Lessons 17.09

So today we had two lessons (different coaches), both were equally challenging, interesting and informative.
First was with a new dressage coach, who I had not had a lesson before, but because of my 'original' coach can't be with me more often than once a month, I have decided to try and get somebody else to come and give me a hand every other week or so, so I would have somebody to bounce ideas off and discuss the ponies with. I was a bit apprehensive to go with somebody new, as I very much adore my current coach and everybody teaches different, so confusion might set in easy, but I actually really enjoyed it!

So with Peaches I had a lesson with Mark, who took some time to look what we usually do and then offered a few very nice exercises on a 20m circle to get our transitions better and more through the body, the neck more relaxed and following the rein contact and the hind leg more active.
What we did: on a 20 m circle in walk going to the right -> left bend, around left leg going right. If and when relaxed, change the bend and bend to the right on the same circle and when relaxed and confident, give the reins steady out of the hand so she will take the hand forward - she is usually not very excited to take the rein forward and telescope her neck out and stretch, but she was quite confidently doing so on the circle occasionally - felt really nice! So after that we progressed on to doing left bend -> right bend -> trot transition. Sitting, bending left, bending right and then walk transition :) (and of course we changed the direction numerous times). I really really loved the fact that she got quite stable. She did though get a little bit behind the leg, which is very unusual for her, but I am quite sure it's to do with her finding her balance at the moment. So we built the trot a bit on the circle with me in jumping seat, then straight and rising and asking for a long low stretch with adding a bit suspension and then eventually built up to canter in half seat, which she didn't necessarily understand a lot, but whereas often she otherwise panics through the canter transitions, she was actually quite nice to the right, to the left she did a bit of head tossing and running away, but it was ok. All in all I reallllly loved that we included the jumping seat as I felt her go more swingy when her back was freed of my ass :) I also very much appreciated the fact that we took things rather slow, nobody was overpushed, nothing was rushed, everything was made rather easy for her and I felt her gaining confidence! Very good experience, can't wait for the next lesson (won't be next week, as my original coach is coming then wheeeeeee). But I was very pleased! really! (I don't think I say that lightly)


Then a few hours later was the time for mr to jump. So we have quite regular lessons with Katy with Render to do some jumping,  I should definitely write the notes down from these lessons as well, I don't know why I have not... My back is in a shitty condition, and I loved it how she just.. picked up on it immediately. She's a talented lady! So after the first lap of trot she was like.... you are collapsing through the left shoulder and holding your back stiff - what's going on?? hahah.. well, I didn't know what was going on, as I don't think I've injured myself, but possibly just overworked a bit (old age) or something similar. but she gave me some cool exercises and also let me just look over my shoulder in trot every time I got my shoulder stiff, so I would have to move it back and relax it - was quite helpful! Also, she let me put the hand behind my back in trot so I would open the muscles up. Ok, so on we went, Render was quite ...meh in the canter, didn't really work, didn't bend the hocks and was kinda lazy :) and behind the leg, as he tends to be very often anyway. Tried fixing it, didn't realllly manage to get him a ton better, but once we started jumping, the energy got there. We tried to build the canter up a bit and it did get a bit better. So, the exercise we had today was a row of jumps on the centre line. I have a 20x40m arena so the turns were very tight and as if that was not hard enough (it REALLY was), the jumps were quite high up there, so not a lot of time to straighten my steed :) we had a pole, a vertical, a pole, a cross rail, a pole, a wideeeee oxer and on the landing two poles one on each side, but relatively narrow corridor to land to.  and the difference we noticed when I came fron left or right lead was huge. So every time I came from the left canter, we managed to hit the first pole fine and when that happened, all the jumps worked out great. Well, once or twice I didn't get him completely straight before the first pole and that meant we had a few wobbles, but he worked his little ass off and didn't touch a pole once! On the right hand, though... I really struggled to get him to the first pole correctly and he fell onto the right shoulder and then pushed off unequally with the hind legs, once or twice we touched the first fence etc. So it was quiteee sloppy and I failed to support him and get him to bend around my leg, instead he just fell and ran, sped off and did what he liked to do - jumped. So we stripped it down a little and I did a few canter transitions just before the corner, so trot until the corner, canter, and instantly turn. Even that was not really enough so we took it even more simple and we approached in the trot (something I always find hard and intimidating) and that worked a treat! trotted over the first pole, landed in canter after the first fence and figured it out perfectly after that! so approached from the right, continued in canter to the left, approached from the left and finished then! what a star that pony is when he is jumping. I'm a bit terrified about what will happen once we move onto longer courses - how will we ever manage then with the turning and tempo and everything, Mostly me. I felt quite insecure today as it was a hard exercise and I did not want to let the pony down and take away his ever-so-amazing attitude towards jumping and the joy he shows for it. I will do my utmost best to keep it that way and I will try and take it slow while Katy keeps challenging us and raising the jumps, haha :)

Anyway, that's all for today, on 25th I have two lessons with M. So hopefully I will still have the motivation to write things down after that.

cheers!

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

Today I had a lesson. Well, to be fair, I actually had three lessons - one on all of my horses. I have decided to try and write down notes about the lessons for myself so I would keep things in focus and work towards the goals set during our lessons.

I am ever so thankful for the time my coach gives me, She is an incredible woman, who is ever so busy, so I feel very privileged, supported and happy. She provides me with the encouragement and tries to ask more positive thinking from me - it's something that doesn't come really easy for me :) But there we go, I do try! For the sake of the time she 'loses' over coming out to see me and my three ponies.


So we started with JJ, who she had not met before. I had told her shortly about our issues and we started with very gently working her on walk-stop-walk transitions using corners. We did some bigger and smaller circles. Note to self: more smaller circles, she finds them a bit difficult, so.. be the constant there. Also make sure that the shoulders are turned to help her understand. And tried to catch her shoulder when it fell out, which worked fine. To be fair, she completely showed only the very very best side of her today, and that being said it made it very difficult for me to get my questions answered regarding what to do with scenarios a/b/c.. :) But I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the lesson. I need to ride her more forward, a lot more forward. I'm so used to riding ponies that I just somehow keep ticking over with her instead of making her off the leg and getting her forward, as when I do that, it seems fast and far and quick! M. Really liked her and said she is excited to see her on her worse days! So... umm. hopefully we will have many good days before the next lesson, where she is allowed to show the more difficult sides of her. All in all very positive experience and a clever lady!
- more forward
- check own shoulders
- fix down transitions!

The next one in line was the little fat wildo. Render needs currently 5 minutes on the lunge before you get on him to avoid bucks. hurrah! Anyway, that done he was actually also a very sweet ponyboy today! Worked his little fat ass off for me and we got some rather satisfying results, as M said at the end of lesson. Due to his build and big front end he is bound to get front heavy and downhill. Also he is very much behind the leg, ignores you the first two times and zones out. So a lot of transitions! And I mean, we really really did a lot of transitions, mostly trot-canter-trot-canter on a 20m circle, at least 2-3 transitions per circle. He started to get lighter in the hand eventually and was quite a try hard! M. also said she quite liked the pony, but to be fair I think the favourite of the day was JJ (for both me and M.). Anyway, we did barely anything else, as we were entirely sucked into the transitions. Did a couple of lengthenings in the end and checked that he is getting a bit quicker off the leg, which he did :) So all in all very pleased with him, but
- more forward, more reactive (!!!)
- fold the neck more, as he will otherwise just sit on the front
- shorter reins (by a lot!!) and pelvis-elbows working together so he can't pull me out of the saddle!
- every single time you 'click' you should be using the whip to tap instead..

By the end of the second ride I was already rather tired, hehe... given that R is a LOT of work currently. Hopefully it'll not stay like this, as it's not always been like that.

Last but definitely not least was the little Peachy lady, who I have had numerous lessons on before. M knows Peachy well and has been great teaching us the ropes and supporting me through my soft moments, where she just has her tantrums and I am confused. So today we worked on softness and canter. We do a lot of quarter lines due to her being so wobbly and as always, she was very unpleased with the contact so did her head flicking and tossing quite a bit. It did get a bit easier through the ride. We also tried a bit of leg yielding on the cut corners and also on the straight lines, it went rather smoothly to the right, was a bit more difficult to the left (in trot). Canter has been a bit difficult for us, as she likes to tank off with me and dive very deep and unseat me in the sense of just pulling me out of saddle, Well, we tried to avoid these situations and it wasn't all that bad. What was bad, though, was straight lines in canter :) Oh my.. We didn't even do quarter lines, just... plain old straight down the line ones. She was throwing shapes and her head around and wobbling in and out, but eventually it also got a bit better. What we did love, though, was the canter to trot transitions! She did them AMAZINGLY! seriously! I sat, and she came back. perfectly. didn't rush, didn't panic, didn't throw her head! What a good girl! And it wasn't like a lucky one, but she constantly did good transitions from canter to trot! I'm beyond proud :) So we are going out to compete on Saturday again... :) Surely will not beat the score of the last time, as the set up is different and it will be a bit difficult for us to survive it, but... hopefully we can manage 60% Anyway
- keep the hand stillllll when she has tantrums
- support with lower leg
- try riding straight lines in canter, lift inside (right) hand, when she goes all loopy
- 10m circles to get her to balance!
- get her used to rider having a whip!


So these are the 'to-do' items for the next few weeks. I'm not sure when I'll have the chance to get the lessons again, but I can't wait. I'm even a little bit sad that it's over and am plotting to maybe take Render over to my coach's yard (and the yard I was at, before) next week at one point. Not sure, if it'll happen, but would be a good thing to try. It's just a loooong drive.

I'll add a few random pics to lighten this up. Hopefully by the time I've had the next lessons I have not forgotten that I should write down the main points to improve and maybe, just maybe... I will actually even try and write down how I got on with the ones I wrote down today!

Peachy is.. :)

Nii kaua on aega läinud mööda eelmisest postitusest, seda sajal põhjusel.
Et ma selle kirjutamisega täna ka lõpule jõuaks, ma ei hakka pikalt mingit üldist juttu ajama.

Lühikokkuvõte lähikuudest - Tunnen puudust Rooninist, nagu väikse teenageri tunne on, tahaks jonnida jms. Aga ei hakka.

Peaches on väga vahva - minu uus poni. Eks näis, kui pikalt meie koostöö kestab, praegu igatahes lõpp ei paista, alguski pole veel väga paistma hakanud... Naudin teda juba palju, aga mära tundma õppimine on minu jaoks ikka hoopis miskit muud ja ...päris huvitav kogemus! Oleme vaikselt sadulata tuterdanud, mis alguses nõudis palju julgust minult, nüüd juba on nagu selline ok-tsill.
6ndal märtsil tuleb ka sadulapassija, ehk siis saame vaikselt ratsutama hakata. Ei jõua enam oodata, ma ei olegi väga ammu nii pikka ratsutamispausi pidanud.

Okei, nüüd räägin Hesteri 'yard tourist' nagu plaanisin.
Sain Ekkelt sünnakingiks sellise külastuse, käisime ja kuulasime/vaatasime 6-te erineval tasemel hobust treeningus, kellest ühega ta sõitis ise.  Nüüd on päris pikk aeg juba sellest möödas, sest ma olen ...aeglane blogija, aga... ma proovin järjest läbi võtta hobused, millised nad olid, mis trennis tehti ja kuidas mulje jäi.

Esimesena alustas noorhobune, kes nüüd siis on 5-a, kellega Dujardin võitis 4selt mingi noorhobuste tshempionaadi moodi asja. Suur, kõrb, suht tugev hobune, super sammu ja galopiga. Temaga trennis keskenduti lõdvestumisele, sellele, et selg oleks ka liikuv, mitte krampis ja üleminekutele. Nii allüürisiseseid kui ka allüüride vahelisi üleminekuid tehti palju. Suurim rõhk oli sirutamisel, mida tehti ainult trenni lõpus, sest tegemist noore sporthobusega, kes pidi olema küll väga chill ja tore, aga ta ütles, et üldiselt nad noortele õpetavad sirutamist ikkagi ainult trenni lõpus 'for safety purposes'. Üldmulje oli nagu et... tore hobune, aga erilist vau-effekti ei tekitanud, st ei olnud nagu väääga minu tüüpi hobune :) Aga tore oli vaadata. Kohati oli töö ikka vertikaali taga, aga that was to be expected, sest sageli noortel on veidi lihtsam ennast seal kanda. Üldiselt kõik oli pehme ja tore ja suht relaxed. Hobusele anti selged juhtnöörid ja väga konkreetne tagasiside - kui midagi sai piisavalt hästi, tuli kiitus. Ainus asi, mis oleks tahtnud näha teisiti veits, oleks olnud see, et sirutades oleks nagu avatum olnud eest hobune. Aga see on puhtalt minu, lihtsureliku, arvamus.

Teine hobune oli sharp ja suur raudjas mära, kellega sõitis mingi kolmevõistleja. nende hobune küll, aga ta oli suht julgelt neid kõiki seal lennutanud, niiet :) Too kolmevõistleja oli suht lahe noor tüüp, ilusti istus ja lahedalt sõitis. Kuna ta oli nii sharp, siis natuke proovisid teha traversit ja natuke sääre eest ära, enamik töö toimus galopis. Rääkis sellest, kui tähtis on hobust sirgeks sõita ja tegid peegli ees veits harjutusi selleks ka. 6 aastane hobune. Pärast sama värk, et relaximised jne. Temaga mingeid suuri ahhaa-momente vist nagu ei olnudki, aga oli põnev jälgida igatahes. Selline korralik silmapunnitaja oli, hehe :)

Kolmas hobune oli järgmine noor, kes mulle megalt meeldis. St endale ei tahaks, aga no vau. 8? aastane. Pidi olema üks keerulisemaid ja see ka paistis. Elab 24/7 õues, nad ütlesid, et muidu vist ei saakski eriti ratsutada temaga. Tal pidi olema ka shivers, aga ei pidavat segama töö tegemist. Väga tundlik hobune ja seda nii heas kui ka halvas mõttes. Mulle väga meeldis see, kuidas hobuse iseloomu ja eripäraga oldi arvestatud. Samuti on hobune mööda euroopa võistlusi kaasa reisinud ja samas pea mitte ühtegi starti teinud. Nüüd alles hakkab vaikselt võistlema. Nende põhirõhk ei ole noorhobuste sõitudel vaid sellel, mis tuleb hiljem, seega nii äreva hobusega ei ole neil olnud huvi teha varem starte, kui nüüd, kui asjad toimima hakkavad. Carl ronis selga, võttis enne kannused ka maha ja ma sain suu ammuli vahtida, kuidas KÕIK asjad juhtusid imeväel. Piaffee ja passaaži üleminekuid harjutas veidi, galopi piruette harjutas veidi, jalavahetusi harjutas veidi. Rääkis juurde, mis teeb ja miks teeb. Tema puhul põhiline oli see, et hobusele anda võimalikult palju jälle tagasisidet ja tuge ja kuna nii tuline hobune, siis ta sihilikult harjutab seda, et jalad saaksid ümber hobuse olla. Väga ilus oli vaadata, hobune oli väga püüdlik ja reaalselt ei mingit suu avamist, ei mingit stressamist. Paar üksikut korda nägin, kuidas ta korra sabaga vehkis, aga nagu väga... jah, vau :) Väga äge!!

Neljas oli selline, kelle koju kaasa viiks. Charlotte Dujardin aktiivselt teeb taga kõrgemal tasemel juba starte ja kindlasti kunagi kuuleme tast rohkem. MSJ VIP. 8? vist ka. Tuli, tegi soojendustraavi ja nägi välja selline...suht tavapärane. noh, mulle muidugi meeldis, sest pigem pisike, kerge mära. Selline nunnu :) Ja siis võeti kontakt ja hakati tööle ja hobune muutus kardinaalselt. See, kui öeldakse, et samm ja galopp peab olema olemas ja traavi saab töötada üles on nagu... teadatuntud tõde, aga niii selge visuaalse pildina pole ma seda varem näinud. Väga huvitav! Temaga töötasid nad põhiliselt traavis, tegid palju erinevaid külgliikumisi, pikemalt peatuti erineva nurga all küljendustel, mis sujusid tal väga kenasti.

Viies hobune mulle eriti ei meeldinud. See ei olnud ka nende hobune, kuulus seal nende ühele ratsutajale. Oli teinud just oma esimese Grand Prixi stardi ja töötasid selle kallal. põhiliselt jalavahetuste kallal tegid tööd ja põhiline probleem oli seal ratsaniku kiirustama hakkamine. Töötasid veidi selle kallal, et üle ühe jalavahetused ei läheks rahmeldamiseks vaid et ta hingaks ja ootaks ja suht selgelt oli näha, kuidas ta nagu sirge lõpuks vajus mõnusasse korrektsesse temposse ja lõdvestas. Hobuse jalavahetused läksid ka siis ühtlasemaks :)

Viimane, kuues hobune, ei kuulunud ka neile vaid sellisele ratsutajale nagu Sonnar Murray Brown ja hobune oli Erlentanz. Fakkkk, see oli niiii lahe hobune!! ja no see tüüp istus nagu mingi nukuke seal. täiega lahe paar, mulle nii meeldis. Nad töötasid paljude erinevate väikeste asjade kallal, galopipiruetid ja küljendused ja suunamuutused. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-5jQJwhkMg see hobune :) Seal nägi nii suur ja võimas välja. Võib-olla ainuke asi, mis ma oleksin tahtnud näha veidi teisiti, oleks pehmem kangiratse?... Aga no jälle, see on minu väga random arvamus.

All in all - väga tore ja motiveeriv kogemus. Hea meelega vastan küsimustele, aga praegu pikemalt ei heieta, muidu jääb jälle postitamata.

Lisan mingeid pilte ka for funsies.