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!

Mini ODE Woodhill Pre-Training

Off to Woodhill for their Mini ODE. Cobs warmed up awesome however when we were going round the arena he was feeling lazy so I growled & kicked him on and then he went nuts - started groaning and going sideways. Bad Mum LOL!

So the first half of our test was absolutely terrible. The entry was great though LOL! Then as if a flick had switched the second half was really, really nice. Dick.

I was a bit nervous before our jumping as I haven't done a proper SJ course on him for what feels like forever. I tried to remain sitting up & thinking about what I was doing the whole time. Unfortunately the round got messier the more we went round LOL!

He jumped great though - super proud of him. I was very lucky that my friend Michelle videoed us so that is the first time I have seen us jump for a long time & I can definitely see some improvement.

Our xc was a bit wiggly/woggly but he tried really hard. He backed off jump three so got a growling into that one but the rest of them he was fine. I was actually pretty proud of the both of us.

Just need to sort this dressage shit out - sigh. Nothing for us for a while I don't think as I am finding it too hard to ride during the week so will just take things one day at a time.

Here is the video link to our SJ round :

http://www.youtube.com/user/NZhorsesforsale#p/a/u/0/qhQ4ENMKf3w

XC Lesson with John 5th June

Had a XC lesson with John down at Woodhill - shared with Vanessa again.

He started us off trotting into a PT mobile thing which Cobs thought was fabulous as then he could jump like a goon & be naughty the other side. He got over that after the first few times so that was good.

Then we went out onto the XC course. John told us which ones he wanted us to do - Vanessa the big ones and me the middle ones LOL!

I went out and did the first jump okay & then pulled him off the second as I froze. I am SO SICK of doing this. I think it was because it was slippery or something - I don't know but its doing my head in. So represented him and felt better so off we went. Cobs got a bit excited by the whole thing and was trying to throw his legs round after the jumps but was too slippery for that LOL! We had to drop into the water & jump out. Again I froze on the jumping out bit so we did that a few more times and by the end of it I felt more comfortable. Was just not keeping the connection from landing through the water but once we got that sussed he was a really good boy.

I went out & did the xc course again & this time we stormed round it so that made me feel a little better about things :)

We then went and did some sj starting off with a single jump and practicing staying sitting up etc which is something I need to work on. We then went into related lines and roll backs etc. I was actually quite happy with how this went and Cobs jumped super. There was one time where I gunned it but knew I had done it straight away - one jump out of ten is good for me though LOL!

John then got us to rollback onto a white vertical - didn't realise how big it was until I was a few strides out & luckily didn't panic so Cobs leapt over it. Measured it later & it was a good 1.05-1.10 so pretty proud of that effort :)

The thing I like about John the most is the whole time he gives you suggestions on how to fix things. He said he doesn't say the word "don't" when he is teaching as its too negative a word and the brain fixates on this. All little things to think about which really cement into your brain & make you think about things.

Another great lesson - got a lot out of it again. Not sure when the next one will be but this has given us a lot to work on until then anyway.

Lesson with Liz 4th June

Had our first dressage lesson in what seems like ages - I was actually pleased with how things went.

I have found since I have been going to osteo/pilates that I must be sitting straighter as Cobs has definitely changed on the left rein. I am acutally finding it a bit difficult to be honest but at least I know things must be changing.

Today we got some super trot work out of him - really nice & forward and up in front. Our canter was a bit hairy as always but eventually came right.

All in all very pleased with how it went.

Lesson with John Twomey

With Jaime going overseas for the winter the hunt has been on to find a new jumping instructor. I heard that John was going to be teaching up at Jaimes so asked Vanessa if she would mind doing a shared lesson to see what he was like & if we both enjoyed it could mean we could afford regular lessons from him rather than paying for a private.

Well....pretty much stoked with the lesson! John is a great instructor & really explains things so well. VERY encouraging and I learnt a hell of a lot.

He had many helpful tips of which I am now struggling to remember: think about opening your knees rather than putting your heels down, if you knees are open then your legs will be tight against the horses side & your heels will come down; think about opening your chest which will make your body straighter over the fence (I tend to dive so this was a good thing for me); if things do go wrong just forget about them & concentrate on the next job at hand.

So yeah pretty awesome lesson. Cobs wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought he would be as we haven't really jumped since Woodhill HT.

We started with a small cross so John could see what was happening etc then moved onto cantering in with a pole either side. The moved onto the barrels which Cobs jumped.....lively a few times LOL! It was more me though driving him the last few strides so John talked me through what I was doing etc so I concentrated on that. Then moved onto a two stride double - first time we went through Cobs backed off a bit so again my bad habits set in but the second time after John had put them up we did it really nicely. Was super happy & it felt like our jump had slowed down which was good.

Then we went onto related lines....my favourite...not. We had to go over the wall then six/seven strides over a vertical. The first few times we did seven as I was holding him back a bit as he normally jumps the wall stupidly. The last few lines we did we pushed & got the six which was great.

So all in all a great lesson. Was actually really good having a shared one as you can listen & learn on what the other person is doing etc. Hopefully we can keep getting lessons together :)

Woodhill Sands Winter Dressage 23rd May

I decided to do three tests at the Dressage - last weekend we had to retire in our test as I managed to completely stuff up a great warm up when I saw the judge was someone who has HATED me for a good 20 years. Yes I know I shouldn't have let it get to me however by the time I tried to talk myself out of it Cobs was completely wound up as I was hanging off his face. Poor horse - you can't turn the over-sensitive button off unfortunately!

So our warm up this time wasn't as good as last weekends. He decided he didn't like the spurs so they came off. He was a bit jumpy to start with but finally settled in quite nicely.

Our first test 1.4 was in an arena that was not anywhere near other horses which suits him down to the ground. He did quite a nice test - came out smiling so thats always a good sign! I think we ended up 6th (TBC) out of over 30 so stoked with that.

Our second test was 2.2 which unfortunately was in the arena that he always behaves badly in & he did just that. First half was shit but the second half was okay. The judge was more than generous with her scores.....

The third test was 2.4 & to say we were both absolutely shattered is an understatement. There is SO much canter in that damn test - by the middle of it we were just ambling along LOL! He was so behind the leg etc - however I was happy with him as he tried & thats all I can ask for. This judge was not quite so generous with her marks LOL!

So all in all a good day. I have no idea what I can do to try and stop him from panicking when a horse comes up behind him like that. The arenas are so close down there which is a shame. But he should be used to it by now so its no excuse.

Not many photos as it started to rain so they came out a little blurry.