Monday, April 30, 2012

One Fence, Two Fence, Red Fence, Blue Fence...

What I CAN do, when I'm not saying "Oh Crap!"
Although I am thinking "Oh crap,
why is my butt in the saddle?"
Sometimes in order to progress it's necessary to take a step back. I f you've been following AWIP for a while you know I've been dealing with some fear issues, have been working with a mental performance coach (Sommer Christie) in order to move past them.

One of the things we thought might help me get past the "Oh Crap" refrain that goes off in my head when I jump courses would be to concentrate on jumping small single fences or elements (combinations) rather than entire courses. When I rode in a Jeff Cook clinic a month or so ago, he recommended the same thing.

The thinking behind this is that by having me concentrate on "bite-size" goals, such as maintaining my rhythm and pace over small fences, and achieving successful repetition over small "scary" fences like oxers and triple bars and triple combinations, I will build my confidence to the point where tackling a course won't be overwhelming - it'll just be a bunch of single jumps strung together.

I had a heart to heart with my trainer who, bless her heart, was okay with this plan. The last couple of lessons have been great. It started with one where during our flatwork she had me lengthen Sug's canter, making sure I kept her in the bridle. Something clicked and Sug gave me the most AMAZING canter. My trainer said, "Yes! That's the canter you want to go down to a jump with!"

Huh?? What? This is the canter? This particular one?  Where has it been? How the heck is it that am I only grasping this now??  It's sorta like the magic canter I got in the Eric Horgan clinic, but a bit more powerful and maybe a touch faster, without being fast.  Maybe the word is impulsion?  I wasn't allowed to stew, as my trainer told me to come around and head to a vertical off the right lead while maintaining the canter.

I maintained the canter, and Sug stayed round and cantered ebulliently down to the jump, which we took in stride.  We did the vertical a couple times in both directions, and got pretty darn nice distances every time.  Then we took on a 5 stride line.  I kept the canter, but got in a little bit deep.  She was able to jump pretty easily even still, and moved right up off my leg to get the 5 strides with no problem.  Wow!  Mistakes are a lot easier to fix when you've got a little power underneath you.  Who knew??

So we've had a couple more lessons since then, jumping onesies and twosies and working on my rhythm and the canter, and the ability to adjust her stride. Which, by the by, is a lot easier when she's in the magic canter. Again, who knew? 

A funny thing happened.  One of the fences my trainer asked me to jump was teeny tiny, and for the first time EVER I asked her to raise the height of a fence.  That's the beauty of this going backwards thing.  I'm not scared of the fences, I'm having fun, and for the first time I actually WANT to jump bigger.  I actually ASKED to jump a triple combination!!!  Whoop Whoop!  Go ME!  Now, I'm not saying I'm ready for a 3' course yet, but heck, I'm moving in the right direction.

I'll keep you posted on how we progress. 

Thanks so much for reading!

7 comments:

  1. I am doing the big YES!!!!! You know, like the kind you give your basketball buddies when someone just swooshed the ball into the net! I am soooo happy that our Sug's are getting our lives together again!!!!

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    1. I know that YES!!!! And thank you! Sug is very excited as this onsie twosie thing gets me out of her face and helps stop the whole micromanaging thing that I do, so she's quite thrilled about the whole thing. Of course she'd like to jump more and jump higher, but jumping unimpeded is doing fine for her for now. LOL

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  2. Yay! Glad to hear you are having fun again! I find the thought of jumping anything slightly terrifying, so go you for having the courage to do it at all and the determination to work through your fear!

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    1. Thanks, Erica! Sometimes I question my sanity (as does my husband) but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

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  3. That is really exciting. So happy for you. Kind of like steering a car, I guess, the "faster" you go, the easier the wheel feels. Less crank. I will have to keep that in mind when we finally leave trotting in the dust. I swore i would say "yes" when Kay says it is time to canter, but I am starting to worry now that it seems it may happen soon. EEEk

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    1. Emme, you know, I'd never thought of it like that. That's a fabulous analogy! As for cantering, haven't you cantered on a longe line? I like that for getting comfortable at the gait and not having to worry about extraneous crap like steering and speed. Once you are 100% comfy on the longe you'll be itching to get off it, and that will be your clue that you are ready to canter on your own. Worked really well for a kiddo at our barn.

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    2. I cantered Pippi on the trail. For me its the thought of doing all the things at the same time. So I am sure the longs line will be great for a while.

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