Not much to say about hunting other than flipping amazing! First couple of lines pretty boring but I knew there were some hedges to come. 3rd and 4th lines were the hedges. Monty jumped every single one spot on. We didn't get an awkward stride to one of them. Had to get him sitting back on his hocks each time as we had to wait our turn and then just let him power on down to them and he made them all feel so easy. It's a pleasure to hunt him. I hate hacking him as so scared he's gonna ditch me with one of his spook and spins but hunting is just wonderful on him. Just want to be a bit careful we dont overdo things as these are pretty big jumps and I dont want him jumping them every week. 2wks now till our next meet at Kingsclere. Would rather go every few wks and jump fab hedges than jump little jumps every week though!
Schooling today. The draw reins made their approximately monthly appearance as I needed to convince him he was quite capable of working in the correct outline on the right rein and shouldn't be such a resistant little git. I am very aware when I use them to make sure they are only coming into action when he tries to come out of his box. Did some nice basic work - just did some transitions, nothing fancy today. Had 4 trotting poles at 5.5feet apart which got him extending but only over the poles. I wonder what tomorrow's medium trot attempts will be like - awful probably! I hate feeling like I'm not making progress with something. Feel like we've been trying to get medium all year and still it's no better. Grrrr.
Things to remember to work on:
Give with my hands more over jumps. Was fine when jumping little things but now jumping bigger need to really make sure I give him enough freedom in his head.
Really need to activate his inside hind, mostly the right hind - lots of lateral work, leg yield on a circle etc. Really get it engaged before I can expect him to stay soft and round. Loads and loads of transitions really helps connect him.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Saturday, 3 December 2011
more schooling
moved my trotting poles out by half a foot so 5.5feet between them but still not enough for him to really bother with extending over.
was a bit frustrated with right rein work today. let him have longer down before i picked him up and he was quite happy down or in a kind of prelim outline but not happy about being picked up on the right rein. fine on the left rein. being annoyingly fussy in the contact when first picked up into trot from walk on a long rein on either rein. did do some nice canter work on the right rein though. glad that is improving but frustrated by the trot work at the moment. I feel so un-ambidextrous it's untrue. I get exactly the feeling I want on the left rein, but simply cant replicate it on the right rein.
remembered to think outside aids round the corner onto the centre line which helped keep him much straighter.
finished with running through P14/N24 ready for Wed. Prelim went quite well - nothing he cant do nicely other than G&R in trot. N24 all good except medium trot which was horrific - hollow and running - yuck, yuck, yuck. Anticipating more 4's on Wed if it carries on like that. Am trying to get him to associate the word big with the big trot over the poles so I can get it on the diagonal but at the moment it just seems to make him tense up and run more. Must remember to rise bigger to see if I can get it then. Will try on tue bringing the trot back and then on again on the circle as that helps him to spring into bigger trot and if I can do that a bit round the corner I might be able to get a bit of spring on the diagonal in the test.
Need to practice canter-trot-canter changes of rein a bit more as nothing like a bit of anticipation to help with that movement. Today did a fair few trot strides to rebalance him but it did make for quite a nice change of leg bearing in mind striking off to right canter isn't his strongest point anyway.
Medium canter on a circle went quite well - remember to ride with hocks underneath him. He came back to working canter really nicely from my seat so pleased with that.
G&R in canter on the right rein not great but he didn't hollow, just stretched his head and neck out so better than a giraffe impression. Really tried to sit on my bum and just straighten arms rather than tipping forwards.
Remember on the final half circle on centre line to ride outside aids and then to half halt before asking for transition to halt so he doesn't gape onto my hands.
Hunting tomorrow with the Kent and Surrey bloodhounds again. This time down at Coombelands. Hopefully get to do some fun hedges again :)
was a bit frustrated with right rein work today. let him have longer down before i picked him up and he was quite happy down or in a kind of prelim outline but not happy about being picked up on the right rein. fine on the left rein. being annoyingly fussy in the contact when first picked up into trot from walk on a long rein on either rein. did do some nice canter work on the right rein though. glad that is improving but frustrated by the trot work at the moment. I feel so un-ambidextrous it's untrue. I get exactly the feeling I want on the left rein, but simply cant replicate it on the right rein.
remembered to think outside aids round the corner onto the centre line which helped keep him much straighter.
finished with running through P14/N24 ready for Wed. Prelim went quite well - nothing he cant do nicely other than G&R in trot. N24 all good except medium trot which was horrific - hollow and running - yuck, yuck, yuck. Anticipating more 4's on Wed if it carries on like that. Am trying to get him to associate the word big with the big trot over the poles so I can get it on the diagonal but at the moment it just seems to make him tense up and run more. Must remember to rise bigger to see if I can get it then. Will try on tue bringing the trot back and then on again on the circle as that helps him to spring into bigger trot and if I can do that a bit round the corner I might be able to get a bit of spring on the diagonal in the test.
Need to practice canter-trot-canter changes of rein a bit more as nothing like a bit of anticipation to help with that movement. Today did a fair few trot strides to rebalance him but it did make for quite a nice change of leg bearing in mind striking off to right canter isn't his strongest point anyway.
Medium canter on a circle went quite well - remember to ride with hocks underneath him. He came back to working canter really nicely from my seat so pleased with that.
G&R in canter on the right rein not great but he didn't hollow, just stretched his head and neck out so better than a giraffe impression. Really tried to sit on my bum and just straighten arms rather than tipping forwards.
Remember on the final half circle on centre line to ride outside aids and then to half halt before asking for transition to halt so he doesn't gape onto my hands.
Hunting tomorrow with the Kent and Surrey bloodhounds again. This time down at Coombelands. Hopefully get to do some fun hedges again :)
Friday, 2 December 2011
Schooling tonight 02-12-11
He wasn't in the bestest of moods tonight. He never schools as well in the evening when he wants his dinner.
Set up 3 trotting poles with 5 feet between them but he found that too easy - couple of times felt him extend but mostly he just trotted through them with no extra effort at all! Tried to link the word "big" to getting big trot over the poles in the hope I can use that as a key to getting medium in the arena.
Tried putting him in his box which works quite well on the left rein, but really doesn't work on the right. Dont think it helps that I find it harder to ride properly on the right rein - my body is so one sided. He just argued and got all tight through his back on the right rein. Think must allow him to come up into his box a bit more gradually on the right rein. Even once he's in it he feels like he's trying to get out all the time. I know what I want it to feel like, it's just trying to get it to feel like that!
Anyway, we worked through it, got some nice canter on both reins and some nice basic trot. Didn't try anything too complex as he just wasn't in the mood. Got pissed off with him refusing to halt nicely coming down the centre line (anywhere else no probs!), gave him a dig in the side and he leapt in the air and spun round nearly losing me off the side. Grrr. Every time I let him stretch down in whatever pace he went off at warp speed. Not the most successful schooling session ever!
Set up 3 trotting poles with 5 feet between them but he found that too easy - couple of times felt him extend but mostly he just trotted through them with no extra effort at all! Tried to link the word "big" to getting big trot over the poles in the hope I can use that as a key to getting medium in the arena.
Tried putting him in his box which works quite well on the left rein, but really doesn't work on the right. Dont think it helps that I find it harder to ride properly on the right rein - my body is so one sided. He just argued and got all tight through his back on the right rein. Think must allow him to come up into his box a bit more gradually on the right rein. Even once he's in it he feels like he's trying to get out all the time. I know what I want it to feel like, it's just trying to get it to feel like that!
Anyway, we worked through it, got some nice canter on both reins and some nice basic trot. Didn't try anything too complex as he just wasn't in the mood. Got pissed off with him refusing to halt nicely coming down the centre line (anywhere else no probs!), gave him a dig in the side and he leapt in the air and spun round nearly losing me off the side. Grrr. Every time I let him stretch down in whatever pace he went off at warp speed. Not the most successful schooling session ever!
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Tracey lesson 30-11-11
Themes of today:
** control the shoulders - think outside leg to outside hand. dont let the shoulders swing when change the bend as change the rein. dont change the bend on the medium trot until after collected him back to working trot
** medium trot over poles to introduce the idea to him. he has a big length of stride. just need to give him the idea.
** he must work either up or down. up meaning Elem type outline, connected and through or down - round and stretching. none of this running flat on his shoulders all strung out. He will argue about it but need to contain him in the box that I set.
** in trot leg yield he must not make me try and bring him over with the inside hand, he needs to get off the inside leg - if he doesn't react to it then reinforce the aid stronger.
we ran through the trot work of E59 as plan was to get us working at Elem as competing at Novice. In general it wasn't too bad. Obviously his mediums wouldn't pass muster at the moment. But his initial trot and move off was good, the trot to halt to rein back to trot was lovely and the leg yields weren't too bad. Quite encouraging really as I expect he wouldn't find the the canter work too bad as that has really improved so could probably have a not too bad attempt at the test. Maybe next yr :)
** control the shoulders - think outside leg to outside hand. dont let the shoulders swing when change the bend as change the rein. dont change the bend on the medium trot until after collected him back to working trot
** medium trot over poles to introduce the idea to him. he has a big length of stride. just need to give him the idea.
** he must work either up or down. up meaning Elem type outline, connected and through or down - round and stretching. none of this running flat on his shoulders all strung out. He will argue about it but need to contain him in the box that I set.
** in trot leg yield he must not make me try and bring him over with the inside hand, he needs to get off the inside leg - if he doesn't react to it then reinforce the aid stronger.
we ran through the trot work of E59 as plan was to get us working at Elem as competing at Novice. In general it wasn't too bad. Obviously his mediums wouldn't pass muster at the moment. But his initial trot and move off was good, the trot to halt to rein back to trot was lovely and the leg yields weren't too bad. Quite encouraging really as I expect he wouldn't find the the canter work too bad as that has really improved so could probably have a not too bad attempt at the test. Maybe next yr :)
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Schooling session 29-11-11
Short session in high winds. Definitely feel he is starting to set against the hanging cheek snaffle so going to change back to the loose ring Neue Schule for Tracey lesson tomorrow.
He was really nicely off my aids in the lateral walk work. Did a few transitions and then a bit of canter work. Decided to try exercise I read about on the BD forum for helping to get a flying change. So half 10m circle in canter then leg yield back to the track, straighten and ride forward for the change onto the new lead. First time from left to right he almost went to do it then didn't. 2nd time he changed in front then changed behind a stride later but even that is big progress compared to his normal nothing or just change in front then change back in front or continue disunited. Then tried right to left (his better rein) and first time he did a kind of hop, skip and a jump through trot but at least getting the idea that I wanted a change. 2nd time he did a clean change! woohoo! was beginning to lose hope that he was able to do one at all. It was not especially pretty and he leapt through it but he did it! Huge pats and let him canter on a long rein for a rest.
Then one final thing, as he had appeared to find the canter leg yield rather easy (probably due to all our work with outside bend, bum in on a circle in canter) I decided to try and get canter half pass left and he did a really lovely first attempt, made it all the way from centre line to outside track in the length of the school and then did a lovely canter to walk transition so finished him there. And, all this achieved in gale force winds - sounded like stable roof was about to blow off so v proud of him for concentrating so well. So, only a 30min session but lots of good things achieved and lots of building blocks to really work on :)
He was really nicely off my aids in the lateral walk work. Did a few transitions and then a bit of canter work. Decided to try exercise I read about on the BD forum for helping to get a flying change. So half 10m circle in canter then leg yield back to the track, straighten and ride forward for the change onto the new lead. First time from left to right he almost went to do it then didn't. 2nd time he changed in front then changed behind a stride later but even that is big progress compared to his normal nothing or just change in front then change back in front or continue disunited. Then tried right to left (his better rein) and first time he did a kind of hop, skip and a jump through trot but at least getting the idea that I wanted a change. 2nd time he did a clean change! woohoo! was beginning to lose hope that he was able to do one at all. It was not especially pretty and he leapt through it but he did it! Huge pats and let him canter on a long rein for a rest.
Then one final thing, as he had appeared to find the canter leg yield rather easy (probably due to all our work with outside bend, bum in on a circle in canter) I decided to try and get canter half pass left and he did a really lovely first attempt, made it all the way from centre line to outside track in the length of the school and then did a lovely canter to walk transition so finished him there. And, all this achieved in gale force winds - sounded like stable roof was about to blow off so v proud of him for concentrating so well. So, only a 30min session but lots of good things achieved and lots of building blocks to really work on :)
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Monty BD Merrist Wood 19-11-11, Simon lesson, hunting with the K&S bloodhounds and SJ lesson 27-11-11
Remembering back to last Sat - BD at Merrist Wood. Staying with combination of hanging cheek snaffle and drop noseband. Warmed up nicely, in front of leg and feeling quite soft and supple. First test was P13. He stayed quite forwards but I did feel he dropped my contact a bit, just tightened through the back and hovered on the vertical but slightly behind my contact. This meant that on the video it looks like my reins are going baggy all the time. I think I just needed to feel that a bit more and ride him more up into the contact when I sense him dropping off. In general though, test was good. He got 65%. Judge was Mary Robley who is List 2. He was 5th in the qualifier but just one more collective mark would have seen him rise to 3rd overall and only 6 marks off the winner so it was v close.
Off back out to the warmup for a chill out wander round for 15mins then picked him up again. Practised our canter-trot-canter changes of rein over X and then in we went. 2nd test was N34 and judge was Debby Lush List One! Generally again v pleased with him - felt he attempted some medium work and he felt better in my contact which video supports. Ended up on 62.5% which was initially a little disappointed with but remembered that would still be 2 points and looked through Dan's old BD results and so far Monty is very much on a par with him with much more to come. Went back later to look at results and found out came 7th out of 16 restricted, 14th out of 24 overall so actually really pleased with that. Sheet was all 6's and 7's except for the medium trots where he got 4's which I thought was rather harsh - she said first one ran and 2nd one was hollow and crooked which is true but he didn't break and he tried something so I thought 4's was a bit on the mean side. 5's I would have happily accepted. he got 6's for his medium canters and he didn't really do an awful lot there either looking at the video. hey ho - that's judging for you.
MW BD pics
Had a Simon lesson on Sunday which went really well. We worked on lateral work on a circle, starting in walk and then progressing to trot. So it was leg yield head out round the big circle then shoulder-in then half-pass into smaller circle turning it into a pirouette. In trot it was half pass into smaller circle then leg yield back out onto the bigger circle. On and back in the trot, collecting it right back as far as possible then big trot forwards. His ability to collect the trot is so much better than when we first started this exercise 6mths ago. Then did some canter work, aiming for a milder version of head out leg yield and then back into trot and his final trot was amazing - if I could have that trot all the time he would be getting 8's!
So, then onto Tue schooling session - felt he was getting a bit heavy and leany in my hand in the hanging cheek so am going to go back to the Neue Schule tranz angle loose ring with the drop noseband and see how he is in that. Otherwise, worked on the same stuff - lots of lateral work in walk to start with, then the lateral work on the circle in trot and got a replica of the lovely big trot from the lesson.
Wed we went hunting with the Kent and Surrey bloodhounds for the first time. Great day out - we were jumping hedges from the word go. Think on the first line alone must have jumped about 5 of them and there were plenty more to come. Monty was jumping really well until the last line when I think he got a little tired and was chipping in some short ones but in general v pleased with him. My legs have been killing ever since - more fittening work needed for me I think!
hunting pics
Yesterday we hacked out and he was obviously not tired after Wed, but thriving after 2 days off in the field, bouncing out of his skin, really lovely forwards going springy trot down the byway when suddenly he grinds to a halt, props and threatens to spin nearly losing me out the front door. All because there were some cycle tyre tracks across the path. Stupid orange thing! Then further down he tried it again and got a serious smack on the bum - talk about taking the mick! He was just full of it the whole way round. Was v grateful I had Kim and Dan's sharer with me for moral support - mental pony! Dan also full of it, kept trying to overtake me in canter which didn't go down too well with Monty!
So, today off to Farley Hall for SJ lesson with Richard Waygood. In a group with Vicky Powley who I know has been competing Intermediate so bit scared the fences were gonna get huge. Started with telling Richard what we had been up to and then cracked on with a gridwork session. Started with 5 canter poles on the ground - Richard warned that distance would be long for Monty so I overrode it, sat too deep in the saddle and flattened him so he ran. Suitable chastised I had to go lighter in the saddle and just keep a nice rhythm - low and behold he went through it lovely! Idea was to go through one way, come back to walk in a straight line then pick up canter on the new rein and come back down. Built up the poles to cross poles until we had 5 fences all on bounce strides and instead of coming back to walk were continuing in canter, doing a small circle to balance them, then a big circle on the new rein and then back down the grid. Monty was ever so happy popping through the grid. Popped them up a bit and he felt like he could do it all day! Took out fences 2 and 4 and made fence 3 into an upright - no probs there. Then he whacked up the height of fence 3 to 1.05m but we still managed that with no probs and he hadn't touched a fence by this point. Then fence 3 got a back rail on it which wasn't a huge spread but back rail was at least 1.10m and I suspect somewhere nearer the 1m15 mark given how much higher it was than the front rail. This rather panicked both me and Monty and also made the distance between the spread and fence 5 rather short. Got told I had to create more energy in him and not let him be behind my leg but ended up coming in rather fast and flat, he took the back rail off the spread with his back feet, and then landed too far out to put in a stride before the final cross pole so attempted to bounce it which nearly resulted in us both eating dirt. Not entirely sure what happened but I think he found a 5th leg from somewhere - I just employed the hunting seat, kept quiet, left his head alone, shut my eyes and prayed! Somehow we both remained upright and went round to jump it again slightly more sensibly - he kept taking out the back rail though - I think it was just a little step too far so Richard put it down to somewhere between 1.05m and 1.10m and he cleared it lovely so we finished there. Clever pony :)
SJ lesson pics
Off back out to the warmup for a chill out wander round for 15mins then picked him up again. Practised our canter-trot-canter changes of rein over X and then in we went. 2nd test was N34 and judge was Debby Lush List One! Generally again v pleased with him - felt he attempted some medium work and he felt better in my contact which video supports. Ended up on 62.5% which was initially a little disappointed with but remembered that would still be 2 points and looked through Dan's old BD results and so far Monty is very much on a par with him with much more to come. Went back later to look at results and found out came 7th out of 16 restricted, 14th out of 24 overall so actually really pleased with that. Sheet was all 6's and 7's except for the medium trots where he got 4's which I thought was rather harsh - she said first one ran and 2nd one was hollow and crooked which is true but he didn't break and he tried something so I thought 4's was a bit on the mean side. 5's I would have happily accepted. he got 6's for his medium canters and he didn't really do an awful lot there either looking at the video. hey ho - that's judging for you.
MW BD pics
Had a Simon lesson on Sunday which went really well. We worked on lateral work on a circle, starting in walk and then progressing to trot. So it was leg yield head out round the big circle then shoulder-in then half-pass into smaller circle turning it into a pirouette. In trot it was half pass into smaller circle then leg yield back out onto the bigger circle. On and back in the trot, collecting it right back as far as possible then big trot forwards. His ability to collect the trot is so much better than when we first started this exercise 6mths ago. Then did some canter work, aiming for a milder version of head out leg yield and then back into trot and his final trot was amazing - if I could have that trot all the time he would be getting 8's!
So, then onto Tue schooling session - felt he was getting a bit heavy and leany in my hand in the hanging cheek so am going to go back to the Neue Schule tranz angle loose ring with the drop noseband and see how he is in that. Otherwise, worked on the same stuff - lots of lateral work in walk to start with, then the lateral work on the circle in trot and got a replica of the lovely big trot from the lesson.
Wed we went hunting with the Kent and Surrey bloodhounds for the first time. Great day out - we were jumping hedges from the word go. Think on the first line alone must have jumped about 5 of them and there were plenty more to come. Monty was jumping really well until the last line when I think he got a little tired and was chipping in some short ones but in general v pleased with him. My legs have been killing ever since - more fittening work needed for me I think!
hunting pics
Yesterday we hacked out and he was obviously not tired after Wed, but thriving after 2 days off in the field, bouncing out of his skin, really lovely forwards going springy trot down the byway when suddenly he grinds to a halt, props and threatens to spin nearly losing me out the front door. All because there were some cycle tyre tracks across the path. Stupid orange thing! Then further down he tried it again and got a serious smack on the bum - talk about taking the mick! He was just full of it the whole way round. Was v grateful I had Kim and Dan's sharer with me for moral support - mental pony! Dan also full of it, kept trying to overtake me in canter which didn't go down too well with Monty!
So, today off to Farley Hall for SJ lesson with Richard Waygood. In a group with Vicky Powley who I know has been competing Intermediate so bit scared the fences were gonna get huge. Started with telling Richard what we had been up to and then cracked on with a gridwork session. Started with 5 canter poles on the ground - Richard warned that distance would be long for Monty so I overrode it, sat too deep in the saddle and flattened him so he ran. Suitable chastised I had to go lighter in the saddle and just keep a nice rhythm - low and behold he went through it lovely! Idea was to go through one way, come back to walk in a straight line then pick up canter on the new rein and come back down. Built up the poles to cross poles until we had 5 fences all on bounce strides and instead of coming back to walk were continuing in canter, doing a small circle to balance them, then a big circle on the new rein and then back down the grid. Monty was ever so happy popping through the grid. Popped them up a bit and he felt like he could do it all day! Took out fences 2 and 4 and made fence 3 into an upright - no probs there. Then he whacked up the height of fence 3 to 1.05m but we still managed that with no probs and he hadn't touched a fence by this point. Then fence 3 got a back rail on it which wasn't a huge spread but back rail was at least 1.10m and I suspect somewhere nearer the 1m15 mark given how much higher it was than the front rail. This rather panicked both me and Monty and also made the distance between the spread and fence 5 rather short. Got told I had to create more energy in him and not let him be behind my leg but ended up coming in rather fast and flat, he took the back rail off the spread with his back feet, and then landed too far out to put in a stride before the final cross pole so attempted to bounce it which nearly resulted in us both eating dirt. Not entirely sure what happened but I think he found a 5th leg from somewhere - I just employed the hunting seat, kept quiet, left his head alone, shut my eyes and prayed! Somehow we both remained upright and went round to jump it again slightly more sensibly - he kept taking out the back rail though - I think it was just a little step too far so Richard put it down to somewhere between 1.05m and 1.10m and he cleared it lovely so we finished there. Clever pony :)
SJ lesson pics
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Monty Winter RC dressage qualifier. Merrist Wood. 13-11-11
So, Monty has been on his hols following our last event at Coombelands. He hasn't been in the school since a few days afterwards when we had our last lesson, he hunted a couple of times then had 12days in the field. Was meant to be bringing him back into work next week but midweek the RC got in contact and asked me to step up from reserve into the team for today's Winter Qualifier. So, Friday was spent reclipping the hairy beast and generally tidying him up a bit, then doing a bit of schooling. No time for riding yesterday as was at Your Horse Live shopping and more shopping!
Well, a lack of preparation is obviously the way to go. In the warmup he actually gave me shoulder-in in trot for the 1st time, and on both reins. 3wks ago he couldn't do that - must have been practising in the field lol! We have been consistently near the bottom in all our recent eventing dressage tests so wasn't expecting much. Have changed his bit to a hanging cheek and changed noseband from flash to drop which I think might have helped a bit although I'm sure it was the new bling browband that just dazzled the judge into give us big scores
Managed a personal best of 71.67% with just one 6 and a nice smattering of 8's including one for his 2nd centre line. Not one comment about being crooked on the centre line (and there are 3 of them in P18) which makes a nice change and he did the most lovely, perfectly square final halt All 7's for collectives. Judge said he was very willing but just need to work on suppleness to the right and that it was well presented We ended up in 2nd place and our team came 4th so very good start!
Next step is BD on Saturday - trying N34 as well as P13 so fingers crossed he is feeling as nice!!
Well, a lack of preparation is obviously the way to go. In the warmup he actually gave me shoulder-in in trot for the 1st time, and on both reins. 3wks ago he couldn't do that - must have been practising in the field lol! We have been consistently near the bottom in all our recent eventing dressage tests so wasn't expecting much. Have changed his bit to a hanging cheek and changed noseband from flash to drop which I think might have helped a bit although I'm sure it was the new bling browband that just dazzled the judge into give us big scores
Managed a personal best of 71.67% with just one 6 and a nice smattering of 8's including one for his 2nd centre line. Not one comment about being crooked on the centre line (and there are 3 of them in P18) which makes a nice change and he did the most lovely, perfectly square final halt
All 7's for collectives. Judge said he was very willing but just need to work on suppleness to the right and that it was well presented We ended up in 2nd place and our team came 4th so very good start!Next step is BD on Saturday - trying N34 as well as P13 so fingers crossed he is feeling as nice!!
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