I had a jump lesson yesterday with Lauren Hough during the Eventing Team training session at Bridle Creek Farm in Aiken. It was my second lesson with her and I’m finding her a fabulous trainer who’s been incredibly helpful improving Rox and me. Rox is changing so much and has matured so much, and we are trying to fine-tune his canter and rhythm. We want him to quietly open his stride to the fences without getting too big or excited, to still have his energy contained. By the end of the lesson he was just nailing it! It’s fun because he’s so workable and rideable now and we are just fine-tuning to get the best out of him.
We spent a lot of time working on rollback turns and bending lines. Lauren was making sure we got the horses to bend through the lines, not just turning while keeping their bodies straight. We did a lot of s-turns over bigger fences and tried to get different distances to the fences, and keep the rhythm. It was difficult, especially through the turns, and the canter obviously is the key. It was very informative and helpful – I left feeling like I really took something away from the lessons. I think Lauren is a really great addition as a trainer for the team!
I had a flat ride today with Mark and felt like we were able to pick up where we left off last month. Rox was much stronger; a month ago he was getting a little overwhelmed with the pressure and now he feels more confident and like he’s understanding things better.
One of the biggest things I have trouble dealing with is working on the quality of his gaits. Rox is a very big horse, (and I swear he’s growing!), and he tends to be a bit lazy behind. I’m always working on getting him quick off my leg, but now he’s strong and fit and if I push too much I get too much horse. I want him to be responsive and light to my leg, so I can literally think forward and he’s there, but not nag him with my leg with makes him both dull to my leg and gets him fired up.
We also touched on the flying changes: the biggest thing with Rox is he leans forward too much trying to find my hand, which makes him late behind. We worked on keeping him straight and using a very supportive outside rein, keeping him forward and off his forehand, which keeps the changes clean. He’s more relaxed and understands things much better now. We also worked on his half-passes, which he’s quite good at, but again I want him quick off my leg and not falling in. I’m getting half-passes that are so much better quality than a month ago. I’m working on keeping him forward, light and responsive, so I’m not driving and pushing, which just wears us both out.
The timing of the training session is great because I gained so much and we both leave the lessons so much more confident, so we couldn’t have a better preparation for the Southern Pines Horse Trials next week.
The young horses, Ricardo Time, Sahara and Textile are all going Novice at Pine Top this weekend – their last run before they head back north. We are looking to syndicate RT and both Sahara and Textile are for sale, so this is a great opportunity to see them in action!
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