Riding is hard, but XC is so much fun...
Sally was giving xc lessons over at Boyd's farm, Windurra, so Becca and I took our horses over there for a school. Becca was planning to move Spy up to Intermediate this weekend, but unfortunately had a less than confident xc school 2 weeks ago. She wanted to take a lesson and see where she was at with Spy. Since I didn't get to run xc at Flora Lea, I just wanted to get a positive jump school in and gallop a couple of larger fences so I'm not as intimidated this weekend.
Boyd's farm is awesome. The last time I schooled there was April. Since then, they have added a lot more to the course including a coffin, a full water complex and a lot more portables. The jumps are moved weekly so there is a fresh set of questions every time you go.
Sally had us start off with a series of 4 galloping fences, starting at BN height and building up to Training height. Leo was quite enthusiastic about galloping cross country and I got scolded for going too fast. Sally went on to say that this weekend, my goal should be to go around Prelim at Training level pace (450 mpm) and focus on getting good, confident jumps.
After our jump warm-up, we moved onto the ditches. We started by cantering an open ditch and then immediately circled around to one of the coffins which was a small log, one stride to a large ditch, one stride to another log. Leo was excellent here.
From there, we jumped 2 large galloping fences. Then proceeded to a corner complex which consisted of 2 opposing corners 52 ft apart (one corner was a left corner, one was a right corner). The complex included several different lines utilizing tables and skinnies, but Sally had us focus just on the double corners. First we jumped the far corner off the right lead, then circled back around and jumped the first corner off the left lead. The first corner had a harder approach off a short turn. Then Sally had us jumped them both in a direct 4-stride line.
Leo stopped dead in front of the first corner but Sally was unphased. He was actually seemed startled by the fence. Leo is funny because he never runs out; he just stops dead and looks at the fence like "Where did you come from?" Becca and I always wonder where his mind is in these moments. Sally had me stand there for a second or two so he could see the fence and settle his brain. I didn't hit him at all with the crop. He jumped the corner fine on the second approach and I circled around to the other corner, and again no issue. Then we put the 2 corners together and he was perfect! (Excitedly, I could even see my distance a whole 3-strides out from the first corner! It's such a better feeling than "Oh shit, I don't see a damn thing and I am galloping up to this fence.")
From there we went over to the bank and did a table, 2 strides to a drop, 5 strides up a hill to another table. Again he was great and again we only had to do the exercise once.
Then we went to the water. There was a large fence in the water - a water-to-water jump. Sally actually had us start with this fence, then jump a cross rail at the edge of a drop back into the water, 7 or 8 strides to a brush fence at the edge of the water going out. I was a little nervous about jumping the water-to-water jump because of its size. Leo has jumped smaller fences like that but this one was the biggest and you could see through the bottom of the fence to the other side. Leo had no issue at all, and jumped back into the water without issue and then out of the water. You'd never know a year ago we were dealing with a water issue. Then Sally had us jump the brush at the edge of the water directly to the water-to-water fence. Leo was once again fantastic.
Sally was really excited. She said Leo looked more than ready to go Prelim...now if only I can get through stadium so we can get to the cross country course! Becca made an observation about how Leo was fine jumping the corner after he took a second to look at it. Sally said if I have a stop in stadium to take a breath, stand there for a second and let Leo take a look at the fence, then re-approach. He needs the extra time to refocus. At Flora Lea, Leo turned away from the fence when I hit him. Then I immediately re-approached and while my approach was long, I was still rushing the moment and Leo's mind wasn't back in the game.
Spy unfortunately is still not quite his bold and confident self so Becca made the decision to hold off her move up to intermediate until next year. She'll run prelim this weekend along with me and then go to the 1-star at Virginia at the end of the month. Not moving up is a disappointing decision to make, but you make it for a reason so it's generally the only decision you can make. As riders, we are so goal-oriented that when we don't hit the milestones we set, it can be especially hard on the ego and how we think it reflects on us and our riding ability. We put so much into our riding and training in order to create success but we can't control everything. Sometimes shit happens and we have to re-evaluate where our horse is and where we are as riders in the partnership. Spy will go Intermediate without doubt; there's a good chance he may even go Advanced. But why risk his confidence by over facing him before he's really ready from a training perspective? We had to make the same decision with Leo in late summer. He was a slightly different horse than he was in May and we had to close some gaps that developed in his training before I could realistically move up to Prelim (even if Training was really easy for him at that point).
Becca and I aren't the only ones dealing with the ups-and-downs of training a horse. Our friend Zoe attempted to move her OTTB up to Training in the summer and wasn't successful. Alex, her horse, simply needed more time at Novice figuring things out (and he's now winning his novice events!) While she really wanted to make quick progress and get to Training, the slower route is working better for her horse. And it's giving her move time to develop his strength, adjustability and overall education.
I remember my good friend and former trainer, Ashley, went through a tough spell with her upper level mare. She had completed two 2-stars and was working hard to get to a point where she could move her mare up to Advanced. Then she just started having random, silly falls on cross country....popped out of the saddle here, a slip and a fall there...Before she knew it, she had clocked 3 RFs and had to drop back down to Preliminary. Was she annoyed with herself? Yes, but she stuck with it, and was back on her game and ready for Advanced in short order. Then the week before her Advanced debut, her mare suffered a leg injury which came with a long road to recovery. They are still on that road.
Riding is a serious mental game and everyone is dealing with something with their horse's training, or their own personal confidence. Even the big time riders are having issues - they just have so many horses you may not realize they are having problems with any single one. And let's face it, those aren't the stories that get published on Eventing Nation. This year, Becca and I have really been trying to help each other maintain perspective through our disappointments and self-doubt. Things don't always go as planned and that's ok.We have to be adaptable and keep the big picture in mind. We have to listen to our horses, listen to our trainers, be critical of our training and where our horses are in their education, and we have to remain flexible. We'll achieve our goals. Even if the path isn't exactly as we pictured.
Boyd's farm is awesome. The last time I schooled there was April. Since then, they have added a lot more to the course including a coffin, a full water complex and a lot more portables. The jumps are moved weekly so there is a fresh set of questions every time you go.
Sally had us start off with a series of 4 galloping fences, starting at BN height and building up to Training height. Leo was quite enthusiastic about galloping cross country and I got scolded for going too fast. Sally went on to say that this weekend, my goal should be to go around Prelim at Training level pace (450 mpm) and focus on getting good, confident jumps.
After our jump warm-up, we moved onto the ditches. We started by cantering an open ditch and then immediately circled around to one of the coffins which was a small log, one stride to a large ditch, one stride to another log. Leo was excellent here.
From there, we jumped 2 large galloping fences. Then proceeded to a corner complex which consisted of 2 opposing corners 52 ft apart (one corner was a left corner, one was a right corner). The complex included several different lines utilizing tables and skinnies, but Sally had us focus just on the double corners. First we jumped the far corner off the right lead, then circled back around and jumped the first corner off the left lead. The first corner had a harder approach off a short turn. Then Sally had us jumped them both in a direct 4-stride line.
Leo stopped dead in front of the first corner but Sally was unphased. He was actually seemed startled by the fence. Leo is funny because he never runs out; he just stops dead and looks at the fence like "Where did you come from?" Becca and I always wonder where his mind is in these moments. Sally had me stand there for a second or two so he could see the fence and settle his brain. I didn't hit him at all with the crop. He jumped the corner fine on the second approach and I circled around to the other corner, and again no issue. Then we put the 2 corners together and he was perfect! (Excitedly, I could even see my distance a whole 3-strides out from the first corner! It's such a better feeling than "Oh shit, I don't see a damn thing and I am galloping up to this fence.")
From there we went over to the bank and did a table, 2 strides to a drop, 5 strides up a hill to another table. Again he was great and again we only had to do the exercise once.
Then we went to the water. There was a large fence in the water - a water-to-water jump. Sally actually had us start with this fence, then jump a cross rail at the edge of a drop back into the water, 7 or 8 strides to a brush fence at the edge of the water going out. I was a little nervous about jumping the water-to-water jump because of its size. Leo has jumped smaller fences like that but this one was the biggest and you could see through the bottom of the fence to the other side. Leo had no issue at all, and jumped back into the water without issue and then out of the water. You'd never know a year ago we were dealing with a water issue. Then Sally had us jump the brush at the edge of the water directly to the water-to-water fence. Leo was once again fantastic.
Sally was really excited. She said Leo looked more than ready to go Prelim...now if only I can get through stadium so we can get to the cross country course! Becca made an observation about how Leo was fine jumping the corner after he took a second to look at it. Sally said if I have a stop in stadium to take a breath, stand there for a second and let Leo take a look at the fence, then re-approach. He needs the extra time to refocus. At Flora Lea, Leo turned away from the fence when I hit him. Then I immediately re-approached and while my approach was long, I was still rushing the moment and Leo's mind wasn't back in the game.
Spy unfortunately is still not quite his bold and confident self so Becca made the decision to hold off her move up to intermediate until next year. She'll run prelim this weekend along with me and then go to the 1-star at Virginia at the end of the month. Not moving up is a disappointing decision to make, but you make it for a reason so it's generally the only decision you can make. As riders, we are so goal-oriented that when we don't hit the milestones we set, it can be especially hard on the ego and how we think it reflects on us and our riding ability. We put so much into our riding and training in order to create success but we can't control everything. Sometimes shit happens and we have to re-evaluate where our horse is and where we are as riders in the partnership. Spy will go Intermediate without doubt; there's a good chance he may even go Advanced. But why risk his confidence by over facing him before he's really ready from a training perspective? We had to make the same decision with Leo in late summer. He was a slightly different horse than he was in May and we had to close some gaps that developed in his training before I could realistically move up to Prelim (even if Training was really easy for him at that point).
Becca and I aren't the only ones dealing with the ups-and-downs of training a horse. Our friend Zoe attempted to move her OTTB up to Training in the summer and wasn't successful. Alex, her horse, simply needed more time at Novice figuring things out (and he's now winning his novice events!) While she really wanted to make quick progress and get to Training, the slower route is working better for her horse. And it's giving her move time to develop his strength, adjustability and overall education.
I remember my good friend and former trainer, Ashley, went through a tough spell with her upper level mare. She had completed two 2-stars and was working hard to get to a point where she could move her mare up to Advanced. Then she just started having random, silly falls on cross country....popped out of the saddle here, a slip and a fall there...Before she knew it, she had clocked 3 RFs and had to drop back down to Preliminary. Was she annoyed with herself? Yes, but she stuck with it, and was back on her game and ready for Advanced in short order. Then the week before her Advanced debut, her mare suffered a leg injury which came with a long road to recovery. They are still on that road.
Riding is a serious mental game and everyone is dealing with something with their horse's training, or their own personal confidence. Even the big time riders are having issues - they just have so many horses you may not realize they are having problems with any single one. And let's face it, those aren't the stories that get published on Eventing Nation. This year, Becca and I have really been trying to help each other maintain perspective through our disappointments and self-doubt. Things don't always go as planned and that's ok.We have to be adaptable and keep the big picture in mind. We have to listen to our horses, listen to our trainers, be critical of our training and where our horses are in their education, and we have to remain flexible. We'll achieve our goals. Even if the path isn't exactly as we pictured.
glad you had a positive school and came up with a new strategy if he stops. your points about rider struggles all the way up the levels are really great too - and a good reminder for those of us just breaking into the sport. best of luck this weekend!
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