Don't Relax

I'm having a lesson at Anna's and it's going quite well. Anna's lessons are pretty intense, and once or twice during the lesson Anna likes to give the horse a little break. Time to stretch it's neck, and just relax.

We're trotting, and Anna asks for a small circle. "Then, once she's ready, back to walk", instructs Anna. "And allow her to take a loose rein, and relax". I breathe a sigh of relief, and flop back in my saddle, relaxed, ready for a beer. "Not you!", shrieks Anna. I sit up, jolted. "It's time for the horse to relax. You have to sit up and go with her, otherwise she can't relax!"

To sell or not to sell?

Sooner or later every aspiring rider comes up with the same question - will this horse take me to where I want to go?

And I am not talking "from point A to point B" here. I am talking in terms of competitive ambitions.

I ask Anna. "I think you will outgrow her within the year", she muses. "If I sold Princess, what would I be looking for?", I quizz. "Ha!", laughs Anna. "Something not too old, not too young, going at least Elementary level". She gazes critically at Princess as the horse walks around the indoor arena. "A lot depends on how much you are willing to spend", she trails off. "What about height?", I ask. "Huh?", Anna looks up at me, as though she's in another world. "Oh height. 16.1hh is the maximum I would consider. Small horses struggle to get the marks in competition, but they are much easier to learn on." I nod. I can't help but notice that Anna is fully pre-occupied with Princess though. More so than normal.

Then half way through the lesson Anna chooses to ride Princess. She's ridden her once before, but now another dimension to Anna appears. She disciplines the horse, and makes her get on with the job. She walks, she trots, she canters. She does small circles, large circles, shoulder in and quarters in. She rides with real zest and audacity, the likes of which I haven't seen for a very long time. She gets ... well ... serious. Princess still pretends that it's all too hard, but Anna just keeps asking. I feel full of attitude.

"Jump back on and have a feel", she says as she hops off. To me, the horse doesn't really feel that different. But I do. I have now seen how much "cootash" Anna gave that horse, and I do the same. The lesson becomes punctuated with "yes" and "good". We do a final halt. Anna looks up at me. "Sell", she says.

Dangling the bit

Spring is here and Anna is super booked out. I am very lucky that she's happy to have me at 8am.

We start off in the walk. Princess is striding out. Another time, and an instructor would have been happy with the "active" walk. Not Anna. "She's running in that walk", says Anna. "You must slow it down". Small circle, shoulder in, volte, shoulder in. Then bingo, the walk slows down. Almost a touch lazy. It feels like the horse is listening. Wow.

"Now maintain that feeling in trot. If you lose it, come back to walk and get it back", instructs Anna. We go forward into trot. It feels nice and steady, but quite powerful. Sort of like you could easily do a nice jump over an obstacle. "Now keep the soft hand soft, and make the hard hand soft." I do my best. "Now feel like the bit is a carrot, and you're dangling it in front of the horse, and with every stride, the horse has to reach for the carrot." I do. The hand is merely there holding the lightest contact, while the horse is gently playing with the bit as it strides forward. It feels so correct.

We practice this in rising trot for a while. "When you rise, snap out of the saddle. You're sitting too heavy", adds Anna. In my mind, sitting too heavy translates into being really nasty to your horse, and I feel terrible. I also feel quite tired, which doesn't help. Then a phone call comes in, that a horse is lame, and hence the 9am lesson is cancelled.

Anna asks for canter. Here we're not ready for dangling the bit yet. The horse is still rushing and running away. "You are so used to being taken for a ride", says Anna, "you have to get the horse to slow down, and then drive. Even in canter."

Finally. at 9:30am we finish up. I'm nackered. "You're lucky the 9am cancelled", says Anna. I know I'm lucky. It's these strokes of luck that will get me to where I want to go. But right now, I just feel exhausted. I smile wryly.

Cinderella

The haying paddock (a.k.a the arena) is locked up for hay. So from now, till the harvest is in, I am pretty much forced to ride out.

I put the boots on Princess, and off we go. Must be spring or something, because she is really quite a handful.

Then, on the canter home, I hear a funny noise. Sort of like a puff, puff, puff. I glance down. The boots are off. Three of them. I mean they are still attached to the legs by the gaiters (thank goodness for that), but they are off. I'm ropable! And, Princess being what she is, it takes me 5 minutes to detach the boots, and another 10 minutes to hop back on. I make her stand there, while I fume.

Back at the big shed I inspect the boots. They're not designed to be cantered in, upside down. The metal bits which hold the wire are bent. Two boots are okish, but one is bent to an unusable state. I'm on the verge of crying, and on the verge of putting shoes back on my horse. Obviously, in our rocky terrain, I need those little pins to keep the clip closed.

Position, position, position

There was another thing that Anna pointed out in yesterday's lesson, but it really merits a separate entry.

How important is position? The way you sit on the horse? That imaginary ear-hip-heel line? (I am not a big fan of the whole ear-hip-heel thing, but that's another topic in itself.)
Well, truth be told, position is everything.

When a rider is in the correct position they are able to control the horse, change gait, slow down, speed up, with relative ease. The reason for this, is that the correct position is comfortable for the horse. The horse is actually able to work together with the correct position, and respect it. A correct position renders the horse and rider a "team".

When you deviate from the correct position by leaning forward, it usually means that you are using your hands too much, and your seat not enough. (By leaning forward, I do not mean going into forward seat. I mean that you start slouching with your shoulders.) The effect to the horse is that you are hanging off their mouth. So, firstly they avoid contact. If you force them into the contact, then they may lean on the bit, start rushing forward, get stiff in the neck or the jaw, or all of the above.

When you deviate from the correct position by slouching backwards, you become like a sack of potatoes. Imagine (or better still actually do this) that you are carrying a 15kg hiking pack. Get the harness nice and tight - you should be able to feel the weight of the pack, but it should move with you. Now loosen the harness right off. The pack should feel heavier, and as you move left or right it probably feels like it's a burden. Now try trotting. That's what the backward slouching rider feels like to the horse. The effect is a horse that stiff through the back, rushing, bucking, an unbalanced horse, leaning on the bit, or all of the above.

Now for the bad news. It is actually possible to be slouching backwards and forwards at the same time!!!

Bewildered

Here I am, at Anna's once again. Sunny day, sand menage. We start with walk, a few circles to the left, a strong half halt when changing direction, a few circles to the right. Engage the hind quarters through the shoulder-in, quarters-in, or the volte. Then halt. And there it is. The feeling of the horse fully on the aids and working into the bit. The halt is perfect. Full of impulsion from behind, and void of resistance. I sit in bewilderment. I had doubts whether this horse could actually do it.

We go on in trot. "Every time you feel her rush forwards, make the circle smaller, engage, then make the circle bigger" advises Anna. Aha. I get the purspose of the concentric circles now.

Sitting trot. The horse is egnaged. "Now drive", says Anna. I drive. And there it is, that "on the aids" feeling again. Wow. In my bewilderment I lose it all. Anna tsk tsks, and instructs on. I feel embarrassed and ecstatic at the same time.

Onto canter. We work on preventing the falling out. It's hard work on the muscles, and after a few circles I feel tired. Princess feels me ease off, and takes advantage of it. I work harder and re-engage the horse. At one point Anna's comments diminish. I'm riding well. The canter is still a far far cry from the walk or the trot, but I can feel a hint here and there, that it too will come good.

I cannot believe we've come this far.

Hoof Boots

I take the brand new hoof boots (EasyBoot Epic) out of their boxes, and whack them on. (It takes about 20 minutes, and I am really hoping that I get much faster at this in the future). I grab the reins and lead my horse. Clip clop, bang, clip clop, bang. I stop and stare. Despite all the "noise" the boots are firmly in place. The horse looks surprisingly at ease. When she walks her stride actually seems longer, more relaxed, easy cruisy.

I jump on and ride towards the gate. Every stride I re-assess the boots with trepidation. Are they still on? Have the little clips come undone yet? Yay of little faith!

We ride out through the gates and into the state forest. Trot. And being on Princess, it's not working trot. We've got so much extension that I can see her hooves flicking out the front. Boots still on. Clip clop, clip clop, bang bang. Whenever I can, I check the back hooves. Boots still on. I gain confidence.

We ride up to Dead Cow, down into the valley, and the up the road at canter. And, being Princess, it's not working canter. It's that solid eventing canter, almost a gallop. I forget about the boots, and enjoy the ride, the wind in my hair, the cold air against my nose, the green of the trees rushing by. We reach the top. Exhilerated. I smile.

Oh, and the boots? Yeah, still on. We ride on for another hour, and finally rock up back at the hitching rail, hot, sweaty, and happy with a full set of hoof boots still in place.

The horse and the boots need a wash. Both have done well.

Hoof Boots - Sizing

Ok, this exercise has taken about 6 months, far too long, but finally we are here. Princess is barefoot, we've measured her up and come back with the following hoof sizes.


Having looked at the various boots (EasyBoot, Boa, OldMacs, and (believe me) all the others), the boots that seem most appropriate for her shape of hoof are the EasyBoots. Upon advice from my barefoot farrier, I decide on EasyBoot Epic - because the gaiters prevent the boots from coming off when a horse overreaches. Princess overreaches. So EasyBoot Epic it is. Here is how the EasyBoot Epic sizes map to Princess' hooves.

At first glance this looks a bit weird to me. I just find it hard to believe that at horse would have such odd hoof sizes to require different boot sizes on both the front and the back legs. I do further study on the sizes, and come back with this.

It becomes obvious that one hoof is definitely size 1, and one hoof is definitely size 2. Excellent. I order one hoof boot of each size. The boots arrive, and it try them on - they fit. Next, I try the boots on the remaining feet. That is, I try the size 2 boot on the other front hoof (which sized up as a 3), and I try the size 1 boot on the other hind hoof (which sized up as a 2). They fit. So in the end, this looks like the correct configuration.

I order another size 1 and size 2 EasyBoot Epic, and I'm ready to hit the tracks.

Impulsion

I arrive for my lesson with Anna Auer. Anna corrects my position, then we work on impulsion - on getting the hindquarters underneath the horse.

Anna gives me my tools - the volte, the shoulder in and the quarters in. Use one at a time, or combine all three within a single long side of an arena. On each rein some of these tools will work better than others. Work out which are the right tools for which rein. Work out when to switch from one tool to the next. Work out when to just go straight.

I obviously do a half-baked job, because at the end Anna jumps on my horse. Princess almost has a hissy fit - for about 20 minutes! Eventually she does what is being asked. I think there is some good impulsion there, but I am not sure Anna is fully happy.

Anna also suggests that a long canter in the park, in forward seat, might be a good idea. The aim of it would be to strenghten her back, which is required to achieve impulsion.

Falling Out

A sunny day, a lesson with Anna, we work outside on the sand menage.

On the left rein Princess falls out. I keep the neck straight, and correct her with my outside (right) leg. "Feel like you're correcting the shoulders" advises Anna. "Move the shoulders across with your outside leg, keep the quarters in check with your inside leg. It should feel a little bit like you're riding on the right rein." I correct every quarter of a circle. Then every eighth of a circle. We do this in walk, then in trot. Then we make a very small circle in trot, with the odd step of walk thrown in.

Finally we try it in canter - on a large circle.

Falling Out

A sunny day, a lesson with Anna, we work outside on the sand menage. On the left rein Princess falls out. I keep the neck straight, and correct her with my outside (right) leg. "Feel like you're correcting the shoulders" advises Anna. "Move the shoulders across with your outside leg, keep the quarters in check with your inside leg. It should feel a little bit like you're riding on the right rein." I correct every quarter of a circle. Then every eighth of a circle. We do this in walk, then in trot. Then we make a very small circle in trot, with the odd step of walk thrown in.

Finally we try it in canter - on a large circle. I don't know whether I manage to stop the falling out or not. What I do realise is just how hard I am working with my seat and legs. I try to follow Anna's instructions, but I am not sure I am doing a good job, and after a few circles I feel exhausted. Can't say the same for the horse.

Work at home

So here I am. Schooling at home, trying to find another way when Princess locks up. Easy? No. Very frustrating, in fact. I am not used to finding another way. I am just used to getting my way. I suddenly realise just how often I have been using excessive force on my horse. It's hard to accept and very humbling.

I continue. I don't use force, I find another way. I fight my mind and try to stay soft. I get the results I am looking for. This is a much better way to get results, and horses are so forgiving.

Concentric Circles

My second dressage lesson with Anna. Princess is considerably more relaxed, and Anna notices that I've been working on my position. She gets me doing some concentric circles - start off on a 20m circle then wind down to a 5m circle, then back out to a 20m circle. Do a volte if necessary. We use the exercise to correct Princess' falling in and falling out. We correct it every quarter of a circle, then every eight. In the process, we establish how much strength is really required from each of my limbs. It's a lot more outside rein and outside leg than I thought. And a lot less rein overall. The horse travels correctly.

Every now and then, Princess locks up in the jaw and neck. "When she locks up like that, you must try something else", comments Anna. It includes sit forwards/back, lighter/heavier, move your hands up/down/out. I don't realise it at the time, but in many ways this is the statement I have been waiting for. When a horse locks up, listen to it. It's uncomfortable, and it doesn't understand what you're saying. It's not "naughty". You'll never get anywhere with sheer force. Find another way, a better way. Find your own way. One that works for both you and the horse.

After the lesson Anna suggest that I try a thicker bit. A thicker bit will make my hands more forgiving. When a bit is thin, each movement is magnified, so it's not a good idea if you're hands are a bit unsteady. So simple - why didn't anyone tell me this before?

Dressage Lesson

I am invited to a dressage lesson with Anna Auer - an equestrienne from Austria who has enjoyed dressage success in Australia, and has taught dressage and trained dressage horses for many years. My entourage of daughter, husband and accountant (yes accountant) makes the whole outing feel over the top.

At my request we focus on position. Back straight, relax left shoulder, don't jerk left hand, left toe in, less heel down. Then we focus on the horse. When head goes up, hands come down, but gently, gently. Ask her to look into the circle, gently though, don't jerk. When she runs, lean forward a bit, catch up to her motion. It's only when you're travelling with her that she will slow down. Snap out of the seat in rising trot. Faster! Retain the contact through transitions, yes, gentle contact. When she dives into the bridle, retain the contact, be gentle, go with her, then ask her to come up a bit.

I follow every instruction to the letter. The back of my mind is screaming at me though - "What?! Heel up? Hands down? Lean forward??? Every rule is being broken!" Yet within half an hour Princess is travelling better than ever before, and by the end of the lesson we're onto some lovely canter work and shoulder in.

And the emphasis is on "gentle". Gentle, kind, but disciplined at the same time. I get good vibes from Princess. We will be back for another lesson soon. Just perhaps less entourage! Although my accountant threatens to come to the next lesson as well. Maybe he'll invest in a dressag horse rather than a race horse next year?

The Slow Ride

A friend arrives and we go riding together. She's on Bess (thanks Lisa!) and I am on Crownie. This is as much a girlie catchup as a ride and we're happy walking along and chatting about children, health and money. But the riveting conversations stop as we go into trot, then canter, then gallop. Three minutes later we're on top of the hill, smiling, cheeks beaming a rosy colour. Still, it all feels amazing slow to me these days, and even at the gallop I'm playing around with the reins, encouraging the horse to stretch and lower her neck, and use her back more. In fact, I wouldn't mind jumping a couple of logs along the way. Does that sound like cross country?

Trafalgar ARC Combined Training Day

A frosty morning, a flat equestrian park with views as far as Mt Baw Baw. A passing train to Warragul goes "hoot hoot hoo-oo-oot". Princess freaks out. The dressage judge is wondering why I bother. Between a rubbing saddle, and an improvised medical armband, we find a horse shoe for good luck. The showjumping course rides beautifully - every ounce of my showjumping training with Greg Smith is put to good use. The eucalypt jump, the dazzle boards, and the pot plants don't faze us. Clear. I manage a smile.

It's good to feel humble.

On the way home ... the car plays up. Must have been talking to the horse.

Frosty

It's frosty. The ground is slippery. Can't jump until it thaws out. Princess is not working well. There is not an ounce of "give" in her neck. We muscle it out for over an hour. Working through resistance they call it ... apparently. We achieve some good transitions and finish on a good note. Too late to jump now. We will do that tomorrow.

Rally Day - Neerim AEC

Princess comes with me to the Drouin Pony Club grounds. Showjumping and Dressage lessons go well. Then Georgina takes us Cross Country. My horse baulks at a tiny log. I freak. Where is the girl who wanted to do eventing? Princess gets attitude, I lose my trust. Georgina understands where I'm coming from. We work it out in the end and do some nice jumps and some lovely canter/gallop/canter.

Husband is frustrated that I get home so late on Mothers' Day.

Tuck your seat in!

Riding position according to me is:

1. Core strength
2. Inner peace
3. Strong lower leg

Riding actions are:

1. Look up
2. Leg snug
3. Tuck the seat in

Of course there is more to it, but these are the principles. Get these wrong, and you can forget about any sort of control.

Kardella South Pony Clud Show

We take the scenic route, arrive later than preferred, tack up and warm up in a daze. The showjumping rounds are good, and everyone eyes off my calm, relaxed horse, and the clear rounds.

Showjumping Results

5th - Showjumping 45cm - Princess
2nd - Showjumping 60cm - Princess

(1 day of fun; 10 years in the making)