Turns like a Mack truck
A quickie for now: we scratched from Saturday's Groton House 2 phase because Clover came down with a snot nose and cough the day before. Or rather, it came back (from a week or so ago). Still no fever, back on a full course of smz's—I don't want to be dancing with this little flu-bug come Huntington in a couple of weeks.
The worst thing about the day-of scratch? It wasn't loosing the entry fee. It was the fact that we were ready. I was mentally ready for the dressage.
More later. I'm still moping.
*
I did ride for a while today; just a short school to see how Clover's energy level was. She did tire after about 20 minutes; I can tell when she gets tired because she gets heavier in my hands, and turns like a Mack truck. She only coughed once, though. Still, the ride felt pretty good at times—and we're having hardly any of the resisting the hand problem now that I know how to at least stop it when it happens. Next step—anticipate and prevent the resistance before it happens.
We warmed up with some half passes at the walk—half volte at B or E, and finish with a few steps of half pass back to the track. I have a tendency to lose the shoulders to the left, but I'm getting the hang of the correction. Unfortunately, I still have a hard time getting Clover to move off of my right leg. “It's because that leg is stronger and you hang onto her with it, now she's dead to it,” my trainer said. “Just move your leg behind the girth and use the whip to move her away.” Makes sense, but I tend to pull on the rein when using the whip—effectively blocking any forward and lateral motion. “You have to lengthen the rein and let it slip when you use the whip!” (My trainer again, exasperated with my right side coordination problems).
Walked around the back field with Wen and her mare, and cheered them on when they jumped the railroad ties and logs. “Jump the picket fence!” I said to Wendy. “Ha ha, you jump it!” she called back. So, with dressage-length stirrups, I trotted Clover over it, and she took it without batting an eyelash. I half-expected her to suck back a bit, since we hadn't jumped it before, and it is a brighter white than the other poles we've been jumping. I'll take that as a positive sign of developing boldness!
*
I also lunged Matti, in saddle and side reins. I was too unmotivated to take the opportunity to ride. Typical.
The worst thing about the day-of scratch? It wasn't loosing the entry fee. It was the fact that we were ready. I was mentally ready for the dressage.
More later. I'm still moping.
*
I did ride for a while today; just a short school to see how Clover's energy level was. She did tire after about 20 minutes; I can tell when she gets tired because she gets heavier in my hands, and turns like a Mack truck. She only coughed once, though. Still, the ride felt pretty good at times—and we're having hardly any of the resisting the hand problem now that I know how to at least stop it when it happens. Next step—anticipate and prevent the resistance before it happens.
We warmed up with some half passes at the walk—half volte at B or E, and finish with a few steps of half pass back to the track. I have a tendency to lose the shoulders to the left, but I'm getting the hang of the correction. Unfortunately, I still have a hard time getting Clover to move off of my right leg. “It's because that leg is stronger and you hang onto her with it, now she's dead to it,” my trainer said. “Just move your leg behind the girth and use the whip to move her away.” Makes sense, but I tend to pull on the rein when using the whip—effectively blocking any forward and lateral motion. “You have to lengthen the rein and let it slip when you use the whip!” (My trainer again, exasperated with my right side coordination problems).
Walked around the back field with Wen and her mare, and cheered them on when they jumped the railroad ties and logs. “Jump the picket fence!” I said to Wendy. “Ha ha, you jump it!” she called back. So, with dressage-length stirrups, I trotted Clover over it, and she took it without batting an eyelash. I half-expected her to suck back a bit, since we hadn't jumped it before, and it is a brighter white than the other poles we've been jumping. I'll take that as a positive sign of developing boldness!
*
I also lunged Matti, in saddle and side reins. I was too unmotivated to take the opportunity to ride. Typical.
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