April

2013 4 25

What’s been happening:

1.      Keystone

a.      Sad and loss of joy/self-discipline

b.      Issue of 2^nd horse: the promises: when, what am I looking for?, project horses

c.      Feeling overwhelmed to progress with Try only—need a plan

2.      Try

a.      Lessons w/Kathy—good trot for longer and ready for canter now: can’t ride a pattern yet

b.      Offering coming up thru top line in on line circling and canter

c.      Liberty without the stick—simple tasks, less precise: stick tog/yoyo/pedestal/sidetoward/Sbend

d.      Enjoying some ground play

e.      Jim Carrey/music—dancing at her

f.       Wants to get out of her pasture

g.      Passenger/rhythm warmup: passenger vs focus

3.      May conflicts

4.      June 8: ideas for demo/workshops?? Communication/Sharon

Topics: BALANCE and DISTANCE (circling and weave) and DRIVE as fun

With Keystone gone, I need to be careful of focusing too much on Try and need to find balance. She has been so happy to be with me and do things and I don’t want to “blow it.”

1.      How often: 3.5 times a week and how do we progress with so little time?

2.      Repetition: 2 days in a row is ok—3 not so much—work??

3.      How long: attention span—wearing her out mentally, physically. Two hours?

4.      How much pressure: ?? No pressure makes respect go downhill. Hard to pressure her when she is pleasant.

Examples

1.      Walking over the pedestal—nag/wait for her to figure it out. 2 good days

2.      Catching game: how soon and how fast/much energy? Let it go or “fix”

3.      Picking me up to mount—HQ—game for her? How big a deal to make of it. Phases? Particular? If its ok today its not fair to “beat up” on her tomorrow?

4.      Releasing the bridle—how do I communicate to her that I want her to open her mouth and not touch the metal? I think she would do it if she understood.

5.      Precision in drawing from intention: FQ or HQ

6.      Progressing sticking together

7.      Weave: liberty—match my E and shape—but what about distance—how do I communicate?

8.      Back the L at liberty? How to cue the change of direction?

9.      Circling game: avoidance—want snappy departure without bad attitude? Fun, Jim Carrey. Draw from intention. How to play/communicate about distance?

Freestyle Riding review??? Issue—conflict with the finesse stuff happening right now??

1.      Snappy go and whoa and relax

2.      Yoyos

3.      HQ/FQ and S bends/falling leaf—really swinging the shoulder

Frequency: see Try 3.5 max times/week

2	Strength: bareback, 2 pt, standing, no stirrups
1	Lesson with Kathy
1	Prep for lesson with Kathy
Every ride	Replace my riding habits with better habit
1	Try fears
Every time	Try something new
2	Dan list
2	Film
1	Update goals
2	Redefine drive – Jim Carrey – music
1	Rhythm on line or liberty concept
2	Distance on line or liberty
2	Canter for endurance
1	Canter on contact beginnings
3	Fill bucket – have fun

M	T	W	Th	F	S	S
Strength My habits New Ground Ride Dan list	Lesson Habits Ground Ride		Prep for lesson Ground Ride Strength Habits Kelly list Dan list	Bucket filling Play Don’t work on anything

March notes:

Rhythm

Another aspect to the topic is who is following who. That is, can I sync with Try’s rhythm before asking her to sync with mine? Doing the exercise will allow me to feel what Try is thinking on a deeper and deeper level and Try will like it.

1.      Riding with my eyes closed at the walk first. Getting in sync with what Try is doing in her body so my legs are getting longer and I am sitting even deeper.

2.      At the trot without stirrups sitting the trot—feel that my legs are lifting just as much as Try’s are in her trot.

3.      Canter—sit on my thumb and find her rhythm

4.      No stirrups posting trot—take it from the amount Try’s trot naturally lifts me and keep my thighs long and relaxed.

5.      Feeling, allowing vs mechanical and forcing

6.      To be quiet you have to be in motion, if trying to be still you are out of sync.

7.      I loved the loose towel feeling of my thighs in the trot

Sideways on the circle: my focus and body pointing is just a bit in the direction we want to go and the goal is she is following  and matching my body shape rather than reacting to the carrot stick.

S bend at liberty: draw

1.      Drawing straight before the change of direction

2.      Progress this with extreme or subtle turn, tempo, gait

3.      Canter is flying change

4.      One shoulder is drawing and the other is driving/shaping

5.      We want the amount of effort to match where we are in the learning process. Slow is ok until we get comfortable and can dance it at a faster tempo.

Drive

DRIVE as important subject for me to rethink. View it as just as much a dance as draw: Energy, fun, Jim Carrey and Tango. I have been looking at drive as a necessary evil and hating beating up on my horse and Try not liking drive and therefor avoiding it if possible. Level 1 and 2: TIME TO CHANGE MY MIND SET!!!!! It’s a fun game, not getter done.

Falling Leaf

Once I viewed it as a Tango, it was big, fun and full of big energy and joy for us both—trot and canter. Good to find some Tango music and add it to a playlist. Try it at liberty.

Review and clean up

Riding the Falling Leaf

1.      Trot on circle

2.      Fully disengage HQ to stop

3.      Swing shoulders!! Fully

4.      Then ask for canter

5.      Clean simple change with HQ engaged

Riding the S Bend

1.      On the circle

2.      SWING the shoulders to the counter bend and stay on circle for amount of time I choose.

3.      Then change to the circle in the new direction

4.      Progress to a zigzag and then to a straight line

5.      Variations: Weave

a.      Shaping: inside leg

b.      Swing the shoulders

c.      Wheel barrow turn

d.      Outside leg to push remaining fairly straight

6.      (Review Colleen Kelly 1^st series on turning)

7.      Watch pole bending competition on youtube

8.      This would lead to flying change

9.      Watch success series lead change ladder again.

Offensive Sidepass and Impulsiveness

1.      Begin with relaxation in lifting the rein

2.      Then how lightly to ask with leg at the girth

3.      Accept a little bend

Taking off the bridle—take the time it takes.

For the future: April and May

1.       Relearn drive as fun, music, dance

2.       Use S bend and falling leaf as tools and put to purpose

3.       Purpose vs principal is a balancing act. If use it before its in place that is forcing and if go on too long after learning that is boring, drilling.

4.       Need plan and flexibility enough to throw out the plan

5.       Obstacles and patterns for variety and purpose

6.       Ie. Cloverleaf: stop different places, change the lines, change gaits and direction with in the pattern.

What I learned

1.      Distance on the circle from intention supported with carrot stick lift, lift higher, slap ground, tag even for draw!! Diff use of stick/string

2.      Apply to sticking together and to weave. Weave ok to use rope and stick to cue at first. Try was great 1^st time then bored and messing it up—moving farther away should be putting it to purpose.

3.      Balance of tightening and loosening the spring: as we learn to use hq and come up thru topline with dressage lessons with Kathy then Try and I need to balance it with long trot—trail, cavaletti poles. Ask Kathy/BA

4.      Topic: keeping Try happy and progressing with Keystone gone.

5.      Review riding Falling leaf and S bend and getting good swing of FQ then caveletti poles

6.      Building strength happily

7.      How to get lbi to want to be fit

8.      Balance try assumes responsibility

9.      If its repetitive it must be a high priority

10.   Try gets to win some games—again priority

11.   Obedience vs responsiveness

12.   Bit as friendly game