Summer lovin' continues

Leo and I went for a nice long hack today. We trekked down to Piney Run Creek which is fun because you can get in the water and walk up the creek to pick up the trail. I tracked our ride and it was a little over 4 miles and lots of terrain!

Today's hack: to the creek and back...

The other loop we do is over to Jackson Hole and back.

Dressage Tune-Up
Phoebe came over to the farm to give lessons this week, so Leo and I took advantage of that. It was a productive lesson for sure.

• Rider Crookedness: I still don't ride with my weight evenly in both stirrups. I avoid putting weight in my right stirrup (which is the leg I broke many years ago). This encourages Leo to swing his haunches right and be crooked himself. I need to drill Phoebe's voice into my brain about stepping into my right stirrup. 
• Haunches left: Regardless of which direction I was traveling, I would ask Leo to move his haunches left for a couple of strides. Then move straight again. This was a tool to help me with his straightness. He can't hold it for long, just 3-4 strides but that is enough. 
• Rein position in a turn: When asking for an inside bend, my inside forearm should turn out from my body or pivot at my elbow (not move backwards towards my torso) while my outside hand and rein move over to the withers. My elbows should always be against my side. Moving the outside rein closer to Leo's withers was key for me - it really helped me maintain his connection on the outside rein. 
• Canter Depart: I need to school Leo to depart off the inside aides, not with the outside leg. This is a pretty big change for us, because I use my outside leg far more than my inside. 
• Canter-Trot Transition: I need to keep my leg on and under me in my downward transitions. If I lean back, my legs shoot forward and then I brace against Leo - who in turn braces against me. 
• Stretch Circle: Leo speeds up on the stretch circle. Phoebe had a great fix for this which was to work the opposite hand and thigh together, squeezing and releasing, alternating between diagonal pairs over the course of the circle. Amazingly, this really did keep Leo in a steady rhythm! This also produces a great half-halt in the canter. 

Leo's canter work to the right was really good which is traditionally his hard direction. I was also pleased with his response to moving his haunches in and out too. He may be resistant in the bridle, but he moves his haunches! I got to ride Mio, Kristy's show jumper, for several days the other week and it was a dream. Mio is so well-schooled it's astonishing. You can pretty much put his shoulders or his haunches where ever you want them. It's such a stark contrast to Leo, but that's the feeling I ultimately want with Leo.

XC Treat

I wanted to jump this weekend but there were lessons in the ring so I ended up out in the xc field. I haven't schooled Leo xc since April. We typically get much more value out of the jump ring, but when thinking about my frustration about our jumper show performance, I decided to treat us to some xc jumps. 

There were a couple of smallish red tables set up so they could be jumped individually or at angles to each other. I practiced galloping a figure-eight over one of the tables and then did a 4-stride related line, followed by a different 3-stride line. Then I moved onto riding a coop uphill and downhill. Then I jumped him through a more technical angled 2-stride line in which the fences were at opposing angles. He was so good - so confident! It's such a great feeling. It took 3 years to really learn how to ride him xc, maybe it will be another 3 years before I learn to ride him in stadium!

Horse Crack
Leo has dropped some weight this summer so I'm supplementing with chopped grass forage. It's horse crack. Leo loves it. He loves it so much, he now talks to me whenever he sees me near the bag. 50 lbs of crack. Who knew!


Show Schedule
First 2 events of the fall have been finalized! We're starting with an unrecognized event since it's Sammy's first run of the year. I don't mind because its so much cheaper and Carousel has a good training course. Bucks County wasn't our first choice but it's the only event that works with Jen's schedule. From there, we'll probably go to Morven or Maryland HT in October.

• Aug 25 Carousel Horse Park Unrecognized HT
• Sept 9 Bucks County Horse Park HT