Belated: Jumping Lesson

Last Wednesday, I had an excellent jumping lesson with my neighbor/trainer. It was our first jumping lesson of the season and first with my new trainer, so I was nervous that we would do poorly. As always, I was worried that a "This horse should not be jumping" verdict would come forth from a professional.

As always, I need not have worried.

The theme of the lesson was "forward". Specifically, go forward away from the fence. Be quiet to the fence, allow him to think about it, then bam go fast after the fence which sets up the impulsion for the next fence. This is very much in line with the work that Steuart Pittman taught me about riding cross country fences.

We also trotted the fences. One thing I love about my trainer is that she is big on fundamentals and not rushing through training. One valuable skill a horse must have is to be able to be forward enough to trot a large fence. Needless to say, this is something I have never worked on. I use Brego's canter to propel us over the fence and never school from the trot. This is a big hole in our discipline and ability. My trainer means to plug the hole.

So despite my skepticism, we trotted fences. And of course, the key to trotting fences nicely is having a forward trot (which is why I have been so unsuccessful), so the real lesson of the day was about getting a forward trot when I asked for it without any resistance. Once we had the trot, the fences were easy.

So the video is somewhat boring, nothing earth shattering, a bunch of trotted fences. But the quality of the work is what makes me happy. Brego just worked well.

First Jumping Lesson of 2009 from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.

At the end, my trainer agreed that Brego loved to jump and he should be jumping. She thought they were easy for him and he could trot 3'6" with no problem. She did not want us to rush up the training scale because she thought Brego had enough quality as a jumper to teach him properly and slowly so he would go farther.

As for my form, she said I was loose and I tipped forward but she was not too concerned about it, there was time to work on it and I was in no danger of killing myself. I got a big green light to jump at will at the hunter pace. It was a very positive lesson.

No Rest

The rain is supposed to return over the next two days so if I wanted to be sure to get some jumping in before this weekend's Hunter Pace, I had to ride today. So make that four days in a row. Brego and I approached the task with about as much enthusiasm as you would expect.

But the game of eventing is long, and one of the "skills" is mustering the strength of will to finish. It is also a test of discipline. Brego certainly tested my ability to keep him forward in warm up. He had decided to quit before we even got started.

Even in my darkest moments of frustration of having a horse who lives perpetually behind the leg, I know that he is the horse I trained. He is the product of my training. So if I have a habit of nagging (I do), or working too hard (I do), or being clumsy or noisy with my aids (I do), Brego has slowly been trained to only pay attention part of the time. Usually the part of the time right after I pop him with the whip and tell him, no, this time I mean it.

All of Brego's bad habits are mirrors of my own. So when I get frustrated, I have to constantly remind myself that this is the hole I dug for myself and now we need to climb out.

So after a fairly half-hearted, naggy, lackluster warm up, I stopped. I regrouped. Instead of going around on autopilot, I thought very hard about the exact response and actions I wanted out of Brego. For the next 30 minutes, I was going to say (with my aids) what I meant and mean what I say and it was his job to respond appropriately. A little conviction goes a long way. But first, a minor extinction burst. I asked for a canter and he lazed into it and could barely keep it from going four beat. That certainly was not going to get us over any fences. So I added leg and he ignored me, or maybe he even slowed down and raised his head, stiffly resistant. So I popped him. Hard. Quick, immediate, then reapply the aid. Again he said no, so I popped him again and he bucked so hard he threw himself into the wrong lead. But then he went forward. He auto swapped coming around the corner and we nailed the distance to a dinky 2'3" oxer and he jumped it at like it was 4' and went tearing off on the backside. Now we're getting somewhere.

So the horse can go, when I mean it. When I am clear and don't settle for putsing around. We had several more good rounds, each time requiring less effort on my part to get a nice working canter around fences instead of his western pleasure lope.

He finished stronger than he started and I hope, I know, we had a break through.

Keep me honest, Brego. I can't expect you to not be lazy when I am lazy with my aids.

With the rain comes two days of rest and then: New Horse, New Rider. Another chance for me to improve my communication.

How do you know?

It's been raining nonstop for three days now, so I have no excited Brego news to report.  I thought I might take this opportunity to answer a question I was asked recently, however.

How/When did I know Brego could jump?  What was my "aha" moment?

I actually had to think about this question for a couple of days, talk to my old trainers/friends who knew us way back when, recollect our first few forays into jumping.  The earliest post on this blog is of our first cross country schooling, and Brego was already pretty solid over wee fences back then (but oh my, look at that mane!!).  It was July of 2007, and I had started jumping in March of 2007.

I really didn't start with a plan for greatness.  I was just tooling around, wanted to see what he could do.  Jumping is good cross training to make quick feet, if nothing else.  Doing cavellettis, small grids, etc, are good for all horses, who are otherwise sound and healthy.

The first two or three lessons where disasters. He really wanted to just rear over fences, no push at all.

Things started to look up when we started free jumping in a chute.  He was able to focus on jumping without my riding being a distraction.  He started to figure out how to push.

The work got better and we started to get a little more correct, a lot more willing, we starting to have fun.

But the honest answer is that I still don't know if Brego is good at jumping.  I think he enjoys it, I think he is getting better, but he does things that may cut his career short, like the front foot tap, unless I can school him out of it.  I think he enjoys it because he is honest to fences.  He will always take the fence, even when I leave the door wide open to run out. 

Everyday is an exercise in listening to the horse.  His work is on his terms.  If tomorrow, he decided he didn't want to jump, it scared him or there was some undiagnosed pain, I would pick up on it and we would stop.  I think this should be true of all horses in sport, but it's especially true of horses that are "not suitable" for sport.  

I guess my point is, there is no magic test for ANY horse.  Thoroughbreds, warmbloods, any light horse is expected to know how to jump, but not all enjoy it, and maybe some get pushed because of that expectation.  Drafts are expected not to jump and perhaps they get overlooked because of that expectation.  But it really is up to the individual, and it should be up to the individual.

In all honesty, if I was going to compete seriously in eventing or jumping, I would not look specifically at a draft horse, but I think everyone knows that.  I bought Brego for another purpose, but he's been a good sport and a lot of fun to partner up with on whatever crazy whim strikes my fancy.  I work harder than I should to keep him schooled and safe for jumping.  I would certainly be farther along if I had a more appropriate horse.  Perhaps.  But although I love competing, it's not about competing for me.  Not about being top in my class.  It's about being top in my class with this horse.  He's my boy.

We'll keep doing what we're doing until Brego doesn't want to do it anymore.  Then we'll go try something else, perhaps Long Riding.  ;)

Jumpity Jump Jump

Today was the first real jumping of the season. We set up a bounce to a one stride that could be ridden both ways. We started with the poles on the ground and just cantered through, working on striding and adjustability. Then we put up cross rails and finally finished at 2'3". The grid was certainly not challenging, but for our first day out, I wanted to see what we remembered, if anything.

I'll just cut to the chase and I say I was very pleased with Brego. His brain is 100% there from last year, didn't skip a beat, completely understood the question, was forward and willing. My position was about 80% from last year. My lower body was ok, my release was fine, but I did tend to duck too much over such small fences. Brego was a little sticky getting into the canter, and he wanted to do his little dressage canter. So when I pushed him forward into a little more, he really didn't understand. He thought I was just pushing to push, I think. It wasn't until a couple of times through the grid that he started to understand he needs a little more.

But even with what he had, he felt so much better than last year. I can actually say, with no self delusion, that his canter was adjustable. I could easily compress it, but not as much extend it, but even compressed he kept his impulsion. He didn't quit at the fences. Last year, he didn't refuse, but he lost 10% at a fence and over a grid, that adds up. Well today, there was no quitting, in fact he would finish stronger. Not longer and sprawled out all over the place, but bigger, more "up".

Another big difference was when I blew the entry, he reached for the distance. He did not chip once. And he did not do the creepy front foot tap thing that got us into trouble last year.

So all in all, I felt like Brego was good, very interested, very keen to fences. He needs a little more work on getting that canter going from the start, and obviously, we need more fitness. But, coming from Texas and the 12 month schooling schedule, I am absolutely floored by how little he has lost over the winter, both mentally and physically. Yes, he is too heavy for serious competition, but he did the grid probably 10 times today and never broke a sweat and certainly never felt any tiredness.

He felt so good, I had to consciously stick to my plan and quit early, since it was our first time jumping. He felt like he had plenty of gas in the tank.

We've got a schooling three phase at the end of the month and I think he's going to be just fine for it.

Legging Up

Never one to rest on our laurels, we hit the trails after work today. We headed for the packed road in the next town and did two canter sets up the hill. Brego felt strong and fresh.

On the way home, I had trouble keeping him in the walk. He wanted to move out. Finally, after many corrections, we walked peacefully home.

As we approached the farm, I noticed that my (other, non-horsey) neighbor had placed two logs next to the trail. I had harmlessly mentioned to him about a week ago that it would be fun to jump some logs, you know, while I was riding on his trails through his property. So he found two logs and placed them by the trail for me. Have I mentioned how much I love my neighbors?

I took Brego up and over the log and Brego, formerly known as Mr. Chippy, launched into the biggest, roundest jump from a stride out to clear this little 2' log. Needless to say, I was jumped out of the tack. So I have some work to do, and Brego has made it clear he's ready to start jump training.

And now we just need a few more days of sunshine to get the jumps set up and then we will begin.

I love this horse.

Back in the Saddle

I had a great ride today in the indoor. Totally Ab Fab. We set up a 2' jump on the diagonal on some of those plastic blocks used for cavallettis. There are no real jumps available. After a little warmup, I took Brego over at a canter.

The boy can jump! Sure, it's 2' and sure it was a single fence, but he felt great. His canter was nice and balanced, thanks partly to the super tight corners in the indoor. He hit the striding and jumped properly, really using his back. He picked up the correct lead over the fence or swapped after one stride. The boy still has his auto changes.

I, of course, looked like I always do, elbows flapping, toes to the side. But! I did not get forward and I had a following contact. A little rusty, but not a complete disaster.

I feel really encouraged that we will be successful this season. And by success, I mean showing good improvement, no over facing (of either of us) and being respectful in our performance to the judges. No embarrassment.

Ok, so we can still jump. But Brego's conditioning is a real problem. I am glad the fence was just 2'. He needs to be much more fit to do higher or more jumps. Conditioning is now my #1 priority. Trot sets, here we come!

During my walk home, I put an arm around his neck as we walked and chatted about jumping and the summer and shows. I realized it was the first time we had jumped since the day of the Big Crash of '08. The fact that it had not occurred to me before then is a really good sign, that my nerve is still good. I also felt no hesitation from Brego. It will be interesting to see if either of us get any flashbacks as the intensity of our jumping progresses through the season.

For now, I am very very happy.

The Brego Blog Wins Fame

I apologize to everyone for being a bad blogger.

I am at the end of a release cycle at work, which means evening and weekends belong to the Other Life. I did manage to ride Brego twice this week, once working on dressage and once on jumping. I did not go to the hunt this weekend, because it was an "away game" which is about a 3 hour drive to the joint meet. It is also a live hunt (coyote) and I wasn't sure if I was up for that. I am truly a conflicted animal lover/pacifist/red meat-eater/fox hunter.

My friend in Texas sent me some Phillipe Karl dvds and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about how much I don't understand how to train. :) Just kidding, it's been very educational to see other horses progressing by a much estemmed professional and doing the conversion in my head for Brego. Let's see, if that gorgeous perfectly balanced, perfectly relaxed warmblood stallion in the video takes 3 oz of pressure to shoulder-in from the trot, that means.... carry the one... multiply by "Draft Constant"... divide by "Green Coefficient"... to make Brego do the same thing should take... 3 oz of pressure. Wow, I am way behind on my homework!

Brego really enjoyed the in-hand session and I found him much more responsive when I finally got into the saddle. I need to remind myself to start with advanced in-hand work more often.

As for the jumping day, I set up some small fences, about 2' high and just worked on a consistant canter and counting my strides. I really need to train my eye better. I found that I could count accurately from about 4 strides out and if I didn't see it then, I would see something bad at 2 strides and think "Oh shit, we've blown it". So I really need to get better at seeing it at, say 6, and then if I don't see it, do something about it.

I then set up a 2' 9" course and worked on rollbacks. We have a fun show this weekend hosted by my barn and Brego will be in the 3' jumpers class (and costume class). He was a star and I could tell that the counting helped that round as well. I am trying not to overanalyze my position which is Step 3 in my Twelve Step Program of "Enjoying Your Horse. Here. Now."! I did feel more secure and reading the technical aspects of the course helped me to keep back and get deep distances for tight turns. I heard from spectators that I looked much better, so I am going to run with that! :)

But the real reason for this post is that the Brego Blog has been so lucky as to receive a wonderful award from a very cool blog that I have just discovered: Baba Yaga's Mirror.

There are so many really great blogs out there about horses that to choose five would be difficult. I will need to give it some thought and get back to posting about it.

Two more weeks until the big move to Brego Farms so things will continue to be a little hit or miss on the blog. I fully intend to document any fun outings, but the posts may slow down for the next couple of weeks. Better grab hold, this could be a bumpy ride!

Bad Day

Today's lesson went fine. We were supposed to work on my form, but as is typical, we ended up working on Brego. Brego was jumping fine, bored, but better than usual in the home arena. I don't know what happened, but my position fell apart.

When I got home and looked at the pictures, I actually cried. I don't think I have ever looked so bad in my life. Some pictures were just awful. I was pivoting over my knee, my leg swung back, and I jumped ahead. And somehow, the only comment I got from my trainer about my position was that I was hitting the back of the saddle and to stay up more. Once again, watching Brego was more fun than watching me.

So I don't know. I feel like it's not working. Total breakdown. After I calmed down, I studied the photos again. I think I might have some clue as to my crazy elbows.

There they are... taking flight again.

What is up with those elbows?? I know I want to do a following release at verticals, with some contact and support to get Brego off the ground. But why are my reins so long that when I take up contact while forward at the fence, I have to bend my elbows like that?? Well, it might just be that a fraction of a second earlier on the approach, Brego put his head down.

Checking out the tiny fence?

I have talked with many professionals about this and everyone assures me it's a good thing. And yes, it gets better as the fences get larger because he doesn't have to drop his head to his knees to see the top pole. But look at my reins. My arms are completely extended, I am even giving with my fingers, and he has still absorbed all the slack. And then when it comes time to jump...

Bingo!

Let's take a closer look...

Enhance!

I am not hanging on his face. In fact, in all the pictures, you could see contact in the reins, but the sides of his mouth were not stretched. I go from not enough rein to too much rein in less than a second and to keep the feel, I just absorb it back with my elbows as far as they will go.

What a bizarre problem. I think I am going to do some grids on my Thoroughbred (a much more consistent jumper who does not drop her head before fences) and work on a heavy crest release that I can push off of. Hopefully that will get my upper body back, give my hands something to do instead of take up the slack. And Brego should be fine over spreads with a crest release and he may be getting strong enough to be fine at verticals, too. I don't know, because I always maintain contact off the ground.

Just checking in... How's the breathing? Still with me?

So yea, not exactly brilliant riding, but maybe I might just be on to something with the elbows. And as for the leg... I just don't know. Maybe I just can't ride fences.

On that note, how about some nice sitting trot?

Highlight of the day: Flatwork

Altitude Sickness

I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was because the indoor was filled with round bales and I couldn't ride dressage. Or maybe it was because I talked on the phone with my friend in Texas who is preparing for a big jumper show. Or maybe I just needed to know if we could possibly jump around a "Big Girl" Hunter Trial course in 6 weeks.

Something unknown compelled me to walk out to the outdoor and set up some fences, dragging standard after standard into place to build... what?

A triple bar.

A 3 foot, 3 inch triple bar, to be exact.

Don't worry, I had the camera with me as well.

Brego warmed up slow. I thought he was tired from foxhunting. It turns out, he was just bored. He barely lumbered over the 2'6" warm up verticals. But the first time I brought him down the line to the triple bar, he locked on. I could tell he was thinking about it. Something new, something different. He jumped it but knocked the back rail with his fronts. The second time he made the same mistake.

Biggest. Jump. Ever.

But the third... he figured it out. He launched over that fence and I felt the free fall on the backside of the jump. I felt loose and unfit and barely able to crouch over that tremendous jump. But man, that horse can fly.

Percheron Jumping a Triple Bar from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.

Watching the video, the expression on his face, that boy was eating it up. His had a spring in his canter and just banged off the ground. He cleared it by at least a foot and a half and he was very tight with his knees and his hind end. Average rider. Extraordinary horse.

So we have much to do, but Brego is technically ready for a move up. I, however, am not. Watching my riding made me cringe a bit. More no stirrup work and more grid work should get that leg back under control. I really felt I had figured it out about a month ago, but I haven't been able to recapture the tightness. I need to talk with my jumper trainer about the back side of the fence. It all comes unravelled there and I think it's because I am not strong in my position. If anyone has some good articles/video on how to ride the backside of a big fence, I would love to read up on it!

A Week In Review

I apologize for being a bad blogger. I have had a crazy week and am just now getting time to sit down.

On the Brego front, things are going well. My friend/trainer from Texas came up to visit and really liked the progress Brego has made. She was even brave enough to jump him over a big 3'3" oxer and he did really well for her. It was so cool to see him jump a big jump from the ground! He is so BIG!! He was even tidy with his hind end and it seemed so easy for him. She said his canter was much lighter so it was time to fix my position. I could no longer blame my canter position on him pulling on me!

We spent a few fun days being hooligans on horse back while the swelling from my bee stings subsided. The one over my eye caused some pretty nasty, eye-closing swelling. To take my mind off my new ugliness, we rode the horses out and cantered through the woods. Brego was tired from the big foxhunt, but he did very well and even jumped well in the sandy arena. Starting Wednesday, he got the rest of the week off. He has more than earned it.

Then, on Wednesday, I looked at a farm for Brego. I loved it so much we put an offer on it that very night. So now we're officially under contract as of late Friday night. We still have a long way to go before the deal is done, but I am very excited. It's a gorgeous house on 6 acres in the middle of incredible horse country. Less than 20 miles from all the hunt fixtures and shows, sandwiched between two big state parks which allow horses, with direct access miles of double track trails, with riding access to the fairgrounds which holds little open shows all years (and Farmer's markets every Friday), in the middle of a horsey neighborhood with two indoor arenas (which might be available for hire).

So if all goes through, we will be moving in November to a new farm where I get to wake up every morning and see big Brego out my kitchen window. I can't imagine a better life.

But because we will be leaving a wonderful barn which is tailor-made to producing excellent show horses, I am not sure how much real schooling we will get in over the winter without those facilities. But it IS winter, and after the hunting season, Brego and I will be taking a long break.

I still intend to show as much in the Spring (money willing). I am already qualified for the USEA Area 1 Beginner Novice Championships and I need one more top five finish to be qualified for the American Eventing Championships (AECs) at Lamplight in Wayne, Illinois. So eventing is still very hot for us. I also have a few shows still on tap in September and October before the move and all my money being tied up in a house and pastures and a wee barn.

For the near short term, the hunt this weekend was cancelled due to rain from Hannah. My Steuart Pittman cross country clinic on Sunday will be moved to the indoor to focus on stadium instead. I have still much to learn there so I don't mind. The chiropractor comes out Monday to check on Brego which will influence the rest of the season, if he needs a break.

I've got a couple schooling three phases and a schooling jumper show coming up as well. The pressure is off, so I am going for fun and to coach my SO. And, of course, I am going to set aside enough money to join the hunt this year so I have three more months of unrelenting fun on the weekends.

Video - Kingsbury Hill

Many thanks to all my great readers who cheered me on and supported me through the show. I really was encouraged by all the well wishes. Many people in my Other Life do not understand what the show meant to me, but I know from all the comments that you understand. So thank you!

Today Brego and I went for a long hack through the woods alone. We ran around, trotting and cantering logs, and then just walked on the buckle. I learned a lot about both myself and Brego during the show, the least of which is how great he is outside the arena. I had forgotten that. I am going to try to get out more, at least twice a week. I am also putting together another couple of blog posts that go into more detail about some of the things I learned at the show, specifically around shoes and traction and, of course, conditioning.

And Mae, there will not be another recognized show this year, but I have lots of fun activities planned for the fall! Hint: Cubbing season starts soon!

Toes Forward!

Today I learned a new mantra. Taking a cue off the US Marine Corp's creed of Unit, Core, God, Country (as seen in a movie), I decided I needed to set some serious priorities. So here they are: Family, Horse, Health, Job. Not that my job is even that significant in my life, but it is LESS significant than the other three. So when my boss asked me to work late yet again tonight, I repeated my mantra in my head and discovered that no, I would not work, I was going riding.

And ride I did. Brego and I worked on our form over fences. Actually, Brego was a star over fences, as always. He really loves to jump and just pings around. We did a couple of passes through the triple and then a couple oxers. All the while, I took my mind off Brego and focused on my toes and my elbows. And I made some progress. I got the feel of holding with the side of my calf instead of the back and things started to click. I had raised my stirrups a hole and that helped me get out of the saddle. On a couple of jumps, where we blew the distance, I reverted to more squatty toes out as I focused on us not dying, but in general, if I could stay aware and relaxed, I felt much better.

I had a good spotter on the ground who noticed that I was raising my hands the stride before the fence and not following well, stiffening. When I focused on quieting my hands and relaxing, my upper body stayed more supple and I am sure Brego appreciated the room. I also did some no hands work and that really helped me feel my calf and lower thighs over fences.

So progress.

And of course, while we were cantering around the course, Brego's canter was so balanced and I can thank the dreaded Dressage for that. So I know we're making progress there as well. I just need to relax and stop worrying, progress is good.

I rode my bike home today from the barn and felt good, I am getting more fit.

Family. Horse. Health... Job.

First Triple Combination!

El Brego de Oro and I had a big day during our jumping lesson. We jumped our first triple! Brego was impressed, he catapulted me clean out of the saddle. The trainer set it up so the first element was an oxer, then 21' feet to a vertical, then 19' feet to the third vertical. It was a tough technical question for us: how to control the scope over the oxer to get enough impulsion to squeeze in the verticals. Since Brego is not the most careful jumper, it was an eye opening experience.

Riding our First Triple Combination! from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.

In general, we had a great ride. Brego is such a jumper, he loves to get big air. Unfortunately, I do not love how I am riding big air. We focused on technical issues with Brego and not my position tonight, since my trainer deems me effective "enough". When I watch the video, I am still falling back in the air, so my position is going to be a factor when we start taking rails behind. But for now, Brego has the scope to compensate.

My trainer also focused on my upper body, asking me to stay more upright and control the ducking. He wanted a following release, not a crest release, to support Brego through the combinations. My hands did fine, but my elbows were in mid-flight as always.

We worked a lot on me supporting him off the ground at verticals. Since he is less impressed with them, I need to really get him off my leg and support him off the ground. If I drop my upper body and go too soft, he will take the rail.

I was very pleased with the rides in general. Brego was nicely self propelled. The canter work I had been doing all week showed through in his departures and balance on course. I felt like I had some horse under me, even when we weren't going mach 3 around the course. He was able to spring off the ground thanks to his nice canter. Until he got tired, he felt really good. If I could remember to ask for the lead in the air, he got it. Otherwise he threw in some nice swaps.

My trainer and I talked some more about taking Brego to some jumper shows in the fall. He said it was too bad we weren't in Ireland. In Ireland, they take cash bets at the ring and he said Brego would make some serious money. No one would bet him to go clear. It made me laugh, contemplating a future career on Brego's jumping ability. A scary thought.

All in all, I am pleased with our work. I tend to be critical of my riding (as if you hadn't noticed) so I am trying not to expect perfection, but just look at the overall picture. We're getting around the course in a smart manner, no more scrambling. We take some rails, but that's a lot of my fault. Sometimes I don't understand the questions being asked, like I moved Brego up in the triple when instead I should have half-halted.

As always, the lesson pushed me, but left me with a feeling of confidence. We worked on some tough stuff, way more than I can expect in my upcoming shows. So if I can keep my head and think through the course, we should do well.

First Three Phase

Today was a big day for The Brego and I. We headed over to New Hampshire to participate in our first real three phase schooling event. We had been to a schooling event last year, but we were decidedly non competitive, trotting the entire xc course.

Today we were actually going to compete, or at least complete the event. Things didn't go as well as hoped, but they certainly went fair enough with Brego and I winning a fifth place ribbon and earning reasonable scores.

In dressage we scored 42 penalty points which amounts to a 58%, our lowest score ever. The test was not really that bad, it was accurate and obedient, but Brego was definitely hot and completely over the whole dressage thing and so we both performed poorly. The more I tried to push him forward, the worse my position got, and the worse he did as well. The judge, to say the least, was unimpressed. In fact, she couldn't manage to find a single positive thing to say about us, either verbally after the test or on the score sheet. Other horses, in inverted frames, who broke from the canter during the test scored higher than us. Such is life in the dressage world, but it definitely set the tone for the rest of the day.

Cross country was the phase I was most concerned about, since Brego tends to be very looky and slow. By the time we were set to enter the start box, it was very hot and humid. I knew I would have trouble getting Brego going, so I wore my nubbin spurs. Boy, did he listen to those! We came out of the start box with his usual lethargy but after a few good kicks, he was off to the races and stayed in front of my leg the rest of the ride. He jumped everything very well, in stride and without hesitation. He was a complete machine on course. I was so proud of him.

Last fence on cross country

Stadium jumping was 15 minutes after cross country. I made the mistake of dismounting and loosening his girth to let him recover from cross country while my wonderful family sponged him off. Usually the loosening of the girth is his sign that his job is done. And that's pretty much how he acted during stadium: What, I have to work again?? He knocked down all three of his warm up jumps and the round itself was sticky and ugly. To add insult to injury, there was a rolltop on course, which we have not schooled since the ill-fated refusal at the hunter trials, so I over rode it and we got a rotten distance. The good news is that he jumped it fine, but then proceeded to knock down fence 6 off a bad turn. We made it through the rest of the course without too much trouble, but it was not a great round.

The distance to the rolltop was my fault, and the subsequent falling back was not fun

So we ended the show with 4 jumping faults in stadium for a total penalty of 46 points, which was good enough for 5th (out of 12, four horses were eliminated).

The good:
Brego got all his leads, both on cross country and in stadium. As the first show where we had to do all three phases in one day, it was a pretty big success. We did not get eliminated, and even though he was tired and fell asleep at the wheel during stadium, he jumped well. We were well prepared, neither one of us was overfaced. In fact, I thought cross country was a little ho hum, even though he rode very well. In fact, Brego was a little too relaxed at the show, and needed a LOT of work to get him going.

Which leads me to... The bad:
Man, Brego was very nonplussed about the whole thing and used the dressage test (and hence my inability to beat the crap out of him) to just drift farther behind my leg. I did pop him a couple of times during the test, but the damage was done. The judge was very unkind about our performance.

Watching the videos, my riding is pretty poor. My leg is vertical (mostly), but I am so toed out that sometimes my toes rotate past 90 degrees, if that's possible. I don't actually realize I am doing it over the jump, so I don't even know how I can bend that way. Also, my hands were pretty bad, lots of elbows out. And of course, driving Brego around makes my position all squatty and gross. It's a total bummer because I want to be proud of us, but I just expect more from us. Brego can definitely perform a better dressage test, he does it most days of the week at home. And all the work I have been doing on my position jumping was seemingly forgotten when I needed it most. It's pretty frustrating. I want to ride better so badly, and I take lessons and practice all the time. But somehow, I can never put it together when I need it.

Anyway, it's good to get the first show out of the way and I feel like neither one of us are a danger to ourselves on course. But I also realize I have a tremendous amount of work to do before the big show August 17th if I don't want to be wasting my efforts. A 42 in dressage is not great and at my level, everyone goes double clear so I can't get rails in stadium. Not that I am out to win, but I feel some level of pressure to perform well to prove Brego and I can be eventers. Sure there were Thoroughbreds flipping out and getting eliminated, but that's expected. Show up with a draft and you better have done your homework to be taken seriously. Or maybe that's just all my perception...

Jumping Lesson

Thanks again to everyone who responded to my request for video input. Also, thanks for all the wonderful and generous comments supporting this crazy endeavor. I appreciate every one.

On Thursday, I had a jumping lesson with the resident trainer at my barn. I have watched him work with children in the hunters, and I am so scarred from hunters that I was immediately turned off. But after hanging around with him at the barn and unofficially discussing technical matters related to Jumpers (and not the "crest release over 18" cross rails"), I slowly learned that my bias was keeping me from a great learning opportunity.

So I signed up for a lesson and I asked that we focused on technicalities. Brego is very strong and brave, but neither one of us have the technical skills to get around a jumper course.

The lesson was largely successful and I was buzzing from what we had done. I learned four major things, all worth the price of admission:

• A "chip" and a "deep distance" are the same thing, ridden differently.
• Ride the line for the horse, not the horse for the line.
• Big impressive jumps are fun to watch, but hurt your ability to recover and turn to the next fence. Ride deep to fences on turns.
• How to ask for your leads off the ground.

Never Chip
Brego is a notorious chipper and it's frustrating. When in doubt, he adds. I have been worried about this for a long time. Will he ever be scopey enough to jump from a regular distance, you know, like a Thoroughbred??
Well, it turns out, Brego is not a Thoroughbred. And he's plenty careful and powerful, he can just power over a fence from a deeper distance. Expecting him to jump like a Thoroughbred is not only going to leave us frustrating, it's going to take rails. He flattens out when he reaches and is less careful. So for my horse, I need to ride deep and let him jump up and over the fence. A "deep distance" becomes a "chip" when I give up. When he doesn't take off from this mythical Thoroughbred distance and I drop him and stiffen, in anticipation of the "terrible" jump. Every time I chip, and it's me chipping, not Brego, he rubs or takes a rail. Every time I sit up and help him off the group with my leg from a deep distance, he goes clean and looks nice and balanced. This was a lightbulb moment.

Go Deep
Along the same vein, when I ask Brego for big, flier fences, it takes twice as long for him to recover his balance. If we have a 4 or 5 stride bending turn to another fence, that's 2 strides instead of 1 that is lost just in recovering from that huge effort. If he's strung out on this forehand, regaining his balance, no amount of outside aids is going to bring him around. But, if I can "ride deep" to the jump and curl him around it, I gain a stride on the recovery to make my turn easier and he lands in better balance. Writing this, it seems painfully obvious. But in my hatred of "chips", I was making both of our jobs harder in real courses. For my horse, going clean means conservative, well balanced fences. Leave the photo ops to the Thoroughbreds. :)

Ride The Line for the Horse, not the Horse for the Line
This isn't freakin' hunters anymore. I should not care if the line is supposed to be ridden in 5 strides. If it is slightly uphill and late in the course, I will ride it in 6. This lesson taught me a whole new way of looking at courses and cross referencing the layout with what I know about my horse. He can collect easier than he can extend. He tends to be sloppy over fences he is not impressed with. And his conditioning is a constant battle. Even the slight slope of the arena had effects on my horse I had not realized before. The object is to go clean and make Brego's job as easy as possible, not mold him into a convention. Neither one of us are conventional.

Get Your Lead
Finally, we worked on leads. Although Brego is probably ready to start working on his changes, I have not focused on them because he does tend to auto swap when he's paying attention and needs the balance. I have a video from our first ever jumping round and I think he did 4 or 5 swaps in it, all by himself. I was certainly too freaked out to cue them! Anyway, getting simple changes, which is becoming habit for us really messes with his impulsion. The fences after a simple change are almost always sloppier and more likely to take rails or be from off distances. So until can confirm his changes, I MUST get my leads in the air. So we worked on that. If I could remember to ask, Brego was perfect. I just need to ride jumper courses and technically thoughtful as dressage tests.

So the lesson was wildly successful. I felt my confidence increase throughout the lesson and we studied some very technical concepts with few jumping repetitions (a very good thing for Brego). We worked on rider questions. Brego already knows how to jump and he listens, so he doesn't need to school endlessly over fences and make him bored and hate his job. It was the perfect style lesson, a real thinking exercise, sprinkled with some practical application. And I made enough mistakes to drive the points home, but I was always treated positively.

On that note, this trainer is Mr. Positive. He glowed about Brego and talked about what a great Jumper he was, not what a great Draft Horse Who Can Jump. He talked about his conformation and his balance, how he was honest and well trained. It's funny, I think trainers are always 25% skeptical when we start, even if they have seen Brego before. But they always finish up being impressed. I, myself, was impressed that we're finally at the level that we can work on technical questions without overfacing either of us. It was FUN!

Percheron Jumping Lesson from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.

And then I watched the video. I had punched another hole in my leathers and brought my stirrups up one more notch. I don't know if my body can't bend that way, or I am not strong enough for the shorter stirrups, but my leg was terrible. Especially when asking for the lead off the ground, I was bringing my "new" outside leg back 45 degrees! And my arms! Good gosh, can I throw my elbows out anymore. I don't care what they say about how we made the turns, etc, that is poor riding. I need to get my elbows and hands back in control so I can give a proper release. It's a good thing my reins are too long or else Brego would get popped over the fence.

I think I am going to drop my stirrups again and see if I am more comfortable. Maybe I can get out of the tack more with my slightly longer stirrup if my leg is properly positioned under my body. Because raising the stirrups one hole did not get me out of the tack, it got me back into swinging my legs in odd ways. More fun to experiment with.

Hunter Trials

Today, Brego and I headed over to a farm in North Berwick, Maine, to participate in Hunter Trials hosted by a local hunt. The course was long, about 10 minutes of cantering, over 15 fences. Part of the course wound through some woods, and thanks to some recent rain, the mud was very deep and tricky.

I walked the course in advance and I was concerned about the footing but others said the wooded trails rode fine. This was Brego's first ever "real" course, where we were cantering the whole way over fences he has never seen. I wanted a very positive, forward ride as a barometer of where we needed to be by mid August (our recognized event).

The trials had "foxhunting" obstacles in addition to the cross country course. We had to open a gate while mounted, perform a hold hard when the horn blew, turn it up during a "gone away" section, and finally dismount and lead Brego over a fence and remount (mounting block was provided, thank you very much :) ). So the point was not to get a steady rhythm on a perfectly groomed and drained cross country course, but just to see how obedient and suitable the horse is for hunting experiences.

Our warmup was terrible. It was very, very humid and the area was wet so we couldn't get a good forward canter going. Brego was not slipping outright, but he was not really cruising either. I knew I was going to have to really ride aggressively to get him in front of my leg.

Brego was pretty good at the gate, moving over in a side pass when asked so I could reach it. It was the starting point to the course and he trotted off pretty well towards the first fence. The first fence was a very small log, very inviting, and Brego acted like it was made of some sort of horse-eating wood. He looked hard at it and then jumped fine. I really pushed him on then, seeing that this was going to be a "looky ride".

The next fence was a vertical with standards out in a field and he did just fine. Brego understands arena fences. Then we went into the woods and the mud was problematic. He just lost all confidence and slipped all over the place. We ended up trotting all the fences and even jumping some from a walk, due to the footing, but he was a good boy and tried. The one time he got ahead of me and cantered, he slipped very hard from behind and I kept him back. So much for training forward.

After the woods, we got out into a nice dry field and I tried to reestablish a nice forward canter. We popped over a gate fine and then the horn blew. So back to a halt for five seconds. Then canter off again. So much for training forward.

We went back into the woods and although this trail was drier, he was very hesitant. I could tell he was rattled and not trusting of the footing. We trotted through the woods, over a couple fences, including a nice 2'11" brush and then back into the field. The first fence back into the field was a stadium vertical over barrels. Ah... the dreaded barrels. I popped him with my whip three strides out, he locked on and with a slight resistant bend, jumped fine. I hope the I can officially call his barrel phobia over.

Feeling pretty proud of us, we got to the "gone away" flags where we are supposed to gallop, flat out, until the next set of flags and go back to a working pace. This test shows obedience in the horse. Brego did fine, he actually did speed up, much to my surprise. He came back easily as well, probably because the "gone away" sprint was right up a steep hill.

Then we had an easy curve to the left, over some spooky logs. Brego really popped his shoulder and I had trouble getting him straight. I deduced from the pictures that my reins are way too long to really help with bending and my legs too high.

Then we had another nice canter up to the top of the hill where some stadium jumps were set up. I was flagged to jump a 2'7" roll top at the top of the hill. When I walked the course, I thought "That's going to be a problem". Brego has never jumped a roll top before. It was big and green and right at the top of the hill. I got Brego up the hill and he was tired. I was tired. I tried to lock him on the roll top and I could tell he thought I was kidding. I popped him and really drove him towards it. He almost bought it and gave it a good effort, but at the last minute just stopped and looked at it. Neither of our hearts were in it after the climb, so even though it was a stop, I felt like it wasn't a "refusal". I circled around, with myself collected and ready and he jumped it fine.

Lots of pats and we headed back down the hill. We had a long gallop to a log and even though we were flagged to jump this tiny thing, he gaped at the bigger log next to it. So more bending, resisting, while he stared at a log we weren't even going to jump. Through sheer strength, I held him on a good enough line to get him over the baby log we were supposed to jump.

Then another muddy water crossing where he refused to go faster than a walk. He's smarter than I am. Then another log up a hill, no problem. The final fence he looked at, but jumped it and then we came to the lead over. I halted, paused a second to let him settle. Then I dismounted, ran up my stirrups and led him over a fence. He did great.

So all in all, a very green, shaky round, but we're both very green. I was completely exhausted by the end of the 10 minutes of cantering, and he was blowing pretty hard as well. I hosed him down and he recovered fine, but it was a wake up call. A Beginner Novice course will be half the distance, but as many fences. We need more conditioning, both of us, and I will pray to the weather gods for no humidity. It is a killer for the big guy.

When I was done, I was bummed about the roll top. But as I thought about it, he did amazingly well out there on course, by himself, first time ever, after slipping and nearly falling in the mud. He's a green horse, he will have stops. He's not a dirty stopper or dishonest, it just wasn't meant to be. If I were a stronger rider, not exhausted myself from the climb, I could have stuffed him over. But that's where we both are right now. I would rather get a clean stop, regroup, and represent for a clean fence, instead of squeak over. That's getting dangerous. I need to trust Brego that if he says he can't do it honestly, he can't do it. He's earned that trust from the work he's done to this point. We will ride another day, we will both get stronger, no big deal.

I am going cross country schooling tomorrow. I am going to focus on water, trying to rebuild some confidence lost today. I am going to focus on forward to fences he has not schooled. And I am going to shorten my reins so I can be more effective. Oh yea, and fix my leg.

Cross Country Schooling

Today, Brego and I headed over to a nice farm in New Hampshire and met up with another rider who we met online. She brought her absolutely gorgeous Friesian mare. We are all entering the show at the farm in a couple of weeks and we wanted to get a good schooling in before we made fools of ourselves competed.

My goals for the day were to get Brego over everything and to put together a course so that we can work on rhythm. The Friesian rider was very cool and nice so after exchanging a few pleasantries, we hit the course.

We ended up schooling for over two hours, but with the low humidity, Brego had plenty of energy, even in the hot sun. We worked on cantering through water, sometimes including a small bank into the water. We trotted over a small ditch with no problems. We jumped coops, benches, logs, three-step banks. Brego was a pro at all of it. No looky loo problems. And as the day wore on, he got more in front of my leg and really started cantering. Jumping in wide open fields is more fun for him than stuffy arenas.

The course itself was really fun. It started at the top of a hill and wound down the hill, mostly along a tree line, with jumps set up every hundred yards or so. It was very straightforward and fast, although the hill was fairly steep at places.

The camera is not crooked. That is no Texas hill.

At the bottom of the hill, you jumped a couple of jumps and swung back up, jumping three fences until you get to the top. At the top of the hill was a log. And when I say "log", I don't mean a little birch log laying around, barely visible above the grass. I mean a LOG. A maxed out Novice log. At the top of the hill, so it looked even bigger than it was. And it was big.

After two hours of schooling various questions and working Brego along the complete course, all thirteen fences, simulating a real run (read: the boy and I were getting tired), I decided I had lived a good enough life and I was going to jump the LOG. So we went back down to the bottom of the hill and up we cantered.

Now I had a plan. A few strides out, I was going to make an executive decision and if Brego looked funny or felt like he was sucking back, I was going to open my right rein and guide him over the smaller, much less deadly log right next to it. Then we can say it was a steering error to present to the LOG in the first place. So we're cruising along, about to get to the top of the hill and four strides out Brego's ears went forward. I opened my chest and raised my hands and waited. Three strides out he was still in front of my leg. About two strides out I suddenly realized we were going to jump the LOG. One stride out my mind went completely blank, no visions of rotational falls, no final words, just nothing. Then we were up and over the LOG. Brego never thought twice about it. I had the mental capacity to deliver him at a perfect distance and damn! if the boy didn't make it look easy.

Brego can fly!

I jumped off, amid praise and hugs and thankfulness for my unbroken body. I loosened his girth and walked back to the LOG. From the ground, it looked even bigger. Now I am 5'9" and Brego is no tiny pony either. That jump was huge. He cleared it by at least a foot and didn't even looked stressed about it. And, I can testify that although that was the biggest solid thing he's ever jumped, it was not his biggest jumping effort. He's made jumps that made me dizzy from the thin oxygen up there. I am just in awe.

Not no pansy Birch log!

So those of you really paying attention to the pictures will see some pretty glaring riding faults. I seem to have controlled my elbows, but my knee is completely rolled off the saddle, my toes are straight out, and I have slid/fallen back into the saddle. The only good thing I can say about the jump is that my hands are in contact but not grabbing his face.

I spent the last week off from riding by studying books and video. I watched my rounds in painfully slow motion, where every jiggle is apparent, and I came to a shocking realization about my riding: I wasn't hanging on. I would throw my upper body forward, almost like one would in a gale to head into the wind, and turned my knee off the saddle and I just tried to "balance" it out. When Brego was particularly thrusty, I would be thrown to the back of the saddle before we even got to the top of the fence. And of course, this resulted in my hitting the saddle on the way down, undoubtedly causing some discomfort to the old boy on the back side of every fence.

So with this in mind, I figured I needed to start holding on over the fence. Friday, it was very hot and humid, but I jumped enough to feel like I made progress. I turned my toe in and gripped with my calf up my thigh. I shortened my stirrups a hole and got out of the darn saddle, and used my abs and legs to stay out on landing. I felt tighter in the tack. Real progress.

Now all those lessons went out the window over the LOG. Remember, my mind completely blanked. But I still feel like I am on to something, even if just cerebrally at this point, until I can retrain my body.

I made another interesting observation during schooling. Brego and I had a lot of trouble with distances on the smaller jumps. I don't know if I ride them less "up" or if he really can't rate them, but we would blow the distance time and again. That really messed with our rhythm. When I would try to add or substract on an off distance, he simply did not respond. I think it's because he was just cantering the smaller fences and made no jumping effort. He was not prepared to do any adjustment from the canter. Maybe four strides out from a smaller fence (unlike the LOG), he is still thinking about cookies. He does not perk his ears on smaller fences. Maybe when he gets to the fence, he's surprised at its sudden appearance under his hoofs and just clobbers it. When we started jumping larger coops and of course, the LOG, he rocked back and made adjustments as needed. He thought about the fence. The larger the fence, the easier the ride because he started to get into the rhythm of his stride.

So I wonder if small cross country fences are as demoralizing to us as small arena fences. Which is a big hole in our education. Brego's jumping ability far surpasses his and my technical ability, so we need to school gymnastics and other technical aspects. And the most effective schooling is at lower heights to save his legs. So we both need to "turn it on" for even the smaller fences. I talked to the jumper trainer at my boarding barn and explained the situation and he gave me some good exercises to try to teach him to respect tiny fences. He can still canter them (instead of jump), but he must be ratable and hit the stride I dictate.

Also, during my long study break, I came across some dressage epiphanies as well. But that's a topic for another day. I have so much swirling in my head right now, and we're both showing real progress. It's a fun time to be learning.

Next weekend, we will do a Hunter Trial and then on Sunday head back to cross country schooling with our new Friesian buddy. I want to get my position stronger by then, but still have much dressage to work on. Busy, busy summer days.

Hunters

A major heat wave has hit the area, with highs in the mid 90s and high humidity. Brego and I were definitely feeling it last Friday when we did finally schooling before the weekend Hunter show. I was debated whether to enter Brego into the 2'6" or 2'9" hunters. I knew I didn't want to wait all day until the Jumper classes.

The Friday schooling was an unmitigated disaster. Brego took down nearly every rail in the 2'3" course. He was out of breath, couldn't get his leads, misfired. We were all over the floor. I was frustrated. The last time we jumped, he nailed every lead and left all the rails up. How could we possibly go to a show if he can't even jump 2'3"?? Granted, this was a minor, minor schooling show, and hunters no less, so the humiliation factor was low. I wondered if he was just exhausted. We've been working really hard the last couple of weeks, trying to get fit, trying to get prepared for the impending eventing season. Was he just plain tired?

He was so out of breath it really scared me. He couldn't jump 8 fences without hanging his head and just blowing. After a break, I set up one final 2'9" oxer to see if he crashed through it like all the other fences. To my surprise, he jumped it from so far out and so high, I was completely thrown out of the saddle. So that deepened the mystery. If he was so exhausted, why did he make such an effort on a larger fence?

I decided to scratch the little hunter show and give Brego five days off. I would go and read my cool new dressage books, enjoying some free time in the evening (a rare thing indeed). I called my trainer and told her the situation and she recommended I give him Saturday off, take him to the show on Sunday, and just school him. Just to get him to a new place and see if he was still unfocused.

So Brego got Saturday off. Then Sunday dawned as one of the hottest days in Maine. We arrived at the show at 8:30 and then, in the grand tradition of hunter shows everywhere, we waited. And waited. And waited. Brego stood tied to the trailer, or to a fence under a tree in the shade, for six hours. Six hours! Just to make sure it was nice and hot.

Finally, the three thousand classes covering every single permutation of 18" fences were over and it was our turn. By then, most of the competitors had left so it was just 8 or so in my classes. Brego warmed up fine. We spent pathetic little time on the flat, due to the heat. I just made sure I remembered my canter cue, either lead would do fine at this show, and in we went.

The first course was fine. The corners were tight. I definitely need to work on turning. Brego is loosening up his neck in dressage, but definitely not cantering around a course. It's like he's on rails, very stiff and resistant. No big deal, it gives us something to work on. Anyway, I felt like I was really pushing him around he course, and my leg suffered as a result. It swept back over the fences and my elbows were so far out I almost took flight. I was trying to make the course look "quiet" like a hunter.

The second course was much better. Brego took a rail, and it was the weirdest thing. The stride was correct, he overjumped the one before. I wonder if he just didn't see it. Anyway, after the rail I decided I was going to screw the "hunter thing" and rode more aggressively. I even reached back and popped him before a fence. Man oh man, did Brego smarten up! He was awesome. We cruised around and I am very happy.

Finally after the 2'6" class, they had a free schooling at 2'9". I took Brego around a few fences at 2'9". He was such a pro, didn't look at anything, and really put in a good effort. Not bad for baking in 95 degree weather.

So now Brego gets his 5 days off. I will read my dressage books and try to visualize me not flying like a chicken over fences. I will plan some softening and bending exercises. And then next week, cross country schooling! The last piece to the puzzle will hopefully be put to rest next weekend and I can go into the upcoming schooling events with full confidence.

Jumping

I had another longing session yesterday where I was longed, sans hands and stirrups while I attempted to find my quiet, happy place. I must say that Brego is quite the bouncy boy, and my quiet, happy place wore a little raw. Alas, I think my sitting trot was stronger and I felt more grounded in the canter.

We finished with me riding off the longe and cantering figure eights with a 4 step simple change through the center. Brego caught on quickly and although the transitions were not the smoothest, I could really control his bend through the change. He was also pretty snappy picking up the new lead.

Today it was hot and humid. Brego was sweating before I even pulled him out of the field. So I took a longer than normal amount of time to warm him up at the walk. He was very stiff to the left, his bad side, from his work yesterday. So I did a little bending work at the trot, but didn't push it. Today's goal was to jump a 2'9" course to see what classes I would be entering at the hunter show this weekend.

I asked that the two outside lines of the course be set to 2'6" and the inside lines, including two oxers set to 2'9". Well it turns out that the two oxers were set to 3', but it made no difference to Brego.

I cantered a nice courtesy circle struggling to remember my hunter etiquette from the darkest reaches of my mottled brain. The outside line rode well, with Brego getting his lead. The first inside line we got close, but he just wrapped around the poles and didn't touch them. On the next outside line, we actually got our spot, but I guess I just stopped riding. Brego took care of everything. The final inside line with the 3' oxer was awesome. I saw the distance about a mile out and Brego was cantering so slooooow, but we just nailed it. He has definitely gotten stronger where he can canter so slow and balanced and just LAUNCH over fences. Between my ducking and his huge jump, I bumped his withers with my chest over the oxer. I need to sit up and learn to ride that much power.

My leg seems to be more effective, but I still rotate it out quite a bit. Next time I school fences, it is all about fixing my leg again. Today I really focused on getting him around a course. He obviously gets around a course just fine, I need to focus on riding him better. He deserves it. :)

In other news, Brego was devastated to hear of Roxie's new boyfriend. He made a point of hanging out with his new girlfriend, Rosie. Rosie is a gorgeous Belgian out of the PMU trade. As I walked away, I could have sworn she said "I, Rosie, love my new boyfriend, Brego."

Jumping and Conditioning and Hunters, oh my!

On thursday this week, I took Brego for a spin around the new outdoor arena. It is so huge and so soft and comes complete with many fences and combinations. I was in heaven. Brego however, was already bored.

I was sharing the arena with another rider who was schooling 18" and I didn't want to wait and then raise all the fences. So I decided to focus on my canter and just adjust Brego around the course. Maybe throw in some roll-backs. All with the safety net of knowing you really can't blow an 18" jump.

Well, apparently, Brego can. Instead of adjusting, Brego would not even bother picking up his feet. I swear, of the 10 or so lines or combinations I worked on, he had a rail almost every trip. And let me tell you how embarrassing it is to be riding a draft horse who drops rails at 18".

But no matter, I worked on trying to adjust the canter, staying soft, and not driving to the fence. Finally, when someone asked me what was wrong with my horse (because on the last trip he actually landed on a pole. Like he was aiming for it. ), I asked them to raise the fences to 2'6". Brego never dropped another rail, even when we blew a corner and he had to leave super long to take off when I asked. The big guy had to sit up and pay attention.

So once again, I vow to never school tiny fences.

But we got some good work done. Most of the combinations are set up on pony strides, so two of them were a perfect half stride for Brego. Do it once long, do it once short, etc. I set him up to start on the right lead, squeeze two strides into a one and a half and exit on the left lead. Then a rollback to another fence at 90 degrees followed by a bending line where he either had to change along the line, or get his right in the air. Finally the outside two lines were an easy 4 and then a short 6 or long 5. We did it in 5.

So it was fun to get some technical stuff strung together. If I can focus, Brego is about 70% at getting his leads in the air. I do simple changes if he doesn't.

Today was our conditioning ride. We worked all over the farm, around and through the arenas, down the logging roads, jumping up and down a 2'6" bank if it happened to cross our path. We planned to do 2 five minute trots and 3 three minute canters. Brego did it all fine, although he was started to get really tired and stiff necked on the last canter. After a ten minute walking cooldown, he had mostly recovered.

So I feel like his fitness is improving. My own riding is getting stronger. It was more comfortable for me to stay in two point during the canters and I feel like my balance was less wobbly.

After the ride, I chatted with the very fun barn girls and I am considering joining them next weekend at a local hunter show. Those of you who know me personally know I used to do hunters through college and vowed to never do it again. There's something so... contrived... about the schooling hunter show circuit. I mean how many blue ribbons does one need at 18" cross rails?? Anyway, I think Brego and I might rock out that hunter show (there's a little puddle jumpers jumper class at the end of the show that I might shoot for if I can stay awake that long). If nothing else, I will give all the Hunter girls a good laugh with my tail-less wonder!