Now that show season is officially over I really want to focus on doing fun things with Carmen. Not that showing isn't fun but you know what they say: all work and no play makes Carmen a cranky girl.
So when I received a text from Nancy inviting me to a group hack at Coveside saturday I was all 'hell yes'. I checked to see if Tanya could come as well and the answer was yes. The group at this stable are all so nice and welcoming.
The weather couldn't have been more cooperative: sunny and warm but with few bugs. Carmen was a bit reluctant to load - I'm pretty sure she was thinking that we were going somewhere to work hard.
Tanya and I met at the parking lot. I tied Carmen to the trailer to get her tacked up. This is the first time I have tried this with her and she was a star. We mounted up and headed up to the barn. There was about 10 other riders (I didn't count so not sure). It was a mixed group of ages and experiences but we were all excited to head out.
Carmen: that's a lot of horses
Carmen was a bit excited and 'up' but not too bad and we walked out she settled nicely. I normally give her a free rein but I couldn't this time because I didn't want her crowding other horses.
off we go!
Tanya also really excited to head out
I wasn't sure what she would think about going out with so many horses but she didn't care. There were a couple dogs that came with us who wove in and out of the brush. She didn't care about that either. The woods were stunning.
I love ferns, especially this time of year
We stopped at a big open field with 360 degree views. It was stunning. One thing that was really cute. I was letting Carmen graze and relax in the sun when I remembered that I had a carrot in my pocket. Carmen I said, leaning forward and she nickered at me as though to say yes? It was so adorable.
hey, did anyone remember to bring a flask?
maybe one day we will canter this field
It was just what we needed.
look at those relaxed ears
We were gone a little over an hour. I think. I need to remember to set my watch! Jackie and Nancy invited us to put the horses in a stall and stay for snacks. Note: I never turn down snacks.
turns out that goats like snacks too
We headed out after chatting and eating. It was a perfect day for Carmen and I.
Honestly, recovering from jet lag is no joke. I don't know why I am struggling this time but I really am. So I took Monday off from riding. Tuesday was cold and blustery. When I came home I really wasn't feeling any desire to ride.
But when I went upstairs to change my riding clothes were just right there. So I sighed and put them on. I brought the horses in and then tacked up Carmen. I debated how to start my ride. I knew with the wind and chill in the air that she was likely to be spooky.
big sky and horses on high alert
I decided to not over think it. I knew I had the tools and unless she crammed me into a tree we should be okay. So I swung my leg over and walked us out of the ring. Carmen queried whether we were going left to the barn but I asked her to go right. With a brief hesitation we headed out. She was definitely on her toes so I kept the rein a bit short.
We walked into the woods and I'm pretty sure that both of us had a high heart rate and were both trying to hold it together. We walked by a felled tree and the branches must have brushed against her because she spooked and ran forward. While I was preparing to ride a full on bolt through the woods she came right back to a walk.
Camren: *cough* you are telling it wrong. It was a zombie trying to grab my legs. I saved both of us. You're welcome.
Me: yes dear.
Carmen: is that sarcasm?
Me: Who? Me? Never!
Carmen: *snort*
We came back to the ring to school. I tried to shut the gate from her back. While Carmen is awesome about opening it, the idea of closing it seemed to cause confusion. She kept going back to open it just as I was just about to drop the rail in to close it. Finally I laughed and dismounted to close it. She wasn't being difficult- she was just doing what I had trained her to do. (note to self: watch Julia close it when she's on Irish).
After that we went on to have a very good ride. Carmen was still up and had some feelings about things but I stuck to my work on adjusting the aids to the situation and each time she came back. She got quite heavy and on the forehand with our canter so I focussed on the half-halt to set her up and on her hind leg. I could feel her start to shift her weight backwards and lift in front. It was pretty cool.
don't let her fool you- she was as full of energy
at the endas she was at the beginning.
It was a good ride for both of us. I am beyond thrilled that I was able to hack out on our own. I had tried this before but I had to dismount when she freaked out over a deer (fair enough). I haven't been brave enough to try it since then. This felt controlled and like we were both trying. This felt huge to me.
The rider who leaves a horse on his own in the name of lightness is not working but is just strolling with his horse. The one who pushes and pulls is a wild person.
~Nuno Oliviera~
This is not a new thing, but it is one that I have been trying to really focus on in my riding. Remember when you first started riding and the aids seem to be pretty binary- simply on or off? And then as you learn more you realize that it's more complicated then you thought. And then, with more learning is becomes very nuanced and complex.
Add in a sensitive and complex horse like Carmen and you can end up wanting to bang your head against the wall. I have found myself in a pattern of either not giving any aids in case she spooked to riding very heavy handed, again in case she spooked. It is easy to say that both of those things are 'wrong' but I'm learning that the answer is a little more gray than that.
What I've been playing with is the concept of figuring out the minimum amount of aid I need to accomplish what I want. In the past I would take that to mean that I need to be really quiet and soft. Now I have that as the goal and I am playing with how much pressure do I need to accomplish the task.
I am finding it to be a very nuanced game. For example, I have playing with the 20 metre circle and how much I need to do to keep her on the circle. This means that I have to give her room to make a mistake. It's easy (well easier) to micro manage her around the circle but that makes me responsible for everything. And I would like her to take some ownership.
I usually start at the walk and put her on the circle. I have contact and my legs lightly on but let her alone as she travels. If she bulges I put on more outside aids, if counter flexes to look at the outside I put on the inside. The pressure goes up until she responds and then goes back down. It's her job to stay on the circle, I only let her know when it's off.
my mental image
Playing with this has helped me to realize how much I try to micro manage Carmen and how much I don't need to. This is, of course, the approach of 'make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy' made famous (to me at least) by Warwick Schiller.
Thinking of this way has made me feel more confident of adding aids when needed. If I'm going through troll corner and she begins to shorten her stride and retract her neck I might shorten my reins (but not too much, mostly I don't) but I definitely sit up and add leg to get her to go forward. When she does it all goes back down. The trick is, of course, to always start light. How quickly I go up will depend on the circumstance but I try to keep it within a short time frame ( no more than a few strides).
forward ho
What is interesting is that Carmen is really responding to this. She appears to understand that I will be there if she needs me but mostly she can carry on. We have been getting in fewer 'fights' about things and it's not because I'm avoiding them but because I am being more nuanced. If we need to have a strong discussion about something we do but I'm trying to show her that we don't have to. At least for now. I know that things can change again. But I'm less fearful about those 'discussions' then I have been in the past. Nor do I view them as a failure if/when they occur.
The other thing that I've started doing with Carmen is hacking at the start of our rides not the end. Right now that is only with Julia is riding too. We go to the ring, hop on and then walk out and head to the woods. Carmen has been leading these rides. I generally keep the rein loose- after all it's a stroll for relaxation. If she wants to stop and look at something I let her. Then when I ask her to step forward she does. Yesterday there was a tree across the path (it blew down in the hurricane). We both assessed the situation and I said 'I think we we walk over it on this side'. And with no hesitation she did. If she's tighter or more up (like yesterday) I keep the rein a bit shorter but it's still loose. So is my seat and leg. If she does spook I can get her back easier and with much less drama.
I do love this view. Back when Irish had to lead.
He's now learning to follow (it's good for him)
Starting the rides this way seems to make her much more amenable to the ring work. She is far less looky and spooky in the ring (not completely but whatever, it is Carmen after all). I think that this breaks the pattern for her of resenting/resisting ring work and lets her warm up her body and mind more gradually. I am going to be brave and see if it works when we're on our own.
When I'm not having lessons I try to continue to work on building Carmen's confidence in me. I'm not one to worry about riding alone, but I will confess that these days I do worry about not having a person on the ground making sure that I don't fall into a death spiral.
Hello. We see that you are walking the dog. You wouldn't
happen to have any apples in your pockets would you?
(who could resist those faces?)
I'm not worrying about leg yields or the perfect 10 metre circle. All I want is to replicate the work we're doing from the ground. I want her to reach for the contact and seek to relax. I want her to look to hold my hand and that there are different answers to being worried and tense then running away.
Some rides I just walk. A couple rides ago, once I got on I simply worked on a stretchy 20 metre circle at the walk. When I got a few of those I hopped off.
I do insist on a couple things though:
#1. that she stay under me - she's not allowed to fling her front and back around so that she's off center below me (or that I'm off-center above). I use my legs, reins and even my knees on her shoulder to keep her there.
Which relates completely to
#2: she stay straight. So, if she starts to fall away from the scary corner I don't really argue that (yes I know but trust me, fighting to keep her in the corner is a fools game) but I do make sure that she's straight. This usually means that I insist that we do a half-decent leg yield rather than just flail around.
I also insist on a couple things on myself:
#1: stay calm- in my mind and my body. I try to be aware of when I tense and consciously relax my seat, arms, etc. I clearly have a lot of work to do in this regard but I am making progress.
#2: stay balanced on top of her. Me getting off-centre makes her worry more and gets her more reactive.
#3: (okay I lied, there's more than a couple) Try to figure out what she needs and how to give it to her. It might be my voice, or a quick correction, or turning before she's going to want to so that it's my idea. I need to be okay with making a mistake, shrug it off and try again.
After my lesson on saturday it began to snow. Julia came out and rode Irish. He was feeling pretty fresh but settled in to work after a bit of silliness (love that at his age he can still be silly)
the most perfect of orange ponies
We decided to ride together the next day. After Julia's ride I dragged the ring to get any ruts out of it. It was supposed to freeze so I figured we'd just be able to hack but I like to keep it dragged so that if there is snow it has a smooth surface to sit on. This allows for riding in the snow (which I love).
The next morning was freezing cold and I was shocked to see that my ring was actually pretty darn good for riding:
it was in fantastic shape
Carmen started off good with the ground work and when I mounted she was again looking for an argument. I just breathed and kept us walking. I used Irish to help us walk around the ring. It didn't take long before she was starting to get in the groove of things. We were able to work on bend and serpentines and changes of bend. I was Ms. Mellow and just didn't let anything get me flustered.
this picture makes me giggle. We're resting while Irish trots on by and
look at those grumpy mare ears.
I even dropped the reins and let her wander where she wanted. I tried to take a bit of video from her back (sorry for the poor quality). She actually wanted to head to the 'scary' part of the ring. I know it was because she wanted to follow Irish but I don't care- I had a completely loose rein and she was totally relaxed in her body.
After we headed into the woods for a hack. It was beautiful and I only got snow down my neck once. Carmen led for a bit and when she became really worried we let Irish lead again.
It was a a good ride and I still think that I'm on the right path. Carmen is becoming quite affectionate with me these days and that is not her normal behaviour.
