Inspired

Seth and I spent the day at Fairhill International today. It was a gorgeous day and we saw the 2* and 3* XC. Overall the course rode well...deep footing caused lots of time penalties. It always gets me motivated when seeing the big boys ride...and now with Hobbs it doesn't seem unattainable. Since my last blog update, we've had a lot of positive outings. We completed Fairhill, Seneca and Morven prelim...no XC penalties besides time at Morven due to deep footing. Dressage has continued to get better and he seems to be more and more relaxed in the ring. I'm anxious for Virginia at the end of the month to see if I can get him more focused over 3 days. We are still working through the tension and getting him to use his back. Lately we have been very focused on transitions and keeping him connected and using his hind end. The visual of making his hind legs do the transition first has helped me to feel the uphill balance much better.

Hobby has been unbelievable on XC...he's such a beast. He just loves his job and the prelim courses just seem easy for him. Stadium has been ok but not great. The courses just don't ride smooth and I teeter back and forth from not having enough power to pushing him to much and him jumping flat. He's so talented though that we've only had a few rails. I just need to have more confidence in him. I had a lesson with Danny this morning and felt like there was a lightbulb moment. I need to keep a feel of his mouth when jumping...I can't just throw the reins away and bail out when I get a tight spot. I also need to keep my leg on him...I need to have the connection throughout the jump. Danny had me doing a bounce and a bending chevron line that was really tough. I still hate bending lines and I think too much, but we started getting it and it felt awesome. If I lean back, put my head on his tail and widen my hands to keep a feel he jumps great no matter what the spot is. Another issue I've been working through is keeping my elbows soft...it helps me if I turn the reins upside down and hold them like I'm driving a carriage. It takes my hands away and forces me to balance using my body. I think if I can be more consistent and remember that less is more we will go far. He's so willing and just has such a great mind...it's great to be part of this team!

Legacy and Seth have also worked through some of their issues. Legacy was out for a month with lympangitis in his left hind. The infection blew out his fetlock and still looks disgusting, but he's been sound so I just keep saying it's the evil coming out ;). Seth and Legacy had a positive outing at the FCDA show 2 weeks ago. Dressage was just ok, but he jumped great...no bad attitude at all. Then last weekend we took him to Bucks for a CT and XC schooling. He did so awesome in dressage...31.3!! He's really learning to feel the connection and get Legacy round. Legacy played his stupid game and skirted out at jump #1 on stadium, but Seth sat back, opened his hands and kicked him through. After the first fence he was great...they actually let him do a second round as well. He was really good XC schooling as well, he was forward and willing and Seth rode him really well. So it was a huge step that Legacy didn't completely shut down. I think he's just finally figuring out that he has to do some of the work himself. I was actually hurting him by helping too much...he's been jumping better and I'm hopeful it will keep progressing.

GO GO GO!!

Now that I can say I'm officially a prelim rider I thought it was time to stop the blogging ban...I was too afraid the blogging would jinx my prelim moveup...hence the long break in updates :). Let's see...I did a PT at Bucks and found out that my airvest works...there was a cordwood table into the water and I didn't sit back and ride and he ducked out at the last minute and I popped off. It was super disappointing b/c I didn't even get to showjump b/c they had switched the order..BOOO!! So then I had entered NJ HP to be able to get another Training in before I moved up, but I got waitlisted (things weren't going my way). Luckily I got into MD HT I on July 9-10 and did a Training. He was a nutbag in dressage warmup and I think we've figured out that it's b/c he could see XC. I had been warming up in a lower ring that couldn't see the XC course and he was perfect...as soon as I got up to the main ring, he flipped out...I thought I was getting eliminated for sure. We ran into a few other horses and almost crashed into the ring when someone else was doing their test. I got a standing ovation from the volunteers when we finished our test :). We pulled a 40 which was fantastic considering the situation.

So I was a bit nervous for the Prelim at MD the following weekend. I had my usual support system, Seth and my parents, but my brother and his friend also came to support me. It was awesome to have a fan club! Dressage went really well...34.6. He was calm as could be...no XC was running at the time. Before I jumped I was so nervous I was dry heaving...ridiculous...I had to give myself a pep talk and once I got on I was fine. There was a lot of trouble on stadium, but we had a clean round. He saved me on the last jump...I got him too close, but he jumped right out of it. Then he was so awesome on XC. There was a corner at fence #4 and it was sitting in the woods by itself and the Intermediate table made it difficult to get the line I wanted to it...plus it was a corner to the right which made me even more apprehensive. Well once I locked him on the line he attacked it. There was no hesitation at all at anything. I had to ride him into the waters, but as soon as a put my leg on he says, "OK Mom, I trust you". It was such an awesome feeling to finish the course clean!!

We had a dressage lesson with Linda Zang last week and it was great. She got me to get him really forward and connected to my hand. I will have to work pretty hard to get that kind of forwardness with sitting trot. She also helped me with my position...I need to get my hips under me more so that I can push him to my hand. I also need to stop using my hands so much and trust him to just respond to my leg. It was a short lesson, but so effective.

Then it was onto Fairhill yesterday. I had my best dressage yet, although I left the ring disappointed. It was a very consistent, accurate test, but I felt like I could've ridden him more. Stadium was a bit of a mess...it was our first time this year jumping on grass and I didn't handle the terrain well. After watching the video I think I had him forward enough, but he looked flat. So I think I was riding him forward but not collected...plus I didn't do a good job adjusting for the terrain. So we had our first 2 rails since I bought him :). There was only one clear round in my division and that was Bruce Davidson so I don't feel too bad. On XC I was worried about the in to the water...there was a red house and they had it set so a tree was in the middle and the obvious choice was to take the right side, but it looked inviting for a runout to the right. Well he was so awesome to everything. I screwed up and jumped the training fence 2, but they didn't notice...the eventing gods were with me. I would've been so pissed if I would've had to pull up b/c I was eliminated for something stupid like that. Anyway, he was so perfect...such a superstar. I had to jump the big Trakehner and he was great. I am learning how to see the distances to the big fences and the higher speed, but I still need to work on it. I picked into the corner, but he was a good boy and jumped it. I also didn't ride the water very well...I was too concerned with the in and I didn't think quick enough to prep him for the turn and get him forward enough for the out. Again, he was a good boy and tried his heart out to get out of the water. I do really need to learn how to ride more forward...I could tell at the up bank combos that I wasn't forward enough and the spots were a little longer than they should've been. It's all part of the learning process. We also had the big log to the down bank, right bending turn to a log at the foundation...the same combo that was Legacy's undoing last year. He was great...he didn't launch off the bank and I felt like we had sooooo much time in the 4 strides to the out. We were the only ones to make time in our division...I definitely was pushing him the last half of the course. He was tired, but seemed to be plenty fit.

So it's been really nice to be able to put last year behind me. Now that I have 2 clean rounds under my belt I feel like I can stop blaming myself and comparing to last year. Prelim seems really easy for Hobbs...I think both course were somewhat soft, so I'm anxious to get to a tougher course to test us a bit. I definitely need to catch up to his talent, but he's such a good teacher and he forgives me for my mistakes. I really feel like we are connecting more and more as a team and it's showing in our results.

Jumping Big

Well we had lessons this week with Danny and they went really, really well. Hobbs and I were jumping 3'9" plus...and it felt great!!! I'm really learning him and we are definitely working better as a team. I can now tell when he's going to leave out a stride and I'm starting to trust him when we get close...I've always been a fan of the long spot, but I can only get away with that for so long. When we do get in tight I need to train myself to support him with my legs...I end up just releasing my hands, legs, etc. so that he can jump and I'm not in his way...but it doesn't provide him with the support he needs to get up and over smoothly...and we end up with a pop up over the jumps. I still revert to leaning at him as well with my upper body, but I was quick to fix that, so hopefully I've trained my brain enough to stop that.

Seth and Legacy had a great lesson as well. Danny tied Seth's stirrups to the girth and it did wonders for his leg position. He naturally has a very nice seat and his hands have gotten so much quieter that now it's on to fixing his leg position. He tends to put his feet forward like a cowboy, so he'll ride with the stirrups tied for awhile and see what that does. He still tends to put too much weight on his right pinky toe instead of evenly distributing his weight in the stirrup. He has to continually try and turn his right foot out to get the right position. He's really starting to get the feel of Legacy's mouth and connection is developing. It's exciting to see them progress. He jumped him 2'9" and it looked so easy...Legacy was really honest...he was trying to take advantage of Seth and duck down, but it got better and better. Seth will have to learn to bump him up when he tries to duck down. Right now he's setting against his mouth and not using his body, seat and legs enough to have Legacy carry himself. Unfortunately, you have to work pretty hard for Legacy to not lean on you, so it will take Seth awhile to get that feel. For now, at Novice it won't make too much of a difference.

We took both of them to Dr. Anderson this week as well. Hobbs showed some signs of hock issues and got some accupuncture. Dr. Anderson thinks we will need to have him injected before I go Prelim. He also had some reaction with the left front, but she thought that was secondary due to his hocks. Not too bad, similar maintenance to what we did with Legacy. Legacy showed no signs of anything...that was the first time ever. So he seems happy and healthy and his new job is agreeing with him.

We've got Waredaca and MD Starter HT this weekend so we'll see how it goes...

Lesson Notes

So not too much going on in the Beaventing world right now. I've been travelling a bit, and we're trying to get the house and spring cleaning under control. We've gotten the estimate for the new barn and indoor, so hopefully we'll have that by this winter.

Anyway, we've had a few lessons over the past 2 weeks with some important themes I need to remember and work on. First, we went XC schooling with Danny...Seth on Legs and Me on Hobbs. Hobbs started his little dance and I need to learn to push him through it. I need to retrain myself instead of locking down I need to push my hands forward and squeeze with my legs. He is really still having trouble with the right leg/rein, but instead of trying to force him into it, I have to just guide him through it and continue to hold the pressure on him with my left leg. So basically anytime he starts to freak out, I need to shove my hands into his mane and kick him forward...that needs to be my response - and I need to keep my head up and look where I want to go. Now, onto actually jumping...I need to trust him more and learn how to sit my hands forward and use my seat/legs/upper body to half halt him and control his speed. I rely too heavily on my hands and I need to support him with my hands instead of bracing against him. I'm so used to having that for balance from riding Legacy...but with Hobbs the more I do that, the less power I have and the harder it is for him to jump the bigger jumps. I need to trust the speed and support him with my leg as well. Still saw some issues with the drop into the water, but we just need to keep schooling that so he gains his confidence with that. Seth and Legs did awesome...they looked so good together. Legacy had a few temper tantrums b/c it was his first time out, but Seth did ok. He got to experience a few rears :). Legacy looked like a pro and they were cruising around the Novice jumps...so he's gonna show him at Novice at MD HT schooling trial the first weekend in June.

We also had dressage lessons with Kathy Adams this past weekend. She really liked Hobbs...said he had a lot of potential and has a lot of gaits within his gaits. She pointed out my saddle being a bit tight on his shoulder and recommended not using a fleece pad b/c of the saddle fit. I also need to make sure my girth is tight and that I have weight in my right stirrup. I tend to beg him with my right heel, which pulls my leg back and weight out of my stirrup. I need to focus on keeping weight in the stirrup and asking him to move off my leg with my calf. She also had me taking hold of the left rein and controlling the right shoulder with my right calf at the girth. I need to continue working on getting him straight to help with the upper level movements. We worked some counter canter with leg yielding and one lead change :). She said to get the changes I need to work on walk-canter-walk, walk-counter canter-walk transition to tune him to the aids. I also need to be careful with going long and low and make sure he doesn't get stuck and he's still obeying my aids and reaching down throughout the stretchy trot. It seems like I need to start working him in a higher frame more often. Seth also got a lesson on Legacy...it didn't start off great...Legacy freaked a bit when I still had Hobbs outside and got away from Seth when he tried to get on. He settled in pretty quickly and had a really good lesson. Kathy really liked working with him since he's athletic and can do whatever you tell him. He did some sitting trot and I was so jealous b/c I think he sat smoother than I ever have!! He's definitely still working through the feel of Legacy...a few times he was working on leg yielding at the walk and Legacy looked drunk b/c he would apply too much leg, then too much hand and back again. A lot of it is timing and just he and Legacy learning each other. It's been really nice to see how well the pairing of Seth and Legacy is. It makes me feel better with Legacy basically having a purpose and he's happy not having to try too hard.

So after everything, I decided not to move up to Prelim yet. I'd like to get another few trainings under my belt and make sure we are working as more of a team. I was also a little hesitant trying to follow the same schedule as last year...you never know with karma!!!

Beaventing @ Journey's End

Another positive outing for Beaventing in 2011. Seth and I took Cody and Legacy to Journey's End for FCDA's combined test today. The day started a bit rough for Cody and Seth...Cody's bond to Legacy hasn't been broken at all by the introduction of Hobbs :). With 45 mph wind gusts and Legacy and the show, Cody was a bit tense in warmup and for his test to say the least. I didn't get to see it, but Seth's comments seemed fair. Cody was winnying for Legacy through his test and Seth said he couldn't stop him when he was cantering. So unfortunately they didn't show their best stuff. Seth handled it really well and although he was disappointed with dressage, he didn't let it carry over. He had a beautiful stadium round, again I didn't get to see it :(. But Cody was really forward and was jumping really well. Hopefully we can try a Novice CT this summer to continue moving forward. Plus if Legacy isn't there, his dressage has improved so much he'll be fine. He just needs to learn how to get connection!!

Legacy was wound up as well to start the day. When I went to get on I said to my mom, "it's like boarding a rocket." I just thought he was ready to explode. We were doing lengthened trot in the warmup for about 15 minutes as well. It was reminiscent of Millbrook when I couldn't settle him. So I thought the dressage was going to not be good at all...but my lengthenings would be good! Well he settled in really nicely and we ended up with a 30.9 in dressage, which I thought was generous. He was a bit tense and not as keen to my aids as I would've liked. I definitely didn't ride as accurately as I normally do either and some of my transitions were early/late. But, nonetheless, he did settle and we had a solid showing. I knew his lengthenings were there today and I pushed too hard and got him off balance at the end. I need to learn to settle in and ride the stride instead of pushing for more...it just feels so awesome I never want to stop asking him to lengthen. Then to the jumping. Well when I was warming up, some dressage queen was freaking out b/c her horse couldn't handle someone jumping. So I said, leave and give me 5 minutes. Legacy was definitely ready to jump...he just felt like a fire-breathing dragon going into the fences. He really, really wanted to go....a wonderful feeling after last year. The jump round went really smooth. There was absolutely no feeling of hesitation and I really felt like he had a good time. He felt like he had his old jump back too. He was really trying and wasn't doing the minimum amount like he was last year. He was really jumping round, and although he was really heavy in my hands, he came back and settled into a collected canter when I asked. The jumps felt too easy. It was a very positive outing for us. Now I need to XC school and see what I have there. He's been raring to go...yesterday I just galloped back and forth across the property, so he's ready for a schooling. I really hope I can get him going at Training again and have Seth take him to some small stuff this year. I think it will be a lot of fun and it's a nice mix for him. I think he'll be much happier with a less aggressive schedule and I just need to pay attention to his mood and what he's telling me he wants to do. Based on today...he wants to do this!!

So, all in all it was a good day for Beaventing. It was nice to be at a local show and both be able to ride, but Cody's insecurity will make it difficult...oh well. Hopefully I can fight the windburn and go out and give Hobbs a flatworkout tonight to prep for Fairhill next weekend!

Go Beaventing...

Off to a Great Start

Well Hobbs and I have started the 2011 show season with a bang. I took him to the MD HT Combined Test 2 weekends ago and he was fantastic. He stayed cool as a cucumber the entire day and really showed well. Our dressage test was calm and accurate and we got a 34.1. I didn't jazz him up at all and just focused on being relaxed. Because of that, we didn't score very well on impulsion scores and the lengthened trot was average at best, but I was extremely happy. We need to continue focusing on relaxation so he comes through over his back and keep swinging through his gaits. He's been so much better at home, so I know it's bound to come through at shows eventually and this test was a significant improvement to last year. The main comments from the judge were to have him push more with his hind end and get more engagement...I totally agree and by mid-season I hope to be able to show off his full gaits without worrying about him having a panic attack :). In show jumping, we were warming up all by ourselves and he was great. We did maybe 3 jumps and were ready to go. The course had two decent combinations in it and it rode great. I didn't have enough pace into the first 2 jumps, which was a bending line, and ended up with really tight spots, but then I added some leg and the rest of the course was beautiful. I've finally learned how to go with his HUGE jump (see pic)!! I just need to keep working on the pace and learning how to go with him with my arms to let him build the energy...it all goes back to trusting him.

I had a lesson with Danny as well, and the focus was me learning how to give with my arms and the finesse I need with this horse. I have to learn how subtle I can be to get a response from him since he's so sensitive. We did a lot of work with my knuckles staying in his mane all the way through the jump. I need to stop bringing them back to me to balance...a lovely habit I got from freight train Legacy. I have to train my body's response to give my hands and let him come up to my body as he's jumping instead of throwing my upper body at him during takeoff and then using his mouth to balance in the air. I also need to focus on weight in my heels so I stay in balance with him. One of the other tricks that we discussed was having a decent gallop around the show jump course prior to the first jump and then half halting on the way to get the balance...if you open them up to start it kind of gets them in gear for the course, so we were playing with the feel of that as well.

Last weekend we were off to Morven for the real season opener. As soon as we started tacking him up I knew I had a different horse than the CT and I was a bit nervous we were going to have a rough day. We pulled the indoor for our dressage test, which I think ended up being a blessing because he couldn't see much of anything to get him excited. While walking up to the indoor I felt like I was sitting on a rocket...he was ready to explode. I thought there was no way I was going to settle him enough to get a good test. The warmup was tiny and crowded, he settled in surprisingly well. He definitely wasn't as relaxed as he had been at home or even the past weekend, but we put together an average test for a 37.7 and tied for 8th. Part of the errors were me just not being accurate with my movements, which is really a pet peeve of mine. I was also riding without spurs due to the fear of him freaking out and then me spurring him. I think I would've been fine with spurs and then our transitions may have been more crisp. All in all, I was really happy with the test mainly because we had some really nice moments and it was a big feat to have him settle down and ride a calm test. So the weather wasn't great...just as I was to get ready to show jump, it started to hail!! Luckily it passed through quickly and I squeezed in my jumping with no weather. He was definitely anxious during show jump warmup, but no rodeo movements :). Again, we had a nice round...he was jumping a bit squirrly, but I stayed with him and we went clean. It was a nice open, galloping course, which let me practice adjusting his stride. The jumps seemed way too small for him, but I think he pretends they are bigger. We then headed down to cross country. Well, little did I know that there was a delay in XC and not stadium due to the weather. So we get down there and there is 10 horses in front of me. I could tell right away, Hobbs did not want to wait. He started his squirmy, hopping, rearing, twisting dance again. This time I just put him to a task like I had discussed with Danny. We would just go on a 10 meter circle until he settled. I also didn't try and get him to go a direction he didn't want to go. I just compromised with him and asked him to go the other direction. He just gets really anxious and loves his job and wants to get going. We almost didn't make it in the start box, because we were moonwalking away from it...haha. I think Seth needs to be in warmup with me just in case I need him to lead me over if Hobbs has a hissy fit. Once we got on course it was awesome...he took off sailing over the first 2 jumps and I just let him gallop on. I never got my watch set, so I had no clue what kind of time we were at (we came in 30 sec under optimum time). The course was great...again lot's of open galloping room...it was a bit muddy, but he's great with his feet so we had no issues with slipping. I was happy with how rideable he was even with him raring to go. We went through the quarry in a mini-coffin like combo without the ditch and he came back to me after a big gallop really well. I felt better about the fly fences, but still need to get my eye going for prelim speeds. I had a terrible ride into the water....I asked for a long spot and he put an extra 1/2 stride in, so we slithered over the tiny log and were fine. His stamina was great and I was glad since I haven't done any real conditioning on him. I think he'll be easier to get in shape than Legacy...he does condition himself in the pasture when he's feeling good!! We ended the day on our dressage score of 37.7 and moved up to 3rd place! I was just really happy that we got through the day and I feel more comfortable with his antics during warmup. I think I have a plan for dealing with him when he gets excited and I hope we can continue to learn each other and it will get better and better. I hate to be positive, being the eternal pessimist I am, but I'm really excited to see where it goes with Hobbs. He's really a lot of fun to ride and he really seems to enjoy his job. I think we compliment each other and have different strengths...I support him in dressage and he supports me in jumping. I hope we can continue growing together and moving forward!!

Slacker

Wow I have been a total slacker for the last 3 months!! Not only in blogging world, but in my life too. This has been quite a winter for us and has certainly put a kink in my developmental plans for the off-season. It's been cold, windy and most recently icy :(. I've been lucky if I ride twice a week right now and it's only b/c we are able to use Tracy and Matt's indoor. Well I'm seven weeks away from Morven and Seth cleared the ring for me last weekend and supposedly we are getting spring-like weather for the next week. So I'm motivated....at least I was until there were 20 mph winds today...yuck!! I rode Hobbs and Legacy anyway and had good rides on both of them. Here's an update on each of them..

Legacy - I haven't been doing too much progressive training, just trying different ulcer medications for maintenance and judging his mood. The plan is to go Training and potentially for Seth to take over the ride, so there's no rush with him. He has no issues with Training dressage and the jumping problems have nothing to do with training...just mental. So he's basically just been kept in enough work to keep him sane. Seth has been riding him sporadically to try and get some miles on him and get used to him. I have continued to work on getting him light and relaxed and using his hindend. He really does resist hard work, so it's a challenge to challenge him. He was full of it today and dug huge ditches in the ring galloping around on the longe line. He really is a sick freak though when he's amped up and does lengthenings...it was fun..hehe.

Hobbs - We spent a lot of November and December with him in the roundpen desensitizing him. He seems to be a lot better and really hasnt' had any major meltdowns except the other day when I was longeing him. He was amped up today and I was able to control him and get him calmed down enough to do quite nice dressage work. He's continued to be against my right rein and bulge his right shoulder...especially going to the left. I really need to get him straight so that when I'm doing jumping lines he doesn't wobble. The one time I had a combo set up in the indoor he was drifting right the entire time and really crooked...so that's definitley a huge hole that I need to fix. He's still an amazing jumper and has been sound and healthy all winter.

Mr. Cody Joe Step has pretty much been off and is fuzzy and fat and happy with life. When we do ride him he's perfectly happy to do whatever we ask and is so easy to have around. He balances out our other nutjobs...kinda ;).

So hopefully we are on our way to spring. I'm hoping to do a jumper show next weekend, but it's going to depend on the weather this week...keep your fingers crossed the weather forecast is accurate!!