeping a good distance between me and the vehicle in front, and slowing down early for approaching downhill slopes.

As soon as I'd unhitched the trailer, I drove my Expedition to the auto mechanic, who is thankfully very close to my house. He's also next to the dog grooming parlor, so I took my Border Collie, Ruggles aka Fatso, to get his hair shaved off, as he's getting hot and bothered this summer. So I killed two birds with one stone.

It turned out that some screw or other had got grungy or loose or something. It was quickly fixed  at no charge (hurray!) and I drove home with real brake power. I now don't have to try and beg, borrow or steal a towing vehicle for the show tomorrow!

Wish me luck and I'll write an update tomorrow evening.

An Interesting Day

The day began with Starbucks, which is always a good thing. A friend passed through, who had to have a terminally ill horse put down this morning, a tough thing to experience. But she was also going to look at a new horse this morning. He looks like a sweetheart and I hope he's a match.

I managed to finish the crossword - also a good thing. I then put a second dose of ointment in CD's eye. He's looking so much better: the eye is less swollen, less painful and he's keeping it open. He doesn't enjoy my messing around with it, which is understandable. Because the pupil is dilated through the Atropine, I kept him inside with completely closed doors. He was happy as long as he had something to eat all day long. He's a very easy going horse.

At 11:00 went to the funeral of a horse neighbor's mother. It was my first time at a Methodist service and with a woman minister. It was very moving and especially poignant because my father died on the same day - 14th September - nineteen years ago. Father Dan gave me the cross from the altar after the Mass on Monday, as a great friend had told him that it was my father's anniversary.

Also at the service the same Psalm 23 and the Gospel, about there being many rooms in My Father's house, were included as at my father's funeral. Of course, I cried.

So it was great to ride Cruz in the afternoon. I have a lesson tomorrow so decided to ride until he got loosened up. I worked on collection and extension for a while, and then Cruz suddenly gave in his back. For the first time (with him) I was able to sit quietly with my legs long. It felt fantastic! So I now have what looks like a system for loosening him up. Cesar said yesterday that we should do this.

I have a show on Sunday. I don't know if I can reproduce the same on the day, but I'm going to try!

Dr. Cesar Parra's Dressage Clinic

Yesterday and today I audited Cesar's dressage clinic at my instructor's barn - Sharon Myer's Chimney Hill Farm. As always, he was very informative, interesting and amusing! Cesar comes up with great anecdotes to prove points he's making.

Here are some of the things he is keen on/exercises he uses:

1.  Bend inwards - exaggerate this while warming up the horse.
2.  Work very long and low at the beginning to stretch the horse. This may initially be a little painful, as for people, but the horse works through the pain barrier and becomes looser and freer.
3. When walking after the first warm up phase, keep the horse on a reasonable contact. He's not worked hard enough to be really listening to the rider, and is still easily distracted. Also, keep him busy, even now. Bend him left and right, walk in circles, left and right, to keep his mind on the job.
4. Concentrate on one higher level movement per riding session (unless you have a show that weekend and need to put it all together) so the horse remains fresh and not mentally overloaded.
5. The horse can't stay up and round for long periods of time (another reason for 4. above) so don't spend too long in that frame. Give the horse frequent breaks.
6. When working on a tougher movement, do it three times then let it go! Tomorrow is another day.
7. If the horse misbehaves, GO FORWARD. Don't stop and regroup, go forward and regroup. Also, use the inside leg to get the horse's attention while bending him inwards if he's being difficult (threatening to buck, etc.) and if you get the poll up he cannot buck. Be quick to forgive and relax again as soon as the horse submits.
8.GREAT EXERCISE TO INTRODUCE TROT HALF-PASS:
Trot across the diagonal, come away from the long side in leg yield exaggerating the outside bend like crazy. From the short side go up the center line, still bent (now it's the inside) and push the horse over in half-pass.
Same works for canter half-pass.
9. Cesar addressed the issue of a horse not wanting to work harder once the long and low phase is over. He says none of us wants to work harder, but we need to in order to attain our goals. Also this is a reason not to overdo the tough stuff in any given session.
10. Emphasizes value of prayer and singlemindedness in achieving goals.

Let's see if I can reproduce that at home by myself!

Sunny September Sunday

Last night I was up till 3 a.m. revamping my blog page, checking my book sales and creating links to and from my ebook publishing page. That is when I discovered a review of my book The Horse Bumbler: Getting It Right By Mistake. This lady is truly annoyed with me! I'm a 'spoiled brat' and she 'feels sorry for my husband.'  She unfortunately didn't finish the book, otherwise she may have felt differently. But it was a great lesson for me: not everyone is going to like Bumbler and as an author I have to learn how to deal with adverse reactions. As a Christian I'm obliged to turn the other cheek, anyway.

So how fantastic that Cruz suddenly went super soft and round and supple for me today! I felt like a true dressage rider. When I create a forward going walk from the start, as my instructor says, Cruz develops  a wonderfully energetic stride and moves straight with the same evergy level when I ask for his first trot. His canter work to the left was as good as to the right, too.

Another bug bear of mine is the ubiquitous leg yield. I know the theory - keep him straight, supple and on the outside rein, develop a good forward going trot. But I've tended to panic over the lateral thing and sit crookedly in my attempts to push the horse over. My latest tactic has been to incorporate a leg yield when I feel he is ready (and I can sit in balance) and not perform more than two at a time. I.e. not make a 'thing' out of them. The result has been great. Cruz stayed balanced and moved forward and laterally with smoothness and ease.

I ended the sesson on a high. Cruz is also snorting during his work,which  indicates that he is feeling better about dressage, too.

Back in the Saddle after Two Days Off

The past few days have been spent anxiously awaiting a call from my farrier. I missed the last appointment, so it was my own fault that I had three horses overdue for shoeing for more than a week! So after that last great lesson when it rained non-stop and I was worried about the shoes, I didn't ride.

But the farrier came yesterday - hurray! And it stopped raining today - hurray again! Not only that, but my  arena had dried out sufficiently to be rideable. So I was able to get on my horse again, which is a good thing as we have a show coming up next weekend. He was well-behaved for a Thoroughbred cross who had been off work for more than 24 hours.

Cruz was a little unhappy with his left canter lead, but surprised me by being balanced and co-operative again when I did that counter canter exercise. I have aspirations to enter a Second Level test before the end of the year, and already the lowest level one needs a serpentine in counter canter with three loops. Now I feel that maybe - just maybe - we'll sneak that test in before the end of 2009. Even if we don't quite make it by then, I still know that it's not an unrealistic goal for the near future.

I was very proud of Cruz for having such a great attitude. He's got a decent shoulder-in and we're working well on walk to canter strike-offs. Now I need to quietly and clearly teach him to back up without making him anxious or think that I'm going to ask him to back up every time we halt. I'm learning that he listens much more than I've given him credit for. And he's always so cuddly after exercise.

Another good day!

A great dressage lesson!

Yesterday I took Cruz for a midday dressage lesson. He'd had the previous day off, because he's due for shoeing and I wanted to make sure his shoes were O.K. for my first lesson in a month.

He was an absolute star. As usual I needed to work on using that right rein, which he has trouble accepting and which is essential to keeping him straight. He bends nicely to the right, but has difficulty to the left, going out over the shoulder because I don't support him enough with the right/outside rein.

But boy, once he straightens out and all his pushing power propels him forward, what a different horse he is! It's really exciting to ride him when his back gives and he's motoring. Looking in the mirror, I see a horse with great presence.

He still tries to put his head up when I go down the long side, and I have to concentrate on 'riding every stride' instead of thinking "ah! I got it!" and relaxing too much. That's the moment Cruz is looking for and he's so very good at taking advantage of the loophole I'm giving him.

I'm taking a long time to accept just how hard I need to work to get results!  My instructor told me to ask for energetic walk right from the start, and encourage Cruz to loosen up.

We did a new exercise to loosen his back in canter. Just as in trot, he has a hard time bending to the left on the left rein. So my instructor had me canter on his good lead, the right, do a loop and come back to the track half way down the long side, counter canter in a shallow loop, then continue on a twenty meter circle in counter canter, asking for bend to the left - while making sure to keep my left leg back and more weight on my right (inside) hip. Although he found it difficult, Cruz was very obliging and tried his heart out. When we did this on his left (bad) lead and came back  to true canter, he found it so much easier than counter canter, that he performed a beautiful, rhythmic and balanced left lead canter. I was thrilled with him!

So now I have my homework before my next lesson.

Making friends with my horse again

It's sometimes hard to understand the difference between total commitment to a goal and overworking it.

My aim this year, as a dressage rider who bred and trained her own horse, was to move up from First to Second Level. In pursuit of that I forgot that Cruz Bay, who is the beautiful boy in the photo with me, and the son of the most wonderful mare in the universe, is a horse. He's not a machine, he used to event with me and enjoyed it. He's asking why he only gets to go into the riding arena every day instead of going on trail rides and jumping sometimes, too.

We had one good show out of three this season, when he finally got to warm up on grass. He even gave a little buck of joy! We won that class with high marks, but bombed at the next one.

I went home with my tail between my legs. Then I asked myself why we'd done so well two years ago, winning every show we went to. The answer seemed simple. That amazingly successful year, Cruz and I had been through a lot, but included in his daily routine was lots of jumping and trail riding. Fun stuff.

I also used to ride him in a happy mouth, which I'd changed for a double-jointed French snaffle for more leverage. My spurs were now longer with rowels, too.

Now I've put the happy mouth back in, and am wearing the short spurs. Cruz and I have a jumping session once a week, and go on weekly trail rides. We're working hard at that dressage, too. But I'm back to having fun with my horse again, and being friends with him.

My riding seems to have improved. I'm more relaxed now, and quieter in the saddle.

I have a show on 20th September. Let's see whether we do better this time.

If anyone has had similar experiences with their horses I'd love to hear about it!