New Beginnings!
The horses were shipped down to Charlotte on June 21th and I followed on the 24th. It was a lot of stress pulling everything together, and my condo up north has yet to sell, but I am so happy to be in Charlotte. I really like this city! Rolling streets, huge oak trees...it's got a good vibe. We've discovered the US National Whitewater Center - which has great mountain biking trails. And we even have a favorite pizza place right around the corner, Tap and Peel. The best thing though - is that the horses seem really happy and settled in down here.
Their new home is Oak Hill Farm in Monroe, NC. It's about a 45 minute drive south of our house. It's about a 100 acres, huge pastures, big airy barn, large sand arena and cross country course. Everyone who boards and works there is really nice. There are plenty of eventers in the barn which is pretty exciting! Some who are just starting and others competing at training level. Lesley Stevenson is the trainer. She has competed through the 3-star level on her advance horse and trained with Jimmy Wofford. So far I have had 2 lessons with her, one on the flat and one jumping. I can't believe how much I have learned in just 2 lessons - ground breaking stuff! I am convinced that in 6 months I will be a hugely improved rider.
Lesley's key concerns with Leo on the flat mainly have to do with me. I need improve my seat by improving my posture. My current position is preventing me from effectively using my seat. My shoulders are too far forward and my back is round. I don't have my core muscles engaged so Leo can pull me out of position too easily and then he never learns to respect the aids. In general Lesley said my body was too loose. The second major position issue that was brought to my attention was the fact that my hands move around too much when I post. Lesley said this causes the bit to move around too much in Leo's mouth which is annoying for him and he never gains any trust with the bit and then that results him in avoiding the contact. To correct both of these 2 position flaws, Lesley is having me ride with a dressage whip between my elbows and my back (this fixes my posture) and then I ride by holding a whip between my thumbs and the reins (this helps steady my hands and forces me to use my seat more and my hands less in general but particularly in turns.
Her impression of Leo is that with correct training, he has the potential to score 8s or 9s on gaits. But she wants to see his strength seriously improve. She pointed out that he has not developed the muscles across his topline, and that he is not engaging his haunches. She also feels that he is slightly lame in his left hind. He has always been extremely sensitive along his back but I've never investigated this. Lesley believes he may need his SI joint injected.
While we worked a lot on my position, we also worked on many key issues with Leo right off the bat. The first was downward transitions - especially the halt. She had me wrap my legs around his sides and squeeze him into the halt, while simultaneously stretching tall in my back and sitting square on my seat bones. In the halt when he fussed with the bit, she had me nudge him with my heels if he jerked the reins forward. His halts progressively got better. I was not allowed to pull back with the reins - just close the contact while keeping my hands forward.
Then we worked on turns on the forehand to get him on the aides and moving from my inside leg to the outside rein. From here we progressed into canter departs - leg yielding out on a circle and into the depart to encourage him to engage his inside hind.
During our jumping lesson, Lesley focused on teaching me how to adjust speed while in 2-point and without use of the reins. I placed my hands onto the crest of Leo's neck and planted them there for the entire time. Then in 2-point when I wanted to slow my speed I was to drop my hips back slightly, support with my leg, and press my hands into his neck. When I wanted to go forward, I moved my hands forward an inch and added just a little leg. We practiced this at the trot and then the canter - first getting a steady rhythm, then collecting and going forward. In the canter depart, Lesley explained that over-bending to the inside was not going to help Leo because the inside bend displaces his outside hind further to the outside, when the outside hind needs to be engaged as it takes the first step in the canter depart. So instead when I asked for canter I petted Leo on his neck with my inside rein (to keep myself from using it), then counter-bent slightly to the outside to make sure he was in the side rein and asked for canter. This worked like a charm!
The jumping stayed really simple. Cross-rail with the ends quite high and placing pole before and after. We practiced the exact same technical from the flat over the jump. I approached in two point, hands on his neck and worked on controlling his speed with the same concepts. It was really interesting to put the technique into practice over a fence. I could feel myself become a softer and more effective rider with each jump repetition. It's funny with a hot horse how little you end up using your leg, but in Leo's case he has never quite learned what my leg means - which is why he doesn't respond to it when I put it on. Lesley wants to correct this.
We also worked on his straightness, as Leo drifts right towards the jump - particularly when he starts to surge toward the fence. For this, we practiced overshooting the line to the fence and then leg yielding left on the approach by simply moving both of my reins to the left. A few times Lesley had to halt before the fence and I had to praise Leo excessively to let him know he wasn't being punished just that it was an exercise and the halt was part of it. This was really insightful. Lesley said often with nervous and forward horses that any use of the bit feels like punishment to them so it's important to reinforce that the bit and all the activities related to it are just part of the job and shouldn't be feared.
I feel like these 2 lessons alone were worth the move to Charlotte! At this rate, I will be a transformed rider in 6 months!
Their new home is Oak Hill Farm in Monroe, NC. It's about a 45 minute drive south of our house. It's about a 100 acres, huge pastures, big airy barn, large sand arena and cross country course. Everyone who boards and works there is really nice. There are plenty of eventers in the barn which is pretty exciting! Some who are just starting and others competing at training level. Lesley Stevenson is the trainer. She has competed through the 3-star level on her advance horse and trained with Jimmy Wofford. So far I have had 2 lessons with her, one on the flat and one jumping. I can't believe how much I have learned in just 2 lessons - ground breaking stuff! I am convinced that in 6 months I will be a hugely improved rider.
Lesley's key concerns with Leo on the flat mainly have to do with me. I need improve my seat by improving my posture. My current position is preventing me from effectively using my seat. My shoulders are too far forward and my back is round. I don't have my core muscles engaged so Leo can pull me out of position too easily and then he never learns to respect the aids. In general Lesley said my body was too loose. The second major position issue that was brought to my attention was the fact that my hands move around too much when I post. Lesley said this causes the bit to move around too much in Leo's mouth which is annoying for him and he never gains any trust with the bit and then that results him in avoiding the contact. To correct both of these 2 position flaws, Lesley is having me ride with a dressage whip between my elbows and my back (this fixes my posture) and then I ride by holding a whip between my thumbs and the reins (this helps steady my hands and forces me to use my seat more and my hands less in general but particularly in turns.
Her impression of Leo is that with correct training, he has the potential to score 8s or 9s on gaits. But she wants to see his strength seriously improve. She pointed out that he has not developed the muscles across his topline, and that he is not engaging his haunches. She also feels that he is slightly lame in his left hind. He has always been extremely sensitive along his back but I've never investigated this. Lesley believes he may need his SI joint injected.
While we worked a lot on my position, we also worked on many key issues with Leo right off the bat. The first was downward transitions - especially the halt. She had me wrap my legs around his sides and squeeze him into the halt, while simultaneously stretching tall in my back and sitting square on my seat bones. In the halt when he fussed with the bit, she had me nudge him with my heels if he jerked the reins forward. His halts progressively got better. I was not allowed to pull back with the reins - just close the contact while keeping my hands forward.
Then we worked on turns on the forehand to get him on the aides and moving from my inside leg to the outside rein. From here we progressed into canter departs - leg yielding out on a circle and into the depart to encourage him to engage his inside hind.
During our jumping lesson, Lesley focused on teaching me how to adjust speed while in 2-point and without use of the reins. I placed my hands onto the crest of Leo's neck and planted them there for the entire time. Then in 2-point when I wanted to slow my speed I was to drop my hips back slightly, support with my leg, and press my hands into his neck. When I wanted to go forward, I moved my hands forward an inch and added just a little leg. We practiced this at the trot and then the canter - first getting a steady rhythm, then collecting and going forward. In the canter depart, Lesley explained that over-bending to the inside was not going to help Leo because the inside bend displaces his outside hind further to the outside, when the outside hind needs to be engaged as it takes the first step in the canter depart. So instead when I asked for canter I petted Leo on his neck with my inside rein (to keep myself from using it), then counter-bent slightly to the outside to make sure he was in the side rein and asked for canter. This worked like a charm!
The jumping stayed really simple. Cross-rail with the ends quite high and placing pole before and after. We practiced the exact same technical from the flat over the jump. I approached in two point, hands on his neck and worked on controlling his speed with the same concepts. It was really interesting to put the technique into practice over a fence. I could feel myself become a softer and more effective rider with each jump repetition. It's funny with a hot horse how little you end up using your leg, but in Leo's case he has never quite learned what my leg means - which is why he doesn't respond to it when I put it on. Lesley wants to correct this.
We also worked on his straightness, as Leo drifts right towards the jump - particularly when he starts to surge toward the fence. For this, we practiced overshooting the line to the fence and then leg yielding left on the approach by simply moving both of my reins to the left. A few times Lesley had to halt before the fence and I had to praise Leo excessively to let him know he wasn't being punished just that it was an exercise and the halt was part of it. This was really insightful. Lesley said often with nervous and forward horses that any use of the bit feels like punishment to them so it's important to reinforce that the bit and all the activities related to it are just part of the job and shouldn't be feared.
I feel like these 2 lessons alone were worth the move to Charlotte! At this rate, I will be a transformed rider in 6 months!
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