Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

The sun is out again. The sunshine never seems to last very long but it is certainly getting warmer again! I love it. So, for the first time since before Christmas, I hacked Roode on the roads for 30 minutes. With everything melting, the river has risen and is rapid. There is a small bridge to cross and I think I was more daunted by crossing than Roode was. He was brave but I was a baby. But my eyes were also about 4 feet higher than his and by my perspective the railing was easy to go over whereas he was snorting with his head low to the ground. I am so glad that he was good.

Two of the horses had to be moved to another farm nearby because we have no room with Diederik’s horses that came in from Holland. Caitlin from Australia asked if I could drive her in Herr Schmidt’s car because she is not confident with a manual or driving on the other side of the road and the car. While she rode the other two horses, I finished errands in Paderborn. : ) I like Herr Schmidt’s car.

Roode was super today. Every day is routinely the same but now we are getting through the movements faster because they have been good the first time around and now we have moved onto canter double half pass.

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

You will not believe who is here. Diederik van Silfhout is here at Fleyenhof to take instruction from Herr Schmidt. He was the Young Rider World Cup Champion and Champion in Portugal. He is Dutch. He brought 3 horses including Ruby and is only here for five days. He is such a good rider. He is not as good as Hubertus but he has such a nice position. It was nice to hear H.S. tell him the same things as me. I heard him tell him to sit on his seat once too. That felt good.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Roode was very good for a Monday. He gave me a good feeling from the start as we warmed up. He wanted to stay long in the neck and was very relaxed. The best part is that he kept a good rhythm and was better moving over his back which is not so typical with him. I made it a certain practice to concentrate on my hands that they were a little quieter but still effective. I think this helped him tremendously so that the warm up did not have to be so long. I was determined to leave my hands out of it today. What I mean was that I wanted to not have my hands be of any big discussion with Herr Schmidt. He never says much about them but when he does it seems as if the topic becomes about them and I feel that they come to interfere with the bigger and better things. And it worked! Something about this small focus helped with the training today. Most of what I kept in mind and more like monitored about my hands from the beginning was thinking, ‘Okay, I keep my thumbs up at all times with my hands together (Check). I keep them both on the same level (check). I need to keep both of my hands a little lower (check). Also, try to keep both hands the same length from the center of his neck or spine (check). Then, I check to make sure I make him loose and keep him loose to the inside rein by feeling him in the contact there. If it feels like he should yield more than I give a soft flexion with the inside hand. Sometimes, the flexion aid is so sensitive with him that I need nothing more than to feel his mouth with two fingers. Then at another time, he can be so stiff that I must feel to shorten the rein and flexion my entire wrist. Then when he yields I must try to make him long in the neck again. I maintain the contact on the outside rein at all times and ascertain how much forward and backward balance we have. It is such a fine line. The more I feel in my hands the more I push to develop an even better working gait. When all of these basics give me a good feeling, I move on to shoulder in, half passes, and the upper level work.

Today we only did two trot and canter half passes in each direction because Roode did them so well. Then we moved on to the pirouettes where Herr Schmidt complemented my beginning to gain a good feeling for how they should be. Roode did two nice trot mediums. We only did one trot to halt transition which Roode and I nailed it today after having a bit of a run in with a problem with these last week. Last week I was too abrupt and Roode stopped too much on the fore hand. We worked on a few of these last week but today was perfect. I loved it. I was right by mirror and I just looked to the side and I could feel my preparation and how Roode was feeling my aid to halt. He came right to it with his haunches engaged and BOOM! Perfectly square and his head was right on vertical…for like two seconds. Ha-ha I hoped everyone just saw that. It was awesome. I love halting my horse. He looked so prestigious in that moment too. I felt like doing a little dance.

Anyway, we did some four tempis. The first attempt was very flat and not straight. So we tried them again. They were good. They were big and uphill but still not straight. So I guarded him more with my new outside rein and inside leg (especially, because it is the haunches that he wants to swing in). One last attempt at the fours and they were very good. Then we did the threes, they were good too. Herr Schmidt said to finish with that, but then I asked if I could do a line of twos. He said yes of course. He said, “When the threes are good enough like that than do some two changes”. So I did two 2’s, then a three, then two 2’s again. But they weren’t straight so Herr Schmidt said to do them again on the second track by the wall and watch in the mirror. I totally butchered them. They were all over the place and off count. Herr Schmidt yelled at me about not giving the leg aids at the right time (story of my life). Then we did a diagonal again and they were straight but I missed count again and so I lost feeling of when to move my legs again. Ugghh. So, one last diagonal, and BANG! They were perfection in my eyes. Herr Schmidt counted to me and my legs were there never missing a beat. And Roode was right on top of it! He hit all seven! And the great part was that everybody else was walking with their horses and watching us! It was such a boost of confidence. Herr Schmidt kept saying how good they were and endeavoring into some more theory to me about how to keep them like this every time. That was kind of in one ear and out the other as I was so impressed with what we had just done. But, boy they were straight, uphill, and huge. I loved it! I love my horse! I cannot wait until tomorrow.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2009

Friday was so good, but frustrating for me. I felt like everything I had accomplished and confirmed from the day before was lost. I get these scary feelings that I won’t be able to return to correct training sometimes. But, I feel it is important to be humbled often I guess. Roode was super though, and even Herr Schmidt said so. We worked on our same system again and Roode was great accept for me. I just wasn’t thinking enough. I kept making stupid mistakes without feeling and I was just frustrated with myself.

Saturday on the other hand was fantastic. There could not have been a better way to end the week. I had an early lesson with H.S. that was not even a personal lesson. We all had so much to do this weekend, so H.S. gave me a lesson while he rode Donnelly. He was doing 1 tempis on the diagonal while instructing me to pay attention to my own horse while I was warming up. I don’t mean he was telling me to pay attention to my own horse but he was instructing me to do something like making my horse even loose in the jaw to the inside. I think it was also so good because I had a bit of time to think to myself and my own training ability. Roode was so good. And I even started to try to do some two tempis in the end on my own because I suddenly had time as I had done the other movements and they were good. So, I did first three twos and the second track and thought hmmm…those were really good for just refreshing them after a long time. So then I went to the next track and watched in the mirror and did two 2’s, a 3, then two 2’s again. Hmm. I thought, “This is really fun”. Then I went to the next track and I could see that Herr Schmidt was taking a break and watching and BuMmEr…I butchered the line. There was no count to be seen. The first was a two, then a three (woops), then another two, then a four. Herr Schmidt asked me what it was that I wanted. I said “Twos”. He told me that was fine but to do them again and be certain that I gave the right aid at the right time. So I went on the next diagonal and we did 5 really great twos. And Herr Schmidt missed it as he was passaging across the short side that I was about to turn on too!

Then I was fertig (finished). I was so happy with this entire week!

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Today was simply brilliant. I cannot wait to tell you all about it. Roode was so fantastic.

Also, today was the first day that we actually had some warm weather. The birds were out for the first time in weeks and they are still singing. The sun is brightly shining and it’s the perfect day to be riding.

Herr Schmidt was running a bit behind schedule for our lesson so we had a lot of time to warm up. As I began I felt like it was going to be a bit difficult to make Roode loose to the right. I persisted at working at it and staying relaxed. I monitored all small things constantly and I realized that a lot of this problem is my fault. I kept on saying to myself, “Outside rein makes him through and inside makes him loose”. Whenever it seems to not work I often resort to wagging his head (minor) left and right. Well, there was no more wagging today. I finally got it through my own head that if he just does not seem to be coming through, then push more with the leg, not the hands. So I pushed more with the inside leg and guarded my line with the outside leg. Suddenly, the rest of the looseness problem was history. I know this sounds so simple but I promise I apply this principle to my everyday riding just not effectively enough sometimes. It’s like the feeling that Jen was always trying to explain to me but I never quite understood. Well I‘ve got it now.

Once our lesson started, Herr Schmidt was complementing about how good Roode looked. We showed our best collected trot and I was stunned to see how great Roode looked in the mirror. When the feeling is right, I can push, half halt, then balance again, and continue the feeling instinctively. Sometimes, if I verbally whisper to myself when I am giving a half halt, it helps me think how strong they need to be and whether or not they were effective enough in that moment. Sometimes I give a half halt every stride and sometimes I get the feeling that it is not necessary for two more strides. I feel it in my seat. My back swings with his and if I want more than I push with my seat and a small leg aid. If he stays balanced and nice over the back then I can feel him in the rein and I continue the small half halting to keep him balanced while keeping the bigger movement. If I push more and he runs away from my seat and braces in the back then I give a strong half halt to bring him back and start again. I return to the loose inside feeling and the balanced outside contact. Sometimes I ask for more cadence and schwung and Roode pumps up for the challenge but can speed the rhythm too. Once I get the amount of cadence and schwung that I want, I give a half halt that makes the rhythm more relaxed but I keep the long stride by keeping my seat swinging as before and my leg touches him again in the half halting moment so that he knows to keep the big movement but to slow the rhythm. This has become very successful.

When we move on to lateral trot work, I shorten the inside rein for more flexion and bending. If a shoulder in begins unbalanced, I sometimes circle again or push more on the line to make it better. I am working on making the beginning start as well as the lines end. In half pass today, we did not even do many because Roode did so well at staying loose to the inside and bending. I decided today that when H.S. said more bending, I was going to do it no matter if Roode might get tight for a moment and offer an unpleasant display. Well, he was yelling for more bending and I thought that as effective as I wanted to be the next stride, I better get it now. I was then afraid that H.S. might yell at me for being too abrupt and that the choice was wrong but instead he said that it was the correct way and that sometimes he would need that. Even though he is a sensitive horse it is important to decide if I am not asking enough in a relaxed way or if he is just being a bit lazy and then he needs the correction like I did. It was not a very pleasant sight but we moved on and the half passes were well worth it. My first medium stayed big and trough too which sometimes has to be developed with more than one go at it. But the two we did were great.

After a break, we began the canter work. The quality was so good from the beginning and I am so happy that it is coming along so well. The half passes in canter are becoming much stronger. I am happy with the work and I think Roode is enjoying it too. The pirouettes are going much better also. I am finally learning how extra sensitive I have to be with Roode. The most common quick words out of H.S. in the moment is “RELAX, Relax, relax”, as he pushes his hand to the ground and cocks his head as he watches us. In both directions I need more inside leg and outside rein. Roode was just completely fantastic. I wish you all could have seen it. It was a brilliant lesson with some very small passage work on my own. I just wanted to make sure he still remembered the aids. I will ask Herr Schmidt tomorrow if we can work a little bit on the half steps.

Ciao.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

We had a better lesson today. I was more attentive to keeping my outside rein (left rein), going right, and really making sure that Roode was loose on the right rein. I think all this work made out for a really good lesson. Roode came more over the back and was more balanced in the half passes. And together, I felt that we were both more free when balanced as long as we both were not passing the wrong boundaries.
In the canter pirouettes, I was able to control them better now that I got my inside leg on more. This time I really exaggerated taking my outside leg off and getting my inside leg more active with him. Herr Schmidt keeps saying, “The inside rein makes him loose and the outside rein makes him through.” I think this principle is finally sinking in. And I am constantly too abrupt with my half halts and flexion aids. Herr Schmidt keeps telling me to be softer. He keeps saying that I only need two fingers to move ever so slightly with such a sensitive horse like Roode.
We did a line of fours and threes before finishing. The count was fine. Herr Schmidt only said that I need to not use so much outside leg for the next aid because it makes him crooked. So our next line of threes on the second track was much better.
Oh, and a side note of some actually very exciting news I think. Roode was out in turnout for an hour today. He was very happy and was not wild for one second which I thought was strange. The ground was frozen but the ice is gone. Thank Goodness! It was his first day out in a larger paddock. The only free time he has been getting is 15 minutes in the lunging circle where he goes wild and then gets bored quick and starts chewing at the wood.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Roode felt good today, but I did not feel like I rode too well. I continue to have problems with my left outside rein. I think to keep the contact there but I continually fall short of making it effective when I need to make him through in the body. Roode feels stiff in the right jaw and so I flexion and keep the contact there without giving him the chance to really move into the left rein where I want him. Without much notice, instead of giving him balance with a light inside rein, I would actually be hanging and working too hard for inside bend. When I finally got that old feeling for a split second where he became more balanced and pumped I could focus more on it and develop it again and again but the feeling only lasted for a constant of maybe 5 strides before I would have to get it together again. It was great work after solving that problem.
I am really trying to develop more cadence and schwung with Roode. He has every bit of it in him but it’s never his first choice. In trying to make him stronger with this, he is generally making a lot of progress. But, I want often want to make his neck too short. Herr Schmidt keeps telling me to take more of the curb on the outside and more of the snaffle on the inside when Roode gets too against the bit in the moment that I try to make a better trot or canter, and without making the neck short.