Taking notes on each ride isn’t always convenient, but it’s a habit I can’t recommend enough. It helps me see where I came from, remember exercises that do or don’t work, track stiffness, and look for patterns. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to write you all a nice fat 2019 wrap-up blog!
I thought writing this would be easy, because I thought I’d taken notes on each ride I’d had this year, but it turns out I’d only started doing that again in June (I used to do this all the time with Zoe and Phoebe but apparently quit). However, June was when I realized I felt ready to get my ducks in a row, to take my riding a little more seriously, and to try a little harder to make each ride count, so June was when my notes began.
In the spirit of a TLDR (because this is a long one), I’ll lead with my conclusion: when you put the effort into taking notes on your riding, do yourself a favor and read those notes often. The biggest trend I noticed in reading the last 6 months of riding notes was a consistent re-discovery of the same breakthroughs! If I’d taken the time to re-read my own notes, I think I would have had a much more productive year.
That said, I’m proud that throughout the year Dizzy’s gaits developed enough that I was able to introduce more lateral dressage into our work. No longer are we working to obtain a merely controlled trot, I’m excited to be thinking about the quality of that trot. While “harmony” will never be our highest score on a dressage test, it’s come a long way in 2019 and I expect to see that continue to develop in 2020. (And hopefully a real dressage judge scores us on that harmony in 2020!)
January-May
I spent the early months of 2019 grounded from a shoulder injury, a time I spent free lunging and grooming and (apparently) not taking notes for the future. I traveled a good bit that spring, riding sporadically and whenever was convenient. Let’s assume I was spending that time doing something vaguely productive and jump ahead.
June
I introduced the running martingale to our jumping and found it to be incredibly beneficial. This training tool both helps keep both the zoomies and the head-flipping arguments to a minimum. I rarely use supplemental tack, but it should surprise no one that as an eventer, the first piece I grab is a running martingale. I personally like running martingales as they don’t interfere much with a horse’s natural way of going and are difficult to use dangerously.
As part of my summer resolution to take riding more seriously, June also marked my first lesson with Jane, a wonderful trainer who owns and operates a dressage barn near my house. She reminded me to tuck my tailbone underneath my own ass (said more delicately), to hold my outside rein in the leg yield (oh, yeah), and to give the inside rein in the canter (this will come up again later) and I made a note to ride with her as often as possible.
In typical Mel fashion, I celebrated taking riding more seriously by literally hacking around bareback for the rest of June, reinforcing my habit of skipping saddles in the heat of summer.
July
I returned to saddles with a vengeance on the Fourth of July, using small lateral movement in the canter to help Dizzy lift her back. We had some great jump schools, discovering that ground poles are great training tools and I need to remember to drag those out more often.
July also introduced the thought of collection at the canter, because that’s her most confident gait. It proved to be a fleeting and difficult thought that will pop up here and there for the rest of the year.
August
Serpentine Summer continued in August, though a newfound difficulty with the left lead canter emerged. With some trial and error, I found a right-flexing exercise that helped strengthen her enough to work through this, though it would continue to be an issue through the fall.
The great win of August was the discovery that Dizzy excels when it comes to square pole exercises. I wish I’d done these more, as they were a great confidence-builder for both of us.
We also had a lesson with Terri in August, where she noticed that I put too much weight in my right stirrup over fences and that while it’s great I can canter Dizzy in the two-point, I must also be able to trot the pony off her back. In hindsight, this was my best lesson with Terri in 2019, and the only one we had outside, reminding me that even in a lesson, Dizzy is so much happier outside over the indoor.
September
September 1 started the month right and marked my first off-property experience with Dizzy, and my first real trail ride. Discovering that Dizzy looks to me when she’s uncertain about something made me feel like both a great trainer and partner to this mare, and put my mind at ease for future excursions.
I also introduced shoulder-in over September, noticing her strength to the left over the right. This would be consistent throughout the month, though has since gotten a lot better, especially at the walk.
Realistically, my September highlight was our flower crown photo shoot because how could it not??
October
October brought another Terri lesson, this time with more focus on flat work, since we still struggled with stiffness. I came away with homework to practice counter-flexing on a circle, being more spontaneous in my aids to help keep her from anticipating the canter, and working on lateral work in the canter. (In one of my favorite memories of the year, Dizzy later protested this by attempting to impale herself on a jump standard, a dramatic evasion for the history books.)
I also experimented briefly with an eggbutt snaffle in October, but decided, after Dizzy made it abundantly clear, this was not the bit for us.
November
The first half of November was a bit of a wash, as I spent most of the rides trying to decide if Dizzy hated her new bit or me personally. Luckily, it was the bit and I switched it back before Dizzy’s first lesson with Jane. Echoing her words from June, Jane reminded me to give the inside rein in the canter, and told us to live our lives in shoulder four for the immediate future.
Here you can see 4 very happy girls after our Jane lesson! (trust that the rest of Dizzy’s face is happy!)
I also had a telling jump lesson with Terri, finding that Dizzy’s jumping improves significantly with a placing pole to help her find her spot. I really should have remembered this from July, but alas.
December
If you’ve been following along, you know that December has been an abysmal month for my riding. I promptly lost all momentum from November, first struggling with mental illness, then with holiday chaos, then with sinus illness. I did ride a few times, all with the intent of keeping her loose in her back and movements, uncharacteristically lunging before getting on more often than not. After a mellow month, however, I’m feeling optimistic for 2020, and am excited to see what the new year brings!