Stay Strong

Sally's been working with Leo all week. I only got one text message from her about resistant behavior! I asked her about it today when I got there for my lesson. She said they had been working on the flat for about 15 minutes when Leo got really resistant going to the right. Interestingly, she said she felt like he was trying to start a fight. What she did was not engage. She came to a walk and just let Leo walk around for a while so he could get over himself. Then she started working again. She said it worked and he forgot what he was about to fight about it.

Overall, she said he's a fussy horse. Yep, that about sums him up.

In our jump lesson tonight, Sally continued to build on the points she went over with me in my last lesson. Two concepts dominated the lesson: getting Leo's head up and engaging my core muscles.

The Bump

Leo needs his head up coming into the fence. He can't be on or behind the vertical approaching the fence, which often happens when he's running through my aides. The solution is to "bump" his head up. This is done by half halting on the outside rein; inside rein is passive. The aide is quick and then released; repeated if necessary. When I use both reins and pull, or alternate between both reins, I just pull his head to his chest. Which I discovered results in refusals because he can't see the fence. :)

So, in the turn to the fence I need to make sure his head is up. If he's too low (on the forehand) or too close to the vertical, I need to "bump" him up using the outside rein. I confused my reins and used the inside rein one time and that did not work at all. By the time he comes through the turn he should be eyeing the fence and then I just maintain the rhythm to the fence.

3-Point and Core Strength

In regards to my position, we practiced riding in 3-point between fences in our course work. Sally said very few eventers can ride effectively in 2-point. She said the only 2 people she can think of are Bruce Davidson and Ann Kursinski. The rest of us need to perfect the 3-point position. I am too forward!

3-point is not easy for me and Sally pointed out that it involves having your core engaged at all times. When this gets cemented into my muscle memory, I will find that I can maintain my position despite Leo's big jumps and pulling tendencies and essentially become a far more effective rider. As I cantered into the fence, Sally would tell me if my position was good or if I need to lean back more. This really helped me get the feel for the position she was looking for. What also helped is the fact that this is the only feedback she gave me. She didn't overwhelm me with instructions about his canter, or shoulders, or my hands, etc. The focus was on my body position. Until she moved on to another concept and then she would focus on that.

Leo was jumping HUGE tonight and the bigger jumps really magnify the fact that he lands low. Sally said this isn't wrong; it's just his jumping style. He lands low in the bridle, pulling and galloping forward out of the first stride after the fence. He easily drags me out of the saddle in the landing.

Lesley tried to address my position before with me. She wanted me in a more classical position, close to the saddle, folded at the hip (butt back) and maintaining that folded position through the landing. She pointed out that I rotated forward at the knee and then fell back after the apex of the jump. Lesley was hopeful that maintain 2-point thru the landing would cure me of my bad habit of falling back. Sally had a slightly different perspective.

The problem is not that I open up over the fence, but that I don't stay strong in my core over the fence. I go loose, so I can't maintain my position on landing. In fact, I go loose before the takeoff, which results in that rotating position that Lesley tried to cure me of. Essentially I need to be using my core in every stride before and after the fence and in every jump. Because of Leo's jump, Sally said I need to open up on the landing (while being strong in my core). When I stay low, it takes that much longer to get organized and often times the delay in organization makes a mess of the next fence.

I felt like my position got better over the course of the lesson, even though I was still getting jumped out of the tack quite a bit. Getting Leo's head up in the turn and riding forward to the fence got my hands in the right position so I didn't have to think about them. Immediately after the fence Sally demanded that I re-establish a correct position, and get Leo's head up again. She pointed out that this will teach Leo to listen to me and ultimately, help make our jumping rounds smoother.

Sally reminded me that I need to make every jump count since I don't jump much. I need to be disciplined about my position.

• Establish the correct 3-point position in the starting canter
• Get Leo's head up in the turn to the fence. Use the bump as needed.
• Engage core in the approach
• Engage core in the air
• Engage core in the landing
• Re-establish the correct 3-point position in the first stride
• Get Leo's head up immediately after the fence and continue to ride forward

Leo had some fantastic jumps tonight. We jumped a chevron skinny for the first time and he was brilliant(!). We caught some deep spots and left out some strides here and there, but overall he was listening and as Sally said the fences were "north of novice." Sally said Leo is impressive: he's really good off the ground and has a ton of scope. And more importantly, he really loves jumping. He was looking for his fences, which is always an exciting feeling. At the end of the lesson, she reinforced again that management will be the key to getting him to perform at his best and I'll learn the right program over time.