Jumping in the Name of Flat Work?

It probably seems like Prairie and I have dropped off the edge of the Dressage Arena and landed squarely in Hunter Land, but I assure you, it's not a total conversion.  (although we are having fun).

I've put two "dressage" rides on the lady since the show which both have gone pretty well.  I'm able to ride the mare much more back to front than I used to and Prairie's new found adjustability makes for much more dynamic flat schools. 

That being said, Wednesday we're hauling out for a lesson with one of S's instructors, Nancy Free at Brass Ring Farm. I really couldn't tell you who the best of the best Hunter trainers are in our area, or even the country, but supposedly she's pretty fantastic and apparently (against my H/J stereotypes) really fun to ride with.  I always love taking lessons from someone new and getting feedback from someone with fresh eyes on our struggles - so it only took about 3 seconds for me to eagerly snag the newly available time slot after S's own lesson.

When I told The Boy about the field trip, he asked if I was ever going to do Dressage again.  After I got over my puzzled look I realized that given the last couple months, it's a valid question.  Here's my response.

Aside from some oddities (like a total lack of impulsion and slowing your horse to a jog for a sitting trot), riding a nice, clean, rhythmic hunter course is essentially everything I'm working on for our current level of "dressage" (just with a few jumps thrown in).  We're still working hard on adjusting our stride without tipping to the forehand, working on getting Prairie up in front of my leg, working on smooth controlled turns from the outside aids and staying light when we string it all together.

I also think that my emphasis on the work over fences has been because I've been feeling that the jumps are precipitating more progress than me nit-picking on the flat without them.  Prairie's learning to find her own balance, adjust her own stride and figuring out that coming back to me is easier than pulling against me.   Most of this is probably because over fences she has to,  whereas on the flat she can just disagree with me (and my own skills leave a lot to be desired in terms of timing and sensitivity if I'm going to teach a horse like Prairie how to carry herself).

Growing up I remember my eventer gelding operating in one of two modes - the first was when we did mostly flat work, and the odd jump school would vastly improve our dressage.  The other was when we'd be focusing on our jump phases and the odd dressage school would vsatly improve our jumping...  Right now I feel like we're getting father over fences and taking more back to our flat work than the other way around.

Maybe it's just that I was indoctrinated with the concept of cross training early, but I've always (eventually) found success with bopping between different disciplines whenever I hit a wall in one. 

Right now I feel that wherever the cross section is on Prairie's training and my riding - course work and gymnastics are getting us farther and building more relaxation and confidence than our straight flat work is. 

I'm sure that at some point in the not so distant future, the teeter-toter will tip and we'll go back to 70% flat work and 30% over fences.  But who's to say when that is.

After my ride this morning I can really feel how balancing for jumps has given Prairie a better sense of "sitting" and collecting than a few months of me banging it into her head had.  We had an amazing ride collecting and lengthening our stride at all gaits, adjusting for our lateral work and switching the bend back and forth at will without losing our balance.  It was a great ride.  I guess right now I feel like we're on a roll (for all of one week) and I'm going to do my damnedest to keep it going!

(even more) Winter Wardrobing

I was incredibly spoiled when I got Pia, because sorta like Malibu Barbie, she came with a full wardrobe.  And thanks to Supermom's good taste and shrewd sensibility, All of her clothes are cute and still in great shape.

Sadly, P2 came with no clothing and since I was busy with wedding planning and honeymooning when I got her, I just copied her then blanket that worked (Pessoa) and went with it.  She got one Medium Blanket and one Turnout Sheet.  (both matching, duh).

I like having extras for laundry and backup, so we picked up one more Pessoa Medium and one more Pessoa Turnout Sheet on sale (also matching) during the off season.  I've also amassed a fleece cooler that matches Pia's (cute), a nice stable/show sheet for traveling and looking pretty (the Rambo Helix, LOVE), the absurd (but cute) "sweatshirt" and her exercise sheet.

It's a lot of clothing, but she still doesn't have anything in the way of a Heavy Blanket, or layers that would render her medium appropriate for the super cold. 

So I've been hunting.  Prairie seems to fit the Pessoas really well, and so far I've been really happy with how they are wearing in their second season.  I also really like their cute plaids.  But their heavy blanket lacks the option for a higher neck (which I like) and also comes in ugly colors with a giant "P" on it instead of their normal fun colors.  While having a giant P on P2 is sorta entertaining, I've been exploring other options.

Here's what I know:

• Prairie needs something warmer than just a Medium to get through the winter.
• I have a tendency to spend more money on "good" brands because I hate when shit breaks.
• The notion of spending $400 on a Rambo still makes me cringe.
• Pessoas (and supposedly WeatherBeetas) fit the mare pretty well.
• I don't like detachable neck covers (and I don't trust our staff to put them on/off well), but I do like higher necks for super cold weather.
• Realistically, Prairie only needs to get 3-4 weeks out of a Heavy Blanket per year, assuming some of those days she swaps to a Medium for turnout..)

So, in trying to balance my instinct to spend more money on things than I need to, with the fact that realistically, her Heavy blanket won't see the same amount use and abuse her Mediums and Sheets do, I think this is one item that I don't need to write a blank check for.. 

I started looking in the $200ish range.

My two finalists (of the moment) are the WeatherBeeta Freestyle High Neck Turnout

And the SmartPak Deluxe High Neck Turnout.

The WB comes in right at $200, while the SmartPak has a slight edge at $169.

I've have WeatherBeetas for years and they've always worn well, but based on reviews I'm leaning toward the SmartPak.  I've never owned a SmartPak Blanket, so it seems like a bit of a wild card, but it looks like the warranty is pretty decent and I sorta like trying new things. 

Also, the (not insignificant) issue of color is pretty much even.  The WeatherBeeta would be in black with purple trim, while the SmartPak has a very comparable (though sorta boring) black with white/gray trim.

Anyone want to weigh in?  As soon as the visa payment clears (two saddles in one month was a little rough..) I'll be placing an order for Prairie's final (for now) addition to her closet...

Almost a Hunter (almost)

I can only summarize the weekend as a big giant, fun success.  Plenty to work on, sure (right lead anyone?) - but overall I was astounded with Prairie's mindset and performance all weekend.  Starting with our schooling ride on Friday and ending with our lazy walk through the fall leaves on Sunday, she really stepped up.

Major failures are limited to:

- a total lack of lead changes from the left lead to our right
- a total lack of blue ribbons (not actually a concern)
- and (sadly) a total lack of pictures.

The Boy did manage some quick video clips, which I'll share, but sadly photographic evidence is limited.

The weekend started off with my best parking job yet of the truck and trailer.  Everyone else seems to tell me that goosenecks are easier to park, but it's still harder for my brain to maneuver than the old bumper pull.  I'm sure I'll figure it out someday, but so far I feel like a moron.

So you can imagine how pleased I was when I backed the rig into a nice little angled park job.  If you could actually see the big muddy ditch on the other side, you might be more impressed.  It's definitely the tightest spot I've managed so far...

bam!

Following that success we tacked up the mares and headed to the indoor to school.

(again, I am mystified by the fact that in Hunter Land you are allowed to school in the show ring over the jumps.  Makes no sense to me, but from a teaching/learning perspective I like it).

I opted to pop in the corkscrew D that we used at Octoberfest back in September anticipating a need for brakes, but I'm not actually sure it was necessary.

Prairie was alert but not unrideable.  She didn't flick an eye at the end of the ring with the big, lit up office/lounge that had people milling about in it, instead the only distraction was at the other end where she strongly disliked the sounds of the footing hitting the metal siding of the ring... Other than that, she didn't spook at people walking by open doors, any of the jumps that were set, or strange noises outside the ring.

She warmed up light, forward and responsive to my aids and carried that attitude forward over fences.

All in all, I was probably on her for 90 minutes (lots of standing and watching other horses) which Prairie was oddly willing to do.  No pawing, no snorting, no anxiety in general.  The course was set with 11' strides (TINY!) which was a bit of a struggle for us, but Prairie tried really hard and replicated that nice, balanced, adjustable canter that we've been playing with all week.  Our only sticky points were getting the right lead when necessary - but we opted to not drill that and risk introducing unnecessary stress.  I was way more interested in having an awesome, relaxed school away from home in a new big indoor.

We put the jumps up a bit (2'9"ish) and popped around some courses, figuring out which direction Prairie's natural "home" beacon was pointed and also working some of the possible rollbacks and bending lines we might see in our Eq classes.

By the time we were done I really couldn't have been more pleased with how well Prairie was going and how different she was from our schooling ride at the September show.

We untacked, fed some hay and then scooted off to feed ourselves some margaritas as a reward.

Saturday saw us at the show bright an early since our barnmate was competing for the very first time (YAY!) in the crossrail division.  She did awesome and managed to come away with a reserve champion in both her Hunter and Eq classes and a new found appreciation for why people justify the cost and ungodly wake up times associated with going to shows.

Prairie says that a Venti wasn't big enough...

The upshot of the facility we were at is that all the classes took place inside.  The corresponding downside was that all the warm up took place outside... in what turned out to be nearly 2" of rain.

Since we had such a nice ride Friday I wasn't anticipating needing much warm up, and the rain solidified my intention not to get on before the division before me started their flat classes.  I can assure you that even only planning for 15 minutes of warm up I was the only one in the warm up ring when the time came.

Prairie was a bit more amped up in warm up, but I didn't blame her given a ton of crap to look at, the splashy, muddy footing (she hates that) and a brisk wind blowing all sorts of smells around.  I was thankful for our Rambo Competition Sheet which went a long way toward keeping my legs warm and dry while we slogged around in the slop.

We popped over a few jumps which went well, although my brakes were somewhat diminished from Friday's ride.  Not wanting to haul on her mouth S just had me school some halts after each fence and then we called it good.

As a side note, I opted to warm up without the running martingale, which I'm proud to say we didn't need.  I did put on a standing, but I don't think Prair ever hit it.  Standings always seem like more of an accessory to me than a functional training aid, but that might be the old eventer in me talking...

Before we knew it it was our turn.  There were only three people in my division and since we didn't come home with a champion or res. ch. ribbon you can guess where we finished.   BUT, aside from placing below two bratty, lesson horses, I was over the top thrilled with how Prairie did.  Our first hunter course went pretty well,  I nit picked my distances which resulted in a couple chips, but those are chips that I couldn't have even asked for a month ago.  Also, the 11' strides meant that I had to keep Prairie at a lope in order to fit everything in, and that took me about half the course to really figure out.  But, the bright sides were that Prairie was forward and eager to every fence, didn't spook at anything, and most importantly had zero intention of landing and scooting off or ignoring me in the corners.

Steering and brakes! who knew!!

The second course was a very thrilling variation of line-diagonal-line-diagonal, but we got to start on a diagonal.  wild.

It was quite a bit cleaner, but I still wasn't able to get any of my right lead changes without going through the trot.

Then we started our Eq courses.  The first had some great rollbacks which we are MASTERS of.  We only missed one lead and got all our distances, so when we still placed third after one of the other ponies bucked, and her rider lost a stirrup and bobbled around in a horrid closing circle I was a little confused.

The second Eq course was pretty fun, and I actually have video.  A few bending lines (which we rocked) but you can see our issue with leads and I bobbled a distance or two so again, bottom of the pack.


Clearly not an ideal Hunter round, but look how much quieter and more controlled the big mare is. 

Then we had our two flat classes for the division which went ok.  Prairie managed to stay pretty tuned in and was very mindful of my half halts.

Apparently in our HUS class in my attempt to get her "long and loose," we ended up "long and low" which would have been awesome sauce for our dressage tests, but a little too low for Hunter Land.

We placed second, which was nice.  Although the snarky side of me was a bit confused since the other two horses were above the bit the whole time, not soft or supple and had pretty horrid movement.

The Eq class was potentially 45 minutes long.  Which seems unnecessary when you're just watched all three of us jump four rounds and ride a HUS class.  The judge did ask for a good amount of sitting trot as well as some trot/halts and surprised me with a halt/canter which we ROCKED.  We cantered for no joke 10 minutes and Prairie was a very good sport.  I never leave her in one gait that long, but she managed to stay balanced and only started to get irritated with me at the very end. 

Again we pinned 2nd, apparently because I have a tendency to sit at the vertical during my canter work.  It's hard to beat the dressage out of me I guess.  My only grievance with that class was that one girl lost a stirrup and the other broke from her canter like 3 times.  Also, they both were in two point for the canter which I thought was a no-no in equitation classes.  But I did like the halt/canter.  That was fun.

finally we closed out the day with a quick Medals class that was a really fun course.  It started with a pretty wicket rollback, went to an outside line, another right rollback and finished with a bending line (to trot the second fence) and a halt after the final fence.

I think this was our best ride of the day.  Prairie was totally with me on all the broken lines and nailed her leads (except for the first rollback which we jumped from a cross canter).  We barely eeked out the trot for our last fence, but her halt was decently prompt and without fuss.  We got another 2nd.

Here's the video for the medals class. I'm seriously so proud of our trip around this course:



I mean, compare that to this gem of a moment from the last show:

neither of us look like we're enjoying it....

I remember that ride.  That ride sucked.  After that ride I was so frustrated at Prairie for totally tuning me out that I threw her at The Boy and he went off and did groundwork with her while I took deep breaths and tried to coax some feeling back into my gnarled hands.

Thankfully there was no hint of that ride on Saturday.  At the first show, if I half halted lightly, it didn't do anything, if I hauled on Prairie hard enough to get a response, we risked trotting (which we did, to like half of the fences).  But this weekend, the only fence we trotted was the one we were supposed to in the Medal class. (win!).  All of our opening and closing circles were balanced and contained.  And Prairie was adjustable from start to finish on every course.

Yes we need lots of help with our leads, and I could use some better Eq - but holy wow.  What a difference.

After putting in such a nice effort, I promised the mare an easy Sunday.  Usually I'd give her the day off after a show, but it was sunny and since this is Seattle I was going to take advantage of that.  We only stayed in the sandbox for about 15 minutes.  Just enough to loosen up some easy lateral work at the walk and do some long and low work at the trot.  I finished by popping into the canter a few times - and since Prair was totally willing, steady and balanced, I called enough enough and we headed outside for a stroll.

Our barn has a great "outside track" around the property that circles all of the barns, arenas and paddocks.  It's not exactly a trail ride but it's close enough and it takes about 10 minutes per loop.  We did three laps and there was enough mud, branches, small ditches to cross to keep it mildly interesting.  Prair was good for all of it.  She was alert, but relaxed and interested in swinging her giant head around to take it all in.

It was the perfect ending to a really fun, really productive weekend.  Can't complain about that.

Confidence Boosted.

Last night's ride was insanely productive.  If not for Prairie, than definitely for me.  Not only did we canter baby cavaletti like a normal horse, we strung together a full course in the indoor and managed to have a balanced, ground-patting stride the whole way around with lead changes.  It did wonders for my confidence. 

Admittedly the jumps were wee to start with, but by the end when we put them up a bit, I still felt like I had an incredibly balanced, responsive, totally controlled horse under me. 

I'm still fairly certain that Prairie's reasonableness can be attributed to the confines of the indoor - which means it might quickly evaporate in the (much) larger show ring this weekend... but I don't care.  I feel like a functional, capable and not a totally-horrid rider again.  (yay).

So what was our lesson?

We started with reviewing our basics for our flat classes.  Worked through our general transitions, adjusting P2 between her HUS and Eq frames and nitpicking my bad equitation habits (of which there are PLENTY).  Prairie was a bit strong and on her forehand, so I worked on finessing her back without any large tantrums. 

Then, we started working over our cavaletti as a warmup and started putting some courses together.  Here was our ring set up.  Mind you, this is a 20x40m arena (maybe).  Possibly a smidge smaller.  Prairie eats up the long side in about 5 strides.  7 if I try really hard to collect her up.

Once again, you can thank Paint for my incredible visual aids.

What you see here are two red cavalettis (one with CONES under it), a blue plank vertical, a purple vertical with flowers and a skinny white wall. 

What you can't see (because my "drawing" skills are limited) is that both the Wall and the Flower jump had really tight angles either between other jumps or out of the corners.  So to sum up? Prairie was going to have to SLOW DOWN and sit back if we were going to do anything other than charge through all the jumps. 

In turn that meant that I had to sit back and ride instead of just hoping that things went well.

While I keep saying that the confined space was great for Prairie's mind, I think that I have to admit that the looming walls were just a helpful for mine. 

I rode my corners, I gassed the mare in our rollbacks, I support her with my outside aids and low and behold, she did FANTASTICALLY.  Even when the jumps went up, she stayed with me (with the exception of some motorcycle like turns from 3 to 4) and managed to come back from every tight turn in a balanced, controlled package.  I only totally lost it and missed a jump once (#5 - we took a long spot on 4 and had no shot of getting straight in 3 strides..).

It wasn't all glorious, but it was really encouraging.  For one thing it was rad to feel Prairie sit down and wait for the jumps after our last ocuple weeks of what I can only assume are rage blackouts as she approaches a fence/cavaletti/pole.  It was also great to feel Prairie getting some of her leads on her own (both over the fence and in the corners), and when she didn't our simple changes were respectable and less tragic than they have been.

I doubt all of this will stick with us in a larger ring and I know that the quick recovery will be challenging without our new bff (the martingale), but that's ok.  At least I know that in the right circumstances the mare can actually use her brain (a little) and eventually that will happen more often. 



Fingers crossed.