September 28, 2014

Drive-By David Lesson Report!

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Owning it in July
If I haven’t mentioned it yet, I have THE BEST NEIGHBOURS EVER!  Behind me lives a wonderful professional trainer who rode her now-retired Appy at Prelim/1*/CCN in the late 1990's/early 2000's; back when I was still a spectator, eventing was Eventing with a full endurance day, and they ran all the classic events like Radnor & Ledyard & Bromont.  As she has an all-weather arena, jump field, & hosts a variety of clinics & practitioners in addition to her own lessons, I walked over after our last David date (erm, I totally meant to post Encore’s videos for that one) with a big question.

Skipping through some cat-herding to the exciting result: we collected some of her clients & a few of my fellow David-disciples and I was able to have my lesson…IN MY OWN BACKYARD!  In some odd fantasy world with no trailer-packing, no driving, I could just saddle my horse & ride up the fenceline to enjoy my Circle of Death.  The word gratitude doesn’t even describe it, given how much I need good things in my life right now!

The Jumping Dressage Lesson

Despite my plans of improving on our jump performance in July, Encore had only been back in work for two weeks & still lacked hind strength, so I opted to put on the dressage saddle.  I wanted David’s eyes to evaluate my horse once again



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Not Hackney trot anymore!
Perhaps the most rewarding part of our initial warmup (aside from the words, “He looks pretty good to me!”) was that the Circle of Death now includes less Death!  Due to my own exhaustion, humid days prior, & a horse who’d been standing around on duct tape for six weeks, much of our schooling had been at the walk & trot.  However, I had focused hard on fine-tuning & brushing the dust off of one concept:  You Will Move Off My Inside Leg & Accept My Outside Rein

Hello, payoff.  Imagine that:  break it down to simple, clear things, teach your horse to respond to individual aids, and *gasp* I didn’t have to work so hard to get a response to my aids!  Erm, some of us are slower learner than others…  *raises hand*



My lessons are so rare, they are incredibly valuable to me.  While forward energy is crucial, David reminds me each time we meet how important it is for this horse to unlock his body & open his topline FIRST.  Encore must be correct & balanced before he is asked to move out, otherwise you end up back at downhill rushing.

Ok, I Couldn't Help Jumping A Little...

I knew his butt would tire soon, but we decided to do some simple jump work at the end, for the sake of my rusty self.  I confess, hearing “keep his poll up & wait with your body” STILL after five years makes me beat my head on the table a little.  Perhaps you can even hear me mumble, “I should get a tattoo of that” in the video, ha.  I have to wonder if David gets tired of saying it…





While Encore was compensating a bit at the end, it was good for both of us to feel some balance & pace again.  Watching the videos, I realize that I lapse into riding him like he is still a green horse!  Although our three years have been rather a roller coaster, I need to remember that I have actually trained him along the way and he now has a skillset of his own.  Fortunately, I have no control issues whatsoever, ahem, none at all…  *shifty eyes*

The Big Takeaway

I do consider Encore a Training horse now, but this reinforced for me yet again how vital it is to stay focused on the core principles – effective aids, consistent rhythm, balance for you & your horse, enforcing & rewarding correctness in your horse – no matter what your level or discipline.  Riding can seem overwhelmingly complicated sometimes, in a world full of books & articles & forums & clinics, which makes me appreciate David’s focus on methodical simplicity even more.  It’s the perfect antidote for my crazy hamster brain.  My horses have no idea how much gratitude they owe that man for that!! 
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Chill, mom, I got skillz

7 comments:

  1. So this might seem very strange and maybe slightly creepy but your neighbor's retired appy isn't by chance called Santa, show name Santana? When I read your description of your neighbor and all she did with her appy, it sounds just like someone I grew up riding with in New England. I know she lives in your neck of the woods but thought she was closer to Charlotte…

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  2. That jump field + tweeting birds = heaven! Love when he said ride the canter 'til he leaves the ground, will be storing that away in my brain!

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  3. Derp typo....

    I love the chickens just kinda chilling at the end of the jump field

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  4. nice lesson - glad Encore is settling back into work so well :) you guys look great! love the random chickens too haha

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  5. Me, I DO live next door to Santa! What a small horsey world it is indeed. We are all up here north of Raleigh and it's a great community!

    lins, we have some very, erm, loud & chatty indigo buntings, etc, although it's funny, I didn't notice it until I watched the vids!

    Thanks, emma!

    It's so hard to do less, but it should be easier, shouldn't it, LOL!? The chickens are always amusing, whenever I walk around there, they follow me in hopes of...chicken treats??

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  6. David said something that I'm going to make my mantra- Don't tell the horse when to leave the ground, ride the canter UNTIL the horse leaves the ground.

    Profound stuff, right there!

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  7. It is an EXCELLENT mantra! Still working on convincing my body of that...maybe the fourth decade will be my time! ;)

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