Today I was reading a blog I subscribe to, and the writer was happy to announce her entry in a race called the Mongol Derby. I wasn't halfway through her post before I was already searching for it on the Internet. Then somehow, the majority of my morning was gone and my blood was rushing to record speeds.
http://www.theadventurists.com/the-adventures/mongol-derby
In summary, its a 1000 km race (625 miles) over several days, on 25 horses provided for you. Its broken up into 40km (25 mile) legs, you swap horses after each leg of the race. The trail is not marked, you must find your way with GPS and grit. There seems to be food and water and camping each time you swap your horse, but you may find yourself camping in the middle of nowhere, with only 5kg of luggage to keep you warm and fed. You might have guessed from the name, its in Mongolia. The real catcher? Its on horses caught from the wild, with only a month of training.
Yes, this is right up my alley.
Big drawback: price vs my broke factor
Its expensive, and for good reason. There is no way I will ever be able to afford it on my own. So this is your warning... at some point in the future I WILL be begging you for sponsorship. Doing a quick estimation, I would say it will run me about $20,000. The entry alone is over $10,000 CDN + minimum donation to worthy charities. Plus travel and gear expenses, and if possible, survival training and toward entry fees for local endurance rides to beef up my application and as "training" for this event.
I would love to do this before I turn 30 while I am still presumably bouncing instead of splatting. That gives me 3.5 years.
If you would like to provide any sponsorship for me, please contact me with a pledge amount. Of course, I will not take any money until I am accepted as one of the 35 entries, but I WILL start preparing my entry now for 2014 and will keep applying until they deem me worthy.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Goodbye, Hello
I alluded to some big news pending last week, and its about time I announce it and my reasoning officially.
As of this Friday, Bentley will be moving to Myrddin. http://www.myrddin.info/
With the recent increase in board cost at GEC, I had to weigh all my options. Cost was my first major concern. If I added all my costs together, including lessons and increased need for grain in the summer, Myrddin was cheaper. Not a lot cheaper, but every dollar counts when you keep a budget as tight as I do!
But then again, I was comparing apples to oranges. The rate I was using at GEC is outdoor board, Myrddin is indoor board (GECs indoor is higher price than Myrddin's). GEC has the beautiful valley to explore and train on, Myrddin has better indoor facilities and well maintained cross country jumps. GEC has friends who have turned to family in the last 2 years, Myrddin has lots of nice people too and seems to be a more adult environment. GEC is relaxed and fun and allows my horse to be out 24/7, Myrddin follows a very organized schedule for feed and turnout and I know he will have the best of care (although he may need some stall toys!).
Yes, they are totally different, and I love both for many different reasons. But the cost is very important to me. Another large push factor is I have been having trouble getting lessons with Margie because of my work schedule. I had been considering the move for those purposes alone for the past month and a half or so, but the cost is what gave me that kick to make my move. I think with the price increase also, the friends I know may also disperse to other barns, so I no longer have that factor to consider as much.
I would have liked to give it more time and moved at the end of the month, however I am on vacation at the end of november and start of december, and it just made more sense to do a half month than have to work out daily rates. I have been very quiet about it, a few of you already know, but I didnt want anyone to start being sad and make a big deal that I was leaving. I also didnt want any rumours going around until I could write like this and explain myself!
So now its happening, sweet but bitter. I thought I should write a bit about what I will miss most, but also what I am looking forward to (because I always like to think towards the positive!)
What I will miss about GEC:
As of this Friday, Bentley will be moving to Myrddin. http://www.myrddin.info/
With the recent increase in board cost at GEC, I had to weigh all my options. Cost was my first major concern. If I added all my costs together, including lessons and increased need for grain in the summer, Myrddin was cheaper. Not a lot cheaper, but every dollar counts when you keep a budget as tight as I do!
But then again, I was comparing apples to oranges. The rate I was using at GEC is outdoor board, Myrddin is indoor board (GECs indoor is higher price than Myrddin's). GEC has the beautiful valley to explore and train on, Myrddin has better indoor facilities and well maintained cross country jumps. GEC has friends who have turned to family in the last 2 years, Myrddin has lots of nice people too and seems to be a more adult environment. GEC is relaxed and fun and allows my horse to be out 24/7, Myrddin follows a very organized schedule for feed and turnout and I know he will have the best of care (although he may need some stall toys!).
Yes, they are totally different, and I love both for many different reasons. But the cost is very important to me. Another large push factor is I have been having trouble getting lessons with Margie because of my work schedule. I had been considering the move for those purposes alone for the past month and a half or so, but the cost is what gave me that kick to make my move. I think with the price increase also, the friends I know may also disperse to other barns, so I no longer have that factor to consider as much.
I would have liked to give it more time and moved at the end of the month, however I am on vacation at the end of november and start of december, and it just made more sense to do a half month than have to work out daily rates. I have been very quiet about it, a few of you already know, but I didnt want anyone to start being sad and make a big deal that I was leaving. I also didnt want any rumours going around until I could write like this and explain myself!
So now its happening, sweet but bitter. I thought I should write a bit about what I will miss most, but also what I am looking forward to (because I always like to think towards the positive!)
What I will miss about GEC:
- The cheerful "Hey Sarah!" that I get from almost everyone who rides there when I arrive on property. That followed by the excited "Are you riding today?" Everyone there is so supportive, its like everyone has their own fan club built right in.
- Running the harvest hack (hmm I may still have to come back for this!) and seeing the girl's faces when they come in off the trail.
- Knowing that whatever you need, someone will drop everything to help you
- Going out for long hacks around the fields on an autumn day
- Riding in the dark, around the cornfields (which we still call cornfields even though it hasnt had corn in over a year!)
- Gallops in the plateau
- Watching the kids (and child at hearts) and their goofy antics at the barn.... I expect I will still see plenty of these pics on facebook!
- The looks and comments I get when I come to the barn in a beautiful dress and shoes straight from work, to save my horse before lightning storms
- not having to soil my work clothes when I want to check on him in crazy weather as he will already be on indoor board haha
- Also regarding the indoor board, not having to go out in the mud on cold dark nights and struggle with the gate! Come in, horse is cozy in stall, sounds fabulous! Makes up for the extra drive time I suppose.
- Heated indoor arena - I think this is what saved it for Lee. It was the first smile I saw on his face regarding the move.
- Grain 3 times a day
- I can be hands off, blanketing, booting, bandaging, feeding is all done for me... this is going to feel weird, but good!
- Bentley can be a diva! I know how he hates mud and loves attention. Im guessing hes going to demand a lot of loving while in his stall, and hes going to get it. We can pretend he is horse royalty.
- Only 16-18 horses vs around 60. Again, he gets to be horse royalty!
- Lots of new cross country jumps to try, ones that are safer too! And a coach to help me through them.
Monday, November 12, 2012
30 Minutes to ride
I had a busy weekend at work, the owner was back and riding during the day, which meant Saturday I didn't take a lunch (and worked just shy of 10 hours) and Sunday I had an hour and a half for lunch instead of my usual 4 or so hours. How does one ride for less than an hour? Is it even possible? Its something I had long since forgotten how to do. And when I calculated my travel, prep and cool time, I realized I only had a half an hour to ride. Is it worth it, or do I just go eat something?
Well, the weather was sunny, and over 17 degrees. Something we may not get for another 5 months. I would be a fool to miss out on that opportunity. So I took my half hour with an open mind. It was either going to be a short fast work, or a leisurely walk around the valley to survey it for the last time. Bentley's choice!
We trotted a warmup around the fields, and went down to the plateau. Bentley made a beeline for the warmup log, and there was no convincing him otherwise. Ok, I get the point, we will work on our xc jumps today! This is how he talks to me, he is very good about making clear points as to what he wants to do, and what he expects from me. We did the jump from various angles, directions and gaits, until he decided it wasn't worth jumping anymore and just picked up his feet over it instead. "time to move on Sarah, I am not going to let you wimp out today!"
There is another jump in the plateau that I have never tried (ok well theres 2 safe enough ones but one is HUGE and with the new paddock there, we would have a terrible approach, not good for building confidence). The one I am talking about is the tire jump, probably the size of car tires whatever that might be. On a whim, I thought, its a big step up, but lets try it! Its kind of on a funny angle, since it is close to the treeline, so I first approached it going north, away from the treeline, which requires a slight turn then maybe 2 strides in to jump it straight across. No dice, he veered away from it. So I tried it again going toward the treeline, still no luck. We trotted up to it, still wasn't happening. Walked up to it, stopped and took a good luck, then LEAPED over it! Yay! So reapproached going toward the treeline from the long approach at the trot, still didn't want to go over it. Instead of taking a long approach again, I circled to the left, pretty tight, and approached it at an angle. Leaped over it again, a few more times from that direction cantering it this time, and he was jumping it beautifully. Even did it once going away from the treeline. I don't know if it was so much the jump that intimidated him, as it did the approach or the landing, because if we came to the jump straight on, we would have to make a tight turn immediately after, jumping it on an angle means we could ride straight after. Perhaps that's how that jump is supposed to be ridden anyway! Either way, it boosted his confidence immensely.
Heres my very-not-to-scale diagram of our failed and successful approaches:
We went through the gate down to the valley. He stood still while I mounted from the right side, first time ever. Only did it because of the ground slope, but he was very good!
As soon as we were at the bottom of the hill, he took off trotting, but shortly after the fallen logs, he had a large spook and we had a slightly rerouted path. Not sure what he thought he saw! He hasn't spooked in a long time! It was just a sidestep and pivot, and I stayed in the saddle easily. We continued on, long drink in the creek.
Out the other side of the creek, we went to another jump we like doing, its nice and wide and not too tall, very inviting. Trotted right into it, beautiful jump and cantered after. At that point, we decided it would be fun to gallop around and pretend like we were on a real cross country course. We picked a few of our favourite jumps to string in a line, and threw in some new ones too, with lots of nice turns, circles, ups and downs. A few we jumped in both directions. I was amazed at how well we were getting our distances, I didn't think I was rating him too much, but I must have had some impact as I noticed for once I had a good steady grip on the reins (usually I am too nonchalant about riding him and let them just slip through, and make him balance himself) I really didn't think too much about it, I just RODE. I think having the good grip helped him balance and approach with confidence.
Bentley was clearly gaining his confidence too, because several times, I would decide it was time to double back to try a different jump, and he would set his sights on something more challenging, the arguments weren't too difficult to win however, when he learned that I wasn't going to make him stop jumping, just try something different.
Once I did give in to him however. There is one jump that I always look at and think "yikes!" Its not huge, no more than 3 feet is my best guess, but its solid and airy all at the same time. It just looks like a monster. Something about when a big thick log isn't resting on the ground... its far more intimidating than the same size barrels or coops. He wanted to try it, I had to trust him. When we jumped it, it had to be in slow motion, it felt like we were airborne forever. Wow! What a horse!
I wish I could have had ground eyes and a video camera for it. He is still so green, that usually our jumps are awkward and I must stay loose and flexible above him to keep upright, but this jump felt perfect, I would have loved to see what it looked like. Clearly he must be thinking "go big or go home" Maybe "Go big, then go home (and eat mints!)" He certainly put in a great effort, but made the ride so easy. He will do anything for me, and I for him.
All this of course in my endurance saddle with dressage length stirrups. I was lucky I didn't get a pommel in the gut!
Perhaps with hard work all winter, we WILL be able to do some of the pre-training events (jumping courses up to 3') required of the 5 year old young event horse series.
Bentley is going to love whats next in store for him.
*** Edit***
There was some confusion, that Bentley may be running off with me. Not the case! I guess I didnt word it the best way here. If hes feeling good and passes some of the tests I give him, I let him choose where we go and how fast... within reason! That includes many of the jumps. Generally I take it like we were hunting, I want to go somewhere, sometimes there are obstacles in the way and we can choose to go over or around. If he wants to go over, I allow it. He also respects when I ask him to bring down the speed, or I want to go somewhere else, or not take a jump, its a give and take.
My way of rewarding him is giving him a chance to lead and choose what he wants to do. I do this quite a bit after a good ride for the last month and a half or so, and his manners with me have been improving so much when he knows he gets to have fun too! To him, I think thats a better reward than a pat or treats. He actually never tries to run off with me anymore when we are working, just does his work, and is patient for his reward. We have a great deal of trust in each other now :)
Sometimes that leads to some confusion, finishing one jump, and spotting an opportunity at the next, it happened a few times where he would lock his sights on it, i knew thats where he wanted to go, so I would either steer him toward it, or say, "nope, this way!" "seriously Sarah? Why cant we?" "Yes, this way, we will still have fun" "Ok!" The conversation is never difficult, but sometimes it is hard to say no to a happy horse :)
Well, the weather was sunny, and over 17 degrees. Something we may not get for another 5 months. I would be a fool to miss out on that opportunity. So I took my half hour with an open mind. It was either going to be a short fast work, or a leisurely walk around the valley to survey it for the last time. Bentley's choice!
We trotted a warmup around the fields, and went down to the plateau. Bentley made a beeline for the warmup log, and there was no convincing him otherwise. Ok, I get the point, we will work on our xc jumps today! This is how he talks to me, he is very good about making clear points as to what he wants to do, and what he expects from me. We did the jump from various angles, directions and gaits, until he decided it wasn't worth jumping anymore and just picked up his feet over it instead. "time to move on Sarah, I am not going to let you wimp out today!"
There is another jump in the plateau that I have never tried (ok well theres 2 safe enough ones but one is HUGE and with the new paddock there, we would have a terrible approach, not good for building confidence). The one I am talking about is the tire jump, probably the size of car tires whatever that might be. On a whim, I thought, its a big step up, but lets try it! Its kind of on a funny angle, since it is close to the treeline, so I first approached it going north, away from the treeline, which requires a slight turn then maybe 2 strides in to jump it straight across. No dice, he veered away from it. So I tried it again going toward the treeline, still no luck. We trotted up to it, still wasn't happening. Walked up to it, stopped and took a good luck, then LEAPED over it! Yay! So reapproached going toward the treeline from the long approach at the trot, still didn't want to go over it. Instead of taking a long approach again, I circled to the left, pretty tight, and approached it at an angle. Leaped over it again, a few more times from that direction cantering it this time, and he was jumping it beautifully. Even did it once going away from the treeline. I don't know if it was so much the jump that intimidated him, as it did the approach or the landing, because if we came to the jump straight on, we would have to make a tight turn immediately after, jumping it on an angle means we could ride straight after. Perhaps that's how that jump is supposed to be ridden anyway! Either way, it boosted his confidence immensely.
Heres my very-not-to-scale diagram of our failed and successful approaches:
We went through the gate down to the valley. He stood still while I mounted from the right side, first time ever. Only did it because of the ground slope, but he was very good!
As soon as we were at the bottom of the hill, he took off trotting, but shortly after the fallen logs, he had a large spook and we had a slightly rerouted path. Not sure what he thought he saw! He hasn't spooked in a long time! It was just a sidestep and pivot, and I stayed in the saddle easily. We continued on, long drink in the creek.
Out the other side of the creek, we went to another jump we like doing, its nice and wide and not too tall, very inviting. Trotted right into it, beautiful jump and cantered after. At that point, we decided it would be fun to gallop around and pretend like we were on a real cross country course. We picked a few of our favourite jumps to string in a line, and threw in some new ones too, with lots of nice turns, circles, ups and downs. A few we jumped in both directions. I was amazed at how well we were getting our distances, I didn't think I was rating him too much, but I must have had some impact as I noticed for once I had a good steady grip on the reins (usually I am too nonchalant about riding him and let them just slip through, and make him balance himself) I really didn't think too much about it, I just RODE. I think having the good grip helped him balance and approach with confidence.
Bentley was clearly gaining his confidence too, because several times, I would decide it was time to double back to try a different jump, and he would set his sights on something more challenging, the arguments weren't too difficult to win however, when he learned that I wasn't going to make him stop jumping, just try something different.
Once I did give in to him however. There is one jump that I always look at and think "yikes!" Its not huge, no more than 3 feet is my best guess, but its solid and airy all at the same time. It just looks like a monster. Something about when a big thick log isn't resting on the ground... its far more intimidating than the same size barrels or coops. He wanted to try it, I had to trust him. When we jumped it, it had to be in slow motion, it felt like we were airborne forever. Wow! What a horse!
I wish I could have had ground eyes and a video camera for it. He is still so green, that usually our jumps are awkward and I must stay loose and flexible above him to keep upright, but this jump felt perfect, I would have loved to see what it looked like. Clearly he must be thinking "go big or go home" Maybe "Go big, then go home (and eat mints!)" He certainly put in a great effort, but made the ride so easy. He will do anything for me, and I for him.
All this of course in my endurance saddle with dressage length stirrups. I was lucky I didn't get a pommel in the gut!
Perhaps with hard work all winter, we WILL be able to do some of the pre-training events (jumping courses up to 3') required of the 5 year old young event horse series.
Bentley is going to love whats next in store for him.
*** Edit***
There was some confusion, that Bentley may be running off with me. Not the case! I guess I didnt word it the best way here. If hes feeling good and passes some of the tests I give him, I let him choose where we go and how fast... within reason! That includes many of the jumps. Generally I take it like we were hunting, I want to go somewhere, sometimes there are obstacles in the way and we can choose to go over or around. If he wants to go over, I allow it. He also respects when I ask him to bring down the speed, or I want to go somewhere else, or not take a jump, its a give and take.
My way of rewarding him is giving him a chance to lead and choose what he wants to do. I do this quite a bit after a good ride for the last month and a half or so, and his manners with me have been improving so much when he knows he gets to have fun too! To him, I think thats a better reward than a pat or treats. He actually never tries to run off with me anymore when we are working, just does his work, and is patient for his reward. We have a great deal of trust in each other now :)
Sometimes that leads to some confusion, finishing one jump, and spotting an opportunity at the next, it happened a few times where he would lock his sights on it, i knew thats where he wanted to go, so I would either steer him toward it, or say, "nope, this way!" "seriously Sarah? Why cant we?" "Yes, this way, we will still have fun" "Ok!" The conversation is never difficult, but sometimes it is hard to say no to a happy horse :)
Friday, November 9, 2012
Yoga!
On Monday, I started yoga, for the first time ever.
You may be wondering how someone like me hasnt ever done yoga before. Yes I have had intentions of trying it many times. I even did a little bit of it on the Wii Fit back when we first got that (and before the new toy excitement wore off). For the most part, its been a busy thing. I have packed my schedule so tight, it would explode when opening. This has been for the last... oh... 10 years? Haha.
So I finally got on board, the big push factor was my extreme crookedness since my fall, and the small push was I was able to find a deal for 10 classes at a place along my route home from work.
I warned the instructor "this is my first time" she said "this isn't a beginners class" Of course, when I emailed the studio prior, they said every class was beginner friendly. Oh well.
I kept up surprisingly well. There were certain movements that had me wobbling almost all the way over, but for the most part, I am strong and was able to do them quite well. The instructor has a great roar to her when you get it right "YESSSSSSSS" Of course, I thought all these were for me, being the one who needed the most work, and I'm sure many of them are. Even if they weren't, i pretended they were for me and took the encouragement!
No surprises for the parts of me that are tight or weak. Left side of my ribcage, check, back of my legs, check, ankles, checkaroo, inside of hips - oh boy do they need some opening up! Parts that already kick butt: abs, legs (so long as I don't have to engage the back of them!), arms and shoulders.
Next week, lesson #2!
You may be wondering how someone like me hasnt ever done yoga before. Yes I have had intentions of trying it many times. I even did a little bit of it on the Wii Fit back when we first got that (and before the new toy excitement wore off). For the most part, its been a busy thing. I have packed my schedule so tight, it would explode when opening. This has been for the last... oh... 10 years? Haha.
So I finally got on board, the big push factor was my extreme crookedness since my fall, and the small push was I was able to find a deal for 10 classes at a place along my route home from work.
I warned the instructor "this is my first time" she said "this isn't a beginners class" Of course, when I emailed the studio prior, they said every class was beginner friendly. Oh well.
I kept up surprisingly well. There were certain movements that had me wobbling almost all the way over, but for the most part, I am strong and was able to do them quite well. The instructor has a great roar to her when you get it right "YESSSSSSSS" Of course, I thought all these were for me, being the one who needed the most work, and I'm sure many of them are. Even if they weren't, i pretended they were for me and took the encouragement!
No surprises for the parts of me that are tight or weak. Left side of my ribcage, check, back of my legs, check, ankles, checkaroo, inside of hips - oh boy do they need some opening up! Parts that already kick butt: abs, legs (so long as I don't have to engage the back of them!), arms and shoulders.
Next week, lesson #2!
Busy week!
Sorry for the lack of posts, I have had a busy day both at work and with some stressors at home.
I am just waiting on tying up some loose ends before I post something big.
For now, heres some pictures of my cat who decided to sleep under the covers with us the other night:
I am just waiting on tying up some loose ends before I post something big.
For now, heres some pictures of my cat who decided to sleep under the covers with us the other night:
Monday, November 5, 2012
Sunday's Ride
On Sunday, I had planned for a long ride. DJ was supposed to meet up with me so I could show her around the property. I finished up at work, came home for lunch, and left for the barn at quarter to 1. DJ had to work late :( Oh well, I would just start riding without her, do loops of the field and keep checking in at the barn to see if she arrived.
I spent some time in the plateau working on picking up that canter lead that has been so elusive recently. Let me tell you, it took forever! Eventually, I did something I wouldn't usually do. I let him do the left lead like he prefers, and then asked for the lead change during the canter. What would you know? It worked! Of course, I would have a horse who cant get simple lead changes, but easily gets auto lead changes.
The next time we were down in the plateau, I was working on our trot, as he was getting very L shaped instead of C shaped on our circles. Usually the result of cantering and then trying to trot again. I also know I have a tendency to bring my right shoulder forward only when on that lead and when he himself is getting crooked (making it impossible for me to fix!). I tried to make a conscious effort to use more leg and not curve my shoulder in and down. It was really hard! I remembered what was said in the clinic I watched at the Royal on Friday, to keep my weight in the outside. I made the weight shifts obvious, perhaps more than necessary but it helps to make me get into the habit more naturally. Immediately I noticed a difference, none of the straight neck "slow bolting" I had before, and our circles became round instead of angular. I practiced this doing figure 8s and was wonderful.
At the clinic, I remember Waylon saying something along the lines of "keep asking the right questions, the young horse will make several mistakes, all different, but if you keep asking the right question in the same way, he will figure it out eventually" I think this also works for the rider, and Bentley must know this as hes training me. Was he at that clinic too? Clearly Bentley has been presenting me with challenges to improve my crunching to the side. It has always been the same question, I have tried numerous things to figure it out, and I finally got it! He stayed the same the whole time, allowing me to figure out the problem. Damn smart horse!
I didn't ask for canter at any point after that, our ride had been long and strenuous enough and he clearly needed a long walk. I suspect my weight balance will help with the canter transitions too.\
But why am I having problems now?
I think I can answer that. I think I am still very tight to the one side from my injury. It may not be something I can always feel, but its there and its affecting my posture. The tightness on my left side is forcing my right shoulder in and forward, and my whole body twisting. Now that I have noticed it, it seems like such a huge difference in my position, I cant believe I never noticed it before! Hence why we have had this problem ever since my fall. Whats my solution? I have massage booked again, and I am starting yoga tonight. Lets hope that fixes me up!
I spent some time in the plateau working on picking up that canter lead that has been so elusive recently. Let me tell you, it took forever! Eventually, I did something I wouldn't usually do. I let him do the left lead like he prefers, and then asked for the lead change during the canter. What would you know? It worked! Of course, I would have a horse who cant get simple lead changes, but easily gets auto lead changes.
The next time we were down in the plateau, I was working on our trot, as he was getting very L shaped instead of C shaped on our circles. Usually the result of cantering and then trying to trot again. I also know I have a tendency to bring my right shoulder forward only when on that lead and when he himself is getting crooked (making it impossible for me to fix!). I tried to make a conscious effort to use more leg and not curve my shoulder in and down. It was really hard! I remembered what was said in the clinic I watched at the Royal on Friday, to keep my weight in the outside. I made the weight shifts obvious, perhaps more than necessary but it helps to make me get into the habit more naturally. Immediately I noticed a difference, none of the straight neck "slow bolting" I had before, and our circles became round instead of angular. I practiced this doing figure 8s and was wonderful.
At the clinic, I remember Waylon saying something along the lines of "keep asking the right questions, the young horse will make several mistakes, all different, but if you keep asking the right question in the same way, he will figure it out eventually" I think this also works for the rider, and Bentley must know this as hes training me. Was he at that clinic too? Clearly Bentley has been presenting me with challenges to improve my crunching to the side. It has always been the same question, I have tried numerous things to figure it out, and I finally got it! He stayed the same the whole time, allowing me to figure out the problem. Damn smart horse!
I didn't ask for canter at any point after that, our ride had been long and strenuous enough and he clearly needed a long walk. I suspect my weight balance will help with the canter transitions too.\
But why am I having problems now?
I think I can answer that. I think I am still very tight to the one side from my injury. It may not be something I can always feel, but its there and its affecting my posture. The tightness on my left side is forcing my right shoulder in and forward, and my whole body twisting. Now that I have noticed it, it seems like such a huge difference in my position, I cant believe I never noticed it before! Hence why we have had this problem ever since my fall. Whats my solution? I have massage booked again, and I am starting yoga tonight. Lets hope that fixes me up!
Saturday's ride
I wasn't too sure if I was going to ride on Saturday. To be honest I was still hurting from my stirrupless ride on Wednesday. Yes, I take what I said before back. I hurt and bad! Somehow Thursday was fine, Friday started aching a bit, and Saturday was brutal. Work seemed to last double its usual duration because the pain was all I could think about.
After an intense nap on my lunch break, I felt a bit better and decided to go for it. It seemed to hurt more when I pushed my hips forward like walking or stretching, not when I would keep it at riding angle. So it made sense to catch a ride after work.
Since I had been at the Royal the night before, we missed what I had scheduled in to be a jump day. I was going to just let it be missed, and do a hack instead (Saturday was supposed to be hour walk), but as we came down to the plateau, he perked up and trotted right at the nice inviting log jump. Ok, Bentley wants to jump, we can make it the jump day!
We went over the log a few times, approaching it from both directions at the trot and canter. Then we started doing it more at an angle along a circle. This was building up to the exercise I was planning on doing where you have one jump as the centre of your figure 8 and just go over and over. Its supposed to supple them and also help with steering.
We made our way back to the ring, and did the figure 8 exercise at the trot, starting with large circles and gradually making them smaller over a small crossrail. No cantering of course, we aren't yet happy enough with getting that lead so I wasn't going to start confusing him by switching constantly AND throwing a jump in there!
Once that was done pretty well, I added a second jump as a bounce after the crossrail. Of course, we don't do that on a circle, just as a grid. This was Bentley's first time doing a bounce. We approached at the trot, but didn't have nearly enough impulsion to make a bounce jump, he just took them as raised trot poles. Next time, I pushed him more and he broke into the canter stride, but made it very awkward going through as he clearly thought "why do you want me to jump such tiny things?" Ok, I got the picture. I raised the 2nd crossrail to a vertical and approached at the canter. He made it through but it wasn't pretty, weird hopping and foot placement instead of the jump land jump. A few more awkward tries, and I had to push him on more. But then, like magic, he got it! He was so pleased with himself, he always knows when he figures something out, even before I have the chance to reach down and congratulate him. A few more pops over it, and we were good!
It was nearing dark at that point, Tera asked if we wanted the light on, and to her surprise I said "No I want to ride in the dark" I scooted into the now empty indoor arena to do the jump exercise set up there first. It was a jump, canter ground pole, then a jump. Both were verticals about 18" or 2' Enough to make him maybe try, but nothing too scary to take away from the exercise. I think the poles were set at pony length, because his strides felt very short going through it. The first time, he refused the last jump, again, I don't think we had enough impulsion. The second time and third time through were perfect!
I raised the middle pole to be a jump, so it was a line of 3 jumps set at one collected stride. Somehow, he went perfectly over it the first time. He felt very good being collected, but we still had that impulsion to get over. No laziness there! Very happy with him! He also went perfect the second time over too!
More to be happy about was after all that jumping, we decided to cool out by going for a walk in the field, IN THE DARK! He was very well behaved. No spooking at all. He was looking all around, but no troubles, just walked a little slower and more cautiously than usual.
After an intense nap on my lunch break, I felt a bit better and decided to go for it. It seemed to hurt more when I pushed my hips forward like walking or stretching, not when I would keep it at riding angle. So it made sense to catch a ride after work.
Since I had been at the Royal the night before, we missed what I had scheduled in to be a jump day. I was going to just let it be missed, and do a hack instead (Saturday was supposed to be hour walk), but as we came down to the plateau, he perked up and trotted right at the nice inviting log jump. Ok, Bentley wants to jump, we can make it the jump day!
We went over the log a few times, approaching it from both directions at the trot and canter. Then we started doing it more at an angle along a circle. This was building up to the exercise I was planning on doing where you have one jump as the centre of your figure 8 and just go over and over. Its supposed to supple them and also help with steering.
We made our way back to the ring, and did the figure 8 exercise at the trot, starting with large circles and gradually making them smaller over a small crossrail. No cantering of course, we aren't yet happy enough with getting that lead so I wasn't going to start confusing him by switching constantly AND throwing a jump in there!
Once that was done pretty well, I added a second jump as a bounce after the crossrail. Of course, we don't do that on a circle, just as a grid. This was Bentley's first time doing a bounce. We approached at the trot, but didn't have nearly enough impulsion to make a bounce jump, he just took them as raised trot poles. Next time, I pushed him more and he broke into the canter stride, but made it very awkward going through as he clearly thought "why do you want me to jump such tiny things?" Ok, I got the picture. I raised the 2nd crossrail to a vertical and approached at the canter. He made it through but it wasn't pretty, weird hopping and foot placement instead of the jump land jump. A few more awkward tries, and I had to push him on more. But then, like magic, he got it! He was so pleased with himself, he always knows when he figures something out, even before I have the chance to reach down and congratulate him. A few more pops over it, and we were good!
It was nearing dark at that point, Tera asked if we wanted the light on, and to her surprise I said "No I want to ride in the dark" I scooted into the now empty indoor arena to do the jump exercise set up there first. It was a jump, canter ground pole, then a jump. Both were verticals about 18" or 2' Enough to make him maybe try, but nothing too scary to take away from the exercise. I think the poles were set at pony length, because his strides felt very short going through it. The first time, he refused the last jump, again, I don't think we had enough impulsion. The second time and third time through were perfect!
I raised the middle pole to be a jump, so it was a line of 3 jumps set at one collected stride. Somehow, he went perfectly over it the first time. He felt very good being collected, but we still had that impulsion to get over. No laziness there! Very happy with him! He also went perfect the second time over too!
More to be happy about was after all that jumping, we decided to cool out by going for a walk in the field, IN THE DARK! He was very well behaved. No spooking at all. He was looking all around, but no troubles, just walked a little slower and more cautiously than usual.
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