Dressage doesn’t have to hurt to be right

Like most eventers, I think of dressage as the icky wall of fire that I have to pass through to earn entrance on to the cross-country course.  Or maybe it’s just me.  Anyway, this weekend we did a sort of mini-clinic with USDF Certified Instructor Camilla Fritze at the gorgeous Whitethorne Ranch up in Somis that may change my mind about dressage.  It was - dare I say it? – actually a lot of fun!

The two days were terrific, with Camilla taking the time with both Carolyn & I to work out whatever issues we had picked for the day.  Day one was naturally the most interesting.  While Junior had a brief turn out on Friday & Sat before we left, due to high wind/faint hearted mummy Reese spend Fri in his stall and had a brief turn out on Sat.  All things considered, both boys were great, but it was the first time I’ve ever felt like Reese was running off with me!  I didn’t really think the tiny little dressage rails would keep him contained but ultimately we managed to stay in the arena.

Here’s some of the homework we took away from the weekend that we can continue to play with on our own:

Rhythm: Numero uno on that Dressage Pyramid thing and in Camilla’s lesson’s as well.  Establish your rhythm – key point, YOUR rhythm, don’t just follow the horse – and keep it no matter what.  The rhythm needs to match the horse’s stride so for a horse like Junior, who hasn’t learned to use his front legs yet, the rhythm might seem painfully slow until he figures his shoulders out.  Don’t assume that a faster rhythm will get you a better gait; it may just come off as rushy rather than more energetic.  It’s too bad that Garmin doesn’t make a watch that makes the tick of a metronome so people like me who are rhythmically challenged (you do NOT want to see me on the dance floor with less than 3 drinks in me) wouldn’t have to conquer genetics AND riding all in one fell swoop!

Don’t obsess about his head:  Trying to fake dressage by working with your horse’s head down when he really isn’t coming through doesn’t accomplish anything.  Camilla’s focus was on rhythm first and usually, eventually, once the horse kept a steady rhythm with equal, steady contact on both reins, they were more willing to work through their back and naturally lower their head to the dressage picture we all carry around in our heads. 

Turn the shoulder, not the nose:  Simple concept that I’m sure every instructor has tried to ingrain in me since I put a foot in a stirrup but somehow the way Camilla phrased it really made it pop.  I could give a little reminder “hello” with the inside rein if need be but for the most part, but focusing on turning the shoulder/feet and not the head I reduced (not eliminated – please!) the amount of times that I lost his shoulder in a turn. 

Sitting (or stepping) in: This sounds much easier than it is, but was pretty transformational for a horse like Reese, aka Captain Klutzy, who throws you to exactly the spot where he doesn’t want you to sit.  Trying to break it down in simple terms (‘cause that’s all I remember!) you want your outside seat bone over their outside leg, while putting weight in your inside stirrup.  You’re not leaning in (though sometimes it felt like it) but you should feel more pressure on the inner thigh of your outside leg.  (At least until you get used to riding this way.)  Make sense?  Think about it next time you ride and it might suddenly become clear. I had to think of it not just around the turns, but with every single stride, particularly on his oh so sensitive right lead.  It was amazing how much straighter it made him.  Which leads to…

The straighter the horse, the stronger the engine:  With his engine/hind end really behind us, Reese’s gaits felt even stronger and he was able to lengthen out just a little bit. 

The connection mystique:   While I wouldn’t go so far as to say we accomplished true connection by DQ standards, Camilla did make it easy to understand the feel of having your horse in both your reins.  Another one of those concepts that sounds easier than it is, but boy when you had it, the horses looked and felt like a million bucks.  Bottom line: you have to get the horse to accept both reins before any dressage magic can happen. 

Look straight ahead: Years of trying over come the beginner habit of looking at my horse’s ears has gotten me (and most of you out there if I had to guess) into the equally bad habit of looking too far ahead.  Every time I looked through his ears to maybe 5 or 6 strides ahead, the turns just flowed in perfect(ish) balance.  When I turned my head too early, I couldn’t help but throw my hips one way or the other and my little house of cards of balance/rhythm/ came crashing down.   As much a part of me as putting my heels down, this habit may prove to be a tough one to break, but it was really obvious how much of a difference it made.  

Staying in balance with your horse:  For me, this was actually one of the toughest concepts to wrap my head around.  Shoot, you’re in a jump saddle you lean a bit forward, you’re in a dressage saddle and you lean a little bit backwards, right?  If only life were that easy… Camilla pointed out the importance of staying in balance with your horse rather than slavish devotion to the idea of sitting upright for dressage.  Yes, your shoulders should always be open (or your collarbones opening up, or your spine pushed into your body, or your shoulder blades touching, however you need to picture it) but if your horse has fallen a bit on his forehand, go with him and slowly rebalance him.  Sticking with the sitting upright no matter what he’s doing only makes it harder to regroup and after all, this is a partnership like a dance, not a wrestling match.   (Ok, I came up that last little bit up as a way for me to think of it.  I sincerely doubt Camilla has ever seen a wrestling match, nonetheless referenced it in a dressage lesson!) 

And finally….

Intent:  It sounds weird and all new agey, but it’s amazing how much simply focusing your intention on what you want makes a difference.  Having a clear picture in my head of what I wanted made it easier for Reese, me or both of us to understand and therefore achieve the goal.  And while I may not always be able to police myself on whether I’m in rhythm, balance, sitting in or having him in both reins, I can control what my little pea brain is focusing on (mostly)! 

Thanks again to Camilla for a great weekend and the folks at Whitethorne Ranch who could not have been nicer.   

Day 3 Ram Tap HT: Rain, rain go away...aw, screw it

After a brilliant, albeit it chilly, Saturday I found it hard to believe all those predictions of rain on Sunday.  Come on, what have they got, radars or something that tell them when clouds are coming in?

Needless to say we woke up at 5 to see it pissing rain outside.  Again, thank you Holiday Inn Express for sending us on our way with coffee, warm bacon, eggs and biscuits!  We got up to go to the barn anyway for Nahmi's cross country round on Simon.  We looked at the horse, we looked at the footing (as much as one can in the pitch black).  Discretion being the better part of valor, Nahmi decided that she'd be just as happy not running cross-country. Like any good Hobbit, we went back to the hotel for second breakfasts of fresh baked cinammon rolls.  Ironically, Sherry reports that the announcer kept calling out, "Nahmi Jones on Simon the Likable clear at fence three" etc. until "Nahmi Jones and Simon the Likable finish with a clean score."  How awesome is that - Nahmi got to stay in bed AND have a clean round in the rain?  I just feel bad for the poor bugger who actually rode and never heard their name called!

We came back to the Ram Tap to help Sherry and Poznan get dressed for their go.  By then it had stopped raining but the wind was still blowing up big pony's skirt.  Quite by accident, Sherry discovered that what Poznan really needs as a warm up is a good, brisk 10 minute gallop around the warm up area.  Unfortunately, he decided to do it all on his own.  One replacement set of reins later and Sherry was back in the irons (leg ups for your wife are definitely your domain, Brent) and doing lovely over some warm up fences.  A little coaching from Nahmi and she was on her way. 

Nice fashion statement, Nahmi!

Are those Pony Club clean?

It was a gorgeous round fit for a movie.  The first few fences were a bit slow, making the round as they disappeared over the hill a real cliff hanger.  Would Sherry kick him into the next gear and avoid time faults?  Or would she stay safe & secure in hunter land?  As they popped out of the water over the hill, the answer was clear.  Poznan thundered proudly around the last third of the course and came in at the perfect time. 

Another irony in life -- with all the techno-gadgets at her disposal (see the app reference in the last entry) to ensure she was running on time, Sherry ended up going by mostly feel.  

Dear Santa: Nahmi needs new windshield wipes for Christmas

We went out to celebrate the day with lunch, only to hear reports of ice on the Grapevine forming around three o'clock.  Not nearly enough time for us to get over it before that happens.  We changed our orders to lunch to go and headed out the door and on the road.  Fortunately, all we found was snow near the Grapevine but no ice on it.  Still, we end up home before 6pm and cocktails served before 7.  All in all, a successful weekend!

Ram Tap November Horse Trials - Sat 11/19/11

A new day dawning

So very, very proud of both Sherry & Nahmi today!  They're both showing commando style -- no, not that kind of commando.  They're both wearing underwear, but are showing without the help of a professional trainer to coach them in warm up.  Relying on their own skills acquired from hard work all year (life?) long, experience from past shows, and helpful notes/suggestions from trainers Susan Friend, Gina Economou and the ever awesome Brian Sabo, they're doing it on their own and really shining.

It's really inspiring to see them showing "without a net" as it were, flying or falling on their own wits.  At the end of the day, isn't that what we all should be able to do? Not at every show, but if the point of showing is testing your own mettle (and for the kind of $$$ it better not be for the .98 ribbon) we all should consider doing this on our own from time to time.  Just a thought...

Hair club for geldings?

Anyway, back to the ladies: of course Sherry had to be an over achiever, scoring the lowest dressage score of the entire show with a 20.  (For non-eventers, our sport is like golf, the lowest score wins.)  Nahmi had a really great, relaxed, flowing ride on the folliclely challenged Simon - see braid pic) and scored one of their best tests at a 35.  I was really happy not just with her ride, but her terrific attitude of looking at this as a building kind of test.  She achieved what she set out to do - bring a relaxed partnership into the arena - and will continue to push from there.  Considering it was such a brisk, chilly day that even the judge commented on it, that was quite an accomplishment for Simon!

Fortunately, the dawn's arctic breeze blew the gray, overcast sky away to give us a brilliantly sunny late morning for show jumping.  Simon's round continued on the same theme of learning and growing.  They had a rail and some time faults, so I suppose on paper it doesn't look as successful as rounds from previous shows, but Nahmi was extremely happy with the outcome and rightfully so.  Simon wanted to be a pisser in the warm up, but as Brian says she choose to disagree with his choice to lengthen to the fence with her upper body, resisting the urge to pull or or lock up her elbows.  Guess what, it worked!  In the arena, they rode straight to the fences, Nahmi's form was awesome, she made choices to get Simon to particular spots and achieved those goals.  A few wide turns turned out to be costly time wise but she had goals and met them -- what else could you ask for?

Poznan proved to be interesting and entertaining to watch in the warm up.  Every time another horse would jump a jump towards him, he went leaping about the place putting poor Sherry's back to the test.  At one point he nearly went over a coffin combination that was next to the warm up arena in his exuberance to show his disdain of other horses & riders.  All the rails stayed in the cups - good Lord, he cantered over one or two instead of jumping them - but they did have time faults thanks to his laid back style.  If only he was the over achiever that his mummy is...  Since her one and only goal was to finish with no time faults, Sherry was disappointed, but it's kind of hard to feel sorry for someone sitting in first place! :)

Sorry, no pics of rides as I was busy with the video camera.  Maybe videos to follow if Carolyn will be kind enough to link them here?  

Have to say, once again Ram Tap's staff and the facility make the unpredictable weather worth enduring.  The jump course was challenging but not daunting, the footing in remarkably good shape and everything running pretty much on time and according to plan.  For those who know me well, you know that the thing nearest and dearest to my heart is the bathroom situation.  Happy to report after touring nearly every port-o-potty on the place that they were all clean, had paper, had hand sanitizer and all in all a pleasure to use.  Thank you Ram Tap!

We walked the cross-country courses with a new companion - the course walking app.  (Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the word "app"?  It sounds like a burp gone wrong, but I digress.)  More on that later in another blog entry but clearly we weren't the only ones out there with this handy new device that measures the course and gives you minute markers as you walk.  Hard to tell, however, it people were using the app or just texting while walking.... (if you zoom in on the pic, you can just barely see it at work.) 

On a very sad note, our dear friend Larry Sawyer lost his eventing partner Caboose today. More than just a successful Intermediate and one star competitor with Auburn Brady in the irons, he was a friend and will be missed. 

November Ram Tap Horse Trials - Friday, 11/18/11

It's freezing, it has rained/is about to rain/just rained and windy -- it must be Ram Tap in November!

When we left LA, it was chilly and foggy so to be fair, crummy weather isn't really Fresno's fault.  On the upside, the Ram Tap showgrounds were, as always, really well organized and the folks who run the show were super friendly when we checked in.  Nahmi and I got Simon the Likable settled in and shortly after, Sherry arrived in the rolling Taj Mahal with his majesty Poznan.

The ladies hacked around a bit while I snuggled in the nose of Nahmi's trailer bundled up in her (purple, of course) sleeping bag on her surprisingly comfy new mattress.  With the shorter days, Sherry and Nahmi both ended up braiding by head-light - literally, with those little miner helmet lights you were on your head. If you show and braid your own horse, this is an invaluable little gadget to have.  Thank God Carolyn owns one so Nahmi could borrow it! :)

Working all day made the steaks that Sherry was gracious enough to grill out on her awesome BBQ that much tastier.  While it looked like way too much food, magically it was all gone by the end of dinner.  (If you look closely you can see Sherry's malibu & firefly lights twinkling - does she know how to do horse shows or what?) Great company and the traditional horse show round (or two) of cocktails almost made you forget how freakin' cold it was!  Well... that and we all piled inside Sherry's warm, cozy living quarters for after dinner toast before Nahmi and I made our way to our hotel.

If you've been to Ram Tap before, you know the hotel choices are either a dump next to a crack house or something that's pretty pricey & farther away.  Behold the new destination hotel for anyone going to Ram Tap -- The Holiday Inn Express on Kathryn Ave.  I shouldn't even be publicizing it for fear that the rooms will fill up all that much faster but who am I kidding, this blog doesn't have that big of a following!  Don't know what the price is since, being a mere groom it came as part of my payment package, but I'm in love with the hotel.  The beds are firm but comfy, the staff really helpful and most of all FOOD!  The gentleman in charge of such things had the continental breakfast ready - and I mean coffee, sausage, eggs, the whole nine yards - by the time we left on Sat. morning at 5:30!!  Usually hotels get kind of pissy when you ask if they can open a little earlier than their 7 a.m. posted time so we can have a little sustenance to face the long days at shows.  Not only was food ready, the young man was pleasant, eager to please and downright chipper!  This happened not just one morning but both days!  I am officially in love...

Allowing Mistakes

Mistakes Happen!

By Carolyn Bahr

 It’s okay to fail. 

Mistakes can be good. 

Without fear, there is no courage.

The last was spoken to me by eventing legend, James Wofford.  I had just had the privilege to be the first and only rider to part ways with her horse on day one of a three-day clinic at Eventful Acres.  It was a spectacular fall, with my green horse, Junior, managing to duck out in a one stride gymnastic line of three oxers.  I got up, dusted myself off, mounted, and tried again.  His words help me ditch my embarrassment, self-recrimination, and yes, stage fright in riding with Mr. Wofford.

Perfection Rarely Happens

Being a closet perfectionist control freak (or not so private if you talked to fellow eTwisters), this summer was pivotal in my growth as a rider.  Discovering that perfect isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be, that sometimes, allowing mistakes can be the biggest learning experience of all.  Which was true for both my horse and me.

Most Eventers know teaching your green horse to have a “fifth” leg is necessary for both horse and rider.  The ability of your equine partner to save your ass is essential for safety and competitiveness, especially for an amateur.  But in order to achieve it, you have to be willing to give up control and allow your horse to make mistakes so he can learn.

Because, guess what?  No one is perfect, neither horse nor rider.  I really hate that.  I found that out at the clinic.  It was impossible for me not to rate Junior to the fences, especially when he came out like a fire breathing dragon.  And of course, the hotter and stupider he became, the worse I rode.  Talk about a never-ending cycle of embarrassment.  But I did learn from it.  The times I managed to shut my over-active brain down and do what Jimmy asked, Junior improved and I grew in my horsemanship.

Getting It Done

It wasn’t the weekend I was expecting, but it was probably the weekend I needed. 

The clinic was a second in my lessons learned this summer.  The first was riding my horse in his first recognized competition.  I didn’t want to do it.  I normally would have had a professional ride him first.  I was afraid I’d mess up and give my boy a horrible ride and wreck him somehow.  You know, the one ride that would ruin him forever?  It took an amazing amount of faith in my trainer, Susan Friend Le Tourneur, and fellow eTwisters, bashing me upside the head, telling me I could do this, that I sent my entry in as rider.

Learn From Our Mistakes

Did Junior place as high as he could have with a professional in the irons, most likely not.  Did my confidence shoot skyward when in a class of 16, I managed to finish in 6^th place on my dressage score and just three time penalties.  Absolutely!  By allowing myself the room to fail, I accepted a challenge and let go of some control.

Allow mistakes.  Give it a try.  It just might be good for you.

Day 3 XC Day

by Nahmi Jones

Master Instruction

Cross country is dressage at a high rate of speed.

Rushing to get ready to ride is a recurrent anxiety dream for me. I do my best to give myself plenty of time to get ready for important events, so I can tack up and warm up methodically and calmly. But the early morning beat the heat schedule on cross country morning, maximum green spot abatement and fussing with Susan's borrowed air vest for the first time and oh no!! suddenly we were late for the fun of cross country day at the Wofford clinic!! Rushing through my warm up was no way to lull the fire breathing dragon into submission.

Jimmy pointed out that my strategy of throwing my shoulders back, standing in the stirrups and hauling on the bit was probably not the most efficient way for me to put on the brakes in the inviting open spaces of Eventful Acres. He had me practice instead holding 2 point position while asking for downward transitions to the halt and all the way through the reinback, just as he describes in the current issue of Practical Horseman.

He suggested a single bridge as my fire breathing dragon is rather strong. That way Simon pulled against himself and not me. He reminded us that just like in dressage, we need to be quick to reward and release the pressure on the reins once the horse softens, even at speed.

When I stabilized my shoulder position and found better body balance, Simon was happy to oblige with more sensitive brakes and we both got a little softer between the fences. Fire breathing dragon placated for the moment.

Simon was brave and bold and definitely up for the challenge of Rod's Intro to Prelim course. The gentle progression in degree of difficulty at the bank, ditch and skinny combinations gave me confidence when we moved up to the prelim sized questions. By the time we got to the water complex we were ready to tackle the whole exercise without any rehearsal. Jimmy's comment? See how much fun Prelim can be on this horse?

I finished the weekend confident and satisfied and clear on what areas I need to improve on at home. It is rumored that Jimmy might have mentioned Simon and Kilkenney's names in the same sentence. Whoa boy, I'm really going to have to get my homework done and raise my game. The fire breathing dragon's going to extra cocky if he gets wind of that kind of nod from the master.

When we were finished, after Simon was hosed off and iced, we snuck into the perfectly manicured Stadium arena for a post XC roll. Up drove Rod in his gator. Uh oh Simon, we're busted for screwing up the footing! But no, Rod just chuckled, "Spoiling your Ferrari? Good, he deserves it!"

Thanks Rod. Good job pony. I hope we can do it again next year!

Day 2 Stadium Jumping

by Nahmi Jones

When you feel nothing....add

Jimmy's sage advice for Simon

Jimmy's lectures are free form which is cool. He opens the floor for questions about anything that is on our minds. Today's lecture led to a discussion about seeing one's distance.

To paraphrase his take on the subject: If you feel the fence leaning away from you, you're going to be long, better add leg. If you feel the fence leaning towards you, you're going to be short, better half halt. Then every once in a while, it just feels sweet and you don't have to do anything to get to the fence and its a good day.

But what if you feel nothing? Then you're on the perfect half stride kid.

Isn't it wonderful when you can take what you just learned in lecture and apply it to your riding to solidify the learning process the very same day? Yeah, grrreat.

We warmed up for stadium jumping and started to string together a course in Jimmy's ring of related distances. I was just getting over the pucker effect caused by facing a whole course of Prelim sized fences when on the approach to the second line....nothing, yup I felt nothing.

My solution to the nothing feeling was to drop my shoulders and pray--Simon, please get us out of this!--oops...no surprise...no go. And this was how I demonstrated for the class what the perfect half stride looks like. Jimmy pointed out that we get that nothing feeling because our brains can't sort out whether we're long or short on the perfect half stride and that the solution is to fill up the empty feeling with ANOTHER STRIDE. Ok, got it Jimmy, another stride, not prayer.

We went on to complete the exercise in the ring of related distances. There was a 4,5 and 6 stride line set up in a ring and we were to connect them with circles in between each line. This simple stadium course allowed us to practice asking for the correct leads over the fences, adjusting stride length in lines with related distances, and balancing in the turns (or in Simon's case, regaining some semblance of control), all the details we were going to need to have a clean, flowing stadium round.

I finished the day with the wonderful, confident feeling of staying softly connected with my horse as he stepped lightly over a series of large fences. And lots more details to add to the homework list.