Video Take 2

I used a different camera today which seemed to help. Today's ride was somewhat frustrating for me. I've had so many good rides lately, today's ride did not feel good until the last 10 minutes. The first reason is that I did not start with ground work; I know better, but sometimes I guess I just like to see what I can get away with. Skipping ground work apparently is not one of those things. The second factor was that I put my spurs back on. Sarah suggested it at our last lesson. Grace is wonderful for Sarah when she wears spurs, but when they are attached to my boots she acts like it is the end of the freaking world! Halfway through the ride we spent a lot of time at the walk just remembering that spur means lift your back not drop your back and take off like a rocket!

My attempt at video

So I have to say that I think Nina is brilliant! I had never thought to set the camera up and video myself riding. Looks like I need to use a different camera, set it farther into the arena and ride much closer to it.

Full Circle

I keep my hips slightly to the outside as Grace enters the lower corner of the arena; I know this small act of counter balance will keep her along the rail as she lopes out of the corner. She already knows our next move; she’s been looking forward to it for the entire lesson. I look across the arena and my thought of beginning the pattern is all she needs; Grace makes a smooth turn off the rail to come straight across the middle. This is where I have to keep my mind clear, try not to let my thoughts wander to the lead change too quickly. My hips are straight now; they have caught up with Grace’s line. I close my left leg at the girth, pushing her into my right rein. I feel the little mare engage underneath me, she is ready. As we hit the middle of the arena I bring my left hip forward releasing the energy that has been dying to get out from under my leg. The lead change is smooth and clean, it feels like riding a wave as my body stays with the motion as it is lifted and dropped. It is over in one stride, not even a second long. I almost wonder if it really happened, but I don’t have time to ponder, the wall is coming up and we have another change to prepare for……

In the last 10 years I have attempted countless disciplines with this horse. I find myself at most competitions explaining that “she wasn’t bred for this, but she sure does love it”. Whether it was barrel racing, or reining I always knew there would be a limit to what she could physically do over time, as her conformation did not lead to longevity in either sport. I moved away from competitions and refocused on the basics, rebuilding Grace’s foundation along the way. I started to see in her body what Peggy referred to as the “horse’s potential”. It was Sarah that brought it up first when I was rambling on about what Grace and I might like to do this summer. “Western Riding – it’s a pattern class, you know this mare loves lead changes, besides, it’s what she was bred for.”

Grace’s sire Imager (Barpasser’s Image) went to the world show in Western Riding. I stopped finding his get for sale on Dream Horse in the last year. A few years ago there were show horses; one was a tall sorrel gelding out of California. He had qualified and gone to the World Show. His bottom side really got my attention; he was out of a Smooth Town mare – just like Grace. Here was this gelding with breeding almost identical to Grace with a price tag of $60,000. I contacted the owner and let her know that I had no intention of buying her horse, but if she was willing to talk I was curious if she would share any details about her horse that was so closely bred to mine. She went on to tell me about his incredible work ethic, how he had to be worked 6 days a week, how he loved to show and how he excelled in anything that involved patterns. He liked to use his brain. She could have very well been describing the horse I had out sitting in my pasture.

So here we are after years of playing and dabbling here and there in multiple disciplines getting ready to do what the mare was actually bred for. Our first show is May 22nd, and as I wonder if I will ever get my black chaps from 10 years ago to fit again or what am I going to do with my turquoise ostrich bling tack set, I keep picturing that moment. That half second of suspension in mid-air as Grace changes her lead below me getting to do not only what she loves, but also what she was bred for.

Sunday pictures of Grace

I could look at this one all day long!

Grace in her big girl bit

This might be the most "Quarterhorse" she has ever looked!

Maybe I can

I had a good lesson tonight! Those are my favorite when it all starts to come together right in front of Sarah. The last few lessons I’ve felt as she was seeing us at our worst, not necessarily a bad thing. If I am going to have a bad ride it would be best to do it in front of my trainer. I can tell I am going through one of those “growing” moments in my riding career. Grace and I are on the verge of another big break though, and growing pains are always part of the process. Grace has been made tremendous progress over the last 6 months. I think I am finally starting to make some progress of my own.

The neutral pelvis position that Peggy Cummings teaches in Connected Riding sounds easy enough on paper. I’ve been able to capture it and build on it each time I ride with her and Sarah, but I seem to have almost 30 years of in the saddle muscle memory fighting against it. This is where having a trainer that understands rehab and proprioceptor work is vital. Sarah knows how to get my brain to work with my body to get it to allow and retain the new posture. Tonight’s trick was getting me to hold a my wand (think of a longer stiffer dressage whip) between my two hands out in front of me with my arms about shoulders length apart. I then had to twist my torso while Grace wandered around the arena. It took about 10 minutes but I got it. At one point I felt as if I could not have come out of neutral pelvis, it felt as if my body has always been in that position. I had a new awareness that I had not encountered previously.

Tonight I also came to terms with how stiff I’ve always been in the saddle. I supposed it came about from years of equitating, but it seems every time I try something new in the saddle it always comes from a place of stiffness. It’s almost as though my brain believes that if I stay ridged I won’t fall off when we all know that being stiff and ridged is a one way ticket to the arena floor. My reward this evening for finally getting my body and brain to get with the program was some of the best engagement I have ever felt in my horse’s hind end. Pretty amazing considering that most of last week I was convinced that Grace was lame behind.

We backed off at our lesson last Friday because Grace’s hock was out. Sarah adjusted it, but Grace had fallen into her old holding patterns. We worked on groundwork to give her a chance to rebuild confidence. I worked her on the ground at home last weekend, by Sunday she was dragging her left hind toe at the trot. I was convinced that we were entering another downward spiral. I backed off during the week afraid the Grace’s hock might have been out again, but it looked good. Tonight Sarah confirmed that the hock was in, there was nothing wrong with it. We started off with the ground work we had left on last week. When Sarah asked to take the line I gladly handed it to her. She asked Grace to step over and under behind with that left hind leg, she asked for more and then a little more. She pushed Grace past the point of “I couldn’t possibly” and showed her that she could. Next thing I knew, my beautiful clean moving, little horse was back. I let Sarah know that I hadn’t been willing to push Grace past that point in fear that I would hurt her hock. She reminded me that by allowing Grace to carry herself incorrectly I was allowing her to injure her hock.

We ended tonight’s lesson with some of the best lope work I’ve ever felt from my mare. I started to feel how I could influence my horse’s turns and body alignment with only my hips. I’ve understood the concept for some time but this may be the first time that I actually “felt” it. I’m starting to think that Grace isn’t the only one that got pass “I couldn’t possibly” and has now entered the world of “maybe I can”.

Pictures tell the story

I knew I wanted to get some updated pictures of Grace this weekend. My hat is off to all professional horse photographers out there. I swear it is easier to get a horse to drink water than it is to get one to pose for a picture. Just know that Grace looks even better in person.

I also pulled out some old pictures so we could compare them to the ones I took today.

This is from today - sorry about the lighting it was raining. When I first posted this on Facebook a friend IM'd me and said "didn't your horse used to have withers?" I had to think about it, she still has withers, but now her back has come up to meet them. Her neck and shoulder also tie in to them now.

This picture is from September of 2008. I can really see the difference in Grace's back. Her "suspension bridge" isn't working as the underside also looks weak.

This is from today - one of many pictures with Belle in them! This is becoming her normal neck position. When I am not attempting to take pictures of her, this is where Grace wants to hold her head when I work her.

This is again from September of 2008. This is how Grace has held her head and neck for most of her life. You can see how much shorter it looks. The underside is much more developed than the top side.

I took this picture today so I would have documentation of the divot on her right side. I really like her hip right now.

This is from today. I gave up on posing and let her graze.

This is from April 2006. I believe that Grace clearly looks uncomfortable in this picture. See the short step behind? Even though her head and neck are stretched, it looks very tight to me. It might just be the moment in time of that shot, but this to me does not look like the same horse in the first picture.

I found this picture in the camera today.

I missed it when I posted the pictures from the clinic.

Peggy Cummings 3.20.2011

I had another lesson with Peggy Cummings today. Sarah scheduled today’s lessons so we would have the chance to work with Peggy before she heads off to give clinics in Europe. There was no way I was going to miss out on the opportunity to work with her just 6 weeks after our initial lesson.

Peggy pointed out the improvement in Grace’s posture and said Grace’s front legs no longer looked like they were cemented into the ground. That to me was a huge compliment. For the span of my riding career I have taken countless clinics, for the majority of them I retained what I learned for maybe 10 rides, but then I had to get ready for a show or another event and I threw everything I had learned out the window and went back to my old habits. I saw such a difference in Grace during the lesson 6 weeks ago that I knew I wanted to become a student of this work. To have Peggy notice the change in my horse and later when I sat in the saddle, point out the improvement in my seat, is a report card worthy of taping to the fridge!

We started with Connected Groundwork and I was able to show Peggy some of the exercises that have really been working for Grace. Peggy gave me more exercises to build on the ones I was using and was able to correct some of the mistakes I had started to make. It didn’t take long for Peggy to find the spot in Grace’s neck where she holds all of her tension; it is right behind and below her bridle path. For me this was further confirmation that we have found the core beneath the onion layers. Peggy showed me how to get into that space in Grace’s neck to help her release it.

Grace provided us with a wonderful teaching opportunity when she decided to tune in the horses that were outside the barn across from the arena. Peggy showed me that when Grace became locked in her neck it turned off her connection to her front legs, Grace then looked to the herd for safety. It is my job to keep her unlocked and tuned in, I can provide Grace with that safe place right there in her own body. Peggy had me “draw the bow” and walk Grace towards the herd right before the spot in the arena I was losing her attention, when I got to that spot, I “combed the line” and turned Grace away from the herd. This kept the back and forth movement in her head and neck, Grace’s neck stayed soft and she remained connected to her feet. The next time we got to the spot that she had been tuning me out; she didn’t even look in that direction. Once again I was impressed that I didn’t need to chase my horse, make her sweat or get in a fight with her to accomplish something. It was just a matter of keeping her brain connected to her body.

For the under saddle work I let Peggy know that I haven’t had a lot of success with the leg cue she taught me. It seems to just irritate Grace; she lifts her head and sucks back when I use it. Turns out my stirrups were too long and were not allowing me to make contact with my calves along Grace’s side. After adjusting my stirrups she had me give Grace the “come on” cue with her standing, Grace immediately lowered her head. I struggled to keep it going at the walk, as my body wasn’t quite ready to absorb the new change. That’s when Peggy got on Grace! When Peggy used the “come on” leg cue on Grace I saw Grace’s hind legs come up underneath her farther than I ever have! I didn’t think it was possible for my horse to reach that far underneath herself. Peggy rotated her body and showed me the difference in Grace’s movement. The rotation (while the rider is in neutral pelvis) allows Grace to unlock her spine and ribcage. Peggy sat straight with no rotation so I could see the difference. Be sure to check out the difference in Grace’s hind end from when I am on her and when Peggy is on her.

I stayed after my lesson and was able to watch the next few lessons go. I am always amazed by how much I learn from that. I was able to see the movment improve in horse after horse that Peggy worked with. I have a ton of homework exercises to do now and more tools in my bag to help me find the horse that is Grace. I also have more insight and feel into how I am going to find the rider inside of me worthy to sit on that mare’s back.

Nina took some fabulous picture of Grace and I at the clinic today! Everytime I look at them I think "Wow, that is a nice looking horse!"

For those of you that have Peggy’s new book on order, I got a sneak peak at her personal copy today. It is worth the wait!

Peggy showing me a Connected Groundwork exercise with Grace

This was the spot Grace was looking out at the other horses.

By the position of her head and neck, it looks like it was no longer an issue here.





Compare the step in Grace's hind end with the picture below


Peggy rotating her upper body.
Look at that hind leg! I have never seen it that far underneath my horse!








My Favorite picture! Thank you Nina






My goodness what nice little mare!