"Woohoo" warm up

I really enjoy the creativity that Tilly requires.  Every time I ride her I have to assess her state of mind and body (as well as my own) while deciding how we are going to warm up.

Several months ago I started with a walking warmup, doing all my lateral work (mostly leg yield and shoulder in/haunches in and renvers) first at the walk and then the trot before lastly cantering.  At that time Tilly was still bucking during the canter warm up and this really helped unlock her hips and back.  Since she was able to feel a release long before cantering, we were able to avoid continuous monster bucks.

I still do this to some extent but after my lesson with Laura on Monday, I've added half pass to the warmup.  This was a great addition as I'm really feeling the swing in our half pass now.  I have a tendency to lock my hips but I can slow down and focus on those blockages at the walk, thereby releasing and allowing Tilly to flow sideways.

By Wednesday, I knew Tilly needed to be entertained a bit since I'd been working really hard on those lateral releases.  My girl loves to gallop so I let her "open up" first at the trot and then in the trot/canter transitions and then at the canter.  I was delighted to feel her come even more through her back as opposed to flattening out in the forward movements.  She stayed perfectly responsive and between my leg and seat, coming right back to collection when I asked.  It was an exhilarating feeling!!!

So I let her go a little bit bigger :D  Tilly absolutely LAUNCHED into her extended canter and as long as she stayed very soft in the bridle and through her topline, I let her keep going.  We did a couple laps around the big jumping ring at Bridlewood... weaving between the jumps... incorporating a bit of bending back and forth to keep her on my leg.  I love feeling her so  joyous in her work.  A little "wooohooo" headshake from Tilly and a huge (i didn't ask) flying change where her signal to come back to collection (and maybe down to earth), which she did right from my seat.  I wish I could adequately convey the freedom and connectedness I felt during that exercise.

I finished the workouts on Wed, and Thurs with Canter/ Walk transitions and by today (Friday) we performed stellar simple changes.  I also found that with our half pass warmup and the extended work together, I had my biggest and easiest half pass yet.  What a fun week of training!

By Laura Klecker

Great Lesson with the Red Headed Mare on Monday.  Tilly is coming along well in her training.  We pushed the limits today and once again have demonstrated that commitment to good basics is endlessly rewarding. Although Catherine and Tilly have not schooled half pass is quite some time, the quality of the movement has improved substantially thanks to Catherine's coordination of her aids, and commitment to helping the mare get stronger in her new uphill balance.   Catherine's hard work with this mare is really paying off.  They are moving along nicely and Catherine and Tilly's communication is developing well.

Clear communication is the key to a solid connection.  Without an elastic and consistent connection, it is very difficult to make a horse more beautiful and fluid under saddle, and that is the purpose of dressage, and hopefully the result of my teaching.  There is little more rewarding than confident communication between horse and rider.

To open up those channels with Catherine and Tilly today I had them ride an exercise of change of bend.  From one side to the other, passing the connection from one outside rein to another.  If you begin tracking left on a 20 meter circle in a working trot, take care to be sure the horse is connected to the outside (or right) rein, as you come off the outside track of the circle, begin a leg yield from your new inside (or right) leg towards the left rein, as the horse goes into the left rein, be ready to receive the energy and move both hands to the right and put both legs on to encourage and send the horse through the channel you have created with your reins.

As you repeat the exercise back and forth, just take care to be fostering the connection you are establishing and able to move it from one side to the other and back to center.

This exercise is what allowed us to move on to our half pass schooling.  Always remember when you move on to something new, old bad habits return, stay patient, and do your best to keep what you have established previously in your ride, if you lose it, step back, reestablish, and try again.  Patience, Practice, and Persistence are necessary to find that feel you are looking for!

Thanks for Including me in this blog Catherine! I'm looking forward to contributing more!

Monday Lesson

Another great lesson with Laura today!

We revisited Canter half pass and worked on more difficult counter canter.

I think my tribulations with the shoulder in to the left might actually be a miscommunication between me and Tilly because the Half pass felt awesome!

Here is the exercise we did today. ->


I loved how IN the outside rein Tilly felt.  I'm sure that's why she was able to flow sideways so easily.  I had her perfectly positioned in between my inside leg and outside rein!  We even got a couple changes (and bucks)!

Even though it was really tough ride yesterday, by schooling the exercise that JJ Tate taught us last summer, I hope it set us up for a good ride today. JJ called the exercise "horsey squats," and recommended practicing on a 25 meter circle.  The diagram shows all the positions together, but you perform the exercise by focusing on one position at a time.

JJ asked us to slow the tempo waaay down and stretch the neck out.  Here, watch the video!  Exercise starts at 9:30

 

Back to Sunday's ride, we do really well going to the right... even in the Canter!  Sometimes I feel like Tilly is saying, "see, I can do it!"  I must be doing something wrong to the left, because I feel like I'm all thumbs and left feet that direction.

Oh and I'm so happy to announce....... Laura is going to start team blogging with me.  She is a great writer and a very articulate coach.  Her perspective and technical expertise will be invaluable to this publication. 



 

What to do when the going gets tough? oh, right... Just keep going and doing.

Sometimes I have rides on Tilly where I don't think I accomplished anything but the truth is we communicated and we worked up a serious sweat.  So really, even though I didn't master third level test three today (we aren't even close, YET)... we found our grace together.

Studying yoga again helps me remember that training days like this are important too.  I've been training with Shelley at Just Breathe Studio here in Aiken and we practice Vinyasa.  I found this online:

"Vinyasa, a fluid form of yoga, tends to draw people who are more athletic and perhaps more goal-oriented or self-competitive—those who prefer a practice that feels more like a workout. This style of so-called flow yoga can also be very emotionally therapeutic."

In my opinion, dressage is like Vinyasa yoga. Luckily, Tilly is an emotional horse who likes to work so we can relate in our struggles.

Shelley says that at the root of our practice is our ability to focus on the breath.  We put ourselves into challenging poses in order to challenge the breath and focus the effort.  When Tilly feels like a leaping slinky (work with me), all I can do is focus my breath and continue in the exercise (asanas in yoga).  And boy do I... today it was almost all I could do.

Shoulder In Left to a 10 meter circle:

At the moment, Tilly is really struggling to have a true shoulder in at the canter going left.  As I mentioned the other day, her "train cars" get really jumbled when she tracks left.  She pops her poll, jaw, and hip to the inside and essentially jackknifes right shoulder.  It's is almost impossible to canter in shoulder-in this way and I'm having a hard time helping her but I will persevere!

As for my own personal struggle.  Standing splits.  Here it is folks:


 This $h!t hurts!!  I'll keep trying though.  I know that it hurts because i'm really weak in my hip flexors. 










(The hip flexors are made up of three different muscles. The Rectus Femoris, Psoas Major, and Illiacus. These muscles work together to help flex the hip, and to provide stability for the lower extremity.)

   My weakness causes me to lock up and inhibit Tilly's movement.  I'm sure that when she scoots forward and almost lurches out from underneath me, it is likely that my hip flexors didn't allow her anywhere else to go.

I'm really glad I did a 2 hour "Balance Workshop" with Shelley after my tough ride... As challenging as today was, I loved every minute.  I know I'm in the right place and I'm doing what is right for Team TNT.  I hope I feel the same after tomorrow!
 7:30 am lesson with Laura, 8:45 Pilates, 12:15 more Vinyasa!  Oh boy.

Lesson with Laura

Just returned from Bridlewood after a great lesson with Laura.  Tilly was right where i left her yesterday - soft half halts, obedient yielding from my leg and knees, swinging back...

Laura helped me work on developing a more authentic bend.  Tilly wants to compensate for her weakness by jutting her body into angles or by swinging her haunches away from my leg.  I have to be really careful to keep my leg right at the girth because she will swing away if my leg is just 2 inches too far back.

One of the visualizations that Laura provided was to wrap the horse's body around a ball.  Like one of those large exercise balls.  Here is a diagram :) 

I use my knees more with Tilly than any other horse and Laura said today "pulse the knee as you wrap the horse around the ball" or something like that... It was the pulse that clicked with me.  I was able to feel the half halt in my upper body position (sitting tall and away from the withers) while softening the reins and pulsing my inside knee.  My hips steered Tilly and I started to really feel a release along the outside of her body.  She wants to look like the crooked horse, but that's just because she's compensating for the injuries she sustained some 6 years ago.  We came very close to the horse's position in the top diagram - at the trot.

I'm not quite getting the feel in the canter.  Tilly is such a light horse, i'm not always aware where her hips are underneath me.  I'm completely reliant on Laura to help with the placement of Tilly's body on a small circle.  We worked on haunches in on a 12 m circle to very soft walk transitions.  Tilly has a tendency to crash down into that transition.  Similar to a person doing situps and flopping back on the mat instead of slowing lowering.  More work to be done!

Back in the "swing" of things

     As much as I missed my happy little life here in Augusta while I was on vacation, I must admit.. I feel a bit dazed jumping back in my usual schedule of consulting, teaching, training, and life in general.  That's natural of course.  But I finally feel back at home after sitting on Tilly today!

     I long lined her yesterday since she's had 2 weeks off (thought I might see some TNT, if you know what I mean).  Tilly was so funny!  I pulled her out of the field around 10am on Monday and she looked so sleepy.  We had a nice long groom and then I tack her up with all my long lining gear.

 (this picture is me long lining her last fall, 2011)

 She was so sleepy that I decided to carry a short whip- something I don't always have to do.  I didn't really have to use it, especially about 10 minutes into the session and Miss TNT - Woke UP!  Yowza!  She went from easy transitions to broncing and bolting.  In between "Whooooaaa, whoooaaa, waaaaalk," i was laughing at her because I think she just realized she could have a little fun.  She settled down and I trotted her over poles until she softened her withers and began swinging her shoulders and back.  I can be happy with a slight bit of progress.

Today I wasn't sure what we would work on since I haven't ridden much lately either.  I did go to my Vinyasa yoga class yesterday so I was feeling loose and receptive.  (almost got a headstand on my own!)  We tacked up and I could tell she was more alert today.  I didn't put spurs on but I did carry my longest whip.  We began with an easy walk and then warmed up with lateral work at the walk and then at the trot.  After going over the poles from yesterday I could feel that I needed to reorient all my half halts (leg, seat, shoulders, etc).

Tilly wanted to take lurching strides at the poles instead of sitting down and waiting - this is one reason why i really enjoy using cavaletti and poles.  They help with the timing for half halts.  Instead of just going down the long side and losing trot quality because her body is becoming too long and disjointed... the poles give her (and me) a moment to lift the shoulder higher and ask for more activity behind without being disruptive to the rhythm.  Tilly gets snarky when I over ride so poles help me be more tactful.

After a nice warmup with transitions, lateral work and some poles, we spent a good 20 minutes doing trot canter transitions on  a 20 m circle.  I'd trot over two poles on one 1/2 of the circle and then canter over one pole on the other 1/2 of the circle.  Over and over and over - until she waited for me and didn't lunge forward to the poles.  Her back came up and her stride began to swing beautifully.  I worked so hard to not tip forward (a habit from lots of galloping while hunting) and to stay back and away from her withers by drawing my body taller over the poles - so we both accomplished our goals!

                                                           ------------------------

I'm working really hard to allow Tilly to bend her neck more without losing the shoulder.  Before I left for vacation, I had a lesson with Laura Klecker (trainer) and Nicole Barry (integrative physical therapist) to show Tilly how to do this.  I need to "spot" her with my right knee at the moment so that I may release the right rein or rather allow Tilly to fill up the right rein and bend more to the left.  I don't as much knee when bending the other way.

Just to check that Tilly remembered this (and let's be honest, make sure my body remembered how to do it!)... I worked a serpentine within my 2o m circle and pole exercise.  I also rode her in shoulder in through this exercise. 

I made the diagram above, but I only filled it in halfway.

As I made the change of direction through the middle of the circle, I almost leg yielded into the new bend.  I also continued the shoulder in over the actual pole.

This exercise was extremely helpful to reiterate the reclaimed half halt and improve the bend from head to tail by wrapping her around my inside leg.

I loved how subtly I was able to ride!  By the end, Tilly was making big sweeping leg yield from the softest knee pressure.   That is a totally new feeling for me.  Looking forward to my lesson with Laura tomorrow!!

Improving my Athleticism

In general, I'm a healthy person.  I enjoy cooking light and I am a rider by profession so I exercise regularly, but I peresonally don't believe that is enough.  I have physical weaknesses as any person does and I would like to improve my flexibility.  Ive crossed trained (yoga daily, "boot camp," rigorous walking) in the past but that committment fell to the wayside in 2011.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Tilly experienced a trying winter and so did I.  We are connected so closely that her stress affected me deeply and I also endured added family stress.  Could it be my stress affected her as well?

Anywho, by February my body began to break down and my right shoulder was the outlet.  I was locked in agonizing pain.  Interestingly, Nicole Barry also found tightness and pain in Tilly's right shoulder.  I began to make changes.

Firstly, I joined a Yoga/Pilates studio and I felt better and more balanced (physically and mentally) after one week.  The fog of depression began to lift and I pressed on.  I reevaluated my diet and realized I'd abandoned my healthy ways.  It felt good to make changes.

The study of dressage is very similar to yoga and pilates.  The system appraises one's strengths and attends to the weaknesses.  This is likely the reason these forms of exercise appeal so strongely to me.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine when I return from this vacation.

Pledge

I'm currently on an extended vacation and the down time allows for a great deal of reflection.  I'm also writing a travel blog for the vacation and the experience reminds me that I love writing.  I wish I could say why this particular blog was abandoned... probably logistical.  Last year I was journaling in my schedule book after each ride a sought nd I guess I neglected to make time to blog later in the day.  Since I forced myself to switch to Google calendar in February this year, I'm typing my training notes, and I bought a tablet... the excuses are looking lame. 

We had a very difficult winter -- switched farms, introduced stall time, changed diet, increased training frequency and intensity thereby teasing out chronic weaknesses that were waiting to be addressed -- TNT became very unsettled and lost hundreds of pounds in a few short weeks. I desperately sought solutions.  Moving to Bridlewood Farm was the best thing ever and I started sleeping better knowing Tilly was being cared for and loved.  Plus she has 2 minis in her field - I know she loves having munchkin friends :) Team TNT gained new members.

Till Next Time or TNT or Tilly - the subject of this blog :)

Tilly also began to see Dr. Keelin Redmond and her chronic SI  issues and poll displacement received much needed attention.  We'd used an acupuncturist in the past but the practitioner did not jive with my girl's personality.  Dr. Keelin understood what Tilly needed.  She also prescribed Chinese herbs for "blockages" related to Tilly's cycle.  One by one the limiting factors were being addressed and Till was gaining weight. There was light in the tunnel!

With ulcer guard we continued showing and even qualified for championships at first level.

(qualifying ride videos below)

Laura Klecker, my fantastic trainer, has been instrumental in our success and I adore her dedication to our study of dressage.  TNT may not be the biggest mover on the block but damn, she teaches me what dressage is really about Every Single Time im in her presense.  I remain utterly humbled by the experience. 

Laura also convinced me to add yet another member to the team and I'm kicking myself for not calling Nicole Barry sooner.  More to come on that subject!!