In a Boat With Different Paddles

That's what I feel like- I'm in a boat with a kayak paddle and a row boat oar, and I have to use both at the same time.

I had a lesson with Trainer on Friday, and I'm fairly sure she has very mixed feelings about the work GP Trainer had us doing. Trainer is 100% right that we don't want a 4 beat canter and that in trot, Penn is wobbling and having trouble being straight, and when he wobbles, his throat latch isn't open and relaxed (IE short neck). GP Trainer assured me it's a strength thing and will get better in time. Trainer doesn't want to let it go that long. Trainer knows Penn very well and is worrying about the "stuck" tantrums he has (the 4 beat in canter could devolve into that, which has been a worry for me), and he seems to get stuck in our indoor a good bit while cantering (it's 70'ish by 120' vs GP Trainer's 90' by 225' and Penn never felt stuck in there). GP Trainer has brought numerous horses to third, and then on past third and some on to GP that had Penn's same issues. Trainer is a 4* event rider who has brought 3 or 4 horses to third, but never past because that's not her focus.

Suffice it to say, I am completely torn. They are working at the top levels of their respective disciplines and at their respective star levels and both have excellent points.

Let me go over lesson though.

Pretty picture since there isn't new media.

I told Trainer about the walk work- most notably Penn's inability to walk in a straight line once we get moving. I told her about the things GP Trainer changed (me sitting up and tucking my butt under me much more), and we went off to work.

I worked a 4 loop serpentine for her, then she had me push him forward and bring him back within the trot because she didn't like the wobble he was getting. He did need to carry more step in general (also something GP Trainer had us do), but he was also carrying more tension than usual too... something about being bored with the home indoor, you know? I kept him off the track and went around the ring, go forward/come back. She liked the step and frame he carried right before he fell apart in the forward, so I need to figure out how to push him forward, but catch him at a "peak" point in the forward then bring him back before he falls. She also said he needed to go straighter (GP Trainer did the same).

I wanted to move on to canter before we over drilled him in trot, since I've found the canter is so hard, made harder by him wearing out. I did the left first, and she started by asking what I felt- I said it's 4 beating, but GP Trainer had said to let it be while he gains the strength to carry himself there, and that it was like starting over in canter, because Penn can't hold it very long. Trainer hated the 4 beat and said, "This is where I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Based on knowing his tantrums, I don't think letting him 4 beat is the way to go." Basically, she said his canter was very mechanical (I think his first canter is always that way, but I don't think it was by the end of our lessons with GP Trainer) and was concerned that we were shutting all the doors and he would eventually have a tantrum. That is a legit concern for me too- we went through that exact thing over the summer when we asked for an increased sit and he retaliated by hopping in the canter and in general getting stuck. She wants to leave the front door more open so he knows the way out, especially in a small indoor arena like ours where he may not feel as free to go anyway. Very valid points!

I don't like outbursts.

She had me pick up the canter again on a circle, uphill and sitting like we were, but then let him stretch his topline down a bit/let him go forward a hair to the point where the canter became a clear 3 beat, then bring him back up, where it in general held its 3 beats (yay!). The stretch and forward is very fractional, and I can lift him back up with my seat and thigh almost to where he was with GP Trainer. He relaxed a bit too, which is good! She nailed me for stiff elbows as I did this... ugh, I always need that reminder! This will be good practice for remembering how to collect from medium canter because I enjoy blocking with my elbows there too.

This is where we talked about his bulging left side in the walk. The wheels have fallen off at the walk since Penn anticipates the walk-canter transition so much now. She didn't think it was a horrible thing, "He's very in tune with what you want now, but isn't giving you a chance to ask him for something." She had me push him forward in the walk, then collect him to an almost halt, then push forward again, then collect again. Repeat until he stops jigging and bulging. She had me ask for halt from that very slow collected walk, but had me pick the foot I wanted to stop first. That's really interesting because that slowly progresses to timing the correct foot after the right number of prep steps at the letter to cue for walk-canter in a test (aka better accuracy than, "His shoulder is at the letter NOW."). That's one of the things I love about Trainer- she is huge on that kind of accuracy. Anyway, within a few minutes I could ask Penn for whatever I wanted and he waited for the question, which was awesome. I didn't have to mess with shoving the left side back in place, correcting the walk tempo, then trying to get the canter. Plus it's something I can work on after Penn is a bit tired and we have more time left.

We did similar work to the right lead canter. I really liked the relaxation Penn gave me- I felt he settled more into the work by changing frames. She got after me to let my right leg, most notably my upper calf, hang around Penn's side in canter. In working on my own, I've noticed that leg trying to creep up in a fetal position in canter. She said it hangs well in trot, but not in canter.

From Championships

I like both things Trainer and GP Trainer has us working on. GP Trainer said there would be days that Penn just couldn't handle the work, and I think those are the days I need to do changing frame work. I can't just stretch him on those days, that will set him back I think. Then other days we'll do the more collected sitting work (hell, both days will have more collection than we had in October haha). I really value both trainers' instruction, so I need to make them mesh well with each other.

From out last visit with GP Trainer.
It's interesting to compare/contrast this pic with the one from champs- I like my position so much better in this pic, and I think his engagement is a bit better.

All she pretty much had to say was he was certainly more uphill, and he's not shuffling or taking trot steps into the walk-canter transition anymore. I don't know how to gauge that. I guess I was hoping for a better reaction than what she gave me, because I really think both Penn and I have made big progress.

Have any of you had conflicting points from various trainers? How did you weigh what they each told you?

2016 Goals Review

Alright, goal review time. Back in January, I made some goals for the year. I can't believe I'm here in December reviewing them.

I think I did a good job picking them this year.

2016 Main Goals

• First Level Rider Award
• Complete! I finished this at our second recognized show this year.
• First Level Horse Performance Certificate
• Complete! Penn finished this at Championships, in 11 tries. 13 out of his 14 recognized First Level tests were above 60%. The only score that wasn't was the very first test of the year when I didn't have my head in the game, so not his fault.
• Region 1 Championships at First Level - Go there and compete, and do it well (top 6 or 65%+)
• Complete! We were 9th out of 29, but we had a 66.029% in the Championship test without any major mistakes. Even though the score doesn't reflect it, I think it was the best test we rode all year.

You will never be able to tell me otherwise. He was malleable and responsive and any mistakes were completely my own.

2016 Stretch Goals

• US Dressage Finals at First Level
• Incomplete. I'm happy with the Championship test we rode, and hey, we got a 66.029%. I needed a 68% to for sure go to finals, but I'm still happy with the quality of the test we put in.

Ribbons this year: 6 champion, 1 reserve, 9-1sts, 6-2nds, 3-3rds, 4-4ths, 6-5ths
No ribbons for 2-7ths and 1-9th

Some of these are from the end of 2015 (3-1sts, 2-2nds, 1-8th), but this wasn't a shabby year at all, definitely not a reason to be upset about missing Finals. However, I bet the ribbon walls that belong to the people who did go to finals are mostly blue!

Penn and I met all of my Main Goals for the year. Maybe I should have picked some things that we had a better chance of failing? I donno. Penn wasn't even showing First Level, and barely schooling first level, when I made my goals. The Horse Certificate was 10 recognized rides over 60%, which could have been tough if he decided he didn't want to play, or went lame, or any number of reasons could have stopped us from finishing that goal. I wanted attainable goals. Getting my Second Level Rider Award, or starting the Second Level Horse Certificate would have stretched Penn beyond his abilities and rushed him, which is not what I wanted to do.

I am sad we didn't qualify for Finals, but that was a stretch anyway. I think we came nice and close though, 66.029% vs 68%, while no cigar, it is close. The fact he came that close is awesome since this is his first major show season- his first First Level test was April 24, 2016. His first recognized show was May 21, 2016. His championship test was September 17, 2016. From first test to championship test was 147 days, or 4 months and 25 days. First recognized test to championship test was 120 days, or 4 months on the nose. Not bad, baby horse.

9/16/16

2016 Small/Training Goals:

The "Small" Goals were horse shows that tested my "Training" Goals. Below are all of the movements from Training Level Test 1 to First Level Test 3. I've labeled which tests the movements are introduced, then inserted a picture of our average score for each movement.

• Training Level Movements/Skills:
• Medium walk
• Free walk
• Working trot
• Working canter
• 20m circle in trot
• 20m circle in canter
• Stretchy trot (T2)
• Shallow loop in trot (T3)

Training Level Averages Over 17 Tests

The free walk seemed to be his best movement at training level (yay for double coefficients on that!), with gaits not far behind. We struggled with all things left. Still, every average is above 6, so I was happy.

• First Level Movements/Skills:
• 10m half circle in trot
• 15m circle in canter
• Lengthening trot
• Lengthening canter
• Leg yield (1-2)
• 10m circle in trot (1-3)
• Change of lead through trot (1-3)
• One loop in canter (1-3)

First Level Averages Over 19 Tests

Oh how things change at the next level! We struggled with all things right this time! Maybe not struggle, but the scores for everything left were higher than everything right. Constantly changing good direction eh? We REALLY struggled with the transition from lengthened canter to working canter, barely squeaking out an average of 6.01. I finally figured out how to ride it at the end of the summer (hint, you ride it forward thinking and don't pull back and don't lock your elbows), so this is a reflection of my failures as a rider and not Penn's failure to listen (hell, Penn is a good boy so every score is a reflection of me, for better or worse). His best score was his gaits at 7.07, closely followed by the stretchy trot at 6.99 (Penn loves a good stretch). We got significantly better at the first and final halts, both scoring above a 6.8. I am so pleased that my Rider Position and Seat score averaged 6.86. In fact, every collective mark increased somewhat from Training to First Level.

End of 2016 Record

We did 5 training level tests and 2 intro tests in 2015, so it's not a clear cut answer to the year's average, but that's not really important, so I just have Penn's record as of the end of 2016. Looks like he's a 65% horse.

All in all, not a bad year at all. Penn rose to the occasion beautifully, and I'm excited to make goals for 2017! Maybe I'll have a non-competitive goal... but probably not, haha.

12/17 Day 2: Ice Storm From Hell

I hope everyone had a good holiday! Back to our semi-regularly scheduled programming...

Mom and I woke up Saturday morning to Virginia being covered in ice. I knew that would happen, but the temps were supposed to rise, so I didn't worry about it too much beforehand. My lesson was at 10:15, and around 8:30 I got a call from GP Trainer telling me, "Don't you dare leave your hotel, the farm road is impassable, we'll do something a bit later when the roads are better."

Good thing. It's hard to tell, but my entire truck was covered in a thin layer of ice. That same thin layer covered every road surface too, and apparently the VA road crews don't salt the roads before freezing rain happens. Apparently neither did my hotel, because they decided to salt AFTER watching me ice skate to the truck. Also, they salted under their covered parking area. Which was dry. *facepalm*

We were able to reschedule for 12:15, so off we went to the barn (after visiting Tractor Supply- we had to check out of the hotel at 11 and needed to kill some time).

This picture doesn't do it justice, but on the way to the farm we stopped to admire a mountain top that was sunlit and covered in snow still.

When I arrived, Penn was in his stall (with the ice and rain, horses took turns in dry lots after the sun came out), doing his best to show everyone just how big his lungs are. He was screaming.  I got the comment, "He's sure got some lungs on him." I wanted to crawl in a hole. My horse is that horse. The one you want to bludgeon at shows because they have the loudest scream and insist on doing it every 30 seconds while they're alone in their stall. I mean, I already knew that, having experienced him at shows, but annoying GP Trainer's staff is not on the to do list. (not that they were annoyed, they seemed to understand lol)

I hustled to get Penn ready and off to the indoor we went! We warmed up with a little shoulder in, and I threw in a couple mediums so I could get opinions on both. GP Trainer didn't nail me for the shoulder in like she did last time, yay! I was finally able to see them in a mirror (also yay). She had me ride more forward again, making Penn lift and meet the bridle, and be straight (when we weren't in shoulder in). She stressed it was about closing all the doors so his only option was forward, lifting, and straight (or bent in the shoulder in).

In the mediums, she had me think about leaning forward, creating a space for his back to lift up. Then she had me put my leg on at the start of the diagonal, and hold it on so I don't disturb the rhythm of the trot. Both instructions were hard for me- we've done so much sitting up to create up, that it was hard for me to balance the two. Holding the leg on in that movement was new for me as well. Penn went to break to canter in the last one, I brought him back and she immediately got on me to send him forward again... which in all this time, I've never really done. I've always assumed it's lost and don't really push for it again. She thinks of it as allowing the horse to be a little off the bit, standing up in the irons a fractional, tiny amount, then squeezing and holding all the way across the diagonal. She doesn't like picking at them across the diagonal because it interrupts the rhythm. I'll have to work on it so I can develop an extended and a medium, but it probably won't be in time for the February show.

Link to YouTube 

After that I had to catch my breath- I still have the cough from when I was sick over Thanksgiving, and my asthma acted up overnight so that meant no oxygen for me.

On to the canter! GP Trainer immediately got after me to have an "active sitting" seat... then sent me down the long side with a 10m circle at B, where he promptly broke and GP Trainer got after me for chasing him instead of driving him (the difference being I lose my shoulders when I chase). Annnnnd we had more picking up the left lead issues. They stem from a not straight walk, a walk that is too short and quick, and general impatience on Penn's part. She told me to spend time sending him forward to a point 20m away, even when on a circle, just keep moving the point.

The goal for the canter was to just go down the long side. Such a simple task. Cantering in a straight line while Penn holds himself up and I don't fall forward. The struggle!!!!!!!!  I felt like an idiot. But I remember when Penn couldn't canter the entire way around the ring before, it was a simple "he's not strong enough to canter that long." Well we're back to that, only because now he has to lift his shoulders and canter and be light and that's equally as hard. And one day it won't be. That day was not it. Today won't be either.

She had me use a 10m circle and the wall again to help bring him down from canter to walk. Penn seems to trust me because I aimed him for the wall and he called my bluff, "You won't let me run into that." He's right, I wouldn't. That's why unless I commit to it, I can't get a canter walk transition!

Link to YouTube 

Man, I just need an earbud with the same phrase playing when I canter: "Sit down!" She said when I watch my video, compare when I'm really planted on the back of my butt in the saddle and when I'm not- his ability to canter is so much greater when I'm really stuck to the saddle and sitting actively. The instruction was to plant the entire butt patch of my FITS against the saddle, and follow him and sit up. I got that feeling and he promptly wanted to fall down and run away because sitting is hard.

We cantered to the right and got a lot further down the long wall before he broke- I used two 10m circles to rebalance him though. Any time he wants to fall apart, I need to get planted again and drive him up and circle him to put the pieces back together. If he falls apart, that's ok. Make him fall apart from the correct shape than not having him there at all, otherwise the work is useless.

She also had the funny comment: "If you feel him about to flatten out and fall, trot. Abandon ship. He is strong enough to make a good canter out of good walk or good trot. He is not strong enough to make a good canter out of a bad canter." and then "Don't be a hero." It's all about doing the most good work possible.

Then he promptly spooked out a good canter when I was looking for a 10m circle to bring him back to walk for a rest. Darn light through the windows. #notaneventer

Link to YouTube 

We revisited the canter to the left. She made me deal with his bulging left hind end with my inside leg and outside rein in the walk-canter transition. If he didn't want to listen to the inside leg and get straight again, use the whip on the left hip. I tend to grab with the left rein to bring him around, which obviously doesn't work (or else he'd be good by now!). In the 10m circles she had me sit more on the right seatbone, which really helped him stand back up. Guess if we're both dropping over the left shoulder he can't pick it up huh? As long as he's making an effort, we can have the circle be 12-13m instead. As we head back to the wall, left leg (inside leg) tells him to KEEP GOING.

Link to YouTube 

Overall, I was happy with our lessons and I'm hopeful I can continue on the right path on my own. It was good to have confirmation that I am on the right track... because sometimes it's pretty rough at home.

We left GP Trainer's around 2pm. It was 45ish degrees with a sunny, cloudless sky. Mom and I drove for about 2 hours, and then all of a sudden we crossed into WV and there's ice in the trees, it's cloudy, snow is slowly accumulating on the shoulder the further we drive. The temps plummeted to 35 degrees, so I pulled into a rest stop to check on Penn. I put on his hood since he was a little chilly.

The trees at the rest stop were like fairy tale trees. Very pretty.

We kept on going, things were going well... Until we got within 21 miles of a major interchange (which is the halfway mark in the trip).

Hellloooooo traffic.

Traffic came to a complete halt. Like, put the truck in park and turn it off halt. I was able to make my way over to the right lane (we were near an exit) and we had a sit and think about what to do. Google and my GPS kept increasing the wait time- there was an accident a mile or so ahead. The truck said we only had 79 miles of gas left, and we had 24 miles to the major interchange that had gas. The wait eventually became about 40 min, and we started to get worried about running out of gas while we waited. I took the ramp to the exit, and sat and tried to come up with a detour. I have a big enough truck with extra weight over the rear axle (thanks Husband for my custom sand bag holders + almost 600lbs of sand), and I have a little BP trailer that fits almost everywhere. The GPS had offered me a detour when we first started waiting, but I couldn't get the GPS to give it to me again, or give me a detour where I could avoid was was immediately in front of me... so I took a look at the map and took a stab at where they had told me to go...

Let me tell you about my GREAT idea to avoid the red x.
Map courtesy of the creepy phone tracking abilities of google.

The roads started out ok, until we climbed a huge hill. That we had to go back down (% grade warning signs and all people). Turned on 4WD (the road had snow in the middle by this point), put the truck in 2nd gear, put the trailer brakes on high, and crept along. And kept creeping past that hill. The GPS and phone couldn't agree on where to send me, so we'd evaluate both roads when we got to intersections and pick one based on snow coverage. I think we chose well, all things considered. I barely drove faster than 10mph and drove all over the road to catch the visible road surfaces. I'm very pleased to report that we did not slide or slip once.

After white knuckling it for a half hour, we got back to the main highway. We absolutely saved time, because there was NO ONE on our side of the road. This is a very high traffic road- tons of tractor trailers because it is a major interchange for them, and for cars too (major route to and from DC). We saw one or two other vehicles on our side of the highway, one of which popped out in front of us after taking  a 'short cut' road that Mom and I vetoed immediately on sight. The main interchange was empty, with no traffic sitting at the lights. I can't find anything on the internet about the accident or how long it took to clean up, so I have no idea how long traffic was just sitting there. Our detour probably wasn't the best decision (it would have been totally fine in the summer months), but I'm still happy with it because we didn't run out of gas and it ended up OK. I would defintely think twice about trying a detour again though.

By the time we got gas, the temps were just about freezing, and Penn was cool again in the trailer, so I closed his windows. On the last stretch, the temps varied between 35 degrees and a blistering 66 degrees. Come on, how am I supposed to dress my horse and have his windows for that?!? It eventually became a, you-just-have-to-get-home type thing.

We got all the way home, 7 hours after starting the trip, though our detour, all 240 some miles, and I fucked up the last 5 feet.

Ice ice baby.

The barn got the ice, then 5 inches of snow, then it melted/compacted, then it rained and got dark. Never mind that it was still 55 degrees there, the driveway was still frozen. All I saw was the end of our trip, and made a shallow swing into the driveway. And promptly slid out because every tire hit ice. I tried backing up, nope, more slide, closer to jack knife. Tried to go forward, nope, slide. I gave up. I called the barn owner and asked if her husband could come out and rescue me. I unloaded Penn on the road to get rid of extra weight and walked him to the barn. BO's husband got the truck and trailer unstuck and in the driveway. He tried to park the trailer in its spot, but the ground was just too wet and the truck couldn't maneuver the trailer. We parked it off to the side and went home, no reason to keep fighting the damn thing at almost 10pm in the dark and the rain and cold. I came back Monday after the ground had frozen and parked the trailer... after getting a shovel and bucket of hot water to get it unstuck from the ground. Again.

All in all, a good weekend, we got home safe, and I'm looking forward to visiting GP Trainer when she comes back from Florida for a weekend in February!

All The Feels

My in-laws commissioned this drawing. I love it.

Probably the best Hanukkah present ever. 

Original picture:

The artist paroozed Husband's website and my public Facebook pictures to get a feel of horse body mechanics and motion, and to try to get a feel of tack and color.

I just love it. Cue the tears.

Happy Holidays!

If you're like me, Happy Hanukkah!

If you're like my husband, Merry Christmas!

Otherwise, just Happy Holidays to all, and I hope you got to spend time with your loved ones (human or furry)!

12/16 Day 1: Progress Has Been Made!

Our adventure this time around started with absolutely frigid temperatures. Got to the barn Friday morning and it was 5 degrees out. I had already packed the trailer, but I found I had a problem: getting the trailer hooked up. I got truck backed up to it no problem, got the hitch on the ball no problem, then found I couldn't hook anything else up. The hitch was frozen in the "open" position, the blocks my hitch rests on were frozen to the ground, and my wheel chalks were frozen to the ground. Umm. I really should have gotten a picture of it all!

I had to get two buckets of hot water and a shovel from the barn to get everything unstuck. Poured the water on the ball, then on the wood blocks. The water was enough to close the hitch and get the pin in, but not enough to loosen the wood. I originally planned on hitting the blocks with the shovel, but then remembered, "durrr it's a shovel" and dug under the blocks and then pried the wheel chalks off the ground.

Penn only had to wear 3 blankets in the trailer to keep warm. The day before, when the high was 15, he was cool under his clothes- a puffy medium stable blanket (with belly band and hood) and his heavy SP ultimate turnout and hood. Umm. So at 5 degrees, and stuffing him in a metal box that radiates cold, he wore his BOT mesh sheet under both of those other layers. Good news, he was finally warm under his clothes!

Thankfully, literally digging out the trailer was the most eventful part of our trip out to GP Trainer's barn.

Post-trailer-unloading stare.

Penn hung out in his stall for a little bit after his trailer ride since we were nice and early for lesson this time!

This is the only one of Mikey's blankets I didn't sell- the medium weight stable blanket with belly band. It fits Penn much better this year! Just a little big in the shoulder and the belly band's straps are a hair too long.

It was finally time to ride! Mom took a lot of video, so yay, there's a lot to share. I tried to put it into smaller, bite-size clips, but there are a ton of them!

I told GP Trainer that Penn has been really good since I saw her. He's been consistently trying and hasn't said no. He's certainly said "I can't", but every time was with something that was legitimately hard for him. I told her that he came home and we immediately couldn't canter. It took a nosedive off a cliff, and if she hadn't warned me about that, I would have freaked out a lot more. I found that if I worked on the canter a bit before really working the trot, I got a much better canter (which aligns with him not being strong enough yet). I also told her I entered 2-3 and 3-1 at a show in February, where I found out she shares my logic of "It's not like eventing where moving up before you're ready might cause you to die." Plus it's at a schooling show in the middle of nowhere, so if we take a huge nosedive, it's not recorded anywhere (except here of course!).

Right off, the trot was awesome. She only had me make him cover a little more ground (and gave it a disclaimer of next time I see you, I'm sure he'll need to cover less, because horses), then called him a delightful animal and had only praise for him. I was super happy that she was pleased with him ("You look very smart, and by proxy, you're making me look really smart!")

Can I get a fuck yea? I wish it was better a better quality pic, but screenshot, you know?

Link to YouTube

The canter was less spectacular. She saw the struggles and said, "This is the part where it gets worse before it gets better." Wonderful. But it amounts to him just needing more hours of cantering, which you can't do in a day. She said he absolutely has a 4-beat canter right now, but he won't forever, just don't fear it. He's scrambling right now because his left hind leg is hitting the ground a split second before his right front because he's going "Jesus, how do I maintain an uphill balance and not fall apart or run a thousand miles an hour?"

Screenshot

Link to YouTube

Cantering to the right was a little better, but Penn had a lot of anticipation about it ("Patience is hard for baby.") She had some reminders for me to stay sitting on the back of my butt. At the end of the canter to the right she said, "So good news/bad news. The good news is he's improved dramatically since the first time I saw you. The bad news is I really don't have anything new to tell you, except, you're doing great, keep going." We had a laugh about it, but indeed, that's what lessons are for- making sure you're on the right track! I'd hate to spend 2 or 3 months working something wrong. GP Trainer followed that with the fact he just needs more time doing just this- endless simple canter exercises. She assured me that many of her horses, some who have made it to GP, just couldn't canter to save their lives for a year or longer at this point in their training.

UPHILL YES (darn screenshot being blurry)
Still 4 beat, but it'll get there. Put the body where it belongs first, then build the strength to stay there.

Link to YouTube

While we did a walk break, she dug up a post that she saw before and wanted to share:

The creative process (that also applies to horse training):

• Phase 1: This is awesome.
• Phase 2: This is tricky.
• Phase 3: This is shit.
• Phase 4: I am shit.
• Phase 5: This might be ok.
• Phase 6: This is awesome. (see Phase 1)

Next we covered a little bit more in the canter, and did a quick look at the walk. I've been slowing him down too much before canter- the walk has to have a happy medium between stabbing the ground short and walking him off his feet long. The next bit of video has some severe left lead transition struggles. She stressed to take my time, that it was OK we were struggling with this. She stressed "active sitting" and liked the next left lead canter we got better since it was starting to be 3 beat again, even if he wasn't quite on the bit. She said she's not worried about me not being able to get him on the bit, so don't worry so much about that right now, worry about the uphill.

Going back to the right, she stressed that I don't brace on the stirrups and make sure I'm pulling my belly button into my spine to help tuck myself and sit actively in the saddle (she hates the sinking metaphor because it doesn't imply an actively moving seat). She had me ever so slightly lift my feet out of the stirrups to help with that. Then came the spiral in at the canter. She had me do it more from the outside rein than the outside leg, which Penn promptly said "Do you want a flying change?" and got a little pissy that my answer was no. Just check out the very end of the next video for his thoughts on that!

Link to YouTube

His buck caught me totally off guard. He's never bucked under saddle, and Mikey hadn't bucked in a long time, so I wasn't expecting it. I pulled off his quartersheet at this point, just to make sure it wouldn't encourage him, and we went back to the canter right and spirals. I rode a lot better because I didn't want to be caught off guard again, and so he didn't once offer the same shenanigans.

She mentioned this time around that the biggest thing I can do is make sure that he goes straight out in front of me- straight in the walk. I promise we had straight before, but this new bit of uphill has messed with it! I have to equate it with a sending him forward on a straight line, yet still doing all the turns I want to do. That helps me get him out of the stuck walk and into a functional one.

Link to YouTube

We did a little more in trot after all the canter. I oopsed on my geometry and got a 4 loop instead of a 5 loop per her instructions, but we focused on making the turns from the outside rein (something I've forgotten over the past months), keeping him covering ground and forward, and basically just putting him where he struggles. She got me to lower my hands a bit, which I found really helped me get my elbows dropped, which helped me support him.

It became a very active process of sending him from rein to rein- he's in the outside rein on the turn, then when he's straight he's in both, then he's in the new outside rein on the next turn, and every step is a reminder to keep going inside leg to outside rein. It was a very active ride.

Then he got to stretch... and we had a good laugh about his "bloodhound impersonation" and how he's going to trip over his face (which he promptly did). She said one clinician said it was like letting them look for truffles, and I was like, he's past looking and he's digging, haha.

Link to YouTube

I love that GP Trainer stresses being patient, yet putting the horse where he struggles and basically waiting him out. Shenanigans are laughed about, ignored, and you proceed back to the task at hand. She stresses logging endless hours working on the simple things (correctly mind you), because that builds the strength for the big things.

I remembered to get a pic of the tack cleaning area.
My barn has a nice tack cleaning set up, but this one is wow.

Penn got tucked in, I cleaned my tack, and mom and I were at the hotel by 6. We went to IHOP again (we don't have one at home and we enjoyed the breakfast-dinner we had last time), got gas, and tucked ourselves in at the hotel, waiting for the impending ice storm.

Photo Recap

Attempting to recap the last couple weeks of non-dressage work in this post, because there are just so many pictures!

Penn got an early Hanukkah present.

He learned to play with a mattress sample.

He's umm, really not afraid of the mattress. He enjoys chewing on it and pawing it.

Link to YouTube

He learned to wear a hula hoop (because they're scary).

Then he opted to chew on it and throw it around and scare himself.

This was all in prep for the barn Christmas party, complete with obstacle trail class!

Attempting to steer through cones using a hula hoop.
Next was walking over a pole with noodles stick out (in the background)... I thought giving my phone to a young college student would mean pictures where I was in the frame and doing the obstacle, and that they were taken with the phone on its side (ie landscape mode). Nope I had to edit portrait pics that we may or may not have been in the frame.

Walking the pole in a circle. Penn didn't like when I picked it up off the barrel, but walking it around was no biggie for him. But then I couldn't set it back on the barrel either, haha.

Investigating the gate. I was able to unhook it, get him through it, and when I asked him to back up to hook it back up , he went backwards away from the posts and I had to drop it :(

Dragging a sled. He tried to run away a little.

Walk over a tarp and a mattress, NBD, especially after nomming the mattress the week before.

Last obstacle, putting an ornament on the Christmas tree. Penn tried to help by biting the tree.

I tried to get a pic of him and the tree close together. He wanted to eat the tree. (I had to hook his reins under the right stirrup)

Much better. The party was so much fun!

Husband made me an awesome menorah- we decorated it with our Christmas tree ornaments.

Penn saw the dentist last Friday. His teeth weren't bad, but he is absolutely more comfortable riding now.

This past Sunday, Hawk and I went for a snowy trail ride. So fun, but so cold!

A not fun part of the last week- baby Felix got really sick. After 4 trips to the regular vet and 1 trip to the emergency vet, he seems to be on the mend. A neighbor had a big dog crate that was perfect for restricting where Felix could go, without restricting where the humans can go (ie no locking him in the bathroom).
Work has been super cool, I've been able to work from home to give him his cocktail of medications and take him to the vet at lunchtime.

I clipped Penn on Monday, and he was finally boring about it. He stood in the middle of the aisle (sans crossties), without causing a scene or being stupid. Maybe one day I'll be able to clip him with the crossties attached.

And a nice pic. Up next, we're going back to visit GP Trainer tomorrow!