Tag Archives for half halt

Just a Little Off the Sides Please

388Snip, snip, snip.  Less than two weeks away from our first centerline of the year and it is time to get Ike some spring maintenance.  Be afraid, be very afraid.  Hide your horse if you see me with scissors in hand.  These hands are capable of mass destruction of a mane/tail/forelock with a single snip.

Anyone who knows me knows that grooming is not my forte – you need only look at my hair to know that hair styling is not in my genes.  I admittedly have ridden my horse with just enough of his coat cleaned (read: mud clumps removed) to make room for the saddle, girth, and bridle.  Sometimes I just don’t see the point in spending over an hour grooming and then only have enough time to ride for 20 minutes.  Why not do less brushing and get more saddle time?  Who is going to see me?  The other horses?  The birds?  If it bothers you, then just view us from afar.  Think of it like viewing an impressionist painting.  Up close, it is just a bunch of messy brush strokes.  You have to stand back to truly appreciate the full effect and beauty.  Move over Monet.

While spring is in full force here, the horses who were not shaved for the winter are still shedding their winter coats…everywhere.  I did spend almost an hour the other day currying and brushing.  When I was done, I could still see more winter coat hairs mocking me.  “Ha, ha, you missed me and 1000 of my best friends.  Whatcha going to do now?”  Ride, you little hairy fool, I am going to ride.  Can’t improve my half halt timing or Ike’s rhythm while standing in a stall covered in dirt and hair.

Yes, most days I chose to ride, but with a licensed dressage show looming on the horizon, I really do need to address Ike’s winter length hippie mane.  I have not done squat with it since show season ended last year.  It is at least 6 inches long and his cowlick is quite prominent.  Even that length is too much for my “cheater braids,” so we must thin and shorten those locks to make them manageable.  I honestly do try to use a proper metal, mane comb to thin and shorten the mane, but I quickly tire of the task, and just like with my braids, I look for time-saving short cuts to get me to the endpoint faster.  There aren’t any shortcuts in training if you do things correctly, but grooming is one place that I do try to save some time.  Enter my scissors, plastic thinning comb (http://www.bigdweb.com/PLASTIC-THINNING-COMB/productinfo/244041/) and dollar store thinning shears.  Ta-da!  A shorter mane without the fear of overthinning in one place and not enough in another.  I typically leave the forelock alone or risk the crooked bangs look that I use to sport as a child.

After 40 minutes, my arms tired and Ike got bored with me, so the mane will have to be finished on another day.  I look at it this way, in a way we are a Monet painting to the judge for most of the ride.  We are at least 20-25 feet away from the judge and on the move, so they really don’t have much of a chance to study our mane length or braid quality.  Better that we focus on our movement, rhythm, and transitions since last I checked, there is not a score for quality of grooming….thank goodness!!

Feel the Rhythm, Feel the Beat…Sort Of

463The newest obsession in my life?  Trying to put together a musical freestyle for competition this summer.  Ready or not world, here comes Baby Huey dancing down centerline.  Ike of course is too busy swatting away the early spring flies and renovating the barn to care about this new obsession.  So all the details of the production fall on my shoulders.

I listen to our music while I work; I listen to it in the car; I hum it when I don’t have any other option.  Over and over and over again.  I now understand why it is so important for the rider to like the music as well as having it work with your horse’s gaits.  Who wants to listen to crappy music repeatedly?

I try to imagine which parts of the musical pieces will work best for the choreography I’ve drafted.  We aren’t talking a high degree of difficulty since all we have to work with are Training Level movements – no lateral motion, no canter pirouettes, no flying changes to  jazz things up.  Just basic walk, trot and canter.  With the time constraints placed on the freestyle, plus the compulsory movements required, that doesn’t leave a lot of spare time for extra flair.  We will have to get into the ring, dance and prance, and halt before the clock strikes 5 minutes gone and we turn into a pumpkin and a mouse wearing riding boots.

Ms. C has been pressed into service in this endeavor.  I hijacked our weekly lesson to brainstorm freestyle ideas.  I brought the small CD player from home and set it up on the mounting block.  Even with the volume at the highest setting, it was almost impossible to hear the music if I moved more than 15 meters away from the speakers.  That is going to be a bit of an issue.  Hard to tell if things are working if you cannot hear the music.  Issue number two – even though I know the CD player works just fine indoors and that the CD has no problems when played on the laptop or in the car, when I blasted it outside, it skipped, skipped, and skipped some more.  I would just get our rhythm in time with the music, and it would skip, and then we’d be a half a beat off.  Half halt quickly!  “You are still off the beat – listen for the clap.”  Grr.  Just can’t escape those half halts even while trying to have some fun with music.

Overall, I think Ms. C liked my initial attempt at choreography.  She gave me some great tips to improve it and to also give Ike and I some wiggle room especially with our transitions.  No point setting ourselves up for failure from the start.  By the way, hats off to those who are responsible for writing the regular tests for each of the levels.  I now have a greater appreciation for how difficult it must be when the tests are rewritten every four years.

While all this freestyle planning is fun and interesting, we can’t lose site of the fact that two weeks from Sunday is our first show of the season followed quickly by our second one the following weekend.  If we can’t get the scores we need from the regular tests, all this musical freestyle planning will go no where but home…and the audience there (the hawks, horses, and the barn cat, Annie) aren’t always appreciative of all our hard work.  Guess we will refocus and knuckle down this weekend.

Lesson Tip #345 – Do Not Head Butt Your Trainer

013More importantly, do not let your horse head butt your trainer.  I should have reiterated this lesson to Ike before our weekly lesson with Ms. C.  She was on the ground trying to help me unlock Ike’s jaw so I could achieve a hint of left flexion.  I’m pretty sure he knows what she wants him to do, but like the errant child, he sometimes fights the fight just because he can.  Ms. C kept after him until he finally flinched an inch.  She let go of the rein and the bugger deliberately clunked her with the side of his head.  If I had not witnessed it, I’d say that there was no way he did it on purpose.  Needless to say that he received a stern reprimand from Ms. C.

Ike must be going through a rebellious phase.  The list of transgressions continues to grow.  If he was a high school student, he’d be on Out of School Suspension for a few weeks for his recalcitrant behavior.  So far since the start of the new year, he has chewed the barn’s support beam, destroyed the old boot that we tied in his stall, refused to load on the trailer for the clinic, tried to bite me while tightening the girth, objected to my leg when asked to move, stomped on my foot a couple of times, bolted with me on board, snatched the reins from my hand on a few occasions, and now we can add head butted our trainer.  Sheesh!  I want my quiet, obedient 3-year old back.  Maybe?

While his behavior has been questionable at times, when he does set aside the naughtiness, there is a talented young horse emerging.  This time last year we were lucky if we could trot a circle that approached a round shape; more often than not Ike’s hind end would drift to the outside.  And canter circles?  Forget about it – we definitely only had canter ovals.  Heck, we were lucky if Ike could pick up the correct lead and if we could make the turn on the short end of the arena without me losing a knee.  We had lateral movement last spring only because Ike was so unbalanced and I was not strong enough to stop the sideways drift.

We are definitely coming out of winter this year with more strength and stamina.  Ike’s body is starting to fill out and look less like a gangly giraffe baby.  His back is strong enough to accept some sit trot and to maintain a connection in the canter (at least for most of a circle).  My skill set has improved which may be the best accomplishment from our winter work.  I dare say that my half halt timing is better and even better yet, rather than just slamming on the brakes in our down transitions, I can guide Ike to a smooth down transition where he stays up in his withers and bridle (oh, yeah, use your legs Alison rather than just your reins – dare I say a light bulb moment).

Weather is warming up and we are gearing up for that first centerline of the season – have hight hopes that we might actually hit that 70% mark this season.

Snow, Snow, Go Away

IMAG0270This photo about sums up what Ike thinks of this late winter/early spring snow and cold weather.  Pphhtthhbbbttt!  Just when he decided to start shedding his winter coat, Mother Nature decided to unleash the snow flakes.  How are we supposed to prepare for our upcoming shows when we are grounded by the crappy weather and I’m stuck at home shoveling the sidewalk?  I’d even foolishly loaded up the winter blankets to take them to be cleaned.  Guess I will hold onto them for a few more weeks…my poor car will just have to be perfumed with “eau de horse blanket” for a little longer.

The best thing about snow this time of year is that it doesn’t stick around for long.  Hopefully we will be back in the saddle again Tuesday afternoon when the temperatures return to the 50s.  My recent rides have reminded me how much work there is to get done before show season kicks into high gear.  I set high expectations for myself and Ike.  What can I say – I am a perfectionist at heart and it irks me to get a 6.0 or 6.5 when I know we are capable of 7.0’s and higher.  I’m pretty sure that the judge’s at the licensed show aren’t going to be giving away scores just because Ike is cute.

Our centerlines are still rusty.  We are in good shape until it is time to trot on after our halt.  If I’m not careful, Ike likes to giraffe his neck rather than staying soft in my hands.  “Look over there!  I think there is something I need to see.”  Ugh.  Then we wobble and bobble, and our straight line gets wavy.

Trot circles are okay as long as the rider doesn’t overbend Ike’s neck.  Canter circles are stronger than last year, but there are still days I worry that we might knock over a few rails of the arena.  If Ike gets a bit too forward, then it is debatable on whether or not we will down transition in the right place or just in the general vicinity.  If I half halt too loudly, we trot too early.  If my half halt is too quiet, then we bound along like Tigger for a few extra strides.  Either way we get nailed by the judge.  Boo hiss.  I’m still hoping that dressage scoring considers dropping the high and low scores like ice skating before calculating your final percentage.  Don’t think it is going to happen in the next month, so I’d better keep working.

No progress on show season grooming.  Perhaps that is something I can work on while Ike hides in his stall from the snow flakes.

Keep thinking warm spring thoughts!

Swwwwwiiinnnngggg and Not a Miss

005In case you were wondering how Ike and I did at the ride to music clinic today, I can inform you that I could not be prouder of my big boy.  We came home with three awesome musical selections.  But before I fill you in on the clinic details, I must share that we almost didn’t make it to the clinic.

I arrived at the barn early today since someone decided to take a mud bath yesterday and was too wet and icky to scrub clean.  Great, I love chipping caked on mud out of a winter coat first thing in the morning.  Thank goodness that the luck of the Irish was on my side this morning, because Ike managed to remove most of the mud himself.  He had obviously rolled in his fresh sawdust last night and those lovely chips of wood did a bang up job at removing most of the funk.  After a brief grooming session, we decided to load up early so that we could watch my two friends ride and select their music.  Ike had other ideas, “No, I do not wish to leave the farm today and you can’t make me get on the trailer.”

That is right, someone showed off his mule genes for almost 45 minutes.  I had to dig deep into the recesses of my memory to remember all the lessons that Mr. Revelle taught us last year: do not back away or walk away from the trailer, use the stud chain appropriately, reward any effort, say “load up” as you lightly tap the hind end with the whip (note to self – purchase a longer piaffe whip or have arms stretched to reach the go button on the back-end), remind Ike that the only correct answer is to get on the trailer….I seriously thought that we weren’t going to make it on time if at all.  Finally, Ike sighed and calmly walked on.  Huh?  Why all the fuss???  He would not share his rationale.

Made it in time to see one of my friends ride and select their music.  It is a fascinating process.  Mr. Matson first establishes your beats per minute at the walk, trot, and canter.  He then looks through his 1400+ musical selections and finds music with the correct beat.  The music is played.  Both the rider and the audience give feedback.  No, just not right.  Yes, that works.  No, that overpowers the horse.  The selections are narrowed and the rider gets the ultimate say.  Amazingly, you could tell when the rider and horse liked the music – things flowed easily and beautifully.

Then it was our turn.  I let Mr. Matson know that Ike was young at that we were not always consistent with our rhythm and tempo.  He said not to worry, we would have music.  I’m still thinking that we will get Pan Banging Baby music.  So after our warm up, he had us ride on a circle around him while he used his electronic metronome to establish our beats per minute.  Beep, beep, beep.  Okay, time to pick music.

First up, the trot.  Amazingly enough, the first piece worked and worked well.  Was that really that easy?  Yes, yes it was.  Turns out, Ike likes swing music.  We tried a few other pieces, but the first one was spot on.  The walk was next and finally the canter.  I have to say, I love our canter music.  All three pieces are swing – I guess it is in keeping with his namesake, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a five-star general during the 1940s when swing music became prominent.

So we came home with our music, now comes the hard part for this non-musical person – editing the pieces and creating the musical freestyle that meets the USDF requirements as well as our limited Training Level abilities.  Stay tuned!

Alison

p.s.  Big man walked right on the trailer to go home.  Good thing, I don’t think I had enough energy for another epic battle.

The Zombie Apocalypse Has Reached the Barn

008Ms. C called me late Sunday afternoon and asked what we did to Ike while she was away teaching.  She said he was a zombie and just wanted to be left alone – completely out of character from his normal demands for all her attention and any treats she might have on her person.  We are hopeful that he will be unable to “infect” any of the other horses while they are sleeping in their stalls, but if things start to get out of hand, I will notify my readers as soon as possible so that you can arm yourselves and shelter in place.

Ike’s catatonic-state was brought about by his busy weekend.  It has been a while since his social calendar was so full.  Our weekly lesson with Ms. C was pushed to Saturday since it took a few days to melt the ten inches of snow that fell at the barn on Wednesday.  We still had to work around some snow piles, but most of the ring was workable enough to have our lesson Saturday morning.  Sunday was Ike’s first off-property event of 2013.  We had a clinic with Rebecca Langwost-Barlow at a local barn…very glad that the snow didn’t stick around and force us to miss the clinic.  Also very glad that Ike remembered his trailering skills from last year and walked on the trailer without too much fuss or protesting.

It is interesting to me that despite the different methods of teaching and explaining the concepts, both Ms. C and Becky had the same message to me that boils down to, “Stop pulling the reins backwards and start riding forward to your hands.”  I don’t mean to pull back and quite honestly don’t realize that I am doing it until an instructor points it out during a lesson.

My over-reliance on my inside rein has been well documented in my blog posts.  [Alison:inside rein :: Linus:security blanket]  It is one of those bad habits that I should have considered giving up for Lent.  I’ve heard “inside leg to outside rein connection” over and over, yet when Ike gets strong, I digress back to my happy place.  And yes, I know that by stifling the neck and shoulder by constantly pulling backward, the hind leg can’t really step up and under Ike’s body.  When others ride, I can easily spot when the rider overuses their inside rein.  I am aware that you straighten the horse off the outside rein.  It doesn’t seem to matter what my brain knows, the pulling is now an involuntary movement.  It is going to take strong measures to stop it.  Maybe I am the zombie and someone needs to whack me in the head?  Who wants to take a swing?

What Do You Have if You Don’t Have the Basics?

011As I watched someone at work hunt and peck at their keyboard today, I started thinking, “How is it that they don’t know the basic skill of typing?”  When I was in high school, I thought it was a silly waste of time to sit at a typewriter (I’m showing my age again) and learn where to put my fingers.  QWERTY was one of those things you memorized in order to pass your typing test, not a really bad computer password that is easily hacked.  Now, I am so very thankful that I spent that time learning to type.  These days, it seems like one of those necessary and basic skills that everyone should know, but I guess I am wrong.

It also seems that in riding, as in the rest of life, people sometimes bypass the basics in order to rush up the levels to learn the “tricks.”  I mean, who doesn’t want to ride one tempis on the long diagonal or a canter pirouette at X?  But without the basic skills for you and your horse, don’t you really miss the point of dressage?  Where is the harmony between rider and horse if you are constantly butting heads to maintain a trot or canter rhythm?  The classic dressage training scale (the one below was published by USDF) is pretty clear where we need to start.

Pyramid_of_training

Without good rhythm and relaxation, can you really find a steady connection?  If you are riding your horse front to back instead of developing the thrust from behind, do you really have impulsion?  I am still a dressage neophyte, but even I know that without the basic skills, you are going to have holes in your education that will come back to bite you later.  A tense rider leads to a tense horse which translates to short, choppy strides and a hard back.  And depending on your skill set and your horse’s age/talent/mental state/physical limitations, some might take a bit longer to establish those basic skills.

Ms. C and I spend hours working on the basics with Ike.  She stresses that we need to teach him to use his back correctly, maintain contact, and develop the push from the hind end.  She is always asking me what I think of Ike’s rhythm in each gait and expects that I will use my half halts effectively to adjust when Ike gets too quick and rushed.  “Why aren’t you half halting?” “Um, I don’t know.”  Yes, yes, the newbie’s mistake of going on cruise control instead of constantly monitoring the situation and making minor adjustments to establish a better rhythm with a steadier connection.

As with every young horse and clueless rider, some days are better than others.  Some days we seem to click and all flows.  Other days we struggle horribly and I go home exhausted and demoralized after fighting with Ike to establish a steady connection.  He likes to hang on the bit sometimes and it takes all my strength to half halt loudly enough for him to pick himself up.  Ike also likes to snatch the reins from my hands rather than accepting contact.  We are all over the place while cantering: big boy runs through the contact one day and then canters like a First Level horse the next.  It is this inconsistency that forces us to remain at Training Level for now and basically, I am okay with that.

Well Played Ike, Well Played

003So who isn’t busy these days!?  I keep constant lists of things that need to be done at work, at home, and in the yard.  List of gifts to buy and people to call.  I have shopping lists and menu plans to use the food that I purchased before it goes bad.  I have lists of show dates and the dates that entries open.  I keep a small notebook in my purse at all times so that I can jot down something at any time – sort of old-fashioned that way – I’ve tried some of the phone apps, but none are as convenient as my little notebook with its tattered edges.  The lists help keep me focused and efficient.  It is the only way I can manage to fit everything in and still get some sleep so I can function and do it all over tomorrow.

Between a full-time job, three dogs, family time, housework, yard work and all the other activities of a middle-aged woman, I try as best I can to fit in my barn time.  Barn time is a precious commodity.  Some weeks I manage to make it to the barn five or six days and ride four or five of them.  Other weeks, life intervenes and I only ride two or three times.  Some would say that isn’t enough time to progress; I say to them, we will progress, just at a slower pace.  Think of the proverbial race between the tortoise and the hare…

Since barn time is limited, I try to keep my tack organized and my grooming routine as short as possible to maximize saddle time.  That is my game plan.  My horse however likes to derail those plans from time to time to remind me that I cannot control everything though I try and try.

Temperatures have started a warming trend which means that since Ike is not clipped, he can’t wear his winter sheets and blankets.  That leaves a very large mass exposed to the elements….and by elements…..I mean the M-U-D.  Yes, that is right, mud season has already started in the mid-Atlantic region.  Ike decided that he should partake of this early spring mud to “condition” his coat.  Except for the front of his head and his ears, almost every square inch of his hulking body was covered with caked, dried mud.  So much for more saddle time.  By the time he was clean enough to ride, I was dirty enough to not want to ride.  Well played Ike.

While my time in the saddle was going to be limited, I was going to get in the saddle.  Lucked out that the four-wheeling children were not out terrorizing the neighborhood, so Ike and I had a productive 30 minutes.  Started out long and low at the walk and trot to really get Ike to stretch over and use his back.  I then picked him up and worked on our square turns, circles, shallow loops and centerline turns.  Hmm, those centerlines are a bit wavy right now.  Need to start practicing them more to get back into show shape.  If I am going to fork over almost $180 for two tests at a licensed show ($40/test+drug fee+office fee+GAIG fee+haul in/stall fee), we’d better bring our A-game.  Our circles are good since we use them regularly, but our shallow loops are too abrupt rather than flowing.  Will add those to the list of things to practice.  And speaking of practice, Ike and I finished our ride by practicing Training Level Test 1.   Overall, I’d say we gave a 63-65% effort.  I think I remembered it from last year which is one less thing to add to my list.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow is more time in the saddle and less grit in my mouth.

Dig Out the Coggins, Show Season is Almost Here!

005Yes, it is true.  Show season in Virginia gets rolling the first weekend in April.  Yikes!  It seemed like I had a lot more time to prepare for the season to come.  I am still trying to work my way through my list of pre-season show preparations (the trailer is inspected and partially cleaned), but ready or not, it is time to dust off the USEF and USDF cards, dig out the Coggins, and write the checks.

Reality is setting in that I have committed myself to the licensed shows to try to qualify for the USDF/GAIGs Regional Championships.   Uh, was that the right thing to do?  My last foray into the licensed show world was a debacle of epic proportions.  I wasn’t even trying to qualify for regionals; I just wanted to get enough scores for All Breeds.  Cigar had other plans.  We made it to enough shows to get the necessary number of scores, but when you have to excuse yourself from the ring for your horse’s misconduct at least once at every show, then getting the needed scores is darn near impossible.  Thank you Cigar.  You might as well have just eaten the money that I spent on that class…I shouldn’t say that – he probably would have eaten the money (Note to new readers:  He did eat a $50 bill before one of my lessons and never gave change.  Stinker).

So, although our first planned shows aren’t until the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May, entries open next week.  That means that I need to decide what tests to ride.  One thing I have decided is that even though the shows are both two-day shows, Ike and I will only do one day each weekend.  He is just turning 5 on April 30th and I think it would be unfair to expect him to do two full weekends back-to-back.  He might be big, but he is still a baby in so many ways.

Now back to the decision of which tests to ride – Training Test 1, Test 2, or Test 3?  We need two qualifying scores (63% or greater) from Test 3 in order to qualify.  Test 3 does have the most canter work with the dreaded canter turn onto the long diagonal with a down transition at X.  While we ended last season with scores for Test 3 in the high-60’s, I fully expect our scores to be lower at the licensed shows.  I think the game plan right now is to do Test 1 and Test 2 at the first show, and then Test 2 and Test 3 the following weekend.  Once we see where we stand after those tests, I can decide how to proceed at the next show in June or go back to schooling shows if Ike decides to follow in his big brother’s footsteps.

Keeping fingers crossed that Ike can bring some glory back to the family.

I am Goldilocks?

011So it is Sunday night and I really don’t have much to say.  Why?  Because somehow I have not been in the saddle since Friday.  Friday was an awesome day to ride.  Temperature was near 60 degrees and the sun was shining – one of those Goldilocks kind of days – not too hot and not too cold, but just right.  The weatherman told us that we were going to get snow Friday night into Saturday morning with snow showers all day Saturday.  I hear there was a dusting of snow north of us and some heavy snow showers south of us, but we received nothing.  Not a single flake.  I wish I could be that wrong at my job and still have a job.  Geez.  We did have cold rain Saturday morning and crazy cold winds today.

Am I becoming a bit of a Goldilocks in my old age?  I mean I could have ridden yesterday since it was just cloudy by the time I made it to the barn, but I opted to love on the boys and hand out treats instead…I could have layered up and ridden today, but opted to just hand walk Ike instead of wrestling with my tack and the stiff, cold leather.  Is it a bad thing to be a bit of a fair weather rider?  I’ve done my fair share of bad weather riding.  I’ve been mounted when it started snowing, sleeting and raining.  Been on my horse when the lightening started lighting up the sky.  Had the runny nose and tearing eyes from pollen or cold winds.  Had numb fingers and toes and chapped lips.  Almost suffered heat stroke in the middle of the summer.  I have decided that it is more than okay to be a weather wimp.

Before the cold weather returned, Ike and I had a great ride on Friday.  I love the rides where everything flows.  Transitions are easy.  There is no nagging to get the rhythm I want.  My half halts seemingly are given at the right moment.  I would like to say that Ike and I are starting to “get it.”  Instead of being a horse and a rider, we are partners.  What an amazing feeling that is.  We will continue to have our Goldilocks days where I do too much or too little when asking for an up transition or my half halt is more like a halt.  I will continue to wimp out on the really cold days, but I promise that this rider will continue, in spite of the weather, to swing her leg over Ike’s back to be the best she can be, runny nose and cold toes and all.