Do I reschedule lessons, do I not reschedule?
It it better for everyone to show up, all ready to ride and then get rained out or not come and have it not rain?
I never know what to do, and inevitably if I cancel, the weather holds, and if we go for it, the rain starts!
I rescheduled my afternoon lessons (of course prompting the weather gods to hold their buckets in an upright position, waiting until 9 pm to start dumping them on us!)
But the good news is, I got all three horses done.
Beast is definitely showing her fitness. She started the day running away from poor Sharon and taking a tour of our very long driveway. However when I rode her, she was great! The plan was "the circle exercise" using rails and only one small jump.
I practiced what Jimmy, and Stephen have taught me. I also have obsessively been stalking videos on you tube of Katie Prudent, Mclain Ward, William Fox Pitt well you get the idea. I compare them to the videos I have of my self, and pick apart all the things I am doing wrong or too much of etc.
I take into consideration, every rider has their own distinct style, like an artist. I find there is a fine line between an individuals style, and their flaws. Of course, their ability to mesh with a multitude of different horses is dependent on their ability to fine tune their adjustments.
I gave my self a lesson, and Beasty was great. I must say my drastic improvements on my flat work are truly enhancing my jumping abilities. Duh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXgVVIBd0lc&tracker=False
This is great link that I took off Jimmy's blog.
Now I will say this type of information is with a grain of salt.
While I find it unbelievably, earth shatteringly helpful to stare at the center of the jump rail until it disappears myself, I will not be teaching this tool to all of my students. For obvious reasons such as, if your balance is not independent of your eye, you and the rail may meet eye to eye in real life. Also if you are relatively new to jumping OR new to jumping a different horse and you are staring at your jump with no leg on, you may find your lips pressed against the pole, as you kiss the next 8 weeks of riding good bye due to a broken collar bone.
As I was tacking up Callie, Sharon came back from a wonderful hunt with her mare Harmony. Harms is Callie's field mate, so as Sharon was letting her out, I was taking Callie to the ring...........I opted for a lungeing session before "the circle exercise"> THANK GOD!!!!
My god that mare is athletic. She bucked, leaped, flew, Irish river danced, with a few moments of break dancing thrown in, for about 15 minutes.
Then it was time for me to get on.
She held it together for mama, and after the first canter, we progressed onto our circle.
I heard the voices in my head at 7! What I mean is, when I go cross country, 5 strides out, I generally hear a very happy 5!!!!! in my head, then on to 4, 3, 2, 1. I love it, it is my friend. I don't talk back to it, so I see no problem with it. Sometimes my voice is busy (it may be distracted thinking about whatever the latest purchase obsession is) and when it's not there, I count my 1,2's.
So yesterday, I was getting a very excited 7!!!!! It was happening thru bending lines also, this is a breakthrough for me, I used to not see where I was at until I was straight. I try not to get caught up in numbers, always have my leg on and ride my rhythm.
Of course Sharon Dawson's Summer was perfect. Despite the wind, her herd all having a good time, and the minivan of children, she walk trotted, cantered, all in the beginnings of a frame.
The one exception was when she stopped to poop. I got an ear pin then when I hit her with the crop.
I was able to do my lessons in the indoor at Serra Valley. Heather looked great, and continues to excel on a multitude of horses.
Katie, Laney, Julia, Taylor and Alexis did a great job with their "dressage with jumps on course" lesson.
Julia's canter work continues to progress. Taylors mare Violet (all though Violet would like to be called Violent...just kidding, but she can be a hand full) liked the hackamore.
Alexis looked good, even when she pouted.
LANEY REMEMBERED ALL HER COURSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Patsters looks good!
Katie looked like a million dollars on Buckshot, and neither of them batted an eye or broke from rhythm over the bigger fences!
So now I sit, awaiting the vets call. I have Freckles hocks to get injected, and coggins to pull for the upcoming season!
Now go get your dreams before someone else does!
No comments:
Post a Comment