One of my BFFs and an amazing colleague Geoff Butler was kind enough to come back to Eastern North Carolina for another clinic at the farm. It was a full weekend of rides and I think everyone had a great time. Looking back at my June clinic notes (http://blog.horsegirltv.com/2011/06/2306/) from working with Geoff I realized we REALLY have come a great distance in a short time. Hansel is a very sensitive horse which makes him challenging but oh so very fun when things are correct!

Just four months before we were working on in front of the leg and coming into the hand and while with most horses this is a lifetime work in revisiting Hansel really got it. Since June we have our change, have worked the passage to improve the throughness in the trot (wow did that work!) and are ready to delve into half pass. I’m not one to think there’s only one path or one series of steps one should take to get “there” but likewise I don’t think you should push a horse when they are not ready. That said, Hansel has an excellent passage and we even touched on piaffe one day so it’s in there. The passage to trot transitions recently has improved in front of the leg immensely! Here’s a few notes from my training journal with Hansel from our October weekend working with Geoff.

Going to the right try to sit deep into that inside leg and not be throw outside. This is not all me but I take the blame. I’m definitely stronger with my left leg and because of Hansel’s way of going it’s even more challenging but this sitting into that right leg especially when going to the right has helped with our balance together tremendously!

Counter flexion feel going to the right to keep him from dropping on the left shoulder. All gates. Again this is my weaker side and Hansel does like to drop or push into his left shoulder. Just the thought of counter flexion and I was able to keep him straight!

Bring the trot back a bit more especially to the right so he doesn’t take those crazy big steps and almost go into the canter. So bring it more back and up in the shoulders and neck. A mere 4 months ago and we were working on activating those hind legs and now he’s so active that I am riding the trot more conservatively. You’ll notice in the clip of him going across the diagonal away from the camera how expressive his trot (once the strength is there) will become.

Either direction shoulders to the right with left flexion and to keep haunch from swinging and ask a little more forward with both legs. Again we’re back to the arch nemesis that left shoulder. It’s a no brainer to say keep them straight and in front of the leg (the key here being active off both legs) but when straightness is compromised, a little fixing of the straightness coupled with activity off both legs is just a miraculous thing!

Here’s a few clips from one of the rides that address the work mentioned in these notes.

[jwplayer config=”Blog Player” mediaid=”2487″]

The Jeep has been a part of HorseGirlTV since the beginning of the series and even featured in our first episode beyond the pilot, Importing Horses and CEM Quarantine Facilities at https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=358 and many other fun episodes as well but it’s time to pass her on to someone else who’ll enjoy driving her as much as we have throughout the last five and a half years shooting HorseGirlTV all over the USA (and abroad altho the Jeep didn’t make that journey with us)!

If you know anyone seriously shopping for a well cared mid-sized SUV then please pass this along or have them contact us directly. The Jeep is currently located in Eastern North Carolina.

2002 Jeep Liberty Limited Edition 4WD
Exterior: Bright Silver Metallic Clear Coat
Interior: Dark Slate Gray
Seats: Cloth Low-back Bucket
Engine: 3.7L Power Tech V6
Transmission: Multi-Speed Auto, 45RFE

This is not a stock photo. This is an actual photo of the Jeep taken 24 October 2011. Click to enlarge.

The AC and compressor are new installed in 2010. It blows extremely cold and cools quickly. The tires are new plus the stereo and front speakers have been upgraded. The stereo is an Alpine iPod, iPhone, MP3 compatible with built-in hands-free bluetooth phone capabilities. This Jeep is tow ready. The Original Window Sticker includes all specifics directly below. Click to enlarge:

To see a complete set of photos of the Jeep, CLICK HERE.

Offered at $6735.00. Questions are welcomed from serious buyers. Thanks for looking!

I’ve had quite a few fans recently email in and ask what type of helmet I ride in. After sending the replies I realized I should just put together a blog about it.

I have been riding in the Troxel Grand Prix Classic now for several years and it came in most handy when breaking in a young, über atheltic horse who’d been backed only 5 times as he decided it was a good idea to play bucking bronco. I came off and landed on the left side of my head. Ka-POW! Fortunately my helmet was tested to still be in great shape and since I had the helmet on, my skull was likewise in good shape with only my pride broken on the x-rays. 🙂

I picked the Troxel Grand Prix Classic because as the name boasts, it has a classic look with the velvet and the strappings seems to be small enough not to over power my tiny head and at under $100 it was a great quality helmet that was equally great on the pocketbook.

It’s a bit more pricey than my Troxel Grand Prix Classic but I have always thought the look of the Charles Owen Wellington Classic to be extremely keen. It’s pretty much the same traditional look of my helmet but I really like the low profile. It’s priced just under $250 which when one factors in brain surgery it’s simply a steal!

Averaging $50, the Ovation Deluxe Schooler Helmet is definitely a stylish, economical option and while it’s a little less on the traditional side one can always buy the nifty helmet covers in velvet if you’d like to dress it up.

Whatever you end up getting, check to make sure it’s SEI certified and to keep abreast of the latest in helmet technologies, giveaways and other fun stuff, you can always follow our friends Riders4Helmets at http://twitter.com/riders4helmets and let them know you heard about them from Angelea!

Please keep your questions coming in by contacting me at http://blog.horsegirltv.com/contact/ and thanks for watching the series!

In thinking about what topic I would use as my take away on my journal today and my mind began to drift. I started reviewing older posts dating back to 2006, which made me notice patterns in my training cycles. Furthermore that made me realize the importance of note-taking after training. Whether you’re a beginner or an international pro, I think one should write down thoughts, ideas or issues faced in the daily rides because we’ll likely face same issues in different circumstances throughout the years. For example, almost all of us are “handed” meaning we’re stronger on one side of the body than the other just like our horse athlete partners. Writing down what you felt or how your body shifted will reinforce, for many through decades of riding, where our strengths and weaknesses lay and hopefully allow us to build on those strengths and overcome or improve on those weaknesses.

Rather than talk about this last months take aways, here is a variety of tips from my notes the last six years that I’ve found repeatedly helpful and I hope they might inspire you in your rides as well…

Training with Gwen Blake:

• Try cantering on the quarter lines and simple change of lead through the walk to counter canter to activate the hind leg
• Key note after my first Grand Prix test, the passage was too slow to develop so have the first few strides feel like trot then bring it back to the more elevated passage
• For better jump in canter pirouette think of my hips to his ears for a climbing feeling
• Softer aids think of touching the horses side with the stirrup iron will help with spur control

Clinic with Janet Brown-Foy:

• Basic position reminders WALK is 4 beat and go with the flow with the legs pushing back against the breath of the barrel, TROT is a 2 beat and ask for more forward only with the inside leg and on the up posting beat when the inside hind leg is coming forward, and CANTER sit inside with the weight inside and the outside leg as support only while the inside leg and seat bone ask for the canter

Training with Anky van Grunsven:

• The rider sets the tempo, not the horse
• I used the term push with my legs. Anky says to use the word tap instead to ask for a reaction
• In my canter work keep the haunches from swinging in. Keep the horse straight as to engage and carry themselves. Moments in the canter of true carriage with a loop in the rein. When Anky said the moments were good it felt like we were climbing up a hill with a canter pirouette feel
• My interview with Anky – https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=1135

Theory with Elizabeth Madlener:

• A horse can only become receptive (or submissive per the training scale term) to a ground person when they understand that the person is the Alpha. He will then give himself to his rider. Perhaps the chain goes, respect leads to receptiveness which leads to trust then confidence and finally harmony
• My interview with Elizabeth – https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=2203

Training with Geoff Butler:

• Maintain a tempo conducive to helping the horse keep his balance and not making drastic tempo changes which will have him searching for his balance constantly
• A tool for activating the hind leg is to not slow the tempo so much that the engagement is lost. This is not to say running them forward or onto the forehand but that a more active pace can be a useful tool
• My interview with Geoff – https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=1129

Theory with Jean Luc Cornille:

• The idea that there is one technique for training is completely ridiculous
• There is no glory in the victory gained at the expense of the horse’s soundness. Instead of forcing the horse to perform they have to be ready for what we ask
• My interview with Jean Luc – https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=2604

So remember to keep a pen/pencil & journal (Barnby notes has a neat one at http://www.barnbynotes.com/product/training-notebook), your smartphone, laptop or tablet handy in the tack room to jot down ideas you had from your ride or lessons you learned or perhaps even what you want to focus on with your ride the following day. While the perfection we strive for is often illusive, note-taking provides a path of personal education and exploration that we can’t fully embrace otherwise.

I have been lucky enough to train with some greats in our industry. Unfortunately Charles de Kunffy isn’t one of them however I so appreciate his writing and this quote, “The dressage rider has to be, first of all, a horse person who is acqainted with a diversity of equestrian activities, because only by these means can the nature of the horse be discovered. A dressage rider cannot be made by riding dressage only. The bold and powerful gaits of an alert horse negotiating a natural environment cannot be experienced in a fenced in arena.” It is with this quote I re-disover and apply the importance of cross training.

Hansel has been progressing quickly since the Geoff Clinic last month continuing schooling on steeper diagonals with the leg yields, maintaining more precise 3 tracks on the shoulder-ins, adding counter canter 20 meter circles (which is making the single loops and short side counter canters seem like a cake walk) and of course the general whoa and go. Even in the midst of all this I wasn’t feeling a real thrust forward. Enter the eventer! There’s a local, up and coming, event rider, Amanda Miller Atkins (http://www.millereventing.com/) who comes to a small stable around the corner from mine and I asked if she could swing by my place and take Hansel over a few fences.

This worked brilliantly as my desire to begin some cross training with Hansel, created the necessity to actually have some jumps which actually turned out to be a great HorseGirlTV webisode showing fans how to build jump standards which we launched yesterday actually (https://blog.horsegirltv.com/?p=3274). It was a win all around.

Jump day came and Hansel looked twice a few times at the jumps we made for him but he didn’t seems to mind going over them and while he was a newbie, she simply pointed him to the jump, gave a little leg and over he went easy as pie. He seemed to really like it and the true test of it’s effectiveness for me came the next day when I popped on for a simple walk, trot, canter and had the absolute best thrust in a lengthening down the long side. It was like flying and I can only attribute that to the wonderful jumping the previous day. Thanks Amanda!

[jwplayer config=”Blog Player” mediaid=”2990″]
WATCH this video on your iPhone, iPad or non-flash friendly device @ HERE

I was addicted to the jump cross training at this point and the next week, we hauled over to her facility for some more. It was a great experience for the young Hansel to travel 2.5 hours, unload, tack up, walk through some wildly placed, rusted out farm equipment, tall grass, through a hingeless gate and a variety of other boogie man type objects to get to the front field where he was ridden in an open field, with plenty of jumps off a busy highway with a herd of horses looking on.

[jwplayer config=”Blog Player” mediaid=”2991″]
WATCH this video on your iPhone, iPad or non-flash friendly device @ HERE

I’ve noticed a marked improvement in his forward and staying in front of the leg since the jumping and wish to incorporate it at least 2x monthly now. It not only has improved the forward but the jump of the canter/gait itself as well as the straightness in the changes. I’ve likewise noticed more confidence in myself and willingness to take him around the farm and in areas of the farm I wouldn’t consider before to get him used to a variety of environments. He’s handling it all like a champ and again I attribute this to his 2 jumping experiences.

We still have a long way to go together but for a horse who was started in the spring as a 5 year old (approximately 1 year and 3 months ago) and who has been in full time training since October 2010 he’s really come leaps and bounds with his training.