Life, riding, trainer updates

Well, I haven't been riding much. I think I've ridden 3 times in the past two weeks or so, and seen Finn probably about 5 times. I have a whole bunch of excuses...
First, hubby crashed his car coming home from work a week and a half ago. Thank god he was totally fine, but the car was totaled. We thought it could be repaired, as it was just the front end, but the insurance adjustor said it was nearly $13,000 worth of damage. We bought this car last April and ever since we bought it it's been nothing but bad luck. I've never gotten a flat tire in my life, two days after owning it, I got one. We also got another flat tire, and a cracked windshield in under a year of ownership. Neither of us ever liked the car, so in some ways it was a relief that the doomed car was gone. We financed it, and after all was said and done we pretty much broke even on it and luckily didn't owe any money on it or a deductible. In fact we're receiving a WHOPPING $68 check. Rather than financing another car right now hubby and I have decided we're going to try and get by with one car. We work at the same place, and work opposite schedules, so it's not difficult to pass car and baby back and forth. It is, however, difficult to get to the barn often! Good news is, we're going to save up and get a truck and trailer...which I am so excited about! And, today, after all this stress, hubby's parents told us that they will pay for the three of us to come down to Florida to visit them for a week at the end of March. I'm pretty sure hubby almost cried. We need a vacation THAT much.
    We were also hit with a monster storm last weekend making it even more difficult to get to the barn. It sure was a lot easier plowing the driveway with only one car in it though.
     The few times I've ridden Finn all we've done is work on the basics. I've also decided to stop using the barn trainer for lessons and training rides. Every time I've had her do a training ride all she's basically done with him is trot him in circles for half an hour...barely any canter work or anything else. When she rides him I also have to tack him up, warm him up, cool him down when she hops off, and then untack him. If I wanted an exercise rider I'd pay one of the barn kids $10 to do so! Our lessons also haven't been progressing. I talked to Amanda, as she also takes lessons with former trainer, and she felt the exact same way and has also stopped riding with her. I love the barn trainer and think she's a wonderful person, and accomplished rider, but I'd rather save my money if we continue to not progress.
    One of the other girls at the barn, Michelle, who is an amazing rider/eventer/jumper and trained her young warmblood agreed to hop on Finn one day. After watching her ride and seeing how well my horse took to her, and then having her give me a little mini lesson on Finn, she's agreed to help me out with him. She's been riding him 2-3 times a week and JUMPING him which I'm so excited about. The other night he did his first grid. She's also been working a lot on strengthening his canter. I also don't have to be up there when she rides him, so he's still getting that exercise when I can't be there, and then when I can get up there he's not a hot, uneducated mess. I also get full updates and videos from Michelle after her rides. I'm very happy with my decision and think Finn will really start to progress from working with her. I noticed after I rode him the other day how responsive he was to my aids, and his canter was so much more relaxed! Yay!
     Finn will be getting a chiro adjustment this upcoming Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday afternoon I scheduled a full lameness evaluation and possible radiographs of his hocks and stifles. I've decided to use a very well known sports medicine vet that works with a lot of top sport horses in the area and is supposedly very good at pinpointing any issues. Finn is not lame, but I've always been a little paranoid that there's a little something going on and that he's not quite right. Not sure if it's a bit of arthritis in his hocks, a stifle, or SI issue. I want to get radiographs done and know if there's something we need to treat, especially now that he's really in work.
    Finn's been super girthy and crabby on the crossties so I ordered him a month's supply of omeprazole from www.horseprerace.com. I was a little concerned about ordering off market medicine, but I know a lot of people who have had no issues ordering from them, so I really hope it helps with his girthyness/grumpiness!
   I'll be headed up the barn tomorrow morning and hope to do a few crossrails with Finn and work more on his canter.

Here's a video of my munchkin doing his first grid!

Growing Up

The Wednesday after our lesson last week I decided it was a good idea to take a 1 hour yoga class in a 100 degree room after not taking a class in a few years, and then ride that afternoon. I felt okay after yoga, actually my body felt great, but I didn't realize just how bad my muscles were affected until I tried to get on my horse that afternoon. I could barely lift my leg over the saddle. Forget about a trot and canter, my legs were shaking at the walk... Finn had Thursday and Friday off (mostly due to my own recovery), and then a trainer ride Saturday, and off on Sunday. I guess I need to remember not to push myself so hard when I go to yoga again. I was up at the barn on Friday to get Finn clipped and took a few pictures (see below).
    Finn's trainer ride went pretty good. My trainer is working on his canter and she told me that his canter is probably the worst she's ever ridden. Yikes! He is basically legs everywhere, unbalanced, nose in the air. She got a couple of really good canter strides, didn't want to push him, and worked more on his trot.
     Today was a completely different story with the canter during our lesson. 4 new horses moved into the barn today, and my horse gets seriously stressed out with change. When I went to pull him in from the paddock he nearly ran me over, did a couple of sideways leaps, and a couple of half rears. On the crossties he was dancing around, whinnying, wild-eyed, and completely crazy. I haven't gotten nervous around him in a while, but I was pretty nervous. There was also a lot of commotion in the barn. Today was a holiday, which I completely forgot about. Usually I get to the barn around 1 and it is empty. Before Finn's bad behavior could escalate even further we tacked up super quick, and I hopped on. I thought about lunging him, but there were a few people riding, and another boarder lunging her horse that was bucking, rearing and tearing around the ring in a frenzy... There is nothing I can't stand more than lunging to get bad behavior out, especially when there are other people riding.
     We warmed up at the walk and trot, and although Finn had his head in the clouds, and continued to call out to his buddies, the silliness stopped for the most part. When our trainer arrived we cantered a few 20m circles to warm up and I couldn't believe the loose, forward horse I had under me. For the first time Finn's canter felt almost normal. He was reaching for the contact and felt so much more balanced. We worked more on the canter throughout the lesson and I felt glimmers of hope for his normally choppy, horrible canter. We also worked on some raised cavaletti, and lots of leg yields.
      I'm so proud of my horse. I really thought I was going to have a horrible ride given his behavior in the paddock, and all of the excitement in the barn, but he was able to settle down and get to work. It makes me excited for show season. He really seems to excel when there's an audience watching! My trainer took a short video of us in the beginning of our ride before he settled down. His little head tossing used to turn into full out rears, luckily he seems to have grown out of that!

    

   I also put him in a Happy Mouth loose ring snaffle and he seems to go a lot better in it. I feel like in the Myler Comfort Snaffle he would just lean and pull the entire time I was riding him. In the Happy Mouth I feel like he's not so heavy, but not shying away from the contact either. I need to remember to be lighter with my hands though. I feel like the Myler taught me to be way too harsh because no matter what I did I couldn't get him forward into the contact. In the Happy Mouth I feel like it's much easier, with much less effort!  We're getting a cold front/snow the next few days. I hope to ride on Wednesday but with 10 degrees as the high Finn might get a few days off! Here's some pictures from last Friday. 

Conformation shot after almost a year together. I think he looks good, especially that nice, shiny, coat!

Enough with the pictures, Mom!

You want him to believe that he can do everything fabulously.

Today I had a great lesson. My lessons are usually half an hour, but after feeling like I can't really get my groove in half an hour I asked me trainer if we could do an hour. We started really working on Finn's canter today. His trot is becoming much more balanced, but his canter is very unbalanced, and I have a tough time staying with him, and trying to help him. I tend to hold his head, which is a bad habit I've been trying to break. My trainer told me to just let go of his head and let him find his own sense of balance for now. I essentially had to act like the passenger, not the driver. For the first time ever, I sat back, relaxed, opened my hips, and Finn dropped his head, became round, and started really using his hind end. It felt amazing. I have the tendency to lean forward, push Finn into the canter, hold my upper body like a board, and not have a following hand. I think today was the first time I ever relaxed at the canter with him.
    My trainer commented that Finn is a very forgiving horse and that he instantly tells you if what you're doing is correct. I feel like our moments of correctness are becoming more and more.
    After working on the canter for a bit we started doing some crossrails. I haven't jumped in a while, so I was really psyching myself out about it. The first jump we came up to at the trot didn't feel right to me. He wasn't paying attention, and I hauled him to a stop DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE JUMP. I can't even believe I did this...I never ever have before. I was completely horrified. I immediately realized that that cannot happen, and before he could think about it to much, we circled, trotted up to the jump and sailed over it. My horse really is forgiving of all my faults!!!
    We then worked on cantering cross rails. Finn is such a smooth jumper (at times) that cantering jumps with him just feels like another canter stride and not a jump. He was such a good boy and dripping in sweat by the end of our lesson.
    At the end of our lesson we worked on a little more flat work. He was so loose, forward, and off the forehand, I felt like I had a different horse under me and it was amazing. I currently have Finn in a Myler Comfort Snaffle, but my trainer suggested I try a double jointed loose ring snaffle. I think I'll pick one up tomorrow and see how he goes in it.
    I feel like with all the riding lately Finn's level of fitness has greatly increased and my fear of his inabilities has greatly decreased. I think that with all the injuries Finn has had in the past year has made me think he is chronically lame, and that I needed to baby him (like ride only twice a week at the walk and trot...).
     I recently started reading Jane Savoie's Dressage 101. I've watched Jane's training videos in the past and absolutely love how she teaches in such a clear, "makes sense" approach. One quote really stuck out to me:

"You need to build the horse's self esteem. You want him to believe that he can do absolutely everything fabulously. This attitude goes for riders as well... Build your self esteem and your confidence in your abilities. The way to do this is to practice being positive about yourself. Create a mental image of yourself as a patient, capable, brave rider". - Jane Savoie

    This quote sums up everything I struggle with, and everything I need to work on. I know how Finn reacts when my confidence is there. He would jump the moon for me. I need to believe in that, and I need to believe in myself to get him there. I have big goals for both of us, and I know that we are both capable of getting there.
    I can remember only TWO good rides of 2012. One, a jumping lesson around June of last year, and two, our dressage clinic last September. To only be able to remember two really great rides in nearly an entire year of ownership is not good, or fun. Luckily, this year is off to a much better start.
     I have off from work tomorrow and plan on heading up to the barn in the afternoon. I'm thinking of doing some no stirrup work, riding for a while in two point (my legs were killing me after our lesson today!), work on the canter some more, and do lots of trot and transition work. I'm hoping to convince my husband to come up to the barn with me to get some pictures and videos of us.