Lesson with John

Managed to get another lesson in with John before he departs the country - SUPER stoked I did as it was the best lesson I have had for a long time.

We started off doing poles etc again and to my surprise I was actually better than last week so that was good. Then did a small jump to get us both in the right frame of mind etc - no mucking around from Cobs today so that was nice!

We then trotted into the wall and got him in deep so he started to use himself properly.

Then onto the same related line we did last week....however I have been going over & over this in my mind all week and what do you know.....we actually did it bloody well. Unfortunately I was making the mistake of riding the first jump in a line to get to the second so Cobs started to bulge out his left shoulder again so we had to stop & regroup and get my focus on what needed to be changed.

It worked really well & by the end of it we were jumping the straighest we have ever done. John wants me to continue my focus on getting him on my outside leg on the left rein so that will make the whole bulging shoulder thing go hopefully.

We ended up doing three lines and got perfect strides in all three & conquered the stupid related line like it had never been a problem so totally thrilled. I still drove him into a few jumps but on a whole I feel my riding has got better since having lessons with John.

Damn him for leaving!

My friend came and took a video of the lesson for me as well - this is our final round of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CobsHighMaintenance#p/a/u/0/OnaMb87xGCI

Woodhill Sands SJ

With SJ being our total weakest link I made the effort to go to Woodhill today. Was absolutely FREEZING and the closer we got down there the colder it got. Was -2 when we hopped out of the car!!

Cobs warmed up quite well despite all the horses down there. He felt really sticky though and I actually couldn't get him to get a big enough canter so we warmed up jumping quite deep into the fences.

We did 80 first. Got an okay canter into the first fence, right spot, etc and Cobs just didn't see it until he was almost on top of it so did a HIDEOUS leap over it LOL! Luckily the next fence was a nice small vertical to get our flow back! Third was an oxer which he did quite nicely, fourth was a green wall which he got a growling into as he started to back off about eight strides out! Then clear round the rest of the course. I hadn't really walked the jump off course as we never get through but managed to find my way round for another clear.

Was super happy with him despite a few hiccups. He did some super jumps as well so came out beaming.

Decided to give the 90 a crack - it looked HUGE. Maybe cause we haven't done it since last season as a course I don't know but it was yuck anyway LOL!

Once again fence one got us however this time he stopped at it. Got a right crack on the arse with the whip and then next time we came to do it he jumped it so bloody big. Dick. Came round to the fourth fence & he did that nicely so decided to retire.

Again disappointed in myself - just need to get the hell over it. Never mind! Still looking forward to next season & I hope by then I will be more aware of how to ride to spots in SJ :)

80 cm round

90cm jump three

Just when you think you are getting there.....

Had another lesson with John yesterday - again go so much out of it but man nothing like a wake up call LOL!

John hopped on Cobs first to have a squizz at how he goes etc. Was good watching him ride him - Cobs got very confused with what John wanted so just trotted/cantered/trotted till he understood what was going on. Was hilarious!!

We started off just doing a small x and getting my position sorted out again. Didn't get ANY comments on my hands/legs so that an achievement!

Then we trotted down to the wall and for once Cobs didn't jump it like a spoon so that was nice. Then onto the dreaded related lines....F*CK. I wish I didn't freeze up over these stupid things!!!

Where we should have got six nice strides in we got eight nana strides LOL. Oh and funnily enough when you have a shit canter poles tend to drop...who would have thought!!!

So we had to work through that for some time as I kept freezing up when I couldn't see a spot which meant Cobs was like WTF where has Mum gone and started to get all worried etc. But we finally got there. Then we did a straight line - liverpool to the oxer.

Coming into the liverpool I had everything totally right - could see my spot & everything & Cobs jammed on the brakes. Was NOT happy so he got a right bollocking for that. Snot. Then the next time I over rode it despite knowing I had done everything right the first time.....So came back round to do it again and then we got the right strides to the white oxer.

We ended the lessons with pole work - so what I need to do a LOT of as I can only see my spot three strides out which is far too late to be able to adjust anything. So we did six/five/six/four strides etc. Was really good & I can't wait to go down to the track & practice doing more work with it by using the posts etc on the fenceline.

Disappointed in myself more than anything as I seem to be getting stuck on the same things - one day we will get there.....

Lesson with John 30th June

Well where do I start....

Had my first private lesson with John today and WHAT a difference...worked through some major issues I have and now I am crystal clear on what to do to fix things.

Cobs has ALWAYS jumped to the left & I have just accepted that this is what he does etc. Tried different ways to work through it but never anything that has really worked.

Well we did a lot of flat work today and on the right rein John got me to counter-flex him to get him straight. I have a habit of pulling back on the right rein so he curls & his quarters swing in (no news to anyone reading this blog - its on almost every lesson update!!!). So this worked really well and John got me to over give with my inside rein so Cobs was finally sitting on my outside rein.

When we got to do the jumping I had to counter-flex him round every corner and make the square so then our approach to the jump was dead straight. And guess what??? Cobs jumps straight. DUH. John said what I have been doing in effect is shortening his right hand side so he has to jump left as its the rein that allows him to jump. I mean for freaks sake - I have been struggling with this for HOW long & its something this simple???

So wish it was summer so I could put this all into practice!!!

We worked an awful lot on my legs (as per normal) and keeping my left hand up as I have now got into the habit of turning my hand over. By the end of the lesson my horse actually felt even in both reins and awesome!!!

So super stoked with Cobs - he was quite feral in the jumping leaping about after the jump etc but thats just him and we aren't doing enough of it for it to become boring again.

My aim is to definitely do Training level this season - I really feel that we are actually ready for it. I have no doubt we will have some issues etc doing this but there is only one way to work through it & thats to try. Roll on September!

Lesson with Liz 26th June

Had a great lesson with Liz - I am surprised that we haven't gone that far backwards considering our rides at the moment consist only of a few road rides during the week & thats if we are lucky.

We worked HEAPS on transitions and getting him to step forward into the trot rather than ambling into it. By the end of it he was doing this really nicely.

Our canter is still rather hairy but we got some okay work. Worked a lot of shoulder fore especially on the right rein as I tend to curl him (still).

We then did heaps of lengthening on circles at the trot to try and get him to go more forward. He did this REALLY nicely so was super stoked with that. Our lengthening across the diagonals seems to have gone with summer so we did it this way instead.

So overall a great lesson - hope to catch up with Liz every fortnight over winter to keep us going but this all depends on weather etc. So far so good though!