Lots of trainers and judges use this term “connection”. The rider had great connection or the course was so connected. That is something I definitely struggle with. 9/10 times, my fences are not what makes my round sub-par, it’s usually the in between journey from fence to fence that causes me an issue. The issues I face when “connecting the dots” varies from a lack of contact to an inconsistent rhythm so that was my focus yesterday.
Cavalier is a great horse to practice on. He has a great natural rhythm which just needs to be maintained around the course. You need to check him every now and again but he will be steady if you are steady to match. So yesterday I did an exercise jumping around a course and having a one stride of poles at the ends of the ring. It made “keep riding” through my corners and toward the next fence. I tend to collapse a little on the ends of the ring because in my mind, the hard part is over but in reality riding between your fences is equally as important as actually jumping the fences. After doing that exercise a few times, the one strides were taken out and I rode around the course with the same idea in mind. Ride the rhythm every step of the way. I was very happy with most of my jumping with a bobble here and there mainly when I would come off a turn and have an inconsistency in rhythm coming through my turn. Old habits die hard, but I definitely feel myself being more comfortable maintaining the pace I have rather than sucking back around my corner to find a distance.
Then I drove over to North Shore Equestrian Center to take a lesson on Frosty – a horse I had ridden once prior. It’s gotten bitterly cold here on Long Island in the past few days, and the horses were definitely feeling fresh and spooky. However Frosty behaved the majority of the lesson by staying busy with circles and leg yields. Frosty is a little stiff to start so bending and counter bending and leg yields really help him stretch out and move better. With Frosty I need to let him go at the pace he likes. Holding him too much makes him anxious and he launches over the jump regardless of the type of distance. Having him go at a moving pace gives me a little less time to measure with my eye, but vastly improves the quality of his jump and improves the distance in the lines. What I worked on with Frosty is trying to hold my body over and after the fence. I tend to land and tuck my chin in and roll my shoulders forward. I need to keep my body open and soft but together.
I had a great day of lessons on two very different horses and two different trainers but what came next topped off my day.
Abby Googel – who teaches a varsity equestrian team – reached out to me via Facebook after seeing my latest blog post through a friend. Abby as a rider who much like myself grew up riding different horses and now a trainer had so much good advice to give me I wish I could copy and paste everything she wrote to me! Abby had a great attitude about riding and teaching in general that I wish everyone in this sport could share her views.
This really has been my outlook since this whole thing began, and honestly my whole riding career. Each trainer and horse and barn will teach you something. In college we get new professors every semester so why should riding be any different! Thank you for the reminder Abby, and your support of IHSA and IEA programs as a whole. I too agree they are amazing programs to be apart of. Check out Abby’s article about IEA and why it rocks: http://issuu.com/wynnwood/docs/eq_winter14_15/53?e=4427353%2F10498762
Today I’m off to ride Royal, my friends 3’6″ horse. Izabel can’t ride now due to injury so I’m excited to ride Royal, a horse I’ve never sat on before. He’s extremely talented but definitely not an easy ride! Excited for Izabel to give me a lesson on how to ride her horse. I’m sure I’ll be able to apply it to lots of other horses down the road!!
ALSO quickly thank you EVERYONE who has visited the blog in general but especially in the last 24 hours!! It has exploded and I am so thrilled everyone loved the last blog post so much because the topic is extremely important and close to my heart!
A little shameful selfie of Frosty and I
some screen shots of my jumping lesson on Cavalier jumping some smaller jumps and establishing “CONNECTION” . Life is all about Connections… with your horse, with your self, with others. The blog has definitely helped making MANY connections!
An Open Opportunity 