Dressage Lesson

My lesson was fantastic. M, my instructor, is also a good friend and I knew he would be able to help me a lot with my Dressage riding. He kindly agreed to give me a lesson.

The first thing M did was drop my stirrups down two holes. He said he had wanted to do that since the first time he saw me ride last week. Previously, my position has been bunched up and I used my heels as my driving aid, rather then my seat. Next he had me turn my toes in so they pointed forward rather then out. Both these adjustments meant that I was sitting on the middle of my pelvis rather then on my butt (this is sometimes referred to as"the armchair position".) These adjustments also meant I felt like my ankes were going to pop out of their sockets at anytime. When I told him this he said I would soon get to used to it if I kept practicing. Since I wasn't used to having my stirrups so long and I was un-coordinated with them at that length, M took them away for part of the lesson. We did lots of work without them (and I'm feeling it now in my thighs and core) and my legs lengthened down a lot. M asked me to put my feet back into the stirrups later and he said they would probably feel too short now. And lo and behold they were, so he put them down another two holes and they were perfect. If someone had said to me that I could ride with holes 4 down from my original dressage length I would have told them to stop joking. Its amazing how much a change in position can make.

The entire lesson was about me retaining the right position and using my seat as aids. There was no forcing Jack into a frame or generally interfering with him at all. We literally did nothing but transitions the entire time and I loved it. I felt I improved a lot and Jacks transitions and the quality of his paces were way better then they ever have been.

Most of the lesson was great, except when my legs and arms decided to disconnect from my brain. My elbows started moving out and upwards given me the dreaded "chicken wings", my heels would start turing out and my eyes would drop. M would be calling "Toes in! Toes in! Keep your eyes up! What are those arms doing?" and I would try and try to get everything to go in the right places but they would just float off in their own direction. I felt like an absolute un-coordinated freak. It was really funny and M and I both laughed a lot.

Jack did really well throughout the whole lesson. He responded so well to all my seat aids and he really was using himself well. The quality of his paces improved ten fold. It really shows that when you use your body right, your horse has a way bigger chance to use himself correctly. Hopefully M will be able to give me a lesson in the near future so we can keep improving.

Cross Country Lesson II

Today was my second cross country lesson on Jack. On Thursday, at the Cross Country Schooling Night, one of our big problems (or should I say my big problem) was looking down at the jump. This again came into play today. Its a bad habit I REALLY need to break because it makes Jack unsure of whether to jump or not.

As always, we started off small. Focusing on rythm and softness we quickly moved up to higher, but simple jumps. Jack jumped them without hesitation and we worked more on my position then anything else. Sue did the old trick of sticking grass between my calf and the saddle which has always helped my with my position. I need to imagine grass there all the time, because sometimes my leg goes flying back over the jump.

We moved onto two logs set up as a double at the top of a hill. Jack refused first time and I'm sure I was looking down. Sue had me bring Jack 4 strides out from a jump and just stand there breathing deeply, showing him that the jump was no big deal and nothing to panic about. She told me to kick him on and jump it from a trot. Eyes up, eyes up, leg on, eyes up, soft with hands. This was my mantra the entire lesson. He hesitated but I drove him on and he basically crawled over the jump. The second time he jumped and we did the double easily.

We moved onto a log that was set up on top of a bank. A DOWNHILL BANK. He crawled over this the first and second time and then refused the third time. Sue pointed out that often I will drop my eyes at the last second which makes him not sure about whether its okay to jump. He refused another time and then we managed to get two good flowing jumps over it. I was very balanced which I was proud of.

Next we moved onto the Dog Box!! Sue seems to think that they have raised the jump and instead of it being Pre-Training, it is in fact Training which is great! Again Jack ran out. He runs out to the left which is rather a nuisence because I HATE holding my whip in my left hand but I'm going to have to get used to it because he never runs out to the right. After the first run out we trotted by one of the ponies who was grazing in that paddock. Apparently she doesn't like Jack because she double barreled us a couple of times. The first kick got the underside of my foot, but thankfully didn't hurt. The second kick got Jack in the chest. I trotted him out and he seemed unhurt so we kept on with the lesson. I found a small cut on him later which I sprayed with iodine. He ran out a second time and tried on run out a third time but I kept my whip pressed up against his left shoulder and he scrambled over the jump. The second time he scrambled again and the third time I pushed him more forward into the jump and it rode very nicely! YAYAYAY I JUMPED THE DOG BOX! I've been wanting to do that for so long.

After we schooled some other jumps, Sue put together a course for me to do. One of the jumps in the course was jumping off a bank! Sue timed the course without me knowing and my time was 1.45min. She said she wanted it down to 1.30min so we did it again. I had to do the down hill bank fast and we rode it really well. I got 1.32min so she made me do it again and I really pushed him to go faster. The down hill went great again and we got 1.29min yus!

The funny thing about Jack is that he doesn't puff. He sweats A LOT and soaks his saddle blankets everytime he's worked hard but he doesn't puff at all. I don't know why he does this, maybe he just has really good lung compacity but its not like any other horse I know. But if it works for him, then why not?

It was good lesson and I'm really happy we did the Dog Box!

Show Jumping Lesson

When I first went to try Jack out his previous owner told me that Jack was a horse that you had to have a special bond with otherwise you would end up hating him (don't worry, this is not a story about hating him). When she said this I was a tad worried. I mean although she said I could sell him back to her at anytime, I really didn't want to do that. He seemed like a great horse that could take me places and he was well in my price range. But what if we didn't have that special bond? What if I ended up hating him? I would have to sell him back and would be horseless. I wouldn't be able to afford another horse with his amount of talent.

Thankfully I didn't need to worry. Somewhere along the way Jack has come to trust me and we've created a special bond. I think part of the reason was all the ground training I put into him after he tried to kill me a couple of times. Sue noticed this too during our lesson. We had just flown around the course and I trotted over to Sue and said "This horse is a real confidence builder." "I wouldn't say he was a confidence builder at all" she said "Oh well, I think hes a confidence builder" I said "He's a confidence builder for you because he trusts you but if anyone else got on who couldn't ride he would terrify them." I was pretty pleased with that and we got on with the lesson.

Unfortunately my personal photographer (aka Dad) was unavaliable so there are no photos of the lesson. The lesson was pretty basic. I really just wanted to get in a bit of schooling before the ODE on the first. Sue just set up a number of different jumps and gave me tips as I rode over them. Jack was fantastic and we did really well. He started getting tired towards the end of the lesson and dropped a few poles. We were both sweating like pigs when we finally finished. My bright purple polo has very attractive sweat marks all down my back thanks to my back protector and Jack's saddle blanket was soaked through.

I really, really have fallen in love with Jack. He is such a fun horse to ride. I love that he doesn't bolt off if I give him the rein and that I can slow him down by thinking it. When we're cantering around the SJ course it feels like magic. I was talking to one of the parents at Pony Club a few weeks ago and he said to me "Sometimes I don't know why you riders put yourself through all the hard work only to be heartbroken when your horse doesn't come through for you on the day." I thought about this for a moment and then said to him "That can be true. Riding can be full of disapointment sometimes but then you experience that one moment when everything you have been working towards just falls into place, and that makes everything you have to put up with, finally worth it." I felt that moment today.

Thank God for my boy, Jack.

Cross Country Lesson

Jack suprised me today by behaving nicely for the lesson today, even though he had the past couple of days off due to New Years. Sue, who helped me a lot with Red, was my instructor.We started off the lesson by doing lots of transitions. First it was 8 strides of trot, then halt and repeat. Then 4 strides of trot, 4 of walk. Then 8 of canter, 8 of walk etc. She wanted him to get much softer in his transitions and soon she had me try getting downward transitions by breathing out and not using the reins. It took him about a minute to grasp what I wanted but he was soon doing it perfectly. He is a very, very sensitive horse and responds beautifully to the lightest aids.

We started off small and went bigger. I had my faithful dad following me around with the camera and part way through the lesson my mum and "auntie" arrived to watch.

It seems that Jack hates having his head interferred with from about 5 strides out of the jump and 3 strides after. As soon as I let him have "his strides" and sung to both of us to keep an even rythm he jumped very nicely. No galloping away after the jumps and no head tossing.

Sue had us jump a ditch during the lesson. I've jumped a couple of ditches before when I was living in Taumarunui but I really don't know much about them. Jack refused the first time but on the second time he jumped it. Really, really big. Even though it was a massive jump I felt really secure and not at all un-balanced... Thank you Red! Sue told me to stay sitting up over the jump, that I don't need to lean forward for it. It looks like I didn't listen to her very well if the photos are any indication. (Click to see the bigger version)

Next it was onto the Water Jump. We all remember my unfortunate incident with the water last time. He jumped into the water like a star and would canter through the water as fast as he could. The cool water refreashed us both I think. One time when we jumped into the water he cantered straight towards a massive bank. I don't know what he wanted to do but I pushed him the other way at the last minute and my knee was almost taken out on a wooden post.

After schooling a few more jumps we stuck most of them together for a course. Jack was a star and jumped everything without looking twice.

I don't know if you noticed but I've got some mean man muscles coming through on my arms. Which shows especially on this photo. They are getting pretty big haha.

We finished off the lesson there since it was our first Cross Country Schooling together. I learnt a lot about Jack in this lesson. Sue really likes Jack which helps a lot. She says he has "unlimited potential" which is very encouraging.

There is an ODE on the 1st of February and I think I will compete at Pre-Training lesson. Hopefully I can fit one more Cross Country lesson in and then we should be good to go.

Lesson with Sue # 3

Its been awhile since my last lesson with Sue. This is mostly due to Reds recent lameness. With the ODE that happened on Sunday (I'll write about that in my next post) I decided that a lesson was well in order. Since Area games was on we weren't able to do Show Jumping so we did a Dressage lesson.

I've found that since I am an older teenage rider people assume I know things about the basics of riding. But since I only started riding properly two years ago i.e. not just hacking around the farm, I really don't know much at all. Unfortunately this means some instructors just don't teach me things or they are very suprised when they ask me to do something and I have no idea how. For example recently an instructor commented in a group lesson at Rally that I don't attempt to keep Red rounded and on the bit. She couldn't believe it when I said I had never been taught how to really do it (I must state here that even after she found out this help she didn't try to tell me how to do it). So this is what Sue and I (or should I say Red and I) worked on during this lesson.

I know the theory in getting a horse to become round and on the bit (I've read enough books) but when I had tried to do it nothing really happened. He would sometimes stay on the bit in walk but there was no point in even trying in trot and canter. My friends would try and tell me how to do it but nothing ever seemed to work. I explained all this to Sue at the start of our lesson. She explained the balance between the leg and the hand and likened it to the clutch and accelerator of the car. How you must have the right amount of balance between the both for it to work. So I tried. Nothing really happened, he would come down onto the bit but would not stay for long. Finally Sue resorted to getting on. She walked and trotted him around and finally she figured it out! He needs a lot more leg then hand and once hes on the bit he needs a matinence leg for him to stay there.

So I got back on. We worked consistenly on the bit on each rein at a trot and a canter. He was worse on his right side (not surprising) but his left rein was amazing. I found that Red gives me two options when it comes to this 1. Rounded and slow or 2. Not rounded and forward. Hes incredibly slow when he comes on the bit, especially in the trot. My legs ached as I tried to get him to move forward. Sue then handed me a dressage whip. Now this is another basic I've never been taught. I don't know how to use a whip. She showed me how to hold it and it definitely worked. Red was on the bit and moving forward nicely. Unfortunately I couldn't keep my hand from moving and the whip waggled around a bit which made Red a bit upset. I guess I'm going to have to work on that.

In the canter I was rocking too much. I used to have the problem where my butt wouldn't stay on the saddle. Once I got that sorted I started the rocking. Sue figured I was overcompensating with the butt thing and it caused my upper body to rock. She explained to me in theory how my body was supposed to work in the canter and I don't know how it happened but when I put Red into the canter it went perfectly! I didn't even think about it. It was like my brain had cemented what Sue had said and then just did it! After that we just worked on Red cantering on his right leg and then we finished up.

Coming up: Henderson ODE Post

Lessons with Sue # 2

I had my weekly lesson with Sue today and I'm pleased to say that we did a aprox. 90cm grid! I was so proud of Red. Once he settled into it he was the man! We had lots of fun doing it, although there was one scarey moment during the lesson. We had come out of the grid and I took Red up a little hill in the paddock, he tried to break into a gallop so I was pulling him up and he slipped. I heard Sue gasp as we started going down but he managed to recover himself at the last moment which I was very happy about. My heart was going a million miles an hour.

He also did these silly little things that weren't bucks but looked like them (pictured above). He would just put his head done when I was collecting him to tell him we were about to jump. It got quite annoying.

Sue also taught me how to pull a mane and plait! So i can cross 'Learn how to pull a mane' off my goals list! The perfecting of plaiting is still a long way off though :)

My dad was taking pictures so there are few in my 'Lessons with Sue' folder, the light was bad and our camera is bad so they are not the best quality. The pick of the crop are in the folder, and for some reason they are all photos of when the grid was lower! But thats all good.

Well my friends, happy riding :)

Lessons with Sue #1

Hello everyone,


Did you have a good weekend? I did.


Because you see I had my first weekly lesson with Sue and frankly it was great! We did dressage and Red has improved so much! I was so impressed. It was also a really windy day and Red usually spooks incredibly on windy days and he didn't once bat an eyelid. Go Red! I have a list of goals I'm wanting to achieve this season (I'll write about them in another post) and we worked on some of those.



First we worked on suppleness and bending. I am always getting remarks in my dressage tests about getting Red to bend more but as I know almost nothing about riding I could never get him to do it. Sue gave me tips and within ten minutes he was bending beautifully! He was also coming on the bit by himself without me constantly having to work to keep him there which was great! His frame was absolutely beautiful. We also corrected my problem of my dropping my shoulders especially my right one when I turn with Red. As soon as I got that fixed I was so much more balanced which in turn helped Red carry himself correctly and he was in a gorgeous frame. I recieved heaps of compliments on him afterwards which always makes me feel great!



We then worked on keeping Red going straight. I get lots of bad comments about not being straight coming down the centre line so it really needed some work. We soon had him trotting down the centre line without a waver in sight (though it did take a lot of work to get him there). About the third time I got him straight he started getting really grumpy and kept bopping his head like he was threating to buck. Reds never bucked with me and I didn't think he wouls go through with it but we went onto someting else. He was probably just a bit bored.



The rest of the lesson was just working on feeling for the right diagonal. I still need to work on that but I am getting better. Anyway Rosemary was there taking pictures and heres the best picture from the lesson. She only sent me one lol.

Its getting closer!

The season is almost here! I can feel it coming! I can even smell in the air. No, honestly I can. I went to Reds paddock this morning and all these Summer smells hit me and sent my mind straigh back to riding in the hot summer sun! Ahhh bliss! The PC grounds are even starting to open up! I am soooooooo happy! The plum tree paddock and the Reserve have opened for 'light riding' so I guess it means no galloping around wildly lol.

Anyway theres been a change on A Girl and Her Horse. If you take a look on the left you'll see that I've added a new feature to the site! You can now click on the links and go to pics of Red and I. Throughout the season I'll add pics of the ODEs and ribbon days so you now have easy access to my photos. Also a new blog has been added to my horse blog list... A Moment in Time. My friend Michelle is the author and its all about her gorgeous horse Gizmo! Check it out sometime!

In Red news... we had a lesson yesterday with Sophie. Sophie is an awesome eventer herself and she regularly gives lessons at PC. Red and I did a bit of dressage with her and some jumping. We worked on getting Red to lead with his right leg for ages! He got it about 4 times out of 30 which is a start! Sophies given me lots of raised trotting pole homework and she wants me to me vigilent about trotting on the right diagonal. Up till now I haven't paid much attention to it but as a result Red has more muscle on his left side. Yes its my fault. But I plan to get it sorted ASAP!

We did some jumping too! It was great fun. Red was awesome, Sophie said he was "Full of beans." He jumped really well and I kept out of his way :) Peter was there so he got some nice photos of us which you can check out on the link marked 'Lesson with Sophie - 02/08/07" at the side. Not all the photos are there at the moment because my email is down so check back. The picture at the top of this post is my favourite! I love it! I'm thinking of getting it blown up to poster size for my room!

Oh also when I went to get Red from his paddock this morning there was a dog that was chasing and attacking two of the horses! When he saw me he ran off, although I didn't see where. The horses he was going after were fine, I checked them over but they were upset. They both wanted lots of pats to be reassured. I called the grazing manager and she told me to call Animal Control because theres been other reports of a dog chasing the horses around and tormenting them. Hopefully it will get resolved soon! I don't like the idea of Red being chased around by a mean dog. Also the dog is putting itself at risk, a horse could easily double barrel it!