Mary Wanless Clinic: Day 3

Sunday morning was an early start.  I needed to get to the barn so I could try to arrange for an earlier ride time and get my truck towed to the shop.  I cleared all of my stuff out of the truck and loaded it into my trailer.  Then I got mi papi out for his morning hand walk so they could clean his stall in peace.  Apparently he was trying to escape when they came to clean his stall. 

I'm out handwalking and spot a big flat bed pull into the driveway of the house the barn owner lives in.  Whoops, wrong driveway, but a common mistake.  I see the driver looking around and I put my hand up.  I meant to signal I was on my way over.  He took it as 'hey, come over here'.  There's no route for a truck to come over.  It's their outdoor ring, a wide path for horses and wheelbarrows, and then their beautiful barn.  The driver took the wide path without batting an eyelash.  He barely had inches between his truck, the barn, and the railing of the outdoor.  One of the barn managers was standing there, staring in horror. 

At this point, I was so overwrought that it barely registered.  Of course the tow truck is driving through the middle of the very fancy barn where I will never be invited back.  I pointed out where my truck was and he hustled right off to load it up.

I'm standing out there watching my truck get loaded on a flat bed when I get told that no one will trade ride times with me.  I was the last ride of the day and my emergency pick up didn't want to wait until 5:30pm to pick me up because he still had to haul me home and he gets up insanely early on Monday mornings.  How could I ask him to lose sleep on top of driving down to pick me up as a favor?  I gave up, told him to pick me up after lunch, told the organizers I wouldn't be riding, and hid in the observation room while crying.  Because really, talk about a waste of a clinic.  And it's not a cheap clinic.

One of the organizers found me, freaked out, and tried to make it better.  They offered for Theo to stay an extra night.  Which really didn't help because my ride works on Mondays and that would mean Theo spending another day in a stall.  What if I had a shipper move him on Monday?  I don't know any shippers and I'd have to do it all on the phone from a distance which is terrifying.  Okay, maybe a friend could pick him up on Monday and I could just leave my trailer with them until my truck was repaired?  They're not used to working with people that aren't independently wealthy, I guess.  Yes, I have to go home and go to work in the morning, it's important.  And even if Theo stayed the night, I still need a ride home.

She eventually got someone to trade ride times with me and while it was still going to be late for my ride, it wasn't bad.  I had my trailer completely packed and the plan was for Theo to carry his tack to the trailer after his ride so we could leave right away.

After that kind of a morning, I zoned on the couch and tried to convince myself not to get a migraine.  It mostly worked and I was able to mount up in a generally acceptable frame of mind.  I'm glad I was able to get that last ride in since we were really trying to dial in the combination of keeping my zipper and chin over the middle with both seat bones sharing the back.  Because once I have both of those things?  I'm not collapsing to the left.  It's a correction I can manage on my own.  It's very hard right now, both of my hips were screaming after my ride, but it's a missing piece that's plugging in.  Canter left my right seat bone was off doing it's own thing.  I have to kind of aim it at his left shoulder to keep me in the center.  Then I drop my right shoulder a bit to keep my zipper and chin over his spine and pop, I'm in the middle.  Our canter felt much more organized without me ping ponging around up there.  I felt more plugged in, which was lovely when he decided to spook at a falling broom in the corner.  Theo relaxed and gave me more of his back once I was settled in.

We also started working on how to inflate the right side of Theo's back so that he's more even.  While keeping my seat bones close to his spine, I have to draw more of his barrel to the right.  Like there's a suction cup on the inside of my thigh and I can kind of pull him over with my leg.  It's tricky, I don't have it, but it's a concept for me to play with over the winter.

And then I bolted out of the arena, threw my horse on the trailer, and got hauled home.

I just got the message that my truck blew it's transmission cooler.  $1,600.  Then they can drive it and see if the transmission is okay.  Plus $400 for the tow, but at least that's reimbursable through my insurance.  All I can do is cross my fingers and hope that the actual transmission is okay and we don't have to pay for a new one.

On the bright side, Theo is home and safe.  The trailer is safe and at the barn.  The truck is in the hands of a shop that I trust to not screw me over.  I'm at work, at my desk, safe and sound.  I have lots of sore muscles and some new concepts to work on.  So it certainly wasn't the worst possible weekend.  I didn't end up on the side of the road with a dead truck or anything.  It also wasn't the best weekend.  I did feel like I missed out because I didn't get to watch as many rides, I didn't get to go out to dinner with everyone, and generally was stressed out.

Going to a clinic like this by myself was challenging.  Everyone else had an entourage to take pictures, carry things, be supportive.  I was totally on my own and that seemed to weird people out.  I got a lot of compliments on my nice horse, my riding skill, etc., but I was definitely the odd one.  Also the poor one that had a backyard horse.  Not an easy weekend, even without the truck problems.  I'll have to think long and hard about whether or not I'll try to go next year.  While the progress is great, it's expensive and being completely on my own took a lot of the fun out of it.

Mary Wanless Clinic: Day 2

Trailering isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Saturday morning I got a lesson on how quickly complete freedom can become complete panic.

I headed out of my hotel this morning thinking about managing mi papi and life in a stall.  I was worried about him overheating since I blanketed him so aggressively (a Baker blanket and a medium weight turn out with a neck rug). 

 
By my second stop sign, I was only thinking about how I would get him home.  My transmission wasn't acting right and slipped twice when I was at stop signs.  My 'service engine soon' light came on.  What the hell?

I completed the twenty minute drive to the farm and called the hubby.  I also texted Trainer A and told her to alert her dad as he was the only person I knew that could haul a goose neck.  If my transmission is slipping, I'm not going to try to haul my most precious cargo.  It was scary enough trying to get around without the trailer.

Fun fact, Trainer A's dad runs a GMC repair shop.  I own a GMC truck.  A couple of texts and I was told to check my transmission fluid.  Yup, it's low.  I located an auto parts store and headed out after the lunch lecture (and a long hand walk/hand graze for my horse that's convinced he's in jail).  At the auto parts store, it occurs to me that I can get my error codes printed.  This is what I get.

That's freaking terrifying.  I went back to the farm with two quarts of transmission fluid and a funnel.  I added a quart, but something was bothering me. The hubby is good at truck maintenance.  Why was my fluid low?  I climbed under the truck and saw this.

Mother fucker piece of shit.  I've got a leak.  And guess what I learned when I sent the picture to Trainer A's dad?  Transmission fluid is highly combustible.  Like diesel levels of combustible.  So not only did I run the risk of my transmission acting up, there was the chance of it igniting on a hot engine.

I called in the rescue crew and arranged for being picked up.  Fortunately I'm only 1.5 hours away from home.  A tow truck was arranged for my truck and another truck arranged to bring my trailer and my precious cargo home.

Oh, right, I'm at a clinic with my horse.  As my hubby said multiple times, I need to get something out of this weekend.  And my session with Mary yielded the usual plethora of observations.

I need to weight my seat bones 50/50.  That's much harder to do when my horse isn't 50/50.  Theo tends to have his right side more stretched out, extended, and not tight.  I need to make his right side as high and tight as his left side.  I shouldn't feel like my right side is just falling off the right side of his back.  If it is, I need to make his right side tighter and higher to support my seat bones as I pull them in to his center.  He likes to bait me, lure me to be less effective.  Also, my seat bones don't like to share.  When my left seat bone comes in to his spine, my right seat bone gets shoved off.  It's like managing temperamental twins.  Share already, damn it!

We refined my feel for a narrowed pelvis.  It's not a minor task and will take me awhile.  I'm taking notes to bring back to Trainer A.  Theo likes to turn like a semi and jack knife at his withers.  He doesn't like it when I straighten him out and tell him to turn like a bus.  As much as he doesn't like it, it's been very good for getting him even behind.  I'm also being told that I've started to drop behind and I need to advance my collar bone.  That's going to be interesting since Trainer A has been yelling at me for leaning forward.

So I trotted around, trying to keep my seat bones together, keep his back as a wide, even shelf, and turn him like a bus.  This will all be important because when I asked him to leg yield to get him off my leg, I immediately felt myself fall off the side of the saddle.  Ah ha!  We may have a clue on where my leg yield troubles start.

And then I limped my poor truck to the hotel, parked myself at the bar, and poured out my sorrows to a very patient lady.

 
Stay tuned to hear the final installment of As The Transmission (Doesn't) Turns.

Mary Wanless Clinic: Day 1

Despite my worries, I arrived at my clinic all of fifteen minutes behind schedule and with a full seven hours of sleep.  The hubby was done with his distillery showcase a little earlier than planned and I was able to get my own packing done before heading to bed.  By 8:45am, Theo and I hit the road.

I'm kind of glad I was running a bit late.  This was my first foray into Massachusetts with the trailer and the jaunt down 95 is no joke.  Especially not where there's construction and I had a bare few inches between my trailer and the concrete barricades.  YIKES.  The term Massholes is very appropriate for the drivers and Theo had a few less than ideal moments in his ride when I had to hit the brakes to avoid idiots whipping across three lanes of traffic (in a construction zone) to make their exit.  I'm so glad I did my trailer training in New Hampshire.  The interstates in Massachusetts are terrifying in a passenger car.  With a horse trailer?  I totally ordered a margarita at my hotel.

The clinic is a bit bigger this year.  More auditors, more people trailering in.  The parking is a bit nuts and I got some good practice backing in with the trailer.  I didn't manage to get into my assigned spot, but the lady I blocked in is also here until Sunday so it's all set.  We know each other, it's fine.  At least I turned around without help. 

The cold weather and high winds put a little extra pep into Theo's step.  He's in a tent stall this year and he spent about an hour figuring out that he wasn't going to die.  I'm glad I packed his turn out since he's not actually in a barn and it's down to 16* tonight with a wind chill.  His beautiful new Baker blanket is under his medium weight turn out with a neck rug.  Not that he minds, he has a beautiful young mare as his neighbor (he moved his hay to that side of his stall) and all the food he can stuff in his face.

For my ride, Mary remembered him once I said he was half Canadian.  She commented that he was much better at going forward than she remembered and complimented me on my insistence on him being correct.  He was also a very good doobie in the contact, keeping his neck long and his moments of resistance to a minimum.  I was genuinely proud to unleash his new trot in that fancy indoor ring, showing his progress.  Unfortunately, this means that all eyes were on the rider.  Clearly the horse was fine.

I came in with the goal of addressing my collapsed left side.  I've been riding like that for so long that I think I'm straight.  I'm not, so that means I don't know where the center is.  We started out with a check of my current status and I got another compliment for hanging on to what she'd asked me to do two years ago and sends her compliments to Trainer A for helping me hang on to the right things.  Woohoo, not having to start over!

When we started to address my asymmetry, my weight on my seat bones popped right to the front.  I tend to weight my right seat bone, but I'll ping pong around from side to side when turning.  That's incorrect, of course.  So she flagged me over and apologized because things were about to get crude.  I need to stay balanced and symmetrical over his spine.  Okay, yes, that makes sense.  The human pelvis tends to be rather wide and because of it's structure, kind of flops on either side.  I need to tighten up my pelvis, almost make it more narrow so it can stay tight and balanced over his spine.

I need to pull my asshole up into my buttcrack.

Yeah, that's a direct quote.  Followed by a discussion on whether a zipper, sutures, or super glue would be the best visual for me to think about tightening up my pelvis.  Theo voted for super glue.  No, seriously, she suggested super glue and he turned his head around and touched her arm.  So I'm . . . supergluing my butt cheeks together to keep from letting my asshole drop down and my pelvis get wide.

It's a strange, funny way of describing positive tension in the rider.  I'm taking control of my pelvis and putting my seat bones in the right place so they don't ping pong around and keep me off balance.  But suggesting that I should superglue my butt cheeks together is much funnier.

Tomorrow we'll start addressing the fact that I don't know where center is anymore with my upper body.  I can tell when I'm ping ponging in the seat and correct it.  I can't tell if I'm straight or not, and that's a problem.  I can't correct if I don't know where center is.  Mary said she has a plan, that she knows how to show me where center is, so I'm confident that I'll have new descriptors and exercises after tomorrow to take home.

Tonight I'm chilling in my hotel room, thawing out with the thermostat turned way up and recharging for tomorrow's adventure.

The art of procrastination

I travel with my horse a lot.  It's something I do.  Clinics, camps, shows, I'm totally comfortable packing up and heading out with my equine partner.

Keeping that in mind, it is a damn wonder I get anywhere with appropriate gear.  I am the queen of procrastination and this time I might have taken it a bit too far.  I leave tomorrow morning for a three day clinic with a big name clinician at a very fancy barn.

 Said fancy barn with the infamous Dorkzilla

Have I packed?  Not a damn thing.  When I left for work this morning, my truck and trailer weren't even facing the right way.  I hope the hubby has got them turned around.  I'm supposed to be there at 10am, so I need to leave the barn around 8:30am.  So far this is all pretty standard.  I pack up the night before, show up, throw the horse on the trailer, and go on my merry way.

Two things have derailed me.  One, Mother Nature is off her meds and the temps are plunging tonight.  We're getting down to 15* this weekend.  This necessitates some extra packing to keep mi papi warm, even if he's in a stall all weekend.  I had a mad scramble last night busting out the full winter gear, including his square cooler to go with the fleece dress sheet I was planning on packing.

Two, I apparently have plans tonight.  A couple months ago I agreed to go to a distillery showcase for the hubby's birthday.  There will be lots of fancy food and spirits and we'll be out until about 11pm.  I need to leave the barn at 8:30am.  I have not packed.  At least I'm the designated driver so I won't be hungover while trying to load Theo into his trailer.

If you're doing the math and coming up with the same numbers as me, you can see where I'm starting to regret some of my life decisions.

 And judging by my artwork, this is an ongoing situation.  I'm a very slow learner.  I am expecting to get up around 6am, throw everything horse related that I own onto my trailer, and sort it out once I'm there.  At least I don't ride until 4pm so if I'm running a bit late, I'll just miss lunch lecture stuff.  I really don't want to miss anything, but it's better than having the 9am ride time.  Though I'll be wishing for that ride time on Sunday when it's time to ship home.

Fingers are crossed I get there on time with a saddle, a girth, a bridle, AND a helmet.  Anything more than that is a nice bonus.

Still alive

And nothing dramatic going on in my life!  I went home to Minnesota for my scheduled visit, went for some nice walks, and helped out while my mom recovers from a knee replacement surgery.  The only downside to this vacation was a complete lack of papi.

Minneopa State Park

Now I'm home and preparing for my next road trip.  This one will feature mi papi time!  We're heading to our Mary Wanless clinic on the 10th.  Oh, the joys of having my own trailer.  I was able to just sign up and not worry about arranging for a ride.  We'll have three days of torture.  This time I'm staying at a local hotel rather than driving back and forth.  I'm going in with the goal of getting a strategy and or image to deal with my collapsing left side.  This also means I need to get my trailer cleaned and packed this weekend.  I might have been dumb and bought a ticket to a distillery showcase on the evening of the 9th.  Hungover dressage clinic?  Sure, that'll be fine.

I'm still working on that super basic idea of not letting my hobby start to suck.  We've been doing jumping lessons, both me and his leaser.  Papi is a fan.  It's sad that he's still got an 11' stride, but that's just how papi does and I'm used to it.  He likes to touch the ground as many times as possible between jumps.  He'll do a grid at 12', but a line?  He wants that extra thinking time, kthx.  But he looks really good and is learning to not brace his neck between fences.

We still have zero selfie skills

I'm also fitting him for his western saddle.  After watching obsessive amounts of video on western dressage, we're going for it.  One of our local shows (30 min away) is doing recognized western dressage next year and bringing in a clinician over the winter.  Woohoo!  I think the emphasis on obedience rather than huge gaits will suit him.  Jog and lope are still hard work, but the fact he wants to take his time about it is a benefit rather than a problem.  I still have to get him well up in front of my leg, but his little strides won't be such a problem.  He's definitely a semi-QH bars boy and it appears I need a 15.5" seat.  And a 32" cinch.  And probably custom cut fenders for my stubby little legs.

Big saddle that looks very tiny on my boy, still weighs a ton lifting it over my head

I do have a bitch about the saddle shopping process.  I researched, put saddles on him, and picked out my saddle.  The Circle Y Performance Monarch with Flex2.  If I'm going to get a saddle, I'm going to get a nice dang saddle.  I like the Flex2 concept and the cutaway skirt.  It shouldn't put me into a massive chair seat, either.  It was made with western dressage in mind.  But used western saddles in New England are kind of sparse.  No one sells this dang saddle used!  Which is usually a good sign, people seem to keep them and love them.  So I decided to just bite the bullet and ordered up my test ride through SmartPak, along with some Baker blankets for Theo's trip.

So pretty, not sure what's up with the strings

Wouldn't you know it, my favorite company that never ever lets me down is dropping the ball hard.  My blankets were scheduled to ship yesterday.  Nothing.  My saddle that was in stock when I went to bed last night and is scheduled to ship tomorrow in my confirmation?  Suddenly out of stock and may not be available until the end of the month.  I've got different 'back in stock' dates on different pages.  I called customer service in a bit of a snit because I need to make sure I can ride as much as possible in those five days.  I can't be playing 'guess when the saddle is going to show' for a month.  And I need those blankets!

I've been assured the blankets are going out today or tomorrow.  Surely, they're going out, don't worry, you'll have them in plenty of time.  I've been hearing  a lot of horror stories recently about SmartPak shipping and it's not giving me confidence.  I'm supposed to hear from the Test Ride person when she gets back tomorrow so I can find out when this dang saddle is supposed to show.  I can get the saddle right from Circle Y for the same price, but I'm hesitating.  I'm discovering that western saddles are an absolute do not ride in it if you want to return it, so I don't want to change companies.  I want to know I can try it out and still return the dang thing.

My mom's kitten

It's just shocking after years of stellar service to have them drop the ball so hard.  My last order was slow, but I thought it was a one off.  Ugh.

I guess I'll have to wait until after our clinic to try out the new gear.  No one wants to wait for shiny new tack to show up.  It's the worst.  I'll distract myself by doing a fall clean up this weekend.  I need shiny clean tack for the clinic and people are starting to talk about the condition of my locker.  There may be a dead body back there.

Not the most welcoming sight outside of the barn.  Happy Halloween!

Amusement

I thought you guys might enjoy this:

One:  I'm never wearing that purple shirt for photos again.  Ugh, I look terrible in that color.  Two:  I need to lose about ten more pounds.  Halfway there!  Three:  I look like a very focused frog in the After picture.  Four:  Theo needs his mane pulled.

Five:  Mi papi is gorgeous.

This was posted on Mary Wanless's FB page.  Fortunately it's not linked to me in any way since I'm making such a ridiculous face in the second picture.  I was working very hard on breathing and riding and not getting the tape, so I have my cheeks all puffed out.  But it's a good reference for the changes I'm supposed to be doing.  No hollow in the back, heels under my hips, all of that.  It's also a fantastic reference for what Theo is capable of doing.  That does not look like the same horse at all.

I also saw first hand how you can't please everyone on social media.  It's a pretty benign picture.  I'm in a round spur, riding in an egg butt snaffle with a nice, open frame on my horse.  His gear all fits, I have my hair up, my turnout is conservative (his forelock his hiding the blingy browband).  There was still a comment questioning my choices. Why do I ride with spurs if the changes make my legs so effective?  Because my horse is a lazy ass that needs occasional reminders as to what his job is and when he decides to throw down and refuse to listen, I need the tools to win quickly before it escalates and gets dangerous.  I adore this horse, but I also know and respect his history.  Spurs are staying on my feet, even if they were not at all needed on that last ride or any other ride where I get the big lug up in front of my legs where he belongs.

Of course I can't post that on FB.  The person commenting doesn't know anything about me except that I went to a clinic to be a more effective rider.  Me replying would turn it from a passing comment to a fight.  I've learned that lesson.  I do not bicker with the self righteous.  Most of the people commenting were very positive about the changes in him and discussed how such a subtle change in my position could make such a difference.  It's a relief, since my heart skipped a beat when I realized I recognized the rider in those photos.  I gave her permission to post them, but it was still a surprise.   

I should tape the after picture up in Theo's run in, so he can get a daily reminder of what he's supposed to trot like.

Taking notes

The videos and pictures just keep rolling in.

Say what you want, but mi papi is sure photogenic.  He looks even better in videos.  This is all of my last lesson, unedited except to remove the other person in my lesson to save battery on the camera.  It's a great reference for anyone who's wondering what it's like to clinic with Mary or what on earth her system aims to make you look like.  Enjoy the comments on skewers, my front triangle, and hoses.

Part1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Who is that beautiful, energetic horse?  You can see why Theo came out of the rides almost confused by what was going on with his body.  I had my first lesson back from the clinic with Trainer A and she liked the new clear hoses way of going.  She also liked the duct tape story a lot and even used duct tape as a reminder on a couple occasions.  Pretty much everything we worked on was stuff Trainer A was trying to do, just presented in a different way.  I'm not sure what bit of it made the difference, but I can now roll my thighs forward more without my knees screaming in pain.  My heels are off mi papi's sides and my toes are more forward.  It's all good stuff.

Now I get to spend six months trying to lock this stuff into muscle memory so we can start working on my other issues.  Like my foot's desire to be in chair position.  Stop that, foot, it's obnoxious.

All the visuals

Theo's had a very exciting month and the images are starting to roll in.

First, the hunter pace!

He is one attractive young man.  The Saintly Mare is the chestnut just behind us in the group photos.  This was just before we opened the two of them up for a strong canter down the path.  My expression over the fence was ridiculous, but it was one of the fences where he was giving a lead to the other horses and needed a bit of assurance that it wasn't going to eat him.  I might have been riding a bit.  But I love this picture because he has a real, honest to goodness topline!

And then the videos from the clinic are starting to be uploaded and edited.  There are currently two clips available.

Theo learning to trot like a real horse.

I love the fact this instant was caught forever.  You can actually see the moment Theo accessed another gear and started to move like a real horse.  He also started popping and trying to canter, but the transformation was caught for me to reference back to.  THAT is his working trot.

Mary also tried to get him to lift his tummy.  He wasn't a fan.

More video is coming, but I need to do some editing.  Most of the video came from a camera set in the corner and there is a lot of junk.  But Theo's last ride with trot and canter work was actively recorded by Dorkzilla's owner, so I'm planning to post that uncut for everyone to enjoy.  I have no pride, you guys can watch me flail a bit between the good parts.

Wanless Clinic: Day 3

For the grand finale, I went with bright pink zippers my mom bought for me at GMHA.

Man oh man, do I have a lot to unpack.  And I'm not even referring to the disaster that is my locker now that I've thrown a bunch of stuff in it, wedged the door shut, and left it for tomorrow.  All of my pictures of the farm and my take on that part of the experience is still coming, but I'm not even referring to that.  Mary threw the kitchen sink at us today in terms of information and it's going to be a lot to process.  Good thing we have all winter and Dorkzilla's owner took video!

The boys, being surprisingly cute and friendly after three days together

 

The take aways from my last lesson:

1.  Get those hoses clear!  This was something we worked extremely hard on today, since it's kind of an important concept.  I can't really make much change if he's not generating energy and I can't get anything done if I'm completely focused on keeping Theo going.  Theo was a good sport and put some real effort into this idea, even if he was blowing by the end and kind of shocked by what was going on.  He does tend to try to pop into a canter because a)  it's easier, b) it's what he thinks he should do when trotting along at an above average energy level and I'm still pushing, and c) my lower leg is back further than usual.  That's going to take some work, but I think it will improve as he gets stronger and I get stronger so I don't get ahead of him.

2.  I tend to twist my body when going left, which kinks up the afore mentioned hoses.  I have to think of skewers running through my body and keeping those skewers straight and on a tangent to the circle.  While also pushing his withers along with my thighs.  And using my bikini line to push the wrinkles out of his neck.  Not tricky at all, said no one ever.

3.  I'm ridiculously malleable.  Remember the duct tape yesterday?  I was about two minutes into my ride when I heard 'sit on your front triangle, you've lifted your pubic bone up too much'.  Seriously?  Seriously?!  How did I manage that in 24 hours?!!  It's nice in terms of being able to make adjustments on the fly, but it sucks in terms of working on how to find my middle.  The idea that my front triangle (crotch) takes the weight (keeping in mind most of my weight is actually in my thighs) and my seat bones are present, but not actually weighted helped.  Also the idea that my 'underneath' needed to be as deep at the rest of my body, since it's the bottom of my box.  I need to get all of my underneath on the saddle.

Head spinning yet?  Mine is.

4.  Thighs are fantastic and should be used frequently.  I put my fist against the pommel and pushed, then used the opposite thigh to resist that pressure.  This helps me to figure out how to snug up the tops of my thighs without gripping at the knee.  When I'm trotting around, especially in rising trot, this is worlds more stable than using my stirrups.  It's also exhausting. 

5.  My instructions for canter and trot were identical, which was something of a relief.  I don't know if my brain could handle it if it turned out I had a whole new list of issues in canter.  I will admit to feeling quite smug when Theo simply stepped into the canter when asked and went about his business.  Not all of the horses were that easy and sensible about moving to canter.  He cantered around like it was no big thing while I tried to get my knees up on the bar, my lower legs where they belonged, my feet light in the stirrups, bear down, and keep his withers from veering off.

6.  Theo tried his little pony brain out and did stuff with his body that was all new without throwing a temper tantrum, which was huge.  Mary specifically suggested that we do short bursts of good work, then let him take a break as he develops.  He's not a horse that takes to a lot of drilling well.  She seemed to quite like him by the end of today.  He put in some real effort, made his topline like a firm bungee cord instead of a soggy, worn out elastic, and I was able to figure out how to stay with it. 

7.  Not squeezing or booting is fantastic.  I feel so much more balanced when using the idea of slapping him with my stirrup iron and then following up with a quick 'tap tap tap' with the whip if I don't get the response.  I feel like I could probably ditch my spurs and still get the job done.  I don't intend to because I prefer spurs for lateral work, but it is a fantastic feeling to not feel like I'm working harder than he is.  It also gets my knees rolled forward and my toes pointing straight ahead without me crying in pain, which I rather like.

8.  The ladies love Theo.  I seriously didn't expect it when surrounded by gorgeous, very expensive warmbloods, but the owner of the barn said she was falling in love with my horse.  I had several of the auditors come up to me in warm up wanting to know his breeding.  One of the boarders was asking me about him because she's on the market for something as calm, quiet, and cuddly as my horse.  Evidently Theo has a very soft eye when he's working and everyone loved how he stood like a statue when Mary talked to us.  They also adored his tail.  Probably because they're not the ones to manage it.  That thing is a nuisance.

So three days of hard work and I feel very accomplished.  Theo shipped and stabled like an absolute gentleman and wooed the ladies.  I got compliments from Mary on my ability to listen and take direction from her and the progress that we both made in just a few rides.  Theo got compliments for his willingness to try and good attitude.  The consensus from the various people I talked to was that mi papi is not an overly talented horse or an extravagant mover, but he's a very attractive horse with nice movement and the potential to move up the levels with good results.  FEI horse?  Not even a little bit.  Bronze medal horse?  No reason why not, especially with the potential for good scores in accuracy and submission.  A lot of the WBs acted up, with head tossing, teeth clicking, or trying to take over the ride seen in most sessions.  Theo considers that to be far too much work.  Having a lazy horse has it's benefits.

The next clinic with Mary is in May.  I told her that she would probably see us there with much cleaner hoses and hopefully some sort of control over my pubic bone.  I don't want the tape.

Wanless Clinic: Day 2

For today's outing, I selected the Equine Couture socks with roses.  Simple, yet stylish.

Theo has been handling his overnight trip very well.  He and Dorkzilla have settled in with a general truce and can even be lured into being cute occasionally.

 

Dorkzilla is still freaking adorable.

The ring was a little bit less intimidating today.  Theo felt right at home and barely flicked an eyelash.

As for our work?  OMG, my thighs.

1.  I am still working on keeping my seat bones actually on the saddle.  The good news is that I did find my seat bones through most of my ride today, and they didn't wander off as easily!

2.  Mary has her hands full with my position.  When I'm walking around, I now tend to lean too far back.  When I'm trotting, muscle memory kicks in and I tend to get too far forward.  At all gaits, I tend to hollow my back.  A bunch of visuals were used, but the one that really made a dent was the story of a lady with a similar issue that was fixed with some tape.  They ran the tape from the underside of her bosom, down over her stomach, and ended on her pubic hair.  When they asked her to trot and she popped her chest up, she yelped.  Then repeat until lesson is learned.

I did not want the tape.  Nope, nope, nope.  Even if they weren't going to use duct tape and Mary said she doesn't go down to the pubic hair, that still sounded unpleasant.  So anytime Mary said duct tape, I would do whatever it took to make my boobs touch my pubic bone.  Mostly this consisted of lifting my pubic bone.  This made Mary very happy, since I finally got rid of the hollow in my back while posting.  I did not get the tape.

3.  You can sit on more than your butt.  I'm learning to shift more and more of my weight off of my stirrups and onto my thighs.  It's tough, since I feel like I'm pinching, but I get brief glimpses of how stable I feel with my weight on my thighs and my core stabilized with bearing down.  With my weight off of my stirrups that naturally swing and instead spread over my horse's ribs, I finally realize that my stirrups are not a stable place to be.  Now I just need to increase the strength in my thighs so I can stay there.

4.  Theo has hoses, and I need to clear them of gunk and get them flowing properly from his tail to his ears.  When we do that he looks like a real horse.  Basically, once Mary got me in the right spot on Theo, we got him going forward.  Like really going forward.  I generated all of this power and thrust, I actually almost bounced out of place a couple times.  That was part of the problem, Theo is encouraged to be small and squished because it's less scary.  Now he has to learn that he can be big and powerful and Mary challenged me to ride that power and keep going instead of trying to make him smaller and easier to ride.  I loved the way it felt when he was pushing along and carrying himself, so I think that's a challenge I'm ready to take.

My thighs are shaking after taking most of my weight.  It was just as hard as no stirrup work.  I'm going to have a beer and head to bed.  Hopefully my body and Theo can hold up for one more day.

Wanless Clinic: Day 1

By this point, everyone knows I love clinics.  It gives me a chance to get all dressed up:

I love these socks

 

And I get to take my main man out on the town.

Show halter from PS of Sweden!

 

This particular clinic with Mary Wanless has been a long time in the making.  I first heard about Mary back when I submitted a photo of myself and the princess to Dressage Today for a critique.

Heather Blitz did the critique and I liked what she saw, but couldn't figure out how to do what she was saying.  I got pointed to her trainer, Mary, and got her book.  The rest is history.

After reading the books, watching the videos, and trying really hard, I accepted that I couldn't figure out the basics of her system without some feedback.  Her clinics are rare and fill up fast.  This time, I finally got a spot.

Mary is a biomechanics trainer.  She's not going to improve your half passe scores, but she will focus on getting your body in the right place and working effectively.  Coming from my h/j and eventing background, there's a lot of work to do.  Thank goodness Trainer A has made a dent, considering how much work Mary had in front of her today.  Theo's job was mostly to be a vehicle for my position work and he was very happy to go about with minimal requests on him.

I had enough work to do for both of us:

Step one:  I have successfully fixed my habit of leaning forward in the halt, walk, and usually the trot.  I now only tip forward when I'm really rattled out of my place and during the very beginning of my warm up.  I even had to bring my chest a bit forward to find vertical.  Score!  Though now I can make mistakes in both directions.  Less score.

Step two:  I have seat bones and I should sit on them.  I discovered that when I engage my legs, I tighten up my seat muscles, popping my seat bones off of the saddle and keeping me from really sitting down.  Which leads to the next one . . .

Step three:  No more squeezing with the legs.  Squeezing is bad.  Leg aids should be quick, in and out, rather than just hunkering down.  That's going to take some time to process, but it will be easier to remember because . . .

Step four:  My heels belong on my horse's ass.  Seriously, I felt like I had my heels all the way back to Theo's butt, like I was going to tangle my spurs in his tail.  The mirror showed that wasn't true, my heels are under my hips, but it feels insane.  My hips were not happy.  At all.  It's going to be a fight.

Step five:  Bear down.  This was the concept in her book that I couldn't understand.  Make your stomach into a wall and push your guts against it?  Huh?  But with a lot of hands on help, turns out I've got a pretty decent bear down, up top and down low.  I just didn't know where it was and now I have to figure out how to use it.  When I bear down, my core gets stable and I don't feel like I'm doing the hokey pokey up there while we're trotting around.  Combine that with actual seat bones, sitting vertical, and not squeezing the pony, and I'm in a pretty stable spot.  For about five seconds, then I get bounced out.  Also, I can't bear down and breathe at the same time right now.  It's a bit of a problem.

Step six:  Right knee up.  It took most of our session, but she pieced together a sequence of things that cause my right shoulder to travel higher than my left.  It started with me standing harder on my right stirrup, popping up my right seat bone (the one that seems to constantly be disappearing on me), and traveling up to my braced shoulder.  I lifted my knee, my seat bone went on the saddle, and my shoulder came down.  WTF.  We're working on that more tomorrow, since she just pieced that together tonight.

Step seven:  Hot shower and Advil because holy crap my abs hurt.

I get to sleep in my own bed tonight so I should be all set for tomorrow, but man, my brain is already on overload.  I don't know how I'm going to add any more to this.  But if it can get me closer to riding like Dorkzilla's owner, I'm totally okay with aching abs and confused knees.