That's right, baby Flying Solo is back in business and got the seal of approval from David last Saturday at our lesson. I had hauled Encore up to Virginia where he was giving a clinic at a friend's farm because it was exactly three weeks after his injections, when the vets told me to evaluate -- I figured who better to evaluate than the man who had given me the plan in the first place!
A lesson with David is never easy, but he has an unfailingly quick eye and his worlds (literally) of experience always gets you where you need to go.
You start with what I like to call the David Circle Of Death -- while it looks deceptively easy, you are working HARD and it usually leaves me panting desperately, chanting Do not fall off your horse in front of him, do not fall off your horse in front of him.... I could still breathe at the end this time, which leaves me wondering whether my protein shakes are indeed working or David was just being easy on Encore. I'll pretend it was the first one, it makes me feel better.
I barely managed to not squeal aloud with glee when David pronounced him better, but I couldn't contain a completely foolish grin of joy.
You then follow with an alluringly simple gymnastic, which you unfailingly override and then feel like an idiot. But the horses do fine and get to thinking about picking up their feet and putting the jump in the middle of their bascule.
Next you begin to work a few lines. As noted on the video, I really struggled with the grey oxer -- something about the colour and arrangement of the poles made it impossible for me to read and Encore seemed to struggle with getting a line on it as well. It was a very odd feeling to turn the corner and see...nothing. That has never happened to me before and as a result, I proceeded to mess it up many times.
Once your horse is traveling well through the lines, you put some courses together, increasing in complexity. The jumps stayed low this time since Encore hasn't jumped in over a month, but he felt good and when I wasn't doing ridiculous things on his back, he jumped well. No rushing, no anxiety -- the problem really WAS the pain and not my training. Which makes you feel good. Then bad. Then good. Then bad. Then you just try to stop thinking about it.
During our last course, Encore's weak side got tired; you can see he struggles to pick up his left lead. David still never fails to have a simple fix for me. Everything goes smoothly when he is around -- I just need to somehow kidnap him and haul him around in my trailer to horse trials. Except his wife would most certainly murder me in the night. Dangit.
Thank you so much to Sue, the farm owner, clinic hoster, and mad tough eventer, for taping us! After being gone all week chasing fish, I hope to spend the weekend getting back in the groove while trying not to die of heat exhaustion. The lake just might win me over, though, when the Carolina sun gets brutal around 3:00 in the afternoons...
A lesson with David is never easy, but he has an unfailingly quick eye and his worlds (literally) of experience always gets you where you need to go.
You start with what I like to call the David Circle Of Death -- while it looks deceptively easy, you are working HARD and it usually leaves me panting desperately, chanting Do not fall off your horse in front of him, do not fall off your horse in front of him.... I could still breathe at the end this time, which leaves me wondering whether my protein shakes are indeed working or David was just being easy on Encore. I'll pretend it was the first one, it makes me feel better.
I barely managed to not squeal aloud with glee when David pronounced him better, but I couldn't contain a completely foolish grin of joy.
You then follow with an alluringly simple gymnastic, which you unfailingly override and then feel like an idiot. But the horses do fine and get to thinking about picking up their feet and putting the jump in the middle of their bascule.
Next you begin to work a few lines. As noted on the video, I really struggled with the grey oxer -- something about the colour and arrangement of the poles made it impossible for me to read and Encore seemed to struggle with getting a line on it as well. It was a very odd feeling to turn the corner and see...nothing. That has never happened to me before and as a result, I proceeded to mess it up many times.
Once your horse is traveling well through the lines, you put some courses together, increasing in complexity. The jumps stayed low this time since Encore hasn't jumped in over a month, but he felt good and when I wasn't doing ridiculous things on his back, he jumped well. No rushing, no anxiety -- the problem really WAS the pain and not my training. Which makes you feel good. Then bad. Then good. Then bad. Then you just try to stop thinking about it.
During our last course, Encore's weak side got tired; you can see he struggles to pick up his left lead. David still never fails to have a simple fix for me. Everything goes smoothly when he is around -- I just need to somehow kidnap him and haul him around in my trailer to horse trials. Except his wife would most certainly murder me in the night. Dangit.
Thank you so much to Sue, the farm owner, clinic hoster, and mad tough eventer, for taping us! After being gone all week chasing fish, I hope to spend the weekend getting back in the groove while trying not to die of heat exhaustion. The lake just might win me over, though, when the Carolina sun gets brutal around 3:00 in the afternoons...