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.
Showing posts with label moonblindness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moonblindness. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
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.
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.
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