A Moveable Feast
May. 27th, 2006 09:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseI have concluded that I am not cool enough for WisCon. Which is just as well because instead of joining the Doyennes of Cool (and dealing with the "Lost"-level difficulty of getting to Madison), I spent three days suffering the Dressage Tortures of the Blessed.
The week began with the arrival of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
casacorona's lovely spotty Surprise, who is still here until the Wonder Shoer comes and takes her back home again. Surprise has lived here before and is good friends with Capria; apart from a bit of flurry with Tia (Surprise hates little black furry bugs), which is now over and done with since Tia has concluded that Surprise is really just a great big orange marshmallow, everyone has settled in well, and the two friends have been going out together in the afternoons--being Ladies Who Lunch, in short--while Pandora and the Girlz take their turn in the stalls and paddock, and Pooka chills out in the Garden Apartment.
Then there was much running of errands and cleaning of house and preparing of food. Tuesday evening Torture Lady arrived from England; Teacher did the airport pickup and hosting. My part of the clinic proper began first thing Wednesday morning. I got up an hour earlier than usual (and I get up Early), got the troops sorted out here, then drove to the other side of Tucson to catch keed's lesson at 8 a.m. I am Not A Morning Person, but if I can get myself up, I do love the fresh smells and clear light, and the drive is lovely; it skirts the southern edge of the city, then curves off to the far west side, around the Tucson Mountains, into Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park West toward the Avra Valley. Wonderful vistas and saguaro forests, and of course mountains--relatively low volcanic peaks--and a startlement to me of the DUH! persuasion: the revelation that ironwood trees not only bloom, they bloom in clouds of lavender. We don't have them at DHF: we're too high up and it gets too cold in the winter. But over by the Desert Museum there are acres of them. Not coincidentally, some of the land one can see on the drive is part of Ironwood National Monument.
Lessons were running late, so as I arrived (also a bit late after a very rare diversion for me--I never do fast food, but with no time for breakfast, it was Sausage McMuffin or hit the deck with sugar crash), old friend T was still riding her Andalusian. That was a great pleasure to watch, and I got to see the tape of the whole lesson afterwards. This was T's first experience of Prime Torture, and she was dealing with the issue of not-forwardness in a hypersensitive horse--similar to what we deal with with Camilla. The lesson was to get out of the horse's way, quiet and position the body and stop trying to Make Things Happen, and set him free to move. The results as the lesson went on were striking; the horse loosened up through his whole body, and the rider (who can be very tight herself: she's a tall, narrow person who runs marathons) started to flow with him. Side comment made there was that like many Andalusians and some Lipizzans, he has a deceptive topline: he looks very round and "up" in the back but skeletally he can be just as hollow as, say, Capria. The rider has to learn the difference between false and real roundness, and learn how to achieve the latter.
After T's lesson, it was Teacher's turn with keed. She needs to write her own report. I was distracted by Gaudia, who called me over to her and wanted hugs and major quality time. I'm not her human but I am her dear friend, and she was thrilled to see me. She looks Amazing. She's grown very deep through the body; her shoulder is huge and she's maturing into a massive and elegant young mare. Very classic, very baroque Lipizzan, and very happy to be living with her human at last. What I saw of keed over her back was lovely: he likes to go hollow and he likes to stiffen his back legs and wheelbarrow along. I saw considerable reference to letting go the sacred outside rein and even (shock horror), with the rider in correct position and balance, using the inside rein to bring him around on a circle. Must talk to Teacher about the specifics of that. Keed looked happy and focused and his musculature is wonderful. He's having a lovely time being Teacher's main torture pony.
Gaudia got her innings after keed. She's too young at just 3 (Barbaro's age almost to the day, be it noted) to be ridden or longed on a line, but Teacher wanted TL to help her introduce Gaudia to the bit. TL likes the JP bits because they're curved and they sit very very nicely in the horse's mouth. This is the one Teacher had for Gaudia. It's very similar to the one the SRS prefers for starting its young horses; it's mild, quiet, and the cheeks mean it can't be pulled through the mouth. (I tried it on Ephiny who gave it four hooves up. Since it has the signal advantage of being Extremely Affordable, I'm getting her one.) Gaudia tried two sizes, picked the larger one, and was fitted to it in the bridle. This type of bit needs to be set higher in the mouth than usual, which was interesting. Gaudia took to it very well, got the soft eyes and reflective look one wants to see, and after trying to spit it out as they all do the first time or two, started working her jaw and swallowing instead--meaning she was relaxing and letting it do its work. And then she had a free longe while wearing it--for that day, moving where she wanted, with Teacher following and to an extent shaping what she did.
By that time the heat had started to come up seriously; we adjourned to Teacher's house nearby, watched video and had lunch. I had to leave after that, as I needed to sort out the horses here and take as much of a siesta as I could before lessons started here just after 5 p.m. Which I duly did. Teacher and TL took their own siesta, then arrived shortly before 5, got settled and sorted, and we pulled out Pandora for Teacher to ride. In the midst of this, Pooka's replacement boots in the larger size arrived, which meant he could participate in the clinic. That day was Capria's turn.
First however Teacher rode Pandora. This was an experiment: TL wanted Teacher to try Portuguese slip-on spurs, to show Pandora that she should lift the belly and being her hind end under in response to the leg. The spurs are angled so that they just touch the sides when used, and don't dig or jab. She responded quite well to them, got the point, and had moments of perfect beauty. And was happy throughout. I taped a little of this, though I had to stop before the end to groom and prepare Capria. Luckily neighbor S came by to watch, and kindly took over taping duties.
My lesson was most excellent torture. First we did the body-sculpting we did in January; scooch to the front of the saddle, bring up knees, get feel of seatbones and pelvis and back, then TL brought down each leg, rotated it, bent it, and fitted it into the stirrup. She noted that my right leg needs to rotate more but my left leg needs to push downward--I collapse that side (including ribs and shoulder) and must be sure to straighten it diligently. We then proceeded to cover the arena with hoofprints--an exercise also required of T and Teacher. The principle is that dressage riders get locked into test patterns, go blindly from letter to letter and don't use the full arena. We're less prone to that because my arena doesn't have any letters (the horses eat them), but it is good to be reminded to do exercises all over the place instead of the usual 20m circles at each end and the middle, smaller circles up and down the long sides, 3-loop serpentines (sine waves, give or take), etc. With Capria we had to just use the center third of the arena around the centerline, first doing serpentines to each quarter line (careful to keep the straight part straight and the curved part balanced and correct), then we did voltes through the serpentines, and figure 8's in the 6-8m circle in walk and then in trot. Important throughout, in fact vital, was that I stay in the middle, which meant with Capria that on left turns I felt as if I was hanging out over empty space. And of course I had to keep my viewfinders on. And, scrupulously, I had to keep my elbows at my hips. And keep my right leg rotated and my left leg kicking down. And keep my trunk upright (grow tall up through the chest and head, while growing downward through the abs and pelvis). Over and over. While Capria happily toddled on, getting happier the closer to correct I came.
It was quite amazing really to see how perfectly content she was trotting endless figure 8's in circles so tiny they're considered impossibly advanced in competition--the 10m circle is quite tiny, supposedly, and she was doing 6-8 without any distress at all. Because she was balanced and I was as correct as I could be.
After me, Teacher rode again--her third ride that way--and Surprise got her first ride of the clinic. Salient note of this ride for me was a comment TL made about how she loves to work with horses who are not physically perfect, who have soundness or balance issues. She calls it "riding to soundness." She rode Surprise herself to start with, to get the parameters of the horse, and there is video. Perhapscasacorona will post her observations after watching the video. I was feeding and watering horses and doing barn chores, but what I did see was quite, quite nice. Though I would like to know what Teacher was rotating her shoulders for. Must ask.
By that time it was close to dark, and the horses were in with their dinners, and we went in for our own--an Asian chicken noodle salad with many crunchy veggies, light but filling. TL and Teacher went back to Marana for the night as there were more early lessons the next day, with Lumi and keed and Gaudia again. I had to miss those as after what rest I could get (and feeding dogs and cats and settling horses for the night), I had to pick up longtime netbud and good buddy of TL, Bella aka grandprixdudette of the classical lists, when her plane got in at midnight. I did say Wednesday was a very long day. 20 hours long, by the time pickup was achieved, horses were met in the dark, and guest was settled in and put to bed.
Thursday was recover from very long day, do chores, make dinner, get ready for evening lessons day. Bella and I took time to fit the boots to a very happy Pooka who knew very well indeed what they meant. Success! Lately they come with gaiters (neoprene "socks"); that is good because without them the boots were a bit big, but with them they were perfect. They're very well made, extremely easy to get on and off, and Pooka said a bit fat tongue-floppy "Yes!" to them. No problem moving in them at all; they have the same breakover in the toe that he's supposed to have. And that was good. And meant he could have his lesson come evening.
TL and Teacher came over around 4:30, and lessons began after 5, with Surprise starting off (and looking even better than she had the day before). I was up next with Pooka, which turned out to be somewhat of a miscalculation. He hadn't been ridden in about six months, and his brain was stuck between the Stallion and Work settings. He was thrilled to get his turn, boots went on beautifully, saddle ditto. We established a new routine, built on the old one: free longe to start, then flexions, then ride. Previously, it was free longe and ride. Flexions are our addition from TL, a la Philippe Karl. TL noted that Pooka is a little too willing--and that can be a training problem, in that he won't wait to be asked, he'll do whatever he thinks you want before you can ask. This is the sin of anticipation and is counter to true obedience. A prime rule of training is that he has to wait for you to ask. It's a safety issue--as keed learned when he leaped onto a trailer the first time and then couldn't get off; when he finally did, he hurt himself. If he'd waited for us to instruct him, he wouldn't have got hurt.
Flexions went well once we dealt with that. He softened in the mouth and neck, gave to the bit (movement upward and around in a sort of massage pattern, side by side, then with weight of outside rein in addition to inside massage), and became more focused. Then we were ready for me to mount. No need for that eight-second timer; oh my it felt good to be riding my Pook again. First we were asked to noodle around, make lots of footprints (hilarious big round running-shoe tread tracks), and remember my positioning of the day before. Envision elbows connected by rod through the body, then envision ankles connected by rod through horse's belly. Focus on the viewfinder--and with him, watch his neck (big archy stallion crest as wide as my hand, so easy to keep in the field of vision). We repeated Capria's figure-8 exercise but in walk only--no trot with this restart, which was about us getting back together as a team.
With, it should be noted, one rather Exciting sequence. That's where the "sort of a mistake" comment comes in. Bella was riding Pandora after us, as I would need to feed and water horses and make sure dinner for us got into the oven on time. It never occurred to me that seeing his favorite mare come out with a total stranger might trigger Stallion Brain. He forgot I was on him--took off for the fence, paying no attention whatever to anything I tried to do to stop him. Poor Bella had to take Pandora out back, out of sight, and saddle her there, then wait for us to finish before she could come into the arena. She took it with good humor, and once we got that sorted out, Pooka's brain finally clicked over to Work setting and stayed there. After that the lesson went beautifully.
The most interesting thing for me was to realize how totally I've changed as a rider since the last time I rode him. My balance, seat, and position are completely different, and I don't have any of the previous steering and balance problems. There are still problems, of course, and we are working on them (aarrrggghhh elbows aarrrrgghhhh), but I can actually ride this horse the way he wants to be ridden.
By the time we were done, he was barely noticing Pandora. He went happily to his dinner, and Pandora (who had had an early dinner) showed every sign of enjoying giving Bella a lesson. This is excellent; she doesn't care who rides her as long as they do it right. Bella suffered due torture, and Pandora got a bit of a rest from the previous ride with Teacher, which was good.
That night Teacher and TL stayed overnight as the Moveable Feast would continue here in the morning (since Bella had to fly back home come evening). Neighbor S kindly donated her bunkhouse to TL, and Bella and Teacher bunked in here. Dinner was low-cal, low-carb veggie lasagna, loaded with zucchini and portabella mushrooms and fresh basil, with good bread and green salad and key lime cheesecake for dessert. After that we were all ready to go thud.
Friday morning we were up bright and early, with Teacher starting with Pandora at 6:30 (making sure Pandora and Pooka were as far apart in the scheduling as possible). Pandora looked Spectacular. She had rhythm. She had relaxation. She had moments of collection, with suspension. She even had a little canter--she's not really strong enough for the deep Sitz and collection she wants yet, but she managed a couple of quarter-circles, which was a start. We'll progress with that; she's volunteering a gorgeous canter on the longeline, so it's getting there. Generally it was agreed that this is a hell of a horse. And indeed, not bad for a 19yo ex-pasture potato.
Capria was up next, after a quick run to move the shared saddle from Pandora, and Bella had a delightful lesson. The Capria Experience, as TL noted, is quite instructive, as she gives you absolutely nothing until you're absolutely correct--and she will give you absolutely nothing all day. But the minute you get into the right place, she's totally there for you. She's a great teacher because of that, and trainers love giving lessons on her. After some negotiation, Bella had her looking like a perfect little classical Lipizzan, and she had her happy ears on.
After Capria, Teacher rode Surprise. Teacher by then was fairly fried; she had, at that point, ridden ten times in three days. She did a lovely job however, and Surprise was really coming together for her.
Finally, Pooka came out for his lesson. He was in full Work Brain from the start, said a short hello to the ladies instead of singing his long rolling song, and then he was all business. His free longe and flexions were quite short, then he was ready to continue the lesson of the day before. I got serious Elbows Torture (though the whip behind the back trick didn't work--I don't have a whip thick or soft enough; mine are all thin and stiff and ouch--so we had to improvise), and had to pay serious attention to where his shoulders where and what his ears were doing on the bend. Outside ear had to be ahead of inside ear, and I was supposed to say "Yes, no, yes, no, no, close, no cigar" with every stride. That was hard. Brain didn't wanna. Must work on that. We added a new exercise: 20m circle, square that, put circle inside square, circle inside that, change direction, lather, rinse, repeat. Must have correct bend on circle, and corners of square must be 90 degrees. And No Hands. Elbows at hips, straight line to bit, no turning off the hands. Seat only. For demonstration, TL had me come to a square halt, then bend his neck with my seat only. No hands. This was done by thinking the bend until his neck followed it--i.e. positioning seat in bend position, so that he felt it and his body followed. Then I had to keep this feeling into walk through the exercise. No trot yet, since this was effectively a restart. That will come.
Very important there to keep the upper body tall and shoulders level, and grow lower body downward without pushing or pressing into the saddle. Must keep seat open for horse to get his back and withers up and come through. And elbows. Ye gods, elbows.
It wasn't so hot actually, with a nice breeze blowing, so we weren't suffering. We cleared up the barn and went in to watch DVD's--De Kunffy at the TTT, and Philippe Karl's Classical Riding video--followed by lunch. TL and Teacher went back to Marana to run errands and continue the Feast. Bella and I chilled a bit, then went over to Mission San Xavier del Bac, where she marveled at the Spanish baroque wonders of the church, then bought postcards and Indian silver in the plaza. We were just in time after that to head over to Marana and catch most of keed's final lesson of the clinic, then watch a bit of Gaudia's groundwork and free longe before Bella had to leave to catch her flight. Keed was looking great; like his mom he gets convinced he can't do something, has hysterics over it, then suddenly realizes, hey, he can. And then he's wonderful. He had moments of serious collection and suspension, and his wicked little brain was humming. When he finished, he stood with his head down and a shellshocked look on his face. "Mental exhaustion," said TL. Phyiscally he was barely breaking a sweat, but mentally he was plumb tuckered. He was glad to have me walk him around for a while to cool him out, then take him in and unsaddle him while Gaudia got her bridle and surcingle on.
Gaudia was delighted to see me again, called me over as before and wanted hugs and scritchies and had to tell me all about her great new life. She was looking amazing for her lesson: she had graduated from going pretty much wherever she wanted, to working closely with Teacher in all gaits, with halts and turns. When we left, TL was just instructing Teacher to start upping the ante with more turns and changes of direction. Gaudia looked quite pleased with herself.
Bella made it to the airport in plenty of time, then I headed on home, fed the troops, and went Thud. Am still in a state of Thud today. I didn't suffer too much physically, my lessons were more about precision than exertion, but ow my brain ow. Mostly it was Wonderful to be riding my Pook again--and to be able to ride him mostly right.
We now have Goals. I have to get ready for Dallas in July, and need to take more lessons on different horses as I've decided to go and borrow horses rather than try to haul all that way. Pook isn't really ready and Pandora shouldn't have to haul that far in the heat. I've been offered several lovely Lipizzans, and I'll take those offers.
As for TL, she'll be back at the end of October. We have Goals. I want Pooka to be able to have the same lesson I had on Capria this time, and Camilla to be able to have the lessons Pooka had. Bella is planning to come back and hoping to bring a friend who is also a TL victim and dressage-list regular. I knowcasacorona wants to join us, and neighbor S should ride with us as well, along with at least one more Teacher student. The weather will be much more forgiving then, which will help--we won't have to stop by 10 a.m. and not be able to do anything again before 4 or 5.
Altogether an excellent experience. We learned a lot, we worked hard, and the horses enjoyed it as much as we did. Pandora worked her big white heiny off and loved it; and Pooka got to be a Ridin' Hoss again. And it was good.
ETA Must remember TL's comment re. Pooka: "Stop babying him. It's time for him to Get To Work." Yes, ma'am. Right away,. ma'am.
The week began with the arrival of
casacorona's lovely spotty Surprise, who is still here until the Wonder Shoer comes and takes her back home again. Surprise has lived here before and is good friends with Capria; apart from a bit of flurry with Tia (Surprise hates little black furry bugs), which is now over and done with since Tia has concluded that Surprise is really just a great big orange marshmallow, everyone has settled in well, and the two friends have been going out together in the afternoons--being Ladies Who Lunch, in short--while Pandora and the Girlz take their turn in the stalls and paddock, and Pooka chills out in the Garden Apartment.Then there was much running of errands and cleaning of house and preparing of food. Tuesday evening Torture Lady arrived from England; Teacher did the airport pickup and hosting. My part of the clinic proper began first thing Wednesday morning. I got up an hour earlier than usual (and I get up Early), got the troops sorted out here, then drove to the other side of Tucson to catch keed's lesson at 8 a.m. I am Not A Morning Person, but if I can get myself up, I do love the fresh smells and clear light, and the drive is lovely; it skirts the southern edge of the city, then curves off to the far west side, around the Tucson Mountains, into Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park West toward the Avra Valley. Wonderful vistas and saguaro forests, and of course mountains--relatively low volcanic peaks--and a startlement to me of the DUH! persuasion: the revelation that ironwood trees not only bloom, they bloom in clouds of lavender. We don't have them at DHF: we're too high up and it gets too cold in the winter. But over by the Desert Museum there are acres of them. Not coincidentally, some of the land one can see on the drive is part of Ironwood National Monument.
Lessons were running late, so as I arrived (also a bit late after a very rare diversion for me--I never do fast food, but with no time for breakfast, it was Sausage McMuffin or hit the deck with sugar crash), old friend T was still riding her Andalusian. That was a great pleasure to watch, and I got to see the tape of the whole lesson afterwards. This was T's first experience of Prime Torture, and she was dealing with the issue of not-forwardness in a hypersensitive horse--similar to what we deal with with Camilla. The lesson was to get out of the horse's way, quiet and position the body and stop trying to Make Things Happen, and set him free to move. The results as the lesson went on were striking; the horse loosened up through his whole body, and the rider (who can be very tight herself: she's a tall, narrow person who runs marathons) started to flow with him. Side comment made there was that like many Andalusians and some Lipizzans, he has a deceptive topline: he looks very round and "up" in the back but skeletally he can be just as hollow as, say, Capria. The rider has to learn the difference between false and real roundness, and learn how to achieve the latter.
After T's lesson, it was Teacher's turn with keed. She needs to write her own report. I was distracted by Gaudia, who called me over to her and wanted hugs and major quality time. I'm not her human but I am her dear friend, and she was thrilled to see me. She looks Amazing. She's grown very deep through the body; her shoulder is huge and she's maturing into a massive and elegant young mare. Very classic, very baroque Lipizzan, and very happy to be living with her human at last. What I saw of keed over her back was lovely: he likes to go hollow and he likes to stiffen his back legs and wheelbarrow along. I saw considerable reference to letting go the sacred outside rein and even (shock horror), with the rider in correct position and balance, using the inside rein to bring him around on a circle. Must talk to Teacher about the specifics of that. Keed looked happy and focused and his musculature is wonderful. He's having a lovely time being Teacher's main torture pony.
Gaudia got her innings after keed. She's too young at just 3 (Barbaro's age almost to the day, be it noted) to be ridden or longed on a line, but Teacher wanted TL to help her introduce Gaudia to the bit. TL likes the JP bits because they're curved and they sit very very nicely in the horse's mouth. This is the one Teacher had for Gaudia. It's very similar to the one the SRS prefers for starting its young horses; it's mild, quiet, and the cheeks mean it can't be pulled through the mouth. (I tried it on Ephiny who gave it four hooves up. Since it has the signal advantage of being Extremely Affordable, I'm getting her one.) Gaudia tried two sizes, picked the larger one, and was fitted to it in the bridle. This type of bit needs to be set higher in the mouth than usual, which was interesting. Gaudia took to it very well, got the soft eyes and reflective look one wants to see, and after trying to spit it out as they all do the first time or two, started working her jaw and swallowing instead--meaning she was relaxing and letting it do its work. And then she had a free longe while wearing it--for that day, moving where she wanted, with Teacher following and to an extent shaping what she did.
By that time the heat had started to come up seriously; we adjourned to Teacher's house nearby, watched video and had lunch. I had to leave after that, as I needed to sort out the horses here and take as much of a siesta as I could before lessons started here just after 5 p.m. Which I duly did. Teacher and TL took their own siesta, then arrived shortly before 5, got settled and sorted, and we pulled out Pandora for Teacher to ride. In the midst of this, Pooka's replacement boots in the larger size arrived, which meant he could participate in the clinic. That day was Capria's turn.
First however Teacher rode Pandora. This was an experiment: TL wanted Teacher to try Portuguese slip-on spurs, to show Pandora that she should lift the belly and being her hind end under in response to the leg. The spurs are angled so that they just touch the sides when used, and don't dig or jab. She responded quite well to them, got the point, and had moments of perfect beauty. And was happy throughout. I taped a little of this, though I had to stop before the end to groom and prepare Capria. Luckily neighbor S came by to watch, and kindly took over taping duties.
My lesson was most excellent torture. First we did the body-sculpting we did in January; scooch to the front of the saddle, bring up knees, get feel of seatbones and pelvis and back, then TL brought down each leg, rotated it, bent it, and fitted it into the stirrup. She noted that my right leg needs to rotate more but my left leg needs to push downward--I collapse that side (including ribs and shoulder) and must be sure to straighten it diligently. We then proceeded to cover the arena with hoofprints--an exercise also required of T and Teacher. The principle is that dressage riders get locked into test patterns, go blindly from letter to letter and don't use the full arena. We're less prone to that because my arena doesn't have any letters (the horses eat them), but it is good to be reminded to do exercises all over the place instead of the usual 20m circles at each end and the middle, smaller circles up and down the long sides, 3-loop serpentines (sine waves, give or take), etc. With Capria we had to just use the center third of the arena around the centerline, first doing serpentines to each quarter line (careful to keep the straight part straight and the curved part balanced and correct), then we did voltes through the serpentines, and figure 8's in the 6-8m circle in walk and then in trot. Important throughout, in fact vital, was that I stay in the middle, which meant with Capria that on left turns I felt as if I was hanging out over empty space. And of course I had to keep my viewfinders on. And, scrupulously, I had to keep my elbows at my hips. And keep my right leg rotated and my left leg kicking down. And keep my trunk upright (grow tall up through the chest and head, while growing downward through the abs and pelvis). Over and over. While Capria happily toddled on, getting happier the closer to correct I came.
It was quite amazing really to see how perfectly content she was trotting endless figure 8's in circles so tiny they're considered impossibly advanced in competition--the 10m circle is quite tiny, supposedly, and she was doing 6-8 without any distress at all. Because she was balanced and I was as correct as I could be.
After me, Teacher rode again--her third ride that way--and Surprise got her first ride of the clinic. Salient note of this ride for me was a comment TL made about how she loves to work with horses who are not physically perfect, who have soundness or balance issues. She calls it "riding to soundness." She rode Surprise herself to start with, to get the parameters of the horse, and there is video. Perhaps
casacorona will post her observations after watching the video. I was feeding and watering horses and doing barn chores, but what I did see was quite, quite nice. Though I would like to know what Teacher was rotating her shoulders for. Must ask.By that time it was close to dark, and the horses were in with their dinners, and we went in for our own--an Asian chicken noodle salad with many crunchy veggies, light but filling. TL and Teacher went back to Marana for the night as there were more early lessons the next day, with Lumi and keed and Gaudia again. I had to miss those as after what rest I could get (and feeding dogs and cats and settling horses for the night), I had to pick up longtime netbud and good buddy of TL, Bella aka grandprixdudette of the classical lists, when her plane got in at midnight. I did say Wednesday was a very long day. 20 hours long, by the time pickup was achieved, horses were met in the dark, and guest was settled in and put to bed.
Thursday was recover from very long day, do chores, make dinner, get ready for evening lessons day. Bella and I took time to fit the boots to a very happy Pooka who knew very well indeed what they meant. Success! Lately they come with gaiters (neoprene "socks"); that is good because without them the boots were a bit big, but with them they were perfect. They're very well made, extremely easy to get on and off, and Pooka said a bit fat tongue-floppy "Yes!" to them. No problem moving in them at all; they have the same breakover in the toe that he's supposed to have. And that was good. And meant he could have his lesson come evening.
TL and Teacher came over around 4:30, and lessons began after 5, with Surprise starting off (and looking even better than she had the day before). I was up next with Pooka, which turned out to be somewhat of a miscalculation. He hadn't been ridden in about six months, and his brain was stuck between the Stallion and Work settings. He was thrilled to get his turn, boots went on beautifully, saddle ditto. We established a new routine, built on the old one: free longe to start, then flexions, then ride. Previously, it was free longe and ride. Flexions are our addition from TL, a la Philippe Karl. TL noted that Pooka is a little too willing--and that can be a training problem, in that he won't wait to be asked, he'll do whatever he thinks you want before you can ask. This is the sin of anticipation and is counter to true obedience. A prime rule of training is that he has to wait for you to ask. It's a safety issue--as keed learned when he leaped onto a trailer the first time and then couldn't get off; when he finally did, he hurt himself. If he'd waited for us to instruct him, he wouldn't have got hurt.
Flexions went well once we dealt with that. He softened in the mouth and neck, gave to the bit (movement upward and around in a sort of massage pattern, side by side, then with weight of outside rein in addition to inside massage), and became more focused. Then we were ready for me to mount. No need for that eight-second timer; oh my it felt good to be riding my Pook again. First we were asked to noodle around, make lots of footprints (hilarious big round running-shoe tread tracks), and remember my positioning of the day before. Envision elbows connected by rod through the body, then envision ankles connected by rod through horse's belly. Focus on the viewfinder--and with him, watch his neck (big archy stallion crest as wide as my hand, so easy to keep in the field of vision). We repeated Capria's figure-8 exercise but in walk only--no trot with this restart, which was about us getting back together as a team.
With, it should be noted, one rather Exciting sequence. That's where the "sort of a mistake" comment comes in. Bella was riding Pandora after us, as I would need to feed and water horses and make sure dinner for us got into the oven on time. It never occurred to me that seeing his favorite mare come out with a total stranger might trigger Stallion Brain. He forgot I was on him--took off for the fence, paying no attention whatever to anything I tried to do to stop him. Poor Bella had to take Pandora out back, out of sight, and saddle her there, then wait for us to finish before she could come into the arena. She took it with good humor, and once we got that sorted out, Pooka's brain finally clicked over to Work setting and stayed there. After that the lesson went beautifully.
The most interesting thing for me was to realize how totally I've changed as a rider since the last time I rode him. My balance, seat, and position are completely different, and I don't have any of the previous steering and balance problems. There are still problems, of course, and we are working on them (aarrrggghhh elbows aarrrrgghhhh), but I can actually ride this horse the way he wants to be ridden.
By the time we were done, he was barely noticing Pandora. He went happily to his dinner, and Pandora (who had had an early dinner) showed every sign of enjoying giving Bella a lesson. This is excellent; she doesn't care who rides her as long as they do it right. Bella suffered due torture, and Pandora got a bit of a rest from the previous ride with Teacher, which was good.
That night Teacher and TL stayed overnight as the Moveable Feast would continue here in the morning (since Bella had to fly back home come evening). Neighbor S kindly donated her bunkhouse to TL, and Bella and Teacher bunked in here. Dinner was low-cal, low-carb veggie lasagna, loaded with zucchini and portabella mushrooms and fresh basil, with good bread and green salad and key lime cheesecake for dessert. After that we were all ready to go thud.
Friday morning we were up bright and early, with Teacher starting with Pandora at 6:30 (making sure Pandora and Pooka were as far apart in the scheduling as possible). Pandora looked Spectacular. She had rhythm. She had relaxation. She had moments of collection, with suspension. She even had a little canter--she's not really strong enough for the deep Sitz and collection she wants yet, but she managed a couple of quarter-circles, which was a start. We'll progress with that; she's volunteering a gorgeous canter on the longeline, so it's getting there. Generally it was agreed that this is a hell of a horse. And indeed, not bad for a 19yo ex-pasture potato.
Capria was up next, after a quick run to move the shared saddle from Pandora, and Bella had a delightful lesson. The Capria Experience, as TL noted, is quite instructive, as she gives you absolutely nothing until you're absolutely correct--and she will give you absolutely nothing all day. But the minute you get into the right place, she's totally there for you. She's a great teacher because of that, and trainers love giving lessons on her. After some negotiation, Bella had her looking like a perfect little classical Lipizzan, and she had her happy ears on.
After Capria, Teacher rode Surprise. Teacher by then was fairly fried; she had, at that point, ridden ten times in three days. She did a lovely job however, and Surprise was really coming together for her.
Finally, Pooka came out for his lesson. He was in full Work Brain from the start, said a short hello to the ladies instead of singing his long rolling song, and then he was all business. His free longe and flexions were quite short, then he was ready to continue the lesson of the day before. I got serious Elbows Torture (though the whip behind the back trick didn't work--I don't have a whip thick or soft enough; mine are all thin and stiff and ouch--so we had to improvise), and had to pay serious attention to where his shoulders where and what his ears were doing on the bend. Outside ear had to be ahead of inside ear, and I was supposed to say "Yes, no, yes, no, no, close, no cigar" with every stride. That was hard. Brain didn't wanna. Must work on that. We added a new exercise: 20m circle, square that, put circle inside square, circle inside that, change direction, lather, rinse, repeat. Must have correct bend on circle, and corners of square must be 90 degrees. And No Hands. Elbows at hips, straight line to bit, no turning off the hands. Seat only. For demonstration, TL had me come to a square halt, then bend his neck with my seat only. No hands. This was done by thinking the bend until his neck followed it--i.e. positioning seat in bend position, so that he felt it and his body followed. Then I had to keep this feeling into walk through the exercise. No trot yet, since this was effectively a restart. That will come.
Very important there to keep the upper body tall and shoulders level, and grow lower body downward without pushing or pressing into the saddle. Must keep seat open for horse to get his back and withers up and come through. And elbows. Ye gods, elbows.
It wasn't so hot actually, with a nice breeze blowing, so we weren't suffering. We cleared up the barn and went in to watch DVD's--De Kunffy at the TTT, and Philippe Karl's Classical Riding video--followed by lunch. TL and Teacher went back to Marana to run errands and continue the Feast. Bella and I chilled a bit, then went over to Mission San Xavier del Bac, where she marveled at the Spanish baroque wonders of the church, then bought postcards and Indian silver in the plaza. We were just in time after that to head over to Marana and catch most of keed's final lesson of the clinic, then watch a bit of Gaudia's groundwork and free longe before Bella had to leave to catch her flight. Keed was looking great; like his mom he gets convinced he can't do something, has hysterics over it, then suddenly realizes, hey, he can. And then he's wonderful. He had moments of serious collection and suspension, and his wicked little brain was humming. When he finished, he stood with his head down and a shellshocked look on his face. "Mental exhaustion," said TL. Phyiscally he was barely breaking a sweat, but mentally he was plumb tuckered. He was glad to have me walk him around for a while to cool him out, then take him in and unsaddle him while Gaudia got her bridle and surcingle on.
Gaudia was delighted to see me again, called me over as before and wanted hugs and scritchies and had to tell me all about her great new life. She was looking amazing for her lesson: she had graduated from going pretty much wherever she wanted, to working closely with Teacher in all gaits, with halts and turns. When we left, TL was just instructing Teacher to start upping the ante with more turns and changes of direction. Gaudia looked quite pleased with herself.
Bella made it to the airport in plenty of time, then I headed on home, fed the troops, and went Thud. Am still in a state of Thud today. I didn't suffer too much physically, my lessons were more about precision than exertion, but ow my brain ow. Mostly it was Wonderful to be riding my Pook again--and to be able to ride him mostly right.
We now have Goals. I have to get ready for Dallas in July, and need to take more lessons on different horses as I've decided to go and borrow horses rather than try to haul all that way. Pook isn't really ready and Pandora shouldn't have to haul that far in the heat. I've been offered several lovely Lipizzans, and I'll take those offers.
As for TL, she'll be back at the end of October. We have Goals. I want Pooka to be able to have the same lesson I had on Capria this time, and Camilla to be able to have the lessons Pooka had. Bella is planning to come back and hoping to bring a friend who is also a TL victim and dressage-list regular. I know
casacorona wants to join us, and neighbor S should ride with us as well, along with at least one more Teacher student. The weather will be much more forgiving then, which will help--we won't have to stop by 10 a.m. and not be able to do anything again before 4 or 5. Altogether an excellent experience. We learned a lot, we worked hard, and the horses enjoyed it as much as we did. Pandora worked her big white heiny off and loved it; and Pooka got to be a Ridin' Hoss again. And it was good.
ETA Must remember TL's comment re. Pooka: "Stop babying him. It's time for him to Get To Work." Yes, ma'am. Right away,. ma'am.
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Date: 2006-05-27 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 07:50 pm (UTC)I agonized over it, thought about advertising on the haulers' list for passengers for the trip, considered trying for sponsors, but then two of my friends from the Lipp association offered horses and it became clear that Pooka would not be ready for much of anything by July. And hauling Pandora nearly 1000 miles one way in summer heat is not kind to her. They had their Clinic Experience this week and will get it again in October.
If we bring this clinician back (which totally depends on how the clinic goes), it will be in January (2008; 2007 is too soon) and there should be time to figure out how to get Pooka there. He'll be ready by then. TL said it: Time to put the boy to work. He's been pampered enough.
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Date: 2006-05-27 08:19 pm (UTC)Re coolth--which I will never have an atom of--wouldn't it be fun to go just to be able to talk books and writing for four whole days? It's the energy that draws me, even if my tastes don't seem to quite parallel what I am beginning to think of as the "Wiscon School" of genre lit.
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Date: 2006-05-27 08:41 pm (UTC)When things get irritating/overly hothouse, there's always State Street.
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Date: 2006-05-28 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 05:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 09:24 pm (UTC)Being able to borrow horses in Dallas sounds great: and a lot less nerve wracking than hauling horses in the heat.
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Date: 2006-05-28 04:44 am (UTC)Meanwhile he has TL in October to get ready for, and that will be well worth it.
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Date: 2006-05-27 09:35 pm (UTC)(Yes, I have checked into lessons locally. Yes, am considering it. Just not this summer, which is Much Madness)
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Date: 2006-05-28 04:45 am (UTC)There are decent lessons available within reach of New Haven, for sure. Too bad my bud is in Woodstock instead of Woodbridge; she gives great lessons and has a slew of horses.
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Date: 2006-05-28 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 09:35 pm (UTC)I'll ask where else would have a good rep around there. There are many, many barns in the area.
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Date: 2006-05-27 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 04:04 pm (UTC)'Not asking enough' - yes, I know that feeling, and if I get a sound horse to ride again I'll probably face it. When you ride older horses, young horses, brainfried horses, horses in need of correction, you get used to stepping softly and not asking too much. It's easy to miss the moment when you can sit down and say 'oy' and make demands. You'll get back to that mindset pretty quickly - it's one of the advantages of having a collection of horses at various stages.
And don't you love the feeling that they haven't lost anything even when they've had considerable time off? Never happens to the crank-and-pull lot; they have to recapture what they fought for last week, never mind six months ago.
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Date: 2006-05-28 09:37 pm (UTC)You've got it about not asking enough. I've ridden so many greenies and rehabs, or else been snatched away from the horse so often, that the idea of real progress has become alien. Time to push through that.
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Date: 2006-05-29 04:42 pm (UTC)As for the advancement thing - I've been through that game all too often. Crumble was supposed to take me over that second level hump, but, well, it didn't happen.
Sigh. I want to ride seriously again. I miss it.
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Date: 2006-06-02 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 02:39 am (UTC)I don't think I'm nearly cool enough for Wiscon... although it does sound like fun.
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Date: 2006-05-29 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 10:45 pm (UTC)and yes. we did have teh Exact. same. clinic. I am wondering how TLs were in two places at once ;)
Though I would like to know what Teacher was rotating her shoulders for. Must ask.
rotating how? and did you find out why? PC had us do all SORTS of rotations in ways that seemed wholly counterintuitive - and amazingly effective....
(aarrrggghhh elbows aarrrrgghhhh), ahem. I most positively did NOT laugh out loud at this. no ma'am ;).
nor did I nod in empathy at this: Very important there to keep the upper body tall and shoulders level, and grow lower body downward without pushing or pressing into the saddle. Must keep seat open for horse to get his back and withers up and come through. And elbows. Ye gods, elbows.
sigh, horses and their people, huh. like his mom he gets convinced he can't do something, has hysterics over it, then suddenly realizes, hey, he can. And then he's wonderful. I'd like Joy and me BOTH to get past the mental block thing. *sigh*
great report though!
*feeling remiss*