Gem Brings Her F(u) Game

Sunday morning dawned blazing hot and all my motivation to trailer out evaporated. I grumbled around the house in a pissed off mood until the hubby just said to head to the barn anyway and see what happens.

As I pulled into the barn drive, I texted the BO to see if she was available for the next hour. I honestly don't know how else I could possible take lessons right now if it wasn't for being able to just send a random text and then poof! out walks the BO to fry in the heat and teach me.

We tacked Gem up in the Roxanne jumping saddle and headed off to the grass field. To date Gem has been on her very best behavior. While she is still confused as to what I am asking of her in my very confusing green ways, she has been willing enough to deal and give a good effort.

It was getting to the point where I feared the BO thought I was just being a big wimp and making things up.

Food? Do you have food?

We started off on the 20 meter circle with walking. I am pleased to say that my position has improved 1000 fold already. I no longer brace against the stirrups and have a much more solid leg underneath me. Now to only unlock my insanely stiff elbows and quit tipping forward.

Walking went well and it was obvious from the start that Gem had ants in her pants (I now officially sound like I am 90 years old using that saying) and was extremely forward at the walk. It was nice to have some energy underneath me for a change. Eventually we began to trot and really work on the half halt using my seat and core and quit being so darn grabby with my hands.

Soaking wet with sweat just coming out of the pasture at 10 am. When will it be fall??

All was going really well until BO added a new, second and much larger log as a ground pole in line with the original shrimpy one.

Going to the left, the logs were on the uphill and when I focused on being straight before and after it went really smooth as if they were not there at all. Yay team Gem!! She then switched it up and had us attack it from the right therefore forcing Gem to go over them on the downhill and really sit back.

The first trip around startled Gem a bit and she decided to pop over the large log (now the first of the series) with both front feet, but then that caused her to be at a really long spot and land nearly on top of the second one which she made it over by the skin of her teeth.

Once we were clear, she made it a point to let me know that she was pissed off about the entire thing and crow hopped, shook her head from side to side and gave me a nasty, nasty side eye.

BO laughed at these shenanigans because really it was all Gem's fault yet she was taking it out on me. I held her straight, was sitting well and it was a small log she could have easily stepped over no problem. She goofed up and was mad at me for it.

Unfortunately, this checked Gem out for the rest of the ride. I did ride her back over the sequence at the walk next then the trot and while she handled it much better she was racey, braced through her back and not really listening all that well. I worked on transitions for a while, but she kept trying to race back up the hill to the gate, then would crow hop when I didn't let her.

BO asked if I wanted to try to canter to loosen her up, but that made it all the worse and by this point I was also getting very reactive and braced and Gem feeds off of that. So, I hopped off and handed the reins over.

BO climbed on board the Gemmiebus and had a go around.

I don't want to work. This is hard!!

She worked for a long time to just bring Gem back to earth. It was great to a) watch someone who is really talented ride the mare and b) see what she does to get Gem back when she is that tense. I learned more from watching her ride than riding myself.

Fine I will calm down, but I won't be happy about it

As they went around, she gave me commentary on Gem's behavior and her own reaction to it. Basically, Gem was running through all her tricks to try to get out of working: go fast and hollow, go slow and strung out, drop the inside shoulder and spin, counter bend. As BO held a steady contact and seat and ignored each of these attempts, Gem eventually had to settle and just do what was being asked.

Gem: Trotting for 100 miles was way easier than this dressage crap

She did get a really nice canter out of her in both directions, remarked that she thinks Gem will really turn out to be excellent once she figures out the game and that she is super intelligent and athletic but hates to work any harder than she has to, and then got off because we were all dripping with sweat by that point.

Once I get some things sorted out, like how to add 5 hours to a day and turn the thermostat down on the world, I really do plan on practicing in between lessons. Most of what I am doing is just teaching her to be consistent with her pacing, relax into the work and pay attention to her own feet. All this is being done at the walk and trot and are things I can do on my own without too much fear of screwing it all up. These are also things I can easily work on out on the trail, so I am in no way stuck to the arena to see improvement in my own position and riding as well as her attitude about it all.

So Much To Learn: Lesson #2

Saturday was supposed to be a poker ride with a friend riding Gem and me on board Pete, but a late Friday storm had them postponing it until Sunday and then Saturday they just cancelled the entire thing.

I was really bummed that the first planned ride in two weeks was off the books, but I still had a burning desire to actually ride my horse for the first time all summer and I was darned if I wasn't going to do it. The thought of trailering out remains very unappealing to me, so instead I used my wifey math skills to convince the hubby that by spending $35 on a lesson I was actually saving us $5 by not spending the $40 I had put aside for the poker ride (plus the gas money in getting there). He rolled his eyes in response as I texted the BO to see if she would be around for a lesson Sunday morning.

Typical routine upon arrival at the barn. Gem is hanging out with Pete in the front part of the pasture finishing up breakfast hay. She sees me pull in and saunters off as I get out of the van.

At 9 am it was already in the upper 80s and the horses were covered in a film sheen of sweat just hanging in the pasture. This summer has been the hottest of the three since being down here with the nights staying in the upper 70s and low 80s and the days breaking 100.
The BO was just finishing up her own ride as I got Gemmie groomed and dug out my old Ariat riding shoes. After putting them on, I recalled why I had ditched them in the first place and made a mental note to look into getting some new arena approved foot wear.

Then she takes off at a gallop to the far side of her pasture where she hides behind the strand of trees peaking out occasionally to see where I am. If I am taking too long, she will come galloping back to the front pasture snorting to get my attention only to disappear behind the trees once I talk to her.  

We also tried a new saddle on her. I do like the Stubben saddles as a whole, but the two models I had tried in the past just didn't feel right or worth spending the money. Both had me feeling perched on top of my mare instead of wrapped down around her. This time we tried the Roxane jumping saddle in a 17.5" seat, regular flaps and a 27 cm tree. We headed up to the grass field with a second saddle in tow to try as well and began to warm up at the walk.

She stands there watching me intently as I walk across the pasture talking to her the entire time. Once I get closer, she will duck behind the trees completely and hang out on the other side where I can't see her.

I have been the worst student ever having only practiced what I learned one time since the first lesson and that was while out on trail. Sorry, BO!! The biggest thing we worked on in the beginning, well besides my position which was much better in this saddle than the previous ones, was riding with more intent. I tend to just amble around with a general idea of going in a circle or from point A to B but without much actual intent on how exactly we would accomplish it.

She had me really working on picking an exact blade of grass or rock or dirt spot to ride to then riding to the next and the next so that Gem had exact guidance of where we were going and how we were going to get there. After that was established, and she called me out for using the arena fence and forced me to make a much smaller circle, we worked on maintaining our energy throughout the entire circuit. With the arena being on a hill, Gem had the tendency to get faster going down and slower going up. We worked at the walk for quite some time just working on using my body to get her to speed up going up the hill and slow down going back down to have an overall steady pace around.

I then cut over the the other side of the trees and she will walk over to meet me half way, stop to pee, and then shove her head into her halter and walk nicely back to the barn. She does this every single time I go out to get her. 

Once we established that, we moved on to doing the same thing at the trot. It went okay for a while but then she had me add in three walk transitions around the circle at random places and Gem got very, very tense. She hates transitions. She gets all nervous about when they will appear and the longer we work on them the worse she gets. BO talked me through it and we gave Gem plenty of pats and breaks to relax.

Near the end of the lesson, BO added a log as a ground pole. It was all of 6" in diameter and Gem could easily just step over the darn thing with minimal effort. It being a bare log and me being me, I immediately pictured imminent death. BO laughed at me. She placed the log on the uphill side of our circle and had me go over it at the trot keeping my bend in the circle and hitting the pole in the center.

The first time around Gem bowed out to the right and BO called me out on it. She asked me what I had been thinking of. "Going over the pole and not dying"

Wrong answer.

For the first time ever working with poles or jumps, I learned exactly what it is that I do so wrong and why Gem and I both suck at it.

BO explained that jumping is just glorified dressage and should be treated as such. When going over a pole, I am to not think about the pole at all. That is Gem's job. I am to continue riding with intent (my new favorite thing) and concentrate on my approach and then my departure lines and allow Gem to figure her own feet out to get us over the obstacle.

The next approach felt amazing. I concentrated on all the things we had done in the beginning part of the lesson: maintaining her pace around the circle, half halting with my core and seat, and riding a set path. The pole came up and I was so focused on everything else that we just trotted over it like it was no thing at all. I gave Gem all the pats and was so thrilled!!

We then reversed direction and went to the left and she wanted me to plan my turn off the circle to approach the log then go straight up the hill after it between two other jumps and make a left turn. We approached it and Gem fell apart. She got tense the moment we made the turn at the bottom of the hill and she saw the pole. I then helped the situation out by getting tense and bracing against the stirrups (insert sarcasm font) and we flailed over the log, hitting it with 3 of her 4 feet and nearly nose dived into the grass.

The next circuit we added a walk transition before and after the log. This helped me really have to get her tuned into me and not focus on the log before hand as well as keep her focus on me afterward and after two attempts she settled and we had a great trip over.

By this point she was dripping with sweat and we had worked on a lot of stuff, so we quickly changed saddles. This time it was the Juventus jumping saddle which is on the same tree as the Roxane, but is a kids saddle with a shorter flap and a 17" seat. It is also around $1,000 cheaper. The shorter flap was perfect for my short legs. It also put me in a much better position and I felt really secure in it. I'm not sure about the 17" seat though. I fit in it and it didn't look or feel ridiculously small, but I've gotten used to having so much real estate in my endurance saddle that I felt a little scrunched. I can order (well, I could order if I had any money) the Roxane in the shorter flap and 17.5" seat but then I'm paying a bunch more money for 0.5" more room to wiggle about. I am going to need more ride time in both to make a good decision and then will have to sell a kidney or something to get the money together to purchase it.

Looking cute as an English pony although hunter green is definitely not her color. 

By the time I did two circuits in the Juventus, Gem was done and I was near the point of getting a massive headache from being out in the sun for so long without water. We started riding at 9:30 am and got back down to the barn after 11 am. She got a shower with cold water, a ton of hugs and was put back out to roast in the 100 degree day. The lesson just reminded me how much I have to learn and how much fun I have learning these things. I don't have the ability to lesson very much right now, but I hope to take advantage when I can and sneak in some practices once it cools off. The evenings are just too hot right now (last night it was still 96 at 8 pm) but hopefully in the next month or so it will begin to relax a little so I can once again hit the barn after work.