Lessons Are The Best

I took my first lesson with J, my new trainer, today. It. Was. AWESOME!

*Sorry, no pics or video. I'll try to fill the void with random pictures of Indy and Winn.

Okay, so Indy's four and still very, very green. A detailed recap of the lesson would probably bore most of you, even the most devout dressage riders, to tears. I'll try to keep it short. You're welcome.

Indy was SOOOOOOOOO good! She went into the arena and was pretty relaxed from the second I got on her (BTW, I even climbed on from the mounting block that the little heathen was striking at just two days ago). We walked on a loose rein and Indy was stretching down into a very relaxed/swinging walk. It usually takes quite a bit of work to get her to that point, so I was obviously ecstatic to start out like that.

J came in and she asked me to warm up how I normally would. Confession of the day: we don't really have much of a warm up routine. A large part of our rides has been just doing whatever the hell I needed to get Indy to the point she that she was starting out at today. So I kind of just kept that idea of doing what I felt she needed at the moment to be prepared for what we would do next. Not much of a warm up routine huh? J seemed okay with it, so I guess it's alright.

Okay, so I promised to keep this short.

What we need to work on:

1. Keeping a steady connection on the outside rein to support her outside shoulder and turn her shoulders.

2. Turning the shoulders so that the hind end is following the path of her shoulders.

3. Serpentines-keeping her through during the change of bend.

4. Keeping Indy straight and through across the diagonal, using my legs and an even connection. This is hard/good for me as I am still sitting crooked in the saddle

5. Use circles to get her relaxed, focused, and through. Move the circles to different parts of the arena, but use them as a form of a comfortable place when Indy needs it.

6. Make sure that I let the connection become elastic when Indy is going correctly.

Hopefully, I didn't forget anything....

I know this is all basic stuff, but sometimes the basics are damn hard on a greenie. Everything J told me made perfect sense. I completely understood what she was saying and what we were aiming for.

What we did well:

1. Indy was relaxed and very focused for her (about 85% compared to her usual 50-60% of the ride).

2. Indy started off wanting to be a little quick, but I corrected her and J said I did a good job of getting her into a good tempo. *JL had me really work on this in Hellbuquerque and I think he'd be happy that we did this well :)

3. There were moments where Indy was really using herself well and they were happening a lot more and a lot longer than normal. J even said there were times that the work was show quality. Obviously, we're a long ways from showing, but it was still nice to hear.

4. Even when Indy was distracted, she wasn't reactive. A pickup and horse trailer even drove right next to the arena, behind us, and Indy didn't care at all. A month ago that would have been enough to cause a meltdown.

5. I made good and smart corrections and didn't get frustrated.

6. I felt a lot more in tune with Indy and she wasn't hardly resistant at all today.

Thoughts on the new trainer:

I'm really excited to ride with J more! She is patient and understanding, only asking us to do what we were capable of. She tells you what to fix, but is very good about pointing out the positives. I felt very comfortable riding with J and already have full trust in her expertise. I really liked that she didn't have that "Well your horse is this age, so it should be at this level." mentality. 

Other than Indy being so good, one of the best parts of my lesson was when J told me that I've done a good job with Indy. Even writing this now, it still makes me so happy that I could about cry.  I got on today feeling like I had been a failure with my horse and got off feeling like maybe I hadn't done such a horrible job with her training after all. Today felt like we were working on what we needed to get better instead of having to go back and fix all of my mistakes, which I was honestly kind of anticipating. It's always nice to know that you haven't screwed your horse up.

I'm seriously proud of my girl! She was lovely to ride! We even went for a short walk outside of the arena on a loose rein and Indy was perfectly relaxed and calm. I've never really been able to trust her enough to ride her out of the confines of the arena before because she doesn't handle changes of scenery very well. I'm hoping that we can start going for rides on the track that goes through the cross country course soon. It would be so good for Indy. I thought about it today, but L (the BEST) was waiting on me to do thermal, laser therapy, and adjustments on Winn and Indy and it would have been kind of rude to make her wait longer. Plus, Indy was so good that she deserved to be done for the day. One step at a time.

More on the thermal, laser, and adjustments tomorrow.

All Together

I moved Winn to the same barn as Indy. It's absolutely wonderful to have them in the same spot, even if my board bill does make me want to cry. It's worth every penny. Winn has settled in well and he seems pretty happy. He needs shod, so I've only lunged and turned him out so far. He'll get shod on Thursday and then we'll get back to real work.

His half assed effort at playing during turnout.

Big nerd.

Indy is doing a little better. Today was her day off and I just hand walked her. Yesterday, she was pissed off from the second I took her out of the stall. She had a slight temper tantrum when I first got on, but we eventually worked through it and ended on a really good note. This was a huge deal when it comes to Indy because usually when she starts off bad, she just gets worse. Being able to work through this was huge! We have a lesson on Friday, fingers crossed that she is at least somewhat willing to work with me....

Indy decided that the mounting block is a demon. When I led her by it today she decided to squeal and strike at it. Yeah, that's one I haven't seen before....

But she's usually cute, so I guess I still like her ;)

Sunday Silence

Why equestrian husbands are the most patient men in the world

Let's face it, equestrians are of a different breed. We have one track minds (our horses), different priorities (our horses), and tend to obsess over weird things (our horses). Our entire thought process is completely different from the "normal" non-equine humans. Obviously being married/engaged/dating us horse crazies is not an easy task and here are a few examples of why:

"You'll have to handle dinner tonight. I have to go out and make Sweat Pea his bran mash."

"I had to use your toothbrush to get the dirt out of the the tighter spaces on my saddle. I will get you a new one in the next day or two."

"I know that it seems like a lot of money for a pair of breeches, but they were 10% off. I saved $40. Jeez...."

"I realize that our anniversary is Friday, but I have a show this weekend and need to study my tests. Can we celebrate on Monday?"

"Peaches doesn't technically NEED a $200 bonnet, but it just looks so cute on him! Doesn't it look cute on him?!"

"The new dishwasher got all of my bits perfectly spotless! Totally worth the money!"

"I got planted again and have to go to the ER. Before you come to the hospital, can you stop by the barn and make sure that Honey is okay? She seemed really upset afterwards."

"Can you hold Darling for the farrier? The man doesn't wear deodorant and his butt crack is always hanging out. I shouldn't have to be subjected to that kind of torture."

"Sure, going to the Super Bowl would be fun, but don't you think watching all of the dressage rides at the World Cup would be a lot better?"

"Can you come out with me while I ride today? I need someone to take pictures of me riding so that I can put them on my blog."

"You're okay with holding Pumpkin in between my classes right? Also, carry my grooming bag, I need you to wipe my boots after I get on and brush her tail before I go into the arena. Don't forget to grab my water bottle."

"What do you mean it looked like a good ride?!! Did you not see that canter transition?! Ugh! This is SO embarrassing! It was a HORRIBLE ride!"

"I need you to video my ride. No, not yet. Wait until I warm up a little. Why are you not videoing?! That was the best she's ever warmed up and you missed it!"

*crying* "...and then the judge said that Princess needs to stay more consistently connected and I've worked so hard on that already and we've gotten better and it's still not good enough and I don't think it will ever be good enough and we're never going to be able to move up if it's not good enough..." *sobbing*

"So, I realize that I've gotten completely behind on laundry lately. To make up for it, I threw in all of your underwear with the clothes I was wearing when I body clipped Sweetheart. Man, that horse hair is itchy!"

"Yes, the board is more than our house payment, but you should see this barn! It's immaculate! I don't want anything but the best for Love Bug."

*kiss* "You're so handsome." *kiss* "And perfect." *kiss* "And wonderful." *kiss* "And fantastic." *man standing in background shaking his head while woman says good bye to the horse*

And that is why horse husbands are the best, most wonderful, and patient men in the world!

The Things You Will Learn

Indy is definitely a completely different type of horse from any of the other young horses I've ridden. I hope that what they say about the difficult horses ending up being the best ones is true because she  will be a fantastic horse if it is.

Don't get me wrong, she's not an idiot. She's not bolting or rearing or doing anything really stupid or dangerous. I still feel like she wants to cut in two when we canter, but Indy hasn't. Yet. Mostly, she is just resistant, hard-headed. The type that you ask to bend left and they lean into your weight and leg and drop their right shoulder. Basically, if Indy used even half of the effort she puts into resisting into trying to do what I ask, we might actually get somewhere eventually. She also has the attention span of a Jack Russell puppy in a yard full of squirrels. I don't mind her getting a little distracted, that's normal. Indy has a tendency to take it to the extreme though. I'm obviously not perfect and make mistakes, but riding her is mentally exhausting. After awhile, my main focus becomes just not losing my temper. That isn't going to get us very far.

It's going to be like this for quite some time, I realize that. I'm hoping to schedule a lesson soon and am looking forward to getting the new trainer's input. In the meantime, I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of Indy being a challenge and what I'm learning from it.

Indy is a really good eater...

1. She is going to teach me a lot.

2. I'm going to learn some serious patience.

3. There are good moments when Indy goes like the horse that she is capable of being. They (very) gradually come more often.

She's cute too!

4. I'm learning to put more faith in her. Riding defensive won't help. If she plants me, she plants me. I need to get over worrying about it. Eventually.

5. My pride means nothing. By that I mean that if things look ugly sometimes, it's okay. We both need to learn, not impress. Letting go of my pride makes it a lot less frustrating when a ride is far from perfect.

6. In the end, she will have made me a better rider and horseman. Assuming she doesn't kill me in the process of course.

7. She has talent and potential, so it's worth the hard times.

She's a really pretty shade of grey right now.

8. I enjoy spending time with her at the barn. Being around Indy is a break from the track and I'm not only lucky to have her, but the opportunity to ride at all. 

9. If Indy and I get past this and have some success, it will be extremely rewarding.

I'm sure there's even more positive things to come out of my time with Indy. I'm just super tired and can't think of any more right now.

Anyone else have any positive notes on riding a difficult horse?