Mary's Blog

Second Lesson with Liz

2011-09-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Liz said I had better rhythm today and Griffin was actually going straight. She could tell I worked on what she said last time. She is so positive! I love it! We talked about the last two weeks and how I was wondering whether he was straight enough. In the last lesson I was thinking she had me bend him beyond what I thought was straight and so I wasn't sure how straight was straight.

So the idea is that there is dressage riding and therapy riding. What she and Joanna are doing when they ask for more bend when he seems to me to be going straight is to over do it a bit with him. He is so stiff that if we go past straight he will start to stretch. He needs to bend more especially in the corners so we have to overdo it a bit in order to get him to bend properly.

* Liz pulled on his bridle to turn his head and his neck stayed straight instead of bending. She had to press on his neck and pull his bridle to get him to bend. So that is what I need to do. Turn his head in a bit more than "proper dressage" would have him and give him leg like I learned last time. (Put my weight in that leg and kick him like a soccer ball with the side of my foot.) This will help Griffin learn to bend and stretch his muscles so he can be more supple. *

The other big thing we learned today was that I have been riding with my stirrups too long. She had me stand up in my stirrups and I barely cleared the saddle. It also took my upper body to get me up enough to open my hips forward in a posting motion. Too long of stirrups causes me to not be able to open up enough so my back has to push my body/pelvis forward. i.e. I cannot open my hips because the saddle is in the way.

Liz asked if I feel more secure when using short stirrups in jumping. I said I don't necessarily feel more secure but I feel secure. That is a sign. If I can move freely and sink into my heels with short stirrups that is a good length. We shortened my stirrups two holes. She said I looked more balanced and my shoulders relaxed more so she could "see my neck".

When I was riding with long stirrups I tended to look like I was steering a bike. Hands wide apart and turning to steer Grif. When riding with short stirrups I was able to keep my hands in front of my hips. Especially on the corners she had me hold my outside rein next to his withers to hold him in. She said not move the rein out to steer him. Steer with my legs and the weight in my leg soccer kick NOT with the reins.

Two holes may have been too short but I was definitely riding too long. Play around with the length. Pay attention to whether I can sink into my heels. My legs will relax into a longer position by themselves if the stirrups are the right length.

Other thoughts:
♘ Hold the reins steady in front of me about the width of my hip bones. With each forward post push my belly forward "until it touches Griffin's neck". (LOL!)
♘ Relax into longer legs and let my shoulders drop.
♘ Think about my biceps touching my shirt.
♘ Keep looking ahead of the motion to where we want to go.

Oh, and smile from my liver!
(Okay, so that is from Eat, Pray, Love but it is good advice.)

Liz said I made significant progress from two weeks ago. Well of course! This is big, basic stuff she is teaching me! I felt so much different yesterday in my lesson with Joanna. The soccer kick leg aide makes a huge difference! I am sure the stirrup length and not steering with the reins will be big too.

This is good stuff!

Lesson with Liz

2011-09-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

I just had a great lesson with Liz. Here are the key things I remember:

♘ When walking give a leg aid on one side at a time like you are walking. Left, right, left, right. Kick, relax, kick, relax. Use the inside of my lower leg and thigh.

♘ Keep my head looking two letters ahead. Keep my eyes looking where I am going - about 45 feet ahead of me. Like with jumping it helps him know where we are going and not focusing on where we are or almost are.

♘ He is crooked like a banana on it's side not like a hot dog. I need to keep his body straight. Shift my body onto the leg he his bulging toward and kick him like a soccer ball back into a hotdog shape. Kick at the girth not his ribs. Kick and relax.

♘ If he is not responding give him a tap with the whip. I shouldn't have to keep telling him to move by kicking each step. If he isn't moving forward I should give him a thump with both legs. If that doesn't work try a tap with the whip. I shouldn't have to work so hard. Keep the whip on my right in both directions until he stops bulging that way.

♘ When asking for a canter think slow like I'm about to ask him to stop. Relax and sit back like I am holding the front of the saddle and leaning back. Ask with the outside leg back a bit then with the inside leg at the girth. Keep reminding him with outside leg, inside leg, outside leg, inside leg.

♘ Sit back and think Lead with Your Stomach. My shoulders will go back by themselves. My hips will open. Turn my toes out and use the back of my calves. Yes, the back. The idea of my feet being parallel with his sides was developed by men. Their hips are different. Women need to move their toes out to help open their hips. You can't open your hips with your knees in!

Liz said my position is good when Griffin is straightened. Relax my shoulders and sit back and push out my stomach. Keep him straight and make him do the work - not me. He has to hold himself up. The wear on the inside of my right thigh of my breeches is from my allowing his crookedness and me sitting funny in response.

Learning to Jump

2010-11-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

Griffin and I had a good training session today. It started out just a normal lesson - trot this way and that with 4 other horses. Then we got to the cantering portion and the others were cantering around together. Joanna had not asked me to canter yet but when the others were all in line and at the other end I let him rip. Grif did well! He didn't freak and we ended up going large. He went around a circle (to the left) and up to the other end before dying out. To the right he was harder to get going well but we kept at it until he was on the correct lead and in balance. Joanna had the girls circle at the other end while we worked on it. Then on to poles.

First Joanna had four poles set up close to each other and the other girls were riding over them easily (left rein). I headed toward them with Grif and he started/prepared to canter so I circled. On the second approach he did the same so I circled. The poles were much to close for him to canter through. So I calmed him again and trotted around for a third try. "No way!" he said. He broke into a canter and nearly bucked. I circled in a canter and went large. I had trouble calming him and getting him back to a trot. Joanna suggested just trotting him for a bit then having him walk over them by himself without the others trotting. So after a bit, the others went to the middle and stood to watch.

I had him just walk over the first time and trotted back around to the end of the arena. We walked up through the poles the second time then trotted back around. We walked from the end of the arena then trotted a few strides before. We went around and around, building up the distance we could trot before going over the poles. Finally after 8 or 10 times I was able to trot all the way around the arena including trotting over the poles calmly. Now on to jumping.

Joanna set up a smallish X with one pole in front and a ground line. "Do you want to take him over it?"she asked. "I'll try it once and see what happens" I said. So we did. He got excited and tried diving this way and that. He jumped over the far right side of the X. "Next time, kick him good with your right leg" she said. "Get after him and let him know you mean it." So we trotted around and past the jump so I could get him thinking calmly again. We went over again. He got excited going in but jumped it well. (When he jumps, even if it is over the biggest part of the X, maybe 2' or 2'6", he jumps well. He does over-jump sometimes but it usually feels right.) He was very excitable so I trotted around the arena a few times and over the 4 ground poles 2 or 3 times. After all that, when he was calm, we went over the X again. It was good! He stayed pretty calm and just jumped and cantered off nicely. I asked Joanna if it looked good to her and she said it did. So I said "I'll end on this one then." We trotted around a couple more times then walked and cooled off for a long time.

Griffin was sweaty from head to toe, from his chest to the saddle and all under it. He was sweaty on the upper part of his back legs and in the groin? area where the fur goes up just in front of his legs. The weather is turning to fall or winter and was a cool, moist 54 degrees. I had a long sleeved shirt and fleece vest on to keep warm. It took him a long time even after I took his saddle off and brushed his fur to make it stand up. The question is... Was he sweaty for being anxious or from all the hard work? He was very wet! Even his neck and chest were soaked.

This was very fun! I realized that I was teaching HIM how to jump. He can jump very well but is not familiar with jumps, standards and poles. Today I was teaching him that he could do it and remain calm. All the jumping I have done, and the relationship we have built really paid off today! I know how to get him to move right or left and how to control his blast. He is teaching me to remain calm and let him be energetic. I have taught him to balance and have a good bend. I can tell him to trot (with my body and voice) when he is thinking canter and he is listening now.

On Tuesday we had an excellent day. I felt like we have finally gotten to a place where we trust each other! I was riding with Megan and asked her to hold him for a minute while I ran to the honey bucket. He looked worried like I was abandoning him. I didn't know he cared! Later while untacking he seemed to be really connecting with me emotionally. That was the first time I really felt like he ... I don't know... trusts me... or was feeling close somehow. Interesting! It is not like the relationship you can have with a dog but it is more than I have had with any other horse. We are really becoming a team!

Maybe this next summer we can go to a show. Maybe even a grasshopper cross-country course.

But first we have to see what winter and spring hold for us!
:-)

Getting Calm at Riding and My PTSD is Getting Better

2010-09-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

Griffin was lame for quite a while. We have been back almost to normal for 2 weeks now. Things are going well. He is cantering better. He has only bucked/crow hopped once lately. On Sunday he cantered in such a relaxed fashion that he tripped. Joanna said it was a slow western lope. Pretty cool! I even lost the left reign and nearly the right and got it back during the tripping. I wasn't bothered by either. Last Thursday he was quite spooky, jumping at every little thing. I calmly rode it. Yesterday he jumped when a branch fell from the wind about 25 feet away while we were hand grazing. That was a bit scary because it was new and possibly dangerous but I didn't really get tweaked.

I am getting quite relaxed and able to think pretty clearly during the excitement - even physically relaxed. A couple weeks ago I let him canter up the hill and he went pretty fast. The next time I did it we started out a ways with a trot and I asked for a canter then he galloped up the hill! It was awesome! Last night we were in the indoor arena because of rain and he was bored and trotting slowly. I took him out into the windy/breezy outdoor arena and he trotted much better. He was scared of the jumps and poles that were set up, the trees along the Coffin's side, and was trying to avoid the rain in the rut on the track. I made him trot through the middle of everything. I kept talking to him and he had his ears listening to me. Pretty cool!

I realized recently that this is all very good for my PTSD. I am able to think and be or become calm physically even when things scare me. Then again, maybe I am just not getting scared because I have experienced plenty and have been fine. I still have not gone off Griffin. When he bucks I am able to stay on by putting my heels down and leaning back. It is scary and I could go off but I haven't. He rushes or only steps quickly for a few steps now instead of bolting but even then I can ride it!

Michael and I talked about the fact that it is almost like I need to have an adrenaline experience regularly to be calm. If I don't I am more nervous or jumpy. Michael said that the time when he zoomed around a car very fast on the Red-Fall Road and scared me I was much happier afterward.

Don't Stop, Go Forward into the Contact!

2010-06-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Okay this may sound like I am beating a dead horse (bad pun!) but I learned another twist on my last blog concept.

I am holding Griffin back. I am scared he will bolt into a canter and buck. So when he starts to put his head up and sideways I get concerned and pull on the reins to slow him.

What is really going on is that Griffin is avoiding the bit. He is not accepting it. He is done and wants to go eat grass and not work up a sweat.

Going to the left, Griffin was throwing his shoulder in to the left, putting his head up in the air and back with his chin to left and ears to the right. So what I needed to do is to keep squeezing/releasing on the right rein (amazingly this works in both directions) to bring his head back to straight. At the same time I needed to squeeze/release on the left to keep him round (not as sure about why right now) and, very important now, I needed to give him leg to push him forward into the contact. Yes, even though he seemed like he would bolt, I needed to push him forward. He gets awkward when he goes slow and I inhibit his forward motion. Keeping thinking trot! Keep squeezing and releasing the rein.

When we went to the right, amazing the same thing happened. Both the problem and the solution.

Stop! No, go!

2010-06-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

I tried last weeks lesson on Tuesday and got a bit of a buck to the right. His cantering to the left was great.

On Thursday, since Joanna had asked if I had ridden in the outdoor arena, I decided to work with Griffin around the jumps in the outdoor arena. He was a bit distracted but was doing pretty well. Cantered to the left 2 or 3 times then the last one he almost kicked or bucked to the left. We went inside for cantering to the right.

J had earlier zoomed over on his lawn tractor and scared Nikki and Isaac. Griff was a bit concerned. When we got inside he had stopped mowing and kicked the tractor and went off somewhere for a bit. I decided to take the break in distractions to try cantering. Another instructor had brought a horse for a lesson and was there with the rider. They were calm and not really a distraction. I tried leg yielding several times and finally into a canter. Crap! I shouted as Griffin nearly ejected me! Crap! I yelled again as it continued. What a jerk!

So today, Sunday, we started by warming up for our lesson in the indoor arena. It was just re-grated on Friday so the footing was not hard and pretty comfortable. After 20 minutes or so Griffin seemed to be limping a bit with his head going down with the left front. I switched to the other direction and he still limped. Joanna came over to let me know she was ready and I showed her. His limp switched to the other side and got better. Hmm. He looked fine to her so we went to her sand arena for our lesson.

He had been a bit uneven and I was a bit nervous from Thursday and previous excitement out there. I intentionally relaxed my mind and body giving deep breaths out to relax. We trotted in circles at the WP end of the arena pretty much the whole time.

The idea of today was to ask him for a more energetic trot to get him to move and bend correctly. I was holding him back a bit concerned that he would blast into a canter. His circles, especially to the right, were eggs or triangles or something not circular. When we worked it out he moved a lot better and made circles instead of other shapes. To the left I had to be careful not to let him over-bend and bulge out on the right side. To the right the concern was that he would throw his shoulder and bend his neck the wrong way. Again I asked him to look in to the right, keep his neck straight and keep the energy up. At one point in the circle he would consistently speed up and bend the wrong way. When I said "whoa" to slow his trot he would slow to a walk. I had to tug a bit repeatedly with the outside reign and push on with my legs to slow his trot and keep him trotting.

The other idea of today was that in previous bolts he was always heading toward his barn. Joanna had me ask him to trot (from a walk) when we were heading away from his barn.

I probably should have taken her suggestion and cantered him in the indoor arena after our lesson but instead I wanted to end on a good, calm note.

We had no bucking or bolting today. Griffin got the two apples I promised him. Though I think he would have loved to just eat more grass!

Next Stop PBRA?

2010-05-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

I started riding Griffin in August 2009. Soon after, I started cantering him and jumped him a couple times. He tended to rush into a canter but I could slow him down and get a bit of good cantering in. As 2010 came upon us he would suddenly blast into a canter, bucking or kicking, in Joanna's outdoor sand arena. He was leery of the RV and the monsters in the woods. In the WP outdoor arena he would be very concerned about monsters in the woods. He was on edge a lot. The last time I jumped with him was March 7th. He started with an absolutely awesome jump! Each addition jump got more exciting and he rushed. Finally he rushed and then as we were turning to the right to go back around he gave several smaller then a HUGE buck! That was it. I trotted him around the jumps a bunch and got him to calm down.

The next week we tried the endurance saddle. Was his back hurting? It felt wrong. The treeless saddle is much more secure. We unattached the pads from the saddle, readjusting everything and it seems to fit well now. Then, April 18, we were having a wonderful calm ride at Joanna's. Suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, he did a blast into a canter in the sand arena. When I asked for a trot, or was it a canter, he just did a crazy canter around and around without stopping. I couldn't get him to calm down for quite a while.

I went to just trotting and walking and staying in either the covered arena or the outdoor arena. He was getting real edgy feeling like he would blast off to the moon at times. (I didn't realize but Kathi wasn't riding him very hard and he wasn't getting supplemental teenaged rides either.) April 30th, just after I got on, and before I tightened the girth, he spooked at a goblin near the big tree between the arenas. He was crazy. He avoided the tree and would go near it. He felt like a bomb about to go off. I could only handle 20 minutes of it and took him back to the barn nearly crying. I felt like quitting. It was not fun anymore and seemed riding Griffin seemed pretty dangerous.

Finally, on Sunday, May 9th Kathi started giving him 2 scoops of Allay, a nutritional supplement of magnesium, calcium, yeast and licorice. He immediately calmed down. The edginess was gone! On Tuesday, he was almost sluggish but very calm. I suggested that we back off on the amount. On Thursday I cantered him many times in each direction with no bolting, kicking or bucking! It was a miracle! He was better than ever. The next six days I rode him we cantered at least a couple times in each direction with no bolting, bucking or kicking. It was awesome! We started going large because I felt so comfortable with his cantering. He was getting very good at working hard after cantering and staying focused too.

On May 27th we rode and cantered twice each way. The last time, and the second to the right, he started bucking to the right. It wasn't so bad! I rode it well and even kept him kinda on a circle. Way to go Mary! I worked with him on bending to the right for at least 10 minutes after and kept him working and going at a good pace. Because of timing and another lesson with Jane in the same arena I did not canter him again that night.

Afterward I felt high! I rode the bucks pretty well! I kept my wits and wasn't really that scared anymore! Sit back and pull his head up. Jane complemented me. What an awesome stage in my riding! I think Griffin has taken me to a new level!

Working on cantering

2010-05-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I cantered with Griffin at least a few times very calmly. The last time, going to the right, I didn't have him bending properly and he almost immediately started bucking.

Sooooo, today I told Joanna what had happened. She had me work on keeping him out to the wall especially in the corners.

Then we worked on leg yielding. Problem: Griffin bulges to the right. Meaning his middle bulges out on the right side even when going to the right. He doesn't want to move his back leg under himself and tends to throw his shoulder out. (I am not as clear on those points.) He is bending his entire neck instead of his entire body.

Solution: He needs to bend his entire body to the right. She had me just turn his head in but keep his neck straight. Then during leg yielding I need to keep my outside rein (to keep his neck straight) and my outside leg to catch him or, better, to push him toward it. Then Joanna showed me that I need to make his inside rear leg cross in front of the other. Meanwhile, his outside leg needs to move forward and not sideways.

We practiced lots of leg yielding. Neck straight. Oh yeah, and sit back! I felt like I was leaning back behind the vertical when I was in the correct position. I am also learning to keep him going by squeezing my legs when I am in the sit portion of posting. That keeps my legs more calm too. Leg yield while in sitting trot. Hold my hands up and steady.

As I got to the end of the leg yield just as I hit the wall (at the end of the arena) she asked me to keep going exactly like I was and ask him to canter. It was smooth and calm. Very nice canter!

Of course by the time I did this we had been in the arena for over an hour. We were sweaty and in the endorphin induced stage after you get tired where you just keep going. Grif had asked if I wanted to get off at the mounting block before but was going nicely.

He cantered very nicely today! I stayed calm and Griffin stayed calm. Sweet!

Apple Pie

2009-11-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Apples from Eric.

Advice from Louise.

Help from Betty.

Michael and Mary make a pie.

Life is bliss!

Letters

2009-05-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

I just had a long conversation with my boss. One of the things we discussed is that we need to get "some letters behind my name". So now I start the journey. The more impressive letters would be L.G., L.H.G., or P.E. Then again, what about a J.D.? Of course there are CHMM, REM, REP, QEP, CEP, CGWP. (http://www.eduwhere.com/credentials.php)

Newbie Blog

2009-01-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

Hmmm... What does one blog about?

I am sitting here doing the laundry at 10:00 am on a Saturday while trying to think of something profound or interesting to say. Hmmm...

I had a dream last night about bees. Two dreams actually. In the first one I was standing on a wide board that was unstable. I stepped to one side and rocked the board back and forth. There was the sound of bees under the board. I got off and walked several feet away and saw that the board was on a big log and there was a bee nest hanging on the underside. The bees were buzzing around unhappily.

In the second dream, I turned on the vacuum cleaner and there was a blue spark coming from the switch. Something was burning in the spark. I fished it out and found that it was part of a bug. I poked around some more and more parts came out. I turned off the vacuum and poked around more and a bee came out alive. I was inside the house so I squished it, feeling a bit guilty. Then another came out, and another. I squished one after another as more came out. I couldn't keep up. Finally, I bravely grabbed a pencil with one of those red cap erasers on the end and shoved it into the hole the bees were coming out of. Phew! I woke up.

What does it mean? Things were getting crazy but I was able to stop the bees? After I woke, while I was still in that dreamy half-sleeping state, I thought of vacuuming up all the bees, both dead and flying.