# Entries from my riding journal



## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

Right around the turn of the year, I decided to start writing down notes about how my lessons and rides went. I had lots of blank books I'd been gifted for Christmas, so I took one and got started.

I'll start putting them in here, as they were written, with some occasional commentary and edits. After reading the rules for these threads, I'd like to say comments of just about any kind are welcome.

For context, Charlie is the horse I lease. Each week I have two lessons and a free ride. He's a 15 year old solid bay paint, 16 hands. My riding is restricted to the property the horse is on. The arena is about 110'x40', and the field I ride in about 260' x 80'. The trail runs around the perimeter of the place, and is about 1/5 of a mile. Finally, I started riding around May of 2020.

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1/15/2022 3:00 PM

Trotted today. Spent a bit of time correcting steering, getting Charlie back into a trot. Had difficulty exerting pressure with calves. Feet out of stirrups mostly.

Need to use hole 6 from now on for stirrups.

Spent last five minutes doing 2-point. Had difficulty staying high enough out of seat.

For Sunday [Free ride day]: Posting trot no stirrups. Elevated poles.

Personal plans: obstacle course for leg steering.

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1/16/2022 1:00ish

Semi-frozen arena today. Set up an obstacle course w/ one gate, some turns, and weaves.

Started with leg steering to warm up. Mostly improved over time. Still relucant to walk over corner by parking but not as bad. Did course both ways a few times.

Did 3 laps posting trot w/o stirrups in each directions. Legs got tired fast today.

Did course more in between directions.

Set up two elevated poles, made a kind of boomerang shape.









Went over this both directions until the course was completed at a trot through an entire lap. Cooled out with walking, steering with dropped reins. Mostly worked. Still required reins to go to "bad" spots.

Steering course


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

1/19/2022 7:30 AM

Kind of tired today, didn't get a lot of sleep.

Spent most of the lesson doing laps of posting trot and attempting to have proper form with varying degrees of success.

The second half of the lesson was 5 steps of posting followed by 3 steps of 2-point repeatedly while doing laps.

Charles was reluctant to continue trotting. The arena was covered with snow.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

1/22/2022 3 PM

Arena icy, ground very hard.

All walking. Practiced 2-pt w/ & w/o stirrups.

Also attempted some hip stretch stuff.

Charles reluctant to walk or steer.

For Sunday: Walk only in arena, practice sitting to 2-pt transition. Need to work on that to move smoothly from sitting canter to 2 pt and vice versa.

Can also practice this while sitting [I think I meant "standing"] and do stretches.

Personal plan: Another obstacle course for leg steering, maybe with some stops and poles to walk over this time.

Shoot a few arrows from a stop only if ground won't break them. Maybe shoot into a hay bale if you can get Charlie to not eat it.

At home, more [one-legged squats]


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

1/23/2022 2 PM

Arena icy, covered with snow, decided to do walk only.

Set up an obstacle course. Actually had some trouble getting Charlie to go through certain parts of it. Still needed to rely on reins a lot more than I'd like.

After that I did a lot of walking 2-pt, and transitions between sitting and 2-pt.

course:









Had the biggest issues with 1, followed by 2.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

1/26/2022 7:30 AM

Canceled. Too cold.

Did a few [one-legged squats] instead.
Coulda done more.

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1/29/2022

Kind of a weird but fun day.

Warm up was walking Charlie around driveway trees [there are some trees along the driveway near the barn, spaced out enough to pass between]. Was not listening well to steering.

Went down along the driveway to the trail. Then trotted up mid section of trail and back a few times. Charles excited about that, a bit hard to control.

Cantered and trotted up and down last segment of trail [both of these segments were taken in an uphill direction].

Finished with more tree walking steering stuff.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

1/30/2022 [Free ride day]

Started with one walking lap around the arena. Charlie didn't like it much.

Next went down along the driveway and looped around the trees some. Then walked down to the leg steering obstacle course. Charlie still needs more work on that, as do I. He was very reluctant to even go there, and attempted to turn away several times. I have to figure out how to establish I'm in charge more effectively.

After a while on the obstacle course, went to trail. Trotted back and forth a few times at the end, cantered once. Charlie less eager this time. Wondering if he doesn't have confidence in me.

[This was my last ride before the barn closed for the month of February, it wasn't perhaps the best note to end on]


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/2/2022 7:30 AM

First lesson back after some time. Form apparently looks good, Natalie [trainer] says!

Endurance needs built back up, felt bouncy on Charles. Felt sick at end of lesson, took a long time tacking up, so lesson was shortish.

Keeping right leg still is main goal. Need to figure out how to realign hips/legs. They're just too asymmetrical. Also need to add some kind of cardio.

Anyway, did some 2 pt trotting and posting trot in case that wasn't already clear. Had to do some steering correction. Emphasis on forward motion so horse has less time to hesitate.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/4/2022 7:30 AM

Took forever to tack up today. Legs still a bit sore from Wednesday.

Did a lot of posting trot, focusing on legs/heels. Also a decent amount of 2-pt and application of leg in 2-pt. Diagonals. Needed to do a decent amount of steering correction.

Ended the lesson with a little cantering both ways. Charlie was not in a cantering mood. Need to work on either getting Charlie up into a canter right away or slowing back down to a trot.

Didn't help that the ground was partially frozen.

For Sunday:


Posting no stirrups
2-pt over trot poles
Keep right leg still. See if you can figure that out.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/6/2022

I think I rode for about an hour. Charles was in a decent mood today but not super eager to trot.

Posting form felt okayish. Fell back into old habits of messing up diagonals. Attempted to concentrate on right leg noise, limited success.

Did walking with leg steering, got good response to that. Then did trotting, leg steering better than in past, but still needed work. Chalie kept trying to duck around poles. Did a bit of walking after that, then posting w/o stirrups. Did not last long doing that. Tried to go longer than I felt like I could though.

Worked on this course:









Various permutations

Need to examine body to find out how to make both sides more even.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/9/2022 7:30 AM

Did a lot of posting with no stirrups. Worked on problem spots with steering and keeping a fast walk.

About 10 minutes of canter w/ 2 pt both directions. I got out of breath doing that.

Posting rough. Legs tired. Tried hanging legs lower/around barrel to see if that helped.

From now on no cropping to ask for speed.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/11/2022 7:30 AM

Did a lot of no-stirrup posting. Focused on increasing speed by using core muscles. Using crop behind leg is okay for asking for speed. Shoulder is for steering. I'd still like to use the crop as little as possible.

I did this course for a while







2-pt'd over the ground poles.

Ended with loops over one cross-rail by the fence, worked on getting Charlie to depart the fence at the proper point.

Natalie thought it was a good ride.

She showed me "carrot stretches." These are lateral stretches which are the most useful, and there are forward and bowing stretches. Lateral incremental stretches are what I should do.

She also showed me stretches to raise his back, by running my nails down the center of his belly until I see his back rise, then waiting five seconds to release pressure.

Another stretch is to run fingers down his rump on either side in the lines between his muscles until he raises his back. Hold for five seconds.

Do five each of these two things before saddling and after unsaddling.

Still need more work on keeping leg still. Starting to think I should just never ride with stirrups. Natalie wants me to have enough control over my leg to ride with ball spurs.

Received no instructions on what to do during free ride, at least that I remember. Anyway, let's see if I can set some of my own objectives.


No stirrup trotting
At least one lap of canter in each direction.
No stirrup 2-pt.
Figure out posture so heel shoulder hip line is straight. Record myself if necessary, make adjustments.
Do something fun.

Charlie took time to wake up, but enjoyed jumping cross rail. He was very content after the ride.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/13/2022 ~4 PM

Happy DST!

Spent my warmup trying to get Charles to walk at a decent rate and actually go through mud instead of around it. He was mostly responsive to steering by leg.

His trot transition was not terrible but not fantastic. I was able to get him to trot pretty consistently at an okay speed, so he at least looked awake, with no crop, just leg.

Posting with stirrups actually felt pretty decent. Managed more posting w/o stirrups than I thought I might. Even did a tiny bit of 2 pt.

Re-used Friday's course, with some blocks at one end which kind of helped push Charles into corners.

Charlie kept bowing out along south side of arena b/c mud. Need to work on that, reins too loose, but trying to focus on leg.

Did a decent amount of cantering. Had to fight to keep him in a canter, but when he was in a canter I felt like I was riding him well.

I had to fight especially hard to get him into a left canter. I was not able to keep him in a left canter for a full lap. For some reason he always dropped it in the southwest corner.

Eventually I decided that getting a good canter going right was better than failing to get one going left and ended on that after a full lap.

Also did some lead changes in there that were actually largely successful in terms of the lead changing even if I didn't look great doing it.

Also cantered over the cross rail a few times, that actually seemed to go well. That was my "do something fun." Didn't get express permission on cantering over the cross-rail, but, hey, I was told to have fun. I think Charlie enjoyed it.

Did carrot stretches (with an actual carrot for the first set no less) and lifts and tucks.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/14/2022 6:45

Did a lot of posting w/o stirrups again. Leg is improving.

Had to work hard to get Charles up into a trot and moving, he was sleepy. Natalie said light taps only with the crop, and as close behind my leg as I can as further back is more sensitive.

Also did some no-stirrups 2-pt.

Need to focus again on shoulders/opening chest, also hips.

Charles is happy about the good weather.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/16/2022 7:30

Move lesson to Wednesday because of possible Friday rain.

Rode out in the field today. Looking down it was full of divots. Charlie found this very distracting. Had a lot of issues with steering. Feet pointing outwards while posting. Also had issues keeping him in a trot/fast enough trot, especially on turns.

Did some cantering following the trotting, circles and laps around field. That seemed to go decently well. Actually felt like I was sitting the canter alright. Had some lateral sliding at points, also particular spots where he kept dropping the canter for some reason.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/20/2022 4:00

Soggy arena today, but not flooded. Warm enough to be without a jacket. Charlie was in a good mood, took a nice quasi-nap before riding.

Posting and 2-pt w/ stirrups today actually seemed really good. Kept a tightish rein to encourage forward movement. Did crop once behind the leg once to encourage the trot, that was all that was really needed.

Today's arena setup:








Followed trotting w/ no stirrups. Did okay. 2-pt felt barely there. Hard to focus on diagonals. Down transitions were good. No canter today, wanted a relatively light day.

Did do some walking with bow in hand. Shot crop a few times at a stand still. Need to use real arrows, crop does not work very well.

Did all stretches/exercises before and after ride.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/21/2022 6:45 PM

Aside from all the rocks, the arena was in good shape today.

Nothing remarkable during warm up. Charlie didn't move before I told him for once. He did start walking with the gentlest of cues though.

Trotting, or getting into a trot, was not a good experience today. He didn't trot for almost half a lap around the arena. I had to use the crop. On the plus side I used it correctly.

Today's arena setup had three raised trot poles going across one diagonal, and two poles along the fence on one side. A lot of figure-eights happened. I had to try to steer him toward the diagonal while 2-pting over the poles.

Need to work on my shoulders and elbows. Chest up, elbows in. They keep winging out. Posting and 2-pt felt pretty good though. I think I'm finally figuring out where to exert pressure to post, it's on the inside of the leg just above the knee. I think.

2-pt no stirrups at the end even felt good. Did one minute each direction.

After trotting around for a bit, Natalie raised the ground poles up into cross-rails. We trotted more figure 8's over these for a while. I had mixed results with that. Some times I barely 2-pt'd, others I didn't follow him very well, but sometimes both things were good.

Charlie was not really eager to canter in either direction, but we did do some nice jumps at a canter over both crossrails in a line. I kind of forgot to go into 2-pt for some of those jumps. Had to concentrate on not leaning forward.

Natalie thought it was a good ride! A little less than 2 months before the first show.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/25/2022 7:30

Both me and Charles were sleepy today.

I had to work to get him into a decent trot. Natalie told me to use the crop "hard" to get him to go. Also no more "lazy trot" during free rides. Remember to walk with intent as well. So I guess gentle tap is no longer the rule, although behind the leg is still.

Today was three elevated trot poles again, plus a ~1 foot jump on the other diagonal. Charlie kept not wanting to carry himself through the jump. Also kept slowing in the corner by the barn.

The jump did wake him up though.

Still winging out elbows, also need to remember not to sit forward in 2-pt. Belly-button should not pass front of saddle. Jump clearly shows hip shoulder heel line is not there. Had a hard time following Charlie today so was trying to give that priority.

To end the lesson I did have two decent laps of canter in either direction. Didn't have to work exceptionally hard to get him cantering for once.

Leg was better I think? Posting didn't feel as smooth as last time. Spent time sitting trying to keep the trot.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/27/2022 Afternoon

Wasn't feeling great today, and [property owner] was spreading sand in the arena. New sand is good though. Forgot to mention, officially cleared to do crossrails in my free ride.

Did not do any today though. Did some bareback walking, forgot bow. Used leg to steer, got pretty good response.

Also did about one lap of trot which went well, so I stopped.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

3/28/2022 6:45ish

No jumping today, just trotting and cantering. Charles actually trotted at a decent pace for the most part. Legs have improved in terms of quietness. Right leg still moving more. Posting mostly felt pretty good. Maybe a little over-exaggerated.

Second half of the lesson involved a lot of canter in 2-pt. Did simple lead changes across center in a rounded-8 pattern. Need to focus on staying upright for canter transitions. Felt pretty good about all that though. For some reason, my hands went numb. Might need to figure that one out.

Heel-hip-shoulder line actually looked right in at least one photo today.

Better on arms. Keep an eye out still though.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/1/2022 7:30

Snowed this morning. Charlie did not behave when I went to catch him. Natalie says when he does that to get him to go to his stall. Possibly he was still unhappy about deworming.

Had to work to get him moving today. Did eventually get him into an okayish trot but needed to use crop. Legs felt noisier today. Had to keep tight reins, kept moving balance forward because of that.

After some laps of trot, went over stretchy trot poles. Maintained a decent trot over those. Did in both directions. Had to make some adjustments to keep him centered.

Natalie raised one end of the poles into a jump at one point. Charlie got a little more excited at that point. Trotted over & asked for a canter for only the jump. Kind of worked.

Next was jumping with a line of









At a canter. For the most part picking up right canter was easy. Had to do some circling, but for right canter he mostly went right into it. Had mixed success staying upright and actually being able to properly cue for canter w/ leg. Actually ended up bringing right stirrup up a notch for some reason. Leg on that side kept being wrong.

Jumps themselves were a mixed bag. We ducked out of jumps a few times even though spacing seemed good. Wondering if I'm yanking has mouth or sitting back down too hard. I know at least once I yanked the reins. Also kind of fell back onto him a few times.

Left canter he was not as eager for, really had to work at that. On the whole though Charlie worked hard today.

Need more endurance so I can not devolve into a flappy pile of limbs at the canter and maintain my composure/posture. Need to do hip stretches/heel stretches. Natalie says 5 min/day to do those. Keep bar at desk and use it.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/2/2022 11 am

Started out today walking down along the driveway. Charlie had some distraction/reluctance to go but not too bad. He listened well to leg steering though. Brought him down to the road, then did some zig zags through outer field. Brought him back to center field and walked him around there.

At a stop facing away from driveway, shot arrow a few times. There were some times when he flinched, but he got used to it fairly quickly again. Did pretty well despite barking dogs next door.

Took him on the trail afterward. Didn't realize they were draining the pool, so one part of the trail was a swamp.

Came into the arena after that. Did a lot of walking w/ leg steering. Charlie had opinions on where to go, mostly wanted to cut corners/avoid the rail in certain spots.

Started trotting, had to work get him into a decent trot. Did resort to using crop, mostly did not have issues after first use. Trot poles woke him up, predictably. Jump woke him up more.

Did a good job following him over poles/jump. Did one 12" jump and a pole. Had no real issues at the trot. Ducked out once to start but didn't have any problems after correcting.

Did go into left canter first go-around fairly well, also was able to continue canter around another lap. Subsequent tries were not as successful. Had to circles a few times. He had some big stumbles coming off the line, one actually got me disheveled and I took some time just trot and let us both get our bearings/confidence back a bit.

Right canter was good. Did not pick up right away but better than left. Could not keep canter through right turn back around line.

Tried to focus on posture during transitions and cueing consistently. Leg still feels like it is weak in asking for canter. Upper body cognizance was better though. Legs varied between good and not good. Posting occasionally too abrupt. Arms felt wide a lot. Tried taking in more rein to fix that. Also kept tighter rein generally just to encourage him to move into the bit. Seemed to work to some degree.

Ended the ride by walking and then asking Izzie to lead Charles on the wrong side while I shot left toward the interior of the arena. Charles did very well with this. Shot about 8 arrows.

Today's arena setup


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/3/2022 2 PM

Did a lesson today instead of a free ride.

Started out in the field, trotted around in circles for a while. Had some issues steering/posting well. Followed that with a lot of cantering. Transitions were sticky but actual cantering was good, mostly. Did a lot of 2-pting.

Went back up to the arena afterward and did some jumps.

Right leg is still noisy. Posture is improved. Posting still rough. Messing up diagonals. Need to work on transitions.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/4/2022 6:45 PM

Free ride. Did a number of laps over a weird course. Did walking w/ leg steering, then trotting.








Ended with no stirrup posting for about five minutes.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/8/2022 ~6:30

Arena slightly damp today. It was cold but still in 40's.

Started w/ only 3 laps walking in one direction. Had to tell Charles not to start walking before I was ready.

After that went into a trot. Not the worst transition but not the best. Natalie says I should give him two chances to move into a trot before using the crop.

Did some posting for a while. Initially wasn't great, had to keep getting foot back under me. Ended up being better. Still feel like I'm scraping front of saddle though and not sure how to fix that.

After a while of this, and some 2-pt, Natalie set up 2 poles on the north side of the arena. Eventually one of these was raised into a crossrail, then the other, then one became a vertical, and possibly the other remained a crossrail, I forget. Worked on having him not duck out for the second jump in the line, staying upright over the jumps and maintaining balance, also following him still.

After doing this both directions for a bit, and once both poles had become jumps of some variety, moved into doing 2-pt canter over them with changes in direction after the line and trot-canter transitions.

Charlie had some long spots that threatened to throw me off balance. Especially in our last bit of cantering on his good lead he was rather excited and did some big jumps. I need to work on controlling his speed better when he's doing that, both coming up to and going over the jumps. Remember to stay upright and not fold over.

Had to pull Charlie down and set him back up after a weird sort of twitch.

Natalie says: Crop on 3rd ask. Up transitions: voice & leg. Sit until transition made. Down transitions: voice & seat. Sit first. Sit back.

For up transitions, do not lean forward.

Half-halts over jumps if he's too nuts. Remember shorter reins if you need them.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/10/2022 ~4:30

Arena dry. Charlie had a weird fit in the cross ties and wouldn't let it go. He was good during the ride though. Seemed to have especially itchy face.

Today's setup:








Started with a walk, using entire outside loop and then coming in for fences.

Next moved into posting trot. Trot transition better than Friday, did not have to use crop, did feel the need to cue twice.

Posting felt high, but had more success than usual at keeping legs back. Did not keep good track of diagonals. Largely kept Charles in a good trot.

After trotting both directions for a while took Charles over fences. Did have to work to keep him in a trot and not a canter but he was responsive to verbal cues to trot and half-halts. Also eeeasyyy. Overall had a variety of enthusiasm levels over the jumps today.

After getting good rounds of trot both directions, moved up to canter. Did feel the need to use the crop to get him into left canter to start but he held it well and did not readily drop it from there on. Had to work to control speed and did have him duck out some but only 2-3 times [in retrospect, that seems like a lot]. Let him walk after some good rounds.

Right canter he picked up right away. After doing a couple good rounds in right canter, let him walk.

Followed that with right canter over 2 fences, trot across diagonal, then left canter across other 2 fences. [Charlie] did not want to drop to trot but did get there.

Charlie did very well actually turning while in a canter today [he does not like to do this given he is a 16hh horse and the arena is only 40' wide]. I did not have any major issues with that and he listened well to leg and rein cues, more to leg than rein.

Position over fences felt mostly good. He did have some spiciness. Lost my stirrup on one side after a jump and continued without it for a while, but was able to recover it.

Did not feel like I jerked on his head over fences very much at all. Posture during transitions felt better but still needs work. Did not remember sitting first to cue down transition. Used reins instead of not using them.

Should start recording myself.

Charlie was a good boy today!!! Ride felt good. Charlie seemed happy when done and excited to jump.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/11/2022 6:10 PM

Spicy Charles today. Arena setup









Worked on a few rounds of canter over fences and one ground pole.

Also using half-halts, keeping Charles in the line, transitions.

It started raining toward the end of the lesson which made it hard to see. Started w/ some trotting also.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/15/2022

Tonight's lesson became a free ride because Natalie wasn't feeling well.

Took Charles out to the driveway and did a lot of leg steering. It seemed like he did well at times and chose to ignore cues at others. Trying to think if there's any way to be more consistent with my own cues. My own cues? Hm. Weird. Anyway, that. Seems like it may be hard for him to tell what means what through the saddle, he might actually be responding to cues from the leg higher up and seat.

I read about someone using circling with their foot to control the rate of turn of their horse. Maybe I could do something like that, pulsed pressure of varying speed.

Anyway, tried to drop reins as much as possible. Used when correction was needed. Also finally took the reins in after Charles was ignoring me and trying to take bites of grass repeatedly. Didn't have any issues after that.

Next took him along the trail. Bumped my knee on a tree because Charlie wanted to avoid a mud patch.

Next took him into the arena. Did some walking in there and attempted more leg steering. Also shot two arrows, Charlie took it in stride. Well, actually he took it at a stand still.

I had set up one fence before riding, and there were poles across the diagonals.










I got in some posting trot just in order to not lose it from too much time away. It felt iffy. Too fast/stiff.

Took Charlie over the poles in a figure 8 and also over the fence. Charlie kept ducking out, so I had to correct him. Eventually did so strongly with tight circles.

Figured out later that he may not have wanted to jump because his feet picked up rocks. When he did go over he usually did not break his trot. I should pick hooves before moving from driveway riding back to arena.

Need to remember to stay upright over jumps.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/18/2022

It was wet and rainy today. Worked on trotting, cantering, and some simple lead changes. Generally went well.

Focus on keeping wrist straight up and down, even though crop makes that hard. Concentrate on posture. Anticipate problem spots.

I forgot, trotting motion was hard to follow but apparently I generally did well. Keep working on balance. This was due to opinionated Charles w/ wet arena.

Trotting & cantering pace were actually not bad.

Feet left stirrups many times, but they were actually pretty solid when they were out. Notch 7 from now on.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/22/2022

Couldn't do much today [I wasn't feeling well]. Opted for trying some horse archery more for real.

Began with shooting at a walk. Charlie responded well to that. Also worked on leg/seat steering. Charlie kept getting distracted by Natalie. Had to keep coming back to reins.

Also tried some trotting while shooting with poles to help make sure Charlie didn't cut in.

Thing to figure out:

How to shoot to the right:

What side of the bow to shoot from
Proper form

How to hold arrows

Hold them safely
Optimize reload speed

Quiver?

What types of quivers are there? Do any attach to the saddle instead of me?
Have some rings I can use on the English saddle.

I am officially cleared to shoot in my free rides at a walk and trot.

Also need to figure out a real target and find my thumb ring [RIP thumb ring. Still haven't found it]

Look for books on horse archery.

Also, good weather for once!


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

@Acadianartist , are you aware of this journal? Maybe you could share some of your archery tips and things you have learned?


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

I would definitely welcome any tips!

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4/24/2022

Still not feeling great. Better, but don't want to push it.

Really nice day. Charlie was very much in a head-throwing mood however.

Today just took Charlie on the trail starting near the barn and ending up in the field. After that, steered him around in the fields along the driveway with leg only. Well, mostly leg only. Reins were used where needed.

I decided after a while that every time Charlie decided to ignore a cue to steer, I would back him to the place where I cued the turn and then try again. It took a lot of repetitions of this, but to some extent applying it repeatedly and consistently did get him to listen well. Or at least better. When he turned as desired I would stop him on completion of the turn and give him pets.

I took him back to the barn by going back down the trail. I had to back him twice to get him to obey the leg steering. Actually at the midpoint where the trail comes out of the trees for a bit I had to back him a few times before he did what he was supposed to. The other place was turning off the driveway to go on the trail in the first place.

After that I took him back into the arena. I think all this walking is boring to him and mostly all he can think is when can I be done with this. Maybe need to think of ways to make this more interesting to him, but his leg steering at the trot and canter is generally even worse.

Anyway, in the arena I walked him some more and generally continued steering with leg, and backing and trying again if cues were not obeyed.

This whole time I carried an arrow and the bow. Didn't shoot at all, but at the end did practice draw and aiming in various directions.

I also worked on counting with him at various points on the ride, a couple times on the trail, and a couple more times in the arena. Saw progress.

I'm wondering about my cue for leg steering, if it's strong enough and consistent enough, and also if Charles can really tell how tight of a circle I want. Some of this turns still seem to be him just doing what he remembers doing in the past. "I always turn this way here, I will do that again now."

Now I am sleepy. Hoping to get back to 100% soooooon.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/26/2022

Recovered enough to feel like I could ride today.

We went out to the field today. Started with trotting laps. That went fairly well.

After that Natalie set up some crossrails in an arrangement like this










[The lines at the top represent the driveway. On the left is tall grass, then on the right is a fence. At the eastern edge is the property line. There is something of a slope from west to east. This is much more pronounced on the south side. There is also a much gentler slope from south to north.]

I worked on cantering in a circle around the field and maintaining a good pace to start.

Had problems with keeping Charlie in a canter and transitions. Also had problems getting him to not rush fences.

Natalie says do not circle Charles in tight circles to make a canter, back him instead, then cue from a stand still.

Remember to get the bend when cueing for canter. Also remember sit up tall and don't lean forward.

Did manage to get him to canter in a straight line once, at least.

Did the following:


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

4/29/2022 6:30ish

More field work today, temperature just about perfect, dry arena and mostly dry field.

Started with a trot around the perimeter again, posting felt nice, well-timed, not too exaggerated. Pace was good. Change of direction was good, barely needed any rein.

Same fence arrangement as last time.

Started by trotting over single. Eventually moved to cuing for canter preceding the single, but after turning to line up. After providing a little more space this worked, but the first few tries were not successful.

After that started doing the line at a canter. Much better than Tuesday. We were able to go over the fences without rushing them, and actually stopped while it was going well. Jumps felt smooth. Charlie them them quite literally in stride.

Did drop canter once, need to properly apply cues to slow without changing gait. Also need to sit up more and open chest in 2-pt. Otherwise, good ride.

Spent 15 minutes after that shooting in the arena at a trot. Charlie did well with the shooting, but no so much with the steering. Kept looking back at Natalie.

Things to work on:


Keep chest up/shoulders back
Elbows keep flapping out rather than hands moving with mouth
Get a leg quiver, or make one, whichever
Get an actual target
Practice shooting on the ground
Find thumb ring, thumb draw needs work [still nope]
Ask Natalie for more info on how she's feeling about figuring this out together


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/1/2022

Today's goal is to get one good run on this course

[This was for show prep. I looked up some prior courses, and they all looked similar to this]










Things needed for a good run:


Successful lead changes in corners
Good pacing over jumps
Keep canter between lead changes
Maintain good upright posture

How it went:

The course was too small [or rather the arena was too small for such a course] but you already knew this [the thinking was that if I could pull it off in a smaller arena, the same course in a larger arena would definitely be doable]. Watching the video again, sometimes the lead was correct, sometimes not. Transitions were not snappy. Sometimes did not run the course as intended. Naturally Charles also took the turns tightly, especially in the east end of the arena. Or rather I let him take them tightly. Never managed to get lead changes quite when I wanted them.

[Generally this exercise ended up being kind of a mess. Was interesting to try though.]


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/2/2022

I don't remember too much about this one from the onset.

Charles was doing lots of head-throwing but he was also really good.

Worked on keeping speed even and posture. Elbows. Elbows elbows, elbows. Elbows? Elbows!

I think we started out trotting around the "rail" and jumping lower fence (single) [the last mentioned fence arrangement in the field was still up]. Once that was going well we moved up to a canter, then eventually moved to doing the upper line, then both lines.

There were a few times when I had to calm Charles back down over a jump, but on the whole it went really well.

Still need to work on not rounding back, not winging out elbows.

Ended w/ some more horse archery again. Charles is still not about the bridleless steering thing, keeps trying to figure out what Natalie is doing.

Shooting went well though. Need a target still. Maybe can buy the straw bales from dad.

Elbows tend to come out for balance when reins are long, and when reins are long and I'm trying to draw them in quickly.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/6/2022

Today was full of rain. The arena was a big puddle. Also, no saddle today.

Worked on posture and transitions. Charles actually didn't need much coaxing to keep a good pace.

Posting was difficult. One, no stirrups, two, it was wet and I kept sliding down.

Also did some two-point.

No cantering today since everything was all wet and there were rivers in the arena.

Natalie noticed that one heel seemed to be flexing a lot more than the other, so, confirmed, am asymmetrical.

Otherwise not a bad ride. Transitions were not bad. Still need to watch elbows, diagonals, back.

Bareback was more painful than normal for some reason.

Oh, also had to actually work to control speed surprisingly. Managed to get it under control partway through the lesson.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/7/2022

Today was in the arena again. Not raining but still wet.

Today was focused on transitions and to some extent diagonals.

The most important thing was trying to get canter transitions on the rail.

In order to do this, pulse inside rein until he's bent through the pole. Keep inside leg on him in order to make sure he doesn't slow down. In fact, put it on before you ask/try to get bend.

Still had to back him a few times to let him know he had not transitioned quickly enough.

Outside of that, to get leg under hip, stretch it out, don't just bend lower leg back at the knee.

If you notice wrong diagonal, just keep posting until you know what to do. Let's take a moment to figure this out.

In which of these cases should you be up?










Start moving back to seat when outside shoulder is at its forward-most extension to land on correct diagonal.

Doing this based on feel:

When outside shoulder fully drawn in, begin rising. You will have felt his right foreleg come down for this.

Outside shoulder in, go up. Inside foot down, go up.

Combing back out of 2-pt:

Outside foot comes down, start down. Inside shoulder fully in, start back down.

For Sunday:

Work on cantering on the straight. Also work on speedier transitions.

Try to feel out diagonals. Become comfortable with transitioning to posting without needing to look.

Do some work on counting. [Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but "counting" is attempting to get him to take two steps by saying two and then halt. This has, perhaps predictably, not worked out particularly well so far]


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/8/2022

Pretty short ride today.

Spent first half focusing on diagonals. Picking up right diagonal from sitting and 2-pt. Also doing it by feel.

Had some success. Harder to feel when trot is stronger. Feeling of outside shoulder back is very subtle, but I did manage to detect it several times.

Shoulder forward, sit. Shoulder back, sit up. Think of it as giving the outside leg a free moment to step forward.

Next half focused on canter transitions while going straight. Had some success here too. Kept forgetting to pulse reins. Had to back him a few times. Kept wanting to drop the canter after praise for a good depart. Down transitions felt good. Occasionally a bit rushed but generally sat first and then went down.

Only five days until the show!


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/9/2022

Rode in show boots today in field. Focused on canter transitions on the straightaways mostly.

It's important to keep outside rein open. Shoulder must stay straight. Otherwise lead will be wrong.

Make sure to set yourself up properly.

Things to do:


Tighten inside rein. Pulse
Open outside
Outside leg back & push
Inner leg on & forward

Once you have the bend, cue.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/11/2022

Field with show boots again, this time focused on downward and upward transitions, and straight canters.

For smoother downward transitions, loosen reins and keep head (Charlie's head) down. It works.

Remember to tighten reins for upward transitions. Also, wrists should be straight up and down.

Use fingers to tighten reins rather than winging out elbows.

Last lesson before the show. I've got this!


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/14/2022

Had what felt like some good rides today.

What still needs work?


Steering (a little)
Elbows!
Smooth out those transitions
Speed consistency - remember your half-halts
Getting a good spot
Elbows?
Detecting whether or not on right lead


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/15/2022

[Day 2 of the show. I was feeling good, and then I went off-course on the first fence of my last trip. I was not happy with myself]

And we're back.

So, courses can change between days. Be aware of this.

Once a course is no longer relevant, literally forget about it. Also, do not take the courtesy circle for granted, it is part of the course.

Do not associate a fence with courtesy circle direction. Think of the circle as the first part of the trip, where it just happens that the first fence follows it.

Also remember to concentrate on the actual goal, at all times throughout the trip.

Now, that being said, think of some exercises that could improve focus.

It's difficult to be certain, but I think the moment that trip went wrong was when I entered the gate and looked at the red fence.

Moving on, no sunglasses in flat classes. Is not allowed.

Remember to expand your ride into as much of the arena as possible.

Elbows. SHORTER REINS. I am tall. ish.

So what went well today?

Nice transitions - even got the correct leads! Concentrating on sitting back, like actually back, helped make transitions faster.

For simple changes, cuing canter immediately after transitioning down to trot helped a lot. Must not wait at all, just recue immediately.

Waiting for bend in straightaway transition to canter also helped a lot.

Diagonals went well in the flat.

Canter was nice, felt balanced over jumps and not. Yay not falling off.

Decent speed. Seemed fairly consistent.

Positive attitude. Not dying.

Oh yeah, I actually had some idea of his lead being wrong or right.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/18/2022

Charlie seemed happy today.

Went out to the field to shoot things! I started with shooting at a walk since we were out in the field. Moved on to shooting at a trot and Charlie responded well. He even responded fairly well to steering without reins.

Finished with on shot at the canter. Canter transition was smooth, and shooting felt good!

Charlie was really good. Happy with the response to leg steering.

Natalie says, goal is for me to shoot while jumping by this time next year. I think this is a fantastic goal.

STILL NEED:

Target
Quiver or equivalent
Thumb ring
Arrows with more visible fletches

Almost lost an arrow today, Natalie just happened upon it later.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/20/2022

Lesson rescheduled for next Wednesday because lightning.

Practice some archery over the weekend maybe? Order stuff.

5/23/2022

Field lesson today. Started with a decent amount of posting trot and direction changes.

Moved on to transitions to/out of canter. Kept falling hard out of canter almost to walk until the end. Pretty good up transitions.

Elbows got brought up a lot.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/24/2022

Move Sunday's ride to today.

Took Charles down along driveway, did leg steering at walk down there. Got pretty good response.

Moved on to trotting in middle field. Specifically worked on keeping a decent speed, changing directions, doing slightly less predictable patterns, and feeling out diagonals.

Generally went well. Landed on wrong diagonal a couple times but recognized it immediately. Felt more able to land on correct diagonal by feel. Sound is also another indicator I'm discovering, via directional hearing.

Went on trail, was fun.

Ended with shooting at a trot in the arena. Charles wanted to cut the corner very badly. Trying to back him when he misbehaves.

Oh, also caught my elbows a few times today. Still need to fix that.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/25/2022

Another field lesson today.

Did some no-stirrup posting at the end. Also a lot of trot <-> canter transition work.

Elbows are still an issue.

Also did my first jumps since the show, they seemed to go well.

I still feel like something is off about my posting. I don't feel like I'm moving like those other people I see that post without stirrups. Maybe it's partially the jeans. I don't think anyone else rides in jeans. I know it feels different at shows.

Transitions are generally better. If anything probably need to work on downward transitions and recognizing lead.

Diagonals work seems to be paying off. Keep working on it though for longer-lasting results. Still come down wrong a lot.

For leads, let's try drawing/writing it out. That worked well for diagonals.

When you're on the correct lead, the inside hoof should land ahead of the outside hoof.

Also, the inside hoof actually lands second, after the outside hoof. It helps to think of the lead as the side which the horse is pushing off from in the canter, despite it being called the "lead."

Here's how the shoulders look on the beat of the leading leg.










The beat of the leading leg is the last in the 3-beat cycle of a canter, so you can tell your lead by which side you feel the 3rd beat come through on your body.

Also use your ears and as a last resort your eyes. Practice visualizing this in your head, and feel Charlie's movements with your eyes closed. Imagine the feeling as part of visualization also.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Could you please tell more about the show? What classes you entered and why you chose them? How you felt about your classes. What was the judge like? How did you place? How were the other people around you at the show? What did your coach say about the show? Any interesting incidents at the show?


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

Sure! It's easy to forget how much context is missing when I'm typing these things up long after the fact and the original was only written for my own reflection. I'll try to add more info if I can remember it from here.

The show was a local schooling show, and I entered in 13+ crossrails. This particular show series is the only one I've been in, so I don't know if this is how a typical division works, but I had 4 classes over fences and 1 flat class. This was a natural progression from my previous two shows from the year before where I entered the poles division. Natalie thought I was ready to move up to that and I agreed.

Generally speaking, I felt confident going into the show and I was excited to ride.

I can't say much about the judge, I barely notice they exist if I'm being honest. Maybe I should change that, but I'm not sure in what way I would. If anything I would think maybe ask that day's judge what they look for, or even find out who's judging in advance if possible and see if I can find anything about them. Part of me thinks though that it's more important to focus on getting a good ride in the aspects that most or all judges will judge in common and not worry about the particularities. On the other hand, I won't lie, I do like ribbons xD.

I don't interact with the judges, and I interact about as much with the riders that aren't from my barn. Everyone just seems like they're occupied with whatever they're doing, which I get. The one exception was someone who rode by and said they recognized me from Instagram, and then continued off into the distance as I tried to process this. Natalie posts about her riders on there, so that was an interesting experience. I still have no idea who they are.

The people from my barn were great! We have a variety of ages in our riders, and we were basically a pit crew for each other, keeping track of water bottles and which classes were going on, changing out tack when needed and helping hold horses or get them water as well. Also doing some ringside photography if we got a moment. Between rides, we hang out at the stalls and do chores or just eat snacks and talk. For a lot of the time we were there, there was heavy rain visible all around us, but amazingly it rarely ever actually fell on the show while we were there. It did storm overnight the first night.

One of our riders was in the 12 and under crossrails on Charlie. On her last trip, she fell after Charlie went into a canter over the last fence before the circle. She was okay though thankfully and got right back up and got Charles. Another one of our riders was in I think 2' 3" hunters and managed to lose an entire stirrup leather somehow, and I believe she placed on that trip xD. We also had another rider that was on a blind horse over crossrails who did super well given that. She didn't place, but her rides were awesome regardless and her seat was great. Finally our other adult rider was in a jumper round just for fun, and she actually managed to place without going for speed by getting clear rounds. That was cool to watch. She also had a nice traffic cone-colored pad and bonnet on Charlie xD

As far as the actual results go for my rides, on the first day I placed 5/12 in one class, and did not place in my second. For some reason, I never seem to place in my warmup classes, and neither does anyone else. It is truly a mystery beyond comprehension, the reason lying far outside the capabilities of mere mortals to discern. Meanwhile, on day 2, I placed 6/10 in my flat class. Not great, but any placing in a flat class with Charles I'll take - he tends to get very tense and upset around other horses in the ring. And this will always be better than my first flat, where I did not place in a class of 7 xD. For my final trips over fences, I placed 5/13, and then went off course.

Natalie was happy with our rides. She was especially pleased with the fact that we got all our leads in the flat. The most noteworthy thing was when I went off course, and she told me to stop beating myself up as we left the ring. She said she could see me doing it, and that I should stop. That was hard, and was what led me to try to figure out what happened that night when I was writing in my journal.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Rise and fall to the leg on the wall is the rhyme. It means you are riding to the front leg on the outside (wall side). Sit when that outside shoulder and inside hind are on the ground. Rise when they rise.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I often think about leads (cantering) as " step lift up, over the fence, land". Meaning, (for a left lead canter), the 3 beat sequence goes like this:
1. your horse steps first with his RIGHT rear. That leg takes a ton of weight as the horse steps UP and forward off this firmly planted single foot. 
2. your horse places his left rear and right fore on the ground at the same time, forming a kind of 'fence/wall' over which he will step onto . . . 
3. he lands on his LEFT fore leg. The right rear is already in the air, and the 'fence' legs (right fore and left rear) are just about to come off the ground a milisecond later.

Step, over, land . . step, over, land .. . . The rider dictates which leg initiates the 'step' start. She should sync her body most with the 'land' part of the sequence in order to maintain a deeper seat or more steady leg
I was even told at a clinic that the rider can advance her own inside shoulder a very slight amount to match the advance and timing of the leading shoulder of her horse


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

Thanks for the tips! I'll try to put them into practice. The things I think I struggle with most are presence of mind, followed by actually being able to feel what his hooves are doing beneath me. I can get the theory, but I need to figure out a way to turn it into muscle memory and stop trying to put the pieces together each time I need them. Also, according to Natalie, Charlie in particular is difficult to feel diagonals and leads on. I haven't ridden other horses, with some exceptions from before I even knew why I needed to pay attention to leads, and more recently one which I've only been trotting on, so I don't really have anything to judge that opinion by. Although, after reading your post tiny, I came across a video of me with Charlie at a canter. I noticed he kept his feet very close to the ground and his back had very little undulation to it when vaulting over the fence legs, and seeing that, it made sense to me why it was difficult to tell what the legs on each side were doing. I am scheduled to canter on the other horse, and he moves very differently, so I'll be interested to see what that feels like. All that said, I will keep working on it and see if I can apply what you said next time we canter!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

I used to ride a paint with a large spot on the upper right forearm that was easy to see when that shoulder/leg would rise and use as the marker to determine up or down depending on the direction you were traveling. It was a great cheat.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

xD That sounds super useful. I think at the next Halloween show I'll suggest we paint Charlie to make him look how his ancestry would suggest he should.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/27/2022

Wet day today, rode in the arena. Charlie hated it. I noticed many rocks in there, probably didn't help.

This lesson was mostly about trying to get Charlie moving and getting good carriage.

I'm not sure how to cue for this, but the goal is to lift Charlie's back so he has room to bring his hind legs forward and extend his stride.

We did some no-stirrups 2-pt for a while, and I think some no-stirrups posting, then sitting trot while just focusing on getting a decent trot going. It did improve as the lesson went on and I showed a willingness to use the crop.

We also worked on trying to keep the head down at the trot, which will encourage Charlie to raise his back. Keeping hands low and "wiggling" his head down does help with this it seems.

Uphill work also helps him carry himself properly. So, trotting uphill is good.

The lesson ended with trotting over a course with a number of tight turns, over poles.










This was a good exercise in course memorization, as I messed up the course a few times.

This was also a good exercise in getting and keeping a good trot. My form looked terrible, but I was able to send a strong message to Charles that it was time to go and keep going, and that is important. If you can't control the horse you might as well not ride.

On the ground, Natalie told me about Charlie's top line. What we have is this.










What we want is more like this










From what I've been reading diet plays into this, but I have no control over that, I assume Natalie's got that part figured out and whatnot.

The biggest thing it seems like I can do is run him up hills more, try to be softer on his back, and keep him moving at a real trot so he carries himself correctly.

I've also read that hunter's bump can be indicative of an injury to the sacroiliac joint, a symptom of which is short stride. So if he has that it may be why he doesn't want to lengthen his stride, because it hurts. I don't know though. Even if I did I don't know what you do about it. Once again I'm thinking Natalie knows what's going on.

For Sunday:


Do more diagonal work
Get a feel for leads
A little mounted archery with new arrows
Uphill trotting, on trails if dry

Sit/stand up straight while not riding.

----------------------------------------

This ride was something of a departure from what we'd been doing in the past. While I was told that we wanted a raised back through the lesson, I didn't feel like I got a lot of information on how exactly that was accomplished. Additionally, I would try to figure out more about what this whole hunter's bump deal was about, and what was within my power to fix or improve.

The pole exercise was born out of Natalie asking what we should do with the last ten minute of my lesson, where I said offhandedly that there were a bunch of poles sitting around. The course was challenging - as mentioned earlier, the arena is pretty tight as it is, and that course was full of tight turns.

I tried to think about how Charlie's shape had changed from when this entry was made to when I started riding him, and I couldn't really remember enough to know if it was different.


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## aCheeseInTheDark (6 mo ago)

5/29/2022

Long day at the barn today.

I did follow up on all my plans though, except for trotting up the hills. Natalie said they were too wet.

I checked on the bump, it does seem like it matches what I've read about. There is a raised section on his back that appears to be on the right side of the spine. That said, squeezing it does not seem to draw a reaction. Remy [one of the two other horses at the barn] does not have this bump.

I've increased the hold time on his lifts and tucks to 10 seconds.

I've discovered that I have trouble landing on the correct diagonal when I'm circling to the right. Still trying to figure that out. The other direction is solid.

Actually feeling Charlie at the canter in 2-pt is difficult. My most reliable signal seems to be the outer foot being used to actually push in toward the center of the arena, and the inside foot being used to push forward. I felt pretty good about feeling those things, however my lead was correct both times I cued, so I guess it's possible if I were on the wrong lead I wouldn't be able to tell still.

Canter itself was good, he didn't drop it at any point, turns were decently rounded. Not perfect and I felt like there were times he wanted to drop it, but on the whole pretty good. Did a few laps both ways.

Ended with shooting two ends of 4 [sets of arrows]. Finally set out a couple flakes of hay to aim at. Got a better response from Charles about staying on the rail this time but still needs lots of work.

4 arrows landed close to the hay, but that's not important right now. I need to focus on my draw form, carrying the arrows, and nocking.

Watching recording of myself, I need to stop with the elbows. Posting varied from obviously pushing off stirrups to actually posting properly. Maybe need more no-stirrup work.


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