Not Sloppy Seconds: Lesson Recap

If all had gone according to plan, this would be the first show of the year. Of course, this is not normal times. 

wait, what irresponsible person just lets her horse graze free?

I honestly thought I'd be more upset about it. Turns out I am okay about it. I do miss all my friends though and maybe by the time of the second show I'll feel different. For now, though, I'm enjoying working with Carmen. 

Well, sort of. 

You see, earlier this week Carmen became really spooky with all the stuff that comes with it: tension, bolting, refusing to listen. I had two very horrible rides. Both times we ended up in a, well, not exactly good place, but a better one anyway. 

I did a lot of thinking about it and realized that it might be feed related. I have had to put Carmen on a diet because she has been putting on weight. I was worried about her vitamin needs and so I put her back on the supplement I had her on earlier. I thought with the reduced intake of feed it would be okay. But it really is not. So I stopped it. 

Today I had a lesson booked and Julia came out to ride with us. We started with a hack (just like the last rides) and it was clear that Carmen was much more settled. We did the whole hack on a loose rein.  We arrived back at the ring at the same time as Shanea. I explained what we had been dealing with and then we headed out to work. 

The purpose was to keep her with me. Because she was so much better that was a lot easier than it had been. Not that we were without issues. 

In case you want to see a close up:

There were good moments too- in fact far more good than bad. Although this capture makes me laugh: 

if dressage doesn't work out maybe we could be a cutting team

Shanea had me use shoulder fore while riding serpentines and she became supple and quiet. 

It was a great feeling to have things work. 

nice halt. I'm giving her a pat for being such a good girl

We practiced our walk-canter transitions. To the right they were really good. To the left she became a bit frazzled with anticipation and worry. So I stopped and let her set her rabbits free. I then picked up the reins and we started again. After a few walk-trot transitions I asked her to canter. She would get flat and lean on the bit. Shanea had me practice cantering from the halt. It was cool to practice it and feel the lift. 

Carmen was being so good that we decided to finish up with practicing turn on the haunches. I hate to say it, but I am just not getting it. I was getting frustrated so I asked Shanea to hop up and work on it with Carmen so that she could figure it out and I could see it. 

Carmen: what is this bullshit? I thought I was done

It was good to watch Shanea work with her. I was relieved that it wasn't easy (does that make me a bad person?) but it was interesting to watch them work through and see Carmen start to understand. I took some video to study. 

It was a really enjoyable lesson and a lot of fun was had. I think I am okay if this year is all about the schooling and not showing. 

Carmen: How much schooling are you planning on?
I'm exhausted and clearly wasting away to nothing

A Good Lesson

I had another lesson last Friday. And it went so well. Really well.

Rather than write about the lesson itself, I wanted to talk about what makes me call a lesson 'good'. I recognize that this definition may vary between people but I suspect that there are a lot of similarities too.

In no particular order, here are the features that make a good lesson for me.

1. Picks up on what was worked on in the last lesson.

In between lesson I work on my 'homework'. So I like it when we pick those things back up to fix or to move to the next step.  Shanea and I always start by discussing how Carmen has been going since she was here last. This time I shared that my rides in between have been amazing and one that was terrible. In that one Carmen was just unable to horse and was not interested in my input. I actually got off and lunged her some more and then got back on. I talked about what I tried and what worked/what didn't. That gave Shanea a place to start with us.

I have had lessons where it's felt like the same lesson over and over and it felt like I was stagnated. 

2. Instructions that actually help me to do the task. 

I think it was Megan who talked about 'First and second toolkit instructions'. I will likely get this backwards, but 'second toolkit' are things like 'make her rounder' vs what I should do with my body to achieve this. Karen is amazing at this. Shanea is pretty good too. Sometimes I have to stop and talk with her because I'm not quite getting it. 

We've been working on the Second Level Turn on the Haunches. Turns out I don't know how to do it properly. It's hard. Shanea tried lots of ways to help me understand and finally it made sense. We're getting there. Aside: I think I need to look at some video examples so if you have any links, let me know. 

3. Positive focus. 

Not that I need to hear that I'm awesome. But feeling that I'm wrong without advice on how to do better is NOT helpful. 

like get her forward when she's planning to exit stage right

I already know I have a lot to improve. But I have had lessons that have made me feel like shit (not from Shanea) and, you know what, these didn't really make me a better rider. They destroyed my confidence. 

no need for barriers to learning- unlike Ripley here trying to stop the tractor!

4.  Working in the Zone:

It's a lesson that pushes me but not so out far of my comfort zone that I'll crash and burn. It's the concept of  Vygotsky's 'Zone of Proximal Development'. The concept is simple: there is what we can do all on our own (like a walk-canter transition) and things we cannot do (like piaffe). But in between there are things we can do with help. 

I don't need a lesson focussing on what I can do, or even what I can't do. But that part in the middle? That's where the magic happens. We're working on rocking her back on her hindquarters and pushing from her hind legs rather than dragging herself along by her front. It is working. At least I think it is. It's so hard to not just pull on the reins. My abs are so tired by the end of the lesson. The plus side is that when she is balanced and under me she is much less likely to spook. 

using my abs here big time. 

5. Fun. 

Riding is supposed to be fun, right? I don't mean a party but it should be enjoyable. I like talking with Shanea- she has a good sense of humour. So does Karen. It feels like a collaboration not a dictatorship. It is important to me that Carmen does not view every ride as drill and hard work with no reward. Some horses will tolerate that but she will not. I'm getting better at recognizing when she's starting to fizz a bit and Shanea and I discuss how to move away from one thing and do something else. 

a fun way to work on condition without it feeling like work (at least to me). 

I'm sure I could get more and more detailed (after all that's where us horse people live, amiright?). But I think that covers the broad strokes. 

What did I miss? What makes a good lesson for you? 

Working on the Teeter-Totter

You guys, it finally happened! I had an in person lesson with Shanea! She and I had discussed it at the end of our last lesson. She had some requests from others. I knew that we could do the lesson and stay well away from each other. And that is exactly what happened. I was up in the ring warming up and she came from her car to my ring.

The weather was sunny and warm but also windy. I hadn't been able to ride for a couple days so I was semi-expecting her to be a bit up. Instead,  she was practically asleep. I did our ground work and even go her to canter to try to get her going a bit.

I mounted and getting her to do our relaxation patterns was pretty easy. So when Shanea arrived I was excited to tell her that we needed to work on getting the energy up instead of down. I told her that I was more confident in getting the up energy down than getting the low energy up. It is because I love the relaxation, but I need more energy without her thinking that I'm punishing her for relaxing.  While we chatted Carmen took a nap.

A big piece of the answer was to encourage her to move out but to nurse it along. I do love that Shanea understands what Carmen needs and isn't telling me to 'get after her'. Instead we worked with her and then asked for a little more and a little more and a little more.

 sorry for the blurry screen shot-
stepping under and not bad for us to start

We also worked a lot on straightness. Turns out I have no idea what being straight on the right rein actually feels like.  Carmen tends to look to the outside and I try to correct that with the inside rein. All that does is make her more crooked. To correct it, I wasn't allowed to touch the inside rein until I got her straight on the outside with inside leg to outside rein (have you heard of this whole inside leg to outside rein thing?). What was cool was that as we worked I started to really  feel it and Carmen became so adjustable.


Like most things we would get it, lose it, get it back. But as the ride came on she became more and more supple. Riding haunches in/shoulder in was just a little movement of the seat and a little outside rein.

shoulder fore to help her straighten- but what the heck am I doing with
my inside hand and shoulder? 

The other part of lesson was getting Carmen to step under herself and push from behind. It required me to be very aware of my seat and what it was doing and not holding too much. We played with lengthening and shortening the walk. At first she thought I wanted halt but as we worked it became easier and easier. Especially once she became truly straight.

We then started asking it at the trot. At first it was trot, walk a few steps then trot. Then it was trot, ask for almost walk and then trot out. Then everything became so soft. I worked super hard on keeping my hands quiet and soft. Shanea asked me ot feel the bit with my elbows and back, not my hands. That helped but it's tricky and I always want to do far too much with my hands. Sigh. Poor Carmen. She is becoming very tolerant of me (Carmen:  I know. *Sigh*. I deserve more cookies).

Carmen began to tire and wanted to hang on the bit more. We worked her a little longer, playing with the canter and then called it quits. I don't want to make her too sore.  I loved this lesson so much. I love working on the teeter totter of forward and back as well as her energy.

I like her balance here and how she's stretching out from her whither

While I really appreciated the virtual lessons, having her there was so much better. I am so enjoying Carmen this year. I also have a sneaking suspicion that she's enjoying me. It feels good to not be in a battle. Sure, sometimes I negotiate and sometimes I have to draw a line but I'm getting much better at letting it go after.  Whatever happens this summer with shows I think that Carmen and I will make a ton of progress and it will be good for us.