Trot Poles, Canter Work, and Bending
In two rides this weekend, Ace and I had some major successes.
First, Happy Birthday to me! Ok, not really. It was months ago. But I finally got my present from my hubby: PVC pipe! Eight 10-foot pieces 3-inches in diameter to be exact. A girl needs some jump poles after all. I’m sure you are the few people in the world who can understand why that was an incredibly exciting present.
So, we started working over poles. The first step over, Ace just gave it a good hard look as he walked over. After that, he went through a series of 1, 2, and 3 poles in a row walk and trot with no hesitation. He was a bit of a klutz at first and kept knocking his back feet, but he was already paying better attention to where he put his feet at our second ride.
I was totally thrilled with his response to the poles. No hesititation and no grumpy faces. Very soon I can start using my jump blocks and raise the ends for elevated trot poles!
Canter Work Video
I’m trying something new and letting a video speak for itself today. I actually had some buddies in the barn and put them to work with the camera. Here’s a bit of Ace and I trotting and cantering (it’s short):
Please excuse my chicken wings for elbows. At least after watching the video and looking at pictures I know what I need to work on! Ace did a nice transition here for me, but was a little difficult about maintaining gait (apparently he needed a potty break, and he was much more forward once he got one).
This is the first time you’ve gotten to see my boy in a video. Kinda scary! I definitely feel like I’m putting more of myself out there with a video than with a picture.
We still have plenty to work on (like my arm and hand position and his occassional head tossing), but for now our motto is forward and straight. He’s getting good at both of those, and even carries himself well a lot of the time. When we’re really solid, then I’ll put more effort into other areas.
Bending Improvements
Ace is responding much better to my leg these days, and even understands how to move different parts of his body. We were still having some issues in turns, though. Sometimes he’d have a beautiful bend. More often than not, he’d bulge his shoulder and rubberneck through the turns.
Yesterday, I decided to really address it. Of course, by then I’d also seen these videos of myself and was very conscious about bringing my elbows in and my thumbs up. I discovered just how much more effectively I could use my reins to straighten his shoulders through the turn when I was riding in better position. We had three turns at a trot where I really exaggerated my leg, seat, and rein aids and where Ace bent beautifully. I praised him like crazy after each. After that, he seemed to get the idea. I was even able to get some vast improvement in the turns at a canter too. It was a huge leap for us.
So, just a quick recap of the weekend, our successes were:
- starting pole work (great attitude, improved hoof placement)
- improved canter transitions (we did some from a walk down the straight side, and got our leads each time)
- fixed our overbending issues in the corners
- awareness of my position flaws and starting work to correct them
Things we need to keep working on:
- my arm and hand position
- strengthening my leg position (2-point is my friend!)
- longer canter work with even more responsive transitions
- increasing trot pole difficulty and improving Ace’s awareness of where his feet are
- maintaining the improved bend we have acquired
I usually don’t comment on blogs that I read, but here we go.
when you did your downward transition from the canter, did you feel how much better his trot was than before the canter? I LOVE that feeling! He even starts reaching down for contact after the transition. He’s not too green to learn light contact! (In fact, contact would probably make a lot of your issues easier) Umm forgive me for being slow, but I forget what discipline you’re working towards here
But if you’re an eventer like me… get that horse started on contact! 
Bending issues… my old horse (when I first got him, but he wasn’t green) used to throw his shoulder out and plow like a freight train when we turned and he didn’t want to. It doesn’t sound like Ace is being belligerent, but if he ever is, make sure you carry a whip over the shoulder he is going to throw and give it a good whack. I only recommend that because that can get dangerous (in a moment where I was taken by surprise, we took out another horse and the arena fence). Needless to say, that problem disappeared fast (I really don’t think that will happen to you though haha Ace seems much less….yeah.). For turning, really work on depth of seat and hip/seat/thigh strength. Once my horse and I got on the same page, I only needed to move my hips to turn (if he was on contact). Very little hands and lower leg.
I’m sorry if this sounded like a lecture! It really sounds like you’re moving along with him. I’m sure I’m telling you stuff you already know
The video looks good!!
I love it! And don’t be so hard on yourself! I know what you mean about the first video though. I still struggle about posting videos. I think you both look great at the canter considering just a few short weeks ago you had never even cantered on him! And Ace moves a lot cuter then I thought he would. I am so glad for the breakthroughs and I hope it is all uphill from here!
Mary – Thanks for taking the time to comment and share some ideas! My background is hunters, so that’s where I’m starting. But if Ace shows an affinity for it, I would like to try a little bit of eventing eventually. I am also a believer in riding with contact, and usually do. This video isn’t the greatest representation of our typical work because Ace was trying to break gait the whole time so I was concentrating on keeping him forward. He has been good about reaching for contact from day 1, but not always so good about going forward. He makes me laugh, because the reason he didn’t want to go was because he had to pee. He’s very good at letting me know when something is going on with him. I’m still working on figuring out all of his signals.
OTB – Well of course my boy is a cute mover.
Haha. I know he isn’t the best in the world, but he does show signs of good movement especially at a canter. And this isn’t even his best movement since he had to “go” and didn’t want to go, if you get my drift. He’s such an expressive character. I think I’ll definitely keep posting videos as long as I can recruit a videographer every once in a while.
You guys look like you’re really coming together! And don’t be so hard on yourself…I’d rather see someone with “chicken elbows” and nice, soft, giving hands (like you have) than someone with perfect elbows and hard hands.
And, what a wonderful birthday present! I only have four poles at the moment and hoping for more pretty soon. I’m also trying to figure out the best way to “dress” them up with stripes. I’m thinking brightly colored duct tape might do the trick.
Jenn – Thanks! I thought of doing the duct tape thing too, but I don’t know how well it would work with the poles in the sand. My hubby did some research and apparently you can spray paint PVC, so that might be an option down the road. I’ve had so much fun telling people I was incredibly thrilled to get PVC for my bday, and watching the blank stares on their faces.
Well, heck, I didn’t think spray paint would stick to PVC! I’m going to have to give it a try…I think I have some obnoxious purple left over from my mounting block to experiment with. Then my poles will have stripes to match my mounting block, helpful Mr. Whippy, my saddle pad, half chaps and Gabe’s crochet ear net.
Is it just me or is averyother named ace around this sport? Nice work on that horse and those videos are just lovely to see with pictures too. Really gives a better overview of the situation when you see movieng videos with the guidelines.
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