Dressage lesson with Andrew Fletcher: making it simple

(For some reason I didn't want to share this blog post at first, it jut felt so special that I wanted to keep the feelings and thoughts that I had to myself for a while... It feels like a lot of the pieces in our massive jigsaw puzzle fell into place; Vallu was trying so hard for me and it felt like for the first time we became one in a true partnership. And that makes this lesson hold a very dear and special place in my heart.)

Out of all my bad habits and problems, trying too hard seems to be my biggest fault as a rider. Although this isn't too bad (out of all the things that I could do wrong) but good god is it difficult to get my brain and body to simply stop trying too hard. Arghhhhhh. Vallu was a super good boy, did everything that I asked him to, and once again I got a taste of how amazing he is when I ride right and ask him correctly. 

During the lesson we worked on flying changes as well as pirouettes (walk and canter.) Possibly the two most difficult exercises that I know, and being a bit ill also made the lesson a bit more challenging. But you know you've had an amazing lesson when you feel so much better after your lesson than you did beforehand, dressage training is better medicine for flu than paracetamol and lemsip ;)

After warming up, we started working on flying changes which are too easy for Vallu, whereas I am not a 100% sure about them, and this tends to result in Vallu showing off and doing whatever he wants with me sitting there going "err... what am I supposed to do now?!?" So to make it simple, Andrew took off my spurs and made me leave the curb rein alone so I was riding on the snaffle rein only, making everything so much simpler, and I've never been happier. I just have to ride the canter forwards after we're done with the flying changes so Vallu knows that we don't want anymore flying changes and that's that, simple. It's always good to hear what a judge would give you for a certain movement, and Andrew said that we would get a 7 or 8 for flying changes because they're uphill, straight and fluent. Just as long as I don't mess it up! :D

I had a huge lightbulb moment when Andrew said to ride Vallu's canter uphill. Vallu knows how to canter properly, and I do know how to ask for a big uphill canter but I'm often content with just his normal canter, so I don't ask for more. But woahhh can this canter when you ask for it properly. Vallu became so uphill that during the walk to canter transition I nearly ended up sitting behind the saddle because it was so massively uphill. All I can remember is Andrew shouting "YES now that's an uphill transition" Right, I want more of that feeling!!!

After a long (and very much deserved) break which mainly consisted of me patting Vallu and saying good boy, we moved onto pirouettes. Probably the most difficult movement for me personally, I override it, and often mess it up. So onto making it simple so that both my body and my brain understand what to do :D It is imperative that my outside leg is moved forwards, not back. Otherwise we end up in a travers, which makes Vallu even more slow and the movement even more difficult for both of us. It also helps if I turn both hands towards direction we're going, making sure that his shoulders keep turning, instead of his hind legs.  

And the exact same applies for canter, since it is the exact same thing just in another pace. Making sure that Vallu is going forwards makes the pirouette very easy. Ride forwards by using leg, then pat, collect, and pat. If pirouettes are too difficult for me at first to get the proper feeling, then riding a square  (with short pirouette style turns at each corner) is a good idea. From here, you can make the square smaller by turning more often, which quickly leads into a circle and a constant turn and thus into pirouette.

I am very proud of my horse, who has the amazing ability to teach me so much and to take us onwards and upwards to new challenges. I think he is the horse of my lifetime.

Super Saturday!

I had one of the best Saturdays in a long time today, managing to spend over 9 hours at the stables! During this time Vallu was clipped, I had lunch and did some Christmas shopping, helped build the arena eventing show jumping course and then groomed and rode Vallu in the evening. 

Arriving at the yard I got the best surprise, Vallu was sleeping (I haven't been able to see this since moving to Nottingham) He was so sweet, and when I sat down next to him Vallu pulled me into a hug. Vallu can be super cute when he wants to be, and it's great to see him being so relaxed and happy. It was lovely to be able to just sit in his stable next to him for fifteen minutes just hugging him. ♥ Ah, I think I fell even a bit more in love with him…

Vallu got his second (and hopefully last) clip and he was so well behaved. Massive thanks to Charlotte who spent most of the time during clipping him telling Vallu what a good boy he is! This is such a huge improvement from when we first bought and couldn't clip him without getting the vet to sedate him. Now Vallu stands there quite happily munching on carrots and is content to have his body, legs and half a head clipped. Major progress, yessss!!

Racing stripes ;)

Naked legs!

Half done :)

 I also spent lots of time with the cutest Border Collie puppy ever! 

Since it was so windy (I mean windy like it felt like I was at the end of the world tornado kinda windy) I decided to wait until the indoor arena was empty, so this meant hanging around until 6pm. But it was well worth it, Vallu was a very good boy - very little spooking occurred even though the doors and walls were banging and making lots of noise - and Vallu even managed to properly relax at some points. On Monday we have our second Andrew Fletcher lesson which I can't wait for, hopefully it will go as well as last time!

Vallu 11.12.13

So we were gonna try to do some horse decorating (Christmas decorations on horsey) but since Tesco had run out of tinsel we stuck to normal kissy pose photos, but I think the photos turned out so lovely. Lots of thanks to my awesome flatmate Hannah who came to take the photos!!! ♥ 

5 Things on Your Christmas List

I'm using this idea from Cob Jockey (you can read her blog here!)

What are five things on your Christmas list?

(And yes I do know there are only four things here but I don't need any other stuff)

1. Roeckl Roeck-Grip Swarovski gloves

Since my old Roeckl Grip gloves are slowly starting to fade away, I'm in need of a new pair of gloves.  I have been using Roeckl gloves pretty much ever since I started riding, and I don't think that I'll ever change. The gloves are amazingly soft and comfortable, they dry quickly (useful when riding outdoors in the rain more than once a week - the gloves are always dry the next day) and look nearly brand new after you wash them.

I've had the classic Roeckl gloves for ages, after which I bought my current Roeckl Two Tone gloves (dark navy and white trim) which have been absolutely fantastic for over a year now! But now I wanna try these ones, and who can resist the diamonds? ;)

"ROECK-Grip, the world’s most popular and unique riding glove, embellished with exclusive, sparkling Swarovski Elements crystals. The ROECK-Grip is amazingly breathable, fits like a second skin and provides the best possible grip on the reins. That’s why a large number of the world’s elite dressage riders and show jumpers wear these high-performance gloves – and win wearing them. Today, the fashion-conscious equestrian can combine ultimate wearing comfort with haute couture"

2. Earl of Witney's woolen horse blanket

We have two of these at home, and I think that these are essential in winter. They are so warm, and can be used in place of fleece coolers/sweat rugs during the winter since they'll keep your horse so much warmer, whilst still drying them up. Also great when warming up, they are so big and heavy that they don't fall off your horse, I tend to canter around and the blanket just stays on perfectly. Even though it's not as cold over here as it is in Finland, I do think that Vallu has started to get acclimatized to this weather. At the moment he is wearing two thick stable rugs and is very furry, and unexpectedly he's nice and warm, and not at all too hot. It gets to about +2c at night here, whereas in Finland it's around -10c and they're wearing the same amount of rugs. So this woolen blanket will definitely come in handy.

"The iconic, traditional Early's of Witney horse blanket. Soft, warm and with a very deep pile, the blanket is made from pure new wool (750gsm) and measures 205 x 210cm approximately. It's made, of course, here in England. The original 'Witney horse blanket' and still the very best woolen blanket you can put on a horse."

3. Kingsland Classic Down Vest

Absolutely one of my top favorite brands, Kingsland vests are probably the best around, and are my favorite to wear during the winter. Super comfortable, and super warm. I already have a brown Kingsland vest, but since I've been using it so much over the last two years, I don't think it is as warm and fluffy as it used to be, so with a new one by its side hopefully they will last for a long long time! And you can't go wrong with a thick fluffy vest in winter!!

"Vest with detachable hood. Light weight, water resistant and breathable. 200mg down filling."

4. Brow band

Isn't that brow band stunning?!? I want one for Vallu's double bridle to match with the brow band that I have for his single bridle. The large clear crystals set into the leather offers a big sparkle - to hopefully blind the judges next year (; 

Last week's training

Vallu has been so good for the last week, I've been super impressed by his attitude to work and it has simply been a pleasure to ride him. I am 100% convinced that him hacking out with Hollie riding him has been the main reason behind this. Instead of having to always work and train with me, Vallu now has to concentrate on surviving out on a hack in the real world with a proper rider who is isn't affected at all by his spooking. So big thank you to Hollie and the other girls who are working with Vallu to make him a proper bomb proof happy hacker! (That was not a sentence that I ever expected to say about Vallu...)

My little mule

♥

Ever since Ian's lesson I've been focussing on getting Vallu to really become more flexible and more engaged from behind. Instead of being satisfied with Vallu being 75% active and engaged, I now want 80-85%. One of the main problems of riding alone often is that you get used to the same response and the same amount of activity and engagement, and (at least I do this) often forget that you can try to push yourself and your horse for just that tiny bit more! Even Vallu's trot feels good, I've been concentrating on asking myself it could be just a little bit better? And if it can be better, then making sure to improve it!

So as well as doing plenty of leg yielding (or moving sideways like a crab as one of my lovely non-horsey friends called it (; ) I have also been working on flying changes. Since Vallu finds flying changes pretty easy, it makes it very easy for me to mess things up and for him to do whatever he wants. Especially once Vallu realizes that I want to work on tempi changes, he might ignore my aids and so we don't do a flying change and carry on with counter-canter, or then he might do random one tempis when I'm asking for four tempis, or do four tempis when I'm asking for three tempi changes etc... So in order for me to be able to practice tempi changes (flying changes are my most difficult movement) without Vallu knowing what exactly to expect, I've been throwing in random tempis (e.g. one single flying change at the beginning of the diagonal, then a few three tempi changes, and then a single flying change near the end) and changing the tempis along the diagonal (e.g. starting with four tempi changes and switching to three tempi changes in the middle) This has been a great exercise in getting Vallu to wait and listen to me instead of charging ahead thinking that he knows it all - to be fair he is better at them than me but still..! But it's good, I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable during the tempi changes, and I don't feel like I'm bouncing all over the place or jumping out of the saddle as much as before.