Last night was the first ride/lesson after the show on Sunday. I had decided to give Smash Monday off for some R&R and when I showed up Wednesday evening she was definitely well rested! Once I finally got her to stand still long enough to tack her up we went in search of Steph. We ended up sharing the lesson time with another boarder for her first experience going XC and I was happy for the company.
We warmed up in the field and then started our lesson around the show course that was still up. Basically my routine was to jump the BN fence I jumped on Sunday, then loop back around and jump the Novice fence at each station. I accidentally jumped the Training log for jump 1 - whoops - but in my defense the first jump was small and the Training jump really was more of like a Novice height. Jump 2 was the red barn - no problem! Jump 3 were rails. I had to do that one twice because I looked down a little the first time so it wasn't as good as it should've been. Then we mixed things up. I trotted over the bigger ditch to the lattice I jumped Sunday going the opposite direction, looped around to the Novice downhill fence and then back to jump over a Novice feeder. It was awesome!
We worked on the bank a few times before then jumping the BN feeder backwards, to the BN rolltop backwards, to the Novice bending line question. We had to do that a few times since turning was posing to be a slight challenge. It helps to use your legs ;)
Across the street we went to the green rolltops. I jumped the BN rolltop and then around to the Novice green rolltop. Had to do that one a few times since I felt the need to stare at the jump too much. It's GREEN and had leaves in it! I can't help it! Off to the water we went where we did the bank there into the water and over the Novice and Prelim logs!
I ended with a Novice rail jump to the water that I had to do a few times because I didn't get my leg on in the right way at first.
It felt absolutely AMAZING to be doing the Novice course so soon after the show! I thought we'd need to ease into it but I found myself eager and ready to do more and more Novice fences! Steph thought it was funny how just a week ago she was encouraging me to go over the BN fences and now here I was asking to do bigger and harder jumps! Kind of funny how dramatically I've changed over a month but I LOVE it!
I also can't help thinking having another student ride with us may have also encouraged me to be braver (strength in numbers??) but I'll take what I can get ;)
Next week - DRESSAGE! The Official Sport of the Summer! ...and to help get me into a high standing right off the bat in the August Event so I don't have to pray for knocked rails or refusals in Stadium/XC for the other riders ;)
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Waredaca Unrecognized Event 6-24-12
Yesterday was the BIG DAY! Time for all of my practice schooling xc and stadium fences to pay off and pay off it did! Once we got to Waredaca we loaded up all of the tack and took it to the Red Barn since we'd be keeping Smash there all day and out of the heat. We checked out the XC course and I only had a few new jumps to remember since my first walk through around the field on Wednesday. I was feeling really confident about both jump courses and just had to take time to focus on my dressage test once I got tacked up and ready.
Finally it was time to get Smash and tack up. She was pretty up when I got on. I had to really work on riding her from her hind end while also not letting her be too distracted by everything going on or running through my hands. Here's the video for my dressage test. We got a 38.5 - a lower score for me than usual, but the comments on the test were mostly positive.
After dressage, we gave Smash a short break and sponge off before tacking her up again for my Mom's rides. Smash was getting bored with dressage - I could tell by my Mom's second test - but she was hanging in there! She and my Mom had 2 great rides! Once she was done we put her in a stall to have some down time while I grabbed a snack and watched a few Stadium rounds. The BN course was different from Wednesday's schooling show course. At first I was a little disappointed because I was looking forward to dominating it again - but the revisions actually made the course easier so who am I to complain? There was a big wait for stadium. They got a tad bit behind which was slightly annoying since my warm up took exactly 3 min. but thankfully Smash was still game for our round. We knocked 1 rail - boo - but honestly it wasn't too bad and I was still really happy about our round!Here is my stadium round from the camcorder and here is the stadium round from my helmet cam perspective.
Then it was right off to XC! I know Smash was excited and she knew exactly what was coming up when we entered the warm up area because she FLEW around the course!! I had to just sit and half halt the whole time! She finally started to get tired by jump 13 - but by then we only had water and the final jump to do so I pushed her on. You can watch the video HERE.
At the end of the day I was VERY pleased with our efforts! Not only did we accomplish my goal of completing the event in its entirety without getting eliminated but we also got 4th place!! :D A ribbon! I couldn't believe it! All the hard work paid off! And I felt like we had an easy ride despite the rail in stadium. Our next goal is Novice by November's unrecognized event! I'm contemplating a recognized show at BN (those usually have a few more elements like a 2 strided line in stadium and a down bank with potentially a strided line in XC) but I'm not sure yet. Gotta check the checkbook first! Until then Smash will get some rest (as will I!) and we'll work our way up to Novice! Such a GREAT day for everyone!
Finally it was time to get Smash and tack up. She was pretty up when I got on. I had to really work on riding her from her hind end while also not letting her be too distracted by everything going on or running through my hands. Here's the video for my dressage test. We got a 38.5 - a lower score for me than usual, but the comments on the test were mostly positive.
After dressage, we gave Smash a short break and sponge off before tacking her up again for my Mom's rides. Smash was getting bored with dressage - I could tell by my Mom's second test - but she was hanging in there! She and my Mom had 2 great rides! Once she was done we put her in a stall to have some down time while I grabbed a snack and watched a few Stadium rounds. The BN course was different from Wednesday's schooling show course. At first I was a little disappointed because I was looking forward to dominating it again - but the revisions actually made the course easier so who am I to complain? There was a big wait for stadium. They got a tad bit behind which was slightly annoying since my warm up took exactly 3 min. but thankfully Smash was still game for our round. We knocked 1 rail - boo - but honestly it wasn't too bad and I was still really happy about our round!Here is my stadium round from the camcorder and here is the stadium round from my helmet cam perspective.
Then it was right off to XC! I know Smash was excited and she knew exactly what was coming up when we entered the warm up area because she FLEW around the course!! I had to just sit and half halt the whole time! She finally started to get tired by jump 13 - but by then we only had water and the final jump to do so I pushed her on. You can watch the video HERE.
At the end of the day I was VERY pleased with our efforts! Not only did we accomplish my goal of completing the event in its entirety without getting eliminated but we also got 4th place!! :D A ribbon! I couldn't believe it! All the hard work paid off! And I felt like we had an easy ride despite the rail in stadium. Our next goal is Novice by November's unrecognized event! I'm contemplating a recognized show at BN (those usually have a few more elements like a 2 strided line in stadium and a down bank with potentially a strided line in XC) but I'm not sure yet. Gotta check the checkbook first! Until then Smash will get some rest (as will I!) and we'll work our way up to Novice! Such a GREAT day for everyone!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wednesday Night Schooling Show and Mara Dupey Clinic
Yesterday was a busy horse day filled with a lot of fun despite the hot temps. My Mom and I decided to start off my having a sushi lunch at NIKO's before heading to Waredaca. We were very early but took advantage of the time to walk what I *think* will be the XC course for Sunday. We assessed the fences and the potential course route. Obviously I won't know until Sunday what the real course is, but it was nice to see what it could be.
After we walked the course we headed back up to the rings to watch them set up the jumper course and keep an eye out for Mara. Auditing was free so we thought we'd watch other people in the clinic but since she ended up using a headset and wasn't using an instructor voice we couldn't hear her very well and decided it wasn't really worth auditing. Finally it was time to load up the car with tack and head out to get Smash. Of course they were all at the stream so it was a LONG walk from the field to the barn. A long HOT walk, too. My Mom got tacked up just in time for her clinic while I memorized my course and got ready. Since it was so hot outside we made sure we both had water and had a bucket and sponge for Smash. Thankfully the clinic was in the indoor ring so that kept Smash out of the direct sunlight for her 45min clinic.
At 4:45pm my Mom was finished and as I got on she briefly told me about her ride and how she had a really nice clinic! A lot of Mara's advice correlated to what Steph T. has been teaching my Mom this past month so it made a lot of sense to her and reinforced everything she is already learning/practicing. A lot of the focus was how to control speed and direction with core and leg vs much rein at all.
Then it was my turn. I sponged Smash off, offered her a drink (which she refused), and went to the warm up area. We trotted over the cross rail and then cantered over the vertical and then the oxer. The oxer had a few issues as I was reverting back into my old habits a little. After 3 attempts, I finally got myself back in my new habits and felt ready to ride the course. There were 10 jumps and the course was a bit windy, but honestly as I went through it, it wasn't as bad as it seemed when I walked it. It rode REALLY nicely and Smash got through the 2 stride combination easily! We had a flawless course and I was on cloud 9! I was SO happy that all of my practice was paying off! We did another round but by jump 3 both Smash and I were bored with the course and Smash got sloppy and knocked the last rail. I wasn't mad. She was hot and tired and bored and I was very happy with our efforts so we called it a day.
We cooled Smash off and put our tack away before heading home. All in all it was a very successful and fun evening! Both my Mom and I feel very prepared for Sunday's unrecognized show! :D And I'm very excited to find out our ride times that will be posted today. For the first time in a long time we both feel very confident in our riding abilities for a show! And what's even better is the course I jumped last night will be the same course on Sunday (or at least that's the rumor) so I'll already know how it flows, etc.
Sadly the helmet cam's battery died yesterday so I didn't get any footage but I am charging the battery now so by Sunday it will be more than ready to record the fun! :)
After we walked the course we headed back up to the rings to watch them set up the jumper course and keep an eye out for Mara. Auditing was free so we thought we'd watch other people in the clinic but since she ended up using a headset and wasn't using an instructor voice we couldn't hear her very well and decided it wasn't really worth auditing. Finally it was time to load up the car with tack and head out to get Smash. Of course they were all at the stream so it was a LONG walk from the field to the barn. A long HOT walk, too. My Mom got tacked up just in time for her clinic while I memorized my course and got ready. Since it was so hot outside we made sure we both had water and had a bucket and sponge for Smash. Thankfully the clinic was in the indoor ring so that kept Smash out of the direct sunlight for her 45min clinic.
At 4:45pm my Mom was finished and as I got on she briefly told me about her ride and how she had a really nice clinic! A lot of Mara's advice correlated to what Steph T. has been teaching my Mom this past month so it made a lot of sense to her and reinforced everything she is already learning/practicing. A lot of the focus was how to control speed and direction with core and leg vs much rein at all.
Then it was my turn. I sponged Smash off, offered her a drink (which she refused), and went to the warm up area. We trotted over the cross rail and then cantered over the vertical and then the oxer. The oxer had a few issues as I was reverting back into my old habits a little. After 3 attempts, I finally got myself back in my new habits and felt ready to ride the course. There were 10 jumps and the course was a bit windy, but honestly as I went through it, it wasn't as bad as it seemed when I walked it. It rode REALLY nicely and Smash got through the 2 stride combination easily! We had a flawless course and I was on cloud 9! I was SO happy that all of my practice was paying off! We did another round but by jump 3 both Smash and I were bored with the course and Smash got sloppy and knocked the last rail. I wasn't mad. She was hot and tired and bored and I was very happy with our efforts so we called it a day.
We cooled Smash off and put our tack away before heading home. All in all it was a very successful and fun evening! Both my Mom and I feel very prepared for Sunday's unrecognized show! :D And I'm very excited to find out our ride times that will be posted today. For the first time in a long time we both feel very confident in our riding abilities for a show! And what's even better is the course I jumped last night will be the same course on Sunday (or at least that's the rumor) so I'll already know how it flows, etc.
Sadly the helmet cam's battery died yesterday so I didn't get any footage but I am charging the battery now so by Sunday it will be more than ready to record the fun! :)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Last XC Schooling before the Show
Yesterday we switched up the schedule and did XC schooling instead of Stadium since I'm going to be doing the schooling/practice show tomorrow as my stadium practice. Already I have noticed they are moving xc jumps into course position for the unrated show on Sunday and I'm getting excited! It's kind of nice to have a small upper hand on the show by seeing the course (I don't know exactly which jumps or in what order yet but some you can just tell since they are in a logical position) and getting to practice over the elements. I told Smash while she's in the field to start memorizing the course ;)
Last night we started with a proper warm up and getting Smash's attention. She loves xc SO much now that she just wants to gallop around half listening - not cool. We first got a proper trot and then canter before we headed off to the water to start. We went through the water and over a log, around to another log, over a coop, up and down a very tiny bank, and then up and down a bigger bank. We then moved to the filled in ditch and green roll top thing that looks a little intimidating to me. We schooled it twice so I would get the correct position over it since the first time we went over it I was starting to grab at the reins and stare at the fence. Then we headed to the Hay field where we went over a little barn type jump, a roll top, the split log and knoll, a slant, and then some major bank practice since I kept throwing the reins away and ended up eating some grass at one point. *sigh* By the end of the lesson I had it down, though, and now I feel less worried about losing my balance or throwing off Smash's at a down bank.
All in all, aside from my little tumble, I thought it was a good last practice! I feel really prepared for the show and excited, too! I know I can do this now! Where as before I hesitated. Tomorrow is the practice show and I'm excited about that, too. I'm going to wear my tall boots, too, so I get the real feel for what Sunday will be like. The format of the show is very flexible but you have to do a minimum of 2 jumping rounds. Optimally I'd like to go jump a course that has mixed 2'3"-2'6" jumps since I won't get the opportunity to jump a 2'3" course before my 2'6" course the day of the show and then jump it again just to clean up any trouble spots I might have.
My Mom is riding with Maura Dupuy right before I take Smash O/F in a clinic. I'm excited to hear how her ride goes! It'll be her practice before Sunday, too, since she'll be riding Smash in Intro A and Intro B at the show. She's had some great lessons with Steph T. and I know she's feeling more confident with Smash in general, too.
For your viewing pleasure, below is the link to yesterday's Helmet Cam action. I decided to end it after the fall since once we caught her all we did was practice the bank a few times before calling it a day. Didn't think that was very exciting. Anyway - Enjoy! CLICK HERE
Last night we started with a proper warm up and getting Smash's attention. She loves xc SO much now that she just wants to gallop around half listening - not cool. We first got a proper trot and then canter before we headed off to the water to start. We went through the water and over a log, around to another log, over a coop, up and down a very tiny bank, and then up and down a bigger bank. We then moved to the filled in ditch and green roll top thing that looks a little intimidating to me. We schooled it twice so I would get the correct position over it since the first time we went over it I was starting to grab at the reins and stare at the fence. Then we headed to the Hay field where we went over a little barn type jump, a roll top, the split log and knoll, a slant, and then some major bank practice since I kept throwing the reins away and ended up eating some grass at one point. *sigh* By the end of the lesson I had it down, though, and now I feel less worried about losing my balance or throwing off Smash's at a down bank.
All in all, aside from my little tumble, I thought it was a good last practice! I feel really prepared for the show and excited, too! I know I can do this now! Where as before I hesitated. Tomorrow is the practice show and I'm excited about that, too. I'm going to wear my tall boots, too, so I get the real feel for what Sunday will be like. The format of the show is very flexible but you have to do a minimum of 2 jumping rounds. Optimally I'd like to go jump a course that has mixed 2'3"-2'6" jumps since I won't get the opportunity to jump a 2'3" course before my 2'6" course the day of the show and then jump it again just to clean up any trouble spots I might have.
My Mom is riding with Maura Dupuy right before I take Smash O/F in a clinic. I'm excited to hear how her ride goes! It'll be her practice before Sunday, too, since she'll be riding Smash in Intro A and Intro B at the show. She's had some great lessons with Steph T. and I know she's feeling more confident with Smash in general, too.
For your viewing pleasure, below is the link to yesterday's Helmet Cam action. I decided to end it after the fall since once we caught her all we did was practice the bank a few times before calling it a day. Didn't think that was very exciting. Anyway - Enjoy! CLICK HERE
Friday, June 15, 2012
Show Off Pony
Wednesday I headed to the barn only to discover Smash had lost a shoe. Ugh! Thankfully the farrier was coming out the next day so she got it replaced quickly. I rescheduled with Steph and thankfully we had a second day of perfect weather!
Yesterday I retrieved Smash from the field and tacked up. This time I tried using my Mom's helmet for the camera which worked a lot better except that I forgot to aim it correctly. Whoops. There went that 30min of footage :( But aside from that we worked on multiple jumps in a row. Partially because Smash was trying to show off for her field-mates and partially for my brain, too. Doing multiple jumps kept Smash's attention much better since she had to concentrate on what was next versus stopping and starting. While Smash was kind of a brat I still think the day was successful. We had only 2 refusals and one was my fault, one was hers. And I even jumped a Novice fence! :D I felt pretty darn awesome intentionally doing it, too. We worked over some of the same fences as last week but added a bank, a bending line question, and a few new jumps that were on other parts of the property.
Once we were done, I caught up to Daphne and her son, Pox, for a trail ride! I still hadn't seen where the trails even began so it was a nice way to cool Smash off and to relax with friends.
We finally finished up our ride and I gave Smash water and a hose off before turning her back out with her friends. :) I had a great time and I'm feeling more and more confident as I keep practicing! Today I'm going o practice my dressage tests and do a light ride since I haven't really focused on that much. Monday will be our last XC lesson and Wednesday will be our practice show for stadium!! I'm very excited!! I will definitely have the helmet cam correctly positioned this time! Don't you worry! :)
1 week until the big show!! I'm very excited!
Yesterday I retrieved Smash from the field and tacked up. This time I tried using my Mom's helmet for the camera which worked a lot better except that I forgot to aim it correctly. Whoops. There went that 30min of footage :( But aside from that we worked on multiple jumps in a row. Partially because Smash was trying to show off for her field-mates and partially for my brain, too. Doing multiple jumps kept Smash's attention much better since she had to concentrate on what was next versus stopping and starting. While Smash was kind of a brat I still think the day was successful. We had only 2 refusals and one was my fault, one was hers. And I even jumped a Novice fence! :D I felt pretty darn awesome intentionally doing it, too. We worked over some of the same fences as last week but added a bank, a bending line question, and a few new jumps that were on other parts of the property.
Once we were done, I caught up to Daphne and her son, Pox, for a trail ride! I still hadn't seen where the trails even began so it was a nice way to cool Smash off and to relax with friends.
We finally finished up our ride and I gave Smash water and a hose off before turning her back out with her friends. :) I had a great time and I'm feeling more and more confident as I keep practicing! Today I'm going o practice my dressage tests and do a light ride since I haven't really focused on that much. Monday will be our last XC lesson and Wednesday will be our practice show for stadium!! I'm very excited!! I will definitely have the helmet cam correctly positioned this time! Don't you worry! :)
1 week until the big show!! I'm very excited!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Helmet Cam Test and Stadium Lesson
Last night I had my stadium jumping lesson with Steph. We worked on riding a course along with my continuing to correct my position by waiting for Smash to jump along with still keeping my leg on and looking ahead/counting strides about 8 strides out versus when I'd normally start looking 5 strides away. Right now I can't seem to find my take off point until 3 strides away and this is something I should be able to see 5 strides away or more so I can adjust if I need do. Steph explained the basic foundation for seeing the take off point though is a steady and rhythmic stride. Something you need to set up from the beginning and just continue to keep steady and continually get around the course after each jump.
A jumping course is approx. 80 seconds long and only 10 are in the air over a jump. 70 seconds or the majority of the time is spent doing flat work. So the more you work on getting a steady rhythm and that good canter the better your approach and jumps will be.
We worked on keeping my leg on for the approach, too. I noticed I was only tending to put my leg on if I felt Smash suck back or if I saw a take off spot I wanted her to take and instead I need to just put my leg on about 8 strides out for support and to keep my rhythm steady. This will also help me through my turns so I'm not slowing down or adjusting my rhythm drastically and then hurrying to get my good canter again 2-3 strides away.
What I loved about my lesson was as I rode I did notice I was starting to recognize the things Steph was talking about. And I noticed I'm not as scared any more of jumping or nearly as tentative/worried - I'm feeling comfortable and confident and trusting Smash will jump 99% of the time as long as I sit up and give her a good ride. Wednesday we will go practice cross country again and then next week we'll switch things up. Monday we will go XC and Wednesday I'm going to do a practice show! Waredaca is doing an evening schooling show that you can ride dressage and do stadium rounds (as many of either or both as you want) on the 20th for CHEAP! My Mom will be participating in a dressage clinic that same evening (unrelated) and so after she's done I'm going to hop on Smash and do a couple jump rounds and pretend it's the show that will take place that following Sunday. I LOVE that Waredaca has this opportunity! And I just can't wait to spend $25 on a few jump rounds with a nice BN course to prep me for the show! :D Can we say awesome??
Lastly, I did test out the Helmet cam last night. I need to make a couple modifications and it was a little annoying because I could feel it tugging on me (I think I need a snugger helmet for this to work better honestly) but it did work and I did get some cool footage! I cut down the video from 30min to 35 seconds for viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQk8Sniv8Qc&feature=plcp
I muted the video since the camera was hitting my helmet or something and made this clicking noise the entire time. But I'm pretty stoked it worked and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow for XC!
A jumping course is approx. 80 seconds long and only 10 are in the air over a jump. 70 seconds or the majority of the time is spent doing flat work. So the more you work on getting a steady rhythm and that good canter the better your approach and jumps will be.
We worked on keeping my leg on for the approach, too. I noticed I was only tending to put my leg on if I felt Smash suck back or if I saw a take off spot I wanted her to take and instead I need to just put my leg on about 8 strides out for support and to keep my rhythm steady. This will also help me through my turns so I'm not slowing down or adjusting my rhythm drastically and then hurrying to get my good canter again 2-3 strides away.
What I loved about my lesson was as I rode I did notice I was starting to recognize the things Steph was talking about. And I noticed I'm not as scared any more of jumping or nearly as tentative/worried - I'm feeling comfortable and confident and trusting Smash will jump 99% of the time as long as I sit up and give her a good ride. Wednesday we will go practice cross country again and then next week we'll switch things up. Monday we will go XC and Wednesday I'm going to do a practice show! Waredaca is doing an evening schooling show that you can ride dressage and do stadium rounds (as many of either or both as you want) on the 20th for CHEAP! My Mom will be participating in a dressage clinic that same evening (unrelated) and so after she's done I'm going to hop on Smash and do a couple jump rounds and pretend it's the show that will take place that following Sunday. I LOVE that Waredaca has this opportunity! And I just can't wait to spend $25 on a few jump rounds with a nice BN course to prep me for the show! :D Can we say awesome??
Lastly, I did test out the Helmet cam last night. I need to make a couple modifications and it was a little annoying because I could feel it tugging on me (I think I need a snugger helmet for this to work better honestly) but it did work and I did get some cool footage! I cut down the video from 30min to 35 seconds for viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQk8Sniv8Qc&feature=plcp
I muted the video since the camera was hitting my helmet or something and made this clicking noise the entire time. But I'm pretty stoked it worked and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow for XC!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Mom Lessons
Every weekend it's my Mom's turn to ride Smash. Since she half leases her from me, in a matter of speaking, and cannot ride during the week, we've decided it's best I ride how many times I want/need during the week and then she gets the weekends for a practice ride and her riding lesson with Steph T. (not the same Steph B. I ride with). This has worked especially well now that we don't both ride on Sundays!
This weekend I decided to tag along on Sunday and help her tack up and watch her with her new instructor. After literally running/walking over a mile to retrieve Smash we got her tacked up with the new girth extender (which works perfectly, btw!) and headed out for their lesson. I loved the transformation my Mom has already made. Steph T. is working on relaxing and how to communicate with Smash and I can see a huge improvement in just my Mom's second lesson! I captured this picture which I think was amazing:
As you can see the connection with the reins is consistent but not too loose or tight and Smash is starting to stretch and round her top line. You can also see her moving from her hindquarters into her front end and you can see my Mom's position is relaxed and balanced. While she hasn't 100% completely transformed yet (who has??) she did have a lot of great moments like this throughout her lessons. I was amazed at how much progress my Mom has made with only 2 lessons! I can't wait to see how she transforms over the course of the year!
Not to mention, every time my Mom works with Smash like this and every time I continue to work with Smash with Steph B. we contribute to her sell-ability to any rider out there who wants to pursue Dressage, Jumping, or Eventing with Smash in their career. It also makes it harder for me to sell Smash since she is becoming such an amazing horse to have...but unless my Mom buys her I have to just keep going with my plan so I can start my family and life with Nick. :)
This week poses to be an exciting week. I have 2 jumping lessons (Monday and Friday) and I have my helmet camera mount secured to my helmet so I can practice capturing my jumping! How cool is that? I hope I can get some decent footage to share on here!
This weekend I decided to tag along on Sunday and help her tack up and watch her with her new instructor. After literally running/walking over a mile to retrieve Smash we got her tacked up with the new girth extender (which works perfectly, btw!) and headed out for their lesson. I loved the transformation my Mom has already made. Steph T. is working on relaxing and how to communicate with Smash and I can see a huge improvement in just my Mom's second lesson! I captured this picture which I think was amazing:
As you can see the connection with the reins is consistent but not too loose or tight and Smash is starting to stretch and round her top line. You can also see her moving from her hindquarters into her front end and you can see my Mom's position is relaxed and balanced. While she hasn't 100% completely transformed yet (who has??) she did have a lot of great moments like this throughout her lessons. I was amazed at how much progress my Mom has made with only 2 lessons! I can't wait to see how she transforms over the course of the year!
Not to mention, every time my Mom works with Smash like this and every time I continue to work with Smash with Steph B. we contribute to her sell-ability to any rider out there who wants to pursue Dressage, Jumping, or Eventing with Smash in their career. It also makes it harder for me to sell Smash since she is becoming such an amazing horse to have...but unless my Mom buys her I have to just keep going with my plan so I can start my family and life with Nick. :)
This week poses to be an exciting week. I have 2 jumping lessons (Monday and Friday) and I have my helmet camera mount secured to my helmet so I can practice capturing my jumping! How cool is that? I hope I can get some decent footage to share on here!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Cross Country Schooling
Yesterday was the first day I have been schooling cross country all year. Thankfully we started in the stadium ring on Monday to get my jumping confidence a boost so going into the field wasn't going to be a complete shocker for me. We ran through most of the Beginner Novice rated course but skipped some things so we'd have obstacles to work on next week and to keep me from getting overwhelmed.
We started with Jump 2 that I was a jump judge with my Mom for at the show last weekend - the Red Waredaca barn. First attempt - right over it. Second - refusal. We had a couple more refusals before I finally got my position and head in the game. Then we headed to the roll top at Jump 3 and it was an easy fence for us both. We skipped Jump 4 - a downhill jump and moved to Jump 5 at the bottom of the hill. It was right along the tree line and I wasn't straight and refused. We circled around and I got better organized and popped over. Then we schooled a ditch I'd never seen before on the farm and a Blue barn with trees on the right. Both were super easy for us and I was starting to get into a groove. Next was a line. 2 small logs set sort of on a valley. We jumped it both ways a few times because I was not riding Smash straight to the logs both directions.
We crossed the road and I did the filled in ditch a couple times followed by the split log at the bottom of a very steep and small hill that I had to ride down. We ran through the water and over a log a couple times before we added a coop before water and then over the log back into water and out. All were going great! We ended on 3 last fences - a natural looking slanted jump then up and around to a rail on top of a big hill and down a big hill back up the hill to a rail to finish.
Here is where some issues started. I cleared the first slanted fence with ease but I couldn't get Smash straight to the first rails and I started to stare at the fence and let it intimidate me. We had a stop. I circled - another stop. Then another and I came off. Smash walked just fast enough...then trotted...away to her boyfriend before we caught her and tried again. This time I got over it! Down the hill, gallop up the hill - I gave a tap of my crop to let her know I wasn't chickening out a few strides back - and cleared! We repeated the 3 jump sequence one more time before calling it a day (clear, too). SO awesome!
I'm so happy that our first week out cross country for the year was more successful than I've had in the past year or 2! We are continuing to work on my position and approach to the fences and as I keep practicing, the better I get and less refusals I get! :) I'm signing up for Beginner Novice now for sure for the show - I'm confident I can do it! I can't wait to continue our practice over the next 2 weeks! I am so glad I moved to Waredaca! It was one of the best decisions I have made in a while!
We started with Jump 2 that I was a jump judge with my Mom for at the show last weekend - the Red Waredaca barn. First attempt - right over it. Second - refusal. We had a couple more refusals before I finally got my position and head in the game. Then we headed to the roll top at Jump 3 and it was an easy fence for us both. We skipped Jump 4 - a downhill jump and moved to Jump 5 at the bottom of the hill. It was right along the tree line and I wasn't straight and refused. We circled around and I got better organized and popped over. Then we schooled a ditch I'd never seen before on the farm and a Blue barn with trees on the right. Both were super easy for us and I was starting to get into a groove. Next was a line. 2 small logs set sort of on a valley. We jumped it both ways a few times because I was not riding Smash straight to the logs both directions.
We crossed the road and I did the filled in ditch a couple times followed by the split log at the bottom of a very steep and small hill that I had to ride down. We ran through the water and over a log a couple times before we added a coop before water and then over the log back into water and out. All were going great! We ended on 3 last fences - a natural looking slanted jump then up and around to a rail on top of a big hill and down a big hill back up the hill to a rail to finish.
Here is where some issues started. I cleared the first slanted fence with ease but I couldn't get Smash straight to the first rails and I started to stare at the fence and let it intimidate me. We had a stop. I circled - another stop. Then another and I came off. Smash walked just fast enough...then trotted...away to her boyfriend before we caught her and tried again. This time I got over it! Down the hill, gallop up the hill - I gave a tap of my crop to let her know I wasn't chickening out a few strides back - and cleared! We repeated the 3 jump sequence one more time before calling it a day (clear, too). SO awesome!
I'm so happy that our first week out cross country for the year was more successful than I've had in the past year or 2! We are continuing to work on my position and approach to the fences and as I keep practicing, the better I get and less refusals I get! :) I'm signing up for Beginner Novice now for sure for the show - I'm confident I can do it! I can't wait to continue our practice over the next 2 weeks! I am so glad I moved to Waredaca! It was one of the best decisions I have made in a while!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Been a While...
Well it's been a while...a few years in fact...since I've last posted on this blog. Many things have changed as you can see and I'm no longer having adventures with Satchmo but now with my horse, Smashing! She is a 7yr old 17HH Holsteiner/Thoroughbred mare with quite a feisty attitude! About a month ago we moved to a new farm called, Waredaca, where we are working on improving our Eventing skills in order for me to sell Smash in the spring of 2013. We are still adjusting to the new barn but so far we've been loving it and its amenities! Waredaca is a HUGE facility with all of your Eventing needs! In 3 short weeks I'll be competing in my first Event of the season - an unrecognized show at Waredaca. I am aiming to ride in the Beginner Novice division and hoping to have a bit more success than I did last season.
Last season I had some major bad habits with jumping and not enough instruction or practice which I feel left me unprepared for the show. Refusals were left and right and my confidence went down the drain. Since working with Steph I'm figuring out what my bad habits really are and building my confidence back up one lesson at a time. It's been pretty amazing how quickly we're turning things around, too! Just Monday we had a great jumping lesson over the stadium course left up from the recognized HT that previous weekend. We worked on my position to the jump and my aids/communication to Smash and I had the best jumping round I've had in YEARS! We only ran into a few trouble spots and it was mostly because I'd look down or try to override Smash to the fence when it turns out I don't need to work so hard. I'm now practicing looking up at the sky line with my approach to the fence, to loosen my grip on the reins, and to still keep my leg on to keep her moving forward and straight.
I've not always had confidence issues. In fact I was a very brave rider and successful rider through college until I started trying to train myself and green horses over fences and found out I need a little more help than I thought - especially when it comes to Eventing. I established over a few years some pretty bad jumping habits that were starting to really get me in trouble. I couldn't just skate through events anymore and that's mostly why I decided to move Smash to a farm with instructors who could help me get back into my jumping groove. And so far, the move is paying off big time! Steph has a great eye and has been able to pick out my issues every time.
Tonight I have a cross country lesson slated for this evening and I'm very excited! It, like the stadium course, is left up from the recognized show last weekend. It's pretty cool to be able to school over it for free! I'm planning on testing out my new Helmet Camera, too, during the lesson so hopefully I'll be able to share some footage!
I'm going to apologize in advance for lack of photos...most of the time I am traveling to the barn by myself and holding Smash and a camera at the same time is pretty difficult. So don't expect pictures unless it's a show day, clinic, or some other day when I have my Mom or Nick there to either hold Smash or take photos of us. Hope you still enjoy!
-Sara & Smash
Last season I had some major bad habits with jumping and not enough instruction or practice which I feel left me unprepared for the show. Refusals were left and right and my confidence went down the drain. Since working with Steph I'm figuring out what my bad habits really are and building my confidence back up one lesson at a time. It's been pretty amazing how quickly we're turning things around, too! Just Monday we had a great jumping lesson over the stadium course left up from the recognized HT that previous weekend. We worked on my position to the jump and my aids/communication to Smash and I had the best jumping round I've had in YEARS! We only ran into a few trouble spots and it was mostly because I'd look down or try to override Smash to the fence when it turns out I don't need to work so hard. I'm now practicing looking up at the sky line with my approach to the fence, to loosen my grip on the reins, and to still keep my leg on to keep her moving forward and straight.
I've not always had confidence issues. In fact I was a very brave rider and successful rider through college until I started trying to train myself and green horses over fences and found out I need a little more help than I thought - especially when it comes to Eventing. I established over a few years some pretty bad jumping habits that were starting to really get me in trouble. I couldn't just skate through events anymore and that's mostly why I decided to move Smash to a farm with instructors who could help me get back into my jumping groove. And so far, the move is paying off big time! Steph has a great eye and has been able to pick out my issues every time.
Tonight I have a cross country lesson slated for this evening and I'm very excited! It, like the stadium course, is left up from the recognized show last weekend. It's pretty cool to be able to school over it for free! I'm planning on testing out my new Helmet Camera, too, during the lesson so hopefully I'll be able to share some footage!
I'm going to apologize in advance for lack of photos...most of the time I am traveling to the barn by myself and holding Smash and a camera at the same time is pretty difficult. So don't expect pictures unless it's a show day, clinic, or some other day when I have my Mom or Nick there to either hold Smash or take photos of us. Hope you still enjoy!
-Sara & Smash
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