Unexpected DLB Bonus Round
Jul. 31st, 2022 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickSo DLB came back again for Sunday the 31st and August the 1th (this is pronounced Oneth). I don't exactly have a tow rig right now because Agricultural Drone Spraying is happening but horse friend N. who DOES NOT live "on the way" or in any way convenient to carpooling with me and Bird offered to give us a ride to DLB anyway which was SUPER thoughtful and kind.
We got there on time. It started to rain like a bitch for N's ride and continued to rain like a bitch for my ride. BUT it was still good. It was good. Wet, but good.
DLB: Let us see some trot.
We trotted. The trot was fine.
DLB: So balance, what lovely, so rhythm, much straight!
...
DLB: Let us expand and contract this trot without killing the energy.
I made efforts. Trot games (without killing energy in SMOL trot and without losing balance in BIG trot) are hard, so we were only moderately successful. However, our moderate success was thumbed-up by DLB in an encouraging way.
DLB: Yes, but moar of dis. Go home and buff your project, it is not as good as it can be. However you are so thoughtful and not overriding him and very careful about staying with him at his current level of capability.
DLB: How about some canters?
We canter. 20m circle efforts are less than stellar, but they're way better in the soft wet stonedust footing and the rain. Horse feels *good* and is play-spooking at shit because he's full of beans.
DLB: More hip, please. Move lift more inside hip. (Rider, not horse.)
That went much better. The internet suggests that Legend in their Own Mind status riders like me tend to "shove" at the canter so I was working very hard at NOT SHOVING and thus was not moving enough so that it was kind of blocking my horse. Apparently some movement is OK. I can work on this at home, we repeated it several times and I have some idea of what we're going for.
DLB: How about long side, please to be riding alternate simple changes up the long side, do not turn corners in counter canter.
We do this. I was not sure about how it would go because we haven't done that before. It's one of Kat's suggested prep for flying changes exercises but we haven't schooled it except once on Friday where he did eight tries correctly (left, right, left, right going clockwise and the same thing going counter-clockwise) and I left it at that because he did the thing. I would not call this a "confirmed" skill because we're definitely taking like ten steps of trot inbetween times to get organized for the next departure. That's gotta get better and softer and smoother and more organized before there's gonna be any flying changes in my world, you betcha. Anyway, during this (for DLB), I got yelled at for leaning to check "wrong" lead efforts to make sure they were ok. Oops.
DLB: Look you, he has not done one wrong yet, you don't need to look, he's totally there. I will tell you if you get one wrong.
I try harder to not-look. Moderate success. I feel like if I don't look it isn't happening. Why cannot I feel these? Because I kinda suck. I'll work on it. Feel needs to improve to get to flying change land.
DLB: He is very straight and absolutely clear on what lead is what. Also his canter departures are so light, he just steps into them, wow, zero drama and just 100% straight.
...
DLB: He's almost ready for flying changes. It won't be long.
Now, I had discussed Next Project with my long-distance mentor/advisor Kat, mentioned briefly above, who has been supervising my independent study horse project in a supportive and encouraging way for like, at least the last ten years and two horses. We'd decided he was about ready for flying changes two weeks ago. I had not mentioned this to anyone else at all because the world is full of people who ADORE telling random adult ammies that they have no business whatsoever thinking about flying changes without experience riding the changes on a confirmed schoolmaster and then "working with" (CLOSELY SUPERVISED BY) a trainer on their own horse and blah blah blah. I'm obviously not equipped to do this properly, so I figured I would just get on with it quietly at home. It's easy enough to fail in private, been doing it for years over here.
Anyway, my reasoning there was that Bird's kind of done on his lateral work. All the improvements from here on out will be in strength and balance, not in understanding. (We could do work on pirouettes, I guess, but I don't love them. MANY of the ones I've seen, even at upper level work, look pretty labored. They just don't look fun for the horse or the rider. #notafan even though they're kinda lateral.)
We do need a new project. (I like projects.) Flying changes it is, along with more trot games. Also, foreshadowing for those playing along at home, trot games will become canter games in due time. DLB is totally gonna make it be canter games once I get good at trot games. She is not fooling me.
Preliminary thoughts for flying changes are that we need a floofier canter. More lift, more balance, more lightness. Floofier. We'll work on it. Rider also needs to be better at cantering, less ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Practice. Eight pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Six pounds of shit in a five pound sack. INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS, LET'S DO THIS THING!
I foresee a lot of cantering in the future of Bird so that his idiot rider can get it worked out. Also while him is fit, him is also not naturally under himself behind. His hind legs stand a tiny bit behind his hip so the sit n lift needed for flying changes is gonna be super hard for him. He needs more loin strength as well. We will work on it.
Anyway, so we're forty minutes into this rainstorm of a lesson/clinic and DLB is (actual quote), "I don't know that I taught you much today. I just asked to see things and you did them. Everything was lovely. Is there anything else you'd like an opinion or my thoughts on?"
Me: Well, he does halfpass. Do you want to see?
DLB: He's had that for a while, but sure!
(Me, to myself: He has done like three steps of halfpass in walk for you a month and a half ago. That's not "he's had that for a while". Also you offered me no input on how to do it better or anything, gave me more of a Hmmm. That was what I was hoping would happen. comment which is not, y'know, ACTUAL USEFUL feedback that I can use to do better at it.)
With that go-ahead, we do the thing off of both legs without drama. Birb does not need a ton of setup to do the thing. I get him going in a good enough for Doing The Thing gait (the which you learn about because if it isn't good enough, the thing does not happen and I realize that this is all very Wax On, Wax Off Miyagi bullshit, but honest to dog, if you don't have a nice solid trot with good pushing and balance and stuff, ain't gonna be no halfpass for you no matter how much you crank the outside leg back to the hip. Pro tip: You just need a hip socket drop to cue this. Throwing the leg back that far just fucks up your balance and impedes your horse. Also, you learn what a "good enough" gait is by practice. Lots of practice. Wax on, wax off. Get to waxin'.) At this point, Bird just does the thing. Were our efforts perfect? Fuck no. They were kinda-beginner but approaching stable and rhythmic. I went for too much sideways and not enough forward, so I got some coaching on that, yay! Outside leg a little more forward to keep overenthusiastic haunches from shutting down front end movement a bit. YAY! Advice I Can Use. So helpful. "Do not stare at inside shoulder because that tends to kill the movement. You do not need to check on him, he is doing the thing so stable and nice." (several tries later) "This just looks better and better. You have excellent control and balance to be able to make these fine adjustments, such tactful riding!"
Anyway, this was particularly awesome because DLB was there and regular instructor Allie was there and Debbie (other instructor at barn whom I do not ride for but who follows our limited progress with cheerful enthusiasm and encouragement) was there and horse friend N. was there. Like, everybody was there and got to see my singing frog* do his thing.
Is it a GREAT halfpass? No. He is no Valegro and I'm certainly not Charlotte. Is it clearly and recognizably the thing? Yes. Does it have a rhythmic and stable trot underpinning it? Yes. Did my regular instructor get to see me DO THE THING on my actual horse that she knows full well is only ever ridden and trained by me? Yes.
Everybody do the Michigan Rag!
My frog fucking sings, regular instructor Allie. You've seen him sing.
Finally, prior to lesson, I asked my regular instructor to look at my saddle for Bird because I think it's looking a little narrow for him in his new, buffer state. She agrees that he probably needs to go up a tree again. (We are in a Thorowgood synthetic adjustable tree saddle because I am a baller.) He is currently in an orange tree. We started in a blue tree and then moved to red and then to orange. Now we're pretty sure he needs a white, which is extra wide? I'd like to talk to the actual fitter if a tree move-up doesn't fix things, but... I've felt for a couple of months that he needs to visit the saddle fitter so, yeah, that might be a thing and it's easy enough to change him up. Boy is definitely buffer than he used to be.
I find it interesting that instructor was all "There is no way he's moved up a tree" and "You know, lesson pony Mystic gains weight on grass every year but being plumper does not change her underlying shape" until she saw Bird in person in the saddle and then she was like..."Y'know, I think you're right, he probably needs a wider tree."
* Since last November, I've been telling regular instructor that my horse half passes and this whole time she's been "Mmm, okay, that's nice" like as if I have been claiming that I have a singing frog in a box like Michigan J. Frog in the 1955 Warner Brothers cartoon One Froggy Evening. Maybe the singing frog only sings for me. Maybe I am imagining he sings. Maybe I really, really, really want him to sing and so I'm looking at him croak with "hopeful vision". Maybe I don't know what singing sounds like and thus wouldn't know it even if I saw it. Certainly the dressage forum on Chronicle of the Horse is very not-optimistic about Legend in Their Own Mind riders being able to do anything other than yank-n-crank shit riding without A SCHOOLMASTER and A TRAINER and yadda yadda yadda.
We got there on time. It started to rain like a bitch for N's ride and continued to rain like a bitch for my ride. BUT it was still good. It was good. Wet, but good.
DLB: Let us see some trot.
We trotted. The trot was fine.
DLB: So balance, what lovely, so rhythm, much straight!
...
DLB: Let us expand and contract this trot without killing the energy.
I made efforts. Trot games (without killing energy in SMOL trot and without losing balance in BIG trot) are hard, so we were only moderately successful. However, our moderate success was thumbed-up by DLB in an encouraging way.
DLB: Yes, but moar of dis. Go home and buff your project, it is not as good as it can be. However you are so thoughtful and not overriding him and very careful about staying with him at his current level of capability.
DLB: How about some canters?
We canter. 20m circle efforts are less than stellar, but they're way better in the soft wet stonedust footing and the rain. Horse feels *good* and is play-spooking at shit because he's full of beans.
DLB: More hip, please. Move lift more inside hip. (Rider, not horse.)
That went much better. The internet suggests that Legend in their Own Mind status riders like me tend to "shove" at the canter so I was working very hard at NOT SHOVING and thus was not moving enough so that it was kind of blocking my horse. Apparently some movement is OK. I can work on this at home, we repeated it several times and I have some idea of what we're going for.
DLB: How about long side, please to be riding alternate simple changes up the long side, do not turn corners in counter canter.
We do this. I was not sure about how it would go because we haven't done that before. It's one of Kat's suggested prep for flying changes exercises but we haven't schooled it except once on Friday where he did eight tries correctly (left, right, left, right going clockwise and the same thing going counter-clockwise) and I left it at that because he did the thing. I would not call this a "confirmed" skill because we're definitely taking like ten steps of trot inbetween times to get organized for the next departure. That's gotta get better and softer and smoother and more organized before there's gonna be any flying changes in my world, you betcha. Anyway, during this (for DLB), I got yelled at for leaning to check "wrong" lead efforts to make sure they were ok. Oops.
DLB: Look you, he has not done one wrong yet, you don't need to look, he's totally there. I will tell you if you get one wrong.
I try harder to not-look. Moderate success. I feel like if I don't look it isn't happening. Why cannot I feel these? Because I kinda suck. I'll work on it. Feel needs to improve to get to flying change land.
DLB: He is very straight and absolutely clear on what lead is what. Also his canter departures are so light, he just steps into them, wow, zero drama and just 100% straight.
...
DLB: He's almost ready for flying changes. It won't be long.
Now, I had discussed Next Project with my long-distance mentor/advisor Kat, mentioned briefly above, who has been supervising my independent study horse project in a supportive and encouraging way for like, at least the last ten years and two horses. We'd decided he was about ready for flying changes two weeks ago. I had not mentioned this to anyone else at all because the world is full of people who ADORE telling random adult ammies that they have no business whatsoever thinking about flying changes without experience riding the changes on a confirmed schoolmaster and then "working with" (CLOSELY SUPERVISED BY) a trainer on their own horse and blah blah blah. I'm obviously not equipped to do this properly, so I figured I would just get on with it quietly at home. It's easy enough to fail in private, been doing it for years over here.
Anyway, my reasoning there was that Bird's kind of done on his lateral work. All the improvements from here on out will be in strength and balance, not in understanding. (We could do work on pirouettes, I guess, but I don't love them. MANY of the ones I've seen, even at upper level work, look pretty labored. They just don't look fun for the horse or the rider. #notafan even though they're kinda lateral.)
We do need a new project. (I like projects.) Flying changes it is, along with more trot games. Also, foreshadowing for those playing along at home, trot games will become canter games in due time. DLB is totally gonna make it be canter games once I get good at trot games. She is not fooling me.
Preliminary thoughts for flying changes are that we need a floofier canter. More lift, more balance, more lightness. Floofier. We'll work on it. Rider also needs to be better at cantering, less ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Practice. Eight pounds of shit in a five pound sack. Six pounds of shit in a five pound sack. INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS, LET'S DO THIS THING!
I foresee a lot of cantering in the future of Bird so that his idiot rider can get it worked out. Also while him is fit, him is also not naturally under himself behind. His hind legs stand a tiny bit behind his hip so the sit n lift needed for flying changes is gonna be super hard for him. He needs more loin strength as well. We will work on it.
Anyway, so we're forty minutes into this rainstorm of a lesson/clinic and DLB is (actual quote), "I don't know that I taught you much today. I just asked to see things and you did them. Everything was lovely. Is there anything else you'd like an opinion or my thoughts on?"
Me: Well, he does halfpass. Do you want to see?
DLB: He's had that for a while, but sure!
(Me, to myself: He has done like three steps of halfpass in walk for you a month and a half ago. That's not "he's had that for a while". Also you offered me no input on how to do it better or anything, gave me more of a Hmmm. That was what I was hoping would happen. comment which is not, y'know, ACTUAL USEFUL feedback that I can use to do better at it.)
With that go-ahead, we do the thing off of both legs without drama. Birb does not need a ton of setup to do the thing. I get him going in a good enough for Doing The Thing gait (the which you learn about because if it isn't good enough, the thing does not happen and I realize that this is all very Wax On, Wax Off Miyagi bullshit, but honest to dog, if you don't have a nice solid trot with good pushing and balance and stuff, ain't gonna be no halfpass for you no matter how much you crank the outside leg back to the hip. Pro tip: You just need a hip socket drop to cue this. Throwing the leg back that far just fucks up your balance and impedes your horse. Also, you learn what a "good enough" gait is by practice. Lots of practice. Wax on, wax off. Get to waxin'.) At this point, Bird just does the thing. Were our efforts perfect? Fuck no. They were kinda-beginner but approaching stable and rhythmic. I went for too much sideways and not enough forward, so I got some coaching on that, yay! Outside leg a little more forward to keep overenthusiastic haunches from shutting down front end movement a bit. YAY! Advice I Can Use. So helpful. "Do not stare at inside shoulder because that tends to kill the movement. You do not need to check on him, he is doing the thing so stable and nice." (several tries later) "This just looks better and better. You have excellent control and balance to be able to make these fine adjustments, such tactful riding!"
Anyway, this was particularly awesome because DLB was there and regular instructor Allie was there and Debbie (other instructor at barn whom I do not ride for but who follows our limited progress with cheerful enthusiasm and encouragement) was there and horse friend N. was there. Like, everybody was there and got to see my singing frog* do his thing.
Is it a GREAT halfpass? No. He is no Valegro and I'm certainly not Charlotte. Is it clearly and recognizably the thing? Yes. Does it have a rhythmic and stable trot underpinning it? Yes. Did my regular instructor get to see me DO THE THING on my actual horse that she knows full well is only ever ridden and trained by me? Yes.
Everybody do the Michigan Rag!
My frog fucking sings, regular instructor Allie. You've seen him sing.
Finally, prior to lesson, I asked my regular instructor to look at my saddle for Bird because I think it's looking a little narrow for him in his new, buffer state. She agrees that he probably needs to go up a tree again. (We are in a Thorowgood synthetic adjustable tree saddle because I am a baller.) He is currently in an orange tree. We started in a blue tree and then moved to red and then to orange. Now we're pretty sure he needs a white, which is extra wide? I'd like to talk to the actual fitter if a tree move-up doesn't fix things, but... I've felt for a couple of months that he needs to visit the saddle fitter so, yeah, that might be a thing and it's easy enough to change him up. Boy is definitely buffer than he used to be.
I find it interesting that instructor was all "There is no way he's moved up a tree" and "You know, lesson pony Mystic gains weight on grass every year but being plumper does not change her underlying shape" until she saw Bird in person in the saddle and then she was like..."Y'know, I think you're right, he probably needs a wider tree."
* Since last November, I've been telling regular instructor that my horse half passes and this whole time she's been "Mmm, okay, that's nice" like as if I have been claiming that I have a singing frog in a box like Michigan J. Frog in the 1955 Warner Brothers cartoon One Froggy Evening. Maybe the singing frog only sings for me. Maybe I am imagining he sings. Maybe I really, really, really want him to sing and so I'm looking at him croak with "hopeful vision". Maybe I don't know what singing sounds like and thus wouldn't know it even if I saw it. Certainly the dressage forum on Chronicle of the Horse is very not-optimistic about Legend in Their Own Mind riders being able to do anything other than yank-n-crank shit riding without A SCHOOLMASTER and A TRAINER and yadda yadda yadda.
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Date: 2022-08-02 04:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-03 12:20 am (UTC)