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
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
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
Monday, June 1, 2009
Guest Blogger
Because I did not ride Satchmo this week and instead rode Smashing! I asked for my mom to submit an entry for Satchmo's blog:
"As Sara and I arrived for our lesson yesterday morning, Cathy informed us that Bella lost a shoe so she was not rideable. Sara and I looked at each other wondering what was going to happen. We were a little leery when she said that I would be riding Satchmo and Sara would be riding Smash. We looked at each other, not knowing what to expect. I tacked up Satchmo, who had not a care in the world. Sara was already in the ring on Smash, and the two were getting to know each other a little better. Satchmo and I got along quite well; I learned not to have too much contact with the reins as Satchmo becomes all balled up. I enjoyed Satchmo's canter, and we even did a few "X" jumps. Sara took Smash over (or through) one jump, but Smash stepped it up on the next one by going over the jump. . It was a good lesson for all concerned.
Liz, Guest Blogger"
"As Sara and I arrived for our lesson yesterday morning, Cathy informed us that Bella lost a shoe so she was not rideable. Sara and I looked at each other wondering what was going to happen. We were a little leery when she said that I would be riding Satchmo and Sara would be riding Smash. We looked at each other, not knowing what to expect. I tacked up Satchmo, who had not a care in the world. Sara was already in the ring on Smash, and the two were getting to know each other a little better. Satchmo and I got along quite well; I learned not to have too much contact with the reins as Satchmo becomes all balled up. I enjoyed Satchmo's canter, and we even did a few "X" jumps. Sara took Smash over (or through) one jump, but Smash stepped it up on the next one by going over the jump. . It was a good lesson for all concerned.
Liz, Guest Blogger"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)