Gia 2/17-19/25

 I didn't have a chance to write three separate blogs for each day I worked with Gia this week, so I thought I would combine them all in one!

We did dressage on Monday and Wednesday, and jumping on Tuesday.  The only real difference between the two is that we went over a few obstacles up to 2', since "Jumping is just Dressage with Obstacles" anyway! 😄 

But let me back up a little ...

While I was unable to ride, I spent a lot of time thinking about my riding.  While riding is obviously a very physical sport, it is also a very mental sport.  We often spend a lot of time on the physical, but not enough time on the mental, myself included.  But for the last 6 months, I didn't have much choice.  I thought a lot about how I could improve my own riding and position, and especially how I could work on mine and Gia's biggest issue - all the bucking.  I definitely hoped that it was stemming from her not being able to breathe as well, and that after she recovered from her surgery, and was able to breathe better, she wouldn't want to buck anymore.  However, I also knew that wasn't likely the case.  At least directly.  I did know that I was often reminded by all of my coaches to lengthen Gia's neck, not let it get so tight, etc.  And Gia and I often received comments in our dressage tests about having a tight neck, or needing to work on lengthening her neck.  I was keeping all that in mind as I was working things out in  my head.  

Meanwhile, I started back teaching lessons within a week of having my surgery.  There are 5 ways that you can learn something or improve your understanding of something:

1. You hear the information - someone tells you a lesson, and you listen.

2. You see the information - you read an article, book, magazine, facebook post about a lesson.

3. You write the information down - you take notes about your lesson in a journal, or you take notes while watching someone else's lesson.

4. You do the information that you have been given- you take an actual, physical riding lesson yourself, sitting on the actual horse.

5. You teach the information - you help someone else understand how to do the lesson or perform the task or skill.

So, as I'm teaching lessons on two horses in particular - Annie and Milo, my wheels start spinning.  I teach many lessons on these two horses, who tend to be fast, and I'm always telling their riders to lean back and use their shoulders to slow their horses down.  Sometimes I describe it like they have "reins attached to their shoulders", and when they lean back, they are "pulling" on their "shoulder-reins".  Milo, especially, hates too much contact in his mouth, so riders have to be very conscious to slow him down and make down transitions this way.  

Fast forward to when I was able to start riding Gia.  We could only go at the walk, for several weeks.  I could complain about how boring it was, or I could figure out a way to work on the stuff I had been thinking about in my head.

Walk to halt transitions.

We practiced those A LOT!  Using my "shoulder-reins" on Gia definitely helped, combined with shorter reins, and several other position "fixes" that I had also been thinking about.  And once Gia understood, she loved it as well, and thrived! The long amount of time at the walk really gave me a chance to build the repetition at a slow pace, to solidify the work.  So, when it was time to trot, we were ready!  Things went much the same at the trot as well!

Finally, it was time to canter!

I couldn't wait to apply my "new" better riding position habits and thought processes to the canter!

But, that didn't go so well ...  The bucking problem persisted.... Why??!!

At this time, I could only canter a tiny bit, so I still had lots of time for thinking ...  and more teaching on Annie and Milo.  I would watch their riders when they first picked up the canter, abruptly thrown into the faster gait at a much faster speed than they would have liked.  Their instinct was always to "grab" at the reins.  I was there to remind them, right before the transition, to try to keep their arms reaching forward and to "pull" with their "shoulder-reins" first.  I also reminded them that they could always go to their hands as a last resort, if they felt the "shoulder-reins" weren't working, to slow their horse down.  

As I taught these lessons, I realized that I was doing the same thing whenever I asked Gia to canter.  Because of her enormous size and gait, and her intense desire to go forward, I still instinctively "grabbed" at the reins as soon as she would canter, even though I knew to use my "shoulder-reins".  Once I had this realization, I was able to work through the problem in logical steps that helped my body understand that it would be ok NOT to grab the reins as soon as she struck off into the canter, and that I would NOT be out of control, and that I am a rider who IS physically capable of using my "shoulder-reins" to regulate her tempo, and that if all else failed, I could still pull back on the regular reins like a good pony clubber to stop her from running away.  But, that's just it, she never did try to run away.  And I never did have to resort to my hands.  Only if I didn't give myself enough time to make the transition, or half halt, would I feel compelled to "grab" the reins to slow her down.  As long as I planned ahead and gave myself time, and thought about deliberately using my "shoulder-reins", she would respond
perfectly!

As our work at the canter improved, I started wondering why I had never come across this problem/solution before?  Eventually, I remembered that my last two big competition horses - Jojo and Butch - were more "whoa than go".  I was always adding more leg and encouraging them to go, and slowing down was really a non-issue.  Gia is more "go than whoa", and one who I have to work more on slowing down than speeding up.  I simply didn't have a lot of practice with this!

So, back to this week - we basically worked on all the same things at the walk, trot, canter and over a few jumps - keeping leg on to create impulsion, using my shoulders to regulate the desired tempo, keeping my feet with equal pressure across both stirrups, keeping equal pressure in both seat bones (when applicable), keeping my elbows softly at my side, keeping my thumbs turned up or even slightly out, keeping my core engaged, keeping my arms reaching forward and reins short, keeping my shoulders and upper arms and forearms and hands and fingers soft, keeping the reins gripped firmly between my thumb and forefinger.  On Tuesday, when I thought I had all that, I would try a jump.  Then I would try to get two in a row that were good.  I think we made it up to three in a row, in both directions, without any major mistakes!

Does Gia still buck?

YEP!

Does it happen as often?  Is it as powerful?  Does it last as long?

Not usually.

My instincts still kick in sometimes and "grab" the reins, but I'm better at catching those moments and letting go quicker.  Also, now I know that when she bucks, it's her very rude way of telling me that I am grabbing at her mouth, possibly restricting her airflow, and shortening her neck.  When she "reminds" me, I go back, repeat the transition (it's almost always an up transition or me asking for an increase in impulsion), keep in mind what I need to do (I try to say it out loud), and we move on.  It's a daily work in progress, but it is definitely improving!