This week in lessons will involve working on leg position/use. Some of you who turn your toes out, or bring your legs too far back will be in for a surprise....
To help work on leg use, you will be doing an exercise that Debbie did very well with Jezz; leg yield, shoulder in, canter. This exercises is great and creating a more effective leg by stacking different ways to use leg in quick succession.
Riders going to MLM will also practice the dressage tests one last time in lessons this week.
Jumping riders will continue to work on even pace/rhythm.
And...good news for the dressage riders: Westwood Warmbloods is holding two shows again! We went last year and had a very good time. I am hoping one of their shows can be Coregel's debut...should be exciting! Their show dates are July 29 and August 26, which are both Sundays.
Karen
Monday, May 28, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
First time scribing
I volunteered as a scribe today at the Amberlea Dressage Show., It was my first time scribing, but I have a lot of experience reading the work of scribes, so it seemed like a reasonable task to attempt.
For those of you that don't know, a scribe is someone that marks down the scores and comments that the judge awards the rider and horse in a dressage class for each movement. Sometimes the movement scored involves a few things; a transition, a circle, and/or a gait change. Sometimes though, their are multiple scores for one movement, such as a circle with a canter transition may have a score for the circle, and a score for the transition.
The judge I was working for was an older lady from Michigan who was extremely patient with me, and a good teacher! I learned not only about scribing, but also about the common issues at each level.
The only negative about her is that she has very shaky hands so couldn't write the general comments...I had counted on that time to make sure I knew the next test and to give my writing wrist a break, but having to write the entire time, combined with VERY tight ride times, left very little time to recover. I think my index finger is permanently dented!
The lower levels were all pretty good to judge, and I was able to watch a little as well; I scribed for training, 2nd, 3rd, and 4rth. Then we got to Prix St. George and FEI Juniors. That was less fun. Many of the movements have two different scores and come up extremely quickly. It was very confusing and felt like a rapid fire final exam! Not much time to watch there.
The most common comments:
- Behind the vertical (this refers to the horse's head. Behind the vertical often went with lack of engagement. )
- Curling behind (this refers to the horse's entire neck over arching with nose down and towards chest)
- Needs more engagement, particularly in the downward transitions.(horse needs to march and flex with hocks as it steps up and under to slow down...rather than get stilted and stiff)
- Hollow (this refers to the horse's back, and usually comes with a high head and flippy front legs)
- Resistant (horse arguing with rider)
- Do not go into corner on circle. (the first quarter of a circle at A should not look the same as a regular corner at A)
- more downward stretch needed (on free walk/stretch trot).
- No change (when lengthening, extending, or doing mediums, the horse needs to clearly get longer...not quicker, and then come back, at the designated spots. If your horse's forward gaits are not great, then you can cheat a little by making sure you are extra balanced back going into and out of the lengthening/medium/extension).
For rider comments, heels up and toes too far out were the most common comments.
The judge also commented on the general poor quality of the horses, and that people tended to have their saddles much too forward.
It was also interesting that the worse the test was, the nicer the general comment was "Team has lots of potential".
I also learned that the judge or scribe needs to make note of the rider's number...yet most rider's use the little bridle numbers, put them on the left side, and then enter the ring to the left so the number isn't visible to the judge or scribe! The polite thing to do is to say your number as you ride by, but not one person did so. The next best thing is to use the big numbers the show provides, and rider so the officials can clearly see the number.
One horse was eliminated for being lame, one for having boots on, and one because it started to rear mid test.
All in all very interesting, educational, and something I would like to do again!
Clare rode Mags today, but her class wasn't until after 5pm, so I was home by then! They moved all the classes indoors to keep the horses off the soupy footing outside.
Karen
For those of you that don't know, a scribe is someone that marks down the scores and comments that the judge awards the rider and horse in a dressage class for each movement. Sometimes the movement scored involves a few things; a transition, a circle, and/or a gait change. Sometimes though, their are multiple scores for one movement, such as a circle with a canter transition may have a score for the circle, and a score for the transition.
The judge I was working for was an older lady from Michigan who was extremely patient with me, and a good teacher! I learned not only about scribing, but also about the common issues at each level.
The only negative about her is that she has very shaky hands so couldn't write the general comments...I had counted on that time to make sure I knew the next test and to give my writing wrist a break, but having to write the entire time, combined with VERY tight ride times, left very little time to recover. I think my index finger is permanently dented!
The lower levels were all pretty good to judge, and I was able to watch a little as well; I scribed for training, 2nd, 3rd, and 4rth. Then we got to Prix St. George and FEI Juniors. That was less fun. Many of the movements have two different scores and come up extremely quickly. It was very confusing and felt like a rapid fire final exam! Not much time to watch there.
The most common comments:
- Behind the vertical (this refers to the horse's head. Behind the vertical often went with lack of engagement. )
- Curling behind (this refers to the horse's entire neck over arching with nose down and towards chest)
- Needs more engagement, particularly in the downward transitions.(horse needs to march and flex with hocks as it steps up and under to slow down...rather than get stilted and stiff)
- Hollow (this refers to the horse's back, and usually comes with a high head and flippy front legs)
- Resistant (horse arguing with rider)
- Do not go into corner on circle. (the first quarter of a circle at A should not look the same as a regular corner at A)
- more downward stretch needed (on free walk/stretch trot).
- No change (when lengthening, extending, or doing mediums, the horse needs to clearly get longer...not quicker, and then come back, at the designated spots. If your horse's forward gaits are not great, then you can cheat a little by making sure you are extra balanced back going into and out of the lengthening/medium/extension).
For rider comments, heels up and toes too far out were the most common comments.
The judge also commented on the general poor quality of the horses, and that people tended to have their saddles much too forward.
It was also interesting that the worse the test was, the nicer the general comment was "Team has lots of potential".
I also learned that the judge or scribe needs to make note of the rider's number...yet most rider's use the little bridle numbers, put them on the left side, and then enter the ring to the left so the number isn't visible to the judge or scribe! The polite thing to do is to say your number as you ride by, but not one person did so. The next best thing is to use the big numbers the show provides, and rider so the officials can clearly see the number.
One horse was eliminated for being lame, one for having boots on, and one because it started to rear mid test.
All in all very interesting, educational, and something I would like to do again!
Clare rode Mags today, but her class wasn't until after 5pm, so I was home by then! They moved all the classes indoors to keep the horses off the soupy footing outside.
Karen
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Amberlea Dressage
I dropped Magnus off at the Amberlea Dressage show. Not many entries again this year, but lots of training level horses. Likely a good thing there aren't many entries as Amberlea was hit hard with rain, and the outside rings are best described as soup. They are trying their best by holding the classes all inside this year, and are working hard to get the outside rings suitable for warming up.
Planning to go help out tomorrow and to watch. Despite the weather I really like the May show...getting to see people I haven't seen for a while, and just a nice, relaxed start to the show year.
The show runs Friday to Sunday if anyone else would like to watch. Also this weekend is the Edmonton Spring Classic being held in the River Valley at Whitemud. This is a hunter/jumper show that may be fun to watch as well.
Karen
Planning to go help out tomorrow and to watch. Despite the weather I really like the May show...getting to see people I haven't seen for a while, and just a nice, relaxed start to the show year.
The show runs Friday to Sunday if anyone else would like to watch. Also this weekend is the Edmonton Spring Classic being held in the River Valley at Whitemud. This is a hunter/jumper show that may be fun to watch as well.
Karen
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Still raining
I think there was a brief 30 minute period this morning when it wasn't raining...fortunately it started again as I went out to turn out and feed! Poor horses are looking miserable in the rain, in particular the ones without rain sheets. Fortunately for a few of them it was farrier day, so Shawn and Zander were able to dry off enough to warm up and get their sheets on. Rocky doesn't like blankets so I opted to warm him up by riding him around the indoor bareback. My bum was soaked, but it is impressive how grippy wet horse is! And at least part of Rocky was warm and dry when he went back out into the rain..
For lessons we are working on evenness of strides and feeling the rythm needed to do a nice course. I am accomplishing this using a longer line than normal of trot poles, and then a line of low canter one strides, followed by a nice 4 stride that should use the same canter established in the one strides. Also doing some work on changes using a pole in the corner and a pole at the end.
Advice for the day is rubber boots. And if it stops raining before your lesson time...extra time to brush your horse as they will ALL roll once the rain stops!
For lessons we are working on evenness of strides and feeling the rythm needed to do a nice course. I am accomplishing this using a longer line than normal of trot poles, and then a line of low canter one strides, followed by a nice 4 stride that should use the same canter established in the one strides. Also doing some work on changes using a pole in the corner and a pole at the end.
Advice for the day is rubber boots. And if it stops raining before your lesson time...extra time to brush your horse as they will ALL roll once the rain stops!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Hopefully it goes unsaid that lessons will be inside this week. Some rain I can handle, and in fact Rocket was brilliant in the rain with Paige last week, but it has not stopped raining here since aboout 9:15am. Not hard rain...just incredibly annoying rain.
I set a grid up in the arena for Nicole's lesson this morning, but not actually sure what I will be doing for lessons this week. The rain has stripped my motivation! It will be nice not to be yelling into the wind though...
I set a grid up in the arena for Nicole's lesson this morning, but not actually sure what I will be doing for lessons this week. The rain has stripped my motivation! It will be nice not to be yelling into the wind though...
Monday, May 14, 2012
This week in lessons
The week in lessons we are going to work on hand position; keeping wrists and knuckles pointed towards the horse, and pulling back so that the straight line from hand bit maintains the same angle. This does mean pulling up slightly, but by using the shoulder and forearm, not the biceps.
I think often because rider's are female, and perhaps not all that strong, trying to ride big lumbering beasts, we go with what muscles we have and try to use the leverage that curling the forearms offers to out muscle the horse.
The problem with this method though, is it creates tension which the horse will naturally fight back against. Instead you need to not give the horse anything to fight, by taking as hard as you need to, and then softening again right away...don't wait for the horse to respond, just give, and if the horse has not responded, try again. Using the biceps to curl the arm to pull on the horse also tends to lift the horse's head and neck up and back, and cause the back to hollow. This is a position of tension for the horse, so even if the horse WAS relaxed, it will start to think it is, or should be tense because of its posture.
The flip side is riders that straighten their arms and pull back using a lowered hand and a stiff forearm. This had many flaws; not only is it a rigid way to pull, it also causes the rider to get hunched forward and crooked. From the horse's point of view you are pulling on their sensitive bars, and they tend to contract and curl away from this type of pull, which also causes them to drop onto their forehands off balance.
Other issues like kinked wrists, or my Nemesis, the flat left hand, also cause unevenness in pressure that can make the horse rigid, twisted or behind the bridle.
The "Educational" hand is one way to feel the following hand of a compassionate rider, but we don't really want to show like that, so it is important to learn to keep that following feel even with normal hands.
For jumps we will do doing things like asking the horse to maintain an arc over a jump (so jumping on a circle as an example) and working on a LOW following release.
For flat work, we will be working on lots of transitions and turns, as well as continuing to look at the CADORA tests.
And a warning...I am off to see if I can find some Popsicle sticks and empty cardboard tubes...see if you can figure that one out....
Karen
I think often because rider's are female, and perhaps not all that strong, trying to ride big lumbering beasts, we go with what muscles we have and try to use the leverage that curling the forearms offers to out muscle the horse.
The problem with this method though, is it creates tension which the horse will naturally fight back against. Instead you need to not give the horse anything to fight, by taking as hard as you need to, and then softening again right away...don't wait for the horse to respond, just give, and if the horse has not responded, try again. Using the biceps to curl the arm to pull on the horse also tends to lift the horse's head and neck up and back, and cause the back to hollow. This is a position of tension for the horse, so even if the horse WAS relaxed, it will start to think it is, or should be tense because of its posture.
The flip side is riders that straighten their arms and pull back using a lowered hand and a stiff forearm. This had many flaws; not only is it a rigid way to pull, it also causes the rider to get hunched forward and crooked. From the horse's point of view you are pulling on their sensitive bars, and they tend to contract and curl away from this type of pull, which also causes them to drop onto their forehands off balance.
Other issues like kinked wrists, or my Nemesis, the flat left hand, also cause unevenness in pressure that can make the horse rigid, twisted or behind the bridle.
The "Educational" hand is one way to feel the following hand of a compassionate rider, but we don't really want to show like that, so it is important to learn to keep that following feel even with normal hands.
For jumps we will do doing things like asking the horse to maintain an arc over a jump (so jumping on a circle as an example) and working on a LOW following release.
For flat work, we will be working on lots of transitions and turns, as well as continuing to look at the CADORA tests.
And a warning...I am off to see if I can find some Popsicle sticks and empty cardboard tubes...see if you can figure that one out....
Karen
Sunday, May 13, 2012
June 9th Dressage show
If you are hoping to go in the June 9th dressage show, please enter asap! I would like us all to show at about the same times. They added a separate ring for walk/trot, so that should help them be able to have more room for entries.
I would like us to try for the 12:42-2:24 times so that we don't have a crazy long day and I can still teach in the morning, and be back to feed in the afternoon!
Call, email or text if you aren't sure what to enter, but I think Training level 2, and training level 3 may be the best tests to go in for this first show. If you want to try one of the 1rst level tests though, I will support that as well!
Karen
I would like us to try for the 12:42-2:24 times so that we don't have a crazy long day and I can still teach in the morning, and be back to feed in the afternoon!
Call, email or text if you aren't sure what to enter, but I think Training level 2, and training level 3 may be the best tests to go in for this first show. If you want to try one of the 1rst level tests though, I will support that as well!
Karen
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Why did I wait until 4:30 on the hottest day of the year to build a jump course outside? And why was I wearing black full seat breeches? Really not thinking this out. At least there is a breeze and not too much sun, but I forgot how much heavier the wood standards and longer poles are vs the indoor equipment!
So that is why there are only 4 jumps set up...
I have also left the dressage ring set up for anyone who wants to practice in a full size ring with all the letters set up. Laureen rode through CADORA test B, and it rode well. We were going to ride test C, but I can't make sense of the "half circle between K and F returning to the track at H". A few ways to interpret that, so we will not be doing that test and will try test A and D instead...test A reads weird as there are difficult sounding canter circles, but no trot circles. Test D seems ok, but again, sometimes they read differently than they ride.
I would like to sort out which tests we like so we can enter the Maple leaf show asap to ensure a good time!
Karen
So that is why there are only 4 jumps set up...
I have also left the dressage ring set up for anyone who wants to practice in a full size ring with all the letters set up. Laureen rode through CADORA test B, and it rode well. We were going to ride test C, but I can't make sense of the "half circle between K and F returning to the track at H". A few ways to interpret that, so we will not be doing that test and will try test A and D instead...test A reads weird as there are difficult sounding canter circles, but no trot circles. Test D seems ok, but again, sometimes they read differently than they ride.
I would like to sort out which tests we like so we can enter the Maple leaf show asap to ensure a good time!
Karen
Monday, May 7, 2012
This week in lessons
This week I am hoping most lessons can be outside. Should be exciting!
The key will be keeping the horse's focused the first time jumping outside for the year!
For dressage we will be practicing Cadora tests 2 and 3 in the big ring. I now have letter pylons to make it easier to visualize the arena. You can look up the tests here: http://www.cadora.ca/display.asp?pageid=55
All riders will also be working on leg yield stairs, with circles. This is leg yielding off the wall for a couple meters, then doing a circle, then leg yielding a little further off the wall, then another circle, and so on until you run out of room. This is a good exercise to make sure your horse is listening, and not getting crooked through the leg yield.
For jumping we will be doing a course that will require the rider to be in control and not let the horses build too much steam. This means lots of turns and transitions.
I also have some shows planned for June, so check out the Prize lists on the bulletin board. One June 9th we will hopefully be able to enter some horses in the MapleLeaf Meadows dressage show, On the 10th there is a Jumper show at Sundown stables that starts at 2'0" with no oxers, and then on the 23rd is the Heads-up horse show with hunters and jumpers. Lesson horses are able to attend these shows, so let me know if you are interested in going.
Karen
The key will be keeping the horse's focused the first time jumping outside for the year!
For dressage we will be practicing Cadora tests 2 and 3 in the big ring. I now have letter pylons to make it easier to visualize the arena. You can look up the tests here: http://www.cadora.ca/display.asp?pageid=55
All riders will also be working on leg yield stairs, with circles. This is leg yielding off the wall for a couple meters, then doing a circle, then leg yielding a little further off the wall, then another circle, and so on until you run out of room. This is a good exercise to make sure your horse is listening, and not getting crooked through the leg yield.
For jumping we will be doing a course that will require the rider to be in control and not let the horses build too much steam. This means lots of turns and transitions.
I also have some shows planned for June, so check out the Prize lists on the bulletin board. One June 9th we will hopefully be able to enter some horses in the MapleLeaf Meadows dressage show, On the 10th there is a Jumper show at Sundown stables that starts at 2'0" with no oxers, and then on the 23rd is the Heads-up horse show with hunters and jumpers. Lesson horses are able to attend these shows, so let me know if you are interested in going.
Karen
Friday, May 4, 2012
We are all hypocrites
This is my thought of the week.
Hypocritical riders.
We want our horses to be even on both sides, yet we allow ourselves to favour our dominant hands/legs. Just watch how many riders (myself included) allow their weaker hand to get flat?
We want our horses to try new exercises that make them use themselves better, yet whinge and complain when I make you carry your reins a tad differently.
We don't want the horse to itch mid ride, but don't hesitate to scratch the sides of our own noses should the need arise.
We want the horse to leg yield/jump the jump/collect and develop fitness, but yet don't go to the gym ourselves.
So we are supposed to be the smarter ones, so why is it our horses are held to the higher standard?
Karen
Hypocritical riders.
We want our horses to be even on both sides, yet we allow ourselves to favour our dominant hands/legs. Just watch how many riders (myself included) allow their weaker hand to get flat?
We want our horses to try new exercises that make them use themselves better, yet whinge and complain when I make you carry your reins a tad differently.
We don't want the horse to itch mid ride, but don't hesitate to scratch the sides of our own noses should the need arise.
We want the horse to leg yield/jump the jump/collect and develop fitness, but yet don't go to the gym ourselves.
So we are supposed to be the smarter ones, so why is it our horses are held to the higher standard?
Karen
Sunny days ahead?
Fingers crossed the weather is going to be nicer next week, as I really want to teach outside! As they are forecasting weather in the 20's, it is a good idea to bring a water bottle in case we are outside.
This rainy/cloudy stuff of this week is annoying. Even more annoying is the lack of rain sheets at the tack shops.
Clinic times are posted in the barn. Let me know if you need to change your ride time for some reason. We will likely be riding inside as it is easier on Shelley's vocal cords than yelling in the outdoor, but people who want to warm up a bit will hopefully be able to warm up outside.
Karen
This rainy/cloudy stuff of this week is annoying. Even more annoying is the lack of rain sheets at the tack shops.
Clinic times are posted in the barn. Let me know if you need to change your ride time for some reason. We will likely be riding inside as it is easier on Shelley's vocal cords than yelling in the outdoor, but people who want to warm up a bit will hopefully be able to warm up outside.
Karen
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