September 4, 2014

Cathy Clinic Preview

It's been a while since we talked about airs above the ground - I mean jumping.

THE FLOOR IS LAVA!

That's because we've almost done nothing but Dressage since FRVPCHT in June.  This is how this barn rolls, and I like it.

Our jumping is always better after long Dressage spells.  Increased Connor body control + increased hind end strength + probably really happy to see something other than an empty sandbox in front of him = good stuff over fences.

(Plus he's mentally strong enough, and the things we're doing now on the flat are challenging enough, that he's not bored doing Dressage.  A good thing.)

Our 5th Cathy clinic, our first in a year, is going to be really helpful.  For one, she saw my XC warmup at FRVPCHT, and then chatted with me, my trainer and teammate over dinner and drinks at the competitor's party about Connor's levitation over the table on course.  

She also saw the next day's show jumping round in which Connor totally lost his mind in the ring after a great warmup:

No gerbils here, folks.

On my clinic entry form, even though I knew this line is more for people my trainer doens't know, I wrote that I wanted to work on "jumping confidently across the fences."  Because riding this to a solid fence:


is not safe, even with a pony with the hind end to jump a 2'6 table from a standstill and a crazy strong hatred of touching the fences.

I know it's because he's careful to a fault, and briefly pausing to check things out is the fault, and that he did get over this at Starter height fences, but I need him to start trusting himself and me enough to just jump it.

Extremely displeased with himself for touching a fence.

I've talked before about how beneficial it is to have a "sometimes trainer" like Cathy, who has known us since we couldn't jump a crossrail without coming to it like a broken shopping cart, and sees us about every six months.

She sees things that my trainer might miss, just by virtue of seeing us all the time.  Looking forward to some great rides this weekend!

14 comments:

  1. hope you have a great clinic! i love riding with different trainers - even if they're saying things you already know, the wording/perspective might be just different enough for it to 'click'.

    i'm super eager to hear your takeaways from this clinic - isabel and i don't really 'hesitate for a looksie' but we do have serious issues w jumping 'across' instead of straight up

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    1. Yeah, it's good to ride with different people, I think as long as their training ideas are grounded in a similar place. There IS such a thing as too many opinions!

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  2. Exciting! With a spooky cob or two in my life, I'll also be super interested in the recap, Have fun!

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    1. Ha, yes, well, with spooky Cobs my best general advice is "hang in there until they mature...several years from now." ;-) But seriously, you probably remember when I couldn't hack out, for example.

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  3. That first fence- wow!! He looks darker there too.. I LOVE liver chestnuts! I used to compete a liver chestnut Haflinger, just think that color is so, so pretty!

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    1. He was darker, he fades to orange in the summer after being a deep red all winter and spring. I don't mind either color, really, though the dark red is my favorite.

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  4. I snorted on the "broken shopping cart" description!

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  5. I love having that extra set of eyes who knows you a little bit, but not enough to worry about your baggage. Have fun!

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  6. Sounds like it will be great for the both of you and I agree there is nothing wrong with extended periods of flat work.

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  7. Have fun with Trainer 2! And hehe, Connor's baby moments make me giggle.

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    1. Ha, you must be talking about the hoverpony picture.

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  8. He is just adorable! It's amazing to see the different between him now and they way he looked in some of the earlier pictures you've posted.

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