Last night I had the first lesson that I've had for a while. I really enjoy my clinics but I want one person to be able to keep an eye on Mort and I as we progress. Some of you may remember a barn-mate and I hauling to several lessons last summer and this is the same instructor as then (but now she's going to come to my barn). We mainly worked on lifting for more collected work and discussed how to build-up Mort so that he can start to handle more pressure.
While Mort is getting fairly adjustable in the trot he still sometimes likes to curl behind my hands and leave me with nothing. I haven't really had a good response to this in my struggles. I've either taken more rein and then tried to convince him to go back into a longer frame--often leaving me with a cramped neck. Or I would give him a touch more rein to have him hopefully stretch on his own, but that has actually been rewarding him for curling.
She had me half-halt and lift my hands up so that I had a light contact with the corners of his mouth as opposed to the bars. While I felt like I was lifting my hands to saddle seat levels (I wasn't), it did have a really good effect on Mort. He felt lighter in both the bridle and the front end while not being as tight and stuck in the neck. We struggled some with losing our left bend, but for the first time riding like this I think he did really well adjusting. A lot of the ride was us working on sitting and lifting followed by letting him stretch down again (and often re-establish the proper bend) then back to lifting. This is definitely something we'll be working a lot on in the coming weeks.
The other main takeaway of the lesson was creating a Mort who is better at handling the pressure than inevitably comes with training a dressage horse. Mort isn't a horse to explode but if he feels too much pressure he'll get tight and reactive and I can really struggle to 'unlock' him again. The plan is fairly simple. I make a bell curve of pressure in the ride so that Mort doesn't think that our rides just get harder and harder (getting him more and more tense throughout the ride). Within that bell curve he gets a ton of little bell curves where I'll ask for something more difficult for just a few strides then let him have several easy strides. The idea is that he'll learn that some pressure is ok as I'll never keep it on all of the time. Overtime, those moments of pressure can get longer and longer.
We touched on a few other things in the lesson as well. She started our haunches-in focusing on the hind leg crossover first then messing with the bend which is the opposite of what I've been doing, so I'll have to see how that progresses our work on that. We played a bit with the medium trot--something Mort definitely doesn't have fully established yet. I put him in an ever-so-slight shoulder-fore right which really helped him feel more even behind. I also need to push through the ugly stuff and just let him figure out more of what I really want for a medium as opposed to just a lengthen. She suggested trying it on a large circle so we'll play with that in the coming weeks as well.
I'm really excited to have homework again. It can be hard for me to pick specific things to focus on when I want to do all of the things. The next couple of weeks will be full of little projects now! I also need to start taking another look at the first level tests. The first weekend of October will hopefully be our debut at a recognized show.
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Friday, August 25, 2017
Progression
I think one of the most fun things about retraining an OTTB is watching them change over time. Mort was a lean, tight, and unbalanced when I first got him. He had a lot of the traditional OTTB issues. The first goal was to get him less tense and reactive. The first six months showed tremendous progress on that front--especially on the ground. I started trying to play with that balance by really starting to play with lateral work a lot more after that. All the while, I was trying to find a formula with his grain and hay to pack on some quality pounds of muscle. Of course will all things in the horse world we'd find something that worked for a while and then have to switch it up as things changed. You can read the blog for all of our history of injuries, moving, and just general training issues.
Overall, though I am very happy with how Mort has come along. I'm sure he could have come along much faster if he had been ridden by a professional, but he's really turning into quite a good little citizen. I threw him on the lunge line Monday and really enjoyed watching him work. He was relaxed and working well over his topline in a stretched frame and big stride. Even his canter transitions were uphill and uneventful. It's really awesome to see how strong and confident he is now with just a bridle and a lunge line. Enjoy the pictures of our journey below.
Mort and I have had a few ups and downs. He's taken a while to gain all that muscle that I look for as a dressage rider. It took a little bit for us to fully mesh in our partnership. I think we're on the right track now and look forward to our future progress shots!
I apologize for sucking at taking pictures of him standing around. Our riding shots are usually good but I never take enough time to stand him properly for a good confirmation shot. My bad.
Overall, though I am very happy with how Mort has come along. I'm sure he could have come along much faster if he had been ridden by a professional, but he's really turning into quite a good little citizen. I threw him on the lunge line Monday and really enjoyed watching him work. He was relaxed and working well over his topline in a stretched frame and big stride. Even his canter transitions were uphill and uneventful. It's really awesome to see how strong and confident he is now with just a bridle and a lunge line. Enjoy the pictures of our journey below.
Mort's second or third ride in Missouri
Lean, mean, OTTB machine in the first month I had him
One of our three month update photos
Late November--one of my first rides back after his injury
Starting to put on some muscle in December (5 months)
Our six month update photo
Still kinda scrawny and awkward (but also super cute) about 7 months in
9 months--showing Intro at our second schooling show
Early summer last year (9-10 months)
One year update--shiny but still not as muscled as I'd like
13-14 months working on relaxation in different places
1.5 years looking sharp for a clinic
A little over 1.5 years--definitely looking more like a sport horse
1 year 9 months showing First level at local schooling show
2 years
Snoozing in the new digs (third physical move, same barn family as second move)
2 years 1 month--filling out some over the topline and showing better muscling
Mort and I have had a few ups and downs. He's taken a while to gain all that muscle that I look for as a dressage rider. It took a little bit for us to fully mesh in our partnership. I think we're on the right track now and look forward to our future progress shots!
I apologize for sucking at taking pictures of him standing around. Our riding shots are usually good but I never take enough time to stand him properly for a good confirmation shot. My bad.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Time Off
Life really seems to have gotten in the way recently. I keep having extended time off for Mort and he doesn't really do well with that. Of course, by extended time, I mean more than 1-2 days. He's still been getting a few rides/week, but compared to our normal 5-6 rides/week it's a noticeable difference for both of us. Last week I had a lot of family things and then he threw his shoe. I lunged him Monday but he's pretty much been a pasture puff.
While Mort doesn't become unreasonable or wild after time off he does revert back pretty far in our training. His back gets tense. He jigs. Our transitions are abrupt in the bad way. He still moves off of my leg, but in an erratic way either flying sideways or forward. He leans hard on my hands. Of course, with all of this I feed into it and get tense myself because I'm the worst.
So yesterday when I hopped on I knew what to expect. We started with a walk around the property. He was good, but I could definitely feel the tension over his topline. There was a lot going on yesterday (farrier, new horse, fence building, stray dogs, and just a ton of people at the barn) and he really didn't seem bothered much by any of it. His tension just came from inside, so good boy for not being worried about all of the commotion.
When we got back to the riding area I tried to start off with some simple bend/counter-bend, leg yield type work at the walk. It was just OK. I have been noticing that getting his left shoulder and bend have been getting easier and that direction is just getting more and more adjustable. But with those improvements tracking right has gone down the tubes. I'm not sure if I'm just noticing it more with the left getting better or I've been working so hard on the left that I've accidentally neglected the right. Either way, I was on the struggle bus getting his right shoulder; he just wanted to collapse or head tilt.
Obviously troubles at the walk meant that I was ready to trot! Ignore the problems and they'll probably go away on their own, right? At the trot I mainly just tried to do some changes of direction in a big serpentine. Changing direction is a problem when there is no half-halt. We went onto the circle. I struggled to find his right shoulder and he threw in a couple canter transitions in response to me trying to keep his butt from fishtailing everywhere. Things were really going well! (Those who don't get internet sarcasm need not apply)
I finally got a few strides where he actually wanted to stretch down so I let him and we walked a few laps while I tried to figure out my next game plan. I did a few of our favorite exercises on the circle. He's been killing it at bend/counter-bend every quarter, so I tried that but switched to every half circle instead. His trot quality suffered a bit and I let him get away with taking smaller steps, but we had some overall success with this. I then tried some trot/walk/trot transitions. He was attentive but still gave me a really jiggy walk for the first couple strides before settling into a better one.
With all of this loveliness we were ready for cantering (on purpose this time). Sometimes a good canter can help him relax and give me better work; sometimes canter can amp him up and give me worse work. Thankfully yesterday he was pretty good. I actually kept the canter itself short and sweet and only did a few transitions until I got some that I liked enough to leave it alone. We did a touch more trot that I found alright and that was the end. We wandered around and touched a bit on lateral work at the walk but nothing with too much pressure.
As much as I complain about giving him time off I know he doesn't really care about a few days just spent dozing and grazing. I have also noticed that it's taking less effort to get him back from racehorse to dressage horse after time off. These rides used to be long and a real struggle but yesterday wasn't really strenuous at all--probably shorter than a regular ride since I was just looking to end on some good notes. He doesn't get disobedient so much as he just falls back into old habits. I'm sure someday it won't be an issue after time off, but until then it's just something I need to keep in mind and plan those rides accordingly. I'm pretty proud of myself yesterday for not getting frustrated with him at all. Knowing what's coming makes it a lot easier for me mentally. Not being frustrated makes getting him back to dressage land easier. It's a win-win.
While Mort doesn't become unreasonable or wild after time off he does revert back pretty far in our training. His back gets tense. He jigs. Our transitions are abrupt in the bad way. He still moves off of my leg, but in an erratic way either flying sideways or forward. He leans hard on my hands. Of course, with all of this I feed into it and get tense myself because I'm the worst.
So yesterday when I hopped on I knew what to expect. We started with a walk around the property. He was good, but I could definitely feel the tension over his topline. There was a lot going on yesterday (farrier, new horse, fence building, stray dogs, and just a ton of people at the barn) and he really didn't seem bothered much by any of it. His tension just came from inside, so good boy for not being worried about all of the commotion.
When we got back to the riding area I tried to start off with some simple bend/counter-bend, leg yield type work at the walk. It was just OK. I have been noticing that getting his left shoulder and bend have been getting easier and that direction is just getting more and more adjustable. But with those improvements tracking right has gone down the tubes. I'm not sure if I'm just noticing it more with the left getting better or I've been working so hard on the left that I've accidentally neglected the right. Either way, I was on the struggle bus getting his right shoulder; he just wanted to collapse or head tilt.
Obviously troubles at the walk meant that I was ready to trot! Ignore the problems and they'll probably go away on their own, right? At the trot I mainly just tried to do some changes of direction in a big serpentine. Changing direction is a problem when there is no half-halt. We went onto the circle. I struggled to find his right shoulder and he threw in a couple canter transitions in response to me trying to keep his butt from fishtailing everywhere. Things were really going well! (Those who don't get internet sarcasm need not apply)
I finally got a few strides where he actually wanted to stretch down so I let him and we walked a few laps while I tried to figure out my next game plan. I did a few of our favorite exercises on the circle. He's been killing it at bend/counter-bend every quarter, so I tried that but switched to every half circle instead. His trot quality suffered a bit and I let him get away with taking smaller steps, but we had some overall success with this. I then tried some trot/walk/trot transitions. He was attentive but still gave me a really jiggy walk for the first couple strides before settling into a better one.
With all of this loveliness we were ready for cantering (on purpose this time). Sometimes a good canter can help him relax and give me better work; sometimes canter can amp him up and give me worse work. Thankfully yesterday he was pretty good. I actually kept the canter itself short and sweet and only did a few transitions until I got some that I liked enough to leave it alone. We did a touch more trot that I found alright and that was the end. We wandered around and touched a bit on lateral work at the walk but nothing with too much pressure.
As much as I complain about giving him time off I know he doesn't really care about a few days just spent dozing and grazing. I have also noticed that it's taking less effort to get him back from racehorse to dressage horse after time off. These rides used to be long and a real struggle but yesterday wasn't really strenuous at all--probably shorter than a regular ride since I was just looking to end on some good notes. He doesn't get disobedient so much as he just falls back into old habits. I'm sure someday it won't be an issue after time off, but until then it's just something I need to keep in mind and plan those rides accordingly. I'm pretty proud of myself yesterday for not getting frustrated with him at all. Knowing what's coming makes it a lot easier for me mentally. Not being frustrated makes getting him back to dressage land easier. It's a win-win.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
All Good Things
Mort and I had a really good ride on Tuesday. As I mentioned in my last post, the goals involved playing more off of the circle. While Mort and I still used it periodically we did spend the majority of our time utilizing the entire area. I backed down on some of what I had been asking, but still wanted correct and prompt responses. Overall he did really well. I also think that I rode better as I was really trying to focus on having a plan.
Mort's biggest 'issue' is anticipating and going into auto-pilot. I realize this is partially my fault and is a training issue, but Mort does seem extra pre-disposed to it compared to other horses that I've ridden. It really shows through in the big arena. He'll start turning a corner about a stride before I want him to. He'll do his best to do what I want--he just doesn't always wait to hear what I actually want. The circle is helping some, but I think I'm going to have to step-up and be a better, more active rider to truly fix it. Tuesday was at least a good start for me having a plan for each transition and corner.
Mort's canter transitions are definitely improving. He's always had a good one in there, but it's usually really (really) hard for me to find. He would much prefer to throw himself into the canter than lift and sit quietly into it. Fair enough, one is harder than the other and one is what he's been doing his whole life. I'm the crazy yahoo who wants to come in and change things. But, with him getting more and more consistent I'm able to ride them more and more consistently.
I fully know how to ask for canter with my seat, but it has been really hard for me to do that with Mort. I simply didn't trust that he would canter for a long time. He often would rush into an upside-down, bumpy, unbalanced trot. It was really hard for me mentally to quietly swoop with my seat and get burned by a bad trot. It also left me behind potentially catching Mort's mouth, which isn't fair for him. But lately I am convincing my seat to trust that canter will actually happen when I ask (and it is most of the time). This is very much "the chicken and the egg" scenario but I'm glad the chicken is laying and the egg is hatching. Mort only gave me one bad transition on Tuesday in spite of not even being on the circle. Good things are happening.
Mort's biggest 'issue' is anticipating and going into auto-pilot. I realize this is partially my fault and is a training issue, but Mort does seem extra pre-disposed to it compared to other horses that I've ridden. It really shows through in the big arena. He'll start turning a corner about a stride before I want him to. He'll do his best to do what I want--he just doesn't always wait to hear what I actually want. The circle is helping some, but I think I'm going to have to step-up and be a better, more active rider to truly fix it. Tuesday was at least a good start for me having a plan for each transition and corner.
Mort's canter transitions are definitely improving. He's always had a good one in there, but it's usually really (really) hard for me to find. He would much prefer to throw himself into the canter than lift and sit quietly into it. Fair enough, one is harder than the other and one is what he's been doing his whole life. I'm the crazy yahoo who wants to come in and change things. But, with him getting more and more consistent I'm able to ride them more and more consistently.
I fully know how to ask for canter with my seat, but it has been really hard for me to do that with Mort. I simply didn't trust that he would canter for a long time. He often would rush into an upside-down, bumpy, unbalanced trot. It was really hard for me mentally to quietly swoop with my seat and get burned by a bad trot. It also left me behind potentially catching Mort's mouth, which isn't fair for him. But lately I am convincing my seat to trust that canter will actually happen when I ask (and it is most of the time). This is very much "the chicken and the egg" scenario but I'm glad the chicken is laying and the egg is hatching. Mort only gave me one bad transition on Tuesday in spite of not even being on the circle. Good things are happening.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Short Update
Mort's eyeball seems to be doing well. We went down to once/day treatments and yesterday was the first day with no treatments. Hopefully when I go out today I'm still greeted by a happy-eyed Mort. He also got his teeth done yesterday. It's looking like he's going to be a horse that needs to be done every six months instead of annually. He's had some really sharp points that have been causing sores. Poor Mort. At least it's a simple fix. I spent my time at the barn giving him a good brushing (in his mind a good brushing is as soft as can be) and washed his tail. After that I let him graze while I gave Emma a bath because her idea of a good time is rolling in fresh horse poop.
I had two fairly good rides on him this weekend. Saturday I forgot that I had taken my saddle pad home to wash so it left me riding bareback. It was a fun ride and we worked a bunch on bend and counter-bend. We'd start one direction on the circle and see how quickly I could change between bends. I slowly shortened it down to changing every quarter of the circle both ways. We worked mainly in trot and only played a bit with canter.
Sunday I started with some fitness work. We took a long walk then I did some trot and canter sets in the field. I don't think there are very many things that are better than cantering a game and responsive thoroughbred. I was smiling every trip. After that he was a bit amped up so trying to reproduce the calm and steady work from the day before would have created an issue. Since he had already worked hard physically I wanted to avoid continuing to work him too hard. I just did some long, sweeping loops at the trot. My goals were to get him straight on the long parts and bending while still keeping his shoulder up in the turns. After I did a few trot/walk/trot transitions to install a better half-halt he finally got it and I called it a day. I admit that it was a touch more than I wanted to do, but Mort didn't seem any worse for wear.
I think today's goal is going to be trying to create that calm, easy, adjustable horse off of our magic circle. He's doing really well with the basics boot camp on our circle, but I'm not getting the same results all of the time off of the circle. This is expected but not something I can ignore. I'll most likely start on the circle then hopefully only go back to it for one or two laps before jumping off of it again. Essentially I've been spending about 80% of "work time" on the circle only coming off of it when he's feeling really good. I also end the off-circle work before things get sticky again to reward my soft, supple pony.
Today I'm going to drop down a level on what I'm asking for but hopefully spend 60-80% of the time off-circle. Of course if things start going down the tubes I can always jump back on the circle to get my bearings. I fully admit that the circle is a tool to help me. It gives me markers and easy, precise goals. I really need a plan as a rider because otherwise I wander about on crooked lines with no plan. Strangely, this has no positive affect on Mort. Today I will try to ride with a plan without a circle. Wish me (and Mort) luck.
I had two fairly good rides on him this weekend. Saturday I forgot that I had taken my saddle pad home to wash so it left me riding bareback. It was a fun ride and we worked a bunch on bend and counter-bend. We'd start one direction on the circle and see how quickly I could change between bends. I slowly shortened it down to changing every quarter of the circle both ways. We worked mainly in trot and only played a bit with canter.
Sunday I started with some fitness work. We took a long walk then I did some trot and canter sets in the field. I don't think there are very many things that are better than cantering a game and responsive thoroughbred. I was smiling every trip. After that he was a bit amped up so trying to reproduce the calm and steady work from the day before would have created an issue. Since he had already worked hard physically I wanted to avoid continuing to work him too hard. I just did some long, sweeping loops at the trot. My goals were to get him straight on the long parts and bending while still keeping his shoulder up in the turns. After I did a few trot/walk/trot transitions to install a better half-halt he finally got it and I called it a day. I admit that it was a touch more than I wanted to do, but Mort didn't seem any worse for wear.
I think today's goal is going to be trying to create that calm, easy, adjustable horse off of our magic circle. He's doing really well with the basics boot camp on our circle, but I'm not getting the same results all of the time off of the circle. This is expected but not something I can ignore. I'll most likely start on the circle then hopefully only go back to it for one or two laps before jumping off of it again. Essentially I've been spending about 80% of "work time" on the circle only coming off of it when he's feeling really good. I also end the off-circle work before things get sticky again to reward my soft, supple pony.
Today I'm going to drop down a level on what I'm asking for but hopefully spend 60-80% of the time off-circle. Of course if things start going down the tubes I can always jump back on the circle to get my bearings. I fully admit that the circle is a tool to help me. It gives me markers and easy, precise goals. I really need a plan as a rider because otherwise I wander about on crooked lines with no plan. Strangely, this has no positive affect on Mort. Today I will try to ride with a plan without a circle. Wish me (and Mort) luck.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Can't Catch a Break
I think I've mentioned once or twice now that this summer is kicking Mort's butt in terms of heat/itchy/bug/allergy/whatever. He's been having on and off minor eye swelling and drainage. It starts; we treat it; it gets better; it comes back. This has been happening for a good month now. This week his right eye had some cloudiness in it and I decided to go ahead and call the vet.*
She came out the next day and at least helped put my mind mostly at ease. She agrees that it's most likely something in Mort's new environment that he's allergic to. She hooked me up with some non-steroidal pain relief drops and told me to continue to treat him as I have been. His eye is happier and hopefully we can kick it with some cooler weather soon.
I do not like to work a horse when they've got sad eyes. I can only imagine it being distracting (a best case scenario) and an overall painful experience. I see no reason to mar our training by stacking the deck against a good ride before we've even left the stall. Needless to say, Mort had about 4 days off this week. Yesterday his eye was clear again so I tossed him on the lunge. Boy was full of energy cantering around like he had pogo sticks for legs. Luckily by the end he was calmer and stretching nicely over his topline. Hopefully his eye is still happy today and I can hop back on him.
*I use dye strips to make sure that there aren't ulcers. I'm not just treating him blindly (pun intended). I also use non-steroidal antibiotic ointment either way.
She came out the next day and at least helped put my mind mostly at ease. She agrees that it's most likely something in Mort's new environment that he's allergic to. She hooked me up with some non-steroidal pain relief drops and told me to continue to treat him as I have been. His eye is happier and hopefully we can kick it with some cooler weather soon.
I do not like to work a horse when they've got sad eyes. I can only imagine it being distracting (a best case scenario) and an overall painful experience. I see no reason to mar our training by stacking the deck against a good ride before we've even left the stall. Needless to say, Mort had about 4 days off this week. Yesterday his eye was clear again so I tossed him on the lunge. Boy was full of energy cantering around like he had pogo sticks for legs. Luckily by the end he was calmer and stretching nicely over his topline. Hopefully his eye is still happy today and I can hop back on him.
*I use dye strips to make sure that there aren't ulcers. I'm not just treating him blindly (pun intended). I also use non-steroidal antibiotic ointment either way.
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Basics Boot Camp
I've been struggling with direction this past week on Mort. I want him to have a month or so of easier work where I focus less on installing a lot of new stuff and really training hard. Summer in the Midwest is ideal for a lower intensity time--because hot. But we've honestly had a fairly mild summer so far. The lack of heat amps Mort up to an energy level of nine. I simply cannot let that go to waste, but I also still don't want to drill dressage. On Monday while cooling Mort out, I came up with a plan--Basics Boot Camp.
If I'm honest, Mort will probably always have holes that I'm throwing stuff into to get up to the next level of training. I am not leaving holes on purpose, but that is the nature of me trying to figure out how to take a horse from the track up the levels of dressage. I'll go along thinking everything is just dandy until I start asking him for something more complicated and realize that there is a giant hole that I've missed up until that point. I have a vague plan in place to do Basics Boot Camp for a month or so every summer. It's low intensity and it will ensure that I'm at least trying to always better our basics rather than ignoring the holes.
For now, basics consists of relaxation and accuracy. I can get a super Mort if I go along just riding on feel and asking for something when it feels like he can give it to me perfectly. While this is great, it leaves me open to holes and it isn't how showing dressage works. As a rider, I struggle with making myself ride accurately. So, I've taken the time to set-up some stuff for us in the 'arena'.
Right now the outdoor is a large, flat-ish grass area. Two sides have perimeter fencing. One side has thicker grass on the edge (mowed vs. unmowed). The other side is entirely open, and it's the side nearest the barn. Mort and I struggle hard staying straight on that side, so I put up a couple of low poles in the corners to help set us up and give me a visual.
I also set-up four ground poles on a circle. I'm sure you've all seen the exercise before where if you stay on a circle you hit a ground pole in each quarter. I set this up more for visuals than ground pole work because it forces me to ride accurately. I can ride hitting the outside of the ground pole to ride an accurate circle. I can make a square turn at each pole and ride a square. I can yield in and out with poles to measure. I can incorporate ground poles to w/t/c over. I can use the poles as transition markers. The possibilities are endless. I cannot take credit entirely for this, as my instructor in college often set up cones with the same idea in mind. I absolutely love it for checking my training.
Yesterday was our first ride with all of this in mind. I really enjoyed the structure and it definitely helped make sure I wasn't able to ignore our training issues. With them fully exposed, I got to break them down and work on them. We did bend and counter-bend. We did transitions. We did ground poles. I think it'll help get a better handle on his left bend. I think it'll help install more of a half-halt at the canter. I'm really excited.
I'm going to have to make sure that I don't get so focused on the circle that we don't spend time taking breaks. I spent time yesterday working on something on the circle then taking him off the circle to see how it affected life in wide open spaces. For example, I was working on bend and counter-bend to get him more in the middle of my aides. After some of that I took him out and checked out it translated to our straightness issues (when we don't have a fence or wall to help us). Going to have to make sure I keep that mentality up.
Luckily, Mort really thrives on repetition and patterns, so I think it'll help with his relaxation in general. Keeping things predictable builds a foundation of trust and success that will hopefully stick when I go back for asking for more complicated things. I try to make my training about rewarding success and the effort of him trying to figure out what I am asking. I know that I fall short sometimes, but the circles make it easier for me to stay riding in the moment rather than looking for specific 'dressage' things. Good basics is what everything else is built upon, so the better we get with the easy stuff, the easier the hard stuff will come. Right?
If I'm honest, Mort will probably always have holes that I'm throwing stuff into to get up to the next level of training. I am not leaving holes on purpose, but that is the nature of me trying to figure out how to take a horse from the track up the levels of dressage. I'll go along thinking everything is just dandy until I start asking him for something more complicated and realize that there is a giant hole that I've missed up until that point. I have a vague plan in place to do Basics Boot Camp for a month or so every summer. It's low intensity and it will ensure that I'm at least trying to always better our basics rather than ignoring the holes.
For now, basics consists of relaxation and accuracy. I can get a super Mort if I go along just riding on feel and asking for something when it feels like he can give it to me perfectly. While this is great, it leaves me open to holes and it isn't how showing dressage works. As a rider, I struggle with making myself ride accurately. So, I've taken the time to set-up some stuff for us in the 'arena'.
Right now the outdoor is a large, flat-ish grass area. Two sides have perimeter fencing. One side has thicker grass on the edge (mowed vs. unmowed). The other side is entirely open, and it's the side nearest the barn. Mort and I struggle hard staying straight on that side, so I put up a couple of low poles in the corners to help set us up and give me a visual.
I also set-up four ground poles on a circle. I'm sure you've all seen the exercise before where if you stay on a circle you hit a ground pole in each quarter. I set this up more for visuals than ground pole work because it forces me to ride accurately. I can ride hitting the outside of the ground pole to ride an accurate circle. I can make a square turn at each pole and ride a square. I can yield in and out with poles to measure. I can incorporate ground poles to w/t/c over. I can use the poles as transition markers. The possibilities are endless. I cannot take credit entirely for this, as my instructor in college often set up cones with the same idea in mind. I absolutely love it for checking my training.
Yesterday was our first ride with all of this in mind. I really enjoyed the structure and it definitely helped make sure I wasn't able to ignore our training issues. With them fully exposed, I got to break them down and work on them. We did bend and counter-bend. We did transitions. We did ground poles. I think it'll help get a better handle on his left bend. I think it'll help install more of a half-halt at the canter. I'm really excited.
I'm going to have to make sure that I don't get so focused on the circle that we don't spend time taking breaks. I spent time yesterday working on something on the circle then taking him off the circle to see how it affected life in wide open spaces. For example, I was working on bend and counter-bend to get him more in the middle of my aides. After some of that I took him out and checked out it translated to our straightness issues (when we don't have a fence or wall to help us). Going to have to make sure I keep that mentality up.
Luckily, Mort really thrives on repetition and patterns, so I think it'll help with his relaxation in general. Keeping things predictable builds a foundation of trust and success that will hopefully stick when I go back for asking for more complicated things. I try to make my training about rewarding success and the effort of him trying to figure out what I am asking. I know that I fall short sometimes, but the circles make it easier for me to stay riding in the moment rather than looking for specific 'dressage' things. Good basics is what everything else is built upon, so the better we get with the easy stuff, the easier the hard stuff will come. Right?
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