A weekend at Tamarack Hill Farm
Crossed a big one off the bucket list this past weekend. Tamarack is owned by one of the most respected horsemen in eventing and endurance riding, Denny Emerson. He's the only rider to have won both a gold medal in eventing, and the Tevis Cup belt buckle.
My trainer Lila has ridden with him for over 10 years, and has competed at the 1* level herself. But the important point here, before all the accolades and how fast and high everyone goes, is that Denny--and Lila--emphasize first of all having a good, independent seat, and being a damn good horseman--doing all the work, from shoveling shit to haying, to knowing how to take your horse's vitals and set up a conditioning program, to practicing seeing a damn distance until it's second nature.
So it's no wonder that under Lila's coaching this summer Clover and I have come so far after 9 years apart. We've gone from jumping the tiniest of cross-rails in June to this:
and this
Saturday's jumping lesson included lots of work on solid basics--correct position on a forward and balanced horse. I'm (re)learning how crucial it is to have your lower leg in the correct position (knee off, lower leg forward and on) as the fences get higher--jumping at speed over cross-country or even over a fast show jumping course, it will keep you from being pitched over your horse's neck if you get to a bad spot--the point where your horse takes off over the jump--and we do!
That, and having a forward, adjustable canter so you do get to the good spot are the two things I'll be working on the most for next season. The last 5-7 strides before a jump, you need to sit up and rebalance your horse so she doesn't jump flat and take rails--or worse.
I'll be doing a lot of this deceptively simple exercise with Clover over the winter:
https://youtu.be/PGlsPWFHZ74
We jumped several short courses during our lesson, and finally Lila "upped the ante," as she's steadily been doing all summer, and raised all the fences to 3' or so. We jumped that course really well--I only had one "miss" (bad spot) going to a gate fence off off a corner--and ended on a strong note. I felt something weird; I was beginning to feel more confident over jumps--feeling like I was finally starting to get "it." Having a forgiving horse that will jump anything makes the process so much easier.
On Sunday we warmed up over some jumps in the ring, then hacked out to the cross country course. I was feeling the beginnings of a groin pull--the result of my new, improved leg position, and a couple of herky-jerky bad spot jumps over bigger fences--but ignored it as much as I could.
We jumped a few elements on the smaller course
to confirm we had the ingredients in place (forward, adjustable) to move out to the more open course.
Unfortunately, after stringing a few jumps together, the groin pull was making staying in half-seat at the gallop more and more difficult. We finished up by jumping an imposing wedge-type jump that I really had to keep my leg on and ride Clover straight over to avoid a run-out. She jumped it perfectly, so we were able to end on a good note.
We hacked back at an easy pace and I tried to take a mental video of the gorgeous rolling hills and woods to keep me going through the winter.
My trainer Lila has ridden with him for over 10 years, and has competed at the 1* level herself. But the important point here, before all the accolades and how fast and high everyone goes, is that Denny--and Lila--emphasize first of all having a good, independent seat, and being a damn good horseman--doing all the work, from shoveling shit to haying, to knowing how to take your horse's vitals and set up a conditioning program, to practicing seeing a damn distance until it's second nature.
So it's no wonder that under Lila's coaching this summer Clover and I have come so far after 9 years apart. We've gone from jumping the tiniest of cross-rails in June to this:
and this
Saturday's jumping lesson included lots of work on solid basics--correct position on a forward and balanced horse. I'm (re)learning how crucial it is to have your lower leg in the correct position (knee off, lower leg forward and on) as the fences get higher--jumping at speed over cross-country or even over a fast show jumping course, it will keep you from being pitched over your horse's neck if you get to a bad spot--the point where your horse takes off over the jump--and we do!
That, and having a forward, adjustable canter so you do get to the good spot are the two things I'll be working on the most for next season. The last 5-7 strides before a jump, you need to sit up and rebalance your horse so she doesn't jump flat and take rails--or worse.
I'll be doing a lot of this deceptively simple exercise with Clover over the winter:
https://youtu.be/PGlsPWFHZ74
We jumped several short courses during our lesson, and finally Lila "upped the ante," as she's steadily been doing all summer, and raised all the fences to 3' or so. We jumped that course really well--I only had one "miss" (bad spot) going to a gate fence off off a corner--and ended on a strong note. I felt something weird; I was beginning to feel more confident over jumps--feeling like I was finally starting to get "it." Having a forgiving horse that will jump anything makes the process so much easier.
On Sunday we warmed up over some jumps in the ring, then hacked out to the cross country course. I was feeling the beginnings of a groin pull--the result of my new, improved leg position, and a couple of herky-jerky bad spot jumps over bigger fences--but ignored it as much as I could.
We jumped a few elements on the smaller course
to confirm we had the ingredients in place (forward, adjustable) to move out to the more open course.
Unfortunately, after stringing a few jumps together, the groin pull was making staying in half-seat at the gallop more and more difficult. We finished up by jumping an imposing wedge-type jump that I really had to keep my leg on and ride Clover straight over to avoid a run-out. She jumped it perfectly, so we were able to end on a good note.
We hacked back at an easy pace and I tried to take a mental video of the gorgeous rolling hills and woods to keep me going through the winter.
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