Guess What We Did?!

After our super awesome breakthrough on Wednesday, I was curious to see how everything would go on Saturday on our own. Surely Wednesday's success couldn't be replicated without Ann's magical presence. Boy was I wrong- Kwik was great! We longed a little with side reins first, and then I hopped on. Since he was mostly warmed up from the longeing, we did a quick walk warmup, and then I put him straight to work at the trot. He was very obliging and happily responded to my request for connection. He was light in my hands and maintained a steady rhythm. We did some circles and serpentines, and we even practiced a little leg yielding coming down the centerline. We finished off with some fee walk across the diagnoal and called it a day. Winning!

We had another lesson with Ann on Sunday, and I'm totally regretting not bribing Adam to come out and video/take pictures. It was that good. Why you ask? We CANTERED! Ann watched me longe this time, giving me pointers along the way. When I got on, we really worked the trot. When he wanted to overbend or travel crooked, we practiced sending him forward and straight. Now that I'm able to keep my horse underneath me, I'm really able to adjust and correct, and as a result, he's become very light in my hands and the quality of his trot has improved. He feels wonderful, and I was having the time of my life trotting around out there. Then Ann walked me through the best places to ask him for the canter, and I asked. He took a few quick steps, but once I found my seat, we found our rhythm and went around in the most balanced canter we've ever had together. We had some difficulties picking up the left lead afterwards, but we finally managed to pick it up, and the quality of that canter felt amazing. Kwik was completely focused, all-business the entire ride, and I felt like I put in a pretty good effort as well. What a fun ride! I trimmed up his fetlocks and his whiskers and stuffed him full of carrots. I'm so proud of my handsome boy!

In other fun news, Kwik will have his first training ride on Friday! I had asked Ann a while back if she had any students that she thought would be a good fit for him and whether or not she thought weekly training rides would be beneficial for Kwik. She immediately suggested one of her long-time students, A. A has worked with several OTTBs and is a very capable rider. She's also small like me and rides like me, which is great for consistency-sake. We chatted for a bit last week, and I'm going to meet her on Friday afternoon. A is going to work with him on the flat, over fences, and out on the trails. I'm hoping we can start doing some conditioning work in the fields/XC course in the summer, and I think A can really help me get him there. Maybe if A can help me get him comfortable working in open fields, we'll be able to participate in the Mock Hunt in early December! Each year my farm and the local Pony Club puts on a mock hunt at the farm. An upper-lever Pony Clubber is chosen to be the fox and there are Tally Ho wagons for the non-riders- the whole thing just looks like a blast. Let project Mock Hunt begin!

On the Bit

Last night we had a dressage lesson with Ann. I absolutely LOVE my trainer. Every ride we have with her feels like the best ride we've ever had, and I feel like we have a breakthrough each time. I had mentioned I wanted to start off longeing, so she took me through her process. She warmed him up at the walk, trot, a little canter on both sides and then again wtc with side reins. Because he hasn't developed all of the muscles necessary to maintain a steady rhythm at the canter, he tends to get ahead of the rhythm and then loses his balance. Kwik is a horse that absolutely despises feeling discombobulated, and when this happens, he usually throws a tantrum (read: bucking and carrying on like a doofus). Ann showed me how to give him little half halts with the longe line in the spots where he tends to lose his balance (brilliant!), and I was so impressed by the quality of his canter towards the end as a result.

Next we moved on to some flat work. She had me imagine my arms were the side reins- steady but giving, elbows bent and against the sides of my torso. We moved on to the trot, and she had me shorten my stirrups. Apparently my inability to sit up in my saddle isn't completely my fault. When Kwik gets strung out, the motion pulls me forward out of the tack. The shorter stirrup length really allowed me to sit up and hold him beneath me. The extra control felt wonderful, and for the first time, I was truly able to ask him to come on to the bit and trot along at my pace. It was a wonderful feeling. Once we figured that out, Ann was insistent he remain on the bit. She made up a little dressage test and called it out to us, calling out "1,2, on-the-bit. 1, 2,  on-the-bit" to help me maintain a steady rhythm. It certainly wasn't perfect, and he doesn't have the strength yet to maintain the connection for long periods of time, but there were definitely some dressage horse moments which Ann would point out with "Enjoy him a little right there!" or "Beautiful!" It truly was a breakthrough ride!

 Now, I can't use the excuse "he doesn't quite understand connection yet." He does, and it's time to ride him like he does. I know there are people who think I'm crazy for trying to bring along an OTTB. I think I'm crazy sometimes, but these are the moments that make this whole process something I wouldn't trade for the world. I'm sure we'll have setbacks and things we need to re-visit, but we are making progress!

Long Road Ahead

Kwik and I had another dressage lesson with P on Sunday. It was one of those lessons that leaves you completely humbled, slightly overwhelmed, and hella determined. We started out asking Kwik to work over his back and into the connection while keeping energy and forwardness in the gait. I felt like we mostly just meandered in circles. I wasn't feeling any connection, I certainly wasn't feeling any forwardness in the walk, and Kwik lost focus a couple of times when horses came and went from the trails. We tried a little trot work. P really got on to me about my position, which is great-I desperately need to get my basics back. I still ride tipped forward with my butt out of the saddle, my leg creeps too far back, and I need more bend in my elbows so my hands can maintain an elastic connection. I think a lot of this is the newness of the partnership. Hopefully in another couple of months, Kwik and I will know each other a little better, we'll be more settled into a rhythm, and maybe even start to gel.

Then P hopped on! She spent a good 15 minutes introducing the idea of connection, and the light bulb went off toward the end. They had some really nice moments! She talked me through correcting some of his "things" (throwing his shoulder to the outside while overbending to the inside), and then I got back on. I noticed a difference right away- he was focused, the walk was more energetic, and I could feel moments of elasticity when I asked. I even noticed I was sitting taller and deeper in my saddle, and we had improved rhythm and balance at the trot. In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure, it was a very minute improvement, but it felt like a world of difference to me.

Here were my thoughts after the ride:

1) I have completely lost any and all of whatever dressage basics I used to have.

2) Kwik has no basics, but he is willing to learn and is starting to understand the meaning of connection. Also, at this point, I probably don't have the experience/skills to correctly bring him along on my own. We need lots of lessons and training rides.

3) Both him and I have an an incredible amount of work to do, and I'm feeling a bit inadequate.

4) Above feelings of inadequacy will get us nowhere, and I'm determined to take lessons and work extremely hard.

So there you have it. Am I feeling a bit overfaced? Yup. Am I hella determined? You bet!

A Weekend Of Firsts Part. 2

I had my first dressage lesson with P on Sunday, and I learned a lot. Right off the bat, she explained the concept of tracking up, and we followed the progression of his hoofprints as I asked for more engagement in the walk. This has always been a fuzzy concept for me, and it was great to have someone take the time to eplain it. It hardly took any time at all to achieve one hoofprint inside the other! Then we worked on asking him to accept more of a connection at the walk and later at the trot. Kwik was a bit forward at the trot, and I certainly wasn't helping him. He's at the point right now where he's not really sure what speed he's supposed to be going- he knows I'm asking him to be forward but not fast, and he's looking to me to show him how to do this. I know I need to sit tall and deep in my seat, slow my posting, and not allow my reins to get too short buuuuut I can't seem to make my body do any of this at the same time. I know he's not going to take off with me, and we've managed some lovely trot work in the past, so I have no idea what my deal is.

Same story with yesterday's ride. I thought we'd do some work in the round pen to warm up and then do a little bit of work with side reins first before getting on, but he mostly ran around bucking and carrying on like an idiot. I got on anyway, and we managed some okay work at the walk. We should have just called it a day, but I really wanted a few laps of nice trot. Here's to hoping we both chill out over the next couple of weeks as we get used to new barn, new routine, new people, new horses, new feed (he's amost switched over from his old feed), new arena, new everything. Here's hoping.