Fortunately, Sunday brought absolutely beautiful weather. I did a light ride early in the morning to let Hans settle, and then set about getting him cleaned up and braided.
He felt much more
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Show Day 1: Saturday
After a week of beautiful weather, a storm system moved in Saturday morning. I decided to try to ride, as Hans really needs the experience in the ring, and so far the footing was holding up despite the rain.
He was sharp but eventually settled in pretty well in the larger warmup ring despite the rain, but that changed when we moved to the smaller warmup attached to our show arena 10 minutes out from my ride time. He was getting over reactive to outside stimuli as well as my aids, and I didn’t have a great feeling. Jeremy was fantastic at “talking me off the ledge”, and I decided to try to ride. He had a huge spook going around the outside of the ring, and it went downhill from there. He was just overwhelmed, and there was no point in continuing. I excused myself, and took him back to the barn. I was disappointed, but definitely felt that I had made the right choice. He needs to build confidence, and it was just not our day.
Lesson 6: 4/23/21
Friday morning, I did a light ride on Hans early in the morning. He was on his toes but really listening, so I was excited for my lesson later. My barn owner, Lucy Tidd, was also at this show, so I helped braid and wrangle her young horse (who did great in her first show since last year) for her morning rides.
While I was doing my warm up on my own before JJ arrived for my lesson, Hans and I had an unfortunate experience. The rings we were in at Tryon have raised walkways running alongside the rings. They are just a bit above eye level for the horses, and many horses find them a bit disconcerting. Hans was already a bit jumpy about things going on there, and while we were trotting along, someone who was walking there accidentally dropped some things they were carrying. They fell to the floor with a crash, and Hans spooked, spun, and bolted off. He was truly terrified. This really rattled him, and I never successfully got him to settle, although he did get better. JJ patiently helped me work him through his spooking and tension, which involved a lot of shoulder-in, circles, and enlarging the line I was on from my inside leg to slowly get him closer to the places in the ring that were hard for him.
Lesson 5: 4/22/21
Thursday morning I moved Hans over to the show grounds at Tryon International Equestrian Center. This can be a little stressful–Hans has not shown a lot and can get insecure in new places, which means a LOT of screaming! Fortunately, he kept the screaming mostly in check, for which my ear drums were grateful.
Hans was VERY on his toes for my ride with JJ, as is typical for him. We focused on basic loosening exercises again and keeping his attention on me. There is a LOT to look at, and Hans is easily distracted, so we used lots of lateral exercises and transitions to keep directing his focus back to me.
I am not showing until Saturday, so the plan is another lesson tomorrow afternoon (I will also do a light ride in the morning first–Hans does much better with a light early work when he has no turnout). JJ is unable to warm me up for my tests Saturday or Sunday–she needs to ride her horses at home Saturday morning and is actually in my class on Sunday–so my other coach, Jeremy Steinberg, will warm me up.
Lesson 4: 4/20/21
Today was another ride in the double, and we started off with working on Hansi’s “show trot”. He has a lot of get up and go, but this can sometimes tip into getting flat and running as he doesn’t always honestly push to the bit. So we worked on bringing him back into a few steps of passage to help him lift through his chest and withers, and then taking that out to a longer step, keeping him slightly positioned right and asking him to step his right hind leg up to the bit. He was really super about letting me coach him through this.
We then moved on to working on the 10 meter half circle serpentines in the counter-canter that are in the Developing PSG. These come right at the beginning of the canter work, which is a little challenging for me because when Hans is a little tense, he tends to suck back in the canter. In order to ride these well, I have to make sure I use the brief bit of canter I get prior to starting this movement to get him honestly bending right and in front of my leg. JJ also had me think about riding my first half circle a bit more “puffy” (I was making it harder than it needed to be by making the half circle too small) and then riding forward on the centerline prior to turning, and forward to each change.
We finished with schooling the first part of the trot work along with the centerline. In this test, you turn left at C and ride shoulder-in to E, turn left across the arena, turn right at B, and ride shoulder-in right to F. JJ had me focus on making sure I showed enough angle in my shoulder-in, and being able to power up within that. In my turn across the arena I need to think early about getting my right bend since that shoulder-in is a bit more difficult. She also had me pay attention to straightening at F, and then using a bit of a leg-yielding feeling in the corner to get his right hind leg, then really showing off his trot on the short side.
Tomorrow Hans has a day off, so I’ll just be hand grazing him and grooming him. We head to TIEC on Thursday, and I’ll do lessons there Thursday and Friday. Saturday we show in the regular Prix St. Georges, Sunday we do the Developing Prix St. Georges.
Lesson 3: 4/19/2021
Today we did a lesson in the outdoor in the double. I ride Hans mostly in the snaffle, usual it’s a ratio of three days in the snaffle and two in the double per week.
After my usual warm-up, we started with some work in the trot, using transitions within the trot to add expression. From there we worked on the trot half-passes a bit. To the left is generally quite good, to right is harder for me. This is true of pretty much every horse I ride, and it is really more about me than the horse–I’ve had two surgeries on my left hip, so its range of motion is not as good. It’s also quite a bit weaker. I have to make the horse more sensitive to my left leg. So, we did some alternating between leg yielding off my left leg, and turning that in to half pass right.
In the canter, we started by doing an exercise to help Hans relax in his body a bit more. JJ had me go down the quarterline, ride haunches-in, leg yield back to the track in haunches-in, and then change to shoulder-fore. We did this a few times each direction. Then, we took this better canter to the tempis, which Hans is not as confident in, especially in the show ring. The right canter is key–if he is backing off a bit, I will run into trouble. JJ had me focus on keeping his canter where it needed to be, especially after the first couple of changes, which is where he is most likely to get a bit “shy” in the canter. Finding the right balance of aids is important too–confident, but not overwhelming; sensitive, without riding him like he is brittle.
Lesson 2: 4/18/21
We worked in the snaffle again today, continuing with working some leg yield in the trot. We played a bit with going back and forth from head to the wall leg yield to haunches-in, which helped get him better on the outside rein while bending. Then we took that into some haunches-in and haunches-out on the circle, asking Hans to slow down and really wait on his hind legs, rather than getting tight and hasty.
In the canter, we started with haunches-in down the rail, playing with the stride length and making sure than he kept covering ground and going to the bridle. Because he can get tight and a bit “balled up” feeling in the canter, especially when he is excited, the haunches-in work really helps to get him looser behind the saddle. From there we did some work on the canter half-pass, going back and forth from leg yield to half pass to once again address the suppleness. This was really helpful, and I could feel him more evenly in both reins.
Throughout the canter work we also incorporated counter canter both directions, with transitions from collected to medium canter and back. Just another exercise to help with the quest for more suppleness and better connection.
Lesson 1: 4/17/21
JJ got back from FL on Friday, so we did my first lesson on Saturday morning. Hans had Friday off, so this was a basic work session in the snaffle. I spend a lot of time focusing on coaching Hans to more honesty in the connection in the right rein. He’s a very light horse, but often too light–he doesn’t always draw on the bit in an elastic way. I also focus a lot on loosening exercises as he has a tendency to hold a bit of tension in his back.
After my usual basic walk/trot/canter warmup, we started with some head to the wall leg yielding to help get him to loosen his back and hips up more. JJ had me think about slowing him down slightly so that he took a more deliberate step vs being too hasty off the ground. I also had to make sure that he wasn’t wiggling out of alignment–Hans is very easy laterally, but this also makes it very difficult to keep him “stacked up” all the time. When you drive with one leg, he’ll often sneak out a shoulder or a hind leg. So I need to think about keeping him funneled in between both legs and reins, regardless of what I’m doing. Knee and thigh pressure is particularly helpful with him. From there we played with different bits of lateral work in the trot, working on the feeling that I can step his right hind leg up to the bit. Letting him “marinate” in a shape and gently encouraging him with light taps of the stick to step more honestly to the bridle works wonders to get him feeling more honest in the connection.
In the canter, we worked on spiraling in and out in the canter, once again keeping him channeled in between my aids. To the left, I really have to think about almost riding renvers–he loves to overbend his neck left and pop out the right shoulder. So we played with varying degrees of a bit of renvers right. Eventually this needs to become more true shoulder-fore left, but until I have a better connection in the right rein it’s too easy for him to sneak out to the right. We also worked in some easy mediums to open him up and get his canter rolling a bit more over the ground.
Introduction
Hi, everyone! This is a blog I’ll be keeping to chronicle my training trip to JJ Tate’s that is made possible by a grant I received from The Dressage Foundation. I’ll be heading to JJ’s April 14th, training at her farm through the 21st and then heading over to Tryon International Equestrian Center for a competition.
I’ll be taking my horse Hans. Hans is a 2012 KWPN gelding (Sir Donnerhall I – Fabuloso). I’ve owned him for a year. We competed at Third Level last year with good scores (average of over 71%), and this year we moved up to Prix St. Georges. I am trying to qualify for the USEF National Developing Horse Championships.
Hans is an amazing horse with a wonderful character. He is extremely sensitive, and can get tight and nervous. I am always working on getting him more honestly through (particularly on the right rein). He has a lot of energy and power, which is fantastic, but when it goes overboard he gets tight and runs. I do a lot of transitions to help improve his balance and keep him listening.
I’ll be sharing recaps of my lessons here, so stay tuned!
Competidor V, 1995 – 2015
to live in this worldyou must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold itagainst your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go. – Mary Oliver
Ghosty was originally purchased for my mom. I went and tried him for her, and was instantly charmed. He had huge, sparkly dark eyes, with obvious intelligence behind them. She had high hopes for him, but he was misrepresented as being quite a bit quieter than he actually was, and so he ended up my horse. And I just loved him, as frustrating as he could be at times. He was just such a special character.
He was never a great show horse. He had obviously been treated rather roughly at some point in his life, most likely in Spain. Terrible scars from spurs covered both of his sides, and he had scars on his nose from a serreta noseband. A very sensitive and intelligent horse, this treatment definitely did a number on him. I always joked that he had PTSD, but he probably really did. Showing was immensely stressful for him, and I was never able to really overcome his tension. I finally decided to quit trying to make him a show horse, and just enjoy him at home. He was so much fun to ride, and made me a more sensitive, tactful rider. He did beautiful lateral work, piaffe and passage, and would still throw in a wicked spook from time to time. I’ve never met a horse that could move faster–he spooked so violently once, he spooked right out of one of his bell boots.
The best thing about him was definitely his character. He was so sweet. If I called his name, he would come galloping up to me at full speed. He loved attention, and would get so into his grooming sessions that he would practically fling himself over when you curried him, lip twisted up in the air. He loved getting a little hand grazing time, relishing in dragging me around and refusing to follow when he thought I might be trying to sneak him back towards his field.
In 2011, he started having choke episodes, which culminated in him developing pneumonia. He was very, very sick, and we could not figure out why he kept choking. Finally, after extensive diagnostics, it was determined that he had a partially paralyzed esophagus. It was trial and error, but we finally figured out a diet he could handle: grass, and buckets of “soup”. He was very enthusiastic about his soup, and would stick his head in the bucket up to his cheekbones. A good look for a grey horse.
Ghosty spent his last summer cavorting with his mini friends, a horse named Cash and a donkey named Waylon. Waylon could take him or leave him, but Cash was his best buddy. Ghosty would kneel down to play with him, grabbing Cash’s mane, Cash gnawing on his face. He always had little nip marks on his legs, and it wasn’t an infrequent sight to see Cash running across the field and launching himself at Ghosty. They were clearly having the time of their lives.
Ghosty started acting colicky on December 19th, and while he seemed better after treatment, by the next day it was apparent that something was very wrong. With his symptoms, it is likely he had lymphoma. Ghosty passed away peacefully on December 20th, a sunny, unseasonably warm winter day. I miss him so much.
