Riding Weekend Part 3: Jumps!

Took me a whole week to find enough time to finish this post but better late than never!

By the time Monday rolled around Charlie was pretty tired after such an eventful weekend but Maddy and I were determined to snap at least a few shots of him jumping in the ring (since I've been working on mini courses but haven't had a photographer in tow to document). First, though, we had to put up a few hundred bales of hay and train a couple of horses with Jan.

Maddy with Mista and Bonnie, Finnagan's and Flint's moms

Then I took Maddy to the horse auction/sale in town (New Holland) which of course pulled at our heartstrings but it's an experience every horseperson who comes to Lancaster County has to see. She and I both got great deals on some gear while we were there. Not a native western rider myself, I almost passed up a Reinsman wool wither relief pad until Maddy saw it and told me I'd be a fool not to get it. I offered $15 and it was mine (and boy is it nice to ride in!). Oh, and we saw the most adorable pony ever:

Can't I just put him in the back of my car??

Then it was back to the barn for some jumps! We set up a small course and though Charlie was skeptical about a few jumps and was tired from the weekend, he was pretty good overall. It was really nice to see photos of both his and my form so I know what to work on, and I'm glad to have had Maddy there to help me out. I think looking at photos and videos of yourself is the best way to learn what you're doing right and what you need to practice (I'm pleased to see my jumping form is still in there somewhere!).

 

 

  

Whoops

Yeah, nope. That's almost a Lucy move with the crossing legs!

Let's look at it and see that it's not scary

And then drop one side to make it less intimidating

Ok we got it

Making sure the barrels can't jump up and get him haha

Here's a video of some of the jumping. I REALLY botched the approach to the vertical the first time but I was proud of Charlie for still going over and then taking it so much nicer the second time around. He was a very good boy.

Oh! Before we did the jumping stuff I tried out my new western saddle pad and decided on a whim to hop on and ride without a bridle since Charlie was in such a good mood. I've been riding bridleless here and there. although only at the walk. This time we did all three gaits and he was great. I need to work on the neck reining but he's getting there, and I'll have to push for more impulsion and self-carriage since now I know he'll come back to me, but overall I'm really impressed by how well he listened!

I want to work on my position too, sitting a bit taller. Even though I felt like I was sitting up I can see in the video that I still was leaning a bit forward, bad habit. Gives both of us some good goals :)

Riding Weekend Part 2: Charlie's First Hunter Pace

On Sunday Connie trailered Buffy (my neighbor's awesome Perch/TB cross) and Charlie about an hour away to a hunter pace (thanks Connie!). It was Charlie's first time out to an event like this and I was even more excited that Maddy was there so I could share it with someone.

Buffy was the perfect companion: calm, cool and collected the entire time, taking everything in stride and really giving Charlie the confidence he needed to have a positive experience. It was a very low-key pace, no dress code, but I had a few extra saddle pads laying around so I painted them to match.

Charlie, of course, had to inspect every inch of the trailer before we left (honestly I think he was mostly distracted by Buffy's nice butt in the stall next door).

Once we got to the pace we unloaded the horses and I couldn't have been prouder. Charlie stepped off the trailer like a pro. No shenanigans. No dancing or calling out. He stood tied to the trailer, eating grass, while we tacked up both horses, and then walked calmly over to the wheel well and stood like a statue for me to get on.

This looks like a fun place

Buffy the wonder horse

He's sexy and he knows it

Buuuut he's not so good at selfies lol

Much better!

In a hunter pace there is usually a fast and a slow division. Fast, which is what we did, is mostly trotting and cantering whereas slow is mostly walking and trotting. Jumps are scattered throughout the course (which was 5-6 miles) and are usually optional, and ribbons are given out for the ideal times in each division. The catch is you have no idea what that ideal time is since it's generally an average of every teams' times in that class. For me, though, it's all about the fun and experience so we just went whatever pace we wanted and had a ton of fun.

Waiting at the starting line

It was overall a really nice ride with lots of varied scenery, from skinny trails in the woods to winding paths in grassy fields; uphill and downhill; roadways and bridges. Charlie willingly crossed 3 open metal grate bridges with Buffy's encouragement, which is more than some teams could boast. I was so proud of him!

Photo credit: Rough Coat Photography

Unfortunately most of the jumps were toward the end of the ride and by then both Charlie and Buffy were getting tired. So we did some of them, but opted to stay away from any that were a little bigger or scarier. Here are some pics courtesy of Rough Coat Photography:

 

By the end everyone was a little tired and more than a little sweaty (I'm so glad we opted to go first thing in the morning so we weren't out in the 80+ degree weather later in the day). But boy did we have a good time!

Buffy is smiling for the camera

Honoring the OTTBs!

Pace Maker 6/8/14

Riding Weekend Part 1: Trails

This weekend Maddy came down to visit from Rhode Island (yay!) and boy did we have fun. The weather was perfect and sunny, which was a good thing because I had a lot of outdoorsy things planned. First item of business: a relaxing trail ride.

Maddy rode Colby and quickly discovered what a cool horse he is, seconding my desire to steal him away when I eventually move with Charlie.

Charlie was nervous when he first encountered water on the trail (in several places rain water was draining off the mountain, nothing deep but the trail was mushy and water was running over it), but once I got off and walked him through he realized it was no big deal and happily marched through every "stream" we encountered on the way home.

Yeah, real scary

I did have a slight panicky moment when I realized I dropped my phone along the trail, especially because a lot of the path was covered with new undergrowth. Luckily I knew I had GPS-ed our location not more than 1/2 a mile before I realized it was gone so we just retraced our steps and sure enough it was sitting next to the log that we jumped. Charlie almost stepped right on it, but he didn't, and it ended up being just fine. Phew!

Pretty view of the barn on our way home

Maddy took Charlie for a spin when we got back

After our ride I took Maddy to Lapp Valley Farm, my favorite ice cream place, for some authentic Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish/Mennonite) homemade ice cream and waffle cones. Seriously it's the best you'll ever have in your life. Of course, as a working farm, it also has lots of cows so we spent some time visiting both with the newborns and a few of the bigger girls. One decided to get a little too friendly with me when I knelt down for a photo op. Can't believe Maddy got that on camera, and no it's not Photoshopped!

Itty bitty baby

Of course we then came home to watch the Belmont and were just as bummed out as everyone else about the lack of a Triple Crown this year (and embarrassed for California Chrome's owner's outburst. Yikes). I don't usually bet but I had money on Chrome, Ride on Curlin' (who I thought would win) and Commanding Curve as a boxed trifecta and was totally wrong, obviously, but so were a lot of people. Looking back, it's kind of funny I chose all "C" names....Charlie on the brain?

We also fit in time to watch "Wild Horse, Wild Ride", the documentary about the 100 day mustang challenge. It was really interesting to watch everyone's varied training styles and approaches, and really inspired me to try some new things with Charlie and when training other horses. It's good to feel inspired.

A mini course and progress reflection

Today was a planned jumping day for Charlie so I took some time to assemble a mini course. No lines, just three different kinds of jumps that I could approach in many different combinations and that would present challenges in different ways (the plain poles, no standards jump from the other day along the quarter line on the long side; a skinnier than normal 2'3" wood rail between two tall standards set along the midline but across the short length of the arena; and an X between barrels on the diagonal). I also threw in some long trot poles along the centerline for warm up.

My goal is to work on building Charlie's comfort zone with all kinds of obstacles like these, make things small and achievable but varied so we have good positive experiences we can build on. I plan to start line work shortly, but for now I want him to jump whatever I point him at from whatever angle and learn to jump from all distance.

We warmed up over the jump from two days ago and Charlie had no problem with that. After cantering it a few times I decided to try cantering the jump with the standards without trotting it first, just to see, and Charlie went right to the center like it was no big deal, even though it was a short approach and it was the highest I've jumped with him. I thought the vertical height and skinniness would create a boxy feel that would make him nervous but he was just fine.

He was concerned, though, about the barrels. He wasn't bad about it, more confused and uncertain. Even though I had made it an X so it wasn't as intimidating, he kept trying to duck out and really wasn't getting the concept of going over. After a few attempts I laid the barrels on their sides to make a smaller, less imposing X and with some steady leg pressure he jumped it like a pro.

"What's the big deal, mom?"

I noticed today that even though I haven't jumped much at all since last summer, I felt super confident and connected with Charlie and things just worked. As soon as I started going around the ring I felt my weight settle deep in my heels, my balance was there and connected, and Charlie was responding as soon as I asked for something. I particularly noticed it at the canter. In the past he kind of lurched into each lead but today I was setting him up for it by taking outside rein contact and as soon as I shifted to add inside leg for support he rolled right into an easy canter. No bounce at all. I pretty much just thought it and he did it. 

Same with the bending lines and turns to set him up for each jump, and there were a lot of crazy lines today. He responded immediately to my leg and hand aides, backing off or steadying himself to round out the turn and not fall in and drop his shoulder, holding his straight line right to the center of each jump. I think my riding is so much better and more balanced in general just from being on so many training horses and so my "connection" with the horse is honed. So even though I haven't jumped a series of jumps since last summer I felt great and in conctrol, Charlie felt great and we were connected. I was really proud. 

I know I have a ton more confidence in both myself and Charlie than I did a year ago. Instead of worrying what he'd do at a jump today I could acknowledge that he might look at it because it was something new but I didn't dwell on it. Instead I trusted myself to react appropriately if he was naughty, and proactively added my leg and a steadying hand to give him the confidence to get over the obstacle without questioning himself. It felt really good to have him trusting me and feel that relationship. 

I've definitely been bitten by the jumping bug again. How will I ever go back to flatwork? And how did I stick with it for so long?? Jumping is so much better Charlie loves it too, you can tell. :)

Enough western, let's jump!

Ok, so it was an itty bitty baby jump, but it was still a jump! I figured I should probably get my butt back into English gear and at least go over a few obstacles if I'm planning on going on a Hunter Pace this weekend. I didn't, however, feel like taking the time to lug around and set up a whole bunch of jumps, so we made do with the small stuff.

I was expecting to have to do a lot of pole work first and then set up a small jump, but you know what? Charlie went into the ring with his "A-Game" hat on and was almost offended that I didn't trust him to go right to jumping, so after a few trot pole passes I built the mini jump (and added a mailbox for color). I figured the mailbox might be scary, especially since it makes noise as the ring dirt hits it, or that Charlie might try to run out since I didn't bring in extra pipes to use for side poles, but he didn't care one bit. Up and over, without missing a step. What's next, mom? I was sorry I didn't set up a course.

We did it a few times in each direction, first trotting and then cantering, before both of us got bored and since I didn't feel like getting off again to set up more jumps, we went for a gallop in the long field out back. Charlie was being so calm and good and even though I knew I wasn't supposed to gallop in the field you can guess what we did (we could ride there in the winter but now the owner is growing hay; he just cut it, though, and I stayed to the side so I figured it would be ok). Anyway we both turned the corner, took one look at the vast expanse of openness, and off we went! And this time I actually let him gallop as fast as he could and pushed him for more. Exhilarating! 

When we came back to the barn I let him loose graze for awhile while I lounged on the lawn. So peaceful. I guess you could say it was a good day. :)

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