Our last session with Alfredo focused on getting Taran to be more mobile with his shoulders and haunches, and hotter off my leg. As Alfredo pointed out after I'd switched my whip for the 20975th time, Taran doesn't respect my leg unless I have a whip to back it up. That's all fine and good until you ride a test where you don't get to carry a whip, and then you're screwed (ahemGAIGchampionshipsahem).
We worked on the new, slower warmup, which seems to do good things for Taran:
Hellooooo, gorgeous stretchy trot. Where have you been all my life?
And then we transitioned to doing shoulder in to renvers on a circle. The difference is bending, which sounds easy, but it's challenging for me to rearrange all my body parts quickly so that Taran can make the transition from one to the other smoothly and without losing the trot. We've done this exercise with Alfredo before, but I admit that I don't practice it much at home. When I do, I'm not asking for the level of bend and obedience that he expects... because this kind of smooth, obedient movement is a whole new thing for us:
I really liked the feel that I could put Taran's body anywhere I wanted and I would get an immediate and BIG response - that goes with being more demanding of both myself and him. Plus, it's much harder to do shoulder in/haunches in on a circle than it is on a straight line (which is what's required in all the 2nd level tests), so if we can can do these movements well on a circle, we shouldn't have any problem when we have to do it down the rail. Plus it's easy to see in the video how a half pass could come out of these movements, if I just placed it slightly different, so that's exciting. Who knew Taran had so much crossover in those short little legs of his?
Finally, we did an exercise down the long side where we stared in shoulder in, switched bend to renders, then flipped to face the rail in leg yield, then changed bend to travers. Sound confusing? Try riding it! I messed it up the first few times, but eventually we kinda got it right:
Whew, I felt like I needed a translator! These movements (except SI) aren't really automatic in my head yet, so it takes me a moment to figure out what each one needs and then ask Taran for it.
We've definitely got our work cut out for us, but I got a lot out of the clinic. My biggest takeaway is that I really have to be more demanding of us both... Taran can do the movements, and do them big, and I need to push for that. We don't have fancy gaits to help us out with our scores, so it's important to ride every step for 110%. I'm excited with all that we accomplished in just a few short days, and am really looking forward to working on everything at home. After all, our first show of the year is just 2 months away!
Day 3 of the clinic started off with a brief in-hand session, and then we got right in to haunches out on the circle, followed by renvers on the circle. Alfredo really wanted me to push Taran for even more than he had done the previous two days, but Taran was feeling tired and a little stiff. Taran gave it all he had, but when Alfredo asked for more, things started to spiral downward.
Don't laugh, but this is Taran having an epic meltdown, complete with mini-rears.
Stiffness became stopping and mini-rears. I got after him, and he tried again for me, but we just couldn't seem to get it right despite repeated requests for "more". I could feel that Taran was doing all he could but that in that moment, he simply couldn't give me any more (and I wasn't helping him any either). Finally, I told Alfredo I needed a minute and asked Taran to walk. I got yelled at for quitting before we had gotten it right, which made me kind of mad, but I took a deep breath and let it roll off me. I knew my horse needed a short walk break to reset, and I knew I needed one too. Yelling at us wasn't helping, and I needed to advocate for my horse. So we walked.
This is a fine line that we riders have to navigate. I like being pushed to perform - it's how I get better and how my horse gets better. I try really, really hard to do what I'm being asked to do. I'm lucky that Taran also tries really, really hard, even when I'm not sitting right or I've gotten handsy and am not making it easy for him. However, as riders we have to determine just how far past our comfort zones we are OK with being pushed - and we have to be able to say that we (or our horse) has had enough.
Fortunately, a short walk break got Taran and I back on the same page, and we were able to continue on with renvers on a circle and perform it correctly. Which turned out to be super important because it got him all engaged and bendy and then we did this crazy thing and rode a TROT HALF PASS.
No really, we did.
I mean, the half-pass right isn't great, but that side is always a struggle because he's not always solidly into the right rein. But it looks kind of legit!
We did lose some of the bend but CROSSOVER!
And then we went left, which was kind of amazing:
Also, lest you think that Alfredo does nothing but push, you will hear him get on my case for not rewarding Taran IMMEDIATELY with a walk break after he performs the first half pass. He's really just looking for those one or two correct strides and then the horse is rewarded. You just need to be able to produce one or two correct strides!
Like this
Also like this (do you SEE his abs and butt muscles working?)
We ended the session with a little canter. You can see in places where he's really engaged and the canter is slower and more collected (and I'm like, sitting up and riding it?) and places where he's not. We need more of that slower, collected canter for second level work. It's in there though!
Major take-aways for day 3 include:
More bend
More bend
A little more bend would be good
MOAR BEND
FFS BEND ZEE HORSE!!!
We probably learned something else, but that's really all that comes to mind right now. Oh and slow down.
So there you have it: the good and the not so good and the really effing amazeballs. Alfredo is a tough guy to ride for, and he's definitely focused on having the horse perform correctly rather than on rider biomechanics. I will absolutely ride with him again next time he's in town, but I'm also looking forward to going back and working with my regular trainer on the things I have learned in the clinic. The good thing is that I've walked away with a new appreciation of Taran's capabilities and how to unlock them, and a better understanding of what I really need to move up to the next level (hellooooo more bend). Such a great experience!
After watching the videos from Day 1 of the clinic and reading (and re-reading) my notes, I knew that for myself, I really wanted to focus more on keeping my hands down and using more inside leg for Day 2. For T, I wanted to remind him that he MUST move away from my leg when asked. Kicking and refusing is not an option.
I started T off on the ground, doing turns on the forehand and leg yields. Alfredo stepped in and showed me a better way to hold the reins if I'm working without side reins, and also pointed out that I need to be more demanding. I can't accept a half-hearted response from T... I don't need to be mean, but if I ask, he has to respond RIGHT NOW. He's not a hot horse, but he still needs to get his butt moving when it's time to move his butt.
Day 2 of the clinic saw a lot more work on shoulder in and renvers, first on the circle and then on the straight line. Taran was much more off my leg from the beginning after his little bit of ground work, so that helped. When I struggled with the positioning of renvers on the circle, Alfredo pointed out how much easier it would be on a straight line, and of course he was right.
This shit is hard BUT LOOK AT THAT CROSSOVER
Also, activating the hind end makes for a hella fancy trot.
Eventually we were allowed off the circle and got to do travers/renvers/travers on the quarterline. Taran was SO soft and responsive off my leg, even though I didn't always do a great job riding him through (that whole bend thing). It was amazing to be able to move his body back and forth with so little effort.
Renvers
Shoulder in
We didn't do a lot of canter - he was pretty tired and a little flat. Alfredo had us try some shoulder in/haunches out at the canter which is pretty much impossible but DAMN it gets the horse engaged and collected, for like those two steps you can both hold it together.
The biggest takeaways from this ride include:
Warm up with haunches out on the circle, then move on to renvers once the horse has warmed up, because that's what helps with the collection.
When you've done renvers on the circle and gotten really good sideways steps with bend, switch to regular bend and ask for a bigger trot (but not faster). That's when you get the real engagement.
If you think you have enough bend, you need twice as much.
I tend to lose the throughness (the "round and deep") because I'm pulling and getting handsy. Long time problem, but keeping my hands together and down, with my elbows bent, helps lots.
When you ask for a downward transition, ALWAYS keep the bend through the transition. If you're doing shoulder fore/renvers/shoulder in/half pass/leg yield/whatever, KEEP THE BEND. That way the horse steps through with the inside hind into the next gait.
Taran is no longer allowed to grab the reins and drag them out of my hands for free walk. He must "take them like a gentleman".
Sorry, just one more pic of the awesome uphill trot. I NEED this in my life!
How many of you would like to learn how to piaffe and passage? C'mon, fess up. You know you would, and so would I. Which is why I jumped at the chance to ride in a clinic with Alfredo Hernandez last weekend - his specialty is training these movements! Obviously I don't have any horses ready to go at a level where pi/pa are required, but Megan assured me that it didn't matter, and encouraged me to sign up anyway. Hubby decided that he wanted to ride too (taking lessons from another man can be, er, enlightening, as he put it), so we wrote a rather large check and planned for the clinic.
The beginning of my first lesson was quite embarrassing. Alfredo asked what level we were riding, I said Training just moving up to First. He said he'd watch us warm up for a few minutes, so I started walking Taran around on a loose rein. Naturally, he went to full-on giraffe mode while I futilely asked him to pay attention and consider walking long and low. Alfredo called us over, and then proceeded to ask me basic questions like which rein was the inside rein and how did I ask for bend. Talk about feeling like a noob. He had me shorten my reins WAY up, take my inside hand out about a foot from his neck to ask for bend, and off we went.
The main themes of the first day were:
SHORTER REINS. Seriously. I felt like my reins were about 6 inches long but after looking at the video, they were fine. My regular trainer is on me all the time about shorter reins, and I think I get the idea of just how short they really need to be now!
Don't give up the contact. Alfredo had me put the reins where I wanted them and then push Taran up into it. As he put it, imagine you are side reins, the horse has to give to you, not the other way around. I am definitely guilty of throwing the contact away, and it's also something my trainer calls me on a lot. I had a lot more contact than I usually have... not sure how I feel about that, although I was able to lighten up as the weekend went on and Taran got with the program more.
Slow down. I need this tattooed on Taran's ears. Fast is not forward. I KNOW this, but I don't always ride this. Sloooooowwwww dooooooowwwwwwwwnnnnn.
Don't quit too soon. Another thing my trainer says to me all the time. Wait till you have it, then wait a few steps more until you're SURE you have it. Then walk and reward. I have a bad habit of going "hey look we are together!" and then I throw the contact away and/or quit riding. Not terribly effective.
Round and deep. This was a theme all weekend. At times I felt like we were too deep (that is, BTV), but again, looking at the video he's really just deep in his neck. Keeping his neck down is something we've been working on, so maybe this is just the slightly more extreme version of what I've been asking for at home?
More rounder. More deeper. And to the left, too!
After trotting for a short time and following Alfredo's instructions ("More bend! MORE! Inside LEG! Deeper! Yes, beautiful!"), he called for a walk break and mumbled something like, "Oh, you actually CAN ride" before moving on to change directions. I felt like I'd made up a little bit for our awful start, since I was able to put Taran together with his instructions. We actually talked a little bit about that, and I said that I ride much better when I have someone telling me what to do. He said that I need to be more demanding of my horse, and hold myself accountable for every transition, every turn, every step. And he's right.
Taran objects to how hard this was. I objected too, by whining about how out-of-shape I am.
We also discussed rider fitness. He said that I was really quite strong (!?!?!) but that I need to up my cardio if I want to progress. This is something I've been thinking about recently, so I need to figure out a program to improve.
We look fancy and engaged, but maybe a bit stuffed and tense? Thoughts? (Yes, I need to get my shoulders back. Dammit.)
I was super excited about my first lesson - we made some major breakthroughs and although he said exactly the same things my regular trainer says, he was just more demanding and in turn I rode better. I also had a lot to think about in terms of my riding and how Taran goes when I change it up. No pi/pa, but we still had two days to go!
