An update

Just a quick update on Trouble's progress...we have had and keep having quite a bit of rain here so turnout has been sporadic at best. We had a few days where I felt like he wanted to lose it, so I got off and lunged and he proceeded to buck and canter as fast as he could! I think he is feeling more like a TB now that he's gained some fitness :)

We rode with Robin Walker last weekend and he was different from anyone I've ever ridden with! He is very no nonsense and emphasizes the rider making the correct decisions for the horse. He had some good bending lines and exercises set up, and he told me to be a bit firmer about making Trouble stop/slow down after the fences if I don't like the canter he's in. He stressed that it is "my canter" and the horse is not allowed to take it away. This helped us a ton and I felt a lot more confident and in control through the exercises after I got my point across to Trouble a few times. We jumped through some lines, including a liverpool, and he was great. I should mention that I've been jumping him in a 2-ring Duo with 2 reins and I really like it. He respects the bit without hiding from it, and the only thing I may add is a running martingale for the times he resists.

The next day we went for Trouble's first XC school at the Barrington Riding Center with Jenna & Grace. I rode him around the facility and had him hop over the ditch in the main jumping field, which he did quietly. It was very windy, so that was a bit distracting, but overall I was very happy with how he behaved. I think he wasn't quite sure what the XC jumps were at first, and he had a few rookie stops to start with until he gained confidence. After that, he was unstoppable and jumped everything on the small course in the front, including the house, rolltop, stone wall, red barn, and bench. I felt like he started to get the hang of things but still has a little bit of suspicion about scary fences so I need to work on getting him in front of my leg without rushing. He did the best at the down banks, softly stepping off and landing quietly. He went through the water, trotting and cantering in and out, and he jumped several bank combinations well. I think his confidence will only continue to grow with the more types of fences he sees but it was a great start for a horse who's never done XC before! I am hoping we can get out to school at least once more before the mini event on May 22.

Jenn Fritz massaged him this week because I thought he could use some bodywork with all the hard work he's been doing since I got him. Her comments were that his muscling is very even, and he was a bit tight in his neck but worked out of it well. She said that his back was tight on the right side along his spine at the thoracic lumbar junction but it also worked out well. She found a large "crunchy" knot behind his right scapula/shoulder and said it has probably been there for a while from ill fitting saddles. She tried my saddle on him and said it fit well but to be careful about right side/point of tree since he's a little asymmetrical right now. She said I can work on massaging the knot and that the Back on Track blanket should help. I feel a lot better knowing that his back isn't too bad and I will be very careful in the future about his scapulas! I'm sure this wasn't addressed in the past since he is hard to fit a saddle on, but I'm relieved that both of mine fit him well now and we can move forward. I will probably have her work on him again before the mini or Indiana just to see where he's at physically.

Trouble wins at Wayne Eventing Derby!

We had a fantastic weekend at the Wayne Eventing Derby April 15-17 (minus the freezing temps, wind/sleet/snow of course). Cathy, Erin and I brought the horses over to Lamplight on Thursday afternoon and they all settled in well. We took a short ride around, and the wind was really blowing so there were lots of scary things happening. Trouble felt a little "up" at first, but he settled quickly and got to hack around in the dressage arenas without issue.

On Friday we got to school in the jumping arena, and he was very well behaved, jumping all the scary fences with many other horses whizzing by. He was a little strong on the backside again, so I need to keep working on keeping my upper body tall and stretching away from him to slow down. We had our dressage ride a test later in the day in front of Cindy DePorter, and he warmed up really nice and relaxed. In hindsight I probably did a bit too much canter as he felt a little tired in the actual test. We had a scary moment when the judge blew the whistle as we started our first trot circle, but we were the first ride a test of the new division, so she hadn't switched tests yet! I was relieved that I did in fact learn the right test, and we proceeded without incident. I should also mention that it was freezing and raining at this point, so less than ideal conditions for Trouble's very first dressage test! At the end of the test, Cindy said that she really liked him and to continue working in the direction we are going. She said to be careful in the 2nd half of the test since he got heavier as we went, and I said that I thought it was a strength issue but would definitely work on it. I didn't get a chance to go get the test before we left for the night, but when I went back the next morning I was pleased to see that we got a 28.5!! There were several 8's and the comments were very positive.

On Saturday it was even colder than the prior 2 days, and we were scheduled to jump our first round at 2:18 and do dressage at 4:30. It promptly started to "precipitate" around noon, and by the time I had to get on it was full out snowing/sleeting!! Trouble handled it well, we did a quick warmup and trotted right straight into the big arena to jump the course. At this point there was no one around but the officials and jump crew, but Trouble stayed in a great canter rhythm and jumped around like a star. I could barely see through the snow, but we managed to find our way and I was very proud of him for handling it so well! I think the weather actually held him from the fences so he wasn't as eager to scoot away as he has been lately. Dressage was up next, and we did a quick warmup again as he felt a little lazy. He was really light in my hand and willing to bend, so I was excited to ride a steady, balanced test and improve on our score from the day before. We did just that, he was quite rideable and I was really conscious of watching his balance in the 2nd half of the test. If I could change anything, it would have been the free walk - I didn't ask for enough stretch and I know he's capable of more. The attention to detail paid off....when I looked at the scoreboard the next day, I saw the amazing score of 22.0 next to our names!!! We had gotten the lowest score out of all the divisions! I am still a little shocked that this actually happened, but I am just thrilled to continue with Trouble's training and see how far we can go. The test had four 7's, and the rest were 8's and even one 9 on the left lead canter depart! It's definitely one to keep on the fridge for a while :)

On Sunday they ran the divisions lowest to highest, so we were lucky to go early. I think we did a bit too much warmup and ended up having to wait at the in-gate which he was not a fan of. I was probably the least happy with our final ride...I felt like I had to really ride up to the first fence, and after we jumped it, he took off and I never quite regained control. He was running through my hands, but I felt like I was doing my best to settle back and use both reins to stop him. We managed to make it around after having one silly rail, but the control was just not there. I am disappointed that everyone had to see us that way, but now we have a definite goal to work towards. I also think that he was quick because he had been in the ring previously and thought he knew what he was doing without my help. Cathy was disappointed in my position and that I had to be in his face, so we will definitely be working on that in our future lessons. The rail was not enough to knock us out of the top spot, so Trouble got to lead his very first victory gallop after taking a picture by the fish jump. All in all it was a great weekend and I am very proud of him, just have a few things to work out with the jumping before our next show in a month. I would love to try him in a Duo with some leverage for jumping since he likes the plain Duo for dressage so much....

An update

A little update on Trouble...he did the TopLine Spring Schooling show yesterday and was just great! We did some Eq. classes with harder turns, as well as some Hunter classes with plain lines, and he handled everything really well. There were a lot of people around, and the jumps were brick walls, boxes, panels, gates, etc which he looked at but still felt relaxed and listening. He also jumped the barrels in our lesson and he has been getting better and better about his canter balance. I have been riding him on the flat in a Sprenger Duo D-ring bit, which is a flexible rubber mullen mouth with a space for his tongue to fit underneath. The roof of his mouth is quite low so there isn't a lot of room for a bit in there. For jumping we've been using a Myler dee with hooks, and just attaching the cheekpieces and not the reins to the hooks. He fussed a little at first but now seems to like it. It gives a little leverage but not very much and the mouthpiece is a thinner curved snaffle so it's comfortable for him. We still need some work on slowing down after jumps, but he is very adjustable before the fence now. I'd love to work on his flying changes this week because the simple changes are pretty ugly at times between trying to slow down enough to trot and get the new lead in time to go to the next fence. Granted we've only jumped in the indoor so far, but it's a goal I'd like to accomplish nonetheless. His flatwork has been very steady and he is comfortable staying in a nice frame now. Even when he loses his balance and gets on the forehand in the canter, he stays round and doesn't flip his head! I would like to work on getting a little more bend and getting his balance better in the downward transitions. We have the Wayne Eventing Derby this weekend, so it will be a great schooling experience to get him out and let him see his first dressage arena and XC jumps!! More soon!

Progression....

Well Mr. Trouble continues to impress me....he has become a lot more settled and every ride seems better than the last. I have played around with bits and found that he goes well in a french link boucher for now. He still chomps it more than I'd like but he also listens and doesn't brace against it so we will keep it for the time being. I must say that he has been really good about retaining what I've been asking him for from ride to ride. He has become a lot more supple and accepting of the bit, and his transitions are getting smoother and less hurried. He does root the rein a little if I'm not paying attention and keeping the outside rein steady enough, so this has made me be really conscious of keeping my reins tidy!

I got to audit/volunteer at the Leslie Law clinic over the weekend and I was super impressed with him. He was very systematic with each pair and emphasized staying "with" the horse instead of against it. He also sat on just about every horse and was able to demonstrate what he was talking about. The man can certainly ride anything and make it fantastic! I loved how he sat around the horse yet kept the angle in his elbow to soft effective hands. He stressed that the quality of the canter is the most important thing and that the horses must take responsibility for the jump if you set up the correct canter. He also said that we should strive to keep the same speed that we plan to jump the fence at through the corner as well as the approach to the fence (i.e. don't change the canter after the turn). I loved the exercise that had 3 canter rails 9 feet apart to a vertical with a rolled out groundline. It made all the horses find the correct canter without the rider fussing at them before the fence. The repitition of this exercise helped most of the horses jump better.

So back to Trouble...I felt like the 32cm Prestige of Cathy's was a little too narrow for him as it was sliding a bit in our lesson last week, so I tried Nora's Kieffer again with a fleeceworks pad and it fit well. I rode him in it and he was a lot looser and happy to go forward. I really liked the feeling of riding him in dressage tack because I could get more of my leg on him and he listened a lot better to my half halts. Once he is supple and forward he just floats and is so easy to ride! Hopefully I am not jinxing us by writing this, but I think he's going to be pretty competitive on the flat if we keep progressing in this fashion. I had a lightbulb moment in the canter when I thought of "sitting on his back feet" to help him sit and lighten his front end - it worked wonders for his balance! He could only hold it for a few strides, but the understanding was definitely there!

We had our 2nd jumping lesson on Tuesday, and it was MUCH better than the first one. I rode him in Kari's Pessoa that she is loaning me, and it seemed to fit him well with the fleeceworks and I was comfortable riding in it. We started out with flatwork again, and Cathy commented that he looked a lot better and was smart about listening to my aids. We worked on a few spiral circles at the trot and he did them well. Then we came across the diagonal and I asked him to move his hind feet towards the wall. This helped him understand that he can move his hind feet independently from his front feet. His canter transitions were a lot better and we worked on collecting him for a few strides and then letting him lengthen and drop his neck a bit. Cathy emphasized that we don't want him to think that we will always make him collect, but that he is allowed to go forward in a balance when I say so. Next we worked through a little grid, starting with a placing pole to an X with a pole on the backside. I kept his trot balanced and slow on the approach and he jumped it really well. We would circle afterwards and he picked up the wrong lead the first 2 times, but the 3rd time through I was able to open my left rein and he landed correctly. Next we added a vertical one stride away, keeping the placing pole in the middle of the 2 fences. He looked a little but I softly closed my leg and he jumped quietly but with his knees to his eyeballs! We did this a few times, and the balance of his circles on the backside improved. Then Cathy made it an oxer and he jumped it well. I felt like I was in a good balance with him and kept my shoulder slow and my lower leg supportive. I need to remember to sit in the back of the saddle after we land to bring his canter back to a good balance, he sometimes pulls me forward and then gets on the forehand. Lastly we came off a right lead canter to an X with flowers on both sides, he jumped it big the first time but not stupidly, the next time around he jumped it right out of stride. He felt a little tired at this point so the canter balance was a little bit of a struggle, but I think once he is stronger it will be a piece of cake.

My ride the following day his canter already felt more balanced, like he remembered our lesson! I let him canter through some poles and he did it well. I am thinking that I'll alternate dressage days with jumping tack/pole exercises so he can continue to think about his balance in relation to poles even if we aren't jumping.

More soon!!

1st lesson

Last night Trouble and I had our first lesson with Cathy. I was excited and nervous at the same time since I have still been getting to know him and haven't really pushed him outside his comfort zone yet. Wellll, we did a little bit of pushing last night and I think he is going to be a *really* cool horse. He has been here for a week and I just feel like each ride gets better and better and he understands what I want from him. He is accepting the contact better and not being as rude about sticking his nose out "hunter style". He bends around my leg and is softer in the transitions than he was at first.

We started out walking for a few minutes and trying to shorten his steps a bit for a few strides and then softly pushing him out and making his neck longer. We did the same thing at the trot, really concentrating on keeping the outside rein steady and bending him with my inside leg, but also slowing the steps a bit and then pushing him out again. This will help create the "gears" in his gaits, which is the key to adjustability and rideability. I felt like he wanted to get a little quick since I have been letting him go pretty forward trying to stretch his neck down. I need to work on making him sit a little in the trot so he learns to come off his forehand and trot in a better balance. He was also trying to root a bit, so I need to be a little stronger on the outside rein when he does that. We did a little bit of spiraling in and out onto a 10 meter circle and his balance seemed to get better-he felt like he understood where his hind legs were and how to use them independently. Then we did a 4-5 loop serpentine through the whole arena. I felt like the quality of his trot was better and he was really through, but he actually bent better when we were going right than to the left, so that's something else to work on during our daily rides. Next, we cantered on a circle, working on keeping a steady rhythm and using a diamond shape with 4 points to focus on in the circle. I felt like I was losing him to the outside a little and he didn't want to bend and step under, so we spiraled in a little and he was better. He is less comfortable when I'm sitting than when I'm out of the tack, again probably a remnant of being a hunter. Cathy said that my leg is getting a little too far back at times (which is the opposite problem I was having with Roxy...ironic!), so I need to think about letting it hang by the girth and keeping my toe out a little more.

We moved on to jumping a little X with a placing pole, he was forward and happy to jump but landed a bit quick and didn't want to come back right away. We worked on approaching in a slower trot, keeping my shoulder slow at the base and letting him jump up to me. We incorporated a rail on a circle after the X, and he struggled with coming through the turn to the rail, he wanted to drift out off the circle. I think this had a lot to do with his balance and not wanting to sit in the canter and turn correctly. We did this several times, trying to change the turn a little and come off the rail to make a sharper turn and he got better eventually. This is definitely an exercise to practice on my own-he needs to be MUCH sharper off my outside aids so he turns better. Next we cantered to a little vertical, sitting in the tack to keep the canter short. He got quite bold and quick to this...I'm not sure if it was just the fact that he hadn't jumped in a few weeks or since I was sitting and not letting him be on the forehand at the canter. I felt like we were fighting each other a bit on the way to the fence, and then he didn't want to turn quickly afterward. Cathy pointed out that I need to be a lot stronger with my position so he doesn't pull me forward and canter on the forehand. I need to practice sitting the canter and making him wait and collect and turn politely off the outside aids. I was happy that he was forward and wanting to jump, but we also need to come to an understanding about how to approach the jump politely and go away from it quietly :) Cathy and I talked about different bits to try, she is going to find me a jointed happy mouth and I will look through Randi's bits today as well. She was happy with his progress on the flat and said she thinks he is really smart and will figure it all out quickly. I was proud of him for working so hard after having a light week of work!

Time for Trouble!

Well, he made it! After 2 long weeks of waiting, Trouble arrived this morning at 8:30. I am boarding him at Topline Equestrian Center, which is convenient because it's less than 15 minutes from work and Cathy is based there so I won't have to haul out for lessons!

When I got to the barn, Trouble was in his new stall happily munching hay and he looked no worse for the wear. His legs were tight and he seemed happy, so I am one relieved mom right now! I unloaded some of my stuff from my over-packed car and made sure his new blankies fit. I also fed him way more carrots than I should have, but he's gotta learn who his new mom is, and quickly since he is about to go into hardcore bootcamp! I will head back out there after work today to hand walk him a bit, and then hopefully be able to go for a hack tomorrow afternoon :)

Trouble!

Well hello there, it's been a while! I have spent the winter keeping Roxy tuned up and teaching a few lessons here and there. I have been working every weekend at a new bar, Moe's Cantina, and came to the realization that I was saving up quite a bit more money that I thought would be possible. This led me to the decision to start horse shopping (finally!!). I went to Arizona to try a chestnut Old/TB mare, but she was a little more green and hot than what I wanted....I tried a horse of a local trainer's that I really liked, but he had some strength issues since he was a rescue and I wasn't sure if it would be a good long term investment. Then I got a phone call from Cathy that she was going to try a horse that could work for me and she would keep me posted. She called me the next day and said I better buy a plane ticket! I did, and I was in love with Trouble from the moment I sat on him.

Trouble is a 2005 grey TB gelding. He stands about 15.3-16hh, I will need to stick him to be sure. He is very responsive to the leg, is very balanced, and has a fantastic overtrack at the walk. He raced twice as a 3 year old and was not very fast, finishing 2nd to last and dead last in his starts and winning a whopping $300! He was then purchased by Betsy Johnpeter Anderson, who is a local hunter trainer in the area. Betsy is expecting her 2nd child this summer, so she sent Trouble to HITS with her trainer to be sold. Betsy called Cathy to let her know he was for sale and in Ocala, so I definitely got lucky when Cathy thought of him for me! When I rode him I noticed how comfortable he was to sit on, I never lost my balance and he keeps a lovely steady rhythm for a young horse. He was very game about everything we jumped, and we rode him in the top jumping field away from the barn without issue. Cathy was really impressed with how he uses himself and snaps his knees up without jumping hard-he just seemed to have a knack for it! We took him to Dr. Craig Roberts the next day for a pre purchase exam, and all went well so he is mine!! I came back to Illinois the following day and he stayed in Ocala with Cathy. She will be returning on March 7th with all the horses, and I am just so impatient for him to get here so we can get to work! Since he was used to going in a standing martingale, he needs to build up a topline and gain more strength over his back...dressage bootcamp, here we come!