And how!
Sooo a big storm on Friday knocked out our internet until early this afternoon, and I must say, absence does make the heart grow fonder, because I was ever so happy to see that small pulsing signal on my phone! I have a lot to update on...
Friday...
Today was one of those days where you can almost feel yourself learning. I had three jump lessons on three great horses this morning, and each one managed to teach me something different...
First off I was on a young gelding. Our assignment for the day was a basic course with lots of changes of direction and smooth, flowy turns. Key messages? Pace, straightness and consistency. I started off my first round determined to nail the pace and not get caught with weak distances; this translated into me over riding all of the fences and sacrificing straightness. Not so good... The fences went up and on my do-over I managed to find a happy medium, and suddenly the distances were there. Over my time here I've started to realize how much "the perfect spot" is nothing more than a reflection of your pace and your horses adjustability. Yet despite my brain knowing this, I manage to forget or mess it up on a regular basis... It seems to always take me a try or two to really get the flow going, and as my coach, Martin, says, "In the competition ring you only get the first try." I need this revelations to become more ingrained and instantaneous!
My second jump lesson was on a sensitive mare who I had only jumped once before. The focus of this lesson? Discipline in our figures. We worked over a triple combination of oxers with two strides between each, the objective being to jump it off the left lead, go right and jump it off the right lead. The angle of the turns and distance from the "center line" of the combination should be equal on either side. Well, I managed to axe this one the first time too, choosing an extremely tight track when a wider, smoother option was available. "The exercise is not about the jumps. It's about being equal on either side. How can you pinpoint stiffness or rigidity in a certain direction if your analysis is not equal in both directions?" Everything is training, and I'm starting to appreciate just how much simple figures can tell us about our horses' state of being. Stiff, supple, fresh, lazy? It all becomes painfully obvious when you accurately call upon a horses ability to go forward, halt, back up and go left and right. We start our work outs here with walk-halt transitions. Are they stiff? Pulling? Resistant? Once you've decided, you have your assignment for the day!
My last jump lesson of the day was a blast. I was aboard a more experienced gelding, who warmed up really well. Martin set up the same oxer triple combination as the last lesson, calling it the puissance classic. As the jumps got higher, the power and accuracy needed at the entry point increased, as well as the necessity of sitting tall between fences. What was a comfortable distance at 3' became significantly tighter at 1.15m, and I needed to be careful not to override the two strides, as is my wont! It was a blast though and my horse was excellent, and I can now add "winner of the Rancho Pampa Puissance Classic" to my resume, against a tough field of two competitors!
True to the forecast, shortly after finishing that ride the wind started picking up, and our last ride was hurried as we tried to beat the rain... Which came down in a torrent as we untacked. The downpours here certainly take some getting used to!
Saturday...
Our day off was swapped this weekend, so Saturday involved sleeping in til nine, doing some cleaning and reading, and then heading off to the big FEI show at Capricho with Alice, Katie and Rodrigo. Unfortunately we got lost en route and missed the Nation's Cup, but we were there in time to see the victory gallop! And the Canadian team tied for second with the Argentine team, behind the Americans! I was stoked to recognize some of the Canadian riders, namely Jenn Serek and Ben Asselin, and discovered that the remaining two were Tamie Philips and a French rider, Lamontage, whose first name has slipped my mind right now. I felt so proud of my country to watch them, and had to suppress the urge to wave at them as though they might recognize me as a fellow Canadian.
After the show we went out for dinner and it was relaxed and chill, a great day to spend with good friends.
Sunday...
We rode, just 15 minute trots in the damp ring! Walked to the gas station after work to try and catch some Wifi.
Monday...
Rode five in the morning, lunged three in the afternoon and the usual cleaning, etc.
Today...
Today I had a great jump lesson in the morning, over the (fabulous) course that we designed and set up yesterday. Ten jumps with two combinations for the first round... had an unfortunate stop due to my inattention the first round, but everything else felt great, forward and gallopy and fun! Martin deigned to let me ride the jump off despite not having a clean round, and that was completely awesome. I really felt like I rocked a couple of the twisty turns, and feeling like I "rocked" something is not an emotion I'm all too familiarly acquainted with! I definitely got rocketed out of the tack over the triple bar, but my horse came back nicely and I felt like the last turn was good too (and I know without context none of this description will make any sense, but it's for my own sake!)
After the jump lesson we did a hack set and then... three more jump lessons, on Geologo, Cor Lit and Puccini for me. These were all the same exercise, a trot in cavelletti grid to a big vertical, focusing on rhythm, forwardness and letting the horse rock back and really bounce out. I felt pretty pleased with most of the lessons, though definitely found some more things to work on.
And NEWS FROM HOME....
My parents got a puppy!!! I'm so excited to meet her. She's a 10 week old English setter puppy and her name is Ruby. Less than a month til I get to see her, and Haajes, and my family! Hopefully I will have improved appreciably in my riding. I definitely feel like I've gotten somewhere, but only the unbiased judges will be able to tell me for sure!
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