My barn is a mix of riders, hunter/jumpers, jumpers, ex-eventers, dressage riders... we all warm up our horses a little differently and attack each ride with a different frame of mind. It's interesting to see how that pans out with each horse. I would say that Emily and I are most aligned in the kind of training we do with our horses... and mostly that's because she's my trainer. Though, I owe an awful lot to my former instructor too, she gave me a great basis for everything I've accomplished today.
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| Video still: Practicing our dressage test, this is our change of rein across the diagonal. And hey look, my elbows bend! |
Riley is at the point in his life where I can expect a little more from him with every ride. We try to keep our weeks looking like this: one hack day (sometimes with a little real work in the ring) -- hack day can include hill work, canters, or just a nice cruise around for a few miles, a jump school, a trainer ride, and a flat ride. Generally, Emily will ask me if I want her to work on anything specifically during the training ride and we come up with a game plan together. We jump on good footing so I don't think it's unfair to jump him twice a week (especially since we're not doing anything big).
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| More test work: 20 meter-ish circle (this is where he's getting too deep in the contact). Also, I don't understand why he makes me look so small. he's 16hh and I am 5' 6"+ |
Anyway, it's no secret that dressage is truly the foundation for all riding, and I really believe that in order to expect your horse to jump or gallop xc he needs to be able to carry himself on the flat, lift his back and engage his hindquarters. Can you jump or event without this? Well yes, but there will come a time when holes in your training will show up and your horse may even start saying no. I want to always feel like I am setting my horse up for success (which I did not do for our first event, not because of training per se, but more my mental state at the time) and it would be remiss of me not to make sure that dressage basics were firmly installed.
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| For a horse who is built a little downhill he doesn't ride like it! That neck, tho!!!!!!! |
That said, I am lucky because Riley is not the kind of horse who needs a lot of loosening up. In some ways he actually prefers that I sit deeper for the first 10 minutes than getting in a light seat. But a normal dressage day might look something like this: loose rein walk a lap in each direction. Gather him into a frame and ask him to use his body. Begin trot work. I ride with very light hands (which can actually be detrimental) and so I let him trot around freely and forward in a light frame and then gather him up a little. He likes contact and seeks it now all the time. We start trotting in either direction and then start adding in some serpentines. Then, we'll add in some harder work like 20 meter circles, and 10 meter circle in each corner (we both hate that exercise!), then I might ask him for some baby lateral work, going off the rail a few strides, forward a few strides and back to the rail. This exercise really helps straighten him out when he wants to throw his hind end around. I've been upping the continuous workload for both of us because I want it to actually feel like "work", we'll usually take a break and walk for a few minutes and then I'll do lateral work at the walk and then ask for the canter. His transitions are coming along pretty well (not as quick as I would like), but the canter itself is lovely. He's still pretty crooked to the right, but at least he can pick up his right lead 95% of the time when asked (and from a walk!) Usually I get off his back for a lap around and then sit and ask for some circles and more collection. I've just started adding in stretchy trot work (which he loves) and yesterday we did this for 10 minutes as a reward for good flat work. We just did figure-eights around the ring and he stretched beautifully down in both directions. He's starting to get a little deep in the Dr. Bristol, so I'm going to try a regular full cheek for flat work to see if that helps. I think the stretchy trot work will help let him loosen up too. Yesterday I added 10 minutes of no stirrup work and we both worked quite hard! Riley has a LOVELY trot to sit and he worked on lengthening down the long sides then collecting at the ends and doing figure 8's on the short sides. Without stirrups I was really able to wrap my legs around him and bend his body around my leg. I'm hoping to add more of this kind of work to each ride, but boy am I feeling it today!
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| You can keep your warmbloods, I'll stick with my paddling TB any day:) |
BTW, this was my second ride in my Middleburg tall boots (my $55 score from the tent sale) and I am in love. They are so, so, so comfortable. I have heel lifts in them now, but they are so supple and comfy!
Emily was nice enough to take some video, which, if you'd like to be Facebook friends with me, you can see
here:
Riley got borium on his new kicks yesterday and my farrier warned me that he might be feeling extra fresh and confident now that he knows he won't be slipping! Ha! He also got the bravest TB award from my farrier and he is the only one not afraid of the forge, the smoke, the hot-shoeing, the blow-torch and the sparks! Good boy Riley!
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| He's um, attractive? |
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| Wonder farrier, working on his hinds. He has a long vertical crack in that white hoof but he showed me that it was only a sand crack that has not worked it's way through the hoof wall and that I could rasp it a certain way to keep pressure off it in between trims. At this point it's nothing to worry about:) |
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