Boot Camp

Whoo hooo!!! What a fun day!! Beth did boot camp for me. I rode FOUR horses! It was fun, but I'm definitely sore. I hauled Fleck up to Wishing Tree and asked Beth what the plan was. She wanted me to ride Nike first. 

Nike is very cool!!! He's a 19 year old Dutch who was an Olympic driving horse. Beth bought him and then sold him to Jamie, who he loves. He's an amazing horse. He's so well trained. I told Beth about Cindy's comments about the flying changes and she said "Perfect, Nike is a great one to learn them on). So... I got on Nike and started to get used to him. He's bouncy!!! But so lovely. He's so slow!!! In his rhythm.... it really pointed out well that Fleck and I tend to make our rhythm too fast. It's "one............twoooooooooo.....ooooonnnnneeeee.......twooooooo", not "One..two..one..two"... ;) I had an absolute blast on Nike. He's oh so lovely. So then we cantered and it's so nice! So then Beth told me the aids for a flying change. To go from the left lead canter to the right... I have to move my right (outside) leg from the back to the front and move my left leg (inside, but will be the new outside) to the back, while also changing the bend and moving my weight from my outside seat bone to my new inside seat bone. I did it a few times on Nike and it took a few minutes, but we got it. I wasn't obvious enough about my aids so he was a little confused. But I got it. Sweet... 
So then we started to jump. He's just goofy... He reminds me a lot of Fleck. Same sweet goofy personality. But I could tell the difference in the warmblood. Not quite my ride, although not as bad as I expected. Fleck just always has that bit of nervous energy.. the want to go forward. Nike was quite content to just stay in whichever gait he was in and even at that, I had to keep my leg on. But it wasn't like a school horse... just none of that forward nervous energy. But once he moved up a gait, the power was impressive. I don't know... different, but still pretty cool. Jumping was fun. He really helped point out my flaws and was better about not accomodating them. I had to get the up bouncy canter (and on Nike... it was labelled the "Out of the start box" canter...). RIGHT from the get go.. up, bouncy, powerful! Then I had to keep that canter and not let him lengthen out. He was making me giggle too. He's got a little bit of hotness in there... He sorta got a little worked up. And going to the left, he would get a little behind my leg and I had to push a bit more. Going to the right, he got revved up and got quick and long. Yeeaw! It was funny...So going to the right, I had to package him more. Then Beth wanted me to stick my feet forward more. It was easy to do in Jamie's saddle... man, how comfy that saddle was! So anyways... a really really good time riding Nike. It was very helpful and oh so much fun.

So then it was Fleck's turn. Beth hopped on him at first to ask him for changes and make sure he understood the aids before I messed them up. I was so excited because she said he felt great!!! More even, more correct and consistent in the bridle, and just nice!!! Whoo hooo. She asked him for three changes and you could see him trying, but he was always a few strides off behind. She said that I should ride Nike at least once more and practice changes again before I ask Fleck again. Just to insure my aids are good and I wasn't making him stress out about it.

So then it was my turn.  I wanted to try Jamie's saddle on Fleck just to see if it would fit him.. and then decided to try riding in it. Oh my..... I LOVED It... it was so comfy and easy to sit in.. and my leg just fell into the right place... and look... LOOK!!!!

Now granted... its probably a culmination of good riding, really getting Flecky into an awesome canter, and all our hard work... BUT LOOK!!! My leg looks like it used to look.... And again, this wasn't all that high of a jump... or a whole course.. but Beth was pleased and said Fleck was jumping better too. And he was so happy.. he was stretching his back out and cantering so beautifully! And happy. Dammit..... So anyways... we had a great ride. I really think riding Nike helped. Fleck and I are such a good team, that we let each others bad habits slide by. So when I messed up on Nike, he quit. But Fleck says "ehhh, it's okay".... and lets me get away with my bad habits. But after riding Nike, my bad habits were fresh on the brain, so I was able to fix them. I was able to really get that "out of the start box" canter on Fleck too. And WOW!!! Oh WOW!!!! It was a very subtle change... but he went from nice to "ahhhhh...."... he felt up, powerful, rocked back... soft, and supple. It was lovely! Beth wanted me to keep his neck collected but lengthen his stride. I think it was what Kim was asking me to do way back in the day but I couldn't accomplish then. Now, we were ready. And Fleck gave me some beautiful canters!!! And he jumped great too. It was so much fun.
So then Beth wanted me to canter the jump, then cross the diagonal, and then canter the jump on the other lead. Well, since I was going to confirm my aids on Nike, I was doing simple changes. But.. one time... I came across and Fleck was really bent and really into my outside rein. I guess I inadvertently shifted my weight and changed the bend... and lo and behold... Fleck gave me a BEAUTIFUL complete flying change!!!! It was awesome. Beth was giggling and so was I. :) Yay!!!

So much fun.... Then I helped her ride two other horses. It was fun... All of her horses are nice and it's neat to see/feel the differences. It's also nice because as nice as the other horses were.... Fleck is home. I love him... and I love riding him.

Although I was joking about taking Nike home with me too. He's pretty darn cool. Oh, and then it was so cute... while I was riding the other two, I put Fleck in the pasture next to Nike... They were showing off to each other over the fence, squealing and snorting and carrying on. I decided they were arguing... "Your Mom said I was really cool".... "Yeah, well my Mom also said I was the best and she loved me"... hee hee... Silly goobers!

Boot camp again next week! Can't wait!