New Insights

I had 2 really good back-to-back lessons with Ashley. We worked on dressage and then went cross country schooling to ensure that we're properly prepared for our first training outing. It was a very productive 2 days and I have a ton more insights about Leo and I.

Connection on the outside rein
Getting Leo to connect with the outside rein has been very difficult for us. A couple weeks ago in our flat lesson, we made progress when Ashley suggested I open the outside rein and leg-yeild into it. So simple but it was something I never thought of before! Works like a charm though.

Bulging outside shoulder
Leo loves to fall out on his right shoulder when going to the left. I was having a really hard time getting a steady connection again yesterday, especially while cantering and I kept losing his outside shoulder on the turns. We were trying (unsuccessfully) to get Leo to lengthen at the canter and maintain his connection in the bridle. In order to correct the bulge, Ashley said I needed to use my outside turning aides to control Leo's shoulders. Ultimately, outside rein against the neck and outside leg allowed me to keep his shoulders straight and even move them to the inside as needed.

Ashley took this to the next level at the trot and had me work on a circle, applying outside aides so that Leo was always turning (the circle gradually getting smaller) and then asking him to bend through his body with my inside rein, all while encouraging a very active trot. Leo got very steady in the bridle during this and actually even started bending through his ribcage. And I never lost his shoulder to the outside!

Aggressive riding required

Leo is forward, but careful and I have to remember that I am riding a green horse. We're moving up to training and neither of us has competed at that level before. I need to ride aggressively on cross country in order to instill confidence in Leo. He's very honest and wants to jump all the fences, but as the fences get bigger he definitely needs more leg before the fence. The larger fences slow him down and his right shoulder bulge becomes more prominent as he takes some time to look at the fence. Combinations in particular take very aggressive riding and I need to be comfortable sitting down and galloping into a fence in order to compensate for (1) Leo looking and (2) Leo's air time as he over jumps the fence.

Banks into Water

Leo has been slow in understanding how to jump off a bank into water. Today when we went out to the Ark, he had no issues at all and confidently trotted and cantered off the banks into the water.

Trakehners
We jumped the training level trakehner at the Ark and I learned from Ashley that trakehners are galloping fences. They should be jumped as though they are a ramp or stepped table. I rode hard at it the first time and Leo peaked down at the ditch - as he was jumping it :) yay! We jumped it a couple more times until we got a good distance and jumped fluidly out of stride. 

Fast reactions are key

We practiced the training water combination which was a bank 4 strides through and out of the water over a roll top. The first time, Leo launched off the bank and I was totally disorganized in the water; we stalled out even though we managed to jump out over the roll top. As soon as we landed into the water, I needed to kick Leo forward and drive out over the roll top. Second time was 1000x better. We also practiced a training combination which was 2 tables 1 long stride apart and we approached on a slight uphill incline. This was quite hard and I had a runout to start. Straightness was a huge factor and I found I needed to ride into the combination at a strong gallop in order to get the one stride (and Leo has a very long stride). If I didn't catch the first fence on a good distance it really made the second fence ugly. 

Galloping fences is harder than it looks

Ashley had me practice galloping quite a few fences throughout the school including a prelim helsinki and a prelim table. (First time I have ever jumped any prelim fences!!) The larger fences do back Leo off. And when he drops his shoulders and gets low in front it is even harder to get a good jump. I had to create a forward gallop, keep Leo straight, and "lift" his shoulders before the fence - all while driving forward, leg on. Lucinda's not kidding that Leo is a hard horse to pull everything together on and that I need to get fitter to ride him successfully. :) I'm still not very effective at lifting Leo's shoulders - essentially getting him to lower his haunches and bring his hind end further under his body. We practice  this a lot in a canter work on the flat now - collecting the canter by sitting up and squeezing Leo into a more compressed stride. That's very difficult for us; at the gallop its even more difficult. It takes a lot of strength that the both of us don't quite have yet. 

We had quite a few nice jumps over the Prelim table; we also had a lot of ugly jumps when Leo chipped in and popped the fence. The good news is Leo is scopey and can jump out of a really deep distance even when the fence is quite large and he's not discouraged the next time he approaches (what a forgiving horse I have). I still can't read a distance very well - and Leo lengthens his stride and then slows down when approaching fences which also makes it hard. Ashley said I'll get the hang of it; it all comes with practice. 

More speed & bigger fences require lots of leg

I always have to remember that as the fences get bigger, I'm going to need more leg than I think to support Leo and get the best jump.