And it all came crashing down...

[Tootsie4U]

What have I done. I'm in trouble.

As some of you know, I've entered into a hunter show on Saturday. Had a crash course in the hunter style last night. Im not a hunt seat rider (barely a rider at all, but have always trained in dressage).

My horse is a mess, and its all my fault :( Why this only became obvious to me last night is because I had my friend out to help me get the "feel" for a longer and lower frame. She hasn't seen Bon in a few weeks so when she kept commenting that he's way too behind, lift him up, too far back, push him on, dont let him drag, I knew this wasnt going to work. She got on to help him figure out what this new feel was all about because he clearly wasnt comfortable with the long and low either.

I was completely flabbergasted at what I saw. HE PHYSICALLY can't lengthen. Well, he can, but he gets so nervous and I dont think he's developed the muscles to actually *do* it.

What got me most was the beginings of his ewe neck! I took a look back at my last post with pictures and you can see it there too.

I have been holding him together, riding too much with the front of the horse and the affects are now obvious to me. My poor horse. Now he hasn't any idea what this new stuff is all about. Neither my friend or I could keep his head up with that sort of contact. He'd curl his neck - preferring to go behind even when we had such slight contact on the reins.

Someone shoot me. (fighting back tears)

Didn't expect this hurdle. I know they come frequently, but didnt expect this.

[cvb]

whoa there - remember we've seen those pictures and everyone, but EVERONE commented on what a good job you have done and are doing !

Yes it really helps to see your horse from the ground, but it won't help if you go into despair :eek:

You have not been able to ride him long and low before. The fact that you can now start to consider it, and think about working on it - as part of his ongoing training - is great.

But just remember what you have had to content with so far - before you start worrying about not having got to where you're going yet !

p.s. and also remember your own STEEP learning curve. I didn't realise that you hadn't got the same thirty odd years of learning that I have until you told us how recently you'd started !

Just see this as another phase of awareness and learning for you both ;) :D

[cvb]

oooo yes - and remember the 'learning cycle'... ?

stage 1: unconscious incompetence

You don't know (are not aware) that you can't do it

Stage 2: conscious incompetence

you become aware that you can't do it

Stage 3: conscious competence

you can do it but are very aware of the process

Stage 4: unconscious competence

you do it without even being aware that you are doing it


This is a cycle - in this case I would propose it is as a spiral i.e. each time you reach Stage 4 at one level, you are at Stage 1 of the next level, and you keep on moving up.

You just did Stage 2 at your next level :p

[Mehitabel]

what she said, and have a hug.

honestly - when have you known me to sugar coat things? you've come so far - yes, there's further to go yet, but hell, there always is! stop panicking, and if you feel anxious about the show then bin it. there will be others, and you and bon have another 30 years to go to shows.

-there's no reason bon shouldn't be able to lengthen. fair enough he hasn't got the knowledge or the muscle to do what you want right now, but all that will come. i don't know whether you mean lengthen as in strides, or lengthen as in 'long and low' frame-wise, but either way, they both need teaching, the horse can't do them by magic - and neither can the rider.

deep breaths, think of how he was a year ago and the difference now. neither of you are perfect yet, but then, who is? not me, i know that much.

[Tootsie4U]

Im just so worried about the ewe neck. His muscles on the under side are actually very toned and nice but there is absolutely nothing up top. That tells me alot about how I've been riding him... badly-or at least, not correct.

I know that the issue with lengthening is just because its new to us. I have tried lengthenings (long and low, not strides) but its more for stretching after collection than changing the frame to hunter style. You know, the kind where his nose drags to the ground and I let him take the reins, not the hunter way.

Its a foreign feeling that we honestly haven't done before and I was foolish to think we'd pick it up in only a few days.

Thanks for the hugs and words of encouragement. How can I get you guys here to root me on Saturday :D?

[Mehitabel]

how are you going with finding an instructor? regular lessons to make sure you're keeping on track sound like the best way forward from here.
i will be rooting for you on saturday - it'll have to be from my house, but i'm sure the vibes can cross the ocean.

[Tootsie4U]

Trying desperately to get to an instructor. New barn is a hobby barn and sorry to say it, but no one thrills me there.

Had been having informal lessons at previous barn and even though she wasnt the best, her extra eyes helped immensely and that was the best we've ever been. (pics posted in my "timeline" thread from awhile back-dont know if you remember)

Will be picking up a trailer this month to truck him down to the dressage barn for weekly lessons. Hope is there, I see it, but it had better hurry up :D

Instructor is coming on Saturday as my coach but it will be her first time seeing Bonfire since I left her barn in October '03 and at that point we were barely even trotting. She doesnt know anything about us, but at least she'll be there.

[kelsey]

I don't think that you should despair too much - it is really difficult to work correctly without someone knowledgeable on the ground, even for very experienced riders.

I went to a Walter Zettl clinic on the weekend (auditing, not riding, although I am going to send in a tape for next year, fingers crossed!) - these were very experienced riders (some at GP) and they still need coaching.

In my case, I realized last week for the first time that I never really felt my horse "give" before (have had him for over two years). My last instructor had me worrying too much about the frame and not enough about the push from behind.

If you can get to your instructor for weekly lessons, I predict that will make a HUGE difference.

[CityGirl]

Toots -
Take a DEEP BREATH & smile. You both have come such a long way in a year & you will make even more great strides in the future.

As far as a ewe neck (& correct me if I'm wrong), you really haven't been doing a lot of work on his topline have you? Typically if I were working on improving a topline, I would be doing a lot of work that encourages the horse to use his back i.e. hill work, cavaletti, lateral exercises, driving, longe correctly in side reins.

I don't think you've been working on that yet (just getting him to accept the bit), so it makes sense that he doesn't have a lot of topline to speak of yet.

Just start incorporating some of those activities in his training & I'm sure you'll start to see improvement pretty quickly - don't panic. ;)

[IrisSilverMoon]

I think another thing you should remember is that since Bon is a Morgan the long and low thing may be a harder thing for him to do. He was bred to carry his head high and pick his legs up, not put his head down andlengthen his frame so much. It may be a lot harder for him to figure that sort of thing out than many other horses who are built differently.