I had a lightbulb moment today. I'm always hesitant to report them, because I know if/when Susan reads them, she'll call one of her YR friends, and the two of them will point and laugh, and try not to fall over. Susan can never believe how slow I am on the uptake, but usually it is all a matter of misunderstanding. I hear the words, but I don't assign the proper context.
Forever, now, Jürgen has said to make Facet "quick to my leg" and to "keep the jump" in the canter. He tells me "more canter" and I'm "losing the canter." I know I'm losing the canter (fortunately for matters of propriety, I can curse silently... Jürgen would not care to hear the names I call him when he states the obvious, and I am not able to do anything to correct it :sheepish grin:).
Today, however, there was no music playing in the dressage court, and that magnified the problem. You see, I'm very much aware of the music. I tend to breathe by it, and if the wrong music is playing, it can really screw me up if I'm not careful. The right music can really help my riding. (Is the fact that my trot work is absolutely at its finest when Quila and I ride to Ricky Martin my issue or hers???)
Anyway, at canter today with Facet, it became obvious we were getting slower and slower in canter until we fell back into trot. I don't know why... because Jürgen didn't particularly say anything different, but somehow, I noticed it in conjunction with his usual phrases. I tried adding leg a split second or two EARLIER than I wanted to, tried to think about speeding up the tempo. Magically, Facet stopped requiring any particular energy at all on my part to stay in the canter. I didn't need much squeeze. I just had to keep adding the cue whenever he started to lose energy. WOW!
So, I discovered I'd been waiting for Facet to set the tempo, and he was waiting for me... and we were slowing down to nothing as a result. I vaguely remember having had this really really problematically at trot when I first started riding him, but it felt different back then, and I no longer have an issue with trot. (And by first started riding him, I'm thinking about 2003, when I first imported him!). I had lots of problems with lots of things back then.
This will make a big difference, I think. I'm looking forward to my next ride with the gentleman.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Frustrated
This has not been a good competition year for me. In fact, it hasn't been a competition year at all. Quila and I just can't seem to get it together... or rather, I can't seem to get her sound long enough to get her fit. She's trying, and I get glimpses of how wonderful she can be, but nothing has been sustainable.
The upside is that Facet looks as if he's found the fountain of youth. His coat is shiny, his muscling is wonderful, and there is a bounce in his step that I, for one, thought I'd never see again. I've been able to ride him when Quila has been unavailable, and even when I can ride Quila, I've alternated between the two. As a result, I feel as if there would be a demonstrable difference in my riding... if only I had the chance to prove it. I can't, really, on Facet. I still look like a beginner much of the time. Not that I haven't improved by leaps and bounds with him (I can sit his gaits with ease now, and the transitions between gaits are generally smooth), but keeping him in front of my leg, particularly at the canter, remains a challenge. The skill I'm working on now is learning how to keep him soft in the jaw/poll, and round/through, without losing forward energy. There's a delicate balance there, and it's so easy to lose it, and not support enough with the leg. Too much, and I'm told, "He's not a four year-old, and this is not a materiale class--collect him!" Not enough, and we break gait. Sigh. But I'm getting a better feel. Of course, if I would ride him in the double, it would be easier... it would remove the jaw/poll from the equation... but I refuse. I hate the double bridle, and if he continues to go as well as he has been, I could conceivably show him. But not for some time in a double... (i.e., I'd have to be able to ride to Third Level, and I'm a ways from there), so I keep working in the snaffle. I figure the extra effort now will pay off for me in the long run, even if Jürgen is pulling out his hair in frustration.
But, while I may struggle with Facet, who insists that I do everything "just so," I get on Quila, and she's become a dream to ride. Every thing I learn on him transfers over to her, and she becomes that much better, that much easier to ride. I've hardly cantered her at all since April, but the quality of her trot is vastly improved. So much more "through" and she's so much lighter in the bridle. I can ride her from the seat now, collect her with seat and leg and minimum of hand, and really insist on my tempo by sitting in and using my core. It's a great feeling. And I have a much better sense of using my leg to shape her, and for controlling my seatbones.
When we did canter, that was better, too. The balance was better, and the single day of counter canter we did before the last setback was fabulous. But more recently, she had a problem trim from the old farrier... just a little short, but it took ten days for her to grow long enough to where she could be really worked again. And now, yesterday, her right fetlock was swollen. I iced and poulticed, and gave her Bute. And I said a prayer. I hope it is nothing, but her fetlocks have plagued us in the past.
The bright side, I guess, is that Facet is doing so spectacularly well, and I really could start riding Promise. She is becoming solid as a rock. I would like for her to have more show experience before I start showing her, but just because I start riding her doesn't mean I have to be the one showing her... at least not yet. So, I have options even though I'm not ready to give Quila up yet. On the other hand, I am getting tired of beating my head against the wall, and that's certainly what this year has felt like.
The upside is that Facet looks as if he's found the fountain of youth. His coat is shiny, his muscling is wonderful, and there is a bounce in his step that I, for one, thought I'd never see again. I've been able to ride him when Quila has been unavailable, and even when I can ride Quila, I've alternated between the two. As a result, I feel as if there would be a demonstrable difference in my riding... if only I had the chance to prove it. I can't, really, on Facet. I still look like a beginner much of the time. Not that I haven't improved by leaps and bounds with him (I can sit his gaits with ease now, and the transitions between gaits are generally smooth), but keeping him in front of my leg, particularly at the canter, remains a challenge. The skill I'm working on now is learning how to keep him soft in the jaw/poll, and round/through, without losing forward energy. There's a delicate balance there, and it's so easy to lose it, and not support enough with the leg. Too much, and I'm told, "He's not a four year-old, and this is not a materiale class--collect him!" Not enough, and we break gait. Sigh. But I'm getting a better feel. Of course, if I would ride him in the double, it would be easier... it would remove the jaw/poll from the equation... but I refuse. I hate the double bridle, and if he continues to go as well as he has been, I could conceivably show him. But not for some time in a double... (i.e., I'd have to be able to ride to Third Level, and I'm a ways from there), so I keep working in the snaffle. I figure the extra effort now will pay off for me in the long run, even if Jürgen is pulling out his hair in frustration.
But, while I may struggle with Facet, who insists that I do everything "just so," I get on Quila, and she's become a dream to ride. Every thing I learn on him transfers over to her, and she becomes that much better, that much easier to ride. I've hardly cantered her at all since April, but the quality of her trot is vastly improved. So much more "through" and she's so much lighter in the bridle. I can ride her from the seat now, collect her with seat and leg and minimum of hand, and really insist on my tempo by sitting in and using my core. It's a great feeling. And I have a much better sense of using my leg to shape her, and for controlling my seatbones.
When we did canter, that was better, too. The balance was better, and the single day of counter canter we did before the last setback was fabulous. But more recently, she had a problem trim from the old farrier... just a little short, but it took ten days for her to grow long enough to where she could be really worked again. And now, yesterday, her right fetlock was swollen. I iced and poulticed, and gave her Bute. And I said a prayer. I hope it is nothing, but her fetlocks have plagued us in the past.
The bright side, I guess, is that Facet is doing so spectacularly well, and I really could start riding Promise. She is becoming solid as a rock. I would like for her to have more show experience before I start showing her, but just because I start riding her doesn't mean I have to be the one showing her... at least not yet. So, I have options even though I'm not ready to give Quila up yet. On the other hand, I am getting tired of beating my head against the wall, and that's certainly what this year has felt like.
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